blue_dolphin

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Pizza from Pizza Nights by Alexandra Stafford. This recipe is written for a half-sheet pan and is listed in the book as Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Pizza for a Crowd. It’s a pan pizza crust, topped with Everything But The Bagel seasoning and baked, with the toppings (chive cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, red onion and dill) added post-bake. No crowd here, but I had a ball of pan pizza dough that needed to be used so this was a good option. I only topped this piece and will use the rest of the focaccia-like pan for sandwiches.

If you happen to be in the LA area, Epicurus Gourmet has these 10 flavors of Bordier butter for 30% off thru Thurs 6/26: The algues (seaweed), yuzu and piment d’espelette are particularly nice. Unfortunately, the basic demi sel and doux aren’t included. I know this is useless to most but I couldn’t resist!

Pineapple kimchi fried rice with salmon

Yes on the too much icing. Not too difficult to remove. Yes on pumpkin in the fall. Yes on pecan!

Copying @Duvel’s pizza and movie night with this puttanesca pan pizza with tomatoes, onions, anchovies, and olives from Pizza Night by Alexandra Stafford. On the relatively small screen will be the recent Marcella documentary. It will air on PBS on JULY 11, 2025 as part of the "American Masters" series and will be available in their streaming services as well.

Broccolini with Sweet Tahini from Ottolenghi’s Plenty More with sockeye salmon brushed with yuzu mayo and lemon juice then oven roasted. The broccolini recipe includes green beans and snap peas. The salmon was a riff on a recipe in Renee Erickson's Sunlight & Breadcrumbs called 1970’s Mom's Mayo-Slathered Salmon which uses regular mayo, a trick my mom also utilized in the 1970’s to keep salmon moist when broiling. Still works:

I suspect everyone who bakes is aware of these little flour duster gadgets but they were new to me. I ordered this one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) from Amazon recently and have been finding it quite handy. Can be used for powdered sugar or cocoa but mine has been living in my AP flour canister. Does a better job than I do at tossing an even dusting on the counter when shaping dough. It was $6.99 and came in a nice little box so would make a good stocking stuffer or an added gift if you’re giving someone a baking book.

No, not really. The Khao Soi served at the restaurant is a Chiang Mai-style coconut curry with beef and noodles. The curry paste used to flavor it would not be used in Grapow chicken but since they use something they’re calling “khao soi queso” in their crunchwrap, I figured that curry paste used would be a good start for my dupe. The khao soi curry paste is the cookbook made with fresh turmeric, garlic, ginger, shallots, chiles, Roasted Chile Powder, cardamom, salt and a little vegetable oil. The grapow chicken in the book is more simply flavored with prik tum (jalapeños, bird’s eye chilies and garlic, simmered in oil) Thai seasoning sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce. It also includes green beans.

The NYT recently ran an article about chefs riffing on the now-classic Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme: The Fast-Food Gimmick That Became an Unlikely Muse for Chefs. They include a recipe for a dupe for those interested: Crunchy Queso Wrap as well as descriptions of the variations created by a number of chefs for their own restaurants. Han Ly Hwang's Munchwrap Extreme with beef bulgogi and pickled banchan sounds pretty good to me. Anyone ever tried putting your own spin on these? I’ve never been to Taco Bell nor sampled the original but ever since I heard of Kris Yenbamroong’s Grapow Crunchwrap Supreme at Night + Market, I’ve wanted to try making one. It’s described thusly on the restaurant menu: I have his cookbook and have made the grapow chicken, which is crave-worthy on its own. The book has a recipe for a khao soi paste I could use to flavor a queso and I learned from the Times article that he uses a fried wonton wrapper instead of a tostada shell for the crunch part. If I make the grapow chicken and his khao soi, I’ll have 2 nice meals and leftovers to play around with. Seems like an excellent vehicle for repurposing leftovers. Anyone else want to play?

Yes. I’m lucky that there are quite a few growers who bring multiple varieties of apricots to our local farmers markets. The grocery store varieties don’t compare.

Yes, Blenheims were the most commonly grown apricot in @rotuts area. Here's an article from Saveur by David Karp that discusses them: Looking for the Last Great Apricot

Rather an oxymoron, isn’t it? I recall this stuff being quite popular among gluten-phobic* influencers craving the sugary cereals they grew up with. * I’m not referring to anyone dealing with celiac disease or other serious gluten-sensitivity issues.

They came out around here in February. Not sure if they’re still around.

My Mouli-julienne was one of my first kitchen purchases for my college apartment. I still have it, still use it regularly and it still works fine. Quite a sturdy little thing. My only repair has been to the plastic knob on the end of the crank which developed a hole that the crank poked through. I patched it up with a little Sugru. My mom had the all metal version with a wooden knob like this one:

I made some of the very rich creamy ricotta from Bestia yesterday, spread some on a slice of toasted seeded sourdough, topped with fresh Mission figs from the farmers market and a drizzle of Mike’s hot honey.