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Shrimp and oyster congee.

Well, unleashing the flamethrower did not salvage matters... It just smelled, and to a lesser extent tasted, burnt. Still, I could get used to cheesecake - burnt or not - for breakfast.

That’s the Japanese dish, with a ketchup-baaed sauce ?

I'm not confident my puny toaster oven will get that deeply caramelised/burnt look. I might just see what happens if I stick it under the grill or flamethrower it! While I'd like to achieve that signature look, La Viña seem to have a variety of colours and textures, so I'll attempt to peddle that as my excuse. 🤨

Spaghetti Napolitan

This evening I made some dashi. It's been quite a while since I made some, and it turned out very well. I used the cold infusion method, which is the preferred method here. I did a twelve hour soak for the kombu at room temp. Fifteen grams of katsuobushi were soaked for 12 minutes in 190-deg F. kombu broth.

I didn't cook him, did pick him up and deliver him to the cook though. And he was indeed dinner.

Mine is a 17" and the 20" isn't much bigger storage-wise and has a usefully bigger cooking surface. I only cook for 2-4 most of the time, so it's not really a big deal. But since I'm already having to store a 17", storing a bit more wouldn't be that much of a change and would provide a benefit. They're both good at a campsite, provided that your car is nearby.

Rather an oxymoron, isn’t it? I recall this stuff being quite popular among gluten-phobic* influencers craving the sugary cereals they grew up with. * I’m not referring to anyone dealing with celiac disease or other serious gluten-sensitivity issues.

If you can find your tupperware lids (I can't) you can have a lunch to go?

A few YouTubers were promoting this misnomer a year or so back. I dread to imagine what it's made of - I'm not a fan of breakfast cereal anyway, so cereal with no cereals feels like one step closer to soylent green to me.

This brought me up short in the grocery store today.

Big ol' dinner salad. I'm leaving town for most of the week and had hoped, in vain, to use up my fresh baby spring greens and other vegetables because they won't survive until I get back. Can't do it. I still have another salad's worth of the greens as well as a bunch of broccoli, shredded cabbage, and cauliflower. So it goes. It's my fault for noshing on a rotisserie chicken this week and neglecting those vegetables. But... this is a pretty good salad. The baby greens, a bunch of tomatoes, several spoonsful of Mild Giardiniera (that's gone well past its best-by date) and chunks of gruyere laid the base. I unearthed some smoked pancetta from my freezer, (purchased at a favorite local store last winter), cooked it until it was crisp and the fat was rendered. Added the crisp pancetta to the salad base, then went to work on browning the pork tenderloin I'd sous-vided back here. (Thanks for the advice on browning, all you who weighed in. It did make a difference.) After I did that I added the jus from the bag -- which promptly curdled -- so I added a bunch of red wine vinegar to whisk it up and clean the cast-iron skillet. That became the basis of the salad dressing, aside from the olive oil from the giardiniera. Oh, and a few chunks of the pork tenderloin went onto the salad. That's how I know the browning helped. But. It's really good, and it's really too much. Maybe the rest will be breakfast tomorrow, before I head out!

@Pete Fred I have made these frequently and use convection bake 480* on a stone. These are four inch cakes so bake very quickly. The first two photos are ones that I added pistachio butter to the base recipe, third photo plain. I’ve also made pumpkin. Mine are baked to creamy but baked longer than yours, not sure if I put the internal temp in my notes. These are from a Catherine Zhang recipe that I adapted a bit, additions to and less cornstarch. I also used sour cream rather than heavy cream. They have been well received in my household.

The point is indeed the deeply caramelized flavor (it also goes by the name burnt basque cake). I like it with vanilla and a small touch of almond extract. The texture is typically a lot more set (creamy but not runny), at least based on what I have been served in restaurants and what I have replicated at home, but I don’t find that to be detrimental. It’d be way too rich for my taste if served runny since it’s mostly cream cheese.

are you talking about baking them or assembling them? Years ago Silverwood made tins for individual cakes (I think Squires Kitchen sold them). When individual cakes were popular for weddings years ago, I found the best approach for round ones was to bake a sheet of cake, (level it/torte it depending on the height) cut it using a round cutter and then use two layers of cake and a layer of buttercream filling to assemble. If you wanted a tiered mini cake, then go with something like 2.75 inch bottom and 1.25 inch top. The top is kind of useless if you want to know; it's difficult to do two layers of cake and a layer of filling in this tiny round size. I ended up just cutting rounds of cake for a top tier if the client wanted that look. If you wanted square mini cakes, and you are very steady with a long knife, you could assemble a larger rectangle (layer of cake, filling, layer of cake), chill well and then use a ruler to mark the top and cut the size you want.

So to provide context: the air conditioning sort of died in the last round of storms we had. Just a fuse, so it’s fixed and the house is cooling. I don’t plan on doing 3 meals a day on the Blackstone. And it’s a new toy. Anyway, a family staple. Mexican rice bowls/tacos. Guac done by my youngest. Refried beans made with Goya pintos. Squash with onions and peppers and onions done on the Blackstone. To provide context, that’s 4 onions worth of onions. It was designed to produce some leftovers. First thing where I was glad I had a 36” surface. Oh, and that’s a margarita. Lime, blanco and Cointreau

Hope you like the rice, @YvetteMT First time making bulgogi. Marinated thinly-sliced NY strip steak with soy sauce, honey, toasted sesame oil, black pepper, and blended Asian pear, garlic, ginger, and onion. Grilled over charcoal, and served in lettuce leaves with soybean paste dipping sauce (fermented soybean paste [doenjang], gochujang, garlic, scallion, honey, toasted sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds). Spicy cucumber salad on the side, with garlic, scallion, thinly-sliced onion, soy sauce, hot chile flakes, honey, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Quite nice.

What's the best way to makes mini cakes using stainless steel mousse rings, and is there a recipe that works best?

The local Safeway is advertsing them ... FWIW

If you’re going to that extreme, hold out for Blenheims.

Just gorgeous!

@weinoo Thanks ! Ill look into remortgaging my home. might be worth it .

They came out around here in February. Not sure if they’re still around.

Lots of cakes this past couple of weeks. Baby shower cake for a friends niece (white almond with raspberry compote. And a small anniversary cake for my mom’s friends that came by for pizza. Also made my dad’s birthday cake (chocolate peanut butter, no photo), and one for my cousins friend (looks just like the anniversary cake). Both of those were strawberry layers with strawberry cream cheese filling. I’m worn out 😮‍💨.