I will never again . . . (Part 4)

[Darienne]

From April 13 from me:

 

"So it is turning into 'ONE OF THOSE MORNINGS'.  I then forgot to put the dasher into the ice cream mixture, leaving me with a ICE-100 bowl full of frozen mixture."

 

Did it again this morning although I caught it much earlier fortunately. 

 

And then there was the sugar burn from last week.  Where HAS my brain gone????

 

[Deryn]

Oh dear, Darienne. Hope the burn is healing .. those REALLY hurt (don't ask how I know). And thanks for the dasher reminder as I am probably going to make ice cream today or tomorrow. Progress not perfection - glad you caught it earlier this time.

 

My 'never will again' for today is ... I will never again (I hope) start making a cheesecake that requires almost 5 hours of 'supervision' at 9 p.m. at night. Mis en place and mixing time - 20 minutes max. Oven time .. on for an hour .. off for 2 hours .. counter time .. one hour .. then finally to fridge and bed at 2 a.m. :(. I am a night owl but that was too late even for me.

[Darienne]

No one will ask about sugar burns and no one will tell.  Sorry about the cheesecake episode...but just think...you got to see the new day in. 

 

I'm always careful about slow cooking pork; put it on early enough so that I will still have enough energy (and caring) at the finish of the cooking to shred the meat.   I pretty much always make Puerco Pibil and that means assembling a great bunch of bits and bobs earlier in the day than I am qualified to do so. 

[Deryn]

I should have mentioned the 'bright side' result of my late night ... the cheesecake (made more or less a la Great Dinners from Life) turned out beautifully. Delciious (which is too bad really) with nary a crack to be found (just one very slight dent where I touched it to check on its jiggly-ness during baking). Heavy. Dense. Very rich. Very caloric. Must be frozen in teensy squares and kept in someone else's freezer I think.

[DianaB]

ETA this should have quoted @Okanagancook's post from 22nd June up-thread, hadn't realised how many other entries came after that when first submitting!  

 

In my experience andouille and andouillette are two different things.  The first are fatter, when sliced you find concentric rings of pig intestine, this page has a clear picture of the inside:

http://www.keldelice.com/guide/specialites/landouille-de-guemene

 

Andouillette is more like the product described above, there is a picture here:

http://www.northernfrance-tourism.com/Regional-gastronomy/Produce-speciality/Andouillette-or-andouille-you-can-choose

 

With regards the former, in general I have found these disgusting but, on one occasion I was offered artisan made slices from Brittany and they were, to my amazement, more than edible.  The second variant is more likely to be enjoyable and in fact on one occasion we ordered them by chance in a restaurant and they were amazing, in a positive way, served alongside a gratin dauphinois.

 

Of course recipes might be entirely different elsewhere.  I had never heard of Mexican chorizo until reading this thread so it is entirely possible that sausages carrying French names are in no way comparable to the product one might find in France.  Despite my one positive experience I would need a great deal of persuasion to try another slice of andouille. In some parts of France you might call yourself an andouille if you do something stupid. Quel andouille can replace 'what an idiot'.  

Edited June 30, 2016 by DianaB (log)

[Arey]

5 hours ago, DianaB said:

@Okanagancook

 

Of course recipes might be entirely different elsewhere.  I had never heard of Mexican chorizo until reading this thread so it is entirely possible that sausages carrying French names are in no way comparable to the product one might find in France. 

What I wanted to try was the andouille as made by the descendants of French citizens who migrated to Eastern maritime Canada(Acadia) several centuries ago and were then expelled by the British late in the 18th century, and ended up in what is now Southern Louisiana. In other words a French type sausage as made by people who are thousands of miles and many generations removed from France.

  So what do I do? I buy it at a Cape May NJ grocery run by people of German stock who are known for their kielbasa.  Quel andouille !

Maybe I should mail order it. Anyone have any suggestions?

Edited June 30, 2016 by Arey (log)

[huiray]

On 6/21/2016 at 3:04 PM, Arey said:

So I have a frozen raw Mexican style chorizo I don't know what to do with (I did some intensive googling of it and didn't find anything that appealed), and what passes for andouille in Cape May Co.

 

Try this with the Mexican chorizo: see here, here, here (scroll down). I get mine from the Mexican supermercados (like this one) or smaller carnicerias (like this one); both places have house-made, aromatic, chorizo.  Do you have a clearly Puerto Rican place near you? Puerto Rican chorizo is said to be very similar to Spanish chorizo.

 

"Andouille sausage" in the USA indeed tends to mean a Creole-type "Andouille" where coarse-minced pork is seasoned with spices and other things then stuffed into the casings and smoked. Yes, different from "Andouille sausage" in France, and not the same, I think, as French andouillette either. The "Andouille sausage" that Smoking Goose here in Indy makes (which I get from its sister shop Goose the Market) is one of the most fragrant and appetizing sausages I know of. @Arey, perhaps what they produce might be a consideration for you?

Edited June 30, 2016 by huiray (log)

[SLB]

I will never again ignite some rum, or any other flammable liquid, in a small metal container that is not actually a pan and, most importantly, does not have a handle.  

 

Also, I will never again light anything on fire without closing the kitchen window, nice breeze be damned.

 

I may never again light anything on fire at all, actually.  I may stick to reducing to get the alcohol out.  

 

Let's just say, I made sure to say grace before that meal, when it finally happened . . . .

[kayb]

On 6/30/2016 at 8:12 AM, Arey said:

What I wanted to try was the andouille as made by the descendants of French citizens who migrated to Eastern maritime Canada(Acadia) several centuries ago and were then expelled by the British late in the 18th century, and ended up in what is now Southern Louisiana. In other words a French type sausage as made by people who are thousands of miles and many generations removed from France.

  So what do I do? I buy it at a Cape May NJ grocery run by people of German stock who are known for their kielbasa.  Quel andouille !

Maybe I should mail order it. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Arey, I've always found this place a good source of Cajun essentials, and people speak well of their Andouille. I tend to buy mine in bulk from a restaurant that makes their own. 

 

 

7 minutes ago, SLB said:

I will never again ignite some rum, or any other flammable liquid, in a small metal container that is not actually a pan and, most importantly, does not have a handle.  

 

Also, I will never again light anything on fire without closing the kitchen window, nice breeze be damned.

 

I may never again light anything on fire at all, actually.  I may stick to reducing to get the alcohol out.  

 

Let's just say, I made sure to say grace before that meal, when it finally happened . . . .

 

Ouch! Hope the damage was minimal!

 

[ElsieD]

I will never again use baking soda instead of baking powder when  making Norm Matthew's Korean Syle Chicken Wings.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I will never again drop the jar lid of powdered cayenne in the bowl of vinaigrette whilst preparing spicy roast potatoes.

 

[lesliec]

Well, they would certainly have been spicy ...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, lesliec said:

Well, they would certainly have been spicy ...

 

Indeed.

 

Quite lovely though.  I have spent over an hour searching for the author to give credit.  I have the Xerox of the recipe page from the author's cookbook in my hand.  It does not help.  I even had her book in my hands today at work!  She is better known as a TV personality and my colleagues make fun of me for following her recipes.  I just cannot come up with her name at the moment to save my life.

 

Disclaimer:  I don't cook anything else from her books but these wonderful potatoes.

 

[Darienne]

So three times this week I have dropped the lid of the small pepper shaker into whatever I was making along with a fair bunch of ground pepper.  The last shaker had a removable lid and top...this one you open the top bit...unless you are too tired and you simply take off the lid and let fly.  I should use gorilla tape and fasten the tape on.  Not too aesthetically pleasing...but useful.

 

 Not trying to one up JoNorvelle in the realm of stupidity...

Edited August 11, 2016 by Darienne (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@Darienne and @JoNorvelleWalker,

 

Don't you hate those new fangled one-piece spice shaker tops!? They have gotten me more than once too. I have to use a metal tool to flip up the flap to the shaker because it hurts my fingers and nails to try to do it by hand. I have saved some of the old-style spice containers with the removable plastic shaker lids with holes and a screw-off solid top. Wash them out and save the jars for when I buy one of the new-style and transfer the contents to the old-style ones. That is how badly I despise the new design, which probably saves the manufacturer .000000000001 cent per unit. 

[Anna N]

On August 11, 2016 at 2:52 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Indeed.

 

Quite lovely though.  I have spent over an hour searching for the author to give credit.  I have the Xerox of the recipe page from the author's cookbook in my hand.  It does not help.  I even had her book in my hands today at work!  She is better known as a TV personality and my colleagues make fun of me for following her recipes.  I just cannot come up with her name at the moment to save my life.

 

Disclaimer:  I don't cook anything else from her books but these wonderful potatoes.

 

Damn, Jo, you just can't tease us like this. 

[Anna N]

 I know all about never attempting to catch a falling knife but let me add never attempt to catch a falling pullman pan. Now I have two thumbs out of order!   One is a healing injury from earlier and now the other is bruised and battered and will be sore for a few days.   Could've been much worse. It was stored well over my head height!

[kayb]

....show up to serve my volunteer shift at the church soup kitchen without taking my own knives. I didn't think we had much in the way of knife work today; I had asked for the shoppers to have chicken thighs, or a combo of chicken pieces, thinking they'd get the bags of frozen pieces, while I brought big pans of dressing from a local mom-and-pop restaurant and we prepared green beans, sweet potatoes and gravy on site. 

 

The shoppers got packaged leg quarters, which I had to cut apart, as I didn't think we'd have enough to serve a quarter to each guest. (We never turn down folks for seconds, but we also have several regular patrons who are elderly and likely would not eat that much.) So, as we were going to be pushed for time, I went for what appeared to be the sharpest knife in the drawer...

 

My hands are still cramping, and some of the chicken looked as though the Texas Chainsaw Massacre star had had hold of it.

 

Tasted good, though.

[Okanagancook]

Nice that you volunteer your efforts!

[lindag]

I have experience that when we've rented vacation homes.  Always take a couple of good, sharp knives.  Renters will abuse the knives without any regard at all. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Burn my hand (from intense cold) due to the Joule-Thomson effect.  Twenty four hours later my hand is still red and hurts.

 

If none of this makes any sense think methode rotuts.  Thermodynamics and the kitchen is a dangerous combination.

 

[lindag]

I get prepared dogfood delivered in shipping boxes packed with dry ice.

Handling the packages of food creates an 'almost' burn and numbing of my fingers.

I think this is due in part to the fact that in my youth I suffered minor incidences of minor frost bite while skiing, skating, sledding, etc.

Note to self:  next time wear the gloves that I set out next to the freezer for this purpose when handling frozen foods for extended periods of time.

[Darienne]

39 minutes ago, lindag said:

I get prepared dogfood delivered in shipping boxes packed with dry ice.

Handling the packages of food creates an 'almost' burn and numbing of my fingers.

I think this is due in part to the fact that in my youth I suffered minor incidences of minor frost bite while skiing, skating, sledding, etc.

Note to self:  next time wear the gloves that I set out next to the freezer for this purpose when handling frozen foods for extended periods of time.

I have a pair of gloves very close by each of our two large freezers to make sure that I don't freeze my fingers or hurt them...painful injuries seem to be much more easy to get once the fingers are cold...  And my own rule is inviolate now having hurt my fingers...and always the more useful fingers on my right hand...so many times in the past.  I often wonder how I got to be so old and so brainless at the same time. 

[chromedome]

On 28/06/2016 at 1:58 PM, Darienne said:

No one will ask about sugar burns and no one will tell.  Sorry about the cheesecake episode...but just think...you got to see the new day in. 

 

 

At one point when I was in culinary school, we were working in the Pastry lab. It was sugar work, that day. We reheated discs of prepared sugar on a cut-down Silpat, in the microwave. After zapping it the prescribed number of times and seconds, you'd reach in, take the back of the Silpat, and use it to tip the reheated sugar out onto your own working Silpat. 

 

Yeah, I absentmindedly did it with my hand. The crust of the sugar cracked open and spewed sugar lava onto my fingers, and sent me at high speed to the opposite side of the room where the sinks and cold water could be found. Fortunately, the lab contained no elderly persons or small children to be trampled along the way. 

 

...and, just for the record, I *have* never done that again.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

When shaking my mai tai or the evening's mixed beverage of choice, I always wear oven mitts.  Always.  Why I thought to shake the much colder MR pressure vessel barehanded I do not understand.

 

Physical chemistry was never my strongest subject.