Culinary Conversations

[worth1]

Sadly some people say they don't like things before they even tried them because of cultural prejudice.
This isn't something I dreamed up out of thin air.
I've heard it come out of their mouth.
The list includes.
Mexican and Latino.
Black folks.
Germans.
Asians.
Middle Eastern.
Italian.
Southern cooking.
And so on.
I'm still amazed at how many people I run across that have never had sauerkraut.
I must have ate it every week growing up.
Many have never even heard of some of the stuff I eat.
Personally I must have been in my late teens before I ever ate what people call salsa and tortilla chips.
But we ate hot peppers and used all the traditional Mexican spices.
And ate a ton of tamales and so on.
Life is different in out of the way rural communities where I grew up.
Especially back in the 60's and 70's.

[Julianna]

I have been hitting the spice markets and getting some fun stuff. I think we spent about $ 130 on spices and teas and then also frankincense. Also hit up this 3 story kitchen store. It had so many cool things. What we wanted though were knives. Fantastic knives that last forever and are about $1.

I may have a whole suitcase or so of this stuff and now i am not sure what i will do with my actual clothes lol. So many gifts for the boys that their bag is full too.

For anyone that cares, we got:
Frankincense
Cardamom
Cloves
Pimento (whole allspice)
Whole nutmeg
White peppercorns
Damask rose
Herbal floral tea
Merimeya (it is in the sage family)
Ceylon cinnamon bark pieces
An herbal bakharat aka mix

There were several things we were interested in and may get later. My husband may come back in december to work on the orchards. These were not particularly exotic but were of good quality and fresh and a good price.
Safflower
Lavender
Coffee
Black currant tea
Cadbury hot chocolate

[worth1]

@Julianna
The middle eastern market in Austin sells some of this stuff for pennies on the dollar.
One identical bag of India black tea sells for 300% less there than at the foo foo central market.
I don't go there often anymore because the parking is next to nothing.

[Julianna]

@Julianna
The middle eastern market in Austin sells some of this stuff for pennies on the dollar.
One identical bag of India black tea sells for 300% less there than at the foo foo central market.
I don't go there often anymore because the parking is next to nothing.

Yeah it is pretty cheap comparitively and very fresh. Sometimes i like hitting up the smaller markets as they often are not suffering from the samemprice gouging.

[worth1]

Just so as you all know one of my all time favorite movie is free on YouTube this month.
I've watched it many times and it still brings tears of joy and laughter to my eyes
The Hundred Foot Journey.

[worth1]

Managed to get the rest of my sausage experiment.
A little over 3 pounds of beef suet.
Another beef kidney.
And a beef cheek.
This will add up to 3 kidneys.
This should make a deliciously rich cured beef sausage I'm guessing should add up to close to 30% fat.
Seasoned with garlic paprika salt chili de Arbol black pepper and onion powder.
Also picked up an anaconda for a $1.99 a pound.
Need to get everything ready to grind and stuff.
While putting the stuff in the soft freeze section I found some sweet Italian sausage l made awhile back.

[worth1]

The beef suet I got was real beef suet found around the kidneys.
The center of the kidneys I bought has this same suet.
Its also the fat found on the end of a porterhouse steak, regretfully they trim it all off these days.
In a hog it's called leaf lard.
The absolute best and flavorful fat you can get from an animal.
It's the fat that solidifies if you drink a cold drink to wash it down and coats your mouth.
This is why it makes great pie crust.
It was well worth the 99 cents a pound I paid for it.
In my opinion good sausage starts with good ingredients.

[PlainJane]

Just so as you all know one of my all time favorite movie is free on YouTube this month.
I've watched it many times and it still brings tears of joy and laughter to my eyes
The Hundred Foot Journey.

Yes, an excellent movie.

[worth1]

I have everything ready for the sausage.
My ingredients are.
A little over ten pounds of meat and fat.
80 grams of canning salt.
17 grams of insta cure #1.
10 grams of garlic powder.
10 grams of onion powder.
20 grams of paprika.
10 grams of black pepper.
10 grams of Chipotle powder.
10 grams or less of ground chili de Arbol.
20 grams of sugar..
Giant handful of whole mustard seeds.
It's all mixed up in a pint jar.
Measurements are approximate more or less with a scale.
I'm not handloading ammunition for crying out loud.

[worth1]

I added 1 cup of orange soda pop.
Yes orange soda pop.
2 cups of panko bread crumbs.
A pound of beef liver.
Mixed everything up and ran through coarse grinding plate.
Then ran through the smallest grinding plate you can buy.
I then mixed in about a cup of corn starch.
Cooked a patty in a skillet and it turned red and the flavor is astounding.
I need to do more mixing but it's back in the cooler getting cold again.
This is a very fine grind sausage I would like to simi emulsify if possible.

20220717_095128.jpg

20220717_100147.jpg

20220717_103054.jpg

[worth1]

Considering the amount of fat I added the fat in the kidneys and the fat in the beef cheek I'm roughly calculating the sausage is around 50% fat.
This isn't uncommon in some sausages made in the old country.
The trick is not to cook the fat out by over heating it.
Tried another patty and still very happy with the flavor.
Most likely some of the best tasting sausage I've ever made.
The salt to meat ratio is a little less than 2%.
I did the math by converting 10 pounds to grams and then calculated what 2% of that was.
10 pounds = 4535.92 grams.
2% of 4535.92 = 90.7184 grams..
The metric system is to me much easier to deal with.

[worth1]

Sausage stuffed.
I don't have to get the meat grinder and stuffer out because they are always at the ready at my Sausage making station.
I just have to move various drill bits and micrometers out of the way.

20220717_125120.jpg

20220717_130902.jpg

[worth1]

Here's one cooked in150F water for 20 minutes.
I'm letting it ger cold in the refrigerator because it's really soft or mushy in texture due the the types of meat I used.
I'm thinking this would be best served cold like a cold cut.

20220717_134408.jpg

[worth1]

Sone time ago I spent some amount of time labor and money to make the best pesto in the land.
Grew my own basil and everything.
The best olive oil money can buy.
Choice pecans.
The greatest garlic.
Gourmet cheese from Italy.
Then put the two bags in the freezer.
Then I lost them.
I would look on occasion and nowhere to be found in either freezer.
Years went by then decades, I was turned into a vampire and centuries went by, well not decades, nor am I a vampire, but you get the point.
Besides if I was a vampire I wouldn't be able to be around garlic.
Then the other day I looked on the doors shelves and low and behold.
What's this I asked myself.
Could it possibly be?
Yes it's the long lost pesto from years gone by.
How it got there I'll never know but there it is.
This isn't any ordinary pesto, its a mix of Italian and Thai cinnamon basil.
Gave it a taste and it's as good as the day I made it.
Looking so forward to using this stuff.

[Sue_CT]

If we don't hear from you again, we will know you really were a vampire and should not have eaten it. Was your wife a joker? Maybe she has been playing with you, lol. Enjoy!

[worth1]

I think the pesto is 3 years old.
Way after wife passed.
Which reminds me I need to water the basil and pepper plants.

[Tormahto]

Sadly some people say they don't like things before they even tried them because of cultural prejudice.
This isn't something I dreamed up out of thin air.
I've heard it come out of their mouth.
The list includes.
Mexican and Latino.
Black folks.
Germans.
Asians.
Middle Eastern.
Italian.
Southern cooking.
And so on.
I'm still amazed at how many people I run across that have never had sauerkraut.
I must have ate it every week growing up.
Many have never even heard of some of the stuff I eat.
Personally I must have been in my late teens before I ever ate what people call salsa and tortilla chips.
But we ate hot peppers and used all the traditional Mexican spices.
And ate a ton of tamales and so on.
Life is different in out of the way rural communities where I grew up.
Especially back in the 60's and 70's.

Sauerkraut (rinsed and drained!), sausage of choice, apples, apple cider, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, garlic, and onion, baked in a foil covered casserole dish (if my memory serves me correctly).

[Sue_CT]

I was joking with you about her doing it "from the other side", Worth. Sorry if it wasn't funny.

[worth1]

I had a nightmare last night.
I dreamed I dropped a perfectly smoked brisket on the ground.
Then a big yellow dog with pointy ears and nose ran off with it and I was chasing it hollering come back here you S of a B
Boy was I ever glad to wake up.

[worth1]

Just about the time I was ready to toss my cheap kitchen scales I managed to fix them.
They wouldn't turn off with the on off button and wouldn't tare with a bowl on them.
The only way they would work was if I took the battery out and put it back in.

I figured out how to take them apart and get to the circuit boards.
Then I washed everything out with alcohol and let sit for two weeks with the battery out.
What did I have to lose?
Today I put the battery back in and they are as good as new, maybe even better.