Serious Eats: bumpducks's Profile

I just made a ham with whole cloves pressed inside and ground cloves in the glaze/dipping sauce. No other spice would do this ham justice. I have to thank my dad for the glaze recipe.

bumpducks at 3:00PM on 02/10/11

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Not Your Mother's Casseroles'

I make a mean taco casserole, and I serve it over a large bed of lettuce.

bumpducks at 1:46PM on 02/07/11

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: Anjum's New Indian

Foodography

bumpducks at 1:14PM on 01/19/11

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'The Book of Tapas'

my grandma's marinated mushrooms- yum!

bumpducks at 1:42PM on 05/27/10

From Serious Eats

I love my mom's recipe for pizza dough. We have 25 year old home videos of her making the dough from scratch, and relieving her stress by punching the dough. She didn't cook much, but pizza dough was always her thing.

bumpducks at 11:30AM on 04/01/10

From Serious Eats

The Food Lab's Top 10 Pieces of Kitchen Gear

My husband and I joined an organic CSA last year. We got a lot of greens, and we used the salad spinner daily. It was indispensable for getting rid of the extra protein, if you know what I mean.

bumpducks at 7:16PM on 03/29/10

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: The Grand Central Baking Book

My kitchen- the calories mean so much more when the finished goodies are made from scratch.

bumpducks at 11:52AM on 02/11/10

From Talk

Leftover Pulled Pork Ideas?

Definitely make a pulled pork pizza.

I also have a vision of making the chinese steamed pork buns, but sadly I would have no idea where to start.

Pulled pork does freeze very well. Freeze it in individual servings for an instant comfort meal.

bumpducks at 9:43PM on 02/10/10

From Talk

How do you eat for a week for $50?

I could never understand how some people say that food is too expensive- open your eyes, buy seasonal and avoid convenience meals.

Buy or grow produce when it is in season. Hit your local farmers' market and stock up on the grower's bounty of fruits and vegetables. Yes, it takes a little prep work to blanch green beans before freezing them or peeling tomatoes before canning them, but why would anyone want to pay 2-3x as much for inferior flavor? If anything, do it for the flavor.

My local store reduced their hams this week from their pre-holiday price of 1.29/lb to 0.99/lb. Compare that to processed deli meat anywhere from 5-7 dollars a pound. You can wrap up the meat in smaller portions for a ready-to eat dinner and freeze it, and don't forget to turn the ham bone into a delicious soup! Why would anyone ever buy a ham without a bone in it? That's not natural.

Ditto for chickens. Roast up your own at 0.79 or 0.89/lb, and do not waste the bones. Chicken stock freezes well, too.

Use pantry staples, like pasta, rice, beans and grains to fill in the blanks.

And use coupons. They don't always have to be used on overly processed goods. I always use coupons, and buy products when they are on sale for a double whammy.

When all else fails, buy the 1/4 lb double cheeseburger from burger king. It's on their dollar menu, but it costs BK something like $1.10 to produce it. No fries, no drink. just the burger. The manager will love you.

bumpducks at 11:28PM on 01/18/10

From Talk

Is it just me?

No offense, but your "bitchy" meter is off the chart!

I consider myself to be a foodie. I supported CSA by purchasing a produce share and a fruit share from a local farm last year, and I still can't identify more than 4 varieties of apples. And that's just one type of of plant! I'm lucky if I can recognize the difference between between rapini, arugula and escarole.

Help the cashier out- they are often 15 years old and make minimum wage. If you want someone who is knowledgeable about the product, expect to pay more, or purchase it directly from the producer.

bumpducks at 10:58PM on 01/18/10

From Talk

Serious Eater Twitter user names

@bumpducks, and you'll also see crap from my pharmacy.

bumpducks at 6:01PM on 01/11/10

From Serious Eats

Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: Zingerman's Praise the Lard Gift Box

My love for pork in all forms is genetic. My grandma makes the best BLT's.

My mom shares stories about how her grandmother would fry up pork fat for her. God bless her, her HDL cholesterol is over 100. Her doc told her to keep doing what she was doing, and thankfully she passed on her good HDL levels to me.

bumpducks at 11:32AM on 12/28/09

From Talk

BEST foodie gift ever?

a box of spices from pezneys.

bumpducks at 11:35AM on 12/12/09

From Serious Eats

Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: Two Peter Luger Steaks

Porterhouse, medium rare, and a coarse grind of salt and pepper. Sorry to all the vegetarians out there, but there's nothing better than picking up the almost-bare bone and knawing off every last morsel of meat.

bumpducks at 9:25AM on 12/09/09

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'The Art and Soul of Baking'

Biscotti

bumpducks at 4:02PM on 12/03/09

From Serious Eats

Seriously Delicious Holiday Giveaway: D'Artagnan Boneless Heritage Ham

strong horseradish

bumpducks at 3:58PM on 12/03/09

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Zingerman's Guide to Better Bacon'

You know those lines that separate the different categories on the food pyramid? They're slices of bacon. And the bold lines that surround the entire triangle? You guessed it, thick cut bacon. Everything goes well with bacon.

bumpducks at 9:05AM on 09/16/09

From Serious Eats

Ten Steps to the Perfect Cheeseburger

I am a big fan of irradiated beef for hamburgers. It nearly eliminates any risk of illness from undercooked beef.

bumpducks at 9:27AM on 08/31/09

From Talk

I eat ______ out of the tin/jar/bottle...

Am I the only one that eats french's fried onions directly from the can? My grandma would save me the the large clumps when she made tuna noodle casserole, and ever since it has been a not-so heart-healthy habit.

bumpducks at 3:31PM on 07/13/09

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Mrs. Rowe's Little Book of Southern Pies'

I attempted to add diced peaches, cooked down into almost a puree, to a boiled icing for the in-between layers of a cake. No matter how hard I tried I could not get the frosting and puree to emulsify, leading to a chunky mess. The cake (with plain peaches between the layers) was still delicious, but i will be careful with my experimenting.

One of my best recent baking moments was last Christmas- my inner recessionista invited some friends over to make cookies- we went with Mocha cookies. They were delicious and a great way to spend an evening with friends!

bumpducks at 3:08PM on 07/13/09

From Talk

Ever try the recipes on the sides of packages?

I use the Quaker oatmeal recipe for the oatmeal raisin cookies, but substitute chocolate chips for the raisins every time. Add a little vanilla for instant rave reviews.

I also happen to love Chex muddy buddies.

bumpducks at 3:21PM on 06/17/09

From Serious Eats

The Fest: Our Humblest Apologies to All

To Ed and anyone else who wants to enjoy good food- come to Buffalo, NY July 11th and 12th for the Taste of Buffalo- www.tasteofbuffalo.com and see what it takes to throw a great festival.

Now in its 26th year, his annual festival has grown to be the 2nd largest food festival in the entire United States. With just under half a million annual attendees and at least 50 restaurants participating every year, you can try any of the over 150 offerings, and nothing costs more that four dollars. You can leave this place with a full belly for only $20! Plus, no admission fee.

Many people would not think of Buffalo when they think of foodie towns, but I certainly do. Granted, Buffalo is not bordering an ocean like most other foodie towns, but we more than make up for it with what we have to offer.

bumpducks at 4:00PM on 06/15/09

From Slice