Shel_B

Pam spray has been applied to the nonstick pan used for cornbread for about five years. Never once have I encountered the polymerization issue you describe. Maybe the temp at which the cornbread is baked isn't high enough to cause the problem? It's baked at about 350-deg F.

Marie Sharp is considered a "treasure" in Belize and her story is complicated, fascinating, and intriguing. I've been enjoying her sauces since the mid 1980s. Some of her story can be found at the link below. If you like her products, her story might interest you as well. https://www.culinarytreasure.com/marie-sharps-culinary-treasure-interview-with-steven-shomler/

Q & A with a friend in Wisconsin: Q: What's your secret for consistently getting such nice-looking avocados? A: I buy a bag 5 or so at a time and when all ripe. Place avocados in a bowl with water till covered set in the refrigerator and they will keep for a week and stay the same. Q: just to be clear, are the 'cados placed in the water while in their skins? A: Yes just like you bought them. I had a minute, and I wanted to post how I keep them. These have been in the fridge since Monday.

@Maison Rustique I'm a bit confused ... are you planning to take the meat off the bones of the already purchased cooked ribs, or something else?

Jackpot today! A delicious delivery of some favorite Marie Sharp hot sauces. The Garlic Pepper and Green Habanero are two recent favorites. They are very flavorful, not particularly hot, and are enjoyable with a wide variety of foods. The Smoked Habanero has been a long-time favorite. I updated a favorite pot. I made a mistake and recently purchased this pot (All-Clad D5 1.5 quart) in a shiny finish which annoyed me every time I looked at it. My maintenance guy liked it, we made a deal, he got the shiny pot, and today the pot with a brushed finish arrived. Frankly, I was surprised at how much the shiny variant annoyed me. A new garlic press was also delivered. It supplements a press I already have but which has a much smaller hopper. While it's a well-made and capable press, its limited size capacity has been bothering me for years, and recently while watching a cooking show, I discovered this press sold by Ikea. The press is $18.00 on Amazon and $6.50 at Ikea. For the money, it was a no-brainer. I used it this evening and love the extra capacity. I subscribe to Peet's "Small Batch Series" and every month I get a pound of coffee that Peet's sells in limited quantities. I never know what will be arriving so there's an opportunity to explore a wide variety of coffee that I'd probably overlook. The surprise for this month arrived today. I don't think I've ever had so many deliveries in a single day.

It doesn't seem at all complicated to me. The short version is to put cornmeal in the pot, pour boiling water over it, stir to eliminate lumps, cover the pot, come back several hours later and continue cooking and stirring until desired results are obtained. Perhaps my wordiness made it seem complicated. It's the same method many people use for cooking steel-cut oats, a technique that I learned from America's Test Kitchen.

Last night, I made polenta using a new technique and was quite pleased with the result. Over the years, I've tried several different techniques and a variety of cornmeal products, and I may have finally found a combination that works for me. The intent was to shorten the cooking time in the morning and make the resultant polenta softer and smoother. For over a dozen years, Bob's Red Mill medium-grind organic cornmeal has been my (mostly) go-to product for muffins, cornbread, Johnny cakes, and porridge. I've also used it for polenta, but the results were not to my liking. My biggest complaint was that the polenta was a little too roughly textured, and some grains were not hydrated sufficiently. Those characteristics were fine for uses other than polenta, but I wanted the polenta to be a little smoother, softer, and “creamier.” A few years ago I started using a corn muffin recipe that called for soaking the cornmeal in heated milk, and for several years I’ve been making steel-cut oats by soaking them overnight in water that had been boiled to shorten the cooking time in the morning. Taking a cue from these techniques, I made last night's polenta by putting the cornmeal into a thick, heavy pot (to retain heat) and adding boiling water to it. The water:cornmeal ratio was 5:1 compared to my more usual 3 or 4 to 1 ratio. The mixture was stirred well to eliminate clumping, which was minimal, while the hob was turned on to keep the temperature up. Once the mixture came back up to boiling temp, the heat was turned off, the pot was covered, and left to sit on the now slowly cooling hob overnight for about six hours. In the morning, the mixture was reheated and stirred for about 25 minutes to reach the desired texture, less than half the time it usually took to make polenta, The polenta still had some texture to it, but was soft throughout and had a creamier mouth feel compared to previous techniques. Overall, the result was satisfying and quite close to the intended result ... almost exactly what I was looking for. When making it again, I may increase the water:cornmeal ratio slightly and/or increase the overnight soaking time. Shorter cooking time, better texture, more corn flavor than with other brands and techniques.

Off-the-shelf Lunch: I added a small chipotle pepper and some of the adobo sauce to a container of TJ's Low Sodium Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper soup, gave the mixture a ride in the Vitamix, and ended up with a subtly smoky and lightly piquante cup of soup for a simple and surprisingly tasty lunch.

Nor have I, so I searched and was surprised by how many options there are. Here are but a few. I can't imagine buying such an item as there are other premade options available, such as Kozy Shack (which I've tried), and the puddings I like are so easy and quick to make. Still, I'd be curious enough to purchase a can or two just to see what they're like.

That's a nice idea, a good idea. Valentine's Day sounds nice, but it might be nice to add other holidays. Perhaps a restaurant could have a monthly or quarterly event for people like us. I can see some benefits to an event like that, although I wonder if enough people would attend to make it worthwhile for the restaurant. After my Dad died, my Mom joined a group called Parents Without Partners. The name clearly defines the group's focus, and I know that the ability to socialize with people in similar situations was helpful for her. Instead of a restaurant hosting such a gathering, perhaps an outside group could put together such an event, and reserve a space for the attendees at a nice restaurant. Similarly, the folks in my apartment building get together for lunch now and then. We choose a restaurant, folks sign up, we reserve seating, and people who'd not usually socialize get together and enjoy a meal and one another's company.

New England Johnny cake made with Anson Mills polenta along with strong, black, Rwandan coffee. As a parenthetical aside, this is the third time I've used Anson Mills cornmeal and polenta. I tried their coarse and fine ground cornmeal and didn't like either. The coarse grind was quite fine compared to Bob's medium grind, and the flavor, again compared to Bob's (which has been my go-to brand for years) was bland, lacking the corn flavor I've become used to. This morning, the polenta was more of the same. I gave the cornmeal to a neighbor and will do likewise with the polenta. Additionally, the Anson Mills products were much more expensive than Bob's.

Baked Alaskan salmon over a simple romaine and tomato salad with housemade Dijon vinaigrette:

Full details at the link below ... https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/michelangelo-shopping-list-sketch?

Ribollita Stage III: I added some leftover ribollita to a rich, brown chicken stock in this stage. The soup was freshened with some frozen veggies and some additional spices were added to somewhat change the flavor profile. The resultant soup was topped with 9-month-old freshly grated Pecorino Romano. Trader Joe's Corn Dippers were served alongside. A lightly brewed Himalayan black tea was the chosen beverage.

Not even close to too late. I've heard about issues with mister nozzles. I have some sprayers here and I'll soon see about using them. The nice thing about this thread is that it helped me clarify what I want. Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.

Interesting, and thanks for the info. Decided to go with a mister bottle.

Thanks. Mister bottles is the direction I've chosen to go. I'll look at the ones you posted and some others as well.

Love it! Nice photography, too.

Today was horchata day. I finally got my quarterly delivery of almonds and made brown rice and almond horchata, although I'm not sure that what was made is a traditional horchata. I've been making almond milk for years, but this combination of ingredients posed a challenge. The biggest issue was how to deal with the cinnamon sticks, so here is what I did and the ingredients I used. 5/8 cup raw, organic, unpasteurized almonds (the only type of almonds I use) 1/2 cup medium grain, organic brown rice - this and the almonds are from Massa Organics 2 sticks of Ceylon cinnamon soaked in 1 quart of filtered, tap-temperature water. 1 seeded Medjool date for sweetness 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract pinch of Diamond Crystal salt I rinsed and soaked the rice and almonds together in two changes of filtered water. The cinnamon was soaked separately for 12 hours in filtered water, the last four hours in the fridge to get the water very cold. I was hoping that the cinnamon would infuse the water with its flavor and aroma, which it did, but perhaps too subtly. All the ingredients but the cinnamon sticks went into the Vitamix and got a good whirring for 60 seconds. I left the cinnamon sticks in the jar in which they soaked. The liquid in the Vitamix was strained through the nut milk bag (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and then poured into the jar with the cinnamon sticks. After tasting the less-than-appropriately cold drink, it seems that the texture and the flavor are very close to what I was hoping for. Final judgment is reserved for tomorrow morning, but I know I'm close.

Different dishes, preferences, situations. "The more you know, the better your luck."

Ribollita, Stage II: Last night I completed the Ribollita I started a couple of days ago. The flavor sure blossoms after an overnight stay in the fridge. I'm not sure if I'd use rye bread again, although it wasn't objectionable, but in keeping with the nature of la cocina pobre, I used what was on hand.

I want to use a spray of some sort for the particular use I mentioned. I'm quite familiar with the technique you describe and have used it often for other things. Works well ... thanks.

There are but a few things that I bake, and cornbread is one of them. I use a fairly heavy 8x8 non-stick pan for my everyday cornbread, and I have been oiling the pan with Pam spray. I bought the spray several years ago and would like to replace it. Since I rarely bake, I'm not very familiar with options for the Pam. I want a spray of some sort. One thought I had was to use avocado oil in a spray bottle as I always have avocado oil on hand for other cooking needs. Good idea? Any other suggestions? Definitely want a neutral-flavored oil. I've heard the term "baking spray" used now and then. Is that the same as a cooking spray?

Ribollita: Today I started a ribollita. I made the minestrone, which is shown here. The ingredients include diced, smoked pancetta, diced leek, some fresh Calabrian pepper, likewise a serrano, carrot, celery, Yukon Gold potatoes, cannellini beans, some leftover savoy cabbage, a bunch each of cavolo nero and chard, including some of their diced stems, zucchini, a few crushed, whole peeled tomatoes along with their juice, and a few sprigs of rosemary. When it cools, I'll layer the soup in a bowl with some stale rye bread leftover from another dish, and let it cool in the fridge to allow the flavors to meld overnight.