FauxPas

As rotuts says, it will hold a pretty decent amount of chicken pieces. I have done enough chicken wings for 4 people, though it was a bit crowded and we weren't having a wings-only meal. I've cooked 6 drumsticks at once. I often steam-roast whole chickens, up to a max of about 2 kg or 4.5 lbs. We've had several guests over the last couple of months and i have used the Cuisi for some of our meals, enough for 4 people. I cooked a whole chicken a couple of times. Once cooked, I would cover the chicken with foil and put it on top of the Steam oven to stay warm while I did nugget potatoes or veggies. As rotuts also mentions, you can do a meatloaf that would serve 4. I've also done lasagne for 4 or other baked pasta dishes - you just need to find the right sized casserole dish. Look at the interior size measurements of the oven and find a casserole dish that would fit so you can visualize better, perhaps? And compare the size of the baking tray that comes with the oven with food that you might want to cook. (I can't remember the size and don't have a ruler handy but I know the measurements are in this thread. If I have a few minutes later, I will try to update some of this, though.) I've done braised beef short ribs and beef rouladen as well - not specifically for 4 people, but there were leftovers or i could have fit a bit more in. Sometimes I do wish that I had a larger oven. It's nice when you can cook meat and veggies at the same time, but there isn't enough room to do that for 4 people. I can do that at times for the two of us though even then it can be a bit crowded, depending on what you are cooking. But there is room for a decent-sized pot roast or a couple of thick steaks, 4 small/med pork chops or a pork tenderloin. I think I could fit 4 small hamburger patties on the tray, but not huge ones. I have done a dry-cooked beef roast in the regular oven and then cooked mixed veggies in the Cuisi. It won't always do all your food at the same time but I would say you can definitely use it for cooking for 4 for some meals or parts of meals. And as rotuts also points out, it depends on how large your appetites are!

Sounds interesting! Can you tell us a bit more about it?

gfweb, I'd love to see links to the other table-top ones. Rotuts, cover your eyes!

I love the thought that went into this! The pictures make Smaug look a bit pink (or maybe it's just my screen non-calibration) but I see you describe it as fire-engine red and I love the gold powder detail. Love the Lifesavers as gemstones! Maybe you already said, but I'm not sure how the pearls are formed. (I think those are pearls, yes?)

Wow. Just wow. What a lucky little boy!

I notice that you didn't peel them - just wondering if that makes any difference or not?

Was that Romertopf only $4???? What size is it? I assume it's in good shape? You two are amazing shoppers. But I thought you said you had a very small kitchen, Anna????? Where do you keep all this stuff?

Oh, I love Carnival squash! The local farm markets are just coming out with some winter squash and the Carnival are especially beautiful this year. I was going to buy one a couple of days ago and was thinking that it would almost be a shame to cut it up as the colouring was so lovely, but also I wasn't sure how I wanted to cook it. How do you prepare yours? Do you cook the apple separately and mix them after cooking?

Oh Shel, I think you could! It would take a bit of work and maybe a different variety. You can grow watermelon in a container and train the vine to grow up a trellis. You can use strips of cloth to support the fruit as it develops if you select a miniature variety. This is something I really want to do as soon as we actually live in one place for enough of the summer to grow a garden again! I've had winter gardens in Arizona for the last few years but I haven't had a 'northern' summer garden in years! Next year should be the year, though. I especially like Renee's Seeds as she has small reasonably priced packets that often have two or three different varieties in them - perfect for a small home garden where you don't have room for large crops. She also has quite a few seeds that are suitable for container growing. I've had success with some of her patio tomatoes, peppers, and a lovely aubergine/eggplant suited for container growing, called "Little Prince." She has a few choices in watermelon seeds, at least two of them are smaller 'icebox' size. And I see Johnny's has a 2-4 lb variety, Little Baby Flower. Edited to add: I see Shelby and I posted at the same time. Great minds and all that?

Shelby, I thought of you when I saw this recipe - Courgette and Apple Chutney - because it uses 'overgrown' zucchini and green tomatoes, both of which I thought you might have toward the end of the season. Also some apples or crabapples. I wish I could say that I had tried it and could recommend it, but it does sound appealing. I'm not sure I would cook it as long as they do, I like a chunky chutney. And of course you can always play with the spices. I might try making a mini-batch of it, if I have time and the right produce in the next week or two. I love chutney.

And the beauty of pickling them is that you don't have all the prep work that you would for some other recipes. Good idea! You can always make crabapple jelly, it can be lovely. You probably already thought of that, but here's one link, just in case. It can be easy to do, also - you don't have to peel or core - just cut them up a bit!

Thanks for the warning!

I'm not sure how you mean this. They do freeze well, but perhaps you don't like the change in texture or the inability to roast after? I'm not saying it's the ideal way to preserve them, but if they can be quickly frozen, they lose less of their texture. They are still very useful, though they may not be used the same was as a pre-roasted chile. When I have extra peppers of any kind and don't have time to blanch or roast them, I find freezing raw still preserves them very well. The University Extension food departments usually agree that this is a good method for preservation (though some do recommend pre-roasting, but I think this is when you really want to try and preserve some of the roasted flavour and not just the pepper) : http://food.unl.edu/preservation/freezing-peppers http://university.uog.edu/cals/people/PUBS/Food/L-5309.pdf

If I was going to roast them, I would definitely roast before freezing. But I sometimes throw whole or diced peppers (of all kinds) into the freezer and they get used in cooked salsas, chilis, soups, etc.

Shelby, these are a good use for chiles. First met this style of quesadilla in Tucson, served as an appy. I love the simple attractiveness of it and it lets the pepper flavour shine through! Sonoron Quesadilla.

I've had this little meal a lot over the last 6 weeks or so. The BC peaches have been so luscious this year and I always love banana-nut breads or muffins. I've been using a simple Banana Nut Muffin recipe from Simply Recipes, I use a bit less sugar and I always use 4 bananas! They freeze well, so it's easy to reheat one in the microwave. I've made several batches of these muffins because we seem to scarf them down pretty fast. Sometimes I use pecans instead of walnuts.

You definitely have skills. Did you just roast the tomato or use any sweetener? I'm thinking of tomato jams, etc. http://foodinjars.com/2013/09/classic-tomato-jam-sweetened-honey/ Edited to add: Am I wrong or has the boyfriend become the partner? If so, congrats and I hope you can spend more time together in future. Any plans to live in the same city? And please forgive me for being too forward/intrusive, if so.

My head exploded a bit reading this thread. You are not a timid cook, that is for sure! Even if I had the space and the discretionary income, I am not sure I would do all that you do, but Wowser, I do love reading about it!!!!

I think gfron1 wants the optimum fresh-roasted flavour for the restaurant and does all the up-front prep for that, but I bet lots of us just throw a pepper or two in the freezer, skin-on and un-roasted. I freeze peppers whole, diced or roasted, depending on time and availability. It's better to freeze them than leave them too long, I think.

Oh, this looks like a fun meal! What type of melon is in that first course? The dessert looks lovely, was it as tasty as you remembered/hoped?

Maybe that's been the problem with the cauliflower i have roasted - it probably needed to cook longer! This recipe definitely sounds interesting.

Sorta. There are no duties on some (most?) goods manufactured within North America. Is the Anova manufactured in the US? But dmg was being charged mostly for shipping and a brokerage fee. I don't know if the brokerage fee includes any duty or if it's just a fee for doing the paperwork. The taxes are still due when you import goods into Canada, but these taxes were calculated at a higher rate than they should have been. Still it's only about $5 at most, so not sure if it's worth the time and hassle to try and correct it. And I suspect it would fall onto the consumer to request the correction. And I think you would have to deal with CBSA in order to obtain a refund. But if anyone knows better, I'd love to know. The better way might have been to have someone ship the Anova as a gift to dmg, as some fees may not be assessed when the item is a gift. Still, I once sent a handmade quilt that I made from the US to Canada that was marked as a gift and assessed a value on it only for insurance purposes, but the recipient had to pay taxes and duty on it before they could receive it. Annoying. And it could have been cotton made in the US (Ok, that is pretty rare now but still). No one asked for details, but someone decided to charge the highest fees they could on that gift item. The whole process can be such a pain. (Better to bring something across the border with you as part of your personal exemptions, but that means you have to travel to the US to purchase the item.)

Anna N's suggestion is probably a good first step. I believe the legislative power for tax and duties on imports falls within the Canadian Border Services Agency. I don't know if Anova can request adjustments after the fact or if you would have to. Not sure how easy it would be to deal with CBSA, but you might be able to check out the Casual Refund Program. The Casual Refund Program Manages the refund and adjustment processes for duties, goods and services tax (GST), harmonized sales tax (HST), provincial sales tax (PST), and levies under the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), on non-commercial importations brought into Canada by mail, by courier or carried by travellers. See the website details here. Edited to correct clumsy wording due to severe lack of sleep. :-)

Serious Eats has a write-up on using mint - seven different chefs make suggestions for using or preserving it.

Ouch, and paying tax on the higher value must hurt. I wonder if you can dispute that - tax should be based on what you pay, not what the non-sale price of an item is. Not that it will make a huge difference, more of a 'principle of the thing' situation.