Kicking back in Manitoulin

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

 

Are these the good ones - all jumbled up and touching??  Perfectly cut then thrown in a pile?  The horror!  I can't look ... yet can't look away ... Kerry you're killing me, how much butter do you have to put in a thing before caramels can touch and not make misery?  Anna, can't you patiently line them up in rows or something?  How can you live like this? 

[Anna N]

I will let Kerry answer the questions about the  horrors of caramels touching one another but in my defense I have lined up some on occasion. 

 

On our way down to the Max Burt farm we saw a baby fawn on the side of the road and a little further on an adult. Both moved too quickly for us to get photographs. 

 

Whike Kerry and Max chatted and caught up with news I shopped!

 

 

Max raised his own cows and proudly showed us a photo of his latest calf on his iPhone. He operates his own fully licensed and regulated Abattoir  and makes all his own sausages etc.  he also has a smoker and does his own smoking of meats. 

We asked about Copper the dog who was nowhere in sight but he is apparently still alive and well and doing his own thing. 

After our visit with Max we drove down to Gore Bay for lunch. 

 

 

 

 

Lunch was at Buoy's. 

 

 

 A chicken club for me. 

 

 

and a pizza for Kerry. 

 

 After lunch we drove over to Mindamoya  to do some grocery shopping.  Given that this is Friday that was not a good move. The place was packed and the aisles are narrow.

 

 

 but we still managed to do some damage. 

 

 

[Anna N]

 

 An illusion of an Illusion of Victory.

Check the Tepache topic for more detail. 

[Tri2Cook]

24 minutes ago, Anna N said:

He operates his own fully licensed and regulated Abattoir  and makes all his own sausages etc.  he also has a smoker and does his own smoking of meats. 

I'd have fun there but my wallet would probably leave much lighter than it arrived. I look forward every year to the lady from the elk farm at the summer farmer's markets with elk meat, elk sausages and the thing I look forward to the most... cloth-wrapped chubs of elk summer sausage. During one of our conversations, I brought up the idea of elk bones for stock and the next time she was at the market, she had some for me. Brought me a couple smoked elk bones too. She said they generally sell those for dog treats but they're handled throughout the process in a manner where they're still fine for food use as well. One of those and a bunch of the unsmoked bones makes a mighty fine stock. Spending more with someone who loves what they do and does it well it always worth it in my opinion.

[rotuts]

@ri2Cook

 

" Spending more with someone who loves what they do and does it well it always worth it in my opinion. "

 

well said.

[rotuts]

wonderful Haul.

 

I was able to move the pic to the desktop and enlarge it to see the types of delicacies you have

 

but what is this :

 

[Anna N]

6 minutes ago, rotuts said:

wonderful Haul.

 

I was able to move the pic to the desktop and enlarge it to see the types of delicacies you have

 

but what is this :

 

Sorry. Things have been a bit hectic since we got home!  That is a blade steak. 

[Anna N]

33 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@ri2Cook

 

" Spending more with someone who loves what they do and does it well it always worth it in my opinion. "

 

well said.

 After we left the farm I mentioned to Kerry how much the two of them (husband and wife) must love their work.  It surely is a lot of hard work and they seem to be right into it. 

[Anna N]

 

 

 So this was dinner. Claggy polenta, khaki-coloured broccoli and some scallops in an orange rum sauce. 

 The polenta was cooked PIP in the Instant Pot, and the broccoli was cooked in the CSO.  Really not 100% sure what went wrong.

Edited July 15, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[Kerry Beal]

7 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Are these the good ones - all jumbled up and touching??  Perfectly cut then thrown in a pile?  The horror!  I can't look ... yet can't look away ... Kerry you're killing me, how much butter do you have to put in a thing before caramels can touch and not make misery?  Anna, can't you patiently line them up in rows or something?  How can you live like this? 

These are not the good ones - these are the ones I wanted out of the mold right away! Not concerned about them sticking together as they are going to be melted down and applied to pretzels. Sorry for causing angst!

[gfweb]

16 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

 

 So this with dinner. Claggy polenta, khaki-coloured broccoli and some scallops in an orange rum sauce. 

 The polenta was cooked PIP in the Instant Pot, and the broccoli was cooked in the CSO.  Really not 100% sure what went wrong.

 

That doesn't look bad at all. In fact it looks tasty.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 

 

 So this was dinner. Claggy polenta, khaki-coloured broccoli and some scallops in an orange rum sauce. 

 The polenta was cooked PIP in the Instant Pot, and the broccoli was cooked in the CSO.  Really not 100% sure what went wrong.

 

 

Looks great @Anna N except possibly the broccoli.  Much as I love my CSO I blanch broccoli briefly in a great deal of boiling water.

 

If I may ask, what is the definition of "claggy"?  You see I've been thinking about polenta since last night.  I read that the Venetians esteem fine white corn for their polenta.  That is my preference and I always thought that I was queer.  And how do you get your orange slices so pretty?

 

Sitting here with my mai tai nothing could be wrong with an orange rum sauce.  And those scallops really do look good.  Payday, and Amazon Fresh is calling out to me.

 

[Anna N]

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

Claggy basically means clings the roof of your mouth. This polenta would've made a very respectable  adhesive. I thought I followed my own directions for making polenta in the instant pot but something obviously went wrong. 

 

I have many perfectly adequate ways of cooking broccoli so that it stays green and toothsome.  This time I thought I would give the CSO a chance  to show its stuff. Whatever else it may be good at steaming broccoli is not its forte. 

 

The sauce was perfectly good but I tend to side with Kerry that very little should be done to scallops. But up here the name of the game is to try new things and have fun.  No regrets. No repeats.

 

P.S.

 Thank you for the compliment on the orange slices.  I was being paricularly cheffy  in anticipation of a cheffy meal and cut them and placed them on the plate before dinner.  Too bad they became the only cheffy element. 

 

Edited July 15, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[chromedome]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I've been thinking about polenta since last night.  I read that the Venetians esteem fine white corn for their polenta.  That is my preference and I always thought that I was queer. 

 

I learned to make polenta originally from an Italian friend, who hailed from Udine.*  He used fine white corn, and was scathingly scornful of the coarse yellow variety used to make "peasant food" (his words) in other parts of Italy. 

 

*Not far from Venice, and in its sphere of influence.

[JohnT]

The black African population in Southern Africa have been making it and living off it for centuries as a staple. But here it is called "pap" for the more porridge constituency and "stywe pap or Putu pap" for the stiffer version. Only white maize is used unless in times of drought, when there is a shortage, do they use the yellow and with great objection. It is a staple here and is served with some type of meat gravy or boerewors (farmers sausage) with a tomato, onion and herb gravy. Bugger, I am now hungry for some!

[Kerry Beal]

24 minutes ago, JohnT said:

The black African population in Southern Africa have been making it and living off it for centuries as a staple. But here it is called "pap" for the more porridge constituency and "stywe pap or Putu pap" for the stiffer version. Only white maize is used unless in times of drought, when there is a shortage, do they use the yellow and with great objection. It is a staple here and is served with some type of meat gravy or boerewors (farmers sausage) with a tomato, onion and herb gravy. Bugger, I am now hungry for some!

That would be cou-cou in Barbados - usually yellow corn - cooked with okra and served with 'butter sauce' which is tomato, onion and peppers 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Playing with cannelés

 

[Shelby]

Always wanted to attempt those.  I even bought a silicone thingy to make them in.  

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

[Anna N]

Good morning. A late start posting this morning although I have been up for many hours.  I was hoping to sample Kerry's  pastries for breakfast but I was too impatient to wait.  So I made myself some bacon, an egg and an English muffin.  

 

 

No sooner had I eaten this than the pastries came out of the oven.   It was a hard job but somebody had to do it and I managed to cram just one small one down.   Now I can barely move.   Kerry can be a very bad influence at times.

 

She has gone off to deal with some business at the hospital but sometime later today we have plans to make it to the flea market. 

 

Finally we have some sunny weather but word is it will be short-lived and we are back to rain again tomorrow. 

[Anna N]

 

 So I attempted the polenta again. This time I used someone else's recipe. It is only slightly better. However, Kerry has made her lunch with it. 

 

 

[Anna N]

@blue_dolphin

I know you used my recipe for the pot in pot polenta in the Instant Pot.  I believe it was successful.   Do you still have the recipe and can you share it back with me? Thanks.

[blue_dolphin]

10 minutes ago, Anna N said:

@blue_dolphin

I know you used my recipe for the pot in pot polenta in the Instant Pot.  I believe it was successful.   Do you still have the recipe and can you share it back with me? Thanks.

 

Here is a link to your post that I've used as a guide and those proportions (1:4) and cooking time (15 min high pressure with slow release)  

I reduced the amount of water slightly when I wanted a firm polenta for making a pie crust (1/2 cup polenta + 1 3/4 cups water) but otherwise, I've used the 1:4 ratio that you used.

 

Edited to add, I wonder if there is something different about this batch of dry polenta?

Edited July 15, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Anna N]

8 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Here is a link to your post that I've used as a guide and those proportions (1:4) and cooking time (15 min high pressure with slow release)  

I reduced the amount of water slightly when I wanted a firm polenta for making a pie crust (1/2 cup polenta + 1 3/4 cups water) but otherwise, I've used the 1:4 ratio that you used.

 

Edited to add, I wonder if there is something different about this batch of dry polenta?

 

Thank you. Yep I think you hit the nail on the head. Was one of my first suspicions. Using relatively fine corn meal here but did my testing with coarse meal. This stuff is lumpy and gluey. 

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Thank you. Yep I think you hit the nail on the head. Was one of my first suspicions. Using relatively fine corn meal here but did my testing with coarse meal. This stuff is lumpy and gluey. 

So disappointing!

I think I'd been using one sort of cornmeal my whole life, until I started playing around with the "Ground Corn" chapter of Deep Run Roots and learned how differently the various grinds respond.  Now, I give every cornmeal recipe the side-eye, trying to figure out which one to use!