|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 18, 2020 1:42:08 GMT
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jan 18, 2020 16:38:34 GMT
I want Nancy's fish! (So does Livia).
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 18, 2020 17:55:39 GMT
~?~ You lost me there, LaGatta! -- Edited to say I finally got it! Yesterday afternoon I made caponata for a friend's birthday. This is my landlord to whom sometime back I introduced caponata & he hasn't stopped raving about it since. He's tried to make it, but says it didn't come out anything like mine. Well, now he'll not only have a big bunch of it for his very own, but I'm including a little container of tomato sauce. In our conversations about how to make caponata, it was obvious that our conceptions of proper tomato sauce for pasta were miles apart. Anyway, the caponata came out beautifully and of course I had a little of that. But I used what sauce remained to make a bowl of fusilli for my supper and almost wept because it tasted so much like being back at my grandmother's house.
|
|
|
Post by rikita on Jan 19, 2020 19:41:59 GMT
today, i just ate things which had to go - some potatoes and a sauce that was made of tomato juice. added some cheese and yoghurt.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 20, 2020 20:20:16 GMT
In spite of the season, I had a salade frisée aux lardons for dinner, and it was absolutely spectacular. The bacon bits remained hot enough for it not to seem like a cold meal, even though I hesitated about whether or not to add a poached egg on top. That would have been too much.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jan 21, 2020 0:27:45 GMT
I'm making a sort of pie with chard, (goat milk) ricotta, eggs and other things, but won't actually produce the pie or pies until tomorrow at the earliest as the dough has to mature. It is a bit like pizza dough, but with an egg to make it more elastic. Pies like this are made in Italy, Greece and doubtless other countries.
Just leftovers tonight.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 22, 2020 17:31:54 GMT
So, tonight I had penne with oxtail flesh stripped from the bone. Flat parsley and cherry tomatoes on top. Pretty good.
|
|
|
Post by rikita on Jan 23, 2020 22:46:03 GMT
armer ritter (french toast), though made with darkish bread rather than white bread ... with apple sauce ... also, popcorn for dessert.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 24, 2020 2:19:21 GMT
All the major food groups!
|
|
|
Post by lugg on Jan 24, 2020 18:35:04 GMT
I'm having pasta with a tomato, celery and onion sauce with a few prawns- one of my favourite dishes. But I'm contemplating how to cook Sunday's dinner as I picked up a local venison loin when I went to my local ( workplace ) garage. I also got some Jerusalem artichokes to have with it. Its a remarkable place - a garage in the middle of almost nowhere that stocks the most exotic fruit and veg produce - many of which I have no idea what they are and even less idea how to cook them. I'm not even sure who buys most of it given the average customer is from deepest Herefordshire. Next time I go I must take my camera to show you all.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 24, 2020 18:38:14 GMT
Tonight I grilled an entrecôte in butter with sautéed potatoes. I thought it would be good, but it was even better than that.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 24, 2020 19:28:43 GMT
A garage, Lugg?! Who would even know about the produce available there, beyond people who showed up for automotive reasons? Regardless, what a treasure. Yes, please take your camera the next time you go!
The only thing I know about venison is that a roast of it is supposed to be larded. As far as I know, I've never eaten deer. I knew a woman whose brother was a hunter somewhere up in the midwest. He kept a convent supplied with the deer meat, but used to give his sister the less pretty pieces. She said her specialty with them was chili which incorporated chocolate. This was many years ago, before people generally talked about moles, etc.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 24, 2020 19:40:06 GMT
I think that venison is often too lean, so it requires the addition of extra fat (bacon, butter, oil or whatever…).
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Jan 24, 2020 20:18:23 GMT
I have a jar of venison with some vegetables made by my son-in-law. A neighbour gave him the meat. I haven't tasted it yet.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Jan 24, 2020 21:31:11 GMT
I came across a recipe of sausages, potatoes, shallots and apple cooked with a chicken stock. Sounded great so I cooked it.
It was awful.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 24, 2020 22:34:51 GMT
But hey ~ it does sound good, although sausages generally have enough grease of their own not to need the addition of chicken stock.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jan 24, 2020 23:36:30 GMT
I've eaten deer, elk, moose and caribou. And I'm no great red-meat eater. In the countryside and north, such wild meat actually plays a part in many people's larders. During the great ice storm in Québec, eastern Ontario and the north of New England and New York State, some people lost important stocks in their chest freezer when there was a thaw. In a more normal winter, they could have left it in a shed, though nowadays most people have a freezer as that means they can keep their game much longer.
All these cervids, while tasty and extremely nutritious, are very lean and benefit from added fat.
By the way, we have a (relatively polite) conflict between two natural foods factions. Militant vegans have staged protests outside "locavore" restaurants, that feature a lot of local organic vegetables, but also locally reared (and slaughtered) meats. Oh, don't worry, nobody on either side has been assaulted or firebombed. But the locavores are annoyed that the vegans don't target factory farm products.
|
|
|
Post by spaceneedle on Jan 25, 2020 0:52:08 GMT
Venison can taste very gamey, so it's important to season it. I've cooked it a lot, and have found that bacon, garlic, cinnamon, thyme and bay leaf help with the gamey taste.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 25, 2020 3:38:23 GMT
Militant vegans have staged protests outside "locavore" restaurants, that feature a lot of local organic vegetables, but also locally reared (and slaughtered) meats. Oh, don't worry, nobody on either side has been assaulted or firebombed. But the locavores are annoyed that the vegans don't target factory farm products. Morally and intellectually, I have to agree with the vegan stance. But realistically, they really need to choose their battles more wisely and understand why people keep eating meat, then get off their high horses and figure out effective, non-confrontational ways to convince carnivores to change their ways. Venison can taste very gamey, so it's important to season it. I've cooked it a lot, and have found that bacon, garlic, cinnamon, thyme and bay leaf help with the gamey taste. The cinnamon is an interesting addition! My husband did this Norwegian thing with lamb that started out with a vinegar wash. Is anything like that used on game?
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 25, 2020 4:57:58 GMT
The French often marinate game in white wine.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Jan 25, 2020 8:00:54 GMT
Actually it was a chicken stock cube plus water so not so bad?
For me it was like eating sausages in an apple pie. Weird.
But Mrs Cactus quite liked it.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 25, 2020 17:01:11 GMT
I have always had a problem mixing sweet things with savoury items. In my own experience, it works about 5% of the time. I just wish it would work more often.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Jan 25, 2020 19:20:02 GMT
Burgers chips beans and pickle after last nights disaster. It was soooo delicious.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 25, 2020 19:23:58 GMT
Even sweet & sour can be too disconcertingly sweet at times. What I genuinely hate are things that needn't be sweet at all. For instance, I'm all for the classic brown sugar & pineapple when baking ham because the sweet elements are meant to caramelize in order to enhance & balance, rather than take away from the salty ham. But crap like honey-baked ham and honey mustard and a perfectly nice salad ruined by balsamic reduction are just ugly surprises.
That said, I don't mind certain sweet classics served alongside savory foods: mint jelly with lamb, cranberry sauce with turkey, sweet potatoes with anything, etc.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 25, 2020 20:49:50 GMT
Tonight I microwaved a choucroute garnie from the store, and it was surprisingly excellent. Sauerkraut, potato, ham, 2 kinds of sausage, slab of bacon...
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Jan 25, 2020 23:40:22 GMT
We had hamburgers on the BBQ. I combined the hamburger with some crushed crackers, an egg, a little BBQ sauce, pepper and onion powder. They were good, I would add more onion powder next time. We both do not tolerate onions lately, digestive issues, so I use the powder for the flavour.
|
|
|
Post by lugg on Jan 26, 2020 18:35:36 GMT
So tonight I am going to have the venison . I have decided to cook it as I would a beef fillet. So it is marinating in crushed garlic, bay leaf and some fresh rosemary and a splash of red wine . I will sear it briefly and then put it in a very hot oven for a much shorter time than I would a fillet beef. Serving it with sautéed potatoes and some wilted spinach. I don't mind if its gamey as long as not too much so. Anyway I may not enjoy it so much as I was out riding in the woods this am and 3 herds of deer leapt out just in front of Mac - he coped well with the first two but was a coiled spring on the third occasion and I had to cut my ride short cos I seriously doubted he'd cope with a fourth meeting. Just call it karma with a capital K
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 26, 2020 19:41:40 GMT
Lazy Sunday. I had potatoes and fried eggs. I am not proud of myself.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 26, 2020 20:13:54 GMT
Glad you survived the deer, Lugg. Three herds -- wow! How is the horsey now? Oh well, I can find out for myself, as i'll be over for dinner tonight.
|
|
|
Post by rikita on Jan 26, 2020 22:29:31 GMT
we had gnocchi filled with spinach and mozzarella, which i fried with tomatoes and green peas.
|
|