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Post by paquebot on Sept 16, 2020 21:28:09 GMT -5
Nothing special, bratwursts and kraut and potato salad. Kraut was mine from 2017 but brats from WalMart and potato salad from Pick 'n Save.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Sept 17, 2020 11:00:42 GMT -5
My big slow cooker died, but I have a cheap beef roast to cook. So this afternoon I will go back to the dutch oven method of making a pot roast. It's been a few years.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Sept 19, 2020 13:13:48 GMT -5
The oven roast turned out great, by the way. I don't like to run the oven that long (electricity $), but this method will work fine until I decide what to get to replace my big slow cooker.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 19, 2020 13:24:26 GMT -5
I decide what to get to replace my big slow cooker. I don't use my slow cooker very much but I do like it for a pot roast with potatoes, onions and carrots.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 23, 2020 18:29:59 GMT -5
Tried something new tonight and it was really good. Stuffed chicken breasts. I cut a boneless, skinless breast in almost half and then opened it like a book. I added some cooked spinach and some of my stewed tomatoes as well as a sprinkling of shredded cheese. I pan fried the stuffed chicken in a small amount of oil to brown both sides and then put the pan into a 375° oven until the middle of the chicken was above 165°. It was really yummy. Our sides were cole slaw and oven baked parmesan summer squash. Stuffed Chicken and Baked Parmesan Squash by Brownrexx, on Flickr
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Sept 24, 2020 9:41:17 GMT -5
Sounds great! I made Chicken Parmesan (not really authentic), which always goes over well with my bunch.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 24, 2020 14:09:54 GMT -5
Chili tonight with my frozen tomatoes and previously cooked dry beans from my garden.
I cook beans in either the Instant Pot or Crock Pot and then package them in canning jars for the freezer. Each jar is the size of a can of beans. Tonight I am using one jar of black beans and one jar of red beans.
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Post by spike on Sept 24, 2020 17:24:19 GMT -5
I made sausage gravy, biscuits and scrambled eggs.
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Post by paquebot on Sept 24, 2020 18:56:07 GMT -5
Corned beef with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Topped off with a made-from-scratch pumpkin pie. Not my wife's but one of my gardening partners.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by spike on Sept 25, 2020 8:30:42 GMT -5
Corned beef with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. ooooh!!! SO YUMMY!!
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Post by pepperhead212 on Sept 26, 2020 23:22:17 GMT -5
I didn't cook much today - finished off some leftovers, which I always have in the fridge, so I will have to cook soon! lol But I did replenish an ingredient that I always have on the door of the fridge - hot oil! My method is to crush up some Thai peppers - about 2 1/2 oz, or about 1 1/4 cups, and put them in a bowl. Then, in a 3 qt saucepan (a 2 qt might be too small, as this foams up), heat a little over a pint of vegetable oil to 420° - not canola, as this hardens when cold, like olive oil. I then take the pot outside, as even with my commercial style range hood, the fumes can get bad! (Sometimes I'll use the side burner on the grill, if that is uncovered). After putting it on a brick, or something safe for the heat, I dump the crushed peppers in, then run! The temperature of the oil is enough to caramelize the peppers, and give the oil a delicious flavor, but not so hot they burn, since it cools, from the peppers cooking. Here are the darkened peppers, still cooking in the oil: Crushed peppers added to 420 degree oil, for Chinese hot oil. by pepperhead212, on Flickr When totally cooled, I strain it first through a fine metal strainer, let that totally drain into the bowl, then I strain it through this ultra-fine strainer. It slows toward the end, but all the oil goes through: Second straining of the hot oil. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Finished hot oil. by pepperhead212, on Flickr This year, I used all Jyoti peppers - an Indian pepper, much like the Thai peppers I grow, and when I used them in similar dishes, about the same heat, around 60-70k. The good flavor it gave in this was very similar, too, with the caramelizing of the peppers in the oil.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 27, 2020 16:51:56 GMT -5
Leftover chili tonight and acorn squash halves drizzled with butter and honey. Yummy.
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Post by farmerjack41 on Sept 27, 2020 19:02:34 GMT -5
Looks like Mac and cheese here tonight. Nothin fancy but fills the stomach.
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Post by bestofour on Sept 27, 2020 21:40:03 GMT -5
Made some vegetable soup last night and we ate it today. Yum.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Sept 28, 2020 16:55:24 GMT -5
We will be trying a slow-cooked pork chop dish, a very easy/basic comfort food. I'll serve it with with egg noodles, and veggies.
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Post by brownrexx on Sept 29, 2020 7:26:22 GMT -5
I cooked pork chops last night too. We also had a baked Lehigh Yellow potato from my garden and also some corn frozen from the garden.
It makes me happy to realize that almost every meal contains something from my garden.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Sept 29, 2020 21:43:24 GMT -5
I had some work done at the orthodontist today, so I made something soft - a sambar, made with okra, eggplant, and some tomatoes, from the garden. I used some tamarind powder as a shortcut, instead of the usual paste, so the hardest part of it was cutting up the vegetables. I did this in the instant pot - sautéed some onion in a little oil, adding the garlic, curry leaves, and sambar masala, and cooking about a minute, then I added the tomatoes, eggplant, and okra, plus 4 cups water, and 3/4 c moong dal. Salted it to taste, and added the tamarind powder (started with 2 tb, but ended with about 3 tb) then I slow cooked it 2 1/2 hrs, added 1/2 c brown basmati, and cooked another 1 1/2 hrs. Had to cool it to lukewarm to eat, but it was still delicious...and very soft to eat! About 12 ounces of tomatoes, chopped up for the sambar. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Eggplant, for the sambar. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Probably the end of the okra for the season, trimmed for the sambar. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Finished sambar by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by september on Oct 4, 2020 12:55:55 GMT -5
Picked so many green bells before frost, that I had to make stuffed peppers for supper last night. Forgot to take the picture til I was cleaning up the remnants.
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Post by brownrexx on Oct 5, 2020 17:48:32 GMT -5
Since I am still picking some tomatoes I am using them as much as possible. Tonight was BLTs with a beautiful Cherokee Purple tomato.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Oct 6, 2020 8:35:45 GMT -5
Simple grilled pork chops tonight, nothing fancy.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 6, 2020 21:58:53 GMT -5
Today I made a pasta dish in the Instant Pot, a one-dish in one of those free classes from Milk Street - Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Sage. The method worked great, even using a different pasta (they call for long pasta, broken in half, in the recipes I read), which I did. The seasonings are cooked briefly in the olive oil, then the tomatoes and water are added, it is turned off, the pasta is added, and it is pressed down, so all is submerged, then it is pressure cooked 5 minutes. The pressure is quickly released, then some of the sage is stirred in with some smoked paprika (which added a delicious flavor), and it is covered to rest 3 minutes. It is then served with some freshly grated pecorino, and a little more fresh sage. Ingredients for Milk Street's pasta with cherry tomatoes and fresh sage. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Sage, finished cooking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Sage, served with a little grated pecorino cheese. by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by brownrexx on Oct 7, 2020 8:38:03 GMT -5
I am looking for some new ways to use my butternut squash so last night I made butternut squash home fries which was sautéed onions, red peppers and butternut cubes. Then everything is simmered in some chicken broth until it is evaporated. 1/4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice and salt and pepper were the seasonings. It was NOT a successful dish. DH did not like it and I just thought that it was OK so I threw this recipe away. I think that using pumpkin pie spice was what we didn't like. HOWEVER the evening was not a total loss because I also baked a butternut in the oven, scraped the flesh and turned it into a pie which was really good. The seasonings were cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger which is slightly different than pumpkin pie. It also uses whole milk instead of evaporated milk. I didn't feel like making a crust so I bought a frozen one. We really liked this pie! Butternut Squash Pie by Brownrexx, on Flickr
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Post by octave1 on Oct 7, 2020 9:47:57 GMT -5
Cinnamon is a very difficult spice to use in savory dishes. It is usually added to sweet preparations, although some Asian curries, as well as the Chines 5-spice mix, include it in the blend. To me cinnamon+savory dish is a big no-no.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Oct 7, 2020 10:18:17 GMT -5
I have had savory dishes in restaurants that used cinnamon. But so far every recipe I have tried at home for a savory dish with cinnamon has been weird, and not in a good way.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 7, 2020 12:19:58 GMT -5
Cinnamon is a very difficult spice to use in savory dishes. It is usually added to sweet preparations, although some Asian curries, as well as the Chines 5-spice mix, include it in the blend. To me cinnamon+savory dish is a big no-no.I agree; in fact, for many years I did not like Indian food (and still don't like a lot of it) because it tastes like raw cinnamon was added to the dish, and it often was! And every garam masala I tried had raw cinnamon in it, as well as the rest of the spices being raw. It wasn't until I took the chance and bought an Indian cookbook - Mangoes and Curry Leaves - written by a couple - Alford and Duguid - that wrote a fantastic SE Asian CB Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, so I thought maybe they could make it "edible", and they did! They gave a recipe for garam masala, in which every spice was toasted separately, and the flavor was fantastic, with none of that "raw cinnamon" flavor in anything it was added to! Later, I found another CB - How To Cook Indian that had a lot more spice mixes (masalas), most of which had toasted spices, and I discovered that toasting the cinnamon and cloves took that "raw" edge off of the spices, and toasting the coriander, cumin, and fenugreek seeds gives them a different, and delicious flavor. And in some of the masalas, as well as many other recipes, some of the lentils, or dals, will be toasted, or fried in some cases, adding a nutty flavor to the dish. Through a friend of mine - another cookbook junkie - I found 660 Curries, which has some of the best recipes for the masalas that I have found, a few of which toss the spices with a small amount of oil, before toasting them, which gives them a totally different, and delicious flavor. A lot of Northern Indian cooking calls for adding whole, raw cassia sticks to dishes, and that destroys it for me. I found out from an Indian friend that many years ago those Indian restaurants that I tried were probably Northern Indian or even Pakistani restaurants as they also use the raw cassia in their foods. Southern Indian and Goan are my favorites - not only no raw cinnamon, as a rule, but a lot of garlic and hot peppers! I also found out that it's often better using what is now known as Sri Lankan (formerly Ceylonese) cinnamon, or "true" cinnamon, which is much milder, and breaks up easier, and grinds easier (cassia can break spice grinder blades). This is also best used in Mexican foods that call for cinnamon; there is a similar new world spice - Canella - that is also mild, which is why the true cinnamon is good to use in Mexican. When people put cassia in Mexican, it usually ruins it. Chinese 5-spice is very good, unless the cinnamon is overpowering in it, which I found is true, in some brands I tried. I discovered one (from importfood.com - also the source of my favorite fish sauce and Thai tea) in which the balance was just right - mostly star anise, but others, as well - and surprisingly, it is made in Thailand. I Don't use it often, so it is vacuum sealed, and stored in the freezer.
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Post by brownrexx on Oct 7, 2020 14:27:18 GMT -5
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Post by brownrexx on Oct 7, 2020 16:56:09 GMT -5
Today I bought lump crab cakes at the market and I made salads which included tomato, red pepper, radishes and carrots from the garden. My Fall leaf lettuce is still tiny so I used Iceberg. I also got out the electric spiralizer and made spirals out of some of my home grown potatoes. I coated them with olive oil and cooked them in the oven. They were really good and something different. I will probably spiralize some of my butternut squash soon and sauté it in olive oil. That is really good also. 20201007_172203 by Brownrexx, on Flickr
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Post by paquebot on Oct 7, 2020 20:03:19 GMT -5
Leftover spaghetti and meat sauce from last night but with a twist. Whole kernel corn was added. Told the wide that there isn't much that can't be improved by some corn or peas. Yes, even spaghetti!
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2020 13:58:02 GMT -5
Chicken thighs and dumplings with carrots, celery and small brussel sprouts all in there, no room for potatoes yet. Nothing fancy. Tomorrow will add red swiss chard and potatoes into the mix.
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Post by brownrexx on Oct 8, 2020 14:04:05 GMT -5
Soft tacos here and I just put some dry beans in the Instant Pot. I did this the last time and then just mashed them with a fork, added some salt, pepper and cumin and melted some cheese on top. Hubby loves refried beans and these tasted the same to me but without the lard for frying.
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