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Finally got around to making the Soft Peanut Brittle from the workshop Lots of planning ahead to make it easier - I put a sheet pan in the oven and when it was finished cooking poured it out onto a piece of parchment on the back of the sheet pan so everything stayed warm much longer than usual. Got out the caramel marker that I've had for years and used only a couple of times and marked it while still warm - probably didn't need to be quite that warm as I had to go back over it a second time as the lines collapsed. After dinner tonight I headed down the the chocolate room and drizzled the decent pieces with dark milk chocolate and made a bark from the not so decent pieces.

Sweet! I don't have one, but I've had my eye on it for a while. I'm really interested in your experiences with it.

Neely, those dishes look scrumptious! Do you have ideas about how the eggplant sauce was made? Was the duck leg roasted separately?

@Smithy, I’ve been thinking about your question for a while. I think it’s complex and I have no easy answers but am sharing this stream of consciousness anyway 🙃 @liuzhou wrote that there are two types of culinary ennui: cooking ennui and eating ennui. I suspect there are even more subtypes. For example, eating ennui can be appetite ennui (nothing appeals, no appetite) or dining/social ennui (something might appeal but it’s not worth making just for myself, I'd like a dish from a particular restaurant but I don’t want to go there alone, or I'd like something that I’ve always shared with a person or group who aren’t around) @liuzhou also said eating ennui was the most concerning and I agree, especially appetite ennui. A number of years ago, I lost my sense of smell. I could still taste (sweet, sour, salt, bitter, umami) but had zero appetite, absolutely nothing appealed to me. I was sick, had other symptoms and many tests but no diagnosis. After a while I realized that I needed better nutrition or I was never going to get better. I found a smoothie recipe that included 2-3 servings of both fruit, veg and protein, plus fiber, etc. I made one every day, drank half in the AM and half for lunch. Not culinarily interesting but it did the job. I doubt you’re in that situation but looking out for nutrition in some way is important. Even when I started feeling better, and wanted to get back to cooking, I’d lost interest in trying new recipes because so much of their flavor was lost to me. I learned to focus on old favorites and rely on flavor memory to fill in the blanks. Luckily, texture has always been key for me so I focused on that. Again, I don’t think you’re in that situation but focusing on old favorites isn’t a bad idea from a comfort POV. You mentioned both planning ahead and cooking earlier in the day and I think both are good strategies for dealing with cooking ennui. Sometimes the restrictions of a job, caretaking for kids, spouse, parents or the need to conform to the preferences of those folks restrict the time available or the recipe options but they can also provide a helpful structure. When I was working a demanding job, I could only devote time to cooking on the weekends. If I didn’t get my act together, I’d be stuck with restaurant or cafeteria food that was expensive and not particularly healthy so I shopped, prepped and cooked. When my mom lived with me, I planned meals to accommodate her preferences. I no longer have any of those restrictions but if I don’t do a little planning, I’ll just wait until I’m hangry, which is no time to do any enjoyable cooking. I’m a morning person. That doesn’t mean I need to eat right away so I’ve got plenty of time but if I don’t have at least a bit of a plan, I’ll waste the part of the day that I could be most productive. That pertains to cooking and anything else I want to accomplish. I suspect the same is true for anyone with the flexibility to schedule our own time whether they’re early birds or night owls so I think you’re on to something with those thoughts. From what I’m reading in your posts, you’re doing fine!

New Blackstone 36” Griddle for Father’s Day. Seasoning it now. Anybody have one? What are you doing on it?

Mac and Cheese. To stem an cheese drawer overflowing with odds and ends. And zucchini and onions made by my youngest

Perhaps my favourite dinner when I was in France, was this duck leg covered with an eggplant sauce. The restaurant owner said it was from a female duck as they are less fatty ?? It was served with gratin potatoes served in a bowl and with a salad that had a thick vinaigrette. All delicious. I seem to have had lots of risotto one way or another and to me the most tasty was the one I had below which was served as a side to the grilled octopus. I asked the waiter why the risotto was so nice and he replied that the main ingredient was fresh garlic shoots or garlic scapes as we call them. Restaurant with the risotto was called Le Bistro in the town of Cotignac

I tried this today, straight from the container and crumbled into a salad: I was very pleased with the choice. It's a good, everyday feta, not overly sharp and nice for its neutrality. It's got some character, and is fine for an everyday feta. Great in the salad and nice for eating straight. Saves me a trip across town where there is a greater selection of more interesting, and expensive, cheeses. Glad you mentioned it, @blue_dolphin It'll be in my fridge frequently.

Yeah, this has never happened in my kitchen. But it's def a technique restaurants use for any number of different rice dishes. In school, we learned the "French" way of cooking rice, which is sorta like cooking pasta. What do the French know about rice anyway?

Improvised catfish curry with zucchini, shiitake mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers, and leftover sweet potato. Curry paste was shallots, garlic, long red chiles, frozen lemongrass, ginger, shrimp paste, and lime zest, with ground coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Sauce was coconut milk seasoned with tamarind, fish sauce, brown sugar, and Thai basil. Outcome seemed shaky but it turned out well in the end.

Another good treat that travels very well is Panforte. Alice Medrich has a relatively simple recipe for Panforte Nero. It lasted almost a week kept in a tin. Cocoa, nuts, dried fruit; a little spicy, not overly sweet.

Okay, I'm going to assume from now on tnat Charleston Gold means aromatic. I don't think I've had it. When it comes to cooking, it appears that tradition dictates rinsing well, then pre-boiling and draining, then giving the grains a turn in the oven on a sheet pan. I admit I am getting more lazy with every passing day. I rinse my Carolina Gold several times, gently, until the water runs clear. Then I cook it like I do basmati, on top of the stove. Rinsed well, I don't find it to be very sticky. I'm stickin' to Italian Carnaroli rice for risotto. In concert with laziness i'm not prone to a lot of experimenting, If it works, and I'm happy with it I keep doing it.Well, with exceptions.

Really cool thread. Thank you for writing it.

You did indeed say that. Thanks for the polite reiteration. And thanks also to @rotuts and @liuzhou for their insights. I've learned something today!

A P.S. I have no idea where the seaweed is purchased from as the green is fresh vs the darker colored dried stuff.

Not to be a little knowitall, but I‘ve answered that two posts above: it is wakame, a kelp variety, and specifically the stems of said wakame seaweed (in Japanese referred to as kuki-wakame) are in your salad. You can buy it in bulk, if you want …

Wiki suggests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakame that's where i got the pic, the green stufff. its identical to the stuff I used to buy locally. and the same for the Fish Place down on CapeCod ( WHPS ) the dressing changes a bit from place to pace. the seaweed is the same Id say.

That looks a lot like what I had. Can you shed any light on what type of seaweed? Or maybe someone else can, from the photo.

It takes a second to tap a credit card as well; it still takes much more than a second for the bartender to deal with the customer, the receipt, the potential for a tip, etc. I didn't suggest you were implying the article was about the UK; I merely suggested your pedantic ways.

That is truly beautiful nougat. When I made it, the taste was fine, but I did not get the texture right--it was too soft--and when enrobed in chocolate, all of its lumps and saggings showed up. How did you know when to stop mixing it? And what recipe did you use? (I used Greweling's)

I have both varieties as well, either from Carolina Plantation or Anson Mills, both fully milled (i.e.: white rices). On one bag (Carolina Gold), the instructions imply that it is the variety which might be more suitable for risotto or rice pudding...I've used both interchangably, but never for a risotto.

Sticky rice is the go to for most of the ethnic minorities around me. Zhuang, Miao, Dong, Tujia, Yao etc. While I appreciate the taste, I simply don't like the texture.

Thanks. I have 2 David Thompson books but don't remember much from either! Then again, I don't make much Thai food anymore....

David Thompson says that sticky rice is best soaked for several hours (typically overnight), but in a pinch you can soak sticky rice in warm water for 30 minutes. I have not tried this so I have no opinion.

I enjoy sticky rice - especially with anything Northern Thai or Isaan - the home of sticky rice and what would traditional be served with laap. But I agree with @C. sapidus, it requires forethought for the soaking which I rarely think far enough ahead to do. Hence why my ziplock bag of sticky rice sits in the back of my cupboard! Although Pai from hot-thai-kitchen.com provides a "fast" method for dealing with sticky rice, but she says it doesn't come out as good so I've never tried it.