Shel_B

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.

Last evening, I stopped by a friends' house, and they offered me some soup that they regularly make. The ingredients included lentils, garbanzo beans, and, new-to-me, pelted wheat. I've since learned what pelted wheat is, and now I have one recpe that calls for the ingredient it that I know I'll use. So, what do you use it for? I'd love some ideas and maybe a recipe or technique that I can play around wih. Thanks! This is what we ate yesterday:

I'm getting closer to actually making the chili. I've decided upon and accumulated some of the ingredients and have given thought to the process. I've decided to use chuck for the primary meat choice, but I'm not too knowledgeable about red meat and the subtleties of chuck. I've used "plain ol' chuck" in a couple stews a few years ago, and while the results were acceptable, perhaps I can do better. Chuck eye roast and center cut chuck are appealing because, while they seem to have good marbeling, they don't appear to have as much excess fat. My thinking is that they'd be easier to trim, there'd be less waste, and might have a more beefy flavor. Would these cuts give good results and is my thinking correct? Does the cut make much difference in a long, slow-cooked dish like this? I've got a great butcher shop nearby, and I'll talk with them as well. Cost in this case is not much of a concern.

That's surprising, as both DeCecco and Barilla make very "commercially oriented" pastina, as do a few other prodcers. If you can't find pastina, look for Stelline, which is another name for the same pasta (AFAIK). I remember Ronzoni advertising pastina on the kids' TV shows I'd watch in the early-mid '50s. Ronzoni has discontinued the product due to production problems. Have you considered Fregola?

Zucchini and Broken Pasta Soup last night: Diced leek sauteéd in a mixture of Calabrian chili oil and local olive oil along with a finely diced Calabrian pepper and thinly slced garlic. Threw in some bay leaf, oregano, and thyme, then added bite-sized chunks of zucchini and cooked them a bit. Made a broth with home made veggie stock blended with charred cherry tomatoes. While that was cooking, I grabbed the bag containing saved pieces of broken, dried egg noodles (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and cooked 'em very al dente, drained 'em, and then added to the zucchini soup. Cooked everything to the desired doneness, adjusted seasoning, added minced parsley and a few torn basil leaves, and topped it all with Pecorino Romano. Easy Peasy inexpensive dinner. Made enough for three more meals.

@YvetteMT I hope it works out for you. It may take awhile to develop your technique. Watch the videos as they were helpful for me. I'm getting a few as gifts for some friends.

First, thanks.for the link. The information is very helpful and will save me hours of experimenting while opening new doors for exploration. I've no problem with the link other than it's not secure but my AV program has taken care of that for me.⁷

This is new to me. Today was the first time I saw it at the local TJ's. I may make a sandwich for dinner, or try one for lunch tomorrow. Has anyone tried this?

Today, while preparing to make mustard, I discovered that there are small brown seeds and larger brown seeds in my cabinet. I'm new to mustard making, and have only used the larger seeds once before. Is there any heat or flavor difference between the two sizes? Do they, in some way, need to be treated differently? Or are they interchangeable, with size being the only difference and consideration? Tks.

Aunt Gina's Cookies She's for real ...

I've done it a few times with ground meat that I've purchased pre-packaged from a supermarket. Not found a need to do it with fresh-ground product from the butcher.

Yes, indeed ... Oaktown. ❤️👍

Today Amazon delivered what, for a very long time, I thought was a silly, overhyped, perhaps barely-useful-at-best, cheap, single-use, kitchen tool. It's described as a Meat Grinder, Hamburger Grinder, Masher and Burger Masher Premium Heat Resistant Burger Meat Grinder ... quite a mouthful. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) I set things up to make a big pot of chili today, and that meant chopping the meat into small pieces using my spatula or a flat, wooden spoon. And today was the day this kitchen tool was to be delivered. The plan was to chop some meat the usual way, and chop the balance with the Grinder-Chopper-Masher-Thingy. Holy Hamburger! Batman. This thing does a great job. It makes chopping the meat into small pieces quick and easy. It saved a lot of time standing at the stove, and that meant a more enjoyable and comfortable cooking experience. I have some back problems, and sometimes standing for extended periods can be painful. This little puppy was fun to use and kept me off the pain meds. Highly recommended. YMMV.

I'd imagine that over almost two centuries there would be some folks traveling to China and bringing with them some items from their new home, both physical and cultural. Seems like a good price to me, but the US has many different regions and I can only address those with which I'm familiar. While I have travelled throughout the US (missing Hawaii, Louisianna, Mississippi, and Alabama), the places I've lived - called home - have all been comparatively expensive.

This was shown on a cooking show and has caught my interest. The meat is spread out on a sheet pan and put under a broiler and browned. https://youtu.be/MxMMpmmuW4M?t=29 Has anyone tried this technique, and what were the results? Can you think of any downsides to this? The impetus for this technique was to save some time, as a lot of meat can be browned at once, and there's less need to "watch the pot" thereby freeing up some time to do other things while the meat is browning.

Good price compared to the US prices. Peru has a large Chinese population, about 10% to 12% according to some sources. Seeds may have crossed the ocean with any number of travelers. There was a large influx of Chinese to Peru in the 19th century, and their population exerted a fairly strong influence on Peruvian culture, especially the food, so it's not surprising that there would be some Peruvian items and influences found in China. Aji Amarillo peppers would make a nice complement to the Ají Limón. I don't know what your climate is like, but both peppers grow very well in the Berkeley, California area. A Peruvian acquaintance had bushes of both growing in her yard. Unfortunately, I no longer have access to the peppers or the property, but some memorable dishes were made with them when access was available.

Won't cooking the pasta kill any pathogens?

I agree with that completely, BUT, we've drifted a little off course here. The original intent here was to determine the size of Diamond Crystal salt flakes, not weight or suitability to various cooking intentions.

I've certainly encountered the problem, which I solved by using older plastic bags. There's a small collection of such bags here, and if the produce will be stored for a while, I transfer the goods to one of the plastic bags. Those bags get cleaned and reused as I try to minimize their impact on the environment. Some Ziploc-type bags are also used and reused. The supermarket's compostable bags are put into service when composting food waste. The city of El Cerrito has provided us with small food scrap pails. https://recyclemore.com/residents/food-scrap-collection-pail-program/ The food waste goes into the bags, the bags into the small pails, and the pails are emptied into the larger composting bins outside, which are picked up by the city and turned into compost, which is used by the city and given away a couple of times a year to city residents. In El Cerrito, we can recycle plastic bags and films at the El Cerrito Recycling and Environmental Resource Center.

Comparison of Diamond Crystal salt crystals Sorry for the slight delay in getting this posted ... The top grouping is from a commercial box that was purchased almost a year ago. The lower grouping is from a commercial box that was purchased about 8 days ago.

This is for the Corningware aficionados here. I'm a fan also, and have found this information to be useful: https://www.corningware411.com/p/welcome-to-consolidated-patterns-page.html

Don't your stores offer compostable bags for produce and other items? Plastic bags have pretty much disappeared from the markets here. The markets here offer ASTMD6400-certified bags like these (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) at no charge. In addition, a great majority of shoppers use reusable shopping bags instead of plastic or paper bags provided by the market.

The "problem" didn't exist until Cargill decided to move DC to a more consumer-oriented product. For many years the salt was marketed towards professionals, and the product was found frequently in many restaurant kitchens. It was often difficult to find in supermarkets and even in some geographic areas of the country. There was a brief period where I could not find the product in any local supermarket, and resorted to having my sister send me some from NYC. Cargill expects to increase sales of DC substantially. Due in great part to the "rebranding," Cargill is looking to boost annual revenue from $3 million to $50 million. It should also be noted that at one point a few years ago, Cargill was thinking of doing away with the ubiquitous 3-lb package altogether. Samin Nosrat, the cookbook author, expressed her concern about this on social media, and a lot of customers unhappy with the news created a brouhaha about the possibility, and some (many?) have said that the protestations of these loyal DC customers influenced Cargill to keep the package size. Cargill wanted to change their market strategy and increase sales. Be happy that the 3-lb box is still available and that the market for a well-loved and special product has expanded, making it easier for those who want to use the product to obtain it. FWIW, I prefer the older package design, but more so, I like the idea of being able to easily find and get hold of the product. Cargill could package it in a burlap sack as long as I can get my fingers around those lovely, pyramid-shaped crystals.

You are correct, to a point, IMO. You don't know how well this teapot was treated, how many heat and cool cycles it's gone through, or how many shocks going from cold to hot and reverse. Were it my pot, I'd not put it directly on a burner, but if you insist on using it on the stovetop, then use it with a diffuser of some sort.