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@Norm Matthews blade is the best of the chuck remember the shape , and buy more .

@rotuts Thanks for the info. I do not remember if it looked like that and can't tell from the pictures but it was very tender except for one area so they probably were blade steaks. It can be hard for me to tell which steaks cut from the chuck can be good or tough and even harder when the butcher gives them some fanciful name.

@liuzhou I would have loved one of those tarts this morning with my cappuccino. Yesterday's breakfast. Made Sesame honey garlic chicken and fried rice.

@Norm Matthews is there a tough tendon running down the middle of those streaks ? if so , they are cut from the blade meat , thus blade steaks the blade is under the scapula , and can be best seen in a 7-bone steak : look on the L side ; its this cut you can see the bone ( scapula ) is shaped like a 7 . the meat is very tender and very flavorful . the problem is that tendon in the middle that separates the two muscles under the scapula, just cut it out after cooking is an easy way to deal with it.

Eggplant Bolognese w/ tomato beans

@Honkman, does this sound at all like what you made? It is from the Google AI response when I looked for a recipe. This recipe is a modern, fruity twist on classic spaghetti carbonara, replacing the standard pepper with fresh basil and incorporating the sweetness of roasted grapes. The traditional creamy, egg-and-cheese sauce is preserved, but the result is a lighter, brighter flavor profile. The key is to add the egg-and-cheese mixture off the heat to create a silky sauce without scrambling the eggs. Ingredients 1 pound spaghetti 8 ounces guanciale or pancetta, diced 2 cups seedless red grapes, halved 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus extra for garnish 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 3 large egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg 1 large handful fresh basil, torn or roughly chopped 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground Salt, to taste Instructions Prepare the grapes: Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Place the halved grapes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 15–20 minutes, or until the grapes have softened and started to blister. Cook the pork: In a large, cold skillet, add the diced guanciale or pancetta. Cook over medium heat until the fat has rendered and the pork is crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the crispy pork to a plate, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. Turn off the heat under the skillet. Whisk the eggs and cheese: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and whole egg with the grated Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses. Season with the freshly ground black pepper. Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente. Before draining, reserve about 1 cup of the starchy pasta water. Combine the sauce: Drain the pasta and immediately add it to the skillet with the rendered pork fat. Toss to coat. Slowly pour the egg-and-cheese mixture over the hot pasta, tossing vigorously to combine. If the sauce seems too thick, add a splash of the reserved pasta water to loosen it until it reaches a silky, creamy consistency. Add the final ingredients: Gently fold in the roasted grapes, crispy pork, and most of the fresh basil. Toss just to combine, being careful not to crush the grapes. Serve: Divide the pasta into bowls and top with the remaining basil, extra grated cheese, and a final sprinkle of black pepper. Serve immediately. [1, 2, 9, 12, 13]

When I see this topic, I always internally chuckle to myself. In Mandarin 屁股 (pìgu, pronounced pegu) means buttocks; bottom; behind; backside; rump; arse; butt.

Spaghetti Grape-Carbonara with Basil from an essen & trinken recipe - really nice summer take on spaghetti carbonara. The carbonara is done in a classical way with pancetta, shallots, pasta water, eggs and egg yolks and parmesan. It is served with halved red grapes which are sautéed in butter and finished with verjus until dry (which gives a nice fruity, yet slightly sour component) and marinated basil (mixture of basil, olive oil, honey and verjus)

Agreed. I pickle young ginger slices as served in many Japanese sushi restaurants as a tongue cleanser. No unpronounceable ingredients involved; just rice vinegar and salt. Stays in good condition for months, not that a batch often lasts often; I eat it too often! I see no reason why you couldn't do the same with onions of any colour.

I was about to post something similar. My experience is pretty much what you describe using a small sample of a particular brand of pickled jalapeños that I've been using for more than a decade. The jars that I've used all lasted well more than a year - only because I finished the contents, not because of quality issues - and the most recent jar, purchased about 8 months ago, has an expiry date as mid-2027. @AlaMoi There may be some factual basis for your belief, but at the least, I don't think it's the only answer.

Everyone ended up heading home yesterday, and my husband and I were feeling lazy, so we just walked down the street to Mac’s. It is a 2 minute walk. Drinks. I had a mocktail with jalepeno, lime and basil. Husband’s drink had watermelon, I think we shared an order of oyster bao buns and shrimp and scallop dumplings Then I had a spice crusted tuna over soba noodles and husband had halibut with lobster mashed potatoes We went for a walk down to the pier after dinner. We discussed getting ice cream, but were too full. The sky was crazy. No filter on this photo, the sky really looked this red It only lasted for a few minutes, then turned a more reasonable color This morning we checked out of the Wellfleet house and headed up to Truro to do some exploring before going to Chatham. We visited Highland Light and hiked a couple of easy trails with views of the dunes and ocean We are staying at the same house we rented earlier this year, the one with the massive refrigerator. We stopped by the Chatham fish pier to buy fish for dinner, but the market was closed today. The seals were still milling around We went to the other fish market in town, and I made warm lobster rolls After dinner we walked into town and husband got the worst sounding ice cream, fluffernutter. The owner gave him a small scoop of the wild blueberry too, so he could try it.

Shepherd's pie.

Steak, Salad and Sourdough and Taylor Swift The grocery had these little steaks. They callled them patio steaks. I don't know what that is so I marinated them just to hedge against them not being tasty. They were good. They each were under $3.00. Taylor Swift lives part time in Kansas City now so she appears in the newspaper occasionally. Sometime around her engagement announcement, it was mentione that she was really into baking with sourdough. A few days later, there was an interview with a guy who teaches sourdough classes. I have been making sourdough French bread for 40 years and haven't been much interested in experimenting with different recipes, like cinnamon rolls. Anyway, the guy said baking bread in a Dutch oven was important. I looked into it and found that putting it in a preheated Dutch oven will seal it in so the moisture is trapped around the bread and the steam will enhance the rise. Another article had a recipe that was very much like mine except it used a little more water and used diastic malt powder. Malt powder is also supposed to help the yeast and gives a nice golden brown to the crust. I tried it with my Dutch oven and it was a little too small. The top of the bread rose to touch the top of the oven and it got too brown. There was very little rise outside the oven and there wasn't much today when I tried again with a new Dutch oven. I am guessing something happened to the yeast when our refrigerator stopped working and we had go get new one. By the way, when I ordered the diastic malt powder, spell check changed it to diabetic. This time the bread turned out well. Charlie even had seconds.

My perspective is that simple, natural preservatives like salt, vinegar and sugar plus spices and herbs can transform fresh, organic produce into flavorful pickles and preserves extending their useful life for weeks, even months, depending on the particular fruit or vegetable and how they are processed.

"to be used over a short time frame," stick with that. onions, beets, any 'pickled' thing - outside of unpronounceable never heard of 'preservatives' + et.al. - the stuff is organic and it will not last for months/weeks.... 'pickled' cucumbers in a jar - prime example - read the label . . .

As I mentioned earlier, for baking I do wait until they are black and almost semi-liquid. Fortunately, I can buy them in that condition or close to it.

The ones I had recently looked similar to the bottom photo, bit of blackening toward the stem end, definitely ripe for eating and soft enough to mash.

Ok,ok. Serious answer this time. Thai bananas take longer to ripen due to higher starch as I mentioned. I have noticed that when eaten on the less ripe side there is often a bit towards the center that is wooden and fibrous. This would not mash as one does for banana muffins. I would wait until they are black before making them into muffins. Ok, that’s a lie. I would try one now. The ones towards the middle of the bunch that are thinner due to encroachment often ripen first. I’m looking at the one fourth from the bottom in your picture. I would then proceed to eat a bunch of them in a frenzy. Corn muffins are nice too. Lot of folks like those

I don’t mean to alarm you, but in addition to becoming riper, they seem to be reproducing as well. The bundle up top is only six bananas across. The one below is larger. When one buys bananas for oneself and has three boys in the house, counting becomes second nature

Ha. I'm defrosting my chest freezer and have excavated several containers of frozen dark cherries, washed, pitted and preserved back when I was actually making ice cream and trying the Cherry Garcia recipe. The grandsons who helped me are now fathers, if that tells you anything about how long it's been. Maybe I'll have to try that recipe again, provided I can find someone to help me eat it!

I did as you suggested and dry brined my last chicken thighs. Was a very tasteful bird!

Thank you for chiming in. As you can see, they have become considerably riper since when I posted that picture. For comparison purposes,the two pictures below show them when I brought them home and today. I just tested them and there is no give to them yet nor will they peel so it looks like they need more time. Since I want to use them for baking, should I wait to do anything with them until they are almost/completely black?

Your link and comments filled in some blanks for me and provided food for thought. Thanks!

As I checked today, it has gone up from $5.39/lb. to $5.99/lb. for whole birds (which run around 4 lbs.). I often buy only thighs - and they are currently $6.99/lb. Another high quality chicken they offer, Snowdance Farms, run $7.49/lb. for whole birds. All of the above products are greatly enhanced by pre-salting - I usually try for somewhere between 24 - 48 hours, and leave the bird or parts partially uncovered at the bottom of my refrigerator.

They tend to get soft and lose their crispness, colors become muddy, flavors can become harsh or unbalanced. If there’s sufficient acidity, they shouldn’t be unsafe to eat, just unpleasant. Here's an article with several pickled onion recipes that can be made as refrigerator pickles or waterbath processed to make shelf-stable pickles. As they note, brines that include citrus juice don’t keep as long in the fridge and don’t process well either.