Smithy

I received the shocking news last night that David Ross, our beloved host who has been running the eG Cook-offs for quite some time, passed away last Wednesday, Sept. 15. It must have been sudden: he was here Monday, encouraging @Shelby in the latest episode of her Hunting Time blog. David was a skilled food stylist and inventive recipe developer. I always enjoyed his posts. Better still, he was one of the nicest people I've ever met on the internet. If he had a snarky bone in his body, he never let it get near the keyboard. I wish I'd known him in person, but my food life is richer because of him. His obituary page is here.

Welcome, PadreANT! This is a good time and place to tell more about yourself, if you wish. What sort of food do you like to cook and eat? Is your current full-time gig related to food? What did you have for dinner last night, or breakfast this morning? C'mon in, take a look around, and join the fun! You've already started with your questions, and that's good. If you have any questions about how to use the forums or where to post, feel free to ask a host.

In addition to @CentralMA's answer above, I'll note that the unglazed clay pots produce more intensely flavored sauces because of that porosity. Somewhere around here is a protracted conversation about unglazed vs. glazed. It began in the Truth About Braising lab discussions and went on in the cooking forums, thanks to Paula Wolfert's suggestions. I'll post links when I find them again.

I doubt soaking would hurt OR help the fully glazed cazuela. As you note, there isn't much porous area to allow the water to enter. As Heidi notes, it shouldn't do any harm. My unglazed pots and tagines were all soaked before curing or first use. It was instructive to see how much air they contained in their interstices. My glazed casserole dishes have never been soaked, except for cleaning after use if necessary. Nothing has ever cracked.

Some friends bought a CSA share earlier this summer and have been confronted with far too many vegetables that one of them won't eat. "Sure!" I said, "I'll take some of that off your hands!" Then *I* had to work out what to do with a summer squash the size of a bowling pin and a generous bunch of kale, neither of which my DH cares for. Gratin to the rescue! Two ears of corn-on-the-cob not worthy of the name, a bunch of baby potatoes I'd bought for another purpose, onions, garlic, curry powder and dill, and generous quantities of cheese and cream pulled it together. Baked until the potatoes were done, the liquid had been mostly absorbed, and the top was beginning to brown. The fish with dinner was also a success - the first true success I've had with fish lately - but the gratin was the real winner, both in terms of flavor and for satisfactorily solving a problem. With this treatment, he'd even opt for more summer squash and kale!

Berry server... ...or... Ice cream / frozen non-dairy dessert scoop.

I tried baking my first (and only) carrot cake from a cookbook put together by respected, published bakers. The recipe never said when to add the shredded carrot! I must have guessed correctly because it came out all right, but it was still startling. Never heard back from that publisher, either.

*bump* I made a wonderful peach pie for a dinner last night, tweaked from Sam Sifton's Perfect Peach Pie recipe in the New York Times. (Here's the link for NYT subscribers. Sorry, it's behind a paywall.) It's been YEARS since I made a fruit pie like that. We and our dinner guests were delighted with the results. I posted a picture of it in the Bake a cake (or whatever) for Gully 20th anniversary topic, but here it is again for visual interest and bragging rights: The peach season is painfully short, and I'd like to do this again later in the year. I've bought a lug of peaches from Palisade, Colorado and want to save some for a pie or two. This pie filling is simple: peeled and sliced peaches; sugar; lemon juice and flour. I like @snowangel's tip, posted uptopic: freeze filling in a pie tin, then bag it when frozen, and store in the freezer until ready to make the pastry and bake the tart. Trouble is, with these peaches I'd have to go the extra step of draining the macerated fruit and cooking down the juices before adding them back in. I'd rather not do that step until I'm ready to bake. I'm inclined to make the pie filling exactly as I did last night, then freeze in storage bags. I'll have to drain and cook down the juices later, but it will be at baking time. My question is whether or how the freezing will change the filling. I know freezing will break down the fruit cells, but so does baking. Will the advance freezing hurt the final result?

Happy 20th birthday, Gully! I've learned a ton and made good friends in my 18.3 years here. Fresh peach pie and homemade vanilla ice cream with some wild raspberries stirred in. Served on a plate that's older than me and Gully combined.

More about canning the salmon, please. I probably won't get to it, but I'd like to know more in case I want to try it. I also wonder about potting the salmon. I like potted shrimp, why not potted salmon? That could be done without the high pressure I suspect canning the salmon would require.

I've been having problems with overcooking the salmon also. My husband thinks salmon is always dry(!) anyway, and my efforts have done nothing to change his mind. So far I've tried frying it - not my favorite, but his favorite treatment for fish - and baking it with a pecan crust. I'll try @heidih's method next time, or else try poaching the salmon in olive oil or butter.

I heard a bit more today. Those who wish to know how to honor @IowaDee's memory will find the information in her obituary. Dee's Obit.pdf The "In Memoriam" page showing her as a little girl still has nothing to open, it seems, but it is so touching that I'm including it again. Time passes too quickly, folks. Treasure it, and cherish your friends and family.

I'd like to know that answer to that too. A quick online search turns up "Pie floater" as an Aussie dish: meat pie, turned upside down atop something like pea stew or mashed peas. I'd like to know more about it from @Captain's perspective.

One reason I used the call-out in my opening post was to draw his attention to the topic as he has time. When he sends me more information, I'll certainly send him a link and summary. He indicated that he's been quite busy corresponding with her various friends - including from the birding world - so I don't want to overload him. I am very grateful that he let me know and is allowing me to pass along the information.

It's just the cover so far. I assume it's the cover for her memorial service, and that the interior hasn't been set yet.

It is with a very heavy heart that I'm announcing this. Member @IowaDee passed away last Sunday, July 18. I noticed that she had been offline for a few weeks, and wrote to see how she was doing. Her husband Frank answered me today with the news and the attached Word document. For those who can't or don't want to open it, I've attached a screen shot. It may be blurry, but it conveys the charm. More information will be coming later. I don't know why she died. Frank said I should also add that of their 61+ years of marriage they were only apart 2 weeks. They were truly, in his words, joined at the hip. Dee is one of many eG friends I've made online but never met in person. I'll miss her voice and good humor, and I'll miss the possibility of one day being able to rendezvous in Iowa. Big Bear IowaDee.docx

You just reminded me of one of our occasional dinners! It was invented when my husband was working in the Eastern Egyptian desert. After a very long work day, the driver (who was also the cook) would sometimes simply boil potatoes, then chunk and mix them with chunks of hard-boiled eggs and feta cheese. Generous quantities of fresh cumin set it off nicely. It was perhaps a social protest on the cook's part, but we liked it - and sometimes now make it for ourselves. Because of its provenance, we call it Bedouin Fatigue Potato Salad.

@liamsaunt, you are making me regret every single choice I've made for our dinners and lunches for the week! That food looks wonderful...inspiring....delicious. I'll have to consult this topic before making my next set of plans.

That raises a general question: whether to cut the potatoes before or after cooking. Most instructions that I read say to boil the potatoes, then allow them to cool, then slice or dice them as desired. A recent cookbook or two has said to dice them first, then cook them. It seems to me that the latter method would allow all the chunks to cook more evenly and quickly. I probably picked this idea up in a pressure cooking cookbook. What say you all? Boil the potatoes, then slice/dice? Or cut them into chunks first, then cook? If the latter, what's your preferred cooking method?

I sit humbly corrected, and apologize for posting misinformation. I wondered, as I was posting, why lobster roe would be such a different color than shrimp or fish roe. I should have checked my recollection. 🙂 Thank you all!

I know the "green gunk" in lobsters, their roe, is tasty. I don't know about eating any of it raw and I forgot to ask during my chat this morning. I included it in the pasta dish and it may have added something, but can't say with any certainty.

I couldn't find them on the web site, but I'm chatting with a rep and have just added the prawns to my order. Thanks, Kenneth!

Tonight I cooked the Spotted Prawns included with my first Wild Alaskan order. First, I had to prep them. They came with shells and tails, but no head. I allowed them to thaw in the sink - that is, I moved them from the counter into the sink when I realized the bags were oozing red liquid. First thoughts: I will never again confuse prawns with shrimp. These were HUGE and the shape is different: fatter body for the length of the animal, at least until it was out of its shell. See the left-hand picture below. Note also the considerably larger appendages. Second: of the roughly dozen prawns that I cleaned, only 3 did not have roe. I wonder whether it's normal to have so many females in a haul? Does their presence mean that the harvest came too soon? I don't know whether female prawns always carry roe. Third: the roe was essentially on the outside (underside) of the exoskeleton. I tried getting at it from the inside, after removing the flesh. It was protected from the inside by a fairly clear but tough membrane. On the outside, it seemed to be protected mostly by those appendages with which the creature swims. I persevered, and then used them in a dish called "Confetti Shrimp" from the delightful 1994 cookbook, Feast of Eden: Recipes from California's Garden Paradise (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). Hey, it's a Junior League (of Monterey County) cookbook. Of course it's good. The recipe was delicious and the prawns delectable. In my experience, packaged frozen shrimp often have, well, a fishy or shrimpy smell. These didn't. The meat tasted and smelled delicate and fresh, and the texture was perfect. I've posted more about the dish itself in the Dinner topic, but wanted to report back here on the prawns. I wonder if they have any more?

Confetti Shrimp, using Spotted Prawns from Wild Alaskan Seafood (more information here). The recipe comes from a Junior League cookbook, Feast of Eden: Recipes from California's Garden Paradise (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). The ingredients are shrimp (in this case, prawns - roe and all), a bit of white wine, butter, garlic, chopped basil, sun-dried tomato, and cheese. Bake at 350 until the prawns are pink, then stir to mix the melted cheese into everything else. I served it over rice, as suggested, but a good bread to soak up the juices would have done as well.