Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[Fletcher]

9 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

We are surrounded on all sides by field crops. Right now we have potato picking in the field to the west, deep ploughing to the north and east and the southern field has a cabbage crop ready to harvest. 

 

The tarmac of our lane is now under about 3 inches of mud. I used to wonder why people in the flattest county in England drove 4x4s. Now I know. 

We're in neighbouring Norfolk and we have winter barley right across the lane from us, which is nice, and a vast field of sugar beet just along a bit and that isn't nice at all.  You know how muddy that can get.  But the beet crop this year has been hit by yellow aphid and most of it will be rotten.  Worst thing about beet, apart from the mud and the noise of harvesting it, is the smell and sometimes the rats which feast on the leftovers.

[Sodashire]

To Queserasera.  If my memory serves me, when you first tried to do the Roast Potatoes you showed an image of them. You need to take the skins of them prior to part boiling. I think this is where you are going wrong. 

[Reef Knot]

I'm often checking into the cooler to follow the banter. Thought these would appeal all you cooks.

The Canadian, American Welsh and English are true enough, cant speak for the others .

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Reef Knot
Unnecessary word in the French recipe

[jpalbny]

Good one, @Reef Knot

 

I can vouch for the Ukrainian one. Luckily I grew up eating Italian food. My maternal GF was first-generation from Sicily and used garlic like it was candy. So I was somewhat used to it when I met Chris and started eating her parents' cooking.

 

Now it's almost a running joke to see how much garlic we can put into our cooking. We start by doubling what the recipe calls for, then we usually add more because it doesn't look like enough.

 

Chris is the garlic chopper. She will chop a pile for our dinner recipe, and then ask me if it looks like enough. Any amount of hesitation on my part, before responding, results in more being chopped.

 

Sometimes we grate it on a microplane, sometimes chopped, sometimes sliced and fried like chips. Sometimes we do more than one in a recipe.

 

A few food pix from the weekend. We were busy cooking. Roast pork from Sunday dinner. 

 

 

Crusted with mustard, herbs, and lots of garlic. Of course.

 

 

Sweet yeast bread with eggs, and lemon curd rolled up inside. No garlic here though. 

 

 

Pizza Saturday! We probably chop 8-10 cloves for two pizzas. Spread the chunks on the crust then add olive oil and toppings.

 

Mushrooms and a delicious salami from Eataly. With fresh oregano for extra flavor.

 

 

Arugula and fresh tomatoes. The green tomatoes that I picked over 2 weeks ago are still ripening! It was an amazing growing season.

 

 

Better stop thinking about garlic and get to work.

[mysty]

2 hours ago, Reef Knot said:

I'm often checking into the cooler to follow the banter. Thought these would appeal all you cooks.

The Canadian, American Welsh and English are true enough, cant speak for the others .

 

 

Reef, that was brilliant!   Thank You!  😄

[QueSeraSera]

Ah, the morning after... next time I ask for help cooking, I will do so earlier than a few minutes prior to starting in the kitchen.  Davey your patience on this is extraordinary & I now understand how to rough up the edges, and @Sodashire I will peel next time!  Here is how the leftovers looked this morning after refrigeration.  JP, I had the coarse salt on but I guess it dissolved overnight.

 

These wannabe roasties went back in the pan this morning, destined to be a version of hash browns, that turned out crispy on the outside and soft within!

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers!

 

Food pics are amazing!  Well done Cooler denizens!

 

Today's funny.....

 

 

Have a great safe day all!

[Lois R]

Good morning, interesting information about all the different countries🙂...so is that really

what we here in the states are known for? Throwing it into a pot and its done?😲.....looking

at JP's photos, I would have to respectfully disagree...I think if he was not a Dr, he would be

a Chef😃

[Lois R]

7 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

Ah, the morning after... next time I ask for help cooking, I will do so earlier than a few minutes prior to starting in the kitchen.  Davey your patience on this is extraordinary & I now understand how to rough up the edges, and @Sodashire I will peel next time!  Here is how the leftovers looked this morning after refrigeration.  JP, I had the coarse salt on but I guess it dissolved overnight.

 

These wannabe roasties went back in the pan this morning, destined to be a version of hash browns, that turned out crispy on the outside and soft within!

Both pans of food look really good to me😃 I will take my eggs over medium please.

[QueSeraSera]

13 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Any amount of hesitation on my part, before responding, results in more being chopped.

 

Love it! made me laugh out loud

 

1 minute ago, Lois R said:

eggs over medium

Coming right up!

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by QueSeraSera
spacing

[Lois R]

JP, that bread looks awesome😃 I have cut down so much on my carb intake since the beginning of the year but I would cheat a little bit to just have a

taste of it!!!!!!

[Lois R]

😃

[jpalbny]

16 minutes ago, Lois R said:

JP, that bread looks awesome😃 I have cut down so much on my carb intake since the beginning of the year but I would cheat a little bit to just have a

taste of it!!!!!!

 

It was yummy. And still is - I had a piece when I got home from work yesterday before exercising. 

 

And we got to use up the jar of lemon curd which we'd bought a few years ago, then forgot about in the back of the refrigerator. Win-win.

Edited November 17, 2020 by jpalbny

[zqtchas]

[Reef Knot]

32 minutes ago, Lois R said:

JP, that bread looks awesome😃 I have cut down so much on my carb intake since the beginning of the year but I would cheat a little bit to just have a

taste of it!!!!!!

I second that

[TLCOhio]

YES!!  Lots of great food, fun, etc., posts here at The Cooler.  Keep it coming!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

[Daveywavey70]

1 hour ago, QueSeraSera said:

Ah, the morning after... next time I ask for help cooking, I will do so earlier than a few minutes prior to starting in the kitchen.  Davey your patience on this is extraordinary & I now understand how to rough up the edges, and @Sodashire I will peel next time!  Here is how the leftovers looked this morning after refrigeration.  JP, I had the coarse salt on but I guess it dissolved overnight.

 

These wannabe roasties went back in the pan this morning, destined to be a version of hash browns, that turned out crispy on the outside and soft within!

 

You're getting there QSS. The 2nd pic certainly looked good. I Think you need a hotter oven and a bit more of a shake. Also the type of potato you use makes a huge difference. It looks like the ones you used were very waxy, that results in a very different end result to if you use a more floury potato. My own preference is for floury, that's when you'll get the fantastic crunchy corners. Good luck! 

[zqtchas]

5 minutes ago, Daveywavey70 said:

 

You're getting there QSS. The 2nd pic certainly looked good. I Think you need a hotter oven and a bit more of a shake. Also the type of potato you use makes a huge difference. It looks like the ones you used were very waxy, that results in a very different end result to if you use a more floury potato. My own preference is for floury, that's when you'll get the fantastic crunchy corners. Good luck! 

WHAT IS A FLOURY POTATO?  ( stuck on caps) sorry

[jpalbny]

A potato with more starch (russet or similar). Red potatoes are waxy, not floury.

 

Try baking a russet vs a red potato. When done, the texture will be very different. The russet will crumble when you scooflour. With a fork. That texture also makes for a great mashed potato. The red potato will hold together much more. Red potatoes do well in soup. You can bake and "smash" them but they don't make a good mash.

 

Or you could be clever and use Yukon golds for everything...they are kind of in the middle.

[mysty]

Great potato lessons here folks!  This is yet another reason why I no longer do the cooking!  Myster does a much, much better job!  Also why I no longer drive.  Sometimes it makes sense to stand back from situations where you may pose a danger.  😁

[QueSeraSera]

16 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

WHAT IS A FLOURY POTATO? 

JP has it covered.  Agreed Mysty. 

Found a fun website www.IrishAmericanMom.com.  Sadly, she reports she has not found any really good floury potatoes in US stores to compare with those in Europe, or more specifically, in Ireland.  

A picture of a sign for selling potatoes at an Irish market from the aforementioned website:

 

We had a tour then cruise planned for Ireland, UK then Norway this past summer.  This all makes me want to rebook.

[clo]

11 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

a can of DelMonte green beans

Use frozen - they're way, WAY better.

[clo]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Better stop thinking about garlic and get to work.

I'm trying to remember what chef/cookbook author who advised against arbitrarily adding a lot more garlic than called for. Unless you want you dish to actually taste like GARLIC rather than be just one flavor. Also Batali recommended slicing for a less raw taste IIRC.

[QueSeraSera]

27 minutes ago, clo said:

Use frozen

Thanks Clo, and I'm sure you are right.  Just need to break an old shopping habit.

Lest there be any confusion, it was I, not Davey, who opened the can and spilled the beans.

[jpalbny]

16 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

Lest there be any confusion, it was I, not Davey, who opened the can and spilled the beans.

 

And you almost got away with it!