Ingredients that caused revelations

I cook D’artagnan’s duck breast from time to time, one of my favorites. It always gives me duck fat that I either save freeze or use for potatoes. I would precook the potatoes slightly in the microwave, ( to save time), then when the duck is done. either fry the potatoes for a short time in the duck fat til crips or place the almost cooked softened potatoes in the tray that the duck fat was rendered in. I use saved duck fat int he freezer for D’artagnan’s duck confit casserole.

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I love red miso with dashi ( made of seaweed combo and dried bonito fish )
I use it mainly to cook fish, salmon steak, chilean seabass and halibut.
I would sear these steaks in a very hot cast iron lightly greased so they will not stick, plate it then add a little olive oil ( chilean seabass render lots of in the pan, so no need to add oil ) , add my ginger, spring onions and garlic in that order, add some stocks and a tablespoon or two of the miso, turn the heat down, add some rice wine , and as soon as it thickens, spoon it over the fish served with rice.
This is my main use for miso,. hit keeps for along time as long as it is refrigerated. I have never had to throw away miso.

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Many years ago I toured a miso making facility. The head maker said traditionally made miso never really goes bad since it is a fermented product.

I had several varieties of miso for over 10 years and they were fine. I finally pitched them out when my fridge died - figured I obviously didn’t use them enough to have so many taking up real estate.

(I had created a demo program and these were some of the leftover products from testing.)

Generally speaking, the lighter the color the milder the flavor. Much depends on your taste and application. Last I investigated, white had bigger sales. This may have changed since miso is sometimes called for in more mainstream recipes these days. The following link is to a simplified usage chart:

Edit: The link is NOT an automatic download!

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I LOVE dck fat! And it’s not so bad…it’s the potatoes and the pancakes that you cook in it! But potatoes and duck fat make an exquisite reason to indulge!

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I prefer the light and it lasts forever - years - in the fridge. Just rehydrate a little if it gets dried out.

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This. Kills. Me. :sob:

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Oranges too. It’s mad cray.

I have/had an elderly neighbor who I felt I could ask to take some. She also gave my kids some tiny red berries when they were little. I forget what they were, but THEY would remember. “Amelia”. Earhart helps me remember.n

At 80 plus, she would climb her tree, and walk the land behind hers, picking up “cow patties”. Once she fell out of the tree, and her daughter prohibited any more climbing.

I used to say, if you walked behind her, you would never guess her age.

Last year came and went, and I didn’t see her, and the lemons dropped and languished. Looks like someone bought the house, hacked up the tree, and parked multiple cars on “her” lot.

::::sob::::

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Wow. I finished mine in months!

I like miso of all colours.

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Did somebody mentioned dried tomatoes? They are a delice.

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I had quarts of 10 varieties. By the time I pitched it I was down to 6 types now in smaller containers.

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Lovely to taste so many varieties!

Did you keep them in normal fridge or frozen?

I Kept them in the fridge. My freezer space is always maxed out.

It was! I had carte blanche to set up demonstrations how I wanted as long as I met certain parameters. Twice a month I would set up comparative tastings. I felt is was important for consumers and staff to be able to taste a wide range of a class of products at the same time. Most people don’t have the ability to remember flavor distinctly. We’ll remember we were happy or unhappy with a brand, that it was strong, salty, etc. But we can’t recall the nuances to compare similar products over time. The tastings were really great and became quite popular with serious cooks. It was wonderful to really be able to compare apples to apples - especially with the more expensive stuff.

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First time I tried prepared horseradish I was pretty knocked out in a good way. Its always in my frig waiting for its curtain call.

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I have a confession, I don’t like plain milk, I haven’t had a glass of plain milk to drink in decades. But I had to buy some Strauss Creamery Milk today because I wanted to taste pasteurized, non-homogenized milk. Wow, what a difference! So much flavor, so rich and creamy. What a revelation.

I wonder how many other foods I dislike because I’ve only had the processed, manufactured, dumbed-down version. For example: Las Vegas stone fruits, especially peaches, are disgusting. There’s nothing worse than a mushy, un-ripe, mealy peach; no flavor and horrible texture. However, the tree-ripened Cal-Red peaches in California are extraordinary. I’m still thinking about them and I had one weeks ago. I must’ve visited a dozen markets trying to find something similar in Las Vegas and all I see are horrible mealy peaches in the middle of peach season.

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I just tried Ripple pea plant based milk recently. The unsweetened original version. It makes a creamy smoothie/milkshake. Really like it.

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Now I’m curious. Thanks.

Their plant based half and half is great too. I was buying that for a few weeks and just bought the milk the other day. Good stuff.

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Next time I buy it I plan to try making rice pudding using it. The pea milk is already very creamy so I am hoping rice pudding is a winner.

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Finally bought and tried the Ripple half and half. While not as creamy as their milk, I used it in french toast batter and was pleased with the taste. I didnt like it in coffee.