chromedome

Brings "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" to a whole other level, doesn't it?

All around my block there are numerous "feral" apple trees, many of which produce very good apples. I have my few favorite trees that I visit regularly in season. One tree I've generally ignored, because its apples are so tannic as to be inedible. Seriously, it's like chewing on a teabag. I can only assume it's a variety that was used for cider (really tannic apples, colloquially called "spitters" 'cause that's what you'll do if you bite into one, lend some complexity to a cider). Yesterday, noticing that most of the apples were still on the tree despite the lateness of the season, I decided to see whether they'd been altered by surviving a few frosts. To my pleased surprise, they're now a delightful eating apple...crisp and sweet, but still with a hint of tannins underneath. I'm eating one right now as I type this, and will probably go back for another few pounds while they last.

She's adorable. What a smile! My 2nd granddaughter had a similarly glorious cloud of hair at that age (chestnut, in her case).

Another onion recall; these ones apparently originate in New Mexico as opposed to Mexico proper. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/mvp-brand-yellow-onions-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=r_listserv Sliced mushrooms sold at Metro and Superstore, so far thought to be just Ontario and Quebec but possibly more widely distributed. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/certain-sliced-mushroom-products-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes?utm_source=r_listserv Also a couple of regional recalls: Broadwood Farm microgreens sold in Ontario, and Al Burj brand tahini and halwa in Alberta. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/certain-broadwood-farm-brand-microgreens-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=r_listserv https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/alburj-brand-tahina-and-halawa-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=r_listserv

For those of you who like to "sprout your own," the CFIA has recalled Mumm's brand broccoli seeds for home sprout-making, because of contamination with salmonella. Details on the link: https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/mumm-s-sprouting-seeds-brand-broccoli-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=r_listserv

No claims for originality, express or implied. It's something not seen elsewhere in Canada, though (as far as I've been able to discern in my travels) and can reasonably be described as a local specialty.

I can't think of anything that's especially local to my current home. Dulse is probably the leading contender, though of course it's eaten elsewhere (and the best is said to come from Dark Harbour on the island of Grand Manan, some distance up the coast from here). Local lobster and scallops are of the highest quality and are well appreciated on their merits, but are not at all unique. One local quirk, I guess, is that old-timers often reserve the neck from each autumn's deer to use in their Christmas mincemeat. Crosby's molasses is headquartered here, so molasses-based baked goods are common, but there's nothing I'd call unique. The Acadians here have their own traditions, such as "rappie pie." This is basically a savory stodge made from shredded potatoes, flavored with onion and chicken and chicken broth, and then baked in a pie crust. I suppose you could call the filling a local analogue of risotto or grits, but made with potatoes. It's...okay. One of those things that's maybe hard to appreciate unless you grow up with it. It's also not especially local to Saint John, because I'm in an Anglophone region and the Acadian parts of the province are (duh) Francophone. In my native Nova Scotia, a local favorite is called hodgepodge or (in some older recipes) "hotch-potch." It's not a sophisticated dish: basically you take your new baby potatoes and carrots, plus anything else your garden happens to be producing (beans, peas, greens, early cabbage) and boil it up together, then serve it in a bath of heated cream and melted butter. It's old-school farm food, designed to provide calories in bulk on non-meat days. The proud "invention" my hometown of Halifax prides itself on is the donair, a localization of the ubiquitous doner kebab. The Lebanese diaspora of the 70s saw many families arrive in Halifax, where they quickly gravitated to the restaurant industry. One such family switched the kebab meat from lamb to beef, came up with a sweet, garlicky milk-based sauce, and created the "Halifax-style donair" as we now know it. It has since spread across the country, as East-coasters traveled in search of work, and you can now find 'em all the way out to BC. For the fully authentic experience, of course, you still need to try one at Halifax's downtown "Pizza Corner" at about 2AM, as the bars are closing, with the sauce running down your arm as you try to get your mouth around the over-stuffed pita.

I have not used one personally, but looked into them several years ago when applying for a personal chef position with a wealthy client who had one. As stated upthread they're ghastly expensive. They can use electricity or gas, and IIRC have been fitted in the past to burn wood, coal or oil as well. They're always on, but are heavily insulated and pack a lot of thermal mass so they don't actually use a tremendous quantity of gas or electricity (maintaining heat is relatively efficient, compared to attaining a specific hit from a cold start). Some ovens/areas of stovetop are hotter, some are less so, and you pick the one that's appropriate for your current use. The catchphrase used by those who love them is "you don't set your temperature on an AGA, you find your temperature." If you've ever used an old-school wood-burning cookstove, I expect that would be a good reference point.

There was another update on the enoki mushrooms recall. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/jongilpoom-brand-enoki-mushroom-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes-3?utm_source=r_listserv

Some typos are more amusing than others...

We have a few catch-all threads in this forum, including the Food Photography topic and the Food History and Links topic. I often trip across interesting food science articles in the course of my normal daily routine, and others of us have posted them fairly often, so it occurred to me that a new catch-all thread for food science might be useful. To kick it off, here's a look at one study that examined the not-uncommon aversion some people (especially kids) have toward brassicas: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/11/hate-broccoli-and-cauliflower-your-microbiome-might-be-partially-to-blame/

This is not a recall notice as such, but explores the limitations of the recall system. I'm putting it here because of the direct connection to actual recalls, but mods may feel it merits its own topic and discussion thread. https://www.propublica.org/article/salmonella-chicken-usda-food-safety

Well, that's one way to encourage more consistent use I suppose. "A feature, not a bug"?

Putting this here, because traditional rail dining has been "history" on Amtrak for a few years now: https://www.eater.com/22736799/train-food-travel-dining-cars-amtrak

Thaw it in your refrigerator. That way it remains at a food-safe temperature while it thaws, and usually you can cut meats while they're still partially frozen. Wrap the unused portions and pop 'em back into your freezer immediately (the deep freeze if you have one) and you're good to go. Minimal risk, minimal loss of quality.

An update on the onion recall in Canada: https://inspection.canada.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2021-10-29/eng/1635556754131/1635556754775?utm_source=r_listserv And an update on that enoki mushroom recall from a little while ago: https://inspection.canada.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2021-10-28/eng/1635442062421/1635442068643?utm_source=r_listserv ...and, while it's not a recall as such, this one leapt out at me from a site I visit often: toxic luster dusts used on commercially-prepared cakes, to the detriment of the kids who ate them https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/toxic-frosting-children-poisoned-with-lead-copper-from-cake-decorations/

It has just about exactly the same footprint as my conventional pop-up four-slice toaster, so for me it's a wash. That being said, I don't content with NYC space constraints either. And I'm probably not as picky about my toast.

My mom has the identical model. No interesting features to speak of, but it makes perfectly decent toast and I've used it to bake/reheat a variety of small items.

An update to the onion recall adds yellow onions sold under the GoodFood brand name. https://inspection.canada.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2021-10-27/eng/1635378251955/1635378252408?utm_source=r_listserv

I've decided that one day I will make doughnut-shaped gnocchi, and serve them with toasted pine nuts. I will call them "Pine gnocchi-O's."

Sliced white mushrooms from the Carleton Mushroom Company are being recalled for listeria. The current recall is for Ontario and Quebec - they were sold through the Metro chain - but there's also a "possibly national" appended to this, which suggests to me that they may have been sold to other grocers as well. https://inspection.canada.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2021-10-25/eng/1635207961753/1635207968501?utm_source=r_listserv

Another perspective on the changeover, and a commentary on some (much) of the critics' response: https://www.aliciakennedy.news/p/on-fine-dining

This is more a farming thing than a gardening thing as such, but I thought some of you would find it interesting. I've seen reporting on other trials for a few years now, and it strikes me as a promising prospect. https://www.wired.com/story/growing-crops-under-solar-panels-now-theres-a-bright-idea/

Yes, the article was otherwise good and informative. That's why I posted it, but also what made the deliberate use of the "rotted fish" trope so jarring to my sensibilities. To me, it's like reading an otherwise lucid and well-written article about Indian food that begins with the assertion that curries were invented to - say it with me now, y'all - conceal the taste of half-spoiled meat. We all have our hot-button issues and pet peeves, and this is one of mine. Evidently it doesn't rankle in the same way for you, and that's fine. We all have our quirks, and as I recall you have one or two of your own. It only occurred to me in retrospect that my comments on the original post might make it seem that I'd posted the article solely for the purpose of dunking on it for that specific bit of tone-deafness. That's not the case, I had intended it as a minor quibble about an otherwise-solid bit of writing.