My favorite part? Learning about French and Italian Chinese food!

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First of all, I just want to say…

…How have I never thought of doing raspberry jam and cream cheese before?  Brilliant grilled cheese idea.  Even better if you subbed pound cake for the bread…

But anyway, it got me to thinking about the glorious, radiant divinity that is the grilled cheese sandwich.  Especially because it is now just the right kind of weather for such a treat.  You know, because every kind of weather is the right kind of weather for grilled cheese.

My absolute favorite grilled cheese is the one detailed in a post I wrote long ago: grilled cheese with green apple on Italian bread.

And of course, we explored a few different delicious options at the inaugural dinner of the Melties, including the classic ham and cheese, fire roasted tomato and grilled dubliner.

But that picture above has me thinking of all the new possibilities for combinations as yet unexplored in my various rendezvous with the sammich world.  Grilled bacon, cheddar and avocado?  Grilled goat cheese and red onion?  Grilled manchego and pear?  And don’t get me started on THIS list of amazing sandwiches…that sound you hear is my drool pooling on the floor.

So I’m asking you guys…what are your favorite grilled cheese toppings?  What do I absolutely need to try?  I got a whole winter coming and plenty of noms to fill it with. 

Related posts:

1. Comfort Food: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
2. eat mor chikn: chicken and avocado panini
3. Meal in a pot: baked mac and cheese

I know you think I’ve abandoned you.  But you’re wrong.  Don’t you know me better than that?  Didn’t I tell you I was never gonna give you up?  That I was never gonna let you down?  That I was never gonna run around and—

Sorry.  What?  Anyway, no, I’ve been here, behind the scenes, tweaking things.  Just when you thought you’d reached the depths of this site’s awesomeness, guess what! There’s an awesome underground garage.

So come on in, take a look.  Let’s get reacquainted, shall we?

Plus there will be more videos, more image galleries, more info and more candy bars (I look at the search history for this site…I know what you all are really looking for ).

Grab your forks.

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Maggie has little regard for plant life

Winston prefers hardier ground

I’m pretty excited about the herb bed.  It’s the perfect size for what I need and right now has all my favorite herbs in it: rosemary, plenty of basil, oregano, mint, sage, thyme, parsley and cilantro, with garlic chives soon to come.  I wrote the names of the herbs on some old antique silverware my mom gave me and used them as markers.

But now that’s done and hopefully our social calendar will calm down a little bit as well.  I love hanging out with people but I’m ready for a couple days off.  I miss cooking myself dinner.  In fact, today was the first day since Tuesday that I really cooked anything for dinner.  Otherwise, we’ve eaten out with friends every other day this week.  That’s insane.

So in honor of this momentous occasion, I went all out….on a really simple dinner:

-peppered pork chops grilled on a salt block (which is my favorite way to grill things these days)

-baby carrots steamed on the grill

-corn on the cob

-basil oil

-buttermilk biscuits

And a simple pineapple gratin for dessert.  So simple in fact that I neither measured anything nor really took down notes.  Think of this as one of those “recipe guidelines.”

• I combined one 20oz can crushed pineapple with 1 cup of sugar and cooked it in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolved.
• I pour a fourth of the pineapple mixture into the bottom of two personal gratin dishes.  These made really big servings per person.  Multiple smaller gratin dishes would work, as would one regular sized dish, as would cupcake molds.  Be creative.
• Then each dish got: 1/2 c. crushed graham cracker, 2 tbsp unsweetened flaked coconut, another quarter of the pineapple, another 1/2 c. crushed graham cracker, 2 tbsp coconut and finally a couple small dots of butter.
• I placed the gratin dishes on a cookie sheet, to catch any spillover, and baked them at 350F for 20-25 minutes.
• I let them cool and then served them after dinner with big dollops of whipped cream.

They were delicious.  Sweet, tart pineapple, a nice crunchy topping and a hint of coconut.  Creamy but not too heavy.  Josh gave it two spoons up.

And me, I am wholly satisfied, and looking forward to getting back into the swing of cooking. I’m thinking, fried baby artichokes tomorrow.  With lemon.  Pulled pork.  Roasted chicken later this week and maybe another attempt at conquering soup?  We’ll see….

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Let me say that part again.  A semi formal grilled cheese dinner party.

You know, as many times as I say it, it never sounds less awesome.  All around, it’s probably one of my better ideas.  I highly suggest that each and every one of you conduct your own Melties as soon as you can.

Let’s start with the invitation.

A few of our grilled cheese lovin’ friends received the following invitations in the mail (real invitations on real paper sent through snail mail.  Retro, I know):

Then we cleaned the house and set the scene: tablecloths, plates, bowls, wine glasses, little votive candles in mason jars, simple elegant tulips.  I downloaded an album of the 50 greatest classical music pieces and had it playing on my ipad in the background.

Then we gussied ourselves up.  I mean, it was a semi-formal dinner party after all, with some very influential guests.  I mean, this was like a who’s who of grilled cheese lovers.  We had to look presentable.

Josh. Isn't he adorable?

Then our friends started to arrive, and they were dressed to the nines.  They looked amazing.  It was a lot of fun.

Jim & Isha, lookin' all classy

As per the invitation, prizes were given to those who went Full Awesome and brought either a monocle or a top hat.  Jeff actually made his own monocle and brought that.  It was great.  Brian got a prize for bringing a top hat…and really, I think he wins for best outfit overall.

Brian in his awesomeness

And then there was the food.  Josh and I prepared some basic sandwiches and invited guests to bring their own combinations as well.  We ended up with an unbelievable spread.

Appetizers
Apricot “Grilled Cheese” Puffies (mini puff pastries stuffed with brie and apricot jam)
Fruit plate with whipped cream-cream cheese dip

Soup
Tomato (of course)

Entrees
A medley of grilled cheese sandwiches:
classic cheddar
cheddar and ham
green apple and jack cheese
green apple and smoked provolone
fire roasted tomato
dubliner

Sides
Apple slices
potato chips
Swedish baked cheese and homemade bread (courtesy of Chase and Carrie!)

Drinks
Apple juice
water

Brian, Rita and I prepared the ingredients for the sandwiches and then assembled and cooked three or four of each type, cut them into quarters and served them family style on big platters.  The idea was so that everyone could try everything without being overloaded.  Brian did most of the grilling and he did a fantastic job.  We had one electric griddle going and two pans on the stove.  The sandwiches that finished first were placed in the oven to keep them warm as we finished up the others.

Dessert, of course, had to be just as classic and classy as the rest of the meal.  And I like to think it lived up to the high level of expectation:

freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven
champagne glasses of whole milk

I made the cookie dough the night before and scooped it out onto cookie sheets, covered them and let them sit in the fridge.  Near the end of dinner, I ran into the kitchen and turned on the oven and as we cleaned up the dinner plates, popped in the cookie sheets.  Then I just set them out on platters, still warm and gooey, with a roll of paper towels and little champagne flutes filled with milk.  A delightful ending to a delightful dinner.

After dinner, we just sat and hang out, finishing off the cookies, the fruit plate and a bit more cheese.  Great conversations were had, memories were made, sandwiches were digested.

It was pretty fabulous all around.

Another positive note was that in addition to this being our first “semi-formal” dinner party, as well as the first Melties, it was also my first attempt at making tomato soup.  Indeed, not only had I never made tomato soup before, I’d only ever eaten it once.  But I drew inspiration from Bee, the queen of Beezy’s (which you’ve heard me talk about before and if you follow me on Twitter, hear me rave about on a weekly basis, pictorally even), who recently gave me a crash course in soup making and thanks to whom I am slowly getting my soup-legs.  So I made tomato soup and by all accounts, it was awesome.  Everybody wants the recipe.  Which would be so fantastic…if only I’d actually used one.  Which I didn’t.  You know me.  Guidelines, pirate’s code and all that. But at the uh….insistent urging of Jeff I’ve written down more or less what what I did, which really wasn’t much.

Lauren’s Tomato Soup
Makes…a lot.  I served 11 small bowls’ worth

1 large sweet onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 stick butter
2 tbsp Italian herb blend
1 16-oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 32oz cans diced tomatoes
touch of cream
1/2 c. chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt the butter and toss in the onion, garlic, a bit of salt and pepper and the Italian seasoning.  Cook until the onions are very soft and have mostly absorbed the butter, about 10 minutes.  Add in the can of fire roasted tomatoes and cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Pour in the rest of the tomatoes.  Cook on medium, covered, for a half hour.  Scoop about 3/4 of the soup into a blender, in batches if need be, and add a splash of cream.  Puree until smooth and then pour back into the pot, along with the chicken stock.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook another 15 minutes or so.  Serve.

I actually made this soup the day before and just heated it up before the dinner started.  I myself am not actually a fan of tomato soup but the Melties attendees seemed to love it–and these people know their food.

So there you have it.  The first semi-annual Melties.  Here’s to grilled cheese wishes and chocolate chip dreams!

Related posts:

1. Thoughts on Grilled Cheese
2. Is this summer? I’ve been awaiting your call
3. Comfort Food: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

homemade limoncello

I know what’s going on.  Your path to life has taken a sour turn.  Your mojo is running out of juice.  Food has lost its a-peel.  And my pith-y jokes…well, they lack a certain zest today.  But it’s okay.  I’ve got the cure for what ails ya.  Because, my dear friend, when life has given you lemons, sometimes you wonder…”What the hell am I going to do with this?  Make lemonade?  Uh hello, that is so 1956.  Laaaame.”  Well today, we are going to save your relationship with the lemon.

Because after all, the lemon is a little culinary powerhouse.  There is nothing it can’t make better.  Not only is it full of vitamin C, and not only is it an awesome little addition to homemade cleaning solutions, and not only does it bring out the delicious flavors of foods it’s paired with, but its own flavor is bright and tart and yummy.  To steal a line from Genie, the lemon is “phenomenal cosmic power, itty bitty living space.”

I like to keep lemons in the house, myself.  For one, as discussed on the Foodie Skin Care page, it makes an excellent exfoliant for your home-spa nights—and it’s ridiculously cheaper than an actual pedicure.  Just slice a lemon, dip the slices in sugar and rub the slices on the soles of your feet.  It’ll smooth out rough spots and soften your skin.  Then just rinse your feet in warm water and apply lotion.

Recently, I made preserved lemons for the first time.  Preserved lemon is basically pickled lemon, and it’s a common condiment in North African cuisines.  You just let the lemons sit in a bath of salt, lemon juice and oil or whatever for a few weeks and there you go, instant flavor-izer for things like rice, soups, chicken dishes, etc.  The recipe I like best can be found on the Sunday Suppers blog.

Lemon! Huh!  Good God, y’all, what is it good for?  Absolutely everything!

My other favorite things to do with lemon include grilling them–for instance, adding them to skewers with chunks of chicken and putting them on the grill.  Or adding them to somewhat surprising dishes–like chicken cooked in milk.  Also, it’s been well-reported in the foodie tabloids that lemon has had long-running love affairs with several members of the spicy pepper family.  So keep a good thing going, mix some lemon zest with some pepper flake and make a new favorite pork chop recipe.

And obviously, for dessert, you can’t beat the tart-sweet flavor of perennial favorites like my super-awesome lemon bars or lemon curd.

Although I suppose, if none of that interests you….you could just make lemonade.  Tactical nuclear lemonade, that is, or as the Italians call it limoncello.  I call it, “a hilarious way to surprise your mother when she misunderstands what you said and thinks it’s just juice and takes a big swallow.”

I wouldn’t have made limoncello on my own.  My grandmother actually made me do it.  Yes, that Grandmother.  The one who made me lemon-honey-whiskey toddies when I was a sick child.  Clearly you can see why I love lemon so much.  Grandma has been making her own fruit cordials for years and finally stumbled upon a recipe for limoncello in the newspaper and was intrigued.  She decided, however, that she didn’t feel like zesting all those lemons herself, so she told me to do it.  Being the dutiful granddaughter that I am–and hoping, secretly, that the effort would be rewarded with a couple slices of pound cake–I did.  If you’ve never had limoncello, I can tell you that you will either like it or you won’t.  It’s a lemon liqueur popular in southern Italy and I sometimes think they give it to tourists as a joke.  I myself am not a fan of it on its own but it makes a fantastic addition to other drinks.  Essentially, it’s vodka, or other grain alcohol, lemon peel and sugar.

Homemade Limoncello
Recipe by Cathe Filian, as posted in the Detroit News

1 liter 100 proof vodka
2.5 cups sugar
2 cups water
8 lemons

Clean and zest the lemons.  In a clean, sterilized 1 gallon glass jar, add half the vodka and the lemon zest.  Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 10 days, and up to 40.

In a large saucepan, combine sugar and water and cook until thick, about 5-7 minutes.  Let cool and then add to the limoncello mixture.  Add the additional half liter of vodka.  Let rest for another 10-40 days.

Strain the zest and bottle the liquid.

Note from Lauren: I also just sliced up the lemons and let them sit in the limoncello as well, in addition to the zest.

Well, there you have it.  Plenty of ways to use that delightful, sunny-hued fruit you keep glancing at yet still passing by in the produce section.  I hope I have been able to e-lemon-ate your worries and you’ll try some of these recipes out!

And I promise, no more lemon jokes.  For the rest of the week.

Related posts:

1. Lemon Bars, or How Many Lemon Jokes Have You Got?
2. A real sunny delight: Meyer Lemon Curd
3. Lemon Pepper Garlic Pork Chops…in Pictures

I didn’t have any culinary plans, really.  The conference–and our hotel–were downtown in the thick of everything, and so my only real guideline for the week was “wander around until you find something that looks tasty that doesn’t have a one hour wait.”  And that’s pretty much what we did.  While the downside of just wandering until you find a place is that the place might suck, you also sometimes run into awesome places that make you go, “Mmmm.”

The first night, Saturday, we still tired from traveling down, even though we took the train, which is, in my opinion, the most civilized way to travel short distances in the US these days.  No groping, no pat down, no rifling through my stuff, just get on the train, find a seat, hand over a ticket, relax til you get there.  Divine.  So we basically just wandered until we found a place that had a decent sounding menu but not an hour’s wait.  That place was Bandera, on Michigan Ave.  Dinner was an hour wait unless you were willing to sit at the chef’s counter, which we–and apparently only we–totally were.  In fact, sitting at the counter and watching the cooks prepare the plates was way more awesome than the food, which was pretty good.  We had drinks, an appetizer of a giant roasted artichokes and then Josh got a French dip sandwich and I got this Bandera-style roast chicken with amazing rice that tasted, frankly, like golden chicken fat.

Sunday we made a trip down to Chinatown and picked up a bag of pork buns from one of the bakeries.  Mmm.  Pork buns.

Then we followed that up with dinner at Volare, an Italian restaurant near our hotel.  It was small, and not much to look at from the outside, and rather crowded inside but the food was really pretty good.  Italian and ciabatta bread, good olive oil, salad and Josh got a plate of spaghetti with giant meatballs while I had the chicken vesuvio (chicken, white wine, peas, potatoes).  Actually very tasty.

Monday we had breakfast at West Egg, which we tried to get into on Sunday but it just wasn’t going to happen without an hour wait.  The week day was much more amenable to my unwillingness to wait.  It was a casual breakfast/lunch kind of place, not too expensive and good food.  Josh got a chorizo omelet while mine was stuffed with bacon, cheese and a thick layer of avocado through the middle.  Anything with that much avocado has to be good.  And it was.

Dinner was at q, a barbecue restaurant that really sort of reminded me of this fantastic place I once tried in Stone Mountain, Georgia but have since forgotten the name of.  Decor wise, anyway.  I loved that when we sat down, they brought out baskets of house-made chips and pickles, which were fantastic.  Josh got the kobe beef brisket and macaroni and cheese, which was pretty good, while I got St. Louis style spare ribs and greens.  The ribs were good, not the best I’ve ever had at a restaurant (that’s currently an honor held by Satchel’s here in Ann Arbor), and the greens were passable and full of bacon.  It also came with slices of cornbread that were ginormous.  Still, I’m sad.  I can never find cornbread as good as I can make it. Why?  And don’t tell me it’s the lack of butter.

Tuesday’s dinner was at Pizzeria Due, which is basically owned by Uno’s.  I loved the ambiance, it was very out of the way and full of locals, and the waitress was laid back and fantastic.  The hot wings were also great.  The pizza, not so much.  I’m not a fan of Chicago style pizza most times anyway (sorry, Chicagoans) and the sauce was really lacking in flavor.  There was a good layer of sausage in the middle though.  That helped.

We came back to town Wednesday afternoon, after our last Chicago eating stop–Yolk, which is probably my new favorite breakfast place there.  It was bright, sunny, laid back and had an amazing menu that I wish I’d had more time to explore.  I just had the simple bacon and eggs over easy, but what really caught my eye–though I couldn’t bring myself to eat it that early in the morning–was this French toast dish made of red velvet cake with cream cheese that was dipped in batter and fried and topped with whipped cream.  Like ohmygod.  I think I got diabetes just reading the description.  Someone please try it and tell me how it is.  Please.

So that was the week.  Now we’re back and I’m glad we tried a few new things but so glad to be back in my own kitchen, too!  Eating out gets tiring after a while.  I did get some good ideas though, not the least of which is the pomegranate-vanilla curd that is currently cooling in the fridge.  But more on that later…

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I like Valentine’s Day.  I know it’s a somewhat controversial holiday (which ones aren’t, these days?) but I personally appreciate it, for about the same base reason that I like Halloween: you just can’t go wrong with a holiday where a major focus is candy.

The second best part of V-Day is the silly cards you can swap with your friends.  You know, the “I choo-choo-choose you” train-shaped cards like Ralph gave to Lisa on the Simpsons?  Those are awesome and fun.  Any cute little paper card that references a cartoon I grew up watching is a winner. Unless it’s Captain Planet themed.  Then I just feel guilty.

Anyhow, the candy is really what’s important here.  My mom always makes sure we have some sort of Valentine’s treat—cookies or candy hearts or those little sampler boxes of Whitman’s chocolates.  And then come’s the inevitable Forrest Gump reference about life being like a box of chocolates.    Ha.  I wish. If life really was like a box of chocolates, I would be deliriously eating my way through the fabric of space. Om nom nom.

Where was I going with this?  I don’t remember.

The important thing is that whether you’re celebrating the Big V…alentine…with a significant other or friends or that random guy who always sits next to you on the bus no matter how many other seats are available, I’ve got some awesome meals and treats that will make your day delicious.

Delightful, Delicious, Delovely Dinners

Almond and broccoli soup–A lovely starter, to keep you revved up and light on your feet…or off your feet, as the case may be

Wine-braised short ribs–With arugula and white bean salad.  Contains an entire bottle of wine.  That’s all I have to say.

Pomegranate-ancho-chocolate-short ribs–Dinner AND dessert.  It’s food efficiency at its best.

Gratin de poireaux and steak with creamy mushroom sauce–dinner dressed to impress

Coconut beef–a slightly more exotic, casual meal

Lasagna–cuddly comfort food

Garlic mushroom chicken–for when you hate the person you’re with, or at least, really really don’t want to kiss them after dinner

Grilled chicken with pomegranate cream sauce–light, sexy and it says, “I care about your antioxidant levels.”

Asopao de pollo–spicy, creamy, full of flavor.  Like me.

Apricot chicken–sweet and spicy.  Also like me.

Lemon pepper garlic porkchops–seems pretty self explanatory

Drunken goat cheese quiche–how are drunken goats not the main Valentine’s Day mascot?

Pasta with mushroom ragout–animal friendly.  that’s love

Chocolate-mint-mojito slushies–It might be winter outside but it’s summer in my tummy

Strawberry agua fresca–light, refreshing and non-alcoholic.

Share Some Sweets

Meyer lemon curd–sweet, sassy and full of sunshine.  Wow.  There’s a lot of food that resembles me.

Chocolate marshmallow mousse–silky, chocolaty and perfect for sharing.

Apricot cinnamon bars–a different but delicious combination

Chocolate pomegranate sundae–a surprisingly perfect pairing, served all chic like in a wine glass

Petits pains au chocolat–little bites of awesome

Chocolate oreo semifreddo–looks really pretty awesome.  Tastes even better.

Gianduja bars–because sometimes you feel like a nut and oddly, that’s not a euphemism

Homemade turtles--take-to-work and reap in the valentines

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1. Farm Share Goodies: June 23
2. Meatballs: A Love Story
3. Farm Share Goodies, October 6: Our Man Jack is King of the Pumpkin Patch

I’m hoping so myself.  Either way, there’s a good chance that Let It Snow will be more than a quaint Christmas carol tonight, and you should be prepared for that with my Storm Sustenance Checklist.

The Checklist

–Lasagna heating up in the oven as we read/type
–Cookie dough made and chilling in the fridge until baking later
–Plenty of milk
–Plenty of booze
–Hot Cocoa
–Netflix subscription paid
–Dogs indoors, asleep on couch, drooling on their toys
–Low-fuss breakfast planned (french toast is a good one–you know the picture has made you hungry)
–Thawed meat roast for slow-cooking all day
–Plenty of booze
–A tub of peanut butter.  Just in case.
–some sort of fruit.  just because it’s a snow day doesn’t mean you can’t be healthy.  bonus: fruit dipped in chocolate.  negative points: fruity pebbles cereal.
–The will to cook the cookie dough before eating it
–A second batch of cookie after your will to not eat the first batch raw fails
–Enough bacon and mashed potatoes to create a sizable fort.
–Peas.  No really.  They’re good.  Give peas a chance.
–Sugar for making snow cream
–Tums

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And as someone who also loves potatoes–I do love potatoes, they are the perfect vegetable, gastronomically–of course I’ve had a lifelong dream to dip slices of soft baking potatoes into clear, sizzling hot beef tallow, remove said starchy delight, coat it in salt, pepper and mountains of cheese and eat it–I mean, who doesn’t have that dream?  Maybe vegans.

But either way, I can proudly say to you that indeed, I have conquered this beefy potato mountain.  I have stood on its peak and raised my foodie flag to the sky and proclaimed, “It is done.”  And it was good.

What’s that you ask?  What’s the big deal about beef fat?  Let me tell you.  Beef tallow is rendered fat, generally from suet which is often found around the loins and some organs of the cow.  Suet melts at over 113F, a fairly high melting point, which makes it excellent for frying.  However, suit (being raw fat) will go rancid if not refrigerated properly.  The beef tallow you make from rendering down suet, though, does not need to be refrigerated as long as it’s kept in an airtight container.  While tallow is often used for soap or cheap candles (you can easily see why it’s used for candles–if you dip your finger into it while it’s cooling down, it will start to form a thin, persistent cover on your digit just like regular candle wax), it’s most deliciously used for frying things.  I’ve started with potatoes, but next will be other things—eggs, chicken, artichokes, ravioli, beer….you get the idea.

I thought at first, when looking for advice on how to make tallow, that it might be a horrendously long process and I would regret it dearly, but actually it wasn’t too bad.  Hiday Farms was nice enough to sell me some of their leftover suet at the Lunasa market one day a few weeks ago, just a couple pounds so I could try it out.  And the internet provided me a bevy of blog posts about other likeminded individuals who also enjoy essence of cow, as it were, and made their own tallow.  I was pretty excited when I realized I didn’t have to stir a pot for hours on end, or use up my gas oven for hours on end (although you could), but that I could let the suet render down slowly in my crockpot.  How delightful is that?

Basically what I did was this: thawed the suet ever so slightly (it was frozen when I bought it), just enough so that I could chop it into smaller pieces.  Then, bit by bit, I fed into the shredder in my food processor, keeping the un-shredded bits cold while I worked.  The idea behind this was to create tiny suet pieces that would overall have more surface area and hopefully melt down faster and easier.  However, I will probably never do it again.  I saw a lot of discussion back and forth as to whether the step was really necessary or not, and I’m going with not–plus it was a bit of a pain.  And messy.  And as the suet inevitably warmed up thanks to the quick-spinning nature of the processor, it gummed up the blades and was just sort of a hassle.

But no matter.  Eventually I got it all done into nice little shreds.  Then it went into the crockpot, on low.  Now, one variable that will always exist is how long the suet actually takes to render down.  I saw estimates for about one and a half to two hours a pound but most seemed to say it depends on the method, the suet, the weather, some butterfly in India flapping its wings, whatever.  Basically, you let it cook until all, or 98% of, the solids have melted down and the tallow is nice and clear.  For me, for a couple of pounds, it took just under 4 hours.  Then strain the liquid, so you don’t get any of those icky little bits in there, and let cool.  Congratulations, you’ve made beef tallow.  I covered mine and put it in the fridge.  I know, you don’t have to.  But I forgot and just did it anyway.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I finally get around to having Josh buy some potatoes so I can try out the tallow.  I sliced two large baking potatoes into rounds, put them into a pot, covered them with water and simmered them at medium heat for 20 minutes, to get them soft.  I get out my grandma’s good cast iron skillet, slide the solid disc of tallow into it (it was in the fridge, after all) and turn the heat on medium.   I drained the potatoes and patted them dry.  By the time I’d done that, the tallow was completely liquid, clear and beautiful.  I let it get sizzling hot and carefully dropped in the slices, one potato at a time, not overcrowding.  Five minutes on each side, one flip, and then they were drained on paper towels and sprinkled with a mix of salt, pepper and Turkish oregano.  And then, of course, I had to eat one right then and there, still hot and steamy from the pan…

…and it was delicious.  Crispy, soft on the inside, nicely salted.  The tallow doesn’t make them taste like beef.  It just makes them taste better.  No burning, no darkening, just little rounds of potatoes surrounded by delicious flavoring liquid.

Mmm.

Related posts:

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2. All Taste, No Fuss: Broccoli Almond Soup and Red Pepper Beef
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