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Have you read Samin Nosrat’s book, Salt Fat Acid Heat (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)? The first 4 chapters span 200 pages and are the most accessible intro to cooking that I know of. The book also has recipes but those first chapters are the most valuable, in my opinion. That section of the book ends with this cartoon that may help you focus on the specific areas you want to explore AFTER you’ve taken the time to read the background.

It sounds lovely to me! If your hostess is expecting platters of shared appetizers, this might not be what she had in mind but I think it’s much more interesting than those Costco shrimp cocktail platters that I avoid like the plague!

I dunno what’s wrong with me. I keep a list of grocery items I need on my phone. Here’s what it said this AM: Farmers Market: Garlic Parsley Cilantro Gorgonzola Brussels sprouts Celery Kumquats Kale Squash Cabbage Potatoes Eggs Sourdough bread Grocery: Olive oil Fava beans Asparagus Artichoke hearts Here’s what I got at the farmers market: Lemons Meyer lemons Oranges Pears Baby kale Frisée Cauliflower Snap peas Manzano peppers Avocados Eggs Sourdough bread Lord knows what will happen at the grocery store! In my defense, a few vendors were missing from today’s farmers market, including the ones I wanted to get the kumquats and Gorgonzola from. Everything else, except garlic, was there but my shopping bag was so full of stuff that wasn’t on the list that I deferred them to tomorrow when I can stop into a local farmstand. Sheesh!

Yeah, my chances of eating a salad increase dramatically if there’s a dressing prepared and greens washed. I’ve been using escarole & radicchio a lot lately because they’ve been looking great at the farmers market but importantly, they’re really sturdy so I can wash enough for a few days, spin dry, and store wrapped a towel. I should branch out and get some other options. Salad du jour was roasted honeynut squash and pear, escarole and radicchio dressed with the house dressing from Good Things, baked goat cheese and pecans.

Thanks! You are most welcome to swing by! Good Things was the book of the month for December in the cookbook group I participate in. It didn’t grab me right away. It’s not a book to pick up at 5:30 when you’re already hangry but I spent a little advance prep time making a few condiments, dressings, etc and have been very much enjoying Samin’s creative ways of using them…and my own, too! I need to write a little review over in the Cookbooks topic.

I’ve been remiss in posting recent salads I’ve made from Samin Nosrat’s Good Things. I may have posted this Crunchy Cabbage Slaw dressed with the Creamy Sesame- Ginger Dressing so apologies for the repeat but I’ve repeated it several times as it’s quite good. This is the White Bean, Celery and Tuna Salad, dressed with Creamy Oregano Dressing Chickpea salad with cucumbers and dill, also dressed with the Creamy Oregano Dressing. Two marinated beet salads. The first is dressed with the Tahini Sbagliato dressing and includes avocado (which blends into the greens so it’s hard to see) and a topping of crispy fried shallots. The beets are roasted, then marinated simply in rice vinegar. The second is a marinated goat cheese salad, featuring the marinated goat cheese, breaded in panko (I pre-toasted the panko) baked and served over greens dressed in the House dressing with marinated beets. This salad was assembled with the “Roasted Vegetable Salad Matrix” in the book. Yeah, It’s a lot. Roasted cauliflower, celery for crunch, Royal Corona beans and pickled onions, all dressed with the creamy lemon-miso dressing that includes poppy seeds. Last up is the Snap Pea Chopped Salad, also dressed with the creamy lemon-miso dressing. This one includes fennel, aged Gouda, Medjool dates and herbs. The recipe calls for pine nuts but I used chopped, toasted almonds.

Thanks! Beans and pasta can be stodgy but I think the greens help out here!

Today is National Bean Day in the US so here’s Pasta Fagiole Number Three: The New Classic from Six Seasons of Pasta by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg This is a very easy but flavorful version of pasta fagiole. As usual with this book, I made a half recipe for 2 very generous servings. I followed the suggestion in the header notes to add leafy greens and went with baby kale. I also added extra bean broth to lighten the sauce.

I quite like the idea of an eggplant preserve with a caponata vibe but if I made this one, I’ve forgotten! Eat Your Books recently reminded me, via their CookShelf app, that I’ve made 154 recipes from this book, but I haven’t tagged this one.

I probably should have clarified that my reason for taking a little taste wasn’t that I could detect spoilage but that I could see if I liked it enough to make again!

I’d probably give it a taste out of curiosity but that’s me and based on your previous post, you were already worried as soon as you made it so I’d say yes, there is a reason to fear it.

In the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, Judy Rodgers recommends following @weinoo’s advice and figuring out what you like. She likes 3/4 tsp salt/lb for both chicken and many cuts of meat. That’s going to vary with the geometry of the meat but it’s a good starting point and what I use. With my Diamond Crystal salt, that 3/4 tsp works out to ~ 2.4 g/lb, so it’s less than @Duvel’s 2% which would be closer to 9g/lb or 1 Tbsp/lb if you are using Diamond Crystal. Obviously there’s range, hence the importance of finding out your own preferences.

It’s surely concerning to read about these recalls and we surely want to see the causes addressed but, as with any sort of public safety monitoring, it would be a far greater concern if they completely ceased or dropped dramatically. I share @chromedome’s concern.

I have to preface this by saying that the Goûter panettone is SPECTACULAR! It’s like eating a cloud. Even with the abundant chocolate inclusions in the three chocolates version, it’s still so light and airy. I’m also a huge fan of chocolate and orange so the citrus note is just divine. I rate it a whole constellation of stars. Maybe even a galaxy! Thank you all again for the helpful advice for my friends gathering. I decided to go with the minimalist approach of unadorned slices. I brought my good bread knife and a skillet but I found it challenging to cut this lovely cloud into even slices and couldn’t imagine toasting them on my friend’s stove, that I haven’t used before. When I presented my platter of somewhat uneven slices, my friends, who are unaccustomed to dining on clouds, deemed them to be too big, too much! O ye of little faith! Everything I cut was devoured and more was cut to take home. This morning, I decided to try the pan toasting method. I unboxed the leftovers and admired it: I made coffee, cut a slice, softened some butter and heated a pan but couldn’t do it and enjoyed that slice as is. I suspect I’ll eventually try to crisp up a cloud but not quite yet! My friends were all interested to hear how I’d heard about Goûter. One is from northern Ontario and 2 others have family in the Toronto area so I did my best to drum up business!

Very helpful, thank you! I’ve never had a panettone made with chocolate and wondered if it had more of a dessert vibe. I also didn’t know if the chocolate would make a mess if I tried to heat it in a pan.

I love the vanilla notes! Try it shaken with espresso (or cold brew) for a Carajillo or add to hot, spiced apple cider in place of the usual Tuaca for a Hot Apple Pie cocktail.

Love the ice cream art but the sign totally cracks me up!

Thanks! I had the small pan from that set. It was annoyingly domed in the middle so any butter or oil added ran to the edges. In spite of that, it served me well for many years, keeping it just for eggs, until I inadvertently let it get too hot. I’ve decided I may not be cut out for nonstick cookware!

@ElsieD and anyone else, I’m looking for panettone serving suggestions for a lunch/brunch with ~6 friends tomorrow at the home of a friend. I have the Soma and Three Chocolates panettone and could bring either one. I’m leaning towards the Three Chocolate as it sounds very interesting. I’m hoarding the classic one for myself! I ordered the Apple Pie panettone but got the Three Chocolate instead so I’m definitely bringing that or the Soma. Should I just cut slices so my friends can enjoy unadulterated panettone perfection? Should I follow your butter toasting method and maybe top with a scoop of ice cream for a dessert treat? Any other ideas? Alternatively, I could cut and wrap wedges and send my friends home with some to enjoy at home, though I’ve never had a panettone with chocolate so would welcome any advice I might pass on to them.

I have the 12” and 8”. I’m afraid I exposed the smaller one to higher temps (my bad) so it’s not nonstick anymore. I wish they worked with induction so am looking for other options.

Yesterday’s chile crisp tuna salad stuffed into some little gougeres.

Absolutely! The Calabrian chile crisp recipe in the book contains plenty of peanuts and is quite similar to a salsa macha and I think it would work beautifully.

Chile crisp chicken salad sandwich from Samin Nosrat’s Good Things. I took the liberty of making this with tuna instead of chicken but otherwise followed the recipe that starts with a good amount of the Calabrian chile crisp from the book and adds mayo, tahini, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, lemon zest & juice, cilantro, scallions, a pinch of sugar and roasted peanuts. In the header notes, Samin says that whenever she makes this for someone, they invariably ask what on earth it is and proceed to ask for the recipe. It is indeed hard to place but also delicious.

I have no cookie displays to share nor did I perform any epic multi day cooking extravaganzas but I’m posting what little I did. The main spread was with my cousins on Christmas Eve. Turkey, ham and beef tenderloin were the mains. There are always Swedish meatballs and lefse, which I commented on over in the lefse topic. My contributions were roast delicata squash tossed with a sesame-ginger dressing. Quick and easy since I had the dressing already mixed up. And the autumn chicory salad with persimmons, Gorgonzola and pecans with house dressing from Samin Nosrat’s Good Things. I’m posting this photo mostly because it was a quick iPhone snap taken on the kitchen counter, well after dark and I’m ever so jealous of my cousin’s kitchen lighting as it looks nicely lit without me needing to adjust it! I also contributed a huge pan of Anna Banana’s ‘Nanner Pudding that I picked up from ZEF BBQ. No photo as it just looks like a catering pan of whipped cream but it is very good and has become a tradition so I’m now stuck bringing it. To make the ZEF pick-up worthwhile, I treated myself to a pit smoked, Peking-style duck and some nice pastrami to play with here at home. In between dinner and dessert, there was a visit from Santa, who brought a gift for each of the little ones. There was much yelling and squealing going on, even before the sugary stuff was put out. At one point, a high-decibel warning popped up on my Apple Watch advising me that 15 more minutes of this would result in temporary hearing loss! I enjoyed a very quiet Christmas morning here with the cats!

I was going to put this in the Christmas topic but I think this may be better. I’m not Scandinavian at all but my cousins are and meatballs, pickled cabbage, lingonberry jam and lefse were always a part of the Christmas Eve buffet. This year, the cabbage was missing but everything else was there. I think the meatballs needed a good stir at this point. They were also very big. And this plate of store-bought lefse, which were not quite as cloud-like as the fresh ones @Smithy shared above. I have to say this version of a lefse meatball wrap with the pickled red cabbage, shredded green cabbage and a Gjetost cheese sauce sounds pretty good and makes me wish I’d finagled some leftovers to play with, cloud-like or not!