I will never again . . . (Part 4)

JoNorvelleWalker · June 11, 2016

8 hours ago, kayb said:

The toe has now faded into the background, as I now have a broken tibia and fibula and a torn-up knee. Same leg. I'm contemplating mid-thigh amputation.

As kitchen duties will be suspended for a while, I will be counting on eGullet for my food fix for a while.

Please heal fast! I lost a fight with the dishwasher tonight and now have a purple hand.

Deryn · June 11, 2016

Never again will I buy local fresh clams and make clam chowder. At least I think that was the cause of a very awful night of 'up and down'-heaval. Tasted delicious but something didn't agree with me. Haven't had that kind of 'reaction' to anything since I was last pregnant 33 years ago. Luckily it seems to have been relatively short lived (I feel moderately better this morning) but in the throws of it all, it was far worse than the 3 month bout I had with salmonella many years ago. On the bright side though, the IP made great clam chowder including steaming the clams perfectly. Next time I will open one of the humungous (quart size I think) cans of clams I bought recently (never know when one - who lives alone - will have to make clam chowder for 40 - what was I thinking?) and forgo the 'fresh' ones.

Oh and the bars below this post are probably a notation that belongs in the 'Tech - Welcome to V4 - redux' thread. Just opened a window to reply to this thread (and didn't hit the 'break' button on the left side - I swear I didn't!) and one appeared so just for fun and giggles, I hit it intentionally a few more times. Nice pattern.

Edited June 11, 2016 by Deryn (log)

kayb · June 11, 2016

18 hours ago, Shelby said:

What???? Woman, how did you do that? I, too, hope you mend fast. Your garden needs you.

Was wearing a pair of wedge slide sandals. Tried to pivot; I moved, shoe did not. When my heel slipped off, rolled my ankle all the way over and down I went.

Really cute sandals free to anyone who wears an 8.5.

Okanagancook · June 11, 2016

Deryn, you could be developing an allergy to clams. My husband (who is 64) has always been able to eat mussels until a few years back we had some and he was distressed, like you. We thought he may have gotten a bad one so we had them again at a friends and it was worst. We thought that maybe Connie screwed up and it was a bad mussel. So, we had them again and within 10 minutes he was on the toilet and then shaking and vomiting. So no more mussels. But how strange, he can eat clams.

Deryn · June 11, 2016

Thanks for that insight/story, Okanagancook. Sorry to hear that your husband has been through all this too however and that his culinary world has had to get a bit smaller as a result. I hope the 'allergy' thing is not true for me but I will be wary from now on. Not sure how to test that out though other than to eat more clams (though I think, as I said above, I will opt for the canned version). After all this I don't know whether to keep or toss the remaining chowder from this batch that I put in the freezer (before I began to feel lousy - which was about 2 or 3 hours after I ate).

kayb - I am so sorry to hear about your accident too. I hope you will mend well and fast but that sounds like a very severe injury. Hope you are not in too much pain. I broke my ankle twisting it on landing from my first skydive many eons ago (I feel your pain and annoyance - laid me up for 6 months and 2 operations) - and can no longer wear any kind of heel as a result but I had been considering getting a pair of (low-ish) wedge shoes for 'special occasions' - figuring they might be more stable than a regular higher heel - till I read about your fall.

I recommend Keen sandals (more or less flat) with wide rubber soles and reasonable support once you are able to hobble around again. They are pretty darned stable but I would not go a party (other than a backyard bbq) in them of course.

eta: Read up about shellfish allergies and I guess I should go get a test done at the doctor's - just in case. Better to do that than try to eat them again if I am developing an allergy according to what I read. Do hope this is not the reason for this mess last night as I just moved to an area where seafood of all kinds was one of the primary enticers for me. If I can't ever have lobster again .. oh dear!

Edited June 11, 2016 by Deryn (log)

JoNorvelleWalker · June 20, 2016

...place a plastic ice cube tray down on a hot burner...a burner that had been left on since yesterday.

There is an air quality alert outside. There is an air quality alert inside as well.

Okanagancook · June 20, 2016

Over in the Garden thread I posted a picture of my garlic harvest drying on the floor of our garage until I could hang it outside.

Today, came home from shopping. Unloaded the groceries and as usual opened the garage door to put the SUV away. Driving in was ok until I felt the vehicle kinda slide. Only then did I realize I had RUN OVER MY GARLIC..... :sad: IDIOT.

Actually I was damn lucky. Only murdered 12 bulbs in total. Ran over the tops with most of the tires. I gathered up the carnage and washed them off. Net loss is probably only 4 or 5 bulbs. But now I have a bowl full of crushed garlic.....the search is on for recipes....hummm chicken with 40 cloves of garlic sound familiar. Sheesh.

Tere · June 20, 2016

If life gives you lemons....

**andiesenji** · June 20, 2016

I bought a bunch of "seed" garlic last fall and they sent me so much that I did not have room to plant it all.

Some was hard neck, some soft neck and I knew it would not all keep for months.

So I tried this recipe that a friend had recommended some time ago. Manil Jangatchi is pickled garlic that is absolutely delicious and quite different from the pickled stuff popular in the south.

P.S. You do need a jar that SEALS TIGHTLY because the "aroma" can escape from some screw-type jars.

Okanagancook · June 21, 2016

thank you andiesenji,

that looks interesting

most of my cloves are crushed in some way

I'm making garlic soup from One Good Dish; Garlic chicken wings for Happy Hour on Friday and the rest I froze after crushing it further.

kayb · June 21, 2016

3 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

Over in the Garden thread I posted a picture of my garlic harvest drying on the floor of our garage until I could hang it outside.

Today, came home from shopping. Unloaded the groceries and as usual opened the garage door to put the SUV away. Driving in was ok until I felt the vehicle kinda slide. Only then did I realize I had RUN OVER MY GARLIC..... IDIOT.

Actually I was damn lucky. Only murdered 12 bulbs in total. Ran over the tops with most of the tires. I gathered up the carnage and washed them off. Net loss is probably only 4 or 5 bulbs. But now I have a bowl full of crushed garlic.....the search is on for recipes....hummm chicken with 40 cloves of garlic sound familiar. Sheesh.

Confit it!

I rarely ever use whole-clove garlic any more, as I don't care for the taste of "raw" garlic. I get the four-pound bags of peeled cloves from Sam's (yes, I'm lazy), poach them in the IP in olive oil, and put them in the fridge covered with a layer of oil. They keep, and I use them from the plastic container, for months.

Porthos · June 21, 2016

4 minutes ago, kayb said:

I get the four-pound bags of peeled cloves from Sam's (yes, I'm lazy) ...

If I need whole cloves I will buy a head of garlic ... but ... (at the risk of being drummed out of egullet) normally I buy the minced garlic from Costco.

JoNorvelleWalker · June 21, 2016

I came home from the store with a bulb of garlic this afternoon. It's been years -- decades -- since I've had an SUV but, you know, it sure sounds easier than my mortar and pestle.

Martin Fisher · June 21, 2016

Just now, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I came home from the store with a bulb of garlic this afternoon. It's been years -- decades -- since I've had an SUV but, you know, it sure sounds easier than my mortar and pestle.

Thanks for the Crepes · June 21, 2016

@Okanagancook and others who have ever posted here, including myself. One of the advantages of experience and age is that we can often go into autopilot mode. This allows us to not have to fully engage our mental capacities while performing familiar tasks. There is a downside though. Sounds like you were on autopilot when the garlic massacre happened. Seems like you were lucky to have a relatively small loss. That's a blessing.

Recently, I stirred up a batch of fluffy dumplings to top a batch of chicken gravy. I have done this hundreds of times. My dumplings would not have been very fluffy if I hadn't realized at the last second, after scooping four dumplings into the boiling gravy that I had forgotten to add the baking powder, and that was only because a thought of looking forward to their fluffiness flashed into my otherwise disengaged brain. I was actually able to salvage them by quickly scooping them out of the gravy and back into the mixing bowl, adding baking powder and rescooping them into the gravy. I got lucky on that one.

A little earlier, I knew I was dealing with a weird 4-pound batch of grits, probably because it had more finely milled matter than any I had ever dealt with in 40 + years of cooking grits. I had read a tip here to stir grits or polenta into cold water against all package directions and granny advice. Unfortunately, the first time I cooked with my recalcitrant batch after reading this tip, I lapsed into autopilot mode and stirred them into boiling water as I'd done a thousand times. After fighting with the lumps which were eventually smashed into submission again, I made it a special point to try the cold water method. It worked like a charm. Why wouldn't it? When you make a slurry with cornstarch to thicken a sauce, you always use cold water and it never lumps.

I take comfort in that youngsters, including me, when I was one, have so much to learn about many things and make many more mistakes. Autopilot can be a mixed blessing, though.

Okanagancook · June 21, 2016

Yup, I was on autopilot alright.

My hubby recently too. Making bread and forgot to add the yeast!

Arey · June 21, 2016

I will never again buy chorizo from a grocery that doesn't know whether it's making Mexican or Spanish chorizo, and didn't know there were two types until I asked which type they were making. I wanted Spanish because all the recipes I see call for that type, and I wanted to have it with the saffron rice I make. Well, they're making Mexican (fresh) (uncooked) Chorizo, so I now have a cylinder of Mexican chorizo weighing over 1 lb. freezer and don't know what to do with it. and I need to decide before the Laughing Gulls migrate back down South in the Fall.

I also bought andouille while there because I've always wanted to try that. I don't know what anduille is supposed to taste like. but if that is what it's supposed to taste like I don't particularly care for andouille.

This all came about because the Atlantic City Press had an article on a small grocery down in Cape May Co. known for its sausages, Especially for its bratwurst and kielbasa. On the way there I stopped at the Cape May visitor information center for directions, ad there was a pleasant young state trooper passing a pleasant moment or two with an equally pleasant young (and attractive) woman. When I asked for directions to the market, the young woman pointed at the trooper and said "he's the one to ask" and he said "Your going for kielbasa" and gave me excellent directions which the young woman wrote down for me.

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.

I also bought some bratwurst and smoked Kielbasa and I know what to do with that and how it should taste. I'm still looking to try Spanish style chorizo and andouille, but I'm not going to look for it in Lower Twp. Cape May Co. NJ., or even Middle or Upper Twps. even if I read of places in those two twps. known for their sausages.

Edited June 21, 2016 by Arey (log)

kayb · June 21, 2016

1 hour ago, Arey said:

<snip>
I also bought andouille while there because I've always wanted to try that. I don't know what anduille is supposed to taste like. but if that is what it's supposed to taste like I don't particularly care for andouille.

<snip>

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.

Brown the chorizo, drain it if it's particularly greasy, and scramble it into some eggs, or use it in a quiche or a breakfast burrito. Also good with fried potatoes and onions.

As for the andouille -- can't go wrong with red beans and rice! My version, which is far from authentic Cajun, uses andouille, ham and chicken, tomatoes, and assorted spices. Pretty wonderful stuff.

Okanagancook · June 21, 2016

I wonder if the andouille is the French kind that is made by Cape May Co.

"Andouillette (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃dujɛt]) is a coarse-grained sausage made with pork (or occasionally veal), intestines or chitterlings, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings."

My brother has had and said it was dreadful.

Kayb has great ideas for the chorizo. Tacos too or mixed in with other ground meat for hamburgers with a twist.

Deryn · June 22, 2016

Spanish and Mexican (fresh) chorizo are totally different animals in my experience. One is cured and dried in casings, the other is often packed like hamburger and is 'fresh' as you know. I have used the Mexican version to make delicious stuffed poblanos (with corn, chorizo, rice, onions and a strong white cheese of some sort). I fry the chorizo till well browned and almost crispy, pour off as much fat as I can and mix with cooked rice, sautéed onions, fresh corn kernels - can use frozen if need be - and grated white cheese. I bake them in poblanos that have been charred, peeled and cleaned out. Yummy stuff. Spanish chorizo works well as a smoky and spicy ingredient in stuffed squid. Also yummy - and part of stuffings - but very different dishes.

Arey · June 22, 2016

The proprietors of the market I went to are of German stock. The andouille I wanted to try was the one used in Cajun cooking and I have no idea where the market got their recipe from. There is a large Mexican population in Atlantic County and there are two Mexican supermarkets in a nearby town plus little bodegas all over the place. So I figured if I went to one of the Mexican supermarkets I'd be getting Mexican chorizo, but somehow thought if I went to a market known for its German type sausages I might be able to get Spanish style chorizo. Also the Cape MayCo. market is 8 or 9 miles closer to my home and the drive down to Lower Twp. in Cape May Co, by way of the Garden Statre Pkwy is much nicer than the drive up the Atlantic City expressway to the Amish market in Williamstown. I had to go there the next day anyway to get bockwurst and you won't find a chorizo or andouille in the place, nor anybody who would know what you were talking about if you asked if they had andouille or chorizo.

Thank you for the suggestions on how to use the chorizo and andouille. Sice the most wretched hottest humid time of the year is about to begin, as I was putting stuff away I did ask myself why of all the sausages I bought, the only ones I knew what to do with required sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, hearty home made rye bread and outside temperatures in the lower 50s not the upper 80s.

pbear · June 22, 2016

Hey Arey. For recipes, you generally want fresh Spanish chorizo, not cured. It's usually hard to find. If you know how to make sausage, I can send you a recipe. In addition to the other worthy ideas for Mexican chorizo, two dishes to consider are queso fundido and tinga poblana. As for the andouille, probably just a bad recipe, as I don't think I've ever seen French style on offer. Have made and liked, but I like variety meats so it wasn't much of a stretch. Is Aidell's andouille distributed on the East Coast? It's pretty good for a commercial sausage.

And returning to the thread topic, one shouldn't be afraid to gamble when shopping. Safe is a rut.

JoNorvelleWalker · June 22, 2016

@pbear I am presently incapacitated by hiccups or I would agree.

Tere · June 22, 2016

You could also think of your Mexican chorizo as spicy sausagement and make a stuffing for a roast chicken with a Mexican twist?

lindag · June 23, 2016

On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 1:04 PM, Arey said:

I will never again buy chorizo from a grocery that doesn't know whether it's making Mexican or Spanish chorizo,

I had a very similar experience myself last week. Went looking for Spanish chorizo for a soup recipe I was making. Stores had the Mexican type but knew nothing about a Spanish style. I ended up buying it online - I actually was not surprised that there was none locally, it is a relatively small city.

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I will never again . . . (Part 4)

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