Shel_B

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.

Thanks for the reminder about bugs. A lot of my spices and herbs are put into the freezer for a while before using them. I'llchange "a lot" to all, if I can remember to do so. Generally speaking, bug infestations don't exist at Casa Shel ... I can recall only one, maybe seven-eight years ago, where some chipotle chiles were infested with some flying thing, and every now and then I get fruit flies (but only when the produce has come from one market, which I now mostly avoid). I've been lucky in this regard.

That's an interesting idea. There's no alcohol in the house, though, so I'd need to buy some to try it. Maybe I could get some from a friend as I'd not buy a bottle of vodka. Hmm ... BevMo carries those little airline-sized bottles. That might be the answer. Your suggestion is unusual and my curiosity has to be satisfied. It's no trouble having citrus in the house, and using it completely is not a concern.

That's essentially the plan and has been even before learning about the La Chamba cookware. Beans I've made in the p cooker don't give a thick sauce, which I understand can only be achieved by evaporation. Is there a way to get that thick sauce in the p cooker? Perhaps using the cooker to a point, use a natural release, and then continue cooking with the top removed?

Thanks for posting those suggestions. Since I'm new to preparing beans, the idea of a dedicated bean pot is also new to me. In what way do you think it's a better alternative to a Le Creuset-type pot? The La Chamba cookware is aesthetically very appealing. Which did you choose, and why? Persian Ash-e Reshteh is also new to me. I searched and found several variations of the dish. I'd like to learn more about it and try making it.

I'm going to get this one ...

Excellent to know. I'm going to use the diffuser for an 11-inch diameter All-Clad pan and a 12-inch diameter Le Creuset pot. I posted the link to a 10-inch diffuser, but have since found a 12-inch one, which is what I'll get. There's a metal fabricator near me that I will contact to see if they'll be able to help. I think the larger width or diameter is the way to go with these big pots. Here are the online links to the 12-inch plates should you be interested: https://www.ebay.com/itm/335502106579 https://www.ebay.com/itm/335502106574 You could also contact Stryker Welding in Stryker, OH if you don't want to go through eBay: https://strykerweldingandfabrication.com/stove-top-heat-diffusers/ The phone number to order from is at the link, 419-682-2301

I'm just starting (over the last year or so) to explore cooking with dried beans. Around here, there is no shortage of good quality beans.RG is everywhere as are some other brands, and many markets have reasonably fresh bulk beans available. There's a diverse ethnic population in the area, and I'm sure that helps to some extent. Also, the San Francisco Bay Area has a good income, so high quality or premium ingredients are available because the demand is here. As for canned beans, they'll always be in my cupboard. They're great for a variety of weeknight meals, salads, stews and chili, etc. For me, there's a place for both canned and dry, and the always will be. Generally, there's always at least one variety of frozen rice in the freezer. Break off a chunk, thaw that, add some canned beans and veggies (frozen or fresh), and there's always a quick, nutritious, and inexpensive meal available.

No, Katie, they're not smoked. While I wasn't looking for a smoked product, I did cruise most of the meat case, and none was evident. I wasn't sure if the price was particularly good, although they were quite a bit lower than that of Berkeley's Local Butcher, where I bought neck bones some months ago. I was going to buy some chicken pieces, but the parts were three to four times more expensive than at Costco.

My stove is electric. There are a couple of pots in my kitchen that are wider than I like than the diameter of my largest hob. My hobs don't heat perfectly evenly. I am thinking of getting a copper heat diffuser to help spread the heat evenly and hopefully help improve my cooking experience. This is an example of what I'm considering: https://bellacopper.stores.turbify.net/10in254mmcop.html This diffuser is 1/8-inch (.125-inch, 3.175mm thick) Any thoughts, especially from anyone who has used such a diffuser?

I was going to include the aromatics but after reading the suggestions here decided to do so after the extraction. I'm only using green onions and ginger in this batch, and they (certainly the onions) are relatively delicate, so later is probably better in any case. My thanks to everyone who's made suggestions and offered ideas.

Success!

I have legs ready to go. Costco had them for a great price a while back. I'm about to see what's available for the pork.

@Katie Meadow Thanks for the information on how you cook beans. You've been very helpful.

I'm happy for you that you found an acceptable ham. I'm not much of a ham fan, but do like smoked pork and ham for cooking. Well, I should amend that ... a few slices of good jamón ibérico, jamón serrano, Tyrolean speck, prosciutto di Parma or San Daniel will do it for me. But the American hams are, for the most part, a turn-off for me. Now that I'm starting to explore making beans, the idea of a smokey ham bone sounds very appealing. It sounds like you make a stock and then cook the beans in it. Is that correct? How about adding the bone and aromatics to the water and cooking everything together? Would that work? I think I'll poke around the site and see what other ideas I can find. It seems like we're heading into thread drift and I'd rather not go much further with that.

It's been ages since I've visited Farmer Joe's, and La Farine is one of my favorite bakeries. My motivation to visit Waylon's has just increased. Time to revisit the area.

@Katie Meadow Thanks for jumping in. I've not been to Waylons ... another market to check out. Thanks. I may try your tip the next time I make a batch of beans. FWIW, I like smoke and heat in many dishes. The broth I'll be making this weekend won't be smokey, but I do make smokey broths and stocks several times a year. The Bowl is, of course, one of my sources for a variety of items, and I certainly use their meat counter.