Smithy

It seems to me that good scallops are a bit on the sweet side. I love it when I can get them fresh and fairly dry. Yours look nicely seared and cooked perfectly.

@shain, I rarely bake sweets but I would like to add that lemon-mandarin pound cake to my repertoire; it looks like just the thing for my next dinner party. Is that a recipe you can share?

It sounds like you've already sent it in, so the discussion is moot, but I would also have said "go for it". The essays didn't strike me as especially daunting; on the other hand, I missed those 'glaring concerns' that Shalmanese caught, so his eye seems better than mine. Do please keep informing us to the extent that you can. This is a fascinating process.

I had quite forgotten this topic, @Rebel Rose. Thanks for bringing it back up. I happen to be in southwestern USA desert at present, and am likely to have opportunities to draw inspiration here.

I'd never seen one like this, either. I may have to try one - at $9.99 (I didn't check shipping costs) it looks worth trying.

@HungryChris, how do you reheat your home fries? Is the texture the same after reheating as when fresh out of the pan?

Chicken Enchilada Pasta sounds a bit like cognitive dissonance to me, @ElsieD. It looks good. Did you like it enough to make it again? What were the ingredients?

I see what you mean about the difference. I use King Arthur unbleached bread flour, but its protein content is stated as 12.7%. That 0.7% difference may not seem like much, but combined with technique and hydration differences it might be huge.

What can you tell us about this flour? For instance, what's the protein content?

I did a loose version of this recipe a couple of weeks ago and liked it: Spicy Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini, from Saveur.com. I had a couple of quibbles with the recipe: the leaves didn't come out well enough to justify leaving them in, but then I cut the cauliflower into 8ths instead of quarters and may have messed things up there. The salt can be omitted. The tahini, according to my jar, has 25 mg sodium for 2 Tbsp. I plan to keep tweaking this and put it into regular rotation. Your sliced zucchini and yellow squash treatment makes me wonder about winter squash treatments. They may not be very low-carb, but they can be low-sodium and savory. Have you checked out the eG Cookoff #71: Winter Squash topic?

It's funny about Mexican food. My sister, mother and I grew up hating it, whereas my father liked it a lot. Somewhere along the line I developed a taste for it - a strong taste - and after that, whenever I visited my parents Dad and I would go out for our "Mexican fix". My mother never changed her opinion of the flavors and textures, and so far my sister is just as averse. Maybe there are other cuisines that are (a) considered monolithic when they aren't and (b) evoke strong antipathy to the perceived monolith, but offhand I can't think of one. ("Chinese" used to be considered monolithic but I think we're collectively past that even though some of us may be ignorant of anything beyond Szechuan vs. Cantonese.) Anyway, good on you for trying.

Too bad about the misunderstanding, but look at it this way: with a sherry vinegar you need not worry about serving your prized salad and dressing to someone who wants to avoid alcohol. I think I'd start with a nice vinaigrette based on a nut oil (walnut?) and a sherry vinegar. I seem to recall having good results with that combination in the past, although it's been a while.

This recipe from Fine Cooking is a favorite: Citrus-Marinated Roasted Chicken. I've posted about it here (with the finished product here), and several others have done so as well. @Darienne comes to mind as one; maybe she can find some of her posts. At any rate, the marinade includes soy sauce but I think you could reduce or eliminate the soy and still have an excellent meal. Does this sort of thing appeal to you? What about pastas stuffed or tossed with vegetables? I'd hate to do without cheese (I feel your pain there) but with well-roasted vegetables you'll get a good Maillard reaction and deep flavors. Roasted cauliflower, with or without a yogurt and spice coating? If that appeals, I have a couple of links for you.

Pan, this sounds like an excellent idea. Another possibility is to grind those hibiscus petals finely and add them directly to a spice rub. I haven't tried it, but I think it would work brilliantly. I do wonder whether hibiscus AND lemon juice might be a bit of overkill toward tartness. We keep working in our household toward lower-salt cooking, small steps at a time. The easy things are not to buy prepared foods, which almost inevitably have high sodium, and not to add salt during cooking. This is practical up to a point, but I'm fond of being able once in a while to grab a jar of prepared sauce or cooked beans, and the occasional deli meats. (2 steps forward, 1 step back...) Then there is the issue of bread...which needs some salt in the dough. As for the salt substitutes: he's perfectly happy with one of the potassium chloride-based fake salts. I hate 'em. I'm glad you're still with us and able to get this topic started again. Thanks for giving the rest of us a wake-up call. I think this is a great topic for a brainstorming sesson.

We had a few opportunities to try them, thanks to some gift certificates. We liked their crab cakes very much, because they seemed closer to the true Maryland crab cakes that we'd had in Baltimore than anything else we'd tried. I don't remember which other foods of theirs we tried; apparently they were good enough to eat once but not memorable enough to pursue. Our problem was with delivery: driver didn't show up in the promised time slot, and sometimes the delivery date was missed altogether because of it. To be fair, we live out in the sticks and drive times may be an extra complication, but the last straw came when the promised crab cakes turned up hours late, in the middle of the dinner party at which we'd planned to serve them. I might try a purchase again someday if I happen to see their truck parked at a convenient location, but I doubt I'll try delivery again.

Rummaging around in the depths of the forums I found this topic on how to make your own Hand Held Smoker.

I would not expect a cup of hot water, with lemon, to be free in the USA; it seems I've been charged for tea here under those circumstances. If I'd asked for a glass of tap water I'd have been surprised at being charged, but your second link makes it clear that the York establishment would be within its rights to charge me when it's in 'Cafe' mode - although not in 'Bistro' mode, which may confuse tourists. As for whether a glass of tap water should be free of charge, that seems more a judgment call. If I come in alone, take up one of your tables and order nothing but water, I think I should pay something for the service and space I'm using. If I'm part of a group that is otherwise ordering full meals, it seems to me that the better approach is for the staff to clear away most of my place setting (to be used elsewhere), then serve the water at no charge. That's how our airport restaurant handles our weekly breakfast gang, who are regular and lucrative customers; one person drinking only water doesn't have a significant effect on the workload or overhead at that table.

This may be a good time to point out the possibility of splitting and sharing packages among users. Here's a topic that may be useful for the purpose: WTT/WTB: Sharing Modernist Ingredients. Please note the host's rules in the opening post.

Those are some beautiful-looking loaves ahead of me! I've been working toward making my own sourdough rosemary olive oil loaf, because the San Luis Sourdough loaf of the same type is rarely available to me. I'm getting closer. This batch sat in the fridge for a couple of days before baking (due to poor planning), and I think the pre-fermentation may have improved the flavor.

By "weigh" do y'all mean that you can throw things into individual hoppers and it will meter out the exact amount? Or do you mean that it has an integrated scale?

Nice photos, everyone! I often turn to this topic for inspiration and come away feeling like a slacker. :-) Nicolai, this looks like meat spread atop a flatbread and then folded for easy eating. Have I got that right? What is the 'Ajeen'? Next question: what king of vinegar and pickling spices were used there? I recently discovered pickled turnips and think they're a wonderful thing. Wouldn't mind learning how to do them myself.

Are you getting scale on your circulator because of the hard water? Or are you talking about some other cleaning need?

Lovely writeup!

I have another squash success to report. I brought a trial squash dish to my family Christmas gathering. (We all knew there would be more food than we could eat, and several of us were up for an experiment.) The original recipe comes from a flyer I received from the Seghesio Winery, which gets my money on a regular basis for some excellent wines, and which includes recipes in their newsletter. This recipe is not presently on their web site. I took a few necessary liberties with the recipe, but the credit should be all theirs. Roasted Butternut Squash with Whole Grain Mustard Vinaigrette, from Seghesio Family Vineyards. 2 lbs. butternut squash, diced into 1-1/2" pieces 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary 2 T olive oil 1/4c whole grain mustard 2T honey 2T cider vinegar 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 400F. Toss squash in mixing bowl with rosemary and olive oil (the 2T at top). Place in oven on sheet pan in a single layer. While squash is roasting make the vinaigrette: combine mustard, honey and vinegar in mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in extra-virgin olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Squash is done when there is no resistance when pierced with a toothpick (approximately 20 minutes). When squash is done, transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with vinaigrette. Seghesio recommends pairing it with their 2011 Block Zinfandel. Liberties: 1. With all the squash I had on hand waiting to be used, I discovered that I did not have butternut squash. I had acorn squash and some small, bright orange squash of about the same size as an acorn squash. I diced and used those. In the process I decided that the acorn squash was a major pain to peel, what with all those ridges. That's probably why they recommended butternut. 2. I had no whole-grain mustard, and used Dijon instead. 3. I used dried rosemary and guesstimated the equivalent amount, and tossed the entire roasted-dressed assembly with more rosemary before serving. I think this must be a pretty forgiving recipe. Despite the liberties, the dish was a hit, even to the squash-dislikers at the table. It's likely to make its way into more family gatherings. I wish I'd taken a photo, or could link to theirs, but I didn't and can't. Trust me that it was as pretty as it was good, and I recommend this treatment.

At last, I've been able to score my favorite ingredients for a grilled cheese sandwich. It's a shame the shipping costs for this cheese are prohibitive when I'm at home; I had to make the pilgrimage to their store when I was nearby. The bread, too, is something I can't find at home, although my efforts to make it are getting close. Gooey, melted cheese just crisped where it hit the skillet. Mayo & mustard inside, butter outside to help with browning. A definite kick-over-the-traces lunch.