Shel_B

There's a relatively new WF near me, and I've visited the store several times in the past couple of months after not being in a WF for more than a year. I was dismayed to see how much conventional produce was in the store. The cherries I bought were an abomination ... priced well but of very low quality.

Next time I go, I'll ask ...

I sometimes enjoy a bag of Trader Joe's Sweet Sriracha Bacon Jerky.

When I visit Costco, about once a month, I get the concierge of my building a hot dog. She loves 'em! This Costco, unfortunately, does not have sauerkraut, just ketchup, mustard, and sweet relish. If they offered sauerkraut, I'd probably try one of those puppies. Their relish is WAY too sweet and cloying for my taste. I like my dogs with a crisp and snappy casing, on a lightly toasted sesame or sourdough bun, with a light application of brown or deli-style mustard and a good amount of warm-hot sauerkraut. The mustard must be directly on the dog, sauerkraut over the mustard. I hate it when the mustard is on top.

Harissa ... many recipes can be found.

Seems like you have an option .... Smart Recipes Follow rich, step-by-step video recipes authored by master chefs. You can even modify existing recipes, or write your own.

This morning I received THIS LINK describing several unusual salts. Some are quite intriguing. Thought I'd share it with everyone ....

I read in the FAQ that the max temp is 500-deg F.

I tend to agree with you, Deryn ... When I saw the price of the oven, and how it uses the internal temperature probe, I had to chuckle. For me, a $100.00 Thermapen would do the trick just fine in my conventional and Breville ovens. I like the idea of being hands on when cooking, and using apps and smart phones, and cooking long distance with a camera to watch the progress, just seem very strange to me. I guess I'm headed towards Fogeyville with you ...

Whoops! Somehow that old typo didn't get corrected. I put the recipe into my computer years ago, and every time I referred to it I made a mental note to correct the error. Sorry. I just cook 'em until done. If I grill outdoors, I put the breasts over high heat for a bit and then move them aside. However, for the past two years I've been unable to cook outside, so I've made the breasts (generally bone in, but not always, and, as suggested in the recipe, not always skin on) in the oven. Thanks for catching they typo. Gotta find a way to fix it.

I just posted my recipe for yogurt marinated chicken breasts. Click here.

This is a great tasting, flavorful method of preparing chicken, especially breasts, with a yogurt marinade. I've made this dish several ways, and with different parts of the chicken. To my taste this marinade works best with breast meat, but you may want to try thighs as well. You can either skin the chicken first, or place the marinade under the skin and then, when baking or grilling the bird, opt for a crisp skin. I haven't found much difference in the moistness of the meat with or without the skin, but I generally slather the marinade on pretty thick. Cooking time and temperature will have as great an effect on moistness as whether you cook the meat with the skin on. Recipe makes enough for 4 - 6 nice sized chicken breast halves. 　 Yogurt Chicken Breasts 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt or regular yogurt 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced very fine or pressed 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion (I like Maui or 1015s) 1 Tbs coriander seeds, toasted and ground fine 2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground 1 tsp whole black peppercorns, ground 1/2 - 1 tsp crushed chilpectin peppers, seeds included (other peppers are ok, avoid cayenne) 2 Tbs finely chopped fresh mint 4 - 6 chicken breast halves (2 - 3 whole breasts) Take whole coriander and cumin seeds and put them in a small skillet over medium heat and toast them for a couple of minutes while constantly shaking the skillet. As soon as they get aromatic remove from heat and skillet and let them cool a bit before grinding them fine. Grind them with whole (untoasted) black peppercorns. Add the spices, garlic, onion and chopped mint to the yogurt and stir well to mix. Pat the chicken breasts dry and either remove the skin or gently separate the skin from the breast halves, making a pocket into which the marinade will go. Place the breasts in a glass baking dish with sides higher than the breasts are thick and generously cover the skinned breasts with marinade, or stuff a generous amount of marinade under the skin. Cover (if using plastic wrap, take care that the film doesn't come in contact with the chicken breasts) and marinate in the refrigerator for about 8 - 12 hours. Chicken can be cooked in the oven at about 400 degrees for about 30 - 35 minutes, or grilled over hot mesquite coals for about 40 minutes. Naturally you may need to adjust your cooking time and temp depending on the size of the chicken and your own oven. You may certainly adjust the amount of seasoning to suit your taste. I often use a little more of the coriander, cumin and black pepper, depending on my mood and who, if any, my guests may be. Pequin chiles are also good in this recipe. Definitely DON'T use ground cayenne pepper. This also works nicely without the onions.

YeeHa! That sure looks like fun. It was especially nice to hear how the pig farmer, Richardson, raises his hogs. There is such a difference between heritage pork and that commercial, supermarket stuff.

My original Calphalon HAA pieces were far better built and had a different coating than current HAA pieces. The older pots and pans (from the late 1980s to the early 1990s) were more nonstick, more durable, and easier to clean than the current crop of Calphalon HAA.

I love Valencia oranges. Didn't see any at TJ's this morning, but I'll be hitting the produce market tomorrow and will look for them. Thanks for the heads up.

Dunkers, a fine Chocolate Chip Cookie I don't buy cookies very often, and chocolate chip cookies are not my favorite, however, I really like these Dunkers. As you can see in the pic, the cookies are long and narrow rather than round, which makes them perfect for dunking. I don't dunk, but I like the way they feel in my hand and the idea that there are three or four bites to each cookie. But what I like best is their texture. They are crisp, but not overly so, so there's a nice, smooth crunch to the cookie. Plus, I don't care for excess in anything, and unlike a lot of cookies that are heavily laden with chocolate chips, the amount of chips in these cookies are, for me, just right. There's a nice balance between chips and cookie, both in terms of flavor and mouth feel. If you do like a lot of chocolate, TK's offers the Dunkers with an extra chocolate coating. Too much for me. As they are, they are perfect with a tall glass of very cold milk. Try 'em ... you may like them. The cookies are just a scosh more than 4-inches long by about 1½ - inches wide.

Trader Joe's Cambozola cheese: This cheese is terrific. I've enjoyed it in the past, and the other night Toots brought home a wedge. Had it on some crackers at room temp ... boy, was it good. Think Gorgonzola crossed with Camembert and you'll have a pretty good idea what you’re getting here.

As far as pickling goes, I have no clear plans. I mainly want to make a paste as a way to store the peppers. It would be a shame to have the peppers go bad. The pickling idea was an afterthought, after having seen how easy it could be to pickle onions and a couple of other vegetables. I like pickled jalapenos on my sandwiches, so ... I guess I want pickled peppers to slice onto sandwiches, maybe add to salads or use as a condiment. I'm on my way out for the weekend, so I'll check the links you posted later. Thank you.

It's interesting that you should talk about the need for SS being scrubbed "violently." I have numerous good quality SS pots and pans, and have not had any need for violent, or otherwise, scrubbing (in the sense of having to rub hard) a pan. Everything has been easy to remove with some soaking and cleaning with a sponge and soapy water, and sometimes with the addition of a pinch or two of Bar Keeper's Friend. Also, Calphalon recommends using Bar Keeper's Friend to remove stubborn stains on their contemporary anodized aluminum. I tried their technique to remove baked on grease from the outside of a hard anodized non-stick skillet. Worked like a charm, although I'd not want to underwrite the cost of doing that constantly.

Hi ... for many years I used good quality hard anodized aluminum pots, including a 12-quart stockpot. My recollection is that the pot cleaned up easily, and while it's not non-stick, it was certainly less sticky than my stainless. That said, at the time I was not very competent using stainless, and I was not using a stock pot but, rather, a 4-quart saucepan. My incompetence with SS at that time seems similar to the situation you describe. Under the circumstances you describe, I'd say a good anodized pot will work in your favor. However, I don't know what to recommend (although you didn't ask for a recommendation), i.e., I cannot speak to the quality of the current crop of anodized pots.

Is it possible to put a rack of ribs in the mini, perhaps by cutting the ribs and putting each piece side-by-side in the smoker?

Can someone tell me about this Cameron smoker? Does it work well on an electric stovetop? In an oven? How smokey would the kitchen get? How thick is the stainless steel? Is the body of the smoker just stainless,r is it layered with aluminum (tri ply)? Any other info would be helpful. Thanks!

Earlier today I was gifted with a 10-lb bag of gorgeous jalapeño peppers. I would like to make a paste from some of them. Any suggestions? There are numerous directions online, but it would be great to get some ideas here, too. Thanks! Oh, any suggestions for pickling them?

Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery and his Addendum restaurant. Here's the conversation I had with one of my friends after we went up to visit Keller's places: Apart from the burnt and overcooked baguette from the bakery, I was terribly disappointed with the pulled pork sandwich. The pork was nice and tender but lacked any flavor. It was bland, Bland, BLAND! The only flavor in the sandwich came from the dressing, which was applied with a heavy hand. The coleslaw and pickles were redolent of vinegar, so much so that my tongue tingled long after finishing the sandwich, and the concoction overpowered the minimal taste of the pork. The roll was pretty mediocre - something reminiscent of what one would purchase in a supermarket. Even worse was the two large pieces of gristle that I bit into - very unpleasant. The fried chicken, while flavorful and moist, was greasy - grease was literally running down my fingers while eating a piece of breast. Shame on you, Thomas Keller! The bread pudding was far too sweet for my taste, and the bread had no "pudding" texture, rather it was hard and chewy, perhaps something some people might like. The pudding, such as it was, was loaded with raisins, increasing the sweetness and adding a texture that, in my opinion, conflicted with the bread. It is not something I would order again. It seemed that there was more fruit than bread, and the bread, in and of itself, offered very little flavor or, perhaps, was overshadowed by the cloying and over sweetened fruit and sauce ingredients. My chocolate roll with "vanilla crème filling" had absolutely no noticeable vanilla taste. It reminded me of a cheap supermarket item called Ho Ho's (Keller's is called Do Do's, suggesting his creation to be an upscale version of the Ho Ho). While the chocolate cake was pretty good, and the chocolate coating was nice, albeit a bit heavy handed and unevenly applied, the vanilla filling, which is what I bought the dessert for, was truly bland ... I could make a better tasting filling in a few minutes in my minimalist kitchen, of this I'm sure. When I got home and opened the packages from Bouchon, I discovered that the wrong items were packed. I ordered a lemon tart and they packed a cookie! I sure hope The French Laundry has better quality food, because Addendum and Bouchon were, at least, inconsistent. I also found it somewhat pretentious that there was no menu posted. Unless someone had gone to the website, there was no way to know what to order, or what sides came with each dish. I believe one of you mentioned that there was no menu posted for the restaurant next door, Ad Hoc? and that a sign suggested a visit to the website to get the menu. Also, the Addendum website says each meal comes with two sides, yet I received only a single bag of potato chips with the pulled pork sandwich. While I enjoyed the day out, and spending time with you, Keller's creations left much to be desired. My friend responded: Yes, I agree with you. I think Keller's britches have gotten way too big for him. For dinner, I had the double chocolate muffin and boy was that puppy DRY! I absolutely hate dry food and it seems like the person who's charge in the bakery is over baking everything. I've been doing a lot of baking lately for our Tuesday night crew at the Mammal Center and none of my stuff reminds me of the Sahara Desert. I always under bake my cakes, cookies, and then add minutes back to the baking time if I need to. I've decided never to visit the bakery again since every time I visit, it gets more and more disappointing. Keller better wake up & pay attention to his empire because I think his reputation may be in danger. Edited to correct a couple of typos.

I thought about something like that, but it wouldn't work for Toots should she decide to use the knife.