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Thanks for the Crepes

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  1. @DianaB, Must one be fluent in French to understand all these wonderful cooking shows if we can find them? You've piqued my interest in this thread and others. I only have 3 years of French language instruction by very good teachers many years ago. I refreshed it through books designed to do so also many years ago, when I realized I wasn't using it so I was losing it. I doubt I could keep up with untranslated French videos though now.
  2. Very nice garden haul, Jacksoup! Anaheim? (what kind of Italian) peppers on top of the cherry tomato bowl? We all know tomatoes and peppers aren't native to Italy, although they are now firmly embedded in their cuisine. If so, I am very jealous, because my grocer quit carrying them. I won't even try to make chili rellenos without them. I just can't like Poblanos or Cubanos, which are suitable for stuffing, but don't taste good to me.
  3. Slurpees are okay, and I've had my share when I've been in reach of a 7-11. My favorite was the artificial cherry flavor. They really have a lot of air whipped in. There aren't any 7-11's left here, but the one that was here in '86, when I arrived, has been a post office, and I believe it's a dry cleaners now. My most recent experience with a similar frozen drink slurry was over a decade ago. I used to stop occasionally in summer at a convenience store near the house for something I think they called a Slushie on the way home from work. It had much coarser ice crystals and no air. The store was almost at my house, so I might have a sip or two, but the purpose was to add a good glug of vodka to the mix and enjoy it in the A/C after work at home. It was a very good ending to the work day, especially if I'd had to skip lunch... again.
  4. shain, I'm also a fan of crispy pasta in a baked dish, with cheese, especially. I seek out and covet the crispy bits. Your dish asks me to indulge through my screen from thousands of miles away. When I make a dish like yours, it's not done until the pasta on top and around the edges is a bit browned and crunchy like yours. Michael Stern, who is one of the early authors of food books and the founder of the Roadfood.com website, agrees with us. Sadly, he's retired now, but used to write rhapsodically about crispy macaroni and cheese, and many other delicious things. I could always relate.
  5. I roasted a Cornish hen with Adobo and rosemary and served it with corn on the cob. I also made a fresh fruit salad with strawberries, cherries, nectarine and apricot, and topped it with a dollop of honey sweetened sour cream.
  6. @KennethT, Thanks your sharing your experiences with us. I wasn't going to "Like" your post about the donkey meat sandwiches, but I got so carried away by everything else, I couldn't help it.
  7. I have a light out there too, but it is behind me to the plants and casts my shadow on them. Snipping herbs without undue damage to your plant can be delicate work even in daytime, so a flashlight at night might be a good idea.
  8. I had a torta de carne asada with yucca frita and the husband had a grilled steak sandwich with (yucca) fries. He's not aware he had anything Latin American, and I got to have what I wanted, so everyone is happy. What could be better? I sliced the leftover porterhouse very thinly. Most of it was the strip side, and there was little waste because it had already been very aggressively trimmed by the butcher. There was only a very thin 3" long and 1/4" thick piece of bone that made the downward stroke of the T. It wasn't even connected to the top bone. These bones were frozen for stock. I piled the steak on a couple of buns made from split pieces cut from a purchased loaf of French bread. On the other side of the bread, I laid out slices of Muenster cheese. While the yucca fries were roasting in the oven, I sauteed white onion and green bell pepper in a little butter, seasoned with Goya Adobo and black pepper. After the pan of yucca fries was done, I popped the laid out sandwiches into the oven for long enough to melt the cheese. Then I topped the meat side with the onions and peppers and the cheese side with lettuce and thin sliced tomato. This is the first time I've worked with yucca and the second time I have eaten it. It was a learning experience, with a very promising first result, although, I won't claim my rendition was as good as the ones I ate at Alpaca Peruvian Charcoal Chicken, which were the inspiration for my wanting to venture here at all. I bought a 2-1/4 pound root from Costa Rica at the local Food Lion. It was the largest they had and I figured it would entail much less waste than the much smaller ones on offer. They are intimidating, and do not look like food, really. There's a barky-looking skin and it seems to be covered by a waxy substance which I wasn't able to determine in my research if that is natural or added by man as preservative. If you are interested at all, don't let the appearance daunt you. I was able to make short work of the waxy bark with just a vegetable peeler. I also made all the cuts on the root with my trusty boning/fillet knife, which I was unsure would be possible. I searched eG first to see what I could find on this new to me ingredient, but the only mentions here seem to involve ordering it out at restaurants. So I went out on the wild, wild web to see what I could find out about this vegetal beast I was determined to turn into something delicious. Guy Fieri had the simplest and seemingly most popular recipe on the Food Network site. It popped up first. He said just cut it up and put them in hot oil like potatoes. Mr. Fieri does not enjoy much popularity with me, so I decided to hunt further. Serious Eats had a Kenji recipe that insists they must be parboiled first. Further research all indicated parboiling, and this included Cuban, Brazillian and many other sites. A few places said that good yucca frita could be produced by parboiling and then oven roasting at high heat, and I decided to go that way. I think I may have over cooked my yucca during the boiling step a tad. Sites recommended between 15 and 20 minutes, so I went with 15. It was soft and a bit flaky, and I knew if I tried to shake it with oil in a produce bag, as I had planned, I would damage the planks. So I poured oil onto a baking sheet and flipped the planks around on there to coat and put in a 450 F oven for 30 minutes, turning once. Several sites said you must work quickly with yucca because it discolors when exposed to air. One site said you could refrigerate your parboiled yucca up to 3 days. I had more than I knew we could eat, so I have the excess in the fridge for later. My yucca frita was very good, and we scarfed down all but two of the planks for dinner. The leftover two will go with my husband for lunch tomorrow and he got about half of each of our sandwiches too. That Porterhouse will have made 6 good meals in all, so it wasn't as expensive as I originally thought. Oh, more notes on yucca. Several sites mentioned that there is a central woody string-like structure running down the center of the root. I found maybe a 2-1/2" string that looked like the photos on one site in the whole root that was over a foot long. I also found a woody structure shaped like an olive pit, you know, pointed on both ends and fatter in the middle, and rounded. It was about three or so inches long, and 3/4" diameter at its widest point. I don't know if it's because I chose such a large root or it was a mutant. Interestingly, Kenji, who is usually very thorough, had nothing to say on the fibers or woody structures in yucca. Edit: I just now realized that yucca is the source of tapioca pudding. I truly despise that nasty excuse for an edible dish. Don't let that put you off either. Yucca frita is better than french fries when made well. How could anything be better than french fries, you wonder? Yucca frita is. Really!
  9. @heidih, Thanks for that link. I didn't know about the NC Tomato Man, and he probably lives just a few miles from me. It's a long article, but the NPR audio podcast makes it effortless, and there is a lot of good information for those interested in gardening. His enthusiasm is infectious. I especially loved the tip about upping production from eggplant and pepper plants by growing them in containers to keep their roots warmer, like they love. There are also useful cooking and preserving tips here.
  10. @Ashen, I want that sandwich and I just ate dinner. That is a thing of fantastic beauty! What is Reaper Bacon? I Googled around including this site, but not much info came up. I did run across your photo of raw slices posted under the same screen name on thethehotpepper.com site.
  11. @IowaDee, Thanks for your not so dumb question. Thanks to you and @liuzhou, I now know a whole heck of lot more than I did about carp and koi.
  12. I'm eating a leftover popover split on the equator and toasted in the oven at 375 F for about 7 minutes until dry and crispy again. I took it out, topped with slices of medium cheddar, a little oregano and crushed red pepper. Edited: I put it back in the oven for a couple or three minutes to melt the cheese. Seriously good. Not ghetto pizza. More like uptown toasties. I did buy some English muffins on the last grocery haul, though, so those are in the future too. I always called them ghetto pizza, but I like the eG moniker of toasties. It just sounds classier.
  13. I only have a recipe for shad roe, and carp feed on small shad here. This recipe is from an older cook (now almost certainly deceased) who used to be head of the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star organization in NC, and it is for butter poached shad roe. The recipe comes from the book "Carolina Coastline Cusine", a 512 page fundraiser book project copyright 1991. The author of this recipe is Aline W. Carter, PGM, of Whiteville Chapter No. 211: Shad Roe Poached in Butter 1 pair shad roe salt to taste freshly ground pepper to taste 1/4 pound butter 1 T. finely chopped parsley lemon wedges Trim off excess membranes. Don't split the pair in half. Melt butter in a small skillet with tight fitting lid. Puncture roe sacs several times with a pin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add your roe, cover, and gently simmer about 3 minutes. Carefully turn roe with spatula. Place cover back on and let simmer 8-10 minutes. If roe hasn't split on it's own, gently separate. Place the pieces on two warm plates and spoon some butter over each serving. Dust with parsley and serve with lemon wedges. This is good, but shad roe or shad at all is seasonal and harder and harder to come by now. Here's a link to the only photo of cooked shad roe I can remember. This is deep fried. There used to be a really good write up of this fish camp, but Jane and Michael Stern sold out and retired and the site has been gutted.
  14. Hi, @Chris Ward, It's good to see you in the forum. We used to have a valued member here who lived and cooked in France. His name was Dave Hatfield, and he did three food blogs for us. Sadly, he is now deceased, but I really enjoyed hearing about his experiences. You may have come across them already, but if not, here are the links: one, two and three. I like them so much I reread them from time to time. I know I'm not the only one who here who agrees that we sorely him and his contributions.
  15. @ProfessionalHobbit, I was born in CA and lived there until I was eight with one jaunt to Queens Borough, NY in between. I have many fond memories, and am thoroughly enjoying your skillful photos of beautiful CA produce. Apricot photos would be most welcome, if you run across any. I could conjure up the smell of those from the tree I used to pick through my screen. I fell for some again recently in the NC grocery store again because they had a few blush spots, but I'll probably be disappointed yet again. Those folks are mighty proud of their fried dough! Those aren't even beignets! I have had them at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. Those in the photo look denser, and I've never seen any with granular rather than confectioner's powdered sugar. Hmmph. You were right to leave them behind. I don't have a tried and true recipe for beignets, but here's one I have used for sopapillas, and they came out light and puffy like the photos in the link. I used powdered sugar instead of the honey recommended in the link. They are much like beignets that way, but can also be stuffed with beans and cheese, meat or veggies after cooking. Edit: I halved her recipe because it was just the two of us and they don't keep well. Here's an excerpt from my comment to the author on Jan. 12 of 2015: "Thank you for this recipe. I bookmarked it a while back, and just got around to making it tonight. They looked just like your photos! They were delicious. After making more than one internet recipe that didn’t perform as advertised, I can tell you that this one will definitely not disappoint you if you try it. Next time I think I’ll use White Lily biscuit flour for an even lighter texture, and there will be next times for sure. :-)"
  16. @sartoric, Your roast pork really is "the other white meat". ("The other white meat" is from an ad campaign by the pork producers that ran extensively in the US, in case you haven't heard of it.) I saw it on your roast pork on dinner thread where it almost looks like chicken breast, but thought it was a trick of lighting or the camera. It looks the same in your above shot. I love the combination of veggies and applesauce with it. Your crackin's looked especially tasty too. Lovely dinner and lunch. Is your pork sirloin or another cut?
  17. The Food Lion had T-Bones and Porterhouse on sale for $6.99 a pound. I glanced longingly, but briefly at my preferred rib eyes. They were $11.99 a pound, so guess what was for dinner? A honkin' huge Porterhouse! It was an inch and a half thick and covered most of a 10-1/2" dinner plate. I got the best package in the case, but they were all packed with one Porterhouse and one T-Bone to a tray. The T-Bone (which still had a respectable fillet portion) was wrapped in plastic, overwrapped in foil and placed in a heavy freezer bag in the freezer in deference to its awesomeness for later. The only thing not cooked on the grill was twice baked potatoes which were coming to golden brown oozy, crispy cheese perfection in the oven inside while I was in the backyard manning the grill. First I grilled off zucchini planks and eggplant slices that were lightly oiled and finished with kosher salt after cooking. Then as the first of those were coming off and onto the warm platter, I put a halved nectarine on to lightly grill. As soon as that was done, I went inside with the platter and put it on top of the stove to keep warm while I grilled the star of the show. The only help it needed was a little salt and pepper and the charcoal treatment. This was a feast for us. There was enough steak leftover for dinner tomorrow. My husband claimed a small piece of fillet for his lunch along with a little of his leftover potato and the half of mine that was left. He also has two zucchini planks and watermelon, so he should be all set. Somehow he also managed to eat a piece of cheesecake for dinner. I put the remaining three slices in the freezer to introduce a little moderation. I want to sneak the steak into more Mexican food tomorrow. My husband sometimes think I cook too much Mexican. Whaaaaat? No such thing in my book. I know! I'll ask him if he wants steak salad or Mexican. He never chooses salad if given a choice.
  18. Fried flounder tacos for me and a burrito for my husband. I used finely shredded cabbage, queso fresco and fresh pico de gallo with jalapenos only in mine. We also had refried pintos with cheddar because I like it better than queso fresco here. Mine was drenched in Taco Bell hot sauce. I had leftover Spanish rice in the freezer, and heated that up too. I still didn't have room for cheesecake, but my husband had a piece and requested another for lunch tomorrow. Not to worry, though. I had a piece the night I baked it. Quality control is important! Oh, I also snacked on fresh cherries while cooking because I was starving before I ate.
  19. We had corned beef and cabbage casserole tonight. It's got mustard, caraway seeds, black pepper, onions, celery, milk, Swiss cheese and calls for mostaccioli. Since I had none or even penne, I used fusilli. I also made popovers after ElsieD posted a gorgeous specimen the other day, fueling an insatiable craving. My were not as beautiful as her husband's, but I am not one to let perfection stand in the way of the very, very good. These were so good, in fact, that we each ate two popovers and chose them over the cheesecake I made last night.
  20. I'd not heard of this before. I tried it several times, and it does not work for me. Interesting experiment, though. I guess the theory is that in order to move the thumb forward, the muscle in question must contract and become harder to the touch. I have unusually long fingers, so I observed that I can touch with index and middle fingers with the thumb in exactly the same position. The ring only requires a very small move forward, and the little finger requires an additional slight forward move of the thumb. The little finger also touches a lower place on the muscle unless I manipulate it upward with the other hand. Folks with shorter fingers may have better luck. I can feel the doneness of steaks on the grill even through the tongs, and since I usually cook for people who all like them Pittsburgh, I cook over a very hot fire. It's not really practical to touch the cooking meat under these conditions. Of course a thermometer is the best tool, especially if you are cooking for the occasional insane person who likes theirs well done. My brother-in-law is one such, but otherwise is a really nice guy, really! Well except for wanting his green beans cooked to morbidity.
  21. HungryChris, You're living in CT, but must have Southern ties. Perfectly ripe summer tomatoes sliced into white bread with just mayo is what I consider our summer signature sandwich. It sounds weird to those who have not experienced it, but it is so good. If the tomatoes are warmed from the sun, and just picked from the garden, even better. I'm not at all against the more common BLT, but if you can get really good tomatoes, you might be surprised how good a simple 'mater sammich is. I like lots of kosher salt and black pepper on mine.
  22. @Chris Ward, Welcome to eG, and like others here, I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures in food and the food culture where you live. I found this older link on sourdough bread, and it's a little wonky, with some links broken and images missing, but still contains a lot of useful information.
  23. @ElsieD, Very nice rise on the popover, and you just reminded me I haven't made these in too long. This will be corrected soon.
  24. I fired up the charcoal for a 4th of July cookout. After liamsaunt mentioned it being striped bass season and remembering that the fish market had some when we were in there recently, we selected a couple nice fresh ones this afternoon. The fishmonger filleted them for us but left the skin on as requested. I finally figured out how to keep fish from sticking to the basket. I oiled the basket well and then after patting the fish dry, I oiled them lightly too. There was virtually no sticking and cleanup was easy. They cooked up nicely and were very tasty with nothing more than salt and lemon. I also grilled some red bell pepper, sweet onion and zucchini. We had potato salad, corn on the cob, purchased bread and watermelon for dessert. I had a few toasted marshmallows. This was all washed down with iced tea, soda or beer. We are all very happy Americans.
  25. @rarerollingobject, Very cool! Thanks for the video, because my brain was trying to short circuit a little trying to figure out how the blossom-like cookies were formed with the straight-sided iron. They remind me of Scandinavian rosettes, which are made on a similar iron with different technique. And yes, yours are very beautiful, more so than rosettes.
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