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Picanha steak with roast potato and broccolini.

Most of the time, it wouldn't matter if the pot is only being used as a PC. However, many cooks use their PC bottoms as stockers, and for many of those applications it can matter. My point wasn't directed at PCs in particular, but at disc-based pans in general. In skillets for example, a large temperature discontinuity where the disk ends can preclude some things.

Regardless of the threat, ALWAYS keep your car fully fueled. Trying to get home in SF from Berkeley after the Loma Prieta earthquake, husband was lucky to find one, ONE, gas station that had generator power and was pumping gas. With our increasing 'weather events', we should NEVER take normal for granted. You never know when you'll need to "get out of Dodge".

Indeed, but then velveting is not so common in Chinese cuisine as people seem to think, either. It is a Cantonese technique. In my experience, few people here have even heard of it. Not surprising. After all, only around 4.6% of the population are Cantonese and not all of them are cooks. I'd say it's more American than Chinese. The term 'velveting' is certainly American.

We're in the Peak District on holiday this week. I don't have my full complement of ingredients, so I'm keeping it simple. Fish pie. Salmon, haddock, smoked haddock at £10 for 3 from Morrison's. I didn't pick up any flour so it was just double cream in the sauce. Worked alright! PS Oh, and prawns!

I'm not @C. sapidus but to me, that dish looks very Vietnamese, in which case, velveting would not be typical. Typically it would be "grilled" which doesn't always mean like it does here in the west, but could also mean high heat pan fry.

have you tried "velveting" the beef for that salad? looks scrumptous! we have a "Mongolian" dish - uses ramen+veggies - that I top with velveted beef. strips coated/tossed/left standing in corn starch followed by a fast pan sear in shallow oil. the beef really stands out in a "salad type" dish

@BonVivant what a wonderful trip thank you for taking so much time to share with us such detail. cheers P.S.: where next ? where ever it is , Im looking forward to it.

Irene's pictures this time. Iren

Still trying to get rid of some herbs.... Pho ga with....

good point...but worse now

Read "Bright Lights, Big City". It's been going on for almost 50 years!

For the radish lovers amongst us, a Radish butter to spread on baguette or crackers. This is going to get some finely chopped pistachios at time of service. 6 oz. of radish are finely chopped in the food processor along with two tablespoons of vinegar. This is left to rest for ten minutes and then well drained until totally dry. While this is occurring, soften 4T butter, along with 1/4t salt and 1-2 teaspoons of horseradish, mix well. When radishes are as dry as possible, mix with the butter and add additional salt and horseradish if desired .

Thank you @Ann_T - busy summer with the usual yard work projects and outdoor diversions, so I haven't been baking as much. Hoping to rectify that now that most of them are finished. Always inspired by your posts here and on Facebook. Thanks for sharing them so freely!

@PatrickT, I was just going to post asking where you were. I've missed seeing your posts.

I was just about to answer this but Patrick beat me to it. I agree completely with the idea that it is in the shaping. I have a pebbly glass tablet that I use for shaping the dough and I used to shape it without using any extra flour. I found out that the drag of the board sometimes prevented proper tension. Now I use just a tiny sprinkling of flour and it helps to eliminate pockets and makes for smoother surface.

Lemon poppyseed sourdough. While the crumb is definitely tight, the flavor is delicious. Not sure why I didn't try this before! - 400g bread flour - 100g white whole wheat flour - 375g water - 10g salt - 50g starter - 50g honey - 100g poppy seeds - Zest of one whole lemon, coarsely grated

I see nobody answered your question. I'm hardly a bread making authority, but I wonder if this could be a shaping issue - especially given the fact that it appears intermittently. Maybe try degassing the dough well before shaping and then ensure that there are no trapped air pockets as you're doing the final shaping. Hope that helps!

Deb Perelman has a recipe for a Porch Swing cocktail on her website.

That's plausible. I'd have hyphenated it in that case, but (shrug) I'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt.

In taking lots pottery classes I had a Japanese instructor. I married a Korean and one of her friends told me that a back at that time a 'joke' was for one Korean potter to tell another "Quick, wash your hands. Japanese soldiers are coming.

Maybe because that’s how they wanted it to read? Ranting about restaurants… at times. She has never been a restaurateur.

A small "hot pot" meal. A few things that needed using up. ------------#2------------------------- Roasted aubergine and Turkish peppers. Kurdish tandir flatbread and the rest Intensely aromatic Greek mint ------------------#3------------------- Minty meatballs. There's already loads of mint in the mince. Quinoa with lovage from the garden, and parsley. The mint "branches" are getting bare. Finishing very soon at the rate I've been using. Good that I got 2 bags of it. At first I wasn't sure how to store it after opening. Then it occurred to me that it's much faster and easier to rub the whole thing in the bag and tip the leaves onto a newspaper. Remove all the small "twigs" that fall out together with the mint, now it's ready to use it in my food. @MaryIsobelThank you!

Dough for this batch was started using a sourdough biga that had been left on the counter Tuesday night (May 21st) and then went into a batch of dough Wednesday morning (May 22nd). After the last stretch and fold the dough went into the fridge for a long cold fermentation (about 80 hours). I asked Matt to take the dough out of the fridge around noon yesterday so that it would be ready for me use when I got home from work. I used 300g of dough to make a pepperoni pizza for Moe and I and six baguettes.

One of these?