blue_dolphin

Started off with a recipe for cornmeal pancakes with maple-molasses syrup from Josef Centeno's book Amá. The pancakes were huge and taking a while to cook so I pivoted to waffles. Either way, there's a nice crunch from the polenta. The syrup is ~ 3 parts maple syrup + 1 part molasses, which adds sort of a savory note that I liked. The recipe recommends toasted pecans and berries. I had cherries. And a couple of sausage links on the side.

Have you tried the silicone brushes as many mentioned above? They’re not perfect for everything but I like them a lot. As with all things silicone, I keep separate colors for sweet and savory.

Gripstic has 25% off everything today only with the code DEALDAYS I quite like these big handles for big bags of cat litter, pet food or garden stuff. Rather overpriced for bits of plastic but they work well and are awfully handy - they seal the bags securely and make them very easy to haul around.

Can’t decide whether you want a sweet or salty snack? How about a Ritz cracker-Oreo pair with both peanut butter creme and regular creme fillings? Apparently a very limited, mail order only promo. Two thoughts: it’s not even April 1 🙄 and I really miss @Toliver❤️

Thanks! I do think kimchi Hollandaise has potential…or gochujang Hollandaise…but that adventure will have to wait for another breakfast 🙃

Couldn't decide what I wanted for breakfast today so I mashed up @Margaret Pilgrim's eggs Benedict with @shain's kimchi grilled cheese. Made a kimchi toastie with a toasted English muffin, country ham biscuit slice, chopped kimchi and cheddar cheese that went into the CSO to get all melty then topped that with a fried egg.

This sounds excellent and I wish someone would make me one right now! This both sounds and looks excellent with extra points for savory leftovers for breakfast - one of my favorite things! Benny on the plate at 6AM? Major kudos. Except that I really like to celebrate a benny with sparkles and 6 is a touch early, even for me! WRT eating silkworms, I recall being served bowls like @liuzhou's breakfast photo while traveling in China. I was feeling a bit queasy from a long bus ride and let's just say they didn't do anything to settle my stomach!

Were they both at the same temp when the photo was taken?

Cascateli with pesto, broccoli, sugar snaps, red bell pepper and feta

That is the first step in @Shelby's instructions

With the freshest of eggs, this is quite true. Today's egg was from last week's farmers market so already in my fridge for a week. Likely still fresher than what's on many supermarket shelves, but not the best for poaching as the thinned whites don't form up as nicely as when fresh. In this case, I rely on Julia Child's recommendation to lower the whole eggs in their shell into the boiling water for 10 sec before cracking them into the water. I poke a hole in each shell with a pin but I can't remember if Julia did that or it was my own concern about equalizing pressure. Absolutely true. Boiling and poaching are the route to nicely cooked whites with runny yolks. Just master the timing for your fridge temp, egg size and personal yolk doneness and your reward will be great!

Not a lot of cheese chat lately so I'll give a shout out to the Snowdonia Black Bomber Welsh Cheddar. Elsewhere in our forums, @CantCookStillTry has called it a cheese she can't be without and @Tere has mentioned it in this very thread. I bought some not long ago when my local import shop was out of the Mull of Kintyre Scottish Cheddar that I usually treat myself to. Great sharp Cheddar flavor but I'm calling it out more for the texture, which hits the sweet spot between crumbly and creamy. Surprisingly creamy for an aged Cheddar. At room temp, it's nicely spreadable. Very much worth a try if you see it in your local shops.

I was introduced to them via a Diana Henry recipe in her book, Simple. And I've also been craving them since seeing @Anna N's post. I may have to go to the store just for mushrooms! A friend brought me some nice bitter greens from her garden: I sautéed some with garlic, piled them on a hash brown and topped them with a poached egg:

I've ordered from Vanilla Saffron Imports: https://saffron.com/ I've seen a lot of recommendations in other cooking groups for IndriVanilla and their Vanilla Bean Co-Op: https://indrivanilla.com/vanilla-bean-group-faq SloFood Group: https://www.slofoodgroup.com and Beanilla, as @ElsieD mentioned

Wow! I’m tempted to set that as the desktop photo on my computer but I’d be hungry whenever I use it 🙃

Kind of a snacky breakfast today. Fresh veg and tater tots with Kim Chee Dip from Sheldon Simeon's Cook Real Hawai'i. I skipped the fried garlic topping on the dip but will have to give it a try. He recommends serving this dip with Cool Ranch Doritos or any "-itos." No chips in the house so I made the tots extra crispy!

Warning: This post is NSFAN (not safe for @Anna N) 🤣 Tuna salad on lightly toasted baguette slices. Campari tomatoes on the side.

Every component of that breakfast looks perfect to me, @Anna N! A bit of an unusual breakfast, even for me 🙃. Spaghetti with shrimp, sugar snap peas and red bell pepper in a tequila lime cream topped with cilantro gremolata. I had some tequila lime cream leftover from yesterday's lunch and wondered how it would work on pasta. Now I know!

I think you would enjoy the book. It's a lovely memoir of a cooking life and I thought of you as soon as I got it because I know you appreciate the story-telling aspect of cookbooks as I do although I didn’t know if you were able to do much reading. The first printing of the book sold out right away and some of the friends I chatted it up to had to go to much effort to get their copies but, thankfully they liked it. As to the potatoes, I agree they aren’t mind blowing. Barely a recipe, really: boil up some spuds, rough them up by tossing them about in the pan with butter and mustard and then pop them into the oven to brown and crisp. She said they hold well and indeed they did as my cilantro looked rather worse for the wear and so I had to run out to the store mid-cook. I love that her mom was putting these on the family table with fish back in the 1930s. I'll be filing it away as a back-pocket potato!

The mustard potato recipe is the first one in the book and is available via Amazon’s “look inside” feature.

Two recipes from Sally Schmitt's Six California Kitchens. Per her margin notes, I adapted her starter recipe for Scallops in Tequila Lime Cream with Cilantro Gremolata to a main course with grouper. On the side are the Mustard Potatoes, which she says her mother often served with fish, steamed sugar snaps and Campari tomatoes.

How nice to join @Anna N for breakfast here today! BLT on a toasted brioche bun I usually wait for better tomatoes than these Camparis from Trader Joe's but sometimes you just have to scratch an itch!

Cheese and spicy pepper stuffed potato ball, cooked up from my freezer stash, scrambled egg, Campari tomato

Current vintages of these wines are in my stores now. This is a photo from last year. Can't remember if I posted it or not. I admit to buying the French rosé on the left for the bottle. The labels, front and back, peel off extremely easily and it has a pink glass stopper. I re-used last year's for homemade cherry liqueur. Maybe some tequila por amante (strawberry-infused tequila) this year? Nice bottle to bring to a picnic or summer party and tastes just fine, this review concurs. It's $7.99, same price as last year. The Chilean rosé on the right is only $4.99 and a perfectly adequate summer slurp. Here's a brief review on that one.

I see it most often credited to Mason Hereford, chef at Turkey and the Wolf* in New Orleans, as in this BA article, but my sandwich mentor, Max Halley, also includes it in his cookbook (Ultimate Christmas Leftovers Sandwich)and in recipes he’s shared online like this modification with both gravy mayo and Bloody Mary ketchup or this braised beef sandwich. I’m not lining up to buy a Hellmans version but in the right hands, I think it’s a genius condiment! *Hereford's cookbook(eG-friendly Amazon.com link) will be out next month but I don’t see a gravy mayo recipe listed 😉