Anna N

Sous vide is a very forgiving method of cooking. I have done a similar size pork loin for 2 1/2 hours and 4 1/2 hours and both were tender and juicy. This last time which I documented in the Manitoulin topic, I use a temperature of 58.3° and it remained in the bath for 4 1/2 hours. I’ve gone lower temperature wise but I don’t think I’ve gone higher.

You should have no reason whatsoever to try and take its temperature! In 2 1/2 hours it will reach the temperature you have set for it.

And I recall from statistics class: The unemployment rate in Switzerland has doubled. There are now two people out of work.

After 28 minutes on the phone with the 5th government agent I had been transferred to, most of it on hold, I desperately needed a cup of coffee and a cookie! Yeah I know you’ve all been through it. Doesn’t matter which country you live in —?so please let’s not drag it too far off topic.😂 Kerry’s version of creamsicle cookies. I can taste the orange in these which is more than I can say for the ones I made. Laundry is done and folded. Dishwasher is emptied. Chicken has been salted and returned to the fridge. When I have regained my mental and physical equilibrium I shall blanch some sugar snap peas. The universe is unfolding as it should.

It was a completely unfair challenge. In that very small box was a very small printer which will serve Kerry well up here. She has cause quite frequently to print out various and sundry documents related both to her business and to her job. I’m very happy to have it here although I probably won’t use it that often. It is surprising what you miss when you are away from home!

You all have got me very interested in labels with respect to Imperial versus metric measure. I actually dug the chicken label out of the garbage so I could study it. Note that this label is all in Imperial measure. I suspect that Max’s scales pre-date any sort of conversion to metric. And being a bit of a rebel and anti bureaucrat he’s not going to change without a fight. The supermarket label however is all in metric. Because most recipes are based on weight in this hemisphere I do a mental conversion to get the weight of the chicken in pounds. Nothing close to accurate but I would guess this is around 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. Accurately it is 2.77 pounds. Close enough for government work.

Makes deep-fried Mars bars sound like health food.

The washing machine is sloshing away and the dishwasher is doing its thing. We picked up more beef shanks yesterday at Max’s so I thought it a good time to do something with them. Each is around one and a quarter pounds and give or take 2 inches thick. The plum is there purely to give you an idea of scale. After much thought and some research I settled on 56°C as the working temperature for the sous vide bath. I intend to pull one after 48 hours and then decide if I will leave the second one for 72 hours. I am aiming for a steak-like rather than a braised texture. I have covered the bucket with foil to limit water loss due to evaporation. Still I will need to check on it occasionally and I might have to set myself some reminders to do so. Now to do the math to find out when 48 hours from now will fall.😂 Don’t laugh. I told you math is my weak point.

Good morning. After many days of waking to gorgeous sunshine it came as a bit of a shock this morning to be greeted by overcast skies and rain. But the rain is desperately needed so I will not complain. I am not going anywhere today as Kerry is working over in Wiki so the rain should not be a hinderance of any kind. I will be doing some laundry but it will dry indoors. Breakfast is shaved pork loin and kimchi cream on a pan-toasted hotdog bun. A cut up plum is my attempt at five a day. Rarely ever come close. Aside from doing some laundry and cooking a chicken in the CSO for dinner tonight, I don’t have much planned. If I don’t start doing some serious planning I will be leaving here having accomplished nothing of what I had intended.

Kimchi cream – – equal parts kimchi and mayo blended/ processed together.

I have been eyeing that book also and did download a Kindle sample. Not sure though that I will actually buy it. The sample certainly did not grab me.

I had ambitious dinner plans but when push came to shove I found I had hit the bottom of my energy reserves for the day. Sliced pork loin and kimchi cream.

Almost 4 more weeks.

Funny you should say that. Shortly after we pulled out of Max’s place that was Kerry’s thought! We could do it ourselves. Just give us a hunk of pork. No matter.

If only. We have been searching for it for more than a week!

Trust me we were worried about you. We saw it on the television in a restaurant where we were eating and we knew you were at Wonderland. So glad it went well for you.

So this photograph will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt just how much influence I have over Kerry Beal. None. Some herbs that we should have no trouble killing. And a fun puzzle. What is in the box from Amazon? Here’s a hint — it’s not food related.

One of Kira’s carers had recommended a newly opened café in Mindemoya called the Grill and Chill. After a trip into Williamson’s Hardware and a wander through the grocery store, we found the place and had some lunch. Tea with lots of milk for Kerry. Also for Kerry a caesar salad (with the requisite croutons). Garden salad for me with ranch dressing. Pork chops for Kerry. Hold the potatoes. Salisbury steak for me. I barely made inroads into the french fries. I left enough to feed a small Third World country for at least a month. The salads were fresh. The Salisbury steak was exactly what I was hoping for. Kerry enjoyed her pork chops. All in all a very satisfactory lunch. However we did feel as though we had blundered into somebody’s dining room. The people at the table next to us were being greeted warmly by everyone who came in. Oh the joys of small town living.

Apparently Max had our order right within his line of sight and still managed to turn all of the pork belly into bacon! Then the people who actually process meat were not prepared to set up to process just 3 pounds of ground pork. Not that we actually wanted 3 pounds — 1 lb would’ve been enough. But apparently setting up and tearing down the machinery cannot be justified until you’re going to go into major production so we understand. We will be going back later for some beef. Pork we may have to source elsewhere — at least the pork belly.

It was cut a little unevenly which is I think is affecting how it is being seen in the photograph. But it was definitely a loin of pork.

We have been to see Max. No pork it’s a long story. But we are now in Mindemoya and were amused by this sign as we pulled up to park in front of the hardware store.

Must say I’d rather be visiting a butcher than Wonderland! But I still wish you a good day there. I’ve been a couple of times many years ago and enjoyed a beer in the beer garden but that was about it.

Good morning. Another beautiful day in Little Current. No time for breakfast this morning. Kerry has just popped over to the hospital to clean up from her shift and then we will be heading out to Gore Bay again. The butcher, Max, is open to the public only on Fridays and Saturdays or by appointment. We have an appointment to pick up some pork. Unfortunately he had made all of the belly of the pig he slaughtered into bacon before looking at our order where we had asked for 3 pounds of pork belly in one piece! Ah well. We need to pick up a couple more beef shanks for some experiments and we need to deliver to Max the accessories and instructions for the Big Easy Oil-less turkey fryer which Kerry offloaded on him as her first venture into downsizing. Max was absolutely delighted and will surely put it to good use. What other adventures we might get up to out there remains to be seen.

An aged negroni from a different angle for the one who is not removing fish hooks from human flesh! The sous vide pork loin just after it had been seared in a cast-iron frypan. This roast did not disappoint. It was tender and juicy and tasty.

I was curious because I’ve just started using some cloud ear mushrooms. They do add texture but darn little else. I like the name black fungus but it does sound gothic and might be more readily fit into a murder mystery than a dinner plate.