Norm Matthews

Today was a chuck roast in the crock pot.

We had again that pasta and shrimp dish we both liked a while back. I imagine the sauce is Alfredo made like it is in Italy since it isn't made separately and added later but the ingredients are added to the pan one at a time while the rest of the food is finishing and there isn't any added thickener.

I made Banh Mi sandwiches yesterday but didn't take any pictures. As long as this one store keeps selling crab legs for 7.99, I am going to keep having them every 5 or 6 weeks.

I don't know. There weren't any corners like that in the dish today. It was just baked until the fresh buttered bread crumbs were browned. I'll ask him what he thinks about that. He said the chicken was perfect and the mac n cheese was delicious.

Charlie liked the fried chicken in the new Air Fryer but said it needed more garlic. He requested to have it again with mac and cheese but he is tired of the kind that comes in a box so I made some homemade with bread crumbs.

I made some fries with fresh potatoes as prepared above, some Ore-ida fries and Ore-ida shoestring. The one with the least number of fries is the one I did first because i ate some while the other two were cooking. They are the ones made with fresh potatoes. I used the preset for fries @400º for 18 minutes. While they were cooking I read the back of the fries package and they said to cook them for ten minutes so i did and there were no Air Fry instructions for the shoestring potatoes so I cooked them for 10 minutes. You can see the from fresh did not brown as much. They were dry on the outside but not crispy. The inside was creamy... maybe a little too creamy but they tasted more like potatoes that the other two. The other two looked and acted like fries but did not have as good a flavor IMO. I thought the shoestring potatoes were the most successful over all. PS I reheated the first batch for 1 minute to reheat them but they did not improve the texture. Sometime in the future, I'l see if pre-frying the potatoes for a couple minutes or until they take on a little color makes any difference, but by then, I don't really see the point unless they still taste better.

I cut up a potato and boiled it today. It is in the freezer now. I'll try it out when it's frozen. That may be later today. If it is, I'll report back later.

Here are two grabby thingies that I have has since I can't remember when. The upper one is specifically for grabbing hot pizza pans. It is upside down for the way it is used, the other one more general.

Thank you. They were sold as baby back ribs. I noticed that both times so far that they seem a lot meatier that last year. PS last time I cooked them for 4 hours and they were overcooked so i cut the cook time by l little more than an hour.

I used my smoker today to cook ribs, corn, BBQ beans and a potato. The potato needed more time in the microwave. The corn and the beans took two hours and the ribs took about 3 hours, all at 225 º. The beans recipe is from Gates BBQ and letting them get natural smoke instead of liquid smoke made them taste better, IMO.

That is a mystery. It does say do not refrigerate. All I can think of is that whatever is added to keep it liquid is not included in the ingredients list perhaps because it isn't part of the product that you ingest.

@Kerala I wouldn't believe the nutrition facts. Other spray fats make the same claim but the amount they call a serving is a nano second worth of spray. Any amount of duck fat will have the same amount of fat and calories as any other fat. @donk79 and everyone else here is what I did and what we thought about the results. These are the ingredients I used and I cooked 4 thighs in the air fryer.. that is how many I could put in without crowding too much. Just before I put them in the fryer, I sprayed two of them with the duck fat. I used just enough to tell they were evenly covered but no more. Maybe about a second or two worth of spray on each side. i didn't tell Charlie that one was different until he'd tasted both. Both of us thought the one with the duck fat was tastier. I don't think it made any difference in texture or appearance but we both thought the duck fat one was better tasting. Air Fryer Fried Chicken 1 C. Buttermilk 1 Egg marinate chicken in above 30 min. dredge in seasoned flour: 2 C. flour 1 T. salt 1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1 T. galic powder 1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper 1 tsp. ground mustard 2 T. Paprika 1 T. onion powder 3/4 T. ground white pepper Let rest 20 min. cook according to air fryer directions.

@donk79 Well here are pictures. I am going to do some chicken thighs in the air fryer later today and will spray it on some to see what differences there are. I'll share later today.

Host's note: this discussion began, and refers back to, the topic Air Fryers - An Irreverent Look. This rather messy split was done to allow future discussion of spray-can duck fat in a form that may be found in a search. Speaking of stritzing with oil, I just discovered Duck Fat in a spray can.

The cookbook that came with mine suggested spritzing with oil on some low fat things that you want to be more like fried food.

I believe the recipe said to use Russet potatoes but I didn't add that when I copied the recipe. I just took it for granted. It might work with other types that you can get. @heidih The air fryer seems to be basically a small hyper convection oven.

@Tropicalsenior I think I'll try this recipe I have had for a few years and it turns out very well. I will cut them thicker and freeze them without the first fry time, then use them in the air fryer; McDonalds French Fries Cut potatoes into 1/4-inch strips, soak in water a couple minutes, transfer to pot with water to cover.. about 4 cups. Add 2 Tbsp salt and 2 Tbsp. white vinegar and turn heat on high. When boiling, time for five minutes, then transfer to cold water to stop cooking. Spread on dish towel and dry. Fry @ 375 for just one minute. Drain and freeze. When ready to cook fry from frozen@ 375 for three minutes, transfer to paper towels, salt and enjoy. 2

@TropicalseniorThanks for the tip. I will try it.

Its Power XL Vortex Pro Air Fryer.. 6 qt size

With Bed Bath & Beyond going out of business and everything on sale, I figured it was time to get one. I made french fries today. They were better than oven baked in a gas stove but I was disappointed that they said frozen store bought fires do better than fresh cut ones. Tomorrow I'll do some fried chicken thighs.

Dinner tonight was courtesy of Charlie... McDonalds. Dessert was another of those cakes that divide into layers as they bake. This time it was chocolate.

The reason I put eggs in crab boil is because Charlie always asks me why I didn't when I forget. He must have had it that way somewhere because he always wants them included. I just looked online and it seems it is not unusual to add them. I always steam them. The yolks don't discolor and they are easier to peel. I use Old Bay when I boil them but forgot to use it today. I thought the shrimp tasted better but Charlie missed the Old Bay. I just noticed there is a recipe for steamed shrimp on the back of Old Bay This is the first time I've tried the corn-in-the-oven. I saw the recipe a while couple weeks ago but had to wait for the store to have corn on the cob that wasn't already husked and sold five to a package.

Yesterday crab was 7.99/lb. That is less than half what it was for most of last year and 2 dollars less than the last time I checked, so that is what we had tonight. I can't really call it a crab boil because the Conecuh brand sausages and potatoes were the only things actually boiled. Eggs were steamed in a separate pot for ten minutes. Shrimp and crab legs steamed for about 5 minutes and the corn was put in a cold oven, husks and all, the stove was turned on to 350º and the were taken out 30 min. later and allowed to cool enough to shuck & silk.

A friend posted this recipe for Lemon Magic Cake yesterday and I made it yesterday. It is'magic' because it separates into three separate layers as it bakes. About 7 or 8 minutes after I put it in the oven I realized I'd forgotten to add the vanilla so I added it then. I don't think it made a difference in the outcome. it was pretty much what we had for dinner. Charlie really liked it. I'd like to make it with lime juice next time and perhaps, sometime, see if I can get similar results with cocoa powder or syrup. I'll have to think about how it might work with chocolate.

Yes, I did use the pasta roller on my mixer but cut them by hand.