CookBot

Do you suppose those are cross between habaneros and banana peppers? Lots of okra in these photos! I didn't realize it was so popular with Yankees. 😉

Thank you, Anna. I'll see if I can suss out Dejah's posts.

I've just read through this entire thread (okay, I may have skimmed a bit on pages 20-30), and I don't see any mention that any of you have the oven-style air fryers. Do you all just agree that the bucket/basket types are superior to the combo oven types?

I love the way the bottom of the cake is indistinguishable from the cake stand. Very arty! Or did you frost the cake stand too??? 😉

For sweet cheese fillings, such as you find in Danish pastries?

My money would be on an acid in the Swiss Miss, something other than lactic acid. Just a guess.

Splendid early autumn fare. My compliments! Spectacular crust. Bravo!

I was about to waggle my finger and claim that adage as the property of William Faulkner, when I thought perhaps I should make at least a cursory effort to verify that. And then I came upon this rather entertaining essay which claims that it's actually attributed to "the English writer and surname collector Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch".

And so easy! I hope you'll give it a try. If you use a puff pastry instead of yeasted dough, and fill it with something savory like a tapenade or pesto, then cut very tiny wedges, it makes the most impressive appetizer ever, because your eaters can just pull one of the little twists right off the main pastry. (Not my photo -- this one's from Smitten Kitchen) https://smittenkitchen.com/2015/12/feta-tapenade-tarte-soleil/

This weekend I made a chocolate babka and shaped it using the Tarte Soleil method. It's the easiest method I know of for a big Wow Factor in presentation. If you can roll dough in a circle and cut it into wedges, you can make a Soleil. Leftover dough nubbins = cook's treat.

Look at the perfect hexagonal cut on those carrots! That is food prep artistry. I'm much too lazy to do that. Ohhh, Hatch chile season. It only lasts about two weeks where I am in the Southeast, and we don't get those wonderful big roasting tumblers in the parking lots, so we don't get those great smells. But they're still my favorite chiles.

I adore liver and lately have only been able to find it in slices that are much too thin. In that format, I find the best way to handle it is in the style of Fegato alla Veneziana, from Harry's Bar in Venice. Lots of caramelized onions and the smaller pieces aren't as inclined to overcook. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5ThiEk-7GU

Oh, great. Another obsession. That is a-freakin'-dorable.

It looks like it would give me a thumb cramp.

Wow. Biscuits and gravy are what I make when I am feeling great, and thinking "Yeah, those statin drugs are definitely working."

No, I think that's the right hack. Doesn't include the brown sugar, though.

It's a TikTok thing. You just pour heavy cream over the whomp rolls before baking. Makes them shockingly more palatable. (Brown sugar optional.)

And now I need to know where you find those gorgeous little specialty dishes for holding the sardine tins. What a great thread this is! I just learned more about tinned fish from reading it than I have in the prior 30 years. Now I need to go back through it and make notes about the brands I need to try.

Me too. Love the design of them -- being able to use the lid for a holding dish when you're grinding large quantities for cooking. Also, upside down design means no pepper scat on the tablecloth or elsewhere. But I'm on my third sample of the salt mill because the grinding mechanism keeps clogging and cracking. I suspect it's because I live in such a humid climate. Anybody else experienced that with mills?

I tried that too recently and was surprised how good they were. Good idea about flipping the pan. Yours look fantastic!

With all due respect to Anna N and her obviously heaven-sent electronic assistants, couldn't we have those AND fridges/washers/microwaves without all the computer circuitry? Honestly 90% of the the electrics in our lives simply don't need all that digital frippery. I'm convinced they've reconfigured them all not because they needed to, but because they could.

I cannot believe I got this old without learning you could do that with celery. I am gobsmacked. The celery leaves are my favorite part (better than parsley!), and market stalks are always naked of them now. I can't wait to grow my own celery this winter with big leaves! Many, many thanks, Annie_H.

I don't think you'll ever find an unalterable ratio for that. It's always going to vary according to the moisture content of your fruit, whether it's stone fruits or berries. Some judgment calls are unavoidable.

Hear, hear! I have a low tolerance for salt, unless it's something where salt *is* the flavor (anchovies, olives, pickles, etc.). For home cooking, I think restraint should be shown when seasoning "in layers". I've also cut way back lately on automatically adding black pepper. Not everything needs pepper, and I now substitute Aleppo pepper for black in probably half of the things I cook.