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I have that book, but I didn't read it too much as it used your American units - if I'm not mistaken. 😀 Let's revisit and see what I can learn from it. My main issue with only reading etc is that I believe I do everything right, and the sugar still crystallize at times. Like I made this raspberry caramel, to use for my special take on a Snickers, and the sugar crystallized after like a week. Whhhhhhyyy? Yeah, I probably messed up.

Some of the worst misrepresenting images of food advertising. The promise: Jianbing - Breakfast Pancakes What they served: No comment. I'm speechless.

Most Yunnan mushrooms are wild and so foraged. They can be rather rare and seasonable and therefore on the pricy side but price also vary widely with the season and the harvest. One of the more common is 鸡纵菌 (jī zòng jūn), chicken mushrooms, umbrella mushrooms and sometimes termite mushrooms. The latter name is important , but somewhat misleading, in that there are many species called that. The Termitomyces family to which they all belong contains 52 types. The importance lies in that they grow in a symbiotic relationship with termites. In other words, they feed each other. They grow in Yunnan, but also in Guizhou and here in Guangxi on termite mounds in the mountain areas. It is said that there are seven varieties in Yunnan. I have access to these three. This 👆 is known just as chicken mushroom as it is the most common. These 👆 are 'torch chicken mushrooms'. And these 👆 are open umbrella mushrooms, Termitomyces albuminosus. Care must be taken when foraging these as they can easily be mistaken for Chlorophyllum molybdites, which are poisonous and can causes potentially serious vomiting and diarrhea. They are the most consumed poisonous mushroom in North America. All these are simply fried, often with ham, and often used in soups where they can take long cooking. Some people think they taste like chicken; others like enoki mushrooms. I’m in the middle. I find that mildly sweet with a slightly crunch texture 黑皮鸡枞菌, black skin chicken mushrooms are a related cultivated variety which are more widely available in recent years.

Everything I know about caramel I learned from @Chocolot

Couple of dinners out this past weekend. Friday night - the new Ops Pizza, on 2nd Avenue in the East Village (the original is in Bushwick, Brooklyn.) Known for both their pizza and their well-curated natural wine list, it was a place i always wanted to try, but failed to get to the Brooklyn location. Now that it is within walking distance, we went on opening weekend. I always have to order a classic Margherita - and this one did not disappoint. And we had a calzone, which was fine, if not terribly exciting. We did start with (no picture) fritto misto, an excellent platter of beautifully fried shrimp, haddock and some veg. Cocktails were good, and the wine by the glass selection was fine. We'll be back for more. Saturday night was dinner at Foul Witch, which interestingly enough was borne from the loins of Roberta's, another Bushwick stalwart, which also begat the much lauded (and sadly, now closed) Blanca, as well as Heritage Radio Network. We started by sharing the excellent focaccia, along with a plate (a huge plate, I might add) of the Finocchiona. Pastas followed, with Significant Eater enjoying the wonderful Chitarra with bottarga and yours truly, the lumache pomodoro, another fine dish. We were stuffed, but able to share the roasted sea bream... No room for dessert, but we were comped two glasses of the house amaro, and left happy for the walk home. And last night, back to local fave Eel Bar, where my only picture was taken early on... Eggs mayo, white prawns, burger, half chicken and cheesecake were all consumed.

A quick late-day update: Ivy gave us a litter of 10 kits, and Hester popped out 13. So far we're at 6 quail and counting, so we'll see what the morning brings (it typically takes a solid 24 hours or so after the first one hatches before we know how many will make it).

It's been awhile. Today the 15th July, I received Ammi's Kitchen: Heirloom Recipes from Rampur by Pernia Qureshi. The book came out in India in June 2025. I managed to pool together tips money from cooking for a few families I serve. It took 11 days transit. Book arrived immaculately perfect, complete absence of any cosmetic defects! Corners are sharp, you can poke an eye out! If it arrived with cosmetic damages, e.g noticeable rubbing or dents/dings, etc, I know Cold Books will exchange with a copy that meets my stringent specs. It is currently my 45th book in my collection of regional South Asian (Desi) cuisine. Most of my books are are purchased from Cold Books in NYC. They are aware of me as one of their loyal customers of repeated business going back to March 2023. 🙂 It is not yet released in the US. I think it will be available April 2026 for North America, UK, etc. If you're the US, indie seller "Cold Books" from NYC on Biblio book marketplace has a few copies already on US-soil. Please excuse the reflections; book is covered in Brodart mylar.

Have had quite an experience trying to do a chuck roast sous vide (after success with a pork roast sous vide). The beginning of this discussion starts here (and has some direct response from Anova Culinary):

I took some ideas from ChefSteps video referenced 3 posts up. Removed most of the fat and gristle which made 6 pieces which were laid out on this as follows Granulated garlic from Penzeys, salt, and 8 pepper blend from SpiceTrekkers added Placed in cooking vessel Then, per @rotuts, covered with a strip of aluminum foil, but . . . should the foil be closer to the top of the meat? Please advise if I should stick the foil closer to the meat inside the vessel. Also rotuts said to flip halfway, but that will be in the middle of the night; so, roast went in at 2:30 pm and I plan to flip at 9 pm, then next whenever I get up (5:30 ish). Then I could flip again at 11:30 ish?

@ElsieD , @curls Yes that’s correct , they are now King Arthur Baking.

Any version of Amazon does the same. Not just UK. Using the one relating to your own country is generally more likely to give goods available locally. Amazon.com : spice books

@Tempest63 Thank you. Your effor is appreciated. The question was answered quite some time ago.

Rather sure that in this post KAB = King Arthur Baking.

@TdeV tie it up evenly. you might add seasonings then into the A.O. turn it 1/2 way , its only 1 lb 12 oz

KAB?

An individual plated dessert, this is made from a hot milk sponge cake recipe, (KAB) the center of the cake is recessed and filled with raspberry compote, fresh raspberries, apricot and sour cream. The exterior of the cake was brushed with apricot jam and dusted with confectionery sugar.

@TdeV Yes, in a bag in water

@Shel_B I typed “spice” into Amazon UK on the books selection and it has brought up 16 pages of hits, though not all culinary. With pictures of the front covers it may help you identify which book you seeking?

@rotuts, I have 1 lb 12 oz left after removing fat and gristle. In about 5 or 6 pieces. (I was entranced by this ChefSteps video posted by @btbyrd ) Should I tie this up into a roll? Or cook in some other way? Edited to add that I plan to tie up the parts but don't otherwide plan to pre-cook the roast.

Tomato Pesto Galette with burrata, parm, lemon zest and more basil. Used some of my tomatoes from the “garden” if you can call it that. Served it with a Caesar salad.

No, the bluefish had no fishy smell when I bought it or when I cooked it. The smoker smells, well, like smoke.

@TdeV interesting reply. I think cove loosely , after you assess the cooking .

From Anova Culinary: Thanks so much for reaching out, and we really appreciate you sharing your cooking journey with us! It’s awesome to hear how well your modified pork roast turned out. That’s exactly the kind of experimentation we love to see. You brought up a great question about what we mean by a “long cook.” In the Anova Precision Oven, we generally start to consider anything over 12 to 18 hours a long cook, especially when using sous vide mode. That’s because, unlike a water bath where food is completely submerged and protected, the Oven uses steam and a fan to circulate heat and over time, that circulating air can start to dry out the surface of the food. As for why a pork shoulder can go for 48 hours and still be delicious, while we suggest a bit more caution with a 27-hour chuck roast—that mostly comes down to differences in fat and structure. Pork shoulder is incredibly forgiving, with lots of intramuscular fat and connective tissue that keeps it moist during long cooks. Chuck roast is also tough and collagen-rich, but it tends to be leaner and can dry out more easily, especially when exposed to fan-driven air in the Oven. If you’re going for a long cook like that in the Oven, especially with a leaner cut like chuck, it’s a good idea to either flip it halfway through or loosely cover it with foil or an oven-safe bowl. That helps shield it from the airflow and keeps the surface from drying out. Just make sure to dry it well before searing at the end, as a covered cook can leave the surface pretty wet. For more reading, I’d definitely recommend checking out the guides from Serious Eats, Douglas Baldwin, and our own help articles. They go into great detail on time, temp, and texture if you’re looking to dive deeper. https://douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-guides-5118018 Let us know how your chuck roast turns out. \[end] -------------------------------- P.S. @gfweb how did you do your sous vide pork roast 150ºF for 48 hours? In a bag in water? ------------------------------- I'm thinking of covering (very loosely) with tin foil. Just a small piece for the top of the roast? @rotuts ?

I used to be able to eat spicy food but my husband wouldn't go near it. Now, in my older age, I can't eat anything too spicy, but my husband laps it up. One time when we were in a Vietnamese restaurant we used to frequent, the chef came out and presented him with a Bird's Eye chili. My husband happily ate it up. Go figure. I make a Scotch Bonnet hot sauce that he loves - i can't go near the stuff. I make it in my Thermomix on the balcony.

I don't think they all are - for example, I don't remember the sambal hitam (the black one) being spicy at all - it may not even have any chillies in it. But for other sambals, they vary depending on the region. I don't think that the padang sambal ijo and merah are very spicy at all, but a sambal called dabu-dabu from Manado (on the island of Sulawesi) made traditionally, not for tourists, will blow your head off. But people from Manado pride themselves on having the spiciest food in all of Indonesia.... But it's all relative. What I may find mild, you may find very spicy so it's hard to say. And people's spice tolerance can change over time. My wife used to be sensitive to spicy food and couldn't tolerate much - now she piles on the sambal - at one point at breakfast, she made herself a plate of 5 different sambal and just went to town with the shrimp chips!