rps

Congratulations Joe. You have become the second person I have ever blocked. Have a nice life.

The concept I was working on was a one pan/one step cook up. If you saute the onion and garlic first, do it with the same pan, deglaze with the wine to cool the pan, add the other ingredients except for the cheese, then add the water or broth and bring it to the boil. I tried to add the cheese near the end and to melt it I had to cook to long. The pasta was over done and wanted to be gummy. In retrospect, I should have added the cheese as soon as the water boiled to give it plenty of time to melt and to allow me to adjust the fluids to avoid gummy.

I finished the recipe above as directed and have the following comments: 1. Mince the onion, or better yet use shallots. The cook time in the skillet was not sufficient to soften the texture or taste of the onion. 2. Mince the garlic rather than slice it. Same reason. 3. Use linguine or fettuccine to force a longer cook time. Also the end result will be less gummy. Bow ties would work too. 4. Think about using broth rather than water. 5. Add the goat cheese earlier rather than later. 6. More tomatoes. 7. Green olives would be a positive add. I will try this one again with the changes. If it works as well as I think it might, I will post the finished recipe.

Back to food. Look at this: Add water and cook in the skillet. Near the end add goat cheese to make a creamy sauce. Serve with fresh grated parmigiano reggianno.

I hope we did not offend you. I tried to make clear I do not look down on competitors or competitions. They are simply not for me.

I am competitive. My sports history speaks to that. However, I am no longer competitive about the things I do because I love them. That is just me. On the other hand, the "black box" has been used for many years as a hiring skill. "Here, show me what you can and would make with these ingredients." It should surprise no one that the concept has become competitive. One of the chefs at school competed regularly in competitions where you used non food stuffs or misused food stuffs to plate "faux" meals. Like all competitions, the contest does not always bring out the best in the competitors. Although at the skillsusa level the change is not noticeable, as you grow in scope, people prove to be people. Large scale BBQ competitions show that. Nor should it surprise anyone that when television comes calling, reality disappears. The television cooking competitions are about as real as Duck Dynasty and 19 and Counting. Since I am offering observations that could be deemed opinion, I apologize if what I have written offends. As for CGB's defective palate, you have my condolences. It must be hard in a world where you know you are the disabled. As for JoeD, Hi! Hope you are enjoying your day!

Have a great trip!

I am glad you had a bit of luck. Have a safe trip home.

I heard an NPR show once that discussed why some people think cilantro tastes like soap. I happen to love it.

A day late, but here is the finished soup:

Great story. Everyone wants to be remembered as well as your story honors Richard.

I happen to wear an auto inflate vest at all times in a boat. I swim like a rock and I am clumsy, a very bad combination around a lake. However, my choice is mine and no one should tell another they must do as I do.

As the salad I made a deconstructed guacamole.

Amen to that prayer.

I just edited the post above to change the vessel. The things I added would not fit even in a large skillet. Silly me.

If you are talking about Chuck, I miss him. His 14.5 walleye is the largest I have ever seen before it was mounted.

Send me your address by PM. I will UPS it to you and you can send me a check for the pittance it costs. It is a really good reel. It is my bias against spinning rigs that gets in the way.

Southwestern Chicken Soup I do not Pinterest, but I may have to start. My Nancy showed me a recipe that appealed to her. I read it, decided it had some merit, and then immediately changed it before I ever made it. It called for skinless boneless chicken breast - probably the most difficult meat in the world to get "right." And even then, it has no flavor. It also called for diced tomatoes with chiles. I decided to use regular diced tomatoes with a whole can of diced green chiles instead. Last of all the spices were insufficient so I modified them to a flavor profile I know and trust. Here is the changed recipe. Ingredients 1/2 to 1 pound diced boneless and skinless chicken thighs. 2 cans low sodium chicken broth. 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed. 1 can sweet corn, no salt or sugar added, drained. 1 can fire roast diced tomatoes. 1 small onion, diced. 1/2 sweet bell pepper diced. 1 teaspoon cumin. 1 teaspoon chili powder. 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika. 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. 1 large pinch of salt. 4 grinds of black pepper. 1 splash Franks Hot Sauce. Plain Greek yoghurt. Minced cilantro. Olive oil. Method Pour a tablespoon of olive oil in an enameled dutch oven and cook the chicken over medium high heat until no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and the spices and cook until fragrant. Add the onions and sweet pepper and saute until the onions are translucent and limp. Add the chiles, tomatoes with juices, the corn and the black beans, the broth, and add back the chicken. Bring just to the boil and reduce the heat to simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, including the splash of Franks. Serve to large bowls and add a dollop of Greek yoghurt and finely minced cilantro to each bowl.

This is tonight's guest for dinner: His fillets will be baked very simply and sprinkled with minced tarragon from my pots on the deck. I am also preparing a cucumber/radish/tomato/parsley salad with chives and an oil and vinegar finish. As the starch, I have a little minced ham, minced onion, and a good portion of minced mushrooms ready to form the base for a risotto. I will edit this post to add picture when I plate the meal. Edit: Silly me. I forgot to take the picture. It was good, though.

I bought the Lews. I do not like spinning reels. Do you want it?

Because the water temperature near HI was so cold (see my water conditions post) I motored quite a ways down lake. I fished the Lindy rig in water 10 to 20 feet deep for about an hour. I then moved to try a new to me area and fished a bottom bouncer with one of the crawler harnesses I tied. While trying to fish a 15 foot depth, I came up upon an underwater hump point and found my boat in 8 foot of water. I turned, but dragged the bait shallow As I sought deeper water. I got a bite in 8 feet of water that turned out to be an almost keeper walleye. I lined up and ran an 8 foot run and about 100 yards later got another bite. This time a keeper walleye. After that I caught another near keeper and a juvenile. Incidentally, I caught seven bass as well, one of which would have measured.

Some of you may not realize that Holiday Island Marina sits inside the mouth of Leatherwood Creek where it joins the White River. At present Leatherwood is very dingy but not muddy and the ramp is cluttered with debris but not blocked. If you turn left out of the creek mouth, Beaver Dam is about 14 miles up river. When the corps is releasing large amounts of water, as they have this week, the flow affects the water conditions at Holiday Island. Evidence of that is the fact the surface temperature in the White River channel just outside the marina was 48 degrees at 10 AM today. The water itself is a dingy green clear. I also want to warn of the debris. Some is scattered near HI. A large raft of lumber, dock floatation, limbs and trees nearly blocks the lake at the powerlines just upstream from Stubblefield and Jolmes Branches. Past Eagle Rock, about six miles down stream, the temperature was 74.

Thanks for sharing everyone. I make several different sauces. I like a good Sicilian marinara; every once in a while I do a sauce alla puttanesca. My go to sauce comes from Marcella Hazen. I have two of her cookbooks and recommend them highly. Her basic sauce: Use a high quality 28 ounce can of plum tomatoes (Cento San Marzano is my favorite) and use your hands to crush them into a dutch oven with their can juices. Add 5 ounces of unsalted butter. Peel an onion and put one half into the pot. Add salt and pepper. Simmer on low until the butter makes tears in the tomatoes. Remove and discard (or use in a different dish) the onion. At that point it is perfect for angel hair. On the other hand you can now doll it up with whatever flavors you desire. Herbs, mushrooms, red pepper flakes, meat, Parmesan - all can be cooked into the base sauce for your dish. This is another trust me on this guys. Google Marcella Hazen sauce and read the reviews.

I am tickled you find the things I write helpful.

Good start you'all. Who wants to add in?