blue_dolphin

I was. Canned fruit was a regular dessert in my elementary school cafeteria. Apples were the only fresh fruit I ever saw offered there.

Yesterday, I made the Orecchiette with Asparagus + Feta from Nik Sharma's Veg-Table. He blitzes some feta, hot pasta water and turmeric in the blender. Once it's added to the pasta, it turns in to a light but creamy sauce that makes for a very pretty and sunny plate of pasta. Sadly, I did not like it one bit. Well, the asparagus was good. I think the tomatoes, dill, turmeric and preserved lemon were fighting each other in some way. At least 2 of them should be kicked out of the dish for not getting along. And, if I'm adding feta to my pasta, I'd prefer tangy crumbles rather than having it liquified.

Boiled up the last of the duck eggs in the fridge and made them into egg salad"

Yes, they are available at Asian markets, usually labeled seafood mushrooms, but not so much at regular supermarkets in my area. Also, the beech mushrooms, both brown and white, are available at Asian markets at a much lower price than my little Trader Joe’s packet but I’d spend a bunch of gas money to get there!

Please report back once you do!

Grilled asparagus, sautéed brown beech mushrooms and a fried duck egg.

I finally got around to trying these TJ's Brown Beech Mushrooms that they've been selling since last summer. Also known as buna-shimeji or clamshell mushrooms. $2.49 for this little 3.5 oz pack which happens to be a nice amount for me to cook and eat at once and not have leftovers moldering in the fridge. I followed this recipe to cook them up and had them for breakfast with grilled asparagus and a fried duck egg: I can see these becoming a regular purchase for me. Also, the TJ's dulce de leche ice cream is quite nice. $3.79 for a pint. It's a seasonal item so no telling how long it will be around.

What a great way to combine business (grocery shopping) and pleasure! Thanks for sharing.

Season 21, episode 1

Thanks! Pears can be tough to nail the perfect ripeness for salads so I thought this method of using slightly underripe pears and browning the slices in butter was smart and one I should remember!

Pumpkin Tarts with Spinach and Gorgonzola from Roast Figs, Sugar Snow by Diana Henry baked in little 2" x 4" tart pans. I usually use these little pans for desserts with press-in crumb or nut crusts so it was a little fussy to fit the pastry dough into the small pans but they came out OK and I'm proud of myself for trying them without the Pillsbury doughboy to supply with the crust!

Salad of Pears, Hazelnuts and Blue Cheese with Pumpkin Tarts with Spinach and Gorgonzola, both from Roast Figs, Sugar Snow by Diana Henry Yeah, I forgot to put the blue cheese on the salad until AFTER I took the photo!

Yes, it’s possible. See here. I have done it on my Kindle Paperwhite and in the Kindle app on my iPad and phone. I assume the Android app has similar functionality. For me, it’s not as handy as a note on a paper page as you need to tap the highlighted text to read the associated note. You can view notes across all books in your online notebook. See the link to that down towards the bottom of the page I linked to above. I assume that requires internet access. Not sure if there’s a similar device-specific function that wouldn’t need the internet. Hopefully more adept Kindle users will jump in with more help. Eat Your Books allows you to bookmark recipes with pre-sets like “I want to cook this” or “I've cooked this” or “Favorite Recipes” or any sort of bookmark you’d like to set up for yourself like 2024 Christmas Cookies. You can also set up bookmarks for books. I tag all my Kindle books with a bookmark I named Kindle so I can search just those books if I want or exclude them from a search. You can also add notes to any recipe. Notes can be personal so only you can read them or available to all users. I try to add a note to each new recipe I make and appreciate the notes left by others. I've added over 700 recipe notes so far. I can edit those notes to update them at any time. You can view all your notes, across all books if you wish or search for notes from a specific book or recipe.

I look forward to hearing what you think. I thought it was better than most previous first episodes which always strike me as completely chaotic. To be sure, there was an element of kitchen chaos (also present in my home kitchen with just me in it 🙃) but at least I was able to follow what was going on while still answering the door to put my over-21 signature on a wine club delivery, opening said box and debating what to drink first!

I thought the first episode was pretty good. Kristin had enough presence to carry off the host role. She brought her own Top Chef experience to the fore rather than mostly swanning around in inappropriately glamorous clothing like someone else. Always hard to get a sense of the chefs when there are 15 of them to sort out in the first episode. Skipping the Quick Fire round and going straight into a challenge where they were divided up into 3 groups of 5 and competed individually within those groups at 3 tasks: soup, filled pasta and roast chicken, made it easier to keep track of 5 pastas or 5 chickens rather than 15 of something. I'd say most of the chefs came across as likable and the one that got axed was the least so. That's editing, of course, but it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes is a real sweetheart that gets bounced first. I'll be curious to see if they can keep mixing things up enough to be interesting. Getting rid of the shared house drama during covid was a bonus but they otherwise stuck to the same playbook.Getting rid of the grocery store derby would be nice. Just let them order like chefs do. Or take their fancy BMWs to Restaurant Depot and bring parkas for the freezer section! I guess Whole Foods pays them nicely for those spots!

The first episode is scheduled to air tonight. Shot in various locations in Wisconsin with a Caribbean cruise ship finale I'm interested to see how Kristin Kish does replacing Padma as host. I like that they are no longer awarding any Quick Fire winners with immunity in the main challenges. I like that as the Quick Fires are so random, but giving those winners immunity added a random element that was sort of entertaining.

Grilled Baby Bok Choy with Miso-Gochujang Butter and Crispy Chickpeas from Tenderheart Excellent combination of textures and flavors. The chickpeas get dusted with chickpea flour, gochugaru, S & P and a drizzle of olive oil before baking until they are crispy.

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Garlicky Caper and Thyme Oil from Tenderheart I enjoyed eating each tender slice of sweet potato with a fork full of lentils but, as written, this needs a kick in the butt. I think diced, preserved lemon would do the trick. I tossed the lentils with some mustard vinaigrette I had in the fridge and it worked well.

I really like Jubilee. The amount of scholarship and research that went into it is truly impressive. I think you will enjoy reading it whether or not you cook from it. I love the extra light buttermilk cornbread, the shrimp & grits, salmon croquettes, gingerbread waffles and sweet potato biscuits. And a bunch of the cocktails, of course!

Awww, what a sweet comment to read on a Monday morning! I think I'm a decent editor but I'll never be an author! Today's breakfast was the last slice of the galette I made last week with a few olives and tomatoes:

Ah, that makes sense!

Moose farts…refreshing??? Clearly, I’ve been missing out! They sound sorta like 7-layer bars (minus the nuts and butterscotch chips) but rolled into balls instead of baked. I might need to add butterscotch chips and nuts if I try them!

A quick miso mussel chowder from Julia Turshen's Small Victories

Sláinte!

Yes, I've been getting them. Did you get the email titled, "Introducing the Modernist Bread School" on March 11? It contained a link to sign up for course 1, down at the bottom. Once I clicked through and signed up, I received another email titled, "Confirm Your Subscription." Check your spam/junk folder if you didn't get it after signing up. Once I clicked through on that one, I began receiving the course emails. They've been mostly just short notes about basic equipment so you haven't missed much. Yesterday, I got an email saying I'd completed course 1 and that course 2 would begin in early April. Edited to add that I still haven't purchased the book. Modernist Cuisine at Home rolled out at the same price and eventually dropped below $100. If the course starts to get interesting, it may lure me in before that happens. Until then, I'm holding on to my 💰