Smithy

Welcome, Vedbyas. Please tell us more about the public feeding kitchen(s). How many people do you serve, and at how many different facilities? What are your constraints? What sort of guidance might you need from the experienced chefs and experts? We have members who now work, or have worked in the past, at what are called "soup kitchens" in the USA, helping feed people who might otherwise not be able to eat. Is that the nature of your public feeding kitchen?

Welcome! Are you a cooker-and-eater, or do others do the cookery for you? What do you like to eat? What's in season in Derby right now?

Ah, that's what I was missing!

Welcome, OC Chef! Thanks for bumping this topic up. Please do let us know the results of your further experimentation. Photos are also welcome, if you're so inclined. Did you have the beets and potatoes in the same bag? Were the potatoes also whole, like the beets?

Welcome, indeed! When you travel, as you are now, do you stay in places with kitchens and cook for yourselves, or do you eat out, or are you traveling in an RV of some sort with a portable kitchen? However you do it, we love seeing the food and reading about the flavors. I'd love to learn about your red beans and rice. I love the stuff too, but my last attempt (okay, it was red beans and orzo, with no meat) was decidedly flat. I was in a hurry, and didn't pay enough attention to the seasonings. Salsa fixed it but I need a better grip on the basic seasonings that should go into the dish. If you come up with questions about how to use the forums or where to find (or post) something, feel free to ask a host (I am one). The Help files can be useful, as well.

Good eye on spotting the indentation, @KennethT . I was seeing that as a little protrusion (nub) and wondering if it was like a carriage bolt. @pastrygirl, I think most hardware stores will carry metric hex keys - by the way, they're also called Allen wrenches. You can also try a local bicycle shop, if that's closer to your location.

I haven't tried silicone oil for any of my kitchen wood products, so can't give direct experience. (I've switched from food-grade mineral oil alone to the John Boos Oil and Cream, which also contain beeswax, due to the dryness of the climate.) My question for you: does that non-toxic silicone oil have a taste that you'll come to regret?

A comparison of their "wild-harvested" Canadian wild rice with their "Minnesota grown" wild rice suggests to me that their Minnesota wild rice is cultivated. That might account for some of the lower price you see. It appears that they also haven't parched it yet; note the dark hull that they preserve. If you've been buying the hand-parched wild rice before now that may also account for some of the lower price. It appears my preferred source of wild (not cultivated) wild rice, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, doesn't sell by mail, but some of the other Minnesota and Wisconsin sources do. Check out this site: Sources for Hand-Harvested Wild Rice, from the Native Wild Rice Coalition. eta: Actually, the Leech Lake Band provides email contact information, so maybe they will sell by mail. It's worth a try.

"maple syrup aioli"?? Wow.

Ah! One of the benefits of topics like this is that it jogs the memory. My other favorite homemade pasta sauce, which I can make almost without thinking right around the pasta, is Alfredo. Now I know that the proper way to make Pasta Alfredo has been discussed in these forums - with the requisite strongly expressed opinions that "this is the ONLY way to do it". I'm not interested in that discussion. The way I learned it was from the wonderful Lynne Rosetto Kasper, who stated in an episode of her show, The Splendid Table, that "the sexy Roman way is..." and went on to describe making the sauce around the pasta. For 1 pound of cooked, drained pasta you melt a stick (1/4 lb) of butter in the pan and add the pasta. Stir in a cup of cream. Then start throwing in handfuls of shredded parmesan, tossing and stirring the pasta, until it achieves the properly thickened consistency. Season and serve. Here's her writeup of the method, although it doesn't list quantities as she did over the air. I have used that method as the basis for many a pasta dish, by the simple addition of (here are a few examples) sauteed onions, peppers, garlic, asparagus, smoked salmon, shrimp, or chicken. I have saved the pasta water and used it to lengthen the sauce and (sometimes) cut back on the cream slightly. I generally use half-and-half. If someone's interested I'll do a photo series of such a dish. It has been my go-to method since I heard her describe it on her show. And I don't care if she was wrong about its being the "sexy, Roman way" to make Pasta Alfredo; this method is sexy enough for me.

Once again, Amazon has saved me from buying the same book twice.

Nice topic, and a beautiful-looking sauce, weinoo! My pasta sauces have fallen into a don't-have-time-to-think rut that involves Italian sausage, chopped tomatoes (the cherry tomatoes are getting good now), grated cheese and chopped herbs along with whatever else needs using up (peppers, for instance). It's good, but predictable. I'll be watching this topic with interest for ideas.

Bumping this so you can get an answer. I think the last time I looked at a head of cauliflower it ran around $3 (USD) per head. I didn't weigh it, but 620g sounds like approximately the same size. We had quite a discussion a year or two ago about why cauliflower prices at the time had exploded. They seem to have deflated since then.

It was good. I came home with only 2 small pieces left, and I didn't see anyone making faces after they tasted it. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. I had to assemble it there, and there wasn't time to whip out the cell phone. That also looks good! I've saved that recipe. Thanks for the link, and for the new phrase. "Foundered myself" sounds like something my grandmother would have said as well.

With a shout-out to @Shelby for the original post and IP timing here, I made a small Muffuletta Cheesecake from Taste of Home's recipe for a gathering today. I used the 3-quart IP, so made a half-sized cheesecake. I should probably be more careful about taking an untried recipe to a gathering of people I don't know, but hey - what's life without the occasional no-net tightwire walk? I'll report back with a picture and response. FWIW I got distracted during the cooking and, although it was 20 minutes on high, the natural release was on the order of 35 minutes - entirely natural - instead of 10 minutes natural followed by a quick release, as Shelby had done. I hope it doesn't matter.

Welcome, sir! What sort of food do you cook for yourself and Sara? Is she a picky eater, or does she like a lot of foods?

We stick to more or less the same "dull" breakfasts and lunches every day, since I'm disinclined to cook (and clean up) for those meals and we have our easy preferences. For instance, breakfast or brunch is often fruit with toast and avocado (or cheese) for me; fruit salad and Cheerios for him. That said, they have some great-looking dishes for those meals and I've kept on the full plan for the sake of seeing them. The Margherita pita pizza looks like something I'd use for dinner. Thanks for that!

Well now, that rings a bell! Please check out this post by member @Dejah about Deep-fried stuffed avocado, something she first had in Bryan, Texas. The linked post gives a picture; two posts later she gives the recipe.

Has she said anything about what the shrimp was stuffed *into* - like a pepper, a pasta wrapping, a chicken?

@robirdstx, you almost (almost!) make me wish I lived year-round in the southern part of the US again.

What settings and seasonings did you use? Was the final texture tight, or falling apart?

It would be lovely to see some photos and description of your process. I missed this topic the first time around, and now I'm intrigued.

Welcome! Do you cook for yourself regularly? If so, what are your favorite go-to meals?

Do remember that I took liberties. :-) I really don't remember whether I made extra sauce, but it's possible the proportions were off. The surprising thing about the rice was that I could barely taste the cilantro. My darling, who is not a cilantro lover but consented to trying this dish, thought it was good. He couldn't taste the cilantro either! Your dinner, above this post, looks wonderful. I'll have to check out that recipe.

Tonight we had the Citrus-Glazed Shrimp with Cilantro Rice. My life circumstances lately require me to take frequent shortcuts, and one of these shortcuts involves not measuring carefully. By the time I was able to start working on this, I was not in a mood to measure 1/8 tsp of this and 1/4 tsp of that. I estimated. I also didn't have the specified chipotle powder; a red Hatch chile powder was the substitute. I had Mexican limes instead of Persian limes. In other words, I took liberties with this recipe. Liberties or no, I was delighted with it and my darling liked it as soon as he added a dash of White Wine Worcestershire to the sauce. He always likes savory dishes and sauces sweeter than I do, so those Worcestershire-type condiments come in handy. This one's a keeper.