Smithy

Really, the gift article should be readable. However, here's a taste of what else he had to say, from the article:

That's a great writeup, gfweb. I hadn't bothered to read the article until you brought it up here. For those who don't subscribe to WaPo, this gift article should be unlocked. The article even quotes Calvin Trillin! I normally avoid the fast food joints, and have no love for Arby's, but I may have to try these now.

You mean the lettuce is wilted with a hot dressing? What else do you put into it? I like wilted spinach salads with bacon, slices of boiled egg and other goodies. If you don't mean this sort of wilted lettuce, then how do you plan to do it?

I see they ship! Now I just have to make room in the pantry. 🙂

I noted over here that my darling's daughter recently gave me a bunch of twice-baked potatoes, frozen and vacuum sealed. Tonight's dinner was one potato half, with her special cream cheese / potato filling, and some of last night's roasted vegetables. One half strip of bacon over the top added a nice bit of salty goodness. This has to be one of the easiest and most filling microwave dinners I've made in a long time!

My darling's daughter and her family live in western Minnesota, where the potato crops are being harvested. They discovered a farm that allows people to come dig their own potatoes after the harvester has gone through. I think she said the potatoes are free. They came home with gunnysacks full of freshly-dug potatoes, and sent me home with a 5-gallon bucket worth. In addition, she had already made, frozen and vacuum-sealed many batches of twice-baked potatoes. She packaged them in pairs for easy parceling out. She sent me home with a box of these, too! An interesting side note: at least in that area, the spuds are harvested for processing as potato chips (and possibly some other potatoey treats). The harvester is set to take only certain sizes of potato and leave the rest behind. The family said there were rows and rows of potatoes to be dug freely, but they only made it partway down one row before they had their gunnysacks filled. It's a bonanza for the folks who can come get the potatoes, but at the same time seems mind-bogglingly wasteful. I hope some food shelf folks in that area have helped collect some of the bounty.

I have no idea what that looks like! 😄

Okay, time for a bit of culinary levity again. Some treasures from the last of the local farmers and their markets have been languishing in my baskets or refrigerator drawers. Tonight I decided that they had to be dealt with: Asian eggplants; a red (ripe) bell pepper; a bunch of broccoli; a no-longer green tomato and another not-quite-ripe yellow tomato. I sliced them, tossed them with olive oil and salt, and let the oven do its magic. When I'd decided that it was done enough, I served it over reheated Rancho Gordo Domingo Rojo beans and added lemon vinaigrette and tahini. It tasted a lot better than it looks, but it's a dinner that will keep on inspiring good dinners.

Welcome, Arin! I look forward to learning more about traditional food from Bengal, as well as your modernist spins on it.

I haven't tried blanching the broccoli, but I agree that a bit of olive oil and then roasting is good. I do that with cauliflower and slices of ripe bell pepper too. I'll try blanching the broccoli first next time around. Thanks for the pointer.

That's an interesting distinction. The Hellman's I wrote about above came from a squeeze bottle rather than a jar. I'll have to look at the ingredient lists on both the jar and the bottle. Maybe there's a difference?

I may be speaking out of turn, since I'm not rotuts, but I took this to mean that (a) you'd have another opportunity to enjoy those fine restaurant chiles rellenos and (b) with a photo, we might collectively see the difference between the TJ's version and the restaurant version and come up with a better preparation of the TJ's product. If I'm mistaken, I hope @rotuts will clarify his meaning.

@Maison Rustique mentioned her fear that she sounded like a broken record in the Dinner topic. I'll second that, for myself, in the Lunch topic. But I'm going to go right ahead and celebrate this seasonal joy anyway. Rotisserie chicken, a delectable slice doled out from my final-of-the-season farmers' market tomato, pickle, lettuce, all on toasted sourdough bread. All that stack made it a bit of a Dagwood sandwich, and I had to eat it carefully as it dripped over my plate, but oh what a treat! I'll be sorry when that tomato is gone.

Bumping this up because over here (including many surrounding posts) we've been discussing Duke's vs. Hellman's. I tried them side-by-side today, since I was finishing one jar and opening one of the other type. First, let's look at the ingredient lists. Hellman's: Duke's: Comparable, but not quite the same. (Has Hellman's always included sugar without my realizing it?) They use different acids -- Duke's two types of vinegar vs. Hellman's lemon juice concentrate -- and Duke's uses only egg yolks. Hellman's lists water as the 2nd ingredient, not the 3rd as Duke's does. Before reading the ingredient lists, I tasted them side by side two ways: first, with a little dab in a spoon and second, with a dab on a piece of chicken. To me, the Duke's tasted...cleaner, for want of a better word. There was a hint of something "off" with the Hellman's, maybe verging on rancidity. The Hellman's was older, and that might account for the flavor. Or maybe it's really the ingredients. Would I notice the difference in a sandwich, if nobody told me? Probably not. Do I have a preference? At this point, I prefer Duke's but I'll take Hellman's if I need to. Okay, who's next? Give us your tasting notes! And it doesn't just have to be Duke's vs. Hellman's.

Another BLPT sandwich, this time with C added as well. Another precious slice of my last-of-the-year farmers' market tomatoes gone. Another 2 slices of my oven-baked bacon, gone. By the time the bacon had been heated adequately atop the dressed bread and the cheese, the cheese had melted more than I'd have preferred. That was all right, though: I just let it cool slightly to solidify, and then I could pick up the whole thing. Messy. Juicy. Delicious. Filling.