karstopography wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 6:54 pm 6A08063D-CF94-44BA-A2AE-3517AFA96648.jpegF11FF637-D1CC-45FA-8C91-D191A124436C.jpeg
Avocado toast with radishes and arugula. Poached eggs on top. The Saxa 2 are the red radishes, those have a whiff of heat, the helios are the gold ones and have an earthy and slightly minty note. Lemon juice and zest goes into the mashed avocado. Cumin was supposed to go in with the mashed avocado, but I forgot that add in. Still, we loved it.

I could never forget to add cumin.

I'm making homemade hamburger helper.
Mexican hamburger helper.
Do they even have a Mexican hamburger helper?

I made a one dish meal tonight - something I made to use the last 3/4c of spelt, that was the oldest grain I had on the shelves. So cooked it by itself, before combining it with rice. I also soaked 1.5 oz of dried eggplant (just over a lb) in hot water, while doing the other things.

I made some sage/garlic based sausage, and also used 12 oz frozen ham, added after browning a large onion. After all the meat is cooked, I added some tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, a little more salt (didn't need much more), some of that coriander/cumin powder, and some Syrian Oregano (thyme scented), plus a cup of parboiled rice, 3 c water (including 1/2 c white wine), and all that spelt and eggplant. I brought that to boil, then simmered 25 minutes. Looks just like rice, but it's almost half spelt.

The one dish meal I put together, with ham, sausage, eggplant, spelt, and rice, ready to cook. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The finished rice casserole, which I may add some other veggies to, with all the those leftovers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

i nailed the english muffin bread.
i'm always trying a different mix of flours. i found the ratio i like the best.
six cups flour consisting of 1/2 cup each of rye, barley, and ground wheat berries.
four and 1/2 cups unbleached flour.
to that i add a heapng tablespoon seed mix (sesame, sun flower, flax) and
two heaping table spoons of ground corn meal.
i use yogurt instead of milk. 3/4 cup is about right dilute that to 2 & 1/2 cups liquid.
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs yeast
1 Tbs brown sugar.

mix it all up
put in loaf pans (i coat them with olive oil first to prevent sticking)
rise 45 minutes
bake at 400 for 25 minutes. a minute less or so if your oven runs hot.

i like the texture, and taste. it has a good chew to it if that is a proper description.
wife and son think it is pretty darn good.


keith

Cut my first tomato of 2023. A just shy of a pound Brandywine OTV. Tasted the tomato without salt, with salt, then in the caprese salad.

Very favorably impressed. A beautiful creamy, melting texture that was delightful. Definitely a sweet tomato and there was something else that I couldn’t put a finger on flavor wise and I hadn’t ever detected in other tomatoes, it was really good, maybe on subsequent fruit I’ll be able to describe it. My wife loved it too. We don’t necessarily agree on tomatoes so that’s another check mark in Brandywine OTV’s favor.

Cucumbers were two Beit Alphas and a Monika. Monika wins that contest on flavor.

It’s all in the photo, to my eyes. Great photo, btw. Thanks for the review.

Awesome @karstopography

I haven’t been cooking much, but tonight I sliced leftover grilled chicken from the other day and served it with steamed broccoli and an extra cheesy Alfredo. I don’t measure in the kitchen, but there was definitely more Parmesan and butter than cream. (I wanted to make sure I have enough for my coffee through the weekend.) Non complaints except for premature fullness.

Celebrating my German heritage.
Using my homemade sauerkraut along with frankfurters, some sort of bratwurst meatballs I dreamed up and Yukon gold potatoes.
Potatoes were parboiled tim added.
They weren't really boiled but just set in hot water on stove till almost done.
The homemade sauerkraut is unbelievably delicious.
Growing up we had homemade sauerkraut and frankfurters at least ounce a week for the main meal.

Can't do without my homemade mustard.

Plan is to sous vide elk backstrap, then a quick sear in the cast iron skillet. Sauce is going to be a blackberry balsamic vinegar reduction sauce. Side dishes still being worked out, likely filet beans done crisp tender.

I went out and plucked some swiss chard leaves.
Going to have a BATS (bacon avocado tomato swiss chard) sandwich.

It's a triple decker or was.
It's gone and I want another one.

First BLT for 2023. Bear Creek did not disappoint, in fact, it exceeded expectations. Sweet, melting texture, low acidity, and a hint of smoke and Worcestershire sauce.

That is a beauty!

Usually butternut in the microwave is pretty simple...this guy and another were in such good shape that they were kept for last. But neither will fit in the dish with both halves so two meals will be four I guess. Six (of 18) minutes left in the microwave and another fifteen for cool down and I'll know that it tastes as good as it looks. And I'll be using that seed for this year's. Not even my butternut, another comm gardener grew a bumper crop.
edited to add
oh yeah! steamy success, steamed up my lens

I had two fried egg sandwiches for supper.

Elk sous vide worked out. First time using the Breville sous vide and it must be paired with a smart phone and app to use. That went more smoothly than the vacuum sealer, another first time ever use. Finally got the bag to seal up the elk steaks along with some sliced Spanish Roja garlic and fresh parsley. Held the meat at a temperature of 129° for about an hour and a half, then seared the steaks.

Sides were crisp tender emerite filet beans, oven roasted red pontiac potatoes, cucumbers dressed in sour cream and fresh dill, plus a sliced Pruden’s purple tomato which was super delicious.

The dinner was a birthday celebration for my good friend that turned 55. He’s quite a good cook so I had to make sure I had a good offering. My son and daughter in law ended up showing up for dinner so it was a good thing we cooked a lot of food.

@karstopography
I got a sous vide and I can't trust it and it went wancky some how.
The thing will sometimes shut off the heat on its own and it won't come back on .
It also stopped heating up properly.
Glad I got it for half off .
Won't be buying another one.
The circulator works fine.
With my abilities in instrumentation I could actually make one that wasn't so high tech dependent.
But no interest in doing so.
As far as the vacuum bags they aren't necessary.
You can put the steak in a freezer bag and submerged it in the water to push the air out then close the thing.

I've seen other things like potatoes cooked with this contraption.
Not necessary with the way I cook them by putting them in cold water and slowly bringing them up to temperature.
With my stove and right kettle I can actually maintain a constant temperature of anything I want without the contraption.
Last but not least I simply don't care for reverse sear methods when it comes to steaks.
But as always to each their own.

Got just enough ground beef to make an American style spaghetti sauce.

I don't always eat garlic bread but sometimes I just have a hankering for it.
So I needed to make some bread.
Oddly enough I nailed everything in measuring without really measuring.
I didn't need to add any water or flour while mixing.
But the recipe I use is one teaspoon of yeast for every cup of flour.
I didn't punch it down either it's baking on the first rise.
Brushed the top with cornmeal and bacon fat.
Topped with freshly ground black pepper.
Rising in a warm oven.
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