What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[turbo]

Supper tonight will revolve around some fresh-caught wild brook trout. Today is the last day of the open-water fishing season, so I headed out to my favorite pond to try my luck. Caught and kept my limit (5 fat fish, about 12" each) put back one, and missed a real lunker - had to strip in my line to see if there was still a fly on the leader, he hit that hard. Generally, I release lots of trout, but if the trout gods are smiling on closing day, I take it as a sign that I should have a good meal or two. I stopped at my father's house on the way home and gave him the biggest of the trout - he was pretty happy about that.

Gut the trout, remove the heads, and toss them in a plastic bag with flour, salt and pepper. Get some butter preheated in a large skillet arrange the trout in the pan, and cover. Uncover, turn the fish, recover from time to time until the skin is crispy. Done! This treat is best accompanied by a skillet of home-fried potatoes. No biscuits tonight because the house is warm and I don't want to run the oven.

 

[Evo]

Gut the trout, remove the heads,

Do you save the heads for fish stock?

 

[turbo]

Do you save the heads for fish stock?

No, but if the trout are large enough, I don't fry them. I bake them with the heads on. The jaw muscles under the gill flaps are the most tender flavorful meat ever!

 

[tribdog]

Mine came out perfect today. You have to use day-old rice so it's drier. I sauteed an onion, less than a handful of frozen peas and corn (defrosted first), and fried up two eggs in a little vegetable oil and butter. When they were cooked, mixed them all together, added the rice, a splash of soy sauce (real stuff from a Chinese grocery, not Kikoman from the grocery store), a little salt and pepper, finished stirring together while heating the rice, and done. Yum.

Usually I don't have day old rice, and it doesn't turn out very well if the rice is fresh and moist.

I've never tried authentic soy sauce so I don't know how they compare. I grew up with LaChoy soy sauce, and I like it. I don't like Kikoman.

 

[turbo]

I've never tried authentic soy sauce so I don't know how they compare. I grew up with LaChoy soy sauce, and I like it. I don't like Kikoman.

That's the only stuff we've ever had available in Maine, too, and it is thin salty crap. (Just my opinion)

 

[tribdog]

when I was 16 or 17 we got someone to buy me and a couple of my friends a couple of cases of beer. So we went out to Willow Creek Pond for the weekend. We took all our fishing gear, but someone dropped our only knife into the water and lost it. At the end of the day we were drunk enough that we would just throw the trout on the fire and eat them when they popped open. No need to gut.

 

[turbo]

when I was 16 or 17 we got someone to buy me and a couple of my friends a couple of cases of beer. So we went out to Willow Creek Pond for the weekend. We took all our fishing gear, but someone dropped our only knife into the water and lost it. At the end of the day we were drunk enough that we would just throw the trout on the fire and eat them when they popped open. No need to gut.

You can de-head and gut trout with your fingers. I love sharp little (trout) knives, but when I was a kid, the trout came home on a dry stringer.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

This morning I made a casserole. Rotini, chicken thighs, italian sausage, green bellpeppers, mushrooms, summer squash, and chopped baby spinach with alfredo sauce covered liberally with mozzarella and baked.

It turned out quite well.

 

[Evo]

This morning I made a casserole. Rotini, chicken thighs, italian sausage, green bellpeppers, mushrooms, summer squash, and chopped baby spinach with alfredo sauce covered liberally with mozzarella and baked.

It turned out quite well.

Sounds yummy. I need some new recipes.

 

[Evo]

I going to buy a smoked turkey today. That's guaranteed good eats for at least two weeks. I'll be making some tasty smoked turkey and bean soup with the carcass, YUM!

 

[turbo]

Cooler weather is here, so while I was working clearing out the garden, my wife started baking zucchini/pineapple bread and apple bread. She took a loaf of each to our organic-gardener neighbor, and he showed up a bit later with a backhoe to rip an oak stump out of our front lawn. Get about 1/2 hour of heavy-equipment time for two loaves of fruit bread? Sounds like a hell of a deal. We don't barter since there is not expectation of payback - it always happens somehow, though, sooner or later. His wife has already started planning for Christmas wreaths, and I'm sure she'll go overboard on ours again.

Here is the best zucchini bread you'll ever have. Watch the cooking times if you decide to cook it in muffin tins instead of loaves. We usually have muffins for ourselves and our parents, and give loaves to larger households. This recipe came out of my mother's recipe-box, so it is over 30 years old at least.

Zucchini bread

2 eggs
3/4 cup oil
2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cup ground zucchini
2 cup crushed pineapple (drained)
3-1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tbs salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup nuts
1 cup raisins

bake for 1 hour at 350 deg

 

[Moonbear]

I've never tried authentic soy sauce so I don't know how they compare. I grew up with LaChoy soy sauce, and I like it. I don't like Kikoman.

It's an entirely different flavor, and very strong. It takes some time to get used to cooking with it, because when I first started using it, I'd add the same amount I used to add of the Kikoman, and it would be overwhelming. A little splash will flavor as much as a cup of the regular grocery store varieties. Since it comes in these giant bottles (about a liter or more) that are usually cheaper than the tiny bottle of LaChoy or Kikoman, it's really a bargain to get it from a Chinese grocery. Of course, that requires having access to a Chinese grocery. The bottle I have moved with me...it's lasted that long.

 

[Evo]

It's an entirely different flavor, and very strong. It takes some time to get used to cooking with it, because when I first started using it, I'd add the same amount I used to add of the Kikoman, and it would be overwhelming. A little splash will flavor as much as a cup of the regular grocery store varieties. Since it comes in these giant bottles (about a liter or more) that are usually cheaper than the tiny bottle of LaChoy or Kikoman, it's really a bargain to get it from a Chinese grocery. Of course, that requires having access to a Chinese grocery. The bottle I have moved with me...it's lasted that long.

I found an Asian grocery store not far from here. I need to go and get some stuff.

When I lived in DC, the Navy Exchange store had a Filipino food section where you could get some great stuff. My Filipino friend taught me how to make the best lumpia in the world.

 

[turbo]

Evo, here is a no-bake cookie recipe that is identical in ingredients and very, very close in amounts to the recipes my wife uses. I found two no-bake chocolate/oatmeal recipes in the box and they are so close to this that I decided not to type it all out. My wife tinkers with quantities, anyway, so none of her written recipes is gospel.

http://southernfood.about.com/od/nobakecookies/r/bl90710a.htm

 

[Evo]

Thanks turbo!

It's fall sweater weather, so I am starting a big pot of chili.

I also bought 10 pounds of chicken breast because they were on sale for 99 cents a pound and didn't have the back bone or fat on them, so a really good buy. I just don't care for white meat much because it tends to be dry and flavorless compared to the dark meat. Alton Brown agrees, so I am right, once again.

I need a recipe that will work with the white meat. I wanted to do a fricasee, but I don't think it will turn out well with just white meat.

Suggestions?

 

[tribdog]

Evo, I have a lentils question. Are you supposed to cook them til they are mushy or are they supposed to have a little crunch?

 

[Evo]

I prefer them cooked until soft, simmer about 45 minutes, but I have a friend that loves them cooked 30 minutes. Make sure you have them covered by at least two inches of water while cooking so they don't dry out and scorch.

Also, I only add salt and garlic to them, maybe a bit of chopped onion. They have a wonderful flavor that too many people hide with tons of spices and meat and other weird stuff.

But if you don't like the taste of lentils, then I guess add a lot of other stuff.

 

[Borek]

bake for 1 hour at 350 deg

F or C?

 

[tribdog]

Kelvin

 

[turbo]

Thanks turbo!

It's fall sweater weather, so I am starting a big pot of chili.

I also bought 10 pounds of chicken breast because they were on sale for 99 cents a pound and didn't have the back bone or fat on them, so a really good buy. I just don't care for white meat much because it tends to be dry and flavorless compared to the dark meat. Alton Brown agrees, so I am right, once again.

I need a recipe that will work with the white meat. I wanted to do a fricasee, but I don't think it will turn out well with just white meat.

Suggestions?

I have been brining whole chickens and turkeys for roasting, but haven't tried brining chicken parts. I wouldn't bother brining dark meat, but it's worth a try with breasts. I'm normally not a big fan of white meat, but the breast meat on a brined chicken or turkey is really good. Disclaimer: I always roast poultry breast-down so that fat from the dark meat migrates to the breast, and that may be a factor. You might try roasting each breast with a strip of bacon draped over it...

 

[tribdog]

Nice moist white meat is my favorite.

 

[Evo]

I've been watching the candy competitions on the Food Network and these people have absolutely no common sense.

They make the pieces out of chocolate and they keep trying to attach these big pieces to small flat bases and wonder why they keep falling over. HEY DUMMIES, why don't you make a groove or cut out that the attachment sits in and then add the chocolate to make it stick. By resting the bottom of the attachment in the part you are attaching it to instead of trying to sit it on top of a flat piece, you give it so much more stability. What's wrong with these people?

 

[Borek]

Zucchini bread

2 cup crushed pineapple (drained)

Canned?

1 cup nuts

Walnuts? Hazelnuts? Anynuts?

 

[turbo]

Yes, Borek, the recipe is set up for canned pineapple. It's an old recipe, and it's only in recent years that fresh pineapple has been readily available in stores here. We use crushed walnuts, but any kind of nuts you like will be fine - pecans would be fine too, as would hazelnuts.

 

[Borek]

Yes, Borek, the recipe is set up for canned pineapple. It's an old recipe, and it's only in recent years that fresh pineapple has been readily available in stores here. We use crushed walnuts, but any kind of nuts you like will be fine - pecans would be fine too, as would hazelnuts.

Baked with walnuts. Good [PLAIN]http://www.bpp.com.pl/obraski/applause.gif.[/URL] We make similar cake with carrots.

 

[Borek]

HEY DUMMIES, why don't you make a groove or cut out that the attachment sits in and then add the chocolate to make it stick. By resting the bottom of the attachment in the part you are attaching it to instead of trying to sit it on top of a flat piece, you give it so much more stability. What's wrong with these people?

That's physics and/or mechanical engineering, this is cooking contest.

 

[Evo]

That's physics and/or mechanical engineering, this is cooking contest.

No, taste has nothing to do with it, it's the structural integrity that counts. The other day the contest was building a bridge out of cereal. The winner's entry was ghastly, ugly, but he got the most parts up without it falling apart, so he won. It was so wrong, since the technically and aesthetically superior entry lost because he took more time and made a quality bridge, but still had a couple of pieces left to add. The guy that slapped a piece of crap together won. The other entries fell apart and didn't even make it to the judging.

 

[tribdog]

I bought my first clove of garlic today. It was a day of firsts. I ate an Evo sandwich for the first time. I also bought radishes for the first time ever. They were just so cheap I couldn't pass them up. turns out radishes are HOT!

 

[turbo]

I bought my first clove of garlic today. It was a day of firsts. I ate an Evo sandwich for the first time. I also bought radishes for the first time ever. They were just so cheap I couldn't pass them up. turns out radishes are HOT!

OK, trib - you can use a toaster oven or a microwave, but you should break the bulb apart and heat one of the cloves until the center is cooked. Then nip one end of the skin of the clove, and squeeze it out like toothpaste onto a cracker of your choice with maybe some mustard and cheese or sardines (or all of the above) and enjoy. Garlic is also great this way in twice-baked potatoes. Bake the potato and garlic at the same time. When the potato is done, split the top, mash up the insides a bit with a fork, squeeze in the baked garlic, add some butter, salt and pepper, and top with some sharp cheese. Then back into the oven at high heat (or under the broiler - even better) until the cheese melts and starts to brown a bit. Mmmmmm!

 

[Borek]

No, taste has nothing to do with it, it's the structural integrity that counts.

Oh, OK, I thought 'candy competition' implies taste.

What will be next? Bridge competition in which you have to make bridge out of steel and concrete... and the yummiest wins? Strength doesn't matter?

 

[tribdog]

OK, trib - you can use a toaster oven or a microwave, but you should break the bulb apart and heat one of the cloves until the center is cooked. Then nip one end of the skin of the clove, and squeeze it out like toothpaste onto a cracker of your choice with maybe some mustard and cheese or sardines (or all of the above) and enjoy. Garlic is also great this way in twice-baked potatoes. Bake the potato and garlic at the same time. When the potato is done, split the top, mash up the insides a bit with a fork, squeeze in the baked garlic, add some butter, salt and pepper, and top with some sharp cheese. Then back into the oven at high heat (or under the broiler - even better) until the cheese melts and starts to brown a bit. Mmmmmm!

the garlic was for Evo's lentils. Should I do it the same way?

 

[turbo]

the garlic was for Evo's lentils. Should I do it the same way?

Depends - when I made lentil soup, I would crush the garlic and cook it (along with onions, carrots, and celery) with the lentils.

 

[Evo]

the garlic was for Evo's lentils. Should I do it the same way?

No. You just peel one or two garlic cloves, then finely chop them and throw them into the lentils when you add the water.

 

[tribdog]

knives are involved?

 

[tribdog]

OK, trib - you can use a toaster oven or a microwave, but you should break the bulb apart and heat one of the cloves until the center is cooked. Then nip one end of the skin of the clove, and squeeze it out like toothpaste onto a cracker of your choice with maybe some mustard and cheese or sardines (or all of the above) and enjoy. Garlic is also great this way in twice-baked potatoes. Bake the potato and garlic at the same time. When the potato is done, split the top, mash up the insides a bit with a fork, squeeze in the baked garlic, add some butter, salt and pepper, and top with some sharp cheese. Then back into the oven at high heat (or under the broiler - even better) until the cheese melts and starts to brown a bit. Mmmmmm!

I just threw a clove into the microwave and the damn thing exploded like popcorn.