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I mentioned Sosa Flaxfiber as a potential stabilizer/emulsifier earlier in the thread, and now I've finally had a chance to play around with it in a couple of small Elderflower sorbet trials. In addition, I had a chat with the pastry chef at a restaurant l visited this summer, and he recommended Gellan gum as a sorbet stabilizer, so I decided to wing it and combine the two: Both trials spun once in the Pacojet, and both batches were surprisingly successful. Absolutely mazing flavour release, especially trial 1 (I didn't taste them back to back however, so the comparison was done by memory one week apart), and the texture/mouth feel was really good too. Definitely something worth further investigation with minor tweaks to the Flaxfiber/Hellan gum ratios. In future trials, I will probably substitute a few grams of dextrose for sucrose in order to reduce the freezing point depression slightly (ca. 1 degree C increased serving temperature). I've already tweaked the sugars for trial 3 in ICC, but I can't remember the exact numbers. A small addition of inulin and lambda carrageenan would also be interesting to try in order to find the perfect compromise between flavour release, mouth feel and melting rate/plated stability... I also can't wait to try this alternative approach with strawberry juice and/or puree for a direct comparison to my version of Paul's strawberry sorbet recipe tweaked for the Pacojet/Ninja Creai.

Two favorites: Garlic-black bean pan-fried halibut, from 'Dancing Shrimp'. Fry halibut fillets until partly done and remove. Stir-fry a minced head of garlic, ginger, and cilantro stems, add black soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing rice wine, minced fermented black beans, roasted chile powder, and a little fish sauce to taste. Remove half of the topping, add halibut fillets, cover with the removed topping. Flip after a minute or so, and done. Served with Mexican green rice, steamed with a blend of roasted Poblano chiles, garlic, white onion, spinach, flat-leaf parsley, cilantro, and chicken stock. This green rice recipe in 'Cocina de la Familia' is my favorite. Also how we used to get extra vegetables into the boys when they were little.

My friends and I were vacationing in Costa Rica we located an outdoor restaurant that served pizza and stopped there for dinner. Unfortunately, while waiting for the pizza to arrive a nearby skunk sprayed.I don't remember the pizza but I do remember the smell.

I’m anxiously awaiting delivery of The Cook's Garden: A Gardener's Guide to Selecting, Growing, and Savoring the Tastiest Vegetables of Each Season (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Kevin West, published today. I love Kevin West's earlier book, Saving the Season: A Cook's Guide to Home Canning, Pickling, and Preserving (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and always recommend it whenever anyone asks about books on the topic. He's a wonderful writer and the book is as much a pleasure to read as it is to cook from so I’m expecting more of the same. From what I’ve read, it’s half gardening, half cookbook. He describes it being pitched to him as something in the spirit of The Victory Garden Cookbook (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Marian Morash, another of my favorites. Gardening advice can be very region-specific and it’s not something I’ve ever been into, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy the cooking sections. And who knows? I might be convinced to grow something! I’ve heard about this book for quite some time and was starting to wonder if it was ever coming out. He was doing some travel writing but took his website down and was pretty quiet from what I could tell. I didn’t realize he was also editor at large for Travel & Leisure magazine. This post on his Substack goes into some of the process and is a lovely sample of his writing for those unfamiliar with his work. I’ll post back when I’ve read it but it sounds like a great gift for gardening cooks or cooking gardeners!

Not only the US. Pretty much every pizza place in the UK features their version of a 'supreme'. It's usually just a mix of pretty much all the toppings they happen to carry. The only thing hidden under that pile of cheese seems to be the pizza base.

Yes. Happens here a lot, too. Especially with steak restaurants. I have also encountered the permanently missing ingredients turning out to be something they'd never even seen.

“Supreme” seem to be a common pizza descriptor in the US so it's not surprising they co-opted it though they don’t seemed to have borrowed the usually generous list of toppings, unless, as @KennethT said, they’re under the cheese! From a recipe on the Ooni pizza oven website:

That happens a lot here in Costa Rica. About 20 years back there was a pizza restaurant that opened in a little kiosk across the street. All the ever seem to have was ground beef, sauce and cheese despite showing about 20 items on their menu. Their basic pizza wasn't really all that bad and we would request it with anchovies and they were always out. As we got to know them better we found out that they didn't even know what anchovies were. They had just taken somebody else's menu and copied it verbatim.

Yeah, I’ve had to discard many due to inedible salt levels and hate wasting food so I’m wary.

I can only go by the customer's review which discloses the name they give it. That person described it as a very simple pizza. I strongly suspect that the store just saw the English name somewhere without knowing what it meant and decided to use it. I've seen that happening before in other so-called 'western' restaurants.

I’d say a pretty blue & white porcelain bowl with matching soup spoon and artfully arranged chopsticks might enhance the photo but I’d happily enjoy that as is for my first meal of any day. Today's breakfast was The Shadiest One from A Super Upsetting Cookbook About Sandwiches by Tyler Kord. Sort of a cheese toastie, but extra. Toasted bread with “awesome Cheddar cheese,” a schmear of an avocado ricotta spread, cucumber muchim and fried scallions. Not wild about this on the first pass. I used TJ's English Coastal Cheddar and felt the sharp, tangy cheese and the pickled cucumber completely overwhelmed the avocado ricotta spread. I couldn’t even taste it. I made another with a mix of Cheddar and Gruyère and upped the amount of the avocado ricotta spread well beyond a schmear. The recipe makes a LOT of that avocado ricotta, enough for more than 1/2 cup/sandwich while the book photo shows what looks like a tablespoon. My first pass went with the photo, round two was closer to the recipe. In any case, it was much better with the addition of nutty Gruyère and more of that spread but, unlike the other recipes I’ve made from the book, it’s not a combo I want to play around with further.

Iberico

Like you, I'm not a heavy salt user, and I find that the TJs items that I regularly purchase are not at all salt offensive. The usual YMMV disclaimer applies.

I’ll take a look. It’s usually the salt that puts me off. I’m kind of a lightweight in that department!

As good and.as convenient the TJs item is, if you've got a nearby place to get good "CRs", that would be a better choice, IMO. I

I imagine the Breville could provide a.similar result. I'll give it a try when I get back home. Thanks.

I cooked them in a convection mode; I happen to have a Cuisinart Steam Oven which has a Convection Bake cycle, so I didn't have to heat my entire oven for a single chile. I cooked them at 375F, flipped them at about 20 minutes, and stopped cooking when they were crisp and browned to my satisfaction. Total time was probably 45 minutes, maybe only 40.

I forgot all about this peculiar thread. For all I know I contributed something to it in a past life, but reading through the whole thing would be as bad as Starbucks coffee. Not a fan. However I went back a page just for a refresh and I do miss heidih. She's right: Starbucks is better than being in the DMV. However, I do have a recent Starbucks story. Last April we were driving back to Atlanta from Edisto Island. It was hot. I needed a bathroom and an icy drink. Signs pointed to a Starbucks off the highway. The facilities were closed but there was a drive-up window. There was a person in the window. When I asked for an espresso frappuccino she said, "Sorry, I can't make that right now. Our ice machine is broken." To my addled brain that just seemed pathetic. We drove across a parking lot and noticed a sign for a Waffle House. I've never been to a Waffle House. Now that I'm vacationing so often in the Carolinas and Atlanta I realize they come with the territory. There's even a "Waffle House Museum" near Atlanta.We never go because, well, it's more fun making jokes about it. I have no idea what their coffee is like, but the bathroom was very nice. So, next time I'm in a jam on a steamy highway I might just try Waffle House. It may be better than Starbucks, but no way more rejuvenating than that iced tea and the pacific coast breeze on the patio. RIP, Heidi.

Zucchini and "Grandpa's Chorizo" with onion, garlic, and various chiles. Sauce was roasted chile paste and fish sauce. Finished with fresh basil and a little sweet (sugar) and sour (rice vinegar). I was very happy with this.

Mine came out looking much paler than yours. How did you prepare them. I microwaved and then gave 'em a bit of time under the broiler, cooked and thickened the sauce a bit. I may try them again ... for my taste there was enough to like to offset that which was disliked. They are definitely worth trying. Results, I'm sure, will vary.

On the road: Eureka CA In the context of motel breakfasts, this one was fair. The bagel was better than expected (expectations were low), but not really a good bagel in the NY or Montreal sense. Potatoes and eggs were meh+, probably defrosted and reheated from a recent delivery. The sausage links, probably from the same truck as the 'taters, were OK, mild and inoffensive. A good belly-filler for continued travels. The less-browned links were the best ... juicier and much more flavorful. Coffee was surprisingly good for the circumstance, nice and fresh. Had a 3rd cup (small cups). Bananas, oranges, and apples provided the fresh fruit. Didn't see them before taking the pic. I apologize for any formatting or⁸ content errors. First time posting directly from the phone.

Yes, but I bought before the sale.

When Living Cookbook went dark I switched to Paprika.

INDEED!

What, do they claim, makes this pizza supreme over the others? Are the toppings buried under that thick down comforter of cheese?