Smithy

I chose expedience in Getting A Package Out Of The Pantry yesterday, and used the Instant Pot to cook an entire package of RG Royal Corona beans. They were at least a couple of years old, and probably deserved something more careful than I did. Seasoning, for instance! But no. I put those beans into my 6-quart pot, added enough water to cover them plus about 2", pressure cooked for 25 minutes, allowed natural release. Decided when I opened them that they weren't done enough, so I just relocked the IP and used the same cycle. This time they were cooked, maybe a little overcooked. But they're soft, and who cares if some split? Now I have all those beans to eat. These beans are huge, and each bite carries a lot of bean flavor. Unfortunately, it's bland. This morning, for breakfast, I plopped some onto toast, mashed them, nuked them, and sprinkled the warm assembly with feta cheese crumbs. First lesson: that spread was dry. Second lesson: nuking a heel of toasted whole wheat bread guarantees tough bread. It wasn't even edible using a knife and fork! I ate the spread, ditched the bread, then started again. Nuked some beans, sprinkled with feta afterward, then dressed the whole assembly with part of a sardine and its oil. Better, but still not wonderful. I need to make plans for the rest of these beans. I've reviewed enough of this topic to re-find the bean confit recipe here. I'll try that with some of them. What else can I do with them? Who has some good uses for giant white beans that were cooked to softness with no seasoning?

That's the way it looks in the photo.

Oh no, @rotuts, I find appliances in other countries to be fascinating. My first trip to The British Isles, and then continental Europe, was quite the eye-opener. Here's hoping that one of our Australian connections can shed some light on you question about the stove. @haresfur? @Captain?

I wonder if that might be a wok ring atop that particular burner. My best friend's gas stove has one. The configuration is different, but maybe a flat-bottomed pan atop the wok ring would look like that.

By the way, what sort of humongous fish is that in your profile photo? Looks like a nice catch. I'm looking forward to reading about your fish preparations!

Thanks for that! I enjoyed reading the history of the restaurant and the area. I was surprised to read that anchovies weren't part of the original. I'm going to have to try making Caesar Salad for myself sometime soon, after company leaves. One thing, though: it may not be as showy as the original, but I'll probably chop that lettuce into smaller pieces before tossing. Is that heresy? 😉

What sort of preparations do you have to make, and how soon do you make them? I'm thinking about storm shutters, but maybe not in an RV park? Do you advise your guests to leave? How far inland and how quickly would people have to move in an evacuation? Do you have water stored, a standby generator or three? What, if anything, can you do with your garden? Is there anything left of fresh produce, sandwich fixings, bread etc. (food that doesn't need to be cooked) in the aisles of the local HEB?

They certainly look good. Did you have ingredients aside from the pureed fruit? Dairy, for instance? I haven't put my CreamI back in action yet but may get around to it this summer.

I missed that when Kerry first posted the link, so thanks for the quote! Gotta admit I thought the "pizza" they showed looked pretty puny, but there are some interesting ideas there. Hmm, I might even get adventuresome and try the omelette idea. When I don't have company, that is.

Welcome, @TX Salt Life! Prior to Hurrican Harvey, my husband and I spent happy times camped on the Bolivar Peninsula, just north of Rollover Pass; and also on Goose Island State Park near where you live. Those were fun times. We hated to read about the devastation at the state parks and the private resorts. Here's hoping Beryl gives you a miss. We particularly enjoyed buying seafood at the local shops and figuring out what to do with it. His preferred method of dealing with almost anything was to fry it -- but there's so much more to do than that! I'm fond of shrimp with pasta, for instance. And the oysters! Oh, yum. Your gatherings with guests for communal cooking sound fun, and I hope you'll say more about that. Lime curd and lemon curd are familiar and delicious to me, but I hope you'll post about watermelon jam -- either here or in one of the continually open topics. Here are some you may especially enjoy: What are you preserving, and how are you doing it? Gardening: (2016-) If you have any questions about how the forums work or where to post something, feel free to ask a host (I am one).

I just found a package of corn tortillas in the freezer. Does it work with corn tortillas as well as flour tortillas?

Well c'mon, show it off and strut your stuff!

How hard are those "thorns"? Sturdy enough to poke a hole in you if you fell on one? I've never seen a durian in person, but from photos they remind me of hedgehogs. Or sea urchins.

@Ann_T, meatballs are such a pain to make but when I see yours I can imagine maybe going to trouble again sometime. Nice job!

That's exactly how I got mine, for $8. Unused as far as I could tell. I've fixed that!

This article from allrecipes.com came through my newsfeed this morning: Cook Anywhere You Want With the Best Portable Induction Cooktops It seems to be a pretty nice rundown of portable induction cooktops that are currently available at relatively low cost. (They mention the Breville Control Freak as the ne plus ultra, but exclude it from these reviews due to its price.) Here's the curious thing about the review, though: in every case they complain that they couldn't get water to boil at 212F; it sat at a rolling boil at around 210F. I wanted to shake them, or at least write and ask about their methods. What elevation were they at? At what depth did they measure the temperature in that pot of water? (I assume it was for the pot of pasta water they were boiling.) Did they try it with lid on and off? So, my questions: 1. Is anyone here a member of allrecipes.com with the inclination to write and ask them about their methodology? 2. Does anyone here feel like testing their induction cooktop's water-boiling ability to see what temperature it reaches? 3. They imply that the water temperature would be more critical in a restaurant. I think basic physics stands in their way. Am I missing something?

I'd love to become an eG enabler. 😉 Seriously, this thing is perfectly matching my lifestyle right now. It's easy and quick, and allows me to mix and match ingredients. The same can be said of salads (and often is, around this household) but sometimes I prefer the heat and the textural contrasts that a grilled sandwich provides.

Another "panini press saves the day" sort of dinner. I've had portabella caps and a red bell pepper since, well, sometime before June 14. Life Got In The Way. Tonight I went to press the mushroom caps and discovered that mold had already gotten to them. (The local bears will enjoy them, I'm sure.) The pepper was getting a bit shriveled but still okay, so I cored it, quartered and pressed it. Then I used two of those slices along with chunks of cheddar cheese, slices of smoked turkey and pepperoni, all encased in whole wheat bread with generous amounts of mayo and mustard inside and butter outside. After the grilling, I added chunks of lettuce and sauerkraut. I know of folks on this forum who like to let the bread shine if it's good bread, and not make for multi-layered sandwiches. Trust me, this is good bread...but an excellent sandwich. And an easy dinner. Move over, Dagwood!

Those are beautiful! I'd love to see them in action, if you don't mind. Show us some of your results, and if you have favorite recipes that you can share by link -- or at least describe -- that would be great too. I think I'd be in serious trouble if I lived near a Le Creuset outlet. The kitchen's already pretty crowded. 😉

Although this is true, eG still has this guideline regarding Decorum and Topicality: The points have been made; the says have been said; and I too am sorry I never had a chance to eat there. Good luck to you, Rob, in your next venture.

Most dinners here are wonderfully photogenic and tempting-looking. I wonder, sometimes, how many members might be shy of posting for fear of ridicule. Well, bring it on. I'm tired, I'm coming down with a cold, and my life is topsy-turvy right now...but I still get hungry and need to eat. Tonight's dinner: Last week's asparagus, cut into pieces and nuked, with a sprinkling of feta cheese chunks. Bits of butter and mayonnaise (the last remains of 2 packages) tossed in to melt. A hard-boiled egg, barely chunked up then heated in the final microwave pass. A travesty? One might say so. Or one might say "easy, filling, and light on the dishwashing." Tastes pretty good, too. I refuse to put this in The Gallery of Regrettable Foods, although perhaps it belongs there.

We dealt with the strength issue by judicious slicing (so we weren't trying to push, say, an entire potato through at once) but that may be too peevesome for some people. My husband thought it perfect; I used knives mostly although I found the chopper quite useful for some purposes. As for sharpening: in years of use, I've never found the need to do so.

Irish Potatoes are quite easy to cut with the alligator-style chopper (I too have a Vidalia chop wizard, but of course there are knock-offs). You do have to slice them crosswise first, to the thickness you want, but the choper requires little pressure. i haven't tried squash but as noted above some varieties at least would lend themselves to this machine. I also can't comment on sweet potatoes with this gadget.

I have two: one for the house, and one for the Princessmobile. Whereas I leaned toward hand-slicing and dicing, my darling preferred the security of having the diced product contained, even though it meant cutting things into smaller bits first. He didn't think he had the knife skills for dicing. Elaboration: Our alligator chopper, an original Vidalia chopping wizard, has too small a chopping area to allow an entire onion at once. I usually cut onions into quarters or eighths, depending on onion size, before proceeding. The potatoes require slicing before being pushed through the grid, but (a) an entire potato slice, if done latitudinally, will fit the grid area. (b) Furthermore -- and this was a surprise when we tested -- the potatoes cleaned the onion fibers from the chopping grid. The procedure became: chop onions first, and make more than needed for the night's recipe. Then chop the potatoes. Cleanup was much easier.

I don't know (I really don't) about cornstarch, but I think gelatin would work well for that purpose.