The Thread About Food for Eating Returns (Again)

[The Knife's Husbando]

Had a fucking excellent day in the kitchen.

Been busy as a one-legged man at an ass kicking contest. Went a little nuts. I had all this going on at once.

I made today:

1. A two gallon batch of from-scratch red beans n' rice.
2. Rendered out five pounds of pig loin back fat into lard & cracklings. For my Duck Confit & cornbread.
3. Started a two gallon crock-pot batch of old-school French pork stock: Mirepoix, fresh garlic & celery tops, roasted center-cut pork neckbones, two split pig's feet for the collagen & gelatin, two whole smoked pork knuckles, and some center-cut bone in shank ham. It'll be done in eighteen hours. It smells AMAZING.
4. A batch of first brown sugar brined, then smoked, then grilled chicken livers. They're currently braising with baby carrots, garlic, sweet butter, onions and sea salt in the oven. Also smells amazing.

As soon as the lard cools down, i'm going to freeze it until I can make some homemade sea-salt butter. I'm going to Confit (braise in fat) the duck leg quarters I've got ordered at work in a 50/50 mix of the two, with some (lots) sliced shiitake mushrooms, roasted garlic, and orange zest. The Shiitake mushrooms should sponge up all that goodness nicely, especially the rendered-out duck fat from the Confit process. I'd bet they'd be great just by themselves on some good crusty french bread.

That actually reminds me. I've got two whole chickens in brine ATM. The next time I'm at the ABC store, I need to pick up some good bourbon. I've got an idea for a bourbon/palm sugar/chili glaze for roasted chicken.

 

[Witlich]

Homemade soup and garlic bread was on the menu today with my family. Nothing tastes so good when it's cold out, in my humble opinion.

 

[GRANDnumberofMULTIPLES]

Homemade soup and garlic bread was on the menu today with my family. Nothing tastes so good when it's cold out, in my humble opinion.

Mm, garlic bread. How do you make yours? I dice garlic and mix it with a little mayo and spread it on the bread. Whole shebang goes under the broiler with a little asiago/parmesan on top.

That's how my mom made it since I was a kid.

 

[Witlich]

Mm, garlic bread. How do you make yours? I dice garlic and mix it with a little mayo and spread it on the bread. Whole shebang goes under the broiler with a little asiago/parmesan on top.

That's how my mom made it since I was a kid.

Now that's some fancy garlic bread! Most of the time my mother and I just melt some butter, mix in powerdered garlic or bits of garlic, paint on the butter, and then throw it into the oven. Simple, but addictive to eat.

 

[c-no]

I got a gift card for Panera Bread due to winning a raffle from college a few days ago. I may as well try something from Panera Bread after I finish classes today.

 

[GRANDnumberofMULTIPLES]

Because I've never been keen on big eating in the early AM (beyond like, a pop tart or fruit or a granola bar) and I've been getting super starvy at around 9-10 I started making green and fruit smoothies. I keep my ratio of greens to fruit as 2:1 for the most part plus a cup of liquid to start. I've done spinach, apple, and ginger for something more substantial and if I'm heading to the gym I go a little lighter. Today's was half an avocado, a banana, some frozen blueberries, and some chocolate protein powder.

This kind of stuff fills me up more so I'm not dreaming about hot goddamn lime cheetos at like 10 in the morning when I should be working.

 

[Hi I Am From Page 6]

Highlights of my day:
Low joule berry and vanilla jelly.
Chocolate protein balls that are proof that there is a God and he loves us.
The Coke I had with my dinner, because I was dying of thirst.​

 

[Ravenor]

This morning my Breakfast was Wild Bore bacon, on a home made Granary loaf spiced with a little paprika and a goose egg, and tonights dinner is Pheasant Parmesan on the way home today I stopped by a old collage friend of mine who gifted me a beautiful brace of Pheasants that where shot the other day.

 

[AnimuGinger]

I got a gift card for Panera Bread due to winning a raffle from college a few days ago. I may as well try something from Panera Bread after I finish classes today.

You like mac and cheese? Mac and cheese.

 

[c-no]

You like mac and cheese? Mac and cheese.

Unfortunately, the card isn't going to cover it. I had the asiago steak and the day before, some sort of sandwich that was like a philly. While the philly was good save for the sort of harddish bread, the asiago was disappointing. Thought it would be a warm sandwich like the former but it was cold. Maybe in the future when I have the money for it, I'd try the mac and cheese from there.

What I had for today: turkey like any other person celebrating Thanksgiving along with other traditional stuff such as stuffing and mashed potatoes. Also had some lumpia to go with it (the only thing I'm sure one would never find at a regular Thanksgiving meal).

 

[AnOminous]

Highlights of my day:
Low joule berry and vanilla jelly.
Chocolate protein balls that are proof that there is a God and he loves us.
The Coke I had with my dinner, because I was dying of thirst.​

Persimmon pudding.

 

[Evilboshe]

I didn't have any meals to go to today, and I don't eat turkey anyway. Instead, I went out to some nearby restaurants. Ended up with a lot of seafood and rice. Lunch was at a Vietnamese place I'd never tried; I had a rice plate with fried fish and shrimp. For dinner I'd planned to go to my favorite banh mi place, but they had closed early. It turned out my usual Korean spot a few blocks away was open, so I went there instead. I tried seafood dol-sot bibimbap (rice, vegetables, seafood, egg, and spicy sauce in a sizzling stone pot) and cinnamon punch. Best Thanksgiving food ever. I just wish I had someone to share it with.

 

[Unironic Subversiveness]

This year for Thanksgiving my mom actually ordered two birds to minimize cooking time, turkey from Bojangles (which was good!) and duck from a local Thai place. And for sides we had rather standard mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce and cranberry fluff (which is a sweet salad with cranberry, pineapple and marshmallow fluff). And pumpkin pie, of course. My mom is an excellent cook so I can't complain, being away makes me miss homecooked meals like crazy.

This was my first time having duck and I liked it okay, just very greasy (and I'm not a fan of most meats) with lots of bone and skin.

 

[Mrs Paul]

My dad found this cheese -- white cheddar with bacon bits. It is the BEST fucking cheese I have ever tasted in my life. Of course, he only managed to see it there once.

 

[Philosophy Zombie]

oh oh I keep forgetting to reply to this thread and show Kiwi Farms that I cook food sometimes.

honey-glazed pork loin from Friday that fucking looks terrible photographed from this angle. It looks better in person I swear.

I mixed honey, olive oil, thyme, chicken broth and orange juice together to coat the pork. I got the recipe from the magical internet repository known as Food.com.

In case someone thinks that this doesn't look safe to eat, I measured the internal temperature with a food thermometer and it was 145 degrees, which the USDA considers safe. If you cook until there's no more pink inside, the meat will be much drier and it'll taste like shoe leather.

 

[wet_butt]

I was given a set of oil dipping bowls recently, so I decided to break them in by baking some focaccia. Shit's good.

 

[Hat]

I have a question that hopefully one of you foodies can answer. On the rare occasion that I actually have time in the morning I like to cook myself some breakfast sausages. Nothing fancy, just the sort you buy at the grocery store—though they aren't the microwaveable sort that that comes in the cardboard boxes and you actually have to cook them. I have been using a non-stick pan over the stove-top to cook them, and that's what my question is about. I have heard conflicting things about whether or not these sorts of pans are safe to use, and to be frank, if I was scraping Teflon into my sausages, I probably wouldn't even notice.

I suppose the gist of my question is this: Will I die if I make breakfast sausage with a non-stick pan?

 

[The Knife's Husbando]

I have a question that hopefully one of you foodies can answer. On the rare occasion that I actually have time in the morning I like to cook myself some breakfast sausages. Nothing fancy, just the sort you buy at the grocery store—though they aren't the microwaveable sort that that comes in the cardboard boxes and you actually have to cook them. I have been using a non-stick pan over the stove-top to cook them, and that's what my question is about. I have heard conflicting things about whether or not these sorts of pans are safe to use, and to be frank, if I was scraping Teflon into my sausages, I probably wouldn't even notice.

I suppose the gist of my question is this: Will I die if I make breakfast sausage with a non-stick pan?

Not at all. In fact, cast-iron is optimal. People have been using it for centuries for a reason, and IMO, a well-seasoned cast iron skillet beats Teflon any day. It heats more evenly, you can use steel implements in one with no risk to the pan, and the fond left in the bottom from cooking meats can be emulsified with a liquid to make sauces- I.E- sawmill gravy. I have a 12" early-1900's Wagnerware cast-iron skillet that's an absolute gem. You can literally season them until the inside looks like a piece of obsidian. If you don't want to go and spend $40 on a new "Lodge Logic" skillet, you can find cast-iron cookware at most flea markets. My skillet I just mentioned cost me all of $5 at a yard sale. Seasoning instructions are all over the internet.

Polytetrafluoroethylene - aka- "Teflon" is inert at temperatures up to around 600 deg. F. , then it starts to break down. You should never use a Teflon coated pan under a broiler or on a grill for that reason, and be careful with them on a gas stove. As you already know, Teflon is sensitive to mechanical abrasion, but unless you are just digging in the pan with a knife, you're not going to tear up the coating. Even if you do, the few Teflon particles you ingest will be harmlessly passed through your digestive system. If that worries you, in 2001 the Swiss Diamond International company invented a Teflon coating for pans & bakeware that is reinforced with very, very fine-grained industrial diamonds in the plastic mix. Yep. You read that right. Diamond. They're pricey- a plain 8" frying pan will run you about $60, but they're the Abrams tanks of the cooking world.

 

[Philosophy Zombie]

. If you don't want to go and spend $40 on a new "Lodge Logic" skillet

$40? I bought that shit for like $14 at HomeGoods one time. They're very cheap.

I have been using a non-stick pan over the stove-top to cook them, and that's what my question is about. I have heard conflicting things about whether or not these sorts of pans are safe to use, and to be frank, if I was scraping Teflon into my sausages, I probably wouldn't even notice.

You should probably listen to the man who works with meat for a living instead of me, but the coating used on Teflon pans has a risk of decomposing once it reaches 500° F. I was curious about this myself and did a search on it once and Good Housekeeping (no I am not shitting you I'm actually going to cite Good Housekeeping just when you think I couldn't get any lower I'm sorry) made a surprisingly helpful chart showing how quickly the pans can overheat. After that "the breakdown begins and smaller chemical fragments are released", which researchers think may or may not make you ill if you do this long-term.

On the other hand, scraping the Teflon onto your food or whatever is something that I've never seen happen and even if it did Teflon's not a magic substance that will rupture your insides.

I cannot go too far with this condemnation because my parents have used exclusively nonstick cookware of some sort throughout my entire life (until I introduced them to the joys of stainless steel pans) and have definitely done the things listed as "risky" hundreds, probably thousands of times by now and none of my immediate family is dead yet. But when you arrive here from a country where giant smog particles penetrate the lungs of city people on a regular basis, inhaling a little Teflon isn't that huge a concern, is it?

 

[GRANDnumberofMULTIPLES]

My only concern with Teflon was when I had pet birds. Their little baby birdy lungs don't do well with it. I never worried too much about my nonstick pans after the last bird passed away except when my dad would get ahold of them and cook in them with metal utensils and scrape the fuck out of them.

I love my cast iron and enameled cast iron pots and pans. I have the kind that can go from stove to oven. This shit is perfect for when you're searing steaks.

Last night I made baked ziti. I'm going to have the most badass leftovers today.

It's a cold day and I'm working from home so I'm also going to heat up some of the Trader Joe's spiced apple cider too.

I opened up my immersion blender I bought back in the summer and I've been experimenting with green smoothies. I don't really have a big sweet tooth so fruit smoothies are a little much for me but I'm finding a great niche. I generally have them in the morning when I know I'm hungry but don't want to start cooking or whatever or for lunch if I'm working from home. I keep my ratio of greens to fruit at 2:1 with the exception of my half avocado/whole banana/small scoop of chocolate protein powder one. Today I'm going to make spinach/apple/ginger/lemon.

I haven't lost a finger yet so all seems fine. I'm really excited to blend soup without having to transfer it all to a blender.