Smithy

After months -- maybe a year or more? -- of not making hummus or tabbouli due to a mental burnout, I got back to it yesterday and today. The impetus for the hummus was a half-can of cooked chickpeas sitting in the refrigerator. I hadn't frozen them and was afraid that they'd start going off as had a bunch of other stuff in the refrigerator. I was too lazy to dig out a food processor or blender, so tried mashing them by hand. With a fork. And then stirring in tahini, water, and lemon juice with some salt until I thought I had it about right. I am AMAZED at how much those little devils swelled up; what began as a cup or less of cooked chickpeas became more than a pint of hummus. And no, it isn't as smooth as if I'd used a food processor, but it's just fine. The tabbouli -- well, I confess to having bought several bunches of parsley and cilantro and keeping it too long. This time, I used it before it could go off. The mint came from my garden. I could thin that hummus even more, but I'm pretty happy with it as it is. And I'm happy scooping it all with Tostitos Scoops. It's late afternoon. This may be dinner as well as lunch.

I will never again forget the smell of rotting potatoes.* I've spent the last week looking around and sniffing and trying to work out the source and location of that foul odor. WHAT had the dog or cat brought in? Where was it hiding? Just now I finally recognized the stench, found the culprits and put them outside. On the plus side: a lot of the surrounding household is now washed or scrubbed. *(Alas, I have smelled this before, so "never again" may not apply here.)

@liuzhou (or @KennethT) that roast goose skin looks lacquered and yet collapsed, as though the interior meat had disappeared after the skin was lacquered. You both have experience with that style of goose cookery and seem to like it. Can you describe it in more detail?

Well. It's only taken me about 6 years since I first bought this book to try a recipe from it, but today was the day after yesterday's farmers' market score. I cooked the Rainbow Chard with Garlic and Jalapenos, although the chile I used was a red thing whose name I can't remember. My result looks nothing like what they show, because of the way I sliced things and because I served it over rice instead of over crusty bread, but the dish is delicious! It's an easy dish to cook: it takes as much time to chop and slice everything as it does to actually cook it. The recipe says that the dish is best if allowed to sit a couple of hours for the flavors to meld, but I was too impatient. I'm glad I only used one of the chiles I bought yesterday; this has just the right amount of heat for me. Right after I mixed the rice and vegetables and took a taste, I realized it needed crunch to suit me. I added slivered almonds. The recipe is a keeper. It's easy for me to forget about Kindle cookbooks because I can't trip over them, but I'll keep this one out and available for a while.

I hadn't visited the local farmers' market this summer until yesterday; its location isn't convenient for me. Yesterday, I decided to detour that way in hopes of scoring tomatoes. It's been unseasonably warm this year, and my visit paid off...in spades. I found the tomatoes I wanted. While I was at it, I picked up rainbow chard, Asian eggplants, 2 types of garlic, and some chiles that were thrown in for good measure. I've forgotten the chile variety, but my friend said they're on the hot side...not Scotch Bonnet or Ghost Pepper level, but assertive. The garlic varieties are Chesnok Red (upper right) and German Extra Hardy. While I was there, I established that the market will be open for the rest of the month. A new (to me) vendor offers beef and chicken. I didn't buy any yesterday -- really, I'm out of freezer space! -- but will probably buy a couple of chickens later this month. As @blue_dolphin has noted elsewhere, the farmers deserve our support when we can afford to support them. I didn't ask what variety of chickens they raise.

This tasted much better than the picture implies. I'm posting the photo anyway, to celebrate a winning Trader Joe's product I wrote about here. I had leftover beef birria and rice pilaf from a dinner a few nights ago. I'd been to the farmers' market earlier in the day and come home with rainbow chard, so I chopped one leaf (stem and all) and added it to the food. Microwaved the whole thing until I was warm and the chard slightly wilted, gave it a small drizzle of olive oil, then sat down to dinner. Easy. Delicious. I will definitely buy more of that beef birria next time I'm at Trader Joe's!

@Shelby, I'm so pleased to see any sort of an update here, and I'm amazed at your energy in decorating the house! It's good to see you recovering, at least somewhat. Thanks for the update. Would you please explain (no doubt again) what "Dale's" is that you used to marinate the doves? Also, I love devilled eggs too but am generally too lazy to make them. What do you use for the filling?

I second what @FrogPrincesse says! (Except maybe about the serving size; see the final paragraph.) I cooked the beef birria last night and shared it with a friend. This one's a keeper, something I'll buy whenever I get the chance. It had a bit of spice but wasn't too hot; the tomato and beef played well together. As a reminder, here's the package: Here it is, heating in the pot and showing those generous chunks of beef: I tried to heat both corn and flour tortillas, with severaly limited success. (Really, I should have used the microwave. i tried to do it on the stovetop, and burned at least half of the flour tortillas.) My friend used a tortilla as a food pusher, but tacos were right out of the question. That's all right. I'd also cooked rice and we both enjoyed the birria poured over that. Photo taken before garnishing with sour cream and chopped green onions. We also had the last of my pork and red sauce tamales, and the first of the chicken and green chile tamales. (Those packages can be seen here.) We both thought that the chicken and green chile tamales were good but didn't measure up to the other two dishes. Between the pork tamale and beef birria it was a toss-up: each of us preferred one over the other, but we liked them both. I still have more birria and rice, even after feeding two people, so I'm inclined to think that it's a valid 2-serving package. On the other hand, it was served over rice, with those tamales, and a salad that doesn't appear in these photos! So I'm not in a good position to gauge serving size. I do know that of my original TJ's haul from August I have 3 winners so far, for me to stock up when the chance arises: this beef birria, the pork and red sauce tamales, and the chiles rellenos that lured me in at the outset.

Yes, it's part of a recall. The issue is the pasta that's used here, and other manufacturers' products with the same pasta are also affected.

@rotuts referred to this in the Trader Joe's topic, but the pasta in question isn't restricted to TJ's Cajun Chicken Alfredo. Read the recall, based on the past, here: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/fsis-issues-public-health-alert-ready-eat-meals-containing-pasta-may-be-contaminated

I wish we had a "wow!" sort of emoji, but we don't. That giant mooncake you describe sounds like some of the attempts at the "world's largest" pancake, omelette, or whatever record-setter we see posted on this side of the pond periodically. (Sorry, I'm too lazy to go look for links to the latest.) The mooncakes often have enticing outer shells. I think their patterns are beautiful! But the ones that look the most tempting are those with a lot of nuts inside, as in your most recent photos. Not that I'm likely to have a chance to taste any of them soon. Thanks for this topic.

As predicted here, I acquired and roasted more heirloom tomatoes for my current-favorite Tomato-Cheddar Cheese pie. I roasted the tomato slices (scattered with thinly-sliced shallots, salt and pepper; then drizzled with olive oil) until they'd thrown off most of their liquid. This morning's viewing: The lot has been loaded into a freezer container, and I think it will make a lovely winter pie. Of course, I say that and then forget about it all until the next year, or the year after. 🫠

Two I've already baked atop a pilaf. Altogether disappointing: edible, but the pesto I threw into the rice mixture wasn't noticeable. More to the point, the chicken skin was flabby! (I've gotten spoiled by the really crisp fried chicken that a couple of our stores do, that are my special treats.) I think that may have been poor temperature management on my part, though. I'm sure I've managed in the past to cook chicken atop an oven pilaf, removing the lid at the appropriate time so the chicken skin gets crisp. With that in mind, I'll probably grill the next batch after marinating for a while. i haven't done anything about it, but grilled chicken is a wonderful thing and I have plenty of fixings for accompaniments like tzadziki or tabbouli. Beyond that, I dunno. I'll have to start with a general flavor direction (Greek? Italian? Mexican? Egyptian? etc.) and go from there. The possibilities with chicken are immense. And of course I'll have to remember to remove them in time to thaw! What would you suggest? Edited to add: now that I think of it, I'll definitely use some of it for my version of Chicken and Cauliflower Shawarma, in which I cleverly added chicken thighs to the recipe. It's a sheet-pan roasting process that produces good, crisp chicken along with good, spicy/crisp cauliflower and onions.

Have you had a chance to try that pan yet? Is it more or less this one from Williams-Sonoma? If so, it looks like a good one...similar in size and shape of my "workhorse" pan that I described above. I found a better photo of it: Again, it was a garage sale special but I really like its size, shape, performance and heft.

I applaud @blue_dolphin and other folks who (a) have access to farmers' market chicken and (b) are willing to pay the fair prices. I don't have access to farmers' market chicken, that I know of, but I do love chicken. Imagine my surprise then I spotted this the other day: Whotta price! I bought 2 packages. I've parted them out and frozen them in packages of 2 and 4. I'll try to do them justice.