Shel_B

OK, I get what you're saying. I have a question, though. I recall reading somewhere that coil burnes with thinner coils were more efficient than the, at the time, older, wider coils> Is there some/amy truth to that? Would more, narrower windins make for quicker heating of the pan? Is there any design that makes for more efficient use of the electicity that's being consumed, such as (just guessing) thinner coils that heat up quicker?

There are many choices here from a variety of sources. I'm starting to learn about the differences in burner design and hoping I can find some that are more efficient and less expensive to operate.

Kaledo Verde: got a jump on lunch and made a version of Caldo Verde this morning, which I'll enjoy later in the day. Leek, onion, Yukon Golds with skin, and a big bunch of kale, including diced stems, simmered in my poblano-infused vegetable broth and enhanced with a bit of Aleppo and Gochugaru pepper. I've gotta stop using my phone for pics, but it's so convenient ...

Yesterday I experienced something quite strange: the burner that I most frequently use wouldn't boil water. I was making some spaghetti in a skillet, and it seemed that the water wasn't quite coming to a boil. Later on, I tested my observation by using plain water in the skillet and taking the temp with the Thermopen. The water never got above 210-deg F, and took a very long time to even reach that sub-par temp. I did some checking and learned that the heating elements can degrade and wear out. I never knew that. So, I took the rarely-if-ever-used element from a back burner and swapped it for the poorly performing front burner, and I was amazed at the difference. The element heated very quickly by comparison, and got the water up to temperature faster than any time in recent memory. So, a cautionary tale: electric burners degrade and one might do well to check and replace them every now and then. Additional comment: I was cooking some onions in a Le Creuset earler this morning, and had the heat set to medium, where it's usually been. Surprise! The new burner was strong enough that I had to turn down the heat to prevent scorching.

This is one of many food-conserving and thrifty tricks I learned from my parents and grandparents: making a salad dressing from the dregs of a mayonnaise jar. I was pleasantly surprised to see it turn up in a You Tube video. Maybe you'll find it useful, perhaps it'll give you some ideas or motivate you to post some similar tricks you use. https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-old-empty-mayo-jar-dressing-trick.html And here's the short You Tube version in case you're the impatient type: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/987oZ1MM5w0

I made Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce ... Yesterday, while reviewing some sauce recipes, I realized that I'd never made Hazan's well-known, simple tomato sauce. Since all the ingredients were handy (hard to imagine them not) I gave it a try. Of the various tomatoes on hand, I chose Bianco DiNapoli whole peeled tomatoes. I wanted to use tomatoes packed in a thicker sauce, and the Biancos are packed in a pureé-like sauce which is much thicker than the Argo Sarnese-Nocerino San Marzanos that were also in the cupboard. I slightly modified the recipe by adding a nice-sized pinch of of a mixture of Turkish Aleppo pepper and Calabrian pepper sauteéd in the butter before adding the tomatoes and onion. While the recipe calls for a cooking time of about 45 minutes, increasing the time to cook the sauce down further was the choice I made. Apart from evaporation reducing the sauce, it left a bit of fond on the sides of the pot which I scrapped back down into the sauce while it cooked. The resultant sauce was somewhat darker colored and rustic-textured. I had the sauce for lunch today with fusilli pasta. I saved the onions from last nights cooking, cut them unto strips approximating the length of the pasta, and added them back into the sauce when it was reheated with the fusilli. I also added a very small amount of roasted garlic. This was very good ... Yummy!

Potato Vegetable Soup for lunch. I cooked up a couple of Yukon Gold potatoes (skin on) in a homemade veggie stock enhanced with a Reggiano rind, a small minced garlic clove, and and a seeded and crumbled Chile de Arbol. Broke up the spuds to make a nice thick soup and added diced zucchini, yellow squash, some leek, and some frozen, assorted veggies, including broccoli florets, carrot, green beans, and corn.

A Very Simple Dinner To my homemade vegetable stock I added some finely diced vegetables: leek, carrot, zucchini, yellow squash, orange bell pepper, bok choy, a small handful of frozen, mixed veggies, and a few scoops of leftover basmati rice along with some Korean pepper flakes.

Apart from having a very large volume that, like you, I have little need for (not no need), the heating is very uneven, at least on my stove. The outer area of the cooking surface on these large diameter pans is substantially cooler than the area closer to the center resulting in uneven heating and cooking. This means paying closer attention to the cooking process and sometimes moving items from the center to the outside of the pan. Such a pan would be fine when used in an oven.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/295798482109? Would this work? There are others on eBay .

Happy Passover!

Thanks for the info. Ortiz Ventresca is 3.88 ounces for bout $20.00. St Jude is, at least on the surface, a deal. I like the idea of mixing smoked and unsmoked. 👍

@blue_dolphin Hi ... I'm about to order some tuna from St. Jude. Quick question: is the smoked tuna strongly smoked or more subtle? Thanks. And thanks for the link. The price for the ventresca is pretty good compared to what's available in the local markets here, especially the Spanish ventresca. The South American tuna doesn't excite me that much, so I'm hoping St. Jude will provide better quality and value.

@FrogPrincesse Fwiw, the All Clad factory seconds sale ends tonight. Also, you may be able.to find good deals on MC2 pans on ebay or etsy.

Hi ... All-Clad's MC line was, for many uses, my go-to. I still have and use the original (well, early -1978-9) MC saucepans and a 3-quart sauté pan from that era as well. I later bought a couple of MC2 skillets which I love. A 1.5 quart saucepan practically lives on my stovetop. It's a great size for all the things you mention plus hot cereal, polenta, and reheating many items. The All-Clad D5 has been my choice, and I've been using it for years. Unfortunately, it's spendy, but it was the one that had similar cooking characteristis to the MC. That said, another good choice, on the opposite end of the price spectrum, and one which has served a relative well for several years, is the 1.5 quart Cuisinart: (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Heck of a value for the price. HTH, good luck in your search.

Thanks for mentioning those cheeses. I'm not a cheese maven by any standard, but I enjoy experimenting. I'll look for these cheeses ... we have a couple of great cheese shops in the area and maybe I can find one or two locally, which would be ideal.

I'd include Velveeta as well, the cheese of my childhood. It has a definite place in any list of important cheeses. My earliest memory was that it came in a wooden box: California's Humboldt Fog is another great cheese ... my friend Schelly calls it swoon-worthy. It's a goat cheese that has an edible layer of ash through its middle, and which develops a wonderful, creamy texture as it ages. It's made in one of the northern-most counties of California by Cypress Grove Creamery. No list is worth anything without Reggiano, in all its iterations.

I made a paste from ground up Cheerios and used it to remove a stain from my entryway carpet.

I had but a vague recollection of it being used as a cleaning agent ... I guess we both learned something. That junk is in Cheerios which, sadly, my sister eats quite often ...

Tri Sodium Phosphate, perhaps.

Penne with Broccoli Sauce: Rancho Milagro olive oil, garlic, pepperoncini, and an anchovy contributed to the sauce of very finely minced broccoli. I used frozen, organic florets because I heard someone mention doing that for this dish, and I was curious to see the results. The broccoli was mashed up using my new masher, and it did a great job. I was impressed with how quickly it accomplished the task, which resulted in a very creamy and fairly smooth sauce, almost like having been done in a food processor. Overall, the dish turned out well.

You should be fine. FWIW, I once had a jar of Grey PooPoo in the fridge for almost three years, and suffered no ill effects when trying it before tossing it. There are some mustards in the fridge now that have been there for well over year and they are still acceptable for use.

I'm about ready to dive into a little creation that's a riff along the lines of a Harira soup. Tomorrow I'll get the wheat and plan to cook on Sunday. Your example of pearled barley was helpful ...

I suppose wheat berries might be used as a starting point,but while I know the difference between the two, I'm ignorant enough that I don't know how to substitute one for the other. Might be an interesting project to find out, though.