Dinner tonight - or last night.

@mismi,

mismi wrote:

Quote:
You're looking 'slimmer' already.

You saying I needed to diet? Listen sweet Dutchy - you should watch your step. I will give you a tongue lashing you will never forget...

I made that observation the other day when walking 'behind' you. Laughing

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@ehBeth,

carrot is a good alternative for a tiny bit of something sweet.

i used it today in my onion experiment to counterbalance the bitterness of
pumpkin-seed butter. All 3 fried together with chilli, black pepper and a drop of white wine

my first go at inventing an onion recipe, and not bad

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@Endymion,

The ham bone was left over from a honey baked ham.

http://www.honeybaked.com/images/slideshow_6.jpg

I did have a sweet ingredient, and didn't know it. Nice suprise during flavor test.

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Ate 1/2 of a footlong roast beef Subway sandwich with everything, yes, everything, including jalapenos and banana peppers, red onion, white onion, green pepper, cucumber slices, olives, tomatoes, mozzarella, pepper jack, lettuce, and oil and vinegar dressing... around three this afternoon. I might not even eat dinner. Maybe some broth with leftover minifarfalle w/pesto.

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@Endymion,

Some veggies really need something more than carrots for sweetness. Something to do with the chemistry of cooking.

mulling ... just read something about this

I made up a big pot of soup tonight. Started with a bit of oil, a couple of sliced onions, a couple of diced celery stalks, 3 or 4 chopped up bangers, 2 lamb chops, then a litre of chicken broth, 3 giant carrots sliced up, 2 enormous potatoes cut into shoestrings, herbs. Let everything cook for about an hour or so. Put a dollop of condensed tomato soup into a bowl for tomatoey creaminess, added about 2 cups of the veggie soup (left the meat in for Set to enjoy), stirred and enjoyed my soup.

I ran out of room for all the veggies I'd intended to put in - those carrots were huuuge. They'll (yellow beans/slivered brussel sprouts/fennel) go in tomorrow with more taters and a little more broth.

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@ehBeth,

Well, the old battuto in italian cooking involves carrots, celery, and onions, and maybe mirapoix for french cooking does, not sure.

I'm pretty much down to onions, in that I like their sweetness after sauteeing very slow and long, and am more iffy on the carrot/celery addition. I may be tired of carrots as other than resting in ice water, waiting to be peeled. Or, in certain soups.

I need to play more with shallots.

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@ossobuco,

But I've grown, um, odder, in that sweet is not usually very interesting to me.

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I made chicken thighs, sweet potato oven fries and tossed salad. The chicken turned out pretty well. I started with bone in, skin on thighs. Rubbed them with smoked paprika, garlic powder, thyme, s & p. Browned them in olive oil and then finished them in the oven on a rack over a sheet pan .

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@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

Some veggies really need something more than carrots for sweetness. Something to do with the chemistry of cooking.

mulling ... just read something about this

Found it. I even had the clue in that post. <sigh>
It was in the science section, not in the food/dining section.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/science/06cook.html

Quote:

At the Stove, a Dash of Science, a Pinch of Folklore

Quote:

It also helps preserve their shape. Heat shrinks the plant cells and transforms molecules in the cell walls into pectin, which dissolves. “The cells are falling apart and leaking,” said Ms. Corriher, who dissected the science of recipes in her books “Cookwise” and “Bakewise.”

“It’s mass death and destruction when you heat a fruit or vegetable,” she said.

Adding sugar helps keep the glue between the cells intact, she said. “It’s preventing the leaking of the acid.”

Quote:

For a second opinion, I later called Harold McGee, who is the author of the food science bible “On Food and Cooking” and who writes “The Curious Cook” column in The Times’s dining section.

Ms. Corriher’s answer about sugar and vegetables has a factual basis. “Beans are a wonderful example of this,” she said. “If you take beans, like Navy beans, cook them for four to six hours, they’re mush refried beans. But if you add sugar and molasses, you can cook them for days. They’re Boston baked beans.”

the article's about a lot more than sugar - interesting stuff - more books to track down

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

My mother was from Watertown, anext to Boston, and my cousins still do baked beans for Christmas, to go with the ham, etc.

I've totally lost interest, though I admit to interest in savory baking beans -without molasses, etc. Might have to do with my aging palette, or simple uninterest, or switch in cuisine interest.

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Drove to Lancaster for a visit to Borders and had supper at PJ Chang's , a rather nice Chinese Chain of restaurants with good fresh food with several siggy dishes.

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@farmerman,

tell us, tell us.
I no longer get wonderful/good/adequate chinese food...

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@ossobuco,

Mrs F had a Szichuan style dish of prawns, and scallps in a really nice garlic sauce with fresh bok choy in a broth on the side. I had 4 big langustini in a lemon grass sauce with garlic noodles. We got a big side dish of garlic steamed snap peas.

We finished everyhting and were too stuffed for any dessert (they make a really good ginger ice )

1 Reply

@farmerman,

farmerman wrote:

Mrs F had a Szichuan style dish of prawns, and scallps in a really nice garlic sauce with fresh bok choy in a broth on the side. I had 4 big langustini in a lemon grass sauce with garlic noodles. We got a big side dish of garlic steamed snap peas.

We finished everyhting and were too stuffed for any dessert (they make a really good ginger ice )

If u really are a farmer,
then u can reap n eat the results of your agricultural labors,
possibly including homegrown livestock: maybe lamb, pork, beef,
in addition to your own grown corn and other fruits & veg's. Right ?
That probably tastes good, with no significant interstitial time
between harvesting n eating

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Spent a productive day in the kitchen. There's a crock of baked beans on the counter and a pot of ginger carrot soup on the stove, chicken, potatoes and onions, and, separately, sweet potatoes, roasting in the oven now. I may throw some muffins in later. Working the next three days and the Mr. is back to school so cooking ahead so there's no excuse not to eat well after a long day.

I also made my own version of Burt's Bees hand salve. After it was acquired by Clorox I decided to learn to make my own. With temperatures so low here, a warm kitchen was the place to be today.

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Ah it's hard to become inspired about cooking proper food when it's so hot here. Last night I "dined" on baked ricotta cheese slices on some rather nice savoury biscuits. Then, the night before, it was slices of smoked turkey breast from the deli, on rye bread, with tomato slices on top, with lots of freshly ground brown pepper .... you get the picture. Minimal effort.
Most of my "proper" meals have tended to be lunch ... often while out with friends, who are also on holiday, at a variety of eateries, .
So how come I've moved out a notch on my jeans belt, I ask myself, perplexed? It's one of life's mysteries ... but I suspect I'd better start a bit of proper cooking ... soon.

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@msolga,

... BUT the above does not mean I've ever become bored about food, recipes, inspiring ideas!

So what are you folk up to in your kitchens these days?

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@msolga,

Really classy dinner tonight!:
a small tin of tuna (in springwater, not olive oil) with little flecks of chili in it, a big chunk of drippy, juicy, chilled watermelon, plus 4 white nectarines (my favourite stone fruit).
Make that 5. I just had another one.

Dinner tonight - or last night.

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