blue_dolphin

Thanks, @rotuts, I remember that! Here’s a gift link to that NYT obit for non subscribers. And here’s the eG topic on her viral Olive Garden review: My two favorite bits of the NYT obit:

Today’s late lunch was a fast food burger - rather a curiosity for me. I don’t do fast food much except for road trips and airports and even then, I look for other options. But this morning, the local news informed me that today was National Cheeseburger Day. Who knew? They featured some great looking burgers. None were from spots in my area but they got me in a burger mood so after running a bunch of errands, I remembered a USA Today poll that picked a Habit Burger as the best fast food burger. A low hurdle, to be sure, but I’ve never had one and figured I might as well observe the national day so I got a double char with cheese from Habit. Two chargrilled burgers, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo, and cheese on a toasted bun: Not bad. Too heavy on the mayo but the charred flavor is detectable. I’d prefer a bigger burger that could take more char vs the two stacked patties but I was pretty hungry and it wasn’t bad at all. Lettuce was fresh, tomato tasted like one. The most embarrassing part is that my errands included picking up my weekly fish share (live, local oysters) and the local farmers market where I chose two varieties of passion fruit to make a mignionette for the oysters and I still stopped off for a fast food burger 🙈🙈🙈

Little potatoes here, too, in this kinda artsy fartsy smoked trout, eggs & keta (salmon roe) with sour cream dressing from Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavours by Diana Henry I thought this was just delightful in looks and taste. The potatoes, greens and trout are all dressed in a simple vinaigrette with a separate sour cream/Dijon/lemon juice dressing drizzled on top. I used a mix of little red, white and purple potatoes with more arugula and less olive oil than in the recipe.

I put yesterday’s smoked salmon and dill waffles from Waffles from Morning to Midnight by Dorie Greenspan over in the topic dedicated to that book but I’ll go ahead and add the photo here, too. The waffles have diced onion, fresh dill and smoked salmon in the waffle, topped with sour cream, salmon roe and scallions Today, I thawed and reheated one of the onion and dill waffles from yesterday. For the toppings, I stuck close to what I had at a local waffle place last week. I made whipped goat cheese with capers, fresh thyme and oregano and spread that on the waffle. Then a pile of arugula, julienne cut smoked salmon, pickled red onion, caramelized lemon and salmon roe.

I haven’t tried Andie's corn starch suggestion yet. I usually freeze the leftover waffles and reheat in the CSO, which does help crisp them up. For some of the waffles, especially savory recipes like the one I made today, I’m OK with a softer, more bread-like texture as I often use them as the base for sandwiches.

Today’s breakfast was the smoked salmon and dill waffles from Waffles from Morning to Midnight by Dorie Greenspan The waffle itself includes diced red onion, fresh dill and smoked salmon. Toppings are sour cream, scallions and salmon roe with a pile of arugula on the side, added by me. I wasn’t sure how much I’d like the smoked salmon IN the waffle rather than as a topping so I only made one but it was quite good. The only drawback is that it limits the flexibility of the leftover waffles. I can freeze the remaining onion and dill waffles to use as a base for lots of sandwiches but they don’t all go with smoked salmon.

I’m of no real help here. The place I buy oxtails cuts them to order, at the desired thickness, from frozen (or close to it) on what looks like a big band saw. But I’m thinking you might get more specific cooking suggestions if you describe how you want to use these thawed tails currently in your possession. What oxtail dishes are you especially missing that you want to use them in?

TJ's lemon torchietti pasta, snap peas, yellow zucchini and red peppers, dressed with TJ's lemon pesto and crumbled feta. I often photograph my plate next to a window in the living room and must ask my assistant to step aside… Today, he was puzzled, but obliged. Sometimes I have to haul him away and shut him up in my bedroom.

Sounds like an excellent veg & seafood combo. I have one marked to try called Mussels and Brussels 🙃

Yesterday, I neglected to share this roasted asparagus with feta, almonds and mint from Sami Tamimi's new book, Boustany. I'll call out those little greenish red, pear-shaped tomatoes, kinda like mini-Kumatos They looked so dull compared to the brilliant red, orange and yellow varieties at the farmers market that I felt sorry for them and bought a basket. They turned out to be sweet, tangy and very flavorful. Today, I’m having leftovers from yesterday’s lunch. I went out with a group of friends to a local waffle place called Honey & Herb (full menu here.) I ordered something called “Salmon I used to know” which their menu describes as “A trio of savory brioche waffles topped with smoked salmon, herb caper cream cheese, and peppery arugula. Finished with roasted lemon slices and pickled onions for a burst of flavor,” with a salad as my side. I brought home 2 of the trio. I disassembled them, stored the components separately in the fridge then toasted the waffle to crisp it up and reassembled.

I like the frozen ones quite a lot. You need to plan ahead and give them a little time to proof but it’s well worth the effort.

If you just bought it yesterday and the appearance disturbs you, take it back to the store, ask for a replacement and inspect it carefully before leaving. I have a few similar white spots on the kombu in my pantry but they don’t disturb me so after making that observation, I put it back to be used next time I need it. I am a bit curious what you mean by “an unhealthy mold”? Is this mold that appears unwell? Or do you believe it will make you unwell? And if so, how do you make that identification based on appearance alone?

Thanks, @rotuts! Today, I just used some long toothpicks to stabilize everything but I’ve used that sandwich slicing trick several times. Very helpful! I also picked excess bread out of the middle of the roll which helps make space for the fillings.

Today, we return to our sandwich textbook, A Super Upsetting Cookbook About Sandwiches for This is a Chicken Sandwich. It features a Special Sauce (mayo, whole grain mustard, sweet chile sauce and fresh dill), roast chicken, fried eggplant, fresh mozzarella and arugula on a lightly toasted ciabatta roll. The eggplant gets coated in a tempura batter, then in panko so it brings a lot of crunch to the party.

I believe “more tamales” is the correct answer to your first question. As to the second, pickled red onions go without saying, along with avocado or guacamole. At this time of year, some sort of Mexican corn salad certainly comes to mind. Could be elote-inspired or a black bean, corn and tomato salsa thing. Beans, refried or not. Some kind of nopales salad, if you can get them.

A repeat of yesterday’s recipe except that, after reading comments from @Kerala about fried bread, I followed the recipe instructions to fry the bread in olive oil in a cast iron skillet instead of just tossing it in the toaster. I also included the Kalamata olives I forgot to add yesterday. The chorizo those sardines are packed in makes them taste remarkably porky!

Yesterday, I was checking a recipe in How to Cook the Finest Things in the Sea and the book flipped open to a photo of an open-faced avocado sandwich with tomato-marinated sardines. I thought it would make a good breakfast. Alas, I didn’t have any tomato-marinated sardines so I made due with these French “sardines à la Camarguaise” made with with chorizo.

I assume the food collected will go to a local food bank or community pantry, perhaps one where he already volunteers. Has he sought guidance from that recipient organization? If he hasn’t already done so, have him Google “food drive ideas” for schools or gyms or kids or wherever he wants to focus. Lots of good theme ideas there for Halloween and other holidays.

Swordfish Cavatappi with Cherry Tomatoes, Mint, and Fresh Chiles from How to Cook the Finest Things in the Sea by Ari Kolender When I made this a few weeks ago, I made the full amount of sauce and froze it in single serving sized cubes so this was quick and easy to toss together.

Sounds like @Dr. Teeth has given you the info you asked for but I thought I’d add my recommendation for these grill gloves (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I’ve had them for about 10 years now and would order another pair if someone swiped them. I have the Ladies Small size and there’s about 1/3 to 1/2 inch of fabric at the end of my fingers which isn’t bad compared with other options though I suspect you could still manage to stick them in food if you try. They are fabric, so not suitable for dunking your hands in boiling liquid. They’re the best I’ve found for a reasonable dexterity oven glove for smaller hands.

There's a local Cuban bakery in my area that is very popular for their papas rellenas, to the point that there are a lot of copycat recipes out there so you might search for “Porto's potato balls” if you are looking for tips. They even sell them frozen to bake at home. They make the standard picadillo filling, a spicy chile & cheese verson plus seasonal offerings of a seafood filling during Lent and turkey & gravy around Thanksgiving. Seems like it would be a fun way of using up leftovers!

All blame for this one belongs to me, though I may have been influenced by yesterday’s sandwich to include the roasted broccoli. Starting from the bottom, there's a smear of melted ‘nduja, topped with roasted broccoli, an egg and some Gruyère melted on to the top of the toasted ciabatta roll.

Another curiosity from A Super Upsetting Cookbook About Sandwiches, the Broccoli Classic with mayo, roasted broccoli, lychee muchim, ricotta salata (I used feta) toasted pine nuts and fried shallots. Not sure where lychees show up in any classic sandwich but, honestly, spicy pickled lychee are pretty good and I look forward to using them in other ways.

My go-to sweet vermouths are: Cocchi Vermouth di Torino when I want a light touch, my summer vermouth Carpano Punt e Mes when I want something more forward with a touch of bitterness Carpano Antica for something luxurious, my winter vermouth and a must for holiday cocktails Dolin Dry is my favorite dry vermouth

Both the flavor and, perhaps more importantly, the texture were excellent. No hint at all of the dreaded cottony breast meat, it was moist and flavorful throughout. I followed the Zuni dry brine method with a full 48 hrs in the fridge, loosely tented with foil. I pre-heated the cast iron skillet and used the convection roast setting on my oven that uses both upper and lower heating elements plus the fan which is perfect for a roast chicken. 30 min breast up, flip for 10 min, flip again for 5 more min to re-crisp the breast. I won’t be buying $35 chickens on the regular but if I were entertaining someone I knew loved roast chicken, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.