Smithy

Porthos, how's your tomato supply? When I was in the San Joaquin Valley for most of last summer, we kept the kitchen cool by eating a lot of salads. I know salad has been mentioned already, but caprese-style came to mind just now in the context of Meatless Monday. Really good tomatoes, mozzarella, garlic, basil, cured meat (you can keep that part for yourself), drizzled with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and accompanied by a nice baguette or loaf of garlic bread to soak up the juices. The salad marinates itself; you can doll it up with olives (or not). We put salami or sopressata in ours, but wouldn't particularly have missed it if absent. To me that was the essence of summer - followed by a good fruit salad, or peach ice cream. You and I have the same grill! Ours will be cooking brats tonight, under careful supervision of our own all-too-amiable watchdog. ;-)

I may have to change my mind about what to do for dinner. It's cooled down enough to do pita, and I really like that recipe.

I keep reading about solar cookers and how easy they are to make: a box, some aluminum foil, some clear plastic or plexiglass. They can supposedly reach high temperatures in the interior, but I haven't gotten around to trying it. Has anyone in the sweltering regions tried that? I'm thinking especially of you folks in sunny Southern California.

Hmm. It looks as though you didn't keep the berries away from the edges of the pan as instructed. Do you think that's what happened? I've never tried making something like this, and - to be honest - don't know how I would go about doing the swirling they describe to eliminate air pockets around the berries without (a) moving them to the edge of the pan or (b) collapsing the egg whites. I notice, also, that you seem to have used a Bundt pan (or equivalent, with rounded cross-section) instead of an angel food pan, which is more angular. I don't know whether that makes a difference. Some much more experienced baker will be along soon with more ideas, I'm sure. Welcome to eGullet!

That's wonderful news! Thanks for posting the link, Alex. Congratulations, TheStarvingArtist!

I have a friend who won't tell her age, but we know she's in her mid-90's. I think if she could have a cake like that with 1 sheep per year, she'd be willing to be specific. Those sheep are adorable!

I absolutely need that spatula for my delirious kitchen! :-D Thanks for the pictorial tour.

TdeV, in case you haven't noticed it at the top of the Cooking forum, here's a link to the Sous Vide index to which KennethT refers:General Sous Vide index: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/136274-sous-vide-index/ The index links to a wealth of information, including charts that you may find useful.

You're right that 185 is 185 no matter the altitude. If you can reach and maintain that desired temperature, then the time at that temperature should be the same if you're processing sealed vessels.

Has the pastry dough recipe or some ingredient in it changed? As an example, maybe they're using a different fat than before.

Your photos are beautiful, and the food looks delicious, as always! I'm interested in this garlic technique. Is it a way to lightly cook the garlic without risking its being overcooked and going bitter? If not, what advantage does it have?

I too think the blueberry-picking story is awesome As a rule, when I see a bear in a berry patch, I decide to go elsewhere...back to the truck, back to the house...but I haven't been out where a radio might be needed. :-DWhile I'm welcoming you, I'll also thank you for explaining your user name! I was translating it to something preposterous like Dept Of Transportation US (along the lines of the SCOTUS and POTUS sites) and I just couldn't believe I had that right. I'm glad the explanation is simpler. ;-)

That apricot chutney looks surprisingly purple. Is that a trick of the light? Regarding olive oil in mayonnaise: Anna, you didn't specify the nature of your nasty experience (probably by choice) but Harold McGee noted that he couldn't get as stable an emulsion with olive oil as with vegetable oils. The last time I read about it, he didn't know why, but apparently it doesn't emulsify as well.

basquecook, how did you do that flounder? It looks nicely browned, and the sauce would look great even if I didn't know it included vodka. My attempts at flounder to date have been very unsatisfactory; it may be relevant that they've been the flash-frozen packaged flounder out of grocery stores. I'd like to try your method before I resign myself to ignoring it in the freezer section.

I'd never heard of it until now. Google results come up with a Ponti Glassa Gastronomica and goes on to say that it's a balsamic glaze, i.e. a heavily-reduced balsamic vinegar. Is Ponti the brand you found, and does balsamic glaze sound right? If so, I'd try it, and start with the assumption that it's similar to a particularly thick balsamic vinegar. I'd start with drizzling it over good fresh stone fruit, glazing it on chicken (maybe pork or lamb also) prior to cooking - or maybe after, or maybe both, and brushing peaches or other stone fruit with it prior to grilling them. It might be good on grilled eggplant. It might go nicely into a stir fry sauce, too; I'm thinking of the glazes involved in dishes like Favorite Concubine's Chicken. If you buy it, please let us know what it's like.

Did the cheese sauce keep the cooked chicken breast from drying out? How long did you bake this? It sounds good...and it also sounds like a dish you intended to make from leftovers is set to be something you make from scratch. I hope you're better at duplicating results after successful experiments than I am. :-D

I tried it last night, and aside from overcooking the corn (too much time for the wattage) it did work well.

If a lid is put over a dish, does that diminish the value of the steam in the steam-bake cycle? If so, then would a small spatter screen over a dish (like your tasty-sounding short ribs, FauxPas) reduce the mess from spattering, without interfering with the steam?

'Peameal'? Is this a local treatment of ham, or am I looking at the wrong thing?

Welcome! I'm especially interested to see what you do with seafood, and what sort of fish you catch - when you catch them ;-). I'm also curious about what Bulgarian food is like, as well as any other food you care to cook!

I'm not equipped to do any of what you've just done, but I love reading about it. Thanks for posting! I hope others also try it, and post their results.

liuzhou, how do you cook those baby scallops?

Welcome, Earlene! What kind of food do you like to cook? What kind of food do you like to eat? We love exchanging ideas and information around here. :-)

Welcome to you, MyMommasHands! We have a lot of Ontario members, and musicians, and (of course) enthusiastic cooks and eaters. Come wander around the forums and join in the fun. You may especially be interested in: the Gardening topics (here's this season's: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145733-gardening-2013%E2%80%932014/) and the Foraging topic: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/38682-foraging-for-favorites/?hl=%20foraging

What - no explanation about "The silliest Knife ever Plus Bonus stupid fork"? You can't leave us hanging like that!