The Food Thread

[LadyCrimson]

^ Don't know if you're lactose intolerant but I find yogurt does well with mild stomach issues at least. Although it takes a while and you have to find the one that works well for you - they're not all equal re: those bacteria. I've had too many rounds of antibiotics and I feel like if I don't eat a small bit of "my" yogurt once every couple days I end up with all kinds of digestion ailments.

[ShadySands]

[bugarup]

Also relevant:

 

[Gromnir]

^ Don't know if you're lactose intolerant but I find yogurt does well with mild stomach issues at least. Although it takes a while and you have to find the one that works well for you - they're not all equal re: those bacteria. I've had too many rounds of antibiotics and I feel like if I don't eat a small bit of "my" yogurt once every couple days I end up with all kinds of digestion ailments.

am seeming to recall shady is having peptic ulcer problems.  as such, a small 'mount o' yogurt would help him with adding probiotics often recommended in an ulcer diet, but dairy in general is gonna result in acid production, which no doubt results in discomfort. a damned if you do conundrum, eh?

 

to our way o' thinking, an ulcer diet would be proof the devil exists.  have to forgo dairy, fatty and spicy foods? you must be joking.  for shady it must be worse than would be for us as alcohol is also largely verboten when choosing a diet to account for ulcer problems. tell us we need subsist on oatmeal and sweet potatoes or endure gut-wrenching agony? would likely choose agony, but is easy to say such as am not enduring such pain.

 

regardless, am suspecting shady would sacrifice some minor but significant body part if he could trade ulcer for simple lactose intolerance. just guessing.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[LadyCrimson]

^ Ah, yeah, ulcers suck. I knew two ppl who've had them - one was cured of it because it was that bacteria related type, the other still deals with it.  Only thing I ever had was a fair bit of acid reflux when I was younger but it seems to have gone away with age, or perhaps when I stopped drinking a liter of sugar-Pepsi a day, haha. Massive diet restriction is one reason why I refused to take those earlier anti-depressants doctors kept trying to push on me as a kid (MAOI's) - no soy/sauce? no cured/smoked meats? no pickled foods or sourdough? etc - no way. :D  (the other reason is because they made me sleepy and zombie brain dead)

 

Never thought about yogurt and acid. Unless they're super jam-fruity or something I don't have the belly to notice it I guess. Tomatoes on the other hand ...

Edited March 12, 2019 by LadyCrimson

[Gromnir]

 

 

Never thought about yogurt and acid. Unless they're super jam-fruity or something I don't have the belly to notice it I guess. Tomatoes on the other hand ...

 

am thinking the fat content o' most real or whole dairy is the problem, though shady and others would know far more than Gromnir.  as such am suspecting the occasional low-fat yogurt, though a vile perversion o' real yogurt, would be okie dokie for an individual suffering from ulcers.  in fact, a traditional remedy for ulcer symptoms is to be drinking a glass o' milk, which is kinda counter-intuitive if an ulcer sufferer is simultaneous told to be cautious o' dairy products, no?

 

am not claiming any kinda expertise.  however, have had ulcer sufferers as acquaintances lament the cosmic unfairness o' being unable to indulge in their love o' cheese. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

You probably know more about it than I do as I tuned out as soon as the doctor started talking and I still generally eat whatever I want just in a bit more moderation. I'd be lying though if I said I never avoid things that I know will make me feel bad but at the same time I feel like Ivan Drago when it comes to things like this.

[Gromnir]

You probably know more about it than I do as I tuned out as soon as the doctor started talking and I still generally eat whatever I want just in a bit more moderation. I'd be lying though if I said I never avoid things that I know will make me feel bad but at the same time I feel like Ivan Drago when it comes to things like this.

edit: removed image to reduce clutter

 

am guessing death is much easier than pain.

 

am not certain what is wrong with us o' late, but we haven't felt the urge to do any real cooking. as an example, breakfast, for almost two weeks, has been instantpot steel cut oatmeal (with freaking splenda no less) or bacon, cheese, onion and spinach frittata. lunch and dinner is no more interesting or varied. 

 

however, am making a seafood "stew" tomorrow.  is not genuine a stew as am cooking relative brief, but we call it a stew anyway. sue us. using monkfish and shrimp.  typical add squid but didn't like the look o' the squid offered to us at the fish market. capers, anchovies and kalamata olives help provide a depth o' flavor to the otherwise mild seafood choices. a few other odds and ends.  may need to substitute a smidge o' vegetable stock as am needing three quarts fish stock and only have ~2.5-- am making more than a couple servings o' stew.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited March 14, 2019 by Gromnir

[ShadySands]

Does anyone have a good pot roast recipe?

 

I don't believe I've ever made one and I've just browsing recipes online and thought to check here as well

Edited March 20, 2019 by ShadySands

[Gromnir]

Does anyone have a good pot roast recipe?

 

I don't believe I've ever made one and I've just browsing recipes online and thought to check here as well

 

basic pot roast

 

ideally, this is a two-day recipe, but doesn't need be.

 

preheat oven to between 250 and 300 F.  250 is probable best temp, but takes longer to cook already long meal, so am almost always doing 300.  sue us.

 

am favoring well-trimmed bottom round for pot roast 3-4 lbs.  connective tissue is your friend as that is what turns to gelatin, but fat turns to oil.  trim external fat but offer a prayer or two to the connective tissue gods. nice big chuck works fine, but tends to be more fatty and therefore oily.  oil is gonna be the stuff which %$#@ your gravy. simple rule o' thumb for bestest cut choice: select meat furthest from head and hooves.

 

salt all sides of the roast. kosher salt. be generous with salt, then add a little more salt.

 

am conflicted 'bout pepper.  pepper and then sear meat is stoopid, 'cause burn pepper ruins the pepper.  nevertheless, grandma did coarse black pepper along with the salt and so we typical do coarse black pepper as well.  still stoopid.

 

get a big dutch oven and heat up a couple T of vegetable oil. sear your roast on all sides.  avoid overheating oil, particular if you pepper your meat. don't wanna burn.

 

after searing, remove meat to a dish deep enough to collect juices.

 

now, brown vegetables in the same dutch oven you seared the meat.  what vegetables? classic mirepoix is okie dokie. 1 C each. chopped.  am actual preferring parsnips to carrot.  whatever. anything but bell pepper is gonna be worth experimenting with.

 

once veggies is tender and browned, add minced garlic-- five or six nice sized cloves, unless you really don't like garlic.  is gonna be a low and slow braise, so all that wet heat is gonna tame the garlic into near imperceptibility, so am typical adding more garlic than many recipes would recommend. be careful not to burn the garlic, but make sure you give it a minute or so to get nice and fragrant.

 

add 2C beef stock to your vegetables. scrape browned bits from bottom of dutch oven. bring to a boil.

 

add 1/4-1/2 dry red wine and alternatively:

 

2T sugar

 

or

 

1/4C raisins

 

or

 

1/4C chopped prunes

 

you ain't gonna be eating the prunes or raisins, so don't freak out.  all three options cut down on some acidity from the wine and the prunes and raisins add curious depth.  if sounds too weird, just use sugar and you will be fine.

 

return meat, accumulated juices, and a couple sprigs o' thyme (perhaps thyme and rosemary) to your dutch oven.

 

ok, you are gonna be braising, so this is where you add water until meat is half submerged for chuck and perhaps a bit more fluid for bottom round.

 

bring fluid to simmer.

 

cover your dutch oven with tin foil and then lid so you have a nice and tight seal, and place dutch oven in your pre-heated oven.

 

if you are cooking 300, then every 30 minutes remove the roast from the oven and flip meat before returning. if fluid level drops, add a bit o' water to maintain. keep braising depth is important to gelatinize connective tissue.

 

if you are cooking 250, then wait 1 hour and then start flipping every 30 minutes.

 

after a 90 minutes or so, start checking internal temp.  you want internal temp to be above140 ish for ~20 minutes.

 

when meat is correct temp, remove to plate and tent.  

 

strain fluid in the dutch oven to remove solids.  discard solids.

 

ok, now this is where you got two options.  one is the choice of good, and the other is the choice o' evil.  am typical going with evil, but is the wrong way to do this.  try right way at least once.

 

Light-Side Ending

 

find a deep dish which will hold your meat and maintain same/similar braising level you had while cooking. 

 

add all the strained roasting fluid to your dish... and wait 30 minutes for it to cool a bit.  (the reason why you aren't letting the fluid cool in the dutch oven is 'cause your dutch oven is designed to stay hot for a long arse time.)

 

now add your meat to your fluid, cover tight with foil, and put in refrigerator overnight.

 

there is a reason why pot roast tastes better the second day and that is 'cause it takes time for meat to fully reabsorb liquified gelatin back into the meat.  let roast sit in fridge overnight has two purposes

 

1) greasy fat will congeal when cooled and may be easily removed by scrapping solid fat from top o' fluid the next day.

 

2) resting in fluid overnight allows liquified gelatin to be fully reabsorbed into your meat.

 

next day, take roast from fridge and remove meat to a separate dish.  if you didn't clean your dutch oven from previous night, pour now hopeful grease-free fluid back into the dutch oven and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer.  you wanna reduce fluid by at least half.

 

meanwhile, put roast in oven and reheat... kinda depends on how fancy your oven is to best achieve.  doesn't matter, you want meat reheated w/o additional cook.

 

your reduced fluid, a true meat-based nectar of the bovine gods, you may drizzle direct over your roast, or you may use as fluid from which to be turning into gravy.

 

fin.

 

Dark Side Ending

 

who the hell wants to wait 'til tomorrow after you spent hours cooking today? hell.  

 

return strained fluid to the dutch oven and reduce by half.  serve fluid with your roast which you has kept tented after having removed from oven. 

 

you want real gravy? *shrug* use the ice cube trick to get as much fat as possible outta your meat juice and then use for gravy. otherwise, skip gravy 'cause your juice will be more than good enough.

 

don't need to be a jedi to know how this is likely to end

 

 

do whatever you want with vegetables and other sides.  doesn't matter 'cause the pot roast is the only thing on your plate which is gonna matter.

 

ok, this were kinda long... will look at it later to see if anything important were forgotten.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

ps extreme late edit

 

fork-tender is goal for pot roast.  internal temperature is a swell gauge, but real measure for doneness is when meat pulls apart easily with a fork. 

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by Gromnir

[Keyrock]

After having played through Yakuza 0, I now have a craving for takoyaki. Definitely not something I'll find in a truck stop, so I'll have to wait until I get home from the road to scratch that itch.

[Gromnir]

y'know, am having only made a small number o' changes to grandma's pot roast in decades.  we do change veggies a bit in our braising fluid.  might alter alcohol. herbs get added, reduced and changed... a bit.  is nevertheless, same process.  

 

would appreciate suggestions from folks who gots a different recipe or has ideas for punching up our pot roast.  have literal been doing ours same since we were early teens.

 

was curious to see other feedback shady would receive regarding pot roast, but is possible our long-winded post discouraged other contributions.

 

thanks in advance.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

I used everything pretty much exactly as you mentioned it but I used both carrots and parsnips and did go with the prunes over the raisins or sugar. Every time I think of prunes I flash back to the TNG episode where Guinan gives Worf prune juice. It's a warrior's drink!

[Gromnir]

I used everything pretty much exactly as you mentioned it but I used both carrots and parsnips and did go with the prunes over the raisins or sugar. Every time I think of prunes I flash back to the TNG episode where Guinan gives Worf prune juice. It's a warrior's drink!

 

prunes is our default... something we picked up from polish cooking as 'posed to star trek.  but am willing to give a tip o' the hat to guinan and worf.  if makes the pot roast a warrior's feast, so much the better.

 

am also moderate amused whenever we think o' prune juice.  prune is the dried plum, so to get prune juice, the dried plum needs be rehydrated. who even first thought o' doing such?

 

regardless, am glad the recipe worked for you, but if you got any input on how you would change for the better, don't hesitate to offer criticism.  as already noted, have been doing same basic pot roast for decades. am assuming there is room for improvement, but am kinda at a creative dead end on this recipe.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

The only thing I did differently was to add wine instead of water when the liquid got a little lower but I didn't need to add much and mostly did it because I didn't want to have an open bottle of wine around (and going to waste) and was channelling Gerard Depardieu from the Last Holiday. I don't usually like experimenting too much the first time I use a recipe but next time I make it I may be more adventurous but at the same time it came out so great, so...

[Gromnir]

well, next time you do make pot roast, let us know if you come up with any improvements.

 

thanks.

 

 

the perfect pot roast is a rare thing; you could spend your life looking for one and it would not be a wasted life.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

ps made eggs benedict this am.  last night we told our dining companion we were gonna make eggs benedict for breakfast.  while making eggs benedict, we were informed by our companion that hollandaise were not to their liking.

 

...

 

(count silent to ten slowly)

 

so we made a sharp cheddar mornay sauce as well. was all good.

Edited March 24, 2019 by Gromnir

[ShadySands]

Made some jerk salmon with pineapple-mango salsa and rice. I thought it was just decent but my wife is now all about that life.

 

Trying to decide if tonight is going to be pork chops or chicken breast.

[Gromnir]

have never made pork stock.  at any given time, 'tween freezer and fridge, we got one gallon each o' chicken, beef and veggie stock.  am gonna need make pork stock and try with our smothered pork chop recipe.

 

am not a fan o' chicken breasts, but is the meat most likely to be served at our table. breasts aren't much healthier than thighs, but we still reflexive buy breasts.  took care o' our sister for a few years when she were ill and she would not eat chicken thighs.

 

for chicken breasts, we often/typical quick brine.  chicken breasts don't need an overnight brine-- 15-30 minutes will suffice. have seen suggestions o' overnight brine o' chicken and am discouraging as is too much... do with coke overnight and your chicken tastes almost like ham.... which ain't bad, but is unlikely what you are expecting or wanting. grill? use coke, ginger ale, dr. pepper and even orange soda. tried grape soda once.  this was a mistake which will never be repeated.  am not certain what chemical reaction took place, but evil were spawned.  if misery were something you could taste, we came close to achieving with grape soda brine o' chicken breasts. vile. corruption. we found the place where culinary nightmares is spawned.

 

if am not grilling, then typical do salt + sugar + water + _________ brine.  

 

no brine? then chances are we do buffalo chicken sliders or somesuch.  pulled chicken cooked in a half-bottle o' franks or other hot sauce.  last five-ten minutes o' cooking am adding a bunch o' celery. serve on slider buns with crumbled bleu cheese or bleu cheese dressing. 

 

...

 

is gonna sound peculiar, but am most often toasting slider rolls/buns with mayo.  better than butter, the mayo makes for an easy-to-spread, liquid-impervious, golden-brown crust.  highly recommend trying mayo 'stead o' butter if you are ever making a particular wet sandwich or burger or whatnot.

 

aside, am not certain how other folks pound their chicken breasts (and other meats) to achieve something approaching uniform thickness... not that we ever bother making chicken breasts genuine uniform thick.  typical method we seen used includes plastic wrap, cutting board and one o' those metal or hard plastic meat tenderizer mallets. messy and awkward. have discovered if we put three big chicken breasts in a gallon ziploc bag, with open end o' bag falling into our kitchen sink, am able to pound the chicken flat with a rubber mallet from a hardware store. such a method reduces the chance o' spreading salmonella or various life threatening bacteria 'round our kitchen. mess is almost complete eliminated as we remove chicken from bag with tongs and then discard the bag. 

 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

I'll end up pan searing then broiling the meat either way I go it's more what the sides are going to be. I'm leaning towards some mac and cheese with the pork chops and some veggie pasta if it's chicken. Maybe go pasta with both and do a mushroom marsala sauce. Wife has some dietary restrictions that I have to work around :/

[Gromnir]

I'll end up pan searing then broiling the meat either way I go it's more what the sides are going to be. I'm leaning towards some mac and cheese with the pork chops and some veggie pasta if it's chicken. Maybe go pasta with both and do a mushroom marsala sauce. Wife has some dietary restrictions that I have to work around :/

 

am curious what shady does for mac n' cheese.  have never had much luck with a good stove-top mac and cheese, and bake mac n' cheese has us make enough for a small army... isn't a good side unless am cooking for at least 4... or maybe 8.

 

we also do something similar with chicken, but is sear in a cast iron skillet and then put in bottom rack o' a 400 degree oven to bake.

 

the thing is, while am not a mashed potatoes and gravy guy, am finding cast iron chicken breasts actual make for our best and most simple poultry gravy.  long time ago, kfc sides were kinda standard; if you ordered a family-sized bucket, you would get slaw, mashed potatoes and that weird kfc 'gravy.'  other than the fact we hated kfc gravy, the inclusion o' the brown gelatinous goop didn't strike us as odd 'til we got older and realized we never had much luck with deep fry anything + gravy, with the exception o' chicken fried steak + gravy. fry cube steak requires little oil, so is much easier to pull off good milk-based gravies... kinda closer to sausage gravy than poultry.  pan fried chicken, which ain't true deep fry, may result in nice gravy, but we fry our chicken in vegetable shortening, which also ain't the best fat for gravy.

 

pound our three boneless skinless breasts as mentioned earlier and then do a buttermilk 'brine' (to season the buttermilk, we go with a curious pepper medley:  add a combo o' black pepper, white pepper and a bit o' cayenne pepper) in the ziploc bag.  buttermilk is salty enough to work as a brine, but it does need an overnight soak though you may wish to add a bit o' salt, but not too much. next day, make sure to pat chicken breasts dry and then add 'em to a medium-high cast iron skillet with bout 1.5-2T bacon grease. just as bacon grease reaches smoke point is when we add chill chicken, which will cool the hot fat a bit.  flip chicken after developing a nice crust on one side, and then lower temp just a bit to keep bacon grease from getting to smoke point.  we don't quite need a finished sear after the flip 'cause will get nice and crusty on the bottom in the oven, and we don't actual wan't chicken seared to point it ain't releasing juice as it cooks. likely requires ~15 minutes to finish cooking in the oven.  

 

remove cast iron skillet and place on medium stove.  transfer chicken breasts to a plate from skillet.  your still-hot cast iron skillet is gonna be near dry, but is gonna have something like pure chicken resin sticking to the bottom o' the pan. stuff is almost the color o' root beer hard candy and has same glassy quality. whatever that stuff is, some alchemy o' bacon grease and chicken essence, it makes best starting ingredient for poultry gravy.  add a bit o' dry sherry (not cooking sherry) to the pan to deglaze and then drop a couple o' tablespoons o' butter into the pan, which will melt almost instant. don't let it burn. classic proportions for good gravy is 1:1 flour:fat.  as such, is gonna take a bit more than two tablespoons o' flour to get a nice roux.  make roux before adding fluid keeps your gravy from having lumps. immediate before adding fluid, throw in whatever herbs and spices you want for gravy. minced sage and thyme are good options, and have become enamored with white pepper for poultry.  (aside: white pepper is hideous stuff which when added to most foods smells a bit like sweaty gym shorts, but for some reason it works well with poultry.) if you wanna add a little more flour or butter, do it now, 'cause you don't wanna add flour or fat after fluid is introduced.

 

fluid...

 

chicken stock is fine and is what we almost always use, but if you got starchy water from either cooked pasta or potatoes, then maybe go 2:1 chicken stock: water.  reduce heat to medium-low and add fluid maybe 1/4 C at a time and will likely need at least 1 C, but probable closer to two C total. don't add too much fluid 'cause is too late to add more flour to thicken. patience. whisk gently 'til you get a slight watery gravy... fluid will continue to evaporate after you are finished and will thus thicken a smidge-- seeming perfect gravy will become a paste within a couple o' minutes, so a bit watery is actual ideal.

 

got yourself  nice gravy, which is particular odd to us as we never much considered gravy and boneless skinless breasts as pairing.  pan drippings from turkey or roast chicken is swell, but in our experience, butter works better for gravy than does rendered poultry fat. 

 

something to try if a person gets bored with boneless skinless chicken breast routine.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

Making jerk chicken and rice and beans. Simple recipe I picked up in Jamaica from our butler but it's idiot proof which is exactly what I need.

[Keyrock]

Why did it take me so long to try smoked salmon cream cheese? I knew of its existence for decades, but I always figured I wouldn't like it and just stuck with plain or veggie flavored cream cheese. I just tried it for the first time recently and it turns out that it's delicious. Who knew?

 

Shady, mind sharing that recipe? I freakin' love West Indian cuisine. Oxtail is my jam, but I do also love jerk chicken.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Keyrock

[Gfted1]

Lox and cream cheese is even better.

[Gromnir]

have come to the realization it is possible to eat too much bacon.  such a notion woulda' been considered sacrilegious by us 'til we began to reflect a bit.  we got three mason jars for bacon grease.  got an unmarked jar for the stuff we don't plan on cooking with at a later date... unless desperate. one is labeled applewood smoked. last is indicating _______ ranch dry cured, which is our gold standard bacon-- get it from a local guy who also provides us with eggs and infrequent with lamb and goat. 

 

all our jars is current topped off and it ain't as if we fail to use bacon grease often when we cook. 

 

maybe we need cut back a bit on bacon. dunno. is an alien concept, but will need give it some thought.  

 

...

 

am hearing duck bacon is an ok alternative, and lord knows we love our duck fat, particularly when cooking up potatoes. never tried duck bacon, but may give it a shot.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[BruceVC]

have come to the realization it is possible to eat too much bacon.  such a notion woulda' been considered sacrilegious by us 'til we began to reflect a bit.  we got three mason jars for bacon grease.  got an unmarked jar for the stuff we don't plan on cooking with at a later date... unless desperate. one is labeled applewood smoked. last is indicating _______ ranch dry cured, which is our gold standard bacon-- get it from a local guy who also provides us with eggs and infrequent with lamb and goat. 

 

all our jars is current topped off and it ain't as if we fail to use bacon grease often when we cook. 

 

maybe we need cut back a bit on bacon. dunno. is an alien concept, but will need give it some thought.  

 

...

 

am hearing duck bacon is an ok alternative, and lord knows we love our duck fat, particularly when cooking up potatoes. never tried duck bacon, but may give it a shot.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

I have tried  duck, turkey, ostrich  and beef bacon on my trips to the ME because all the hotels I stayed in never served normal bacon due to religious restrictions

 

For me all those  pseudo-bacons are definitely edible and  almost look like bacon but due to the lack of fat they lack the delectable and truly decadent taste of pork....nothing is a substitute for normal bacon    

Edited April 5, 2019 by BruceVC