CookBot

Understandable. I searched all over the Popeye's nutrition info and there's no indication of what they're using to fry with. But a little digging into some interviews with execs seems to confirm that they've switched from lard to vegetable oil, and they're bragging about their searches for sustainably produced palm oil. Pretty sure that's not palm oil in their red beans & rice, though. But there's something going on in there besides beans and rice. Here's a clipping from their nutrition site. The RB&R have more than 55% of their calories from fat, while the regular Cajun rice has only 25% calories from fat.

It did seem like that craze for beets in cakes caught on more strongly in the UK than it did here in the states. I think I even remember an episode of Great British Bakeoff where they had all the contestants use it.

That's the first time I've heard that. I wonder if it's still true?

That's entirely possible!

I see that your local Popeye's is suffering from the same red bean shortage that has afflicted my local store. Like so many people, Popeye's is my go-to takeout, and their red beans & rice are my #1 choice of sides. But the last two times I've ordered, it's been 80% rice and 20% beans. Which is a damn shame, because their RB&R is just about the equal of most Louisiana home cooks I've known. (I subscribe to the conspiracy theory that they thicken them with roux made from the chicken drippings.)

When I decided to get a convection oven/air fryer this year, I bought one based exactly on that Wirecutter review, that same Cuisinart but a slightly newer model. And I've been extremely happy with it. I must say, all of @Anna N's reasoning about air fryer purchase are spot on as regards pod style AFs, especially: 2. People who like to eat much more than they like to cook. Even though I'm cooking mostly for myself when I'm home, I wanted the option of some actual cooking rather than just heating up, including occasional baking projects like bread and pastries which require a non-convection option, and the Cuisinart has handled every task I've thrown at it. All the fondness of eGulleters for their steam ovens has got me rather envious, though. But I really don't have the countertop real estate to spare for another baking appliance.

They sound just like (and look like) classic Fondant Potatoes, just in a different shape. And they're making my mouth water. At Serious Eats:

Yes indeed! Those eggs are just perfect. And they look sort of brown on the outside -- are they tea-smoked, @liamsaunt ?

Your pink eggs seem to be on the cover of a new book about Ukrainian cookery that was featured in a recent article in the New York Times:

Duly noted. I'll bet it does! Well, the proof will be in the potato. And I've got a couple of russets doing nothing to contribute to their share of the rent, so why not give them a spin? I think I'll do it tonight and report back. But I'm going to draw the line at putting cottage cheese on a baked potato, no matter how incinerated it is.

What is the alleged advantage of this? If a potato is cooked through at that temperature in an hour, what's to be gained by wasting another hour of fuel time on it?

Thank you very much! I'm gonna make that this week to go with a big pot of Rhode Island clam chowder.

The skins don't get too dried out to be edible?

Duck with cabbage and potatoes = practically the very definition of autumn. I need to buy a duck (or two). OMG, gorgonzola on garlic bread? I can't believe I've never had that before. Or even just on a garlic-rubbed bruschetta. Must do immediately.

Yes, they weren't cheap once you got past the initial come-on discount. My mother bought a subscription for me as a gift, and at one time I had them all, but have lost about half of them in cross-country moves, unreturned loan-outs, etc. I still refer occasionally to the poultry and pastry volumes. That series, and Jacques Pepin's "Art of Cooking" volumes, were the earliest examples I recall of step-by-step photography of technique (in color). Pepin's earlier "La Technique" and "La Method" were superior in instruction, but the B&W photos were very poor, by comparison. You are fortunate! I'll bet a full set of those brings a pretty penny on eBay these days. I know the times I've tried to get a volume or two of the Time-Life "Foods of the World" series, I was surprised at the prices of mint volumes. (The 5 volumes of regional American cooking from that series are excellent, with writing by James Beard, MFK Fisher, and their ilk.) 1981 TV ad for The Good Cook book series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y20IwvykTgE

That happened to my mother once right in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. She was so mortified, plus had to wait through the whole 4-day holiday before repair was available. Ugh.

Did that technique allow the butter to remain enclosed in the chicken and spurt out at you when cut into?

A wonderful food writer whose books hold up beautifully. I also loved the huge 28-volume encyclopedia Olney did for Time-Life in the '70s, The Good Cook. I remember that the volume on "Terrines, Pates, and Galantines" was the first really fancy French food I ever attempted.

So it's a type of flounder?

What a bowl of beauty. Makes me homesick for a good old San Francisco Cioppino. And who could blame him? It looks stupendous.

Not only do the briskets look superb, but that cutting board is gorgeous too.

Could someone describe what finger root is?

Speaking of Grandma's China, I was just browsing the offerings on the auction site of Goodwill Stores of the Pacific Northwest, and the old Pyrex items are bringing higher prices than fine china. I like Pyrex just fine as a utilitarian kitchen item, but I don't think its decorative qualities are enough to justify the outrageous prices it's bringing for the past few years: https://shopgoodwill.com/categories/listing?st=pyrex&sg=Keyword&c=62&s=&lp=0&hp=999999&sbn=&spo=false&snpo=false&socs=false&sd=false&sca=false&caed=10%2F9%2F2022&cadb=7&scs=false&sis=false&col=4&p=1&ps=40&desc=true&ss=0&UseBuyerPrefs=true&sus=false&cln=2&catIds=-1,20,62&pn=&wc=false&mci=false&hmt=false&layout=grid&ihp=

Holy mackerel! I've never tried the RG Ayocotes, and now I might be a little leery of doing so, since I don't own a pressure cooker.

Two hours under pressure?? That's as long as they should take on a standard stovetop. Rancho Gordo might want hear about that.