Norm Matthews

With pork shoulder butt, a longer time is important. Cook it at a low temperature in a covered container with a little liquid. Allow 60 minutes per pound, then check the temp. 190 to 200 is good. As somebody said, it is ready when it is ready.

I tried a different recipe for brisket today. It was braised in beef broth, fennel, dried plums, soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger and sesame oil. I also made some rice. Left overs made up the rest of our meal this evening.

New Years Day food in the South has traditional food associated with good luck and good fortune. Black eyed peas is traditional. A lot of people make it in Hoppin John but I don't care for beans and rice combined. I make the beans with ham hocks. My sister makes a hot chip dip with black eyed peas. It is also traditional to have greens and I make Collard greens. I remove the stems and that takes out any bitterness. Pork and corn bread are both symbolic and traditional for New Years too. While I am not generally superstitious, one year I did a traditional Mexican dinner and fell and broke three bones in my ankle the next day so I am sticking to the Southern dinner my mom from Arkansas made.

Boston butt is pork that does not lend itself to dry roast in a moderate oven. It is better braised in dutch oven with a moist atmosphere for long periods to break down the collagen. 190 is a good target temperature but it should be BBQ roasted or braised for a long time at around 225 or so. Allow 60 to 90 minutes per pound. The lower temperature will produce a more moist shoulder roast.

Our Christmas Eve Dinner Rib Roast with baked new potatoes and cream horseradish sauce Green Beans with bacon vinaigrette Shrimp Cocktail Challah bread. ( the first loaf burned so I gave some to the birds, cut off the crust of the rest and will make French toast and croutons with it. And deviled eggs and assorted raw veggies

Cassie works all day tomorrow. She works today too but should be home for dinner tonight, so yesterday I made some Challah for today. The recipe said 400º for 40 to 60 minutes. I set the timer for 40 minutes and when the crust was set put in the probe thermometer set for 190. After 25 or 30 minutes it didn't smell right so I checked. Probe thermometer said 140 but the crust was almost black. The Thermapen said 210. Another loaf is rising in the kitchen now, the birds get yesterdays bread and the trash can got the probe thermometer. The bread should be done before the roast is due to go in the oven, thanks to rapid rise yeast.

Single barrel is more expensive but it isn't the same thing as straight bourbon. Jim Beam and Ancient Age are both straight whiskeys, though both probably also make single barrel and blended whiskeys too.

The jet dcarch is talking about is the orafice that is placed in the venturi of the burner. It is drilled out for the type of fuel being used by the stove. That absolutely should not be messed with. The holes around the burner that the gas comes out of can be drilled out somewhat but like everyone else has suggested, it is better to replace the burner or clean it out so it functions at its maximum design. Increasing the holes on the burners does not increase the gas pressure or air mixture (which is separate from the 'jet'). Those would also need to be adjusted if the burners are altered. It's not for someone to do willy nilly. Restaurant stoves are different animals from home stoves. They put out a lot more BTUs in the first place and are not insulated as a domestic stove. The restaurant walls are coded to take the heat. Increasing the amount of heat a home stove puts out can void your home owners insurance. If someone needed that much heat in a restaurant, he should invest in a stove for a wok.

If you mean "cooking wine" it is wine that is too salty to drink. A restauranteur created cooking wine to keep his chefs sober in the kitchen. Marsala and dry sherry are OK wines for cooking if for no other reason that they are fortified and will keep a lot longer than table wines. In the past I have used generic wines for cooking like Mountain Red or Chianti made in California. I think Gallo burgundy and Hearty Burgundy were Ok too. I have no idea if any of those wines are still being marketed but that can give you an idea of what to look for that may be better than the Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir that you are trying to avoid.

OH oh. You may have just opened . There are a few Texans who might think so, a lot of others everywhere else who don't.

I agree with andiesenji. After you get accustomed to making biscuits and know when the dough is at a good consistency, it is a lot more trouble to weigh it out than it is to just scoop it out and adjust the wet by eye.

Orange or soft sweet potatoes are called yams to differentiate them from other kinds even though non US yams are a different vegetable altogether. As to blended bourbon, that is tricky. Some is great and expensive, a lot of it is neither. It is easier to just stick with straight bourbon IMHO. You can get small bottles if you don't want to have a lot of it left over.

If you have a brand name, use what they suggest, otherwise here is a general guide http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/flour_volume_weight.html

Jack Daniels or Jim Beam are good choices. For cooking it doesn't make a lot of difference. Technically you can use just about any whisky, bourbon or not. I'd even use brandy without giving it any extra thought.

Well as for keeping it on hand, it will keep for a long long time after opened. I have one in the kitchen to use as a cooking wine.

I make biscuits in a cake pan. Being close together in a pan with sides helps the biscuits rise up instead of spreading out.

I imagine sherry in Spain isn't fortified before it is turned into vinegar. Since sherry is fortified, I think you'd have to dilute it before you could add a mother to turn it into vinegar. Another thing to think about trying is to add sherry a little at a time to relatively neutral (unpasteurized) white vinegar until you get a flavor you like.

To paraphrase Shirley Corriher, cutting in butter coats the flour so the liquid does not have as much ability to develop gluten. When creaming butter, air bubbles are incorporated which assist leavening.

If you look at the asparagus I got, they were small, appeared young, and didn't need peeling. I cut the stems off about half way down. I inspected every spear and some of the heads had gone soft. I threw those away and rinsed the rest. I think mine were starting to get a little old. Maybe they took a slow boat from Peru or wherever.

See the dinner thread where I made this yesterday. I used a half pint of inexpensive brandy. It turned out very well. Calvados would be a good choice too but not cheap. After marinating, I reduced the marinade to 1/2 C. then used the reduction to deglaze the pan after browning the chops.

I grew my own asparagus for several years before I moved here a couple years ago. Since I moved here only got it from the farm market before today. I will know better now not to get it whenever I want it just because it's there.

I didn't notice where the asparagus is from. I know it isn't in season anywhere around here.

Thank you. Cassie does not like celery so it seldom make an appearance on our table. At times I substitute bok choy or Romaine stems when I feel something like that is needed.

20 most popular? Must have been a pretty small sample group.

Everyones meals look great. I was out of ideas until I saw a pork recipe posted yesterday by ElainaA. I went to the store yesterday morning and got everything I wanted for dinner today. I made the pork loin chops, reduced the marinade to 1/2 cup then used the reduction to deglaze the pan after the pork chops were browned. We also had asparagus with hollandaise, cranberry chutney and baked potatoes. The asparagus was a disappointment. It tasted metalic. The pineapple was for dessert. We had it with homemade egg nog. Cassie is not a big fan of pork but both of them agreed that this recipe was a keeper.