Food & Drink

Grumpy Bear · November 5, 2025

Brazed pork shoulder with ground clove, sweet onion and in apple cider. Even corporate raised Yorkshire Pork is amazing. Low and slow.

Grumpy Bear · November 25, 2025

Wife and I shared dinner prep last night. She pan fried some Flounder fillets in EVOO and Old Bay seasonings and some oven baked (finished) parboiled 'smashed potatoes' in butter and seasoned with salt and cracked black pepper and I did a three minute blanch of Broccoli rosettes in drawn butter and English Black Tea. Desert was an apple cinnamon tea cake and a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream. Digestif, Bourbon on the rocks.

Personally I despise frozen broccoli. Freezing breaks the cell wall and leaves it as mushy as boiled fresh and neither has any flavor. It's a texture thing. Raw is good with some Ranch at buffet. But if you like the taste then a 3 to 4 minute blanch is the way to go. Al Dente, bright green, aromatic, flavorful lacking the bitter aftertaste of fresh raw. (It's why you drown it in Ranch) LOL. Don't bother with the Ice bath. Butter and salt is all it needs. Even broccoli haters might like it.

Grumpy Bear · December 24, 2025

I've been experimenting with French scrambled eggs. Really low heat to temper to a creamy finish. Takes 3 times longer but the result is wild. Hit it with some nutmeg close to the end with small finishes of frozen butter. Stellar!

customboss · December 24, 2025

@Grumpy Bear this is where I am in awe of your skill and cunning! Amazing foods and thanks for sharing your expertise and willingness to experiment.

Atlas · December 24, 2025

We're making Prime Rib tomorrow for Christmas. This will be an adventure because we're cooking it in our motorhome. Electric smart oven with a 2-burner induction cooktop. Not quite our setup at home.

We side-stepped the first disaster already. The roast was supposed to arrive yesterday from Omaha Steaks. 5lb of boneless heart of prime rib. Box arrived and inside were 4 burgers 2 chicken breasts, kielbasa and a scalloped potato side, individual sized. That's not going to work. Called and waited 90 minutes on hold (set the phone down while doing other things) and finally had to leave to meet friends for dinner. Omaha Steaks finally called us back around 6pm said oops, sorry, and refunded our money. So we fought our way to the grocery store, fingers crossed, but expecting nothing.

Wouldn't you know it, someone had backed out on their 5.5lb Christmas order and they were getting ready to sticker it for sale on the regular shelves. Already seasoned, OK not perfect, looks like they did a pretty good job, so we bought it.

If we don't burn down the RV, tomorrow we should have Prime Rib, garlic/rosemary mashed potatoes from scratch, broccolini, pumpkin and apple pies because, yes, we need both. I'll be reducing my calorie intake and doing extra activity tomorrow in anticipation

customboss · December 24, 2025

2 minutes ago, Atlas said:

We're making Prime Rib tomorrow for Christmas. This will be an adventure because we're cooking it in our motorhome. Electric smart oven with a 2-burner induction cooktop. Not quite our setup at home.

We side-stepped the first disaster already. The roast was supposed to arrive yesterday from Omaha Steaks. 5lb of boneless heart of prime rib. Box arrived and inside were 4 burgers 2 chicken breasts, kielbasa and a scalloped potato side, individual sized. That's not going to work. Called and waited 90 minutes on hold (set the phone down while doing other things) and finally had to leave to meet friends for dinner. Omaha Steaks finally called us back around 6pm said oops, sorry, and refunded our money. So we fought our way to the grocery store, fingers crossed, but expecting nothing.

Wouldn't you know it, someone had backed out on their 5.5lb Christmas order and they were getting ready to sticker it for sale on the regular shelves. Already seasoned, OK not perfect, looks like they did a pretty good job, so we bought it.

If we don't burn down the RV, tomorrow we should have Prime Rib, garlic/rosemary mashed potatoes from scratch, broccolini, pumpkin and apple pies because, yes, we need both. I'll be reducing my calorie intake and doing extra activity tomorrow in anticipation

Sounds like fun! Are you in Washington State or somewhere exotic ?

Atlas · December 24, 2025

Just now, customboss said:

Sounds like fun! Are you in Washington State or somewhere exotic ?

We'll be in the desert for a few more weeks. Speaking of which, I'm sure I've gained a few pounds already. The Mexican food down here is just to die for. Northwest Mexican is good, but we're almost in Mexico, so it's a lot more common and the options are more authentic.

customboss · December 24, 2025

2 minutes ago, Atlas said:

We'll be in the desert for a few more weeks. Speaking of which, I'm sure I've gained a few pounds already. The Mexican food down here is just to die for. Northwest Mexican is good, but we're almost in Mexico, so it's a lot more common and the options are more authentic.

Sounds great have fun!

Grumpy Bear · January 3

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Floret one head of cauliflower and dice the stem and core. Toss the greens.

Steam for 12 to 15 minutes.

Toss in a food processor with a quarter stick of salted butter and a quarter cup of half/half. (half cup cream cheese optional)

Blend smooth. (leave a little texture)

Salt and pepper to taste and serve with a pat of butter. Enjoy.

Cauliflower has more water than potatoes so easy on the added liquid. Variation without cream cheese taste allot like potatoes and has a much lower glycemic index. Cheaper, healthier and one of the few substitutes that are taste wise is nearly identical. Let me know if you disagree. Mineral and vitamin wise superior.

Prep and cook time a fraction of potatoes. Depending on your knife skills, front to back in roughly 30 minutes. Quicker with an induction range.

OnTheReel · January 11

On 1/2/2026 at 9:11 PM, Grumpy Bear said:

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Floret one head of cauliflower and dice the stem and core. Toss the greens.

Steam for 12 to 15 minutes.

Toss in a food processor with a quarter stick of salted butter and a quarter cup of half/half. (half cup cream cheese optional)

Blend smooth. (leave a little texture)

Salt and pepper to taste and serve with a pat of butter. Enjoy.

Cauliflower has more water than potatoes so easy on the added liquid. Variation without cream cheese taste allot like potatoes and has a much lower glycemic index. Cheaper, healthier and one of the few substitutes that are taste wise is nearly identical. Let me know if you disagree. Mineral and vitamin wise superior.

Prep and cook time a fraction of potatoes. Depending on your knife skills, front to back in roughly 30 minutes. Quicker with an induction range.

Tried this tonight. Used milk instead of half/half and then lots of garlic butter. Came out pretty good, think we over-blended a little but they tasted great.

customboss · January 11

This is the formulating that @Grumpy Bear does best!! Genius Grunpy

OnTheReel · January 18

Went to my favorite cheese store and got some snacks. Fresh squeaky curds are always my favorite. They had samples of the aged goat cheese with black truffle dust set out. We tried it and loved it. Even my picky son. So had to bring that home. Not cheap but worth it.

Grumpy Bear · January 19

On 12/23/2025 at 11:23 PM, Grumpy Bear said:

I've been experimenting with French scrambled eggs. Really low heat to temper to a creamy finish. Takes 3 times longer but the result is wild. Hit it with some nutmeg close to the end with small finishes of frozen butter. Stellar!

Best effort to date this morning. Four eggs whipped (air it up) with a pinch of salt and enough 1/2&1/2 to loosen the albumen in a small skillet gets it deep enough to even out the heat. To thin and you fight both the curd and a skin. Started with a cold skillet and went to low (electric range 2-3)

Using a wooden spoon is working best. Using the back of it to crush the curd as it develops. Drag the spoon to see when the curd starts to form then keep it gently moving. Stir, crush, swirl LOL. It will get to the point of holding a form but still liquid looking, glassy almost. If you want cheese now is the time. Grate your own. That non-clump stuff the add to pre-shredded spoils the finish. The finish is between pudding and custard in consistency. Smooth and lump/curd free. Silky pudding smooth or a hair stiffer but not custard stiff. Never dry. Takes a few times to sort it all out but worth the effort.

If you freeze two pat of butter quartered and add just before you think it is done and fold it in it adds richness, depth and a nice gloss. Almost desert like.

One slice of 'real bread' of a neutral note and fruit. Today it was macerated strawberries and a supremed Cara-Cara oranges. I like English breakfast tea with out mild for this.

You will never get eggs like this in a Ma-Pa restaurant. Those a golf ball sized dry overcooked abominations that chew like tires and taste like whatever was cooked on that overheated flat top last. . :crackup:

Before you start experimenting with the cheeses and peppers perfect the finish first. It is worth the effort. Each range is different. Every skillet is different. First time I saw this done was in a sauce pan by a professional using a fork. Crazy stuff.

Grumpy Bear · January 20

Food Cost

Food cost money and lots of it and I get that. But the least expensive way there is to eat and eat well is teaching yourself to cook and going fresh, raw and simple.

Every time a food is processed it cost more money. Even if that processing is simply putting it in a bag, jar or can and every time it is processed it looses something; Color, texture, taste and nutrition...and often control over seasoning as well as inclusion of preservatives and artificial ingredients. The one upside to processing is having more variety available for off seasonal foods. In which case I prefer frozen to canned. I get to keep everything but texture.

People get intimidated in the kitchen and often because they over complicate almost everything about it. To much TV influence. Experts doing crazy things in complicated ways with ingredients you don't or won't have access to.

It can be really easy if you stick with the basics. For example Broccoli fresh cut to florets and blanched 3 minutes returns a colorful, flavorful al dente bite as is and becomes something special with a bit of butter and salt. Or you can buy frozen at triple the price and get boiled water logged rubber balls. Fresh Green beans or peas ditto. Perfect the blanch, it is newbie friendly. How hard it boiling water and cutting up produce?

Food gets really expensive, or can, when you introduce the proteins. And it raises the difficulty but not horribly. Especially if you learn to braise pork and beef or poach fowl and fish. Crockpots are new person friendly as well.

Now I can't prepare and cook green beans as fast as you can open a can and heat them in the microwave but the difference isn't as much as one may think and the outcomes are night and day.

Besides, there is a good deal of gratification in the process. And I know how we like our instant gratification. :crackup:

OnTheReel · January 21

We clearance shop a few times a week. My wife is an ACE at it! Go to the grocery stores early morning and stock up on all the near expired meat and even some veggies. Dented canned goods too lol.

Haven’t paid full price for ground beef or bacon in a long while. Between that, fishing and hunting it’s no problem to keep the freezer full at a low cost. When you got a few mouths to feed it’s just what you gotta do.

People tend to justify fast food, food delivery by using the high grocery prices as an excuse. What a bunch of BS. Just learn to shop, learn to fish and learn to cook.