Sue_CT wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2023 11:21 am Maybe its because we aren't Southern enough, lol, but here we marinate it in buttermilk and hot sauce before breading it. Or at least I do. It is awesome.
But I believe traditionally tougher cuts of meat are used, like cube steak, that benefit from it. If you are using a tender cut to start with its not necessary but I love the flavor it adds.

Southerners use cube steak as well but I'm not a southerner.
I'm from the south west.
Totally different ideology on spices and cooking.
But they use cube or round steak steak too but I never do.
Life's too short for such flavorless cuts of meat and being by myself I'm not really saving any money to speak of.
That and I go my own way with the complicated steps I take to do things.
Here is an example.
I cooked one slice of thick bacon after I chopped it up.
The bacon was taken out to let cool.
About 6 cloves of crushed garlic was added to the bacon fat to just cook until color change but not over cooked.
It was taken out.
I added more bacon fat and made a blonde roux with it
That was taken out.
Next I put one stick of salted butter in the same kettle and added equal amount of flour for yet another roux.
I added the previous roux to this to let cook a little more.
Just until I could smell toasted flour not a minute more and turned the heat off.
Once the roux is cooked I'll put it in a small container to sit until I get ready to make gravy.
This way when I'm ready to cook the chicken fried steak I'll have done all the time consuming work of making a roux and gravy.
That same kettle will be what I cook the potatoes in for mashed potatoes.
It wont be washed before cooking the potatoes because there isn't any need to.
What's the point all it will have in it is the remains of the roux.
Too many people use up more pots and pans cooking than necessary in my opinion.
My mother in law would stir boiling water with a spoon and put it in the dishwasher.
No joke I've seen her do it.
The woman couldn't boil an egg without using several pots and pans .
All going in the dishwasher instead of just washing out and putting away.

Well anyway here are photos of the steps.
Roux on right, garlic and chopped bacon on left in last picture.
This will all be going into the gravy later.

Red potatoes cubed up put in kettle with cold water while cubing.
Poured out water after this and put back in kettle with fresh salted water and set on the stove.
They'll get cooked really fast by turning burner on medium heat to let slowly come to boil for about 4 or 5 minutes no more
After coming to boil for that time maybe less turn off burner and let continue to cook in the hot water.
You're making mashed potatoes why not cut them up smaller.
Plus the skins will be smaller.
I never put root crops in boiling water.
Always cold water and let slowly heat up.
This insures an evenly cooked potato.
Not watery mush on the outside and not cooked on the inside especially with large potatoes.

Small chopped potatoes are so easy to cook. Ten minutes.
I remember when Mom and Dad would boil the whole potatoes to serve them whole, back in the day. Took forever and it wasn't better IMHO.
That is how I chop my potatoes to make potato salad too. As long as you don't let them go a second over ten minutes, they have a perfect texture and hold up to being stirred with dressing and other stuff.

Progress so far.
Gravy ready.
Chicken Fried Steak in oven on warm.
Corn and peas ready to be mixed with mashed potatoes when I decide to cook them.
Fried okra cooking.
Obviously I love cooking.
Probably more than I do eating.
Ya know it's gonna be good when you have two cast iron skillets on the stove.

A simple pan seared grass fed little steak, steamed broccoli with soy sauce butter and sesame seeds, cherry tomatoes halved and in a garlicy hummus-sesame oil- rice wine vinegar dressing tossed in to marinate them. Simple quick little dinner.

Smoked beef sausage, boudain, jalapeño poppers. Not exactly health food.

Made mash potato with pork and frozen artichoke/brussels sprouts the other day. Tried making dumpling properly this time with wraps from the Asian store. Pork, peas, and onion as filling. Next time I have to season the filling mix a lot more.

Totally ridiculous.
Suffering all night from eating this massive beast.
Forgot to turn the AC down and baked all night after eating it.
Didn't realize it until I got up this morning.

Yesterday was play day in the kitchen. I felt like making some Japanese gyoza dumplings with a pork filling. It takes a while to make the dough and roll them out into paper thin 3" circles, fill and crimp for tray freezing. Yeah, I could buy wonton wrappers but making them is almost a repetitive meditative process IF I'm in the mood. They got made in two batches with a break in between so now there are 60 dumplings bagged up in the freezer for steaming and/or frying when the urge hits.

worth1 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2023 5:17 am Totally ridiculous.
Suffering all night from eating this massive beast.
Forgot to turn the AC down and baked all night after eating it.
Didn't realize it until I got up this morning.
IMG_20230730_174849606_HDR.jpg

Reminds me of Nick Tahou garbage plate.
https://www.qwant.com/?t=images&q=nick+ ... bage+plate

Coupla Take-n-Bakes, which the lovely and long suffering Mrs. Gotch "tricked-out" with OUR Kale (Prizm-n-Scarlet), OUR Garlic, OUR Peppers (Gypsy Hybrid), OUR Basil (Lettuce Leaf), OUR Tomatoes (King Kong, Mountain Merit, & Radiator Charlie Mortgage Lifter).
The Start: The Finish: ¡Maravillosa!

The Gotch

I just made a beef stew for the freezer and used up the last potatoes in the old bag so I can enjoy the nice crisp new ones I just bought. Stew is a bulk pack of sirloin tip steak on special which I cut up from frozen.
Seasoning heavily cumin, some coriander black pepper and cayenne, as well as chopped garlic, onion. Mushrooms were on special today so a pack of those and some wrinkly sweet pepper.
Just eating a bowl here for a taster, it has a good heat and flavor, and will be really nice with some fresh cilantro or, heaven forbid, snow peas if I can just get em to put out. Or baby carrots if the vole doesn't decide to eat em.
Anyhoo a ready meal to add fresh things to whenever it gets thawed.

bower wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2023 2:54 pm Small chopped potatoes are so easy to cook. Ten minutes.
I remember when Mom and Dad would boil the whole potatoes to serve them whole, back in the day. Took forever and it wasn't better IMHO.
That is how I chop my potatoes to make potato salad too. As long as you don't let them go a second over ten minutes, they have a perfect texture and hold up to being stirred with dressing and other stuff.

One learns to cube potatoes for potato salad, before cooking them.

One learns because they once cooked the potatoes whole, then attempted to cube them.

Tormato wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2023 4:20 pm
One learns to cube potatoes for potato salad, before cooking them.

One learns because they once cooked the potatoes whole, then attempted to cube them.

You's don't cube Sweet Spuds before you's cook 'em...unless you's have a reticular saw with a diamond blade...

The Gotch

Steak Sandwiches. Sirlon sliced very thin, cooked in a skillet with ample sliced onions and some butter. The cooked sirlon and onions get put into a sub roll spread with mustard and layered over the beef and onions with sliced provolone cheese all baked in an oven until crisp and toasty. Side salad of arugula tossed with lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil (California) and shaved Parmesan (Italy) cheese.

I'm being forced to eat pichania.
With a simple wedge salad.
It's so hot outside.

Made a ultra simple chicken based broth with some a touch of dark soy, fresh ginger, garlic and green onions as a dipping broth for fresh udon noodles and a dab of steamed broccoli with just a few thin slices of the left over, very rare steak from last night. Cut up into slivers some nori for the broccoli and beef.

I love the elegant simplicity of the hot weather cooking! Just right for the heat.

Here I am back to some cooler weather enterprises, the pork and pickle gulyas digging into my quick pickled peppers, and using up a lump of cauliflower, some garlic scapes, and the last of the frozen tomatoes from last year as the new ones start to trickle in. Operation empty freezer is down to the wire... I don't mind putting cooked food in.

Pollo del Inferno.
Chicken of the fire/hell in English.
The kitchen sink is in this spice blend.
Cumin.
Garlic powder.
Fiesta brand chili powder.
Smoked hot Spanish paprika.
Onion powder.
Knorr tomato chicken bullion.
Salt.
Freshly ground black pepper.
Annato/achiote powder.
The juice of one large sweet orange.
Red ripe finely chopped habanero and Mexican oregano with be added after baking in 12 inch Lodge cast iron skillet at 300F.
What could possibly go wrong.

It's beautiful.
Red habanero.