Smithy

chefmd, how did you shave the sprouts? The one time I tried a mandoline it took forever. I don't have a food processory in my current location, and I'm hoping for a "magic bullet" solution - that is, something less labor intensive than hand-slicing with a knife.

This looks gorgeous. I wish I could think of flavor combinations like this when I'm at a loss for dinner and my darling is advocating Polish Sausage and potato salad. Thanks for the inspiration, C!

I may never manage to build/dig/cook over a pit, but I can dream. Where was the temperature measured: at the meat height, or just above the coals?

Thank you, ElsieD! I took the burger recipe above and made it into meatballs, with a couple of adjustments: no lemongrass here, and no Thai bird chilis. I used Mexican lime for the zest, and added a small amount of juice in an attempt to replace the lemongrass. I used Aleppo pepper in place of the chilis. The stuff was very sticky, but I got the meatballs made and set them to chill. I didn't have most of the ingredients you listed for the salad, and wanted something more along the lines of a stir fry to cook these little devils. I sliced/chopped eggplant, red bell pepper, green onion, and the stems and leaves of Swiss chard (don't tell my darling) and some fresh tomato, along with the aromatics of garlic and chopped ginger. I browned the meatballs in vegetable oil, then removed them from the pan while the rest of the items went in: first the eggplant, then the peppers and chard stems, then the onions and chard leaves. The aromatics went in, the meatballs were returned to the pan, and a stir fry sauce (soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, a touch of sugar, and a touch of cornstarch) went in to simmer and thicken for a few minutes. The sauce was too thick, and there wasn't enough, so water was added as needed. Chopped cashews were added for some crunch. Meanwhile, rice was cooking. (Jasmine would have been nice, but I only had basmati.) Dinner was served. The cilantro garnish was optional, and we both opted for a lot of it. We thought this was delicious. The meatballs were slightly overcooked, I think: they could have done with less time in the final simmer, but I'd make this again. He'd eat it again.

We spent time back at the Salton Sea again, and made our semiannual pilgrimage to the Oasis Date Gardens. They've rearranged the store somewhat, and I'd say it was an improvement. Their mascot, Raul Medjool, has been released from exile in the video viewing room. He now greets the visitor who comes in by the main entrance. The tasting table, with varieties of dates to sample, has new signs. One or two date varieties that I bought last year weren't on display, and a couple of new varieties were there. Most of my favorites were still my favorites, but one variety (Khadrawy) didn't seem as good as in past years, and I didn't buy any. The Medjools seemed unusually plump and delicious even for that variety. I bought a pound or two of each of these: The daily special (listed in the sign next to Raul Medjool) looked enticing, but neither of us could pass up their bacon cheeseburger. We like to stock up on dates when we come through, but we had an additional, special reason to get them this time: visitors! @Porthos and his bride drove out to see us while we were camped at the Salton Sea. Intrepid Southern Californians that they are, they thought nothing of driving the couple of hours (each way) rather than our trying to meet halfway somewhere. We had a lovely time. I don't have any actual photos of the appetizers; we were too busy chatting for me to take photos. However, I had set up hummus (store-bought) and crackers, pita chips, and stuffed dates that looked like this: Those on the left are Medjools; those on the right are Honey dates. The Medjools are more conducive to stuffing due to their size. Bless them, Porthos and his DW brought us a host gift: 4 bottles of assorted beer from favorite local breweries. I can't think why I didn't get a picture of the last beer: a stout that was quite nice. I'm not much of a wheat beer fan (that's my darling's favorite) but I love the Hangar 24 label. We visited a few hours, and then they, intrepid drivers that they are, headed back to the L.A. Basin to visit her father. I'll bet that was 8 hours' worth of driving, given where they needed to go next. We were honored to be put into their long route.

Member @weinoo gives some good advice about getting good Hass avocados in this blog post of his. In addition, this topic discusses ways of ripening the lovely fruits..

@Shelby, that isn't a derailment at all! I hope you do try it again, and report on it. I just added a bunch of bulk foods to the trailer for baking experiments, and rice flour is not among them, so my attempts will have to wait a while. As much as I love the ocean and my extended family, it was a relief to move away from the coast, into less populated land. I had a photo sequence of the changing scenery: from the very green (this winter) hills to the drier, more brown interior hills, then over very dry brown hills, until we came into the San Joaquin Valley with its irrigated fields. Somehow those photos have been purged. It never fails to thrill me, though, when we get close enough to see the Sierra Nevada on the eastern side of that valley. This winter, the snowpack made them stand out more clearly than they have for several years. We stayed again with the friends who are buying my parents' ranch. I was concerned that this new trailer would not fit into the usual space, but there was space after all. That allowed time to visit them (and other friends) and take care of some business in the area. We also had time for bicycling when the weather was warm enough to do so. Look! Roses in winter! Once upon a time I took that in stride; now, after many years of living in Minnesota, I think it's extraordinary. Our first night's just-the-two-of-us dinner was a celebration of not being hemmed in, and of being able to putter in the kitchen without any particular schedule. Nonetheless it was a simple dinner: skillet-fry of sausages and vegetables we'd picked up at the grocery store. We wandered the groves freely and ate our fill of oranges. I went on a baking binge and made sourdough rosemary loaves for all of our friends, as a Christmas/thank you present. Then I made a batch of pita. It's such fun, watching that stuff puff up, and we love to eat it. Still, this is a lot of bread for 2 people: The problem with freezing it is that it dries out. Why hadn't I made a half-batch? Lack of foresight, I suppose. I decided to seal half of it using the Foodsaver, then freeze it. That was fun too, but I don't recommend it as a way to save pita bread. I finally opened that package last week; some of the bread bits were permanently stuck together. It became pita chips. Our friends gave us olives that will make an appearance later, and a 5-pound box of walnuts! Those will also appear later. We filled two coolers with oranges, minneolas, satsumas, lemons and Mexican limes, all carefully cleaned to eliminate bugs: enough to last us for a while, but never seeming enough, given how much I love to cook with and eat citrus. We're nearing the end and I'll miss it when it's gone. It's never as good coming from the grocery store.

That is indeed the Beach Burger we visited, and I recommend it. I'm ashamed to say that I don't remember analyzing the bun or registering anything unusual about it (there go my eG credentials ) except that it was a tender and delicious compliment to the rest of the burger. Based on your links, however, I think it probably was a Dutch crunch bun. Thanks for those links. I may try to make something like that. I like the British take on it: never mind calling it a tiger bread; call it a giraffe bread instead!

Since you know the freeways there so well, and may be wondering about the rail line, I should clarify that the semi flipped onto the rails in the San Fernando Valley, farther east than this photo. You have much more experience with the expansion of freeways there than I, but even I have seen changes: for instance, the Foothill Freeway was nonexistent when I lived in the area. Pismo is indeed popular! The parks are fairly crowded around Christmas, but they really start to jam up between Christmas and New Year's Day. My sister and I went for a long beach walk one afternoon. When we left, our trailer had been well-separated from the rest, with half a dozen empty slots to either side. When we came back, we were surrounded: a family reunion, 4 generations' worth, had come over from Tulare, a couple of hundred miles away and very close to our next stop. They were very nice, invited us over for food and drinks, and made sure we knew to tell them if they got too noisy. They never gave us cause for complaint; even their boisterous and playful children were polite and considerate of us. It was startling, however, to hear a trailer door slam just outside and realize it wasn't ours. It was amusing to look out another window and see little heads bobbing up and down as children jumped on their beds. When my father was a toddler, his family and friends camped at Pismo fairly often, when it was considerably less developed than it is now. The tents are long gone, but I still have some of that cookware.

My cousins, who have become the social hub of our extended family, live in the coastal hills and have a grand view of the surrounding hills, the Pacific Ocean, and (of interest to the 3 pilots in our family) far off, the beacon of the Oceano Airport. They have the dishes and linens, space and time to use them, and inclination to host large dinner gatherings. Their sense of style is uncluttered - something to which I sometimes aspire but am not likely to achieve in this lifetime. It's a pleasure to visit their house, and a pleasure to spend time with them. As we've aged, health considerations have complicated meal planning. One person has Crohn's Disease and is gluten-intolerant to boot; another is diabetic; some of us like wine and others won't touch it. Dinner offered a broad selection to make sure there was something for everyone: prime rib cooked on the grill, salmon cooked after that; a selection of vegetables and potatoes and pilaf and salad. I brought the bread. I've made friends with the oven in my trailer...although during this baking session I unwisely left my bowl scraper over the oven vent. I'm still trying to find a replacement. We talked about adventures and developments in our lives; hopes for the future; and told stories on ourselves and each other. And we ate, and complimented, and ate, and groaned, and walked, and celebrated our good fortune in being together. There were, predictably, topics that we avoided over dinner. We had time to discuss them later, when the sharp objects had been removed.

Once again, the time machine is needed. We've been having mechanical and electrical issues that have curtailed my computer time and battery power. I think they're resolved now. So, it's time for a visit to the past, to our holiday season. At home, we have Christmas ornaments and Christmas dishes and, most years, the sort of weather that makes for a white Christmas. We haven't used those decorations for years, because we've been visiting family far away instead. I bring along a small trove of ornaments, wall hangings and table linens for the season. Sometime in mid-December, I took the time to pull out the decorations and get the trailer dolled up for the season. I also cleared out oddball foodstuffs from the refrigerator that I didn't expect to be using for family visits. When all else fails and you can't think of a reason to use the seeds, drink the pomegranate juice. It's delicious. We had a final just-the-two-of-us dinner - I forget what, now - before driving into more congested areas. There are very, very few reasons for us to drive into the L.A. Basin with our rig, particularly in these conditions: Maybe, by now, there's only ONE reason we would do this. That dear reason turned 96 on Midwinter's Day, and is still mentally and physically sound. We went to help celebrate her birthday and share the Christmas spirit with a feast and music. She invited friends over for a very nice dinner of baked salmon, steamed vegetables, pilaf, and decadent desserts. The desserts surprised me: a massive pumpkin pie and a massive, rich, creamy cheesecake from Costco that was the Platonic ideal of cheesecake goodness. I like cheesecake well enough, but had never known just how good one can be. That was one surprise. The larger surprise was that she had chosen such sweets at all. She has been an athlete all her life, and has rarely indulged in desserts beyond frozen yogurt or a cookie. I wish I had a picture of the food. The salmon filets had been marinated in lemon, then placed in a baking pan and sprinkled with crushed corn flakes and a touch of margarine. It was delicious. I've tried to replicate it since then with some success. Next time I try, I'll take a photo. The next day, after breakfast, we again braved the L.A. traffic as we headed westward. The deluge continued. It isn't clear from this photo, but traffic crawled for miles. It came clear that an obstruction of some sort was ahead. We finally arrived at it: nothing in our direction of travel, but the eastbound lanes were well and truly stuck: a semi had somehow flipped over, onto the railroad tracks between the eastbound and westbound lanes. After we passed the mess we saw that the eastbound lanes were halted for a good 12 miles. Eventually we drove out of the rain, out of the traffic, and up the coast. We passed beautiful farm fields in Ventura County, and I mentally waved in the direction of @blue_dolphin as we went through. I seem to have lost the photos from that trip, but eventually we arrived and set up camp in the parking lot RV campground that would be our home for the next week. It's conveniently close to Pismo Beach, which has lovely walking and surf and people-watching. My sister stayed with us for this family visit, and we learned that the garage/dining room/spare bedroom of this trailer isn't really practical for adult sleeping arrangements. Instead, the overhead bunk bed (suitable for children adept at managing ladders) held her gear and served as a head-basher for everyone who stood up too quickly from the dining table! The three of us walked, more than once, to a burger joint close to the beach and to our campground. These fat, juicy burgers were drippy and delicious. Some of the customers' comment cards remain on display.

That kitchen looks gorgeous, and looks like it will be a pleasure for cooking and visiting. Congratulations, @gfweb!

@kayb, that delicious-looking meal would put me into a very happy stupor. I doubt I'd wake up for dinner.

I have some ground turkey that was destined to become burgers, but in light of this topic I'm leaning toward making meatballs with it instead. What would be a good seasoning combination? One idea is a bit of olive oil, ginger, citrus (orange peel? lime?), cumin, and...what else?...in the meatballs. Then serve them over rice, with some sort of sauce. Ideas welcome!

FWIW I thought I was a member of the target audience when I enrolled and began the course. I've been asking myself the same question about what's different this time around. I think, in my case, it's a combination of factors, including but not limited to: Perhaps there isn't enough new material this time around, and I find myself reluctant to repeat work I already did; In my current circumstances, electricity is very limited and I'm unwilling to devote the necessary battery power to doing the coursework and videos; For a variety of reasons, undivided attention is also at a premium. I'm very glad to read this!

I haven't made the time to keep up with the class. I loved the class the first time through, had a wonderful time and learned a lot, but this time around I find myself less compelled to do the work. Add me to the "I hate to say it, but..." group.

Welcome! This is a good place to tell us a bit about yourself. What sorts of food do you like? Do you do your own cooking? In what part of the world do you live? Come browse the forums, and join the fun!

@Mike Forman, you're certainly getting a lot of advice here. Please let us know what you end(ed) up doing, and how you like(d) the results.

Welcome, E.J! We have a fair number of people here with restaurant experience, both front of house and back. You may find the Restaurant Life forum to be particularly interesting. My experience is limited to line cook at a burger joint, many years ago before I knew anything about cooking, so I can't do much more than welcome you. Take a look around, join the fun - and if you have questions about where to find things, feel free to ask a host or post a question in the Moderation and Policy Discussion forum.

This is a wonderful vicarious tour; your photos are very evocative. I love Indian food, and yet have barely scratched the surface of making it for myself. The food here may inspire me to get with the program! I don't suppose there was explanation of the grinders? I'm intrigued by the different sizes and wonder about their different purposes. Can you remember whether the middle one has a very shallow depression, or is it flat for rolling, say, breads? Like rotuts, I want to know more about those bins' content! It reminds me to things I'd see in the Cairo spice markets. Bins of spices shared shelves with bins of hair pigment and, for all I know, more noxious substances.

I think the crunch in breadcrumbs may come more from the browning of sugars and the dehydration under heat than from fats, but I may be mistaken. Are nuts out? Otherwise, you might consider a light sprinkle of crushed nuts atop a dish for some crunch. I wonder about citrus juice as a marinade or a poaching/baking liquid. Lately I've been using orange juice (in my case tweaked with some lemon) as the foundation for the braising sauce or marinade for various meats and vegetables. This favorite recipe gives an idea of what I'm talking about: Citrus-Marinated Roast Chicken, from Fine Cooking. You'd need to adapt it to reduce the fat (at least), but it may give you some ideas. I can promise you that the resulting sauce is not tart, but quite flavorful. What about drizzling pomegranate juice or maple syrup over poultry before cooking, for a touch of different flavor? Would using a different poultry - turkey is easiest to find - expand your options? I don't have a specific fish recipe that's foolproof to your tastes, but you might consider poaching fish in broth or wine instead of marinating it then searing. Poaching is a bit easier for the timing. You mentioned rice and noodles. What about pototoes cooked in broth instead of oil or dairy?

Thanks for the explanation about the vibrating table. I suspected the jokes, but I still wanted to know the process - and now I do!

I echo the fish question. Can you have smoked salmon, or even unsmoked salmon? That's something I'd cheerfully live on for a time. What about shellfish? Grilled or poached shrimp, for instance?

There are multiple ways of sorting roundish objects by size: pass them through a series of screens or sieves with successively larger holes, or pass them over rollers with successively greater gaps between them. I don't know how it's done with capers, but with oranges the smallest fall through the first set of rollers and are directed to one packing line; the remainder go over another set of rollers with a larger space that allows the next size set through, and so on. So far all I've learned about caper handling is that they're so tender they must be hand-picked. I hope someone who knows the packing side of it will weigh in.

Welcome! I see you've already discovered the Spirits & Cocktails forum, where you should find a lot of like-minded people. Come on in and join the fun!