Smithy

@rotuts, I'm sorry but I'm not tracking your point #2. I realize I'm not @gfweb (nor do I object to Twang) but I'm curious what you're getting at here. Please explain?

I don't notice this difference with freshly opened jars, though I haven't tried comparing freshly opened jars side by side. What I have noticed, and it probably goes to the same point, is that Duke's sets up if I keep the jar past its recommended date. I know this from having stocked up on it once, some years back. When I got around to opening the final jar, perhaps a year (but not two) old), the contents hadn't dried out but had jelled or congealed in a way that it had surface cracks. Most peculiar. I couldn't taste the difference, but texture was different. I've never seen a jar of Hellman's do that, but I don't think I've ever opened a jar of Hellman's that I'd kept around that long.

I like it. I've been able to find it in Duluth from time to time at a reduced price also, but I notice that all the mayonnaise brands seem to be going up. I think Duke's and Hellman's are comparable flavors. i'll be interested to see what you think!

I think you might want this topic?

Did you make the varza murata salad? Can you say what goes into it that makes it different from German sauerkraut?

Blue corn masa?

Is that a layer of fat at the top? Did you have / use more fat than usual for this - for instance, more skin? If so, I'd be inclined to skim off the fat layer, keep it separate for flavor experiments (it might make fine schmaltz) and then save the lower layer in cubes as usual. If not, well, I'd still do a taste test for both layers before remixing.

Thanks for the compliment! I feel your pain...all that work and your fine gardening, and then having it be wiped out by the storms! I'm glad the nearby Amish community has tomatoes for you.

I got my last major haul of tomatoes and eggplants last weekend from my neighboring farmer. Today I faced facts: I wasn't going to get through all those tomatoes or eggplants before they went off. Time to get going on preservation. It just about killed me, though: those beautiful slicer tomatoes! I had too many, and I have some green ones as well waiting for me to fry them, so I had to slice them, roast them, and save them for later. (I kept out two fine-looking slicers, seen in the photo above, for the last-gasp-of-summer sandwiches: BLPT, or simply tomato and cheese. Believe me, I've been eating a lot of those!) The sliced tomatoes got the same treatment I wrote about here: scattered salt, a bit of white pepper, finely sliced shallot, and EVOO, then roasted at around 425 - 450F until a lot of the juices had been cooked out. It will all go into a container and placed in the freezer. It's cooling now. I may not have cooked the slices as much as in past attempts, but I want to see what happens if the slices aren't dried quite so thoroughly. I also bought 3 generous pints of cherry tomatoes from her, and today realized that I can't use them all before they go off. I saved some -- they're wonderful for snacks -- and roasted the rest more or less per @ElainaA's recipe for Slow-Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce. Finally, most of the Asian eggplants I bought from the same farmer became Preserved Eggplant per a recipe from Joshua McFadden's Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). For more discussion about this recipe, see here.

I decided to try some of my precious remaining Asian eggplants in his recipe for Preserved Eggplant. It's an easy recipe: peel the eggplant to the degree you can be bothered; slice; toss with salt; allow to drain; press to drain more; press to drain even more. (His steps are more elaborate, but this is the gist.) Eventually, blot the eggplant and toss with red wine vinegar, then load all into sterilized jars with smashed garlic, enough olive oil to cover, and a sprig of rosemary if you have it. Cap. Stick in the refrigerator. Wait at least a week to try it, but use it all within a month. I worry a little bit about having raw garlic in that anaerobic environment. Sure, there's vinegar. Sure, the garlic was peeled shortly before loading into the jar. Still. Is botulism likely under these circumstances and timelines? I remember having the same misgivings about a recipe from @FoodMan for Stuffed Chiles in Oil. I made the recipe, kept the chiles around, ate some, and eventually threw them away because I was afraid of poisoning myself or my darling. Nobody got sick, and I had been assured that it wouldn't happen, but my internal Food Police took away all the fun.

@blue_dolphin, my first thought was that you were so painstaking as to coil all those bits of pasta. It appears, from the TJ's website, that black pepper barilotti pasta comes coiled as in the photo. (Whew!) How was the texture? I can imagine something that thick becoming gummy.

I rarely buy frozen vegetables, but spinach is one I buy occasionally. I've never bought these brands, but I have to wonder whether Green Giant or Pict Sweet are necessarily safer.

The hits just keep on coming. Sno-Pack Organic Frozen Spinach and Del Mar Organic Frozen Chopped Spinach are both being recalled for Listeria contamination. Both products have been dsitributed nationwide in the United States. For details, see this article.

Can you elaborate on this, please? I see from the Red Boat web site that 40 degrees indicates the quantity of Nitrogen, which they say correlates to umami flavor. However, "degree" is not usually a quantity measurement in my book, except for angular measurements including latitude and longitude. When I search on "degrees of Nitrogen" I get information about freezing and boiling points, which isn't helpful in this case.

Last night's dinner was a chicken and cauliflower delight, based on this Melissa Clark recipe: Cauliflower Shawarma with Spicy Tahini. The spices are a blend of cumin, paprika, turmeric, coriander, salt and pepper, whisked into olive oil. Cut up cauliflower and red onion, toss them all with the spice mix. In my case I did the same with 4 chicken thighs. Roast all on a sheet pan at around 425F until done. Meanwhile, mix up some spicy tahini sauce, and cut up cucumbers and tomatoes for garnish. If I'd had any cilantro I'd have added that, but I'm out. Delicious. I said over here in the chicken topic that I'd be doing this soon. I'm glad I did it last night.