Smithy

Welcome! It sounds like you'll fit right in here. We have a lot of equipment aficionados here. Speaking as one of them, I look forward to seeing some of your collected gear - and what you do with it. If you have any trouble figuring out how to use the forums, or where to find something, don't hesitate to ask a host. What sorts of things do you like to cook, now that you're doing it for yourself and not professionally? Is there anything that you're relieved not to have to cook any more?

We moved back to (mostly) more familiar culinary ground and cooked over the campfire after the tomato cobbler debacle. I do love chicken thighs, rubbed with seasonings of my choice and then grilled over the fire. In this case the rub was berbere spice augmented with smoked paprika, cumin, and possibly a touch of salt. While they grilled, I had parsnips steaming. The parsnips were the adventure of the evening. We liked them. I'll be doing more with parsnips. I remembered yesterday, when we went grocery shopping, to check the source of the oversized shallots. Sorry, @JoNorvelleWalker - the grocery store sign simply said "Grown in the U.S.A." without further elucidation. At least now I know they aren't from Brobdingnag.

I can see now where I went wrong. Thank you for the link to the blog post - which is excellent reading, by the way - with its recipe for this novice.

I think the larger pan so the cornbread is "lower to the ground" is a key issue. Thanks for the suggestion about the cornbread mix. That may be a way to fine-tune things and see which way to take it. My darling has made it clear that he doesn't want cornbread for its own sake (I tried to make kayb's cobbler as a stand-alone dish) so I'll need to wait until I'm ready to do beans or soup again. Otherwise, he's likely to bludgeon me with the hash skillet.

Funny, I checked out Tartin Every Day from the library last year and never even noticed its gluten-free emphasis! For me the attraction was the preserves. There may have been other things that I've forgotten as well; I purchased the book but haven't downloaded it yet.

By the way, my best friend says she "used to think even a monkey could make cornbread". She's had a couple of fails lately, but is nonetheless mystified that cornbread, so far, is such a Big Deal to me. If anyone reading this thinks so too, you're in good company.

*sigh* . 2 more on my shelf. Only 1 was on my wish list.

I believe you that, properly executed, it must be one of the best summertime dishes going. Your church sounds just the right size, too. However, after last night I think I need to practice taxiing a bit more before trying to fly. The fillings seem like an unbeatable combination. Unfortunately I made too much batter for the skillet. (Its stiffness may have also been a problem; I was shooting for a casserole texture.) The result was that the outer portions were done long before the inner portion, and the center never properly cooked through. The base was tough. I saved the uneaten innards - with all the good stuff and a fair amount of cornmeal mush - to repurpose elsewhere. Mix and bake with scrambled eggs? Skillet fry like hash browns? I'm open to suggestions. It might make a good enchilada stuffing. Hmm. There was also something bitter in the mix. I suspect the frozen avocado. I'll check that pulp later today, and may end up discarding the rest of it. It's a shame it didn't work out as well as it should have. I'll get the fisheye from my darling the next time I try it...but if I get a good grip on making cornbread alone first, I'm more likely to succeed the next time I try this. Meanwhile, the mix of salted drained tomato, crispy bacon, onion, garlic, avocado, cheese and jalapeño will be great to embellish beans, a salad or soup...or in a cornbread salad. We both liked that salad the first time around, and that means making more cornbread.

I admit it: I flinch every time a notification pops up that he's posted in this topic.

What great timing! I was just perusing your earlier post with the method, as well as the post with the missing photos. I have the onions and garlic chopped and the cornbread ingredients out on the counter for tonight's dinner using your method. Oh, and I've already fried up a bunch of bacon, and the gold* is in the skillet. *aka bacon grease

Tonight was my greatest schnitzel success to date! I picked up a family pack of very thin pork loin cutlets a couple of weeks ago and divvied them up for practice sessions. They're already pretty thin, but tonight I rolled some out to around 1/4" thick and then applied the following steps, picked from various posts above: 1. Dredged in seasoned flour and let them sit for around 1/2 hour; 2. Dredged in that same flour again to ensure a good flour base; 3. Dipped in beaten egg; 4. Dredged in seasoned panko crumbs; 5. Chilled in refrigerator for a couple of hours. 6. At cooking time, I heated vegetable oil (1/4" - 1/2" deep in pan, I didn't measure) to 350F; 7. Carefully placed 2 or 3 cutlets at a time in the oil, then swirled to get waves of oil over the tops also; 8. Turned when the bottom was properly browned, and removed to drain on a cake rack in the warm oven while the rest of the meat was cooking. I didn't bother with a sauce this time around. My darling now thinks that a sauce with these beautifully crispy cutlets would be a travesty, and that the only acceptable sauce will be one served on the side...which may be a problem for things like chicken piccata. These were delightfully crisp, not oily, and too delicious for us to consider leaving any for tomorrow. Oink. My sole niggles are that there still were no air pockets and the seasoning could have been more robust in the flour or panko (or both). I couldn't taste the seasonings in the finished meat although I could smell it during the dredging. STILL...this is a dish I'd have been proud to serve to company, and I'm encouraged enough to keep working at it. Thanks for all the inspiration and education, folks!

Those colors are beautiful, Chris. I'd be enticed to add them to foods!

How much did you steam it? I notice that @Paul Bacino, who started this topic, begins with raw cauliflower. @Jason Perlow refers to par-cooking it. For the moment I'm happy letting someone else do the work, but if I really cotton to this idea I'll be taking the road less expensive and doing it myself. I tend to overcook cauliflower to the mush stage.

This topic has some good ideas. I recently purchased a bag of "cauliflower rice" to try. Last night's dinner began with a simple cooked salsa of tomatillos, red bell peppers, green onions and tomatoes, to which the cauliflower was to be added. I ran out of steam before cooking the meat it was to accompany, so a couple of Polish sausages went into the pan at about the same time as the cauliflower. On its own the cauliflower mix was too tart - I'd used too many tomatillos - but the Polish sausages balanced it surprisingly well. Thanks to @btbyrd for the admonition not to cook the cauliflower too long. As it came out of the bag, the cauliflower already had a pretty strong odor. I rinsed it, and gave it just enough cooking to soften slightly. We both liked this. It's nice to find a low-carb alternative to rice, and I'll be experimenting with cauliflower rice more.

That chef's coat is very flattering. What a great color for you! And I don't especially care for Peeps, but those tuxedo versions would be irresistable.

I suppose not all the casualties can become "cook's treat".

That looks good, @Anna N. I want to try this recipe next time I can get duck legs. She suggests that the duck can be cooked and kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. That makes me think it would lend itself to an easy dinner for company: do everything except crisp the skin a day in advance, then warm it all and crisp the skin on the day of the dinner party. Does that sound right to you?

Welcome, Trufflenaut! We have a few other members in the San Diego area, and we have a LOT of talented bakers and confectioners. Since you've been lurking you probably know where to find things already, but if you have any questions about how to work the forums feel free to ask a host. I'm always impressed at the baked goods and confections that our members crank out, and look forward to your contributions. Do you also cook? If so, what sorts of things do you like to cook?

Thanks for the quick responses! I'm pretty sure she wants to be able to leave the inner pot in place and just put the lid somewhere else. Anna, is that 9 1/4" with or without the inner pot? If with, then we'll have an idea of the variability.

My friend who's deciding on which IP to get has a question. Would someone who has the DUO 5-quart please take the lid off and measure the height of the pot alone and report it here? I'd appreciate it if someone who has the DUO 6-quart did the same thing, mostly because the 5-quart and 6-quart seem to be the same height and the 5-quart seems fairly rare. The issue is whether the 5-quart will fit in the designated shelf space. My mini did, but the lid had to come off. Oh, and once you're measured it, please report the number here.

Yes - thank you for a fun tour!

My best friend and I just spent 3 days putting the Instant Pot Mini through its paces. She was trying to decide whether she wanted one. We cooked rice. We cooked pork chops. We cooked an enchilada casserole. We pressure-cooked. We sauteed. We slow cooked. We made one-pot meals for the two of us, and ended up with leftovers every time. One evening's leftover rice became the basis for a lovely lunch rice dish with shaved red cabbage, diced chicken breast, parsley, sunflower seeds and Indian (Mexican) lime pickle. That rice dish was beautiful, and I wish I'd snapped a photo. For some reason I only snapped one food photo during our visit. This is of the first night's dinner, a coconut-lemon chicken bowl, based on @ElsieD's adaptation of a dish from the Cooking Light Diet. We had to make a few adjustments for missing ingredients - lemon rather than lemongrass, for instance - but it was very good. My friend is pretty sure she's going to buy an IP, but she still needs to decide on size - the Mini or the next size up - and version (Lux, Duo, Ultra). Unlike me she loathes clutter and is appropriately disciplined about getting rid of 1 or 2 things when she adds something new. She won't be owning more than one!

Thanks for the suggestion, heidih. Here is a good summary topic, for readers who want to know more about Methode Rotuts, more casually known as "MR".

I opened my jar's worth today for the first time. I used it to season cooked rice that had been mixed with cooked broccoli, raw shaved red cabbage, and sunflower seeds. Delicious! Top photo: the contents of the jar. Bottom photo: the (Mexican) lime pickle, and some preserved lemons, all chopped and ready for the rice.

Ooh, I want that!