Whatcha Cooking today?

[Tormahto]

Late tonight it was Bolognese sauce over thin spaghetti. Tomorrow it will be the same sauce as a pizza topping, as an experiment. If I don't post on Tuesday, something went horribly wrong.

[karstopography]

AE896C47-8EAD-4EEA-9F79-9CAFC2375EA7.jpeg

FCF7D6E2-628C-4023-85F0-F28C9C99B580.jpeg

A mead, with American Beauty Berries, Turk’s Cap Fruit and Tonka Bean.
The Tonka bean is a new addition from last year’s version of this mead. Last year’s was good, but I’m hoping the tonka bean adds some complexity and additional floral and spicy notes beyond what the beauty berries supply on their own. The must after the addition of one microplaned tonka bean definitely has a vanilla and pipe tobacco type of thing going on. Beauty berries have a chinese five spice fragrance, at least that’s what I pick up. Turk’s cap, more apples and pears.

I recently gave a bottle of my Magnolia Petal Blossom mead made last June to my daughter. I hadn’t yet had any, but she said it was fantastic, with a nice exotic magnolia nose upfront and a pleasant honey scented dry white wine finish. Saying things like that only encourages me to make more.

[Tormahto]

Tonka? With that first pic, I thought it was Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, the room where they mix the chocolate fillings.

[karstopography]

A7E0B183-299A-4309-B7F9-6A30EC71A05A.jpeg

[worth1]

So I decided to cook the rest of my shoulder roast.
Properly browned in the Lodge deep skillet.
Put remaining flour in with the oil to make a thin roux.
Added....
Chopped red onion and let carmalize.
Then
Chopped garlic.
Black pepper.
Salt.
Two chopped habaneros.
Let cook.
Added one who bottle of dry Sherry.
About 1/4 bottle marsala.
Stirred up.
Added dash of soy sauce.
Added beef.
Added one giant russet potato.
Topped with Chopped cilantro.
Put on low simmer to cook with Dutch oven lid.
No water Added.
Smells heavenly.

20220207_165212.jpg

20220207_165217.jpg

20220207_165553.jpg

20220207_170631.jpg

[Tormahto]

A7E0B183-299A-4309-B7F9-6A30EC71A05A.jpeg

I ain't asking how you got your hands on them.

[worth1]

Upon agreement by committee, it has been by unanimous vote to add a heaping handful of sweet smoked Spanish paprika.

[bower]

Fried rice a la hash of leftover duck. Lots of fresh ginger and garlic and cauliflower and carrots and peppers. Duckover duties are done.

[Tormahto]

I cook duck about once a year. I like it, but it is too strong and gamey to eat on back-to-back days. Every other day for 5 days (1st, 3rd and 5th) is enough for me. The reality is that I've never searched for recipes dealing with the leftovers, like I do with chicken and the usual 27 pound Thanksgiving birdzilla.

[worth1]

Dumping a whole bottle of wine might seem over the top but it's really the best way to cook.
Why dilute with water?
The beef and thick gravy came out moist and tender plus very flavorful.

[karstopography]

I have to order duck in a restaurant or wait until the wife splits town. Same for lamb. We ate a fair amount of duck growing up, the kind you hunt for. I liked the teal and wood ducks the best. They weren’t greasy, just good, but you had to watch for shot.

Wife made 5 chicken breasts in the crockpot on Saturday, we were still eating on it tonight. Boneless skinless breast cooked in Rotel and taco seasonings, then shredded. Served with guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, shredded queso, corn tortillas. Some modified with sour cream, cheese and cumin Refried beans. Seems like we could not make dent in all that chicken, but ran out of refried beans and guacamole, I had a couple of ripe avocados to sub in tonight for the 86ed guacamole. That’s the thing about a taco, you really don’t need or want a large amount of meat, a little goes a long way.

I could eat some sort of taco most every day.

[Tormahto]

I have to order duck in a restaurant or wait until the wife splits town. Same for lamb. We ate a fair amount of duck growing up, the kind you hunt for. I liked the teal and wood ducks the best. They weren’t greasy, just good, but you had to watch for shot.

Wife made 5 chicken breasts in the crockpot on Saturday, we were still eating on it tonight. Boneless skinless breast cooked in Rotel and taco seasonings, then shredded. Served with guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, shredded queso, corn tortillas. Some modified with sour cream, cheese and cumin Refried beans. Seems like we could not make dent in all that chicken, but ran out of refried beans and guacamole, I had a couple of ripe avocados to sub in tonight for the 86ed guacamole. That’s the thing about a taco, you really don’t need or want a large amount of meat, a little goes a long way.

I could eat some sort of taco most every day.

Refried beans - I picked up 20 30oz cans at WalMart awhile back for .59 each, knowing that I like tacos, but never made one in my life. I know absolutely nothing about taco shells.

Expiration date on the beans is mid 2024, so I have time to learn. The first recipe that I saw listed 1 can of refried beans. No mention of a 16 oz or 30 oz can. On to the next recipe.

[bower]

Duck and lamb have always been favorites for me, when I couldn't get caribou or turr.
The turr is extremely tasty and I haven't had any for many years, but duck and lamb are barely 'gamey' by comparison. It's a wow.
I went through a span of perhaps decades when I wouldn't eat any meat that wasn't game. The one thing I really don't like much is seal, which goes overboard on 'fishy' taste besides being very rich and a PIA to cook.
I agree though about back to back days. There are only a few dinners that I willingly eat two days in a row. I hate having leftovers in the fridge, because each day they don't get eaten I find them less and less appealing. Or they get forgotten by mistake and then have to be dumped. So I pretty strictly freeze the leftovers on the day they are cooked, to avoid that issue. No regrets about adopting that approach. Freezer at the best of times is full of all different home cooked meals that take minimal effort to prepare.

[karstopography]

I had to look up turr. I didn’t realize these murre were something people hunted and consumed.

I know a few people that really never buy any farm raised meat or fish and everything they eat on the animal protein side they shot or caught. We grew up with mix of game and store bought meat. Mourning and white wing dove are popular game birds here, although protected in many places, and I think are excellent table fare. Sand hill crane are another and are known as “the ribeye in the sky”. My favorite growing up were White-Fronted geese. We weren’t really raccoon or possum eaters. Maybe a wild rabbit or squirrel once in a while. Deer, elk, moose, yes. Lots of Gulf of Mexico fish. Cobia, Red Snapper, Amberjack, the idea was to catch your own. Blue crabs, that’s something that was an easy get from the shoreline fare. It was sort of expected that you got some of your own meat and fish.

My wife’s family, not at all, they were city people. City people didn’t hunt or fish or tend to consume wild fare. She never developed a taste for some of it, like whitetail deer or duck. She oddly likes dove a lot. She tolerates Axis deer. She wouldn’t get 10 feet from a rabbit or squirrel stew. She likes the wild caught local fish so I focus on those.

[worth1]

@karstopography
Oddly enough my wife was raised on all manner of crap out of the frozen section of the grocery store.
But she would eat anything I shot or caught including, well anything.
She adopted my country upbringing with enthusiasm.
She even pulled a live rescue opossum out of a box I brought home from work.
Oh look, it's a opossum.
She had it behind the neck hissing away with not a care in the world.
Well any who.
I added some Yukon gold potatoes that needed attention to my beef stuff I made yesterday.

[karstopography]

Last night, we once again made the mayonnaise Parmesan topped baked redfish. This time, we served it up with a side dish of one head of Big Flat Head cabbage sliced into a slaw and served with a warm crisp crumbled bacon apple cider vinegar dressing. The cabbage gets cooked for a few minutes so that the stems are still a little crunchy, but the tender leaves are a wilted down some.

Big flat head cabbage is my new favorite cabbage. Such a tender and sweet cabbage. Sadly, I only have one head out in the garden that remains. The redfish as usual was wonderful. One key is to not overcook the fish.

[Tormahto]

Duck and lamb have always been favorites for me, when I couldn't get caribou or turr.
The turr is extremely tasty and I haven't had any for many years, but duck and lamb are barely 'gamey' by comparison. It's a wow.
I went through a span of perhaps decades when I wouldn't eat any meat that wasn't game. The one thing I really don't like much is seal, which goes overboard on 'fishy' taste besides being very rich and a PIA to cook.
I agree though about back to back days. There are only a few dinners that I willingly eat two days in a row. I hate having leftovers in the fridge, because each day they don't get eaten I find them less and less appealing. Or they get forgotten by mistake and then have to be dumped. So I pretty strictly freeze the leftovers on the day they are cooked, to avoid that issue. No regrets about adopting that approach. Freezer at the best of times is full of all different home cooked meals that take minimal effort to prepare.

[Uncle_Feist]

I sliced some smoked jowl and grated a couple of Kennebec taters for breakfast this morning.


Just as the sun came up over the mountain served it up with some toast from a leftover loaf of white bread from yesterday, and a couple of fresh cackle berries.

[Tormahto]

I sliced some smoked jowl and grated a couple of Kennebec taters for breakfast this morning.


Just as the sun came up over the mountain served it up with some toast from a leftover loaf of white bread from yesterday, and a couple of fresh cackle berries.

I'm most impressed by someone who slices their own bread.

[Uncle_Feist]

I sliced some smoked jowl and grated a couple of Kennebec taters for breakfast this morning.


Just as the sun came up over the mountain served it up with some toast from a leftover loaf of white bread from yesterday, and a couple of fresh cackle berries.

I'm most impressed by someone who slices their own bread.

There's nothing on earth quite like a loaf that's fresh from the oven, but it's definitely not real common these days for sure.