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Everything posted by Smithy
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I'll have chances to try the tortilla bakers again soon. This morning I attended an event close to the Sprouts "farmers market" and parked in their lot. By way of thanks, when the event was over, I went into Sprouts. I really have wanted bulgur. Resolutions to work through beans and rice first have gone out the window, and I was right there at -- as far as I know -- the only place in town I can get bulgur. What did I see first? A whole display rack of tortillas! Corn. Wheat. Many sizes. Many brands. Was it time to get more? I wandered through the store and left the tortillas for the time being. Sprouts' produce section is beautiful. I didn't really need produce, except that I've been jonesing for nice crunchy cabbage. The gravitational pull was strong. I said "yes" to the cabbage, some kale, and -- because I'd dealt with the prior bouquets of cilantro and Italian parsley -- another bouquet each of those. The olive stand caught my eye. Look! They also had salt-cured capers! I'm nearly finished with the stuff I packed. I know there's another huge jar waiting for me at home. I thought I'd picked up a package anyway, but since it isn't in my bag now I must have changed my mind. I picked up the bulgur that I'd come in for in the first place. Then I wandered the other aisles. The olive oils looked interesting. Mine is getting low. I kinda wanted to buy both types, but I settled for the one you see on the right. Ounce for ounce it's more expensive, but it's from an olive variety I don't normally see...and the bottles are plastic. Better for travel than glass bottles, although I've plenty of those on board. I went back by way of the tortillas. What the heck. And then, when I went to the checkout line, I was seduced by a sample of this chocolate, grated atop a dairy-free yogurt that turned out to be pretty good (coconut cream based) with blueberries. I skipped the yogurt but got a chocolate bar. On my way to yet another errand, I ran into the nearby Albertson's for "just a few things" and came staggering out with enough pet supplies and coffee to last me until I get home, I hope. Well, most of the way home. I have been avoiding the urge to "panic-buy" against the price rises due to anticipated / threatended tariffs, but I do love my coffee. Starbuck's Sumatra coffee, specifically. I bought several large bags of it. I wonder whether the supposed "sale price" shown here is really a price reduction? Albertson's usually is more pricey than the Fry's where I usually shop. I wouldn't put it past them to post a "normal" price that's very high and then reduce it as a "sale" price. Exhibit A: This bread is normally in the $4.50 - $5 range at Fry's. I left it alone here. On the other, other hand, this was a pretty good price for this oversized jar of peanut butter. I'll be relying on it heavily soon. I bought it.
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Fat might help. I did try dampening one with water a little bit as I patted it into the mold. That's the one that split. 😄 At any rate, corn tortilla experiments will have to wait a while. Probably a long while, given my rough travel plans and today's shopping expedition.
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Thanks for this warning. I think I'm unlikely to run across this particular fish, but if I do I'll know to leave it alone. I'm not bone tolerant in fish. Spoils the fun for me!
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Well, those tortilla shell bakers work pretty well. Lesson 1: I need larger tortillas for these to be useful! Lesson 2: corn tortillas (at least old ones) aren't nearly as flexible as flour tortillas (at least old ones). You can see in the photo above that the flour tortillas neatly molded into the baking shells. The corn tortillas stubbornly insisted on flattening out...and after baking,... still showed their resistance. These were crisp, but they hand't browned. The flour tortillas browned nicely. Aren't they cute? Lesson 3: for this kind of tortilla use -- that is, tortillas with no seasoning, oil, anything added -- the flavor of the basic tortilla is critical. I don't know whether mine were simply too old or were substandard in the first place. I liked the crunch but not the flavor of the flour tortillas. The corn tortillas were also crunchy but even less impressive. All of them, cooked and uncooked, are now in the garbage. If I were boondocking they'd be out in the bushes, but that isn't appropriate in this suburban settlement. The original plan had been to do some sort of taco salad, but as happens so often these days I couldn't be bothered with all those steps. Besides, these tortilla shells were more like taco hors d'oeuvres size than salad size! So I made a salad, which is easier, and cooked one of my darling's Superburgers. I cooked it on a broiling pan in the oven, hot as the oven would go. Not hot enough. These burgers, and probably any burgers for my money, need direct contact with a hot surface. Campfire. Barbecue grill. Papa's pan. Stovetop pan, with vents doing their best to prevent the smoke alarm from going off. This was more like meatloaf. I shared it with the dog. Still. Now I know more about how to use those tortilla pans!
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Do you just put the raw tortillas into the molds, without any sort of fat? Tips please, if you have any!
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I'm sorry, but probably shouldn't be surprised, that the stuff I made on Sunday, up here, doesn't improve with age. I just finished a small container of it and found that it needed salt to counter the overpowering sweetness of the basic dish. It has to be from that dratted sweet corn. I can't think of anything else (beans? tomatoes? broccoli? dry red wine?) that would have done it. Sour cream helped too, a little. I'll be glad when I finish that last container. Believe me, the reheated stuff wasn't worthy of a photo. I'll show you instead today's thrift store find. This was my first visit to a thrift store this trip. I simply haven't been interested in shopping for bargains or even not-so-great bargains. However, given my weight loss and the fact that I'm tired of rolling up the waistbands on my shorts to keep them from falling down around my ankles, I decided to go shop. No luck in the clothing department. That didn't stop me from making a a quick pass by the cookware. (Incidentally, folks: if any of yez is interested in trying out an air fryer, go to a thrift store.) Ah, look! Tortilla bowl shapers! Just what I (don't) need! But I do like a good taco salad, and I have a bunch of tortillas taking up space on the counter. I may or may not get around to frying them. Maybe baking will the trick instead of frying. I couldn't make out the price. I decided that for, say, 5 bucks I was willing to bring this set home. I went to the counter and asked. I was wrong about the price. It was 2 bucks! (Actually, $1.99 but I donated the penny. Big spender.) I went outside with my purchase. There was a table with stuff labeled as "Free". I went to look. Several books there. Richard Simmons' favorite recipes I could leave alone, but a couple of cookbooks looked decent at least. I've heard of "Company's Coming" but never watched the show. The first couple of recipes I looked at were an unlikely acid-orange chicken and some beef treatment that looked inedible. But a couple of offerings looked worthwhile. Heck, it was free. If I don't like it I can leave it behind at a book exchange somewhere. This one, I think, I'm more likely to use. Even though I've never heard of the guy. I mean, doesn't that galette look wonderful? I do like his opening line on the back cover: "I believe cooking should be fun, simple and fast." Well, I don't always believe the fast part. Depends on the mood and the day. But as noted in this cookbook topic, it's really good to have fast, good cookery ready to hand. And yes, it should always be fun. Here's a sampling of the recipes. Will I learn anything from it? I dunno. Will I try things from it? Almost certainly. And hey -- given that it's free, I'll give it a ride for a while.
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I've mentioned before that I really like tabbouli and can practically live on the stuff. I seem to have exhausted my supply of bulgur, however, and had decided not to get more until I worked my way down through some of the beans and rice I'm carrying. That has led to the preposterous situation of having large bouquets of parsley and cilantro in the refrigerator...sometimes held until it's starting to go off. Last night, I told myself "¡BASTA!" If I didn't want to make herbed rice, or figure out which beans would work best, I could use the baby potatoes that I'd bought (two weeks ago) for potato salad. So I did. Chopped up both bouquets, picked out some of the stems, chopped the rest finely. Boiled the baby potatoes with a touch of butter, and added more butter at the table. Garnished with shredded cheese. It was really very good. I still have a large container of boiled potatoes, and smaller containers of the herbs and water/butter mix. This morning it's blessedly cool and quiet, except for a mockingbird embellishing the silence with his marvelously varied songs. I love hearing mockingbirds. It was rare to hear them out in our boondocking spot. I was entranced by the dynamism of my morning coffee's steam, shown off by the morning sun. When I poured my half-and-half into the cup, I spotted a change in the steam activity: instead of rising more or less from the entire surface, the steam came up around the hot rim and then descended toward the cooler center. I only caught one decent photo of that process. I know this happens on an atmospheric level and large-lake level, but never expected to see it in a coffee cup! Science in miniature!
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I certainly understand the "seldom get to" implication here. I too am an All-Clad junkie with a wide variety of sizes and shapes, and I am still getting my mind wrapped around small-batch cooking. Large pan = party! Not willing to get rid of those yet and close that door. But...to end this tangent... even at my party heights, I generally found the smaller sizes, like 3 to 4 quarts, were used more often than the 6 quart size pans.
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And that size works for you and your spouse? Or do you cook for a larger crowd?
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Is it this pan? If so, it looks like the sort of sturdy pan that could be used for everything. However, I have one of their 6-quart saute pans and rarely use it because it's so big. Depends on how many people one is cooking for. My 3-quart saute pans get a lot more use. As to your final question: every one of my All-Clad pans has been bought from their Factory Seconds sales, and I've never detected a flaw in them. I've been pleased to have them.
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Thanks for that recommendation, @blue_dolphin. Some of the dishes you've cooked are from recipes I've bookmarked but not tried yet. I especially love this header in the Table of Contents: 😄
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A bargain! I love hummus but would be seriously challenged if I needed to make the tahini first. 🙂
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So, here's what I did and how I went about it. I'll note first that I had some vague idea of following this recipe from Heartbeet Kitchen: Marinated Gigante Beans. Someday, maybe I'll try following her recipe. Today wasn't it. But I'll still give her credit for the inspiration! You'll have to look at the recipe to see what she actually calls for. I started with mushrooms, a shallot and garlic still surviving (really) from home, a can each of beans and tomatoes, the aforementioned Juusto cheese-now-become-croutons, ...some broccoli about to expire in the refrigerator, the Very Last of a bag of frozen corn from last year, before my darling died; dried oregano, and a cube of pesto from last summer or fall when I was busy saving basil at home. The rest of the steps, that I haven't already shown: Oh, there was also red wine. In the skillet, and now in me. The final result, with shredded Parmesan as a topper: Not bad at all. I doubt I'll ever try to reproduce it, especially with the dratted sweet corn, but I'll be able to feast on it for a few days. And I've finished the frozen corn (which would never have gone without my assistance, one way or the other) and the broccoli, which was on its way out unassisted.
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Thanks for that! As it happens, I did something with it before I checked back in and found your post. As you can see from this photo, Option 4 was the way to go....this time, anyway. 🙂 Stuff was like nice, crispy croutons! I'll show what I did with it in my next post.
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And another confession, this one an "oops". This delightful Finnish cheese has been hanging around in the refrigerator since a dinner party before I left home. As you can see from the instructions, it's intended to be eaten warm. It can be heated in the oven (my preferred method) or microwave. I think I've even had it grilled. Once it's warm, it gets gooey although not as spreadable as a soft cheese like, say, Brie. It's salty and savory, not a stinky cheese. I like it. I decided to finish it today for lunch, with crackers. So I microwaved it. The first time, it wasn't soft enough so I microwaved it longer. It began to bubble. See? Well. I can't even cut it with a sharp knife! It's taken on the toughness of a Parmesan rind! I tried chewing it, to no avail. Good flavors come off it, but it isn't edible any more. I suspect it's more because of overcooking than because of age. As I said: oops! I'll try cutting it and putting it in a bean or other skillet dish, to see if I can coax the last bit of umami out of it the way one does with Parmesan rinds. I may need my meat cleaver to do it.
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I have a confession to make. This glass of pomegranate juice was squeezed from the pomegranates I bought last fall. Still good, probably not as juicy as when I first bought them!
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The showmanship of those places is marvelous! I assume the food is every bit as good. Thanks so much for the photos and descriptions!
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Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2017 – )
Smithy replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
It looks delicious! I had to look up "farfel" to learn its culinary definition*. Are you using the pasta, or matzoh farfel? *as opposed to the dog's name in the old Nestle's Quik commercials -
I thoroughly enjoyed that discussion (maybe there's more to come?) about tunas and the varying meanings of the term! Thanks, folks! That sort of discussion really helps liven this foodblog and adds interesting information. Especially on days like today. It's almost 8 pm, the sun has been set for nearly an hour, and it's still 94F outside. I broke down and turned on the air conditioning at 5 pm, after a day away from the trailer. I'd left windows open and fans on, but my thermometers said it was 105F outside and 99F inside. A/C it was. The upshot is that my dinner plans fell apart. At lunch I'd had more of that endless salad I've prepared. It's endless, or perhaps more properly what restaurants would call "bottomless", because I get the level of chopped lettuce and vegetables down in the container, then augment it with more lettuce, tomatoes, chopped celery, croutons, and so on. After I'd had 2 bowlsful like this the container was still more full than when I'd started! That was at noon, before it got so flaming hot. When I got home, turned on the A/C, and unpacked groceries (more greens, kefir, half-and-half, coffee, kitchen sponges and pet supplies) I decided I was peckish. That potato salad I made yesterday hit the spot. What's strange is that when I'd gotten home I'd had the aroma of fast food in my memory thanks to the shopping center, and I'd decided to cook a Superburger. Nope. No Way. Not In This Heat. Not That Hungry. The potato salad was plenty. And water. Lots of water. I'll probably have a glass or two of wine and call it a night. Gratuitous photo of sand tracery from this morning's walk, when it was only 78F.
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Potato salad for dinner. It took care of the red potatoes that have been sitting out on the counter; most of the parsley and green onions sitting around in the refrigerator; capers (I'm so glad I found that jar amongst my pantry supplies); lemon juice; vinegar; olive oil; and a bit of mayonnaise but not enough to make it gloppy. I was at least in my 30's, maybe my 40's, before I discovered that potato salad doesn't have to be sweet. For that matter, it doesn't have to be gloppy although the glop doesn't bother me as much as Miracle Whip or sweet pickles. These particular potatoes aren't holding their shape well, but the overall flavor suits me. And now I've used a bunch of ingredients before they could go off, and I'll have something easy to reach for when I'm feeling peckish. The little bowl of chicken salad I showed earlier today is already gone.
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Last's night's dinner was some of the planned-over panade, and a couple of bites of steak before I gave it to PJ. 🙂 I'm not sure what my dinner plans will be. A few days ago I bought another rotisserie chicken and, after eating a bit of it, pulled the meat from the bones and put it all into a container. The plan was to make the Peruvian chicken stew (Aji de Gallina) that I've been rabbitting on about, now that I finally have all the ingredients. Well. It's hot outside. Really hot. 98F, and don't bother telling me that it's okay because "it's a dry heat". Although I have air conditioning in the trailer, I'm still disinclined to make a nice hot stew. So just now I chopped some of the chicken meat up with chopped parsley, capers, lemon juice and mayo. It made a nice chicken salad. Even better atop Triscuits. This may be dinner as well, along with some good lettuce salad or some of the broccoli hanging out in the crisper drawer. Seen on this morning's walk: Back in the day, only a few years ago, I was interested in harvesting prickly pear tunas and making prickly pear syrup from them. I'm pretty sure I still have some of the commercially prepared stuff from that time. When I noticed a cactus along my walk that had the fruits, I briefly considered asking the owner whether I could harvest some. Then I decided not to bother. Now look at it. Starting its new blooms; nobody ever collected the tunas. No, I'm not sorry that I didn't bother. I'm sorry to see them wasted, though.
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This caught my eye at the end: My procedure, in my current living situation with a French press, is to pour enough water into the press to wet all the grounds, give it all a stir to make sure the grounds are wetted (sound familiar?) then pour the rest of the water over the spoon so it's rinsed. Voila, no dirty cutlery. 🙂 I suppose that wouldn't work in a commercial kitchen.
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@rotuts, I've seen those adverts but I'm still mystified. Can you clarify the size of those totes? Roughly? The ad copy makes them sound too small for shopping and too bulky for, say, produce storage. But maybe I'm misreading.
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A couple of years ago I tried a meat subscription service that had looked promising. My darling was unimpressed, and I found it difficult to use the meats in ways he'd like. He always found the steaks tough. Well, they are grass-fed steaks. I've had tender ones, but I never managed to do it with him. I cancelled the subscription after 2 deliveries. This package is a relic of that subscription. It sat in the freezer through all our health mayhem, and I promised myself I'd cook it during this trip. Given my erratic cooking, I think it's been out and back into the freezer a few times. Last night, I made up my mind to sear it and have a steak salad. Or tacos. I hadn't decided when I pulled it out (again). I unwrapped it. Huh. This wasn't what I'd expected! Well, it should sear easily. I blotted it, gave it a very light coat of olive oil, then dosed it liberally with Lawry's seasoned salt while I got a grill pan screaming hot. The idea was to sear the outside and have the interior still pink. It worked, kinda. Not as pink as I'd have liked. Dinner. Remember that I was either going to have a steak salad or tacos? Phooey on that. It was neither. Flavor not bad, but this meat was chewier -- not in a good way -- and more difficult to cut than any I remember getting from this company before. I'm glad I didn't subject my darling to it. I don't know whether the repeated thawing and freezing had anything to do with the texture, but it couldn't have helped. I ate some of it. The rest is in the refrigerator until I decide what to do with it. My canine companion knows what he thinks I should do!
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<Cue Don Henley> Nobody on the road... Nobody on the beach... "Boys of Summer" is one of my favorite songs, and it echoes through my head every time I go for a walk here. It's the reverse situation, of course: the place is emptying out for the summer. A few hardy souls stay here year-round, but my hosts/landlords will be leaving in early May. By that time the snow should have melted in Minnesota, where they're headed. The owners of my favorite house here left this morning for their home in Washington. I'm not sure what to make of this place. It has a healthy raised-bed garden. As you can see, the tomatoes are done already but there're some good-looking vegetables and greens. I'm not sure whether these homeowners are still around, but I think they've gone for the season. This morning it was mashed avocado on sourdough bread, with a sprinkling of lemon and Spike. Chased by a mixture of kefir and juice. Yesterday as part of my effort to cut down on deli meats and cheeses in the refrigerator, I had this "wrap" for lunch. Not shown: Triscuits for crunch. Dinner last night was slightly more interesting, but also less successful. I'll give it its own post.