FauxPas

@gfron1 used pawpaws quite a bit, I think. I wonder if he ever dried them?

I don't know why I was curious about this because I don't have pawpaws and I don't think they are usually grown in this part of the world but I did some searching and found some stuff that suggested it was a bad idea to dehydrate them. Have you seen or heard of this? Seems very odd, but see here, for an example: https://growingfruit.org/t/using-pawpaws/2307/31 Here is the quote from I believe the Director of Pawpaw program at Kentucky State University from their Facebook page called “KSU Pawpaw”: Pawpaw fruit do not dry well, for some reason I have had reports from numerous people saying dried pawpaw fruit didn’t agree with them and made them a little sick to their stomachs. We aren’t sure why, if the fatty acids get rancid, or if there is something that gets concentrated when you dry that isn’t agreeable to the stomach, but because of that it isn’t recommended. Freezing pawpaw fruit is the best way to store it. Remove the skin and seeds, puree the pulp and store in a freezer bag.

There is les amis du FROMAGE. But the prices are a bit shocking. They may have more in-store than they have on their website. They also have COWS butter from PEI. You might find something at Granville Island Public Market, maybe at Benton Brothers or similar? Avalon Dairy makes organic butters. It's not easy to find some dairy products in Canada because of supply management of the dairy industry, as I'm sure you know.

I tried to link to an episode of the PBS show Pati's Mexican Table because she did a whole episode on cinnamon in Mexican cooking, but it doesn't seem to be available anymore. Here's the link to the episode summary. Cinnamon is used in Mexico in various beverages (coffee!) and in sweet baking but also in more savory applications like meat rubs and moles (sauces). https://patijinich.com/cinnamon/ You can also find recipes using cinnamon with other well-known Mexican cooks such as Rick Bayless. Here are a couple of savory ones: https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/chile-marinated-pork-oaxacan-style/ https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/oaxacan-black-mole/

@KennethT, I'm wondering how your pepper plants are coming along - hope they are thriving!

Hahahaha. I'd do the same thing! Thank you! 🙂

This makes a lot of sense! 🙂

That's where I found it most appealing in our kitchen! Pork tenderloin is quite nice with SV, fat pork chops sous-vide then seared are also very nice. With a thinner chop, I still tend to pan-fry but thicker ones are tricky for me to get right in a pan alone. I only tried steaks via SV a couple of times. I think I like regular grilling better for two reasons. First, the regular grilled steak just tastes and looked better to me. I'm completely open to the possibility that I just didn't do a very good job at SV with them (!), but cooking steaks on the grill is one of the few cooking tasks that my husband enjoys and frankly, I like a night off now and then. 🙂 I too am interested in trying SV with halibut now. I did SV salmon a few times but not sure it was better than just doing a steam-broil in the Cuisinart Steam Convection oven.

I am quite new to fermenting so advice is welcome and this sounds like very good advice! 🙂 Thanks!

After picking my green cherry tomatoes, I looked at your lovely photo again and thought I should maybe do something similar. But then I got pulled by a recipe for green tomato chutney. I'm sure it's fine but I'm regretting my choice. The chutney tastes just ok to me and the ginger comes through way too strong for some reason. It's not what I had hoped for, anyway. And it's not very appealing as a photo. Does anyone else do a green tomato chutney version that they would recommend? Here's the pepper mash, mostly dehydrated. Will try grinding a bit and see how it goes.

Fermented hot sauces coming along. The cayenne-based one in the measuring cup is WAY hot, might add some mango or something to it. I strained these sauces and am dehydrating the mash to make a chile pepper powder. I'm a newbie to this but it's fun trying things. 🙂

Do the frozen peppers ferment just as well as fresh? Do you do anything differently when you start with frozen ones? The blueberry/blackberry addition sounds lovely. Do you ferment the fruit as well or add it later? Your green tomatoes look so pretty in the jar! 🙂

A friend gave me some of her late season raspberries recently and I made some quick jam with 4 cups fruit, 1 cup sugar, lemon juice + zest, splash of Grand Marnier. End result was a couple of these little containers, just nice to store in fridge and use over next 4 weeks or so. With low sugar, not sure they will keep too much longer than that. Making some fermented hot sauce with mixed peppers. And another batch with cayenne peppers, onion and garlic.

Once fermented, do you eat them as is? Or do you use them as an ingredient in something else or ???

I like the way you think! 😄 My husband used to love Manhattans but disliked maraschino cherries. I used to think about making a better cherry for garnish, like this Brandied Cocktail Cherry. But then he discovered those Trader Joe's Morello cherries, which he really did like. I think they have been discontinued now. Do you have a perfect garnish for your Manhattans? I think I'd go with orange peel these days if I made one.