The All Things We Love To Cook and Eat Thread

[pnwguy]

From Wikipedia:

Sodium citrate can be used as an emulsifying stabilizer when making cheese. It allows the cheese to melt without becoming greasy by stopping the fats from separating.

[Bact PhD]

I came across this on YouTube recently, tried the recipe, and it was a hit with my crew! I didn’t try my hand at the polenta, though; I stuck with serving the stew with crusty bread.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5cnh1xIxHo

[andydp]

This just showed up on my FB feed

LOBSTER, CRAB AND SHRIMP MACARONI AND CHEESE
Ingredients
1 lb. elbow macaroni
1/2 cup unsalted butter divided
1/2 cup flour
3 cups whole milk, room temp
1 cup heavy cream, room temp
4 cups grated Gruyere cheese
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 lb. A mixture of crab, lobster, and shrimp
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Use cooking spray to coat a 2-quart baking pan. Butter can also be used to lightly coat the dish.
Follow the instructions on the package to cook the pasta until it is al dente. Drain the pasta, rinse it with cool water, and then set it aside.
How to Make the roux
Melt 6 Tbsp. Place 6 Tbsp. butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Mix the flour with the water and continue to whisk until well combined. This should take about 30 seconds.
Slowly add the milk, and cream, and whisk constantly until smooth. Reduce heat to low.
How to make the Cheese Sauce
Mix the shredded cheeses one at a time into the roux. Stir to combine between each addition.
Salt and pepper to your liking
Turn off the heat
Here is how to Bake the Mac and Cheese
Mix the seafood and cooked pasta together in the cheese sauce.
Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish.
The remaining 2 Tbsp. butter, melt it. Mix the butter with the panko.
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the seafood mac cheese is hot through and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.
Serve immediately

[goldenvalley]

Oct 31, 2022 1:05:09 GMT andydp said:

This just showed up on my FB feed

LOBSTER, CRAB AND SHRIMP MACARONI AND CHEESE
Ingredients
1 lb. elbow macaroni
1/2 cup unsalted butter divided
1/2 cup flour
3 cups whole milk, room temp
1 cup heavy cream, room temp
4 cups grated Gruyere cheese
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 lb. A mixture of crab, lobster, and shrimp
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Use cooking spray to coat a 2-quart baking pan. Butter can also be used to lightly coat the dish.
Follow the instructions on the package to cook the pasta until it is al dente. Drain the pasta, rinse it with cool water, and then set it aside.
How to Make the roux
Melt 6 Tbsp. Place 6 Tbsp. butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Mix the flour with the water and continue to whisk until well combined. This should take about 30 seconds.
Slowly add the milk, and cream, and whisk constantly until smooth. Reduce heat to low.
How to make the Cheese Sauce
Mix the shredded cheeses one at a time into the roux. Stir to combine between each addition.
Salt and pepper to your liking
Turn off the heat
Here is how to Bake the Mac and Cheese
Mix the seafood and cooked pasta together in the cheese sauce.
Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish.
The remaining 2 Tbsp. butter, melt it. Mix the butter with the panko.
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the seafood mac cheese is hot through and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.
Serve immediately

That would be so rich that I could only eat about 2 bites of it...but it would be a heavenly two bites.

[LFC]

[pnwguy]

I'll have to delay my celebration until next weekend when I return to PA. My supply is dry here in Oregon. I can only take a few pounds in my luggage on my semi-annual visits.

[LFC]

Nov 9, 2022 17:10:57 GMT pnwguy said:

I'll have to delay my celebration until next weekend when I return to PA. My supply is dry here in Oregon. I can only take a few pounds in my luggage on my semi-annual visits.

I live in the heart of scrapple country. I could hit a few grocery stores and probably come home with 8 different brands. My brother in Delaware could provide even more including a super local one that's just a few miles from his house and is still wrapped by hand.

[goldenvalley]

This isn't about cooking.  A new restaurant opened in Sacramento.  It features breakfast cereal, the stuff advertised on Saturday morning during cartoon hours (which doesn't exist anymore).  I haven't been there yet because I don't like cereal but the novelty might make me go.  Take a look.  Seems like a fun sugar overload.  Maybe I'll take my grandson someday.

[Bact PhD]

Dec 11, 2022 1:44:09 GMT goldenvalley said:

This isn't about cooking.  A new restaurant opened in Sacramento.  It features breakfast cereal, the stuff advertised on Saturday morning during cartoon hours (which doesn't exist anymore).  I haven't been there yet because I don't like cereal but the novelty might make me go.  Take a look.  Seems like a fun sugar overload.  Maybe I'll take my grandson someday.

I thought I heard of a similar restaurant concept 8-10 years ago, I want to say in Philly? Sounded interesting enough; you could create your own cereal combinations, IIRC.

[LFC]

I had a successful fishing trip yesterday for Black Sea Bass. They are probably the best white fish I've ever tasted. Tonight it's pan fried in butter with a maple pecan glaze.

[LFC]

[LFC]

[goldenvalley]

Feb 24, 2023 22:24:03 GMT LFC said:

My husband and I watch Top Chef frequently and always laugh at the finale challenges...show us who you are through your food! Yeah we all have favorite recipes that come from family members or family traditions, but really we make them because we like them, not as homage to those things.  Or maybe I'm just cold and unsentimental.

[goldenvalley]

How about dinner at this place?

ROSENDAL, Norway — Do you like fine dining? Viral Instagrams? Possibly getting murdered? Have I got the place for you.
Deep in the fjords of western Norway there’s a new restaurant that’s making waves. Or, rather, riding them.

Welcome to Restaurant Iris: 18 courses of extraordinary, locavore new Nordic cuisine on a floating stainless steel orb called Salmon Eye bobbing in the frigid waters of the Hardangerfjord.

If this seems like the setup for the horror movie “The Menu,” you’re not far off.

There’s a catch in getting to this sustainable wonderland: It’s a carbon-intensive haul. First you’ll need to fly to Oslo, then take a quick jet or a long train over the mountains to Bergen. Then it’s either a long ferry from Norway’s charming second city or a winding fjordside drive, plus a short ferry or two.

This just gets you to the starting point: the picturesque village of Rosendal (population 839), for what Iris calls “The Expedition” — a six-hour dinner of the highest quality and invention, complete with subterranean videos about global warming and lectures about sustainable aquaculture. All this in a bad guy lair straight out of a James Bond film.

[goldenvalley]

This saddens me.  My favorite spring food is locally grown asparagus. Asparagus farms are disappearing due to the increase in Mexican grown produce and somewhat because farm workers are supposed to be paid overtime pay.  The latter, of course, makes farmers decrease the work hours and ultimately the field size.  

A view of the harvest:

The quick-growing plant must be harvested every day of its three-month growing season. The state’s varied microclimates allow for fresh asparagus from January through May. Each plant has a crown that sprouts multiple spears a day, and they have to be individually hand-cut.

Sporting hats, hooded sweatshirts and bandannas to shield themselves from the warm March sun, harvest workers at Bercellos’ farm walked the furrows and carefully combed the soil for nine-inch-long shoots. They stooped to cut the right-size stalks at the base with a sudden jab of an asparagus knife, a tool that resembles a fireplace poker with a forked chisel tip instead of a point.


As the asparagus is harvested, each crown continues to push up new spears through the soil. This fast and constant growth allows farmers to harvest the same field up to 60 times during the growing season at some farms. On warm summer days, a spear can grow so quickly that workers will have to go back and cut a second time.

The harvest continues without stopping, seven days a week.

Capitalism doesn't like to pay labor so it doesn't have people work overtime.  The end result is the workers earn less in a season without overtime and we get less locally grown asparagus. Perhaps I'm spoiled but I usually won't buy asparagus that isn't grown here in California.  The stuff from Mexico is tough and cut too soon so the flavor doesn't develop properly. I used to dislike the vegetable until I was able to get it almost straight off the farm. Our local grocery chain buys from the farm. I suppose this is a First World whine.

[andydp]

We were originally having people over for Mother's Day Dinner but my Daughter in Law got sick so we scaled it down. 

We are buying Chicken parmigiana from a local restaurant.  This will be delivered to the various relatives.  My son gets two baked ziti casseroles:  one with just with sauce and mozzarella and one with lasagna stuffing, mozzarella and sauce. This is a "specialty" of mine. I make it using my lasagna stuffing and baked until internal temps are about 150-160. Grandson and DIL do not like ricotta, so they get the "plain" one.  My son gets the lasagna version all for himself.  Everyone there gets portions of chicken parmigiana.

Our in laws (The DIL parents) get a casserole with lasagna stuffing and chicken Parmigiana.

We get the casserole with stuffing and the chicken parm.  

[goldenvalley]

May 10, 2024 20:21:25 GMT andydp said:

We were originally having people over for Mother's Day Dinner but my Daughter in Law got sick so we scaled it down. 

We are buying Chicken parmigiana from a local restaurant.  This will be delivered to the various relatives.  My son gets two baked ziti casseroles:  on with just with sauce and mozzarella and one with lasagna stuffing, mozzarella and sauce. This is a "specialty" of mine. I make it using my lasagna stuffing and baked until internal temps are about 150-160. Grandson and DIL do not like ricotta so they get the "plain" one.  My son gets the lasagna version all for himself.  Everyone there gets portions of chicken parmigiana.

Our in laws (The DIL parents) get a casserole with lasagna stuffing and chicken Parmigiana.

We get the casserole with stuffing and the chicken parm.  

That sounds wonderful. Do you want to adopt a 63 year old who loves baked ziti and ricotta?

[Bact PhD]

May 8, 2024 19:05:38 GMT goldenvalley said:

This saddens me.  My favorite spring food is locally grown asparagus. Asparagus farms are disappearing due to the increase in Mexican grown produce and somewhat because farm workers are supposed to be paid overtime pay.  The latter, of course, makes farmers decrease the work hours and ultimately the field size.  

A view of the harvest:

The quick-growing plant must be harvested every day of its three-month growing season. The state’s varied microclimates allow for fresh asparagus from January through May. Each plant has a crown that sprouts multiple spears a day, and they have to be individually hand-cut.

Sporting hats, hooded sweatshirts and bandannas to shield themselves from the warm March sun, harvest workers at Bercellos’ farm walked the furrows and carefully combed the soil for nine-inch-long shoots. They stooped to cut the right-size stalks at the base with a sudden jab of an asparagus knife, a tool that resembles a fireplace poker with a forked chisel tip instead of a point.


As the asparagus is harvested, each crown continues to push up new spears through the soil. This fast and constant growth allows farmers to harvest the same field up to 60 times during the growing season at some farms. On warm summer days, a spear can grow so quickly that workers will have to go back and cut a second time.

The harvest continues without stopping, seven days a week.

Capitalism doesn't like to pay labor so it doesn't have people work overtime.  The end result is the workers earn less in a season without overtime and we get less locally grown asparagus. Perhaps I'm spoiled but I usually won't buy asparagus that isn't grown here in California.  The stuff from Mexico is tough and cut too soon so the flavor doesn't develop properly. I used to dislike the vegetable until I was able to get it almost straight off the farm. Our local grocery chain buys from the farm. I suppose this is a First World whine.

Sigh. My First World whine in that realm is strawberries. The season here runs from mid-February (central FL) to mid-April (north FL). When they are in season here it’s fantastic. Unfortunately, my gripe about CA strawberries is identical to yours about Mexican asparagus—harvested too soon in many cases, so they end up flavorless.

[AnBr]

May 13, 2024 18:13:32 GMT Bact PhD said:

Sigh. My First World whine in that realm is strawberries. The season here runs from mid-February (central FL) to mid-April (north FL). When they are in season here it’s fantastic. Unfortunately, my gripe about CA strawberries is identical to yours about Mexican asparagus—harvested too soon in many cases, so they end up flavorless.

Agreed. CA produce is flavorless cardboard. The only produce from CA I'll buy are Mediterranean crops. Even then, I'll take FL citrus any day over CA. I'm sure that the stuff in CA is just fine in state, but then it can be far closer to ripe when picked than what gets shipped cross-continent. Likewise, GA and Carolina peaches may be OK, but give me a dead ripe, just picked one from here any day, first.

It is one thing to get it from CA or even Chile when out of season, but don't give me that garbage when in season here. Local summer produce is one of the best things about summer.