Smithy

I didn't know that either, and I'm still puzzled as to how you do it. More information, please?

Did you make the cookies, @Kim Shook, or use the Pepperidge Farm version? I never realized, until your great photo above, why those are called chess cookies.

I'd do that if I were interested in investing "a ton of money" (she isn't, yet) and if I had a place to put it. Running out of space in the overflow pantries, and not ready yet to give up the guest room!

We might need to see some specs on the circulator before being able to answer. Is it this one? If so, then its 1200 watts sounds like a pretty good deal, but you can get it for $49.99 on Amazon and that's a better price. If it's another one then you might be better served spending an extra $30 for the Anova Nano which is only 750 watts but isn't restricted by the built-in clamp of the NutriChef. (@Shelby has a Gourmia? iGourmia? circulator, I think, with such a clamp. Maybe she can say whether it's a nuisance.) That vacuum sealer price is a good one if the unit works, but I must say that I don't use my vacuum sealer much for sous vide. As often as not I use Ziplock-style bags that I can seal, wash thoroughly afterward and reuse. I admit that I find it absurdly fun to use my FoodSaver and watch the air get sucked out of the bag, but for sous vide purposes I generally use the displacement method: squeeze out a fair amount of the air, close the bag most of the way, submerge it while keeping the opening above water, let the water compress the bag so the rest of the air comes out. Going without the vacuum sealer is even more money saved. Incidentally, if you intend to sous vide something with liquid (a marinade, say, or oil) inside the bag, the liquid will almost certainly get sucked into the vacuum sealer and wreck it. That's another reason I've gone to the displacement method. Edited to add: while I was typing this, JoNorvelleWalker raised the same question I did about the wattage. As her post indicates, the Nano hasn't gotten much love around here. It is, however, the least expensive of the Anova line.

@Franci, what is the knotted white object near the upper right of the photo?

What a brilliant mantra that is!

Based on that WebMD article, @Paul Bacino, I'm glad you didn't try much of that brew. Too bad about the honey...it all might have made a wonderful dye!

Huh. WebMD says it's poisonous, but in the article to which heidih linked above, Edna Lewis wrote I'm trying to reconcile these two articles, which I think are both from reputable sources. Do you suppose that in the early spring poke "sallet" the pokeweed toxin wasn't concentrated enough to be a problem? Not that I plan to try it, mind.

It happens that I bought granular citric acid recently for another project. I know that sodium citrate is a salt form of citric acid. What is the practical difference between the two for this purpose? Can I substitute citric acid for the sodium citrate, and do I need to adjust the formula? Or should I order sodium citrate if I want to make melty cheese?

I whittled your first-of-this-season post down to the points I wanted to comment on for the sake of space, but I too want you to know that I'm looking forward to this, as I do for all your huntin' and cannin' and gardenin' blogs! First, a question: is this the first time that hunting and canning have overlapped because the garden has gone on later than usual? If that isn't the reason, what is? Second, a comment: I enjoy and am impressed by your chalk drawings. You may think they're simple, but to this graphically-challenged soul your artwork is gorgeous and almost magical. Third, another question: do I spy a melty cheese on that egg sandwich? If so, what cheese, liquid and proportions did you use? I'm about to try my hand at using the melty cheese calculator and am looking for ideas/encouragement.

I finally got around to trying egg bites. I very loosely followed this recipe from Anova for bacon and gruyere egg bites...very loosely, considering I used cheddar cheese and heavy cream, and no neufchatel or gruyere. No matter, 172F for 1 hour cooked these beauties to a good consistency. By the time I was ready actually to eat one, they had cooled. 45 seconds in the microwave warmed them perfectly. This would be a good make-ahead breakfast for a gang. Said gang will be visiting in a couple of weeks to help with the wood-cutting and stacking, and will need sustenance.

That's beautiful! I know nothing about making sushi or sashimi, but we have folks here who do. I can just tell you that I'd be pleased to see that on my plate.

Oh, how disappointing! Sorry, you probably feel I misled you. The jar I finished off used sunflower oil (and olive oil), the artichokes were firm but not tough, and the grilled flavor came through. I'm using the remainder of the oil in other dishes. I guess before I actually buy more at TJ's I'll see whether the label indicates it's changed. Maybe the formulations are different on the two coasts?

I had to look up crocchè. Thank you for that new-to-me food! I'm looking forward to more posts here.

@blue_dolphin, that Flagship cheese is a favorite cheese of mine also. I discovered it during a trip to Seattle and was delighted when I could find it in Duluth for a while. I haven't seen it around here in years. I'll add it to my list of things to look for at TJ's next time I go. Thanks!

I could as easily have put this in the Dinner topic, but I might not have tried this at all without the CSO. It happens that Fine Cooking magazine (No. 160, Aug/Sept 2019) has a recipe for Herbed Artichoke Galette that caught my eye. The CSO manual and recipe book has a related recipe for Caramelized Onion and Two-Tomato Tart. Well. I had to try them. I had to try playing with puff pastry, and I had to do it in the CSO. The result was a bit of a hybrid between the two recipes. The shallot and garlic filling was started under supersteam, with oven-roasted tomatoes added at the last minute to soften. The puff pastry had been shaped, then brushed with an egg wash. The filling was added -- along with cheese and chopped artichoke hearts -- and the lot was convection-baked for 35 minutes at 400F. Before: and After: (No, the finished product was not that fuzzy...Sorry for the photo quality! ...Yes, those colors are true. It wasn't burnt, but it was slightly overbrowned.) Things I'll do differently next time: load more filling onto the gallette (it was delicious, but a bit thin) and cook the gallette / tart for a bit less time. Caveats notwithstanding, this is a dead-easy Friday night dinner. Finger food, with the cleanup done by the time dinner was ready. It's worth fine-tuning.

Woe is me, I finished off my last jar of TJ's Marinated Grilled Artichoke Halves tonight. The marinated artichoke hearts available for antipasto platters just aren't the same; their flavor isn't bad, but these artichoke halves are meatier, more savory and less acidic than the typical "marinated artichoke hearts" I find in the grocery store. I think I'll have an opportunity to visit a TJ's this fall. If I do and I can still find this product, I'm going to stock up.

I don't remember, but there was a "special price" deal going on for a while. Seems like it was under $100 then. Maybe someone else remembers?

Whew, I'm safe! Price is back up to $249. Even with free shipping that's enough to remove temptation...but I'll be following this topic with interest. 🙂

@Shelby speaks for me...word for word...!

Oh, this will be fun!

@TicTac, I haven't tried them without any sort of coating. That sounds good too. Thanks!

I still haven't made it, and it's still on my list to try. Thanks for the reminder.

As @heidih and @Katie Meadow noted above, FGT can be a revelation. Properly done, they are tart and firm, with a delightful, lightly crunchy and spicy coating. They are an excellent transport mechanism for ranch dressing or the classic remoulade sauce. IMO they are a delicious use of those last tomatoes of the season that won't ripen properly and will never become "tasty, juicy and perfectly ripe". (My father talked about how his mother would make a relish that she called "chow chow" from her green tomatoes as the season closed. It was another frugal use of the garden's tag-end. I wish I'd seen her recipe.) I thought the idea of FGT seemed odd too, but tried them and became a convert. My husband is still unimpressed by them, however, so mileage varies.

As rotuts notes above, the link is for the F.Blumlein JU-3200 10-in-1 Steam Convection Oven, with Air-Plus Technology, Large Capacity 1.1Cu Ft, and 32.2 Oz Large Water Tank