What did I cook this weekend.....

[Melana]

No pictures from yesterday. I made 16 jars of Vermont blueberry jam from berries my family picked in August. One more task done - bring on gift giving season!

 

[Homercidal]

My refrigerator pickles I made Sat morning are just ok. Tastes like the cuke and onion vinegar stuff my grandma made.

She just made a vinegar and water bath and soaked cukes and onions in it in the fridge. This was similar, but stronger.

I think what I need to do is look into fermented pickles.

 

[passedpawn]

My refrigerator pickles I made Sat morning are just ok. Tastes like the cuke and onion vinegar stuff my grandma made.

She just made a vinegar and water bath and soaked cukes and onions in it in the fridge. This was similar, but stronger.

I think what I need to do is look into fermented pickles.

Use more garlic than you think you will need. They make the pickle. I've made a bunch.

 

[dan6310]

Back to a basic dish.
Spaghetti and venison meatballs with a side salad and some of my spent grain bread.


Dan6310

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Sorry to gloss over the main and talk about the salad, but are those garden tomatoes?

 

[dan6310]

Sorry to gloss over the main and talk about the salad, but are those garden tomatoes?

Unfortunately they are not
All that's left in my garden is kale and Swiss chard
The spaghetti sauce was made from garden tomatoes.


Dan6310

 

[mattmmille]

Packaged up the rest of my homemade kraut for the refrigerator. I had a few ounces of the brine left, so I plan to spike it with vodka for a nightcap later.

 

[passedpawn]

Packaged up the rest of my homemade kraut for the refrigerator. I had a few ounces of the brine left, so I plan to spike it with vodka for a nightcap later.

How long did you ferment that kraut for? I ask, because the green shreds in mine turned white after fermentation. I had no green left at all.

 

[mattmmille]

Six weeks...I cut mine by hand and it 's pretty coarse.

 

[Homercidal]

Use more garlic than you think you will need. They make the pickle. I've made a bunch.

Yes, I doubled the recommended. My wife tried one and said she really liked the garlic in it. I am not sensitive to garlic, so I can't really tell the difference.

I thought they came out way too strong. It almost chokes you on the vinegar. The jar that was diluted was a bit too weak.

I think I am going to ferment some next time, and maybe try some IPA pickles or just add a few hops to the jar when I fill it.

Problem is I have 3 pint jars with pickles that are pretty strong. I poured some of the brine out of the first jar and replaced with water. I hope it tones it down a bit.

Now I have a pork roast that needs cooking...

 

[Melana]

Did you just use vinegar or a vinegar based brine?

 

[Homercidal]

I used 1/2 apple cider vinegar and 1/2 white vinegar, salt, garlic, dill, mustard seed.

Simmered on stove to combine flavors then cooled a bit an poured into jars with pickles.

 

[Melana]

wow that's a lot of vinegar....

 

[mattmmille]

Yeah...I recently needed to replace some pickle brine for pickling hard boiled eggs in a quart jar. I think it was 1-1/2 cups water to 1/2 cup vinegar and a tablespoon of salt, plus herbs/ spices, brought to a boil and allowed to cool off.

How about a bagel and schmear wit a couple of perfectly over medium eggs?

 

[mcbaumannerb]

Had some leftover sirloin roast from Sunday so I cut it into strips, sautéed some onions, made up a rouxe a d combined it with beef stock to simmer. Added the sour cream at the end and had a very filling beef stroganoff for dinner. I love leftovers!

 

[Temptd2]

We cured then smoked a whole boneless pork loin roast and made buckboard bacon. The stuff is awesome delicious!

That's 5 pounds of sliced finished product. It's now portioned into 8 oz. ziplocs which were then placed in a Foodsaver bag, vacuum-sealed, and into the freezer.

 

[bob1852]

We cured then smoked a whole boneless pork loin roast and made buckboard bacon. The stuff is awesome delicious!

That's 5 pounds of sliced finished product. It's now portioned into 8 oz. ziplocs which were then placed in a Foodsaver bag, vacuum-sealed, and into the freezer.

I made ~4 full loins of that a couple years ago. Vacuum-sealed and in the freezer, it lasts for a LONG time.

Just about out of it now, and hoping loins go on sale again for what I paid a couple years ago, but I don't think that's happening.

Isn't this technically Canadian bacon though? I though buckboard bacon was made with shoulder, not loin....

Regardless, good and easy and much better (and cheaper!) than store bought!

 

[Melana]

I made ~4 full loins of that a couple years ago. Vacuum-sealed and in the freezer, it lasts for a LONG time.

Just about out of it now, and hoping loins go on sale again for what I paid a couple years ago, but I don't think that's happening.

Isn't this technically Canadian bacon though? I though buckboard bacon was made with shoulder, not loin....

Regardless, good and easy and much better (and cheaper!) than store bought!

If it's made in America it can't be Canadian Bacon... (i kid... )

 

[bob1852]

If it's made in America it can't be Canadian Bacon... (i kid... )

'Murcian Bacon!

 

[johngaltsmotor]

I've got a #5 Porkstrami loin to be smoked this Saturday (along with almost #40 of sausage to grind, stuff and smoke). It should be a delicious weekend.

 

[Melana]

'Murcian Bacon!

Mur-ican Bacon?

 

[mcbaumannerb]

Or perhaps, Mmmm'acon?

 

[Melana]

I'm a-kin for some bacon. Some yummy yummy Mmmmmmmmmm'acon.

 

[Homercidal]

wow that's a lot of vinegar....

Yeah, that's what I thought when I read the recipe, but I've never done pickles, so I just went with it. Hopefully it will be less intense with a rinse, like sauerkraut.

 

[Melana]

Basic Pickling Recipe (These are the proportions, make it larger or smaller as needed!)
4 lbs any vegetables (harder ones work better - isn't that the truth!)
2 3/4 C vinegar (preferably apple cider, but rice, white or red wine are fine too!)
3 C water
1/4 C sea salt (make sure it's not iodized, because that makes the pickle juice cloudy!)

 

[mattmmille]

Basic Pickling Recipe (These are the proportions, make it larger or smaller as needed!)
4 lbs any vegetables (harder ones work better - isn't that the truth!)
2 3/4 C vinegar (preferably apple cider, but rice, white or red wine are fine too!)
3 C water
1/4 C sea salt (make sure it's not iodized, because that makes the pickle juice cloudy!)

Of course you can use pickling salt or Kosher salt, too. (But consider your recipe and the volume of what you use...sea salt, flaked salt, Kosher salt and pickling salt all have different grain sizes and a teaspoon of each would all equal different amounts of salt in a solution.)

I think the ratio of vinegar to water seems a little high, but I guess it depends on the vinegar's acidity. You could use less white or cider vinegar than you would rice vinegar. Not sure about wine or malt vinegars acidity...probably in between. I think I would do a little research before I used them interchangeably.

 

[passedpawn]

Are you guys using Pickle Crisp / Calcium Chloride?

 

[JohnSand]

Not pickling, even myself, I hope.
But I'm making Moroccan Beef Stew with Olives and Raisins, out of Draft Magazine (last month?) Uses 12oz of beer, calls for Dark Lager, I'm using homebrewed Irish Red. And a dutch oven instead of a slow cooker. But it smells and tastes very good.

 

[mattmmille]

Are you guys using Pickle Crisp / Calcium Chloride?

i think I used the Pickle Crisp in a batch...as I recall, it was good, but I'm not sure how much impact it had.

Having a nice medium-rare T-Bone with my hb robust porter (needs a little more carb, but pairing well).

 

[mattmmille]

So, I was just thinking about my Scottish Pumpkin Ale and Thanksgiving...and I normally make Scottish Shortbrtead fot the holidays. Oh man, I think Scottish Pumpkin Ale and Scottish Shortbread are going to kick ASS as a pairing! I can't wait to make a batch now!!!( I was thinking about how I could brew a shortbread beer, but that butter beer thing is kind of frowned upon, so I'll just eat them with the Scottish Ale.)
The photo isn't mine...can't believe I didn't have one from last year on this computer...but this picture looks pretty much like what mine look like.