SMF

Pancakes and sausages last night for Shrove Tuesday.

Chris I had a problem with my homemade mayo having the right consistency, not thick enough, and not tasting eggy enough. Then I discovered dehydrated egg powder. Now I need to find some egg white powder to goose the eggy taste a bit more.

Brian you might want to try hard boiled egg yolks. I seem to remember that Julia Child mentioned in her book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" that they make a very thick mayonnaise, so much so that you have to make it by hand otherwise it clogs a blender etc.

Never tried it myself but offer it as a possibility.

Chris

Never even considered that, but it's in the memory banks now. Thanks! But I'm trying to do it w/o adding more yolks since that would cut down on my consumption (not that it's high). It sux being on as strict a diet as I have myself on. Everything is much more difficult and small successes are major achievements.

But for now the egg whites are on order and I'm just waiting for them to arrive. Thanx for Amazon Prime! "Free" shipping is a by product when we pay our monthly fee. I now order lots of groceries that are difficult to find locally from Amazon.

Brian, got it. Maybe just try one yolk? I don't know.

When I made my most recent mayo it was following a clone recipe for Hellman's (and it seems pretty faithful in terms of ingredients) I only used one egg - the whole egg, white and all. It was raw and the mayo turned out much like what you'd make by hand - not stiff like Hellman's, but creamy. And I used a hand wand blender to make it. It doesn't make very much mayo but enough for me and I'm the only one eating it right now. The taste is very similar to Hellman's.

Anyway, if you can get away with one yolk (I don't know how much mayo you require for your household) then maybe it might work for you.

Either way, good luck.

Chris

The recipe I use fills a wide mouth pint canning jar to the very top. Mayo made with vinegar doesn't spoil (despite what the "lawyers" write along with their recipes), so I don't mind making a pint. When I bought it I'd buy a qt. at a time with no problems. FWIW, mayo will attract and capture bacteria so leaving mayo based foods out is a no-no. I don't make or tolerate lemon juice based salad dressing, erroneously called mayo' by some, so I don't address that product at all re: spoilage. It might very well spoil in refrigeration.

Corned beef and cabbage! Yummy! I've been craving this for a long time and I enjoyed it very much.

brothers wrote: ↑Fri Mar 08, 2019 6:26 pm Corned beef and cabbage! Yummy! I've been craving this for a long time and I enjoyed it very much.

One of my favourites, especially with boiled potatoes.

Tonight we'll have a couple of charcoal grilled ribeyes with some oven baked cubed potatoes and broccoli.

that's my menu for tonight although local supermarket has a big t-bone sale going on so i might do that instead

clive

p.s. ive never understood why a t-bone isnt cheaper than a porterhouse...makes no sense

Leftovers!
- 1/3 of a smallish Margherita pizza, with an extra 1/4 tomato added,
- A bit of meatloaf reheated in a frying pan with olive oil and a squirt of Worcester sauce, some old cheddar melted on top, then served as a sandwich on whole wheat toast and ketchup.
- My goto beverage is Pink Lemonade Crystal Light, mixed with plain unsweetened Orange Pekoe iced tea.

The Crystal Light is made with only 2 of those Singles tubes in a 2 liter pitcher of water, so it's only about half strength to begin with.

Seafood stew tonight: salmon, clams, mussels, bay scallops and shrimp.

salmon, clams, mussels, bay scallops and shrimp.

fedex leftovers

Pizza and shrimp scampi with zucchetti.

No leftovers (sorry Clive).

Chris

Ive been messing around with meatloaf lately. partner is on the whole30 diet and so Ive been looking for a breadcrumb alternative. started out with almond flour which is ok when using chopped meat, but if using turkey (zero fat) the meatloaf is so dry. Anyway, cruising around the www i found a recipe that adds chopped mushrooms for the specific purpose of moisture. i tried it and the results were excellent. next time you guys make a meatloaf, try the mushroom add ( its 4oz chopped per 2lbs meat). you add to recipe in addition to the bread crumbs. so delicious and easy to make

clive

Clive, thanks for the mushroom suggestion it sounds wonderful! I'm going to give it a try next time I make meatloaf.

I love meatloaf and usually just omit the breadcrumbs but meatloaf doesn't get much respect around here so this is a great alternative.

Chris

Had meatloaf tonight and added the mushrooms. Instead of chopping them (those in the family that dislike mushrooms would notice straight away that they are in there) I turned them into a paste in the food processor. No one noticed.

It went over well with most saying it was delicious (sans one daughter who was sick and is not eating most anything at this time) .

I myself liked it very much and will continue to add them in future meatloaves.

Thanks again for the suggestion it was a wonderful addition.

Chris

twenty seven thumbs up!

clive

Sure, mushrooms would work and also lend umami.

Other things that can be added is a panade. This is not breadcrumbs but they can be used for the base of the panade. A panade is bread and milk turned into a paste, not chunky, but a literal paste. It helps retain moisture but also helps to prevent the protein strands from linking together making for a tough meatloaf. A few slices of bread will do it with enough liquid to get it done. Starch might also work since it's the starch in the bread that does the work. But I've never tried starch alone; always bread.

Some Sodium Bicarb can also be added to change the pH and help to retain moisture. It will also be an aid to browning. It's also known as baking soda (not powder).

Fat also helps it stay moist. Yes, one can add fat/oil to ground turkey. Before I knew better I would add what I thought was a "healthy" oil to it to make ground turkey palatable. FWIW, sausage should be close to 20% fat to be considered moist. But when adding oil you'll use far less.

Any one of those will help but all of them can be done in the same meatloaf.

It was Monday, and the news wasn't pleasant. My wife and I needed some good old country comfort food for tonight's supper. There is a restaurant called Hodad's somewhere on California's southern coast that serves this burger. I got it while watching TV last week. It turned out to be a home run.

I made two ground chuck beef patties into which I thoroughly mixed a couple of slices of small bits of finely sliced-up raw bacon.
I grilled the patties on high heat on the stovetop in a large heated cast iron skillet with a drizzle of grape oil.
While they were cooking and being turned as needed, I added three thinly sliced shallots to the skillet, placing a mound under each patty.
I also placed 2 mounds of some thinly sliced beef pastrami in the skillet alongside the patties and shallots.
I like to place the buns on top of the patties as they were finishing up, so they're hot and moist.
When the cooking was finished, I placed mustard and pickle slices on the bottom bun with the patty, with the pastrami and sliced tomatoes (my favorite) on top of the patty before I added the top bun.

This was the first time I've tried this burger, and hopefully not the last. It turned out to be a great meal that made the day much more enjoyable.