What have you recently eaten?

Red kiwi. Tbh I was expecting it to be more red but it was pleasant. They are less tart than a green kiwi fruit.

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A pizza I made, loosely based on the Adam Ragusea skillet pizza. I made it normally, without any specific recipe but with a lot of yeast because I wanted it the same day. I also added slightly more sugar and salt than usual (in the dry ingredients) and mixed up the dry stuff and waited for the yeast to bloom visibly, then mixed it all up.

Then I added some more water because it seemed dry, and it ended up too wet. And I was out of flour. So I added in Wondra quick-mixing flour as a substitute just to make it possible to knead, and hand-kneaded for about five minutes.

I'm not sure if it was the Wondra or the kneading, but for the first time, I got a pizza dough that you could actually do that spinny thing with, although I mostly just dangled it and let gravity do the work. And it got thin and translucent without tearing. Sweet.

Then I added a bit under 1/16th of a teaspoon of ghost pepper powder to the sauce, which was pretty much just canned San Marzano tomatoes squished up by hand, with some random amount of EVOO, a smidge of tomato paste to thicken it up, a bunch of ground oregano, some frozen basil from last year, and a teaspoon or so of sugar.

I love this stuff:
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And it's consistent enough you can pretty much pick exactly how spicy you want something to be. And in the lower levels of heat, you can actually taste the mellow floral undertones the pepper is known for, which are actually more important than the ZOMG HOTTEST PEPPAR EVAR hype.

And ground up pepperoni, the kind that's about an inch in diameter, added to the sauce.

And chopped string cheese since that's the only way to get low-moisture whole milk mozzarella around here, wtf.

The results were pretty good imo. The crust maintained its thin state to the end while still being foldable. My previous crusts have ended up more bread-like. I don't mind that much, but I'd really rather have it thin. I finally got that, accidentally.

And the ghost pepper to sanity ratio also worked. I only broke a sweat at about the last slice. I think I'll ramp it up a bit next time.
 
Pollo en pepitorias
It's a medium difficulty recipe, simpler if you have a food processor or small blender, a mortar and pestle or even just a fork for mashing up stuff will do if you get almond flour. It's chicken in almond sauce with saffron. The flavor is subtle, rich, sweet, and it's a wonderful, versatile stew from pre-Colombian Spain. Moorish versions of the recipe use olive oil, some also use lard. Can add a cinnamon stick to the stock or cinnamon powder to the thickener to create a richer, and more exotic flavor.

You need:

4 chicken quarters, legs preferable
Peeled almonds/Almond flour (approx 2 oz of either)
2-3 eggs
Saffron
White wine
Chicken stock
Bread, baguettes or some other rustic bread (optional)
Saffron
Onion
Garlic
Parsley, fresh preferably
Other seasonings as you'd like
Oil

PREP:
Blanch the almonds. Peel them if they're not peeled. Blanching: put in hot, nearly boiling water for a couple minutes, arrest cooking by putting the stuff in ice water. Great for peeling shit.
Boil the eggs. Separate the whites from the yolks. Dice the whites.
Dice onion
Mince garlic
Chop bread for croutons
Chop parsley roughly

Brown the chicken. Remove
Brown garlic in the oil. Toast the bread if you have it in the oil. Reserve half of the croutons.
Add some more oil if you need. Sautee the onion.
Mash the crouton, garlic, egg yolk, almonds. If you don't have a food processor, use almond flour or almond powder. This is a thickener, so the goal is to incorporate the egg yolk and almond powder and croutons. A mortar and pestle is also useful.
The onion should be done. Add some stock and white wine, put those chicken quarters in.
Cook for about 10 minutes on each side.
Last 5 minutes, add your thickening paste in. Add in the saffron and some fresh parsley. Add the diced up egg whites and reserved croutons. The saffron will impart its aroma and color, the parsley its fantastic aroma, the egg whites an extra protein source.
Serve over remaining bread, stale bread is wonderful for this. Rice works. Potatoes work. You've got a stew going baby, do what you want.
 
Half a jar of peanut butter while watching the Office USA.
Basic bitch moment I see? Any wine and cat toys to go along with it? :P jk jk

I had a new "lobster" quesadilla that I'm certain the lobster was fake shellfish meat, but was quite decadent (Rubio's Coastal Grill is a fun place for decadent/degenerate Baja-Mexican/American dishes, like their shrimp and bacon burrito). No regrets tbh.
 
Went to a Publix for the first time and ended up spending a bunch of money. By far the best thing I snagged were Publix brand spicy Jamaican beef patties that were marked down. The patties themselves are nice and crumbly and the meat inside was standard but spiced nicely. I could eat these things 2-3 times a week easily. Also ended up buying a shit ton of supplements alongside a huge jug of aloe vero for my stomach (found in the pharmaceutical section).
Has anyone tried the Publix brand pop-tarts? Any good? They had a variety pack but I passed that up for some organic ones which was a huge mistake. I've found I enjoy off-brand pop-tarts (if they're good) much better than normal ones.
 
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Had reindeer fillet for the first time in a long while. Fantastically tender and flavorful. Served with generously peppered potatoes au gratin, a wine sauce, and some fairly poor roasted vegetables. 9/10 if not for the vegetables.
Try reindeer if you ever get the opportunity. Probably some of the best meat you can have.
 
Cheap Aldi shit for work lunch
Frozen microwave corn dogs
Dipping sauce made from nice Aldi beer mustard, Aldi Frank's red hot sauce, and fresh ground pepper
Nice, good for cheap work lunch
 
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Had reindeer fillet for the first time in a long while. Fantastically tender and flavorful. Served with generously peppered potatoes au gratin, a wine sauce, and some fairly poor roasted vegetables. 9/10 if not for the vegetables.
Try reindeer if you ever get the opportunity. Probably some of the best meat you can have.
I haven't had reindeer but venison in general is both one of the best and worst meats I've ever had. It really seems to depend on their diet. If they've been nibbling on bark and roots the meat is gamey and nearly inedible.

The best I've had, in terms of steak, sausages, ground venison, and others, is when I was doing computer work for farmers and they paid in barter. Legally they had a complete exemption from the normal hunting seasons so they could kill deer any time they liked if it was to protect their crops (corn in this case).

So they would let deer eat their corn and fatten up, then cull a few in fall.

The meat was incredibly lean and sweet.

There's also just something about eating food you literally can't buy because it isn't on the market.

If you ever get a chance, corn-fed deer is best deer.
 
I haven't had reindeer but venison in general is both one of the best and worst meats I've ever had. It really seems to depend on their diet. If they've been nibbling on bark and roots the meat is gamey and nearly inedible.
I've heard it can vary a lot depending on the age, sex and diet of the animal as well as what specific cut you're having. Not much of an expert on these things. I know that reindeer around here are left to forage on their own for much of the year but get some pellets and fodder mixed in, typically spread in the pastures I believe.
There's also just something about eating food you literally can't buy because it isn't on the market.
Yeah, it's great fun just trying such things when you have the opportunity. There are both hits and misses though - loved all the venison I've ever had, but smoked beaver isn't a culinary experience I'm itching to relive lol. Any recommendations for non-venison game meat that's good?
If you ever get a chance, corn-fed deer is best deer.
No corn around here, so unlikely that I'll get to unfortunately. Would try it and a whole lot of other game if it was only more accessible though.
 
A bit of a lazy meal, but I took a nap and woke up with a craving for pasta. So I went and cooked me some meat tortellini with a tomato sauce (premade, but pretty good with mushrooms and spices), added some fresh basil, smoked paprika, and some black garlic sauce (also premade), plus freshly grated parmesan. Came out amazing, I cooked the tortellini al dente and the seasonings balanced themselves, the garlic complimented the paprika well and the spicy taste was just a bit hot, hitting the spot just right!
 
I haven't had reindeer but venison in general is both one of the best and worst meats I've ever had. It really seems to depend on their diet. If they've been nibbling on bark and roots the meat is gamey and nearly inedible.

The best I've had, in terms of steak, sausages, ground venison, and others, is when I was doing computer work for farmers and they paid in barter. Legally they had a complete exemption from the normal hunting seasons so they could kill deer any time they liked if it was to protect their crops (corn in this case).

So they would let deer eat their corn and fatten up, then cull a few in fall.

The meat was incredibly lean and sweet.

There's also just something about eating food you literally can't buy because it isn't on the market.

If you ever get a chance, corn-fed deer is best deer.

If you get your venison ground and processed there is very little difference between it and ground beef when used for stuff like chili or tacos.
Tonight I hate oysters prepared by a questionable restaurant.
If I never post again I died.
 
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