Food

[geoffbot]

Nice entrance. Habanero-beer asparagus risotto. Wow.

[movet22]

For the record, it was Sculpin Habanero IPA, and it was gross to drink. Had to do *something* with it, and butter and duck fat hide most flaws.

[geoffbot]

Good shout - I have a chilli beer from Christmas to drink.

[geoffbot]

[movet22]

Some people say, "it was meant to be" , but I'm not much of a believer in fate.

That said, I had a hankering for sausages today, and went into the butcher to buy some of thier in-store ones, which are great. I also find my favourite casings to be in stock (somewhat rare) and some lovely pork shoulder cuts at a great price.

Attachment 46453

I'm going with an Asian fusion profile with the ones I'll eat tonight, with (too much) fresh garlic, my own 5-spice (it has 6 spices in it), and some dried tabiche.

I'm going to need details here - I've always wanted to case my own sausage (just started custom burger blends), but iy seems very intimidating to deal with casings and whatnot.

[CanadianStraps]

I'm going to need details here - I've always wanted to case my own sausage (just started custom burger blends), but iy seems very intimidating to deal with casings and whatnot.

Not at all. Ask your butcher for casings. They'll be packed in salt, soak them in tepid water for about an hour beforehand. A hand-crank grinder like I pictured is about $25 and comes with sausage stuffing tubes. But a pork shoulder, cut it into rough 2-3" cubes, then put it in the freezer. You don't want to freeze it solid, but it should be 3/4 the way there: grinds much easier. Run it all through the grinder once, then gently fold in whatever you want to spice it with and run it through the grinder again. Work the casings onto a stuffing tube, and tie a knot in the end. It's easier as a 2-man job. Practice makes perfect, but there is a real short runway on learning. Sausages are poor people food for a reason: cheap and easy. But the possibilities are near endless on what you can do with them, and the accessibility of making them yourself does not have to spoil any luxuriousness or decadence in flavour. Mix in duck with some of that pork and the flavour is amazing. You can stuff whatever you want into those casings.

You're looking for somewhere between 15-20% fat content. It might look questionable but it is required for good flavour. 'Lean' sausages should be 10% fat minimum or they will be tough and flavourless. But you can also over-fat, and they will be hard to cook.

If you buy an untrimmed pork shoulder and grind it all up, the fat content should be perfect.

[Henry Krinkle]

Oh yes! Green bananas!



That can only mean one thing, coconut banana curry with a firm white fish (halibut today)

[movet22]

Oh yes! Green bananas!



That can only mean one thing, coconut banana curry with a firm white fish (halibut today)

Looks delicious and the sear on the halibut is perfect!

[Henry Krinkle]

Looks delicious and the sear on the halibut is perfect!

Thanks. This is a staple in our house. Every time we do go to a big grocery store we look for unripe bananas. This is based on a real Thai recipe, but the dish traditionally has the fish simmered in the coconut milk. I really prefer finding a nice piec of fish and searing it. It makes a better textural counterpoint to the bananas.

[geoffbot]

I can't get my tuna seared enough, despite heating the pan enough, I thought. Oil, no oil?