lemniscate

I cook mine as is, in fact, I don't even thaw them before sous vide. I just toss them in the water and add a bit of time to the anticipated cook. Also, I use the juices for a sauce or dipping jus; or even collect them for a future gravy. Those bag juices are fantastic. I don't have any belief drying the meat of all juices before sous vide-ing has any effect to the texture/flavor of the meat. Are you planning to sear after debagging? That is when I have seen people dry the meat. But again, don't fear the bag juices!

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that part, I did use the saute function on the meat. Then switched to slow cook. I had previously tried to do a Sunday Sauce using the pressure function, but stuff just stuck to the bottom something fierce. I had the time and used slow cook and no sticking happened at all.

I threw together a pasta sauce with a little over a pound of sweet italian pork sausage, 2 cans of Mutti cherry tomatoes, a can of La Fiamma diced tomatoes ( I got a *bunch* of canned Italian tomatoes at Cost Plus World Market for super cheap, so I have lots of canned tomatoes), some stored up cheese ends, a little pork broth and a couple glugs of a homemade Worcestershire-style sauce. I used the slow cook setting on the IP to cook this sauce a long long time. It's really good and served it over radiatorre pasta from TJ's. It's rare I use the slow cook setting, but I think its great for a long pasta sauce cook.

I'll think about it. You and I are in the same Metro area. I just bought the A4 induction so I might have reached my 2020 limit on kitchen stuff already!

The A4 Box that @Anna N has been showcasing is 25% off with a code of BLACKFRIDAY at checkout. The 25% off is not applied on the extra cooking surfaces ($89 extra) only to the A4 Box itself. Free Shipping. I now own the white North American model with the extras. Get 25% Discount On A4Box. Use Code - BLACKFRIDAY

The Paragon is still ~$70 on the RCWilley site, BUT no longer available for online orders, in-store purchase only. Shame, I had been kicking around grabbing another one. I am no where near an RCWilley store.

Peruse the 1989 classic cookbook Manifold Destiny (which I believe has been updated. I first heard about it on "Car Talk" (how I miss that show). A search shows it's been mentioned every so often since the inception of eGullet. I do not own it though.

I also mistakenly put this in the old Prime Day thread. I'll put it here too. Prime Pantry deal on King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour if you want to stock up. 5 lb. priced @ $3.68. Cheaper than local Walmart price in my area Then there's a 20% coupon to clip. It looks like this is only applied to 1 bag of flour per order. Then if you buy 5 you get additional 5% off, buy 10 get additional 10%, buy 15 get additional 15%. You can buy 5,10, or 15 of various and assorted things and get the discounts, This stepped discount ends 11/30/19 Caveat: for free shipping you must have a minimum of $35 in your Pantry box. I tested all the max discounts with a qty of 15 bags in my cart and it looks like it came out to $3.13 per bag, delivered. Not a bad price for bread flour to the door. Edit: It looks like all the King Arthur flours on Prime Pantry have a 20% coupon, ie, organic, cake, gluten free...... Double Edit: US based Prime Pantry, I should add for clarification.

Prime Pantry deal on King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour if you want to stock up. 5 lb. priced @ $3.68. Cheaper than local Walmart price in my area Then there's a 20% coupon to clip. It looks like this is only applied to 1 bag of flour per order. Then if you buy 5 you get additional 5% off, buy 10 get additional 10%, buy 15 get additional 15%. You can buy 5,10, or 15 of various and assorted things and get the discounts, This stepped discount ends 11/30/19 Caveat: for free shipping you must have a minimum of $35 in your Pantry box. I tested all the max discounts with a qty of 15 bags in my cart and it looks like it came out to $3.13 per bag, delivered. Not a bad price for bread flour to the door. Edit: It looks like all the King Arthur flours on Prime Pantry have a 20% coupon, ie, organic, cake, gluten free......

I believe, if it works out, it will be a turkey-free Thanksgiving this year. A relative relocated here and brought a locomotive-sized smoker with them. Smoked prime rib is what I think is going to happen, the details are sketchy so far. I was assigned dessert. I am doing Chefsteps Pumpkin Pie in Jars which I tested a month or so back and it was excellent. I am also doing the Chefsteps corn pie, pumpkin style (Recipe is behind a paywall, sorry) for something a little different, yet familiar. And for the first time in my cooking life, the real deal Campbell cream of mushroom, French's fried onion, green bean casserole. It's been asked for and I am obliging. The streak is over.

Mine had the mat. But the instructions really didn't show the use of the mat, just the external controller.

I have several small aloes that are many many years old outside in old cutoff plastic bottles filled with hydroponic clay pebbles. They are under a patio roof year round. I just top them off with water now and then. I pretty much ignore them and they stay alive.

I have never found prickly pear juice to be tart, quite the opposite, it's been flatly barely sweet. I would say it mostly has a cucumber; zucchini-ish squash flavor with a touch of strawberry sweet, but definitely no tartness. At least the variety of the fruit around here. The bitter note you found, I'm not sure, could be the age, could be the varietal. There are quite a few different types of prickly pear varietals scattered around the country. The best version of drinkable prickly pear juice for me is a touch of agave syrup with a touch of lime. Or lemon. It adds a beautiful color and tones down the tequila edges in a margarita, but you still need the sweet and citrus note there. Blending it with a touch of pomegranate juice is also quite nice. Pom juice can be too sweet and tart, the prickly pear tames it. I personally did not find my steam juiced result any better or worse than the fresh pureed and strained. I also have peeled and sliced the fruit into slivers. I took a big pan of them to a potluck. I had a sign saying what they were, it was a local pig pit bbq gathering. Strictly as a unusual offering, I didn't think anyone would touch them. The sign got lost somehow and everyone thought they were eating slivered beets because of the color. The power of suggestion................................................................................

Wow, I was thinking Walla Walla. 😉

I'd steam.

@kayb This shop is run by a family member of a Brazilian coffee farm, so the Peixoto beans come from a known source. It's a bit out of the price range you stated, but worth a look.

also, never set down the collection bag or box anywhere near the plant. The glochids are also on the ground around the plant and will ride along on the bottom of the bag/box. You will hold the bag/box by the bottom and grab glochids. Ask me how I know, LOL. Also a good practice to wash the bottoms of the shoes you wore to collect before entering a living space, to avoid future barefoot surprises. Prickly pear is not designed to make harvest and consuming easy for humans. edit, I am related to someone not local who decided on a hike to try "these desert pears" growing out there. Apparently picking glochids out of your tongue is a memorable experience. If you do get them in your finger, Preparation H will ease the skin inflammation around the glochid and help it out faster. Who knew Prep H was so versatile. Every serious mountain biker in the area carries some due to run-ins with cholla and all other spiky things.

Stella Gorgonzola is still my choice for my bleu cheese and apple/pear butter lettuce salad. One of the Costco's still carries a big wedge at a great price.

So here's what I have heard regarding Hatch chiles: There is simply not enough harvest and land around the Hatch area that can supply the Hatch grown chiles to the rest of the world, so chiles are imported to Hatch, dried and/or processed in Hatch or close by enough to be called Hatch and then can be defined by the Hatch name. I heard this 15-20 years ago when the whole Hatch chile thing took off in the culinary world. Myth of Hatch Chiles All the cool kids are now all about the Socorro chiles 😀. True story.

that sounds nice!

Shortest video I could find regarding steam juicing and prickly pear @Smithy

I used a steam juicer on my last batch about 2 months back. It worked great, no worries regarding the glochids since steam juicing is no-touch and whole fruit. I thought I would need to slice them, but the juice came out just fine. The fruit turned a light beige at the end of the process, which was weird. The juice was the beautiful magenta it should have been. It did not taste cooked when cooled down, it tasted normal to me as if I had juiced them the non-steaming way. My fruit had been frozen whole in the freezer for a few weeks before I got around to juicing. Lots of people boil them whole then blend and strain to get the juice also.

@kayb Can you tell me more about this preparation? Are the eggs and sausage pickled together or separately?

I couldn't decide if this link to an archive of Christmas and Holiday fruitcakes and puddings and cookies recipe booklets needs to go in the Fruit Cake thread, the Christmas cookie/baking thread or the Out of Print cookbook thread. The first few pages of each of these old gems are fruit cakes of various styles. I enjoyed perusing them, I hope somebody finds recipes they like or thought they lost.

I wonder if adding a sweeter acid, like lemon juice might tame that taste. Maybe the apples were too sweet and the sugars caramelized more during cooking.