Axiom Fox

Sloppy Joes as described in the post.

Sloppy Joes as described in the post.

Sloppy Joes as described in the post.

Sloppy Joes as described in the post.

#food

Crisp weather reminds me of leafy walks home from school, so I made a junior-high cafeteria classic:

Sloppy Joes from scratch (no cans) are extremely rich, dark in flavor--too intense, so I lightened it with heavy cream and thickened with a beurre manié.

Cheap supermarket bun, of course.

Broken, crumbly gooey butter cake as described.

Broken, crumbly gooey butter cake as described.

Broken, crumbly gooey butter cake as described.

Broken, crumbly gooey butter cake as described.

#food

Not every dish I attempt comes out pretty.

A "gooey butter cake" (yeah, boxed cake, too-sweet cream cheese layer, etc.) I stubbornly made in a pan an inch too large and with metal walls too thin.

Tastes correct, tiny but overdone bottom crust, but lost its integrity coming out of the pan.

Same as above.

Same as above.

For the curious:

I took EIGHT dark quarters from supermarket rotisserie chickens (they were on sale), pulled off the meat, made a stock out of the rest, reduced to a demi.

Fresh herbs used: thyme, bay, rosemary, scallions to garnish.

The biscuits were topped with an egg wash to improve color.

Chicken "pot pie" buckle as described in the post.

Chicken "pot pie" buckle as described in the post.

Chicken "pot pie" buckle as described in the post.

Chicken "pot pie" buckle as described in the post.

#food

Creamy chicken "pot pie" buckle.

Improvise a filling (mirepoix in bacon fat, white wine, fresh herbs, Slap Yo Mama, blond roux, home-made chicken demi, rotisserie dark meat, cream) and reduce.

Transfer to a brazier and top with from-scratch biscuit dough.

Bake to bubbly & golden. Ahhhh.

Sulfur Zeppelin

Nine, I think? Got them SUPER cheap in the 'ready to rot' bin. ;)

This time I boiled and passed through a sieve, that pulled out all seeds and stems and skins, so no need to blanch.

Home-made peanut butter white chocolate no-bake haystack cookies with flakey sea salt (Malden).

Home-made peanut butter white chocolate no-bake haystack cookies with flakey sea salt (Malden).

Home-made peanut butter white chocolate no-bake haystack cookies with flakey sea salt (Malden).

Home-made peanut butter white chocolate no-bake haystack cookies with flakey sea salt (Malden).

#food

Home-made peanut butter white chocolate no-bake haystack cookies with flakey sea salt (Malden).

I pre-toasted the rolled oats and added in shaved flakes of almond, also pre-toasted.

Good thing I did all that toasting, these needed the complexity.

Yum!!

I mean, this is basically free food.

Total cost of soba noodles for two big bowls, maybe...twenty cents? Lard was just leftover saved bacon grease, merely a tablespoon. Scallions grow free, or are mega-cheap. The sauces? Teaspoons.

It's inexpensive to the point of art and SO delicious!

Eee! :)

Noodles as described.

Noodles as described.

Noodles as described.

#food

Soy sauce scallion noodles: the "poor person's feast" which kept East Asia alive through tough times.

Hot wok. Tablespoon of lard, blacken some scallions. Soy and oyster sauces. Boiled noodles (I had soba ). Stir-fry fast and hot, top with more scallions.

Luxury: sesame oil and seeds, MSG.

Tomato soup as described.

Tomato soup as described.

Tomato soup as described.

Tomato soup as described.

#food

Fresh tomato soup! Two anchovies sweat in olive oil, butter and COPIOUS garlic.

Reduced some red wine to a syrup for acid and body. Simmered the tomatoes in the oil, removed all seeds/skins.

Dollops of fresh thyme-infused reduced heavy cream and goat cheese garlic sourdough toast garnish.

Bean stew as described.

Bean stew as described.

Bean stew as described.

Bean stew as described.

#food

Beans!

Great Northern beans, pork hock, turkey thighs (neither smoked, had to add liquid smoke), bacon, lots of aromatic veggies, home-made pork stock, red wine reduction, many secret spices and herbs, scallions.

Delicious! Autumnal, hearty, savory. Makes a great soup when diluted!

No wonder, if you fed him that entire cake.

Pork schnitzel in creamy onion gravy as described.

Pork schnitzel in creamy onion gravy as described.

Pork schnitzel in creamy onion gravy as described.

Pork schnitzel in creamy onion gravy as described.

#food

German tonight: pork cutlet schnitzel in a creamy white wine & onion sauce. Lazy me didn't make spaetzle, so it was tater tots to the rescue.

I mean, this was just fine (went for crust on the pork rather than tenderness: ultra thin, crispy, but a bit tough).

German food is so heavy.

Portnoy's Disagreement

YouTube video by Jules Cooking Salted Cardamom Caramel Recipe!

RECIPE and procedure here:

www.youtube.com/shorts/VETK7...

If you don't know Jules cooking...OMG. Crazy. Glorious. Informative. Mind-boggling. Impossible.

More pls!

Caramel sauce as described.

Caramel sauce as described.

Caramel sauce as described.

Caramel sauce as described.

#food

White-chocolate cardamom-infused caramel sauce from scratch, drizzled over vanilla bean ice cream.

Easy to make, though this recipe called for glucose (liquid form), which is sticky stuff indeed.

Delicious, but not really an "ice cream sauce," the cold made it too hard too fast.

(cont.)

Pasta and walnut sauce as described.

Pasta and walnut sauce as described.

Pasta and walnut sauce as described.

Pasta and walnut sauce as described.

Conclusion:

While almost everything here came out of a can or pantry staple, I'm pleased the results were a good texture and a perfectly eatable dinner. But I learned you can't force flavors if they aren't balanced.

Leftovers will make a fine side dish this week.

/end

Pasta and walnut sauce as described.

RESULTS:

Muddy. Too many competing flavors, the subtle ones (toasted walnuts) got lost. The big flavors destructively interfered, so you didn't really even taste mustard or the finishing butter.

So it kinda became "generic creamy white sauce." Certainly yum, we ate it, but not ideal.

(cont)

Pasta and walnut sauce as described.

Walnuts and mushrooms and onions and mustard? Great combo! I used the emulsifying power of the dijon to repair the sauce. Seemed to be going very well.

Here it is with some extras: parmesan cheese, copious black pepper, scallions and meatballs (supermarket bought, but I browned them).

(cont)

Pasta and walnut sauce as described.

I made the walnut pesto the other day, but I wanted more chunkies in this dish, so I sweat onions, garlic and a can of mushrooms, deglazed with white wine, reduced, then added the Ligurian sauce.

But it was having trouble holding on to the oil (breaking). So I added...dijon mustard.

(cont)

Pasta and walnut sauce as described.

#food

Penne w/ walnut-bread pasta sauce (Ligurian). Think of it as a "white pesto," where you use nuts (walnuts this time) and plant matter (water-soaked bread instead of basil leaves) to build a creamy, delicious, toasty sauce.

However, this is EXPERIMENTAL, as I added some other things.

(cont)

Good gear, you'll do great with that. Rancillo is excellent.

DECADENT. I softened the cauliflower in a mix of milk, cream and home-made double-stock (white chicken).

Pureed, a TOUCH of xanthin gum just to keep it stable. Nutmeg, cloves, powdered rosemary and bay, garlic.

It's a luxurious pillow that tastes of delicate cauliflower.

It's my favorite part!

Cauliflower purée, beef short rib, balsamic, as described.

Cauliflower purée, beef short rib, balsamic, as described.

Cauliflower purée, beef short rib, balsamic, as described.

Cauliflower purée, beef short rib, balsamic, as described.

#food

Appetizer made from leftovers!

Cauliflower purée, pan-seared and butter-basted trim from 72-hours sous-vide short rib, drizzle 25-year balsamic, scallion greens, flakey salt (Maldon).

Absolutely decadent and delicious. Forgive the balsamic drizzle plating, I'm not trying to be retro.

YUM!

Penne & cheese as described.

Penne & cheese as described.

Penne & cheese as described.

Penne & cheese as described.

#food

Penne & cheese.

Made a cheese sauce that failed (mediocre supermarket cheese, not much flavor despite adding fresh chopped dill). So I turned it into a penne "Mac & cheese" with a fresh bread crumb topping (paprika, MSG, thyme, parmesan, pepper, lots of butter).

Ketchup & scallions, oh yes.

Link? :)

Korean cucumber salad and pulled-pork on a bun, as described.

Korean cucumber salad and pulled-pork on a bun, as described.

Korean cucumber salad and pulled-pork on a bun, as described.

Korean cucumber salad and pulled-pork on a bun, as described.

#food

Oven-"BBQ" pork "side" ribs, pulled, on buttered toasted sesame seed bun, BBQ sauce. Korean cucumber salad (peanut butter, gochugaru, rice vinegar, calimansi juice, soy sauce, toasted sesame seed hand-crushed, scallions).

I continue to try and build capacity for spicy food.

This was YUM.

Spaghetti alla Nerona.

Spaghetti alla Nerona.

Spaghetti alla Nerona.

Spaghetti alla Nerona.

#food

Spaghetti alla Nerano...

...except I had no provolone. I used 24-month parmesan instead, boosted with a little heavy cream and butter. Not ideal, but best I could do.

Oven-fried zucchini the day before, then sautéed with garlic and onions, then copious black pepper, flakey salt.

Delish!

--geque!--