What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[HeLiXe]

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6711/ghostcat.jpg

Ohhhh micromass :D where are you?

 

[Borek]

Ghost Cat:

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/6711/ghostcat.jpg

This is the best worst picture I have ever seen

 

[Jay Ssj]

pani puri!
its the best!
its a complex recipi but its D best!

 

[rhody]

Turbo, and everyone else who has or is getting peppers,

I just discovered the full ripe shelf life is about one week or so, after that the start to rot in different places, my advice take the fully ripe ones, put in zip lock bags and throw them in the fridge or freezer, I am going to be taking the seeds from a bunch of ripe ones tomorrow. I still have a bunch of new buds and I picked a dozen and a half smaller peppers. I have to laugh, the last few people I gave them to I warned them to use gloves. Well they all didn't and in some way shape or form have suffered. This pepper demands respect. Live and learn I guess.

Any new recipes to report on, Turbo ?

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

Any new recipes to report on, Turbo ?

Rhody...

Nothing new yet, though I do have all the fixins' for another batch of hot grilled shrimp and might have time for that this weekend. Today, I pulled all my sauce-tomato plants and put the wire baskets away, and looked my chilies over. I have more chilies than I had hoped for, but I'm afraid I won't get enough of the nice ripe ones and will have to process and freeze them while green or orange. There is just not enough season left to ripen them.

 

[rhody]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-goldwyn/physicist-cracks-bbq-mystery_b_987719.html"

Ever wonder why you get "a stall" when smoking meat, trying to get it to that final temperature where it is perfect ? It has long vexed grillers of BBQ, read the article, here is a short summary.

The conclusion was inescapable: "Since there was a deep, glistening pool of melted fat in the smoker, the rendering fat hypothesis is busted. The barbecue stall is a simple consequence of evaporative cooling by the meat's own moisture slowly released over hours from within it's pores and cells. As the temperature of cold meat rises, the evaporation rate increases until the cooling effect balances the heat input. Then it stalls, until the last drop of available moisture is gone."

I am sure Turbo can testify to this. They say the stall drives griller's nuts because you think it is done, and it really isn't because of the evaporative cooling, and the finally slow rise to the proper serving temperature.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

I am sure Turbo can testify to this. They say the stall drives griller's nuts because you think it is done, and it really isn't because of the evaporative cooling, and the finally slow rise to the proper serving temperature.

Rhody...

Oh, yeah. I learned that the hard way, and brought a really nice cut of pork back into the house to finish cooking it in the oven. I had been smoking that meat all day for pulled-pork sandwiches with the neighbors that evening and the internal temperature just wasn't going anywhere. First time making pulled pork with the new Char-Griller.

I never had (knowingly) had that problem before, but I fooled myself with a nice new digital thermometer. Even though the smoking chamber was hot and smoking nicely, and the temperature in the hood of the charcoal section of the grill was high enough, the meat just wasn't heating up internally, so I panicked.

All the smoking that I had done previously had been in a Brinkman with no thermometer, no draft control, no damper, etc, and things came out great. It wasn't until I got my fancy Char-Griller with the smoking/indirect-cooking features, draft control, chimney damper, etc that I got fooled this way. With the primitive equipment, my method for whole turkeys and for pulled pork was to start smoking in the morning and keep the smoker running all day. Ah, the bliss of ignorance.

 

[WhoWee]

Oh, yeah. I learned that the hard way, and brought a really nice cut of pork back into the house to finish cooking it in the oven. I had been smoking that meat all day for pulled-pork sandwiches with the neighbors that evening and the internal temperature just wasn't going anywhere. First time making pulled pork with the new Char-Griller.

I never had (knowingly) had that problem before, but I fooled myself with a nice new digital thermometer. Even though the smoking chamber was hot and smoking nicely, and the temperature in the hood of the charcoal section of the grill was high enough, the meat just wasn't heating up internally, so I panicked.

All the smoking that I had done previously had been in a Brinkman with no thermometer, no draft control, no damper, etc, and things came out great. It wasn't until I got my fancy Char-Griller with the smoking/indirect-cooking features, draft control, chimney damper, etc that I got fooled this way. With the primitive equipment, my method for whole turkeys and for pulled pork was to start smoking in the morning and keep the smoker running all day. Ah, the bliss of ignorance.

There are 2 quick fixes you might want to try. First, if the meat has adequate smoke exposure - wrap in foil to hold the juices and return to smoker. For thick boneless cuts - if you don't want to slice - try inserting metal skewers through the center for heat transfer - cook from the inside.

 

[rhody]

(sorry Rhody - it was a tease, mostly because shellacking the peppers is about the only thing I would know to do with a ghost plant, I didn't actually expect a response)

But since you guys are still talking ghosts here, I will post this here. I was looking for recipes for hot sauce, as I might attempt that with one of my brother's dried ghosts... And I stumbled on this website. Go to the bottom of the page to see a picture of his tree! He grows it inside under grow lights, I guess he is from my neck of the woods.

http://ghostpeppers.com/

Also, if I do make hot sauce this weekend, have any of you ever used vodka instead of vinegar? Or in addition to vinegar? If made with a ghost pepper, it probably wouldn't matter, but that is what bugs me about hot sauce is that you taste the vinegar.

Turbo, Ms Music,

I just went to his website and ordered his How To book for 10 $. I will let you know how it works out, it looks like one of those on-line books with a password. If he can grow them 8 feet or more in Texas, I can try from here as well. He claims he is making about 2,000 $ a month from his products. Good for him. There is a market out there I tell you, he is proof positive there is.

Rhody...

P.S. Nice warm day here, almost 80 and dry, plants on the deck, and being warmed by the trek decking. It's weird, you have to basically torture the plants for them to produce hotter peppers, it is a fine line, dancing with the devil, too much abuse, and they die and you are back to square one. In an odd way, it reminds me of riding my bike near or at the limit, same result if you push too far.

 

[Ms Music]

If he can grow them 8 feet or more in Texas,
.

Try Seattle! Texas wouldn't be surprising, but he is in Seattle. The land of no summer... (well at least the last two summers have sucked royally) I read through that page again, and he mentions he got some smoked ghosts from India that tasted nasty. Now I wonder again if that is what I have.

Update on my hot sauce, I let my brother try it and he liked the smoky flavor, so it didn't go down the drain. He says every time he tries it it is even hotter, so I guess one week later it is still ripening. And I didn't put any of the pepper in it at all! Only the infused vodka. I can't wait until I have the time to make it again. This time with a fresh habanero. That I will harvest the seeds from... :D

it reminds me of riding my bike near or at the limit, same result if you push too far.

Please don't!

Enjoy the book!

Last minute thought... If it IS a smoked ghost, do you think the seeds would still be viable?

 

[turbo]

The weather is supposed to be nice again tomorrow, so my wife and I are inviting my father down for a cook-out. I'm going to make some more marinated grilled shrimp, this time with 2-3 ghost peppers instead of 1. We're also going to have grilled stuffed chilies. Stuffed with cream cheese and bacon, and topped with Monterey Jack.

 

[Evo]

I'm watching in horror as a guest on the Paula Deen show is filling cupcakes with chocolate ganache, dipping the cakes in batter, then deep frying them. OMG. WHY?

Oh wait, you have to put powdered sugar on them then serve them with ice cream.

 

[rhody]

Enjoy the book!

Last minute thought... If it IS a smoked ghost, do you think the seeds would still be viable?

I doubt it, especially, if the smoking process included a fair amount of heat, I don't think the seeds could handle it. I can throw some in the mail to you, no problem, say the word, and they are yours.

Rhody...

 

[HeLiXe]

I'm watching in horror as a guest on the Paula Deen show is filling cupcakes with chocolate ganache, dipping the cakes in batter, then deep frying them. OMG. WHY?

Oh wait, you have to put powdered sugar on them then serve them with ice cream.

Did Paula put some butter on it after everything?

 

[Evo]

Evo child dropped by tonight as I was beginning to eat the last of my shephard's pie. She grabbed the plate and started eating and screaming at me for not inviting her over to eat. I have been commanded to make her a sheppard's pie of her own tomorrow. I will have to buy a foil casserole dish. My cookware seems to go to her place, but never comes back.

 

[turbo]

She cannot make something as simple as shepherd's pie? Why has she not starved to death already? Does she buy all of her food from take-out joints? At some point, you should practice tough love and insist that she spend time with you and learn to cook some basic dishes. The time together would be good for you both, and passing on the minimal skill-set to make a few comfort foods would be a bit of assurance to any guy that marries her.

When I was in college, I could not afford to eat out (except rarely), and if I did not know how to make pea soup, baked beans, biscuits, spaghetti, bread, real mac 'n cheese (expensive, because I loved real sharp aged cheddar), soups and stews, New England boiled dinners, etc, I would have been up a creek.

If I could stand the exposure to peoples' cosmetics, I could run a food-basics boot camp. Send the clueless here (for a price) and I'll send them back with some basic kitchen know-how. If they are hungry, they will learn how to cook with my help. If they want to take the easy way out, they can walk the ~6miles round-trip to the nearest store to buy junk food or sandwiches. An old friend of mine married an Italian guy (long dead), and it was a "mixed" marriage in that she is an Irish Catholic and her husband was Italian Catholic. She got her mother-in-law's blessing only after she spent about a month living with the mother-in-law and learning how to make her husband-to-be's favorite Italian dishes. Tough love.

 

[rhody]

I just made enchilada's and put bits of ghost in it, very good, just enough heat.
Two thumbs up !

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

She cannot make something as simple as shepherd's pie? Why has she not starved to death already? Does she buy all of her food from take-out joints? At some point, you should practice tough love and insist that she spend time with you and learn to cook some basic dishes. The time together would be good for you both, and passing on the minimal skill-set to make a few comfort foods would be a bit of assurance to any guy that marries her.

While she was living with me last year she decided to learn to cook. She got a couple of great cookbooks that taught everything form how to shop for fresh veggies and meat to boiling water, and she started cranking out the most delicious gourmet meals.

The problem is she doesn't have time. She *starts* work at 6am, goes to school full time, holds 2 part time jobs and a research position. She gets home usually around 10:30PM and then she can start doing homework. She's exhausted, she does get some time off during the week when she can get out of work, but it's usually spent running errands.

 

[rhody]

Evo expressed some concerns about the heat of ghost chili's awhile back.

As luck would have it, a friend IM'd me this: http://science.slashdot.org/story/1...lashdot+(Slashdot)&utm_content=Google+Reader"

Paul Bosland, professor of horticulture at New Mexico State University and director of the Chile Pepper Institute, says that chili peppers can indeed cause death — but most people's bodies would falter long before they reached that point. 'Theoretically, one could eat enough really hot chiles to kill you,' says Bosland adding that a research study in 1980 calculated that three pounds of the hottest peppers in the world — something like the Bhut Jolokia — eaten all at once could kill a 150-pound person.

Here is evidence from a link in the article above what Astronuc says is true, it addition, low hanging peppers are hotter than higher hanging ones.

One ASTA pungency unit is equivalent to about 15 SHUs. Out of tradition, the Scoville scale remains, so ASTA pungency units are multiplied by 15 and the results are given in SHUs. Yet even with precise tools, determining which strain of pepper is consistently the hottest is tricky. “The pungency in chili peppers is 50 percent genetic and 50 percent environmental,” DeWitt says. “Pods that grow lower down on the plant are hotter. Stress on the plants, if water is withheld perhaps, makes them hotter.”

Who would pay almost 600 bucks for this stuff, apparently some would, or they wouldn't be selling it.

For example, Blair’s Reserve 16 Million Crystals hot sauce claims an SHU of 16 million and retails for $595 a bottle.

Several university studies have suggested that capsaicin consumption can aid in weight loss and inhibit tumor growth. When it is applied topically, nerves can be overwhelmed and the skin goes numb. There’s even a capsaicin patch for joint pain. But the scientists at the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation have a more nefarious plan for the Bhut Jolokia--pepper-bomb hand grenades.

Rhody...

 

[WhoWee]

Evo expressed some concerns about the heat of ghost chili's awhile back.

As luck would have it, a friend IM'd me this: http://science.slashdot.org/story/1...lashdot+(Slashdot)&utm_content=Google+Reader"

Here is evidence from a link in the article above what Astronuc says is true, it addition, low hanging peppers are hotter than higher hanging ones.

Who would pay almost 600 bucks for this stuff, apparently some would, or they wouldn't be selling it.

Rhody...

My doctor gave me a green light on ghosts - inquiry due to high blood pressure. He said I'd be better off eating just the peppers - rather than the stuff I normally put them on.

 

[turbo]

My doctor gave me a green light on ghosts - inquiry due to high blood pressure. He said I'd be better off eating just the peppers - rather than the stuff I normally put them on.

Peppers are good for you. Cream cheese, bacon, and Monterey jack (like my wife and I like to dress up jalapenoes) aren't so good for your health, if you indulge frequently.

I crunched down most of a ghost not long after I'd visited my doctor and he said that my BP was high. I measured my BP with a nice Panasonic BP meter that my wife bought, and it was 128 over 82. I can live with that.

 

[rhody]

My doctor gave me a green light on ghosts - inquiry due to high blood pressure. He said I'd be better off eating just the peppers - rather than the stuff I normally put them on.

Oh, God...

Unless your palate and sympathetic nervous system is conditioned for it, pleaseeeee be careful. I am building tolerance slowly. Putting small amounts in salsa, recipes, etc... and last weekend Patron in a frozen shot glass, works for me, although not highly recommended for the faint of heart. Turbo seems to have no problem with them, and I am happy for him. He is an exception, and not the norm. My BP is no problem 110/60, I must be some kind of freak I guess.

Rhody...

 

[WhoWee]

Peppers are good for you. Cream cheese, bacon, and Monterey jack (like my wife and I like to dress up jalapenoes) aren't so good for your health, if you indulge frequently.

I crunched down most of a ghost not long after I'd visited my doctor and he said that my BP was high. I measured my BP with a nice Panasonic BP meter that my wife bought, and it was 128 over 82. I can live with that.

My home monitor is fairly consistent at 142/105 - with 3 pills and roughly 1.25 gallons of water daily. Hot/spicy food doesn't seem to have any impact - salt is another issue altogether.

 

[Evo]

My home monitor is fairly consistent at 142/105 - with 3 pills and roughly 1.25 gallons of water daily. Hot/spicy food doesn't seem to have any impact - salt is another issue altogether.

Make sure you take your monitor to the doctor and have them check it against theirs, turns out my very expensive new monitor was way off, got my money back.

Perhaps your doctor should try you on a different med, I take one tablet daily and it reduces my non-medicated BP of 215/135 to usually 120/80 or 90. 142/105 with meds is not good.

 

[WhoWee]

Make sure you take your monitor to the doctor and have them check it against theirs, turns out my very expensive new monitor was way off, got my money back.

Perhaps your doctor should try you on a different med, I take one tablet daily and it reduces my non-medicated BP of 215/135 to usually 120/80 or 90. 142/105 with meds is not good.

My machine is typically very close to the doctor's readings. Unregulated, my readings are also quite ugly - especially when stressed.

 

[turbo]

After getting a high reading, my new doctor asked me to come back in a couple of weeks, and bring my wife's BP monitor, because I told him that the high reading was due to fragrance chemicals in his office, and that my BP at home was quite normal. That Panasonic EW3019 BP monitor was almost dead on against his old mercury-column sphygnomanometer (sp?). Within one point at the top and bottom numbers, measured a few seconds apart on separate upper-arms.

The readings in his office were both high (and agreed), though my BP the next day was 128 over 82. I can live with that.

 

[rhody]

I came home to find a surprise, don't remember ordering anything lately, so the box was a surprise. It seems that Turbo decided to send me some of his habanero relish and a Laconia T shirt. Thanks, I appreciate it, I can smell and see the garlic. We are buying some high end hot dogs, and I can't wait to try it. I sampled a bit, pretty hot, but a real nice flavor. I looked real close and didn't see any ghost bits, but that would be hard to tell if he used the not ripe ones, you didn't did you ?

On the subject of food again, our contractor friend who did our bamboo floors left three on the window sill to ripen. His mother in law comes over to his house, intending to make dinner while her son in law and daughter are at work. She is making chourico and peppers. Not knowing the window sill peppers were ghosts, were she takes the three peppers chops them up and cooks them along with regular peppers. Holy crap !

Her daughter told my wife over the phone, she became concerned when her fingers wouldn't stop burning . She had no idea what a ghost pepper is, long story short they ate the chourico and peppers, and got as expected mixed reviews, her son in law loves them, and others were amazed at the heat and backed off accordingly. Is their a moral to this story, mother in law takes it on herself to make a meal for her daughter and son in law and meets the devil or in this case devils ghost himself on the windowsill. I can't make this up folks, truly, I can't.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

The T-shirt was one that my wife kept saying (get rid of that) and I used it for packinging. You can use it for polishing your bike or whatever. I apologize for the wimpy character of the chili relish - that's the best that I had this year.

 

[turbo]

Last night, I had hot dogs with the '11 habanero relish and hot mustard on them. I miss the heat of the earlier stuff, but at least this batch of relish is better than I could ever have made with the store-bought habanero chilies. I am SO glad that we have a place with a decent garden-spot. Next time I have a decent year for chilies, I'm going to have to make up a lot of relish. I have an unopened case of Ball half-pint jars and lids in the closet in the garage - wishful thinking, perhaps, but there's always next year. I have 6 of the small jars of this years' relish in the pantry. They won't carry me though to next year, but I'll find a way to get by. My wife got a deal on some bottles of "The Mex" hot sauce a while back, so I'll dig into them and find ways to substitute here and there.

 

[HeLiXe]

I had a chicken biscuit from chick fil a and I was totally impressed. It really tasted like someone made it fresh just for me...like an aunt or a granma<3

 

[Evo]

Made a super simple and yummy dish tonight. Cooked some rice, added a can of Hunts petite diced tomatoes and some cheese, stirred until the cheese melted. YUM!

 

[dlgoff]

I love poached eggs but can never get them right, so I bought one of these cheap vegetable steamers.

It works great and I'm having poached eggs with salsa. (no ghost peppers today though )

 

[lisab]

Ah...the heavenly pleasure of simple, oven-roasted chicken.

 

[lisab]

Leftover chicken is pretty good.

 

[Evo]

Leftover chicken is pretty good.

Mmmmmm, always.

 

[turbo]

Leftover chicken is pretty good.

My wife and I like chopping leftover chicken and stir-frying it in peanut oil to make fillings for wraps. Chop onions, peppers, etc, and get them just right, and get the vegetables out of the skilled, and dump in the chopped chicken. Mix the browned chicken with the vegetables and wrap the mix in soft tortillas, cover with marinara in a casserole dish and top with Mexican cheeses and bake. Those enchilada dishes don't last long around here.

 

[FlexGunship]

Flex doesn't cook, but his housekeeper is making him some chili tonight! Woo woo!

 

[WhoWee]

Flex doesn't cook, but his housekeeper is making him some chili tonight! Woo woo!

Not Woo woo - its Who Weeeee!

 

[WhoWee]

Has anyone eaten at BURGERFI? They're located around Ft. Lauderdale and Delray Beach, FL.

 

[FlexGunship]

Not Woo woo - its Who Weeeee!

I think I know what I mean.

 

[WhoWee]

I think I know what I mean.

sorry

 

[HeLiXe]

Has anyone eaten at BURGERFI? They're located around Ft. Lauderdale and Delray Beach, FL.

GREAT...as soon as I move away all the fun begins

 

[WhoWee]

Ouch - my last 2 posts got grumpy responses

 

[lisab]

Ouch - my last 2 posts got grumpy responses

{{hug}}

 

[Evo]

I'm having my annual sweet craving. Evo Child bought me a frozen Sara Lee chocolate silk pie. Baked crust filled with frozen dark chocolate mousse and topped with whipped cream. :!)

 

[WhoWee]

{{hug}}

 

[HeLiXe]

Ouch - my last 2 posts got grumpy responses

I was thinking about that when I posted my last response...but then I thought...WhoWee will understand that I am grumpy about not being in SFLA to witness burgerfi

 

[WhoWee]

I was thinking about that when I posted my last response...but then I thought...WhoWee will understand that I am grumpy about not being in SFLA to witness burgerfi

I like their buns.

 

[Borek]

For four people:

200g cheese (I used cheddar)
2 apples
2 onions
olive oil
1 tbsp marjoram
3 tbsp mustard
½ tbsp cayenne pepper
1 lb ground red meat
1 cup of cream
2 eggs
1 cup of rice, boiled (so in fact about 3 cups of the boiled rice)

Grate the cheese.

Grate the apple – not too thinly. You can peel it first, or not. Just don't grate seeds

Cut the onion.

Heat the frying pan, put some olive oil, add onions and marjoram, wait till glassy. Add apple, mustard, cayenne pepper (I didn't have cayenne pepper so I just added one peter pepper), mix and braise 3-4 minutes under cover.

Add meat and increase the heat, mix till meat stops to be red. Add salt and any herbs you like. Add rice, mix and left covered for few minutes so that the rice gets hot.

While the rice gets hot, mix cream with eggs.

Move the meat with the rice to the roasting pot (one large, or four smaller ones). Don't put down. Pour the cream on the mix, use fork to help it sunk down. Put the cheese on top, you may add a pinch of red pepper or green herbs on top for a better visual effect.

Put into hot oven (400 F) for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy.

In Polish only: - she makes half, for 2 people.

 

[turbo]

That sounds (and looks) so good, that I don't know if the recipe for 4 people could actually stretch that far!