cooking thread...

[Spiel]

On 5/12/2025 at 9:36 AM, akaShag said:

I'm going trawling for scallops..........at the Metro!  Thanks!  😉

Doug

Well I hope you found some Doug, I went back for more on the weekend but sadly.....none were to be had. 

I should have bought every package they had, when they had them. Next time for sure!

Anyhow, I ate the last package last evening, done the same as last time but with the addition of half a Bell Pepper I needed to use up and a few big cloves of freshly minced Garlic. 

Oh so goooooood! 

 

[akaShag]

28 minutes ago, Spiel said:

Well I hope you found some Doug

Have not gone to look yet.  Crow Man also advises he gets them at another Kingston grocery store, but I don't get out that way very often.

Doug

[Spiel]

Turning food that's on it's last legs into 3 to 4 meals.....
I had half a head of Cabbage, a Red Bell Pepper, a few Celery stalks and two Tomatoes that were at the use it or lose stage so being cheap, I used them.
I started the pan with a little Bacon Fat then browned up a pound of Ground Venison and seasoned it with a little Liquid Smoke, Pepper and Worcestershire. 

When browned through I set it aside in a clean bowl and started with the Cabbage.
Once the Cabbage was semi cooked I added in the Bell Pepper, Celery and three large minced Garlic Cloves.
When they were semi done I tossed back in the Venison and the diced Tomatoes simmered for several minutes and then folded in some Al Dente Rotini.

Plated (rather sloppily) then grated a small piece of Old Cheddar that also was also at the use it or lose stage.

It was really good, I'm looking forward to another serving this evening (without the cheese). 

[smitty55]

Looks decent for sure. For me a can of Rotel would add the finishing touch to that but then you might not realize it's venison.

 

[Spiel]

8 hours ago, smitty55 said:

Looks decent for sure. For me a can of Rotel would add the finishing touch to that but then you might not realize it's venison.

 

Admittedly I had to look that up Smitty and now that I know what it is, I'm definitely going to start keeping some of that in the pantry. Thanks. 

[akaShag]

9 hours ago, smitty55 said:

Rotel

Rotel

https://www.rotel.com › en-ca

Rotel has over 50 years of electronic design, precision engineering and manufacturing expertise.

 

Hmmm, electronically designed cabbage........😮

[Spiel]

10 hours ago, smitty55 said:

Looks decent for sure. For me a can of Rotel would add the finishing touch to that but then you might not realize it's venison.

 

 

Oh looky, looky at what I found this morning while doing a little shopping. 

I'll get it right next time as I do have more Ground Venison in the freezer. 

 

[smitty55]

5 hours ago, Spiel said:

Admittedly I had to look that up Smitty and now that I know what it is, I'm definitely going to start keeping some of that in the pantry. Thanks. 

Yea they make a mild version as well which is what I use when making a tomato soup with my canned tomato sauce.

[CrowMan]

Fellow OFC member "akaShag" and I (plus another buddy and his son) spent last week fishing Rivers Inlet, BC. We returned home with boxes of fillets of Chinook Salmon, Halibut, LingCod, and Rockfish. Besides the world-class angling, we fished beside Humpback Whales, Orcas (Killer Whales) and a Grizzly Bear.

Tonight I grilled some Chinook and served it with Jasmine rice, Fiddleheads (frozen, which I harvested back in late April) and a white wine/butter/herb (from my garden) sauce. There is no comparison between wild Pacific Chinook and the farmed Atlantic Salmon in the supermarkets, or for that matter, Chinook from the Great Lakes. The meat is deep red, firm and incredibly flavourful...now the challenge is how many different ways to prepare it all...baked, smoked, Gravlax, Indian Candy...

[Spiel]

Used up the last of the GB Steel in freezer yesterday. Basted in Ghee, Lemon Juice and fresh Dill then Cedar Planked.

Served with a Pasta Salad and fresh steamed Green Beans. 

 

[akaShag]

Looks awesome!  Is that surimi in the pasta salad?

Doug

[Spiel]

2 hours ago, akaShag said:

Looks awesome!  Is that surimi in the pasta salad?

Doug

Faux Crab Leg Meat Doug, it works well is Pasta Salads without great expense.

[akaShag]

3 hours ago, Spiel said:

Faux Crab Leg Meat

Yes indeed, known to me as surimi, good stuff!  My favourite dish at the Mandarin Restaurant buffet is their surimi salad.  In fact I am overdue to buy some surimi!!!  It also makes a tasty sandwich with lots of mayo, fresh ground pepper and lettuce.  Now I am getting hungry............and tonight's shrimp alfredo isn't cutting it...😉

Doug

[Spiel]

11 hours ago, akaShag said:

Yes indeed, known to me as surimi, good stuff!  My favourite dish at the Mandarin Restaurant buffet is their surimi salad.  In fact I am overdue to buy some surimi!!!  It also makes a tasty sandwich with lots of mayo, fresh ground pepper and lettuce.  Now I am getting hungry............and tonight's shrimp alfredo isn't cutting it...😉

Doug

 

Well I did not know that Doug, I do now. 
I've been using it in pasta salads oh, 30 plus years for sure now. Good stuff.
Oh and I'm sure the shrimp alfredo was very good. 

[CrowMan]

On my trip to Rivers Inlet with Doug (aka Shag) and a couple of other buddies in June, besides fishing for Salmon and Halibut, we also spent a little time chasing "Rock Fish"...assorted species that live in the shallower tidal water. One my favourite eating fish of all time is Lingcod. Although we didn't get many "Bucketheads", we still managed to hook a couple of small ones.

I defrosted a couple of fillets yesterday and did them Cajun style using "K-Paul's Blackened Redfish Magic". Served with green beans and a new potato salad....all veggies from my garden...

Reaffirmed my belief about Lingcod...yum...one of the tastiest fish that swims..

 

 

Edited August 24 by CrowMan

[akaShag]

Good times!  I had a black rockfish fillet and two small copper rockfish fillets a couple nights ago, tasty enough but I prefer perch!

Doug

[CrowMan]

14 minutes ago, akaShag said:

Good times!  I had a black rockfish fillet and two small copper rockfish fillets a couple nights ago, tasty enough but I prefer perch!

Doug

I agree, the "regular" Rockfish we caught have been "OK"....and it's hard to compare anything with Yellow Perch...but the Lingcod and the Kelp Greenling are in a class of their own.

[CrowMan]

This spring, I added a Weber 36" FlatTop Griddle to my deck....don't know how I got by without one before.

Great for smash burgers or Philly CheeseSteaks, and I can fry 2 dozen eggs or pancakes at once (with room for bacon and home fries) to feed the whole crew. What I didn't know is how great it is for fish...seared Salmon or "blackened" Lingcod (and Walleye) as I posted above.

Best of all....clean up is effortless...just scrape it clean.

[akaShag]

3 hours ago, CrowMan said:

This spring, I added a Weber 36" FlatTop Griddle to my deck..

Good thing you have a big deck and lots of space!!!  I have to fight with a small table and two chairs just to get to my BBQ!  😮

Doug

[CrowMan]

47 minutes ago, akaShag said:

Good thing you have a big deck and lots of space!!!  

I've discovered that (like a lot of things) you can never have a big enough deck. When we re-built the deck this spring, we doubled the size. However, it's still too small. My wife and I both agreed we wanted a big table to feed the kids and grandkids, but she also wanted a lounge area. I personally would've preferred to move up some more of the "culinary equipment". After 41 years of marriage, I've learned the art of compromise...so I still have to go up and down a flight stairs to get to the patio and the Komodo Charcoal Grill, Traeger Smoker, and wood-fired pizza oven. Oh well....life is good  !

[CrowMan]

I still had some BC Chinook in the freezer from our June trip to Duncanby Lodge, so decided to smoke some up. This is my "Sweet & Spicy Salmon Candy" recipe.

 

Started with 16 hours in the fridge submerged in a dry brine of 4 cups brown sugar, 1 cup Kosher salt, 2 tbs garlic powder, 2 tbs onion powder and 2 tbs Chipotle pepper powder.

After a few hours, the dry brine turns into a syrupy liquid, as the moisture is pulled out of the fish.

Then a quick rinse and 24 hours on a wire rack in the fridge to dry and form a glossy pellicle.

Next 5 hours in the smoker at 130f, and then a final hour at 165f to reach an internal temp of 140f. Smoked with a mixture of alder and apple, basted the last hour with a mixture of maple syrup, 15 yr old Wiser's Rye, and a little Sriracha sauce.

Couldn't resist eating some still warm off the smoker, put aside a couple of pieces for a Thanksgiving appetizer (smoked salmon & cream cheese dip), and the rest vacuum packed to hopefully accompany some cold Pilseners for a long run by the Jays through to the World Series.

Go Jays Go !!

 

 

[akaShag]

Back to CrowMan:  my fillet from that same spring is the last one I have left.  I took out the two fillets from my biggest Duncanby spring, with the intention of canning one and smoking then canning the other.  Well...........one fillet did not fill my canner, so I ended up canning the most of both fillets and cooked the tail portions for supper a few nights back.  I had enough leftover cooked spring salmon to make salmon alfredo, and still have a small piece frozen for a future snack.  But none of it got smoked...........😢

Port Hardy August 2026 will hopefully bomb up the salmon, halibut and lingcod stocks in the freezers!

Doug

[Spiel]

Mmmm, Mmmmmm.......Wild Turkey marinated for 2 days in OJ, Hoisin Sauce and Garlic.
Dredged in flour then  pan fried in Tallow, then set aside while I sauteed up some Yellow Bell Pepper and Onion.
Made a sauce with the left over marinade and added some Capers, then served it over Jasmine Rice.
So YUM!

Enough left over for tomorrow's dinner too. 

[akaShag]

Looks delicious!  I think the marinade you used is a good idea; I have done them in thin strips and into a teriyaki marinade overnight, then BBQed.  But yours look better!

My favourite new recipe for wild turkey breasts is to do them as schnitzels.  Cut them lengthwise into about 4 pieces, pound them flat, dredge in seasoned flour, then egg wash, then panko crumbs and pan-fry.  This was SUPPOSED to be one of our deer camp meals last week, but we basically got behind in our menu and never cooked that meal.  More for me when I do cook it!

Doug

[Spiel]

15 hours ago, akaShag said:

Looks delicious!  I think the marinade you used is a good idea; I have done them in thin strips and into a teriyaki marinade overnight, then BBQed.  But yours look better!

My favourite new recipe for wild turkey breasts is to do them as schnitzels.  Cut them lengthwise into about 4 pieces, pound them flat, dredge in seasoned flour, then egg wash, then panko crumbs and pan-fry.  This was SUPPOSED to be one of our deer camp meals last week, but we basically got behind in our menu and never cooked that meal.  More for me when I do cook it!

Doug

 

I had planned on a flour, egg wash and Panko coating Doug, then drop them into the Tallow filled deep fryer but as I was prepping them I realized I had no Panko in the house.  Since the Rice was already cooked I just dredged them in seasoned flour and pan fried them.

My buddy gave me several breasts so I will have opportunity to do a Schintzel version and hopefully a pounded flat and rolled stuffed version, bacon wrapped and smoked version such as this one I did a few years back.