lemniscate

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?

3 x SV rigs (dorkfood, Anova, Joule) countertop oven (cheap Oster french door) IP (2, 6qt and mini) A4Box induction cooker Paragon (it was cheap) A Shun knife cheap off Amazon Treasure Truck. A vintage Toast-R-oven toaster Blendtec Thermopens (on sale/clearance)

The rind is the part that preserved lemons are made for. The pulp is secondary and sometimes discarded. I didn't see the point of that and just blended it all up to use. I would suggest trying what you have with the rind as it is and see if you think its bitter (or not) for you tastes. It's very soft and a tiny piece will show you the flavor. Mine keeps for years in the fridge in a mason jar.

Yes, I pulverize all of it, but I did try to pick out the seeds. It is very salty. I would advise use the paste *in place of* salt in recipes, not along with. It's salty, tangy, and deeply lemon, which does include the slightly bitter component. Salad dressings would be a good entry point to test with, or homemade mayo, or a dip. I have used it in bbq sauces, marinades, stews, dressings, pasta sauces, tartar sauce....etc.

I did a big jar last season, but then I turned it into paste, which I find is much more versatile to use.

I think a listeria outbreak put one of my favorites cheese producers out of business this year. I loved Cahill's Irish Porter cheese, but they had a recall for listeria early this year. I searched just now and saw they are in "liquidation".

We got the Beer Advent Calendar (a Costco tradition for me) I can verify that these are excellent breakfast beers. I am on vacation from work, so it's a no-brainer for me. We share one can, because, you know, moderation.

I may need an intervention. I am seriously considering buying a dehydrator. Looking for input from owners, once you had/have it, how long did the rapture last before it was "stored" or are you still using it? I would use it as whatever seasonal fruit/veg comes my way or whatever "can't pass up deal" at stores tempt me. I also do beef jerky and think I would do more if I had a focused tool with lots of trays to binge batch it. Excalibur would be my focus, due to @andiesenji and @Shelby reviews. Right now I use an Oster countertop oven to do jerky but I have to jimmy-rig enough trays to make it work somewhat efficiently. I do have room in another building other than the house where odor/noise wouldn't bother anyone. So enablers/disablers, have at it.

I've been experimenting with making simple cheeses at home for a couple months. I bought some soft cheese cultures from cheesemaking.com. Funnily enough, this year I've been asked to make a cheesecake dessert for a Christmas dinner. I had already made a batch of the Fromagina and think it's suited for the cheesecake (I'm doing it SV in small jars) dessert. So, I have bypassed the Philly Cream Cheese shortage unintentionally. I use standard pasteurized whipping cream and milk. Not ultra-pasteurized, won't work. I've got a batch of sour cream going as we speak. So, some of the current shortages can be worked around with a tiny bit more effort. I've found the soft cheese cultures to be super easy to use and get a nice result. Just a bit more time involved.

I've used beer as the liquid in the melty cheese calculator with great results. I do not cook with hoppy beers though.

Get some black vinegar if you can to try. That makes a dipping or noodle bowl sauce really pop. It's malty/fruity with a umami undertone. And it loves a bit of chili heat too. @shain nailed it with his suggestions.

FYI on the Whole Foods 12 days of Cheese, in previous offerings it was 1 cheese per day (as I recall it), but this time all the 12 cheeses are available at the same time on special through the whole sale time. I just bought 6 or 7 of the types today. Saved a bunch of money.

Still loving mine. I use it for burgers, bacon and hash browns. I don't know why I haven't used it with eggs yet. (slaps forehead).

Ha! My new egg nog toast will be "Let there be Light!" This is true. This is not an egg nog for amateurs. I like the Everclear flavor cleanliness. I do not like rum, years of avoiding egg nog due to the rum flavors kinda made me adverse most offered versions. This stuff ages perfectly, one of my batches is from 2019 and is heavenly.

Year 3 of @ninagluck egg nog and I will only make her version ever after. That stuff ages amazingly. So smooth.

My cheap Oster french door countertop oven has a broil setting on it, but it is a completely useless setting. The thing does not broil. Bakes, yes. Broil, nope.

Costco has a rather insane discount again on those giant pork loins recently. I picked up two. One is dry brining in my usual back-bacon style, Morton's Tenderquick and sugar. Oh, I added a bit of liquid smoke into the dry brining bag this time as an experiment The other was parceled into large chops and is dry brining in a Tenderquick/sugar/juniper berries/bay/coriander/other spices/liquid smoke. This is my attempt at Kasseler-style meat. I will probably sous vide them once they are done curing and added some more spices to the bag for extra oomph. I am way behind on my crock of sauerkraut. I gotta get one going. I did also get some super ripe prickly pears off a neighbors patch and steam juiced them for syrup. Steam juicing is the easiest/safest way to handle these evil fruit. Paid back the neighbor with prickly pear flavored bottle of vodka. They liked it. The backyard pomegranates are in a jelly now.

Agree! I use the canned Mutti brand cherry tomatoes. They are sweeter and to me lack the "tinny" flavor of conventional canned tomatoes. I can't saw for sure they are skinless, I just can't recall noticing skins on the cherry tomatoes when I use it in sauce/cooking.

There are electric coil, infrared and those solid cast burner types. All price ranges and wattage ranges. OP did not say what type of stove they had before the induction upgrade though.