Smithy

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

OK, I'm going to bust in here and ask what you do for rice. Last night I did rice (jasmine) in the bottom of the IP pot after soaking and washing and soaking again said rice. I used 2 parts water to 1 part rice (that is, 2 parts water to the dry rice before I soaked and washed it). I cooked on 4 minutes high pressure, then 10 minutes natural release. It was gummy. I let it steam, covered but without active heat, for another 5 - 10 minutes. It was still gummy. It worked out reasonably well since we wanted it to mix with and soak up sauce from another dish, but it was not what I'd been planning. I could swear I didn't have this problem last year, but it seems I didn't keep notes. What do you do: rice type, ratio of rice to water, IP settings and time?

That's a fascinating article. In fact they are sequencing the DNA and RNA to see how these strains are different. I hope more articles will be written, or that someone who follows Seamus Blackley on Twitter will keep us apprised of new developments.

It may depend on your machine. I think I've read that some models start the timer when they've finished preheating. My model, which I bought refurbished, starts the timer when I press "start". It is definitely not up to temperature until it's been running for some 3 - 5 minutes.

If a pot that is magnetic on the sides as well as the base is put on an induction burner, will the sides get hot as well as the bottom? If so, will they get as hot as the base, or will the magnetic field be weaker going up the sides?

Dammit, @blue_dolphin and @TicTac, you're undermining every one of my reasons not to buy one of these things.

Speaking of enabling: RCWilley is now advertising the FirstBuild Paragon Induction Cooktop for $69.97. I first noticed the price drop last month, and don't know whether it's permanent or temporary. (The URL includes the phrase "August campaign" but I'm writing this in September.)

Sure, I'll do that. I'll let you mention the smaller box size for backups, though. I'll mention here that the Instant Pot Ultra 6 quart multicooker is now at Amazon for $83.77. I've been enjoying mine and posting about it over here. I think the extra flexibility of the Ultra makes it a far better unit than the Duo, and this is a heck of a good price.

No, we're all about enabling.

@liamsaunt, even your fall-back fare looks like fine restaurant work! You didn't mention the bread, but it's fine-looking stuff too. More information about that, please? (Please don't tell me you just whipped up the bread when you got home. )

I think I managed a pasta transgression tonight, but I don't think it was as disappointing as @Margaret Pilgrim describes above. I've been merrily making sauces and salsas to take advantage of the farmers' markets around here. Today, my efforts included a puttanesca sauce, as described here. When the afternoon grew late and dinnertime approached I dithered between a platter of nachos (a known quantity, using our homemade salsa) and a bowl of pasta puttanesca with the current recipe. Curiosity won. Besides, I had this great-looking pasta I'd picked up at Trader Joe's: I boiled a handful or so of the pasta, then pitched it in with some of the puttanesca sauce to finish cooking and let them make friends with each other. I was surprised that my darling did not (a) object to the lack of meat or (b) think it all too tart. He thought it all wonderful, and I did not tell him that the sauce contained anchovies and olives. I thought the pasta wasn't the right shape, or I hadn't cooked it properly, or something...the consistency wasn't right. This particular pasta shape probably is designed for a more viscous, probably creamy, sauce. Those cavils aside, there were no leftovers from tonight's meal but there are a couple more servings of the puttanesca sauce. We're both happy with the results.

Sorry to hear it was so disappointing for you. Do you mean it overwhelmed the flavor of the hen-of-the-woods mushrooms? (I've never had them.) The basic sauce sounds delicious.

@JoNorvelleWalker, do you have access to @JAZ's Ultimate Instant Pot Cookbook for Two? On page 53 there's a good-looking recipe for butter-braised cabbage with carrots. I haven't tried it yet, but it's on my list. If you don't have access, perhaps JAZ would send you the recipe or given me permission to do so.

The label on its glass lid says "Schulte-Ufer" and I assume that's the brand name. I found it at TJMaxx some 10 or 15 years ago, and paid under $20 for it. (I love those finds, but generally try to stay away from TJMaxx lest I find another irresistible bargain.) It's cast iron, smooth inside so I never felt the need to treat it. I think it was listed as being pre-treated or whatever the term is that Lodge generally uses. Dimensions are 11" diameter x 4" to the top of the pot on the outside. The walls are nearly straight up and down, and they're thick. I think the pot weighs around 5 pounds, but it's difficult to tell at the moment. Edited to add: that is indeed the brand name. They're still in business but don't seem to make the cast iron line any more. I don't know whether this link will survive the ages, but here's the pot in question at shopgoodwill.com.

Puttanesca sauce from the above-mentioned book. It's short on capers (my fault) and I had to adjust the sweetness to suit myself, but it's going to be good. Just think: in order to make room for various toys like Instant Pots and an air fryer, this pot was slated to be given away. I hadn't used it in quite some time, but today I realized it's perfect for cooking down sauces like this. It's heavy and heats evenly; it's broad and relatively shallow: better capacity than any of my skillets, and better for this job than any of my deeper pots. I guess I'll have to make room for it somewhere.

I purchased the book Savory Sweet: simple preserves from a northern kitchen last year at my favorite Duluth kitchen store, and am trying some of its recipes. The first recipe up is too simple to call a recipe, but I used their guidelines to oven-dry some of the slicing tomatoes that aren't going to become salsa or tomato jam. (The book actually says to use Roma or cherry tomatoes for this, because the slicers are too juicy, but I made it work anyway.) 200F for maybe 4 hours, maybe only 2. I forgot to time it. Some of these will contribute to the puttanesca sauce recipe from this book. I love the idea of making puttanesca sauce now from fresh tomatoes and freezing it for later use. Even though I'm pretty sure the original is intended to be fresh, barely-cooked, and quick, the frozen version should be just as quick for when I need it. Besides, I still need to do something with all this... ...and there are eggplants and cucumbers still waiting their turn, hiding in the outside refrigerator.

Excellent video! Thanks, Toliver! @Kim Shook, I assume you're talking about the large bottles with the lid on the 'bottom' (or the label upside down, by a different view)? I haven't tried the ketchup version but I've tried the oversized bright-yellow mustard version. My problem has always been that when it comes out of the fridge cold, then warms to room temperature, the air pressure inside builds. Boom! Once that lid is opened, it pops out uncontrollably. We have to remember to leave the bottle sitting with the lid at the top, i.e. the label upside down, until time to squeeze.

Oh, I'm looking forward to this! We still occasionally experiment with meat-smoking, but it's an annual thing and we could stand some pointers. Are those pork butts? (Incidentally, we used to have exactly that same countertop material. I still like the looks of it!)

@Kim Shook, you're making me think I need to make some slaw and some pimento cheese very, very soon. Those sandwiches looked divine. I wonder whether I'll be able to find green tomatoes up here? I'll have to start asking my farmer friends as the season winds down.

Do, please, report back. I've written elsewhere about our challenges with country-style ribs. My DH adored them when we first met (it was his recipe and technique) but over the years something has changed. Were still trying to get time and temperature right. I like the sound of your accompaniments.

Yah. I THINK it's good that the jar the broke landed on the tiles. That's probably why it broke, but it was easier to clean up than if it had broken on the wood. The one that landed on the wooden floor didn't break. Who knows? At any rate, there are a couple of jars of tomato jam destined to live in the refrigerator and become bruschetta topping (or something similar) soon. I say "jam" because this batch of salsa is really sweet and thick.

Last night's salsa, which recipe usually yields "approximately 10 pints", cooked down so much that I ended up with this: and this. I had been contemplating the fact that it's a long time since a jar broke in the canning bath. So I lost my footing and dropped the tray instead. Oh, the irony! At least only 1 jar broke. Two of the others may have lost their seal (I haven't heard them pop yet) but two are alive and well.

I've been rhapsodizing over on the Corn Cook-off topic about smoked sweet corn, courtesy of my husband's daughter. Yesterday I realized that Deep Run Roots talks about that very thing, and that smoked corn mayonnaise is an element of the Elbow-Lick Tomato Sandwich. My notes from trying it (2 years ago!) was that the mayo was too sweet for my liking, but the idea had promise. I put some of that corn into a chicken salad instead, and made my own version of that sandwich: chicken salad with smoked corn, a fat slice of ripe tomato, a generous hunk of lettuce. Ms. Howard is right: I should be eating more tomato sandwiches.

We spent the Labor Day Weekend visiting my stepdaughter and her family at their "lake place" in western Minnesota. The nearby farmer's market - Beuhler's Produce - has a beautiful operation with a huge selection of produce, and it was all in full swing of the harvest season. We arrived before the rest of the family, and I went to scope the place out and buy the supplies we needed for our salsa-making weekend. This is a dangerous place for me to come on my own. The mind explodes with possibilities! So much good food! So little time to eat or prepare it! I especially like the fact that they have their chile varieties labeled as to Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) so you can see what you're getting into. In addition to the lug of tomatoes and the peppers and onions I needed for our salsa, I bought a couple of quarts of cherry tomatoes and rendered them, more or less according to @ElainaA's Slow-roasted cherry tomato sauce. I waited while the proprietors went out and picked the gallon or so of tomatoes I wanted. *That's* the type of customer service they provide at Buehler's. When my darling's daughter arrived, we set to making the salsa. We finished. "Oh, that was fun!" we said. "Oh, we have to make another batch!" we said. "Oh, we'll need more tomatoes, peppers and onions!" we said. Did I mention that it's dangerous for me to go to Buehler's alone? It's worse when I go with Lauri. Between the two of us we made some 20 - 30 pints of salsa...and there were still more tomatoes...and she only took a few of those. Today, back home, I've been making salsa again. Before... and After... (The darker color is before stirring, where the surface has dried slightly and Maillard reactions have happened.) and still, this remains: I'm dithering between putting up a quart or two of puttanesca sauce or simply roasting and freezing these beauties. We certainly don't need more salsa for the year!

That looks lovely, @David Ross. I look forward to seeing the recipe, and trying it out. And now...from the ethereal to the elemental....I just rediscovered Vivian Howard's recipe (Deep Run Roots, p.262) for Smoked Corn Mayo. Among other uses, it is an element of her Elbow-Lick Tomato Sandwich. Guess I've found another use for that smoked corn! Instead of building a mayonnaise around the corn as she suggests I added it to a chicken salad with mayonnaise, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, a touch of salt. It still needs something: celery was the plan, but I didn't have any. A touch more acid might have helped: pickle juice, perhaps. Fresh parsley for color, perhaps? I can play with it more tomorrow. This chicken / smoked corn salad mixture went onto a sandwich with a slice of ripe red tomato, a generous portion of lettuce, and a swipe of straight mayonnnaise on the bread to hold it all together. It wasn't quite Vivian Howard's Elbow-Lick Tomato Sandwich, but it made a satisfying dinner!