blue_dolphin
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Posts posted by blue_dolphin
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22 hours ago, weinoo said:
I immediately thought that maybe it had something to do with the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, but when I looked, turns out most of the bananas arrive at the Port of Wilmington, in Delaware.
Yeah, it's interesting (or maybe only interesting to me because I used to live next to one 🙃) that bananas and other refrigerated stuff have developed their infrastructure (refrigerated warehouses and distribution) in smaller niche ports. So Wilmington instead of New York/New Jersey and Port Hueneme instead of Los Angeles/Long Beach out here on the west coast.
This map is outdated but shows the comparison between banana boats and container ships at US ports.
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My local TJ's increased their banana prices from 19 cents to 23 cents each for the regular bananas last month. Organic bananas went from 25 cents to 29 cents each some time ago and that wasn't changed in this round. TJ's reports that 19 cent price had been in effect for 20 years so not really that surprising to see an increase and at 23 cents each, that's probably still less than the 63 cents/pound that's been the average for the last 2 years (see graph below)
On a year-over-year basis, retail banana prices in the US have been pretty stable. Obviously supermarkets often price them super low in their ads but there haven't been any huge year-long price swings. When I look at this graph and think of the big price bumps in other food items, my first thought is that banana prices should probably increase so the farmers and workers can be paid more.
Graph from here
I don't believe we're seeing any huge price swings from either global warming or disease just yet but I'm sure we will, sooner or later. The disease thing could be sooner but both will happen.
NPR's Science Friday had a piece today on the efforts of a North Carolina biotech working with Dole to develop a strain of Cavendish banana plants that are resistant to the TR-4 fungus. They've been working on it since 2020 and are just now ready to test plants in the field, still years away from production. Chiquita is also working on this and Australian regulatory agencies have recently approved a similar plant. These are all GMO bananas where genes from bananas that are naturally resistant to the TR-4 fungus have been incorporated into Cavendish bananas.
I wish they'd end the big Cavendish monoculture but it seems that after decades of being top banana, the Cavendish has become so productive and so ingrained in consumers minds as THE banana that moving away from it is an uphill climb.
On Science Friday: Fighting Banana Blight In A North Carolina Greenhouse
and: A North Carolina company is trying to make a fungus-proof banana
Australian approval: Genetically modified banana resistant to Panama disease given approval for Australian consumption
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1 hour ago, Shel_B said:
To me, the term "more forgiving" means flexible, soft, bendable. Might it be the gluten in flour tortillas that gives them those properties?
i always thought it was the fat but gluten could well be part of it, too.-
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42 minutes ago, Neely said:
I wanted to thank you @blue_dolphin for the times you have mentioned in reference to the meal you’ve made “The Global Pantry Cookbook”. I finally looked it up ( takes me awhile lol) and was available through Amazon. Sometimes, some books and products aren’t available here in Australia. So I got it through Kindle and it’s a terrific read as well as a recipe informer despite its little quirks. I do have most ‘global’ things that are mentioned in my pantry but we will have to differ on kimchi, maybe I’ve just had bad ones.
The other book you mention Tenderheart, well I’ll explore that another time. I like reading recipes but not so good at following them, using them more as a reference to the ingredients I have on hand. Occasionally I’ll shop specifically for ingredients for a particular recipe.
I hope you like it. I wasn’t planning to get the book but the shrimp and coconut grits made me buy it. Not everything has been perfect but it’s earned a spot on my bookshelf!
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5 hours ago, btbyrd said:
Masienda's masa harina is fantastic and produces tortillas more beautiful and flavorful than Maseca.
Ditto the Masienda masa harina recommendation. This doesn't help @ElsieD in Canada, but for those in the US, Masienda masa harina is available at Whole Foods. Most stores have the white and blue. I've also seen the yellow at my local Whole Foods but not the red.
Since I'm usually a solo cook and eater, I like that I can easily scale the recipe to make the number of tortillas I want without having to make a big production out of it.
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1 hour ago, palo said:
Are you one of the "lucky" ones:
p
Looks like we're safe from this one here on the left coast. I usually get herbs at the farmers market but do occasionally pick up Italian parsley or cilantro at TJ's. Both are from a local grower in Oxnard.
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@ElsieD, another source of excellent taco ideas would be to search the forums for posts by @C. sapidus that include the word taco and scroll through the list of posts. He's shared tons of them over the years from delicious looking tacos in the breakfast topic that might feature leftovers as well purpose-built tacos in the Dinner topic and else where that might be traditional Mexican or fusion cuisine!
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36 minutes ago, ElsieD said:
Can Boston Cream Pie be frozen? I'm thinking of making individual ones and am wondering if I can do this.
I know exactly what you are asking and don't have the answer but this sort of query always reminds me of a comment by Niloufer Ichaporia King in her book, My Bombay Kitchen:
QuoteIt keeps for at least a week refrigerated and can be successfully thawed. (Note, I didn't say 'frozen'. Anything can be successfully frozen).
🙃
Edited to add that because I'm a looker upper, I looked it up and I think this response to the question touched all bases:
QuoteIt is best if you do not freeze Boston Cream Pie.
You can freeze a Boston Cream Pie if the Crème Pâtissière is made with Flour but not if it is made with Corn Starch. It will weep, break down and become watery.
There are also recipes that call for using Crème Pâtissière made with Gelatin which also freezes.
Any of them will be better if not frozen but you can but personally I wouldn’t.That last line cracks me up!
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The Global Pantry Cookbook is this month's book for the cookbook group I participate in so I tried their version of avocado toast sprinkled with a gremolata made with orange zest and furikake in addition to the usual parsley and garlic. It was OK but if I want a "global pantry" ingredient on my avocado toast, kimchi gets my top vote!
The poached egg was not part of the recipe but I can never resist the opportunity to add a runny yolk!
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4 hours ago, ElsieD said:
At the moment, I'm just buying the corn and flour tortillas. Do you make yours? I wouldn't mind making them but I would need a tortilla press and I don't want to buy one unless I'm sure I'd use it.
No need to make them if you like what you can buy. In my case, I can buy flour tortillas that I like but have to go out of my way to get great tasting corn tortillas. You don’t need a press for flour tortillas, I’ve always rolled them out with a rolling pin. A press does make corn tortillas quicker and easier but no need to go there if you like the ones you’ve got.
4 hours ago, ElsieD said:What do you top your fish tacos with?
Sometimes I go with the classics as @FrogPrincesse described, sometimes I mix it up, using a slaw instead of plain cabbage and if the slaw is spicy, like a kimchi slaw, I might skip the pico de gallo or hot sauce. I aim for something crunchy (cabbage or other veg julienne), something tangy (pico de gallo, pickled onion, hot sauce) and something creamy (crema, avocado)
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Yesterday's lunch was the Virtuous Vegan Harissa Tofu Bowl with Farro from The Global Pantry Cookbook. Yes, good grief on the recipe name.
And yet, I made the leftovers even more virtuous by cooking up more vegetables to throw in with my reheated bowl:
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Are you making both corn tortillas and flour tortillas for your tacos? Or are you buying them and looking for filling ideas?
I'm a big fan of breakfast tacos and love using flour tortillas made with bacon fat. Potato & egg is a great combo. Chorizo, avocado, eggs and cheese. Bean, cheese and bacon.
Also, of course, fish tacos, generally with freshly made corn tortillas.
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1 hour ago, Fernwood said:
Which edition JoC, please? I don't find this in the book in my kitchen (1997) but I have at least 3 others readily accessible.
Eat Your Books shows it in the 1975 Sixth Edition and the 2006 75th Anniversary Edition
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Harissa tofu bowl with farro from The Global Pantry Cookbook
This cookbook is about cooking with "global" ingredients in different ways, using those ingredients purchased for one cookbook or recipe. I'm generally pleased with the recipes and the results but some of the recipe names irritate me. For example, this one is called Virtuous Vegan Harissa Tofu Bowl with Farro. Others use unnecessary superlatives - "creamiest" is included in the recipe name for grits, hummus and a curry. Obviously, I'm trying to get over it 🙃
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Eggs for breakfast but perhaps not in the typical manner.
Cabbage Carbonara-ish from Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon.
No meat but a bit of miso adds a hit of umami that makes this taste surprisingly carbonara-ish.
I made this per the recipe except for using 2 oz pasta/serving instead of 4. With about 150g of cabbage/serving, I didn't miss the extra pasta.
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Salad of Sugar Snap Peas, Turnip, Strawberries and Quinoa with a Miso-Maple Vinaigrette from Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon.
Nice combination of flavors and textures.
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In cookbooks I have, it's primarily used in sauces and in baking. Handy because it can easily be mixed into either wet or dry ingredients in a way that peanut butter can't be.
Edited to add that if you search the forums for "Peanut Butter Powder" you'll find a topic in the baking and pastry area with a few posts, Peanut Butter Powder and other posts by members using it in different ways, like @mgaretz in ice creams or frozen desserts and quite a few using it in candymaking.
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52 minutes ago, NadyaDuke said:
P.S. If you've tried his risotto for one recipe I linked, I'd love to hear your take on it.
I haven't tried the risotto but I will!
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1 hour ago, gfweb said:
I'm surprised that AMZN cares about TJs.
Might be a tough win as part of the cachet of TJ is that its TJ. They ring a bell and all that.
On the other hand, TJ seems to have trouble keeping favorites on the shelves. The might be beaten here.
Yeah, grocery margins are notoriously low, which Amazon must know from Whole Foods, it's hard to figure they could make a killing going head to head on top selling TJ's products. Especially since so many are refrigerated or frozen items.
Now, I could give them a list of discontinued TJ's products that I'd be happy to order if Amazon decided to resurrect them!
They certainly do sound pretty ruthless!
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Thanks for bringing that recipe up, @NadyaDuke. Not sure how I haven't tried it yet as Eric's single-serving recipes usually suck me in!
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The Whole Turnip Pasta from Tenderheart. Half of the turnip greens are blitzed into a bright pistachio pesto and the other half are sautéed and tossed with the pasta along with the pan browned, then steamed turnip roots.
At first bite, I thought this was just OK but it really grew on me and I'd absolutely make it again. As written, and to my taste, this needs a hit of acid to brighten and contrast with the sweetness of the cooked turnip and bitterness of the greens. I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to the pesto and a sprinkle of diced preserved lemon rind to the finished dish and was happy with that. I think crumbled feta would also work. The crunch from the roasted pistachios is key but another crunchy ingredient could fill in.
I always use 2 oz of pasta/serving rather than the 4 oz in the recipe and thought this was good as a vegetarian main but one could easily add shrimp, chicken or salmon, either to the dish or alongside.-
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On 4/9/2024 at 5:29 PM, MaryIsobel said:
I am really going to have to try grits one of these days. 64 years old and have never had them. Don't even know if they are available in these parts although almost everything is available online now...
My first experience with grits was on a family road trip somewhere in the southern US when I was a kid. The previous day, I'd ordered hush puppies and was rewarded, not with a shoe, but cute little deep fried balls of deliciousness. This emboldened me to try another unfamiliar corn product, grits. I was presented a little bowl of something that looked like cream of wheat with a big pat of margarine sitting on top but not melting at all. I didn't try them again until Vivian Howard and her Deep Run Roots convinced me to give them another try and I've been a fan ever since.
If you decide to try them, see if you can get something stone ground. I order them from Marsh Hen Mill but I don't know if they ship to Canada. Anson Mills is another good brand.
On to today's lunch, a shrimp roll with yuzu kosho mayo from The Global Pantry Cookbook, using the little Oregon bay shrimp I got in this week's fish share.
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1 hour ago, Yoda said:
(Though I'm still not sure whether I should use the smooth or coarse flour as the main flour... I'm thinking I should have gone with the smooth one since the crumb was kind of crunchy here and there - similar texture to a pie)
What country are you in, @Yoda? You might search for "cake flour substitute in @Yoda's country"
Google told me that in Italy: "For cookies, bars, cakes/cupcakes, biscuits, scones, or anything that needs a tender crumb, use Farina di grano tenero, 00"
And in Germany: "Type 405 is finest ground flour you will find in Germany. It has the highest starch content which makes it ideal for the baking of cupcakes and cakes where you want a finer crumb"
You might find something that will work for you.
Lunch 2024
in Cooking
Posted
I was kinda hungry because I just had a cup of coffee and a Biscoff for breakfast and I got lovely fresh mussels in my fish share but for some reason I wasn't in a mussel mood so tuna salad in a brioche bun:
This was a standard Friday cafeteria lunch when I was a kid. It appeared on the menu as "Tuna Boats"
Mussels to be dealt with later....