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After having some lunch, walked over to Essex Market, and my favorite cheesemonger. The Tour de France just concluded (today) their stages in the Pyrenees, and Formaggio Essex had just gotten in a delivery (which also included my favorite potato chips from Spain)... The Comté - delicious as always. The Pyrenees' cheeses are just fantastic.

When I used to do a lot of Thai cooking, HTK was the first go-to. I'm a big fan. I'm not a huge fan of the Huy Fong "rooster" sauce, but I get the Shark brand (made in Si Racha in Thailand) in the Thai store in Chinatown - it's as close as what I had in Thailand as I've found.

Some years ago, there was a local company producing a sauce that was supposed to be more like a Thai version. It was certainly not as sweet as that "Rooster" sauce that's so popuar these days. I've not seen the local sauce in a while. HTK is defintely worth a look. Her ingredient list is just about identical to the locally-made sauce I mentioned.

Sriracha is named for the area near Pattaya, in Thailand south of Bangkok, from which it originates. I don't know where you're located, but most versions available in the US are very different from what you get in Thailand. Hot Thai Kitchen has a recipe so you can make your own which is more closely related to the original than that which we get in the US.

Yesterday we were all wiped from the boat day, so we spent the day at the villa relaxing. I processed my underwater photos so thought I would share a few. There were a lot of jellies in the water. We all wear long sleeved rash guards and long swim pants when snorkeling in case of stuff like this. I would rather deal with lots of big jellies like the ones we saw than the invisible and incredibly painful sea lice stings. I am fairly certain that all of these jellyfish were moon jellies, which only have a mild sting, but others in my party are adamant that there were multiple types around. Anyway, here are some jellyfish. Their bodies ranged in size from just a few inches to over dinner plate. The tentacles stretched for a few feet. blue tang Black durgeon. We only see these in the BVIs Spanish hogfish One of many caves that you could swim inside at Norman Island. It was creepy and dark in there, though we saw some fish that were not present elsewhere. I think you would have needed a dive light to fully explore it. We did not come prepared for that. We went to La Tapa for dinner Drinks i got a cauliflower bisque to start. After I tasted it I realized I ordered this last time I was here too 😂 Everyone else shared a few orders of tuna tartare, but the photo came out blurry. Husband and I had tuna with polenta cake and mango sauce, the usual sister had hers with wild rice and coconut sauce Niece and nephew had ribeyes with a Greek salad on top and a three potato mash We shared a flan for dessert Except for my niece, who got a bread pudding with saffron ice cream and raspberry sauce No dinner reservations for the next few nights.

If you want to collect ideas from eG peeps, here's a topic you might peruse: Keeping Feta Fresh

Do you store the cheese in the brine it came in, or do you refresh the liquid with fresh water, or ...? For those who feel I should Google this, I did, but I want opinions and ideas from the folks here as well.

Penzey's Sale free Mex vanilla w $10 purchase a couple of other items sale $ 2.00 https://www.penzeys.com/

Okay, this one applies to everybody from Quebec to BC. Salami and cacciatore sold under a number of small brand names are being recalled for salmonella; list at the link. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/various-brands-salami-and-cacciatore-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23#tablefield-node-77735-field_affected_products-0

Hmmm. Pork belly is the most popular cut here.

Not a great deal, but there is nothing the Chinese like more than gnawing on bones and sucking out the brains. It's the same thing as them loving to gnaw on chicken's or duck's feet (although they don't have brains!) Duck heads are popular, too.

Amazon price has been going up since the end of Prime Day. Currently $699, with no accessories. $799 with accessory bundle. Good pork but I never did get around to the Momofuku ranch. And I've finally conceded that my teeth can no longer chew pickles.

Is there much meat on the head? Just looking at it, it doesn't seem like you'd get much out of one

Get them all! Especially if the ribs are still attached 😋 The price is wacky over here because of TV chefs (see also kidneys, calves' liver, sweetbreads, lamb and virtually all seafood)

Forgive me if this is a double post, but I caved on the last copy of Delish! Dinner tonight is Rancho Gordo Moro beans, my potato salad, and the recently smoked pork belly -- chopped with my second most serious cleaver. (The heavy cleaver I can hardly lift.) Pickle and side of Momofuku ranch.

When I lived in London in the 1980s, the local supermarkets all stocked frozen 兔肉 (tù ròu), Oryctolagus cuniculus meat, imported from China. Since then the picture has changed somewhat. The rising population in China and the increased popularity of the meat means that China is now the world’s largest importer of the creatures. In 2025, China is expected to import over 100,000 metric tons of rabbit meat. 🐰 Rabbit is still exported in limited quantities but far outweighed by the amount of imports. The meat is widely available, but most popular in Sichuan province, where they have devised many recipes to highlight it. The most famous is probably the capital, Chengdu’s highly popular street food, 麻辣兔头 (má là tù tóu), braised rabbit head with mala ingredients (Sichuan peppercorns and chilli). Mala Rabbit Head Also popular dish is 冷吃兔丁 (lěng chī tù dīng), cold rabbit cubes. This simple sounding dish is anything but. Cubes of rabbit meat are fried in same mala ingredients. Cold Rabbit Cubes i also get these whole roasted rabbits from one supermarket. Rabbit with Leeks and Porcini Rabbit with Red Onion Jam and many more

I took the NCA course back in ‘93. It was really a great class

Here is personal favourite. 青头菌 (qīng tóu jūn), Green Headed Mushroom, Russula virescens. Despite the name, the colour varies from green to a light grey. They are also as the Green Cracking Russula or the Quilted Green Russula. The highly respected London Italian chef, grocer and wild mushroom expert, the late Antonio Carluccio described these as being "not exactly nice to look at". They can look a bit mouldy. Dried Green Headed Mushrooms They grow under tropical lowland rainforest trees in western Yunnan and we are just entering their season which will last until about September. Like shiitake and some other mushrooms, drying them enhances their flavour but cooking or even just soaking the dried mushrooms diminishes the colour. Some reports suggest that older specimens can smell like herrings, not something I’ve ever noticed. Rehydrated Dried Mushroom Care must be taken when foraging these, as younger specimens can resemble Amanita phalloides, the death cap mushroom, recently a feature in the Australian beef wellington murders case. They can be fried, grilled or even roasted. In taste, they are mild, nutty and fruity. They can also be eaten raw in salads, but the people of Yunnan don’t go there.

Smoke them! I'm having pork belly for dinner.

I was wandering around the meat section of my local Meijer and stumbled across a pile of cryovac'd pork bellies. I never see pork bellies (outside of bacon) at any mainstream grocery. I didn't know why they were there. I wondered if there was something going on I didn't know about. Anyways, the cuts were large (like 5lbs) and not suitable for an impulse buy. Then two days later I was in a Kroger. Again, the pork bellies. These were smaller so I picked one up. What's going on? Is there some sort of pork belly holiday I'm not aware of?

I picked the first few tiny tomatoes from my plants. Tiny, but taste like tomatoes.

I caved on Delish! Tonight I plan to cook up a pot of Rancho Gordo beans, haven't decided which, to accompany my smoked pork belly from the other day.

Why are there instructions to cut of the bread crusts (and discard) when making breadcrumbs?

@RWood, so delicious looking!

Had my dad over for lunch today. Salad with heirloom tomatoes, burrata, peaches, pistachios, cherries, basil, mint and drizzled with lemon thyme and garlic infused oil.