lemniscate

Today is zucchini slices marinated in Marmite and a fruit vinegar. Also sliced white onions that were soaked in pepperoncini juice are in a couple trays.

I got a 9 tray Excalibur. Split and dried cherry tomatoes are excellent. But, don't put black pepper on them as a prep because somehow it becomes bitter. Still edible, but a bit bitter. Salt is best prep I have found so far. Win. Cooked cubed carrots. I ate them like carrot flavored jelly beans. Win. I saw a recipe in the Excalibur book for eggplant parmesan chips. Basically eggplant slices brushed with tomato paste and garlic powder. Unfortunately found I had no parm, so did it without. Win, with reservations. With parm would be a Win. Ate these with a pesto dip. Saw a recipe for dehydrated dill pickle chips. Someone gave me a jar of spicy pickles for Christmas I hadn't opened. Sliced them and dehydrated. Big mistake. The spicy is now 100x concentrated and these little green bits will blow you head off. LOSE. This was a dumb idea in retrospect. I bet sweet pickle chips would be fine dehydrated. I did barbeque sauce leather for adding to sandwiches. That works well. Makes the sandwich less gooshy while adding the sauce flavor to it. Works well on grilled cheese. Win. Since I bought the thing to maximize beef jerky production, these veg experiments are just a lark. But I have found there are some value to some of the techniques.

My guess is relays.

The stuff I like is OOS @ Total Wine and Bevmo local to me. . I find it hard to believe there are that many Danes and saunas soaking up the supply here. There's a very good liquor store called Trevor's in Scottsdale. I will go there to see if they have it, they stock nice stuff.

Your IKEA sells alcohol? Damn. I just finished my last bottle of Aquavit at a polar plunge last weekend. I will miss it. I haven't seen it on the shelves here for a couple years, even pre-C&^*&&((d.

I don't normally buy any prepared entrees at Costco, except the rotisserie chicken. They were demo-ing these lamb shanks and I made the mistake of going Costco shopping hungry. Lamb is not high on my protein list, but the Household holds it in high regard. My sample was superb. I submitted to the siren call. These are very good, lots of meat on the shanks, in our usage = 2 people 1 shank is a good meal. The sauce is great, there are the tiny fig seeds in it. Not cheap, ~$24 per lb.; each shank is pre-bagged so could be reheated sous vide. I used microwave method and it was very good. Any leftover sauce I'm saving for use in other dishes. Bones will go for a stock.

Trying not to get too off book topic, one of the reviews of the Rancho book mentioned "California Tamales". <snip> "Genuine Rancho Cooking. Receipt for early California Tamale is Included. It is not a Mexican Tamale, But the Genuine "California Tamale" Like the Kind Made in the Central Valley in the 30',40's 50's. And kind made at Warburtons (Out of Business), the Kind still made a Rosevelts Tamale parlor San Fransico. The California Tamale is Big Round when you break into it after un-tying the strings you break the Corn masa shell and Dip into the Chili Gravy with a Spoon." This interested me and I looked up that style of tamale. Turns out Norcal/SF had a lot of tamale parlours, which made a huge round tamale style. And some made their tamales in coffee cups, steamed, without the use of a corn husk. Very regional. I went down a tamale rabbit hole with just that one review. I may get a bag of harina and some ramekins and try that type for a lark.

That Rancho book looks intriguing. I read some reviews and now I want to know what a "California Tamale" or "Cup Tamale" tastes like.

I have quite a collection of the Viancin lids (and bowls). The smoked oyster stories are great. Years ago I was sending care packages to Armed Service members in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was putting in soap, pillows, candy, jerky etc usually, but one day I started including in cans of smoked oysters on a lark. I got letters back from the recipients with excitement over the smoked oysters. Who knew? Lots of smoked oyster fans out there it seems.

3 Kings/Epiphany today, and yesterday was the last of the 12 Days of Christmas (those drummers drumming). Tomorrow is Orthodox Christmas. I have a friend of that faith and will wish them well again.

Same! We did bison tenderloin and poached shrimp and Bottle Logic Redeye November beer. Watched "The Last Picture Show", which it really was the last picture show of 2021.

Thanks, that's what I thought. I do eggs for 3 min QR for soft, and 7 min QR for hard and have always been good with the results. I did notice if during the cooking process one of the egg shells touched the side of the IP, it would crack. I switched to using a silicone cooking mesh bag (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) with a silicone trivet (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) I rarely get cracks. Those eggs were probably cracked already in the container. So I'm pretty happy with the IP pressure way. I will say sometimes I get an egg or two in a batch that refuses to peel easily. I just chock it up to egg tolerances, not the cooking. I'm so used to how easy the IP eggs peel that when one is difficult, I remember how boiling was awful and inaccurate. I used to have a little plastic egg thingy that would sit in the water and change color for egg doneness. It never worked well. And before IP, there were so many old wives tales on the internet and youtube "guaranteed easy peel" eggs versions that it was mind boggling.

Hello @JAZ Does this mean you don't use the IP at all for eggs? I was under the impression that even the steam button on my IP is pressurized. Am I incorrect? How do you steam without pressure in an IP?

I did a whole small jar with the bone spoon this mid-morning all by myself. It was good. But I'm good for a while for the caviar craving.

targeted heat gun or hair dryer?

@TdeV Do you think doing spiralized or zoodles this way would work? Looking at using as a ramen add-in and/or pasta sub. I think dried would be more robust texture and soak-in the flavored both. Marinated makes it sound more palatable.

I agree, I looked too and you have really no way to get these even the littlest bit economically. I think the shallots are a product of Vietnam if that helps. They are in a plastic bag. You could try a bit of the regular dehydrated like @Darienne uses, to experiment.

for me, texture.

Are they freeze-dried or just the normal dehydrated type in the bulk bin? I would jump at bulk price on freeze dried version. Dehydrated, not so much.

I love the Honeyville product, unfortunately, out of stock at the moment. While there appears to be "sticker shock" at the price of a #10 can, it will last a long time even after open, no waste, no rot, can be stored on shelf. It takes a bit to learn how much is the same of half small onion, or what a cup of regular chopped onion is equal to in freeze dried form. It seems Covid and the prepping craze has Honeyville out of their usual stock. I just use it because I feel it's a superior product. There's a brand called LIfehouse I have not tried. I think Costco carries some of their stuff. Also some company called Thrive (which sounds like a MLM setup).

I am also an onion chopping hater. I have resorted to using freeze-dried chopped onions. Just grab a handful and toss in the pot. If you want for a salad, just rehydrate in the salad dressing/vinegar/liquid before adding. The freeze dried taste like fresh onions to me. I saw some packages of freeze dried chopped shallots in the Asian supermarket. I will be picking some of those up soon.

I'd eat that now, cream cheese and canned asparagus rolls. Somewhere in my genetic memory I'm sure I've had this at a relation's house at some get together. The olives and gherkins would work for me too. Skip the maraschinos, never been a fan of those. EDIT: I swear I've had them here in the SW within that last couple decades, except using a flour tortilla instead of bread.

I was asked to provide dessert for Christmas Day dinner. I did SV poached pears (in prickly pear/pomegranate juice), SV granny smith apples (same juice as mentioned), and pineapple chucks (in vanilla syrup). It was served as a poached fruit plate. Along with the fruit was SV cheececake in small mason jars (a la Chefsteps technique). Those were topped with Christmas cookie crumbs (gifted cookies I wasn't going to eat). I was also asked to provide the mashed potatoes. SV yukon golds in olive oil and tarragon, chervil, thyme, marjoram, salt and pepper. Mashed with a bit of butter and a bit of sour cream. So decadent. BTW, I did the fruit, cheesecakes, and potatoes a couple of days before Christmas to be better prepared and not stress on a Holiday.

I put the IP on either saute setting (if I'm in a hurry) or high slow cook (if I'm not) after pressure cooking stock and it reduces it just fine. I also have the old school Fagor classic, which I love also. Edit: I am doing lobster shell stock in the IP with a reduction right now.

I need to add a vp215 vacuum chamber to my list. Oh and @btbyrd, does Chefsteps subscription count?