lemniscate

According to all the recent shareholder meetings and product launches that I been forced to attend; all Instant Pot has to do is add "AI" to its product line descriptions and the investments are just gonna roll in. (sarcasm). (seriously though, if I hear one more tech business announcement with AI mentioned in every other sentence, I'm gonna need serious medication, it's that out of control.)

I made a big 9"x13" pan of Enchiladas Suiza (inspired by Sanborns). It helped use up a pack of frozen white corn tortillas, a can of Media Crema, a jar of tomatillo salsa, dark meat chicken and some cheap white cheese. A big dent in the pantry/supplies. I made it early in the afternoon and left it to cool while out. When I got home, they were already being eaten. Really good if I say so myself.

I buy the TJ's Orange Chicken for other eaters in this household. They've never complained of gristle either. Believe me, I would hear about it if it was not up to their standards. It's by far the favorite "chicken nugget" brand in this house. Not my thing, but it's good for a "I don't know what to cook for you people" nights. Always cooked in the cheapie air fryer too. I prefer the pork potstickers and chicken spring rolls for my TJ cravings.

Watching some MLB (Brewers/Reds) and drinking Left Coast Asylum tripel and snacking on awesome olives from Costco. Happy Hour.

I only do Spam in the Musubi form, and that's also with a copious amount of beer drinking and being around Hawaiian friends. I have had Spam pizza where the Spam is in place of pepperoni and gets a char to it and that's a pretty good use mixed with the cheese and pizza sauce.

When The Stinking Rose was a thing (is it still a thing?), the best entree to me was the rabbit with garlic and olives. I was not excited by a "Garlic" restaurant, but I did like that dish because it was so unusual to see rabbit on a menu. And rabbit seems to like to be paired with garlic.

Townsend's did a video on salt preserving "old dough" and waking it back up. It's fascinating.

Pantry cleanout pastry. A Misfits pear, a tube of "Whomp" Crescent dough sheet, and a little crystal sugar. Size is about 8"x8".

I've actually been considering something like that for my occasional pasta making. Have a couple long boards to put the wide strips on in between the rolling and the cutting. Being able to move the pasta to another area while still using the first area for more pasta. Right now I end up filling up my work area with pasta in different stages. I could use the ironing board (what an archaic device!) as a landing spot. My most memorable New Orleans meal was fried eggs, gator sausage and a cathead biscuit at the old Tally Ho. I loved the texture and delicateness of the gator meat. I even remember it better than the Brennan's $100 breakfast. I'd have bought that boudin in a heartbeat.

Also, I hate the traditional sourdough maintenance. A lot of the mythology about maintaining starters are from a pre-refrigeration time. I follow Our Gabled Home's drier storage method and have relatively healthy starter to use when I need. Haven't had a bad outcome yet and been doing it for 2-3 years. Youtube video of technique.

There's this. Not a ferment, but adds the flavor I guess.

I got a Misfits this week, but wasn't the one who received it at the house and it was all stowed when I got home, so I didn't take pics. Broccoli, zucchini, celery, fresh shitakes, button mushrooms, a bunch of the Roth cheeses (goudas), sharp cheddar, triple creme, goat cheese, pears, apples, a bunch of bags of flavored Uglies and Kettle potato chips, etc... About $113. I share with a couple different households, so this order will get shared around. The only condition issue was one of the pears had a bad spot. I trimmed it and we ate it with cheese and crackers. Still not sure if I will keep Misfits as a going concern because where I live I we are thick with grocery stores on pretty much every major intersection. But I tried it.

I just did a filled box this morning with a lot of cheeses. The smoked gouda offered is really good, mellow.

I am very familiar with IKEA meatballs, and that recipe doesn't really sound like it. Especially the sauce. IKEA meatballs are very smooth, like a meat paste, and slightly salty, but not spiced heavily at all. More like MSG flavor. I guess in 2020 IKEA tweeted a recipe in their own unique style. I really don't care for the meatballs, but I understand the appeal. My IKEA choices are usually the gravlox and veggie balls. But I love, love, their Apple Pie Cake.

Someone on r/bbq did al pastor, which I believe is the same technique as döner. I'm going to look around (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) or maybe design/build the structure. @Duvel How would you do a döner to your liking, ie meat cut and spicing? I've never had one. I have an accessory that is a kebab holder but its design is useless to me. Maybe I can use that as a base for a structure with some ingenuity. Stay tuned.

$42 USD of Costco chuck roast double-decked in the Big Easy. A pie pan piled with diced carrot, parsnip, celery root and red radishes roasted underneath it all. A loaf of premade garlic bread was warmed across the top. Sadly, this is the only pic I got of the cook since this got hectic with setup and serving. We made a radish greens/cucumber sour cream salad. The meat was rubbed with worcestershire and old bay mix. It was good outdoor food and provided lots of leftovers. It took a 2+ hours to get the roasts to 135-140F, longer than I anticipated, so lunch was late.

I have only eaten chile rellenos out in restaurants, I also dislike the idea of frying them at home. That being said, a B&B I was staying at years ago, I was served a chile relleno pancake which was delicious and had all the flavors of a traditional style. And no messy frying to worry about.

Maybe jackfruit and liquid smoke for the fish spread would work?

Get familiar with King Oyster mushrooms?

Wow. I have a lot of biltong in my fridge drawer, I bet it's pretty dry by now. I going to powder some up for dust. Best result in powdered dehydrated veg for me is celery. It gives the most bang for the buck for me. Most disappointing is chives, no flavor, just green flecks. Carrot powder is really good in salsas and gravies for a background sweet. Cherry tomatoes that are getting wrinkly/forgotten are also something I've dehy'd and powdered for use. I can't do backyard tomatoes here with any success so it's not common I have unused tomatoes since I buy them. But they do make a great seasoning when mixed with dehy'd onions/garlic. Tomato powder likes to clump so it has to be mixed with something to avoid clumping. I made strawberry tarts for Easter and kept the top bits that are culled for slicing. I dehydrated those and plan on powdering them for a sweetener use. Mushroom powder is always amazing but damn, it takes a lot of mushrooms to get a usable amount. I just buy commercial powder instead of trying to do homemade.

I live in AZ and it took me years to stop and experience The Thing. I actually enjoyed it, there's lots of unusual things to see before The Thing. It's a nice walk thru and I think it's $5. I'd encourage it just for the "I Did It" street cred. I think the boulder field you showed is Texas Canyon area. There's an amazing Amerind Museum tucked in there also. Next time around, right?

I had this happen with pickled mustard seeds! Off gassing maybe? Now it has a plastic lid on the jar.

I am a blitzer/paste user. I keep mine in the type of jar with the bail and glass lid. In the fridge. For years, no mold. Yes, salty, but I use it as a salt condiment, instead of regular salt. I add it to entrees when needed for salt/brine/tang. I use it in salad dressings, also as a pickling spice or a marinade. I make salty lemonade with it along with fresh juice and sweetener sometimes. And Bloody Ceasars and Marys. I have never made a tangine or traditional preserved lemon dish strangely enough. Probably missing out on good stuff. I just integrate it into my daily cooks when needed. I find it pretty flexible.

Sweet Lord! I'd never heard of that either. That was a horrible practice in the history of wildlife harvesting.

A tradition for us. Goes by many names. Winner either gets to be the "boss" for the year, or also gets good health for the year, hopefully both.