Crackers spread with butter and some really good Basque blue cheese along with grapes. Kind of perfect on a 109 degree night. Got that cheese along with a few others at the fancy cheese shop with a gift card I had. I have to think of something worthy to cook with the Comte.

One of the unexpected delights of sous vide is hamburgers cooked safely to 135F internal temp as they're so juicy and flavorful. In this case, 85% lean grass fed grass finished beef on a bun from Dave's Killer Bread. Also, the pickles are homemade from a cucumber I grew in my garden.


Not photographed: tots from the air fryer

Yum. That looks great. But having been blessed with a small mouth, I couldn’t eat it like that. I always have to smoosh down my burgers; I need thin burgers. Sucks because when I put onions and tomatoes on top, I can’t bite into it.

Ok, this isn’t dinner. I LOVE okra. Anytime I have grown it, I either fry or bake it. I have never pickled it or even thought of it until a while back I had pickled okra and loved it.

I am growing Okra now and only have around 9 plants as 11 died so I am not really getting as many as I wanted. I had hoped to be swimming in Okra having it fried, baked, and canning the rest.

I had enough last week to pickle just a one quart jar. I have always hot water bath canned and with one jar, my only option was refrigerator pickling so I researched it and tried it.

DAMN these came out AMAZING!!! They are so good and crispy. Today was the 5 day wait to try them so I did and now I can’t wait to do a blind taste test with my wife on mine versus store bought. I seasoned with two Serrano peppers, carrots, garlic, black peppercorns, mustard seed, dill, and added Calcium Chloride for crispiness.

Here is the day I pickled the jar:




Here is just before I opened them tonight:

Looks good! I first heard of okra when I was about 30 from a Japanese American friend raised in Hawaii. Became familiar with pickled first. Then sliced with bonito flakes and soy sauce, now my preferred way. I can eat about 10 per sitting.

I'll be jarring some jalapeno this weekend. Just a few jars but I will make smaller ones to stretch it out.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I'll be jarring some jalapeno this weekend. Just a few jars but I will make smaller ones to stretch it out.

Okra grows FAST and if you don’t check daily, then they are too big for pint jars. That was a part of my problem and now I am trying to, if I can, pick daily to maybe can in pint jars the normal way.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Looks good! I first heard of okra when I was about 30 from a Japanese American friend raised in Hawaii. Became familiar with pickled first. Then sliced with bonito flakes and soy sauce, now my preferred way. I can eat about 10 per sitting.

A cool thing about them pickled is there is zero slime! I was even eaten them raw at first and there is zero slime eating them raw and supposedly extra health benefits. I should look for a recipe you speak of.

Recipe? The raw okra is sliced into 3-5mm slices (cut on bias is okay), dumped onto a plate / shallow bowl, some bonito flakes / katsuobushi, and then a bit (not too much) of soy sauce drizzled over. I use Japanese draft soy sauce made from whole beans for this. Very simple 5 minutes. . It may be an acquired taste but I enjoy it. Accompanies freshly made white (Japanese style) rice well; maybe not so much american long grain or basmati.

FF Draft day with the fellas.

^^^ Those look good!

No pics, but it was delicious.

They had giant pork loins on sale for $1.49 per pound so I bought a 9 pounder and sliced it into 2" thick pork chops. I vacuum sealed individually with a sprig of rosemary from my garden. 9 went in freezer and 2 went in my sous vide.

Paired the 2" thick chops with:

lazy man's caprese salad - cherry tomatoes, small basil leaves from garden, and mini mozarella balls skewered on toothpicks

horseradish mashed potatoes made from Purple viking potatoes I grew in my garden.

Veggie Hamburger, Coleslaw, and Bush's baked beans. Pretty tasty.

last night was a food lion, organic grass fed strip steak, done on a frying pan,
no grill available,
very very lean
and basically tasteless
and tough

with a side of spoonbread which was delicious


tonight, wife made spaghetti, delicious

Had a couple chicken thighs in the freezer so I thought I'd whip up some marsala. Twas tasty.

Made some pickled jalapenos:

^^^ NICE... I just pickled some Hatch chiles. Now I can't find anymore.

I did these, and rounded out most of the tomatoes for spaghetti. It's nuts how many people want my few jars of jalapenos. I'll have to add a few extra plants.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Yum. That looks great. But having been blessed with a small mouth, I couldn’t eat it like that. I always have to smoosh down my burgers; I need thin burgers. Sucks because when I put onions and tomatoes on top, I can’t bite into it.

Well then I would say smash burgers are your friend. Better yet taco smash burgers!

Once in a while, I enjoy ramen and usually doctor it up with a protein and fresh vegetables. I found a product that is dehydrated ramen toppings with meat and vegetable. I ordered some and tried it tonight and it was amazing! I used Nongshim Shin Ramyun Black with Premium Beef Broth for the ramen. I only used half the packet of the spices and broth. I had added the topping mixes with the ramen and cooked 4.5 minutes. Then drained all of the broth and added back in about 1/4 of a cup of the broth. I then added the remaining broth and spice packet, put into serving bowl, added a slice of American cheese to melt in it, and it was amazing. All of the ingredients rehydrated well. This was so simple, quick, and nice to have all the good ingredients.