Food & Drink

pokismoki · April 2, 2022

what other secret crock pot recipes are you hiding Grumpy?

Grumpy Bear · April 2, 2022

On 3/31/2022 at 11:43 AM, diyer2 said:

Try an air fryer.

I hear they're great. But. I have enough 'stuff'

Grumpy Bear · April 11, 2022

On 4/1/2022 at 9:53 PM, pokismoki said:

what other secret crock pot recipes are you hiding Grumpy?

I just saw this. Sorry.

I do one with White Beans and Smoked Pork Hocks that otherwise is identical to the Shanks and Beans in prep and seasoning. Totally different experience in taste. Greens are a great side.

I'm a simple cook with a palate that has high expectations. I was watching Ina Garten Saturday last whose guest cook was Erin French. Another over achieving simple cook. She made a comment that rung like the Liberty Bell.

"When you cook simply, use GREAT ingredients because simple cooking leaves no place to hide".

And I would add, don't over use them. I made that mistake with the Shanks and Beans. I'll be cutting the Smoked Crushed Black Pepper in half next time. I'll make that correction in that post when I'm done here. By day two it overtook the dish. Crushed seeds are hotter that ground for some reason. Larger pieces I guess that as you chew releases more oils.

I like smoked meats but use them more like a condiment than the center piece of the dish. Watching that blood fat An exception is made for fish naturally.

Cheese! My neighbor handed me a partial wheel of a 10 year old sharp cheddar that I used today in an omelet. OMG!!! Prime example of GREAT ingredients making a huge difference with no other change. My go to has a been a commercial shredded prep of four "Mexican" favorites. Knowing Cheddar is 'oily' I used about 1/4 my normal amount and it was still to much but the flavor was off the hook. Grate it finer too. Note to self. Not a fan of 'wet' omelets. Moist is good but wet...yuck. Oily is wet to me.

Consider every ingredient. I know it's convenient to use commercial prepped products but kids reach higher and use less and you will not believe the difference it makes in the mouth. Grind you pepper. Use dried beans......

I started sitting my tomatoes in with the fruit on the counter. In among the separated bananas and pears. Just about the time you mother would cringe and before it molds is about time to eat it, cook with it and then refrigerate the part you don't use. Pretty darn close to fresh off the vine if you don't interrupt God's plan for it. HUGE improvement in flavor and texture. Bosc Pears ditto. Especially if cooking with them. There is a vast difference between rotten produce and ripe produce but the line is fine. Just like aged beef or pheasant. Don't be in a hurry. Time is your friend.

Grumpy Bear · April 19, 2022

So Mrs. Bear and I have been touring butcher shops. You've heard me mention Imbodens a few times I'm sure. Nice place but my mechanic turned us on to another in Elburn Illinois called Reams Meats. A true Lowlands experience. Germans will put anything into a sausage casing. But more. Polish, Czech, Bohemia, Austria....yea that. Pork and Beef.

Well we did yet another tonight in Creston Illinois called Headron Meats. Angus, it's what's for dinner. I caters to the local farmers who like to eat what they raise and all sent to South America and the Euro zone. Top Prime only. Bakery. All manor of beef stick and some German Sausages as well but everything pulled from the top shelf and processed in house. They make everything they sell but the Bourbon. That they trade with a small batch distillery in Wisconsin. I got a taste but in our haste not a name which error I will correct in a later post.

Point it there are resources in your area that are not all 'major grocery chain' quality. Explore a bit and see what you have.

diyer2 · April 19, 2022

We don't eat very much beef.

Donstar · April 20, 2022

14 hours ago, diyer2 said:

We don't eat very much beef.

Your comment hit home for me. My wife and I were eating our supper last night and our conversation went to how the meat portion of our suppers was becoming the least desired. We always felt that a dinner was not complete without the beef/chicken/fish portion. For me, vegetables were something to get out of the way in order to enjoy the beef portion! We are looking at meals where meat may compliment but are not the defining part of the meal!

KARNUT · April 20, 2022

I grew up on beef. In Texas my go to out meal was chicken fried steak. My mid 40s, the fat me went on WW and lost 40lbs beef wasn’t a big part. Chicken,fish, pork, beef was used in chili and spaghetti. A little roast beef. My out food was more fish or spaghetti. Now amazingly the foods that were bad, butter, eggs, beef, salt aren’t so much in moderation. So much for science being absolute. Recently my brothers boss has been raising cattle. The had more than they could handle. Now my freezers are full of beef. Nothing beats fresh from the butcher all cuts of beef. Beef in all forms is back on the menu in moderation. Only butcher bought from now on.

diyer2 · April 20, 2022

We gave up "Where's the beef" years ago. Chicken and turkey replaced it. Wife doesn't like fish but a meal for me is a can of quality salmon, Ritz crackers, glass of milk. I drink a lot of milk (1% )having been raised on a dairy farm.

customboss · April 20, 2022

We eat two meals a day. Meat is usually Elk or Bison. Rarely Salmon.

With my medical issues found out I am vitamin D deficient and I am out in the bright sun shoveling snow all the time or attempting to hike..who knew.

I don't cook and my partner hates to cook but she tries anyway.

I enjoy reading the thoughtful posts here on cooking and agree veggies are what sustained us growing up on a farm and I had to work that damn garden from young childhood.

My partner does not like vegetables but I tear them up. I just wish I could help her cook them healthy.

Most of my career I traveled internationally literally every 3-4 days so I ate well overseas, especially France and South America. They know how to eat well!!!

Thanks to all and Grumpy especially for sharing!

txab · April 20, 2022

I'm on the see food diet. Nuff said. :crackup:

As for vegetables and cooking. If you like Asparagus, sautee it on the stove top using olive oil and lemon pepper seasoning. Pretty hard to mess that up. Put it on the grill too. Just have to pay more attention. Brush it with olive oil. Again I use lemon pepper seasoning

I use microwave for baked potatoes. Also for cabbage. It's a great way to cook it. Halve or quarter it. I only cook 1/2 at a time because it's plenty or me/us

Edited April 20, 2022 by txab

customboss · April 20, 2022

1 hour ago, diyer2 said:

We gave up "Where's the beef" years ago. Chicken and turkey replaced it. Wife doesn't like fish but a meal for me is a can of quality salmon, Ritz crackers, glass of milk. I drink a lot of milk (1% )having been raised on a dairy farm.

Dairy Farm says it all.......NO REST FOR THE WEARY!!! NO FOOTBALL, how did you ever date?

shakenfake · April 20, 2022

I love beef

Grumpy Bear · April 20, 2022

My wife is a vegetarian. Eats fish sometimes and does eggs and cheese. So not vegan. She take a taste now and again if I ask her opinion on a dish I make and won't turn down ham in an omelet made for her once in a while. Cooking for two like this is more difficult even though I'm not a huge meat eater myself. More as a condiment than a portion most of the time.

That said these specialty shops have more than beef. One of the three I listed in my area has some of the finest and most diverse produce in our area and many fresh herbs and unique spices. Another has a killer bakery on site that is nothing like Jewel/Osco baking. More like you grandmothers baking. A third has a large selection of Italian specific deli meats, yes, cheese, yes and fine pastas and imported oils and dried meats.

I'm a simple cook and need great ingredients to make a meal that doesn't seem it came from St. Luke's Hospital Cafeteria.

It may take me 20 minutes or two hours to make a meal. It takes perhaps another 30-45 minutes to clean up although I do much cleaning as I cook to limit that damage. 15 minutes to wrap and store leftovers if there are any. 10 more on the floors and counters. So perhaps up to 3 hours total put into an act that will take 15 to 20 minutes to eat so whatever I'm going to eat I'd like it to be worth all that effort. Fact is it takes so much time I too am a twice a day eater...unless someone else is cooking or we have takeout.

A person enjoys food with all five senses and their heart.

A wolf with only his belly.

My world never had the "Blood Bloods" experience of Sunday family dinners were there were four cooks and lot of warm busy chaos going on and most everyone helping in the clean up. Neither did my wife and we ate out allot while dating and actually right up to the pandemic lockdowns. My lightbulb did not turn on until I ate my first tomato of a vine I planted in that first year that brought back in a flash the fall harvest taste, smells and sights that was part of our family history. The canning season.

That was a turning point. What it could be and how to make that happen. I remembered walking into my grandmothers farm kitchen as a child. Fresh bread daily. Bacon and coffee accenting her fresh produce and cut flowers. Eating smoked pork still hanging in the house sized smoker and dipping whole milk from the cooler in the barn. That all disappeared when grandpa died when I was yet preteen never to be experience more than occasionally on an aunt/uncles visit.

I don't cook big heavy meals nor am I into overeating but what I do eat I wish to enjoy fully....as God intended for us all.

Grumpy Bear · April 20, 2022

Grapefruit

Few things taste as nasty as the pith of a Grapefruit, right? Mother use to half one then hand you a teaspoon and let you wrestle the meat out. On a good day she might use a paring knife and section each section for you. Lot's of waste and more work than many like to put into their food.

I tried peeling them for quite some time and you do recover more meat but it takes awhile to eat one.

Serrated knives are killer for this. Grapefruits have a thick tough skin. Cut off each end then cut in half. First pass with the knife is an educated guess that gets better the more of them you do. After that the tip of the knife follows the pith removing all of it with minimal waste. After peeling in this manor I cut into quarter and then cut the tips from each wedge to remove the seeds and eat with a toothpick. Wife does mind the membrane so I "Supreme" hers with a paring knife removing the membrane. A red grapefruit needs noting IMHO but a yellow a dab of honey.

I did this post not really to show how to prepare a Grapefruit but rather to example the difference between eating like a Wolf and using all five senses to enjoy something simply. Yes you can buy canned grapefruit sections. You do that then try this....

I do this to oranges as well. When you look at your citrus that is starting to shrivel and the skins get pocked with blotches and you're thinking I ought toss that in the bucket for the hogs.... Try this first and be amazed at the difference in taste and texture.

As with anything practice speeds it up as your knife skills and 'eye', 'feel' improve. Use to take me 3 hours to change a starter in a 65 Mustang 200 Six. After awhile it was a 15 minute job laying in a snow filled ditch.