Come all ye self-styled chefs and kitchen users, we must talk.

fuzzyb wrote:

All beef is expensive right now with the drought. There were stories about projected price increases awhile back; prices dipped in 2012 when feedstock became more scarce and producers slaughtered more cattle due to the feed expense, now the resulting shortage is catching up. Depending on whether we get a lot more rain, prices may not rise all that much. It's expensive to feed cattle grain.

Tell me about it! And it's not just the meat, the prices of vegetables also skyrocketed. A few weeks ago, tomatoes were priced at 6€ per kilo! (roughly 4 dollars per pound) That's at least three times their usual price out here... =/

Is not the point of scrambled eggs that they are nice and light and airy? That looks more like a pre chewed boiled egg to me:(

Bright side. There is a small Mid East market near me, they were selling tenderloins, certified Halal, for 6.99 a pound.

And baby, they have offal. All the hearts, tripe, tongues, tails, kidneys that you can handle-beef, goat, and sheep.

Our freezer was apparently not working quite right. Some of the meat on the top of the freezer was thawing so last night I cooked up several pounds of beef. This morning I put a few more pounds in the crockpot (stew meat) for tonight. The steak was very tasty. Just some salt, pepper, and cumin (I love cumin). Since it was nice out I decided to use the grill for the first time this year. It turned out wonderful. The stew meat is going to cook for several hours and then I plan on using a fork to separate it. I'll take about half and add some homemade barbecue sauce and the other half and add some spices, peppers, and crushed tomatoes to make something like carnitas. The kids love tacos so I'm hoping they both like this.

I'm not sure if this is the place for appliance questions so if there is a better place I'll be happy to take the conversation there. I got the freezer working last night. I didn't do anything to it. Should I be worried about the meat partially thawing and refreezing? Some of it was pretty close to thawed out (especially the stew meat on the very top). It is an upright freezer. The hamburger on the bottom shelf was solid. Some chili on the second shelf from the top was not solid but was iced over. There was some frost on the coils. I am not sure when the freezer stopped working but it is in the garage and has been below freezing at night up until Wednesday. On Tuesday my wife mentioned that some chicken (breaded) seemed soft. The chicken is in the front of the freezer.

The dial on the freezer was at 3 and it goes to 6. When I turned it up to 6 nothing happened (the compressor didn't start running). I know the freezer was too warm. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and nothing. After a few minutes the compressor started running. It is still running this morning and everything is rock solid now.

Is it possible that the freezer was in a defrost cycle. It has a manual defrost cycle and has not been defrosted in about 9 months. It is a Kenmore 29702. I really did nothing to the freezer except for turn the thermostat all the way down and mess with the outlet (GFCI outlet which was not, at any point, tripped). If I remember correctly it would start the compressor immediately in the past. I believe it is also possible that the door was slightly ajar for a while. My wife said it was closed but we have had issues with our refrigerator seeming to be closed but not completely closed and then it causes the freezer side to divert all the cold air to the refrigerator and the coils ice up as does the mechanism that adjusts the amount of air diverted to the refrigerator.

Anyway, I am mostly concerned with the meat. My wife refused to eat any of the steak last night and won't eat the stew meat until the next day if I don't get sick. I think it is entirely possible that she will say she's not eating any of the meat now. The meat I ate last night still had some ice on it when I opened the packages. Nothing smelled bad and it was all nice and red.

Anything that was still frozen will undoubtably be safe. Anything that partially defrosted is also probably ok, if you're worried I'd ditch higher risk things such as processed meats including minces, ready meals, breaded things. For things that completely defrosted I'd probably still keep any vegetables and anything I'd pre-cooked.

That's the sensible advice, what I'd actually do is eat it all anyway.

Thanks. There were two containers of leftover chili and one package of frozen chicken breast. Other than that it is all beef from a meat locker (my wife's parents give us 1/2 of a cow for Christmas every year).

Homer,
Did you turn it off and back on ag... oh, wait. You did.

I'd eat it.

EvilHomer3k wrote:

Our freezer was apparently not working quite right. Some of the meat on the top of the freezer was thawing so last night I cooked up several pounds of beef. This morning I put a few more pounds in the crockpot (stew meat) for tonight. The steak was very tasty. Just some salt, pepper, and cumin (I love cumin). Since it was nice out I decided to use the grill for the first time this year. It turned out wonderful. The stew meat is going to cook for several hours and then I plan on using a fork to separate it. I'll take about half and add some homemade barbecue sauce and the other half and add some spices, peppers, and crushed tomatoes to make something like carnitas. The kids love tacos so I'm hoping they both like this.

I'm not sure if this is the place for appliance questions so if there is a better place I'll be happy to take the conversation there. I got the freezer working last night. I didn't do anything to it. Should I be worried about the meat partially thawing and refreezing? Some of it was pretty close to thawed out (especially the stew meat on the very top). It is an upright freezer. The hamburger on the bottom shelf was solid. Some chili on the second shelf from the top was not solid but was iced over. There was some frost on the coils. I am not sure when the freezer stopped working but it is in the garage and has been below freezing at night up until Wednesday. On Tuesday my wife mentioned that some chicken (breaded) seemed soft. The chicken is in the front of the freezer.

The dial on the freezer was at 3 and it goes to 6. When I turned it up to 6 nothing happened (the compressor didn't start running). I know the freezer was too warm. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and nothing. After a few minutes the compressor started running. It is still running this morning and everything is rock solid now.

Is it possible that the freezer was in a defrost cycle. It has a manual defrost cycle and has not been defrosted in about 9 months. It is a Kenmore 29702. I really did nothing to the freezer except for turn the thermostat all the way down and mess with the outlet (GFCI outlet which was not, at any point, tripped). If I remember correctly it would start the compressor immediately in the past. I believe it is also possible that the door was slightly ajar for a while. My wife said it was closed but we have had issues with our refrigerator seeming to be closed but not completely closed and then it causes the freezer side to divert all the cold air to the refrigerator and the coils ice up as does the mechanism that adjusts the amount of air diverted to the refrigerator.

Anyway, I am mostly concerned with the meat. My wife refused to eat any of the steak last night and won't eat the stew meat until the next day if I don't get sick. I think it is entirely possible that she will say she's not eating any of the meat now. The meat I ate last night still had some ice on it when I opened the packages. Nothing smelled bad and it was all nice and red.

I would use the items in the top in well-cooked recipes, but other than that I wouldn't worry.

As far as trusting the freezer itself, I'd definitely defrost it, and call in a repairman to have it serviced and have the compressor cleaned. You don't mention how old it is, but having the coolant and the fans tested and confirmed to be in good working order would be a good idea.

I am a big fan of the smell or taste test, by and large. It is a handy thing we evolved with, given our pathetic gut bacteria. Even fresh from the store, you might unthaw something that some dick let thaw out in the truck and just tossed back into the freezer-and it will smell like stinky foot cheese. I got a turkey like that a few years ago, and took it back.

The bigger issue Homer, is that summer is coming, and if you have a freezer problem, likely the whole unit, you need to get that looked into. It might be something cheap, like the thermostatic sensor went bad. It might be the compressor, which is several hundred bucks. It might have been a coolant leak.

IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/04/GeordiLaForge.jpg/250px-GeordiLaForge.jpg)

Get the Maytag man out. And you will do well to start setting aside a few bucks in case you need a new unit.

My personal record for number of poops in one day was as a result of some minced beef that I'd left in the fridge too long.

It was harrowing. I now err firmly on the side of caution.

Jonman wrote:

My personal record for number of poops in one day was as a result of some minced beef that I'd left in the fridge too long.

It was harrowing. I now err firmly on the side of caution.

Firmly is the right word for it.

Or maybe a warp core breach.

Had to read that twice, Quintin_Stone, I wasn't sure I'd read that right the first time!

Well, about time I actually posted something so here's a simple pumpkin soup I made this morning (thought I'd start small and simple). It's just chopped up pumpkin and cooked it in a lot of water, the only thing I added was a vegetable bouillon cube (or vegetable stock cube, depending on where you hail from). I then put the whole thing in the mixer and let it simmer (I let it simmer a while because I like it thicker myself). Easy peasy.
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/ON83SA6.jpg)

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
krev82 wrote:

Thinking of making Carrigaline Whiskey Pie for my dad's bday, I've never done any sort of souffle before - any tips or precautions beyond what they mention there?

That looks tasty. My advice: do it!

I did! I need to work on stiffening egg whites properly as well as my ingredient folding technique but it turned out pretty good and was well received. If whisky flavored souffles sound like something you might enjoy then definitely give it a go, also +1 their serving suggestion for a bit of unsweetened whip cream or double cream.

krev82 wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
krev82 wrote:

Thinking of making Carrigaline Whiskey Pie for my dad's bday, I've never done any sort of souffle before - any tips or precautions beyond what they mention there?

That looks tasty. My advice: do it!

I did! I need to work on stiffening egg whites properly as well as my ingredient folding technique but it turned out pretty good and was well received. If whisky flavored souffles sound like something you might enjoy then definitely give it a go, also +1 their serving suggestion for a bit of unsweetened whip cream or double cream.

Awesome! I'll have to try it sometime.

Eleima wrote:

Had to read that twice, Quintin_Stone, I wasn't sure I'd read that right the first time!

Well, about time I actually posted something so here's a simple pumpkin soup I made this morning (thought I'd start small and simple). It's just chopped up pumpkin and cooked it in a lot of water, the only thing I added was a vegetable bouillon cube (or vegetable stock cube, depending on where you hail from). I then put the whole thing in the mixer and let it simmer (I let it simmer a while because I like it thicker myself). Easy peasy.

This is very close to what I use for my butternut squash soup. I cook the squash first, then pure with some half/half or heavy cream and add my stock. Bring to a boil, season, and eat with a dalop of sour cream. Yum!

Boiled eggs that have been scrambled in their shell.

Boiled eggs that have been scrambled in their shell.

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS!

One of two things happened. (A) I Did It Wrong, or (B) this is a ridiculous hoax.

Seriously, I whirled the hell out of some eggs, just like this dude showed me on the YooToobs. Boiled them up, and what I got was eggs who's shells broke when the water reached boiling, and had weirdly fluffy whites and a perfectly normal yolk.

FAIL!

Jonman wrote:

Boiled eggs that have been scrambled in their shell.

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS!

One of two things happened. (A) I Did It Wrong, or (B) this is a ridiculous hoax.

Seriously, I whirled the hell out of some eggs, just like this dude showed me on the YooToobs. Boiled them up, and what I got was eggs who's shells broke when the water reached boiling, and had weirdly fluffy whites and a perfectly normal yolk.

FAIL!

Submit it to Mythbusters!

For me, scrambled eggs are much more than just mixing yolks and whites, it is about fluffy and flavorful eggs.

Oh, this weekend-fritatta, because it has been a few weeks. But I made some killer southwest style eggs on Sunday, sadly the biscuits needed more sugar/salt because they were bland as hell.

Medium Heat, your stove should never go above medium heat! There is a lot of stuff in here that you can scorch.

In your large skillet (I used the 12 incher), saute garlic and jalapenos. Add in a cup of chopped tomatoes, I drained some stewed tomatoes and used them, because...well I have like 10 cans (they make good sauces and easy salsa damnit!). You want to cook out the water.

5 eggs, beaten. Pour that over the mixture in the pan. You want to gently fold the eggs patiently with a soft spatula. You want larger curdles.

You can garnish with some soft cheese, sour cream, or salsa.

On the southwestern kick. This was on sale at the store last week:

IMAGE(http://www.pacefoods.com/images/products/product_shot_121227.gif)

I buy my salsa verde because I ain't got time to be blanching tomatillos.

I poured this over 10 boneless/skinless chicken thighs with a good dashing of Mexican Hot Sauce (Tapatio is our preferred brand) in the slow cooker before breakfast. This made a wonderful chicken in chili verde. Serve it up with warm tortillas, some sour cream and guacamole.

I do not like pace as a salsa, too runny. But if you want mexican food in a pinch, adding Pace Hot Salsa or Salsa Verde to browned meat and reducing is a super fast way to make taco meats.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Jonman wrote:

Boiled eggs that have been scrambled in their shell.

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS!

One of two things happened. (A) I Did It Wrong, or (B) this is a ridiculous hoax.

Seriously, I whirled the hell out of some eggs, just like this dude showed me on the YooToobs. Boiled them up, and what I got was eggs who's shells broke when the water reached boiling, and had weirdly fluffy whites and a perfectly normal yolk.

FAIL!

Submit it to Mythbusters!

I wondered if that would crack the shell or weaken it. You essentially hard poached the eggs in the shell.

Blondish83 wrote:

That dough recipe is nearly exactly the same as the one I use for my Bierocks. My grandmother always called it a Vortig dough, which the closest word I can find is Fertig which is German for ready. I think something got lost in translation through the years.

I want to know more about this.

Incredibly simple stuff, but yummy nonetheless, I give you... moelleux au chocolat or chocolate fondant!
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/2DYe4cz.jpg)

Eleima wrote:

Incredibly simple stuff, but yummy nonetheless, I give you... moelleux au chocolat or chocolate fondant!
*pic*

That looks good, was the inside liquid?

Definitely, that's the whole point! Sometimes, I'll overcook them a bit, and they won't be as liquid inside (which is a shame, and it doesn't take much 30 seconds or a minute will do it), but I do try to aim for the gooey inside. Else my husband complains. ;D

So I made an Eight Treasure Soup on Sunday night. Turned out super delicious!

IMAGE(http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/763940605.jpg)

IMAGE(http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/763940439.jpg)

dibs wrote:

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/8rqxkIf.jpg)
I made baked eggs for Sunday brunch. Nom.

umm... how did you make this? Is that wrapped in bacon?

In bacon-related news, the new butcher shop near me carries ground beef with ground bacon mixed in. Made some hamburger patties with it, they were quite good. I didn't get a strong bacon flavor from them, but the fat content and general porky goodness were both beneficial to the burger.

AP Erebus wrote:

So I made an Eight Treasure Soup on Sunday night. Turned out super delicious!

That certainly *looks* delicious!! What did you toss in there, I see carrots... maybe salad, tofu, potatoes?... maybe a shrimp behind the carrot in the foreground. Definitely looks yummy in any case!

Eleima wrote:
AP Erebus wrote:

So I made an Eight Treasure Soup on Sunday night. Turned out super delicious!

That certainly *looks* delicious!! What did you toss in there, I see carrots... maybe salad, tofu, potatoes?... maybe a shrimp behind the carrot in the foreground. Definitely looks yummy in any case!

So the eight "treasures" are:
- Chinese Ham/Bacon (I used Proscuitto as I can't get chinese ham)
- Carrots
- Spinach
- Dried (then soaked) shiitake mushrooms
- Prawns
- Firm Tofu
- Chicken
- Bamboo Shoots (sliced)

It's super easy to make as well