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Elsie, that looks wonderful. Oh, how envious I am that you have the deep pan!! Darn those Box people!!

Aw hell yes, I've been sorely missing that "colostrum yellow tinge" in my ice-cream.

@TdeV you vsn DV that chicken. but w a brinw like that , it will taste better roasted.

That's pretty much McD's ace-in-the-hole here, too (it's sure as hell not the food!). Lure in the kids with Happy Meals, toys, and genuinely solid in-restaurant playgrounds, and they'll drag the parents along. Then, as they grow up, of course, they're "imprinted" and tend to think of the chain as a comfort-food sort of thing. I had an afternoon with the grandson recently, which involved some time in town running errands, and given a whole city's worth of lunch options, he chose... yup, McD's. I had a McChicken sandwich, which used to be the most edible thing on the menu, and it was pretty vile. Much smaller and sadder than I remembered (mind you, the last time I'd had anything other than a soft-serve cone at McD's was probably around 2008).

Several years ago I was having a dinner with a group of Chinese students and asked what they thought of western food. Few of them had knowingly eaten it. Those who had only knew McD’s and KFC and thought it disgusting. This didn’t surprise me. Most Chinese visit once out of curiosity then never return. Yet these two chains do well here – by catering to children at celebratory birthday parties and by giving ‘gifts’ of toys to children on regular visits. The kids then pester their parents to return, not for the food but for another ‘gift’. The gifts are cheap crap. China’s government has criticised the practice but done nothing about it. And Chinese parents are notorious for never refusing their precious little darlings anything. Western non-chain restaurants in China are 95% execrable and run and cheffed entirely by people who have never eaten western food. The few good ones never last outside of large cities with an ex-pat presence. But back to those students. I asked them what they thought western people eat. Bread, steaks, pizzas and hamburgers were the top answers. I said I rarely eat steaks, seldom hamburgers and told them they’d never eaten real pizzas. Chinese pizza place’s offerings are bizarre and Pizza Hut are no better. Durian pizza, FFS? So I asked them if they eat bread, fish, pork, beef, shrimp, etc., listing the common proteins. Yes, they said (as I knew they would). I then went on and listed common vegetables, then starches, then spices. Yes, yes, yes,… When I told them we eat all the same things, they were astonished. When I said we eat rice and noodles they were dumbfounded. They thought only Asia eats rice and didn’t know that tomatoes and chillies originated in the Americas as did many of the fruits they eat. And these weren’t dumb people, by any means. They were master’s degree or PhD candidates. They didn’t know that potatoes (also from the Americas) are a staple food in much of the world. I explained that if my mother served a meal to my father without potatoes, he would have thought she had lost her marbles, just the same as they would if their mothers served dinner with no rice. This misconception I kind of understood. For a start, China produces more potatoes than any other, with 25% of the market, but most of that goes to animal fodder or some industrial uses, Until very recently potatoes were only regarded as peasant or emergency food for humans. Still, they are only ever used a yet another vegetable in Chinese cuisine; never as a staple. They only real difference between western food and Chinese food is the serving. Nearly all meals are served family style with sharing plates to be sampled bite by bite at random. I’m not trying to put my students down. Most western people know little about food in China. Even chefs!

A little further south, near Arenys de Mar. We are at my in-laws, but I am sure we‘ll be daytripping to Girona as well one of these days …

... start cooking without being 100% absolutely positively sure that all the needed ingredients are at hand. Today I started on a recipe that called for rose water. I knew I had some as less than a month ago I saw it in the cupboard and moved the small bottle to be with other similar items ... almond extract, vanilla extract, lemon oil, and so on. I had to make almond milk for this recipe (an almond pudding). The almonds were prepped this morning and soaked for about twelve hours. A short while ago, I put the prepped almonds in the blender jar, added several dates (for sweetener), added the appropriate amount of very chilled water, and reached for the rose water. WTF, said I, and started digging into the cupboard. I moved every item on the shelves, pulling some of them out of the cupboard completely, used a small flashlight to search more thoroughly ... Nada! So I made the almond milk, put it in the fridge, cleaned and reorganized the kitchen, and set the rest of the necessary ingredients in the staging area for use tomorrow. First thing in the morning, it's back to the market where I was just two days ago buying the dates for this recipe. What a waste of time and energy.

Second time today I've heard this book mentioned, first was on a food podcast (Linoleum Knife and Fork). I will check it out.

I'd say it depends on how much salt you used. Unless you went overboard on the salt, 48 hours should be fine.

Too much plastic here for me. I tend to use something like these. I only use them for storing leftovers or other food in the fridge or freezer. Never utensils.

菠萝炒饭 (bō luó chǎo fàn) Pineapple fried rice is not only common in Thailand but among many of China's ethnic minorities, especially the Dai people in Yunnan Province which borders Vietnam and Myanmar/Burma. It also borders Guangxi where I live and the ethnic minorites here also make it. This which I put together last night is 菠萝虾仁炒饭 (bō luó xiā rén chǎo fàn), pineapple shrimp fried rice, to which I also added a little chicken that needed using. Made it slightly spicy, too. So technically 菠萝虾仁鸡肉炒饭 (bō luó xiā rén jī ròu chǎo fàn), pineapple shrimp and chicken fried rice.

A few years ago, Ziploc had made some nice semi-disposable containers with relatively square corners that I really liked then of course discontinued. 🤷‍♀️ @blue_dolphin these restaurant food storage pans come in multiple depths that can share lids https://www.webstaurantstore.com/vigor-1-6-size-4-deep-translucent-polypropylene-food-pan/247FP164PP.html also, Cambro https://www.cambro.com/Products/food-storage/

Make a little patty of each to get a feel for how it cooks up and tastes, then follow your instincts. I'd probably make kofte with the goat, myself, but I have a general hunger for that lately

Marmite doesn't get enough love as a seasoning. I put it in anything involving a gravy or red meat (e.g. ragu). Top marks from me 😀

Spain-inspired, braised onions and potatoes, with pimentón and saffron. As a side dish for... Crispy-skinned roasted chicken thigh (thank whoever keeps my old CSO working!), potato thing from the 1st picture, sautéed escarole. Plum and nectarine crisp..or cobbler...crispler? cobblisp? No complaints yet.

Mrs. C dragged SIL around the local farm stands and fish markets, so their bounty is what we had for dinner. Halibut cheeks, simply prepared with S&P. Yellow watermelon salad with tomatoes, balasmic vinegar, and Thai basil. Dry-fried green beans with chorizo, Tianjin preserved vegetable, ginger, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine.

You can dry brine it for 72 hours, if need be. No. Cook it via a traditional method (roast, pan sauté, braise, etc.); Judy Rogers wasn't sous-viding!

See, I was always led to believe (that's what cooking school will do) that a batterie de cuisine is what's used to prepare and serve food. In which case, I have a lot of stuff. But now that I look at the title of this thread, I see it explicitly calls out "Storage." In which case, a ton of "deli containers" in varying sizes. Some oxo glass storage for fridge, and some rubbermaid. I do so little freezing of cooked product other than stock and tomato sauces, and have so little freezer space, that it's not a big item in my batterie!

I will have chicken dry brined for 24 hours tomorrow morning. An hour or so later, I'll be having a medical procedure in my mouth, so I'm unlikely to be interested in roasted chicken tomorrow night. Can I dry brine chicken in the fridge for 48 hours, or should I plan on cooking it tomorrow? If I must cook the dry brined chicken, can I sous vide it? I have some remaining clarified butter which I could put in the sous vide bag, in case that's a good idea. Thoughts? @rotuts @JoNorvelleWalker

Thanks to the above recent posts I was reminded to use my A4Box to make chili. Here it is - bubbling away. This thing works amazingly well. Clean-up looks to be relatively easy as nothing is sticking to the bottom. I'll be using it more in the future. My only quibble is that i wish the actual convection plate covered the whole bottom. But, there is something to be said for pushing, in this case, onions to the side while you brown the meat and not having them get frazzled.

I loved the Urban Peasant - started watching in my early teens. Most of my friends raced home to watch The Young and the Restless while I tuned in to James Barber!

First-ever breast milk-favored ice cream now available nationwide For those in or near NYC, or for those who are sufficiently motivated to get there, free scoops are available this week.

Shepherd's pie. It's not PDO so there was Parmesan on top, a smidge of Saint Agur blue cheese in the mash, a teaspoon of Marmite and peas in the filling. Lots of mash!

When we're lucky enough to be in France, Significant Eater loves starting her meal off with a Ricard. Is your next stop Girona, or further south? Are you all on the medieval tour?