Meatgarden's Profile
Kitchen cabinet help, PLEASE
You need to find a good contractor who you trust. The fact that you are asking complete strangers in cyber-space for advise on a subject they likely know nothing about is a bad sign. You do need help in a bad way, and as a cabinet maker and kitchen designer/builder I can say you shouldn't be looking for advise from anyone you can't see.
Chili recipes and tips
It would have to be Vermont maple syrup to be any good.........
HELP HOUNDS! NEED CHINESE REC's FOR 2NIGHT: PORTLAND
You need a place thats open, thats all. After the first forty years, not to mention the thousands after, you'd fall into the beggars moreso than the choosers. I for one have reconciled with my history and have spent twelve days creating what is no doubt a better ham than any gentile could.
What European products are hard to find in the US
If you are going to be in Atlanta then you can find everything you listed at the Dekalb Farmers Market. It is one of the great markets in the United States.
Cooking Overnight In a Smoker
Naco, Google "minion method". You've got the right idea, wrong execution.
red wine & chantarelle mushroom risotto question
I would rather be Captain Correct. Dry white wine.
Best mussel dish in Portland?
So what mussels are you refering to that can't be found outside the Pacific Northwest? I get my mussels which can found anywhere in the US at Pacific Seafood.
What's a "pork ham roast"?
mountaincatchers, my best guess from that label is you have either a picnic ham or a fresh ham. If it is small like an average roast(5 to 7lbs.) it is likely the picnic. That would be the lower portion of the shoulder which has a more ham-like quality than the upper "Boston butt" portion of the shoulder. If it is a rather large piece, say ten pounds or more, you likely have a fresh ham. This piece of meat uncured is really nothing more than a big hunk of bone in pork. My experience with small "picnics" from my local hog farm is they really don't have enough meat to be a roast. There is likely a bone and other non-edible bits making up a fare amount of its weight. I braise the picnic to render the fat and seperate the meat. Then shred to make tacos, panuchos, sandwiches etc.. If you have a fresh ham, without curing you really won't have a "holiday ham". Use instead as a large roast leg of pork. You can flavor any way you want since the "haminess" won't be there without a cure. I'd Google "picnic roast" and "fresh Ham" for ideas, just be careful about expectations with the picnic, it may be smaller than the recipe calls for.
Of coarse the cut may be niether, in which case a 350 degree oven until 160 internal can't suck..
What's a "pork ham roast"?
You should call your CSA and get the name and number of the butcher who processed the hog. That information is freely given to any customer. Generally when you buy an animal or a percentage of one, you work with the farmers butcher to get the animal butchered to your specifications. A butcher who works for smaller farms is not bound by standard retail nomenclature, so they can call a snout a tail if thats what they want to call it.
Also, a small farm may raise a breed of hog that is much smaller than a truck sized industrial breed. This means a cut you are familliar with from the Kroger may look completely different than you expected when it comes from a butcher not worried about producing perfect bits of pork eye candy.
Buying animals from a small farm, and having them slaughtered and butchered to meet your needs is a process to learn over time.
Mountaincachers, I'd suggest getting to know the farmer and butcher by phone. And in the future buy the portions you want, processed and labeled how you want. If this isn't an option, find another farmer. The butcher won't mind, he's going to be the butcher for your farmers neighbor too.
REAL Italian Sausage in Portland
JillO, I do make my own sausage. The pic is a recent batch of Italians. A word about Gartners. Most of their sausages are closer to what we think of as German style. They are generally made of emulsified meats and smoked. If you like that type I'd also try the Edelweiss, they have very good cured/smoked meats. Try Sheridans on MLK or go eat at Michaels on Sandy if you havn't yet. You may like those. Or better yet, buy a local hog and make your own.
REAL Italian Sausage in Portland
pdxgastro, FM brand sausage is an abomination. This person asks for advice on real Italian sausages available in a great food city and thats the best you can do, industrial by-product sewage? Send them to Sheridans or Pastaworks if nothing else. At least the money stays local and spent on a quality product. Fred Meyer? Really? Where am I? What site is this? Wha?
Click on photo below for best Italian sausage in Portland.
What do we have in the Northwest that you can't get in other parts of the US?
With the exception of a few brand names, every item mentioned here can be found elsewhere. Much of it on the other side of the world.
Closest Mushroom to a Chanterelle?
A couple of thoughts on your mushroom question & answers. With all due respect here, fresh chanterelles with have twenty-fold the water in them than button mushrooms(cremini). If the chanterelles were recently picked in an area that had recent rain, most of the weight will be water. Unless the chanterelles have been sitting in the store getting old, it would be advisable to "dry saute" them before using. For one, the excess water will make your recipe too wet and less pleasant, and for another some people have minor stomach issues with wild, fresh mushrooms. The water cooked out by dry sauteing will carry out the very mild but sometimes ill effects. As for the creminis you have, I'd add some to the mix because in reality they will act as sponges and soak up juices and take on the flavors they cook in.
As for dry mushrooms, the porcinis will have the deepest and most rewarding flavor. Unlike boletes, chanterelles will not benefit from drying. Most important of all: what ever you do, do not throw the mushroom stock(soaking liquid) away. It is the true nector you've searched for. I'd recommend cutting your poultry stock with it in one of your recipes or better yet use it in the gravy.
Click on picture, an hour in the neaby woods.
