Virtual Banquet Thread

momofthegoons

vapor accessory addict
Not my spread, but I really thought these ideas were pretty cool... although the hotdogs in the first pic don't look like fingers as much as something else to me..... :p

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arf777

No longer dogless
The difference a year makes. According to Facebook, last November I was cooking big steaks, veal, and duck. This November can't afford that- have to make due with roasted chicken drumsticks in a fancy sauce (sherry, mushrooms, garlic, tarragon, savory, cream)

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momofthegoons

vapor accessory addict
Oh come on, you can't post that and not tell us what it was stuffed with!! :drool:
Lol... oops!!!

It was stuffed with a basic stuffing; dried bread, celery, onions and some fresh herbs.

Now these pork chops, that I made this weekend, were stuffed with an apple cinnamon stuffing, also with celery and onion.

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And since I'm here, lol... I discovered this type of radish last year and love them. They're called watermelon radishes. They're much sweeter and milder than the 'normal' variety. I do peel the outer skin off.

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Slow Draw McGraw

Well-Known Member
Company Rep
Lol... oops!!!

It was stuffed with a basic stuffing; dried bread, celery, onions and some fresh herbs.

How these pork chops, that I made this weekend, were stuffed with an apple cinnamon stuffing, also with celery and onion.

photo%202_zpsid3n4l2i.jpg


And since I'm here, lol... I discovered this type of radish last year and love them. They're called watermelon radishes. They're much sweeter and milder than the 'normal' variety. I do peel the outer skin off.

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How do I tell my wife I'm lusting over radishes and another woman's hand!!?? I guess I don't :lol:
 

grokit

well-worn member
Here's some polenta I made last night, I can't believe I don't make this more often. No more gluten/flour and I'm tired of corn tortillas, so I am leaving the comfort zone of having tacos seemingly every evening.

edit: Sneak preview of the 'finished product':

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Red and green for the holidays, because I found a couple of peppers that didn't make it into the beans.

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Gotta work on my focus here.

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And then today I roasted off some cauliflower, never been much of a cauliflower guy (is there such a thing lol) but I like it this way. The spicy bean and kale stew above is pretty loose so I'm gonna throw the al dente cauliflower into it and bring it to a dinner party tomorrow night like I planned it that way ;)
 
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arf777

No longer dogless
Here's some polenta I made last night, I can't believe I don't make this more often. No more gluten/flour and I'm tired of corn tortillas, so I am leaving the comfort zone of having tacos seemingly every evening.

edit: Sneak preview of the 'finished product':

Gl1HRrz.jpg


pvPFvYd.jpg

Red and green for the holidays, because I found a couple of peppers that didn't make it into the beans.

YwFDl2B.jpg

Gotta work on my focus here.

NH38DV8.jpg

And then today I roasted off some cauliflower, never been much of a cauliflower guy (is there such a thing lol) but I like it this way. The spicy bean and kale stew above is pretty loose so I'm gonna throw the al dente cauliflower into it and bring it to a dinner party tomorrow night like I planned it that way ;)


Polenta is tasty and flexible stuff. Just be careful- there is at least one major illness you can get from eating too much corn (pellagra). Can be compensated for by making sure you eat foods or supplements that have a large amount of tryptophan, nicotonic acid, and niacin.

Note on the cauliflower- if you cook nice caramelized cauliflower a little longer til they get soft, and then puree them with some butter and cream, makes an amazing sauce or garnish. Can also be combined with eggs, oil and garlic for cauliflower aioli. All the nutrition of cauliflower but with the texture and taste of aioli.
 
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grokit

well-worn member
Polenta is tasty and flexible stuff. Just be careful- there is at least one major illness you can get from eating too much corn (pellagra). Can be compensated for by making sure you eat foods or supplements that have a large amount of tryptophan, nicotonic acid, and niacin.

Note on the cauliflower- if you cook nice caramelized cauliflower a little longer til they get soft, and then puree them with some butter and cream, makes an amazing sauce or garnish. Can also be combined with eggs, oil and garlic for cauliflower aioli. All the nutrition of cauliflower but with the texture and taste of aioli.
I didn't roast the cauliflower that much because I wanted to keep it as finger food, and the still-firm texture made a nice meat substitute in the bean and kale stew. But I will keep that in mind for next time, because I am addicted to roasting cauliflower now! It's easy, tasty and way more nutritious than (most) potatoes :)

Also thanks for the pellagra info, I eat organic corn flakes too so I'll check into it.
We had turkey last night at the dinner I brought the polenta to, so perfect :tup:
 
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grokit,

grokit

well-worn member
(pellagra)
So it seems that corn needs to be soaked in food-grade lime to nixtamalize it, this is the traditional process. But of course it's not done in the usa, I guess there's there's no profit in calcium hydroxide so our solution to pellagra seems to be to make all the corn mills supplement their ground corn with niacin (vitamin b3).

Have you ever limed/treated corn grits to nixtamalize them yourself?
Also cold cereal just got even harder :bang:!
 
grokit,

arf777

No longer dogless
So it seems that corn needs to be soaked in food-grade lime to nixtamalize it, this is the traditional process. But of course it's not done in the usa, I guess there's there's no profit in calcium hydroxide so our solution to pellagra seems to be to make all the corn mills supplement their ground corn with niacin (vitamin b3).

Have you ever limed/treated corn grits to nixtamalize them yourself?
Also cold cereal just got even harder :bang:!


I have, when working in a Santa Fe style place-we made our own posole (hominy) from local dried corn. But it was so long ago I'd have to look up a recipe. It's pretty easy- basically a short pickling in lime- but it can be dangerous if the lime is improperly handled.

Masa is made from corn that has been nixtamalized, as real polenta and grits should also be, so if you eat things made from it (like pupusas, corn tortillas, etc) you can get around the problem. And you can get whole hominy for posole stew in a lot of bodegas.

But even eating nixtamalized corn needs additional supplementation. One of the worst pellagra outbreaks in modern history was in Italy, where proper limed hominy polenta was being eaten. Just make sure you're either eating a lot of veggies and beans, or taking the right supplements, if you eat as much corn as it sounds like you do.
 

grokit

well-worn member
Just make sure you're either eating a lot of veggies and beans, or taking the right supplements, if you eat as much corn as it sounds like you do.
I just got diagnosed celiac, and have only ramped up my corn consumption recently. I've always eaten a lot of beans, and a decent amount of fresh veggies but I have increased the latter now. I ate occasional cob corn, and I do like my corn flakes. My nightly tacos were usually made with flour, unless I bought store-made corn tortillas (from masa). But lately I switched to organic corn tortillas, which need to be frozen because they go bad quickly and they do taste different; I wonder if they are from masa or not. I don't like them as much and love polenta, so I said screw tacos in the interest of health. But now I wonder about my bob's red mill organic yellow corn grits, also their white grits don't seemed to be pickled/limed. Neither does arrowhead mills or any other grits I can find, (q): is there even such a thing as organic masa!

A: hell yes there is, anybody want a crap-ton of organic bob's red mill yellow corn grits :bang:?

I'll probably try to lime them up, maybe donate them or something but I'm definitely getting the organic masa from now on, thanks for the heads-up! Now to do more research on my organic corn flakes :suspicious:
 
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arf777

No longer dogless
I just got diagnosed celiac, and have only ramped up my corn consumption recently. I've always eaten a lot of beans, and a decent amount of fresh veggies but I have increased the latter now. I ate occasional cob corn, and I do like my corn flakes. My nightly tacos were usually made with flour, unless I bought store-made corn tortillas (from masa). But lately I switched to organic corn tortillas, which need to be frozen because they go bad quickly and they do taste different; I wonder if they are from masa or not. I don't like them as much and love polenta, so I said screw tacos in the interest of health. But now I wonder about my bob's red mill organic yellow corn grits, also their white grits don't seemed to be pickled/limed. Neither does arrowhead mills or any other grits I can find, (q): is there even such a thing as organic masa!

A: hell yes there is, anybody want a crap-ton of organic bob's red mill yellow corn grits :bang:?

I'll probably try to lime them up, maybe donate them or something but I'm definitely getting the organic masa from now on, thanks for the heads-up! Now to do more research on my organic corn flakes :suspicious:


Yeah, a lot of commercial grits and polentas in the US are not properly limed. Try to find an actual Italian market, they should have the real deal. In non-specialty stores, if you aren't in or near the South, it can be hard to find. Have not found any online yet that are organic and limed. Congaree Milling Company makes them, but I don't see them for sale on their site. Maybe you can find a store that can order them.

I'd be really careful liming already milled corn. It may be possible, but in all my time cooking I have never seen it done. Just the whole kernels, which are then dried and milled. With already milled, the timing would be completely different, and it would be really hard to properly rinse out the lime when the curing is done, which is essential to avoid poisoning.
 
arf777,
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