Whatcha Cooking today?

[worth1]

A funny thing happened on the way to the hamburger.
1/2 pound of ground chuck divided in half and pressed in my tortilla press.
Flavorings include.
Sweet smoked paprika.
Beef bullion.
Dried onion flakes.
Soy sauce.
Sriracha sauce.
Bun toasted with homemade ghee.
Cheddar cheese.
Mayonnaise.
Then sliced red onion.
Bread and butter pickles.
French fries cooked to perfection.

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[worth1]

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[karstopography]

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My wife made a banana cake with cream cheese icing. That icing should be illegal it’s so good.

[rxkeith]

the plan was to make beef stew, but it morphed into soup instead.
i put some meaty soup bones obtained from the local feed and seed (he raises beef),
and cooked them at pressure for a half hour with water, and some bay leaves to make a good stock.
pulled the beef and bones out, and added carrots, celery, garlic, onion, potatoes, turnips, and parsnips.
and a few teaspoons of tomato paste for flavor, and color.
seasonings were salt, freshly ground pepper, basil, oregano, summer savory, and a pinch of thyme.
about 15 minutes before done, i added some garden beans from the freezer, and the beef that was diced up.
my wife said, i did it again!
i guess it came out fit to eat.


keith

[Sue_CT]

I think some of you might refer to this as an anaconda. 10lbs of pork. 4.00 off a package at Costco. Seen here at my Mom's. I split it with her. Could not eat that all myself and didn't have enough room in the freezer.

[Tormahto]

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Dagwood Bumstead would approve. But he would also recommend a bread layer between the beef patties.

[worth1]

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Dagwood Bumstead would approve. But he would also recommend a bread layer between the beef patties.

Not gonna happen.

[pepperhead212]

I was in the mood for something Chinese today, so I soaked some dried eggplant, and some brown rice - the soaked brown rice would cook in about the same time as chana dal, on low pressure, which I did in the Instant Pot, with the eggplant. While that was cooking, I browned some ground pork (only 8 oz, though the finished dish looks like a lot more) in a wok, starting with a Szechwan mix of garlic, ginger, and the chili paste. I added a little light and dark soy, and eggs at the end, like fried rice, stirring up that fond from the browning. Then, the cooked rice and lentils were stirred in, with a lot of chopped scallions. I also made a Chinese type cucumber salad, and snacked on that, while cooking!
Fried rice/chana dal, with ground pork and eggplant. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Chinense style salad, with cukes and red bell peppers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[JRinPA]

I think some of you might refer to this as an anaconda. 10lbs of pork. 4.00 off a package at Costco. Seen here at my Mom's. I split it with her. Could not eat that all myself and didn't have enough room in the freezer.

Before I zoomed in I thought the price said 121.77 I thought wow, they passed those gas prices on real quick!

[JRinPA]

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This was a PA Special. I went to walmart for bread and milk that night and came back with 30 lb of venison for the price of none. Take that, corporate cattle barons! No! I will not be buying your fatty $15.99 a lb NY strip steaks! (Oh wait, that was last summer's prices...)

Yes, Worth, you can skip past this one if you want . That is, if you want to miss out on what I did with perfectly good meat from a frozen roadside cooler that is indistinguishable from a a rifle shot deer, after the butchering.

Venison Pastrami

This meat was 12lb total of both loins and part of one hindquarter. Silverskin removed and cured 2/21 to 3/10. When applying the curing salts and spices, I do 2lb increments to make sure Cure#1 is evenly distributed. Three times 2# for 6# per gallon bag, into a fridge and flipped the first few days. Besides this meat, the poor deer provided a fresh shoulder roast, and a canner load of extra-coarse grind meat, very lean, browned in butter with salt and pepper, and canned in quart jars. Plus some scrap for the dogs.

Well cured venison after 2-1/2 weeks

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Out of the bag, cure still on.

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Cure rinsed off and sprinkled with seasoning consisting of 3x coarse black pepper, 1x garlic pepper, 1x coriander. Ready for smoker!

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An hour of cold smoking at about 42F. Pear tree wood chips.
Meatguard on duty!
I sat there and reading a book while it wafted past. It smelled incredible.

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I raise the temp slowly, and taking about 7 hours to reach 159F. Which is about 10F-15F over the minimum for venison. The next step is steaming it in beef stock, then letting it cool and dry. I used wire racks outside overnight in an opened cooler. It was plenty cold.

The next day, the slicer makes a showing. 60lb of sweet bologna, frozen in 10lb rolls until now, is thawed to divy up. It was the remainder of 100lb we had made back in end of October for $1.55/lb. Four rolls were sliced right away, and six rolls were frozen. Now, the rest is sliced and sealed. The thawing was timed up with the pastrami cook to only need to use the slicer one time. That hobart is a beast to carry up from the basement and has to be cleaned well afterward. The bologna is sealed in gallon bags in 4 low stacks, about 3 lb per bag. It stay remarkably fresh this way.

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After 60lb of that, and eating close to a pound of ends to help "clean up", it's back to the pastrami.

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You can't buy that.

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I tend to double up when possible, because the very thin slices take a long time. This was after the 60 lb of 100% venison sweet bologna, also done as thin as possible.

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The 12lb of trimmed venison yielded about 10.5 lb of pastrami after all curing and smoking. Incredibly tender. Not that salty at all. Kept in the fridge, it would stay good for weeks. But most is sealed and frozen in 1 lb bags. And it usually doesn't stick around long after opening.

With the crumbs and ends, a Creamed Dried Beef was the first dish. Gone in no time, no pics. Next stop, reubens, maybe. Or just sandwiches in general. I'm a big fan of an everything bagel, toasted, with light cream cheese, a slice of provolone, and a small pile of this pastrami to top it off.

[worth1]

@JRinPA
I'm just jealous we can't collect road kill in Texas.
It's a horrible waste of food many times.
But some out in west Texas get hit so hard by big trucks there's nothing left but jelly.
Then it turns into a carpet.

[Danny]

JR, that looks so good, love pastrami and good use of the meat.

Pepperhead, what did you use for dressing on the salad?

[worth1]

Here's a preview of what's cooking today.
8 ounces of Mushrooms slowly cooked down in homemade ghee until no steam was coming off.
Garlic added just at the end.
The Mushrooms turn black but they aren't burned.
Black pepper and a pinch of salt added.

Next 8 ounces of ground chuck.
Onion flakes.
Worcestershire sauce.
Sriracha sauce.
Beef bullion.
Corn starch.
Mixed Mushrooms with meat mix.
It made two 6 ounce patties.

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[worth1]

Once cooled off they make 2 patties 7 inches in diameter.
Back to the freezer.

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[worth1]

Shoe string potatoes slow cooking in hot fat.

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[JRinPA]

The springer spaniels earn their keep Oct-Jan. Pheasant Quesadilas. They don't get to eat any, I never let them eat any game they hunt, but I trade them deer meat. Of course they are okay with that.

Quesadillas are what I use a lot of pickled jalapenos in. GoDawgs posted how to can those this year, and they turned out really good. I use about 1/4 pint jar each time.

I usually use the cheapest frozen corn, but this was garden corn and it showed. Really tasty, not just texture. We still have a lot of whole cobs frozen, but these were from "nubbins" that were stripped and frozen.

The sweet peppers are from the garden, diced, sheet frozen, and bagged into quart bags. Romani peppers mostly, nice and sweet and very little in the way of defects to cut away.

The garlic is homegrown and I used 4 cloves.

The beans, onions, cheese, and the tortilla shells are store bought. If only I could get fresh limas to grow...maybe I'd eat them in this! But I hate limas, so this gets a can each of black beans and chick peas.

I have a system that works, but everything has to be ready before I start building them. Then the pile builds pretty quick.

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[worth1]

Believe it or not the only decent quesadillas I have ever seen outside of homemade come from the many many taco/food trucks that show up on construction job sites.
They are normally made to order on the spot right in front of you.
Not to be mistaken for the foo foo food trucks.

[worth1]

Wow what a burger.
And it's for breakfast too.
Along with it are crispy French fry potato sticks.
The meat patties stayed the same thickness but went from 7 inches in diameter to about 6 inches.
Cheddar cheese air dried over night.
Fried onions and bread and butter pickles too.
I like it when the meat is bigger than the bun.
Rootbeer for the drink in a frosty glass mug with no ice.

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[Danny]

Was on my own today, partner in crime was at work today, so got to be in the kitchen. Sliced a mess of mushrooms up pretty thick and fried them slow in some butter until the cuts were crispy and brown but juicy, added diced onions and an apple, shredded cabbage and some sausage and simmered it a little. PIC liked it when she got home tired.

[rxkeith]

split pea soup today, and english muffin bread keith style.

my wife took charge of the soup because i was busy doing other things.
i did add the herbs, and seasonings, and made sure the heat wasn't too high,
and reminded her to stir the pot to prevent sticking. the soup came out very good.
i made the bread. the first loaf never sticks around long. i let my wife have the end piece.
true love


keith