Thank you, Bad Horse’s Filly:
I have the cooking doldrums. I always get them this time of year. I’ve finished with all the holiday dinners and goodies and wishing for summer vegetables and grilling. This leaves me in the long night of winter wondering what to cook… For our Thursday Night Menu I decided a touch of fresh lemon and honey might perk things up. As always, I’ve kept it simple, so if you’re hesitant in the kitchen, you can still find success here. On the board tonight:
1) Lamb Kabobs (marinate overnight)
2) Tabbouleh
3) Honeyed Carrots
4) Sautéed Pears
Click here for recipes and shopping list.
General Winfield Stuck
Charlie
jharp
Those sauteed pears sound awesome. I’m definitely going to try. Maybe with Vernors.
ellaesther
Lamb…!
I have never once tried to make lamb, and I truly love it. Someday. Not this weekend, but someday. (Probably when the boy and the girl are no longer living at home, sadly, because them and meat? Not so much).
Pasquinade
HuffPo gives Darrell Issa a forum.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-darrell-issa/geithners-time-to-give-an_b_415476.html
Who’s next? John McCain? Michael Steele? Sarah Palin?
valdivia
it is an open thread so not OT but have you guys seen John’s absolutely hilarious tea party pick up lines in his Twitter feed? John FTW! many times over. LMAO.
Now he is also doing very funny Broder jokes in comparison to 9/11.
beltane
@Pasquinade: Arianna Huffington would love to give Sarah Palin a new forum. Please do not give her any ideas.
jacy
Speaking of lamb, we just discovered the split breast of lamb, which is a cheap cut. We take the breast, rub it with olive oil, salt, and fresh herbs: summer savory, thyme, and a little bit of rosemary. Then roast it for about 40 minutes at 325.
Then you cut off the meat — there’s not much meat, and a LOT of fat. The meat we cube and marinate in Greek salad dressing for an hour and then sautee it quickly and use in pitas with a cucumber/dill/sour cream dressing.
But the best part is, you take the bones and fat and use them to in either a red beans and rice recipe or a black bean soup recipe. It makes for a very different flavor in red beans and rice. Much more delicate and aromatic than your typical bean soups.
Calming Influence
As this is an open thread, I would like to propose that from now on, Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab be referred to exclusively as “The Uni-ball Bomber”.
All in favor say “aye”.
beltane
@valdivia: John is absolutely correct about Phish. They do suck. I’m sorry some people missed out on the Grateful Dead, but Phish is no substitute.
When I was a kid, lamb was a fairly common meat. The supermarkets by me don’t even sell it anymore.
Calming Influence
@beltane:
There are a lot of people here in the Pacific Northwest that have a few sheep that they raise for their wool; I suppose I could snag one of the little ones when nobody’s looking.
Yutsano
@beltane: I’m pretty much stuck going to a local butcher if I want lamb. Fortunately he has a pretty good supply usually. Lamb is actually best in spring but pretty much good all year. It’s actually really versatile too, but for some reason I always end up getting it whenever I go out. In fact, there’s a local Mexican restaurant chain that has a fantastic lamb dish made from the shank. It’s the only thing worth getting there though.
BHF – LOVE the Mediterranean inspired menu!
Calming Influence
My boss lives across the street from a little family farm that has about 6 alpacas (like small llamas with big doe eyes) that they raise for wool. I keep trying to get him to go over there and say “Them alpacas sure is cute! Are they good eatin’?”
Calming Influence
@Yutsano:
Lamb souvlaki with yogurt-garlic sauce is the food of the Gods.
beltane
@Calming Influence: Not so sure about that. They would taste like camel, which is definitely an acquired taste. We do have goat meat in our freezer thanks to a co-worker of my husband’s who raises them on the side. He eats it; I don’t.
asiangrrlMN
@Calming Influence: Aye!
@Yutsano: Hi, honey! How was your day? Are you getting PAID now?
@General Winfield Stuck: Awwwwwww!
All right, bitchez. I’m about to make the epic flight back to MN. I’ll see ya in approximately 26 hours.
Litlebritdifrnt
I cooked an “almost fat free” fettucini chicken alfredo” dish for DH this evening, he pronounced it a hit. (It was the second time he ate it and he actually asked for it tonight), use promise spread and chopped garlic (as opposed to the butter and chopped garlic for the original recipe), quartered fresh mushrooms cooked in the butter and garlic, add fat free half and half, add a sliced chicken breast that has been cooked on a “George Forman” grill then at the last minute add a good amount of low fat “parmisan” (the blend that you can get that is 50% less fat and cholesterol than the regular stuff), toss over good (ie veggie infused or whole wheat noodles) like I said DH pronouced it a hit, he absolutely loved it. This is the guy who thought he would die if he couldn’t have cheese fries three times a week.
cleek
this time of year is all about deep rich flavors: meat loaf, pot roast, caramelized onions and lentils, stout, porter, roasted root veggies. tomorrow: turkey pot pies.
Litlebritdifrnt
@beltane:
We tend to get Lamb sold on high days and holidays, so I wait until two days after thanksgiving or whatever and pick up whole legs for pennies,I then chop it up and stack it in the freezer so I can make meals later. My absolute favorite is Lancashire Hot Pot, it is truly the food of the gods,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article1859299.ece
Ash Can
@valdivia: OMG. Too fucking funny. Thanks for the tip!
Lamb with a little fresh lemon sounds pretty good on a wintery night like this (lake-effect snow happening big-time here). I have to say, though, the decidedly nonspringy soup I made today hit the spot. We had a Paulina Market smoked turkey on Christmas, and kept the carcass on the back porch semi-frozen through the remainder of the holidays, picking away at it until there was nothing left to slice off. That semi-frozen (and still perfectly good) carcass went into a big ol’ stockpot this afternoon along with a bunch of split peas, carrots, celery, and potatoes. Add onion, bay leaves, and a little rosemary for flavor, and we’re talking feast.
RedKitten
Mmm….lamb. I never see it on sale around here, unfortunately. But one of these days, I’ll have to say “screw it” and spend the money on it anyway.
Martian Buddy
Random-ish: My power supply blew up a few days ago and I’m currently watching XP SP3 download on a borrowed laptop. To pass the time, I’m also reading Simon Winchester’s book on the Krakatoa eruption. The chapter I’m on now describes the first news agencies and the role they played in events; it’s an interesting contrast to reading about the decline and fall of modern journalism.
Mario Piperni
Michael Steele – The Cow On The Tracks
MikeJ
I’ll repost since nobody seemed to notice on the previous open thread. GOP family values:
Former Bush lawyer charged with attempted murder
Calming Influence
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I wish we had high days in the U.S.
Calming Influence
Lamb and mint jelly.
AhabTRuler
@Calming Influence: We do. The trouble is that it’s from the chemicals in the water.
beltane
@Litlebritdifrnt: That recipe looks perfect for a winter’s evening. Too bad the only place to buy lamb where I live is on a farm, where you have to buy the whole animal and let them slaughter and butcher it for you. That is a lot of lamb to keep in the freezer.
@Calming Influence: Judging by the way people drive near me, I’d say my state has plenty of high days.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I sincerely hope you’re at the very least taking business class. Best way to take the long flights over the ponds IMHO. Took coach to Europe in college, I sincerely think that right there was some level of Hell Dante hadn’t thought of yet.
As far as getting paid, the big boss had his responsibilities tripled a week or so ago and has been putting out fires pretty much all day, so he didn’t get a chance to do the final review yet. The boss who wants to keep me promised a strong recommendation though, so we’ll see what happens there.
I know you won’t see this for about a day, but you thinking it’s about time to get paid in cookies? :)
beltane
@MikeJ: That is a horrible story. The likely reason no one is talking about it is that it is too awful for “Green Balloons” style mockery. Trying to beat your wife to death in front of her two small children is no laughing matter.
jl
In the far past I have had to deal with live lambs and sheep. I had to make them ‘do things’ like go from over here to over there. They are dumb animals, close in smarts to vegetables. That is why lamb is my favorite guilt-free meat. Other than fish.
Except, when I had to load up a flock that done ate something bad and died, and laid there for a few days. That put me off lamb for awhile.
Bon apetit with the lamb.
Elie
@jacy:
Oy — you sound like you know what you are doing around the kitchen and around lamb — which I love…
Will see if I can find that cut and try it. I love lamb fat where all the flavor is –I can see where it would make beans really flavorful…
jrg
Simplest recipe in the world:
1) Place a pork tenderloin and a container of BBQ sauce in a crock pot for 8 hours.
2) Serve on a roll.
Also works with chicken.
Elie
Am going to Maine for a business trip next week and look forward to as much lobster as I can eat…I like it all — from lobster roll to full lobster — tender, sweet — can’t get it that way unless its fresh.
Yutsano
@jl: There’s a theory that the reason why sheep are the most unintelligent domesticated animals is because they had been bred so far from their wild kin as to basically kill the genetics for almost any intelligence. It sort of makes sense if you want to the keep the animal more or less dependent on you and you don’t want the smart ones getting out in the fields too far astray.
Annie
@General Winfield Stuck:
Dad…what are you doing with all of these pictures of me?
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: I actually DID see this before leaving. Economy class, all the way on a full plane! Groan.
Cookies! You know it. I’m officially going off the grid now.
Annie
@asiangrrlMN:
And we want to see pictures of the welcome home greeting from Raven and Shadow. Safe trip…..
jacy
@Elie:
I like to cook, luckily the people around me like to eat. :)
Here (Southern Louisiana) you can find lamb at Winn-Dixie and at Albertsons, but that’s usually only leg. At the Wal-Mart they just recently started selling shank and split breasts. When we had an influx of Hispanic people after Katrina, a lot of the stores around here changed what they stock, even Wal-Mart. Which is fabulous for someone who comes from the West/Southwest originally and can now find all the ethnic foods we took for granted when I was growing up. Nothing like a chili verde made with freshly roasted tomatillas and lots of cilantro! Another nice thing, we have a lot of Hispanic mom and pop markets that have opened up in small towns and now can get fresh tamales and freshly made tortillas. Little place down the street even makes cactus tacos with a spicy tomatilla salsa. Heaven.
Mike Kay
The Texas Longhorns losing Colt McCoy is just like 9/11
ellaesther
@Calming Influence: Tee hee!
The way this comment is laid out, with your name, it almost looks prescriptive:
Calming Influence: Lamb and mint jelly.
And perhaps I should note that I’m easily amused.
arguingwithsignposts
Well, that game turned around pretty quickly – 21-24. Bama went into a shell at the beginning of the third quarter. stupid move.
OriGuy
My housemate, who does the cooking, used to be married to a Saudi. So we usually get lamb at the halal grocery nearby, unless I go all the way to Cosentino’s. Have to get some of the seasonings like sumac at the halal place anyway.
When she was married, her husband’s family would get a whole lamb live from somewhere in the Sierras, butcher it, and cook it in a pit.
Annie
@OriGuy:
When we lived in Bosnia, for holidays, we would roast a whole lamb in the garden. The worst part was the night before, where a whole dead lamb would be hanging out on my kitchen table. In the middle of the night when I went to get a glass of water, the dead lamb would scare the shit of me. Almost made me become a vegetarian.
Comrade Mary
Oh, God, I knew that BHF and I shared more than a love for evil equines. That’s a fabulous menu, not the least because of the adorable and tasty lamb. The single best sandwich I have ever had in my life was some barely-warm leftover roast leg of lamb on rustic white bread. My heart still weeps when I think of it.
My January cooking is cheap, peasanty, and filling, but also conducive to a little weight loss, or, at least, less weight gain. In the past week, I’ve made the following dishes:
1) Roast chicken and veggies: I sautéed lots and lots sliced onions and shredded carrots in a cast iron pan. I added a sprig of flash-frozen rosemary from my back garden plus dried sage, thyme and parsley, then laid on top of it a half chicken I had rubbed with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and more dried sage, thyme and parsley. I stuck the whole thing in a slow 350 F oven until it smelled delicious and done.
2) Roasted tomatoes with garlic: I dumped a can of diced tomatoes into a casserole dish, added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, some halved cloves of garlic and another piece of zombie rosemary, plus some dried thyme, basil and oregano. This baked alongside the chicken until it was dark and succulent and a neutron star for all the umami in the universe. (h/t Ezra).
I had the chicken breast for supper and the dark meat for lunch the next day. Somehow, I managed to save almost all of the roasted veggies for that evening, when I made …
3) Veggie pudding: I mixed the leftover carrot and onion with cooked spinach, some beaten eggs, yogurt, crumbled sheep’s milk-feta, and a little cornmeal for crunch and flour for binding. I baked this in muffin tins at a vain attempt at portion control, but it came out of the 375 oven crispy outside and creamy within, and I just couldn’t resist. I did have about 4 muffins left for the next day. It was just like the best turkey stuffing ever, except much lighter on the bread.
4) Bastard turkey mulligatawny: My sister gave me the leftover turkey carcass from Christmas at her place, divided into three freezer bags. I used one of those bags, the leftover chicken bones and about 6 chicken feet from the freezer (plus more onion and carrot) to make a really nice stock. After it was strained and left to cool, I found about 2 cups of good meat still on the bird that was now completely tasteless. I saved it, because I had Plans.
The next day, I slow-fried onions in a dutch oven until they were golden and limp, then added a bunch of curry spices (ground turmeric and cinnamon, bay leaves, whole coriander, whole cumin, whole fenugreek, whole black mustard, and something else I’m forgetting). To this, I added the tasteless turkey, now finely chopped, and stirred it around a bit until it was infused with flavour, then added chopped garlic, ginger and a tiny bit of water. I finished building the soup by adding a can of diced tomatoes, lots of sliced carrots (hey, the huge bags were on sale!), the turkey stock, and a cup of black French lentils, not because I was being fancy, but because they were all I had on hand. To a boil, to a simmer, to a really, really nice soup.
Wow. Now I’m hungry again.
Mnemosyne
It turns out that typing is difficult when a kitten is napping on your arm.
Honus
@Calming Influence: be sure you get real young one. As a Lebanese chef, I can tell you there’s a big difference between lamb and mutton.
And John, tabouli has the following ingredients: mint, salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions, parsley and burgul wheat. Nothing else. Don’t even suggest chick peas or garlic.
Anne Laurie
@Calming Influence:
Sorry, but he’ll always be The Undie-Bomber to me.
Brick Oven Bill
Re: ‘Undie-bomber’
”I am doing God’s work.”.
Anne Laurie is minimizing the threat of the crotch-bomber. This is because she is a soft bigot.
Before the Goldman Power Structure took hold and it became verboten to measure the intellect of prospective American Citizens, as to dumb down the electorate and not threaten Goldman’s dominance of you and me, we received 375 plus 86 equals 461 datapoints, indicating that the average intelligence of Nigerian men equals 67.
Now consider that Abdulmutallab was of the upper-crust of Nigerian society, so apply one Standard Deviation to his IQ; or 67 plus 15 equals 82, as wealth and intellect are interrelated. Now let us consider that he was a mechanical engineer.
Engineering is a trade that attracts those seeking qualitative knowledge, indicating a higher than average IQ, even among those of Wealth. Rich Nigerians would have the option of going into less quantitative trades, such as law, but Abdulmutallab chose instead to become a mechanical engineer.
So add one more one half of one standard deviation; or 82 plus 7 equals 89.
An IQ of 89 is consistent with a terrorist who would purchase his final airplane ticket with cash, bring no luggage on his last earthly flight, and tell his dad about his plans, risking the ‘snitch’ that almost foiled his crotch-bomb plans. So this analysis seems to be sound.
God help us if a man of average English intelligence ever gets angry at the US.
Yutsano
@Brick Oven Bill: ¿que?
General Winfield Stuck
@Brick Oven Bill:
Shut up you deranged mental midget!!
Yutsano
@General Winfield Stuck: Battle of wits with an unarmed person mi amigo. Battle of wits with an unarmed person.
Brick Oven Bill
I will now shut up Pope, and go to bed.
General Winfield Stuck
@Brick Oven Bill:
Bless you my idjit.
Anne Laurie
@jl:
Terry Pratchett had a wonderful riff about how unfortunate for human history it was that the monotheistic God appeared to a shepherd instead of a goatherd… “because sheep need to be driven, but goats can only be led.”
Have you seen the documentary Sweetgrass, or would that just bring back bad memories?
@General Winfield Stuck: Two comments: Has Charlie met Libbie yet?
And a tasty, lo-cal dog treat I forgot: Baby carrots. Not carrot sticks, mind you, but the “expensive” gourmet pre-peeled veggies intended for out-of-hand snacking, which are still cheaper than commercial biscuits.
General Winfield Stuck
@Anne Laurie:
Nah,. Libby lives in Atlanta, belongs to a flickr friend. She just floored me with the mega cuteness and I felt the need to share that.,
I will try the baby carrots,. I graze on them myself.:)
Comrade Luke
Anyone ever played Settlers of Catan? If so, is it any good?
freelancer (itouch)
@Mnemosyne:
I’m heartbroken for you.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne:
I’m trying the psy op of typing with one hand and scratching with the other. It’s not working.
eemom
we Greeks are big lamb eaters. Had a boneless leg for Christmas dinner. The way I cook it, as taught by my mom, is to chop a whole bunch of garlic into little pieces and poke them throughout the innards of the meat before roasting. Yum.
Yutsano
@eemom: Lamb in pita with onions, tomatoes, and tsatsiki. Yeah I’m a bit of a gyro freak.
Oh and whatever you decide the spelling of tsatsiki is I will accept. I haven’t seen a standard spelling of it and I defer to your expertise.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
@Comrade Luke:
It’s ok as an introduction to more involved strategy board games. But it gets boring pretty quickly. El Grande, Puerto Rico, or Agricola are more complicated but much more replayable strategy board games.
See http://www.boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame
asiangrrlMN
@Annie: They will clamor over me for exactly five minutes before realizing they have more important things to do–like sniff each other’s butts.
I am in the Taipei airport waiting to board my plane.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: I will take the delay until you get on the big metal tube.
The kittehs sure know how to put us in our place huh? I’m sure they at the very least have noticed your absence. If not, well, I have. :)
Glocksman
This is the meat loaf recipe I used when I worked at a local restaurant noted for the quality of our fare.
Scale down as necessary.
1.5 cups each ground celery, ground onions, and ground green peppers.
15 pounds ground beef.
5 pounds ground sausage.
18 whole eggs.
1 and a half loaves of bread soaked in milk to the level where the bread cannot absorb any more.
Salt, pepper, and ground garlic to taste.
Mix up well* and bake in long pans with 5 loaves to a pan for about 1.5 hours.
*That means knead it in by hand until your hands are literally about to fall off from the cold.
Or machine mix it if you have a large enough mixer and a dough hook.
freelancer (itouch)
@asiangrrlMN:
I’m crestfallen, and am in a bad, and literally cold place. Aside from my personal life, I still feel strongly about some things.
I anxiouslly await your return here, to this place where familial gravity and the weight of the past is alleviated. Here’s hoping you catch some respite and your burdens are lifted upon your return to your frozen homeland. We did miss you, and we hope you fly well, and may a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest. I for one, wish I could completely empathize with the emotional ringer you have just been put through, but I’m glad you’re on your way back and not terminating your journey in the South China Sea or in the largesse of the Pacific. FSM bless.
Glocksman
Of course others have used ground saltines in place of the bread when the recipe is scaled down and didn’t suffer any ill effects.
If anyone experiments with the above and gets good results, please post your recipe for me, because as a result of my ‘pre union’ employment, all of my cooking skills are calibrated at the ‘serves 50 or more’ level. :)
Glocksman
@Glocksman:
D’oh!
I forgot to add ‘season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground garlic’ before mixing.
Garlic was our ‘secret ingredient’, so to speak.
freelancer (itouch)
Seriously,
everyone in the ‘sphere has had their lists of the best of the decade.
Not once have I seen the Mamet movie
Redbelt
show up once on any list, which I find a fucking tragedy. Anyone with a Netflix Instant account owes themselves to see this film. It may be a guilty pleasure, but so be it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1012804/
everyone owes it to themselves to see this film at least once, if not for its last 2 minutes. In terms of final shots it’s as least as moving as Gallipolli or Paths of Glory.
Glocksman
If I can remember (or get from my old boss) our old German Potato Salad recipe, I’ll post it.
All I remember so far is that it involves a lot of chopped bacon, bacon fat mixed with starch, vinegar, and sugar, and was wonderful.
Gravenstone
@Glocksman: I initially read that as “ground sardines”. Doh.
I make my meatloaf from 1:1 ground round (or similar lean meat, bison was a successful substitute) and sausage. Although I prefer flavored sausages like the local fare containing either diced apples or bacon (yes, sausage AND bacon). Breadcrumbs, eggs and finely diced onions comprise the balance. Nice hearty fare, well apportioned for the dead of winter. Often paired with roast squash.
Glocksman
Heh..sausage and bacon sounds like something I’ll try.
And personally I love squash basted with a garlic and olive oil mix grilled on a gas grill in foil* until tender.
It goes wonderfully with the steak grilled at the same time.
*Though those who are more skilled than I am at gas grilling can obtain better results by just grilling the long cut squash as if they were merely cuts of meat.
My own experience is that squash cooked so is fucking wonderful, but I am biased. :)
hamletta
@beltane: The Dead sucked, too.
Glocksman
@hamletta:
Perhaps I’m advertising my ‘youngling’ status, but I’ve never liked the Grateful Dead.
That said, I’m a born and bred southwestern Indiana ‘Hoosier’ that loves traditional (Girth Brooks can DIAF) country music and doesn’t mind spending hours over a stove if it benefits a good cause.
Glocksman
Here’s a cheap catfish fiddler recipe I used at the Meadows Inn and had exactly zero complaints with.
Mix one half cornmeal and one half ‘Kentucky Kernel’ seasoned fried chicken flour in a pan.
Cover the fiddlers in the mix using an egg/buttermilk mix until uniformly coated and then deep fry at 350F for 5 to 8 minutes until done.
freelancer
It is really late/early for everyone here, and not to blogwhore, but can I just say it?
Hey, Matt,
Suck. On. This.
Doctor Science
A matched set, sort of:
Puzzles: Two pietàs
Book: The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion, by Leo Steinberg
Svensker
@Comrade Luke:
We LOVE Settlers. Our college age son plays it with his buds and they have fierce battles. It isn’t as complex as a lot of strategy games but it can be very satisfying. Only real drawback is that you need a minimum of 3 players but more than 4 players is no good unless you have the expanded version.
Svensker
@Glocksman:
Fiddler?
A type of catfish? Fiddlehead fern?
Glocksman
It must be a local term.
It refers to a whole catfish, as opposed to catfish fillets.
asdf
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Thank you very much for this recipe.
asiangrrlMN
@Yutsano: Ha! Yes, teh kittehs, do, indeed, know how to put me in my place. I am back, and as I said, they clamored around me for about five minutes. They were ecstatic to get an extra portion of wet food, and now, I have no idea where they are. Sigh.
Aw, I’m glad YOU missed me at least!
And, just as I wrote this, Raven crawled into my arms.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: Awww.
We is upstairs nattering about if you’d care to join us.