donk79

A quick bit of Google suggests that this was a very particular poor experience and not representative at all.

My recollection is that coconut cream is typically sugar-laden confectionary type stuff. It was (unfortunately) not a suitable substitute for coconut milk at all.

I guess you are saying that wasn't blue corn then?

I am very curious about the technique for trimming the okra too. I would love to hear the justification for it. I confess to wondering if it's simply from inexperience with the ingredient, but I don't want to assume.

I was imagining something encased in a candy shell. Almost texture wise like a soft caramel in a bonbon. I suspect straight sugar would not work, but I suspect the molecular wizards out there have some sort of answer. Editing to say that I missed the workshop side of your original question. Molecular is probably not the direction you want to go!

Not only cites, but if you click "Continue Reading," it actually sends you to the thread on eGullet. Sketchy, yeah, but not sure it's actually negative.

Given that one of the glories of chocolate is it's melting temperature, I think you may want to adapt to the idea of molten chocolate. Maybe think about how it can be enclosed. I have no expertise here, but this is how my mind responds to the problem.

All I know is that between opening this thread and finishing reading it, I suddenly had to wrap up my improvised dinner with PB&J!

Taylors are great for soft-serve, but I have never seen a countertop one that seemed to be in good working order. Also, I doubt they (the counter models) could keep up with the volume you would need for a successful ice cream shop. I would say instead that you would want a full size unit. Used could be a good option, but you would still need to be prepared to lay out tens of thousands of dollars (I have been away from ice cream for two decades, so am far from current.) I have a cousin who has started his own part-time ice cream business. We both grew up with soft-serve, and know it's advantages to in volume, but he is scooping ice cream now. The entry is a lot easier, and if you want a variety of flavors, you don't need a new machine for each couple.

And apparently you pick it up frozen and have to thaw and reheat.

A few minutes Googling says "slow roasted then flash fried" And yes, whole.

Popeyes came up in conversation with a friend yesterday. We were catching up on family happenings and I learned his brother-in-law is now a regional manager for the chain. Item of greatest interest there was the Thanksgiving Turkey. Apparently Thanksgiving Turkey sales are a huge thing for Popeyes. One store in Maryland sold over 9,000 this year. People drove hours to pick them up. All the managers received one as well. My friend reported that he would not spend $50 on one himself, but would be happy to join in consuming a free one! So take that for what it's worth. Anyone here ever experienced a Popeyes turkey?

How does it look? Any freezer burn?

All this talk of rabbit is killing me. Almost 15 years ago, my wife and I were living in rural Maryland and had a small town restaurant that prepared a rather dry fried rabbit. It was still wonderful! Now, I am in Virginia, surrounded by cottontails, and with no good shooting lanes for harvesting them. And I will be darned if I can figure out any other way to procure them around here. Anyway, keep sharing! at least my dreams are tasty!

In the US (Mid-Atlantic region), beet sugar is quite common. When I was keeping bees, I was taught to avoid it (right or wrong) when I made syrup to help the bees bulk up for winter. Often (but not always) store brands were beet sugar. Sometimes Dominoe was the only available came sugar and it was typically a bit more expensive than the beet sugars. (Nota bene: It has been more than five years since I last had to feed bees).

A1?

I've noticed Vanilla extract prices dropping at my local Costco. I think they are down to $25/pint from $35/ pint a few years ago. Is this representative of the rest of the market right now?

It really is an interesting prospect. Regular breed dairy beef is rightfully (imo) considered very low grade. When we shifted to the crosses at home, the quality of meat from the steers we raised improved drastically.

Based on what I see in Google, this concept of the Holstein/Wagyu crossbreed as "Snow Beef" may just be this one company's effort at marketing, "Saskatchewan Snow Beef." The other references to "Snow Beef" that I am seeing are all from Hokkaido in Japan. I don't even see a website, past their Facebook and Instagram. From what I can tell, distribution is pretty limited. I think you may have to be in Saskatchewan to get it.

Genex is who you might want to look at then, if you ever had interest in looking that direction.

I took a look at the sales website for the company my father worked with. They currently have one Wagyu bull available, at $50. This compares to the Holstein bulls coming in as low as $20 per breeding attempt. I am not certain where the bull calf market is right now, but I have seen it run anywhere from $10 to $150 per animal. I figure that these crosses would land in that bull calf market, but at a higher premium. I can certainly see both temptation to give the Wagyu breeding a try, and hesitation. I suspect it will be a market in need of development to make it a solid go.

Most of the herd went to large dairy farms in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. A small number of unmarketable animals went to slaughter.

I deeply wish I could ask my father about this. He died suddenly 6 weeks ago, but before that spent 40 years in cattle breeding. Most of that time was focused on our family Holstein farm, but for the past 5 years he was on the governing board for a multinational agricultural genetics company. He had hinted that interesting things were coming with crossbreeding in future years, but couldn't reveal more. For the past couple of decades, it was common for him to select an Angus bull for first calf heifers. Holsteins breed large babies, and that birth can be rough for a younger cow. The crossbreeds made for some pretty good beef. I can absolutely see Wagyu providing similar benefits, and if they can improve revenue streams, many dairy farmers will be all over it (those willing to risk the investment, that is). Wholesale Milk prices are very unreliable, and in the past decade, most dairy farms have been operating at a loss. Our family farm has been in operation since 1882, and we stopped milking in March, just before the pandemic hit.

That's beauty! My concern about loin is the likelihood that the loin would be overcooked by the time the skin was rendered. This probably says more about my lack of experience and skill than it does anything else. I would happily pull my plate up to what you posted!

Why "skin-on" for a loin? Unless you have a specific intention for it, I would just remove the skin.