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Head space is necessary in a PC to make sure that any kind of boiling/foaming doesn't reach the valves and potentially clog them, which could be catastrophic. It shouldn't affect the flavor or anything else. Gelatin doesn't come from meat - gelatin is made from connective tissue - this is why backs, feet, wing tips, etc are great for stock because they have a lot of connective tissue which converts to gelatin after a period of time of moist heat.

I typically swap some of the mayo for sour cream to add a little tang. My wife liked it with cut up grapes and slivered almonds.

Here goes with a couple of miso date cookie combos mentioned a couple of posts back. I'm not usually a tinkerer, but decided to wing some substitutions into a couple of existing recipes. These were adapted from a tahini date cookie, using the miso-maple flavours that I quite liked from the Dorie Greenspan cake... And these were a miso-date syrup cookie... They were both fine, but the executives at Big Cookie can rest easy. The miso-maple were soft and chewy (from the oats) but the balance wasn't right - not enough maple. And the miso-date were too cakey for my taste. Moving on from miso, I believe The Evil Genius Cake by Ben Shewry had its TikTok ten minutes of fame last summer, so I'm a bit late to the party... I can see why it had its moment in the sun before everyone moved on to the next thing. The Gen Z-ers love this kinda thing. But at the end of the day it's just a plain cake covered with undercooked blondie batter. That's not to pour scorn on it - it's no different to a chocolate lava cake or other self saucing pudding, I guess. But it tasted mostly just sweet and of white chocolate. The best part was actually the base cake which gets compressed and becomes a little chewy thanks to the weight of the mixture above it. If I made it again - which I doubt - I'd use less blondie mix and cook it longer (or let it firm up more). A couple of videos, and the recipe.

Have you called and explained that it is a birthday? (They always manage to fit us in for a birthday dinner). I don't think you can have a standard dinner before the show at 7 (not enough time), it would have to be after the show. Lounge is nice, but it's certainly not the same experience.

A few days ago I made I made Chris Young's Costco roast chicken stock: https://youtu.be/3k20zFlbFfE and it blew me away for it's simplicity, cost effectiveness, speed, and flavor. In the video, Chris shows the stock to have been gelatinized, but mine didn't turn out to be so. In my preparation, I used the meat almost two whole chickens, holding back a small amount of meat for a sandwich. I added almost three quarts of water. The result of these amounts caused the pot to fill a fair percentage over the maximum fill line, reducing the head space inside the pot while cooking. My question is this: could the reduced head space affected the formation of gelatin in some way, or reduced the amount of flavor extracted from the meat.

Hi @Tropicalsenior those leaves are sorrel. A good add to salads, slightly bitter. It overwinters here as well, meaning it doesn’t die off but still gets a few leaves in winter. I believe there is a plain green sorrel as well but this is what I have growing at home Photo below from a gardening page of Better Homes and Gardens.

That’s my back up plan.

I never get tired of Molly Stevens' braised cabbage dish. I do increase the carrot a lot and don't always use too much onion. I also increase the stock a bit. I think it's delicious as leftovers. I am still jonesing for a butternut squash casserole. Maybe this one? https://leitesculinaria.com/97453/recipes-butternut-squash-gratin.html I was going to make that squash dish for Christmas but our plans changed after catching the Super Flu bug. Please let me know if you do try it! 🙂 Anyway, I don't think you can go wrong if you do some kind of veggie casserole or gratin with your excess veggies. But you are a great cook, so I think you will come up with something fun without my input!

See if you can walk into the bar and eat

Curious if anyone knows whether I stand a chance to get a reservation. Nothing is available online, but I’d like to go on birthday 3/17 as I’ll be a block away seeing a show at 7. So I can dine early or late, which might not help. It is a Tuesday. If I call the reservation line and sound super desperate would that help?

Artichokes! (and not just the hearts, ha) Steamed with a lemon-butter-garlic dip. And steak. Sautéed mushrooms. Not sure what for dessert but I don't feel like baking so I'll probably buy something.

My first try at Kartoffelklöße aka German potato dumplings. Actually my first time to eat them! I had a meal planned including the dumplings but the day got away from me. I was a little confused reading the recipe about the size and amount of croutons to incorporate but am very happy with the results.

I almost never make it but I saw a recipe for it not long ago (did not save it) that had the usual mayo, onion, celery, but also had pimento and water chestnuts. I thought the water chestnuts sounded good for texture.

I’m single and my tastes can range from absurdly expensive to trash. Today’s early Valentine’s Day dinner is up to you to decide! There’s a place near me that makes soft pretzel”bombs”. The one I got is a cheesesteak one. I’m talking myself out of getting a fluffer nutter one tomorrow! https://direct.chownow.com/order/38657/locations/58845 Has their menu. They’re open until something like 4am. They know their audience!

Neely, What is the green leaf in the bottom right hand corner that looks like alligator skin?

In one of the threads that Mitch gave us, someone mentioned putting boiled eggs in chicken salad. I like chicken and I like boiled eggs but I just can't see combining the two textures. I much prefer homemade mayonnaise, especially for chicken salad, because you can customize it to your own taste. But it has a very short shelf life and I seem to throw away more than I use. Every time I make a full batch it turns out perfectly. But whenever I try to make a half batch or a quarter batch I have a dismal failure.

Simple dinner of a small steak with mushroom sauce, smashed potatoes and salad.

Given the holiday, I suppose I should cook some hearts, but we're fresh out, so I'll make the next closest organ that we do have: liver (chicken, from these good folks). Mushroom sauce w/demi-glace, cognac, and cream. Some sort of potato thing that doesn't require much work -- maybe just steamed, w/garlic butter, parsley, and Maldon. My semi-famous gluten-free torte-like brownie w/Fabbri Amarena cherries. Wine(s) TBD.

I feel the same way. Add-ins for me just don't give chicken salad enough flavor. If it's poached chicken or rotisserie chicken I try to go with a very Tangy dressing but I prefer to prepare the chicken in a way that it has more flavor to begin with. The other day I marinated finally diced raw chicken breast in soy sauce, hoisin sauce and rice wine vinegar. Sauteed it just until it was done and let it cool. Dressed with a light Sesame ginger dressing and used it on an arranged dinner salad. It was delicious.

Here is my dessert for our "Not Quite Valentine's Day" dinner tonight. Chocolate ganache tart. The top is normally covered with raspberries but I got the vapours when I saw that they were 5.99 Cdn for 6 ounces, so just strew some over the top and will glam it up with some raspeberry coulis ans whipped cream and no one will every know!

I'm going to try that next time.

I have my personal “classic” tuna salad and egg salad, both just like my mom used to make. I rarely make chicken salad but when I do, it’s always something different, no “classic” there. Restaurants in my area commonly offer a range of salads that can be “upgraded” with the addition of sliced, grilled chicken, steak or salmon. That’s not what comes to my mind when I think of “chicken salad” but I guess they are.

Simple grilled banger with a side of Spanish imported white beans. Chimichurri and hot mustard on the side.

All else hasn't failed. There's eGullet. I have read the instrucions. I asked here thinking that folks with experience in these matters might be able to share their own experiences ... something along the lines of "This worked for me, try this tip, such and such never worked for me, etc." I'm almost totally ignorant of such matters, and asking questions has often resulted in good information and a positive learning experience. My experience with instructions, with things with which I'm familiar, has often been that there's another way to do something. As with many things in life, there is frequently more than one way to accomplish a task.

I lean towards curried chicken salad, with some finely chopped green apples, or honey-mustard-mayo with celery for crunch. Chicken being rather bland, I like the dressing to have some punch.