Posted on 09/28/2016 8:29:58 AM PDT by Jamestown1630
One of the most interesting food writers I’ve encountered, and an American Treasure, is John Thorne, who for many years produced a snail-mail newsletter called ‘Simple Cooking’. The newsletter doesn’t seem to be produced anymore, but fortunately we have the many books that he and his wife Matt Lewis have published. These are just delightful books to read, even if you aren’t going to cook any of the recipes in them:
https://www.amazon.com/John-Thorne/e/B000AQ1J0Y/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1"
I remember that one of Thorne’s newsletters contained a recipe for ‘Puffed Wild Rice’, which was suggested as a snack, a topping for salad, or even an addition to a poultry stuffing; but this recipe from Epicurious pulverizes the puffed rice and uses it in place of a bread crumb coating for fish. The recipe includes the technique for making the puffed rice:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/wild-rice-crusted-halibut-56389978
A link to Thorne’s website:
and a good article about him
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/simple-cooking/Content?oid=2129904
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I originally purchased the item above for stripping herbs like thyme; in my experience, it’s not really great for thyme, but excellent for other vegetables, especially for kale. I use kale a lot in soups, and have begun making the crispy snack which has become popular in recent years. Using the large hole of the tool makes very quick work of stripping the kale away from the ribs. You can season the kale in many ways, but here is a basic recipe for Baked Kale Chips:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/176957/baked-kale-chips/
Here is a link to the gadget; they also make one that's attached to a bowl to catch the herbs, if that's what you're stripping; but this is the one for greens:
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Some months ago we had a couple of threads on peeling boiled eggs. I had still not found a foolproof way, so I did another search this week and tried something new: adding oil to the water.
I pricked the large end with a tiny hole, covered the eggs with water, and added about a tablespoon of olive oil into the water. After bringing to a boil, I cut down the heat and let the eggs simmer for 10 minutes, and then put the pan under cold running water until the eggs cooled down.
These eggs came out perfect – no green ring, despite boiling the eggs for ten minutes - and very easy to peel. In addition, these were relatively fresh eggs from the grocery (purchased two days before.)
But: don’t ask me what the oil is supposed to do, or why it works; none of the videos I took the idea from really explained it ;-)
-JT
Are these your first chickens? What are your plans for keeping them going in Winter?
I’ve trying to learn about chickens, because I’d like to keep some when retirement finally gets here.
Thanks for the pic. Also very good for pine nuts.
Congrats on the eggs. Never heard of the mason jar technique, clever.
Do you do that while they're still warm or do you put them in the fridge in the jar?
I let them cool a bit but not for long. I set the eggs to boil and when the water boils I shut it off and put a lid on. Let it sit 15-20 minutes. Then I take them out and put them in ice cold water for a few minutes then let the shaking begin!
This looks amazing. Perfect for the holidays! Thank you for posting! I’m printing the recipe out now!
This is our second set of chickens. We had half a dozen when we lived in the city. They did just fine until we moved to the country. The coyotes ate them when my husband was out of time and I was 8 months pregnant. I didn’t have the ability to do anything to stop it from happening. We have a much better coop now and are working on a bigger better run.
During the winter we have a timer for the light so they get plenty of “daylight” and keep laying. However, we had Rhode Island Reds the first time and they are really consistent layers. We have a mix of Australorps, Auracana, Maran and mixed breed Easter Eggers. Eleven left after two escaped and got eaten. (working on better run!) Only four of the eleven are laying at the moment. Hoping the others don’t make me wait until spring!!
Here’s a youtube link to see it in action. This is not me, just the first video I found!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6LMU8spQ8s
Thanks. I like the Rhode Island Reds.
My favorite YouTuber, Dale Calder, keeps chickens and quail; he builds a run in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q6yglf5KMI&list=PL4B778DAE8FA99483
The wire gauge looks too big to me, but I don’t know the abilities of the critters he’s guarding against...I’ve seen foxes squeeze through incredibly small spaces.
I skipped through the video to see the finished product. :0) It looks very similar to what my husband is building. He has concrete deck blocks for the big posts and smaller wood in between. Chicken wire along the bottom and that bigger wire on top. I’m not sure what he plans to do on top yet. It will be attached to the barn wall and we’ll have a door, too, so I can give them treats.
We used free pallets to add walls inside the barn lined with chicken wire to keep the girls safe. We can hear the stupid coyotes howling at night. The good thing about the pallet walls is that we can stuff them with hay during the winter so they don’t freeze to death and remove it in the summer so they don’t die of heat. My girls have a nice little setup!
Neat. Thanks. Amazing what’s on the internet.
Nice for company.... a huge cheesecake and a thick layer of topping. Heaven.
Hay, or straw?
That’s one of the ideas we tried, and it works really well for just-cooked eggs. I was hoping it would work for eggs that had been refrigerated a day or two or three - but for me, it didn’t.
How do you work & still have time for all the cool info you post on this thread? Are you secretly a cyborg!!!? I’m amazed that’s all ; ) I had a great friend, a retired chef who suddenly passed away recently. She gave me her foolproof hardboiled egg recipe:
* put about 4 to 5 tablespoons salt in a saucepan.
* add your eggs & water.
* bring to a boil, remove from heat & cover w/ a lid.
* let sit for 10 minutes & run under cool water.
* easy peel & no green ring!
That’s pretty much the recipe I use for Thai Beef Tacos! Except I use cabbage instead tomatoes and cukes and roll it up in a tortilla.
Ha, I just told my husband last night that next month I will make the first chili of the season, can’t wait! I have to ask you.....what does bear meat taste like?
I knew I could count on you to provide a picture that would make me crave sweets..... & you did. I want a piece now!
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