What's for dinner?

TandT wrote:Had Celery Root "Anna" with Bacon and Olives (recipe here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Celery-Root-Anna-with-Bacon-and-Olives-14456 ) yesterday with Searded Pork chops - ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT ... a GREAT combination - methinks you will enjoy ...


(and try this one too .... Celery Root and Apple Soup - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Celery-Root-and-Apple-Soup-239846 )

I've got an experimental celery root sitting on the counter waiting for me to do something with it. I've never tried it before. Now I'm thinking it going to be the "Anna" with some of my homemade guanciale instead of the bacon.

Homemade guanciale? Wow. I tried to find guanciale once a long time ago (when I actually had time to cook) in attempting a recipe I should not have - couldn't find it; didn't even know what it was but even in the South Bay I was out of luck.

Does that mean you cure and age it yourself?

Also reminds me of the time I sent the ex mr zig to the grocery store for saffron and forgot to tell him he would have to ask for it because they locked in up in the back at Kroger then...he was so fascinated by that; like it was pot or something that you had to get out of "the back".

It was very challenging when I moved to the South to find ingredients. That was back in '95 and things have changed since then but it was such culture shock.

Keep the recipes coming. I realized I need a slow cooker to make meals on weekends to have for my busy weeks.

ziggy wrote:Homemade guanciale? Wow. I tried to find guanciale once a long time ago (when I actually had time to cook) in attempting a recipe I should not have - couldn't find it; didn't even know what it was but even in the South Bay I was out of luck.

Does that mean you cure and age it yourself?

Also reminds me of the time I sent the ex mr zig to the grocery store for saffron and forgot to tell him he would have to ask for it because they locked in up in the back at Kroger then...he was so fascinated by that; like it was pot or something that you had to get out of "the back".

It was very challenging when I moved to the South to find ingredients. That was back in '95 and things have changed since then but it was such culture shock.

Keep the recipes coming. I realized I need a slow cooker to make meals on weekends to have for my busy weeks.

I gave this to ladyblou for X-mas. It has the recipe.
http://www.amazon.com/Charcuterie-Craft-Salting-Smoking-Curing/dp/0393058298
I'm not far from Mennonite country, so we went over to the Shenandoah valley and got the raw materials (that would be hog jowls) straight from the farm and made about 9lbs of guanciale. We modified the recipe to make a version with more of a sugar cure and one with a more herbal/savory cure. Both are very good. It isn't all that hard to do and the results are very worth it. There is a lot to do around here right now, several days of work still to go chainsawing the three trees that we lost to heavy snow last month, but we'll be trying sausage when we get caught up with that and the rest of our early spring gardening chores. There are 11 Indian runner duck outside right now, squawking up a storm and chard, spinach, and brussels sprouts are poking out of the snow in the garden. We get about 9 eggs a day when it's warmer, so homemade duck egg pasta with chard and guanciale is right around the corner.

That is amazing Blou. I miss that country life - I was a authentic redneck girl growing up. I might try curing etc. sometime because it is a fantastic way to preserve meat. My parents used to can it also. Here in Sonomoa County we can get any of those "raw materials"; it's very rural still and you can buy local eggs. Petaluma is the butter and egg capital, buy never have I tried a duck egg! Thanks for reminding me that I love Swiss Chard and it's easy to grow so I will do that along with resuming sprouting. Homemade pasta is not on my list though, that sounds time consuming.

Any slow cooker recipes out there...I'll take them. I'm using my Target gift card this weekend for one.

But keep in mind I am an ex-vegan and wish to have some lean meats in my food! I still love bean curd and crave veggies all the time - I just had to add the meat back into the diet.

ziggy wrote:That is amazing Blou. I miss that country life - I was a authentic redneck girl growing up. I might try curing etc. sometime because it is a fantastic way to preserve meat. My parents used to can it also. Here in Sonomoa County we can get any of those "raw materials"; it's very rural still and you can buy local eggs. Petaluma is the butter and egg capital, buy never have I tried a duck egg! Thanks for reminding me that I love Swiss Chard and it's easy to grow so I will do that along with resuming sprouting. Homemade pasta is not on my list though, that sounds time consuming.

Any slow cooker recipes out there...I'll take them. I'm using my Target gift card this weekend for one.

But keep in mind I am an ex-vegan and wish to have some lean meats in my food! I still love bean curd and crave veggies all the time - I just had to add the meat back into the diet.

I get the best of both worlds. I don't live in the country although I'm close and know a umber of people who do. I live on 1 1/2 acres in the city limits about 10 minutes from our downtown. I got pretty lucky with that.

I would never make pasta or bake. That's part of the reason for keeping a ladyblou around. She likes to do both.

Just as I've always suspected - I need a wife. Every year I ask for a butler for Christmas and every year it's a replay of the childhood Christmas pony disappointment

I stopped at a cute little Bistro and they had an Artichoke Bisque. I brought that home for dinner complimented it with just a day old poppy seed roll. Very satisfying and not too rich after I thinned it out with some soy.

Hey I'm all alone here - cooking for one is no fun.

Every weekend my husband smokes a bunch of meat. He doesn't like to eat evening meals. My son and I do, but I'm not a good cook. We freeze the meat, and then defrost it as we eat it throughout the week. It is a perfect situation.

My favorites are the fresh turkey and pork loin. We smoked some fish and shrimp this weekend too. I like the fruit tree woods for smoking -- apple and fig are what I prefer.

dinner? who has time for dinner?
Slimfst for breakfast and dinner. Yumms!

... I use slimfast against hangovers,works great....
I'm with Ziggy cooking for one which would be cici....she's vegetarian....myself,the devil usually gets a hold of me on my way to work so I sin,sin sin....anything you can get at a drive thru window...

I tried being vegan but was chronically ill and I'm not talking the kind of vegan that thinks Sarah Lee is OK; I was into healthy food . I went to a homeopathic doctor in Palo Alto who did all these "weird" tests on me and suggested that I should eat red meat, eggs and no dairy etc. I thought he was off the deep end. My sister turned me on to the Eat Right 4 Your Type blood type diet and I did that and behold a miracle...I felt better and lost weight so I try to go by that now. That is for another thread...

Tonight was a huge bowl of edamame and some watermelon. I try very hard not to eat fast food, but it's difficult not to when I shoot myself out of a canon every day and it's also cheap = value meal When I have no time, food is my evil necessity

I am so impressed by vegans,that's strange it made you sick...how long did you try?
cici tried to go vegan but there is just sooo much she had to give up so she went back to vegetarian,
I hate myself for still eating meat ,I think it's cruel and unnessesary,but man I can't stop....

Several years actually - giving up eggs was the hardest. I still don't do dairy much and really love soy milk. I learned to love vegetables and tofu so that was good, but I have to keep the carbs very complex and at a minimum. I 'm supposed to eat like a bear or caveman I never gave up meat because I thought it was cruel, just thought it might not be so healthy to eat but I was very vitamin B12 deficient.

ziggy wrote:Several years actually - giving up eggs was the hardest. I still don't do dairy much and really love soy milk. I learned to love vegetables and tofu so that was good, but I have to keep the carbs very complex and at a minimum. I 'm supposed to eat like a bear or caveman I never gave up meat because I thought it was cruel, just thought it might not be so healthy to eat but I was very vitamin B12 deficient.

A few years ago I developed an allergy to eggs and had to give them up. That was very hard to do!! I miss them everyday.

I FINALLY went grocery shopping. Tonight, sliced zuchinni sauted in olive oil, a nice small piece of lean round steak with greek seasoning. For desert my favorite snack and don't laugh: Gerber Graduates banana cookies (hey 0 trans fats and vitamins added). I also grab the baby food fruit - berries, peaches, bananas to take with for a quick snack. I like them because they are fairly low in sugar.

I still dread cooking for one, but it's worth it for some REAL food.

I'm very excited that I finally got a slow cooker. The first meal in the slow cooker today is coconut curry chicken with potatoes, peas, zuchini, and onion. This is my vigin crock pot experience. Yumm. I'm hungry but it takes 6 hours!!

you can totally netflix that eric

claudicici wrote:you can totally netflix that eric

You know it!

OK - couldn't find the thread where we were discussing Monster drinks and such, but Pax/Gonzo suggested Komucha - so I got one today at lunch.

I'm all for healthy stuff - I love tofu and always drink soy milk...but this stuff is like fermenting fruit juice mixed with battery acid!!!!LOL.

OK here's a good one: I finally found the perfect way to prepare my talapia filets... butter, fresh garlic and fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper, 20 minutes at 350 SO GOOD.

I had a craving today for cauliflower and brussel sprouts. I never crave that ever. When I crave something healthy I obey my body. I had both of those veggies tonight with my tasty talapia and it was so yummy. The kitchen doesn't smell too good though, lol.

Sashimi grade tuna steaks. Cover with a little olive oil. Press course ground black pepper and sea salt into both sides. Let it just touch the grill a bit on each side to sear. Serve rare. That is about as good as it gets.

Yum Scott: I'm fixing up my condo yard (and I can barely walk from lifting and placing stepping stones) so that I can have it as an extended patio and get a grill finally. I don't need a yard: just a big patio with a big grill to cook on all year long. I love grilled zuchinni and tuna.

Ziggy - You could pan sear it too.

Crepes for breakfast. 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup milk [or soy milk], two eggs, 1 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp almond extract. Whip it all up with a wisk. Poor onto a buttered hot pan or griddle. Flip. Roll up with some melted chocolate or jam in the middle. Dust with powdered sugar.

OMG you just made me crave a fresh chocolate croissant! I guess crepes reminded me of Paris which reminded me that the chocolate croissants in the morning on my way to the Metro were so fabulous. Gotta get back to Paris one day. It's the only place in Europe that I've ever been, but it's magical and the food is to die for. The French were quite nice too; I was surprised to only have one rude Frenchman experience.