What are you eating?

[SonicMan46]

Tonight on the grill & our renovated porch - Game Hens - spatchcocked and marinaded in Moroccan blend of spices, parsley, & cilantro for 5-6 hrs - served w/ a simple baked Zucchini w/ an Italian cheese from Costco, i.e. Parmigiano-Reggiano - really as good as I had in several trips to Italy - wines for the night, a St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc for me (a long favorite) and a NC wine for Susan - music was some jazz (Miles Davis & Buddy DeFranco) - added a hickory smoker box to the gas grill, so a combination of some great marinade flavors w/ some smoke!  Dave

[jlaurson]

I baked my first two cakes, ever... (cooking being my thing, not baking), and despite my pathological need to experiment (with basil seeds, millet, green tea powder [matcha], and turmeric), the cheese cakes both turned out very well.



Wanted to buy some sardines, like I had last week (when I was too sloppy with the frying, and made a bit of a mess out of them)...


...but then I saw they had tripe of lamb. Never had tripe of LAMB... so I switched and got me some.


They could have told me it wasn't entirely pre-cooked (I should have been able to tell from the smell, admittedly)... so when I had a bit (fortunately just a few pieces) two nights ago, I was in for a mighty surprise. Try again today.

[Sergeant Rock]

...but then I saw they had tripe of lamb. Never had tripe of LAMB...

You're a braver man than I am, Gunga Jens.

Sarge

[mc ukrneal]

I baked my first two cakes, ever... (cooking being my thing, not baking), and despite my pathological need to experiment (with basil seeds, millet, green tea powder [matcha], and turmeric), the cheese cakes both turned out very well.

As someone who has learned how to cook, but is more comfortable baking, I can say that experimenting with baking is not usually recommended. Every now and then I catch one of these cooking competition shows, and I always shake my head when the chef starts talking about how they have never baked/made such and such dessert before because of the 'creative' changes they made 10 minutes before they put it in the oven. Inevitably, the dessert is a failure, because desserts are all about chemical reactions. It's not like a sauce that you can keep tweaking until you are satisfied. You probably know all this, but I am always amazed at how many people try to change dessert recipes (like they would savory dishes) and are surprised when it doesn't work out.

[jlaurson]

As someone who has learned how to cook, but is more comfortable baking, I can say that experimenting with baking is not usually recommended. Every now and then I catch one of these cooking competition shows, and I always shake my head when the chef starts talking about how they have never baked/made such and such dessert before because of the 'creative' changes they made 10 minutes before they put it in the oven. Inevitably, the dessert is a failure, because desserts are all about chemical reactions. It's not like a sauce that you can keep tweaking until you are satisfied. You probably know all this, but I am always amazed at how many people try to change dessert recipes (like they would savory dishes) and are surprised when it doesn't work out.

That's precisely the reason I don't bake. Baking is Science, Cooking is Art. That's also why I was amazed that the cake withstood my foolhardy attempts of that sort.

Fortunately a cheese-cake really actually isn't rocket science... and the reactions that take place are: Mix. Bake.

It deflates like a after I turn off the heat, but that's perhaps hard to avoid and doesn't affect the quality of the cake greatly. Given it's relative light structure from the "Schichtkaese", a special type of Quark that's a touch coarser than normal quark, it's not too dense even in deflated mode.

[North Star]

Quark

No wonder baking is related to science.

[Sergeant Rock]

No wonder baking is related to science.

Sarge

[Brian]

Friend came over today, we went grocery-shopping together, and we made gnocchi from scratch for the first time in either of our lives. The results were parade-worthy. Pictures tomorrow!

[jlaurson]

Friend came over today, we went grocery-shopping together, and we made gnocchi from scratch for the first time in either of our lives. The results were parade-worthy. Pictures tomorrow!

Wow. Did you roll them over a fork with your thumb, all proper? I

I remember the first (and hitherto only) time I made Gnocchi... unfortunately as dinner for friends, at their place. Let's just suffice it to say that we didn't eat Gnocchi that night.

[Brian]

Wow. Did you roll them over a fork with your thumb, all proper? I

I remember the first (and hitherto only) time I made Gnocchi... unfortunately as dinner for friends, at their place. Let's just suffice it to say that we didn't eat Gnocchi that night.

Yes! I don't know if my friend used her thumb, but there was fork-rolling-over for sure. The gnocchi may have been rather on the big side (at least an inch long) but scrumptious, and served with a cream sauce of melted gouda and sage. And crumbles of the very last of my hand-cured, home-made bacon.

Photos shortly (I hope).

[kaergaard]

One inch long gnocchi? Aren't they supposed to be at least three inches long? The ones I make are about the size of my Griessknockerl, made from scratch of course.

[jlaurson]

One inch long gnocchi? Aren't they supposed to be at least three inches long? The ones I make are about the size of my Griessknockerl, made from scratch of course.

There's not gains to be found in bragging about gnocchi-size. If the circumference is right...

But seriously, folks, an inch sounds about right, if not already on the long side. Grießnockerl (although I had a few juicy images thinking of Griessknockerl, too: "Those Griessknockerls on the gal that brought the Griessnockerln sure had bounce, what do you say, Hans?") are a different kettle of nockerl, entirely.

[Sergeant Rock]

Tonight we had Schweinebelkchen. Mrs. Rock said they were pig's cheeks but I can't confirm that online. The word does not exist in cyberspace or Google    Probably regional dialect for Schweinebäckchen. The meat was tender and delicious although hard to see in the midst of all that mushroom sauce:




We drank a Barbera D'Asti:






Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

There's not gains to be found in bragging about gnocchi-size. If the circumference is right...

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

The gnocchi may have been rather on the big side (at least an inch long).

But seriously, folks, an inch sounds about right, if not already on the long side.

I think so too. The last gnocchi I had were about that length (maybe a tad longer but, admittedly, not made in an Italian restaurant):




Sarge

[jlaurson]

Bought a whole cow tongue on a whim. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it.

But I'm having faint ideas about slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow broiling it.

[North Star]

Bought a whole cow tongue on a whim. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it.

But I'm having faint ideas about slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow broiling it.

Smoke it!

[jlaurson]

Smoke it!

Heard good things about that... but haven't a smoker and not the least bit of experience, doing it. 

[North Star]

Heard good things about that... but haven't a smoker and not the least bit of experience, doing it. 

Get one of these!

[jlaurson]

Get one of these!

Do you own stock?