Culinary Conversations

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Sue_CT
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#201

Post: # 48427Unread post Sue_CT
Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:21 pm

Add a quarter cup of sugar or so and you would have some good corn bread there. :lol: :lol: :lol:

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#202

Post: # 48428Unread post worth1
Fri Jun 11, 2021 5:10 pm

Sue_CT wrote: Fri Jun 11, 2021 4:21 pm Add a quarter cup of sugar or so and you would have some good corn bread there. :lol: :lol: :lol:
I know a lot of people like sugar in cornbread but many of us don't.
We put cane syrup on it if we want it sweet.
My school I went to had cornbread or rolls every other day and all you could eat for free.
Syrup on the tables and all the milk you wanted.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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Sue_CT
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#203

Post: # 48435Unread post Sue_CT
Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:16 pm

I know you don't like sweet cornbread, Worth, I was razzing you a bit. Yankees usually make it sweet but I know it is blasphemy in much of the South. At least so I have been told by other Southerners I have known. Sugar or no sugar is very regional in several things. I could never eat coleslaw or potato or macaroni salad that was sweet or had pickle juice in it, especially sweet pickles or juice, although a dill pickle or two on the side is nice. That seems to be a Northern/Southern thing also. About the only thing worse in a salad of that kind to me is Miracle Whip instead of Mayo. Funny how we get used to things one way.

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karstopography
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#204

Post: # 48442Unread post karstopography
Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:53 am

I like the cornbread itself not to be sweet, but then I might put on a big dollop of butter and drizzle on some molasses when the cornbread is hot out of the oven. I love jalapeño cornbread and that really doesn’t need anything added to it.

Iced Tea is another funny thing that seems to have regional or familial quirks. I like unsweetened brewed iced tea, definitely not instant, but I’ll put in a packet of sugar into the big iced filled glass along with fresh squeezed lemon. The result is not sweet at all, but the bit of sugar added after the tea is in the glass somehow makes it better. This way way waaaaaayyyyy sweet tea thing that’s pretty popular here isn’t my bag. Seems like sweet tea runs in families and my family weren’t sweet tea people. Quality brewed tea with plenty of ice and served unsweetened with plenty of fresh lemon wedges and sugar on the side, this was the way to serve tea. My dad will attack any waiter or waitress that tries to refill his tea glass without his permission. He must first get the exact amount of lemon, about a medium sized lemon tree’s annual output, and the sugar, 500 grains or a half a packet, dialed in then drain that glass before it gets refilled, then the whole laborious process is repeated. It’s always entertaining watching my dad make his tea at a restaurant and then watching him try and protect it from over eager servers that have been trained to refill half empty tea glasses.

Iced tea in New England was seasonal. It was very difficult to find in any restaurant from Labor day to Memorial Day. My iced tea loving Texas buddy visiting me in Massachusetts couldn’t wrap his mind around this. He tried to order an iced tea in the wrong time of year, but was informed “sorry, iced tea is seasonal”. The look on his face was priceless. “No, Michael, iced tea is forbidden now that it is October, don’t you know anything?”
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#205

Post: # 48443Unread post worth1
Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:57 am

I didn't realize you remembered my distaste for sweet cornbread.
Even worse is fried chicken with sugar in the mix.
This batch of cornbread i made wasn't exactly what I wanted.
The skillet wasn't even close to being hot enough so the bottoms and sides wasn't toasted enough.
The batter needs to really sizzle when you scoop it in.
But it was completely non stick and has many more emaginitve uses other than cornbread.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#206

Post: # 48444Unread post worth1
Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:02 am

I like iced tea made really strong from quality loose leaf tea not floor sweep.
If is is correct I like it sweet
Anything less is just sugar water
Basically make it the way they do in Persia.
Tea water should never come to a boil ever.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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karstopography
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#207

Post: # 48446Unread post karstopography
Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:20 am

Mustard based potato salads are popular here. I like them in general. I like mayonnaise based ones also. Not a fan of any noticeably sweetened potato or macaroni salads. German potato salads, with bacon and a bit of vinegar, are wonderful. Those mainly get served warm. A lot of Germans settled in Central Texas 150 years past and I bet every family has a recipe. My mom’s best friend is from German ancestry, her’s might have been the first German potato salad I ever ate. Bernie Buschbaum at the Wurst Haus in town here made a good one. Bernie introduced me to Underberg, the German digestif. The “proper” way to drink it is to place your hands behind your back and pick the opened bottle up off the table with your lips and tilt your head back, this Bernie had us demonstrate in his restaurant! Underberg does work. It’s not some hocus pocus.
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#208

Post: # 48449Unread post worth1
Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:27 am

So I get up this morning looked over at the giant skillet and thought to myself.
Self what were you thinking?? :lol:
Lodge used to make a 20 inch skillet.
Some company makes a giant skillet they sell at Academy.
Saw it the other day.
Made in China and very crudely made.
Not my cup of tea and I support USA British or European made products as best I can.
I could have got it for ten dollars less on line.
But I support my local business the best I can.
Really what's ten dollars anyway?
If it means make or break on a deal I can't afford it anyway
The skillets came out of my overtime money I have been making with ease.
Next on the list is the giant cast iron fish fryer that you can bake in too.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#209

Post: # 48450Unread post worth1
Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:35 am

Bernie and his staff and family were way cool.
He took me on a tour of his kitchen and I ate there on Friday for years.
Even valentines day with my wife.
Never had to stand in long lines because I got special treatment.
People would complain that I got put ahead of them.
They would say he had reservations
Then the wives would start cussing their husband's.
Why didn't you think of getting reservations?
We have been in line forever and they walk in and get a table emediatly.
What a hoot.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#210

Post: # 48451Unread post worth1
Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:49 am

Potato salad in Germany is very regional.
Many types.
One reason we get what seems like a common German Potato salad is many germans in Texas came from a particular region my family included.
Landed in Georgia many many years ago.
I have a letter my great grandfathers grandmother wrote to him she was here in the 1700 hundreds.
Then the first and second world wars happened and German hatred began.
Many germans just chose not to be of German heritage.
I honestly can't think of a week that went by that my family didn't have homemade sauerkraut at least once.
Stereotypical but it is what it is.
We had to preserve all that cabbage we grew every year for the winter.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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karstopography
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#211

Post: # 48452Unread post karstopography
Sat Jun 12, 2021 7:59 am

My wife’s family are German Americans, 100% on her dad’s side. Mostly came over in the 1920s when Germany was struggling with the punitive post war restrictions imposed by the Allied Powers after WWI. Evidently, they experienced persecution in Covington, KY because of their heritage. My wife and her sisters don’t seem to have much on any special family recipes with a German flair. Is meatloaf a German thing? I prefer my wife’s meatloaf over any other and it was passed down from her mom. Lentils, now that’s German and I love my wife’s lentils with sausage.
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

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Amateurinawe
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#212

Post: # 48459Unread post Amateurinawe
Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:05 pm

I think I am from a pure English bloodline. I remember tracing back some of my roots and definitely it was pretty much all within the boundaries of the English counties. So, hang on, what does that mean. Well, I suspect there's a bit of Roman in me, and the Roman empire spread right across the Mediterranean who knows, there's probably a bit of celtic, a bit of welsh, irish, Scottish and cornish, oh and of course angles, a bit of saxon, possibly viking, at least norman, jutes, Scandinavian and of course the danes. So yes, I think I can safely say I am of a pure English bloodstock.
The behaviour of light means you observe me as i was then, and not as I am now.
I cannot change history, so I do hope i gave you a good impression of myself

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#213

Post: # 48474Unread post worth1
Sat Jun 12, 2021 5:29 pm

@karstopography
Yes meatloaf is traditional German dish as it is with about every other country in Europe.
[mention]Amateurinawe[/mention]
With that mix you might have British short hair too. :lol:
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Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#214

Post: # 48503Unread post worth1
Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:06 am

Caught myself watching videos on how the blue and season steel Woks.
Many of these guys know nothing about metallurgy and I wish they would just shut up about it.
They are saying taking a shiny steel wok and heating it up till it turns blue or dark grey makes the steel harder.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
In reality you have to heat carbon steel up to its critical point then let it soak in that heat and then cool off rapidly in oil or water depending on type of steel.
This is called quenching.
The critical point in hot steel is when it loses its magnetic properties.
Now the steel is as hard as a rock depending on type of steel.
By heating the steel back up to different colors allows the steel to become less hard and more flexible like a spring.
This is called tempering.
I'm pretty sure many if not most of these so called carbon steel Woks don't have enough carbon in them to even heat treat in the first place.
Not saying what they are doing isn't seasoning the wok but the terminology they are using is dead wrong.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#215

Post: # 48567Unread post worth1
Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:36 am

Some of these videos on cast iron skillets and the likes are really ridiculous.
The mention some of the new so called designer brands and then bring up Lodge cast iron.
These are all young people for the most part or older folks that have never used cast iron.
What gets my goat is they say Lodge is a good starter brand and then you can move up to the designer brands that cost upwards of 200 dollars.
Seriously a (((starter))) brand.
I buy cast iron to cook with not brag about how much it costs.
Plus I like the heavy cast iron not the light weight skillets they are making.
More mass means more heat retention.
It's like a train, once you get it rolling it requires little energy to keep it rolling.
Well any who here is my (((starter))) set.
Some are double stacked.
I missing the 13 inch skillet which will soon be taken care of.
Plus I have to figure out where to hang some more stuff.
Maybe I'll make a cast iron tree contraption.
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Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#216

Post: # 48573Unread post worth1
Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:38 am

The Great state of Texas skillet is in the oven heating up to 425.
Making straight cornmeal cornbread.
No wheat flour.
Two cups yellow cornmeal.
Teaspoon of salt.
Tablespoon of baking powder.
1 egg.
Goodly amount of San Antonio chili powder.
Enough water to make lava.
About a quarter cup of oil in skillet to pour into lava to mix just before going into hot skillet.
Been a long time since I made this type of cornbread.
Going to use it to make stuffing.
I'm betting it's going to be a total flop. :(
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#217

Post: # 48574Unread post worth1
Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:17 pm

I decided to eat the panhandle of Texas.
Came out pretty good.
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Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#218

Post: # 48576Unread post worth1
Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:42 pm

Well you can take Big Bend national park off your list of places to visit.
El Paso too.
I just ate that part of Texas.
Started around Langtry and right through Kermit.
Everything west is gone.
Odessa and Midland are still safe.
Fort Davis Fort Stockton Alpine Marfa Pecos.
All gone eaten by the man that ate Texas. :lol:
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#219

Post: # 48590Unread post worth1
Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:55 pm

Just picked up the Lodge 13.25 cast iron skillet.
It was on sale too.
It was bugging me that I didn't have a size between the 17 inch and the 12 inch skillet.
It's like having a missing wrench in a wrench set.
Heating up on the stove as we speak.
Going to cook hamburger patties in it for a break in.
Also got some stainless sheetrock mud spreading knives I'm going to use for flipping spatulas
They are sharp thin and flexible and something I have been pondering for some time now.
We shall see how they work.
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Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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worth1
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Re: Culinary Conversations

#220

Post: # 48595Unread post worth1
Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:59 pm

Oh yeah they work great, just as I anticipated they would.
And the new skillet is just what the doctor ordered.
Worth
25 miles southeast of Waterloo Texas.

You can't argue with a closed mind.
You might as well be arguing with a cat.

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