Text 12247, 186 rader
Skriven 2008-08-18 00:41:28 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
  Kommentar till text 12108 av Carol Shenkenberger (18423.cooks)
Ärende: cooking echo Picnic Fri. night Dinner out on the town?
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Hi Carol!

>> juices drain to the bottom of the roast (and why chickens are shown being
>> roasted upside down (grin)). But that's not a terrible chore :)

> I seldom bother.  Mostly we make dry rubs in it.  The pan, if we want the
> drippings, gets a careful layer of tin foil after a good scrubbing.

Makes sense.  The thing to do I would guess is see how it goes (grin).. haven't
got one yet, but will soon I hope.

>> hehe.. it was in the 'other kitchen' standing up against the sink's back wal
>> It's heavy so that's why I like the looks of the one you mentioned.


> Never noticed it!

Understand.. there was a lot going on in both kitchens :) :)

> I cant believe how well mine has stood the test of time.  Even at full price
> it's worth it. Catch it on sale though as that happens real often.


That is great to know, thanks :)

>> for that 3lb. box of frozen uncleaned squid... seems few have the patience t
>> clean it, but it never bothered me to do it (g).

> Don can clean one in less than a minute.

Yup, I've never felt like it was a bother at all.. even when my daughter begs
me to make stuffed squid 'on the fly', it's no big deal :)    Alex, my grandson
is a trip.. you know he watches most of the cooking shows and loves to cook
already.. he's the one that told me about Alton-what's-his-name (g) idea that
instead of using toothpicks to close stuffed squid, if you turn them inside out
and stuff them, the squid close all by themselves.. and it really does work
great for stuffed squid :)

>> > (Cash=pup in the meantime has laid claim to the sofa in the sunroom. Curle
>> > up and snoozing, Daisy is on a pillow above him surveying the new room >>
> changes).
>>
>> Quite the picture  :)   Over here, we've noticed poor Priscilla is getting
>> additional lumps around the chest area.. not good.  I'll get her to the vet
>> this week and see what's up with them... but it makes me nervous about them
>> just in how quickly they showed up.

> Oh I hope all is well!

Well, I decided to delay taking her.  The lumps are  not around her mouth area
where she did have cancer once.  The Vet told me that if she should get
anything near the mouth area, most likely that would be cancer again and I
should bring her in right away - the other lump she has in her chest area was
not cancerous when he checked it last year.  If these new ones are cancer, I
guess I don't want to hear him say, 'well, she's so old, any treatments would
 cost a fortune, do you really want to do that?'. And these new lumps will
not be inexpensive to remove ... poor dog..  argh.. I'll probably take her soon
though, just so I know what's going on. At least get her tested.


>> > A funky looking mushroom, a bit like a cauliflour in shape but about 1/2 t
>> > size.  A deep shroomy-earthy taste.
>>
>> Ok, at least I'll know what to look for :)

> Distinctly Japanese I think, so might not be around your area.

That's true.. but you get suprised around here now and then..

>> I made some udon noodles and soup from two of the packets you left here for
>> for dinner last night - and I threw in some of those mushrooms ripped apart
>> bit.. I also threw in some uncooked chinese cabbage leaves and stems.. boy w
>> that soup great :) :)  If I'd been thinking I'd have thrown in some suger sn
>> as well, but we were all so hungry haha.. Alex is staying another week here
>> it's great to have him here eating up all the food I cook (as usual, I cook
>> much (grin)).  Oh, I also made a recipe from one of my chinese cookbooks wit

> I love Udon.  So simple!

Yes, it sure is :)

Here's the recipe for the eggplant I made - I don't think I posted it yet
- been running around a lot again (g):

===Chinese Shrimp stuffed eggplant===
A few recipes here, so that you can make the superior stock that this recipes
calls for (optionally)

Filling:
1/2 lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined, chopped until a paste forms. 2 fresh
water chestnuts, peeled and chopped into 1/8" dice (I had to use canned
:( )
1/4 cup white part only of a scallion, minced very fine (those guys outside in
the garden came in real handy :) :) 2 teaspoons Sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger juice mixed with 1 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine or gin. 1
1/4 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon beaten egg white
1 Tablespoon Tapioca flour

Mix ingredients together stirring in one direction, and chill covered for 4
hours.

Preparing the eggplants:

2 chinese eggplants, unpeeled
2 1/2 Tablespoons Tapioca flour
3 Tablespoons trimmed and finely sliced scallion. 1/4 cup peanut oil

Slice each eggplant along it's length in this manner:  On a diagonal, slice
through to cut off an end and discard.  Then continue to slice diagonally at
2/3 inch intervals.  The next slice will be 2/3's of the way through, the next
all the way through, etc.    What you will have is a series of pieces with
pockets (about 15 or 16 pieces).

Sprinkle each pocket with some tapioca flour. Stir the filling and place 1
Tablespoon of the filling into each pocket.  Pack and smooth the filling with
your fingers or a butter knife.  Repeat with the remaining 15 pieces.

Place 3 Tb. oil in nonstick skillet and heat over medium heat until the oil is
hot. Place 8 of the eggplant pieces flat side down in the oil and fry until
brown, 4 to 5 minutes.  Remove to serving platter and place in a warm oven. Add
the remaining tablespoon of peanut oil to the skillet or wo and repat the
process with the remaining pieces. (I actually cooked the eggplant on all sides
but I was using 3 eggplants (grin). There was plenty of stuffing).

Sauce:

2 Tablespoons Oyster sauce 2 teaspoons double dark soy sauce 2 teaspoons
chinese rice wine or gin 1 teaspoon sugar
pinch of freshly ground white pepper 3/4 cup superior stock (see below) or
chicken stock

Mix the above ingredients to make the sauce and reserve.  After removing the
eggplant pieces, stir the sauce,  and add it to the skillet.  Cook, stirring
constantly until it bubbles, about 3 or 4 minutes.  Turn the heat off.  Remove
the platter of eggplant from the oven and pour the suace over, sprinkle with
sliced scallion and serve with cooked rice.

(you probably have this already (grin)..
==Superior Stock:==
1 Gallon water
4 pounds pork neck bones
3 pounds lean pork butt
5 pounds chicken  cut into 8 pieces 2 1/2 pounds smithfield ham or ham bones
1/2 lb. ginger lightly smashed
1 bunch fresh scallions, trimmed and cut in half 1/4 cup fried shallots
1/2 cup fried scallions
2 gallons cold water
Salt

In a large stockpot, bring 1 gallon water to a boil. Add pork neck bones and
pork butt and chicken and bring to a boil.  Allow to boil for 1 minute to bring
the blood to the top of the water.  Turn off the heat.  Pour off the water and
run cold water into the pot to rinse the meats.  Drain.  Place all the pork
bones and meat, chicken parts, ham, ginger, fresh scallions and fried shallots
and scallions in the pot.  Add 2 gallons cold water and cover.  Bring to a boil
over high heat.  Add Salt to taste.  Lower the heat and simmer leaving the lid
sightly ajar for 5 hours.   Skim off the residue from the surace during the
simering.  Turn off the heat, allow to cool, and strin the stock.  Pour the
stock into containers to storre for futher use.  Cover and refrigerate for 3-4
days or freeze up to 3 months.

I don't know but I would guess this is the stock that the restaurant we all
went to (Moon Restaurant .. never did get the name straight Lol) used for the
base of the Egg Drop Soup with Tomatoes and Tofu.. it is INCREDIBLE... and
every time Ron and I go there, we have to order this soup, it's that good.

>> the oriental eggplant you left. It was so good!  I'll post the recipe tomorr
>> it was Eggplant stuffed with a shrimp stuffing :) Have to run the zone list
>> tonight or I'd go grab it now (g).

> Yes, much better than the bigger ones.  Those are easy to grow too if you
> want to try next year?

Heh.. how did you know.. geez, I'm laughing because I've tried a few different
years to get eggplant going in my garden beds without succss.. If I can find
the seeds I sure will give it a try.. the flavor is incredible compared to
regular eggplant.. I was honestly surprised.  :)  Thanks again for bringing it
:) :)

Take care,
Janis

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