Food and Drink

Snack Pack, I'm the coolest!

Perhaps a new thread that focuses on cooking and recipes would be nice. Here's what I cooked tonite. I haven't perfected the recipe, but a stew in my new Dutch oven: ... and for tomorrow night, a chicken marinade that's hanging out in the fridge:

We have every other form of cooking thread, so why not baking? I'll start with today's lunch, leftover from last night's dinner ... Clearly nobody is going to hire me for my crimping (or photography) skills. But they were delicious nevertheless. The crust is a rough puff pastry made with 1/2 whole rye flour. The filling is yellow potatoes, peas, green onions, and chevre.

Since I blame Head-Case for getting me started on the BBQ Path, I thought I'd start a thread for Grillin and Chillin folks. I've mastered steaks, so I've ventured into pork. (other than bacon) Just finished a nice low and slow set of Baby Back Ribs. Apple wood chunks for smoke, indirect on my Big Steel Keg. Cooked them at 225 F for 8 hours, with 300 F for 1 hour at the end for the final sauce glaze for that nice candy coating. Fall of the bone, indeed. The third rack is missing from the photo because it's been eaten. I use an Auber Instruments temperature controller so I can be extremely lazy about "setting and forgetting". And with a nine hour cook,…

Post your favorite Scotch(es). Laphroaig 18, Quarter Cask Talisker 18 Ardbeg Ten, Oogie Springbank 12 Cask I like peat. Original post:

This is my personal apocalypse. I don't drink booze, I don't smoke or vape. Weed makes me paranoid and miserable (edibles make me trip balls in addition to being paranoid and miserable.) I sure as fuck don't mess with any powder or pill drugs. While I am a believer and advocate of the use of natural psychedelics for purposes of therapy and personal growth, I'd never do them recreationally. Tapatio is my one drug. Long term listeners may recall when I told the tale of driving to a Walmart Black Citadel Super Center in W.Mass to buy them out of Tapatio. I've done that two other time, but not photographed it. I did the math once and I went through ten…

In a quest to stop drinking soft-drinks I think I'm going to give coffee a try. Any suggestions on a mild coffee for a first-time coffee drinker?

For those who simply can't get enough bacon, especially when catching up on correspondence, there is now a solution. J & D's - Everything Should Taste Like Bacon: Products

The beloved Mattnog recipe and the various iterations made over the years are sprinkled around in various parts of HC. This year, I thought we should establish a thread to keep it handy, and to remind people to make their batches early. Matt made his at the end of August when he first posted it. I made mine today and I think that is plenty of lead time even though six weeks is the bare minimum I would suggest. Mattnog Recipe by Matt NightWoundsTime Dunlop: In a one gallon container or two half gallons, such as glass milk bottles. 14 egg yolks 1 cup cane sugar 6 cups whole milk 1 cup heavy cream 1 750ml bottle of Rebel Yell bourbon (or …

No, not as a garnish...you know how vodka is fermented potatoes, and wine is fermented grapes, and beer is fermented...uh...barley? I think beer is a family of fermented things, there's rice beer, and barley beer, and wheat beer, and so on...and tequila is fermented agave -- so is there one that's fermented olives? I had a really good olive last night, and I imagine it would be good, but perhaps there's something about it which prevents it from happening (quantity?).

So this is pretty much an open invitation for suggestions, as well as a vehicle to talk about my recent drinking binge. I tend to like porters and stouts, and surprisingly (because I don't drink coffee) java porters. I should also mention that I would prefer one of those larger corked bottles, so I can pour off a smaller portion for myself. Usually takes me over a week to finish one of them. I've been drinking a lot lately. Not a lot as in a lot, but as in a lot for me. I'll mention some recent favorites and some recent "meh": Bashah -- this one didn't really hit me upside the head as anything special, but for some reason, I kept coming back to it (maybe it was…

I would like to get a new pepper mill for Christmas, a good one, since all three of mine all suck. Any suggestions? Things I want: Lasts forever Can change grind from coarse to fine Holds a lot of pepper Easy to refill (the peppercorns always fall all over the floor when I fill mine since the opening is too small) Not "made in China" (you know what I mean) I don't like the ones with little handles on top (would prefer a standard turn the top type) Will not stop working with large peppercorns

I posted about purchasing a new carbon steel pan recently. I thought that member's choice of cookware might be a interesting thread. For my self I have and use a set of non-stick cookware that I like. However most people missuse non-stick cookware. It's not made for high temp cooking, and will offgas at higher temperatures. That's not good for your health or for the pans non-stick characteristics. I also have a stainless set of Cookware that I love. That cookware, as many others require a certain method of cooking. Pre-heating is a must, but it's quite easy to learn and quite good once you do. Mine is a 5 ply clad set with a copper core as well as aluminum core…

Happy kimchi day! Yes, really.

I'm looking to replace my PTFE (i.e. Teflon) non-stick fry/sautee pan and my abused (by houseguests) fry/sautee pans with an inexpensive set on non-sticks. My requirements are: Non-PFTE non-stick OK to put in oven and broiler (up to 450 degrees or so) Less that $100 for 2. I'm willing to go over $100 if you can convince me. Here are some examples of what I'm looking at: All-Clad B3 2 Piece Fry set Calphalon Contemporary Non-Stick 10" and 12" Omelette Pans Calphalon Unison Non-Stick 10" and 12" Omelette Pans I've found all of these at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I like shopping there as I have a -20% coupon. I'm not tied to BBB. I'm leaning to t…

I posted about purchasing a new carbon steel pan recently. I thought that member's choice of cookware might be a interesting thread. For my self I have and use a set of non-stick cookware that I like. However most people missuse non-stick cookware. It's not made for high temp cooking, and will offgas at higher temperatures. That's not good for your health or for the pans non-stick characteristics. I also have a stainless set of Cookware that I love. That cookware, as many others require a a certain method of cooking. Pre-heating is a must, but it's quite easy to learn and quite good once you do. Mine is a 5 ply clad set with a copper core as well as aluminum co…

I’m going to abuse my powers as admin and sell some coffee: I have 40 lbs of coffee available to purchase. It’s a medium roast rwandan coffee that I taste blueberries in. It’s the first coffee I thought was worth selling under my brand. From the bean wholesaler: Rwanda Natural - Huye Mountain Sweet, black grape, blueberry, boysenberry, chocolate Huye Mountain Coffee is a private washing station established in 2011 to provide farmers in the region with access to international markets and buyers of specialty coffees. Around 1,330 producers deliver their freshly picked coffee cherries to 26 collecting stations around the Huyecommunity,…

Anybody interested in sharing local beans, secret Santa style? I would love to share the amazing beans that are roasted here in Cincinnati.

Making a batch for some friends tonight so thought I might document it here. I made a batch for one of the MoAs where it was well received. Depending on your ice/water adding strategy it makes ~5.5 quarts. Scale accordingly. The finished result is a deliciously complex florally sweet punch that isn't too cloying where I personally cannot pick out any of the individual ingredients they just integrate to something magical. It's based on this recipe: https://jeffreymorgenthaler.com/vacuum-seal-oleo-saccharum/ With a few ingredient substitutions I've adopted by way of my cocktail guru friend Dave who intro'd me to this. I've appended the substitutions to the r…

So I have a Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso Breadmaker on it's way to me. (Damn UPS and their unexplained delays, won't get it until Tuesday, May 27 now) Really want to get into making real Sourdough, including making / maintaining a Starter culture. Should I go for it and make a wild yeast sourdough starter from scratch with just flour and water, or get a starter elsewhere as a seed? Was thinking of this one, I can appreciate the irony of this guy's name. http://www.sourdo.com/cultures/original-san-francisco/ Anyone else into making their own bread, the hands on way and the higher tech lazy way like I'm going to do?

I've been doing a lot of reading today, so figured I'd start a thread to discuss homebrew

Dinny's daily Smoothie pics to which I have subscribed has gotten me interested in putting the Vitamix back to use. I know there are many Smoothie people here so I thought a thread to share interesting recipes might be nice. I have done most of the basic things but I am looking for ways to incorporate more healthy things into my smoothies. I will start with one that I think is a bit of a failure, mostly because I do not like the flavor of chocolate Muscle Milk. 2 small containers of Muscle Milk Light Chocolate 8 Peach Slices 12 Strawberries 2 Tablespoons of Peter Pan Peanut Butter Ice While far better than straight Muscle Milk, it was still not a grea…

Friends and Mentors, I recently moved overseas to Moldova, a country where 70% of the population is economically dependent in some way on the wine industry. The wines themselves are not very well known internationally, but their primacy in their own country means that wine is consumed at virtually every meal and imported wine is essentially nonexistent. Domestic wine is both a huge business and a central part of culture here. One perk of my housing here is a 1000-bottle subterranean wine cellar, which currently sits empty. I am not well-versed in wine, but considering all the above and an average price of $6 a bottle on the local economy now seems like the p…

Reporting for duty. Picking up on milkpowder's recent thread (http://www.head-case.org/drink/got_wasted-t2796.0.html). Saw a bunch of good friends last night. A great time. Went out to dinner, then on to a nice bar for a nightcap(s). There was wine, champagne. The martini to start the night was probably a bad idea. I'm a lightweight these days, so there is much pain this morning. And my 19 month old--while precious--does not understand "daddy has a headache." Let the rehydration begin...