What's Cooking?

[rps]

6 hours ago, ness said:

Hah! Wouldn't soil a melon with pepper!

So -- this is how they sell tomatoes. I guess the closest thing here is crushed tomatoes. No spices, herbs, skins, seeds, just pureed tomato pulp. And they are freakin' delicious!!

And..the beans I mentioned:

As in America, they've often got a dizzying array of choices and I sometimes end up with a little surprise when I get home from the store. Can you spot the slight oversight I made when buying milk for coffee?

Love the ingredients featured. And yes, adjusting to different packaging can be challenging. One problem. Melon with salt and pepper is the bomb. Prosciutto is the salty, but pepper would add the final touch. Johnsfolly has it right.

 

[ness]

54 minutes ago, rps said:

Love the ingredients featured. And yes, adjusting to different packaging can be challenging. One problem. Melon with salt and pepper is the bomb. Prosciutto is the salty, but pepper would add the final touch. Johnsfolly has it right.

 

Oh, not this again! Pepper just doesn’t do it for me on fruit. Salt, you bet ... and yes the prosciutto  supplies it. I’ve tried it, I don’t like it. 

If it weren’t for different tastes we’d all end up eating the same thing and never venture out. 

[ness]

Of course, everywhere we went we were faced with signage and labels we couldn't read. But -- the Google translate app is about the coolest thing I've seen in a while. It'll use the camera to read text and translate it for you. Here's the back of today's frozen lunch translated from English to Italian:

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Never tried it.  Looks pretty cool.  

[Johnsfolly]

Been a while since we had any note worthy homemade meals. One was a chicken fajita dish. The ingredients were pretty standard; chicken, onions, yellow bell pepper... However what was different was the spice blend. I used cumin, dark chili powder, garlic powder, Mexican oregano, tajin seasoning, and epazote. The epazote adds a very different flavor profile to the dish. It's hard to explain the flavor. However, I feel that this is a truly Mexican addition and not your typical Tex/Mex flavor. @BilletHead that is a Lodge cast iron fajita pan .

 

[ness]

Alright Ozark Anglers...help me reverse engineer these potatoes. They were very creamy inside and had just a hint of a crust on the outside. Don't think they were roasted because the crispy outside was quite thin. I'm thinking Yukon Gold, not russet for starters. So, I'm thinking cut into wedges, cook in salted water, then just a light crisping in oil/butter or some other fat. I felt like it was maybe done in some kind of meat fat. Not bacon.

Any thoughts? 

By the way, that steak was outstanding. Had a little rosemary on it.

Speaking of rosemary, the Tuscany property had big rosemary bushes all around:

Also some smaller sage shrubs. Used the herbs in one of my pasta dishes.

[rps]

1 hour ago, ness said:

Alright Ozark Anglers...help me reverse engineer these potatoes. They were very creamy inside and had just a hint of a crust on the outside. Don't think they were roasted because the crispy outside was quite thin. I'm thinking Yukon Gold, not russet for starters. So, I'm thinking cut into wedges, cook in salted water, then just a light crisping in oil/butter or some other fat. I felt like it was maybe done in some kind of meat fat. Not bacon. 

Any thoughts? 

By the way, that steak was outstanding. Had a little rosemary on it.

Speaking of rosemary, the Tuscany property had big rosemary bushes all around:

Also some smaller sage shrubs. Used the herbs in one of my pasta dishes.

The secret to crisp fries with a creamy inside is to cook twice. Once to cook the potato through and then a second time to crisp the outside. With a deep fat fryer you cook the first time at barely above the sizzle point. You remove the potatoes and turn the heat up on the oil to just below smoke point. Then they go in only long enough to crisp.

If you boil the potatoes, please be careful of the water and hot fat combo. If I were going to cook the first time in some thing other than the pan, I would try nuking the spears to done and then frying.

You want the best animal fat in the world other than bacon? Try duck or goose fat. Right BH?

[snagged in outlet 3]

I think Alton Brown has a show about the twice frying potatoes.  Probably on Youtube

[ness]

9 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I think Alton Brown has a show about the twice frying potatoes.  Probably on Youtube

I remember hearing of the technique before. Think I've seen every one of his shows, so it was probably from there. 

[rps]

Crab cakes with saffron aoli and a side of tabouli. We did not finish the cakes tonight, but we will tomorrow.