Culinary Conversations

[worth1]

I have been pondering this for some time now.
Over a year.
I have decided I'm gonna drive straight to Academy sports and outdoors and pick up one of those Lodge cast iron combo skillets.
It is extra deep and you can cook with the lid to.
Decided I don't just want one I need one.
A real steal for 34 dollars and some odd cents.
I can think of a hundred things I could cook with it.
Had one in my hands the other day when looking at smokers and forgot to go back and get it.
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thic cast iron combo is great for baking bread!!!

Never did get the thing.
I think the pandemic hit or something and Academy stays whiped out on lodge stuff now.

[worth1]

I have eaten at Arby's exactly 1 time and it wasn't my idea.
This my fine feathered friends is the reason why I hardly ever eat this sort of thing.

[worth1]

Where's the pork belly they never seen to have pork belly.
I'm almost out of bacon and I need pork belly.
Then I go down another isle I hardly ever frequent and there is a mountain of pork belly.
Seems as though they expanded the meat section to another cooler row where they used to have other things I never bought.

[pepperhead212]

If you have any Asian markets nearby, they will have pork belly! And just about every other part of the pig.

Fortunately, you eventually found it, where you were. And that sounds like these stores around here - they change things around, just to make us walk around and look for things.

[worth1]

I just tried the seasonal Shiner Hill Country Peach wheat beer and find it good for man women and beast.

[worth1]

Just tried the Kiku apple for the first time..
I love sweet apples and this is the sweetest I have ever had.
Glad I got a big bag of them on sale.
Even better is if you let the slices soak in ice cold sangria wine.
If you like sweet apples the kiku is a real must.
Mind you I was raised around apple orchards and we had our own too.

[karstopography]

Fuji is a considered a sweet apple isn’t it? I never cultivated a taste for those. Gala is another one that’s simply bland tasting, like sugar and water. I think I need some tart in an apple. Pink Lady, Empire, Jazz, Honeycrisp, Envy, those are ones I seek out, something with some bright acidity.

[worth1]

Fuji is a considered a sweet apple isn’t it? I never cultivated a taste for those. Gala is another one that’s simply bland tasting, like sugar and water. I think I need some tart in an apple. Pink Lady, Empire, Jazz, Honeycrisp, Envy, those are ones I seek out, something with some bright acidity.

Yes it is and fuji is a parent of kiku apples.
Personally I don't care for tart foods and candy like sweet tarts or those horrible green apple candles.
I do like bitter and like the simi sweet chocolate.
Even lettuce hearts.
The Red Delisous apple is a victim of marketing.
It was once a good apple and looked nothing like it does today.
It has fallen way out of favor for better apples.
The Macintosh computer was named after the Macintosh apple.
Lots of different types of apples in the store like never before.

[SQWIB]

I hope you guys don't mind me tossing this in the Culinary Conversation...

In January I blew out my knee and realized how fat I actually was when I had to rely on crutches and had an Immobilizer on my knee, getting up the steps was a chore. I cut out alcohol 6 months ago and started to gain weight...go figure.
I then realized I needed to do something about it.
In an effort to loose some weight, I have cut out most of my Breads, Starches, Sugary Drinks and Sweets.

So that leads me to this post, I have been experimenting and tweaking recipes to satisfy my Cravings.
It's hard finding substitutes for the things you love like Bread, Potatoes, Pasta, Pancakes and Waffles, have been my most recent craving.
I replaced a lot of my snacking with fruits and my portions are a tad smaller supplemented with veggies.

I'll share a few recipes that I feel are worth mentioning and what has helped me lose some weight and try to eat a bit healthier.

Here is my Journey into coming up with a Pancake Recipe to satisfy my Pancake Craving that I never had before I started this new lifestyle, I went online and spent a lot of time researching recipes to try and come up with a very satisfying pancake. This is a one day a week treat as it has a lot of sugar.


This is where I started

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana
• 2 large eggs
• 2 oz. milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla (OPTIONAL)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (for cooking pancakes)

These were actually pretty good, a bit hard to cook but they were really good, but I wanted something a little more fluffy as a real pancake would be...


This is my 2nd attempt, and so much better as far as fluffiness goes, flavor is just as good.


Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas (about 10 ounces)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 pkg Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal (try 2 next time)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla (OPTIONAL)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (for cooking pancakes)

Now here's where it gets tricky. My wife and Daughter can not tolerate eggs and I wanted to make something they would eat and to be honest, they can just use the Pancake Batter and be golden. Since I am trying to cut out a lot of that stuff I tried substituting the eggs with Chia Seeds.



Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas (about 10 ounces)
• 2 Chia eggs (1 tablespoon of Chia Seeds to 3 tablespoons of water per egg)
• 1 pkg Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (for cooking pancakes)

OK, These were also really good I was quite impressed, Everyone liked them, So I can make these without eggs for the family and If I make them for me, I have the option to add an egg or two to the recipe.

Lets take this a tad further, Lets try Waffles.

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas (about 10 ounces)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Chia eggs
• 1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup
• 2 pkg Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil for waffle iron

Use 3.5 setting on the waffle Maker.
Serves 2.5






These were awesome, and I'm very happy to find a comparable substitute, I still have a lot of experimenting to do with this recipe. I wanted to add dates to the recipe but I didn't have any.
I am going to try using Quaker oats and Dates instead of Instant Oatmeal to try and cut out a bit of the "Added" sugar from the oatmeal because topping with Maple Syrup is plenty of sugar already, plus the Oatmeal is High in Carbohydrates already. The Honey or Maple Syrup is not needed if using to Maple Instant Oatmeal, so I'll omit the Honey/Maple Syrup if using the Maple Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal.


Very easy to make, start of with making the Chia Eggs and rest them for 10 minutes, toss everything in the Nutri Bullet, blend and rest for 5 minutes (this will thicken after the rest).
Use as you would regular pancake batter.

This batter isn't like regular pancake batter, you have to cook these very slowly on very low heat and make sure the are firm enough to flip before they burn, after a couple tries you get the hang of it.

[PlainJane]

[mention]SQWIB[/mention], everything sounds a bit unusual and looks really really good!

[MissS]

[mention]SQWIB[/mention] I have saved your Chia Pancake recipe. My daughter is vegan and I am always looking for something nutritious to serve her that I will eat too.
~ Thank You ~

Good luck with that knee and hope all goes well!

[worth1]

As if I don't have enough cast iron cookware I bought yet more today.
Both of which I for some silly reason have always wanted.
The cornbread skillet is new old stock.
They don't make them with the long handle anymore.
Just short ones on both sides.
The other is a giant 17 inch skillet.
Bought them on the way home from work at Callahan's in south east Austin.
The girl at the checkout exclaimed ooooo it's beautiful.

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[Amateurinawe]

[mention]worth1[/mention] looking great. Wife mention to lookout for your cornbread recipe if you post it

[worth1]

Cornbread is easy.
One egg.
1 cup flour.
1 cup cornmeal.
Dash of salt.
Somewhere close to a tablespoon of baking powder.
I don't measure.
Some milk if you have it.
I use powdered because I almost never buy milk.
Mix up dry ingredients.
Get skillet hot with some fat in it be it oil or lard.
Mix milk or water into dry ingredients.
Use enough to make it a mixture that flows out of the bowl or scoop into the pan.
About like a runny concrete mix.
The pan should be hot enough so as the mixture fries in the oil left in the pan as you pour it in.
Bake at around 400F or so until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Pull from oven and let cool.
If done properly the Cornbread will fall out after a little scraping around the edges.
I can also do this and have many times omitting the egg and milk
My wife would get furious at me for making great Cornbread without following a recipe or really measuring anything
Hers always came out flat thin and hard following a recipe to the numbers.
To make chocolate muffins omitt the cornmeal and use two cups flour.
Sugar to taste.
A heep of cocoa powder.
And the same amount of water and baking powder.
From there you're just a step or two away from a killer fruit cake.

[worth1]

It literally took me longer to typ the recipe out than it did to make it.
I had the skillet heating in the oven.

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[worth1]

Didn't even wash the thing just used it.
I hope it doesn't stick.

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[Amateurinawe]

[mention]worth1[/mention] my wife said that's amazing and thank you so much for typing out the recipe.

[worth1]

@worth1 my wife said that's amazing and thank you so much for typing out the recipe.

Well sort of a recipe.
This one i used egg but no milk.
You like a slightly less fat cornbread use a little less baking powder.
I measured it by hand can't find my measuring spoons.
To be honest I used my gun powder scales to compare measuring spoons by type or brand.
I did some fancy footwork to be very honest about it and all of them came out a different weight.
One set I threw away it was so off.

[worth1]

Next I have always felt the cornbread mixes were a total scam.
But as always to each their own.

[worth1]

Here it is.
Not gonna lie it is as is is and how it came out.

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