What's Cooking

[Cheese]

Seth...I remember my mom fixing it when I was a kid and she always served it with some pineapple slices. Actually it was quite good. I don't know if she baked it or pan fried it but I'm going to ask her today when I call her up. She's 95 so times-a-wasting.  [smile]

Recently, it was after conversations with the people I already mentioned that I decided to try it on my own. I think I pan fried it but I'm not sure. After telling the 50-something friend about my recent Spam experience, he said that I should have used Spam Light instead.

So, do you notice a difference between pan-fried and baked?  Do you have a preference?

The "thick sliced baked with brown sugar and mustard" option sounds pretty good.

I assume the "sliced thick cold on rye with Nance's Original mustard" option means cooked and then chilled rather than right out of the can?

Maybe on some Russian rye...that could be interesting.

 

[Sparktrician]

Many years ago, there was a hostess in chi-chi Georgetown (DC) that had a wine and cheese party with other hors d'oeuvres.  She surprised everyone by serving Bali Hai wine with Kraft Velveeta, and the hors d'oeuvres were made with Spam.  Some were horrifiedby the mix, but most just laughed their socks off. 

 

[Cheese]

Geez Sparky...that's a blast from the past. Right up there with Mateus and Lancers.  [smile]

 

[Gregor]

Best case SPAM is MRM, but (at least for me) it tastes more like it's made the following way:


Can we please return to porn of real tasty food?

 

[semenza]

So I was at the store today ................................

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Sorry,  Gregor  [big grin]

 

[Cheese]

So I was at the store today ................................

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Sorry,  Gregor  [big grin]

Nice Seth...seems like there are 14 other varietals that you need to explore.  [poke]

Talked with mom and she cut the Spam into 1/2” slices, slathered yellow mustard on both sides and then rolled the Spam in crushed corn flakes (seems like everything used crushed corn flakes 60 years ago), placed a pineapple slice on each little gift from God and baked it for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

The Spam crisped up and the juices from the pineapple saturated the crust.

Hmmmm...another variation that Gregor will probably try this weekend when no one is looking.

 

[peter halle]

Crushed corn flakes in the box are getting hard to find.  I see a million recipes for pork chops out there but a breaded corn flake crusted pork chop sautéed / pan fried in butter is better than all those.

Peter

 

[Scott in San Diego]

A Spam loaf looks like a short, fat, pink Domino tenon.

I grew up in the 50s and 60s in the land of 10,000 plus lakes and home of Hormel and Spam. My Mom fed us that stuff baked with cloves inserted in the exterior, trying and failing to emulate a canned ham.  Worst yet was frying slices and making the whole house smell like burning pig hair.

 

[GoingMyWay]

I thought I replied last night to the spam posts last, but for some reason my reply seems to have vanished.  I wonder if anyone following this post got a notification of my missing post - oh well, most likely user error.  I must say how pleasantly surprised I've been by the response from the mention of spam.

I thought I was going to like spam the first time I tried it, but I found it to be really gross.  I thought spam masubi, since I like sushi might be more palatable. but I still didn't like it.  I do, however, really like scrapple!

As a matter of fact, we made the Hungry Jack dehydrated hashbrowns with scrapple and eggs on Sunday for breakfast.  These were definitely the most successful hashbrowns at home. They even looked very similar to my favor, IHOP.  The initial side that went down against the griddle looked better than the opposite side.  I noticed that the hashbrowns already had salt, but I added more to both sides, which resulted in slightly salty hash browns.  I just bought another package of the Hungry Jack hash browns.

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[GoingMyWay]

It was in the 70s this past weekend so I thought it was nice grilling weather and decided to make jerk chicken (for the first time ever).  Our usual grocery store has a nice Caribbean section.  It was hard to decide on which jerk sauce to pick.  I bought 3 different bottles.

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I also bought 2 packages of rice and pigeon peas.  This turned out very good I thought.

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I decided to use Royal Oak charcoal to make the jerk chicken.  I often don't like to cook only with Royal Oak since I find it cooks hotter and faster than Kingsford charcoal.  I grilled the chicken leg quarters briefly over direct heat and then figured 45 minutes indirect cooking would be good to finish them off.  I brushed more jerk sauce on halfway through - that was probably another mistake as so much heat was lost opening the lid.  I checked the leg quarters temp after the 45 minute cooking time and it was 143 degrees.  I incorrectly assumed that the temp had "definitely" already hit 165ish and we were on the way down.  Well, we plate everything up, and sure enough we got some bloody chicken.  So, back into the oven the quarters went until we hit 175.  Flavor was pretty good, with a little spice from the jerk sauce.

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For dessert, I made cream cheese cookies.  Pretty simple to make as it required very few ingredients.  It would have been even easier if I had a 1 tbsp cookie scoop.

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[semenza]

On those Hungry Jack hash browns ......................  try adding onion powder and paprika, toss them to mix and also to cook them more throughout for the first while they are on griddle, then let them fry on both sides for the crispy exterior. I start them in olive oil but then melt some butter in before the final fry.

Seth

 

[GoingMyWay]

Good tips.  I wasn't sure how seasoned the hashbrowns themselves were or how brown they'd be after about 3 minutes at 375 degrees so I decided to flip them rather than risk burning them.  They could have gone a little longer to get a little more color.  I kinda liked that I only used half of the griddle so they were a little on the thicker side.

 

[Sparktrician]

Geez Sparky...that's a blast from the past. Right up there with Mateus and Lancers.  [smile]

BA-HAHAHAHA!!!  [thumbs up]

 

[Cheese]

Yes. Try Idahoan dehydrated. They come in a pouch. Re-hydrate then pan fry.  Spread them about a 1/2" thick and fry in  olive oil on medium heat for longer than you think they need. Stir / toss a few times. Then raise heat to medium high for a couple minutes on "each side".  I use granulated onion / powder and paprika when they start and are still moist. Melt butter in at the end.    You'll have to play with heat level and such as you go.

Well, I decided to locate some of these Idahoan dehydrated hash browns today at the local. Unfortunately I told the sales clerk that they were Ore-Ida potatoes instead...shame on me. She informed me that Ore-Ida doesn't produce dehydrated hash browns and after going on-line, indeed they don't. 

However, a more interesting story line then developed. Common dehydrated potatoes have an advertised shelf life of 25 years... [eek]...is that scary to anyone other than myself?

This is probably great news for those nuclear holocaust aficionados that still live in 10 foot thick concrete bunkers underneath the front lawn  [big grin]  but I was really surprised. I get that dried rice, wheat and beans will last for just about forever if stored in a cool and dry environment and there are currently, people actively baking loaves of fresh bread with the wheat residue from ancient Greek urns.

Just interested in diverging thoughts.

 

[Cheese]

Another recent meal...healthy and quick. Fresh tuna on a bed of lettuce with some mango salsa and cooked medium rare. Nummy...

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[semenza]

Popped open the Teriyaki Spam yesterday. Initial thought was ... yeah, I don't know bout this? Cut some into short strips, quick pan fry in olive oil, added to ramen. And it is actually quite good!

Seth

 

[semenza]

Second experiment. Shieled your eyes Gregor!  [wink]

    Coconut rice, pan fried teriyaki Spam, hard boiled egg slices. I used a drizzle of soy sauce, but I had second without it. Liked it better without the soy sauce.  What it really needs to finish is green onion/scallion/chive.

 

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Seth

 

[Gregor]

Try adding a bit of (preferably freshly grated) wasabi.

 

[semenza]

Try adding a bit of (preferably freshly grated) wasabi.

Yes, that would be good!

Seth

 

[GoingMyWay]

I am in the market for an immersion blender.  A quick search of the web reveals that there are about 100,000 options.  [scared] [scared]

Anyone have a particular brand/model to recommend? I would like something that is well-made and will last and don't want to skimp on the cost.  But I don't think I need all the bells and whistles I see on some many models out there.  I am thinking I just need this to puree soups and sauces while they're on the stove.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[member=6193]Rob Z[/member] I'm not sure if you ever ended up buying an immersion blender, but I just bought the Braun Multiquick 5 immersion blender based on America's Test Kitchen's recommendation:

We got to try it out yesterday.  We used the whisk attachment to whip up some pasteurized egg yolks to make Vietnamese Egg Coffee and also used the blender attachment to thicken up some homemade clam chowder.  I like it.  I had forgotten that my grandmother had the original white Braun immersion blender that was all one piece.  The white plastic at the bottom had discolored from use.

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