FrogPrincesse

I pay $6.49 for a dozen organic, pasture raised eggs at Trader Joe’s.

Thank you @Smithy. I am very lucky to live close to Specialty Produce which has (local) quince in season. I get some every year, and usually use it in jelly or marmalade. This time I decided to try something different and it worked out very well!

I made the deep-dish apple galette from sweet enough for New Year's dinner. Instead of making a traditional pie with 2 disks of dough, the recipe calls for a giant disk (18 inches!) that is placed in a 9 inch springform with the edges folded over the filling. Other than the fact that it's a lot of dough to roll which is somewhat of a workout, this is very simple recipe. The apple filling uses honey and sugar for sweetness, apple cider vinegar for acidity, and a healthy dose of ground cinnamon which is essential for a good apple pie (1.5 teaspoons in the printed recipe). I replaced about 20% of the apples (I used gala) with poached quince (the coral-looking fruit pieces in the pictures). I liked the impressive presentation, and it tasted great!

Drink writer Forest Collins and eGullet member @Forest passed away suddenly last week. She was the chair of the World's 50 Best Bars Academy for France, and had recently published a book about Parisian bars (the extension of her blog, 52 Martinis). RIP Forest.

When I have an excess of limes I use their juice in cocktails. Margaritas, daiquiris, etc. Infinite options.

I don't like turkey much so I make cassoulet for thanksgiving. I use duck confit that I make myself, good Toulouse sausage, pork belly, a pigs foot, and white beans. It's a labor of love as it takes a few days. It's a very comforting and festive dish (also quite rich!).

Quince jelly and cheese according to this review.

A couple of things. First, oude / aged lambics tend to be more sour than the unaged variety because they undergo a secondary fermentation which produces more complex flavors, but also more acidity (and reduces the sugar content). So I would generally stay away from aged krieks if you are not overly fond of these types of flavors. I also feel that Lindemans and Boon are on the sweeter side compared to some other krieks or lambics I have tried. I have had plenty of sours that make Lindemans kriek almost taste like candy in comparison. You are right that the tasting notes for your beer are all over the place. My guess is that this is mostly due to people's preferences - some are used to (and even seek) a pronounced sour flavor profile (which is typical for that kind of beer; after all krieks are a type of "sour beer"), and for others it's a bit of a shock to the palate.

One more thought - a good way to know what your beer is “supposed” to taste like would be to check the various tasting notes on Untappd (it’s a beer app). Of course not everyone’s taste buds will be similar to yours, but it will give you a general idea.

Oude kriek is a type of beer (not a brand) which is an aged (oude means old) lambic beer made with sour cherries, and the traditional ones are quite tart with vinegar and cherry notes. Some lambics are a little less sour than others and resemble a very dry funky earthy cider. Some are more on the sweet side, although it’s not the majority. Since lambic is a beer made with wild yeasts, sometimes things evolve in an unexpected way, so it’s also possible that you ended up with a bad bottle. The only way to know would be to get a second bottle from a different batch and compare… but if this bottle wasn’t to your liking, I doubt you’d want to get another one! Although if you don’t like the beer, you can always use it to make lapin a la kriek! The vinegar notes will mellow during cooking and it will likely be delicious at the end.

Butternut squash soup with coriander + lemon, made in the instant pot (recipe by Melissa Clark in Dinner in an Instant). It's surprisingly tasty - I made sure to brown the squash before cooking it in the liquid and that really helps develop the flavors. It has onion, coriander, lemon zest and lemon juice (added at the end). I didn't have fennel so I subbed a shallot and some fennel seeds. Garnished with cilantro and a thin drizzle of olive oil. The little reddish flecks are timur pepper (my addition to the recipe, and it worked very well with its lemony notes).

@gulfporter You are welcome! I wish you both a wonderful anniversary & birthdays!

There is also a video version of the recipe that is available online and has a few good tips.

Spiced, braised short ribs with creamy potatoes from nothing fancy (similar recipe here) With the weather turning (ever so slightly) colder in San Diego, I was in the mood for short ribs and decided to try this recipe. It's a pretty standard process - brown the ribs, remove from the pot, cook the aromatics and spices, deglaze the pot & create a flavorful liquid to braise the meat in, braise in the oven, raise the temperature at the end (with the lid off) to brown the meat further. In addition to onions, garlic, and tomato paste, the liquid (which is broth - I used water + demi-glace - and white wine vinegar) contains a lot of spices which are an interesting departure from the mostly French or Italian short ribs recipes I have tried in the past (it's worth pointing out that it doesn't contain wine or beer, unlike the vast majority of short ribs recipes I have seen). Spices are cumin, fennel, coriander, a touch of cinnamon, and chiles, which leans towards middle eastern. The flavors were actually quite intense due to the large amount of spices used, and the inclusion of chopped lemon (preserved lemons can also be used) both in the braise and as a garnish. The online recipe also includes fresh cilantro as a garnish which I thought was a good addition compared to the book version of the recipe. I also like the potatoes in the dish, which makes it a true on-pot meal. The potatoes stay intact for the most part, and the little bit that sort of melts into the dish thickens the sauce. It's a good recipe and quite easy. The short ribs were bought at Whole Foods and were good quality (very tender which isn't always the case - I found that the quality of the meat is very important with short ribs recipes in general). Before going into the oven... ...and after Plated The leftovers will go into tacos!

I think you may be missing anchovies in your list of ingredients. It keeps for a few weeks in the fridge with a bit of olive oil on top.