What are you eating?

[jlaurson]

damn, that sounds delicious too.  how is the pork cured?  what is it sured with?  What flavors?  do you cure it, or does the butcher do it and it is readily available?

Pork ribs, cured (brined, actually; just nitrite curing salt, nothing else) & lightly smoked. That's when it's called "Kassler"... which I thought is what Sarge had.
If you skip smoking and broil it, instead, I think it's called "Rippchen"... which is what he might have had.
If you smoke it and air-dry it, you just end up with ham... but then you might want to have used more than just NCS in the brining process.

[SonicMan46]

Last night we ate out - for me the fish special for the night:

Blackened Trout, Rice Pilaf, & Asparagus along w/ a few glasses of a Pinot Gris from Santa Barbara County (southern coastal CA).

Tonight, a dungeness crab each - good deal @ Costco yesterday - will steam & just have a nice salad (of course, some white wine!) - Dave

[toledobass]

Gonna make a mushroom ragout or maybe brussel sprouts with chestnuts tonight.  Prolly some polenta to go with either.

[SonicMan46]

Well, last night I was the 'indoor' cook  - SO, a couple of Dungeness Crabs - steamed them for about 10 minutes (they are pre-cooked) & made some simple salads; also, was our last night to light the Menorah (we're a couple of days behind having gone out to eat a few times) - wine for the night, a Sauvignon Blanc from Washington State (Horse Heaven Vyds) - Susan likes melted butter & for me cocktail sauce w/ horseradish - pic below @ the start of the meal - delicious! Dave

[Mirror Image]

Had some homemade Brunswick stew and now for dessert having some white chocolate chip cookies made with orange and pecans with some hot tea.

[toledobass]

I started a batch of egg nog a little while ago,  my first ever I've made.  It's been sitting in the fridge doing it's thing and last night hit the 3 week mark, the safe point where all of the bacteria should have been killed off by the alcohol.  Fittingly, it was also the first snow we've seen so I poured us a glass full after dinner.  Grated a little cinnamon on top and boy what a decadent treat home made nog is....a whole different ball game than the overly sweet goofy stuff found in the grocery. 

Anyone else make their own nog? 

A

[Bogey]

I started a batch of egg nog a little while ago,  my first ever I've made.  It's been sitting in the fridge doing it's thing and last night hit the 3 week mark, the safe point where all of the bacteria should have been killed off by the alcohol.  Fittingly, it was also the first snow we've seen so I poured us a glass full after dinner.  Grated a little cinnamon on top and boy what a decadent treat home made nog is....a whole different ball game than the overly sweet goofy stuff found in the grocery. 

Anyone else make their own nog? 

A

Nope, but would have loved a mug of yours.

[SonicMan46]

I started a batch of egg nog a little while ago,  my first ever I've made.  It's been sitting in the fridge doing it's thing and last night hit the 3 week mark, the safe point where all of the bacteria should have been killed off by the alcohol.  Fittingly, it was also the first snow we've seen so I poured us a glass full after dinner.  Grated a little cinnamon on top and boy what a decadent treat home made nog is....a whole different ball game than the overly sweet goofy stuff found in the grocery. 

Anyone else make their own nog?

Hi Allan - think that I tried 'egg nog' as a kid but must have been the phony non-alcoholic type - SO, never had the real thing! 

For us, Susan decided to make her famous 'Jewish' Matzo Ball Chicken Soup - auctions this off yearly at our Unitarian Fellowship (a lot of former Jews there - ) - trick is to make the matzo balls from scratch and from her experience takes a number of attempts to get them the right size so each is fluffy, tender, and soaked perfectly w/ the broth - delicious!  Dave

[toledobass]

It IS delicious Dave!

I have some turkey broth leftover from Thanksgiving that is in the freezer and one of the things I thought to do with it is make Matzo ball soup.  Hmmmmm, maybe tonight. 

A

[Sergeant Rock]

We've had spaghetti vongole several times recently. Well, not really because Mrs. Rock substitutes mussels for clams and tagliatelle for spaghetti. So we actually had tagliatelle conchiglia? (Italian speakers, help me out here  ) Anyway, the preparation and ingredients are similar to the famous Venetian dish. When I took the photo, we drank a Chianti with it but white wine is preferable. Last night we had a locally produced Grauburgunder (pinot grigio in Italian). Left click to enlarge image.




Sarge

[Mirror Image]

For us, Susan decided to make her famous 'Jewish' Matzo Ball Chicken Soup - auctions this off yearly at our Unitarian Fellowship (a lot of former Jews there - ) - trick is to make the matzo balls from scratch and from her experience takes a number of attempts to get them the right size so each is fluffy, tender, and soaked perfectly w/ the broth - delicious!  Dave

Looks delicious, Dave. You're a lucky man!

[Sergeant Rock]

Well, last night I was the 'indoor' cook  - SO, a couple of Dungeness Crabs

I've never had whole crabs. How does one proceed? The claws and legs I get, of course, but is there anything edible under the shell? How do you get to the meat?

Sarge

[SonicMan46]

I've never had whole crabs. How does one proceed? The claws and legs I get, of course, but is there anything edible under the shell? How do you get to the meat?

Hi Sarge - that mussel dish looks quite grand!  Shellfish is probably our favorite food - 

Each of these crustaceans seems to be different - I find whole blue crabs take the most work since there is some good meat inside the shell, but not so for a dungeness crab, i.e. nothing much inside the body to eat, SO just tear off the legs/claws and use a lobster cracker & a two-prong shell fork - have a good supply of paper napkins and a disposable bib like the one below is recommended (think I ordered 500 of these from the web a number of years ago and still have plenty left!).  Dave 

[PaulR]

Roasted pork tenderloin and Sweet and sour cucumbers and Indian Spiced Sweet Mashed Potatoes

[SonicMan46]

Roasted pork tenderloin and Sweet and sour cucumbers and Indian Spiced Sweet Mashed Potatoes

Hi Paul - sounds delicious (I'd love to try those mash potatoes) - pork tenderloin is a favorite of ours - wife marinades the loin overnight in a plastic bag w/ the product below (made by a local winery just west of us - a 45 minute drive) - we like the meat just pink (like the pic borrowed from the web) - the combo of the overnight tenderization and oven roasting until just medium makes for a mouth-watering delight - no one who has eaten a dried up pork chop would ever know that this was pig meat!     Dave

 

[PaulR]

Hi Paul - sounds delicious (I'd love to try those mash potatoes) - pork tenderloin is a favorite of ours - wife marinades the loin overnight in a plastic bag w/ the product below (made by a local winery just west of us - a 45 minute drive) - we like the meat just pink (like the pic borrowed from the web) - the combo of the overnight tenderization and oven roasting until just medium makes for a mouth-watering delight - no one who has eaten a dried up pork chop would ever know that this was pig meat!     Dave

 

That looks great.  I am still.....a bit afraid of having pink pork, even though it is considered safe now.  Mine was still moist, it was extremely good.  There was no marinade, just spreading out of a mixture of soy sauce, tomato paste and garlic.  I can get you (both) recipe's, it's from one of the South Beach Cookbooks.

Anyways, I had thai vegetable stew tonight.

[Mirror Image]

Tonight was taco night! Messy, but delicious.

[Brian]

In fifteen minutes, my home-cured, slow-roasted five pounds of pork belly will be ready to fry up and serve as homemade bacon!!

[Bogey]

Pork as well.  Pulled that has been roasting and brewing in a chipolte adobo sauce for 6 hours.

[Mirror Image]

In fifteen minutes, my home-cured, slow-roasted five pounds of pork belly will be ready to fry up and serve as homemade bacon!!

The ultimate BLT awaits you.