Smithy

You're saying this was all gluten-free? Even the biscuits? And they were worthy? If so, wow! What a great find!

@Kim Shook, my best friend was about to despair of her IP for similar reasons. The thing just didn't seem to come up to proper temperature, considering how quickly it came up and how uncooked everything was. (It had been reliable before, as yours has until recently.) She took it apart and cleaned every nook cranny, valve and gasket, using Q-tips where necessary. She discovered that the PLUG wasn't fitting securely into the body of the machine. When she cleaned out the recesses where the plug prongs snap in, the IP went back to working normally! I was surprised at this result, since it seems like the IP would either be getting juice or it wouldn't - but that's what she found. I suggest giving it a try.

Makes me think you should grow your own. How difficult can it be? (No, I don't do it.)

I too would like to know. There's discussion about that in the eG Cookoff #31: Paella, but the Spanish-speaking friend may have a different, or more nuanced, idea.

I wish I had photographic documentation of my salmon success last night using the CSO, but I don't. Still, it's worth description. I had a fairly thick salmon fillet - not quite 2" thick at its thickest, and maybe 5" wide. I mixed a garlic/ginger/soy/avocado oil sauce and drizzled the salmon with it, then cooked it on Steam Bake, 350F, for something under 20 minutes. The timing is approximate because I pulled the salmon before the time ran out, based on appearance and internal temperature. I may have basted the fillet with more sauce partway through the cooking time. I love salmon. I think almost any salmon tastes good, provided the fish is fresh and has not been reduced to cinders. My Other Half is of a different opinion: if he never has salmon again in his life, he won't mind. ("Tough," I said yesterday at the meat market, "this is brain food." That was my story, and I stuck to it.) Even with his anti-salmon bias, he thought it was pretty good. Better than most salmon. Not dry, for once. Me, I thought it fabulous. For once I hadn't dried it out by overcooking it. There was no white protein oozing from the fibers; the flesh was tender and moist, almost gelatinous. The garlic/ginger/soy/oil dressing was a nice compliment both to the fish and the side of steamed fresh green beans. I'll do this again in the CSO. And I'll take pictures next time.

That's still a pretty good size. Since I've never done this before, I'm curious about the appropriate ratio of salt to leaf. Does that 1-liter jar contain, say, 3/4 liter of salt? More? Less? A photo or two would be helpful, when you have time. I started out by laying sage leaves flat over a layer of salt, then covering with salt and repeating the process. I quickly realized that there's be far more salt than sage in the mix, so I started over. Now the leaves are touching; some are curled; they've all been shaken and aren't in neat layers, but the leaves all seem to have salt contact. I think it will all be delicious.

How big is that jar, Jo?

This is the sage I put into salt this morning. It's about 2 cups of salt and sage combined, and I can't see taking up more real estate that way although I think it will be delicious. (Maybe I'll do a second batch.) ...and this is what I have still to pick and preserve or use. There's another pot, with a different variety of sage, at the other side of the house. Thanks for the column links, @heidih!

I scored another smallish batch of tomatoes, including some Romas, and made another batch of salsa one night. One of the advantages of doing this alone was that I got to do it on my own time scale, which is to say I decided along about 9 p.m. to make the salsa that night. The cooking went into the wee hours of the morning - oh, remembrance of happy times past! - and I canned it the next day, out on our deck. Behold, my Midnight Salsa. One jar didn't seal, I think because I overfilled it. It's in the refrigerator now, soon to be used. Next up: harvesting and saving a bunch of my sage and rosemary. I see I considered salt-preserved sage way back in 2005, but have no recollection of doing so! @JoNorvelleWalker referred to her salt-preserved sage here in 2018. So I've cut and rinsed a bunch of sage leaves for that purpose; as soon as they've finished drying in dish towels I'll layer them with canning salt. I don't know that I want to do that with an entire bush' worth, though. What other strategies are there for preserving sage through the winter? Whirr it up finely and mix into butter or olive oil? I know I'll want pasta with sage brown butter this winter, but am not sure that can be done with anything but fresh sage.

It's years since I prepped or cooked artichokes, but this is more or less the way I used to do it. I never thought about using a water stream from the faucet to spread the petals apart, though. That sounds like it would be helpful. Hollandaise sauce is my preferred accompaniment.

Medieval Arabic Cookbooks: Reviving the taste of history

Yes, I have a lot more Taylor and Ng mugs tucked away: the rabbits, the elephants, I think some giraffes. It's funny how many people have used those mugs without realizing what was going on! Then there's the French series like yours on the left. I think I have that rabbit; I may have Le Chien. I suppose it's silly to keep more than my cupboards will readily hold, but I still fantasize about large gatherings at the house such as we used to have.

I love the Raven Lunatic pun! For a similar reason, one of my favorite mugs is this Taylor and Ng classic. For the most part, my coffee mugs are commemorations. (Mind you, I have beautiful china cups. They should probably find another home.) There are the family heirlooms, so to speak: one celebrating our love of aviation, and another celebrating my grandfather's work and my father's upbringing in the California oil fields. This was designed by Dad's cousin, and when my parents passed away my sister and I each got one of the pair. Then there's one of the annual fundraising mugs for becoming a Friend of the Duluth Library. I particularly love the size, heft and balance of this one. Finally, for this show-and-tell, I'll show off the mug brought back from the Kennedy Space Center, when a dear friend (flight instructor extraordinaire, about to turn 100 years old) went to see the launch of one of her students-turned-astronauts. Nothing worth money, except possibly the Taylor and Ng (prices were crazy a decade ago on eBay) but I love the memories they trigger when I use them.

Our family's annual salsa-making weekend went off with only small hitches. First was the difficulty of rounding up enough canning lids; we usually go buy them along with more jars to ensure that we have enough. There have been no lids to be found anywhere around here for a month. By the time we realized the shortage, even Amazon couldn't come through in time. We were able to round up enough unused lids from previous years to know we could fill several dozen jars. Then came the tomato shortage! I had purchased some beauties (beefsteaks, not canners) at a roadside place on the way, and it's a good thing I did. Our usual place ran very short, and we got the last of their stock for the year. Peppers and onions were readily abundant. We ended up with 30 pints of salsa to be split 3 ways: not the largesse we'd hoped for, but still a good way to enjoy last summer in the coming winter. Assuming we'll be able to plan anything next year, we think we'll plan to move next year's canning weekend into August, rather than wait for Labor Day.

A cautionary note: my father, who made his living as a citrus grower, always admonished us kids against either method. Twisting or breaking the stems leaves the tree open to disease in a way that a clean cut can't. He asserted that the clipper was the best way to preserve the health of the tree, even if it's the clipper-on-a-pole so useful for tall trees like avocados.

Hello, Farzaneh / daminadorani! What sorts of things do you like to cook and eat? Do you cook at home, or let others cook for you?

Nice writeup, @blue_dolphin. I feel inspired when I read the descriptions. I'll have to go look for some of these the next time I hit a wine shop. I got away from rosés years ago because I tend to associate them with sweet wines, but of course we know they aren't necessarily. I still remember my sense of sophistication when, in college, I graduated from Mateus to Lancer's. Oh my, how grown up we felt! Over the years I've tried the occasional blush wine and they can be nice, but I haven't really explored them.

I'm bumping your question up to see if anyone has an answer, or whether you already tried it and if so how you liked it. My other question would be whether 190F for a few hours is enough to kill botulism in that anoxic environment. I don't know. Somebody here knows, perhaps you already do?

@liamsaunt, more about the zucchini, please. I have one bigger than my forearm that I haven't managed to give away...need to do something with it. Your approach looks a bit simpler than zuc fritters.

I had never heard of Octoberfest Pie until now, and I too have been interested in the turned-over pie presentation. It makes sense if one isn't going to eat the pie directly from the baking tin, but I'd never seen it until this topic. Incidentally, I loved the sound of the curried pie a few posts ago. If I ever get around to trying my hand at pot pies again, I'm going that way.

When you do this, do you individually oil the phyllo leaves? I made a phyllo "pizza" last night with roasted summer vegetables, and the hardest part to me was the peeling the leaves apart and brushing each with an egg/oil/water mixutre. Maybe I'm too impatient. If there's an easier way, please let me know.

That's a delightful post! I'm with Heidi and Kay - love looking at people's pottery and glassware. I have a large salad bowl and some tumblers that match your wine pitcher/decanter. The meals all look delicious, too. The term "pork scotch" threw me for a loop. It looks like what we Yanks would call medallions. Is that right? Are they cut from the loin?

I picked up a bottle of Gateway Vinho Verde in honor of this topic. There was a time when I drank Vinho Verde often; then I kinda forgot about it. I'm glad I tried a bottle again. Things I learned tonight: Vinho Verde refers to the region in Portugal that is the source of the wine; it is not a varietal or particular blend. Think Bordeaux in France, or Rioja in the Basque region. I have only ever had white Vinho Verde, and until tonight didn't know that other varietals are grown there. (See this article for more information.) I can't speak to the reds or blushes. As for this white, which is much like the white Vinho Verdes I've had in the past: it has a bit of carbonated sparkle; the alcohol content is low for wine (this bottle is 9.5% ABV); the flavor is light and semi-sweet (or off-dry?) with citrusy notes but it is not what I would call fruit-forward. It's very refreshing for a summer evening. I think it would be interesting to try side-by-side with one of the fruitier Sauvignon Blancs. That said, I'm not sure what I would pair it with for food. The roasted red pepper hummus on crackers didn't clash terribly, but I don't think the food or wine did each other favors. Then came dinner.... ...and no, Vinho Verde (white) and chili are not a good match. Not that I expected them to be, but I had to try.

@weinoo, as much as I admire the idea of the Frog Hollow Farm produce, I've been unwilling to spend the money for them. Please let us know what you think of these.

Get going on those Asian dishes you wanted to cook....