Dinner 2024

rotuts · October 6

wow. looks fabulous.

lucky you !

KennethT · October 7

17 hours ago, gulfporter said:

I heard about a pop-up of sorts and drove over to it (12 minute drive from village home).

It's a Mexican family set up on side of the road, Sat. and Sun. only. Opens at 11:30 and was told they sell out by 1 or 2.

They smoke borrego (sheep), lechón (suckling pig), chickens, chorizo, spareribs in a metal box. Years ago a Cuban told me the box is called La Caja China (a China Box).

Sells the meat by the kilo, boneless---he takes it out of pit, hacks it off the bone and weighs it as you watch. He asked if I wanted the sheep bone and he threw it in for free.

Crispy skin, tender meats.

I went overboard and bought 1/2 a kilo of lechón and 1/4 kilo borrego. After dinner we have enough leftover for a week of lunches!

I always thought La Caja China was a brand name. Many years ago, people posted about cooking in one on this forum...

Maison Rustique · October 7

Did not take pix, but last night my sis made me meatloaf, mashed taters and roasted baby carrots. It was wonderful to have some real food. I even had a tiny taste of wine, but not much as I think pain pills and wine are frowned upon.

YvetteMT · October 7

@gulfporter holy cow that looks fantastic. Id have said "one of everything!" and had the meat sweats for days.

gulfporter · October 7

7 hours ago, KennethT said:

I always thought La Caja China was a brand name. Many years ago, people posted about cooking in one on this forum...

I think it's like Kleenex and Jello.....both a brand name as well as part of common nomenclature no matter the maker.

For you DIY'ers out there, here's a website with instructions to build your own. https://www.instructables.com/Build-a-Caja-China-Roast-a-Pig-in-a-Box/

Tropicalsenior · October 7

25 minutes ago, gulfporter said:

I think it's like Kleenex and Jello.

From what I've seen, Latinos tend to name something after the first time that they have seen it done or used. My guess it is that it was probably some Chinese gentleman that rigged something similar to start selling meat to his neighbors.

The one that always baffled me was papel Chino, their name for tissue wrapping paper until I found out that the first tissue paper that arrived here was made in China.

Thanks for the directions for the DIY box. I read them faithfully and it is certainly doable but unfortunately I don't know 80 people that I want to invite over for pig. I wonder if it could be done on a much smaller scale or even in an oven.

Ann_T · October 8

@rotuts, Thank you.

Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up next week so all the grocery stores are stocked with turkeys.

Found a small one, just under 8lbs

and roasted it tonight for dinner.

Also made Serviettenknoedel.

A German style bread dumpling that I season the same way I season my bread dressing.

But this dumpling is wrapped in cloth and poached. Sliced and served with the turkey gravy.

Traditional sides, rutabaga, Brussel sprouts and of mashed potatoes and gravy.

**MaryIsobel** · October 8

1 hour ago, Ann_T said:

@rotuts, Thank you.

Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up next week so all the grocery stores are stocked with turkeys.

Found a small one, just under 8lbs

and roasted it tonight for dinner.

Also made Serviettenknoedel.

A German style bread dumpling that I season the same way I season my bread dressing.

But this dumpling is wrapped in cloth and poached. Sliced and served with the turkey gravy.

Traditional sides, rutabaga, Brussel sprouts and of mashed potatoes and gravy.

I love the look of your Serviettenknoedel, I'll have to try it. I won't be making Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in about 45 years. My daughter is getting married on the 12th, which is Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada. Fortunately, the catering menu that they chose leans toward a Thanksgiving meal, complete with a pie bar! I will probably buy a small turkey breast so DH and I can have hot turkey sandwiches as we recover from the wedding.

Edited October 8 by MaryIsobel (log)

haresfur · October 8

Not only was it sleazy Aldi chicken schnitzel, it was leftover sleazy Aldy schnitty. Someone wanted hers as a sandwich, but I turned a pouch of chicken gravy into a pepper sauce using Tasmanian Mountain Pepper.

I had been buying some ground from one company and never found it terribly hot. A while ago I bought some whole berries and when I ground them, they were extremely hot. So this time I proceeded cautiously and am now very confused because it generally wasn't very hot, except for some larger chunks. The flavour is not at all like black pepper. Interesting, it did have a bit of a numbing effect like Sichuan pepper. And it turned the sauce a nice pink. More research is needed.

Senior Sea Kayaker · October 8

Chopped leftover steak in a reduced mushroom and onion gravy with pepper jack on a toasted pretzel roll. I used some of my rehydrated king boletes along with the soaking liquid as a base for the sauce along with creminis.

Served with garden cherry tomatoes, cucamelons, pickled zucchini ribbons and fermented green tomato pickles.

rotuts · October 8

@Ann_T

another really fine plate of food.

love the idea of a ' stuffing dumpling '

dcarch · October 8

There was a discussion about not being able to vacuum seal a large bag using a regular home machine. I do it all the time. The picture shows how to bag a whole big pork shoulder.

There is a discuss about sous vide being not a good cooking method. I sous vide the whole pork shoulder, butt, picnic directly from frozen all the time. I don't know any other way to do it, absolutely no overcooked meat or undercooked meat. I also do whole frozen (small) turkey.

dcarch

Sous vided and smoked

Edited October 8 by dcarch (log)

**Smithy** · October 8

2 hours ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

cucamelons

I did a double-take when I saw your photo above, and had to go reread the text. Do tell more, please! (Or have you already posted about them in the Gardening topic somewhere?) What are they like? They're darned cute-looking in the picture. 🙂

**Smithy** · October 8

1 hour ago, dcarch said:

There was a discussion about not being able to vacuum seal a large bag using a regular home machine. I do it all the time. The picture shows how.

There is a discuss about sous vide being not a good cooking method. I sous vide the whole pork shoulder, butt, picnic directly from frozen all the time. I don't know any other way to do it, absolutely no over cooked meant or uncooked meat. I also do whole frozen (small) turkey.

dcarch

Sous vided and smoked

That. Is. Gorgeous.

Would you give a bit more detail please about the method? Time, temperature for both stages of the cooking?

Tropicalsenior · October 8

10 minutes ago, Smithy said:

What are they like? They're darned cute-looking in the picture. 🙂

I Googled them and I sure wish I could find them because I found this recipe for pickles that sounds delicious.

Senior Sea Kayaker · October 8

16 minutes ago, Smithy said:

I did a double-take when I saw your photo above, and had to go reread the text. Do tell more, please! (Or have you already posted about them in the Gardening topic somewhere?) What are they like? They're darned cute-looking in the picture. 🙂

Melothria scabra - Wikipedia

They taste like a lemony cucumber and are in the cucumber, melon and squash family.

They have a very small footprint in the garden and I'm growing them alongside pole beans.

Senior Sea Kayaker · October 8

7 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I Googled them and I sure wish I could find them because I found this recipe for pickles that sounds delicious.

If you can get the seeds (available from most suppliers) they should do very well where you live.

chromedome · October 8

44 minutes ago, Smithy said:

I did a double-take when I saw your photo above, and had to go reread the text. Do tell more, please! (Or have you already posted about them in the Gardening topic somewhere?) What are they like? They're darned cute-looking in the picture. 🙂

I was first introduced to them as "mouse melons," and still prefer that name.

YvetteMT · October 9

Halibut (cooked sv), peas, pasta and lemon ricotta sauce. (There is nothing pretty about sv fish that's not seared)

haresfur · October 9

15 hours ago, dcarch said:

There was a discussion about not being able to vacuum seal a large bag using a regular home machine. I do it all the time. The picture shows how to bag a whole big pork shoulder.

There is a discuss about sous vide being not a good cooking method. I sous vide the whole pork shoulder, butt, picnic directly from frozen all the time. I don't know any other way to do it, absolutely no overcooked meat or undercooked meat. I also do whole frozen (small) turkey.

dcarch

Sous vided and smoked

I would probably cut the shoulder in half and freeze in two bags, but that should work

dcarch · October 9

On 10/8/2024 at 9:31 AM, Smithy said:

That. Is. Gorgeous.

Would you give a bit more detail please about the method? Time, temperature for both stages of the cooking?

It was not very sophisticated, but carefully planned.

1. Check weather report for next 10 days, and day of party.

2. Deep cuts into pork and brush seasoning into cuts, and marinate for 48 hours.

3. Freeze pork for 48 hours.

4. Vacuum bag pork.

5. Sous vide pork at 141 F for 12 hours, 145 F for 8 hours and finish at 151 F for 8 hours. Refrigerate.

6. Night time outside temperature was 51 F, cold smoke pork for 6 hours.

7. Day of party, low temperature pork in BBQ with smoke tube 175 F? 6 hours. 200 F for 4 hours, finally 500F 15 minutes.

8. Pour boiling water over large ceramic platter to make platter hot, then plating and serve pork.

dcarch

Edited October 10 by dcarch (log)

KennethT · October 9

34 minutes ago, dcarch said:

It was not very sophisticated, but carefully planned.

1. Check weather report for next 10 days, and day of party.

2. Deep cuts into pork and brush seasoning into cuts, and marinate for 48 hours.

3. Freeze pork for 48 hours.

4. Vacuum bag pork.

5. Sous vide pork at 141 F for 12 hours, 145 F for 8 hours and finish at 151 F for 8 hours. Refrigerate.

6. Night time outside temperature was 51 F, cold smoke pork for 6 hours.

7. Day of party, low temperature pork in BBQ with smoke tube 175 F? 6 hours. 200 F for 4 hours, finally 500F 15 minutes.

8. Pour boiling water over large ceramic plater to make plater hot, then plating and serve pork.

dcarch

What does freezing for 48 hours prior to bagging do?

dcarch · October 9

9 minutes ago, KennethT said:

What does freezing for 48 hours prior to bagging do?

Very difficult to vacuum/bag/seal large wet meat without freezing first.

dcarch

Neely · October 9

9 hours ago, dcarch said:

It was not very sophisticated, but carefully planned.

1. Check weather report for next 10 days, and day of party.

2. Deep cuts into pork and brush seasoning into cuts, and marinate for 48 hours.

3. Freeze pork for 48 hours.

4. Vacuum bag pork.

5. Sous vide pork at 141 F for 12 hours, 145 F for 8 hours and finish at 151 F for 8 hours. Refrigerate.

6. Night time outside temperature was 51 F, cold smoke pork for 6 hours.

7. Day of party, low temperature pork in BBQ with smoke tube 175 F? 6 hours. 200 F for 4 hours, finally 500F 15 minutes.

8. Pour boiling water over large ceramic plater to make plater hot, then plating and serve pork.

dcarch

I do understand people like to sous vide and I have had pork done this way… very melt in the mouth,

( slightly mushy though I thought ) BUT I HAVE to say … that is an awful lot of trouble to cook a piece of pork when you could slow roast in the oven straight from the shopping basket. I truely don’t know why you would do all that to a beautiful piece of meat. Apologies for critical speak out, but couldn’t hold it in.

YvetteMT · October 10

Fried halibut and shrimp. No vegetables were harmed tonight!

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