eG Foodblog Tag Team IV: Marlene, Dave, snowangel - Cold Turkey, Three Ways

[Marlene]

I don't think anyone here would ever beat you up for it.  We all have our addictions (as I crack into another Costco-sized bag of Tim's Sea Salt and Vinegar potato chips).  I'm just impressed that you admitted it!  And being able to get back on the wagon the second time, is just as important a skill as getting on the first time.  (That didn't really make sense, did it?  )

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Sure it did. Shows how addled my brain has become.

[Dave the Cook]

Wish me luck, everyone. I'm off on a seven-hour drive to Tampa. Marlene and Susan's meatfests have made me remember Bern's, which many people consider the best steakhouse in the country. If I behave myself on the drive down, maybe I'll treat myself.

See you later.

[Marlene]

No folks. The lack of nicotine has not addled Dave's brain so much that he feels the need to drive to Florida for steak. (at least I don't think it has). He's going for work and this is where the cuban portion of our blog will come in. Now that I think of it, a few suggestions for cuban dishes would be most welcome.

[snowangel]

Breakfast photos, finally. Things have gotten busy.

As I said, Eggs Benedict. It is a production, and I haven't made them in ages. I did make some notes on a recipe card about streamlinging the whole thing.

I don't particularly care for Canadian Bacon, or rather I should say I prefer other things, and I had a package of this in the freezer. The Miltona meat market reguarly wins blue ribbons at the Minnesota State Fair, and with good reason. Their breakfast sausage is another winner. On the stove in a skillet. (But, I usually cook regular bacon in the oven, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper).

Blender Hollandaise

I got this immersion blender on a whim about 6 months ago. It was an impulsive $14.99 purchase at Costco (clearance, I think), and I'd have to say I use it constantly.

Poaching eggs. This was interesting. I forgot and the first two were put into rapidly boiling water. Oops!

Not pretty. But, I fished as much of the junk out as possible, reduced the heat, and then it was easy.

I completely forgot to take a picture of the finished eggs sitting in the warm water bath.

But, I didn't forget to take a picture of my breakfast! These were really yummy, but I could only eat one. They are a tad bit heavy and rich.

I'm really liking my placemats. A Target purchase, the pink is reversible to orange, and the blue ones reverse to lime green.

I got a late start on breakfast, and could have done a better job of multi-tasking everything, so right after breakfast, it was time to start the smoking project. The turkey is on (more on that later) and now it's time for me to start "gently" reminding the kids that they promised ( ) to pick up the crap they've strewn throughout the house.

So far, so good today. I'm starting to want a cigarette, but not ready to kill for it yet.

[Marlene]

Nicely done Susan!

We totally forgot about our mimosas with breakfast. Better late than never though, and it makes a nice Sunday afternoon drink as well.

[Jason Perlow]

No folks.  The lack of nicotine has not addled Dave's brain so much that he feels the need to drive to Florida for steak.  (at least I don't think it has). He's going for work and this is where the cuban portion of our blog will come in.  Now that I think of it, a few suggestions for cuban dishes would be most welcome.

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Well, I would say go for Ropa Vieja. That is probably THE most prevalent latino dish in Cuba and Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

You want to serve that with Arroz Amarillo (Yellow Rice). And perhaps a side of Tostones (fried plantains). For both the Ropa Vieja and the yellow rice you will need to make Sofrito, which for lack of better explanation is the latino version of pesto:

http://www.daisycooks.com/pages/recipes_detail.cfm?ID=1 (Sofrito)

http://www.daisycooks.com/pages/recipes_detail.cfm?ID=8 (Ropa Vieja)

http://www.pryordailytimes.com/articles/20...ines/news08.txt (Yellow Rice Recipe)

If you wanted to turn Arroz Amarillo into an entire meal, brown some marinated chicken peices in the sofrito/achiote oil, then throw in the rice and cover the pot to finish the cooking -- you've got Arroz con Pollo, although there are many other variants to this dish:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1926,146181-235205,00.html

Another dish is marinated cuban slow roasted pork, but thats a major production. I did a pseudo version using pork loin that I marinated in a citrus marinade for several hours (Goya Adobo, orange juice, grapefruit pulp, lime juice, lots of garlic, chopped up green chiles, some hot sauce, black pepper) and simply pan-seared in cast iron and finished off in the oven. Its even better marinated overnight.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=82052

And to drink on the side... A Mojito, of course.

If you marinate and cook two loins, let one cool off overnight and refrigerate, and then slice it in the morning to make cuban sandwiches, along with some pickles, ham, swiss cheese and mustard, toasted pressed into a panini on French bread.

[Marlene]

Well I could do the Caribbean pork in Molly's braising book, but I was looking for something a bit different this time. A mojito definately.

I'll skip the fried plantains thanks.

[snowangel]

I'd rather avoid cooking a big hunk of pork on Wednesday since we're smoking butts on Saturday.

Jason, some tips on Ropa Vieja?

Edited to add: Never mind, I just read upthread.

[snowangel]

Is blue cheese dipping sauce just blue cheese, mayo and sour cream? Some garlic? Worchestershire sauce?

Turkey is coming along nicely.

Edited to add: to what temp should I take this? Breast only.

[Marlene]

I seriously want wings now. Maybe that can be tomorrow's dinner. I don't recall any garlic in blue cheese dipping sauce, but why not?

How about this one?

[snowangel]

One of those turkey help sites says to take the breast to 170. This seems high. I need help, in a hurry.

[Marlene]

I usually take a turkey breast to 160. 170 will certainly be well done.

[Dianne]

And I would likely haul turky breast off the heat at 150 and let it rest in a foil tent.

[CaliPoutine]

Well I could do the Caribbean pork in Molly's braising book, but I was looking for something a bit different this time.  A mojito definately.

I'll skip the fried plantains thanks.

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Marlene have you ever had fried plantains? I grew up in Florida and I ate them all the time, they are really amazing. They arent sweet at all!!

[jhlurie]

This has been a fascinating exercise the three of you have shared with us.

My question now is:  Does the food you eat taste any different now?  Are you hungry for more of it already, or has there not been enough time for your metabolism to slow down?

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Because I've fallen off the wagon a few times, I'm not sure my taste buds have had a chance to adjust.  Certainly though, my sense of smell is sharper.  (I can smell a smoker 100 paces away )

I've always liked salty things but these last few days, my taste for them has really increased.

I don't think I'm eating anymore, but that's a concious decision on my part.  Now if only I had the energy to go to the gym.  But, I'd rather sleep.

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I'm with Marlene -- I'm not eating any more, and there hasn't been a marked difference in the taste of things, but my sense of smell has picked up considerably. And yes, salt and crunch have taken center stage.

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A little basic research shows some articles out there which say that smoking does two things to taste buds: inhibits their function, and kills them outright.

Taste buds apparently regenerate every few weeks. As people age though the number of functional taste buds goes down from approximately 10,000 to about half that. Smoking apparently retards that even further.

So any "recovery" of taste you guys are feeling now would, in fact, have to be mostly olfactary, and only partially due to some previously inhibited taste buds recovering. But in a few weeks, when new tastebuds grow, it should be even more dramatic. I guess it won't be in time to be reported in this blog, but perhaps you guys can post some special final update elsewhere after the fact.

[snowangel]

I've not noticed anything yet with the tastebuds, other than a desire to eat really spicy or salty food. But, the sense of smell is definitely more acute.

Anyway, while I'm smoking (meat, that is), I gotta have a drink. No beer, but a bloody mary.

The bloody mary mix is just OK, nothing great. But, add some pickled jalapenos and some of their juice, and, way, way good.

[Marlene]

If it ever get down to visit you, I'll bring some spicy clamato mix. You'll love it. In the meantime, you could mix a little horseradish in the bloody mary mix.

Dinner prep soon. I jus woke up from my now seemingly obligitory afternoon nap. Time for cocktails which since it is a "school night" will likely be CC and coke for me and white wine for Don.

My son, who has developed an unexplained urge to watch the Super bowl, wants "game snacks". I knew I should have taken out chicken wings.

[fifi]

We have a restaurant here, Churrasco's, that serves plantain chips when you are first seated. You dip them in various things like the parsley/garlic sauce like they use on the steaks. (I think that it is actually called churrasco and that is what the steak is marinaded in.) The chips are crispy and obviously started with an under ripe, starchy plantain.

I have also had "fried" plantains where they started out ripe and sweet and I agree with Marlene. I would rather have Bananas Foster.

[Marlene]

Um, has anyone heard of a salmonella outbreak with bean sprouts? The bean sprouts I bought a couple of days ago for our stir fry didn't make it. So Don is currently out hunting for sprouts. If he can't find any, it could be an interesting stir fry.

But, the guy at Sobey's told him there'd been a recent outbreak involving bean sprouts and they haven't brought them back into the store yet.

[Anna N]

Um, has anyone heard of a samonella outbreak with bean sprouts?  The bean sprouts I bought a couple of days ago for our stir fry didn't make it.  So Don is currently out hunting for sprouts.  If he can't find any, it could be an interesting stir fry.

But, the guy at Sobey's told him there'd been a recent outbreak involving bean sprouts and they haven't brought them back into the store yet.

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Yep - it was quite a concern in Ontario recently. I thought it was e. Coli but I could have mis-heard.

Edited to add: It was salmonella see here.

Edited February 6, 2006 by Anna N (log)

[Marlene]

Shows how often I buy bean sprouts. Don is still hunting. I know Whole Foods has them so he's gone off to try there.

[Pan]

[...]One thing this blog has confirmed is my suspicion that the Society has a disproportionately large proportion of smokers compared to the population at large. The connection between food and smoking is pretty strong, especially among professionals.[...]

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Your reasoning is logical, Dave, but it's possible that lots of smokers and ex-smokers are attracted to this thread in particular. I'm not yet convinced that the proportion of smokers who are members here is actually greater than the proportion among the general population, though you may very well be right.

[Marlene]

We are now the proud owners of some organic bean sprouts so dinner can finally proceed.

Whew.

[Lori in PA]

"Stir-fry crisis averted -- return to your stations."

[Susan in FL]

[...]One thing this blog has confirmed is my suspicion that the Society has a disproportionately large proportion of smokers compared to the population at large. The connection between food and smoking is pretty strong, especially among professionals.[...]

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Your reasoning is logical, Dave, but it's possible that lots of smokers and ex-smokers are attracted to this thread in particular. I'm not yet convinced that the proportion of smokers who are members here is actually greater than the proportion among the general population, though you may very well be right.

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Ditto. I thought the same thing, Michael.

Thanks, Jason. We are overdue for Cuban. Those recipes look good.

I'm still really enjoying the blog -- right now, while watching the Superbowl, though I admit that so far I am more entertained by the food and drink commercials. I'm using my laptop and TV trays. Eating, drinking, watching TV, and playing on eGullet. What more could one ask for? Did anybody see the commercial for Burger King during the beginning of the game, where the people in their costumes turned into layers of ingredients on the burger?!

One of the things we're eating reminded me of you who are craving salty snacks. It's Triscuits with prosciutto. Fine quality is best, and we are using Parma tonight, but with this you can get away with using the supermarket brands of prosciutto. It is sooooo good.