fifi

My sister uses hydrogen peroxide on my nephew's under shirts. Seems to work. It is a lot cheaper than Oxyclean.

Many thanks guys. I will be in the party. There are three of us coming up from Houston. Great list, Katy. I will discuss it with my compadres. It may be a couple of weeks before we start specific planning. Is a 7:00 reservation too early in Philly? This is likely to be on a weekday night. If Le Bec Fin is not out of the running, how is it these days?

If you really have hominy, it has already been soaked in lime. If you have dried corn for hominy, then you have to use the lime. That is what makes it hominy. I don't think it is usually "cooked" in lime. At least, I couldn't find that in any of my books. I found a mention of an option for a brief heating in the lime in a Diana Kennedy book. The usual process is to soak the corn in the lime water. Then the skin is removed by rubbing under running water. Then the nib is removed so that the hominy "flowers" or opens up when cooked. Not everyone removes the nibs as it is a PITA.

I ordered some of the Orkas silicone gloves for my nephew since he is often handling big pieces of meat in hot places. They were back ordered and they just arrived today. I got a message on my cell phone... "These are the greatest kitchen condoms I have ever seen!"

Ah... A Spam craving! I do that with some frequency. This occurs about twice a year. I don't consider that an incedibly strange craving since I have been exposed to Spam since I was a kid. It is just something that comes up now and again. The corn dogs had no precedent. Give... In... To... Spam... Craving...

I will likely be involved in planning a corporate type celebration dinner in Philly for maybe around February. The group will likely be six or so, high level types. We need a place that is quiet enough for good conversation with a variety of food to meet the tastes of folks that I don't know well enough to ask. It has been a few years since I was last at Le Bec Fin but I think that might be a little over the top. Although, the atmosphere is about right. I have read through a lot of the threads in this forum but didn't find enough specific or timely information to answer my specific questions without reading the whole forum. Atmosphere and food come first. Great food in a noisy place would not qualify. Can some of you kind folks help me out? Many thanks.

Doesn't sound like hominy to me. If it isn't processed with an alkali, it isn't hominy. Dave, I think you nailed it here:

Welcome! I haven't seen your posts before but that may have been lack of attention due to the holidays. Great to see another member in San Antonio. I hope you enjoy our little community and continue to post.

I mentioned up-thread that I sent a question about neck bones and oxtails to USDA. I have received this reply:

I am not sure if this qualifies as a "sandwich" but about the only thing that I would go out of my way for is a well made McD's sausage and biscuit. My neighborhood McD's makes the best. The one near my office, not so hot. The biscuits just don't have that same crunchy, melt on the tongue, crustiness. Arby's with horsey sauce comes in about 2nd. No fast food hamburgers need apply.

My great aunt used to use chicken feet in her chicken and dumplings to add the gelatin. She would take them out before serving. My sister has reminded me that she would take them out to cool and rinse them off, expose the tendons so I could pull on the tendons to make the feet twitch. I thought that was a great toy. How sick is that?

On New Year's eve day, I went out in search of a big chunk of corned beef, either a whole one or a tip. The goal was to put it on the Weber smoker and try smoked corned beef a la klink. Four stops later, all I could find were smallish flats. Not looking good for the smoking plan. There seemed to be a shortage or something. The burchers all had a similar story... "We were supposed to get four cases but they only delivered one. We ran out thirty minutes ago." ARG! I picked up about a four pound flat at the last stop. I was able to find one with a decent amount of fat cap and a middle line of fat and I am thinking... now what? Not enough fat for smoking. I am looking at the little piss-ant package of seasoning enclosed with the beef. AH HA! That looks suspiciously like crab and shrimp boil. An idea is beginning to take shape. I go to the spice aisle. Crap! No Zatarain's on the shelf. Oh well... McCormick's will have to do. I got home with this thing, put my blackeyed peas and ham hocks in the crockpot and started to think about the corned beef and the timing for New Year's day dinner. I put the beef in one of the big zip baggies, dumped in the whole bag of seafood boil spices, massaged those onto the surface and threw it in the fridge. The next morning, I got up and stumbled around a bit. I got one of the Le Creuset ovens that made a good fit. I plopped the brisket in there, spices and all, put about 1/4 cup dark brown sugar on top of the thing, about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom, threw it into a 225F oven, said "bless you, you fiend" and walked off. Went to Topwater Grill for bloody marys. Nephew arrived later in the afternoon. And we started putting the dinner together. Had to do the cabbage. I took the brisket out, knocked off the biggest piles of spices and started to slice. Oh... My... God! My knife, pretty sharp but not great, went through the meat like butter. The fat was a melting wonder and the flavor hit you right in the snoot. Nephew and I looked at each other, eyes wide. Nephew says... "Holy Shit!" A four pound corned beef dissappeared in about twenty minutes. I decided to try it again today so I would have leftovers for next week. I found the Zatarain's this time out and sliced up a couple of white onions to sit it on just because it seemed like a good idea at the time. The onions are wonderful. But... I don't like the Zatarain's mix as much as the McCormick's. The McCormick's has more allspice and cloves. But the Zatarain's has red pepper flakes. Go figure. Here is the final deal: About a 4 lb. corned beef with a good amount of fat if you can get it 1 package McCormick's seafood boil spices in the bag 1 Tablespoon, or to taste, red pepper flakes 2 medium onions, sliced 1/4 cup dark brown sugar Rinse the corned beef well. Put it in a bowl under running cold water for about 20 minutes. Dry and put in a large plastic bag. Open the bag of spices and put in the bag with the meat. Massage spices in to evenly coat. Refrigerate, maybe even overnight. Heat oven to 225F. Slice onions and put in the bottom of a dutch oven. Place the beef on the onions. Distribute brown sugar on the top of the meat. Add a little water to the bottom of the pot, about 1/4 inch. Cover and cook for about 6 hours. Knock off the majority of the spices by dipping some of the liquid over the meat to rinse them off. Don't get too particular about this. Grab most of the onions out of the liquid and set aside for use later. Strain the juice and reserve for later. I use the reserved juice for reheating. The onions can be added to a sandwich. I added onions to corned beef wrapped in a flour tortilla with a little sour cream. Now THAT is multi-cultural. Any other ideas out there when you can't find corned beef worth smoking?

I was going to make the confit like in your book. Does that have to age in the fridge for some time?

Uh oh. My, those mallards waddling around under my balconey are starting to look pretty tasty. (OT... John, I got my nickname many years ago from a crusty old fart lab tech where I worked. He gave all the "girls" nicknames. I have been "fifi" ever since. At least I didn't get stuck with "Boom Boom". )

I agree with that. I guess I will have to go digging and find that bowl. It is a really heavy pottery bowl that I used to use to mix and raise bread dough. I am going to try this and I might even stir it seven times. After all of that, why not. Let's see... If I start now, I could be eating cassoulet in... um... February?

Sooo... glazed pottery is somewhat porous??? Obviously, Le Creuet is not. I was jus thinking that the geometry of the pot I linked to is pretty much like my glazed pottery bowl.

ACK! Here is the link I meant: Click.

Ok. I am confused about the pot. It is sounding like the geometry and dimensions are the important part of this, along with mass for heat retention. Porosity is not an issue. At least that is what I am getting from this since the glazed pottery bowls can be used. (I have one but I don't know where it is.) How about a Le Creuset pot like this? Without the lid, of course. edit: to correct the link.

How the heck did you manage to do that? What kind was it? A friend of mine has had it with plastic blades getting out of whack and got one that is metal shaft and blade. I think he got it at W-S. This one looks like what he got.

I have also wondered what they have in "the pantry" available to use. That pantry must be really something.

woo hoo! pastrymama. That is what I am looking for.

That sounds like what I am looking for. Maybe if I search all of malawry's posts or maybe she will weigh in here.

This is one of my favorite threads. Sensual and food together. Can't get better than that. Rabbi Ribeye... I can relate to your party. What a hoot.

These are crispy and dry so I am guessing that they are twice baked. I agree about the addition of the almond extract. I don't think you could get that flavor any other way.

I found this site some time ago on butterflying pork. Clickety. This is for loin but I think the same technique would work for tenderloin.