What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Evo]

In cooking school in France, my mother had to reach down a live chicken's throat with a pair of long scissors and cut something that killed it. Any idea what that was other than a form of torture?

 

[turbo]

A couple of my college buddies were sisters who earned their college money working on the eviscerating line in a poultry plant in Augusta. They were both pretty, funny, and smart as all get-out, and they refused to eat chicken. I think pigs and cows probably get more humane deaths.

 

[Moonbear]

All the cows had names, and if you were familiar with the pecking order, you didn't have to ID them by appearance. Just watch them trekking from pasture to water to graining at the tie-up and you KNEW Rosie was first, then her oldest daughter Bessie, then, etc, etc. Any deviation from that order was a sign of dissent and would be a good clue that you ought to give those critters some room until they sorted it out. You don't want to be between an alpha female and a pretender!

Cattle don't really have a linear hierarchy, though, and the "alpha" female changes with stage of estrous cycle. The one in heat is alpha for the day. Though, the one to watch out for is the one in proestrous. They're quite difficult to handle that day of the cycle, but oh, what a difference a day makes!

In cooking school in France, my mother had to reach down a live chicken's throat with a pair of long scissors and cut something that killed it. Any idea what that was other than a form of torture?

I can't think of any reason to do that from the inside. Chickens have thin enough necks that you can pretty quickly and easily do a cervical dislocation (basically, break their neck and tear their spinal cord) to kill them instantly and painlessly. I guess if you want to keep the head on for presentation or something, you could cut the spinal cord from the inside like that, but that really does seem unnecessarily slow when people don't usually care if the chicken is headless.

 

[scorpa]

You're a poof, Evo! One year, my uncle allowed his kids to name their pigs Romeo and Juliet. Hard lesson, maybe, but when you farm, you don't make pets out of your food.

I had a friend with a pet calf named Rambo, one day she came home from school and couldn't find him. She later found him on her dinner table :P

 

[turbo]

Cattle don't really have a linear hierarchy, though, and the "alpha" female changes with stage of estrous cycle. The one in heat is alpha for the day. Though, the one to watch out for is the one in proestrous. They're quite difficult to handle that day of the cycle, but oh, what a difference a day makes!

Is that true when there are no mating-age males around? The pecking-order of my uncle's Herefords was real predictable. Apart from some minor fluctuations, which generally got resolved in the short term (a few days at most) they were as predictable as can be. My cousin and I would stock up the feeders in the stalls with hay and grain, and you would NEVER see cow X in cow Y's feeding stall. They had rules.

 

[Moonbear]

Is that true when there are no mating-age males around? The pecking-order of my uncle's Herefords was real predictable. Apart from some minor fluctuations, which generally got resolved in the short term (a few days at most) they were as predictable as can be. My cousin and I would stock up the feeders in the stalls with hay and grain, and you would NEVER see cow X in cow Y's feeding stall. They had rules.

Yep, true without males around too. Actually, even more so. If males are around, the females in heat will be more distracted by the attention of the males rather than hassling the other females. That's different than them all having "favorite" stalls. That's more just training. They all learn that food comes faster if they sort out into the same place every day than if they fight over stall choice. This becomes apparent if you're intentionally trying to move them into a different stall, even if there isn't another cow trying to get in.

Though, if the herd was fairly well synchronized, which may have been the case if they were using any methods to time breeding, then these shifts may not have been readily apparent because they'd have all been coming into heat at similar times.

 

[turbo]

Though, if the herd was fairly well synchronized, which may have been the case if they were using any methods to time breeding, then these shifts may not have been readily apparent because they'd have all been coming into heat at similar times.

That may be. In a herd of 20-30 cows, they might have been synchronized to the point where us kids couldn't have easily seen variations in their behaviors. Very small farm run by a couple of hard-*** Mainers who cut pulp-wood for a living. My uncle and his neighbor were tough customers.

 

[turbo]

One of my favorite meals tonight! Roast chicken with gravy, baked potatoes, and garden-fresh string beans. My wife brought home a small chicken the other day, so that's tonight's supper. I rubbed the skin with peanut oil and dusted it with a little salt and pepper, plus paprika and sage. I put the chicken in the pan breast-down, so that the fats from the thighs, legs and back meat will baste the breast meat. Also in the roasting pan is a quartered large yellow onion - that juice will make some killer gravy. The giblets and neck are in a small pot with another quartered onion, salt and pepper, and I will boil those, timed to be ready at the same time as the chicken. The juice from that will be added to the pan drippings as a base for the gravy. Reduce the juices in the pan on a gas burner and thicken with a bit of flour-and-water. Mmmm! The house already is smelling great.

 

[hypatia]

Heh, that made me thaw out some chicken, except mines going over hickory chips, but I'll still have the Mashed and maybe some corn.

 

[Andre]

I used chicken too, today, but in a totally unrecogniseable form, Ko Yu Luk. deep fried sweet sour chicken in dough balls with fruits, chinese kitchen, served with fine fried noodles and mixed vegetables.

 

[turbo]

We just finished supper, and it was wonderful. I decided not to make gravy. Instead the juices will be boiled with the carcass and reduced to make a nice broth for home-made tomato soup. Tomato soup made with chicken stock and served with a grilled cheese sandwich...mmmm! Another of my favorite meals, and easy, too.

 

[Evo]

Ooooh, the chicken sounds wonderful. I've neevr made tomato soup with chicken broth, share the recipe when you make it turbo.

I have beef strognanoff leftovers. I *love* beef stroganoff. Unfortunately the only pasta I had was angel hair, but it still turned out yummy. I'm just not used to having it over angel hair though.

I need to find a man that can cook, do housework, scratch the Fruit Bat's rear end, and won't get in my way. I just want to sit in front of the tv, watch cooking shows, and whine all day. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

 

[Moonbear]

I found one that cooks and does housework. Not sure if he'll scratch doggy rear-ends (though he would allow me to bring Ember to his condo if I wanted...but the place is so tiny, it's better leaving Ember home with a sitter than torture her with this tiny place)...I think I can get him to scratch my rear end though.

I had a tasty corned beef sandwich tonight. I was too tired to wander very far for dinner after driving out here (he's still out of town until Sunday night), so just hit the bar across the street. Strange place. One side is a deli type sandwich bar, the other the actual drinks type bar, and you can't just order a sandwich from the drinks bar, you have to go to the other side, get your sandwich, then carry it over. Very strange. But, it was real, home-cooked corned beef on yummy rye bread. That's the sort of stuff I miss when I'm in WV.

 

[Evo]

I found one that cooks and does housework. Not sure if he'll scratch doggy rear-ends (though he would allow me to bring Ember to his condo if I wanted...but the place is so tiny, it's better leaving Ember home with a sitter than torture her with this tiny place)...I think I can get him to scratch my rear end though.

I had a tasty corned beef sandwich tonight. I was too tired to wander very far for dinner after driving out here (he's still out of town until Sunday night), so just hit the bar across the street. Strange place. One side is a deli type sandwich bar, the other the actual drinks type bar, and you can't just order a sandwich from the drinks bar, you have to go to the other side, get your sandwich, then carry it over. Very strange. But, it was real, home-cooked corned beef on yummy rye bread. That's the sort of stuff I miss when I'm in WV.

OMG! I *love* corned beef sandwiches!

Now I must buy a corned beef brisket. Evo Child loves corned beef.

Funny story, completely unrelated to food.

The Evo Child's car has been making a funny noise since she had the tires rotated and alligned a couple of weeks ago, so we dropped it off at the dealer to get it checked out. You get a free new car as a loaner when you drop your car off. They were putting us into a nice $40,000.00 car, but I mentioned how much faster they were than the XXX Import Car Dealer I take my car into. The guy excused himself and a minute later was back giving us the keys to a new $60,000.00 car. Muwahaha, little does he know my income has dwindled so much that I can't even think about buying that car for her. I suggested we drive it to Colorado since we have it for the weekend.

 

[turbo]

Ooooh, the chicken sounds wonderful. I've neevr made tomato soup with chicken broth, share the recipe when you make it turbo.

The tomato soup is easy and is always good. Take the pan-drippings from the roasted chicken and the water from the boiled giblets, neck, and onion, garlic, whatever, and reduce them. Freeze that concentrated stock if you're not going to use it soon. When you get ready to make tomato soup, combine the chicken stock with tomato sauce (we use ours, but you can use store-bought if you want) and start simmering. If the soup is a bit tart, add some fresh basil (dried if you must) and consider trimming with oregano. I don't have a "recipe" that I can post because the character of the chicken broth, the tartness of the tomato sauce, etc, can vary quite a bit. Sorry about that. My wife and I love whipping up simple soups like this and pairing them with great grilled sandwiches.

 

[turbo]

Forgot to mention that what I intend to do with the stock today is to boil the meat and fats off the carcass, remove the bones, leave in the onions that I boiled with the giblets and blend until the stock is smooth. Usually, I chill the stock and skim off the excess fat and then package it for freezing for later use. When making the tomato soup, all you have to do is thaw the stock, stir in some home-made (or canned) tomato sauce and season to taste. Season with our fresh (or fresh-frozen if out of season) basil leaves. If you you have made up and frozen some basil pesto, you could add that to the soup instead. My grilled-cheese sandwiches are usually: Pepperidge Farms Jewish rye and some very sharp cheddar cheese (mustard on one piece of bread), buttered and grilled in skillet. That's a very tasty comfort-food meal for a cold day, so it's nice to have tubs of chicken stock in the freezer.

 

[wolram]

I have to go out and eat tonight, the chili i made tastes like manure, what the heck i did i do not know, i used all the same ingredients, any way my belly is growling and i have to wait another few minutes for the take away to open.

 

[turbo]

Oh, that would be very disappointing. When I make chili, I make a pretty big batch, and it would be a shame to have to toss all that. Ground pork, hamburg, hot sausage, and chili peppers always figure heavily in my chili and those are valuable commodities.

 

[Evo]

I have to go out and eat tonight, the chili i made tastes like manure, what the heck i did i do not know, i used all the same ingredients, any way my belly is growling and i have to wait another few minutes for the take away to open.

How can anyone make chili taste like manure? Did you check to make sure there was no mold on the chilies? I know you had a problem with that once.

 

[turbo]

My wife and I just sliced up a gallon of Bell peppers to freeze for stir-fries this winter, and another gallon of chopped Bell peppers to freeze for sauces, etc. Plus we have set aside another dozen of those big peppers for a couple of my sisters-in-law, and a few more for a neighbor, along with Hungarian wax chilies. Most of my garden is suffering terribly from the never-ending rain, but the peppers are coming so fast that it's hard to keep up with them.

 

[hypatia]

Nachos tonight! Black turtle beans, green peppers, sweet onions, brick cheese and avocados. With home made sour cream and salsa!

 

[turbo]

Nachos tonight! Black turtle beans, green peppers, sweet onions, brick cheese and avocados. With home made sour cream and salsa!

My wife made us some for a snack an hour or so ago. Tortilla chips topped with sharp cheese and my home-made dill-picked jalapeno rings and microwaved to melt the cheese. Then topped with a quick-and-dirty fresh salsa made of stuff from the garden (tomato, cucumber, chilies, cilantro). Some of the tomatoes are developing soft spots at the stem (too much rain!), so we have to use them up as soon as they start ripening.

 

[wolram]

How can anyone make chili taste like manure? Did you check to make sure there was no mold on the chilies? I know you had a problem with that once.

Every thing was fresh, i think it may have been the meat it did not smell to good when i was frying it.

 

[Evo]

Every thing was fresh, i think it may have been the meat it did not smell to good when i was frying it.

Oh, that would do it.

 

[Moonbear]

Just to make Evo jealous again, I'm enjoying a very tasty Chinese take-out tonight of orange beef. A bowl of wanton soup too, with some of the BEST wantons I've had in ages (actually, haven't had them this good since I was a kid and my Chinese neighbor would bring some homemade ones over). I could just eat a plate of the wantons! I can't get anything even close to this in WV.

That reminds me that I need to find a good bakery so I can bring back a loaf of real rye bread with me when I return...I found out one of my colleagues in the new department I'm in is also from NJ, and that's the sort of thing she craves, so I'll bring her back a loaf (I don't have a cooler, otherwise I'd bring back some good deli meats too).

 

[turbo]

That reminds me that I need to find a good bakery so I can bring back a loaf of real rye bread with me when I return...I found out one of my colleagues in the new department I'm in is also from NJ, and that's the sort of thing she craves, so I'll bring her back a loaf (I don't have a cooler, otherwise I'd bring back some good deli meats too).

If the deli has fish, they may get fresh fish deliveries in Styrofoam boxes, and if you're going to buy some deli meat, they may be happy to pack the meat in one of those boxes with a bag of ice. I've got a couple of those dirt-cheap "coolers" in storage.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I am eating mango slices with warm coconut-flavored sticky rice. I got it from a new vegan Thai place in town. yum yum.

 

[wolram]

I can not cook for now my cooker is in bits, i decided to clean it and boy what a job, you have to take the doors apart and i am using that foaming oven cleaner, well i have used three cans so far and it still needs more, this must be the worst job ever :grumpy next time i will buy a new cooker.

 

[lisab]

That foaming oven cleaner is horrible.

 

[Monique]

How many people here know how to cook bitter gourd/melon? I cooked one up today after salting it to get rid of some of the bitterness, but it was still quite bitter (and salty) after cooking it (for a first try it dit taste quite good). Any tips?