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Really good to hear you are getting back to normal in some ways! I love your decor. So cute that Ronnie and your friend brought pumpkins for you - and the cows, ha. 🙂 I love your porch so much.

In my experience, stock making is the ONLY culinary usage for silkies. They have little meat, although a few shreds may be incorporated in the soup. But generally, by the time the stock is made, the meat isn't worth eating. The flavour is all in the stock.

Something they said (I am NOT going back through the video) suggested that the flavor was good but the meat itself was too tough, or there wasn't enough of it, or something like that. As I recall they said it might make great broth because of its flavor. Would you say that's the main culinary usage for the silkies? With the meat as a side benefit so as not to waste it?

They claimed that silkies are used medicinally, which is true but overemphasised that they were given to pregnant women to improve lactation. While they are given to pregnant women, they are given to non-pregnant men, too. Every soup I've been given in a Chinese hospital (for every meal) has been silkie. Also, they are not only used medicinally. They are sold in every market for making chicken stock. I buy them regularly and I've never been pregnant or lactated. ETA: Also what @KennethT says. The cook them incorrectly.

The biggest issue I see is the fact that they treated each variety the same. Silkies, for example, would never be pan roasted like that!!!! That's not the point of using one. You use silkies for the broth they make. They would have been more ridiculous if they tested a SE Asian "kampung" chicken that way - they probably wouldn't even be able to cut through the joint. Kampung chickens need to be simmered until tender, which can take like 40 minutes to an hour! Eating a pan roasted one would be like eating a rubber band, but when cooked the way they're supposed to are super flavorful.

Fair enough about the title. In the video the speaker did say something more like 'every chicken breed we could get' which isn't the same thing as the title. What was the nonsense about silkies?

yeah, that would be a pretty terrible idea.

Not to step into the middle of the debate/arguments, but my microwave in both houses is over the range. I would find it very difficult to reach up to remove anything with a significant amount of hot water/food without spilling or dropping it.

The title of the video is ridiculous. These are nowhere near "every chicken in the world". They also talk some nonsense about silkies. And Bresse is never pronounced Bressé.

@rotuts, reading your pasta description, it took me a while to realize you didn't mean Campari the liqueur, but you meant Campari tomatoes.

Scallion pancakes (frozen from the Asian market), pork nappa dumplings and sweet and sour nappa stir fry

@Honkman your points about micro-pastics are timely . N.B. : timely . they do not have anything to do with a discussion on how one might cook pasta .

In today’s world where we have more and more data on the impact of microplastics on our health, I would avoid anything unnecessary which will increase your exposure to such microplastics at home significantly. I doubt you will find any reasonable serious cookbook using it

When I make some kind of traditional chicken curry for a dinner party, I make the chicken curry traditionally - usually at least the week before if not even more, then once finished, I transfer everything to a zip lock bag, then hold in the waterbath at like 160F until pasteurized. Then, I quick chill and put the bag in the fridge where it can safely keep for at least 3 weeks. Then, I'll reheat in the waterbath at like 140F or sometimes I'll set the bath to 130 and leave it in there longer so I don't have to worry whether it's fully reheated or not. This way, the curry is at the texture I'd want traditionally, the chicken is fully but not overcooked, and it was all done long ago so no stress.... I'm actually planning to do some of that this weekend as we're having people over on the 25th....

@Norm Matthews I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. His other videos are well worth watching. I subscribed to his channel years ago and I have learned a lot from watching them. He keeps things simple and explains why something works in language that isn't so technical that it goes right over the head of most home Cooks. It's good to pay particular attention to his videos on shaping bread and slashing. I've learned that there is a small window when the bread has risen enough to slash. You don't want it to rise too much because you wanted to have enough to give it oven spring so that your slash opens deeply in the oven. I found giving it a good mist of water when I first put it in the oven and maybe 5 minutes later keeps the crust soft enough that it will continue to open up. What I got from the article on preferment was that almost all the methods, biga, poolish, Masa Madre and sourdough combinations are all preferments. I think that I have used them all with varying results and success. Now, I prefer to just keep it simple and mix up flour, water, and a little yeast and leave it overnight. The next day when I make my bread I subtract the amount of those ingredients from the total amount of ingredients in the recipe. It hasn't failed me yet.

@Tropicalsenior I enjoyed the first video a lot. What I liked the most was number 7 "Sourdough should" Like people telling you what sour should be or else it isn't "real" sourdough. I think @MaryIsobel should watch it too as it addresses "my sourdough died" as probably a mistaken diagnosis of the reality of the sourdough condition. The one on preferments left me more confused about what it is and if it ever isn't something, if you know what I mean. I want to keep the bake wth Jack so I can watch the other episodes..

I use a smallish volume of water. Enough so the pasta can swim and swell but no more. A small volume concentrates the starch so that sauce addition is more effective and doesn't dilute it too much.

Faster than the Fasta?

@Duvel Insightful . That is , however a good idea Soooo @Duvel you are now Charged w AnyThing MC has said about the Various , New ?? So old , its just as good for the Pasta , On my plate Soon .

I thought this was an interesting video comparing different chicken breeds with the same cooking method. One caveat is that they are based in the UK so the availability of different breeds there is prob different if you are based in a different country.

it's cute when the publisher insists on including volume measures to by-weight recipes . . . to all - appreciate the tips / info / etc - this project could be a bit easier than I initially thought!

https://www.oregonlive.com/dining/2025/10/justin-woodward-portlands-premier-fine-dining-chef-of-past-decade-dies-at-43.html

Are you making a pitch for Modernist Pasta ?!

Maybe this video, 50 Ways to Kill Your Starter will give you some inspiration. Seems that it's a lot tougher than we think it is. I found this when I cleaned my freezer today. It looks like I might be back in business. I thought that I had tucked some in there as a backup when my starter was going good but until now I couldn't find it.

My original thought was that a book , that understands Pasta , should understand all and newer methods of cooking said pasta . no more , no less.