(.)_(.)
Thursday, February 16, 2006
drum roll please....
and so the verdict on the oysters…..good.
No problems with the little guys. Color and texture were fine and they smelled the same deep, clean, briny smell as when I shucked them. So that was happy times. Just to be sure I ate a small one raw when I was getting set up. I figured that I would get sick from that way before the smoked ones are shared with anybody. That was about 17 hours ago and no ill effects. What’s the time window for food poisoning?
I blanched them for about 5 seconds in boiling water and then smoked over cherry wood for about 30 minutes. They lost easily 50% of their size which is good because now they don’t look too scary to eat. I have them packed in oil in a small jar in the fridge.
After they were done I was able to smoke the remaining snack sticks I had to get done so I’m all finished now. Everything is cleaned and put away which feels good. Gift packs for PA are assembled and labeled as are two small ones for co-workers and the one for Dad whom I have to thank for the meat in the first place. 0 comments
and so the verdict on the oysters…..good.
No problems with the little guys. Color and texture were fine and they smelled the same deep, clean, briny smell as when I shucked them. So that was happy times. Just to be sure I ate a small one raw when I was getting set up. I figured that I would get sick from that way before the smoked ones are shared with anybody. That was about 17 hours ago and no ill effects. What’s the time window for food poisoning?
I blanched them for about 5 seconds in boiling water and then smoked over cherry wood for about 30 minutes. They lost easily 50% of their size which is good because now they don’t look too scary to eat. I have them packed in oil in a small jar in the fridge.
After they were done I was able to smoke the remaining snack sticks I had to get done so I’m all finished now. Everything is cleaned and put away which feels good. Gift packs for PA are assembled and labeled as are two small ones for co-workers and the one for Dad whom I have to thank for the meat in the first place. 0 comments
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
making headway
I didn’t get to smoking the oysters…yet. If they haven’t spoiled (dear god let them be happy) I will try that Wednesday after work. What I did manage to do however is clear the freezer of the pork, pork fat and venison that was in there. I put the meat in the fridge to defrost starting around Thursday and also put 5 pounds of cubed pork in the fridge to cure for kielbasa on Wednesday. Saturday morning/afternoon I ground all the meat that still needed grinding and then stuffed and smoked kielbasa which came out alright. Then on Sunday I made a venison version of the Cheesy Jalapeno sausage and then smoked it. That was cool. And I also made a batch of snack sticks from the venison. You may know that we had a minor blizzard type event on Sunday so I can now add smoking sausage in a snow storm to my list of accomplishments. My biggest worries were that the low flame on the burner would be blown out and that the part of the remote thermometer that had to be outside wouldn’t like being exposed to the cold and snow. But neither was an issue so happy day for me. And finally I made up some breakfast sausage and plain ‘hamburger’ (for dad) with the remaining venison last night after work.
It was a long haul but good to get it done and we’ll have plenty of goodies to bring to PA this weekend. I didn’t touch the moose meat yet however, so that will be waiting for another fit of motivation. And mad props to Reen for (once again) being a great sport as I dirty up the kitchen and fridge with ground meat and fat everywhere, and permeate our home with the aroma from the smoker for two days.
You may notice a new feature in the sidebar. I found it difficult to do all the math of adding up the sausage made from last year, so I thought I could just keep a running total here. I’m confident that if I put my mind to it I can break the century mark. 3 comments
I didn’t get to smoking the oysters…yet. If they haven’t spoiled (dear god let them be happy) I will try that Wednesday after work. What I did manage to do however is clear the freezer of the pork, pork fat and venison that was in there. I put the meat in the fridge to defrost starting around Thursday and also put 5 pounds of cubed pork in the fridge to cure for kielbasa on Wednesday. Saturday morning/afternoon I ground all the meat that still needed grinding and then stuffed and smoked kielbasa which came out alright. Then on Sunday I made a venison version of the Cheesy Jalapeno sausage and then smoked it. That was cool. And I also made a batch of snack sticks from the venison. You may know that we had a minor blizzard type event on Sunday so I can now add smoking sausage in a snow storm to my list of accomplishments. My biggest worries were that the low flame on the burner would be blown out and that the part of the remote thermometer that had to be outside wouldn’t like being exposed to the cold and snow. But neither was an issue so happy day for me. And finally I made up some breakfast sausage and plain ‘hamburger’ (for dad) with the remaining venison last night after work.
It was a long haul but good to get it done and we’ll have plenty of goodies to bring to PA this weekend. I didn’t touch the moose meat yet however, so that will be waiting for another fit of motivation. And mad props to Reen for (once again) being a great sport as I dirty up the kitchen and fridge with ground meat and fat everywhere, and permeate our home with the aroma from the smoker for two days.
You may notice a new feature in the sidebar. I found it difficult to do all the math of adding up the sausage made from last year, so I thought I could just keep a running total here. I’m confident that if I put my mind to it I can break the century mark. 3 comments
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
urstas
my coworker gave me more than two dozen oysters the other day as well as a few quahogs to boot. Straight from local waters, the upper reaches of Buzzards Bay in fact. So last night was a time for shucking.
I've done my fair share of opening bivalves, but never an oyster so I was looking forward to adding a new skill to my culinary arsenal. First step was to stop in the restaurant supply store and pick up a cut-proof glove and an oyster knife. We had a clam knife already and yes the two are different. I'm also glad to have the glove for use with the mandolin style slicer that Reen got me for my birthday.
First off, let me say how scary these critters look. The shells are jagged and irregular as well as being covered in muck and other beasts like small slipper shells (boat shells to me growing up) and jingle shells. The result is that they each need a good scrubbing and there's potential for a lot of crud and hard little shells to fall into your garbage disposal if you're not careful.
As for the shucking itelf I was pleasantly surprised. At the back of each, there is a clear gap right where the shells come together that is just begging to have a knife jammed into it. Having such an obvious starting point is itself a major step up from quahogs. [if you've never shucked a raw quahog, here's something you can try at home to get the feel for it. head outside and find a smooth round/oval rock that fits in your hand comfortably and feels a bit heavy for its size. ok, now take the rock inside and get a butter knife out of the drawer. now use the knife to open the rock.] So you work the knife into that spot and once you're in just a 1/4" say, you press the handle down with firm steady pressure and you are rewarded with the yielding of the top shell and a lovely, squishy *schlock* sound that is quite satisfying. From that point you simply work the blade along the top shell, getting forward to sever the single muscle holding the two shells together. Remove top shell, work knife under oyster meat to sever the other side of the muscle and you have a loose oyster, with most of the 'liquor' still there if you've been careful.
One interesting thing is that the meat inside these guys is BIG. Like fill the palm of your hand big. The shot below is of one of the smaller ones and even it is large enough to make your stomach turn at the thought of eating it straight up. So I guess the ones we get in restaurants are the babies, much like the cherrystones you might have raw are just baby quahogs.
The big question of course is what the hell to do with them if they're too big to enjoy raw. Well I considered a seafood gumbo and also a cream based seafood chowder. But then I remembered that my uncle used to smoke mussels and thought that smoked oysters might be alright too. So that will be the plan for this weekend. I'll let you know how they turn out. 2 comments
my coworker gave me more than two dozen oysters the other day as well as a few quahogs to boot. Straight from local waters, the upper reaches of Buzzards Bay in fact. So last night was a time for shucking.
I've done my fair share of opening bivalves, but never an oyster so I was looking forward to adding a new skill to my culinary arsenal. First step was to stop in the restaurant supply store and pick up a cut-proof glove and an oyster knife. We had a clam knife already and yes the two are different. I'm also glad to have the glove for use with the mandolin style slicer that Reen got me for my birthday.
First off, let me say how scary these critters look. The shells are jagged and irregular as well as being covered in muck and other beasts like small slipper shells (boat shells to me growing up) and jingle shells. The result is that they each need a good scrubbing and there's potential for a lot of crud and hard little shells to fall into your garbage disposal if you're not careful.
As for the shucking itelf I was pleasantly surprised. At the back of each, there is a clear gap right where the shells come together that is just begging to have a knife jammed into it. Having such an obvious starting point is itself a major step up from quahogs. [if you've never shucked a raw quahog, here's something you can try at home to get the feel for it. head outside and find a smooth round/oval rock that fits in your hand comfortably and feels a bit heavy for its size. ok, now take the rock inside and get a butter knife out of the drawer. now use the knife to open the rock.] So you work the knife into that spot and once you're in just a 1/4" say, you press the handle down with firm steady pressure and you are rewarded with the yielding of the top shell and a lovely, squishy *schlock* sound that is quite satisfying. From that point you simply work the blade along the top shell, getting forward to sever the single muscle holding the two shells together. Remove top shell, work knife under oyster meat to sever the other side of the muscle and you have a loose oyster, with most of the 'liquor' still there if you've been careful.
One interesting thing is that the meat inside these guys is BIG. Like fill the palm of your hand big. The shot below is of one of the smaller ones and even it is large enough to make your stomach turn at the thought of eating it straight up. So I guess the ones we get in restaurants are the babies, much like the cherrystones you might have raw are just baby quahogs.
The big question of course is what the hell to do with them if they're too big to enjoy raw. Well I considered a seafood gumbo and also a cream based seafood chowder. But then I remembered that my uncle used to smoke mussels and thought that smoked oysters might be alright too. So that will be the plan for this weekend. I'll let you know how they turn out. 2 comments
Friday, February 03, 2006
don't tread on duece
are you ready for hip-hop and soccer together in a single serving? Well have a look at this music video by the Revolution’s own Clint Dempsey. This one really has my brain scrambled to be honest.
Just a bit of background: Clint is sponsored by Nike who also sponsors the US National Team. Nike has come up with the “Don’t Tread On Me” campaign for the upcoming World Cup. The logo uses the familiar coiled snake from the Don’t Tread on Me flag you might recognize. I’m guessing that borrowing imagery (and the slogan to boot!) from the Revolutionary war is meant to rally the US fans around the concept that our soccer team is not yet a traditional power, but they are here to stay and will gladly fight to get the respect they deserve. I suppose the whole point is that US soccer is getting’ all up in your grill in Germany this summer. So that’s the general ad campaign.
Add to this the fact that Clint is a big hip hop fan and has always toyed around rapping like any music fan will when singing in the shower or just joking around. Now Clint is the next hot thing for US Soccer and has a decent shot of making the World Cup team. So Nike sets him up to record this song and video.
I don’t like the video because it strikes me as beyond comical to see soccer games and juggling tricks juxtaposed with the clichéd rap video images of pimped out cars, gold teeth and hand signs. There seems to be potential here to label Clint and Nike together as gigantic posers.
I do like the video because it’s well done and Clint shows just enough talent and attitude that it's clear he's not posing. I may think he looks silly, but I believe that he believes in what he's doing. Furthermore, the video presents soccer in a light which it hasn't been seen in before. For the sport to grow, it has to shed its soccer-mom, white suburbia association, so this should help that. Ultimately I think it’s a good thing and I think the reason I find it weird/funny is simply because it deals in a language and social currency that I have no clue about.
Are there any hip hop, non-soccer fans out there? What do you think? 3 comments
are you ready for hip-hop and soccer together in a single serving? Well have a look at this music video by the Revolution’s own Clint Dempsey. This one really has my brain scrambled to be honest.
Just a bit of background: Clint is sponsored by Nike who also sponsors the US National Team. Nike has come up with the “Don’t Tread On Me” campaign for the upcoming World Cup. The logo uses the familiar coiled snake from the Don’t Tread on Me flag you might recognize. I’m guessing that borrowing imagery (and the slogan to boot!) from the Revolutionary war is meant to rally the US fans around the concept that our soccer team is not yet a traditional power, but they are here to stay and will gladly fight to get the respect they deserve. I suppose the whole point is that US soccer is getting’ all up in your grill in Germany this summer. So that’s the general ad campaign.
Add to this the fact that Clint is a big hip hop fan and has always toyed around rapping like any music fan will when singing in the shower or just joking around. Now Clint is the next hot thing for US Soccer and has a decent shot of making the World Cup team. So Nike sets him up to record this song and video.
I don’t like the video because it strikes me as beyond comical to see soccer games and juggling tricks juxtaposed with the clichéd rap video images of pimped out cars, gold teeth and hand signs. There seems to be potential here to label Clint and Nike together as gigantic posers.
I do like the video because it’s well done and Clint shows just enough talent and attitude that it's clear he's not posing. I may think he looks silly, but I believe that he believes in what he's doing. Furthermore, the video presents soccer in a light which it hasn't been seen in before. For the sport to grow, it has to shed its soccer-mom, white suburbia association, so this should help that. Ultimately I think it’s a good thing and I think the reason I find it weird/funny is simply because it deals in a language and social currency that I have no clue about.
Are there any hip hop, non-soccer fans out there? What do you think? 3 comments
