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@Ann_T That lamb is perfect . The pics are going in the Lamb p0rn folder.

The bacon is neither. Costco, Kirkland brand thick cut. Comes in a 2 pack that I believe is 1.5lbs per. Cream-ish label.

Quite a decent article : https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250702-a-journey-through-the-united-states-of-barbecue

I've been reading about this for a while, but it's deeply unsettling to hear that these ticks have been found as far north as Maine now. NB is just across the St. Croix river from Maine, so doubtless they'll show up here over the next few years as the climate changes further. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/29/lone-star-ticks-increase-climate-crisis I have to say, though the article as a whole makes for grim reading, the scientist describing this tick as "a cross between a lentil and a velociraptor" all but earned my computer a coffee shower.

From the "the bit they hope you don't notice" files, food science edition:

Haha. That's the Chinese influence. In Mandarin, daikon is 萝卜 (luó bo); whereas carrot is 红萝卜 (hóng luó bo). Malay too, follows the same pattern with daikon being lobak and carrot, lobak merah (red daikon!) Lobak is derived from Chinese. Daikon cake is also often translated as 'turnip cake'. Chinese often different, unrelated or merely distantly related species as one. Can get confusing.

Last airline meal for a while - Sing Air Singapore to Jakarta - 80 minute flight: "Carrot cake" with prawn, fried shallots, lontong (rice cake) and radish (that's the carrot part). All fried in lard... A Singapore specialty.

hot sauce butter pine nuts Now I won't be able to sleep just thinking about this combo!

The Tragick Tale of Trout Brown Trout - PD I am fond of the occasional trout or two but alas cannot sensibly buy it here and the reason is unreasonable. A tale of stupidity and conspiracy theories. Trout, as I’m sure you know, is a non-specific term covering several species, but all true trout are in the same overall family as salmon and to an extent share the same migratory habits. What I particularly ate in Europe were rainbow trout or brown trout, the later being my favourite. Unfortunately, in Mandarin the term 鲑鱼 (guī yú), meaning the overall family is often applied to either specific species, causing great confusion. A more specific term for trout is 鳟鱼 (zūn yú), with Oncorhynchus mykiss , rainbow trout being 虹鳟 (hóng zūn), literally ‘red trout’. Salmo trutta, brown trout is 褐鳟 (hè zūn). Knowing these names is no guarantee your wait staff, chef or fishmonger will give you what you ask for. In 2016, the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance (CAPPMA), overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs decreed that rainbow trout could legally be sold as salmon, throwing China’s fish eaters into meltdown for all the wrong reasons. To make matters worse, the Alliance’s justification was a quote from Wikipedia (despite it being blocked in China)! The media then argued back, although some of their arguments were as tenuous as the government’s. Whatever, the public decided that trout were dangerous, being riddled with parasites that would slowly eat them alive from inside. Trout are susceptible to parasites but no more than salmon are. After all, their lifestyles are the same. For that reason, all salmon sold as sushi or sashimi has to be frozen for at least 12 hours to be legal. Trout disappeared, although the ruling remains in place. My local delivery app carries none but the national online shopping sites offer live trout for approximately ¥1 or 14 cents USD each. With a minimum order of 300! They are only about 7 cm / 2¾ inches long and being sold as bait fish. I suppose I could bung them in my bathtub and grow them! But I don’t have a bathtub. I do have some imported Danish trout roe, though. I refuse to call it caviar

Originally planned to make Pork Chili Verde for dinner tonight. But when I got to the store, the butcher had two beautiful racks of lamb that I couldn't resist. Bought both. One for the freezer and one for dinner. Seasoned with fresh local garlic, rosemary from the garden and a mix of pink, white, green and black peppercorns. Drizzled with olive oil. Grilled the rack and served with a homemade mint sauce. Moe's Plate. My Plate. Sides were local new nugget potatoes with garlic, butter and dill and fresh asparagus.

Keema matar, made with ground lamb, onion, garlic, and chiles, tomato and yogurt, and spiced with cumin, coriander, cayenne, and garam masala, finished with lemon juice and peas. Would have added cilantro if we had any. Basmati rice, with cloves, cinnamon, green cardamom, bay leaf, garlic, and chicken stock, topped with onion greens.

You had me at apples and cheddar, truly one of my favourite combos. When my now son-on-law first came for dinner, I had made an apple pie and was asking who wanted ice cream and who wanted cheese. He chuckled and said cheese? On pie? Now it should be known that our family is full of pranksters and I guess he thought this was another joke. Once convinced that we were serious, he tried it and declared "Oh my god - why is this not a thing?" We assured it that it had been a thing in our family for generations and now he is a convert.

The word Sriracha in relation to the sauce is pretty much meaningless. It was originally pickled garlic, not roasted and remains so in Si Racha and most Thai versions.

Sriracha is essentially a chilli and garlic sauce so that looks a bit of a misnomer. All in the taste obviously.

Charlie wondered if we could have chislic today. I said that would entail getting some lamb and the only place I know that has it are the Mexican groceries and they only sell it by the quarter, like a whole leg or shoulder and it would be frozen. So he said how about some marinaded steak then. I said I saw a Kabob recipe a few days ago that was grilled and basted with a compound butter. That is what we decided to do. The recipe is just for the meat. I added the vegetables and cooked them on the gas grill for 30 minutes and the steak in the smoker firebox for about ten minutes over charcoal. Charlie really liked it and wondered of it was an Asian recipe. I didn't know. He looked at the recipe and the last line identified it as coming from a Viet Phu Inc. cookbook. That is the Red Boat Fish Sauce company in California.

I made the "Healthy Soup" yesterday, p 434. It was horrid! I should've known something was up with the "healthy"; but the real flag was the 2t salt, for 3 quarts of liquid, 3 lbs of chicken; and a pound of green vegetable (I used bok choy). Don't get me wrong, I'm gonna be able to eat it. But tricked out with copious olive oil (or, let's keep it real: bacon grease); cheese; and A WHOLE LOT MORE SALT.

Have you seen this BBQ sauce at your TJ's? I've not seen it at my usual store yet word on the 'net is that it's back in stock. It appears that many stores are carrying it.

I think it depends. We've had some duck breast in various places in France, years ago, that was rare and really tender. It has to be the duck because one of the places was a Burgundian fondue place where you cooked your meat in a pot of hot oil on your table. Also had Charolais beef and lamb. I'd love to go back to that place.

Breaded Pork Chops. Corn OFF the cob for hubby and new taters. Tried out VH new flavour dipping sauce: Orange Ginger - can't beat the discontinued Mango Chili 🤥 A friend brought over Ho Fun with shrimp. I cooked up Shanghai Bok Choy with garlic scapes. Cleaning up when freezer and pulled out a bag of homemade apple pie filling. Made Canadian Cheddar Cheese Apple Crisp. No oatmeal was harmed in this crisp. Canadian Cheddar Cheese Apple Crisp - from E.D. Smith Pie Filling - Recipe on can Basic Recipe: 6 portions 1 - 19 oz. E.D. Smith apple pie filling 1 - cup all purpose flour ¼ cup sugar 1 ½ tsp. baking POWDER ½ tsp. salt 1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese ( I use old cheddar) 1/3 cup melted butter ¼ cup milk Combine and sift all dry ingredients Mix in cheese Mix together the melted butter and milk. Add to the above mixture Mix gently with a fork until all the flour is incorporated Spoon apple pie filling into a shallow 1 quart / 1 litre baking dish Drop flour/cheese mixture by forkful to evenly cover the entire dish. Don’t press down! Use the fork to spread the dough if lumpy Bake in pre-heated oven at 375F for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown The recipe calls for a shallow 1quart dish. I used an 8” x 11” Pyrex glass dish. I made 1.5 times the topping recipe but 2 cans filling Great with ice cream or by itself.

Seared bay scallops with roasted chile Poblano rajas, onion, chile Serrano, and garlic, finished with heavy cream and cilantro.

Over in the appetizer topic, I mentioned making the Ricotta dip with hot sauce butter pine nuts from Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage. The header notes suggest using it as a base for grilled asparagus so that was today’s breakfast, topped with a poached egg. The asparagus were quite huge so I was pleasantly surprised that they cooked up so nicely on my little Philips grill. I used one of Andy Baraghani’s flatbreads to wipe the plate clean.

@KennethT Pleased to see you are on you way to another Adventure via Singapore. Congratulations on your UpGrade. great fun to see High-End airline food. Thank you for the menu(s) . May you have a Fine Time , taking us along.

Ricotta dip with hot sauce butter pine nuts from Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage. I started out with chips but switched to flatbreads. I thought this was OK, quick and easy with ingredients I usually have on hand. It would be prettier spread on a plate with the pine nut mixture swirled over the top. I’ll keep it in mind but probably won’t make it again. I was intrigued by this because the header notes suggest using it in various ways: as a dip for chips, crisp veg or chicken wings, tossed with pasta or tomatoes for a salad or as a base for various meats or grilled asparagus (see here in the breakfast topic for that.) The dip is kind of a ricotta-enriched raita with ricotta, yogurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon zest, green onion and chives. The hot sauce butter pine nuts is a flavorful, oily mix of toasted pine nuts, ghee, olive oil, hot sauce and smoked paprika.

...If teeth I had.

You're absolutely correct...I'm of the opinion that too-rare duck sucks. And I don't think it has anything to do with the duck you buy. (Exception might be for wild duck).