I tend to agree with you because I've never really liked Miracle Whip either except when it was used to make one thing, but I can't remember what that one thing is. I think it was some kind of sandwich but I haven't thought of that in decades.
Don't use Miracle Whip. Executive order over weekend allows manufacturers of processed foods to change ingredients without changing labels. Another good argument for cooking from scratch.
I have one of their enameled cast iron skillets and it's very nice. It also cost 5-6 times more than my Lodge (Made in America) non-enameled cast iron skillets. The enamel seems to slow the heating and cooling time a tad but they both cook about the same. The enamel means less scratching of glass top stoves.
I noticed you like Lodge cast ironware. I have 4 different Lodge items...and use them all!! Speaking of which, My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary this past week and took a little 2-day jaunt to Tupelo, MS to celebrate. Why Tupelo? Because one of our pet little songs we both loved while cross-country dating was Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey. Also, we were both curious about Elvis' birthplace and hometown until he was 13. (We drove Natchez Trace all the way down. What a fun drive! Meriwether Lewis [Lewis & Clark] mysteriously died [and is buried] on the Trace in 1809 @ 35 years old! -- https://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm ) Anyhoo, while in Tupelo, we stopped in to Tupelo Hardware. What an amazing display of Lodge cookware! Tupelo Hardware is the place Elvis' mother took him for his 11th birthday. He wanted a .22 rifle SO bad. But, upon talking to the store owner - and discovering the great dangers a "toy" of this magnitude could bring - his mother couldn't bring herself to the decision of purchasing the gun. At that point, the store owner has an idea...and brought out a guitar to the now crying Elvis. He handed it him. Elvis plucked on it a bit, like what he heard....and the rest, as they say, is history. https://www.tupelohardware.com/pages/the-guitar
Who likes Paella? After a trip to Barcelona in 2015 I became obsessed with Paella for awhile and tried a few recipes. This is one of the easiest and has become one of my go to recipes for an easy "gourmet" meal. I originally bought some special paella pans but I have found that any oven safe pan will work just as well so you dont need any special equipment, I sometimes even double this recipe and do it all in a deep dish pan and it turns out very well. Its a very versatile recipe so you can change up a lot of the different meats and veggies for different effects and often I throw in a lot of the leftovers or whatever I have laying around. 2 1/4 cups chicken broth (roughly) You need 2 cups but will boil this with the saffron for awhile so the extra is for cook off. 1 tsp of saffron (roughly), 1 tbls of oil some sort of sausage, andouille, linguica or chorizo are my favorites. You want something that is going to be oily and very flavorful. 1 1/3 cup of rice. (any rice will due but real paella is made from Arborio rice) 1/2 onion diced 1/2 cup green peas 1/2 sliced thin bell pepper, red for looks in preferred. some minced garlic 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper (optional) add more if you like things spicy. salt to taste 1/4 tsp is what I usually go with. paprika (optional, for me it depends on the sausage I use and often skip this ingredient) other optional proteins are chicken and various seafood like scallops or shrimp. I usually make this with the leftover from the costco chickens we buy. Steps. 1) preheat oven to 425 2) bring saffron and chicken broth to a boil and let simmer in the background while you cook the rest. 3) Saute onions and any hard veggies you might be using in an oven safe pan/skillet. 4) Add diced or mince sausage to the veggies and let it cook long enough for the fats to melt. 5) add cayenne and salt to the fry mix. 5a) if using uncooked diced chicken add it to this step and cook it with the mix. 6) add uncooked rice to the mix and fry it in the sausage fats really good. This is where a lot of the flavors come from some you want to make sure the rice is coated with the mix well. 6a) if using precooked chicken add it at this step. 7) Pour exactly 2 cups of the hot saffron/chicken broth mixture into the pan. If you boiled too much of it off from earlier you can just top it up with hot water. 8) Add peas and garlic and bring the mixture to a boil. 9) If you are using seafood like shrimp or scallops then just lay them on the top. Also lay the bell pepper strips on top. Make it look pretty! 10) put the whole thing in the preheated oven and cook for 25-30 minutes. 11) pull out fluff and eat. Here is the original recipe I followed when I made this and I still use it for reference, but I have adapted it considerably over the years. https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2013/08/sausage-shrimp-paella-before-you-run.html
Salmon must be grilled with grill marks only until medium rare. Then served with plenty of lemon and a nice white wine. For a side dish, some sort of grilled baby potatoes and perhaps some grilled asparagus tips with a yummy Cole slaw on the side.
I like the cedar plank thing but don't like the blackened part. Also, it has to be medium rare or it gets ruined. Kind of hard to get it right.
In 2012, I went to Valencia, Spain in an area called La Abufera. Its where they grow the rice for Paella and where it all started. The Paella out there was increible. They initially made it with swamp rats and shit and some of the older spots would still make it. Didn't try that but had some with Rabbit. If you are a Paella Freak, def hit up Valencia. Ever try Squid Ink paella? That shit was DOOOOOPPPPEEEE
Ive had valencia style and really liked it, rabbit is good stuff, I might pass on the swamp rat though. Marisco is my favorite if I am eating it at a restaurant. At home chicken and linguica topped with shrimp my favorite mix. I didn't like squid ink pasta when I was in Italy but ill try it in paella, Im a pretty adventurous eater, especially when I am traveling. My favorite breakfast in Barcelona is an easy one to recreate, a bowl filled with thick steak cut french fries, topped with chorizo and on top of that a soft yolk fried egg with sprinkles of onions and chives on it. So damn good and easy to make at home also. Spanish food was really really good, I need to spend more time in Spain, Ive been working on my Spanish during lock down.
By the way I finally got a Sous Vide based on your recommendation. Its been a great addition to my cooking arsenal. I like it so much I just bought my sister one for a house warming present.
There's a Spanish restaurant from Barcelona in portland I believe. Higher end side. I loved the tapas and also those tiny sandwiches
If you are in vegas, hit up Jose Andres spot Jaleo. They do paellas at night. Every hour its a different one. Also popular are fideo which is paella with a small pasta, served with some aioli. I prefer paella tho
