FrogPrincesse

Zuni has a few crostini recipes with pureed beans, including one with sardine that's a bit similar to what you tried, with added chimichurri for some herbal brightness. In the similar vein of tartines / crostini / bruschetta etc, Melissa Clark has a smashed white bean toast with roasted asparagus and sumac (the bean puree also includes microplaned garlic, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, and chives). Sohla El-Waylly has a recipe for cannellini beany melt that is essentially a riff on a tuna melt: mashed beans with scallions, celery, a chopped pickle, mustard, olive oil with Tabasco, topped with cheese and broiled. Or you could go the soup route. Marcella Hazan has a white bean soup with garlic & parsley - maybe not the best dish if it's hot outside, but tasty in winter. You can also make a white bean dip by just adding garlic, red pepper flakes, basil / parsley, etc...

Here is one more article about its centennial, which includes a video showing its preparation. https://sandiegomagazine.com/features/caesar-salad-history-tijuana/

That’s actually the way it is served at its birthplace, Caesar’s.

I don’t remember seeing kimchi at TJ’s. But It’s so easy to make, there isn’t much point to buy already made, especially if it’s expensive.

@blue_dolphinIt tastes very fresh, like homemade sauerkraut, I agree. I like the clean taste but kind of miss the choucroute seasonings- juniper berries, caraway, bay leaf, pepper, etc. i guess I could try adding them and let it ferment a bit more.

I had the sauerkraut yesterday. Not sure why they added Persian cucumbers to the mix, but it is pretty good!

At my daughter’s request, I made chouquettes.

Nice article in Eater about the Caesar salad and its namesake restaurant that shut its doors in 2010 but was revived by the Plascencia family.

Happy 100 anniversary to the Caesar salad! Serious Eats made this Caesar pasta for the occasion. Who is going to try it? 🙂 https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9BCUDnvXmu/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Recipe link More recipes inspired by the Caesar salad here

Not a cookbook either although it has a few recipes, I am reading Ruth Reichl’s memoir about her time at Gourmet magazine, Save Me the Plums. I realized it was the only book of hers I hadn’t read other than her latest, The Paris Novel, that is also on my to-read list. Fun read so far! And I connect with it on the food aspect of course, but the career angle as well as she describes what it is like tackling a role that is a stretch opportunity outside her comfort zone.

I have been reading that book as well (I got it from the library before deciding if I want to buy it or not). Arielle Johnson has an enviable job for sure, she is the science director for Noma!

On the Trader Joe's thread, I mentioned that I just got Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly from the library while investigating options for cookbooks to send my daughter to college with. I wasn't familiar with Sohla and @mlbatt put her book on my radar. I waited patiently for the book for a few months as I was number 37 on the waitlist or something like that. It seems it is a popular book! It was published in October 2023 and won the James Beard Media Award in the general cookbook category. First impressions, it is a very heavy tome with close to 600 pages. I very much like the way it's organized and the text which is packed full of useful information (it explains cooking techniques and how dishes work, rather than being just a collection of recipes). After the introduction section which covers tips, "things to have", and "things to know", it goes into a series of "culinary lessons", from easiest to most complex. The first one is called Taste and had various dishes that focus on seasoning and coming up with a balance dish. Most of these recipes do not require any heat. The sardines recipes I mentioned in the TJ's thread is part of that chapter. The next few pages have general guidelines for "how to make a velvety vegetable soup out of anything" which I think is very smart. It does include a few examples, but is more meant to provide general guidelines that everyone can follow with what they have on hand, produce, spices, dairy, etc. That seems very handful. Next up is the chapter called Temperature Management 101. She uses eggs as way to experiment with temperature which I think is brilliant. Eggs are cheap and it's not a big deal if you mess up. Also eggs happen to be one of my daughter's favorite foods, so she was immediately interested. Even better, a few pages in, this gorgeous recipe showed up and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand (which isn't difficult because it calls for few and common ingredients). Lastly, someone recently gifted me a jar of chili garlic oil, and this gave me a great excuse to try it in a dish. I didn't follow her recipe for poaching eggs, because I like the foolproof arzak egg technique. But I composed the dish the same way - Greek yoghurt (Trader Joe's) with a little indentation in the middle, poached egg in the middle (I only used 1 egg), chili oil, torn mint, and microplaned lemon zest. And this was so delicious that I made myself another plate as soon as this was finished. Everyone loves a poached egg, and the combination with the yoghurt made them even more delicious. The chili oil is hot of course but it is tamed by the yoghurt and you can taste its flavor without being overwhelmed by the heat. Lastly, the herbs and lemon zest make everything pop. This is a traditional Turkish dish called Çılbır and would be great for brunch (funnily, a local restaurant serves a very similar dish and charges $21 for it - but I digress ). I haven't fully explored the rest of the book but this is a very auspicious start! The next chapters are Just Add Water (grains, beans, pasta), Break It Down & Get Saucy (how to stew and braise), Steam & Poach, Go to Brown Town (cooking with dry heat), then the last half of the book is about baking and pastry lessons. At a very quick glance the baking recipes don't look super appealing to me (very "American" for a French native like me), however the techniques and explanations seem very good.

Indeed, it's hard to believe that she is a young adult now! And she is also a Trader Joe's fan - her favorite products are the various dumplings and the kimbab.

Flipping though this book while researching cookbooks for my daughter to take with her to college, I stumbled upon this “recipe “ and remembered I had a can of TJ’s sardines in the fridge. I opened the can. They looked a bit dense and dry but let’s see. I went the French way for my version: slice of baguette, beurre d’Isigny, topped with the smashed sardines. Generous pepper, a little drizzle of olive oil for flavor (I would skip next time because the sardines were oily enough on their own), and a generous amount of lemon juice. I had a bite and remembered my garnish. Much better! I definitely needs something piquant like chives or red onion to pop. As for the sardines, they are average+ at best in my book. I think I’ve been spoiled with Belle Iloise and the likes.

Soy-braised brisket with caramelized honey and garlic from nothing fancy. The brisket is seasoned with salt & pepper and left to rest in the fridge for 48 hours, seared, and then braised for 3 - 3.5 hours in soy, vinegar, fish sauce and beef broth. The caramelized honey is interesting - after the brisket is seared, it is removed from the pot and the honey is caramelized before the aromatics (garlic, onions, cinnamon, star anise, ginger, chilies, and bay leaves) are added. Finally the pot is finally deglazed with all the liquids. A bit reminiscent of Vietnamese caramel sauce but with a lighter hand. It's served with fresh herbs on top and rice noodles or rice on the side, but I went with smashed potatoes because that's what we felt like.

You are welcome! And you are right, the prices are very reasonable, especially for Hawaii. The pigs are Berkshire kurobuta breed and are raised in Maui (Malama Farms), on pastures. There are also lots of wild pigs on the island (pua'a that were brought from Tahiti 800 years ago) and they are more a nuisance than anything else.

And enjoy your Chimay! (I am a fan of the blue, personally).

I like this kind of stopper (the general design, not that brand specifically). https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/williams-sonoma-open-kitchen-champagne-stopper/ However, this design isn't compatible with all bottle designs and I cannot remember if it works with Chimay. If it isn't compatible, you can transfer the content to a flip-top bottle or any other bottle that you can close easily.

Day 4 (Friday) It was finally time to head out to the beach! We picked the south end of Anaehoʻomalu bay which has the advantage of being relatively uncrowded, protected, and offering some shade (which is rare). It is also famous for the honu (local turtles). And they were in the shallow waters, sunbathing (no pictures, but you will have to trust me on this!). We explored the beach and had a refreshing swim; some snorkeled. Then we changed and headed straight to Merriman’s in Waimea. Peter Merriman is one of the chefs who started the Hawaii regional cuisine movement in the early 90s (together with Sam Choy; Roy Yamaguchi; Alan Wong; my personal favorite, Jean-Marie Josselin; and a few others), applying the farm-to-table model at a time where most of the food was imported from the mainland, and “continental cuisine” was reigning supreme in fancy restaurants at resorts. This wave of new restaurants with chefs who were interested in understanding the local food culture and ingredients had the result to revitalize the local farms, transforming the local economy. What used to be mostly sugar cane, pineapple, macadamia nuts, coffee is now a lot more diverse with anything from mushroom to chocolate. Now it’s a lot easier to find local (and meats, etc) produce on the islands, at farmers markets of course but also in the local supermarkets. The restaurant was Merriman’s first restaurant in Hawaii before it opened branches in Oahu, Maui, Kauai. It is by far the smallest and least touristy of the bunch. It is located in a small yellow cottage in Waimea and has a very unassuming façade. When it opened in 1998, there wasn’t much around it in terms of other restaurants, but since then it has attracted a number of other interesting establishments. There is a little patch of herbs against the building (previous picture) and an open area where they grill things in the summer using this pretty cool swinging grill contraption called a schwencker (link) (next picture, in the middle). Another thing I really like there is that they put the farmers at the forefront. They have pictures of the various farmers they have worked with for decades now displayed at the entrance with the quote from chef, “my heroes have always been farmers”. More information about them here. I like going there for lunch because it is more casual than dinner, and they don’t frown upon you if you aren’t completely dry or still have sandy feet. The staff is wonderful – attentive, and genuinely interested about making your experience the best it can be (I always have a few food-related questions and they are both knowledgeable and quick to share any information I am curious about - cooking technique, ingredient, etc). I find my visits inspiring. Excellent service makes a huge difference, and they definitely have it there, even at lunch. On a previous visit, I wanted to buy their cookbook but they were out, sadly. Imagine my surprise when they let me buy their signed copy! 😊 On this trip, I was on a mission to try all the Mai Tais so of course I ordered their rendition of the Mai Tai. I always thought the passion fruit foam was a little weird but it’s their signature drink, and it’s a decent Mai Tai. Worthy of note, they use a macadamia orgeat. The rums are local and we will leave it at that. 😊 At my insistence my daughter had a fancy, non alcoholic fruit punch and she loved it! I started with the broccoli cheddar soup, which didn’t especially feel Hawaiian but tasted delicious, nonetheless. The stand-out starter there is the kalua pig quesadilla which is served with a little bit of kimchi on the side (Merriman’s kalua pork recipe is my go-to, and the "secret" ingredient is slowly cooked sweet onions, which make it irresistible). The Caesar salad with the fried croutons was also very good. The pork saimin was comforting, full of umami. This dish is typically Hawaiian and draws influences from ramen. I had the fish of the day – it looked deceptively simple but was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I like food that is simple and highlights the ingredients, so this is definitely my kind of place. My daughter had the burger and a side of roasted potatoes (delicious). Dessert was this decadent pineapple macadamia nut bread pudding. I do not usually care for bread pudding but anything with fresh pineapple and macadamia nuts is worth eating. I wasn’t disappointed. 😊

I should specify that the smoked trout I bought in the past was not in a can - it was from the refrigerated aisle.

i forgot about the smoked trout! The recipe you linked looks good. I like it in rillettes.

That may have been me; I bought a can as mentioned upthread but haven't tried them yet. I am glad to read that they are good! The plan is to do the French thing: slice of bread, good quality butter, smooshed up sardine, squeeze of lemon. Is MC/MV your cat?

The description is accurate though. Very toothsome indeed! Made for us by a supplier in Sri Lanka, this magnificently Mango-forward Chutney is made with a thick, yet smooth and spreadable base of organic cane sugar and organic coconut sap vinegar, to which our supplier adds big, toothsome chunks of organic mango.

I was pretty sure I had picked the mango chutney precisely because it did NOT contain raisins. And I checked the label - it doesn't. So the mystery deepens... One thing is sure, it does not have a pronounced mango flavor.

A can opener of some kind? (for cans that have a tab)