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Another tin of sprats. Riga Gold this time. Couldn’t find the second tin of the previous ones. Had them on rye toast (less fancy rye bread) with sour cream and horseradish sauce, topped with red onion. Lovely, much smaller fish, more intense smoke.

House guest arrived with salsa verde from her garden so that inspired breakfast. Chorizo, white onion, spinach, cilantro, and salsa verde, finished with a scrambled egg and crumbled feta. Apologies for the poorly lit cell phone pic.

Broiled gnocchi with spinach and corn in a pesto cream sauce with basil on top

@KennethT I had a friend that used to do ' leather work ' i.e. made leather belts as a hobby. cow / steer leather varies in thickness depending on parts of the C/S belly , front to back might be what's used. front is thinner. Upper back was thick I recall good luck !

I've been thinking about making krupuk kulit - the unbelievably delicious and addictive puffed beef skin cracker common in Java (Indonesia) but have no idea where to get the fresh beef skin. Ideally, it's made from the softer, "inner skin" but I'm not even sure what that means.... I've looked at the Weee online grocer with no luck. I'd think Chinatown may have it, but I'd assume they have more pork products than beef ones... curious for any suggestions... Thanks!

@Victual Vignettes Congratulations . tasty work. for a braise , moving to fattier grain finished beef got youy to a better starting point and then you upped the game w all the other canges..

Here to f/u on my most recent effort and answer some of your questions. Also thanks to all who weighed in with feedback and tips. My two sad attempts which both involved grass fed ribs - the ribs themselves were smaller than what I normally used to buy, the marbling was not great. I did not purchase grass fed for any particular reason related to virtue or preference but rather because they were on special at Whole Foods; I bought some for immediate use and froze the other half which ended up being my second attempt. Fast forward to a couple of days ago - I began attempt 3 before I start receiving comments here, and then adapted and shifted as the comments started rolling in. Over all, the finished product was a huge improvement. Changes or specifications that I think made a big difference: I used larger (or what I would call "regular sized") conventional / not grass fed ribs. They had good color and marbling. Starting out, I abandoned all recipes and just went with muscle memory on how I would start a beef bourguignon. Brown the meat, take it out, saute the diced veg, add some tomato paste and flour, deglaze with wine, etc. - I browned them for longer than I had in the first two batches. I let them get to a deep, evenly browned crust on all sides. - I used diced onion and garlic, but large pieces of carrot as intended to remove those towards the end anyway and add "fresh" carrots for the last bit. - I used a better quality wine - we're not talking expensive by any means, but better than I'd used previously. A cab. - I used a higher quality beef stock. Store bought, but I simmered it at the lowest temperature with a head of garlic and a pile of fresh sage and thyme for a bit before using. - I cooked the ribs in my 7.5 qt Staub, in the oven at 250. I did not even touch or look at them for the first 2.5 hours. Previously, I had done stove top on my gas range, and I feel that I got way to fussy with checking them and as such there was a fair amount of temperature fluctuation vs. just an even simmer for an extended time. They cooked for a total of 4 hours, uncovered for the last 45 minutes with some freshly chopped carrots added in to cook up. I allowed them to cool down for about an hour which made removing the fat much easier. I served them with a little gremolata made with parsley and lemon, and a mushroom risotto. Delicious. All in all, the better quality ribs, more thorough sear, controlled cook in the oven, and near - unlimited time to experiment and feel it out led to a much better result than I'd had previously. I got some great tips here. I will be trying them again soon to tweak some things here and there.

I think the biggest problem with a fast release while braising would be the homogenization of the liquid fat (that has rendered out of the beef and would normally be floating on top) into the braising liquid.

For my money, there's no dish better than Coda alla vaccinara: Brown them well. Mirepoix. Braise. Plate. Maybe some polenta too. And lots of napkins - and wet naps!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Well, foo. I see that here, too, so it's not one of those individualized pricing things.

While enjoying an almond pastry during a morning meeting I shall never again rest a water bottle in my lap without the cap screwed on.

Green Thai Vegetable Curry from an essen&trinken recipe - green curry paste and garlic get first sautéed before adding butternut squash, carrots, eggplants, chili, ginger, makrut lime leaves, lemongrass and palm sugar and cooked in coconut milk and vegetable broth. Mushroom, cherry tomatoes and scallions are added later, before finished with cilantro, cashews and lime juice. Served over rice

I had no idea that blueberries had seeds!

It's $7.49 at the moment.

Yes. Even the often touted Sonoran Beef is very lean. We owned a home in AZ just a few miles from the State of Sonora and the herds rely on dry pastures most of year as it's the Sonoran Desert.

I keep it as it comes, I don't trim it at all. It's not just fat, tons of collagen, too. The collagen turns to gelatin when cooked and tenderizes the meat as well. Here is a tried and true recipe. My only change is that I increase carrots, probably use a pound of them, 7 or 8 big ones. https://littlesunnykitchen.com/instant-pot-oxtail/

https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/green-pistachios-recalled-due-salmonella

Pasta al limone with cream from Six Seasons of Pasta by Joshua McFadden p 114. This is another of the classics or “any season” recipes with a little lesson on working with cream-based sauces. I like that this version is all about the lemon. Other recipes in my books add other flavors - anchovy, nutmeg, basil, garlic, shallot, chile flakes - all good, but I appreciated the simplicity of this sauce. He adds a generous amount of lemon zest early on to infuse into the cream but holds the lemon juice to the very end where it’s added off the heat to avoid a cooked lemon flavor. I reduced the amount of pasta and added snap peas and yellow bell pepper so I could call it a meal.

@Tropicalsenior rolled roux logs is a very fine idea. thank you for sharing .

It is that plus the breed of the cattle. They are a Brahma cross. Also, they have no concept of Aging. The beef you buy in the afternoon may have been grazing on that grass in the morning. Do not throw that fat away. It is the most flavorful fat for making roux. I mix equal parts fat and flour and brown it nut Brown. I then roll it into logs and keep it in the freezer. I cut it off as I need it to thicken stews and soups.

@Tropicalsenior there is no marbled beef in Costa Rica , because : the beef is not grain finished ,and is pasture finished on pasture that is marginal ? @gulfporter similar situation ?

@gulfporter, I recently had an escapade with oxtail. At the end of cooking, there's quite a bit of fat which hasn't rendered. Do you keep the fat with the meat or throw it away? Thanks.

Same is true in Mexico as far as larger cuts of beef being marbled. However, there are fatty beef pieces. I buy and IP oxtails in Mexico (colas de res) and they are heavenly!

Ive found that the above Brie , after being opened , does seem to age a bit noticeably more than when sealed in its wrapper.