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... start cooking without being 100% absolutely positively sure that all the needed ingredients are at hand. Today I started on a recipe that called for rose water. I knew I had some as less than a month ago I saw it in the cupboard and moved the small bottle to be with other similar items ... almond extract, vanilla extract, lemon oil, and so on. I had to make almond milk for this recipe (an almond pudding). The almonds were prepped this morning and soaked for about twelve hours. A short while ago, I put the prepped almonds in the blender jar, added several dates (for sweetener), added the appropriate amount of very chilled water, and reached for the rose water. WTF, said I, and started digging into the cupboard. I moved every item on the shelves, pulling some of them out of the cupboard completely, used a small flashlight to search more thoroughly ... Nada! So I made the almond milk, put it in the fridge, cleaned and reorganized the kitchen, and set the rest of the necessary ingredients in the staging area for use tomorrow. First thing in the morning, it's back to the market where I was just two days ago buying the dates for this recipe. What a waste of time and energy.

Second time today I've heard this book mentioned, first was on a food podcast (Linoleum Knife and Fork). I will check it out.

I'd say it depends on how much salt you used. Unless you went overboard on the salt, 48 hours should be fine.

Too much plastic here for me. I tend to use something like these. I only use them for storing leftovers or other food in the fridge or freezer. Never utensils.

菠萝炒饭 (bō luó chǎo fàn) Pineapple fried rice is not only common in Thailand but among many of China's ethnic minorities, especially the Dai people in Yunnan Province which borders Vietnam and Myanmar/Burma. It also borders Guangxi where I live and the ethnic minorites here also make it. This which I put together last night is 菠萝虾仁炒饭 (bō luó xiā rén chǎo fàn), pineapple shrimp fried rice, to which I also added a little chicken that needed using. Made it slightly spicy, too. So technically 菠萝虾仁鸡肉炒饭 (bō luó xiā rén jī ròu chǎo fàn), pineapple shrimp and chicken fried rice.

A few years ago, Ziploc had made some nice semi-disposable containers with relatively square corners that I really liked then of course discontinued. 🤷‍♀️ @blue_dolphin these restaurant food storage pans come in multiple depths that can share lids https://www.webstaurantstore.com/vigor-1-6-size-4-deep-translucent-polypropylene-food-pan/247FP164PP.html also, Cambro https://www.cambro.com/Products/food-storage/

Make a little patty of each to get a feel for how it cooks up and tastes, then follow your instincts. I'd probably make kofte with the goat, myself, but I have a general hunger for that lately

Marmite doesn't get enough love as a seasoning. I put it in anything involving a gravy or red meat (e.g. ragu). Top marks from me 😀

Spain-inspired, braised onions and potatoes, with pimentón and saffron. As a side dish for... Crispy-skinned roasted chicken thigh (thank whoever keeps my old CSO working!), potato thing from the 1st picture, sautéed escarole. Plum and nectarine crisp..or cobbler...crispler? cobblisp? No complaints yet.

Mrs. C dragged SIL around the local farm stands and fish markets, so their bounty is what we had for dinner. Halibut cheeks, simply prepared with S&P. Yellow watermelon salad with tomatoes, balasmic vinegar, and Thai basil. Dry-fried green beans with chorizo, Tianjin preserved vegetable, ginger, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine.

You can dry brine it for 72 hours, if need be. No. Cook it via a traditional method (roast, pan sauté, braise, etc.); Judy Rogers wasn't sous-viding!

See, I was always led to believe (that's what cooking school will do) that a batterie de cuisine is what's used to prepare and serve food. In which case, I have a lot of stuff. But now that I look at the title of this thread, I see it explicitly calls out "Storage." In which case, a ton of "deli containers" in varying sizes. Some oxo glass storage for fridge, and some rubbermaid. I do so little freezing of cooked product other than stock and tomato sauces, and have so little freezer space, that it's not a big item in my batterie!

I will have chicken dry brined for 24 hours tomorrow morning. An hour or so later, I'll be having a medical procedure in my mouth, so I'm unlikely to be interested in roasted chicken tomorrow night. Can I dry brine chicken in the fridge for 48 hours, or should I plan on cooking it tomorrow? If I must cook the dry brined chicken, can I sous vide it? I have some remaining clarified butter which I could put in the sous vide bag, in case that's a good idea. Thoughts? @rotuts @JoNorvelleWalker

Thanks to the above recent posts I was reminded to use my A4Box to make chili. Here it is - bubbling away. This thing works amazingly well. Clean-up looks to be relatively easy as nothing is sticking to the bottom. I'll be using it more in the future. My only quibble is that i wish the actual convection plate covered the whole bottom. But, there is something to be said for pushing, in this case, onions to the side while you brown the meat and not having them get frazzled.

I loved the Urban Peasant - started watching in my early teens. Most of my friends raced home to watch The Young and the Restless while I tuned in to James Barber!

First-ever breast milk-favored ice cream now available nationwide For those in or near NYC, or for those who are sufficiently motivated to get there, free scoops are available this week.

Shepherd's pie. It's not PDO so there was Parmesan on top, a smidge of Saint Agur blue cheese in the mash, a teaspoon of Marmite and peas in the filling. Lots of mash!

When we're lucky enough to be in France, Significant Eater loves starting her meal off with a Ricard. Is your next stop Girona, or further south? Are you all on the medieval tour?

If you would follow my posts on a map you‘d see we are closing in oun Catalonia. Tonight last dinner in France, specifically in the beautiful town of Carcassonne … There are two things to be had here: snails & cassoulet. We went to a restaurant aptly called Escargot and had the former, while I purchased ingredients for the latter on the market for further installments … Ricard, for aperitif … Snails in herb butter - very good … Paté and pan-fried foie gras … Skewered duck with a cherry-vinegar reduction … Swordfish. This was fantastic 🤗 For dessert: salted caramel pain perdu … And probably the biggest profiterole I‘ve ever had … Happy and full we went back, got some dried beans, confit de canard & Toulouse sausage on the market. Next to the carparl we passed a Brazilian restaurant and I admired the sense of marketing genius at work …

I wish someone would make square or rectangular containers in a range of sizes that use the same lids. Deli dishes fit this description with sizes from 8 - 32 oz, varying in height but accepting the same lids. I find square or rectangular shapes store more efficiently in the fridge or freezer. I had a bunch of very sturdy 16oz square Rubbermaid containers I used for my work lunches and also as @rotuts describes to pre-freeze sauces, beans, etc that I'd remove and vacuum seal. I bought them about 30 years ago and am down to my last few. They served me well but now I’ve got a mishmash of different brands and random takeout containers that take up a ton of space and annoy the heck out of me when I need to find the right lid. Thirty years is probably asking too much as I probably won’t last that long myself but I wish I could find something fairly durable to invest in. Any suggestions?

The TJ's Greek feta is my preference as well, though for slightly different reasons. If they’re out, the Israeli is an acceptable option.

I finally got around to opening and trying the Israel feta. I much prefer the other brined feta that TJ's carries as shown below. The somewhat milder flavor and softer texture makes the above feta my preference. Also, removing the top and opening the conainer of the Israeli feta was, for me, more difficult than it should have been. It won't find its way into my shopping cart again. Glad I tried it, though.

BLT’s on the menu for lunch today and delicious they were! Tomatoes and romaine from the FM. Will be making these again shortly. Dessert was a sour cherry cake made with Balaton cherries which are firmer and a little less tart than the standard sour cherry. These are delicious cherries, excellent for baking. Unfortunately, their fleeting season is over.

I buy those containers at one of the dollar stores. Nice and cheap and they last for enough uses that I don't get upset when they get cracked. I used Tupperware at one time and almost all of them have cracked. Those of course, were considerably more expensive and I have replaced them with the cheap ones.