Culinary Conversations

[MissS]

I got a hankering for another grilled cheese sandwich.
This time it has chopped ham slices in it to.

Our cravings are alike. I had a grilled cheese with fresh parmesan and a big juicy home grown tomato on top. It was heavenly. I hope that you enjoyed yours.

[worth1]

I've tried several chicken places and hands down a Texas local fried chicken place beats the others hands down.
It's called Golden Chick.
The first location was in San Marcos Texas.
Popeyes has gone to the dogs.
KFC isn't any good.
Extra crispy is extra soggy.
Churches hard to find.
Chicken Express isn't all that hot.
Besides Golden Chick has fried okra too as well as the fries.

[pepperhead212]

Churches was the only one I would go to around here, and fortunately, it's not real nearby! Back in the 90s a few of them opened around here, in addition to the first one, in Lawnside, but all the rest shut down, and Lawnside is still there! And they have great fried okra, too. I used to eat lunch occasionally there, when delivering in that area, but haven't been to it for years - just driven by and resisted the urge.

[worth1]

The churches in Bastrop closed years ago and one I used to eat at in Austin on Airport Blvd closed as well.

[worth1]

Helpful tip.
If you're measuring out any type of syrup coat what you're measuring in with oil.
All the syrup will come out without any effort because it slides off the oil.

[worth1]

Ran across this video and it reminds me of how horrible our meat supply chain is in the US compared to other countries.
My ground beef will stay fresh for days but the store bought stuff won't.
The same with the stuff sliced in the store like steak and pork chops.
It'll go bad in a minute.

[worth1]

I bought a 56 ounce container of organic filtered coconut oil the other day.
Guess what it's for if you please.
The answer will surprise you.

[worth1]

Homemade Magic Shell.
Ingredients.
1 cup of melted coconut oil.
You can accomplish this by setting it in a warm place.
1 cup of Hershey's special dark cocoa powder.
1/4 cup of powdered sugar.
I used 5 cap fulls of cherry extract in mine as well.
Heat on stove to let everything heat up well and mix.
Don't over heat it.
I had a used bottle with a cap to put mine in.
At a warm room temperature it will be melted.
In the refrigerator it's going to get rock hard.
It's a more or less bittersweet chocolate.
Coconut oil is really close to cocoa butter in melting point its just a little lower.
Cocoa butter is from 93 to 100 F and coconut oil is from maybe 73 to 78F..

Believe it or not I came up with the idea on my own when I noticed how hard coconut oil got in the refrigerator.
I thought to myself I can make chocolate with this stuff.
Then I looked on line and sure enough people were doing it in place of Cocoa butter.
Putting paraffin wax in it to help keep it hard at room temperature is not an option.

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[pepperhead212]

I've done that many times, but I'd almost forgotten about it, it's been so long since I did it! I just melted chocolate chips in a MW, and added a tb of coconut oil to 4 tb chocolate, and totally mix it together, then pour it over the ice cream. If any was leftover, it would almost harden, at room temp, but it melts quickly, in the MW.

[worth1]

I've done that many times, but I'd almost forgotten about it, it's been so long since I did it! I just melted chocolate chips in a MW, and added a tb of coconut oil to 4 tb chocolate, and totally mix it together, then pour it over the ice cream. If any was leftover, it would almost harden, at room temp, but it melts quickly, in the MW.

In Prudhoe Bay Alaska I made a giant chocolate walnut candy bar from the chocolate chips for ice cream container the bulk nuts section cling wrap and the microwave.
A lady was following me around and watching me in amazement and complemented me at my enginuiety and imagination.
The darn thing was almost a foot long and over an inch in diameter.
I put it in a cracked window where it was 30 below outside to harden.
I also made deviled eggs because people complained that they only had them during holidays.
One guy gripped about no tartar sauce so I showed him how to make it by using mayonnaise and the dill and sweet relish from the the hotdog section.
Real homemade Texas chili from fatty prima rib on Sunday night.
One guy from Washington State complained it didn't have beans and I told him I didn't make it for him and he couldn't have any and he stormed off.

Cheese and mayonnaise for stuffed celery something they never had.
Got the grated cheese from the hotdog section.
Sauerkraut and weiners from the Hotdog section.
Beef vegetable soup from ribeye steaks they had every Tuesday night.
Got the potatoes from the supply larder and the other stuff like mushrooms celery onions cherry tomatoes and carrots from the salad bar.
I had access to storage as well because I was friends with the head chef and cooking staff.
I would take my 6 quart crock pot to the kitchen and they would run it through the dishwasher for me.
Made my own shrimp cocktail sauce.
Made a Spam sandwich for a Hawaiian guy and myself that longed for Spam because they didn't have any.
Real grilled cheese sandwiches because I had an electric fryer thing and all the butter I could possibly use.
I kept butter out for supper because the stuff they put out was frozen at supper time.
Prepared my extra strong coffee at the end of the day for the next morning.
It was a commercial Bunn coffee maker and a Bunn coffee grinder.
Coffee beans stashed everywhere in the building to hide it from the greedy bp employees.
Probably about 20 pounds worth.
I would turn it on go get breakfast and bring it back up to our area and the coffee would be ready.
Needless to say I had a bit of a reputation.

[worth1]

@karstopography
I remember you mentioning that you didn't like hoppy beer.
I bought a 12 pack of Shiner Oktoberfest Marzen style beer for 16 dollars at HEB.
A bargain since the rest of the stuff is 4 dollars higher for 12.
Definitely not hoppy and bitter and not a bad flavor.

[worth1]

When's it ever end.
Seems like every week another outbreak from these processing plants.
One dead in multistate E. coli outbreak tied to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, CDC says https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/22/health/m ... index.html

[worth1]

I heard one of the hosts on the radio today say it's coming from imported beef from Brazil or some such thing.

That's total BS the majority of our beef comes from the US and a little from Mexico and Canada.
It what they call swinging beef in the trucking industry.
Any contamination is coming from the plants here in the US as far as I'm concerned.
Then the contamination is in our vegetables too.

[worth1]

I once read Texas restaurants would never get a Michelin star.
That wasn't too long ago either.
Now for the first time.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ronaberg/2 ... lin-guide/

[worth1]

One restaurant wasn't even in business anymore.
What a hoot.
https://www.khou.com/article/entertainm ... 318d877ad0

[worth1]

I don't think I have any of the recall list.
https://search.app?link=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... s%2Fm2%2F4

[worth1]

I had given up on this knife.
It's been missing for months.
I had stacked something on top of it.

IMG_20241201_125843813_HDR.jpg

[Vanman]

That is a fine looking knife.

[worth1]

That is a fine looking knife.

It's only a Faberware but it's built like a tank and keeps an edge really well.
I've had it for years.
I don't think you have to pay hundreds of dollars for a good kitchen knife.
Plus it has really good reviews.

[Vanman]

It looks like it has a very comfortable handle.