Smithy

Oh, I have no doubt it is intended to mean that, but it tickled my funny bone.

I predict that you'll become a sauerkraut convert, like me, and never look back at the store stuff!

Neat! Please tell more about that mini pita oven. How is it used? I'm used to putting my rounds directly onto a hot surface, but would expect it to stick to a grate. If the grate stays on top I'd expect less than perfect heat transfer. Clearly, I'm about to learn something here.

Over on the Lunch! topic, a side discussion about pita has begun. In this post, @shain stated regarding making pita in a home oven: I'd like to explore this topic further. Perhaps someone here has (or can develop) a recipe that fits this bill. For starters, it looks to me as though this is a higher hydration dough, possibly with honey or whole wheat to get the browner color. @shain, can you tell whether this the case with regard to sweeteners or flour? Could it be a sourdough pita? Some of my pitas have a looser crumb than other batches, but I can't find any pictures for comparison.

Following up on my own post: that lemony tahini dressing that was "quite nice" on May 29 has gotten rather tiresome by now. I'm almost finished with the 1-cup batch I made. As it's aged (stored in the refrigerator) the sesame has become more pronounced and the lemon less so. Even after it's come up to room temperature it's stiff enough to require a spoon. It wasn't like that the first day. I still plan to try the Serendipity version next time around. Has anyone else tried it? @Thanks for the Crepes, how are your experiments going?

'Restrains condiments', eh? Sounds like a funny translation. I have visions of the pasta rising out of its bowl and shreiking, "Don't bring that catsup bottle near me!" In Italian. Next time I'm at the right end of town, I'll check our Italian market and see what they carry.

Shelby, You Are An Enabler.

Thanks for all that information, @btbyrd - your history as well as the look at the Joule. Hmm.

If you don't eat it all, how well does it keep?

Thanks for those answers. I think I can wait for a sale, especially in light of a possible Father's Day sale. If it happens, would it be through Amazon, Anova, or both?

Gorgeous, gfron1! I wish I could be there for that party and cake.

So...I know Shelby has moved on to the 'regular' sous vide topics. What about other 'newbies' who posted earlier, or who have been lurking along? Has anyone bought a circulator and wished they'd gotten a different brand - say, bought a Gourmia and wished they'd held out for an Anova? Has anyone bought a circulator, played with it and then set it aside and wished they hadn't spent the money? I have an Anova loaded in my Amazon cart, and haven't decided yet whether to pull the trigger, wait for a sale, or stick to my current bunch of toys.

My oven thermometer says that 440 - 450F, with a baking stone, is hot enough to get a good, puffy pita. (I've done it on stovetop too, but I seem to get more reliable results using an oven.) Here are some discussions about making pita: Perfect khoubz (Pita Bread) - getting a good puff The pocket in pita

Welcome, Spork! It's nice to see a lurker come out of the shadows. You'll find, if you haven't already seen it, that eGullet folks liike to help each other learn. C'mon in, look around and join the fun. I see you're already playing with the post editor. Cool! If you have technical questions about how to use the software or where to post a particular topic, feel free to ask in the Moderation and Policy Discussion forum, or ask a host (I am one) by PM (Personal Messenger). What's in the spoon, above? Are there particular foods or cooking methods that you've been exploring lately?

One of the things I enjoy about topics like this is the range of ideas that inspire me: from simple, like many of the salads that turn up here, to the head-slap 'why didn't I think of that' of roasted oysters with Tabasco lime butter. @liamsaunt, that chocolate mousse looks like it was scoop-rolled from double layers. What was the white layer?

Wild thought here, in light of Lisa's comments on cocoa fat and on spice concentration: suppose you used mesquite flour in place of some of that spice? No fat that I know, and a spicy flavor, but AFAIK not hazardous in concentrations like the spices she noted.

Very interesting! I didn't realize that Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese (and certain others) could not include milk from cows that had been fed fermented silage. Interesting that silage produces a couple of unique fatty acids that can be a good 'adulteration' marker.

Returning to your original question: I wonder whether it's actually a different plastic than most, instead of something with a surface coating. The phrase 'poly board' doesn't actually say much, from a chemical perspective. Does it seem unusually light or heavy for its size? Is it particularly hard in addition to being slippery? I once had a cutting board made of polystyrene (I think); it was almost glassy in its transparency, hardness and slipperiness, and quite different from the standard polypropylene cutting boards. (I finally decided it was a lousy cutting board and repurposed it as something like a surface protector so I could put a potted plant on a wood surface.)

@huiray, that salad looks delicious. I'm so glad to see high-quality canned tuna - in olive oil - in use instead of water-packed cheap stuff. There's a world of difference. @Sparren, that looks delicious and unwieldy. I have a question about the name. It surely isn't called a bookmaker's breakfast because someone will fold it like a book? Is it a betting breakfast?

Why I don't think of fish cakes more often is beyond me. Fish cakes and crab cakes are so good, and we have access to fish that would lend itself well to that treatment. Thanks for the reminder, @Paul Bacino. @Shelby, you crack me up: leftover gravy led to those elaborate sandwiches! It's better than what I usually do, though: if I have some leftover sauce that I want to use, I frequently end up making too much of the new thing for the available sauce...so I have a different set of leftovers. It's difficult to make it come out even.

Nice! Thanks for letting us know the result. I'm glad you kept it. I hope to see photos of it in, oh, the Dinner topic?

That's the spirit! Take one for the team! (then another, and another...) Incidentally, my first thought at the photo was jam instead of chocolate sauce. If you like, oh, say, rhubarb or blackberry jam and have some available, you may find yourself needing to make more ice cream after this batch of hot fudge runs out.

About that stripe: do you suppose that dental floss, or perhaps the wider flatter dental tape, would work as the food-safe thing you lay in the mold before painting the first layer?

All the fried food in that post looks done to perfection: crispy and golden, not too dark. I can almost taste the crunch from here.

I can't decide whether I like the ladybugs or the hedgehogs better. Both are adorable!