What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Andre]

I've never seen those mushrooms before, they look weird!

Oh they're around here. The Dutch name is morieljes

 

[Borek]

Todays main dish - a beef tongue with a horseradish sauce.

I just realized I post here mostly when I am cooking something atypical, so it may look like if we were eating only strange things

 

[Evo]

Todays main dish - a beef tongue with a horseradish sauce.

I just realized I post here mostly when I am cooking something atypical, so it may look like if we were eating only strange things

I love beef tongue. And horseradish sauce MMMMM.

 

[turbo]

We have morels in Maine, too. Very tasty mushrooms. Slice them and pan-fry them. They are easily overpowered by other foods, so it's a good idea to serve them up neat.

 

[Evo]

Morels grow wild in the fields and yards of people in rural areas here. Evo Child and her BF hunted and cooked up a bunch. She loves them, I got none. They're crazy expensive at a restaurant.

 

[turbo]

Morels grow wild in the fields and yards of people in rural areas here. Evo Child and her BF hunted and cooked up a bunch. She loves them, I got none. They're crazy expensive at a restaurant.

No sharing? That's immorel.

 

[dlgoff]

No sharing? That's immorel.

Around here, you don't even share where you've found them.

BTW One needs to beware of the false morel. Some, like this one, looks very similar to a morel.

 

[reenmachine]

sushis are the best

said my piece

 

[turbo]

Around here, you don't even share where you've found them.

BTW One needs to beware of the false morel. Some, like this one, looks very similar to a morel.

Around here, if you have found a great place to pick fiddleheads you NEVER tell about the place. Those baby ferns freeze well if you blanch them promptly and they are such a welcome addition to sparse winter meals. My wife and I can afford pretty much we want to eat now, but it was not always the case (~40 years back) and local seasonal foods are always a special touch. When I was a kid, my father now 87) would say "one brake will spoil the batch", meaning that if you picked the immature sprouts of a similar fern and they ended up in the steaming pot, their bitterness would ruin the taste of the real fiddleheads.

BTW, around here about the only morels that I find are quite pale (yellow morels), and I haven't found any interlopers, but thanks for that heads-up.

 

[Borek]

Why one of the tags associated with the thread is "ninfa"? I checked wikipedia and I don't get what it may have to do with food.

 

[dlgoff]

Maybe the tag should have been Ninfa's.

 

[Evo]

Some things are so simple, you don't think about a recipe, but I realize that we have some people new to cooking, and some of us are getting older and can't remember as well as we once did.

This is one of those simple recipes. It's for corned beef hash, but you can use any leftover meat, roast beef, ground beef, ham... This is SO GOOD.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/corned_beef_hash/

And just in case the URL ever goes bad, here's the recipe.Corned Beef Hash Recipe

If you have leftover cabbage from corned beef and cabbage, feel free to chop that up as well and add that to the hash.
INGREDIENTS
• 2-3 Tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2-3 cups finely chopped, cooked corned beef
• 2-3 cups chopped cooked potatoes, preferably Yukon gold
• Salt and pepper
• Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
METHOD
1 Heat butter in a large skillet (preferably cast iron) on medium heat. Add the onion and cook a few minutes, until translucent.

2 Mix in the chopped corned beef and potatoes. Spread out evenly over the pan. Increase the heat to high or medium high and press down on the mixture with a metal spatula.

3 Do not stir the potatoes and corned beef, but let them brown. If you hear them sizzling, this is good. Use a metal spatula to peak underneath and see if they are browning. If nicely browned, use the spatula to flip sections over in the pan so that they brown on the other side. Press down again with the spatula. If there is too much sticking, you can add a little more butter to the pan. Continue to cook in this manner until the potatoes and the corned beef are nicely browned.

4 Remove from heat, stir in chopped parsley (if desired). Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and add salt to taste.

Serve with fried or poached eggs for breakfast.
Serves 4-6.

If you like it spicy, sprinkle with a bit of cayenne or red pepper flakes when you add the meat and potatoes.

 

[dlgoff]

Yummy fresh from the pasture.

Check out the results of my simple shroom batter:

whisk 6 Roger egg yolks
whisk in liberal amount of McCormick Perfect Pinch Cajun seasoning
whisk in some NaCl
whisk in 1/2 box (8.5 oz/box) "Jiffy" corn muffin mix
put in the shrooms and gently make sure all surfaces are covered
Place battered shrooms in deep fryer @ 400°F until golden brown

 

[trollcast]

My latest experiment with bread making:

I didn't have enough strong flour so I used about a 70:30 ratio of strong : plain however I wasn't able to build up enough elasticity in the dough so it collapsed a bit although overall the texture is good its more like a dense non yeast risen bread texture.

I also used maple syrup to give the yeast something to grow with (It seems to have given the bread a nicer flavour compared to the normal sugar)

 

[drizzle]

Looks like a slice of a pound cake to me, troll.

But if the bread tastes good, who cares what it looks like.

 

[Evo]

Ohhhh. ohhhhhhh. I made fried fish tonight, perfectly crispy and crunchy on the outside, moist and perfectly cooked on the inside. I drained it thoroughly on layers of paper towels on both sides.

I haven't done this in ages because I fear fried foods due to my gall bladder. It was sooooo good. And I seemed to have gotten most of the oil off. I should've made tartar sauce, but I ate a pickle on the side instead.

 

[turbo]

I had a late night meal of pan-fried baby potatoes. I love small potatoes when they are hard and crispy. Here's how:

Warm up a small cast-iron pan and toss a dollop of butter in there.
Cut up your potatoes (if they are early-season reds, I simply halve them, but larger potatoes get quartered).
Toss the chopped potatoes in the pan and wait for the butter to come back up to temperature. When the butter starts sizzling a bit, cover the pan so the potatoes are steam-cooked and soft.
Check the potatoes from time to time, and uncover the pan in order to brown them.
When the potatoes are browned, enjoy.

I realize that this seems like a simplistic "recipe", but it really does matter how you cook the potatoes to get a decent meal from them.

 

[dlgoff]

Here's how I make Blackberry topping on the fly.

Two batches of blackberries; one whole, one with sugar to juice out with a colander.



I stuffed the jars with whole berries, cooked (microwaved) the sugared juice, then added fruit pectin (just enough to thicken but not set) to the juice.



I ladled the hot juice into the 12oz jars of berries, tightened on the lids, and brought up the temps in a canner (just long enough to get good seals). Since there wasn't enough juice for all the berries, I sugared the remaining for freezing.

 

[turbo]

Killer, Don!

 

[Evo]

I love blackberries! You lucky dog!

 

[dlgoff]

Killer, Don!

Thank you.

I love blackberries! You lucky dog!

They were easy to grow. I just set out four starts (3 varieties) last spring. One of the varieties is just now starting to ripen (good to spread the season out). The hardest part was making the trellis deer and bird proof (but not Buddy proof along the bottom of the patch). But beware, they can take over your garden if you let them.

 

[Ms Music]

But beware, they can take over your garden if you let them.

And even if you try NOT to let them. My cousin took home some black berry canes many years ago, and he is now slightly resented in his community. It is a wealthy community in the hills overlooking the city, and all the hillsides are now covered in blackberry. The birds carried the seed. The worst part is apparently no one eats them, the local deer do. ? I can understanding not wanting the sticker bushes, but not eating the berries? Crazy rich people...

 

[dlgoff]

And even if you try NOT to let them. My cousin took home some black berry canes many years ago, and he is now slightly resented in his community. It is a wealthy community in the hills overlooking the city, and all the hillsides are now covered in blackberry. The birds carried the seed. The worst part is apparently no one eats them, the local deer do. ? I can understanding not wanting the sticker bushes, but not eating the berries? Crazy rich people...

Forget the thorns. I have the "prickle-free" varieties.

Semi-erect, prickle-free blackberries were first developed at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, and subsequently by the USDA-ARS in Beltsville, Maryland. These are crown forming and very vigorous and need a trellis for support. Cultivars include 'Black Satin' 'Chester Thornless', 'Dirksen Thornless', 'Hull Thornless', 'Loch Ness', 'Loch Tay', 'Merton Thornless', 'Smoothstem', and 'Triple Crown'. Recently, the cultivar 'Cacanska Bestrna' (also called 'Cacak Thornless') has been developed in Serbia and has been planted on many thousands of hectares there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackberries

 

[turbo]

I made scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning. It takes a while to get them just right, but it's worth the effort. I don't mind sharing the extras with the dogs, because they are healthy and free of spices.

 

[gmax137]

I made scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning. It takes a while to get them just right, but it's worth the effort. I don't mind sharing the extras with the dogs, because they are healthy and free of spices.

Do you know the Ledbelly tune?

C’est bon les oeufs mouillés
C’est bon, c’est bon, c’est bon
Mais pas c’est bon brulés

 

[turbo]

I hadn't known that, but it is a nice go-with. I'll have to find a version that I can listen to while making the next batch of eggs. Thanks.

 

[wolram]

Meat

What is it with UK meat, wherever i go meat is tough, if i go out for a steak it is tough, medium rare
or well done. i have only found one place that serves a good steak and that cost £17 a go.
It is not even as if the meat has not been [hung] for long enough, so what is the best way to get a nice tender steak?

 

[dlgoff]

It is not even as if the meat has not been [hung] for long enough, so what is the best way to get a nice tender steak?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIUPHSIlZGA

 

[krash661]

MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[lisab]

What is it with UK meat, wherever i go meat is tough, if i go out for a steak it is tough, medium rare
or well done. i have only found one place that serves a good steak and that cost £17 a go.
It is not even as if the meat has not been [hung] for long enough, so what is the best way to get a nice tender steak?

Not sure how things are in the UK, but in the US beef is graded, based on meat quality. Highest to lowest, it's: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, Canner.

Prime is **awesome**. Most grocery stores have Select or Choice. Prime is mostly sold in restaurants.

In my experience, there is not much you can do with a lower grade steak to make it anything close to Prime.