Smithy

I couldn't decide whether to laugh at your story or thank you for the compliment! Both, by way of this post!

Superburgers are supposed to be his thing to cook. It's easy and (supposedly) straightforward. Yet they've been consistently overcooked for the last several times. Last night he asked me to cook them. I used the camp stove. I flipped, monitored, adjusted the heat -- you know, all the things you should do instead of cooking by rote. Cook until done. They still aren't photogenic, not with his slapped between two pieces of plain toast and mine sitting next to the last splat of mayo out of the squeeze bottle. But they were juicy and flavorful - in fact, almost too hot. (The spicy heat must be carried in the juices that are usually cooked out of the meat.) They were definitely done right. I think I've been outfoxed. One more cooking job for me instead of him! Think I can break him of the rote-cooking habit?

That's what I'm getting from that article. I suspect the "bang for your buck" would change at some point, when the market saturates or demand drops. If the entire Valley switched to growing almonds (where they could be grown) then the picture would change. I'm surprised at how much lower the water footprint is for citrus than for nuts...and for olives, of all things!

I'll make sure to use maxima chulpa when I get around to using it.

I think that's what I tried, with the same result, but it's been too long to remember clearly.

Bacon finished, and broccoli salad complete. I've never tried adding cauliflower to the salad, but it seemed a logical way to expand the salad. It turned out to be very easy to find the Inca corn. There it is, right next to the star anise I'll need for my tea!

Thanks so much for that reference! I'm ready to go down another rabbit hole...as soon as I get tonight's broccoli salad made. I'm microwaving the bacon right now, grateful to have been taught that trick last season since it saves me from cooking in this heat. I'm glad we aren't low on paper towels...or bacon grease!

Are there any special tricks or considerations for making, then freezing, stuffed pasta? I'd like to make ravioli and have it at a later date.

I've always wondered where the "1 gallon of water per almond" claim originated. Do you know its source and veracity, Heidi? It seems awfully high - which is, of course, the point of the claim. Whether it's exaggerated or not, the water usage is a big deal. It's harder all the time to be a small farmer in the San Joaquin Valley, thanks to the large corporate interests. Thanks for the article link.

Or use that juice as a marinade for carne asada....

Yes! I'd forgotten all about that! Discussion and recipe(s) here: Johnnybird's Toast Dope.

It fascinates me to see how water is managed here. It's more like the irrigation I grew up with in the San Joaquin Valley than like what is done now. At least, citrus there is now irrigated by fine misters or sprinklers rather than running the water down furrows. It saves a lot of water. It may be different in nut groves. Here, the pecan groves get massive amounts of water. This went on all yesterday, and now the water is turned off again. The pecans are just beginning to leaf out. I wish I could find someone to ask about water supply, costs, and management systems. There must be a lot of evaporation loss. I'll admit, though, that the water flowing through the supply canals is cool and clear and great fun to wade in.

That's good advice. Another possibility is to use that juice for citrus-marinated roast chicken. It's a forgiving recipe, and I think you'd use up most of the clementines getting enough juice unless you can supplement it with other citrus varieties. And yes, by all means dry the peel, or freeze the zest! That dried peel is not only good in stews, it's also a nice addition to oatmeal.

Great story, not so great ending! With a gorgeous captain I'd have preferred the beach fire and cooking and...well, I like the occasional romance novel. I've only had conch once or twice, but I reallly liked it. I asked my darling again this morning what he thought of last night's dinner. This time he said, "It was okay. I didn't much like the chips with it." Surprise! So maybe saltines would be a better choice. I was all hot to trot to try it again tonight, with the jalapenos and mais chulpa. Then I remembered that I'd exhausted my supply of limes last night. It will have to wait.

I wish I'd thought of jalapeno! I have 2 in the refrigerator, and that would have given it a nice kick. In addition, I have some of that ginormous crunchy corn squirreled away - bought specially after I learned about it in a cooking class back home last fall. It's somewhere in this Princessmobile. Didn't think of either of those possibilities last night. I need to unearth that mais chulpa.

Dinner tonight: shrimp ceviche with corn chips. He though it tasty but unexciting. I thought it tasty AND exciting, espcially in light of the easy cleanup. Plating isn't shown because it's a chip-and-dip-and savor sort of snack dinner.

So far, I just like it with a touch of honey (or sugar) to take the edge off the tartness. I have some star anise. Need to explore!

It really was a good idea to make stock. Right after that last entry I propped up the overhead cabinet door and extracted the Instant Pot. Then I rooted through the freezer until I'd found all the bags of chicken bones and vegetable scraps. I even threw in a couple of asparagus stem ends, but am saving most of them. I doubt, with all the other things going into that broth, the asparagus would be discernible. The bag of bay leaves is from the last time we were on the Texas Gulf Coast, about 5 years ago. They keep well in the freezer, but eventually I'll have to buy some unless we can get back there. This won't be the spring to do it. It's already too darned hot in here: 87F inside and out. We may have to break down and turn on the A/C, but then it's noisy! (I know, this is a pretty small reason to whine. I'll stop.) I've been keeping cool and hydrated with iced hibiscus tea. The shrimp for tonight's ceviche are thawing. My darling will be pleased to see me use up some of the tomatoes I've been hoarding.

From The Art of Baking Bread: What You Really Need to Know to Make Great Bread by Matt Pellegrini, location 168 Disclaimer: I haven't actually cooked from this book yet. It's on sale in Kindle form for $1.99 (thanks to @Toliver for pointing to it here) and I bought it based on its clear writing style. He seems to cut to the chase as to the role of ingredients more clearly than I've been able to find in my extensive Kindle library. That probably just means that, as usual, I've expected to absorb knowledge by osmosis from the likes of Peter Reinhart and Ken Forkish, instead of working my way through their books!

It would definitely help the browning. It would probably change the flavor slightly. I don't know whether there would be other interactions - say, with the yeast - that you might or might not like. I also don't know how much! There's so much that I don't know about bread-baking. Two things I do know: (1) folks here already have the answers to your questions, and I hope they speak up soon. (2) I'm off to check some of my bread science books to see if I can get a definitive answer. (That's why I hope someone speaks up soon, to save me from having to get off my duff and do actual book-research. )

If your dough doesn't have any sugar or honey, as mine doesn't, it's difficult to get much browning without burning. That's my sole complaint about the unsweetened, lean* breads...but I've almost lost my taste for sweetened breads, except as a dessert. Even many commercial sandwich loaves are too sweet for me. *I'm not sure to what degree the addition of fat for enriched bread doughs plays into the browning question. It seems to me that any dairy is likely add sugars, which will enhance browning. The better bread bakers can weigh in on this question.

I am continually amazed at how well mushrooms that are about to go soft / off respond to roasting. Nice save, Anna.

Sur la Table has their semi-annual cookware sale going on now. Some good prices on All-Clad, ScanPan, Staub and other heavy hitters. They're saying "Up to 55% off!"

Bang-Bang Shrimp is a new one on me. I found this recipe in, unfortunately, an ad-riddled website. Does it look more or less like what you did? I have the ingredients!

I feel your pain with regard to the slop and wet and the long, long winter. When we get home, assuming we get home on schedule (on or around May 1) there will probably still be snow in the shady areas of our lawn, and we'll have to get used to mud again. I can (and do) kvetch about being too hot -- I HATE being hot -- but here we only have to worry about dirt getting tracked in, not mud. Mornings are the best time for me to plan meals and get out any equipment that needs to be gotten out. It's cool, I'm cool, I'm full of energy and enthusiasm. So now is the time for me to dig out that Instant Pot, if I'm going to. Right now I'm leaning toward ceviche for dinner, and can't think of any uses for appliances to be fished out of their hidey-holes. Hmm...I'm getting low on chicken stock. Maybe I just thought of a reason.