lemniscate

I don't have anything fermenting at the moment but I did a batch of sauerkraut with shredded cabbage and Brussel sprouts together. It was based on something my Mom remembered when my Grandparents would put up the barrel of kraut in the basement. They would shred large heads of cabbage. Farmers sold tiny immature heads of cabbage (late in the season heads that would likely not make it to full size) and these would be put whole into the barrel embedded in the shredded cabbage. According to Mom, these tiny heads were the most desired part of the kraut and the kids would fight over who got them when the kraut was done. The Brussels sprouts turned out very close to what Mom remembered. They got sweeter and lost the bitterness that can be a problem in sprouts. I also did a crock of fermented garlic cloves and whole shallots once. I thought that was really good and pungent. I then fermented carrots and celery in the some leftover garlic/shallot juice. That stuff was tasty. Tell me about the beer vinegar. I have tried making fruit vinegar a couple times and it was just too funky for my tastes.

Visiting Daiso to me is an event. I have to go 1 state over to shop there, but what fun! The snacks alone are worth the trip, and all the little doodads and organizing things, quite addicting. That's an amazing table. Is it temperature controlled or ???? Can't quite make out it's purpose.

I have done preserved lemons in my seemingly never-ending quest to use my fruit. Someone on egullet a long while ago posted about "preserved lemon paste". I took my jar at the time and pulverized the lemons into a smooth paste in the blender. This stuff was kind of a game changer. I add it to sauce when cooking chicken and fish, into stews that need an acid/salty kick, into homemade tartar sauce, mixed with olive oil for a bread dip, slathered on focaccia before baking for lemon essence......etc. I plan on adding it to my next try at bloody mary/bloody ceasar when I remember to make myself one. I think it's one of the most versatile condiments I have in my larder at the moment.

I was overwhelmed with lemon juice last year. Since I was a newbie canner, I made a concentrated lemon syrup by heating the juice and sugar. Can't tell you the proportions since I was experimenting. The juice reduced by half and I canned the syrup in pint jars. It works well for lemonade, I use it in baking cookies and it give a big lemon punch, and I use it as a substitute for simple syrup in citrus cocktails. I'm sure I'll pick up other uses as I go. I've also gifted it to people I know who like lemonade drinks. Recently, during our cold snap, I mixed it with hot water and had a warm lemonade drink that was really really good.

Me too. Exactly this. Some minds think alike.

My NY Day 2019 good luck foods, made by Mom, shared by all. Homemade sauerkraut made with smoked and fresh kielbasa and the (expensive) imported Polish dried mushrooms. Served over a few egg noodles. The bowl is much bigger than the picture indicates. Potato pancakes with sugar/sour cream and (Ikea fake)caviar/sour cream. Two kinds of marinated herring not pictured.

As a kid I used to make sumac "lemonade", eat elderberries, hunt and hoard wild strawberries, smash black walnuts, and ate (with some reservations) chokecherries. This is really cool history you have been given. I don't care for the flavor of Queen Anne's lace no matter how it's prepared.

I live in the vicinity and that is the first time I have heard a kind of potato casserole with a Scottsdale reference. My LDS friends talk lovingly of "Funeral Potatoes" though. The description sounds close in recipe.

Whoa.

Love the Boh Rhap lyrics as decorations. Clever, clever.

Yep, whole paddles with the evil already cut off around here in the markets. No tongs offered in any of the markets I can recall. I just use the plastic veg bag like a glove and grab a few and turn the bag inside out over them. I am overly cautious. I grill them, or cook them with tomatillo husks to avoid the slime (baba) texture most people don't seem to like. I tried it sous vide one time, no bueno. I think the prickly pear is the only plant that gives a veg and a fruit. I find them amazing.

Late to the egg bite party, but I did my first try in the IP. I had an old silicone muffin tray that I decided to cut up to fit into this. I use the dhokla stand to make rice normally. I did a 6 egg batch, which filled the 6 muffin forms each to the top. Too much. The egg bites puffed up quite a bit which surprised me. I did the cottage cheese, gruyere and bacon recipe (blender-ed it together). Next time I will dial it back to 4 eggs per batch and fill the muffin forms half way. 10 min. and natural release ended up with good texture for me. Tasted very nice and Household liked them without complaint.

I got my offset spatula! Santa must check egullet from time to time anonymously.

I could swear this "cooking with light" revolutionary oven has been done before. from 1993: https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/09/garden/an-oven-speeds-cooking-with-light.html and I remember one of the major appliance companies had one with a high-tech name, Advantium. It looked like an oversized microwave. One of my friends was supposed to get one in her uber tricked-out kitchen-stadium in a custom built house back in the late 90's (She doesn't cook , but it was the "new" thing).

That's a great story. My Grandfather also came to the US as a (very young) baker. Family legend is he was locally famous for his pineapple pie. Sadly, the recipe did not get passed down.

The Instant Pot helps me "leapfrog" meals constantly, morphing something leftover from a previous dish into a new dish. Last week I made a roast in a smoked beer braise in the IP, there was lots of jus leftover. I put it in the fridge in mason jars. Doing a fridge reconnoiter, I saw the jus and found a head of cabbage and some mushrooms. IP Cabbage Soup! It's pretty good too.

Done and Done.

I just got back with a chunk of Kaltbach aged gruyere. Chunk was labeled $11, paid $5.50 because it was the daily 50% off cheese. So, so good. I would have probably passed on this cheese previously, because I "thought" I knew what gruyere tastes like. This is creamy, nutty, umami semi firm, addictive cheese. I am aiming for the Keen cheddar on Monday, then the Humboldt Fog on Tuesday. Ah, who am I kidding, I'm gonna show up for most of them if it's possible.

I make focaccia especially for one friend at Christmas. She gets anchovy studded focaccia that reminds her of a bread her Sicilian grandmother made her a long time ago. The recipe make enough for two batches, one for anchovies and one for olives. These were castelvetrano olives sprinkled with dehydrated kalamata bits. Turned out pretty good. I cut into it a bit too early but hey, I'm keeping this one anyway.

I did about, by my estimation, 10 doz. lemon shortbread rounds this morning. Hoo boy. I earned my hot toddy this morning. I finished my dozen Caribbean Rum Cakes 2 days ago. One more batch of palmiers in the nearish future. Just in time for the Christmas parties to start.

Now I want to do that sous vide, thanks @ElsieD. Off to find a smoked picnic. I grew up on the smoked picnics. I had forgotten about them unfortunately.

Ok, so there's this special bundle for the Joule. I'm not familiar with the Hestan Cue. It kind of sounds like something in the line of the Polyscience Control Freak appliance?

Now this is a "special" I can get behind. I'll admit, the cheese selection pre-Amazon Whole Foods changed quite markedly post-Amazon. But there is still enough variety to keep me interested, so I'll be checking the daily offering. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/whole-foods-cheese-sale-12-days-2018?fbclid=IwAR2rzqRRxHB5mycEZhPZr0X9k8UdvldTkMMtOjqBB0KV8GPWPMjVM-J6lOI

Me Too. (and I want a vacuum chamber sealer, I predict I am more apt to get the offset spatula)

I rarely bake cookies, and the cookies I make are ones that I can put away for a while if I lose my mojo during the process. Like shortbread, mix it up, chill it; if the desire to bake leaves me during the chill stage, no problem, leave them chillin'. Palmiers too, can be started and stopped without much drama and they bake quickly once started. I also can't seem to like baking in the evening, I seem to prefer the 0-dark-thirty times to fire up the oven and get to baking. I guess if I did a marathon day of multiple batches I would go nuts from the tedium of it too.