Food in the time of a pandemic

[Darienne]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

 Have you looked at Goldbelly?    

OK.  So you mentioned Goldbelly, so I went to see what was what and found a photo of this incredible cake(?).  Please, someone tell me what it is.  It looks incredible.  

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, Darienne said:

OK.  So you mentioned Goldbelly, so I went to see what was what and found a photo of this incredible cake(?).  Please, someone tell me what it is.  It looks incredible.  

It looks like a cheesecake of some kind?  

[Kerry Beal]

8 minutes ago, Shelby said:

It looks like a cheesecake of some kind?  

Basque Burnt Cheesecake apparently 

[SLB]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

Which brings me to this:  Have you looked at Goldbelly?

I am looking now.  Actually, I am in study at Goldbelly.  

 

Thank you.  

[dtremit]

6 hours ago, haresfur said:

 

Kangaroo is very lean so pretty healthy, and low impact on greenhouse gases so I feel kind of guilty. I might try harder but my partner is not much of a red meat fan. I wouldn't say it's gammy, more like congealed blood. Steak is best cut thin and cooked fast. 

 

For longer-cooked applications I wonder if it would benefit from a Chinese-style quick blanch and drain?

[chromedome]

14 hours ago, haresfur said:

 

Kangaroo is very lean so pretty healthy, and low impact on greenhouse gases so I feel kind of guilty. I might try harder but my partner is not much of a red meat fan. I wouldn't say it's gammy, more like congealed blood. Steak is best cut thin and cooked fast. 

Some typos are more amusing than others. I know you'd intended to write "gamey," but given the size of the legs on a 'roo, "gammy" is pretty apt.

[Darienne]

14 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Basque Burnt Cheesecake apparently 

Thank you Kerry Beal.  Looked it up, its history and recipe.  Interesting. 

[kayb]

@SLB -- I'm wit' you. I want to sit down in a restaurant and eat something wonderful. Don't even really care what. 

[Darienne]

51 minutes ago, kayb said:

@SLB -- I'm wit' you. I want to sit down in a restaurant and eat something wonderful. Don't even really care what. 

Fish and chips for me. 

 

The closing of the restaurants meant little to me in that I was laid up all fall anyway and couldn't get out.  And Ed did all the cooking for at least two and a half months. And he's still doing most of it.  My contributions are often frozen ahead of time.   Now I am back making the important part of eating, the desserts.  The last meal out was fish and chips for our youngest's birthday in September, sitting on a picnic bench between the humble diner and the gas pumps with nothing else open in our area.  Ed and Ken, son, were in the shade...I was in the sun and roasting.  And we had the two dogs out of the car during the meal.  Wot larks!  (See Language et etcetera) We live too far from any restaurants to have the take out edible by the time it gets home.  

 

So fish and chips.  And inside a downtown restaurant.  Cod, if available.

[Jacksoup]

I am also tired of cooking.  At first it was an adventure with grocery delivery and meal planning.  Now it’s a chore.  I have access to all kinds of food for delivery and curbside pickup, but I just want to have a nice meal in a restaurant.  I did go to a ‘bubble’ friend’s house for dinner last night which was nice and food was good but I want a meal IN a restaurant.  Whenever we are able to and it feels safe to me, I have a list of local restaurants to go to.  That helps.

[jimb0]

to be honest i only ever go to restaurants to hang out with a friend, i almost never eat out in one just to eat. i'd rather cook at home since the quality is usually better. sometimes we'll go to the pub down the street and have a beer and split an app, but that's about it. of all the things over the last year, restaurants are probably the thing i miss the least; we've only even gotten takeout just the once, i think.

 

i don't begrudge them to anyone else, though.

[TdeV]

11 hours ago, Darienne said:

Thank you Kerry Beal.  Looked it up, its history and recipe.  Interesting. 

 

You found a recipe for Kerry's Basque Burnt Cheesecake? Do tell.

[AlaMoi]

mentally we try to do two "out" dinners a month. 

I do most of the cooking, from scratch, so it's a nice treat for me to sit down and order something that takes lots of detail and effort and have it plated up for consumption.....but only if it's really good.  nuked frozen stuff I can do at home.....

 

some of the best restos in our area have gone belly up - closed, not reopening....  pretty serious OMGs.

 

we simply have not been able to maintain a 2x/mo routine.  we did manage to sneak in a really super anniversary dinner between the cracks of 'closed' - 'partial' - 'somewhat' covid restrictions.

 

the good news is one of (my favs) restos that folded (Milton Inn) will be reopened by spectacular Chef Cindy Wolf of Baltimore fame.   she got biggie shoes to fill from prior - but I have mucho faith - she's good, really good....  lunch po' boys better than NOLA and/or DelMonico

[Darienne]

12 hours ago, TdeV said:

 

You found a recipe for Kerry's Basque Burnt Cheesecake? Do tell.

I simply typed in "Basque Burnt Cheesecake" into the Google subject headline.  I didn't examine any of the recipes carefully.  It's not something I intend to make at this point.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

56 minutes ago, Darienne said:

13 hours ago, TdeV said:

 

You found a recipe for Kerry's Basque Burnt Cheesecake? Do tell.

I simply typed in "Basque Burnt Cheesecake"

I did the same thing and read several of the recipes. If I were to make it, This is the one that I would try. First, it is the perfect size for my family and second, the author seems to have thoroughly tested and researched the recipe and ingredients. I'm not sure if I will make it because I really like the one that I make in my instant pot. But, it does sound good.

Edited February 3, 2021 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I did the same thing and read several of the recipes. If I were to make it, This is the one that I would try. First, it is the perfect size for my family and second, the author seems to have thoroughly tested and researched the recipe and ingredients. I'm not sure if I will make it because I really like the one that I make in my instant pot. But, it does sound good.

I'm not likely to make it soon, but I do love a recipe with a story and with explanations.

[TdeV]

7 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

<snip>
I really like the one that I make in my instant pot. But, it does sound good.

 

A recipe, please?

[Tropicalsenior]

52 minutes ago, TdeV said:

A recipe, please?

This is from my original post in Instant Pot multi-function cooker (part 5) in 2017. 

 

Instant Pot New York Cheesecake

Crust
3/4 cup any type of shortbread cookie (crushed)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup butter melted
Filling
16 oz cream cheese room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon peel grated
2 eggs room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1 pinch salt
Sour Cream Layer
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons sugar

Crust
Add cookies and sugar to the bowl of food processor and pulse a couple of times, until small crumbs form. Melt butter in microwave and add to cookie mixture. Pulse until just combined.
Pour cookie mixture into bottom of greased 8-inch cheesecake pan and press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the pan and no more than one inch up along the sides.
Place pan with crust into freezer for 20 minutes while you mix up the filling.
Filling
Blend together cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, flour, grated peels, salt and vanilla extract until smooth.
Add eggs, one at a time, lightly mixing until just combined. Do not over mix the eggs.
Pour filling into the pan, on top of the crust.
Add 1 1/2 cups of water to the bottom of your pressur cooker and place a trivet inside the pot.
Cover the cheesecake first with a paper towel and then with a piece of aluminum foil and loosely secure the foil.
Place cheesecake into pressure cooker.
Lock on lid and close Pressure Valve.  Cook at High Pressure for 40 minutes. Allow a 20 minute natural release.
After all pressure has been released, open pressure cooker and leave the cake in the cooker. Remove the foil and paper towel. Tilt the cheesecake pan and dab off any liquid that may have accumulated.
Sour Cream Layer
Whisk together the sour cream and sugar and then spread on the hot cheesecake.  Let cool inside the pressure cooker for at least one hour.
Tightly cover and place in refrigerator overnight.  Cheesecake can be removed from pan after an hour in the refrigerator.

Note: the gentler that you treat the ingredients, the denser the cake will be. If you want a creamier cheesecake whip the cream cheese sugar and sour cream together, but never whip in the eggs. This will cause air bubbles in the cake that you do not want!

As I said, I took the procedure and most of the recipe from this website: https://thisoldgal.com/pressure-cooker-new-york-cheesecake/  and it is well worth reading her instructions and tips at this site: https://thisoldgal.com/perfect-pressure-cooker-cheesecake-tips/

 

[liuzhou]

On 2/2/2021 at 12:11 AM, liuzhou said:

Is there actually a shortage of kangaroos or is it just lockdown preventing hunting/culling? Or processing?

 

Apparantly there is no shortage. Quite the reverse!

 

Quote

Each year, states set a quota that can be harvested for the kangaroo meat and leather industry. But the industry doesn’t kill anywhere close to the quota. In 2019, for example, the government data shows a quota of 6.2m kangaroos was set but 1.57m were harvested.

 

How kangaroos could be jeopardising conservation efforts across Australia

[haresfur]

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

Apparantly there is no shortage. Quite the reverse!

 

 

How kangaroos could be jeopardising conservation efforts across Australia

 

If only we could get people to eat more camel

[liuzhou]

3 minutes ago, haresfur said:

 

If only we could get people to eat more camel

 

I've eaten camel. The hump is fine meat!

[chromedome]

The marketing people need to get on that. We already have Meatless Mondays and Taco Tuesdays, and camel would be the ideal suggestion for Wednesdays.

[weinoo]

It's hard not to discuss missing restaurants and dining out, since we did it so frequently pre-pandemic. And a year ago this coming week, we were in Paris for birthday and anniversary celebrations. Probably just as Covid was spreading around the globe. So what to do this year for birthday and anniversary?  Probably order some fancy stuff (which I'll still need to prep and cook!) - I'm thinking Perigord truffles, wagyu, caviar. But who knows?

 

Yesterday was more like most days of the past year, however. I had bought a whole chicken, cut it up, and cleaned the freezer of a big bag of chicken pieces saved over the past few months; all raw stuff for a plain stock.

 

 

There's another quart to the side, so it was a good yield, after 4 hours on the stovetop in the largest stockpot I have (without going down to storage).

 

And a shopping expedition:

 

 

Don't worry - they came from two different sources, the baguette still warm so when I got home, I slathered a piece with Beurre Bordier and pretended I was in Paris.

[ElsieD]

That's one heck of a fine looking baguette.

 

Edited February 6, 2021 by ElsieD (log)

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

That's one heck of a fine looking baguette.

 

 

Indeed - the breads these kids are making are fine and dandy. Even if not exactly what one might get in Paris!