On the rare occasions I roast duck I save the fat for roasted potatoes and other experiments. Rendered fat from a rib roast is best for Yorkshire pudding. Chickens produce a lot of fat, there are usually a couple of large lumps just inside the rear cavity, which I usually pull out and discard. I have been thinking I should save and render them and see what it might be good for.
My understanding is that Mexican lard is quite different from the highly processed stuff we get here, it has a brownish colour and contributes to the flavour of much Mexican cuisine. I have never tried it.
My understanding is that Mexican lard is quite different from the highly processed stuff we get here, it has a brownish colour and contributes to the flavour of much Mexican cuisine. I have never tried it.
Also: Cooking chicken on a gas barbecue is a PITA because if you turn your back for a second you have a grease fire. It flares up like crazy. But for some reason cooking chicken over charcoal doesn't flare up. The fat and juices will drip onto the hot coals and make lots ot steam and smoke, but generally doesn't ignite. I grill chicken on the "warming rack" of my charcoal grill over hot coals, it cooks fast but doesn't burn. I guess the absence of open flame and the fact the charcoal is using up all the oxygen?
Chicken fat (best) or butter mixed with chopped garlic and stuffed under the skin, cooked in a 400F oven with the legs facing the rear (hottest part of the oven). Rotate 90 degrees every 15 minutes and cook until the instant read thermom reads 165F. Tent with foil, ready to carve in 15 mins.
Bubble and Squeak - used to be made from leftover potatoes and cabbage and the secret was to only use roast lamb or beef fat, any kind of oil including olive oil = yuk.
Best cooked on a flat not ribbed cast iron griddle. Let the fat melt and put the mixed potato and cabbage on the griddle,patting it down about 1 inch high. Let it make a nice brown/black skin and then turn and repeat. Really nice deep green cabbage is best, on the griddle cut it into portions.
Nowadays I make it with fresh ingredients, though living in France it's difficult to get the right kind of cabbage. Maincrop potatoes are best but again difficult to find the right kind here.
The best meats to serve it with are cold roast lamb or beef or the excellent big Toulouse sausages. Rakes of raw sliced onions and home made chutney. The raw onion means it's a no-no for red wine but a good strong ale or Normandy/Breton brut cider go very well.
Years ago I was surprised to see that the Americans made and exported excellent cast iron cookware and at very good prices. Must have been 30 + years ago that I bought a cast iron wok and flat faced griddle, simply can't be done with those awful lightweight aluminium non stick pans/frying pans and woks. They never last long and where do you think the non stick finish ends up.
Long, long ago cast iron cookware was passed down through the generations, as long as you don't drop it, it will literally last forever. The heat builds up and you have to turn the gas or electricity down and down so good for the pocket and good for the environment.
All the piers that were built in the 19th century in Europe were built using cast iron pilings, the sea eats up ordinary steel in no time - a great material and nowhere near outdated.
Best cooked on a flat not ribbed cast iron griddle. Let the fat melt and put the mixed potato and cabbage on the griddle,patting it down about 1 inch high. Let it make a nice brown/black skin and then turn and repeat. Really nice deep green cabbage is best, on the griddle cut it into portions.
Nowadays I make it with fresh ingredients, though living in France it's difficult to get the right kind of cabbage. Maincrop potatoes are best but again difficult to find the right kind here.
The best meats to serve it with are cold roast lamb or beef or the excellent big Toulouse sausages. Rakes of raw sliced onions and home made chutney. The raw onion means it's a no-no for red wine but a good strong ale or Normandy/Breton brut cider go very well.
Years ago I was surprised to see that the Americans made and exported excellent cast iron cookware and at very good prices. Must have been 30 + years ago that I bought a cast iron wok and flat faced griddle, simply can't be done with those awful lightweight aluminium non stick pans/frying pans and woks. They never last long and where do you think the non stick finish ends up.
Long, long ago cast iron cookware was passed down through the generations, as long as you don't drop it, it will literally last forever. The heat builds up and you have to turn the gas or electricity down and down so good for the pocket and good for the environment.
All the piers that were built in the 19th century in Europe were built using cast iron pilings, the sea eats up ordinary steel in no time - a great material and nowhere near outdated.
When I ran a fishing lodge and had a small commercial kitchen, the best part was the Garland 24"x24" cast iron griddle (gas burners, 2 knobs as I recall so right and left could be heated separately). Once it was properly seasoned nothing would stick to it. the front was hotter than the back so in the morning I could cook up a bunch of bacon and shove it to the back to stay warm without getting overly crisp, and eggs any way you like (well some people like scrambled eggs so wet they have to be done in a double boiler, but anything else was fine). Never had to worry about scratching it. I like a good cast iron skillet but a real flat-top griddle is even better. I don't actually have a cast iron skillet right now, and am nervous to use one on a glass/ceramic stove top. Still searching for the right black steel skillet.
Decades ago dad's side of the family had a grey-iron foundry in Cleveland, making castings for machine tools and the prosaic sewer grates/manhole covers.
As a promo in the mid-60's they made some little fry pans and had them ceramic coated. They went like hot-cakes. I still have one!
Regrettably, Dad stuck to making parts for machine tools instead of becoming the new Le Creuset. Eventually almost the entirety of the foundry biz in Northeast OH disappeared.
Fine, but this is canned smoked oysters and we’re talking pizza. Maybe ask your friend if that’s okay. If not, please apply the slipper treatment to their head. I did say pizza didn’t I?A very good Italian friend once said seafood and cheese don't go together.
Personally, I tend to agree
Pre-sliced Grimm’s in vacuum bags for sandwiches. You tell me. I don’t care Nezzy, we are talking pizzas here.When you say Montreal Smoked Meat you better mean it?
A very good Italian friend once said seafood and cheese don't go together.
Personally, I tend to agree
Kind of fun reading if you are into the history of dishes.
The History of Lobster Macaroni & Cheese, With A Recipe - Cuisinology
Shoulda tried harder in 1812, bettered or worsened gastronomy on the Continent. The tempering influence of our neighbor to the north is much to be valued!
I'm a bit surprised the topic of "ramps" or wild leeks hasn't come up in this thread -- there are beaucoup in NEOH and boot-leg "ramp-butter" served in restaurants therein. I think that when ramps are harvested, more shoot up the following year.
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