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@Smithy I've only made malva pudding once, and it was as little cupcakes (recipe). But now it's starting to turn chilly, a nice big one, warm and with plenty of hot custard could be in my future. Pudding pusher. 🫵

@Pete Fred, I thought at first you were talking about Malva pudding, a South African specialty that includes apricot jam. Now I see I was misreading "Malvern" for "Malva". Personal mystery solved. 😄

First visit in a long time to Costco today. Mainly I go there for meat and parmigiano reggiano. Parm prices are about the same as I recall, but beef is no longer cheap. 15 or so inch beef tenderloins are over $150. Spare ribs and oxtails are way high too. Our local Giant is less. NY Strip steaks are higher than Wegman's and appear to be of lower quality. They offer a whole flat iron steak for about $35 which isn't bad although I have no standard of comparison. Pork isn't so pricey though, four hefty tenderloins are about $14. So I'm down to parm as a reason to stand in line.

After listening to a podcast author interview, I've read Peter J Kim's first book, Instant Ramen Kitchen (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) from cover to cover and think it’s quite a clever book. Peter Kim has created something akin to an instant ramen version of Samin Nosrat's Salt Fat Acid Heat with enough info in the first sections of the book to enable anyone to come up with their own instant ramen variations, learning a bunch of cooking fundamentals (the value of mise en place, dealing with differing cooking times and balancing flavors for personal taste) in the process. Armed with a bunch of instant ramen packets and some pantry ingredients, a kitchen novice could learn a ton by making a bunch of these little single-serving, low cost meals, using either the recipes or the general guidelines to come up with their own combos. Up front, he breaks down the steps (prep, pre-simmer, simmer and finishing) with example timelines, reviews types of instant ramen widely available in the US and the importance of choosing the right simmer time, usually shorter than the label specs. Next, he presents a “Ramen Flavor Wheel” which serves as a guide for choosing flavors and also introduces all the ingredients used. Each of the ingredients gets a little blurb outlining how to use it. For example, spices might get bloomed in fat before simmering or be used in finishing. There are chopping and cooking time recommendations for each veg and protein. That’s followed by a section with sub recipes for toppings, a few sauces and dressings and a couple pages of quick ideas for cup noodles.. Anyone who’s taken the time to read through these sections, is set to start creating their own dishes but there are also plenty of recipes for those who’d rather skip reading the manual and get cooking. The first few are intended to make the instant packets more ramen-ish with recipes inspired by classic ramen styles. After that, caution is thrown to the wind and the flavors and ingredients are all over the map with soups, stews and sauced noodles inspired by frijoles de la olla, moqueca, shakshuka, borscht, Thai curry, Xi'an-style cumin lamb, and Mac 'n’ cheese, among others. I think the book would be a fun gift for a beginner cook, maybe with some ramen packets and a few condiments. A more experienced cook who’s frequently pressed for time might also find useful information here, as I did when I doctored up a packet of ramen the other day. I usually think I can chop and add veg while the noodles simmer but I followed his recommendation to prep everything first. I found his veg cooking times spot on and didn’t overcook the noodles while scrambling for toppings at the last minute. He doesn’t specifically address the often alarmingly high sodium levels in ramen packets but does explain the importance of proper seasoning, reducing the amount of the seasoning packet used when salty additions are included vs using more with unsalted additions so one can be judicious there. Here's a link to The Dinner Plan Podcast episode with Peter Kim discussing the book and featuring a couple of recipes from the book. I plan on trying the spinach ramen gratin, at least.

Fried rice made with leftover basil chicken, plus zucchini, onion, lemongrass, tomato, Thai basil, fried shallots, and an egg.

i used to have that . now , as other work was being done here I have 3 . one of them is dedicated to the refrigerator , as it was easy to do. the other two are 20 A . dont know if I can run the IDS , AF , iPot at the same time , on one circuit . I might not be able to run the IDS and the AF at the same time , as a curiosity .

I have a circuit like that

I shall never again attempt to cook food in my kitchen. Last night I was smoking a chicken breast in my GE smoker, grilling arepas on my Paragon, and running the Anova oven. Of a sudden it got dark and quiet.

Green Fettuccine with Chorizo Verde from Anything’s Pastable by Pashman - interesting and tasty approach of instead buying chorizo verde you kind of deconstruct the flavors and components in the ground pork and sauce. The sauce is made by pureeing a mix of roasted poblanos, roasted jalapeno, roasted garlic, roasted tomatillos, scallions, cilantro, Mexican crema and chicken broth. The meat is done by mixing ground pork, some of the roasted poblanos and jalapenos, lime zest, cumin, coriander, oregano and garlic powder. After searing the meat, you cook it with the sauce, add the fettuccine and some lime juice. Served with some cotija cheese

I am aware that this is possibly not the prettiest thing you’ve seen on a plate, but what it lacks in artistic presentation it makes up for in the performance. It is bleedin’ delicious. I don’t know what you’d call it but the locals call it 川香无骨鸡柳卷饼 (chuān xiāng wú gǔ jī liǔ juǎn bǐng), meaning Sichuan flavour boneless chicken roll. I call it a wrap. Chicken (I ordered extra) and various vegetables and tofu strips in a spicy Sichuan sauce. Very filling, lazy meal.

I am in mourning. Minor mourning. Not all-out grief. About once a year at most, I take a notion for pizza. As you know my choices are limited, but there in one place very near me that did one reasonable example of something a passing Italian might recognise. This is a black truffle and Parma ham pizza. The truffles are Chinese, so worthless, but the ham seems real and the base and cheese reasonable. The pizza comes with rocket / arugula for you to apply yourself. Of course the real deal looks little like the image they use in their delivery listing. I wasn’t particularly looking to but one a few days ago, but was idly going through the delivery app, when I noticed something odd. This is their online listing. That black bar at the bottom means the store is closed. This was prime time Friday evening. Most odd. Since then I have checked it every day and it’s still closed, suggesting it’s gone for good. Damn!

From the ridiculous to the sublime. My favourite mooncakes. 冰皮榴莲月饼 (bīng pí liú lián yuè bǐng), literally ice skin durian fruit cakes. These are the only ones I’d lay out my own ill-gotten gains to acquire.

Macaroni aspires to be cavatappi

Stiri-fried chicken with basil (gai kaphrao): Stir-fry smashed garlic, then add ground chicken, sliced onion, sliced Chinese broccoli, and bird chiles. When chicken is nearly done add fish sauce, black soy sauce, and sugar and stir-fry until liquid is gone. Finish with Thai basil and a fried egg. Jasmine rice to go with. Quick table sauce of sliced bird chiles and garlic mixed with fish sauce, rice vinegar, and a little sugar. Edit: Trying to get my spicy food fix while Mrs. C is traveling. 🙂

I will never again put a smoked pork shoulder in the slow cooker in the afternoon intending to have some for dinner, ask John to carve it up come said dinner time, only to find I'd forgotten to plug it in.

I was going to make these chicken thighs with a garllic and lime butter sauce, but I opened the package as I was getting ready to make it, I discovered that I was given boneless, skinless chicken thighs instead so I had to change plans. Both recipes are together on my blog. This one needed a crispy skin and we had it with baby bok choy, snow peas and rice. The other one was sauteed with wine and vegetables.

Save the water that comes out of the salted tomatoes, it's a nice little kick to a stock.

Love puttanesca and have put it on chicken and fish as well as pasta. I like the addition of zucchini and the chickpeas are a great idea for a veg version - thanks!

Pasta with charred grape tomatoes, baby spinach, and crispy shallots, topped with goat cheese. My "sauce" is 1/2 cup each of white wine and chicken broth, reduced to almost nothing before adding the rest of the ingredients.

That's what I'm calling it now, too. And those Sasso birds look incredible. Mmmm.

Cavatappi with a puttanesca-ish sauce with zucchini, cherry tomatoes and arugula. Meant to cook some chickpeas for this but forgot. I’ll add them to the leftovers.

The article I cited was published in 2009 but pet foods and animal feeds produced in the US and other countries were being recalled due to melamine-adulterated ingredients imported from China in early 2007 and melamine in chicken feed was very much in the news at the time @budrichard posted his comment in this topic. Melamine contaminant found in chicken feed US says some chicken feed tainted Tainted poultry has entered food supply So I agree with your conclusion that it’s possibly related to his comment!

Why thank you, Dd. Think of it as a savory porridge made with rice instead of oats - proteins and veg garnish instead of berries. A thousand year-old recipe that put to use a leftover staple, the toppings make it a meal. Cheers, John

Possible. That was an incident happened around 2009. It seems to me that China today is a very different country. China is a different country every 5 years. dcarch

I really want to compliment you because it looks great, but I've never been able to get over the texture of congee (and the first time I tried it, it was full of the demon herb coriander, which probably didn't help) That looks lovely though.