Smithy

The lakes up here are pretty clean, and the walleye come from open waters, not near the shore where giardia is most likely to occur. The fish filets were cleaned well too, with clean water (both before and after freezing) so I wouldn't worry too much about giardia. The same handling considerations apply to fecal coliform. I admit I couldn't find any assurance that an acid bath like lime juice would kill the cysts if they were present. If I'm misinformed, please feel free to set me straight. (You probably know more about microbiology than I do.) This is the first time I've done ceviche with a freshwater fish, but it's been done uptopic (with some discussion regarding parasites) and within our own family.

*bump* This was our family's wood-cutting weekend, in which the youngsters come help the oldsters cut, split and stack firewood for the season. It was also our first time seeing each other in over a year due to various life events and inconveniences. We had a lot of elaborate food plans so we could make up for lost time. "Do you know how to make ceviche?" my DIL texted. A relative had caught a monster walleye / pickerel at their cabin and DIL thought it too big to fry properly. She dimly remembered an uncle making ceviche and her enjoying it when she was small, and wondered whether it might change her opinion of fish. To her, fish is a thing everyone in the world around her adores and she has to deal with...she's an excellent cook, but long since has lost her enthusiasm for the creature. I dug into this Cook-off to refresh my memory of freshwater fish ceviche, then asked her whether it had been frozen. Yes, it had: the filets were skinned, vacuum packed and frozen the day that fish left its watery home. That satisfied me about potential parasites. Still, I diced the fish finely - partly for textural reasons but also to ensure there weren't any nasties hiding in there. The diced fish marinated in the juice of 6 limes for 3 or 4 hours, until I liked the texture. In the meantime, I chopped red onion, part of one small red hot pepper, a bunch of heirloom tomatoes languishing on my counter (shame on me) and a perfectly ripe avocado. A touch of salt and pepper went into the mix. Unfortunately I'd run out of limes and had to use some of the drained brine. Unfortunately I'd forgotten the cilantro! I remedied both those shortcomings today, after we'd all unstiffened enough from our unaccustomed exercise to get to a grocery store. Success! She who doesn't like fish likes this! "It doesn't even taste fishy!" she proclaimed. High praise indeed.

@ElsieD, I'll let you know how it comes out. I used our family's longstanding recipe for peach ice cream, I think. It's been sitting in the deep freeze, waiting to be churned, for over a year...what happens when I overdo the peach purchases! I heard back from Ninja Consumer Services regarding my accusation of false advertising: Think that might be a form letter?

Our family's annual wood-cutting/splitting/stacking cum gluttony gathering is scheduled for this weekend. My DIL is excited to try some lactose-free recipes, starting with the coffee ice cream in Ninja's recipe book. She also thinks the idea of sorbet is a great idea. i am most of the way through the mango sorbet I made. It is icy around the edges, and difficult to scoop after sitting in the container for nearly a week...but it has an ethereal texture and taste. What a simple thing to make from a can of diced mangoes! I've committed one pint jar to respun peach custard for ice cream; that's already in the freezer. Another pint is for the aforementioned coffee ice cream. The third is still occupied with mango sorbet. I now understand the desire for A LOT of extra pint jars. Alas, the web site says they're on back order. Ninja has given me a 10% discount code toward more pint jars when they're in stock. Since the booklet says to register your Ninja CREAMi for a coupon for more jars, I've accused Ninja of false advertising. I know how far that's gotten @Kerry Beal and @mgaretz so far, but I figure it's worth a try.

I've only taken the baby step so far of making mango sorbet from a can of diced mangoes, but we were pleased with it. The first spin was powdery - what an odd texture for sorbet! - but respinning, and then judicious scooping, hid the evidence.This weekend is our family wood-cutting weekend. We have a family member who can't take lactose, and she and I are eager to try some of the non-dairy recipes.

Thank you for the suggestion. Two of us had already posted there, but now I've linked to this topic on their memorial page.

Now that I've opened the box and perused the contents (and washed the items that will contact food) I see that I'll get another pair of pint containers simply for registering the product. That should do me for a while, I hope. A can of diced mangoes is in the first pint jar. It may be a couple of evenings before I actually process it. While I was in town picking up my (crikey, why do I do this to myself and what do I get rid of?) new toy, I also hit up a grocery store for heavy cream and huckleberries, the way I could try huckleberry ice cream in David Ross' honor. No frozen huckleberries to be found, but I'll think of something. He notes that any summer berry will work. I'm pretty sure I have blueberries in the freezer.

I don't seem to have a choice but to wait on getting more pints, but I wonder whether I'd need them, really. There are 3 pint jars in the set. Won't that be enough? Are the rest of you stocking up with a variety of concoctions in the freezer all at once?

Save some for me! (I'll have to look into that recipe. Thanks for the reminder, @blue_dolphin.)

I do use a spatter screen, but whenever I lift it to move something I get spatters anyway. I'm probably just too fussy about it! I marvel that my mother used to make fried chicken in her electric skillet on a regular basis! I'm grateful that she did, but I still marvel at it! (She admitted later that yes, she hated the mess. But we all loved her chicken, so she did it. )

I'm with @donk79 and @&roid: more information, please! Photos would be a welcome addition.

Happy Sunday! Your food, energy and photography still continue to amaze me, but the eggplant parmesan is the one still haunting me. I know what a pain it is and how good the reward when it's done right. (The same is true for doves, as I recall, but I don't have access to them.) My question: when you fry those eggplant slices, do you do that inside the house, or outside where spatters won't matter? Or have you worked out how to fry them without spattering? Please give more detail. I'd love to have some of that golden-brown goodness in my repertoire.

I swear that "Out of Stock" label wasn't there 20 minutes ago. These things must be flying off the shelves!

4-pack Ninja CREAMi pint containers, on Ninjakitchen.com. I see no evidence that they're out of stock, but I haven't tried to buy them...yet. I'm waiting for my $20% coupon to arrive from BBB. Another enablee here! Damn you lot!

@Kim Shook's post above reminds me...I've made a couple of peach pies using a modified version of a New York Times recipe. The crust needs some work to keep it from getting a soggy bottom, but I was quite pleased with the appearance and flavors of the latest attempt. (I'll just gloat over the uncut pie, since the filling was runnier than I'd have liked. 🙂 )

I LOVE eggplant parmesan, but am generally too lazy to make it. I think yours look delicious! But then, I think all your food looks delicious! Would you see if the guys can get a more closeup picture of the mystery plant? Are those bean pod thingies growing from the same plant? Can those shishito peppers be roasted and skinned, then frozen? Or is it too much given everything else you're doing? I ran across a note saying that I'd given the same treatment to a bunch of peppers that I'd given tomatoes, more or less following ElainaA's recipe, and been quite happy with it.

I received the shocking news last night that David Ross, our beloved host who has been running the eG Cook-offs for quite some time, passed away last Wednesday, Sept. 15. It must have been sudden: he was here Monday, encouraging @Shelby in the latest episode of her Hunting Time blog. David was a skilled food stylist and inventive recipe developer. I always enjoyed his posts. Better still, he was one of the nicest people I've ever met on the internet. If he had a snarky bone in his body, he never let it get near the keyboard. I wish I'd known him in person, but my food life is richer because of him. His obituary page is here.

Welcome, PadreANT! This is a good time and place to tell more about yourself, if you wish. What sort of food do you like to cook and eat? Is your current full-time gig related to food? What did you have for dinner last night, or breakfast this morning? C'mon in, take a look around, and join the fun! You've already started with your questions, and that's good. If you have any questions about how to use the forums or where to post, feel free to ask a host.

In addition to @CentralMA's answer above, I'll note that the unglazed clay pots produce more intensely flavored sauces because of that porosity. Somewhere around here is a protracted conversation about unglazed vs. glazed. It began in the Truth About Braising lab discussions and went on in the cooking forums, thanks to Paula Wolfert's suggestions. I'll post links when I find them again.

I doubt soaking would hurt OR help the fully glazed cazuela. As you note, there isn't much porous area to allow the water to enter. As Heidi notes, it shouldn't do any harm. My unglazed pots and tagines were all soaked before curing or first use. It was instructive to see how much air they contained in their interstices. My glazed casserole dishes have never been soaked, except for cleaning after use if necessary. Nothing has ever cracked.

Some friends bought a CSA share earlier this summer and have been confronted with far too many vegetables that one of them won't eat. "Sure!" I said, "I'll take some of that off your hands!" Then *I* had to work out what to do with a summer squash the size of a bowling pin and a generous bunch of kale, neither of which my DH cares for. Gratin to the rescue! Two ears of corn-on-the-cob not worthy of the name, a bunch of baby potatoes I'd bought for another purpose, onions, garlic, curry powder and dill, and generous quantities of cheese and cream pulled it together. Baked until the potatoes were done, the liquid had been mostly absorbed, and the top was beginning to brown. The fish with dinner was also a success - the first true success I've had with fish lately - but the gratin was the real winner, both in terms of flavor and for satisfactorily solving a problem. With this treatment, he'd even opt for more summer squash and kale!

Berry server... ...or... Ice cream / frozen non-dairy dessert scoop.

I tried baking my first (and only) carrot cake from a cookbook put together by respected, published bakers. The recipe never said when to add the shredded carrot! I must have guessed correctly because it came out all right, but it was still startling. Never heard back from that publisher, either.

*bump* I made a wonderful peach pie for a dinner last night, tweaked from Sam Sifton's Perfect Peach Pie recipe in the New York Times. (Here's the link for NYT subscribers. Sorry, it's behind a paywall.) It's been YEARS since I made a fruit pie like that. We and our dinner guests were delighted with the results. I posted a picture of it in the Bake a cake (or whatever) for Gully 20th anniversary topic, but here it is again for visual interest and bragging rights: The peach season is painfully short, and I'd like to do this again later in the year. I've bought a lug of peaches from Palisade, Colorado and want to save some for a pie or two. This pie filling is simple: peeled and sliced peaches; sugar; lemon juice and flour. I like @snowangel's tip, posted uptopic: freeze filling in a pie tin, then bag it when frozen, and store in the freezer until ready to make the pastry and bake the tart. Trouble is, with these peaches I'd have to go the extra step of draining the macerated fruit and cooking down the juices before adding them back in. I'd rather not do that step until I'm ready to bake. I'm inclined to make the pie filling exactly as I did last night, then freeze in storage bags. I'll have to drain and cook down the juices later, but it will be at baking time. My question is whether or how the freezing will change the filling. I know freezing will break down the fruit cells, but so does baking. Will the advance freezing hurt the final result?

Happy 20th birthday, Gully! I've learned a ton and made good friends in my 18.3 years here. Fresh peach pie and homemade vanilla ice cream with some wild raspberries stirred in. Served on a plate that's older than me and Gully combined.