Smithy

@kayb, those are lovely. Brioche dough, eh? Maybe I should try making a King Cake. But then I'd have to figure out who would get them. Goot a link to your recipe?

I see some of yez looking! Quick, it's a Rohrschach test! (I promise to tell my first thought later today.)

Thanks, Shelby! I wanted to both "laugh" and "thank" on that post. You get the prize for first response! This morning my darling rhapsodized over last night's ribs. "These were just as good as Cooper's!" Well, I respectfully disagreed, but then I don't like Cooper's pork ribs as well as their beef ribs. At any rate, the sticking point was the sauce: he thinks it's perfect; I think it's too hot and too sweet. (I do wonder whether the McCormick marinade I used the first time around with this sauce helped cut the heat and sweetness.) I'll keep messing with the sauce, and try some recipes for myself. eta: but we are both delighted with the texture and flavor of the meat itself.

Quick! What's the first thing / creature you think of when you see this cup? (I'll show the rest of it later, after some of you have answered. I amused myself this morning. I amuse easily.)

Interesting! Without your explanation I'd have thought they were, oh, Pippin or Granny Smith green apples because of their appearance What are they like inside?

So, the barbecue sauce and the latest batch of ribs. I rubbed them with a different spice blend than I'd used before, from the same shop. It has brown sugar and a bunch of spices; I'm not sure it really made a difference tonight. Remember this barbecue sauce? It was the clear winner last week for both of us. Much better than the Jack Daniels. Well, my darling still loves it but I've changed my mind. It's still much better than the Jack Daniels, but I want to keep looking. I'd like to correct my comment to @Porthos, who noted here that he'd look for the Kinder's but not the Hot variety. I wrote in response that it isn't really all that hot. I was wrong. I took a spoonful of it straight up, and after a few seconds of tasting sweet and smoke and tomato I got hit with heavy pepper. And it stayed with me. And I noticed it on the cooked ribs, all through dinner. While I was cooking, I took out my remaining small sample of Cooper's barbecue sauce. It quite definitely has a lot of vinegar in it. I tried drizzling just a touch of vinegar over a bite of ribs to see if that got me closer to what I want. Note to self: don't use red wine vinegar for this!

That's an amazing credit! My best friend and her husband, in San Diego, had a terrible shock with their gas bill last month. The news is that next month's bill will be considerably lower (again) but in the meantime she's making a point of not using her (beautiful, envy-worthy) gas oven and range any more than absolutely necessary. I'm not convinced that the gas usage for their uncomplicated cooking is anywhere near enough to affect the household bill, but it's their house and their calculus...and if she can bully him into microwaving a can of beans rather than cooking it on stovetop, who am I to argue? It's different in the Princessmobile, of course. We have a microwave oven as well as the propane-powered stove and oven, but we can't use the microwave without running the generator -- and the generator runs on gasoline. We haven't done a rigorous BTU analysis, but our sense is that we use less propane than gasoline in this rig in the normal course of operations. Besides, you can't flambé anything in the microwave! (Or if you do, it will be excitingly unfortunate. 😉)

I'll admit that the electric versions (Foodsaver, for example) are ridiculously fun and gratifying because they're so quick and make such interesting noises. Still, these bags are more easily reusable and the system is much more compact and easy compared to packing a Foodsaver in the Princessmobile. The patent probably expired. The bags in the links I posted above look suspiciously similar.

In fact, I was all set to do a Flaming Spinach Salad tonight from the L.A. Times California Cookbook! But no, he wants pork ribs. They're seasoned and in the oven now. This is a good opportunity to show off my extremely handy vacuum packing system. It's one of the best Amazon purchases I've ever made: it works, it didn't cost much, and it doesn't require electricity. I'd include an Amazon link, but they say it's "currently unavailable" and nobody knows when it will be back in stock. I guard these bags carefully! Now that I'm looking, however, I can see quite a few similar sets -- with and without hand pumps. Like this one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). or this set (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) or this set of replacement bags (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) or...well, I guess I won't worry right now about running out! I'm still taking care of these bags!

Definitely not enough!! 🤣

Goshalmighty, it's cold here. Not that it's cold by our standards at home, or most of the rest of the country, but it's been blowing hard and getting down toward freezing. Two nights ago (Valentine's Day) we closed the tailgate to keep the wind out and the heat in. The next morning, we saw that it had rained...and then frozen. That's ice on the side deck rail and chair cushions. When we looked out the other window, we saw that the nearest tree, with our hummingbird feeder, had lost a couple of huge branches. There's more destruction up and down the wash from us. Valentine's Day dinner was not at all the fancy affair I'd intended, between needing to batten down the hatches and both of us being sick. We had plenty of good leftovers. But last night! Last night, I got to play with fire! I've had a bee in my bonnet about flaming things over the stove since a New York Times article came out about it, with recipes for Steak Diane, Cherries Jubilee, and one other recipe. I thought this Melissa Clark recipe for Creamy Pan-Roasted Scallops with Fresh Tomatoes was one of the recipes in question. It wasn't. That's all right, though: I had everything I needed, except the scallops, and had decided to substitute shrimp. This is a great recipe. Start with thinly sliced shallots and chopped tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and celery seeds, and cook in butter until the shallots are translucent and the tomatoes are cooking down to a jammy consistency. She gives several options for liquid to add here: broth, wine, vermouth. I added VSOP brandy instead, then said "flame on!" That is So. Much. Fun! Add heavy cream and Worcestershire sauce. Cook it down until it thickens properly, then add the scallops (or, in this case, shrimp that I'd cut into 2 or 3 pieces each). Cook until the seafood is done. This step doesn't take long, so now is the time to put down the toast and do whatever else needs doing to have the table ready. Garnish with parsley or chives. I had neither; I used tarragon. Perfect! There's a bit of rice under the concoction. It was a nice complement; you need something to soak up that sauce. Toast worked for him, of course. By golly, I've found another do-it-again-and-again recipe!

Seen on the highway yesterday:

Requiem for a whisk(e)y glass My darling loves a drink of scotch or bourbon, usually just before going to bed. He has very specific standards as to size: it must be of a certain narrowness so that when he puts in ONE ice cube, then pours just enough of the amber liquid to barely float that ice cube, he has the right amount of drink. I don't know what that quantity is. I don't think he does either. But it's his ritual, and then the objective is to drink at just the right pace so that the ice and the drink finish together. One year we forgot to pack his preferred glass, so I had excuse reason to ramble the stores of Llano on our first stop that fall. I wrote about it here. I found a very nice set of 5 glasses that were just the right size for him. (The "Big Shot" glass I bought at Charley's Hardware and Gifts, for considerably more money, is cute...but too big.) I took this picture when the 5th glass was already in his hand. Well, it turns out they're pretty fragile. By this fall we were down to a single glass. I've been watching a crack propagate along it. "It's still fine!" he said. "I'll be careful!" So he's continued to use it. A day or two ago, it finally succumbed. Alas, poor glass, we loved you well. Fortunately, we came prepared with an alternate from home. Whether he'll decide it's Just the Right Size, or give me another excuse to go bargain hunting, remains to be seen.

FWIW, I didn't find it very hot. I'll do a more thorough test and description, if you'd like. (i can even do it with and without meat. We acquired Yet More Pork Ribs today. 🙄 )

I enjoy the cheekiness of the book, but I can understand how it might rub someone else the wrong way. For example, the subtitle of the recipe I just cooked is "Scandal: Stew ingredients escape pot, flee for ripple of heat under broiler". I don't have the book any more (my library loan expired) but there were some others that made me laugh aloud.

Dinner last night was from Ali Slagle's I Dream of Dinner (so you don't have to) (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). That really is a lovely book. I commented here that it's a charming book with both advantages and drawbacks. I love its creative approach, except when I'm looking for a specific recipe using a specific ingredient...which, unfortunately, is the way I normally use cookbooks. The recipe for Crispy Grains with Kielbasa & Cabbage looked like a good way to use up a lot of my red cabbage. Among the variations was substituting beans for grains; this looked like a good reason to cook up a bunch of brown tepary beans from my stash way in the back of the cabinet. (I shot this picture after pulling out the front 2 rows of canisters, along with whatever was atop the bean canister.) Tepary beans are native to the Desert Southwest, and I've picked them up in past years when we visited near the Tohono O'odham lands. There more information about them here. They cook quickly -- at least, they usually do, but these are several years old and took a while. That's all right, though; it was cool and I didn't mind having a couple of burners helping to heat the trailer. (The second burner was cooking chickpeas, but I've spared the chickpea-haters here any photos of it. 😉 ) So, back to Ali Slagle's recipe: it's a single sheet-pan dinner, although things get done in stages. Toss the beans with olive oil; broil until they're starting to brown and crackle; set aside. Toss thinly-sliced red cabbage and coarsely chopped kielbasa with yet more olive oil, and salt and pepper, then broil until theyre beginning to brown. Return the beans to the mix, broil enough to rewarm if necessary; toss with vinegar. Serve with sour cream that's had horseradish added to it. I tell you, this one's a winner! Even my darling, who generally prefers his meat to be obviously identifiable, thought it was good. I may have to buy that darned book! In other news: we desperately need rain. It rained yesterday in Yuma, and about 5 miles south of us, but nothing fell here. There's another chance today. Despite the dryness, if you look carefully during walks there's color to be seen. We also occasionally manage to find more color for our campfire ring. Maybe someday we'll feel like using it again.

@rotuts I applaud your protesting the clamshells, and @blue_dolphin it's nice to see more environmentally friendly packaging at your store! As for the question of cutting the wraps, I suspect there are two reasons: first, you can actually see how much of what is inside (because the ends usually tell nothing; second, some customers -- me, for instance -- might want half for now and half later, or might want to split a wrap with someone else.

Thanks for that information sheet, @chromedome! That fish is more speckled than the ones I'm used to seeing, but I'm no fish expert. I like to eat 'em. Sometimes I like to catch 'em, but my ignorance of proper fishing technique has led more than once to someone's asking me, incredulously, "You caught it with THAT?" 😆 I went down a rabbit hole looking for a good answer to @Kim Shook's question before chromedome's answer popped up, and found a bit more information about that regional colloquialism. It appears that what's referred to as Lake Trout in the DelMarVa region is actually Whiting...which isn't really a fish species, but (at least there) is another name for Silver Hake. Here are a couple of good articles: Maryland Food Handler's blog post: I stand corrected...well, sort of New York Times: A Fried Favorite in Baltimore

I'm sure the Big Easy will give wonderful flavor, but don't ignored your oven! Putting potatoes beneath oven-roasted chicken (or beef, or pork) is also a wonderful way to cook them.

I broke down yesterday and bought a package of Campari tomatoes. These weren't as good as I'd hoped -- neither as juicy nor deeply flavored as I'd expected -- but they'll do. Fair in today's lunch salad. Later this week, if I have energy to cook and he has energy to eat, there will be some pan-roasted tomatoes in play. (We've been ill. 'Nuff said.) We found Yet More Pork -- some unlabeled mystery cut -- in the freezer, so on a slow day last week we tested another of the barbecue sauces that we'd bought, rather than messing with the Jack Daniels barbecue sauce. Sure, I'll be able to play with the JD and see about adjusting it, but this one starts out with a more promising ingredient list. I also unearthed a packaged marinade that's been in my spice cabinet for...years? I'm not even sure where it came from. Probably my DIL, back when they had a seasonal cabin and cleared everything out of the kitchen for the winter. This bit of pork came from a larger piece that we tentatively identified as including the skirt. I have no idea where or when we bought it, but we treated the skirt (if that's what it was) like some oversized pork steak and were reasonably happy with the result. That was a few weeks ago, when we were feeling inventive and adventuresome. This end of the pork clearly had ribs in it, all splayed like a Bear Claw pastry. I marinated it, slow-cooked it in the oven like any other ribs, and gave it a coating of the Kinder's sauce while still in the oven. It was good. The photo makes those ribs look skinny and dry, but that's the fault of the photographer (me) and not the cook (still me). We'll keep using this sauce. In other news: it's still dry as dust here, and it's raining again over on the coast!

@kayb, all of those recipes look like winners. Many thanks!

...and the black vinegar? Would, say, date vinegar work for that? (I'm getting visions of the folks who do endless substitutions, then give a poor review for a recipe. 😆)

@rotuts -- I remember those microfilm systems! Mighty useful. I wondered whether any Craig Clayborne crab cake recipes could be found in the NYTimes Cooking files, now that they've gone digital. Lo and behold, this one came up as being from around 1983. Any chance it's the right one? (It should be visible to anyone despite the paywall, since I'm a subscriber and can "give" up to 10 articles a month.) The Coach House's Deviled-Crab Cakes

Well, I'd love to be back in northern Ontario, but we're far from there, far from the Northern Lights ... although we can see Canopus, and that isn't possible from home. I try to look on the bright side. I've given up on seeing The Comet clearly, although I've spotted a greenish fuzzball a couple of nights that is probably it. Canopus, the second brightest star in the Earth's night sky, stands out clearly above the southern horizon in our evenings. I wish I could be as cheerful about cauliflower as I am about stars! So many food writers make cauliflower sound delicious! A few nights ago I fell for another recipe: Ali Slagle's Roasted Cauliflower with Crispy Parmesan, from the New York Times. (The link should allow me to share the recipe, as a gift.) It's another of those dead-easy recipes: slice the cauliflower from the root toward the crown (tear the last bits); toss with oil; season with salt and pepper; after one side is browning, flip it and sprinkle with shredded parmesan. The parmesan melts and turns crisp. Sounds good, no? My first problem was one of logistics: the Princessmobile oven has only one rack, and I wanted chicken to go with the cauliflower, which occupied an entire sheet pan. I solved the problem when I realized that one baking sheet could act as its own rack in a separate sets of slots. It was a shaky arrangement, and I wouldn't have tried it with something very messy, but it worked for this. There was a certain amount of fussing with the rack position. There was even more fussing with the chicken seasonings. I couldn't find my turmeric! I couldn't find the Berbere spice blend packages I bought last month in San Diego! So the the chicken was seasoned with cumin, salt, coriander and salty language. I have some quibbles with Slagle's recipe. If you look at the photo in the Times article, those bits of cauliflower don't look like they were sliced from the root downward, then torn at the last. I think the photo looks like florets only, and the food stylists were having their way with the recipe. The recipe was, well, okay. My darling thought it was delicious, and that's high praise from him regarding cauliflower. I thought it couldn't hold a candle to Melissa Clarks Cauliflower Shawarma that I tried last April. What we both liked about this recipe was the crispy parmesan and the browned-almost-burnt bits of cauliflower edges. I don't think this treatment will go into our regular rotation, although I'll probably apply some of its techniques. I am pleased, however, that I worked out a way to cook on two levels in the oven at once!

That's an amazing extraction method! I didn't know that was possible; I thought somehow they were anchored in the way, say, a turtle is anchored to its shell. Was that extraction method incompatible with using the flesh for ceviche? or do you just mean that you hadn't asked for the meat so they kept it for themselves?