kayb

Egg question: I made my first attempt at poaching eggs in the IP today. According to something I found online, it would work perfectly if you gave it three minutes on steam, quick release. I thought that sounded a bit long, so I went two minutes, and probably waited three or four minutes before I released the pressure because I was in the middle of something of which I could not turn loose. Poached the eggs in silicone cups, set in turn in small ramekins, to make it easy to use my canning jar lifter to fetch them out of the pot; ramekins on the trivet. I was pleased with the cups-and-ramekins setup, but the time is way off; these were the equivalent of hard-boiled. Advice on egg poaching in the IP for a runny yellow and a set white? I wound up crumbling the egg yolk over my grits cakes, which are a thing that is more trouble than it's worth, and it tasted respectable. Sure would have liked a "yellowy egg," as my youngest daughter used to refer to runny yolks, though. Note overcooked eggs. Loved the silicone pods, though, about which I learned from @Anna N. Thanks!

Second night in a row for a "meh" dinner. I had a recipe I'd found somewhere for vegetarian chili with butternut squash. Wasn't bad, just wasn't good. Meh. Hurts even worse because it was a poor use of Rancho Gordo beans. Tomorrow night, I'm cooking meat loaf. I KNOW I can nail that one.

The majority of my travel is domestic, and not, unfortunately, international, so my guidelines are a bit different. 1. NO chain restaurants, except Cracker Barrel for breakfast if there is absolutely nothing else that looks fit to walk in. 2. In a small town in the South, the place with the most pickup trucks parked out front at lunch. 3. Places that focus on local produce/meat/fish On a trip anywhere, if there for several meals, I'll always try to hit places that specialize in local cuisine at least a couple of times. But, that's not always a must; I had the best Indian food I ever ate in an Indian restaurant in Tokyo.

I finally attempted the stroganoff, with the SV top sirloin I'd cooked and then frozen when I didn't use it a week or so ago. I was completely underwhelmed. Use this recip, and while the meat itself was perfect (salt and pepper, paprika, SV 5 hours at 130), the sauce was bland, and too thin. I didn't eat mine, and pitched the remains. Sigh. Some nights you're the windshield, some nights you're the bug. Last night was a bug night.

If I can't find curry leaves, is there an acceptable substitute? Also, how hard is Shaoshing wine to find? I live within striking distance of several excellent Asian groceries.

Those things are a creation of Satan. I know this. I can testify, though, to the chicken egg rolls, too. Now I've spent 15 minutes looking at their site, and about to have to order some scallops and cod. Since there's no getting good fresh seafood here in the middle of the continent, I've found Schwan's frozen makes an acceptable sub. And I've been jonesing to try some scallops, which I love but have never cooked. As best I recall, my daughter used to be enamoured of the breakfast pizzas. I seem to recall the lasagna was respectable, as were the tamales, when I lived somewhere I didn't have a good local source for them. The frozen fruit is all pretty good; I never bought much of the frozen veggies. And I used to get the hamburger patties; handy for tossing on the grill in a hurry. Looks like Schwans and I are back in business. And of course, I have to get a box of those damned mini dogs.

@Shelby, I'm thinking in terms of using this brine for wild duck breasts, which are, of course, a very different animal from domestic duck breasts. Can I assume Canada goose breasts are similar to wild duck, but bigger? If I get lucky, some of the hunters in my world will bring me some wild turkey breasts, as well.

With honey mustard. Don't forget the honey mustard! Ahhh, another convert to the cause...

Shelby, will you please share that recipe for the sweet brine you like so much? I'm interested in trying it. How long did you brine the goose?

@liamsaunt, a very fancy feast for a football gathering, and I agree with @IowaDee about your serving pieces. My only quarrel is with your football allegiance.

Some vaquero beans will make their appearance in my Instant Pot as a major ingredient in vegetarian chili with butternut squash later this week. New convert to RG, and I'm sold. Will never buy another kind of bean.

Can I cook better than Schwan's? In most cases, yes, although I will yield to them on their mini corn dogs, which are a perfectly seasoned, perfect ratio of corn to dog, and I love them dearly. Do I always have time? No. Did that make Schwan's an attractive alternative when I was feeding starving teenagers whose work and sports schedules meant no one ate at the same time? Definitely.

My purely unscientific interpretation is that everyone's body differs as to what impacts them most. From a decades-long yo-yo with weight gain and loss, I know that fat intake has little effect on me, while carbs and sugar do, so I happily eat bacon and butter and put cream in my coffee.

Now THIS sounds like it has potential. I found at Sam's today an upright propane smoker for $108; would prefer an electric, but would take propane. I'll watch there the next several months, as they rotate their spring merchandise in. I've just ordered Ruhlman and Polcyn's Charcuterie, and I think the chamber smoker will be more useful for that, but I would like to have the small one just for things like you mention -- dips and such. Also going to look into how to build a cold smoker, and let my son-in-law the welder do that for me for my birthday. Thanks, everyone, for your input.

@BonVivant, I really want to come have dinner with you.

Thanks, @Smithy and @gfron1. On reflection, it appearing I can get a small chamber electric smoker for close to the same price, I think I'll go that route.

Their convenience foods were great when I had teenagers in the house. I like their bags of frozen fruit and vegetables, and some meat. Didn't care as much for their prepared entrees -- a question of seasoning preference. They seemed to season everything with the same seasoning blend.

Watching a cooking show on TV tonight (I lead a very exciting life), and this guy is using a hand-held smoker to smoke vegetables for gazpacho, which, on the face of it, sounds like a pretty intriguing idea to me. So I betook myself to amazon.com, to see what such a creature might cost, and it's about $100, which is not out of reach but more than I want to spend knowing no more than I do about it. Do any of you have any experience with such a device? Worthwhile? Not worthwhile? Does it work? I will confess that my confidence level is not increased by the fact the host of this show looks like he could be the brother of the guy who used to paint the "happy little trees" on the painting show on Saturday mornings. My children used to cry to watch "happy trees."

I've discovered one can make a wonderful CF steak (beef; I haven't tried venison, but it should work) by salting and peppering and sous viding the beef for about four hours first, then breading and frying as usual. Fork-tender!

I saw the Kenji recipe for caramelized onions, and was thinking of trying them. I typically have done them in the slow cooker, but you almost have to set them outside because the smell gets seriously pungent about Hour 6 (they take 18 hours on low) I've been pleased with the results.

Made another batch of yogurt last night. Same kind of milk, same settings on pot. Used YoGourmet culture. Worked just fine. Go figure. Guess I'll stick with using the culture.

Interesting thread (that I'd somehow missed). I subscribe to Kenji's daily emails, and have cooked a few of his recipes. I've contemplated getting this, and just haven't done it yet. I may wind up doing so. I do love Shirley Corriher's book, but to me, the very best cookbook for a relative kitchen novice, particularly one who likes a "method" or basic recipe with lots of potential for adding on/branching out, give me Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything." I habitually give that book to young couples as a wedding gift.

i'd absolutely use the legs for confit. If the goose doesn't have enough fat for confit, get you some duck fat. The rest, except for the organ meats, I'd made some goose gumbo. If one can make duck gumbo, one ought to be able to make goose gumbo.

Second the idea of using in baking bread. Have also read it makes a good additive to smoothies, due to the protein content. My pug loves it on her dog food, too.

Gave mine another four hours. Still nothing but milk. Guess I'll stick to the culture. Sigh.