blue_dolphin

@Kim Shook, that country ham looks deliciously thin. Do you slice it yourself? Since it's just me here, I've stuck with ordering biscuit slices or dinner steaks but maybe I should splash out and get something bigger that I could slice like that. A David Ross-inspired breakfast here: Pumpkin brioche French toast with warm blueberry compote and whipped mascarpone butter. Yesterday, I made a blueberry (in lieu of huckleberry) compote and used it in his Wild Huckleberry, Pepperjack and Smoked Bacon Grilled Cheese which I shared over in the lunch topic. When I saw a pumpkin brioche loaf in Trader Joe's, I knew that French toast made with it would be perfect with that compote and I was not wrong. I don't usually put butter on French toast, but decided to gild the lily and make some of the whipped mascarpone butter that David used recently on his huckleberry pancakes. It's a perfect foil to the sweet/tart compote. His pancake post is just upthread (and linked below), and his recipes for the pancakes and mascarpone butter are here on his website.

It's quite nice. There are a fair number of recipes online for kimchi pineapple, made with just pineapple and kimchi spices. This one is more of a regular napa cabbage kimchi but with pineapple added. Of the recipes I've seen, it seems most similar to this one, that I'm thinking of trying. There is def some daikon in there. Thanks and yes, the pulled pork is from ZEF. I'll be in ZEF withdrawal this week as they're going to the Steamboat Food & Wine Festival so I stocked up on some pork belly burnt ends, pulled pork and a little brisket to last me. I hope this festival appearance brings them more recognition and all the good things even if that means it's not out here in the LA burbs! Today's lunch is in celebration of eG host David Ross with an adaptation of a recipe for Wild Huckleberry, Pepperjack and Smoked Bacon Grilled Cheese that he recently updated here on his website. Of course, I have no access to David's beloved wild huckleberries to make the compote used in this recipe so I had to sub in some highly domesticated blueberries. He uses thick slices of Texas Toast and if I had any, I would have but made due with less thick slices of a nice loaf. I had just one big slice of crispy bacon, already cooked, so I ran with that instead of the 2 specified, breaking it up, it pretty much covered the sandwich so there was some in every bite. The recipe first toasts one slice with the bacon, pepper jack cheese and compost, with the "top" slice toasted separately. An excellent idea as I was afraid of everything sliding out at flip time. This was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend trying it.

I just received Claudia Roden's Med: A Cookbook and look forward to reading it. As discussed above, I ordered the UK edition with the pretty cover rather than the dull-looking US version coming out next month. Here's a nice article from the Guardian that includes a few recipes from the book: Claudia Roden: ‘What do I want from life now? Having people around my table’

I picked it up, along with the pulled pork, from ZEF BBQ on Saturday. It's a semi-regular offering from them. Their menu says they make all their sides from scratch but doesn’t list ingredients.

Pulled pork, pineapple kimchi and a few potato stix for crunch on homemade focaccia with gochujang mayo

Crispy Fingerling Potatoes & Crispy Fried Egg with Capers, Olives & Breadcrumbs from David Kinch's At Home in the Kitchen. Potatoes get boiled, smashed flat and fried, eggs get fried in hot oil and topped with a condiment of fried breadcrumbs, capers, olives and thyme. Sorry looking egg apparently encountered a pointy bit of crispy potato and all the runny yolk is all underneath with the potatoes. Good for eating but sad looking photo!

Inspired by @Kim Shook's peach crumble and @Smithy's pie, I made a half-sized peach crostata from the Zuni Cafe cookbook. I consider this practice and suspect I can do a better job with the other half of the rough puff that's waiting in the fridge.

Roast Fig & Pancetta Salad with Goat Cheese from David Kinch's At Home in the Kitchen is a nice version of this type of dish. Sliced radicchio is tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, S&P, piled into a baking dish and topped with halved figs wrapped in thinly sliced pancetta (none in the house so I used prosciutto instead) and baked til the meat is getting crispy. Goat cheese is added and heated until it's warm and soft. Not a looker... ...but tasted good. The bitter radicchio was perfect with the salty meat, sweet figs and creamy cheese. I had it with some crusty bread, a glass of grenache and called it lunch.

I happened across something that David wrote that I hope is OK to share here. He wrote this, not about a friend or family member, but about a pony that had been with his family for many years and I think it says a lot about his thoughtful nature. There is a wealth of David's writing here and on his website, Today's Home Kitchen. He had such a passion for teaching and sharing his knowledge with home cooks, I hope that site will be maintained so his writing can live on and continue to be shared.

I see that I linked the recipe for the Tomato Chutney but there's also a whole discussion about it in this Tomato Chutney topic. I consider it adult ketchup 🙃

Thanks for taking the time to share all of this with us when you are so very busy! I can't believe the tomatoes. I wish I could come by and buy some from you! @Shelby, have you made @Suvir Saran's Tomato Chutney? It's really good stuff. If you are missing any of non-tomato ingredients, PM me your address and I'll mail you a packet.

If @Shelby brings plenty of tomatoes, then we'll be all set!

Picking up BBQ from ZEF today so had to get ready to "tip" them properly 🙃 Strawberry & Grand Marnier: I used to like to inject strawberries with Grand Mariner and dip them in chocolate. The liqueur filled up the little space inside so there was a nice little surprise when you bit into them. Not sure how this will translate without the chocolate. Peach & Dark Rum: I usually roast the peaches and the skins disintegrate when I blend them up. I skipped the roast step so there are little red flecks of skin visible. They look pretty and hopefully won't taste bad.

From one focaccia to another....I made the focaccia from Breaking Breads (recipe online here), using the poolish option from the book and used some of the dough to make a shakshuka focaccia that's another of the options. He bakes the batch in 8 mini loaves that I've heard others say are good for sandwiches so I baked most of them with just salt and olive oil. Oddly, most of my dimples filled back in but that's OK for my purpose. They're too big for one sandwich for me but I can easily cut them in half and make two. Crumb... ...looks kinda more like a ciabatta. No oil in the recipe except what's needed for stretch & folds and it's shaped on parchment, then loaded on to a baking steel with a pizza peel so the heat from above and below make for a short bake time. I pulled the one above at the recipe's minimum 9 minutes but went closer to 6 min for the rest. Here's the money shot for the shakshuka focaccia... The recipe in the book calls for making a slow cooked matbucha that sounds excellent but I was lacking both time and tomatoes so I pulled out some of @ElainaA's roasted cherry tomatoes and I think they were an excellent substitution. That was my last bag from the freezer, so time to re-stock!

I'm very sorry to hear this. I loved reading David's posts and stories, especially the appreciation he shared for the local PNW produce and artisan products. The effort he put into hosting the Cook-offs was always apparent, from introducing the topic with interesting stories and background research, then facilitating the discussion and usually contributing a dish that was masterful and original. I just took a peek back at his 2007 food blog, eG Foodblog: David Ross - Black Pearls of Gold. As much as I enjoy re-reading David's writing, I couldn't get very far without tearing up but I'll go back another day.

This story about a gentleman who set up a full woodworking shop in his apartment aired on local radio a while ago. Of course, @JoNorvelleWalker came immediately to mind.

Indeed, it seems the power difference was a mistake. The text on the QVC page now reads 800 W Total Power Ooops. I missed @andrewk512's post just above with the same info.

Not atrociously large, but it was a good size for me. And since hands vary, the slice of "Spam" measures about 10.5 cm x 5.5 cm x 2.3 cm

Yeah, it was a pretty decadent bowl! I should have divided it into 2 portions as I couldn't finish the whole thing and had the rest for lunch 🙃 Today's breakfast was take-out treat # 3: "Spam" Musubi. They make their own "Spam" from pork and brisket bits. I believe they started making it to use up little bits and pieces from their BBQ. It's deliciously smoky.

Too lazy to set them up. Once the time changes, I probably will.

I ordered an item from them in 2005. It was something I was going to order elsewhere but when I checked, they were offering a better discount. I had no issues so no experience with their customer service or returns policy.

One thing to watch out for with these or other fabric gloves is that if you inadvertently get them wet and then pick up something very hot, there would be the risk of a steam burn. Since you mentioned neuropathy, I thought I should add that caution.

Yes, basically as you say. ZEF BBQ is a small pandemic-driven operation that puts out a limited menu once a week for pre-orders on Wednesday for Saturday pick-ups. Usually big on BBQ with the best banana pudding for dessert but this week was a little different. They described this week's ramen as Hokkaido-style Tonkatsu broth, thick cut Chāshū, 7-minute egg, scallion, roasted tomato & Sun noodles. The broth comes in a separate tub, completely jellied. They have heating instructions here that they provide with the order. This week, I also got some of their "Spam" musubi. They make their own "Spam" from a mix of pork and brisket. Haven't tried that yet. The Goan-style mussels I ate right away yesterday and they were amazing. The team got roasted peach & bourbon popsicles as a tip from me 🙃

For heat-resistant gloves, I've had these Grill Armor gloves in extra small (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) for about 5 years and am happy with them. I can't say they offer exquisite manual dexterity as they're still pretty bulky but they come closest to fitting my small-ish hands than most others I've tried. Like the mitt you mention, each glove can be worn on either hand so no fumbling back and forth when you just want to grab a glove quickly. They don't have a long cuff like the ones you show in your post, so that may be an issue for you. I have some extra long mitts if I need arm protection but the gloves are good for most of my needs. I'll have to check out those Lee Valley cut-resistant gloves and any other recommendations. The ones I have are miserably large and I should really get something better.

Take-out treat # 2: ZEF's Top Ramen Kit Mmmmm!