Dinner 2021

heidih · December 2, 2021

Nice finish color. Both leg and gravy process appeal. Is that some ty*pe of berry sauce to the left?. You got this! Would you do it again? For just a section I prefer the thigh.

Anna N · December 3, 2021

3 hours ago, Paul Bacino said:

@Anna N

Those Aurora's / are whole skinless cherry tomatoes?

They are whole but I don’t believe they are skinless.

JoNorvelleWalker · December 3, 2021

4 hours ago, Duvel said:

Culturally, I have no connection to Thanksgiving and thus I had never really turkey other than a very few times in small, preprocessed (think minute steaks, shredded etc) portions.

Last week our supermarket had some turkey legs on offer (>2.5 kg each) and I bought one out of curiosity. SV @66 oC for 30h, only seasoned with salt, pepper, bay leaves and pinch of garlic powder. Crisped up in the oven brushed with goose fat for about 20 min. Bag juices boiled with roasted onion, thyme and heavy cream, strained and thickened with cornstarch and butter. Mashed potatoes and buttered peas. And a Moritz 7 beer.

Actually not bad at all … especially the gravy.

And how do you mash your potatoes?

Honkman · December 3, 2021

Typical lentil stew with carrots, leek, linguica, thyme, rosemary and smoked paprika. Finished with some goat cheese and a little bit of olive oil.

Duvel · December 3, 2021

5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

And how do you mash your potatoes?

With a potato masher until fine, then whisking to fluff up …

weinoo · December 3, 2021

15 hours ago, Paul Bacino said:

@Anna N

Those Aurora's / are whole skinless cherry tomatoes?

11 hours ago, Anna N said:

They are whole but I don’t believe they are skinless.

I just can't see canned or jarred cherry tomatoes without skins...I think the process would leave nothing but tomato pulp.

Duvel · December 3, 2021

13 hours ago, heidih said:

Nice finish color. Both leg and gravy process appeal. Is that some ty*pe of berry sauce to the left?. You got this! Would you do it again? For just a section I prefer the thigh.

Yeap, that’s Preiselbeermarmelade (lingonberry jam).

Yes, I would do it again. The turkey was moist, with a nicely crisped skin and the whole family agreed that the gravy was one of my best (although I thought initially the bag juices were not that special, but with the cream and the herbs …).

weinoo · December 3, 2021

Avert thine eyes, @Duvel (or anyone in your wife's family)...

Paella. Chicken thigh, mushrooms, and yes, a little chorizo. My liquid to rice ratio was slightly off (been quite a while since I made paella), thereby rendering very little socarrat. Peas and carrots on the side.

Paul Bacino · December 3, 2021

24 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I just can't see canned or jarred cherry tomatoes without skins...I think the process would leave nothing but tomato pulp.

Yeah.. that is what i was thinking too.. But.. thought maybe you could flash freeze, then a quick hot dip to de skin.

Tropicalsenior · December 3, 2021

36 minutes ago, Paul Bacino said:

Yeah.. that is what i was thinking too.. But.. thought maybe you could flash freeze, then a quick hot dip to de skin.

Maybe I'm just too lazy, but that seems like too much work for too little gratification. I feel the same way about peeling grapes. If I see veronique on a menu, I'm in. If I see it on a recipe I'm on to the next recipe. It must have originated back in Rome when they had slaves to peel all those grapes.

lemniscate · December 3, 2021

18 hours ago, Anna N said:

I find them quite a lot sweeter than most canned tomatoes.

Agree! I use the canned Mutti brand cherry tomatoes. They are sweeter and to me lack the "tinny" flavor of conventional canned tomatoes. I can't saw for sure they are skinless, I just can't recall noticing skins on the cherry tomatoes when I use it in sauce/cooking.

Anna N · December 3, 2021

26 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

Agree! I use the canned Mutti brand cherry tomatoes. They are sweeter and to me lack the "tinny" flavor of conventional canned tomatoes. I can't saw for sure they are skinless, I just can't recall noticing skins on the cherry tomatoes when I use it in sauce/cooking.

I agree with everything you say including the uncertainty about whether or not there are skins. And for once I don’t have a can in the pantry so I cannot check! But they are back on my grocery list so in a week I should know.

liamsaunt · December 3, 2021

39 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I agree with everything you say including the uncertainty about whether or not there are skins. And for once I don’t have a can in the pantry so I cannot check! But they are back on my grocery list so in a week I should know.

I can answer that! I use Mutti brand canned cherry tomatoes, and always have some in the pantry. They do not have skins. They are still whole, firmer than canned whole tomatoes, and come in a small amount of smooth puree/juice. I find them very useful when I am cooking things that need tomatoes for the flavor and color, but want people who dislike the texture of tomatoes that are not pureed (ahem, my niece) to be able to pick around them. I actually use them more in things like coconut curries than Italian style tomato sauces.

My sister got her covid booster shot yesterday, and asked me to make something easy on the stomach in case she got a reaction. I decided on a chicken soup based on a recipe in the Half Baked Harvest cookbook for spring chicken soup with poached eggs. It had ginger, onions, leeks, carrots, peas, and cheese ravioli topped with a poached egg. I used chicken broth but left the actual chicken out since my husband was out for a work function and my sister and I both like the vegetables in soup more than the chicken. I get my eggs at a local farm and they have super bright orange yolks.

Anna N · December 3, 2021

37 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

They do not have skins.

Thank you. Thank you. That was my suspicion but as pointed out by others it seemed illogical. In my mind’s eye I could see skinless, whole tomatoes but I did not trust this picture.
I wonder if it is a case of we notice what is there but frequently do not notice what is not there!

Dejah · December 3, 2021

On 12/1/2021 at 7:53 PM, Anna N said:

Thank you. Although it looks crispy and it was quite delicious it did not have that “crackle” that you get with pork skin. I have tried dozens and dozens and dozens of techniques. I can get pork skin crispy and I can get chicken skin crispy but be damned if I can actually get duck skin crispy.

I get chicken wings really crispy if I sprinkle baking powder on them and cook in the Ninja Foodie (air fryer mode). I wonder if it would work for duck breasts...hmmm will have an experiment soon.
But the skin on duck breasts are thicker...hmmm...

Edited December 3, 2021 by Dejah (log)

Dejah · December 3, 2021

Trying to use up some of the shell fish in the freezer. Mussels are cooked, in white wine sauce, from Safeway. Clams, cooked, from Chinese grocery store. Australian shrimp meat from Safeway, and pickerel from Lake Winnipeg!
Bouillabaisse from a Weight Watcher's cookbook. It was a b**** finding fennel! Finally, an apple size bulb at Safeway for $4.99!

115864715_Bouillabaisse5878.jpg.83393a954fd5ca693104b67edecea772.jpg

Have found out that Giant Tiger seems to have chicken on sale often. This week, Granny's whole fresh chicken for $5.79, from 1.3 - 1.7 kg each. So instead of ordering fried chiclen from Popeye's (new in town!), I made my own Cajun seasoned fried chicken baked in the oven. It was good!

Always a chellenge when I ask hubby what to cook for supper. He such a smart aleck sometimes, always adding "bacon" to something. Last night was "Bacon Chop Suey", so that's what he got! Added a can of Fried Dace with Black Beans.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Dejah (log)

Anna N · December 3, 2021

And I think this is critical to the final product. I was hoping that other people would come forward and discuss expectations with regard to duck breast skin versus pork crackling versus chicken skin.

Dejah · December 3, 2021

Apologies for the size of the photos. Don't know what happened!

KennethT · December 3, 2021

12 minutes ago, Anna N said:

And I think this is critical to the final product. I was hoping that other people would come forward and discuss expectations with regard to duck breast skin versus pork crackling versus chicken skin.

Back in the day, I'd make duck skin crackers - I removed the skin from teh duck breasts prior to cooking them SV. I cooked teh skins separately SV until they got really tender, then put between 2 silpats and 2 sheet pans and into a hot oven - maybe 375? I don't remember... The duck skins wound up like a Shrinky Dink but got really crispy - but much more tender than pork skin would be - so it was like a delicate cracker. It was delicious, but much more delicate than pork skin would be, which makes sense because duck skin is much thinner than pig skin.

Anna N · December 3, 2021

55 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Back in the day, I'd make duck skin crackers - I removed the skin from teh duck breasts prior to cooking them SV. I cooked teh skins separately SV until they got really tender, then put between 2 silpats and 2 sheet pans and into a hot oven - maybe 375? I don't remember... The duck skins wound up like a Shrinky Dink but got really crispy - but much more tender than pork skin would be - so it was like a delicate cracker. It was delicious, but much more delicate than pork skin would be, which makes sense because duck skin is much thinner than pig skin.

You are correct, of course, in saying that dark skin is much thinner than pork skin. I should have clarified that I meant it is thicker than chicken skin. Which I still think it’s true although I do not have the means to prove it one way or another.

I might be tempted to try your method if I were dealing with more than one very small duck breast but that is too little ROI given my current ability to remain upright! But thanks very much for sharing that. I bet it is delicious.

KennethT · December 3, 2021

19 minutes ago, Anna N said:

You are correct, of course, in saying that dark skin is much thinner than pork skin. I should have clarified that I meant it is thicker than chicken skin. Which I still think it’s true although I do not have the means to prove it one way or another.

I might be tempted to try your method if I were dealing with more than one very small duck breast but that is too little ROI given my current ability to remain upright! But thanks very much for sharing that. I bet it is delicious.

It's a lot of work... I haven't done it in years for that very reason!