Kicking back in Manitoulin

[Okanagancook]

49 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 Good morning I have already posted my breakfast photo over on the breakfast thread but here it is again.

 

  The egg was fried in a cast iron skillet proving that Kerry knows how to season a pan. This is not the new 12 inch pan but an older 8" pan.

 

 So here's your challenge for today. We have lots and lots if leftover rice. Kerry wants some golden fried rice which we had at a Japanese restaurant. She swears she tasted sesame but we are coming up blank on a recipe.

 

I want some Middle Eastern-style rice using leftover rice. 

 

Anyone?

 

Mejadra....I am looking at the recipe in Jerusalem.  Oh, but wait, it has lentils which may not be to your liking.  Dang.  You could always leave out the lentils and use the spicing and those crispy fried onions.

[Anna N]

28 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Mejadra....I am looking at the recipe in Jerusalem.  Oh, but wait, it has lentils which may not be to your liking.  Dang.  You could always leave out the lentils and use the spicing and those crispy fried onions.

Let me take another look.  I am certain I have made it before and didn't specially like it. Probably because of the lentils! But I'm trying. 

 

So tonight the plan is, vaguely,

 lamb shoulder chops which are ready to be SV'd (57°Cx120 mlns from frozen), braised romaine,  and leftover rice in some form or another. 

Since Kerry is on call in the emergency room one knows already that the best laid plans…

[Anna N]

Looking at the recipe (for mejadra) I'm not sure how well it will lend itself to leftover rice. I suppose one could cook the lentils and add the rice after.  Would definitely need to adjust the liquid accordingly.  Still debating this one. 

Edited July 13, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[ElsieD]

12 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Let me take another look.  I am certain I have made it before and didn't specially like it. Probably because of the lentils! But I'm trying. 

 

So tonight the plan is, vaguely,

 lamb shoulder chops which are ready to be SV'd (57°Cx120 mlns from frozen), braised romaine,  and leftover rice in some form or another. 

Since Kerry is on call in the emergency room one knows already that the best laid plans…

 

I've cooked loin lamb chops sous vide but never shoulder chops.  The few times I have bought shoulder chops I used them for stew.  How tender are they done this way?

[Shelby]

You could probably add different spices to make this more middle eastern, but I've been eyeing this recipe for a while:

 

https://smittenkitchen.com/2013/08/rice-stuffed-tomatoes/

[Kerry Beal]

 

Left over what I fed the child last night with a bit of the extra sauce. Orecchiette.

[Porthos]

5 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Since the span is a few hundred meters at most - you'd be going straight up and straight down on a bridge that high or it would have to start in Espanola and end in Wiki.

Stupid question. If the bridge were to be stuck closed, why couldn't the ships go through the gap between Manitoulin Island and Cockburn Island?

[Okanagancook]

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

I've cooked loin lamb chops sous vide but never shoulder chops.  The few times I have bought shoulder chops I used them for stew.  How tender are they done this way?

It really depends on the lamb.  We BBQ shoulder chops all the time but we get young grass fed lamb from a farm up the valley.  This lamb is very very tender.

[Okanagancook]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

Looking at the recipe (for mejadra) I'm not sure how well it will lend itself to leftover rice. I suppose one could cook the lentils and add the rice after.  Would definitely need to adjust the liquid accordingly.  Still debating this one. 

 

Yes, that's what I had in mind but did not communicate all that well.  The flavours are lovely.  You could probably reheat everything is the CSO then top with those dreamy onions.

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

I've cooked loin lamb chops sous vide but never shoulder chops.  The few times I have bought shoulder chops I used them for stew.  How tender are they done this way?

We are about to find out!  I have often treated shoulder lamb chops  just as I treat loin chop. I have found them to be remarkably tender. As I was researching time and temperature for shoulder chops, I found quite a discussion as to whether they should be treated as a tender cut or a tough cut.  I think just because a cow, a much older animal, has tough meat around the shoulder region does not necessarily mean a lamb is the same.   I will let you know later this evening. 

Edited July 13, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[Smithy]

When I think of lamb and rice, my thoughts go to a Greek treatment.  Lemon, garlic, onions, butter (or olive oil), parsley, oregano, thyme if you like, and some Aleppo pepper or an available substitute, if you like a touch of heat. I would start the lamb and onions in the skillet, add the garlic just soon enough to sweat it before adding the rice, then build a pilaf around it. In your case the lamb will already have been sous-vided and the rice is already cooked, but I think a clever cook like you could work out an adaptation with these flavors, if they appeal to you. Cumin and sumac are also good with this dish, but the cumin pulls it in a different direction.

[FauxPas]

On 7/12/2017 at 9:25 AM, Kerry Beal said:

 

Pea soup and bun from the variety store. Asked sheepishly if they had real butter and someone ran down stairs to get me some!

 

 

 

And some Hawkins Cheezies! My husband loves these things and when we go south to the US, he always packs a few big bags to bring along. 

[ElsieD]

8 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

 

And some Hawkins Cheezies! My husband loves these things and when we go south to the US, he always packs a few big bags to bring along. 

 

Good eye!  I missed those.  Hawkins Cheezies are the best!

[Anna N]

 

 

 

 Unfortunately it appears that Kerry is in emergency for the time being. I will usually wait for her but tonight the hunger pangs won.  I did not eat lunch so not surprisingly by 5 o'clock I was getting just a little peckish!

 

The lamb surprised me by being tender in places and tough in other places. It is quite a small chop so I would not have expected so much variation. 

 

I thought the rice was good. I fried a very thinly sliced onion in some olive oil until it was just beginning to colour, added some nice fat Thomsen raisins, added the rice and some Aleppo pepper and some Baharat. That Aleppo pepper sneaks up on you!  

( just got a text to say she's on her way home !). The braised romaine lettuce would have benefited from more  seasoning.  And because I am still a Brit deep down I had to have mint sauce with my lamb chop. 

Edited to fix multiple typos and to say that I topped my rice with some purchased crispy shallots 

Edited July 14, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[ElsieD]

Thank you for the lamb chop update.  Would you sous vide a shoulder chop again?  I'm with you on the mint with lamb although I like mint jelly with a bit of jalapeno jelly mixed in with it.

[Porthos]

I am going to SV a couple of 12oz shoulder chops next week to cut into cubes to go into an entree salad.I am thinking 57 C for 3 1/2 hours. I will let you know how that comes out.

 

My DW asked me to make this salad and I agreed to but she knows I am adding lamb to it.  Greek Tortellini Pasta Salad  (and, yes, I did word-process into my preferred format)

Edited July 13, 2017 by Porthos
Fixed a wrong word (log)

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, Porthos said:

Stupid question. If the bridge were to be stuck closed, why couldn't the ships go through the gap between Manitoulin Island and Cockburn Island?

That's basically the long way around - you would have to go back down the north channel and all the way around manitoulin - let me see if I can attach a map to show where the bridge actually is.

 

 

©James J Bousquet Realty Inc. 

[Okanagancook]

Was the meat in long strips by the bone the tough part?

[Anna N]

32 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

Was the meat in long strips by the bone the tough part?

 Kerry said her meat wasn't tough but I am so dentally challenged that unless it melts I consider it tough so perhaps it's a subjective thing. Certainly it was not inedible but for me I found the "eye", as it were,  the most challenging. 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

Thank you for the lamb chop update.  Would you sous vide a shoulder chop again?  I'm with you on the mint with lamb although I like mint jelly with a bit of jalapeno jelly mixed in with it.

 Yes. Next time I might go 24 hours just for the hell of it.   You can have my share of the mint jelly.

[Anna N]

Good morning. Another rainy, cold day on the island. I am starting to get most annoyed.

 

It's garbage day today which wouldn't be particularly noteworthy anywhere else.  But here it's an amazing experience. The garbage collector picked up anything that had fallen or blown out of the recycle bin and carefully replaced it.  He then emptied the garbage can and carefully turned it upside down on the edge of the road as if he  were handling his grandmother's china.  He carefully placed the garbage can lid on top of the upturned can so that neither would catch any rain.

My garbage collectors at the house destroy more garbage cans and recycle bins than is imaginable and they wouldn't dream of picking up anything that fell out of the recycle bin.  Kerry suggested it is because it's such a small town and everybody knows the garbage collectors!  

 Now back on topic. I decided not to have breakfast today because I'm not quite sure how the day is going to unfold. Kerry has been busy already before she went to the hospital making chocolate. I know we are planning a drive out to the Burt Farm  for a visit with Max and family [and the dog of course] and to see what he has in the way of pork and beef.

 

It is a fairly long drive  as the farm is down by Gore Bay so I suspect we will find someplace for some lunch.  Stay tuned. 

[Porthos]

11 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Now back on topic.

 

Garbage collection relates to food. You have to dispose of the packaging or you would run out of room to cook and bake.

[Kerry Beal]

Yesterdays perfect caramel - today's dipped on a cookie caramel, bark and bars.

 

 

 

Actually this caramel is day before - has standup but needed to be in freezer to get out of the mold.

 

 

 

[Martin Fisher]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

My garbage collectors at the house destroy more garbage cans and recycle bins than is imaginable and they wouldn't dream of picking up anything that fell out of the recycle bin.

 

Yep! Same here! 

[Porthos]

We have city-provided large trash barrels, colored coded for recycle, green waste and landfill, and they have attached, hinged lids and built-in wheels. Our trash trucks have grippers on a track that seize the barrel and run it up to the top of the truck and dump it. Unless you foolishly try to overfill one they do a great job of containing whatever is in them. You are allowed more than one each if you need them. We have two recycle barrels.

 

Anna, I didn't realize that regular trash cans were still in use anywhere. I most decidedly don't miss them.