Whatcha Cooking today?

[worth1]

About 2 hours later and 210F internal temperature the stone is out of the kiln.
We may just have succeeded.
It's going to cool and off to the cold garage.
Not a traditional fruit cake but something slightly different.
No idea what to call it.

20221224_170217.jpg

[worth1]

The Reveal
Checked the temperature inside this morning.
It was 46F.
Ready to slice.
Couldn't be more happy ar satisfied with the results.
The flavor is out of this world as well.
Considering I had practically all the ingredients at home from other projects the cake was almost free.
Total cost including everything was about 12 dollars.
Money spent directly for ingredients i didn't have was about 8 dollars.
That would be the pecans and really good quality dates.
Not trying to bragg here but if a person knows the rules they can do stuff like this with no recipe at all.
This was dreamed up out of thin air.
I honestly can't believe it came out so well, I thought it would be as hard as a rock.

20221225_071747.jpg

[worth1]

Couldn't figure out one of the sides.
Finally came up with something different.
But first a story.
My mom always made a concoction that many people haven't heard of but really tasty.
No idea if it's due to her French upbringing or what.
It's cottage cheese sugar mayonnaise and pineapple.
I have loved it ever since I was a wee child.
We had the milk man come by and my mom wouldn't get cottage cheese.
I was being dragged around the house holding on to her leg crying as loud as I could wanting cottage cheese.
Total brat fit.
Probably 3 years old but I remember it well.
Not gonna happen.
Well moving on up in time to today.
I got this brainstorm.
I have cottage cheese fresh picked habaneros.
See where this is going?
Mayonnaise.
And light brown sugar.
Habaneros.
Why not combine these ingredients to make something special.
The fat in the Mayonnaise and cottage cheese will help kill the heat of the habaneros and mellow things out.
The light brown sugar will add an extra layer of flavor.
I might add some grated cheese as well.

[worth1]

Just made it..
Two finely chopped habaneros minus the seeds.
I decided to chop up some fresh ginger root as well.
Came out fantastic too.
Never thought of fresh ginger root but it really goes good with it too.
Also some freshly ground black pepper to boot.
The cured pork roast is about 5 degrees from pulling at 160F.
It was slathered in local honey black pepper liquid smoke and apple cider vinegar.
The thing is as black as a bankers heart on repossession day.

[pepperhead212]

So I'm curious, why take the seeds out of the habaneros?

[worth1]

So I'm curious, why take the seeds out of the habaneros?

I almost always de-seed peppers.
It has nothing to do with spicy heat but stomach cramps later on.
Also they are bitter if making a red or green sauce in Mexican cooking.
The difference is amazing as you already know when making a cooked red chili sauce.
The fruitful flavor is completely destroyed by leaving the seeds in.
I also feel this way about tomato seeds in many applications.
Wel any who here is the butt ham thing.
In my opinion perfection as far as salt content.
It took a lot of trial and error and years to cure meat to my liking.
I started out with the general recipes for the brine and they were way over salty.
So much so that it would burn your mouth and give you a heart attack.
Working my way down but not with the curing salts I came up with this.
The meat just has enough salt so as you can make a sauce from the drippings and eat the meat without additional salt.
I've been slicing away little snack pieces before it cools off.
The temperature climbed to 170F from 160F with residual heat.
Time for a nap because I've been up since 4 this morning and it's 2 AM.

20221225_134353.jpg

[PlainJane]

Finished cassoulet.

BDC7609A-400A-45B2-B2BB-F389F982D7D0.jpeg

A4C18724-6716-48BB-B12B-29EB6F4707A3.jpeg

DC90C098-47FA-492B-813E-0F69523B7F16.jpeg

[PlainJane]

Pretty damn good if I do say so.

E6F133EE-8A6A-4387-8089-4EEEBCB54E9A.jpeg

[Sue_CT]

Well how do you make it special when you are going to a relatives for dinner and are only bringing a salad? Did my best with spring greens, dried cranberries, candied peacans and an orange balsamic vinegar dressing. I didn't notice that tomato that was out of place and now it bugs me, lol, but people went for seconds, which is unusual for salad, so I guess they liked it, lol. I also made a cabrese salad on a bed of fresh basil in the shape of a candy cane with mozzarella balls and grape tomatoes but they started eating it before I got a picture. I decided to try foccaccia for the first time and was a little late getting a picture of that, too. Some of the decorations had fallen off when they were cutting it so its kind of incomplete with parts of the "garden" missing, lol. All of this while trying to get ready and recharge a dead car battery by driving it around while the foccacia was rising. All's well that ends well. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[worth1]

Pretty damn good if I do say so.

E6F133EE-8A6A-4387-8089-4EEEBCB54E9A.jpeg

Not bad for what started out as peasant food.

[pepperhead212]

I made myself some Italian food yesterday. My friends, who have had me over for the last several holidays, had the lady's brother get a major cancer surgery on Monday, and someone in the brother's family got sick (though not covid), probably while in the hospital, so to be safe, I'm staying home. I did drop off 3 tins of cookies on their front porch, for them to enjoy! So far, nobody in their house has gotten sick.

I had taken out 2 lbs of ground venison from the freezer, to make some Chinese food originally, but decided to make Italian, to use up a bunch of the bell peppers, and the half pound of mushrooms I had in the fridge.

I looked in a favorite Italian CB of mine - The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian, originally because I knew he had some good sausage recipes in there, but also found two simple, but delicious, antipasti, one with red bell peppers, and the marinated mushrooms. The peppers, cut into large strips, are put in a sauté pan (in olive oil, of course!), with some sliced onion, and minced garlic, and cooked on medium, covered, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Then some white wine, tomato paste, and some pepper flakes are mixed in, and cooked another 5 minutes, and that's it! The mushrooms are even easier, and were finished while the peppers were cooking! It is much like the mushrooms a la grecque, that I used to make a lot, but less complex, and no lemon juice. The seasonings are mixed up in a bowl - olive oil, white wine vinegar, parsley, garlic, and oregano, with salt and pepper to taste. The halved mushrooms are simply boiled 2 minutes, drained well, and mixed in while hot - sort of cooking the garlic a little.

The pasta dish I made was a tomato sauce, started with the sausage, which I cooked and set aside, using about 1¼ lbs of it in the sauce. I also rehydrated some eggplant and summer squash - originally meant for Chinese, but good in Italian, too! I started with sautéeing the diced onions and peppers, then the eggplant and squash, adding a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, about 1/4 c chopped anchovies, and about 2 tb fish sauce (end of the bottle). I added some thyme and marjoram (a bunch of parsley and rosemary is in the sausage), and simmered about 15 minutes, while getting the pasta ready. Added the sausage, to cook another 5 minutes or so, after the 20 oz pasta had been cooking a few minutes. After mixing the pasta in, and serving some up, I grated on a little Asiago cheese, to top it off.
Starting the simple bell pepper antipasti by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished pepper antipasti by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mushroom antipasti, much like mushrooms a la grecque. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Starting the pasta sauce, with onions, garlic, peppers, and rehydrated eggplant and squash. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Pasta sauce, after adding a can of crushed tomatoes, and a generous amount of anchovies, chopped up, before simmering 15 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Pasta sauce, after adding about 1 1/4 lbs cooked venison Italian sausage, and cooking about 5 minutes, while cooking pasta. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished pasta, after adding 20 oz of spirals, cooked. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Italian style dinner, with a lot of leftovers! Didn't make a dent in the pasta. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Guess what I had for dessert? COOKIES! All I had really was two of those macaroons (I have been very good about staying away from those!), and one each of the snickerdoodles. And some of the Formosa Oolong tea, out of my freezer - I rarely treat myself to this.

Guess what I had for breakfast? Pasta!

[worth1]

Since it's just me I've not been making all the fixings at once for the holidays.
Too much to deal with for just one person.
Besides I make what I want when I want.
Right now I have the ham like thing in my enameled Dutch oven with the drippings a little water and orange soda pop braising in the oven.
I also have stand by sweet potatoes that have been curing in the garage for a month.
The way things are these days we probably need to cure our own store bought sweet potatoes.
Been doing it for years and it makes a difference.
It allows the starches to convert to sugar.
I'm also stocked with blackeyed peas.
Made the mistake only once in my life.
The blackeyed peas were cleaned out at the store.

[Sue_CT]

How do you cure a store bought sweet potato? I have never grown pototatoes so I don't know anything about curing them.

[worth1]

How do you cure a store bought sweet potato? I have never grown pototatoes so I don't know anything about curing them.

If you grow them yourself you dig them and keep them in a warm humid place for a week or so then let them get a little cooler with less humidity.
This will help them last longer too.
Anything with starch will get sweeter.
I figure store bought sweet potatoes aren't cured long enough.
Even a regular potato will get sweeter.
That's why the old ones brown faster.

[Sue_CT]

Interesting. I can't think of anywhere around here that is warm and humid right now, lol. Its cold but moist in the unheated areas and outside, and warm and very dry inside the house. My house right this minute has 20% humidity, and it says it has been as low as 16%. Probably won't be curing any. Bummer, because I have found in the last 5 years finding good sweet, sweet potatoes and butternut squash is almost impossible any more.

[Sue_CT]

By the way, ordered a torilla press. Now lets see if I can find Masa Harina around here, and if I ever actually use the press.

8 inch Victoria cast iron press. Just ordered it today. Supposed to be here next Saturday.

[Sue_CT]

I blame Worth for my lavish and irresponsible spending on this item. He is a baaaad influence.

[worth1]

With the massive amount of people coming to the US there shouldn't be any problem finding what you need at a Mexican market soon.
Just like any other group of emigrants they bring their own infrastructure along with them.
The Italians did it as well.
The Irish brought the bars naturally.

[Sue_CT]

See there is a positive side to immigrants. I might be able to get my supplies for Mexican recipes. Tell your Govn'or send a few more up here. But please let us know they are coming and not drop them off with babies and no shoes in frigid temps, OK? Maybe one of them will start a Mexican market near me and prove the American Dream is still alive.

[karstopography]

Flap steak marinated in a korean way (according to recipe) using coca-cola in the marinade. Bought a 2# Flap steak at 50% off from Aldi a month ago, then yesterday morning I took this from the freezer and dumped in a marinade of crushed garlic, quarted onion, microplaned ginger, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, brown sugar and 7.5 ounce of coca-cola. 6 slices of Thick sliced bacon went into the zip bag with the rest of it, per recipe instructions. Recipe also had banana or cubanelle peppers, but I didn’t have any of those handy so I thawed out some Anaheim types I had frozen from the garden.

Fired up the BGE and did a hot cook on the Grill Grate, onions, peppers and bacon first. The marinade sort of candied the bacon, in a nice way. I suppose the acid in the coca-cola tenderized the flap steak because it was very tender, fork tender in the thinner places, and I don’t believe flap steak in known to be a tender cut.

Great flavors and I’d do this again, but the downer was the Anaheim/New Mexico chiles I used. They were blazing hot, hot jalapeño spicy and then some, too hot really to be enjoyable and my spicy tolerance is pretty up there. I even seeded them prior to grilling. I’ve never grown Anaheims anywhere close to this hot, these were the last of the crop and some were turning to their brown and red hues. The large yellow onion I used was super pungent too. Maybe I’d go with sweet yellow onion next time.