What are you eating?

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A bit of an unusual breakfast for me; I justified it as I was up awfully early this morning.  A bacon, lettuce, tomato and cheddar cheese sandwich with a touch of mayo on multi-grain bread.  Yum!  I also justified this treat as I was cooking some bacon to go into a soup that I'll make later (chicken stock is already made).  I'm going to try a recipe for a chicken and corn chowder (bacon is my idea).  Have some leftover roast chicken and some fresh and local corn.  As the temps are not currently really hot, figured that I would go ahead and make it. 

PD

[KevinP]

Mother-in-law made 냉면 because of the heat.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Mother-in-law made 냉면 because of the heat.

I haven't heard of that dish before now, but it sounds good!  Looking at Wiki, it sounds like it can have various proteins in it.  What did your MIL put in it?  And is this entry accurate?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naengmyeon

PD

[KevinP]

She just put in some basic chopped vegetables like green onions. This is an instant food like ramyeon, but cold.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

She just put in some basic chopped vegetables like green onions. This is an instant food like ramyeon, but cold.

So, something like this that she then added some vegetables to?  https://www.amazon.com/Choung-Soo-Naengmyeon-Korean-Noodle/dp/B0734DL7N2/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=naengmyeon+noodles&qid=1690977063&sr=8-4

That sounds like a nice meal to have on a hot day.

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Just finished making and eating some corn pudding.  First time trying this recipe...tastes great, but very decadent.  It includes a cup of whipping cream!  Will have to share some with a friend as is quite rich, but oh so good.  Used some local corn...yum! 

PD

[DavidW]

I cooked a Mexican ground beef casserole earlier this week.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I cooked a Mexican ground beef casserole earlier this week.

Not certain what that is.  Describe please (and link to recipe).  And how did you like the taste of it?

PD

[DavidW]

Not certain what that is.  Describe please (and link to recipe).  And how did you like the taste of it?

PD

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/281018/mexican-ground-beef-casserole/

I used Rotel with habanero instead of jalapeno.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Made a tasty salad for lunch: part of a small head of some sort of green butter(?) leaf lettuce (sort of looks like frisée but larger leaves and not quite as bitter), sliced hard-boiled egg, bits of torn up bacon (had cooked some recently), some large cherry tomatoes cut up a bit, and most of a freshly cooked ear of corn (sliced off the cob--and I, of course, ate the rest of it just plain), some red wine vinegar, olive oil and black pepper with a touch of salt added (bacon's salty).  Tossed it all together.

Pleased with how it came out.  If I wasn't so hungry when I went to make it, a nice vinaigrette with some shallot or a mustard salad dressing would have worked well too I think.

PD

[BWV 1080]

Made a batch of roasted habanero salsa to go with cochinita pibil (Mayan bbq pork).  Stuff is like liquid death, one tiny drop of the stuff is almost too much to take

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Made a batch of roasted habanero salsa to go with cochinita pibil (Mayan bbq pork).  Stuff is like liquid death, one tiny drop of the stuff is almost too much to take

Hadn't heard of this dish before but doing a little googling, it sounds relatively easy but also tasty.     A few questions for you:  1) What cut of pork did you use, 2) Did you use banana leaves, and 3) How did you cook the pork (oven, slow cooker, or?)?

PD

[DavidW]

I plan on a shrimp and broccoli stir fry for dinner.  I'll also throw in some left over carrots and celery.

[BWV 1080]

Hadn't heard of this dish before but doing a little googling, it sounds relatively easy but also tasty.     A few questions for you:  1) What cut of pork did you use, 2) Did you use banana leaves, and 3) How did you cook the pork (oven, slow cooker, or?)?

PD

Used shoulder, butt would also work.  I cooked the pork for 3 hrs in my smoker on apple and oak, then another 6 hours in my oven at 250.  The banana leaves are to wrap the meat in an open pit bbq - they hold moisture in and keep too much smoke from getting on the meat (it's standard practice in American BBQ in long cooks to wrap meats in foil after 3-4 hours for the same reason).  I did the banana leaves on a lark as the market where I got the achiote happened to have them. 

[Pohjolas Daughter]

@San Antone Was your recipe something along this line?  I see that it doesn't mention fennel though.  I do love fennel bulbs.  https://www.gustiamo.com/gustiblog/sicilian-pasta-with-anchovies-and-toasted-breadcrumbs/

Did your mother keep replanting the fennel each year using the seeds from the original plant?  Or did she have a special gardening trick to keep it alive; my plants want to bolt if I don't harvest them quickly enough.

PD

[San Antone]

@San Antone Was your recipe something along this line?  I see that it doesn't mention fennel though.  I do love fennel bulbs.  https://www.gustiamo.com/gustiblog/sicilian-pasta-with-anchovies-and-toasted-breadcrumbs/

Did your mother keep replanting the fennel each year using the seeds from the original plant?  Or did she have a special gardening trick to keep it alive; my plants want to bolt if I don't harvest them quickly enough.

PD

That recipe is close, but we didn't use raisins although my sister said that she knows that some people do.  Also since pine nuts are hard to find where I live, and expensive, I used walnuts (which has a very similar effect). The anchovies and bread crumbs are the key ingredients.

She would let some of the seeds just fall and come back the next year.  The original seeds came from Sicily, and over the years we tried to get some from her and plant them for ourselves, but none of us have ever been able to get the plants to prosper. My mother passed away in 2002, so I have to use fennel powder.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

That recipe is close, but we didn't use raisins although my sister said that she knows that some people do.  Also since pine nuts are hard to find where I live, and expensive, I used walnuts (which has a very similar effect). The anchovies and bread crumbs are the key ingredients.

She would let some of the seeds just fall and come back the next year.  The original seeds came from Sicily, and over the years we tried to get some from her and plant them for ourselves, but none of us have ever been able to get the plants to prosper. My mother passed away in 2002, so I have to use fennel powder.

I'm sorry to hear that your mother has passed away.

Pine nuts aren't the cheapest of nuts...I know.    But they are so worth it.  One tip:  I'll often freeze nuts to extend their shelf life (Oils go rancid).

Re:  fennel.  So sorry to hear that you weren't able to keep that variety alive.  Note:  there are a number of varieties of fennel on the market, so I suspect that you can find one that will suit your climate.  Are you much of a gardener?  Or if you don't want to deal with growing it, can you buy it fresh locally?

PD

[BWV 1080]

That recipe is close, but we didn't use raisins although my sister said that she knows that some people do.  Also since pine nuts are hard to find where I live, and expensive, I used walnuts (which has a very similar effect). The anchovies and bread crumbs are the key ingredients.

She would let some of the seeds just fall and come back the next year.  The original seeds came from Sicily, and over the years we tried to get some from her and plant them for ourselves, but none of us have ever been able to get the plants to prosper. My mother passed away in 2002, so I have to use fennel powder.

Amazon is your friend for ingredients like this, can buy 4 pounds at $1.13 / oz

[San Antone]

Amazon is your friend for ingredients like this, can buy 4 pounds at $1.13 / oz

Yeah, I ordered some from Amazon after I made this first batch - as well as some authentic Sicilian tomato paste, "Strattu" - and some nice looking Sicilian anchovies.  My next pot will rock.      (If only my sister could be here ...)

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yeah, I ordered some from Amazon after I made this first batch - as well as some authentic Sicilian tomato paste, "Strattu" - and some nice looking Sicilian anchovies.  My next pot will rock.      (If only my sister could be here ...)

Yeah, I ordered some from Amazon after I made this first batch - as well as some authentic Sicilian tomato paste, "Strattu" - and some nice looking Sicilian anchovies.  My next pot will rock.      (If only my sister could be here ...)

Sounds nice! 

Out of curiousity, I checked with a local Trader Joe's.  I asked about raw pine nuts and was told that they have them and that they are currently $9.99 for 8 oz.  So, that works out to be $20/lb.  I don't know how good a quality they are, but that beats the price that I paid for the ones from my coop!

PD