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The Pescetarian

Hey y'all,
 
Not too long ago I had an epiphany. Except for a craving for a cheeseburger now and then I really don't eat meat. It's not that I don't like the taste of bacon, pork chops, chicken, brisket, et.al. I do, but I find myself eating a more healthy balanced diet of veggie's and seafood. 
 
Dig it.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescetarianism
 
I reckon it really started for me a few years ago. Went to the doctor for a checkup and it was revealed my blood pressure was too high, my cholesterol was too high, and I was carrying around way too much weight for my size. The witchdoctor was only interested in pedaling his drugs to me and engaging me for repeated and often visits to the waiting room. Screw that.
 
I then made the decision to lose the weight and at the same time get my cholesterol in line along with lowering my blood pressure without spending the rest of my life on drugs. How did I do it?
 
Easy. I quit eating the stuff that I really didn't need. I cut out the sugar, lowered the amount of salt I used, quit eating eggs, bacon, deep fried foods, meats of all kind, anything in a box or a can, and all processed food crap. My cholesterol and blood pressure dropped like a rock and the weight fell right off. It was enlightening to say the least and I did it without having to take a bunch of damn drugs. 
 
The other day I made a bunch of meatballs for the Sandwich of the Month Thread. After I made the meatball sammich I asked myself why I did that. I don't know. I don't crave meat. I didn't even think it tasted all that good. I mean it did taste good but it wasn't anything I'd go out of my way to eat again. So why bother anymore?
 
So it got me thinkin' about what I eat most on an everyday basis. I love tacos but it occurred to me that I mostly load my tortillas up with onions, garlic, chiles, shrimp or fish, or just whatever veg I have laying around. Cabbage? You bet. Goes great on a taco. Why not?  These days I also find myself looking at labels. Yellow dye #5? Get outta' town. Why is that sheeit even necessary?
 
So this thread is going to be dedicated to all 'thangs more or less healthy. A pescetarian lifestyle if you will, because that is what I am. 
 
Y'all got some hippy healthy food stuff to posty up? Well this is the place to do it. Quinoa? Whole wheat bread? Sprouts? Bring it all. But bring the heat too!
 
Here ya' go....
 
Texas Gulf Brown shrimps are in season. 16/25's.
 

 
Made up some coleslaw with shredded cabbage, cilantro, chopped chile's (look like thai's but who knows), just a little sea salt, olive oil based mayo and Mae Ploy sweet chile sauce.
 

 
I picked up a little Lodge cast iron griddle that fits perfectly on my Lodge Hibachi grill. Why? Because I like fire! But I don't really care for all the spooky stuff emitted from wood fire or charcoal.
The griddle 'thang just works and its just dang cute too.
 

 
A little squirt of canola oil was all that was needed.
 

 
Just look at 'em! Juicy, sweet, and tender shrimps. (Note the just made hot sauce, that's for another thread)
 

 
I will say that I've always had an addiction to cheese and I find it difficult to not put it on taco's. So we got a corn tortilla with a little shredded cheddar, the coleslaw, and the shrimps. Before eating I splooged the just made mango hab sauce all over it.
 

 
Have mercy!
 
This is what I crave.
 

 
I eat like that so I can look like and do this.
 

 
So all you seafood and veggie lovers, posty up whatchoo' got. Bring on all your healthy hippy food pornz.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I gotz to post these.
 
I'm in love with this little griddle.
 

 
And for no dang reason, a shot of the taco with mango/hab sauce.
 

 
Healthy food never tasted so good!
 
cypresshill1973 said:
If squid or octopus is too cooked, is right keep very tender, but spend all the flavor.
 
Al dente. I get it.
 
grantmichaels said:
I might have to take a swipe ... sounds similar to blanching ...

Long cook - equilibrium brine, first, or ? ...

i feel an natural inclination towards biryani or paella ...
 
Yeah or a brothy limey soup, like something Thai, no coconut. Jungle curry comes to mind. No idea why. Just think it would fare well in a spicy broth with a lime kick.
 
Oh! Phở! Yes!
 
I don't know... should working good on sous vide. I want to buy an suos machine. but here not exist for domestic use, only sells for restaurants and very expensive 2000 dls or more.

The Hot Pepper said:
 
Al dente. I get it.
 
 
Yeah or a brothy limey soup, like something Thai, no coconut. Jungle curry comes to mind. No idea why. Just think it would fare well in a spicy broth with a lime kick.
 
Oh! Phở! Yes!
 
of course!!! is great in soups and rice
 
The Hot Pepper said:
 
Al dente. I get it.
 
 
Yeah or a brothy limey soup, like something Thai, no coconut. Jungle curry comes to mind. No idea why. Just think it would fare well in a spicy broth with a lime kick.
 
Oh! Phở! Yes!
 
Pho was the direction I was thinking for going Asian ...
 
Without tasting it, it's hard to conceptualize the complimentary flavors ...
 
I mean, duck is changing the game ... some of my favorite things on earth sit so nicely on it (sweet, citrus, heat etc) and while I don't like horseradish proper (or wasabi), I am able to get a little bit of that twang from dijon mustard, and it works out ...
 
I am actually very interested in jaring some mustard ... I think mustard making might be a little tangent that I explore soon ... it's a healthy condiment, relatively ...

cypresshill1973 said:
I don't know... should working good on sous vide. I want to buy an suos machine. but here not exist for domestic use, only sells for restaurants and very expensive 2000 dls or more.

 
of course!!! is great in soups and rice
 
will your customs let it through? ... i'm happy to help ...
 
NO!. I buy a electronic component last month. the shipp is in customs now. I'am is crazy... I want to remove it, but i can't because of red tape. not knowing how to pay customs duty and I'm stuck with it.
 
2 years ago rulers put obstacles to the purchases abroad. Before I bought everything on ebay or Chinese pages. now very complicated... i buy it for necessity, but headache is now.
 
i have planed to visit miami before year-end. If I can with my work. EEUU embassy has approved my visa monts ago, but still you can not use it, haha
 
The Hot Pepper said:
Squid/octopus always looks chewy to me. Is it? Had calamari but not like that.
 
grantmichaels said:
Me too. And nobody ever tells me I must try it, when I ask ...

It's so striking in aesthetics that I'm intensely drawn to it - but I just don't imagine it to be tasty, or pethaps, of pleasing texture ... I mean, the little suction bumps must feel weird on the tongue, right? ...
 
 
I have had grilled, but always in a restaurant.  I am not sure if it is just grilled, or blanched first and then grilled.  When done right it definitely is not chewy.  Done wrong and it is like eating a chewy piece of calamari.   
 
 
I would not consider it a "must try" food, but I would give it a try if it appeals to you.
 
I made many times grilled octopus. I love it!!!. No have pics
 
Must be a big octopus 2 kilos or more
 
1 boiled to cook.
2 cut the tentacle to half (lengthwise)
3 put on the grill to direct heat and paint with olive, garlic and presley. Some mins for side.
4 Sprinkle cayenne pepper (or sweet) and serve with potatoes, fresh or Spanish
 
cajoan07.jpg


grantmichaels said:
 
Here I can buy all components to improvise a sous vide... But not there the vacuum ziplock. Also I could buy a food saver, it's not expensive.
 
Maybe I make some tests before going for it.
 
vacuum ziploc is a hack, because i'm lazy (except for burgers, where it helps keep meat from getting overly compressed) - food saver is the norm, certainly ...
 
recirc is solvable ... pond and squarium supplies cover this aspect well ... you could get enough movement from an airstone w/ a food-grade (570F) silicone tube like I use for brew recirc ...
 
there are inexpensive pumps these days that handle the temp ... i've seen the DC one's for like $10, and the wall adapter's are like $4-5 to run them off A/C ...
 
the feeder trough heaters for farm's are good stick heaters in terms of heating-capacity/cost ...
 
Maybe I order a Food Saver, here cost $123. Maintaining the temperature of the water is no problem to me. and timer I can use the phone or otherwise. Thermometer I have. Just missing the vacuum machine...
 
The Hot Pepper said:
 
Because I like nice things? =)
 
No, in all seriousness, some of the moments I cherish most where during the period of time while the sous vide was in development ...
 
It was a big purchase for me at the time - I didn't do the work I now do, and early 1/4-1/3 as much ... so damn near $600 for a countertop water bath was kind of unheard of for most of my friends and family at the time ... but, I'd done Atkin's on and off, and I knew that if the promise was true, sous vide would solve the pain points of eating meat each day, more often than not ...
 
So, while I waited to get my SVS, I did SV in a cooler w/ a candy thermometer using water from my tea service kettle ...
 
Some of my favorite, most cherished moments, are those early cooks ... the coast-to-coast evenness of color for the first-ever filet is something I won't soon forget ...
 
I am totally down to hack sous vide rigs, but at the end of the day, I like cooking sous vide enough that I want the rig that's been engineered to do just that ... intelligent defaults, if you will ...
cypresshill1973 said:
Maybe I order a Food Saver, here cost $123. Maintaining the temperature of the water is no problem to me. and timer I can use the phone or otherwise. Thermometer I have. Just missing the vacuum machine...
 
I cannot imagine customs would care about a box of ziploc bags, right? ... the pump is included in the packaging for one of the instances, so it's not a box itself ...
cypresshill1973 said:
Maybe I order a Food Saver, here cost $123. Maintaining the temperature of the water is no problem to me. and timer I can use the phone or otherwise. Thermometer I have. Just missing the vacuum machine...
 
The temp controlled waterbath is 95% of the deal ...
 
For instance, you can cook the eggs direct in the water ... so the eggs don't require vac anything ...
 
You can cook custards in jars in the bath like a baine marie or however you spell that, so again, vac not a factor there either ...
 
If you have food-grade food storage film (saran wrap etc) that's made from the right plastic, you can just over wrap something and drop that in there, or can plop things down in there and clip little sacks to the circumference of the bath container (like garlic, or well, testicles) ...
 
There are ways to generate vac pressure using the force behind your running water, too:
http://www.daigger.com/store/water-jet-vacuum-pump/21750?section=21
 
That can allow you to vac marinade in canning jars using the vac lids, and there's probably no reason why it wouldn't allow you to suck enough of the air out of a regular ziplock that's not designed for vacuum.
 
Most of the sous vide stuff for meat happens in the lower temp range, making the plastic issues less ...
 
Meats are often 126F to 138F, with chicken peaking around 147-148F ... and these are not challenging for ziploc's ... that's not very hot ...
 
Starchy veg like potatoes and squash require higher heat, but in all seriousness, you can typically cook those things better another way, and certainly faster ...
 
Sous vide is not my preferred cooking method for most veg ... I lean more towards grilled, or raw, honestly ...
 
GM: Thanks for the info. here I can buy all that pieces in any hardware store. I think that buy a vaccum machine is more easy haha. $123 is little money for me,
 
Also I can operate constant temps in the water, it's no problem... My doubt to resolve, is as keep circulating water in the pot without a SV machine.
 
cypresshill1973 said:
GM: Thanks for the info. here I can buy all that pieces in any hardware store. I think that buy a vaccum machine is more easy haha. $123 is little money for me,
 
Also I can operate constant temps in the water, it's no problem... My doubt to resolve, is as keep circulating water in the pot without a SV machine.
 
 
http://www.amazon.com/Carbonating-Stone-Barb-0-5-micron/dp/B0064OKB00/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438381968&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=aeration+micron+wand
 
http://www.amazon.com/White-SiliconeTubing-ID-Wall-Length/dp/B003TJ9YQU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438381985&sr=8-1&keywords=silicone+tubing
 
http://www.amazon.com/Tetra-77851-Whisper-Pump-10-Gallon/dp/B0009YJ4N6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438382035&sr=8-1&keywords=airstone+pump
 
=)
 
CHEERS!
 
cypresshill1973 said:
With an air pump? Bubbles make the water circulate? do you try?
 
It would easily be enough since the water has convection anyways, I'm sure ... see Tea Leaf Paradox ...
 
Cheap pumps move a lot of air these days and cause easily cause surface disturbance when places on the bottom ...
 
You will get plenty of turnover from an air pump, but you know, you can just do it like this:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Lightobject-EWP-2502HT6V-Temperature-100%C2%B0C-Water/dp/B004HHW0FU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1438382474&sr=8-2&keywords=sous+vide+pump
 
See the diagrams, appears to be submersible and safe to boiling temp ...
 
BOOM!
 
Sounds like there are big opportunities for sous vide machines on the Argentine black market  :lol:
 
CH you've got me really wanting to give octopus a crack.... my fishmonger has large fresh ones that look very nice.... your plate of food looks like a cracker....
 
Just on tenderizing..... ive heard that marinating with kiwi fruit for a couple of hours help.... apparently kiwi fruit has an enzyme that can break down the flesh of the octopus...
 
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