kayb

Assorted comments -- Re: Candied or crystallized ginger. Lynne Rossetto Kasper has a recipe in her "Weeknight Kitchen" newsletter that adds it to coconut macaroons, and I was pretty entranced with that. Pheasant: The only pheasant I've ever had, some that a friend brought back from a hunting trip to Kansas, was damnably dry. Is that common, or did they just not know how to cook it? Put me down in the camp of those who keep Velveeta and onion soup mix on hand, too. I have, however, weaned myself from cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soups as ingredients. I have been known to dump a package of taco seasoning in taco soup, too; I'm just sayin'. Venison -- have you done venison meat loaf? With two parts venison to one part pork and one part veal, it's pretty wonderful. And there is no better chili than that made with venison. Only thing I miss about being married is not having the venison every fall. I'm SO thoroughly enjoying your blog!

Added another one. Marcella's Italian Kitchen.

Calzone. Ricotta, Parmigiano, parsley, Italian sausage. Mark Bittman's pizza dough recipe from How To Cook Everything. Crappy cell phone photo.

It's a braise, but I love it: brown the salted-and-peppered roast, take it out, caramelize a couple of sliced onions, move them to the outside edges of the pan, plop the roast back in, put a bottle of dark beer over all, cover and braise at 275 for four or five hours. You can finish off the sauce with some dijon mustard and a touch of brown sugar to give it the taste of carbonnades a la flamande, if you wish. I love to shred the meltingly tender beef up in the sauce and heap it on a baguette.

Tracy -- Use them for canisters! I have two half-gallons, two quarts and two pints I use for canisters that came from the smokehouse out behind my house when I was a kid. Wouldn't take anything for them. If you don't want yours, let me know and I'll send you the info and cover the cost of shipping them down to me!

When I was a kid, I had a friend whose family had an elderly (well, she seemed so to me) African-American woman who cooked for them. She brined venison in buttermilk, overnight; she'd put it in the buttermilk before she went home for the day with instructions for my friend's mother to drain it before bedtime, throw away the buttermilk and brine it again in fresh. It made the most astoundingly tender, non-gamy venison roast imaginable. I've never brined or marinated venison any other way.

Goose and noodles....I'm intrigued! I never thought about eating Canada geese...I guess it just never occurred to me, though I eat wild duck as regularly as I get someone to kill them for me. Can you eat snow geese (known down here as "sky carp") as well?

Sure! On one condition....we can live in Hot Springs during race season They start a week from Friday! You have to let me know when you're coming down!

Re: The smoked venison. Can I come live with you?

I recall well when we first raised calves and I named them. I was a vegetarian for a year, at least where beef was concerned. Hogs are mean critters, and I never had any compunction about eating pork, no matter I'd been acquainted with that bacon in a previous incarnation.

In 2011, I will eat_foie gras. I will make__bread on a much more regular basis than I do now. I will learn_like toolprincess, to make my own tortillas. I will read_ Everything I can get my hands on with a recipe in it.

Oh, Darienne. In all your travels, you must come to Arkansas, and I will fry okra for you. It will change your life. I swear.

I wound up doing mine with trimmings from the Christmas ham, along with tomatos and chiles and some Aleppo pepper. Good stuff.But the cabbage -- I don't do collard greens -- the cabbage was phenomenal! It's a recipe from over on Food 52, called "Suspiciously Delicious Cabbage." You saute onions, garlic and grated ginger in butter until they're translucent and soft, add the shredded cabbage, and let it cook until the cabbage caramelizes on the edges. Then you add salt and pepper to taste, and -- are you ready for this? -- heavy cream! Let that simmer another 10 minutes, covered, then uncover and let it evaporate off any excess liquid. Marvelous!

Oh, no! Failed eggs? Hate it when that happens.... I'd kill for that bar, by the way.

May I come to your party? I'll be happy to bus tables and wash dishes....

Giving this thread a bump -- How are you planning on cooking your canonical black-eyed peas for New Year's? Mine are with smoked sausage, diced tomatos, green chiles, and paprika. If I feel particularly fancy, I may pour them into a baking dish and top with bread crumbs and grated cheese and bake them.

Crappy cell phone photo, but... Braised chuck roast with carrots, parnips and rutabagas, over garlic mashed potatos. Warmed me up on a cold evening, it did.

A "Wine Trials" book and a big, beautiful, 6 1/2 quart Cuisinart Dutch oven.

Do you have a slow cooker? A small one (four-quart) should handle everything you need, and is usually around 10 bucks at a discount store. It can be your best friend to both save on time and effort, as well as making cheap cuts of meat taste wonderful. You can braise beef or pork in it, make soups, even cook desserts. One of my favorites is white bean and sausage soup -- you could cut the recipe in half, freeze portions, and have three or four good meals out of this one. 1 pound navy beans 1 pound smoked or Italian sausage 4-6 carrots 1 medium onion 3-4 cloves minced garlic 1 28-0z cab diced tomatos dried basil and oregano to taste Soak the beans overnight. Saute the onion, garlic, carrots and sausage. Drain the beans, and put them, the herbs and the sauteed ingredients in the slow cooker; add the tomatos, and enough water to come about 2 inches over the top of the beans. Cook 8 hours on low. This will make 6-8 servings. Lentils and ditalini pasta in a tomato-based sauce is another good one. Cheap, plenty of protein, filling, tasty.

I want those tortillas. Now I want a tortilla press, never mind I have NO room in my kitchen.

Chris, I made your posole last night; as always, it was wonderful! Can't wait to learn all about your French Christmas dinner. Thoroughly enjoyed your first day!

When my former mother-in-law first acquired a microwave oven, she bought in to the propaganda that you could roast meat in it. Tried it with a nice rib roast (I can cook it in 15 minutes when we get back from church!) Think gray leather. The microwave was thereafter relegated to heating stuff up.

Great week of food! Thanks!

The blog's been great! I have never tried the Marcella Hazan sauce; I expect that will change in the next few days! Also fascinated by the gnocchi -- something I've always wanted to make and been intimidated by.

I love my Essential New York Times Cookbook, by Amanda Hesser. Recipes from the newspaper archives, with a bit of history attached.