what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

I don't know if there are nutritive or even taste reasons for blanching, but I never do it because it's an extra step for what I think is just an aesthetic thing (it makes the spinach look brighter green).

started off making a basic ragu today and fancied some heat so threw some chilli flakes and green/red chillies in there. Added some bacon because why not. Added some lentils for that nice texture. Added some capers and olives then some fresh basil/parsley. It was haphazard make it up as you go along cooking that was sort of like puttanesca but I didn't have anchovies, but it worked out beautifully.

Restaurants blanch to help expedite servuce ime
Xpost

hi dere I now have 91 lbs of pig parts in the chest freezer

I thawed out a pound of the bacon but it's a lot to sort through. anyone have thoughts on how long I can just leave it in butcher paper vs bagging it all in freezer/storage bags?

so much ham

Is any of it smoked? Bag it in a hurry if so or everything in your freezer may be smoked soon.

thank you - the hock is def smoked

My father raised a hog for butchering around '79-80, whoever smoked it OVERsmoked it, plus zipper seal bags and vacuum sealers didn't exist back then iirc, and we wound up tossing a huge amt of food.

Actually I think Ziploc bags were around but my parents didn't bother, which was a bad choice.

If it's wrapped in plastic under the butcher paper, you're good to chuck it straight in the freezer.

it is!

I bagged some of the unique ones, the back rib/tenderloin/bacon end stuff

helloooo big bags of fat and bones

https://peaktoplate.com/pork-lard/

Oh heck yeah. I render mine in a low oven instead of using the stove - less chance of burning/scorching imo. I also make ghee that way.

yeah I'm gonna use the crockpot!

t/s chest vs upright freezers

chest for me

it's basically convenience (upright) vs efficiency (chest), I went w/the latter

Hmmm yeah I've heard uprights will essentially 'dump' cold air when you open them but the convenience seems pretty great

chest freezers try to increase their convenience by adding various racks and 'baskets', but efficiency is their whole reason for existing. when you calculate the decrease in electrical consumption over the life of the unit it becomes a very good reason.

i got a chest freezer last fall, no regrets. i just get anxious about tracking whatever is in it but that's what spreadsheets are for.

ha I had not considered that re: the pig above, but I should!

Due to limited square footage, I went with an upright freezer. Thanks to spreadsheet contents tracking, it gets opened once every week or two and I move the packages for the next set of meals to the fridge freezer. It holds 1/2 a pig and over 1/8th of a cow, 6 chickens and an assortment of Costco sausage packages.

Does queso cotija taste bitter to anyone else? I kind of ruined a chili I made yesterday by grating a block into it, I probably need to sweeten it to make it more palatable.

for me, cotija is sweet and umami similar to parmesan. like parmesan, I try to stay away from any strangely soft versions.

I only buy the Nuestro Queso version at TJs

This is barely cooking, but sourdough toast with lots of butter and salt and pickled watermelon radish is such a satisfying breakfast.

Spring makes me want to eat all the radishes

if any of y'all have been thinking about rendering your own tallow i can recommend that you don't

had a lamb leg in the freezer from '22, trimmed the fat before roasting it, mentioned all the gnarly leftover fat to mr. cat who got excited because one of his ayurvedic physicians recommended him lamb fat once, for to help him sleep. can't be too hard to melt out the tallow, i figured, and it'd be a shame to waste any more of the poor critter than necessary. so i looked up some how-tos and yeah, turns out it's a simple thing to chop up the fat and toss it in the slow cooker w/ some water for a spell but ho.lee.sheeeeeep. does the process ever stank. nevar again, ugh ack barf puke

he really likes the tallow tho so maybe we can find some cute cuddly hippie shepherds nearby who raise their lambs with all the ethical whatnots before they ice them, mebbe buy some lamb tallow already made like proper consumers

I've always found lamb fat has a funk that beef and pork don't.

you bet your bippy there's funk, that's why i trimmed it off the meat (then used olive oil & ghee in its basicasfuck garlic/rosemary/lemon zest rub)

Nice!

My parents live in rural PA and have tons of ramps on their property every Spring. I made ramp pesto with ramps I dug out 10 days ago - still great.

oooooo rampy pesto sounds ridiculous delish!

we ain't there yet but if squirrel ever starts popping up in our diet i might try my hand at squirrel lard.

https://i0.wp.com/practicalselfreliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/rendered-squirrel-fat-for-cookies.jpeg

i'll have to give the brains a miss though on account of those pesky prions

is ramps wild garlic? if so I made some pesto with it the other week, it was really good! We have tons of woodland nearby where it just grows like a sea of it.
Love lamb fat, it does the best roast potatoes.

"ramp pesto" should be in tony hawk pro skater

Ramps are wild baby leeks, I believe, though I see the wiki says that wild garlic is another name. I always thought that was a separate plant. They look like mini leeks to me.

ah yeah it's wild garlic, I just picked the leaves, but the stems look good too!

They bring me a lot of joy - digging something wild out of the ground and eating it.

My market had shad roe, so I made shad roe breakfast for dinner: roasted potatoes, shad roe dredged in flour and sautéed in butter, brown butter caper sauce with lemon, with a fried egg on top.

I need some advice:

I’m making this cauliflower pasta dish tonight but I have to swap out the anchovies for something vegetarian. I have red miso but I’m not sure when’s the best time to add it - for anchovies, I’d add it to oil and garlic and fry till melted. Should I add the miso the same way or am I better off dissolving it in the reserved pasta water I’ll be adding to make the sauce?

dissolve in pasta water imo

if not vegan you can also add parmesan rind to the sauce and pull it out later for more umami type notes

I think you could fry the miso briefly just as you would for the anchovies, though it won't take as long. 30 secs at most.

But sleeve's way is fine, too.

frying it does sound good actually!

quick update for y'all, don't keep your lamb tallow in a jar identical to the one you use for ghee + lamb tallow on toast tastes baaaaaaad

any interest i had in tallow has been removed thx to this thread lol

(not really, i was not interested in tallow)