Smithy

Truth to tell, now that I've seen the images in that blog, I'm not sure how my mother served it! It makes sense in some ways to have the poofy (broad) side up. My clearest memories are of slices on their sides, on dessert plates. Thanks for the education.

The odd, dark meaty juice that appears in the bag when sous-viding meat. It isn't the light golden or dark golden color one would get if, say, roasting or poaching.

I confess: I don't think I've ever seen an angel food or Bundt cake served where the widest part - the part that never contacted the pan - was up. Is that what you mean, @Kim Shook? If so, I'd love to see a picture of it when it's finished. It sounds ... unstable-looking ... to me. Must be a failure of imagination on my part. By the way, i am delighted to see you back and posting again! Edited to add: @cakewalk, the question goes to you, too. I'd like to see what that looks like.

When you get a chance, would you please elaborate on the "egg things that are popular on sous vide right now"? A link, or a general discussion would be helpful for the next time I have an opportunity to play with that toy.

Welcome, Chef Margie! As you see, this is a friendly bunch of people, ranging from food enthusiasts to professionals. Come on in, check the place out, and make yourself at home. If you have any questions about where to find something or how to use the forums, feel free to ask a host by PM (Personal Messenger) or ask publicly in the Moderation and Policy Discussion forum. Keep on working on those dreams!

@Paul Fink, have you checked with Surdyk's? I haven't been there in a few years, but they used to have an excellent selection of cheeses.

Cauliflower? Broccoli? Corn, beans, chard? Canneli Beans? Cardamom Bread?

Polite soul that you are, I suspect that you are deliberately not citing the recipe. Are you willing to say what you didn't like about the results? Were the seasonings unusual?

Smoked Porter sounds excellent. I like some stouts as well. We opened one last night that I'd intended to save for an as-yet-undetermined cooking project. It was pretty good. It didn't last until dinner, so I can't comment on how well it would have complimented this variant on Chicken Cordon Bleu.

Those are amusing labels! As you surmised, I'd never heard of a Shawinigan Handshake before. Thanks for the additional links.

We just closed the back gate of our little home, for the 3rd or 4th time in 2 weeks, to improve our wind and storm protection and eliminate some drafts. Just over the mountains and along the coast, parts of Southern California are under flash flood warnings. After my last post I got busy with holiday plans and interactions, and we've moved many times. We've gone round in a circle and are now just at the perimeter of the Southern California storms. Along the way I took photos, made notes, and failed to post anything. (I also failed to send Christmas cards, so there you go.) I've decided to take a page from the Quentin Tarantino School of Narrative. Who needs linear storytelling? It's stormy right now, but I can cast my mind back to a happier season - only a month ago! - and bring you along. Prepare for some jumps. We shopped at a large and delightful grocery store last week (Stater Bros) and quite forgot to take any photos. They have an impressive butcher counter - I think high-quality meat was how they got their start - including a broad variety of in-house sausages. We stocked up on items that we'd exhausted, perishable fruits and vegetables, and luxury meats such as salmon, various sausages, and chicken. Tonight's dinner will involve boneless skinless chicken breast and green beans from that trip. I'll post photos of it later, but probably much later. This is a nonlinear story. Two days ago it was all about comfort food. I had some leftover salmon that became a salmon salad. Part of it went on toast, with capers, in a nod to @blue_dolphin's breakfast of the same day. My darling opted for his own comfort food: leftover hash from the previous night's dinner. We had fresh juice from navel oranges and minneola tangelos. It was a blustery day, full of wind, and the lake was roiled. We turned off the radio and went for a drive to check out another possible camping area. By the time we came back, the skies had opened up and the low points in the roads were flooding. We were rewarded during a break in the storm by a full double rainbow. This is an excerpt. I'm sorry the double bow isn't more clear. Our trailer was fine, but the camp road was muddy; traffic cones had been placed a little beyond us to discourage people from driving farther. That night, it was about comfort food and beer. We had purchased a Caprese Italian Sausage at Stater Bros - they said it was a New York style Italian sausage, but were not specific about the seasonings. The sausages were plenty spicy but the seasonings seemed more complex and less hot than with standard hot Italian sausage: perhaps a bit less red pepper and a bit more black, or even white pepper? A touch of mace, perhaps? The fennel was less pronounced than we usually expect, and seemed nicely balanced. Those sausages, a bunch of chard, onions, and garlic all went into a one-pot creamy Pasta Alfredo meal. We also tried a new beer. This one was strong and bitter, and sported the words "You are not worthy". It was worthy of the dinner. Next up: dates from yesterday? Or Christmas preparations from last month? I'll flip a coin.

@gfweb, that floor IS gorgeous! One concern I have is how slick it will be for humans if water is spilled. One of my cousins hit a wet patch on her highly polished wood floor, went down hard, narrowly missed the kitchen counter with her head. I think she still had a concussion. They scuffed the surface after that for safety's sake. I'd hate to see you take such drastic action, but I hope you're addressing safety somehow. Edit: the stone wall with the wooden floor is an exceptionally fine pairing.

I'm quoting this part of your post to remind people of the question, in hopes someone has an answer. I have not found such a listing of video length. Last time around (and this time so far) I used the progress strip across the top of each page to track my progress, but that still begs the question of video length. Has anyone else found a listing of the videos and their lengths? Is there a way to find such a listing on YouTube?

I don't remember whether your oven is gas or electric. Mine (at home) is electric. I was unpleasantly surprised to learn that it significantly overshoots the target temperature when preheating, then cycles wildly when it is supposed to be at the set temperature. That alone was a valuable lesson from this particular lab, but it took a while to figure out why the sugar was melting at such unexpected temperatures!

PChem at any hour was rough. 08:00 would have been the worst! I will say, however, that this course's review of pH, moles and concentrations helped clarify and consolidate knowledge that I had barely understood before.

You posted this topic just after we'd refilled the trailer freezer on a shopping expedition. If I join you on this challenge, I might - just might - have the darned freezer empty by May. Whether I'll join you remains to be seen, but I'll be following along with interest! Re barley: I'd forgotten all about how much I used to love beef barley soup. Thanks for the reminder!

It's nice to see you back here AND cooking again, Kim! My mother always loved her electric skillet. She let it go when she and Dad downsized into a tiny apartment, and neither my sister nor I wanted it. Sometimes I think that was a mistake. Your chicken looks wonderful.

How did you like the texture and doneness of the salmon, @mgaretz? I'm always on the alert for more ways to do salmon - my favorite fish, but not my darling's unless it's done certain ways.

I know there's a discussion forum associated with the class, but I thought it was clunky and difficult to follow the first time around. I wonder whether a discussion topic here would help us all. What do you think?

It started today. First lesson is up!

I think the idea of the glass floor allowing a view of the cellar with its various growth and processing areas is wonderful, but some guests may not. Will you have an alternative - an opaque walkway, for instance - for those who dislike heights or who might feel indecently exposed if a worker is below?

Slight change of direction from a water miser here...are you generally able to reuse that water? In my current situation (no dishwasher) I'm using the SV water to wash dishes. When I get home again I plan to use it for those items that must be handwashed, except when I'm planning to use the SV setup for several nights running. This has little to do with how much water you need to shift and a lot to do with how much counter space you have, but I know you and I have both been looking for water-saving tricks.

Did you use any sort of cover? I've been using (and reusing, and reusing...) plastic wrap for a cover with reasonable success, but perhaps not as long as you were doing. I'm also keeping an eye out for a large silicone cover that I can custom cut to allow space for the circulator. This one and the largest in this set are examples. I'm not willing to buy a new one for the purpose, but I think they're likely to start turning up in thrift stores any time now. Inveterate thrift-store shopper that you are, you're likely to find one before I do.

Oddly enough, the supports for the glass platter that allow it to rotate freely seem rarely to be interchangeable. Some are spindles, some are rings with plastic wheels; even the ring-and-wheel setups seem to be of a different diameter. If your microwave dies and you have room for those odds and ends, save the support as well as the glass platter in case you, er, overcook the support in your next oven. (It's possible in a combination convection/microwave oven *ahem*. I don't know whether it can happen in a microwave-only oven.)

I have a bowl of that design; I think it's made from acacia. It's one of my favorites...doubly so because it was a gift from my parents. I happen to know that the price was quite a bit more than $3.59. Nice finds, @Porthos!