Where my fellow cooks at???

[tifosi77]

Some of the best sauce I have ever had was made by old school italians who used pigs knuckles in the sauce. Of course they fished out the un-edible parts before serving.

Those 'un-edible' parts might well have been the most delicious parts of the meal. It is common in parts of Italy (particulary in the south, where meat is scarce) to make an all-day ragu on Sunday, and fish the meat out and use the sauce for pasta. The meat is then either served as its own secondo (what we might call an entree), or reserved for a meal later in the week (like a filling for ravioli).

[mac5155]

Some of the best sauce I have ever had was made by old school italians who used pigs knuckles in the sauce. Of course they fished out the un-edible parts before serving.

Those 'un-edible' parts might well have been the most delicious parts of the meal. It is common in parts of Italy (particulary in the south, where meat is scarce) to make an all-day ragu on Sunday, and fish the meat out and use the sauce for pasta. The meat is then either served as its own secondo (what we might call an entree), or reserved for a meal later in the week (like a filling for ravioli).

This is what my grandmother does. She's Italian. Makes a pasta sauce and puts anything and everything in it. Chicken, pork, pepperoni, beef, steak, bacon, whatever. Simmers it for like 6-8 hours and then makes cavatelli, ravioli, meatballs and sausage. Her meatballs are incredible.. She always says the secret ingredient to them is water.

[tifosi77]

Right on, mac. That's a tradition born out of poverty and the need to use every last scrap of food you can get to feed your family.

Having a meatball in Italy is revelatory......... because it's only like 40% meat. They simply didn't have enough animal protein to make polpette out of all meat. So there's a fair bit of bread mixed in, and sometimes cheese, to extend the thing out to feed a family. When immigrants got to America and meat was relatively easy to obtain for a fair price, that's when you started to see those (imo) abominations that are the softball-sized meatballs that are totally leaden gutbombs.

(No offense to your grandma if that's how she makes 'em; trust me, Italian grandmothers are always right and Irish-German internet food trolls are always wrong It's just not how I like to roll, is all.)

[mac5155]

Hers arent huge. They are the best I have ever eaten though. Its funny when friends want to go to olive garden and think it's "good" and I laugh in their faces.

Additionally if you gave that woman a dozen eggs, bag of flour, and some ricotta, she could feed a family of 4 for a month.

[columbia]

Pork shoulder has been in the oven @ 250 since 9 AM and expect it to be ready by 6.
I'm going to turn the oven up for the last 15 minutes to get a nice crust.

Just made a tomato, apple cider vinegar and rosted jalapeno sauce for it and it is quite good.

This turned out really well, but I'm going to mix it up a bit the next time:

Use a Boston Butt :beavis: cut of pork and concoct some sort of brine to let in sit in overnight, before the all-day cooking.

[tifosi77]

Absolutely swear by brining for chops and loins roasts, but I've never done it with a shoulder cut before. Please report results.

[Chefpatrick871]

I brined a shoulder before. Turned out better than the times I did not.

[redwill]

Right on, mac. That's a tradition born out of poverty and the need to use every last scrap of food you can get to feed your family.

Having a meatball in Italy is revelatory......... because it's only like 40% meat. They simply didn't have enough animal protein to make polpette out of all meat. So there's a fair bit of bread mixed in, and sometimes cheese, to extend the thing out to feed a family. When immigrants got to America and meat was relatively easy to obtain for a fair price, that's when you started to see those (imo) abominations that are the softball-sized meatballs that are totally leaden gutbombs.

(No offense to your grandma if that's how she makes 'em; trust me, Italian grandmothers are always right and Irish-German internet food trolls are always wrong It's just not how I like to roll, is all.)

Is this not extremely ironic given that you're apparently madly in love with the McRib? Or are you just funning with us for lulz?

[columbia]

You've obviously never tried the McRib in Napoli.

[redwill]

Right. Because that's 40% meat. As opposed to the American McRib which is 40% ... uh ...

[columbia]

I've never actually had one, so can't answer that.

[tifosi77]

Oh, I freely admit that my fetishistic reverence for the McRib completely undercuts my cred as a cook and foodie. And I'm okay with that because the McRib is a wonderful ray of light in a dark, dark world.

I'm also way into Panda Express, fwiw. We all have our quirks. Don't hate me.

[columbia]

I just ordered this:

[Froggy]

i just got a bunch of chicken leg quarters for like $5.50. I have no idea what to do with them, but looks like i'll be having chicken for dinner the next 5 days or so. any tips on cooking those suckers whole? i usually throw them in the oven, but the skin comes out gross. should i just get rid of the skin, or pan fry it face down before throwing it in the oven? any ideas?

[the wicked child]

Hmm. Maybe not cooking long enough or hot enough to properly render the fat and crisp the skin?

I usually don't cook that cut of chicken though, so I'm far from an expert. I would recommend trying out the Ritz breading I mentioned earlier in this thread one night.

[columbia]

If you're roasting it?
Salt/pepper and rub with a softened butter& herb mixture never fails.

[Froggy]

hmmm... ok. the other thought i had was pulling off the skin entirely, and dicing it up, cook up some rice, or some dumplings, or something, and throw the skin in a skillet with the rice or dumplings.

or if i was feeling especially frisky, i could turn that into a chicken stock, and make chicken and dumpling soup

[mac5155]

boil them and make a nice chicken noodle soup!

[mac5155]

oh my... new favorite meal.. got some boneless chicken breasts and coated them in eggwash.. then rolled in this:



bacon bits, bread crumbs, french onion crunchies, and cheddar cheese.

OMG

[Chefpatrick871]

^^ like to try that on a pork chop, w a side of Mac n chz. Yum.

[mac5155]

Im gonna try and make my own breading, see how it turns out.

[tifosi77]

I just ordered this:

It's a great book, you'll enjoy it. There's one dish that makes a vanilla sauce for fish that seems pretty outrageous, plus it's cool reading about the obvious reverence Keller has for his purveyors.

[columbia]

It arrived this afternoon.

:intimidated:

[the wicked child]

oh my... new favorite meal.. got some boneless chicken breasts and coated them in eggwash.. then rolled in this:



bacon bits, bread crumbs, french onion crunchies, and cheddar cheese.

OMG

That does sound very good, actually.

[count2infinity]

we've been cooking our chicken with just egg wash and then seasoned bread-crumbs (panko) and we just throw them in the oven. nice and crispy and pretty juicy. quite enjoyable.