Cheradenine

I really like cheap stamped stainless knives. In the photo are a Viking, a Kiwi, and something unbranded. Total was $8.20 USD. They are garbage, the handles are terrible, though the ridiculously small Deba has wood scales. They sharpen beautifully.

While you huff and curse under your breath, I have owned custom made Japanese knives, vintage carbon steel Sabatier, as well as all the other stuff, Wusthoff, Global, evs. They aren't better, just much more expensive.

I am happiest with a cheap carbon steel cleaver (bit of a misnomer as these are really slicers) or a stamped stainless blade. Not Victorinox though, they have too much Nickel and Chromium so they aren't as prone to rusting. It makes them a bitch to sharpen.

I went to the lady I buy vegetables from and asked for some mild, flavorful chilies. Cutting the first one I could tell they were not mild. When life gives you 500 grams of the wrong chilies, you make hot sauce. The flavor is great, but wrong for the dish I was making.

So, I rehydrated some dried chilies I had (which are very mild with a nice slight funk to them) and chucked it all in the blender with some garlic. It looks gross. In about 5-7 days there should be a sludge at the bottom, and watery goop at the top.

Once it will strip paint it goes into a saucepan for about 30-45 minutes to reduce. Then I will add salt and vinegar. It should be delicious.

I was gifted a 900 Gram bag of Milo (I assume that's some shrinkflation crap). I love Malt and Cocoa, but this is bland and chalky. What do I do with it? So far I have tried it hot and cold on its own and mixed in coffee hot and cold. My next thought was using it in baked goods, something like an American Brownie.

Ideas?

For no particular reason except it popped into my head, a sorta pizza hut pizza for Christmas dinner.

High hydration (maybe 70+%) same day ferment. Sauce was tomato paste, minced garlic, Basil, soy sauce, chili flakes, stock, and a splash of red wine vinegar. My tomato paste is kinda bland and sucky, and I was going for an umami bomb.

Topped with Krakow sausage, Shallot, and French style chili oil.

The bottom got nice and crispy, the middle was chewy and full of holes, a bit like a nice focaccia. So probably not really like pizza hut at all. Idk, I haven't had it in a long time.

Anywho, I enjoyed it, and happy Santas birthday.

I cut 2 slices off, and they were terrible, as the title says. Gummy, flavor not fully developed. Exactly what I want. This is what I want from a sandwich bread. I will slice and toast this for the next few days. Toasting will firm it up, develop Maillard reactions, and allow any liquid to be sponged up. Marinated Pork Belly, pickled Red Cabbage, or both will soak in to the bread without making it soggy.

The point of this is that bread does not have to be beautiful when it comes out of the oven, it just needs to be good when you eat it.

Are you growing your own? At least for the greens? They go with everything.

Garlic is self sterile in most cases like Saffron, you grow Garlic from garlic (like most Alliums, many Alliums are not sterile, but still grown from clones). In almost any climate you can grow it. These peeps are trying to revive the wild form. https://hoodrivergarlic.com/

If you have a windowsill and a pot, really just a bit of dirt, delicious garlic can be yours at home.

If you grow just for greens take your smallest cloves, not worth peeling, and stick them in the dirt. If you are growing for bulbs use the most flavorful and disease resistant.

Like Saffron, plant it randomly for future generations , and let it spread, it is not invasive.

Edit: tomorrow is Fajitas night, so some of these will die for the cause. Please pour one out for my dead homies.

For years I was in a bi-monthly cooking group. We usually met at a friends house and would make dinner there. One night all those terrible things your mom and your aunt Sally forced on you came up.

Number 1 was Green Bean Casserole, for the uninitiated this is 1 can green beans, 1 can Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, topped with Durkee fried onions then baked. It is terrible, canned green beans are mushy and flavorless, cream of mushroom soup is also mushy and terrible with the added bonus of tasting like a salt lick. Durkee fried onions I will eat as a snack (I will hear no bad words about them, though they are also terrible in their own way. Don't start). The original recipe unsurprisingly came from Campbell's Test Kitchen as a way for working housewives to get dinner on the table with a minimum of fuss.

We talked about it (argued) and half the group thought it could be a great dish, the other half speed dialed their therapists.

The next time we met Green Bean Casserole was the main. Blanched fresh green beans were layered with crimini mushrooms simmered in cream and herbs, then topped with Asian fried shallots. It was a hit, and ended up in rotation. It is actually fantastic when made fresh.

No.2 was Fish in Aspic. No one could do anything with this, the dish just sucks.

No.3 was Fondue, which I hated as a kid then had good versions of. Porcini (Cepes) with Beaufort and sourdough, Beef loin with carmelized onions and red wine reduction, etc.

What are yours? Have you recreated any horrible dishes and made them delicious?

p.s. great aunt Beth you almost put me off Turkey for life...

ETA: I know we're supposed to tag posts, I don't see a way to do that in Voyager. Anyway, Discussion

Thanks for your excellent work, photo uploads are working again.

I just updated, thanks for your great work.