Culinary Conversations

[PlainJane]

I love my enameled cast iron. I have several Le Cruset going on 30 years now …

[worth1]

I'll see how well this cheap one works out.
The thing is flawless and as flat as can be on the bottom.
I think many people don't realize you have to slowly heat up cast iron and don't quench it from hot to cold in cold water.
And metal utensils can hurt it.
It definitely is a product that needs respect.
Expensive or not.
I'm handling mine like a new born baby.

[Sue_CT]

Expensive isn't always better. I love my Lodge pieces and think they are very good quality. Its a beauty and I think you will get a lot of use out of it.

[worth1]

As mentioned in the cheap eaten thread I was going to make a pressure cooker chili.
Picked up two boneless chuck roasts.
And as an un tested addition I got a jar of bone broth and a box of unsalted beef broth.
Got some dried chilie peppers hanging around the house.
Plus another surprise or two.
Stay tuned for yet another variant of authentic Texas chili con carne.

This is going to be interesting to say the least.

[ponyexpress]

We were at Jay Peak, VT this weekend and on the way home, we stopped at a placed called Cajun's Snack Bar in Lowell, VT. Apparently it's founded by a guy from Louisiana and it's now run by his son. They're only open in the summer time.

http://www.cajunssnackbar.com/

We wanted to have some alligator, frog legs, and crawfish but they were all out by the time we went Sunday evening. Had some burgers (Swamp burger, Bronco burger), poutine, and some other stuff. Very good and inexpensive. There were a lot of people so it took about 40 minutes for the food to be ready.

Next time, we'll try to go early in the weekend so we can have some alligator/frog legs.

[ponyexpress]

I love my enameled cast iron. I have several Le Cruset going on 30 years now …

Same here. My first one (Le Creuset 5 1/2 qt round) I bought 25 years ago. It's my favorite pot. I have a few other pots that are still brand new and my wife wonders why I keep using the old one? Partly to keep the new ones in pristine, showroom condition. The other is that I just enjoy using my old true friend.

[worth1]

My cheap imported one seems to be holding up well.
Not to be disparaging to anyone that has bought the more expensive ones at all.
I simply saw the confounded thing and decided to buy it.

[ponyexpress]

My cheap imported one seems to be holding up well.
Not to be disparaging to anyone that has bought the more expensive ones at all.
I simply saw the confounded thing and decided to buy it.

As long as you're happy with it, that is all that matters. I've bought all of my Le Creusets on sale. My original one was from Kitchen Etc which went out of business. I think I paid $140 for the 5.5 qt unit which was 40-50% discount. The others I have bought at Williams Sonoma between Christmas & New Year for similar discounts when they're clearing out stuff like the 9qt mustard yellow oval.

I do have a 1 QT enameled CI pot from Cuisinart purchased at TJ Maxx Home Goods. The enameled coating is not as good as Le Creuset. Food sticks to it more easily and is harder to clean off.

[pepperhead212]

I have 5 enameled CI pots (plus some gratin pans), none of which I paid more than $40 for, and they are in almost new condition! The two I use the most I got in '84 and '85 - a 5½ qt and a 9 qt LC, which I got at a place in NYC, that had irregular LC pans (and others) dirt cheap! I got a 4 qt of Marlo Batali's line for $25 on Amazon (before he got popular, then unpopular!), which is as heavy as the LC 9 qt! Great for the round loaves of bread, and it came with a brass knob. And I have a 2 qt heart LC, and a 2 qt Fontignac (sp?), but the LC ovals are my most used, especially the 5½ qt. And only near microscopic color offs in the insides of the LC, but I'm sure someone would return them if they paid full price!

[Sue_CT]

I have LC and bought my first one at Marshalls. I have bought others, we have a LC outlet here so I got my last one there, on sale even at the outlet, and also At Williams Sonoma on sale or clearance. But I also have Lodge non enameled pieces that cost far less and I am very happy with the quality. I have seen some reviews of other brands and some do quite well and some not so well. Mario Batali I think was one that tested pretty well. Some they say tend to chip more readily. I would have to look at the reviews again. But there is no getting around it, no matter how good a sale it is, chances of finding LC cheap are pretty low. 150.00 is a darned good sale on LC, but its still a darned expensive pot.

[worth1]

[mention]pepperhead212[/mention]
I can't get my mind off the 9 quart one.

[worth1]

It's a bad day in my house.
I'm out of fresh garlic and onions.
Not hardly a day goes by I don't eat garlic and onions.

[pepperhead212]

It's a bad day in my house.
I'm out of fresh garlic and onions...

OMG, how can that happen??

Running out of onions could happen to me, since I don't grow them (except scallions), but not garlic. Late May, or sometime in June I might have to buy some garlic, if the garlic didn't store well, but usually I have excess! Peppers, OTOH, I simply can't run out of.

[worth1]

For some strange reason they don't have the strong yellow onions in the bag like I normally buy.
Just the red and sweet onions.
I really thought I had more onions but they simply aren't here.
The Mexican market doesn't have the red garlic i normally buy.
Hasn't for months on end.
Been using it faster so it doesn't go to waste.
Peppers no problem since I use them dried mostly and it's easy to get fresh up the street.
The dried paprika sauce I cooked into the red beans took the flavor to a different dimension all together.

[worth1]

Next installment for Saturday.
The no boil lasagna noodles suck in my opinion.
I took the word of people on YouTube as to how good they were.
Shouldn't have they aren't really cooks anyway.
The noodles go from dry to soft and slimey with no flavor.

[worth1]

The Great onion and garlic famine is over.
I purchased 9 pounds of the regular yellow onions in 3 pound bags and got some fresh garlic.
Also stocked back up on dried onion flakes.
Also replaced the oven ready lasagna for the real stuff.
I have a special dish I'm making today in the enameled Dutch oven and had to have this stuff.

[worth1]

Since I've been cooking with the sweet onions so long these strong yellow onions cooking down in the kettle are about to kill me.
That and a whole head of red hard neck garlic.
It's almost unbearable.

[worth1]

The Hatch chilies are in and I got some.
Doing something special with them involving cream style corn colby jack and cotija cheese.

This is working out nicely.
Don't shake the oven or the cake will fall.

20210824_172941.jpg

[worth1]

Who on earth would get nervous when they opened up their last pound of cumin?
Me that's who so much so I was rationing it.
The reason was the one pound section at the store was empty for weeks on end.
Well today it had the one pound jars back in stock and I got one.
Of course where I live it is called comino due to our Spanish influence in the region.
This stuff stores in the freezer very well and besides I go through pounds a year.

[pepperhead212]

I also put cumin on my list when I get down to my last half pound - I have 3 jars of the whole seeds upstairs, that I refill, but in my basement pantry I keep it vacuum sealed in with many other spices, as it keeps very well this way. I haven't noticed that missing in the Indian market - my source for the cheapest cumin, coriander seed, and many other spices. I buy those two in 500 mg bags - just over a lb. at a time.