Whatcha Cooking today?

[worth1]

I'm browning another 3 pound boneless chuck roast for a goulash type dish.
So far the spices are....
1 tablespoon of Knorr beef bullion powder.
1 tablespoon of granulated garlic.
2 tablespoons of ground cumin.
2 tablespoons of sweet paprika.
1 tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper.
Olive oil to do the browning with.

The browning is going on in the 12 inch Lodge cast iron skillet, then transferred over to a heated Dutch oven to continue to low simmer while I'm browning the meat.
That's when the spices are added.

The roast is cut up following the natural muscle sections of the meat.
Then sliced against the grain to make thinner and cubed up.
This way no long strands of meat.
When I say 1 teaspoon or tablespoon or whatever I measure by hand almost always.
And here is the proof of how close to accurate I am.

IMG_20240303_114639684.jpg

IMG_20240303_115016983_HDR.jpg

[worth1]

And here you have it one of many types of goulash.
Added ingredients before cooking.
NO TOMATO products no acid because it's in a Magnalite Dutch oven.
2 giant caramelized strong yellow onions.
2 cups of rutabaga diced up.
Yes rutabaga.
About 2 cups of carrots large diced.
About a cup of chopped sweet peppers.
I wouldn't have used the peppers but I needed to cook them.
My plan was all winter type vegetables and or fruit.
1 giant honey crisp apple peeled diced up.
1 bottle of Guinness Stout.
1 cup of water.
The fond from the skillet made with a little water.
1 more pinch of salt and pepper.
An extra tablespoon of sweet paprika.
That's it.
Cover put on and off to the oven at 300 or so.
It's been simmering on the stove while I prepared everything else.

IMG_20240303_130315887_HDR.jpg

[worth1]

Lastly.
One tablespoon of coarse ground caraway seeds.
3 medium peeled russet potatoes diced up.
Another tablespoon of paprika because I like paprika.
1 teaspoon of hot smoked Spanish paprika.
I have no idea why I put the rutabaga in so soon but I did and it's no turning back now.
Idiot move on my part.

One thing of consideration.
The rutabagas used to come dipped in wax and more expensive than turnips.
These ones weren't dipped in was and less expensive than turnips.
The rutabaga is something I've been eating literally all my life since I had teeth.
No idea why many other Texans don't eat the things.
Maybe it's my family heritage carried down coming from Europe.

[karstopography]

IMG_3476.jpeg

IMG_3477.jpeg

Pan fried redfish with a side of dill pasta salad.

[Tormahto]

No cooking, just the perfect leftover disaster of ham salad.

I've probably made tuna salad and chicken salad a couple hundred times, each. But I've never made ham salad.

No recipe, I just looked up the most popular main ingredients: leftover ham. celery, onion, mayo, sweet relish, black pepper. I used all of my leftover ham, almost all of the inner stalks and leaves on the leftover bunch of celery, the one small onion that I had, a heaping "spoonful" (no idea on its volume) of relish, a few dashes of pepper, the last of a jar of mayo, and added a couple of leftover pineapple rings. I threw it all in a bender until fairly smooth, and served it on a thinly sliced French baguette.

The perfect part was that the taste, texture, and moistness were spot on. The disaster is that I have no idea how much of each ingredient I used, and cannot replicate it.

[worth1]

Meatless Monday.
I don't always eat broccoli but when I do I do it right.
Pan cooked and covered in EVOO.
Not burned.
Spices.
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper.
Nutmeg.
My balsamic vinegar reduction for more flavor at the table.
Also a grilled cheese sandwich for tomorrow.
It's Velveeta and habanero on buttered pan toast.

IMG_20240304_181946814_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240304_164837939.jpg

IMG_20240304_172606437_HDR.jpg

[worth1]

I ate half the habanero cheese sandwich.
Boy was that puppy ever on fire.

[karstopography]

IMG_3501.jpeg

IMG_3502.jpeg

IMG_3503.jpeg

Debut of my 2024 sauerkraut. My German wife gave it a Wunderbar.

[karstopography]

IMG_3502.jpeg

IMG_3501.jpeg

IMG_3503.jpeg

Photos

[pepperhead212]

I have a partial bottle of cheap balsamic vinegar I'm reducing down to make something better or toss away.
Added some sangria and sugar and a sprinkle of MSG to the concoction.
Next a handful of hickory wood pellets
Yes you heard me right hickory wood smoking pellets.
That's because I had them handy.
Let the tasting begin.
Still a little too sour.
Add more sugar oh yeah that's going to reduce down about right but nothing to write home about.
Toss in the wood pellets and see what happens.
Oh my God almost immediately I can smell this sweet woody caramel smell coming from the hot mixture.
I let it stay like this for a bit and filtered the wood out.
Back in the pan for final reduction on warm.
After reducing down to about 1/2 I poured back into the bottle to cool off.
Did a cool spoon test.
This stuff is amazing and the wood pellets did it.
Who would've thought.
I've seen people try to make cheap balsamic vinegar into expensive vinegar but never used wood.
They said that was what was missing, the wood flavor from being in barrels so I just added wood.

I like the sound of this, and have a couple of large bottles of cheap balsamic I'd like to do this with, but I'd have to do it outside, to keep that vinegar smell out! I wanted to know, did you use actual pellets, or hickory chips, and about how much did you use to how much vinegar? And about how much sugar did you end up using? Just wondering what to be shooting for.

[worth1]

I have a partial bottle of cheap balsamic vinegar I'm reducing down to make something better or toss away.
Added some sangria and sugar and a sprinkle of MSG to the concoction.
Next a handful of hickory wood pellets
Yes you heard me right hickory wood smoking pellets.
That's because I had them handy.
Let the tasting begin.
Still a little too sour.
Add more sugar oh yeah that's going to reduce down about right but nothing to write home about.
Toss in the wood pellets and see what happens.
Oh my God almost immediately I can smell this sweet woody caramel smell coming from the hot mixture.
I let it stay like this for a bit and filtered the wood out.
Back in the pan for final reduction on warm.
After reducing down to about 1/2 I poured back into the bottle to cool off.
Did a cool spoon test.
This stuff is amazing and the wood pellets did it.
Who would've thought.
I've seen people try to make cheap balsamic vinegar into expensive vinegar but never used wood.
They said that was what was missing, the wood flavor from being in barrels so I just added wood.

I like the sound of this, and have a couple of large bottles of cheap balsamic I'd like to do this with, but I'd have to do it outside, to keep that vinegar smell out! I wanted to know, did you use actual pellets, or hickory chips, and about how much did you use to how much vinegar? And about how much sugar did you end up using? Just wondering what to be shooting for.

I used a handful of actual wood pellets for a pellet smoker of who don't own.
They turned to sawdust almost instantly.
Not advised.
Use actual wood chips for smoking.
This obviously will take longer to get the wood flavor in the vinegar.
So you could put them in to soak months earlier if you wanted.
But overnight would probably do as well.
The amount was that handful to around 12 ounces of vinegar.
I didn't really know what to expect and didn't care but I had to start somewhere.
I lost a lot of liquid in the sawdust by doing this.
The amount of sugar was adjusted by reducing down by about half and I kept adding sugar and letting the liquid cool on a spoon so I could check the viscosity of it.
So no idea how much other than possibly like a simple syrup.
Totally up to you.
The vinegar never got to a simmer it was only allowed to get to the vapor point of a very low steam.
It took a very long time to reduce.

The smell that came off the vinegar when I added the pellets was like cutting into a hardwood board in a cabinet shop.
The flavor was the same but it calmed down after the vinegar cooled off.

It was an excellent addition to the broccoli I had for supper.
For a cheap balsamic vinegar I was literally doing nothing with it has turned into something I'm using a lot.
The standard cheap balsamic vinegar doesn't do much of anything for me other than have a little more flavor than regular vinegar.
By doing this process it greatly improves the flavor without spending a hundred dollars on a 25 year old balsamic vinegar.
Some people use an aged Port wine for the additional flavor of the wood in the reduction.
I find this cost prohibitive and by the time you spend the money you might as well just by the darn stuff.
What separates the balsamic vinegar with everything else considered.
Is it pure grape Musk?
Expensive and a 100 year old bottle will cost a thousand dollars.
A mix of grape Musk and wine vinegar.
Musk first on the label or wine vinegar on the label first.
This decides the cost.
If it's wine vinegar first there are no rules saying what the ratio is other than it's more wine vinegar than musk.

Does it matter to the untrained palate?
Do you have to be a super taster to know the difference?
Do you smoke or not?

These are the things to consider before you start pouring money into something you may not be able to tell the difference in anyway.
The same goes for olive oil.

[worth1]

I've got another broccoli head cut in half and a whole small eggplant cut up in half and sliced again in wafers.
It's salted and fruit fresh on them so they don't turn dark.
The salt is to draw some of the water out but they will not be squeezed.
Same spices.
Salt.
Black pepper.
Nutmeg.
Same method of cooking in the hot skillet with olive oil and steamed.
Other ingredients are chopped English walnuts for the protein.
No meat today either except for my lunch sandwich.

Okay I cheated and put a thick slice of bacon on top.

[worth1]

It's burger and fries night with a twist never before seen in the history of man.

[Sue_CT]

Prosciutto wrapped chicken, mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli with lemon. It was really good. The prosciutto was crispy, the broccoli lemony and the mashed potatoes creamy. All with lemon sauce made with veggie stock, lemon and butter.

[karstopography]

Lentils with sausage.

[worth1]

The dreaded pan seared yellow squash burger dressed with thick balsamic vinegar and mayonnaise.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Buns toasted in pan with butter.
2 5 ounce burger patties.
Homemade French fries.
I ate half the burger.
The other half is tomorrows breakfast with fries.
Yes a yellow squash burger with aged balsamic vinegar.
Who would have thought.

IMG_20240306_181606183_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240306_181645743_HDR.jpg

[worth1]

Just picked up the last Aebleskiver pan that Callahans had in the store.
They are discounted by Lodge.
I can actually use the contraption.

IMG_20240307_112121687_HDR.jpg

[worth1]

The egg stuck but was cooked to perfection.
But will get better with use.
This is my new egg cooking pan amongst other things.

IMG_20240307_144230065_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240307_144759584_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240307_144813049_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240307_144841158_HDR.jpg

[worth1]

Next batch done with water.
No stick but outside rubbery.
Needs more research and practice.
Eventually I'll get around to using it for what it was meant to be used for.
I've wanted one for a coons age.

IMG_20240307_151537402_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240307_151719898_HDR.jpg

[worth1]

Meat grinder peanut/walnut butter.
A little grainy but delicious.
3 pounds worth.
Cost 11.26.
2 pounds roasted unsalted peanuts.
1 pound English walnuts.
1 tablespoon salt.
4 tablespoons Steens 100% pure cane syrup.
4 tablespoons peanut oil.
Good for man or beast.
I just figured out what I made.
The filling for a Reese peanut butter chocolate cup.

IMG_20240308_164148132_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240308_164720728.jpg

IMG_20240308_165109888_HDR.jpg

IMG_20240308_170555800_HDR.jpg