What did I cook this weekend.....

[davidabcd]

So a few of us were discussing mayo/different mayos. I bought Kraft for the first time in forever and it's now my favorite. It's very white, almost unnaturally so.

 

[TwistedGray]

Squash flautas

 

[OleBrewing]

Lasaga tonight. Venison night before. Not a big pasta lover but lasagna is good.

 

[kaffeenjunkie]

Sous vide venison loin, soft polenta, roasted carrots, tomato coulis, and roasted Sarcomyxa serotina with garlic and rosemary.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Today’s brunch over easy egg on portobello cap with a slice of smoked Gouda with avocado and sourdough toast.

 

[Staestc]

Travis, this is the slicer we have now:

https://www.amazon.com/Protection-Removable-Stainless-Adjustable-Thickness/dp/B07TSDQB33?th=1
We had one of those little cheapie folding guys for a long time and it did an "OK" job but had a small slicing blade and could be cantankerous with some things.

Then we bought a big heavy-azzed thing from LEM which sliced well but it was hard to get into and out of the cupboard when we wanted to use it, was too big to leave on the counter, and was a major PITA to clean!

Then ensued much reading of reviews online and we finally decided to give this Ostba a go. For us, it's the "Goldilocks" of slicers. Not too heavy, but heavy enough to stay put; suction feet to keep it steady; pretty easy to clean; does a good job slicing even really thin slices! We do tend to freeze whatever we're gonna slice for about 30 minutes or so just to firm it up for clean cuts but even when I don't bother, it does a good job.

We tended to NOT use the big LEM one much because unless you were slicing up a LOT of meat, the juice just was not worth the squeeze to get the thing out and clean it up afterwards. We tend to get this one out fairly often even if we just want to slice up a pound of something.

It wouldn't work for everyone I'm sure but after having the bad and the ugly, the "good enough" works for us and it's not that expensive either!

Much appreciated. I had not looked at that one before now. It looks like a good compromise to me. I have a very old, very small, and very cheap one that my parents had and it is just crap. I did pretty well with my freshly sharpened slicer knife, but would really prefer the consistency of an electric slicer. May give this one a try. The idea and savings of roasting beast, slicing it all up, vac bagging it into portions, and freezing to always have sandwich meat on hand is very appealing given current food price trends.

 

[Staestc]

So a few of us were discussing mayo/different mayos. I bought Kraft for the first time in forever and it's now my favorite. It's very white, almost unnaturally so.

Pretty much a Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise household here. No idea why.

 

[Staestc]

Squash flautas
View attachment 751271

Cool, my sister in-law brought Mango Cart up from MS when we met th

Squash flautas
View attachment 751271

Cool. My sister in-law brought me some Mango Cart over Thanksgiving when we met them halfway between here and Gulfport MS in LA. I had to go check the can I have in the fridge to see if it was non-alcoholic! It was not. What kind of squash is in the flautas and how were they?

 

[davidabcd]

Pretty much a Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise household here. No idea why

Not exactly planned but I have three different ones in the house: Hellman's, Sir Kensington's and the Kraft.
Hellman's seems to be the overall favorite.

 

[Staestc]

So, a buddy from work mentioned that his wife always makes Sauerbraten for Christmas and now I have major German food cravings, including Spaetzle and Rotkohl sides. I'm such a food junkie. lol

 

[TwistedGray]

Cool. My sister in-law brought me some Mango Cart over Thanksgiving when we met them halfway between here and Gulfport MS in LA. I had to go check the can I have in the fridge to see if it was non-alcoholic! It was not. What kind of squash is in the flautas and how were they?

It was a winter squash that I grew (better in soup).

My wife made the flautas. They were okay; the texture wasn't there though (too soft). She was hoping that it would have a similar texture to the potato ones that her Mom makes. Lol, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[corkybstewart]

So a few of us were discussing mayo/different mayos. I bought Kraft for the first time in forever and it's now my favorite. It's very white, almost unnaturally so.

Kraft is the only one my wife allows in the house. Yesterday we were at a friend's house for lunch and they served a delicious pot roast. This being France they served 3 sauces with it-homemade mayo with garlic, vinaigrette, and an odd looking mustard stuff. I went with the mayo to be polite because why put "sauce "on pot roast, and it wasn't bad. My wife thought the vinaigrette was mushroom gravy and was quite surprised-when she got her seconds she skipped the sauce.

 

[davidabcd]

Kraft is the only one my wife allows in the house.

That's funny how that works. Right now, I'm only thinking "Kraft" but who knows for later? It had been so long since I bought Kraft, they'd changed the label. In any case, I killed a regular jar in an embarrassingly short amount of time.

My wife thought the vinaigrette was mushroom gravy and was quite surprised-when she got her seconds she skipped the sauce.

Speaking of vinaigrette, I just made the below (2X) but probably won't put it on a nice pot roast:

1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
Pinch of sugar
3/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

I went through the whole bottle in two days by eating spinach, ham or turkey, tomato and provolone salads. I way overuse (to normal people) salad dressing, mayo, ketchup, mustard, sour cream and butter.
I won't post recipes unless I think they're great. Fiddling with the sugar amount is something to consider.

 

[corkybstewart]

That's funny how that works. Right now, I'm only thinking "Kraft" but who knows for later? It had been so long since I bought Kraft, they'd changed the label. In any case, I killed a regular jar in an embarrassingly short amount of time.

Speaking of vinaigrette, I just made the below (2X) but probably won't put it on a nice pot roast:

1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
1 T Dijon mustard
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
Pinch of sugar
3/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced

I went through the whole bottle in two days by eating spinach, ham or turkey, tomato and provolone salads. I way overuse (to normal people) salad dressing, mayo, ketchup, mustard, sour cream and butter.
I won't post recipes unless I think they're great. Fiddling with the sugar amount is something to consider.

My wife uses the recipe her mother taught her, this is an approximation/.
4 parts oil to 1 part red wine vinegar,(she rarely makes more than a cup at a time, enough for one salad), a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Whisk the oil while slowly adding the vinegar, add mustard and salt and whisk like crazy. Sometimes she adds garlic, usually not, and sometimes she uses olive oil but she prefers regular vegetable oil which is soybean. Over here we use fresh farm pressed colza, it has a delicious walnut flavor. There's a farmer about 10 km from our house who grows colza and presses it, it's an amazing oil. It's a real shame Americans turn it into canola instead of keeping it as is.
BTW, I'm the opposite when it comes to sauces-all I want is a trace. Mayo is a lubricant, not a flavor |I enjoy, and I prefer to let the veggies add the flavor while the dressing enhances the veggies without overpowering Drives my wife nuts when I put a tablespoon oh her dressing on a big bowl of salad. Over here lunch and dinner end with salad, which is just lettuce. They put the vinaigrette in the salad bowl, add the lettuce leaves, and toss gently to coat the leaves and every wife makes her own vinaigrette from scratch daily

 

[davidabcd]

@corkybstewart
The ratios of oil : vinegar in the recipes are similar. I guess there are only so many ways to make an oil and vinegar dressing. Using really good ingredients would be important. That colza oil sounds really good. I'm not familiar with it. Maybe they sell it at a health food store? Having gotten used to olive oil, corn oil and the like don't taste as good now.
My wife uses condiments on the light side also (never mayo or sour cream). But I can eat restaurant mayo by the spoonful which grosses most people out.
Europeans eat a lot healthier than here. My wife and I do pretty good staying away from the center aisles at the grocery store. Our shelves and shelves of processed food don't do us any favors.

 

[TwistedGray]

Hovered around the grill last night (it's cold on the coast) cooking a tri-tip.

 

[corkybstewart]

@corkybstewart

Europeans eat a lot healthier than here. My wife and I do pretty good staying away from the center aisles at the grocery store. Our shelves and shelves of processed food don't do us any favors.

We're eating a lot more here than in New Mexico and it's not always healthy. Before meals we "aperitif " which means drinks and snacks. I try to stick with the peanuts or pistachios but often it's high fat/high salt chips. Then the entree which maybe sausage or rillette which is shredded meat in animal fat, lots of fat. Then the main course, salad and cheese plate followed by dessert. My wife thinks I'm antisocial for trying to limit these meals to 3 or 4 per week but I'm trying to stay alive. And every course has its own drinks. My aperitif preference is pastis or whisky, if I can pour my own and limit the intake because I know once we get to the wines I have no control. And at the last few of these meals one of us has brought a selection of local beers to taste post dessert. Fun but filling.

 

[Temptd2]

Ha, Travis, I've been thinking about rouladen! The weather is turning colder and comfort foods like that are suddenly very attractive. Today I'm gonna make a vat of keto chili. We won't eat it til tomorrow, it's always better the next day anyway. Then I freeze a lot of it in half cup portions so we can quickly make a meal of chili cheese dogs or chili size burgers!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Pork roast, honey butter squash, mashed, sautéed veggies.

 

[Temptd2]

Keto chili. I let it cool, then stuck it in the fridge overnight; we'll have it tonight with shredded cheddar, chopped onion, and a fried egg on top.

It's a blustery day which is promising snow later this evening. Good night for chili!

 

[corkybstewart]

We're cooking green chile cheeseburgers for a brother in law and his wife. I've already roasted the Moroccan piment vert which is nicely hot like a New Mexico green chile. I'm smoking some poitrine sale, basically salted sidemeat because in this part of France US style bacon is hard to find. But it's coming together, we'll have green chile bacon cheeseburgers and a good 2016 Chinon red wine in 2 hours

 

[Staestc]

Ha, Travis, I've been thinking about rouladen! The weather is turning colder and comfort foods like that are suddenly very attractive. Today I'm gonna make a vat of keto chili. We won't eat it til tomorrow, it's always better the next day anyway. Then I freeze a lot of it in half cup portions so we can quickly make a meal of chili cheese dogs or chili size burgers!

I've never cooked rouladen before, though I did do a not German roulade recipe once. I'll try that this winter too! And I already had stuff for chili on the grocery list!!!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

A small pot of turkey noodle soup.

 

[Staestc]

View attachment 751808
A small pot of turkey noodle soup.

That just looks delicious!

 

[Staestc]

Going in the oven.

 

[Staestc]

Out of the oven And oh so tasty Used Johnsonville Brats that come in the 6 packs precooked, though I poached them for a little bit in a skillet with a little water the fried briefly when the water was gone.

 

[davidabcd]

Out of the oven

pretzel buns? if so, do you do the whole lye thing?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

That just looks delicious!

Thank you, Travis. I made the stock the night before it wasn’t very gelatinous as when I have the full carcass, but it was very tasty. Tonight I’m heating up leftover beef stew.

 

[Staestc]

pretzel buns? if so, do you do the whole lye thing?

Yes, pretzel dogs. Made the dough. Made sodium carbonate from sodium bicarbonate by baking it and used that because I don’t have any food grade lye. One of those 6 dogs does not have egg wash, and I browned up really well, so NaCO works well!

 

[davidabcd]

sodium carbonate

I've read that that works well. I've got a good recipe but haven't tried it yet.