To fuck or to cook?

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by Fugee
Given a long family history of heart disease, I should really start eating more fish.

But I grew up in beef and dairy land (with lakes that only had carp and bullheads) so never had much fish as a kid and don't have a lot of experience cooking it.

I'm looking for easy & tasty ways to make fish -- especially the kind rich in Omega-3 oils like salmon and tuna (me eating sardines is just not going to happen). The problem with those Omega-3 rich kinds of fish is that they are really fishy tasting so recipes that make them less fishy would be nice.

Fish that smells or tastes fishy is not fresh. Period. You should never hesitate to ask your fishmonger if you can smell the stock before buying. Ideally, it won't smell like much of anything. Then you should cook it the night you buy it.

Ditto to Ollie on the not buying farmed fish. The best fish from the healthiest fisheries is wild Alaskan salmon. If you can, you should eventually try some different kinds--sockeye is rarer, smaller, leaner, and redder; Chinook or King are huge fish, very fatty (but the good kind of fat!) and lighter in color. I don't much like the other kinds (Coho, silver, pink, whatever they're called).

Pan-searing works great for the fattier kinds (don't have to add much if any oil), but can make your house stink to high heaven. Less stinky and very easy is to roast at 400 in a greased dish, sprayed with a little EVOO and with some fresh herbs pressed on. I like barbecuing on a cedar plank with a mess of fresh herbs between the fish and the board. This imparts a most amazing flavor.

For sauces, there are lots of options. I grew up eating a mayo/sour cream sauce with capers, lemon and egg that is to die for but definitely not low-cal. Although maybe you could make it with enhanced-Omega mayo?

PM me if you want more recipes.

tm

[Sparklehorse]

I recently got a Hamilton Beach ice cream maker as a gift. It is the semi-old-fashioned style with 10 lbs of ice and rock salt required. I can already see that if I want to make ice cream on even an occasional basis, I need a higher tech machine. I know BnB and others have posted ice cream recipes; what do y'all use for machines?

ETA that Cook's appliance corner was not very helpful.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
I recently got a Hamilton Beach ice cream maker as a gift. It is the semi-old-fashioned style with 10 lbs of ice and rock salt required. I can already see that if I want to make ice cream on even an occasional basis, I need a higher tech machine. I know BnB and others have posted ice cream recipes; what do y'all use for machines?

ETA that Cook's appliance corner was not very helpful.

I would recommend this.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by tmdiva
Fish that smells or tastes fishy is not fresh. Period. You should never hesitate to ask your fishmonger if you can smell the stock before buying. Ideally, it won't smell like much of anything. Then you should cook it the night you buy it.

Ditto to Ollie on the not buying farmed fish. The best fish from the healthiest fisheries is wild Alaskan salmon. If you can, you should eventually try some different kinds--sockeye is rarer, smaller, leaner, and redder; Chinook or King are huge fish, very fatty (but the good kind of fat!) and lighter in color. I don't much like the other kinds (Coho, silver, pink, whatever they're called).

Pan-searing works great for the fattier kinds (don't have to add much if any oil), but can make your house stink to high heaven. Less stinky and very easy is to roast at 400 in a greased dish, sprayed with a little EVOO and with some fresh herbs pressed on. I like barbecuing on a cedar plank with a mess of fresh herbs between the fish and the board. This imparts a most amazing flavor.

For sauces, there are lots of options. I grew up eating a mayo/sour cream sauce with capers, lemon and egg that is to die for but definitely not low-cal. Although maybe you could make it with enhanced-Omega mayo?

PM me if you want more recipes.

tm

I planked a side of salmon this weekend that was marinated in cola, bourbon, soy sauce, brown sugar, and garlic. It was absolutely incredible.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
I recently got a Hamilton Beach ice cream maker as a gift. It is the semi-old-fashioned style with 10 lbs of ice and rock salt required. I can already see that if I want to make ice cream on even an occasional basis, I need a higher tech machine. I know BnB and others have posted ice cream recipes; what do y'all use for machines?

ETA that Cook's appliance corner was not very helpful.

I love ice cream as much as the next guy, maybe even more. But, having hand-cranked out batches previously in my life, I have to wonder: why bother? And having used even the automated machine: why bother? Unless the closest Baskin-Robins, Ben & Jerry's , or (best yet) local ice ream parlor is a long haul away, what advantage does the DIY approach have?

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I love ice cream as much as the next guy, maybe even more. But, having hand-cranked out batches previously in my life, I have to wonder: why bother? And having used even the automated machine: why bother? Unless the closest Baskin-Robins, Ben & Jerry's , or (best yet) local ice ream parlor is a long haul away, what advantage does the DIY approach have?

Because they don't always have chocolate raspberry.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I love ice cream as much as the next guy, maybe even more. But, having hand-cranked out batches previously in my life, I have to wonder: why bother? And having used even the automated machine: why bother? Unless the closest Baskin-Robins, Ben & Jerry's , or (best yet) local ice ream parlor is a long haul away, what advantage does the DIY approach have?

I've wondered the same thing, which, I suppose, is why I've never owned one before. I see occasional recipes that look interesting, like I remember BnB posting a recipe for Guinness ice cream a while back. I actually made a lemon sorbet last night. It has vodka in it, presumably to keep it from freezing solid, so you have the added bonus of eating frozen shots?

FWIW, I wouldn't bother with the hand-cranked either. It takes at least an hour that way.

ETA that my ice cream maker has an electric crank.

[Sparklehorse]

Originally posted by taxwonk
I would recommend this.

Thanks for this recommendation.

By the way. my brother smoked some ribs and chicken over the 4th using the applewood chunks I bought him per your recommendation. He said they were a lot easier to use than the smaller chips and his barbeque was the best he's ever made -- close to our dad's.

[bold_n_brazen]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
I love ice cream as much as the next guy, maybe even more. But, having hand-cranked out batches previously in my life, I have to wonder: why bother? And having used even the automated machine: why bother? Unless the closest Baskin-Robins, Ben & Jerry's , or (best yet) local ice ream parlor is a long haul away, what advantage does the DIY approach have?

Come over next time you're in south Florida and I'll show you.

Homemade ice cream, even plain old sweet cream, is so much better than anything you can buy.

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
Come over next time you're in south Florida and I'll show you.

Homemade ice cream, even plain old sweet cream, is so much better than anything you can buy.

Guinness Ice Cream????!!!! May I have some, please?

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Sparklehorse
Thanks for this recommendation.

By the way. my brother smoked some ribs and chicken over the 4th using the applewood chunks I bought him per your recommendation. He said they were a lot easier to use than the smaller chips and his barbeque was the best he's ever made -- close to our dad's.

I'm glad he enjoyed them. The fruitwoods are very good, especially with chicken. For bigger, denser cuts he might want to try using pecan or a blend of pecan and apple or cherry.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by bold_n_brazen
Come over next time you're in south Florida and I'll show you.

Homemade ice cream, even plain old sweet cream, is so much better than anything you can buy.

2. plus you can make custards or push up ingrediants. but I'm sure the quality is directly tied to how much care is put into making it- soemone just "cranking it out" maybe isn't making something that much better than Ben &Jerry's.

Also, maybe you don't want to date a guy like that.

[Fugee]

Originally posted by taxwonk
I would recommend this.

I did a cooking class at a local gourmet kitchen store where we made gelato. We used a machine much like the Cuisinart one on the Sur La Table site.

The advantages are (1) it's big and makes a good amount and (2) you don't need either rock salt or to have put the mixing container in the freezer to make the ingredients freeze so you can make ice cream, sorbet, gelato, etc. on a whim.

The disadvantages are that it's big and expensive (I think the one we used in the class cost ($300-400), so it is hard to justify unless you have a lot of room and are going to use it often.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Fugee
I did a cooking class at a local gourmet kitchen store where we made gelato. We used a machine much like the Cuisinart one on the Sur La Table site.

The advantages are (1) it's big and makes a good amount and (2) you don't need either rock salt or to have put the mixing container in the freezer to make the ingredients freeze so you can make ice cream, sorbet, gelato, etc. on a whim.

The disadvantages are that it's big and expensive (I think the one we used in the class cost ($300-400), so it is hard to justify unless you have a lot of room and are going to use it often.

The one I linked to only makes 1 1/2 quarts, but it only costs $49.95.

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by taxwonk
The one I linked to only makes 1 1/2 quarts, but it only costs $49.95.

You do NOT want that one if you care about the texture of your ice cream. Ice cream makers that rely on your freezer to chill the cylinder that will then be used to chill the ice cream don't get the temperature low enough fast enough for the mixture to be smooth. If you're not that picky (and/or have a stand-alone freezer set to 0 degrees F), by all means save the money and go for the $50 buck device.

If you do care about texture, don't have a basement freezer, or might want to make multiple batches in succession (I sometimes do*), spend 5 times as much to get this . It's what I would get were I currently in the market. I'm still using the Williams-Sonoma machine I got as a wedding gift 10 years ago--back then there were fewer choices, and it was $400.

I must admit that I also own the big Hamilton Beach salt-and-ice $20 machine. You can't beat it if you're making ice cream for a large crowd, and it's really not that much of a pain to do the salt and ice. Just be sure to make the ice cream the day before so it can cure in your freezer overnight (and make the mix the day before that so it can properly chill before you put it in the freezer--my favorite ice cream recipe requires thickening on the stove).

tm

*One time for a Middle-Eastern-themed book group meeting, I made three ice creams: pistachio, cardamom, and rose. Yummy.