See What Brown Can Do

Supper, Monday October 29, 2018, Fryday on Monday: fried chicken livers; fried sweet potato chips; cranberry beans w/ sour cream

and scallions.

This is an acquired taste if ever there was one. If you like organ meat however this is a cheap way to get your fix. It's also good for making dog treats. Seriously. A  one pound tub of these things is usually under two dollars.

Put them in a colander or strainer and rinse. The whole liver is comprised of two pieces held together by a ligament.  There is a larger piece that has three lobes and a smaller piece with two. I like to separate them by cutting the ligament out. So I go through the washed livers separating the pieces and inspecting for quality. 

The first thing to look for is any gall bladders. They shouldn't be there but sometimes they get missed. They are green and about the size of a butter bean. Cut them away carefully. They are full of bile (why they are green). It tastes horrible and will ruin everything it gets on. I have been told this and never tempted fate. 

There are sometimes livers that look like they were pulsed in a blender. I pitch these. I just don't like the look. Some livers will look anemic. I don't know the reason. I've not noticed a quality difference. It just may be a difference in the amount of exsanguination. (I love that word and there are so few opportunities to use it that are not really creepy.)

After clean up I sprinkle on some salt (or seasoned salt) and then black pepper. Depending on my mood I might do a full on egg wash and breadcrumb coat, or like this time, I just rolled them well in flour. Fry them at about 350 a minute or so after they are forcing out blood. (The tissue shrinks and eventually the fluid trapped inside gushes out. Or splodes) Be careful, these things can pop violently and spray oil. 

Yeah, you have to be a pretty dedicated carnivore to go through that.

Boredom

Breakfast, Friday October 26, 2018: deconstructed breakfast sandwiches (whole wheat biscuits, egg, cheese, sausage avocado cilantro);

pickle (okra, beet).

Nobody wants to be bored. In the first world*, and some of the third world, it would seem that there is no reason to be. There is access to the web through a cell phone. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Ashley Madison ;) easily provide something to fill available time. It turns out though that there is a reason.

Creativity.

Yeah, it turns out that boredom is useful and may even be required to inspire creativity. Google it: boredom and creativity. 'Cause if you are reading this then you are probably bored. 

As a young man Sir Isaac Newton went on a self imposed exile from London fleeing the plague. While ensconced alone with few visitors in a small rural cottage he created or discovered no less than: the calculus; optics and the theory of light, the laws of motion, the law of gravity. . . 

Sir Isaac I am not, this will have to do.

*What exactly is the second world? Mississippi?

It's Good For Ya

Supper, Monday October 22, 2018: med-platter (hummus, mixed pickle, baba ganoush, tabouleh, goat cheese). 

We call this or any slightly different knoshing meal a med-platter, as in Mediterranean. (I must thank the FSM in his noodly visage for the gift of spell-check. If I haven't learned to spell Medi-whatever by now I am pretty sure it ain't gonna happen.) We have it with crackers, flour tortillas, baked pita or toast points. Depends on what we have and what is available. 

The tabouleh looks a little funny because it has sun dried tomatoes. I'm kinda cool on them in this case. I don't think the texture works. Mama likes them so dey in dere. 

Ever notice something odd about the way we say "goat cheese?" For examples like cheddar or kuminost (it's a real thing) we say "cow's milk cheese." For manchego or pecorino romano we say "sheep's milk cheese." Then there is "goat cheese." Cheese made out of goats? Eehh?

Whadya Mean Too Much Cilantro?

Breakfast, Saturday Oct 20, 2018: verde eggs (eggs, verde sauce, cheddar, mushroom, scallion); goat cheese grits; side meat;

lots of cilantro.

Alexis likes cilantro. 

And goat cheese.

And mushrooms.

Yeah, pretty much all of this stuff. 

'cept the grits themselves. She's kinda cool on them. 

That's why I put on the goat cheese. 

Yeah, that's a lot of cilantro.

A Study In Earth Tones

Supper, Friday Oct 19, 2018: catfish; cabbage; 

sweet 'taters.

We had a good haul of sweet potatoes from the garden. Thankfully we both like them a lot.

I wasn't kidding.

If I'm going to get the fryer out I might as well go all out. No reason to fry just one thing right? Thankfully just sliced and fried is one of our favorite ways to eat them. Don't fry them at the same temp as regular fries. Oil that hot will caramelize the sugars too much. I have found that 350 is good. I drop them twice. The first time is to mostly cook them through. I pull them out of the oil and let them rest above the oil in the basket. They actually finish cooking there, but they are a soggy greasy mass. Just before serving I drop them the second time for a minute or two. Time depends on how fast they are browning. 

The cabbage looks a little funny. It's home canned from Alexis' mother. That's what it looks like when you don't add preservatives. 

A Bowl Of Gooey Love

Breakfast, Friday October 19: breakfast bowl (refried roasted yukons and sweet potatoes, onion, cheddar, egg).

Potatoes are one of the few foods that can easily be repurposed (and actually taste good or even improve). Mashed potatoes find new life in potato pancakes. Roasted potatoes turn into home fries. Leftover bakers can become mashed and 'tater skins.

After he left the service my father managed a corporate restaurant for a few years before he became ill and subsequently disabled. The store had bakers on the menu as a side. Of course you can't just whip up a baked potato. (Yes I know about microwaves and yes they do a decent job but there is a noticeable difference in moisture, evenness, and texture, especially in the skin.) So at the end of the night there were at least a few 'taters left over. Since home fries weren't on the menu they went in the trash. My father intercepted some every couple of nights and brought them home. We ate a lot of potatoes.

Anyhoo, here I retasked some roasted yukons and sweet potatoes in a skillet with a little onion, salt, and pepper. Some of the sweets got really brown. they look burnt in the photo. They aren't. Top with cheese and a couple of runny eggs that you can break to let the yolk coat that browned starchy yumness. Super combo. A dollop of sour cream might improve it, but I didn't have any. We had to rough it.

'Dem Bones, 'Dem Bones. . .

Thursday October 17, 2018 St Louis cut ribs; roasted new potatoes; sauted eggplant 

with tomatoes.

Growing up, ribs were not a thing in our house. Most certainly not pork ribs. Mostly this was because they were not a part of either of my parents culture. Another factor might have been my mother's general aversion to animal protein that was too reminiscent of the source. (Anyone notice that protein should be spelled protien? Think about it, "Einstein," the "i" sound has the spelling "ei" the "i" is after the "e." "Relief," the "e" follows the "i." So "proteeen" should be "protien" right?) 

Come to think of it I don't think I ever saw my mother pick up a piece of chicken and eat it off the bone. We ate plenty of chicken. She ate steak well done. Fish was filets. Head on? Not in a million years. 

So I developed my love of ribs as an adult. Better late than never. 

(Protein is from the Greek proteios, first or primary. It is a reflection of the desire by nineteenth century chemists to find the "life force," that which is primary for life. The enzymatic properties inherent in many proteins appear directed. English is a mess.)