Ask a chef

[3goodeggs]

Fish chowder!
I made some excellent chowder from some freezer burned smoked amberjack once.
I have not gotten my hands on any since.

 

[perchie.girl]

for what its worth I have been designing a summer kitchen.... or canning kitchen
pantry space for pressure canned and fermented foods


opposing wall


water bath and pressure canner station with multi use work space for Processing poultry.


I have more drawings but am thinking of starting an article...

deb

 

[perchie.girl]

Fish chowder!
I made some excellent chowder from some freezer burned smoked amberjack once.
I have not gotten my hands on any since.

Ooh I could use that cod.... and I suspect there is more fish in there .... just have to dig when I feel better.

deb

 

[3goodeggs]

Make sure your counters are chair friendly and perhaps your bottom shelves can pull out so you can stand on them to reach the top shelves.
Have support handles places, even if you do not think you will use them.
As we age my husband and I are rethinking all of our remodels. Best to be prepared for it, old age comes along eventually- if we are lucky.

 

[perchie.girl]

Make sure your counters are chair friendly and perhaps your bottom shelves can pull out so you can stand on them to reach the top shelves.
Have support handles places, even if you do not think you will use them.
As we age my husband and I are rethinking all of our remodels. Best to be prepared for it, old age comes along eventually- if we are lucky.

the counters Are chair friendly.... I need that pressure canner to be below the counter height so I can load the Jars without standing.... I also need to be able to fill the pressure canner without moving it as well as drain it when done. hence the drain in the floor. Hoping to devise a siphon to accomplish that. They dont hold much water but those canners are HEAVY....

all those lower racks are on rollers so each uniit can be pulled into the canning area and loaded. the canner height will be adjusted as will the counter height to what my functional need will be at the time. IF i get my weight off I will be able to stand and reach but the arthritis will still be there in my knees and back. Each of the placement of things on shelves will be reach able from a standing position... and all of the heavy things will be no higher than standing eye level. Anything above that will be long term storage items that will only be used seasonally or self loading cans.... Load from top retrieve from bottom....

I am not a survivalist but I want to be able to plan and store enough to last me at least six months if not a year. rotate that with fresh food and maybe feeding one other person in the house....

My kitchen in the house has no cupboards or cabinets on the walls around the stove sink or food prep area. There will be one single wall that will have cabinets and the refrigerator and freezer. I want to remodel the kitchen into a freestanding kitchen like they do in Europe.

deb

 

[lindalouly]

We need to come up with a name for that kind of cooking.
Every once in a while, I toss stuff together because it is what I have and it is really very good.
It is never something I would have thought to do, more of a day before grocery day meal.

I call it left over hash. Lol the kids love when I do that.

 

[attimus]

Been hectic around here doing fast food waaaaay too much.

threw a bunch of stuff together...  Dont know what to call it but it was so yummy I had three bowls.... 

Big pot I use for cooking Kilbasa and cabbage.  seven quart non stick with a lid.

Half a stick of butter and a splash of olive oil.....  saute'd a large sweet onion diced up....  Salt pepper garlic Tumeric and smoked paprika...
cooked them all till I could smell the seasonings.   Then added two cans of carrots drained...   And two cans of White homony Drained.  Added a small can of diced hatch peppers. Heated those up till I could smell homony then added chicken broth   just enough to see it maybe two cups?  I salted again and peppered again.

Then added about a pound of shredded cooked chicken breast   about two handfuls of dried parsley  and a single lemon that was beginning to dehydrate.   I partially sliced the lemon  about five slices that were connected solidly.   After having the dried lemon in stews from that persian restaruant I wondered if using one whole  would be similar....  

All things were cooked in this dish so it just needed to heat up and mix the flavors.   so I set it on low.  The only thing it needed was the taste of celery.... which I didnt have.   But it was very very good.    And it would be sooo much better with fresh ingredients I am sure.

I dont have the time to do prep because I am barely able to stand these days....  Its like I have x amount of energy and I have to use it judicuously...

deb

A quick story to share.
My first position in a restaurant was washing dishes at the awahanee hotel in Yosemite national park(currently being renamed as the majestic thanks to some corporate bs), a rather long time ago in my eyes but all relative I guess. Before I ever held a knife to cook and be paid for it I was witness to a very inspirational gentleman who had been confined to a wheelchair after a motorcycle accident in the very same park. It was here that I eventually started cooking and working with him directly, we became close friends and spent early mornings and late afternoons talking about food, he was also fond of this epic saltwater fish tank he had been working on since before his accident.
Prior to his accident he had worked in the kitchen there for a few years and knew it by the back of his hand.
After the accident he would literally spin circles around the new guys, and prep tens times faster than anyone in the kithen. His work wasn't just fast, it was immaculate, as awful as the accident was he certainly honed his skills. And anyone who had his help in the kitchen was greatful.
We've gone our separate ways over the years but he was one of the first great cooks I've worked with and he only had several motivations after his accident... his wife, his fish, and food.
As long as I knew him him has always been driven. I wish you the best of luck in the same regard, embracing your inevitable outcome.
When it comes to food I'll do my best to share what's been shared with me and sometimes that can be more than food...

A.

 

[attimus]

I call it left over hash. Lol the kids love when I do that.

I mentioned goolosh previously, that's usually what it was incorporated with. Leftovers.

 

[perchie.girl]

Thanks A....

My dad was like you.... inspired by an individual that overcame obsticals.... IN his case he became an engineer... Your case a Chef... In my book they are equal.


deb

 

[perchie.girl]

today was a tough day... spent from about 4 pm to 10 pm in the ER. Grandma came through with flying colors... with a teeny adjustment to her heart meds.... Whew... I dont know who is more disabled .... she with 100 years of living or me with 61 years of riding hard and putting the horse away wet....

G'night...

deb