FOODIES MEET HERE.

[Master Rel]

Looks great!

And Poutine gravy...hmmmm yum!

Point!

[Master Rel]

WWYD (what would you do) with...




Something other than throw it away lol.

A recipe for using Spam as the highlight or focus element.


I make a Tex-Mex breakfast that the kids like...

Migaspam!

1 can of Spam (low sodium if I can get it)...sliced into pinkie sized strips

3 flour tortillas...sliced into the same width strips

6 eggs...whipped with salt, pepper, and 3 tablespoons of water (the water hydrates the egg proteins and helps them to be fluffy)

1 jalapeno...diced

1 small onion...diced

cheese for finishing


In large skillet dry cook the spam until crispy, pull, set aside.

In same pan add butter and tortilla strips until crispy, pull, set aside.

In same pan add pepper and onion, once they have some color add the whipped eggs, scramble.

Once the eggs are set turn off heat, fold in the spam and strips, top with cheese.


Yum







 

[B1ondeange1]

I am sure there is some mundane food here in the USA that many outside the states would find odd, ugly, or gross.

I know that peanutbutter is seen in some places as nasty and inconceivable as a food...but I would say that 99% of Americans grew up on it.

in Australia, its vegemite  I'm an Aussie, and I loves my vegemite on toast! Not something I eat very often as quite honestly I'm naughty and slack with brekkie, often having brunch instead but I do loves my vegemite! I remember a camp I was a peer tutor at a few years ago, there were those little single serve containers of vegemite, and the tutors were making bets as to how many someone could put on their toast, eat it all, and keep it down! 
vegemite is a love it or hate it spread! my sister wont touch it, my dad adores it.

personally im not much of a fancy food person. im a very fussy eater, and on top of that i have food allergies- the strangest being im allergic to ginger. yep, ginger. its only really appeared as ive gotten older (that or i just didnt notice it as a kid). ginger is sadly in a lot of foods, and a lot of sauces. and it also means i cant eat gingerbread! i used to love gingerbread! its also a family tradition that we make a gingerbread house or village (lots of itty bitty gingerbread houses!) every christmas, so my sister trialed and errored until she found a gingerless bread like biscuit recipe that works very well for house building!
my gingerbread house village from last year, complete with gingerbread people and trees! very popular with kids, though can be just as popular with adults. villages are easier to make (anyone whos made a gingerbread house knows how difficult they are to put together, and love to collapse on you either while trying to ice them together, or part waay through decorating, but coz you are working with smaller pieces its much easier!), and it means people can take home (or eat then and there) their very own individually decorated house! dont get me wrong though, it still took hours to put together. and as a guide the houses are only a couple inches tall




as far as food food goes however, i do have a favourite recipe that i found last year online- apricot chicken! a lot of recipes call for moroccan seasoning- but i have allergic reactions to it. others call for french onion soup mix- my sisters allergic to that. this recipe however is safe for both of us! i will track it down and post it! if you are a bit of a sweet tooth but like the slight taste of spices this is very nice, and if you cant stand spicy food in any way then you simply reduce the amount of spice. this isnt a recipe for people who like their food hot or spicy though.

[B1ondeange1]

heres the recipe as the interwebs provided it!

Apricot Chicken Casserole
2 tablespoons oil
1.5 kg chicken drumsticks/pieces
¼ cup plain flour
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups chicken stock
2x 400g tins apricot halves (or 1 large tin), drained, juice reserved
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into 2cm chunks (optional)

Preheat oven to 160°C.

Process/blend half of the drained apricots with 1/2 cup reserved syrup.

Put chicken pieces into a plastic bag and add flour. Shake flour through until pieces are coated. Heat oil in a heavy based casserole dish. Brown chicken on all sides, in two batches. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Sauté onion and garlic in the same pan until tender. Stir through spices and fry one minute until aromatic. Add chicken stock and blended apricots and juice, and bring to the boil, scraping bits off the bottom of the pan. Return chicken legs to pan and reduce heat to a slow simmer. Add remaining apricot halves and carrots. Cover dish with lid and transfer to the oven and cook for 1 hour. Remove lid and cook for a further half hour.

Serve on top of steamed rice, sprinkled with chopped fresh coriander or parsley.

i prefer making this recipe using beef instead of chicken, as i love my red meat! it makes the meat so lovely and tender! obviously use beef stock instead of chicken stock im slack and dont bother to flour my meat beforehand, if you do this you will need to use something to thicken the sauce later (next time i plan to do it right and see how much better it is! im sure it will be!). im also further slack, i cook it in a big pot, and dont transfer it to the oven, it turns out quite fine just leaving it to simmer on the stove for whatever length of time i end up leaving it (similar time to the oven time id say). can you tell im not a cook?! you do have to make sure about halfway through to remove the lid, otherwise you wont reduce the liquid down enough. i daresay itd work well in a slow cooker. excellent for a group of people as it makes up a fair bit, we took it to a family casserole night where it was very popular. it also tastes equally yummy reheated for lunch or dinner the next day!
oh and personal preference, i use two tins of apricot nectar instead of using two tins of apricot halves then blending one tins worth

[Master Rel]

Ginger allergy eh?

That sucks.

A bit of bad and sad news...turmeric is in the ginger family.



But if you had no issues then sweet!

You can try a bit of clove and Szechuan peppercorns to give that zip if you need to replace the ginger or turmeric.

[B1ondeange1]

Tumeric I have no problems with, bizarre as that is *shrugs* I don't use it very often in cooking, but when I do I'm fine. I actually have allergies to the ginger plant too, come up with hive rashes if I touch the plant. The allergy isn't serious/ life threatening, but I prefer not to feel sick as a dog and have an itchy mouth after eating yummy food

[eerockk]

Hey all,

I have a penchant/problem for/with being a little on the dramatic side when it comes to my hot dogs. I'm hoping to eventually start a series on my YouTube called EeRocKK's Epic Weiners, but who has time these days? In the meantime, I present to you:

Epic Weiner: Homage to Buffalo NY edition

Sahlen's Hot Dogs on grilled cheese 'buns' with bacon, green olives, horseradish, ketchup, mustard, and Frank's Red Hot Aïoli. I barely finished the third one!



This weekend, I pop the tank off the BBQ, and hook it up to my burner stand... I'm makin beer! Pics and vid to come.

As a fellow homebrewers' guild member told me: I't about damn time... he was right.

[Master Rel]

Dear lord, there is a lot going on with those hot dogs

Whew!

Ok...I will intro the winner of the Fantasy Fest Feast, Open Division...cheeseburgerbacondogs!

(I'm on the road so pics will follow later)

Hogie roll, toasted cut side down then flipped over and covered with a layer of feta mayo (equal parts feta and mayo with dill)

Large hotdog (was a local hotdog but any quality brand will do), splayed open and grilled on skin side only (make lots of cross cuts on open edge and the surface will puff up like a pinecone)

1/2 lb of lean beef (there is plenty of fat already) seasoned with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, grated onion, garlic...form into a shape that compliments the roll and grill

Thick bacon baked with black pepper and brown sugar on it

Layer the above as well as cold cole slaw with cabbage, carrot, and green apple.

[Master Rel]

Point by the way!

[eerockk]

I... I must try to make that! YUM!

Thanks Rem! 

[Master Rel]

Yummiest with pork and lamb blend of ground meat if you like lamb that is 

[eerockk]

Bo-SMaSH Ale

Hi all, I FINALLY brewed a batch of beer this year. It's about time as I mentioned above as I usually have about 4 or 5 batches done by this point in the year. Oh well. Never too late to brew!

Gravity started at 1.060, and I think I boiled a fair bit of volume off. The batch finished at a final volume of 5 gallons (19L), which is lower than I had hoped. As a result, the IBUs were calculated to be around 149 - also a lot higher than I hoped for, but man did it taste interesting! When things settle down, there will be a really powerful aroma of Calypso, which on its own, is very interesting indeed, and quite unique from the hops I've used/tasted before.

85g Calypso @ 12.3 for 60m
40g Calypso @ 12.3 for 20m

Last night, I charged and bottled it. IBUs rang in at 143 (fairly bitter) after some revised numbers as well. I'm very pleased with the taste of this one. All flavours seemed to have settled down over the last two weeks and I really liked what I tasted going in to the bottle, and I certainly can't wait to taste it carbonated! This brew was even clearer than the Beetdown was, and it's a nice, light golden colour! Calypso is definitely something I'd SMaSH again! OG was 1.059 and the final was 1.012, so it's telling me that the alcohol is 6.13% It's a little high for my aim, but it holds up those hops quite nicely.

33 pints bottled... almost 10-12 pints short of what I normally achieve. Oh well, quality, not quantity, right? More to come, including another SMaSH I brewed last weekend.

[Master Rel]

What fun.

Do you print up labels?

[eerockk]

What fun.

Do you print up labels?

I only did once for last year's Advent Calendar Brew even with the homebrewers' guild I belong to. (13 days, 13 homemade craft beers - that hit me like a ton of bricks... I'm not much of a drinker despite my ability to make mass quantities).

My entry was an ultra-hoppy IPA that I called "Paint Peeler IPA". I used painters' masking tape for the label (only one person got that) and that's really as much fun as I've had with labeling.



It was a hoppy beer alright, but after relaxing and carbonating in the bottle, flavors tend to settle down a little, and this one turned out quite balanced despite it's hop-forward tendencies. This was beer #13, and the final one. I'd make this beer again too, but I'm going to have a tricky time getting some of the rarer hops that I used.

My own review of Paint Peeler. Like the custom sound fonts, I reviewed all of the brews from the event HERE.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DCbIoynwLI" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DCbIoynwLI</a>

[Master Rel]

I see I see 

Being an artist I am drawn towards the aesthetics...paint peeler...for example.

I like the painters tape idea, but I would have been tempted to layer paint too create the flaking paint effect.

A stencil with white letters...seal...dry...spray with hairspray and sprinkle the flake areas with sand...paint again with another color...dry...rough up with a toothbrush (the paint covering the sand will flake off revealing the white underneath)

It sounds all crazy but once you do it, the process will be easy peasy.