Shel_B

This morning UPS delivered a swoon-worthy 3-lb chub of Fra' Mani Pancetta Affumicato. I've used this many times before, and just love it. The smoke is light, the product is locally made just three miles from my home, and is but one of many types of sausage and salumi made by Paul Bertolli. Ingredients: Pork, sea salt, and contains 2% or less of celery powder, garlic, spices, dextrose, lactic acid starter culture. https://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/Saveur-100-2011-Paul-Bertolli/ https://framani.com/collections/shop

Welcome to the followers of Julia Child ...

This evening, I made a big, wide, 6.75-quart Le Creuset potful of chili and used the diffuser for the first time. This post is not about the chili but about the diffuser and its behavior with the Le Creuset pot. First, the size and shape of the diffuser were perfect for the pot, and my first concern was eliminated. Just a very small amount of the plate stuck out from beneath the pot. That meant more heat was focused on cooking and less heat escaped to the surrounding environment compared to the square plate and seemingly, even the round plate. On that second point, I'm not 100% sure. Making the soffrito was a big surprise, as the pot heated up much more quickly than I thought it would. I got the soffrito started, turned to do some cleanup in the sink, and much quicker than expected I could hear that the pot needed attention. I stirred and turned the heat down, and kept a more attentive eye on the progress from then on. I can't say for sure, but it seemed that the pot was heating quicker than without the copper plate when it rested directly on the hob. Perhaps one day I'll run a test and know for sure. Apart from heating quickly, the pot and contents seemed more responsive to changes in temperature. No "facts and figures" to share other than to say I've used that pot, on that hob, to make that same dish several times, and I could feel, or sense, a difference. In any case, I don't think anything was lost by having the plate between the pot and the hob. The reason I got the diffuser was to even the heat on the bottom of the pot since the pot is wider than the hob and the heat at the edges of the pot was noticeably lower which affected the cooking performance. The diffuser solved that problem beautifully, and based on the bubbles in the chili, the heat was even across the entire bottom of the pot. Nothing is perfect, however, and the one issue I encountered was a result of the quality of the Le Creuset and the diffuser plate. Unlike my older LC, the bottom of the newer pots are fully glazed. The surface is smooth and durable. Likewise, the diffuser is beautifully finished and is also very smooth. When there was just the soffrito in the pot, the pot would slide around on the diffuser, and care had to be taken to avoid that movement. Grabbing a handle with a towel helped, as did being quite deliberate in my stirring method. When the pot was fuller and weighed more, the sliding stopped and cooking could proceed in a more normal fashion. I have a very wide All-Clad pot (the other reason I wanted the diffuser) and it will be interesting to see how it behaves on the diffuser plate. Overall, I am very happy with the decision to buy the plate even though it was somewhat spendy. Shipping and tax added about 30% to the selling price. I don't regret spending the money one bit. I hope my experience and review are helpful. Here's a link to the seller and manufacturer of the diffuser plate: https://www.ebay.com/str/swmetals This is the pot used for this review: (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

Buttermilk and Black Pepper Cornbread with Peet's

Hadn't thought about frozen. That might be worth checking into. Thanks for the suggestion.

Within five minutes of my home are two of the area's finest and most respected fish markets. I can get fresh clams of many varieties almost any time, but sometimes I want something readily available in my pantry. I don't always want a more time-consuming and complicated preparation method and am willing to settle for lesser quality for greater convenience. However, the differences between fresh and canned clams may be different enough to think of them as different ingredients, which is how I imagine them to be.

I've only used Snow's once and was not impressed by them. I've recently decided to try a Linguine and Clam Sauce "weeknight" recipe, i.e., simple and quick. Are there any prepared clams that you'd recommend? Quality takes precedence over price. There's no need to suggest fresh clams, as I've got sources for them. I'm just looking for a good-quality pantry item. Thanks!

FDA Bans Red Dye #3 According to a constituent update published today, the Food and Drug Administration just announced a ban on the food dye Red No. 3. The ban is in response to a 2022 color additive petition to remove the dye from food and drug products on the market. Companies and manufacturers that use this red food dye in their products will have until January 15, 2027, for food or January 18, 2028, for drugs to change formulas and remove the red dye from their ingredients. The products that will be affected by this ban include candy like Pez and Ring Pops, grocery baked goods such as cupcakes and sugar cookies, Nesquik strawberry milk, gummy vitamins and various other cereals, desserts and icing products. Full story in the link below: https://www.eatingwell.com/fda-bans-red-dye-3-8775384?

I love old things that show age and use, so I look forward to the process. However, the finish on this plate is truly beautiful - jewel-like - and tomorrow I'll see if I can capture it in a photograph. There is an exception to my love of old-looking things, and that's my cookware. I like it to look as close to new as possible. That said, care and cleaning instructions were included with the copper plate:

Late to the party. You can use a lower-fat buttermilk. Around here there are numerous low-fat buttermilk options, 1.5% and 2%. None of that in your area?

I don't think it's a stupid question. Stupid question -> What's Lillet?

The diffuser plate that I ordered arrived this morning, and I am very pleased with it and the transaction. Jordan, at Stryker Welding in Ohio, personally handled the transaction and was able to catch and correct an error in the ordering process. I purchased through eBay, and eBay screwed up the order, but because of Jordan's attention to the process, everything went smoothly. I called the company to place the order rather than just checking boxes on eBay. Jordan got back to me quickly and we discussed what I needed and he made sure that I got the right product. He sort of "held my hand" through the process, and kept me informed of progress from the initial phone call through shipping. That's service! Apart from being very nicely finished, the piece was wrapped very well, not only protecting the product but also showing pride in its manufacture. I ordered a large, octagonal plate, as I have a couple of Le Creuset and All-Clad pieces with very wide bottoms that extend far enough outside the diameter of my largest burner that even heating of the pots' cooking surface has been an issue. If you want a diffuser plate, I highly recommend Stryker Welding on eBay. Call 'em, speak with Jordan, and know you'll be in good hands.

Sounds interesting ... thanks.

Horchata, nut milk, and the like, are a more complicated and time-consuming direction than I was looking for. While I've made and enjoyed those drinks, they're much more than flavored water. Never heard of Kevra ...

Fresh-made carrot-celery juice and a lightly toasted English muffin with a slice of melted Havarti cheese.

I have both green tea and rosewater on hand. Sounds intriguing.

My Dad told me about "Depression Soup." We were sitting in the Horn & Hardart automat near Rockefeller Center one late autumn afternoon in 1955, and we'd just purchased some sandwiches and grabbed a table. The situation got him remembering the depression years, and he told me of buying a sandwich for a nickel, getting a glass of water, and sitting at a small table by a window. On the table were condiments, and he'd add some salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard ... whatever they had ... to the water, stir it up and, voila, Depression Soup. Many people made Depression Soup in those days.

I've not yet looked at the links above, but just a few days ago I came across a PDF file of old McDonald's recipes and food descriptions, so I'll just add them to the mix. https://www.beneboy.com/mcmenu.pdf

I like and use those terms, and have been using them since I was old enough to talk. Fridge was a condensation of Frigidaire, one of the, if not the, earliest, and arguably, most popular refrigerators. It entered production before 1920, IIRC. Edited to add: The first Frigidaires used blocks of ice for cooling, and was little more than an insulated box. Electricity wasn't used to run a compressor until the mid-1920s. Grandpa Jack and Grandma Bessie didn't get an electric refrigerator until around 1946. In the FWIW Dep't, I lived with my grandparents until I was almost two years old, and had first-hand experience with these old "cold boxes" and the ice man. Grandpa Jack owned a few small produce markets and he, as well as some others that I knew in the business, used the term veggies, generally when unloading the trucks and moving the produce into storage. This was not common in the industry but in NYC at the time, a few produce people used the term often. Julie Kravitz, the produce buyer for the supermarket chain I worked for, would use veggies, vegetables, and produce almost randomly and certainly interchangeably.

This statement got me curious, so I looked up what is considered to be a treasonous act in Great Britain. There are quite a few, but I saw nothing about killing or eating wildlife. Please take a moment, when you can, to describe how eating a swan is treasonous? I can certainly see it as being illegal ...

I just tried Marie Sharp's Noplales-Green Habanero sauce. Its ingredients include prickly pear, also known as nopal, paired with key lime juice and green habanero to create a nice citrusy flavor. The sauce has a medium heat level which is very pleasant for me. Ingredients are nopales, green habanero peppers, vinegar, onions, lime juice, salt, and garlic. Another winner from Marie! 😍

Last night, I made a version of Aloo Bhorta, and I'd like to thank @liuzhou for mentioning the dish in another thread. It'll go into my repertoire, and I'm sure I'll play around with it for some time. Sorry, there are no pictures, as circumstances didn't allow for any. The lack of an image does not, however, mean a lack of enjoyment of the dish.

+1

That was a lesson learned decades ago. My flour stays tightly sealed in the freezer. Never had a problem with pasta or cereal. It's been my understanding that flouroften comes with included insect larvae ... something to do with the product and how it's processed.