blue_dolphin

I watched the first episode of this show which was on cast iron. In the episode, Vivian describes it as a kind of variety show so it’s a little of Vivian talking about cast iron, trips to a vintage cast iron shop and to Smithey Ironware in Charleston, interspersed with two cooking segments. Recipes are available on the website. I might have preferred more on cast iron, like a longer segment on refinishing old cast iron with the guy who runs the vintage shop or more cooking but the variety format doesn’t really do justice to either one. That criticism aside, I enjoyed watching and will check out the upcoming episodes. Next week’s is on pasta and after that is an episode on fats.

I tried the microwave pasta gadget in two (admittedly feeble) microwaves and they took way longer than the guidelines suggested so I didn’t keep it. In a mild defense of McFadden's gallon of water for 8 oz pasta, he uses that water in the sauce, not just after the pasta is cooked, but sometimes a good bit earlier. He also recommends @weinoo's method of bringing the water to a boil as his first step in most recipes, then backing off on the heat if more time is needed for the sauce so he’s allowing for a little evaporation. I also agree with @weinoo that shapes like rigatoni can be pan hogs, especially when they’re still quite firm so I don’t think 4 qts is a gross excess. Also, McFadden spends a good bit of time explaining how to taste the pasta for doneness, much easier on the stovetop. That said, reducing the amount of water used to increase its starchiness and save boiling time isn’t a bad thing at all. If I’m cooking 1-2 servings of long pasta, I routinely use a 12-inch skillet with an inch or two of water. Boils fast and the pasta all gets submerged at once. Maybe as fast as the Fasta!

Snap peas with 'nduja and spring onion from Josh McFadden's new book, Six Seasons of Pasta This was very good. I don’t usually put snap peas in a red sauce but their crunch and sweetness are a good counterpoint to the richness of the ‘nduja. I used scallions instead of spring onions, capunti pasta instead of the suggested casarecce (which I like but didn’t have on hand), reduced the amount of pasta and increased the veg.

Sounds like you think people buy cookbooks only for the recipes!

I’d say we’re in a place where people enjoy cookbooks for a variety of different reasons. We're engaged by different styles of writing and presentation and publishers capitalize on that. Learning what we need to know about a topic is one reason but certainly not the only one.

I assume it’s storebought but the recipes don’t precisely use that language. Each recipe’s ingredient list gives only the weight in grams and ounces and three shape options. The words homemade, dried, storebought or pasta do not appear in the recipe ingredient lists. The introduction lists recommended brands of dried pasta, including gluten-free options. There are no recipes in the book for homemade fresh or dried pasta nor recommendations for finding recipes.

Six Seasons of Pasta: A New Way with Everyone's Favorite Food (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg was published last week. I received my copy, have given it a good once over, cooked one of the recipes and have a bunch more marked to try. The book opens with a dried pasta primer and discussion of his decision to use dried pasta exclusively in the book. The recipes offer a range of interesting ingredient combinations but he also devotes space to “how to” pages for dressing pasta with the basic pestos, flavored butters and whipped ricotta that appear in the front of the book. There are similar sections for using ragus, making baked pasta dishes and pasta salads so the reader can build on the basics with their own recipes. After the basic sauces, the recipes are organized by season, similar to Six Seasons. Plenty of meat and seafood are used. It’s not a vegetarian cookbook but I think that cooking with vegetables is really McFadden's strength. In reading through, I thought some of the dishes would be delicious without the pasta, just adding more vegetables. With a few exceptions, the pasta recipes serve 2-4, depending on how hearty or rich they are. The ragu recipes tend to make enough for 8-12 servings, and he recommends freezing them in portions appropriate for one meal. There's one recipe for a Caesar salad and one for garlic bread but other than that, it’s all pasta. I’ve got several pasta cookbooks that focus on making fresh pasta, so I’m fine with the dry pasta focus. I’m also quite capable of concocting my own pasta dishes without relying on a cookbook but I think I’ll enjoy trying quite a few of the offerings here. I started with the eggplant puttanesca with fresh tomatoes on p 301 and thought it was quite good.

The reason for the 10 min boil for kidney beans (a fairly large family that includes cannellini) is to denature lectins like phytohaemagglutinin that can cause unpleasant nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Slow cooker temps aren’t sufficient to denature them. Boiling does. Because I don’t know the lectin profile of every bean I cook nor do I know which lectins I might be sensitive to and I’d prefer to avoid those symptoms, I go ahead and start them all off with a 10 min boil. I feel like it gets them moving about and off to a good start. Or, in the words of Steve Sando, it lets them know who’s the boss 🙃. If you prefer not boiling beans, don’t do it. I’m sure you can boss them about in other ways.

That looks great, @Smithy! I recommend trying some of the compound butters. You don’t need to make a full batch to try them out but they’re great to have on hand to add some interest to plain veg, eggs, etc. Since starting to cook from this book, I’ve kept a rotating stash of them in the freezer. Time to replenish the Cacio e Pepe version! Also, if you like adding nuts for crunch, the brined roasted almonds are really excellent. They’re pretty much a pantry staple for me. I just got his Six Seasons of Pasta (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and am looking forward to cooking from that.

I, too, would request leftover oxtails for breakfast if only there was the slightest chance!

Looks absolutely beautiful!

BLT

I don’t have lots of knives so I prefer to keep my limited selection at the ready. I don’t run the dishwasher after every meal so washing them by hand suits me.

You may find this article from Emily at Steam and Bake useful as an overview of steam oven brands: The Best Steam Oven Brands in 2025 If you are on Facebook, Emily's group ( https://m.facebook.com/groups/combisteamcooking/?ref=share ) might be a good place to ask questions about models you are considering. The group seems fairly quiet but it’s worth a shot. If you plan to replace your wall oven with a combi steam wall oven, keep in mind that the cavity size of steam ovens tend to be a good bit smaller than conventional ovens, particularly for the non-plumbed models as they need to accommodate a water tank.

Tuna salad on a toasted brioche bun My last few breakfasts have been deficient in vegetables so I added a few.