Late Night Open Thread: Mmm, Grilled Cheese…

by 1:10 am. It has 22 Comments.

We all have our late-night fantasies of a different life…

“Get your wallet out, but don’t get your hopes up.”





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Amazeballs Japanese Noodles w/secret ingredient

by 11:30 am. It has 37 Comments.

 

Folks,

A few weeks back, I posted about Japanese mayonnaise and mentioned some noodles that used it for an amazing and unique sauce. At least one reader asked for more details, so here they are: Ippei-chan Yakisoba Japanese Style Noodles. They are so damned good, and yes, I try to make this 4 servings, so it only ends up being 20% of my daily sodium allowance.

I love a few different dried noodles and I’ll post about them sometime, and I’m sure I’ll want to also post on ramen and similar noodle soups. I love the fact that I can take this package of noodles, and with either a microwave, immersion heater, or camp fire/stove, I can easily have an amazing side dish. It can make a crappy motel room with reheated fast food much more welcoming, let me tell you. On the other hand, I try to limit such high-sodium foods and limit my palm oil consumption, so I enjoy just a few such noodles or soups a year, not a few a month like when I was younger. Age, it changes us!

 

Open thread – on noodles or anything else.





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Foreign Affairs Open Thread: Australian Election Results

by 6:10 am. It has 51 Comments.


 
An Aussie commentor brought the election to my attention yesterday, so here is the Guardian‘s liveblog of the incoming results.

Also — and I say this with genuine admiration, not to mention drool — if ‘this is how the sausages are made’ culinary treats were to become an American institution, there would be a lot more interest from our notoriously lackadaisical voters!





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A Late Evening Snack: Mother’s Day Baking

by 11:19 pm. It has 40 Comments.

I did some baking for the family’s Mother’s Day brunch. My brother specifically requested a key lime pie. I also made a Torta de Santiago. Torta de Santiago, sometimes Tarta de Santiago, is a regional dessert from Gailicia, Spain (torta is Galician, while tarta is Spanish) and was created in the Middle Ages for pilgrims. Which helps to explain its name: Saint James’ cake. It is an almond flour cake and there are several variations. Because I don’t eat refined carbohydrates in any significant quantities, I went with an almond flour cake recipe that is only sweetened with honey, not refined sugar. And yes, I know that honey is still a refined carbohydrate. I also know it doesn’t mess up my system the way refined sugar does. Torta de Santiago get lemon zest, but I decided to go with orange zest. And I didn’t add brandy or any of the other alcohol that can be found in some torta de Santiago recipes. The recipe I used can be found here. The only addition I made is the orange zest. It is very easy to make. One other note: torta de Santiago are traditionally finished with powder sugar that is applied over a stylized cross stencil. I went with fresh blueberries instead. Here’s another picture.

One other important note: the first time I made this cake I used a spring form pan. It came out with nice even sides and a nice even top. This time I just used a silicone cake pan and, as you can see, the sides are slightly rounded and the top is not even. I have learned my lesson.

On to the key lime pie!

The key lime pie is the same recipe that I posted here back in February 2016.

Key Lime Pie

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted

2 (14-ounce) cans condensed milk

1 cup key lime or regular lime juice*

2 whole eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the cooled pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Garnish with whipped cream, and slices of key lime or key lime peel.

* I use the Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice.

Open thread!





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C.R.E.A.M. Open Thread: Speaking of ‘Great Farm Product’…

by 8:44 pm. It has 180 Comments.

This is one massive load of bullshit from the Oval Office Occupant.

… The escalated tariffs don’t hit agricultural products directly, since most were already facing a 25% tariff imposed by China last year. But the news still sent commodity prices plummeting.
Read more





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