tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-08-06:434740sauergeeksauergeeksauergeek2019-08-26T05:39:43Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-08-06:434740:51161More success at homemade sausage2019-08-26T05:34:50Z2019-08-26T05:39:43Zpublic0I have a garden patch in a community garden. This year, I have an exuberant basil plant, which is trying to eat the half of the 4'x10' raised bed. I've ended up with a lot of basil. After making basil sugar, and basil ice cream, and two rounds of basil <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loukaniko">loukaniko</a>, I still had basil.<br /><br />I hadn't been particularly enamored of my attempts at loukaniko[1], I suspect because I omitted the garlic (garlic does bad things to me). So this time I went on a tangent, and also cut down the ingredient list a lot.<br /><br />2.5 lbs ground beef (85% lean)<br />1 T pickling (Diamond Crystal) salt<br />1 T ground white pepper<br />Zest of three limes<br />One huge handful of basil leaves, coarsely chopped (no, I did not measure this, but it was rather a lot: I had to chop it in four piles)<br /><br />Mix all ingredients together. Pan-fry into crumbles.<br /><br />So far I've had this sausage with salad and rolls, which worked pretty well. And also with chopped cabbage-and-carrots cooked in the same pan after the sausage was done, with a bit of sherry for a deglaze, all on top of spaghetti, which worked better.<br /><br />[1] I worked from the <a href="https://honest-food.net/loukaniko-traditional-greek-sausage/">recipe for loukaniko</a> from <a href="https://honest-food.net/">Honest Food</a>. I've had decent luck with other sausage recipes from the site. Unfortunately, this one, minus the garlic, just wasn't doing it for me. It will probably be fine with the garlic in.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=sauergeek&ditemid=51161" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-08-06:434740:50746Home-made sausage2019-07-14T01:13:26Z2019-07-14T01:13:26Zpublic1After a fair bit of experimenting, I've come up with a fairly foolproof sausage recipe, assuming you're comfortable with cooking by sniffing the spice rack. The basic recipe: for each pound of ground meat, mix up one teaspoon of salt and three teaspoons of whatever not-salt that sounds good, into a spice mix, and then mix that into whatever your ground meat is. Cook however you deem appropriate; I usually make patties or crumbles.<br /><br />I am so unreasonably pleased with this go-around that I want to record it. Scaled to 1 lb:<br /><br />1 lb ground beef (80% lean)<br />1 t salt<br />.5 t dried summer savory leaves<br />.5 t ground chipotle<br />.5 t ground sage<br />.5 t dried thyme leaves<br />.25 t ground ginger<br />.25 t ground mustard<br />.25 t ground allspice<br />.25 t celery seed<br /><br />Mix the non-beef ingredients together, then mix thoroughly into the beef. Cook in a wide pan into crumbles. Pull the meat out of the pan with a slotted spoon to avoid picking up too much of the fat. After draining most of the fat and other drippings out of the pan, I also cooked shredded cabbage and chunks of apple in the same pan afterward. I used some of the tasty drippings — from below the fat — to pour over the cabbage-apple mix. Served the whole thing over bread.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=sauergeek&ditemid=50746" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-08-06:434740:49327Trying new recipes!2017-09-04T14:48:32Z2017-09-04T14:51:28Zpublic0Yesterday morning, I wanted something other than my usual for breakfast, starting with something hot. However, I had no eggs, which seriously limits my breakfast options. I remembered johnnycakes, though, which in simplest form call for only cornmeal, water, sugar, and salt. I had all four, so I made johnnycakes.<br /><br />Making them turned out to be very easy; the hardest part was spreading out the batter in the frying pan. I worked from <a href="https://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/johnny-cakes/a6553512-96c3-4ed6-942b-094dd5f71082">johnny cakes</a> (from <a href="https://www.tablespoon.com/">Tablespoon</a>). The recipe assumes a smaller frying pan; my big pan wanted two tablespoons of butter for the first round, and an additional tablespoon for the second. I had no milk, so I used water in its place. I also reduced the recipe to 1/4 of what it called for. That quarter recipe was just about right for an experimental run, and fed me breakfast with no leftovers.<br /><br />The cornmeal mush glued itself to the pan when it initially went in, but came loose and turned over easily when it was time to do so. To eat, I cut them up and dipped them in maple syrup. Nom! Will make again.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=sauergeek&ditemid=49327" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-08-06:434740:48231Accidental risotto2017-04-14T16:58:30Z2017-04-14T16:58:30Zpublic1This posting courtesy of <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://desireearmfeldt.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://desireearmfeldt.dreamwidth.org/'><b>desireearmfeldt</b></a></span>'s memelet: "Post to DW talking about one fun thing you did recently.". I cooked someone else's recipe! (At least sort of.)<br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://sauergeek.dreamwidth.org/48231.html#cutid1">coraline made a tasty thing; I altered it</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=sauergeek&ditemid=48231" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-08-06:434740:47636Beef stew2017-03-26T19:44:04Z2017-03-26T19:44:36Zpublic2This particular batch of stew has been one of the best I've made, so here's the recipe from memory. Some parts are, of necessity, vague.<br /><br />1 small boneless chuck roast (~2.6 lbs), cubed. (Do not trim fat.)<br />2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed.<br />1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into coins.<br />1/2 lb white mushrooms, sliced.<br />2 cloves garlic, minced.<br />5 c water<br />5 beef bouillon cubes<br />3 bay leaves<br />1/3 c sherry<br />2/3 c red wine<br />thyme (1 T)<br />rosemary (1/2 T)<br />savory (1/2 T)<br />cumin (1 t or less)<br />celery seed (1 t or less)<br />black pepper (1 t)<br />balsamic vinegar (1 t)<br /><br />Warning: everything from the sherry on down is approximate. The sherry was the end of my bottle; I topped it up to a cup with red wine. Everything else was to taste; the balsamic went in dead last as a necessary correction of seasonings, and was maybe 1 t.<br /><br />Put everything except the vinegar in a dutch oven. Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer. Simmer uncovered for about two hours, stirring every ten minutes or so.<br /><br />Adjust seasonings to taste; I found a dollop of balsamic vinegar fixed up the flavor balance nicely.<br /><br />At the end, I covered it and brought it back to a boil, then shut it off and left it sit on the stove overnight. I packed it into containers in the morning once it had mostly cooled.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=sauergeek&ditemid=47636" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments