Cookin again

[Scott DeWar]

As you can guess, I do not like artichoke hearts. sorry guys. What I DO like is bacon and eggs:

start with thick cut smoked bacon cooking in a pan, then in another pan, cooking in olive oil are white and green onions with a shake or two of salt.
meanwhile I chop in small parts one potato, and put it in the second pan. when mostly cooked, put in same pan with bacon and start with saute' some more green and white onions and a mushroom.

take 4 eggs and a couple of ozs of skim milk and scramble in the bullet mixer .. . pour in pan with veggies and scramble.

While eggs are cooking and when taters and bacon are done, set on a plate, and place Colby and Swiss cheese over the taters. Place the cooked scrabbled eggs over the cheese and taters.

Serve with tea or coffee. Belch often.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Anybody have a clue on D.I.Y. fried artichoke hearts? I have never bought or cleaned an artichoke, and have only purchased pickled hearts for home use.

I would buy the canned or jarred hearts, then dry them out a bit on a paper towel or something. There are a few ways to do it. I liked to put a bit of egg, then some flour, then fry them in a pan of olive oil and garlic and serve them with pasta. Take what I say with a grain of salt as I've been eating gluten free due to celiac for about five years (so its been a while since I've worked with flour).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The canned/jarred ones I have found so far in my local area are all too salty/pickled to really work for my purposes. I'll keep my eyes open, though!

 

[Bedrockgames]

The canned/jarred ones I have found so far in my local area are all too salty/pickled to really work for my purposes. I'll keep my eyes open, though!

It depends on what they are preserved in. Some brands are better at not having that salty or pickled flavor (I can't remember the brand but I found one that basically kept them in water and wasn't too bad). You could also try frozen artichoke hearts. You can also soak them in water to get some of the canned flavor out. Your only other option is to buy a bunch of fresh artichokes and use the hearts from those, but that can be a pretty expensive meal (most fried artichoke hearts you find are going to be frozen or canned).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Made a lasagna/pastitsio-inspired casserole last night.

I used thin slices of Yukon Gold potato instead of pasta. The meat was home-made Louisiana hot sausage mixed with diced onion, garlic, white mushroom, portobello mushroom, and tomatoes. The cheese was a mix of cubed butterkäse and shredded aged Parmesan.

The sauce was diced tomatoes & tomato sauce with red & black pepper, oregano, parsley, and chives.

Verdict: tasty as charged.

There's still room for improvement, though. If nothing else, next time I'll use my mandolin to slice the potato more thinly than I can by hand with my knives. And I might use more sausage & sauce. My sauce was also tasty, but it was still a bit too lightly seasoned- a bit more parsley and/or oregano.

 

[Umbran]

It has been apple-time here in the Northeast. Went apple picking a couple of weeks ago, and we have since done...

Home-made applesauce - freezes very well, for later in the year.
Apple butter.
Apple fritters.
Apple-matzah kugel - best use of matzah outside of soup I've ever seen.
Apple crumble cookie bars.
There was one other in there, I cant' recall what.

And there are still more apples in the fridge....

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I love apples, and I'm down in Texas where Honeycrisps, & Ambrosias are as pricey as restaurant appetizers.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Our local squirrels have gifted us with pecan trees that are just beginning to produce. One of our dogs found a cluster and bright it into the house, where she proceeded to gnaw it into a brown mush.

...EASILY mistaken for something else...

So it may be that we will have our own pecans in the foreseeable.

 

[Umbran]

I love apples, and I'm down in Texas where Honeycrisps, & Ambrosias are as pricey as restaurant appetizers.

We mostly pick Cortlands and Jonagolds, with some Macintoshes and Galas mixed in to round out flavors and textures in cooking. Up here supermarket apples are okay, but nothing beats the ones fresh off the tree. Or even a couple weeks off the tree in your own fridge. They keep really well.

We are trying our hand at grapes - Concords are good for cooking, and, being named after Concord, MA, as you expect they grow really well. Stupendously well, in fact. The problem isn't getting the plant to grow, but in the pruning - don't prune enough, and the darn thing takes over everything in its path. Prune too much, and you lose the buds that become flowers and fruits.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have witnessed zuchini plants display similarly aggressive tendencies.

When we lived in Aurora, CO, we and many of our circle of friends & associates were growing zuchini. The plants were so bountiful that if you left a basket of them on a doorstep, rang the bell and ran, it would be greeted with the same face as a burning bag of poop.