Whatcha Cooking today?

[worth1]

Its always best to test.
I've had some screaming hot Anaheim chilies as well.
Almost always late season from older plants.
My neighbors in Angleton robbed my banana peppers one year for supper.
They had no idea they were hot banana peppers that were somehow extremely hot.
Hotter than hot jalapeños.
They said they ruined supper.

[bower]

I tried an Asian seasoning last time I did a pack of chicken thighs, with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and hot pepper. It was good but for some reason the seasonings didn't penetrate and spread as well as the other spicing. I will have to try again maybe tweak the proportions. The one with balsamic vinegar seems to soak in really well, so maybe I should up the rice vinegar next time.

Today, ahem, I am cooking a nine pound turkey.
All my seasonal guests came last week, and since they all had Turkey Plans for Christmas I just couldn't spoil it for them by feeding them turkey before the Day and the Commencement of their personal turkeyover adinfinitum.
So I ended up with this fresh turkey to cook whenever. I dry brined last night and turned it a couple of times before cooking hour. Just in for an hour now and I'm starting to smell the summer savory in the dressing, my fave! I have my own plans for the vast amount of food, so fingers crossed I will be able to make lots of good gravy to go with the pile of dressing, on the plan to make pastries of turkey, dressing and gravy for many instant meals from the freezer. Made so much stuffing I could not get it all in the cavity, and I'm hoping that the extra won't mess up the gravy plan as I whacked it in there at the end of the bird. This is my first turkey in the new oven. We shall see....

[worth1]

This is the first year I've ever ate all my stuffing.
I put the ham like thing on 180F last night in my enameled Dutch oven with a ton of liquid including a whole bottle of orange soda.
Then went to bed.
This morning it was juicy and fall apart tender.
I need to learn how to take that one muscle out of the butt and do something else with it.
Its more like a tougher white meat and not fatty.

[bower]

I have never made anything with coke or orange soda or anything like it, but I would imagine there's a tenderizing effect? Must be... all them bubbles

[Sue_CT]

I bet it adds sugar so some people might add a little brown sugar or something to a ham, the soda probably adds the sugar instead.

[worth1]

I don't think it does anything but waste a good orange soda pop.

[karstopography]

Coca-cola has a ph of 2.6-2.7, about where vinegar is.

[worth1]

Coca-cola has a ph of 2.6-2.7, about where vinegar is.

Yes it has acid in it diluted.
The pure stuff coming from the main plant will eat your shoes off.
The soda could tenderize the meat.

[Sue_CT]

We used Coca-Cola to clean the rust off the fenders of our bikes as kids. Worked great.

[bower]

Yeah we had an old lathe that had been through a flood, and we soaked the bolts in coke to clean it up before assembling. Dandy overnight rust remover.

My turkey literally fell off the bones. Had to take it out in pieces. I'm not sure what I did wrong but I suspect cooking with the lid on. Seems pretty tender all the same, so I'm not complaining.

[Sue_CT]

Now I am having second thoughts about the tortilla press. Should I have sprung for the 10 inch? Hasn't shipped yet so I could cancel, but it is significantly more expensive.

[worth1]

Now I am having second thoughts about the tortilla press. Should I have sprung for the 10 inch? Hasn't shipped yet so I could cancel, but it is significantly more expensive.

Mine is an 8 inch.
If I were to get a bigger one it would be an aluminum 12 inch press for burritos.
Standard corn tortillas are only 5 inches in diameter.
A 10 inch cast iron tortilla press would be quite heavy.
Here is a tip.
With corn tortillas split around the edges they aren't moist enough.

[pepperhead212]

I have a small (6") press that I used for corn tortillas many years ago, before I was able to buy them locally. I have a larger one just under 8", that I rarely used for tortillas, but in recent years I've used it for Indian flatbreads. I never make flour tortillas, so larger isn't really necessary.

[worth1]

I saw a foo foo wooden custom deluxe tortilla press on line for $300.
Most of y'all know I could make the same thing but I would be really guilty taking someones money like that.
I guess that's why I'm not rich.

[worth1]

I just measured some flour tortillas from the store.
The Texas standard for taco size is 6 inches.
The larger burrito size is about 9.5 inches.
Most but not my burritos are folded cheaply.
They don't go far enough out with the filling.
Meaning they leave enough overlap so as the ends meet in the middle.
Now you've got around 4 to 5 layers of nothing but thick flour tortilla to chew through all the way through the burrito.
Really good way to cheap out on a burrito and use less filling.
It looks big but there isn't anything in it.

[worth1]

@Sue_CT
A 2 ounce ball of masa will get you a nice thick workable 6 inch tortilla you can cook on the comal.
This is what I always find in Mexican restaurants that make their own.
Not the factory produced ones that are really thin.
I just made a quesadilla with Kraft cheddar sandwich slices and homemade corn tortillas.
100 times better than flour.
I bet I'm not the first one to do it either.

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[Sue_CT]

I really like the Burrito size but the price for a press that size jumps from 25.00 for the 8" to 89.00 in the same brand for the 10". I will just have to make two if one isn't enough, lol. That Quesadilla looks delicious! Next time add some hot peppers or a layer of pepper jack.

[worth1]

I really like the Burrito size but the price for a press that size jumps from 25.00 for the 8" to 89.00 in the same brand for the 10". I will just have to make two if one isn't enough, lol. That Quesadilla looks delicious! Next time add some hot peppers or a layer of pepper jack.

I saw some for a lot less than that.
I was just starving trying to weigh out the masa to give you an idea of how big the ball had to be to make a particular size tortilla at a particular thickness.
Right now I have no idea what I want to eat.
And keep in mind you can always roll out the flour ones any size you want.
A nice big one that is thin will be about 4.5 to 5 ounces.
And remember to let the flour dough sit for awhile so it will stretch.
And also remember I fine tuned my tortilla press.

[Uncle_Feist]

Didn't cook today. We had leftover, thinly sliced lard stand ham on a lunch lady roll with Pontiac tater salad and a healthy piece of blackberry jam cake with caramel icin.

[worth1]

I've got a kettle of pinto beans going on the stove.
When they are done I'm going to make some bratkartoffeln.
Bratkartoffeln is home fried taters in a skillet with onion and bacon in them, for those that didn't know.
Done correctly they are crispy browned and to die for.
If not they are a greasy soggy unhealthy mess.