cooking thread...

[smitty55]

Fiddleheads and leeks soon to be nature's bounty! The asparagus should be soon popping up, that is always enjoyable.

Saw a few pickable fiddleheads today but for the most part they hadn't quite started yet, even beside my house. It's close though. More importantly I had my first leek today. Still real small but oh so good.

 

Cheers

[Parnelly]

I made my first pot pie the other day as well. Pretty basic ingredients but in the future I'll be learning how to make my own pastry.

Built 3"s thick in a 4 liter corning wear casserole dish.

Very tasty......

 

 

 

 

 

Going back through this thread I notice this pot pie and discussion of topping it. We use bisquick as a topping for our pot pies. Works well, and is quite tasty also.

 

Spinach or just plain cheese pie's in phyllo pastry is great.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Parnelly

[Spiel]

Nothing overly special or difficult about last nights meal with the exception of some fresh picked Fiddleheads.

Lightly sauteed in garlic butter with some diced onion and topped with freshly grated Pecorino Romano.

On the side BBQ Hot Italian Sausage, Pork and Beans and buttered toast.

I must admit, it was good.

 

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Forgive my ignorance but what is the definition of " ethical " food? I'm thinking the way the food was harvested maybe. To me dead is dead, but please enlighten me. Thanks.

[manitoubass2]

I would assume shes talking about the way the animal was raised.

[manitoubass2]

With that wild meat is always going to be the best.

 

Most of us know hunting and eating a wild turkey is soooo much better then a "butterball" turkey.

[manitoubass2]

Nothing overly special or difficult about last nights meal with the exception of some fresh picked Fiddleheads.

Lightly sauteed in garlic butter with some diced onion and topped with freshly grated Pecorino Romano.

On the side BBQ Hot Italian Sausage, Pork and Beans and buttered toast.

I must admit, it was good.

 

 

That looks great spiel!

 

Sometimes the simpler meals are just as good or better then more intricate plates

[mr blizzard]

Speil that looks delicious, wish you could send some fiddle heads up here, miss having those in the spring, they are a tasty treat

[Big Cliff]

Forgive my ignorance but what is the definition of " ethical " food? I'm thinking the way the food was harvested maybe. To me dead is dead, but please enlighten me. Thanks.

The way an animal is treated in life and the way it is dispatched. If you ever worked on any kind of farm where the goal was to produce as much meat as you could in the shortest amount of time and then slaughter it with little or no reguard for the animal you'd understand UNehtical very quickly.

 

Chickens and pigs are two of the worst treated; shocked, beaten, draged, kicked, limbs and ribs broken and in some cases dumped into vats of boiling water while they are still alive.

 

I usually only deal with a local slaughter house, I know their standards and the people on a first name basis. I also know the farms where most of their meat comes from and I prefer to deal with local farmers when ever I can. Sometimes it costs me a little more per pound than I could have bought it from one of the big chain stores. I am willing to pay that for the knowledge that it came from farms where the animal was treated with respect and made to suffer as little as possible prior and during the slaughtering process.

 

I follow the same practice when fishing or hunting, fish for the table are dispatched as quickly as reasonable game is never allowed to suffer un necessarly.

[Old Ironmaker]

Thanks Big guy, that's what I thought. I grew up in the inner city and the first live Pig and Cow I saw was when I was 21. I have been told by hunters if an animal suffers badly when killed the meat is effected because of a sudden secretion of adrenalin etc. A friend worked at a large meat producer in Burlington years back and said he wasn't able to stomach meat for a long time now that I recall and still won't eat a Hot Dog to this day. He worked there for 2 days and called it quits.

[bigugli]

Forgive my ignorance but what is the definition of " ethical " food? I'm thinking the way the food was harvested maybe. To me dead is dead, but please enlighten me. Thanks.

 

It means the way it was raised, fed, grazed, harvested. Ethically raised livestock, like organic produce, have a lot of gray areas in the definitions and rules. and certification is nothing more than a $4000 rubber stamp on a piece of paper.

[manitoubass2]

Buy a box of chicken breast at walmart, cook it. See what you think.

 

Then go to a small scale local farmer and try their chicken.

 

Huge difference.

 

The best meat however, IMO is totally wild

Edited May 5, 2015 by manitoubass2

[LostAnotherOne]

Mediterranean Penne. Added a little too much basil. Lesson learned

[manitoubass2]

That looks gooood!

[LostAnotherOne]

Thanks man. Two years ago I couldn't even make a bowl of cereal lol.

[Big Cliff]

It's easy to learn how to cook, marry a woman that can't

 

My first wife treated me like a god, burnt offerings every night

[manitoubass2]

Thanks man. Two years ago I couldn't even make a bowl of cereal lol.

????

 

Cant go wrong with pasta and tomotoes...

[SirCranksalot]

Buy a box of chicken breast at walmart, cook it. See what you think.

 

Then go to a small scale local farmer and try their chicken.

 

Huge difference.

 

 

 

We have bought 'free range' and antibiotic free chicken from a farmer up the road. Expensive, yes, but no comparison at all with a BlahBlahs chicken.

[mr blizzard]

That pasta looks pretty darn good

Years ago my brother who lives just outside Bobcaygeon used to raise is own chickens that were grain fed, and like Rick and Big Cliff mentioned what a difference in flavour. It was like the difference between a store bought plastic like tomato as opposed to eating one fresh from the garden lol

[manitoubass2]

That pasta looks pretty darn good

Years ago my brother who lives just outside Bobcaygeon used to raise is own chickens that were grain fed, and like Rick and Big Cliff mentioned what a difference in flavour. It was like the difference between a store bought plastic like tomato as opposed to eating one fresh from the garden lol

I like that comparison!

 

Mmmm fresh tomatoes, one of my favorites. Fresh out the garden with a lil salt and pepper?

[Big Cliff]

Just picked up a nice little (about 4 lb) brisket to try my hand at making Montreal Smoked meat and a slab of pork belly, both are now in the fridge curing, the pork belly for a week and the brisket for about 2 weeks. Ths is going to be a LONG two weeks LOL.

[Spiel]

this is an awesome thread!

 

grouse/chicken teriyaki noodles

 

 

 

Those two dished look awesome Bud. *I says while salivating!*

 

 

 

Going back through this thread I notice this pot pie and discussion of topping it. We use bisquick as a topping for our pot pies. Works well, and is quite tasty also.

 

Spinach or just plain cheese pie's in phyllo pastry is great.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely be trying it next time.

 

That looks great spiel!

 

Sometimes the simpler meals are just as good or better then more intricate plates

 

You know it!

 

Speil that looks delicious, wish you could send some fiddle heads up here, miss having those in the spring, they are a tasty treat

 

They were, but they were a gift and I'm not sure they'd ship wll.

 

Mediterranean Penne. Added a little too much basil. Lesson learned

 

I'm a sucker for pasta and that looks way tasty.

 

Just picked up a nice little (about 4 lb) brisket to try my hand at making Montreal Smoked meat and a slab of pork belly, both are now in the fridge curing, the pork belly for a week and the brisket for about 2 weeks. Ths is going to be a LONG two weeks LOL.

 

Just dropped over 5 bills at the butcher shop this morning. A full side of brisket, a side of pork belly and a large pork butt and 10lbs of beef back ribs will soon be seeing the inside of my new smoker. Let me know how it goes for you Cliff. Advice always appreciated.

[Big Cliff]

 

Those two dished look awesome Bud. *I says while salivating!*

 

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely be trying it next time.

 

 

You know it!

 

 

They were, but they were a gift and I'm not sure they'd ship wll.

 

 

I'm a sucker for pasta and that looks way tasty.

 

 

Just dropped over 5 bills at the butcher shop this morning. A full side of brisket, a side of pork belly and a large pork butt and 10lbs of beef back ribs will soon be seeing the inside of my new smoker. Let me know how it goes for you Cliff. Advice always appreciated.

Will do, this is an learn as you go type of thing for me. This will be my third attempt at bacon, first one was a little salty for Sue's liking (it was perfect for me ) Second one could have been smoked longer, I used maple that time but cherry the first time. This time I went to make my brine only to find out Sue had used the last of the brown sugar so a little molasses and white sugar went into the brine to replace the brown sugar. I'll let you know how that goes

 

The recipe for the Montreal Smoked meat was one I found on line but I had to modify it slightly because it was for about 12 lbs of briskit and measurements were in lbs. Mine is only about 3.5 lbs. I am also trying to stay away from using any of the commercial cures because of the nitrates.

 

Let me know how yours turns out!

[JoshS]

Buy a box of chicken breast at walmart, cook it. See what you think.

 

Then go to a small scale local farmer and try their chicken.

 

Huge difference.

 

The best meat however, IMO is totally wild

 

I hear that. I can't stand the chicken these days at box stores. It barely tastes like chicken. For those that care, there are some really good documentaries out there on this stuff. I know netflix has a few insightful ones.

 

Great thread though! Some tasty looking dishes. I'm a fan of that cowboy cut rib steak a few posts back!

[akaShag]

Back to Big Cliff, I will be interested to hear how the molasses works out for your (side?) bacon. I am thinking that will be a pretty powerful taste, and you might want to rinse twice instead of once after the curing...................and my vote for side bacon goes to maple wood chips for the smoker, for sure.

 

Somebody on this thread was using mesquite for something (I forget what), but I have found mesquite way too strong for just about anything I tried to smoke with it. I think you would get away with mesquite on real meaty beef ribs, but I have not tried that.

 

Doug