Shel_B

Haytaliyeh this morning: Not quie a failure and not quite a success. Let's call it a learning experience. I followed the recipe pretty closely: https://plantbasedfolk.com/haytaliyeh-vegan-lebanese-milk-pudding/ with the following exceptions. I made my own almond milk, something I've been doing for many, many years, and I used about half the total amount of sugar that the recipe calls for. The dish could have used a bit more sweetness. It would have been the better for it. However, for my taste and preferences, it was acceptable, but just barely. The biggest issue was the texture. The result was quite thick and lacked a certain lightness. Rubbery might be a good descriptor. You can probably see from the image how thick this pudding is. The recipe called for 100 grams of cornstarch mixed with an equal amount of water. My instincts told me that was too much. That feeling was based, at least in part, by a chocolate pudding recipe that I perfected over the years and in part by seeing just how much cornstarch 100 grams is. Watching how quickly the pudding mixture firmed up, and how "ploppy" it was, told me that this was going to be one heavy pudding. I was also concerned that the amount of rose water and orange blossom water would be a bit much, but it wasn't. That worked out well. And the aromas realy perfumed the apartment ... nice! So, next tme I'll adjust the sweetness and cut back on the thickening agent, perhaps using but half the amount. Any suggestions on that point? The dish needs work, but I feel it will eventually make a very nice dessert.

$30.00 for 9-lbs. Unfortunately, this is a cow's milk feta.

I should have said "feta packed in brine."

This might help you to better understand the situation at the Salt Lake City Costco. The largest Costco in Utah has aisles of two and five-pound blocks of cheese, cases of yogurt, two-packs of milk gallons, and every other kind of dairy product you can imagine ... in super large sizes. The store has three refrigerated coolers - each measuring 3,000 square feet. An interesting aside is that, hanging just outside the coolers, by the entrance, are warm jackets for the customers to use while shopping in these house-sized refrigerators. The freezer section in this Utah Costco is also vast and carries some products you won't find elsewhere, like whole lambs and pigs. Here are some lamb carcasses hanging in a freezer compartment. In the same room, but in other compartments, were goat and pig. This location is a combination of a regular Costco warehouse and a Costco Business Center. Local businesses shop here for products for their vending machines, restaurant equipment, and bulk items for restaurants. Customers come from great distances to fill their trailers and box trucks with supplies and food items. It's a bit of a special place. When I told them about this store, a couple of friends who live in Nevada started planning a trip to visit the place. These people have travelled the world, and continue to travel throughut the US and Canada. One of their great travel pleasures is to visit Costco and Whole Food stores whenever they can. Recently, I was told that Costco is planning to open an even bigger store in Fresno, Californai. If Fresno gives their approval, they can claim they have "Costco's world largest store" at 241,000 sq. ft. with 32 gas pumps & a car wash.

A friend who works at Peet's, knowing my propensity for African coffees, mentioned that this was a blend I'd enjoy. Well, it arrived a few hours ago, roasted the morning of Aug 5th. I'll have some as soon as the hopper on the grinder is empty ...

The feta was in the store's regular, refrigerated dairy section.

This was snapped at the world's largest Costco in Salt Lake City, Utah ...

... start cooking without being 100% absolutely positively sure that all the needed ingredients are at hand. Today I started on a recipe that called for rose water. I knew I had some as less than a month ago I saw it in the cupboard and moved the small bottle to be with other similar items ... almond extract, vanilla extract, lemon oil, and so on. I had to make almond milk for this recipe (an almond pudding). The almonds were prepped this morning and soaked for about twelve hours. A short while ago, I put the prepped almonds in the blender jar, added several dates (for sweetener), added the appropriate amount of very chilled water, and reached for the rose water. WTF, said I, and started digging into the cupboard. I moved every item on the shelves, pulling some of them out of the cupboard completely, used a small flashlight to search more thoroughly ... Nada! So I made the almond milk, put it in the fridge, cleaned and reorganized the kitchen, and set the rest of the necessary ingredients in the staging area for use tomorrow. First thing in the morning, it's back to the market where I was just two days ago buying the dates for this recipe. What a waste of time and energy.

I finally got around to opening and trying the Israel feta. I much prefer the other brined feta that TJ's carries as shown below. The somewhat milder flavor and softer texture makes the above feta my preference. Also, removing the top and opening the conainer of the Israeli feta was, for me, more difficult than it should have been. It won't find its way into my shopping cart again. Glad I tried it, though.

Just curious, what do you mean be it being "a thing?"

This afternoon I visited a market I've not been to in years. I went because I just discovered that they carried frozen or refrigerated coconut chunks which I plan to use with home made almond milk in both a drink and in a version of Haytaliyeh, a Lebanese milk pudding. While exploring the store, I made discoveries of various items I'd not seen elsewhere. A return trip when I have more time is in order to both explore more and purchase some of the intriguing and interesting items I found. Today I came across these items and purchased a package of each, thinking that the good folks here might have some thoughts about cooking and preparing them: I've eaten goat a few time when living in Mexico, but that was many years ago and it was prepared by someone else and it wasn't ground meat. Elk was enjoyed during a visit to Washinton state, also years ago, and also not ground. Any ideas on how these items can be enjoyed?

TJ's Steamed Pork Shu Mai With a nod to Sunset Magazine I grab these dumplings a few times a year, and tonight, as I was prepping to steam them, I remembered a recipe from Sunset Magazine that was published in the 1970s: Pepper‑Steamed Chicken With Roasted Onion Sauce. This evening, I riffed on that recipe and steamed the dumplings with an infusion of green onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. When cooked, I drizzled just a little of the "sauce" over the dumplings. Ended up with a kitchen filled with pleasant aromas and a very tasty, nicely flavored and nuanced, bowl of dumplings.

@JeanneCake @blue_dolphin I looked through my succotash recipe collection and found one or two that looked interesting. If you're still interested, send me a PM and I'll send them to you. I don't want to run afoul of the copyright police.

Just received a couple of pounds of raw, organic almonds from Massa Organics. I plan to make Haytaliyeh, a simple Lebanese/Syrian milk pudding sometimes made with almond milk. I'll make the nut milk, then the pudding. It'll be dessert for a pot of Makhlouta that my friend Sonia is making.

Rotisserie Chicken Tikka Masala When I saw this video ( https://youtu.be/blIoTNj-dN0?t=468 ), I was blown away. I've been looking for ideas for tasty and innovative meals that could be made quickly and easily. I've also been reading recipes and watching videos to get ideas for a full-blown Chicken Tikka Masala, so this was like manna from heaven, a two birds with one stone kind of thing. Well, one bird: A Costco rotisserie chicken. All the ingredients were on hand, and the meal came together this morning while doing other things ... that's how easy it is to put together. The red pepper flakes in the recipe were replaced with a blend of Aleppo, Kashmiri, and Smokey Piment d'Ville. I added ground cardamom and cashew nuts, the nuts adding a degree of creaminess to the sauce. I didn't add any cream, as shown in the video. Next time, I may add about 1/4 cup of cream along with the cashews. The paprika was replaced with a smoked version. Instead of regular crushed tomatoes, Bianco DiNapoli fire roasted tomatoes were used, and the sugar was turbinado. Then the sauce was given an E ride in the Vitamix. The smooth and somewhat smokey sauce went back into the pot for final tasting and adjustments and some crushed fenugreek leaves were added. Without marinating the chicken, some depth of flavor is lost compared to a regular tikka masala, but if you want a quick, inexpensive meal to put on your weeknight table, this is worth considering. The rice over which the chicken was placed was an aged, extra long grain Basmati from Kohinoor. Lovely rice. The way it was prepared, the sauce was a little thicker than desired, but a little chicken stock or dairy would fix that in a jiffy. There's enough sauce and chicken left over for two or three more meals.

Staff note: This post and responses to it have been moved from the Rancho Gordo: Beans and More discussion, to maintain topic focus. @JeanneCake @blue_dolphin I was eght, nine years old. Recipes weren't even in my thoughts. That said, over the years I've compiled a dozen or more succotash recipes. The issue with many contemporary recipes (for me) is that they stray far from what Mary made. They tend to be relatvely complex, with ingredients added to punch up what was essentially a simple Native American recipe, similar in respect to what has happened with Three Sisters Stew. When I want succotash, I cook up some corn kernels, lima beans, red pepper, onions, maybe some tomato, possibly a bit of garlic. If possible, I'll sauté the veggies in animal fat (tallow, goose or duck fat, once Bison Blubber) and use a home made chicken stock. If I can get ramps, which I've not had in a very long time, I'll use them instead of onion and garlic. Sometimes I'll add a chili pepper or flaked/ground chilies. A lot of people add bacon, which is a nice addition, but I generally stay away from it ... not that I've never used it. I like my succotash simple. I'll dig through my collection and post one or two that look interesting. That'll have to be tomorrow afternoon, at the earliest.

You're right ... I recall many people who disliked - detested - lima beans. I was not, and am not, in that group. When in grade school, we'd get a school lunch made by Mary Palladino, the "lunchroom lady." She ran the small cafeteria/lunch room, including menu planning and cooking. She frequently served succotash, and I'd always make sure she'd save some so that I could have seconds. Years later, I was a classmate of her daughter in high school, and when I found out that Angela's mother was the "lunchroom lady," and told that to Angela, I soon after found myself with an invitation to Mary and Angela's home where Mary made a big pot of succotash for me, enough for lunch and a batch to take home. Mary remembered me as "the little boy who loved her succotash." To this day, I still enjoy a bowl of succotash every now and then, and I still enjoy calling up my memories of Mary.

I'm a WaPo subscriber as well, so all was well. I make my "everyday" cornbread and muffins in an 8x8 pan and cook them in the big Breville oven. Since sweetie died, and I mostly cook for myself or one other person, I rarely use the regular oven. I go back and forth between cornmeal (Bob's medium grind) and Bob's polenta. I've got the product and the oven dialed in pretty well. Tried other, more "posh" brands, and have always returned to Bob's. The cardamom grabbed my attention when first reading your post. Marmalade, not so much, even though I loved sweeties marmalade. I may play around with lemon. Have made lemon-blueberry cornbread before, and it's a nice combo. I think some lemon zest would be very nice with the blueberries, not sure how it would go with the cardamom. Thanks so much for your help.

@gulfporter I'm a sucker for polenta with blueberries. As it happens, there are plenty of both here ... are you able to provide the recipe? Private is cool if there are copyright concerns.

Easy and Expeditious Lunch: The basis was ... to which was added a heaping handful of TJ's organic frozen spinach, TJ's frozen broccoli florets, diced small, a handful of trimmed leaves from TJ's frozen Brussels sprouts, and the whole dish was seasoned with a mixture of Booneville's smoked Piment d'Ville and ground Kashmiri pepper (a very nice combination, not too hot and quite flavorful). Lately, I've been working on a complicated art project a few of us are working on, and cooking has taken a seat at the back of the bus. Having some of TJ's frozen entrées and vegetables handy has been very helpful.

These were available at the sample table not too long ago. Overly sweet. Cookie description according to Trader Joe: The base is a butter Cookie. (We do mean this literally!) Butter is the second ingredient (after flour), and makes up 24%—almost a quarter of the recipe. A variety of fun, multi-textured Things are mixed into the Cookie dough before baking, including corn flakes, pretzels, marshmallows, semisweet chocolate chips, and crispy rice. Once baked, these circular, golden-brown confections entice with a sweet, buttery aroma. Each crunchy bite may lead to a piece of salted pretzel, or a cluster of rich chocolate chips. The marshmallows have taken on an almost toffee-like candy character. And the corn flakes and crispy rice bring a lighter, crisp crunch to the whole experience. This cookie is excessive in so many ways. It exemplifies the lack of subtlety and the style of excess that so many foods have taken on. If some is good, then more - much more - must be just right. Demasiado!

There's a pasta dish I make in which the sauce is boiled broccoli with the addition of some oil, perhaps a bit of meat, and some chili pepper flakes. The broccoli is boiled and essentially mashed, and then the pasta, cooked in the water in which the broccoli was boiled, is added. Here, in a few seconds, you can see what I'm trying to describe: https://youtu.be/wCDKnMwPQEk?t=47 Might this "sauce" freeze well for a week or so? Would the freezing destroy texture or flavor, or just ruin the sauce?

@Smithy Your postulation was a very fine post.

Perhaps that explains why my poaching chicken thighs disappeared ....

And what is the missing 7-degrees between simmering and boiling called and what would you cook at those temps?