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We've been a little pork centric in the menu department the past week. @Duvel suggested a recipe using pork steaks and I settled on a recipe for Thüringer Bierfleisch. Todays lunch were dinner leftovers including fried potato dumplings and cucumber salad. This was the dinner version including prep. I cut the pork steaks from a boston butt roast and used the remainder for ground pork. A portion of the meat became a nice pork patty sandwich. a And the remaining ground pork was used for Mexican chorizo. A portion which became chorizo and lentil stew.

The two ice creams I had left I spun today. Both had at least 1/4" ice on the bottom and some on the sides as well. I have decided to return it to Costco as I'm not excited enough about it to keep it. I'll stick with the Creami and for bigger batches,my Breville Smart Scoop.

I was sick for a few days. Had to cancel and had already bought the shrimp to make shrimp cocktail for the party I was going to. Did not want to risk getting sick all over again by freezing the defrosted shrimp, so told my neighbor to come over and get the shrimp for their V-Day dinner. When she came over, she brought ne French onion soup she had just mad with bread and cheese to top it. I really didn't feel like eating it until tonight. It was delicious! Did not take pix. She also brought me some of her pastry daughter's macarons which I put in the downstairs fridge and forgot about until just now. I'll try to remember to eat one tomorrow. Don't want to over-do it on my recovering stomach.

Exactly. So nice.

Potato and onion varenyky (from a local small business), garlic and herb labne, roasted and marinated beets and pickled onions all on a bed of arugula.

@blue_dolphin very high drool factor to that!

A belated Valentine’s post. Cheese thumbprints (from Deep Run Roots) filled with pomegranate and jalapeño jelly.

Can you provide a photo? I can't visualize where the crack forms and how pronounced it is. Initial suggestions would include: (1) The added 10% cocoa butter may be thinning out the chocolate too much, so that it flows off the filling and leaves what appears as a crack. (2) What technique do you use when dipping? Do you make sure that all six sides get covered adequately? I bring this up because my technique is to create a foot/chablon for the entire slab (I don't ordinarily add one on top). That means the bottom of each piece will have an adequate covering. But it is crucial to have the top covered as well in the dipping process.

We have reached the final chapter of this (not so) epic trilogy. Time to put this one to bed and get on with our lives... Managed to time it so the topping slowly crept down the cake after a slice. That's about it. I preferred version 2.0 with the firmer set, but I don't see any reason to make it again.

Pollo en ajillo (chicken in garlic: Toasted ancho chile sauce with 14 cloves of roasted garlic, fried chile guajillo rings, and stock from simmering the chicken. Tasted like the world's simplest mole. This was leftover from having friends visit for dinner last night. Bulgur pilaf with peas and carrots, cumin seed, ginger, jalapeno, and a little cayenne. Sadly, no leftovers and no pictures for the rest of last night's dinner: Asiya's eggplant curry and Sri Lankan sweet potatoes with cardamom and chiles. You will have to take my word that they were both pretty and tasty.

My point was to point out other instant /pressure pot techniques, not using garbage chicken. To maybe help people learn a little something about classic stock making. And to see at what point you’d stop asking questions and start to show your annoyance.

And what's your point? This was never intended to be a classic stock, and stocks made with salt or other seasonings serve a purpose just as real as unseasoned stocks.

I haven’t tried these but I quite like the Trader Joe’s version. The flavor is a little like a cross between salt-preserved lemon and olive! My Walmart neighborhood market has surprised me with black garlic and a wide range of ingredients I didn’t expect to find there.

Hmmmm - I wonder if a top and bottom foot might help?

As I said, the technique for making a classic stock is basically no salt.

Made duck for Valentine's dcarch

2 days West Hollywood 3 days Anaheim 2 days Santa Monica

Where will you be staying?

And just like that, the horses have galloped in!

Not really….this week’s box contained more potatoes, TWO cabbages, and a butternut squash the size of my thigh 😂. It’s back to square one! Last night, no root vegetables were harmed in the making of dinner. Linguini with clams

@Neely…it is really delicious with pistachios, we enjoy much more than pine nuts!

This is about technique. Theres nothing to prevent you from using a chicken other than Costco's. Around here, at least, many markets carry rotisserie chicken, some even high-end organic or air-chilled birds. At least one market has salt-free birds the last time I checked.

Bumping. Any thoughts on places not to be missed in LA? Traveling with kids who are very adventurous eaters. Not looking for high end, more ethnic/fun local places.

First question. Are you sure you're looking at a "best before" date? China rarely uses a best before date. They always use a manufacturing date. Is it specifed in English ir any other language?

Moderators, please move this topic if it belong elsewhere. I was starting to prep a batch of Char Sui to celebrate the Year of the Horse and noticed that my hoisin had a best by date in the Year of the Rabbit (2023). It got me thinking about the shelf life of the ingredients I use infrequently. I like to try my had at pan-Asian cooking (China, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.) so I keep some of the basics on hand. Maybe @liuzhou or some other kind soul could point me toward some information on the shelf life and storage for these ingredients. Specifically, what needs to be refrigerated (before and after opening) and how long are they "good"? I started some research on this site and found the following topic.