Whatcha Cooking today?

[Uncle_Feist]

@GoDawgs I use an old C.S. Bell #2 mill that I motorized with an electric motor. For cornmeal, this little Bell mill with conical burrs beats anything new on the market for traditional one pass milling. The conical burrs replicate the exact results of stone burr mills by crushing and rolling most of the bran from the kernels rather than grinding the bran into the finished product.

Traditional cornmeal was ground in a single pass through a mill. The results of the milling passed over a sifting screen, the cornmeal passed through the screen leaving the grits and bran. Cornmeal made this way is the real thing that contains the flavorful, oily germ of the kernels, unlike cornmeal from the store. The bread made from this cornmeal has a softer and more moist crumb with a sweeter roasted corny flavor than commercial cornmeal offerings.

[worth1]

I've got one of these things.

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[JRinPA]

I have one of those, worth...similar at least. No big hopper, but the adjustment looks right. It can go from slightly cracked to dust and bits. I can't tell exactly what that disk looks like on that pic.

I use it for...corn.

Seems like I was eating deer all day today. I guess because I was. Fresh deer scrapple for breakfast. A quart of tomato basil soup from 2020 along with fried bologna and cheese sandwiches and OTC crackers for lunch. For supper, some left over shoulder roast - onion soup and mustard, a pretty standard PA deer roast - and corn on the cob that was vacuum sealed raw. Truly the way to go I think, still tastes great.

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And we sliced up two 10 lb rolls of fresh sweet bologna. Two weeks back I took 100lb boneless venison down to the mennonite butcher shop I use- 100lb is their batch size. They only do 100lb batches. If you drop off 20lb of meat, you get back two 10lb rolls, but only 20% of it will be *your* meat. Paying for 100 lb this way, you get back about 11 rolls (110lb) of sweet bologna and it is all your own meat. This is all deer, no other fatty meat added, the 10 lb difference is spices, sugar, water, maybe some oil?. I wish I knew their recipe, but I tried making my own bag baloney a couple months back, and it is a whole lot of work and not much cheaper for a product that is not nearly this good. They do charge extra for slicing and bagging, about another 40% above the processing fee, plus they would not slice as thin as I am willing to, so we do it this way. Get the rolls whole, slice some and freeze the rest as whole rolls for slicing at a later date.

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About 3-1/3 lb per bag will not go bad in the fridge after opening, not in this house...20 lbs made 6 bags.

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[karstopography]

Last night, a giant salad with harvested that morning yedikule, tom thumb, red sails, and merlot lettuce, baby purple moon kale, Beni Houshi Mizuna, and runway arugula. Freshly crumbled Feta cheese and dried cranberries joined the greens. Dressing made from some viscous aged balsamic vinegar, Seville Olive Oil infused with crushed garlic, and a bit of dijon mustard.

I love a good salad and this was a good salad. So good also were the reverse seared medium rare filets and bacon wrapped asparagus.

[worth1]

Been eating homemade chili out of the freezer on spaghetti.
Thawing out frozen chili still in freezer bags in simmering water.
Easy cleanup.

[pepperhead212]

I've been eating a lot of leftovers lately, to give myself time, plus make more room in the freezer, for cookie dough! I made sure that even if making something, not just thawing/reheating, I would use something(s) out of the freezer. Surprising how much room I've made in there!

[Danny]

karstopography, how do you like the yedikule lettuce ? I have seed for it for next years' garden. Also, do you blanch your asparagus before wrapping it?

[karstopography]

karstopography, how do you like the yedikule lettuce ? I have seed for it for next years' garden. Also, do you blanch your asparagus before wrapping it?

I very much like the lettuce. Great flavor, seemed to grow well, wasn’t a bug magnet at all. None of them quite got to maturity before this blast of cold. The leaves are sort of greasy feeling.

No, did not blanch. The bacon was very thin and there were 4 asparagus or so per bundle.

[Danny]

Great and thanks!!

[worth1]

Simple but effective.
Spaghetti.
Butter.
Garlic powder.
Herbs de Provence.
Pinch of salt.
Bacon boiled with the pasta.

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[worth1]

Went to bed early and got up way early in the morning.
Like in the middle of the night early.
What to do?
Well I baked 11 chicken thighs the other night.
Ate 3 and put away the rest.
Saved the juices too.
It was a simple recipe.
Garlic powder.
Salt.
Black pepper.
Hot smoked Spanish paprika.
Now this morning I put the juices in a kettle along with water and warmed up the chicken.
Pulled chicken let cool and removed the skin and bones.
But them back in the kettle with.
Herbs de Provence fennel and Knorr chicken bullion powder for the salt let simmer the flavor out.
Removed skin and bones and added corn starch to thicken.
Added chicken and a fresh pinch of the herbs de Provence.
Poblano strips will be added.
Rustic Mexican style chicken and homemade dumplings on the way.

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[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

The Gotch thought he'd switch it up a bit and roast some spuds...this time Little Potato Company Dynamic Duo (red-n-yellow creamers/https://www.littlepotatoes.com/product/ ... 20mealtime.

Mixed grated parmesan in with their EVOO splash, then sprinkled with garlic pepper, and Maille's Dijon Mustard to top it off---mmmmmmm!

Kickoff:

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End Zone:

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The Gotch

[worth1]

Chicken and dumplings for breakfast on a cold winter morning.
What could possibly be better.
Dumplings got some hydrated Herbs de Provence.
Flour.
Baking powder.
A pinch of salt.
And water.
Nothing fancy or hard.

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[PlainJane]

My project for the day.

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[worth1]

My project for the day.

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What's in the tubes?

[worth1]

Pulled my cured pork butt out of the brine and ready to hang in the garage overnight.
This should dry it out a wee bit at 24% humidity.
It tastes like raw bacon.
Not going to bother smoking it.

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[worth1]

Probably not one of my brightest moments.
No recipe just past experience at great failure.
The batter tasted good though.
Pecans.
Dates.
The maraschino cherries soaked in gin for months including the gin.
Candied cranberries from Thanksgiving.
Brown sugar.
Black strap molasses.
Sweet sherry.
Water.
2 whole sticks of butter.
Two eggs.
Baking powder.
Flour.
Spring form Baking pan.
Maybe it'll turn into a big thick cookie or a landscaping tile.
Cooking at 300F.

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[PlainJane]

My project for the day.

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What's in the tubes?

Garlic sausage!

[worth1]

Well I'll be.

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[PlainJane]

Soak beans overnight, rinse and drain. I used 1 lb each of Tarbais and cannellini.
I pre-cooked the beans with bouquet garni, 10 cloves of garlic, smashed, 1/2 an onion with 2 cloves, 1 carrot and 1 stalk of celery in 2 batches for about 35 minutes. (Slightly longer for the tarbais as they’re a tiny bit bigger)
Saved some of the bean cooking liquid to add back at the end.
Drained beans and removed aromatics except garlic.
Browned the pre-cooked duck confit to release some of the fat and used that to brown & cook the chicken thighs.
The garlic sausage was also pre-cooked so I just chopped into 1/2” pieces and browned.
Sautéed 1 onion, 2 shallots, 2 chopped carrots in the duck fat until softened, then added 2 cans of chopped tomatoes.
Let simmer to blend for about 10 minutes and added to beans.
Deboned all the poultry as I don’t like dealing with bones while eating.
Layered the pork belly on the bottom of my big roaster, then half the bean mixture, then meats, then rest of bean mixture.
Added demi-glacé to the reserved bean liquid then added to the cassoulet so it comes almost to the top of the beans.
Into the oven to bubble away for a couple of hours then I’ll add a light breadcrumb crust. (breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic sautéed in a little butter)

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