Spring has Sprung
Apr. 20th, 2006 08:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjThe weather is finally turning around. I'm back on my bicycle. If it weren't that I'm spending my lunch hours programming, I'd be at the park.
The surviving garments database programming is progressing but I haven't been able to start testing it yet because I haven't worked out the secrets of PHP. In theory, the software is all properly installed and should have auto-configured, but since the manual I'm working with assumes you're going to be doing manual configuration in UNIX-like commands, I haven't been able to figure out whether there's a software set-up issue or whether I'm falling down on some much more obvious part of the process. Dreamweaver is perfectly happy to identify blocks of PHP code with a little icon and then to ignore them, but my browser either shows me the raw text of the code or nothing at all depending on which code sample I'm following. I've still got plenty of time, assuming I get this worked out soon.
Garden progress: I've forked through about a third of the squeeze-space for grass roots. The "squeeze-space" is the strip between the north side of the house and the chain-link fence on the property line. It's about a foot and a half wide. This makes it difficult to do anything other than ignore it. There's some really good dirt in there but there's no point planting anything pretty since it's invisible from most of my yard, and there's not much point planting anything edible since it would be nearly impossible to get at once it's growing. And, for that matter, unless I negotiated with the neighbor to do an edged bed on her side of the fence, the grass will be back the moment my back is turned. (On the other side of the property, one of my motivations for starting an edged bed was helping the other neighbor keep his squeeze-space relatively grass free.) I sometimes think it would be simpler if we just removed the fences where they parallel the house walls, but in the long run that would tend to confuse property lines.
Here are the results from the Second Beef Jerky Taste Test (All Hot All The Time):
See the previous entry for the general recipe. This is the commentary.
#1 Fresno pepper
#2 Anaheim pepper
#3 Serrano pepper
#4 Habañero pepper
#5 Jalapeño pepper
#6 Manzano
#7 Wasabi
#8 Fresh turmeric
#9 Fresh ginger
#10 Shishito pepper
#11 Green Thai pepper
#12 Red Thai pepper
Given the above, and other verbal feedback, here's the proposed "Arthur's hot hot jerky" recipe. Take fresh mixed red and green Thai peppers with some Habañero peppers. Blend in a food processor with a little water and some toasted sesame oil. Add a bit of soy sauce (or substitute the soy sauce for water in the blending). It should be more of a slurry than a marinade. Soak slices of London Broil in this for 24 hours. Make a mixture of ground black peppers (both regular and some of the more exotic, like cubebs and grains of paradise) and ground ginger. Take the meat out of the pepper-slurry letting the excess drip off and spread on drying racks, then sprinkle lightly with the ginger/black-pepper mixture. Dry in a very low oven, cracked open slightly, until the meat is dried but not crisp.
I don't anticipate being able to provide personal feedback on the success, but perhaps the intended recipient will.
I'm already getting requests for the next jerky taste test. The "summers in Rangoon" taster suggested doing some curry jerky, which should be interesting. I'd also like to put together some more medievally inspired spice blends for experimentation. I've learned the lesson about "dust, don't marinate" for most spice blends. It would be interesting to try something with a significant fruit base -- a sort of cross between a chutney flavor and a jerky-fruit leather hybrid.
The surviving garments database programming is progressing but I haven't been able to start testing it yet because I haven't worked out the secrets of PHP. In theory, the software is all properly installed and should have auto-configured, but since the manual I'm working with assumes you're going to be doing manual configuration in UNIX-like commands, I haven't been able to figure out whether there's a software set-up issue or whether I'm falling down on some much more obvious part of the process. Dreamweaver is perfectly happy to identify blocks of PHP code with a little icon and then to ignore them, but my browser either shows me the raw text of the code or nothing at all depending on which code sample I'm following. I've still got plenty of time, assuming I get this worked out soon.
Garden progress: I've forked through about a third of the squeeze-space for grass roots. The "squeeze-space" is the strip between the north side of the house and the chain-link fence on the property line. It's about a foot and a half wide. This makes it difficult to do anything other than ignore it. There's some really good dirt in there but there's no point planting anything pretty since it's invisible from most of my yard, and there's not much point planting anything edible since it would be nearly impossible to get at once it's growing. And, for that matter, unless I negotiated with the neighbor to do an edged bed on her side of the fence, the grass will be back the moment my back is turned. (On the other side of the property, one of my motivations for starting an edged bed was helping the other neighbor keep his squeeze-space relatively grass free.) I sometimes think it would be simpler if we just removed the fences where they parallel the house walls, but in the long run that would tend to confuse property lines.
Here are the results from the Second Beef Jerky Taste Test (All Hot All The Time):
See the previous entry for the general recipe. This is the commentary.
#1 Fresno pepper
- Nice smokey/peppery flavor
- Yummy mild pepper flavor. Good display of red pepper flakes to scare people.
- Very mild pepper flavor
- Tasty smoky flavor -- good
- Pleasantly tangy and warming to the throat.
#2 Anaheim pepper
- Subtle but robust spicyness, good flakey consistency.
- Tasted like Mexican cuisine flavored jerky.
- A little plain but nice spicyness
- A low burn -- not much specific flavor otherwise.
- Mild hotness, for the timid.
#3 Serrano pepper
- Hot?
- Nice subtle heat, good chewy texture
- Good spicyness, but milder than Manzano
- Nice, has a more complex taste
- Good stuff but a bit too mild
- Mild lingering flavor
#4 Habañero pepper
- Yes, it is Habanero. Yeeehaaa. Warm.
- The heat sneaks up on you. Long term burn.
- Some heat but could use more.
- Hot. Got kick. Nice flavor.
- WHOO HOT HOT HOT
- Tongue-burnin' hot!
- All I tasted was hot, not any real flavor though.
- I LOVE HOT!
#5 Jalapeño pepper
- Not my favorite, but hotter. Not much flavor.
- Nice jalapeño flavor. Not overwhelmingly hot.
- Very nice -- love jalapeño!
#6 Manzano
- Mild. Does not overpower beefy flavor. Nice texture.
- Perfect amount of spicyness. Not too hot, not too mild. Good flavor.
- Mmmm mmm PERFECT amount of yummyness.
- I like it. :)
#7 Wasabi
- Wasabi flavor does nto survive the drying process. Really bland and blah.
- Just tastes like beef -- no flavor.
- Yummy. Really flavorful; nice beef flavor.
- Nice wasabi flavor. Would go good with sushi.
- Good, not as strong a flavor as I suspected.
- Very very nice.
#8 Fresh turmeric
- Plain.
- Mild Asian flavor to it -- pretty yummy -- no aftertaste.
- Mild sort of herby flavor, like summer hay fields, needs to be used in a more complex blend -- hangs around on the back of the tongue a little.
- It's okay, not too tasty.
- Yum. Delicious curry flavor. Takes me back to summers in Rangoon.
#9 Fresh ginger
- Very tasty. Nice ginger flavor.
- Nice mild beef flavor w/hint of ginger.
- Beef flavor comes through. Nicely gingery but not very strong.
- My favorite. Super yummy ginger flavor.
- Gingery good. Not overly gingery.
- Excellent, perfect texture and taste.
- Not as much snap as I would have expected, but ginger flavor is very present.
#10 Shishito pepper
- Peppery/earthy flavor.
- Plain, not very exciting. Earthy is a good description.
#11 Green Thai pepper
- Not bad. Has some kick but no Bang!
- Super hot. Like beef-flavored fire. Or Hell in your mouth.
- Definitely stays with you, but it does have a nice full flavor.
- Has a 'green' grassy taste but it is hot.
#12 Red Thai pepper
- Grassy overtones, but what do I know? [illegible]
- Not bad. Has some kick and an aftertaste.
- Hot. Still burns after 5 minutes. Tastes like burning. Good flavor.
- Hot, but oh so good.
- Mmm, hot but lacks something.
- YUMMY!
Given the above, and other verbal feedback, here's the proposed "Arthur's hot hot jerky" recipe. Take fresh mixed red and green Thai peppers with some Habañero peppers. Blend in a food processor with a little water and some toasted sesame oil. Add a bit of soy sauce (or substitute the soy sauce for water in the blending). It should be more of a slurry than a marinade. Soak slices of London Broil in this for 24 hours. Make a mixture of ground black peppers (both regular and some of the more exotic, like cubebs and grains of paradise) and ground ginger. Take the meat out of the pepper-slurry letting the excess drip off and spread on drying racks, then sprinkle lightly with the ginger/black-pepper mixture. Dry in a very low oven, cracked open slightly, until the meat is dried but not crisp.
I don't anticipate being able to provide personal feedback on the success, but perhaps the intended recipient will.
I'm already getting requests for the next jerky taste test. The "summers in Rangoon" taster suggested doing some curry jerky, which should be interesting. I'd also like to put together some more medievally inspired spice blends for experimentation. I've learned the lesson about "dust, don't marinate" for most spice blends. It would be interesting to try something with a significant fruit base -- a sort of cross between a chutney flavor and a jerky-fruit leather hybrid.
