blue_dolphin

I guess I could have left it with "annoying" but sometimes ya just gotta vent 🙃! 🤣😂🤣 I came very close to doing that! I had some pizza dough in the fridge and I almost made R-Rated onion pizza instead! I'm still delighted at having plenty of hot running water in the sink and the ability to toss everything in the dishwasher so that helped my mood!

Today's lunch combined 2 recipes from This Will Make It Taste Good Sweet Potato, Kraut & Bacon Chowder p 91, featuring the Can-Do Kraut p 68 and Pinch Me, Frenchie, p 40, a monkey bread sort of thing made with the R-Rated (aka caramelized) Onions p 38 The soup is good. A bit salty for my taste, but I think my kraut was a bit over salted. I can watch that more carefully next time. I thought it looked very appealing before puréeing: Next time, I will cut the potatoes smaller and run a knife through the kraut so I can skip the blender if I want. No complaints though. It tasted very rich and creamy so the heavy cream could be dialed back if desired. The Pinch Me, Frenchie was a big pain in the butt. In a small note in the book, Vivian says this would work with refrigerated biscuit dough. That could be a good thing to try. The end result is very tasty but the dough was annoying. I, of course, went with the dough recipe. It is very wet. Close to 80% hydration. Rather like a batter in the beginning than something that's supposed to be rolled into 1/2" balls that get dipped in oniony butter, then into cheese before they go into the pan for baking. Vivian's baker must be a dough wizard if she can handle this stuff. I ended up adding a bunch more flour and probably could have used even more as it was still soft and sticky. I ended up using a bench scraper to cut the dough into pieces that I rolled into logs and then cut off small pieces. A half inch ball is awfully small so I made them a bit bigger. I put them into the bowl with the melted butter and caramelized onions and gently spooned it over the balls to coat, then transferred them to a plate with the grated cheeses where I again used a spoon to sprinkle cheese over and turn them to coat. Instead of a bundt pan, I followed the alternate suggestion of making individual breads in a muffin tin. Once you have one layer of balls in place, which I read as more or less half of the dough, you're supposed to take 1/3 of the remaining onions and cheese and sprinkle them over the balls before you continue with the rest of the dough. When I got to that half way point with the dough, I had 3-4 balls in each muffin cup, all the melted butter was gone with just a small pile of onions left and almost all the cheese was gone. I took this to mean that I was already distributing enough onions and cheese so I skipped that step, melted a bit more butter and grated more cheese and continued with the rest of the dough. Here's how they looked at that point: While I've been calling them "balls," the dough was really too soft and sticky to properly roll them. They were more like blobs. Here they are when the first came out of the oven: It could be the extra butter I needed but it bubbled over so it would be wise to put the muffin tin on a sheet pan. I took one bread out of the tin and the bottom seemed a bit doughy. I loosened them all and sort of propped them on their sides to expose the bottoms and put them back in the oven for a while. That did the trick and here they are, nicely browned: Here's one pulled apart by a monkey: The bottom line is that they're good, but were so annoying, in my hands. I'm sure there's a better way to handle this and maybe I'll try something else. I made a full batch of the dough but only used half of it to make 12 muffin-sized breads so I've got the rest of the dough stashed in the fridge to play with another day. I'm thinking of puréeing some of the onions with the melted butter so I get a more even coating on each ball. That should leave some onions to put in the middle.

I have a bottle of their Amaro delle Sirene. I had no idea they had so many different products. Thanks for the link!

Here we have the Red Devils p 114 that, unsurprisingly, use Red Weapons p 104 to flavor them. Like the deviled eggs in Deep Run Roots, these use both butter and mayo so they taste pretty rich to me. I also wanted to add more sour flavor (there's no mustard or vinegar, save for the Red Weapons liquid) but the yolk filling was already pretty soft so my options were a bit limited. Maybe I should have drained the chopped Red Weapons better? I dunno. I decided to take a page from Josef Centeno's Amá where he recommends mashing up leftover deviled eggs into egg salad for sandwiches. The bread helped balance the richness of the buttery yolk mixture and I went back and added more Red Weapons to top each of those open-faced sandwiches. No complaints.

I am nothing if not suggestible and this was an excellent suggestion. Today's breakfast was a grilled version of that Caesar Me Convinced topped with a crispy fried egg. Vivian cautioned that the dressing is best on the day it's made. I wouldn't necessarily advocate long term storage but this was fine after an overnight in the fridge. I'd almost forgotten about that Philips Avance grill which was gathering dust and cobwebs in a corner. It seemed to do an acceptable job though I've never had grilled romaine before so I'm not sure if my method was ideal - I just slapped it on the grill!

My first recommendation for veg-centric cookbooks is always Josh McFadden's Six Seasons (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). Some recipes use make-ahead items from the section of "Go-To" pantry recipes in the front of the book so some planning is helpful but the recipes themselves aren't difficult. There's a thread here on cooking from the book so you can take a look and see what you think. Four books that are not specifically veg-centric but which contain an ample number of veg recipes and were all very popular with the folks in my cookbook group who need to get family dinners on the table quickly are: Melissa Clark's Dinner: Changing the Game This one is quite a good bang for the cookbook buck as it really has a ton of recipes. Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen Everyday Julia Turshen's Small Victories:Recipes, Advice + Hundreds of Ideas for Home Cooking Triumphs and her second book may be even better for you, Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers Diana Henry's Simple Edited to add that while I'm not cooking for a pile-o-kids, I've cooked a lot from those books and really like them, too. Back on the veg-centric track and an old favorite of mine, Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu. In this book, she promotes the idea of doing some small prep tasks ahead so dinners are easy to put together at the end of the day. There are 50 menus and each one has a list of prep work that can be done ahead. There are also quick pasta and stir fry meals, breakfasts and menus for vegetarian Thanksgiving, a vegetarian barbecue and a Seder. There are some weekly menu plans at the end with advance tasks to do each day. Two books that I haven't seen yet but sound right up your alley are Nigel Slater's Greenfeast: Spring, Summer and Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter, both feature seasonal, quick, easy, vegetarian suppers. The first one hasn't been released yet in the US, the second came out here in September but both were published in the UK last year and have a lot of good reviews.

Since when do you follow olive directives?

Keep reading. Many recipes with no olives to trouble you.

In addition to the basil and parsley, I used a mix of mint, cilantro and dill. I was pretty generous with them because I had barely enough basil. I think you can use what you like. I've got a ton of dill left and wondering how this would be with that as the main herb.

Drat! I know how you feel because I threw out a jar of salt preserved oranges not long ago. They'd bubbled quite a bit early on (I think because the oranges are sweeter that lemons so more fuel for the microbes) and enough of the brine was pushed out of the jar that the top segments weren't completely submerged. By the time I noticed, some of the top segments had started to discolor. Out of laziness, and assuming everything had gone bad, I cleaned up the overflow and set the jar aside to discard. I should have: a) been more attentive to pick this up and b) topped it off with fresh lemon juice/salt brine to keep everything submerged. Anyway, as I upended the jar over the bin, I was greeted by the most delightful citrus aroma as I looked sadly down on the beautiful and aromatic orange segments now nestled atop a pile of used cat litter. Live and learn. Not sure what your ambient temps are like. Vivian says around 70°F. That kraut website I mentioned above says: I'm challenged by the stable part. Like why is it summer again today (89°F) after a week of overnight freeze advisories? Sheesh! Moving on, today, I had a lovely summer lunch of the Caesar Me Convinced p 222. Herbdacious p 206 flavors the dressing. I made a half batch of the dressing. Mine is green, rather than yellow as the book photo shows. Not surprising given how bright green the Herbdacious is. Mine is also more of a paste, not something that is easily "drizzled" into the food processor or blender but I did my best and it's very good. Very, very good. Vivian says this is best on the day it's made. Not sure whether I'd test that and try it tomorrow or eat another salad for dinner! For the croutons, I followed one of the Herbdacious "No Brainer" tips and tossed some torn bread with it before toasting. Here they are pre-toast: And, for those still reading, my plumber arrived promptly at 7 AM as scheduled and I now have a new water heater, a freely draining sink and a shower valve that actually works. I've got a load of wash in the dryer and another in the washer, I'm ever so excited about loading all food processor parts used above into the dishwasher and running it. I'm going to give the kitchen a good scrubbing and then take a nice hot shower!

I didn't patrol through to see if you'd found a good solution but Darto is having free shipping from now through Dec 22. The 27 paella is $60, so significantly more expensive than that 10.25" Lodge pan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) that's currently unavailable on Amazon (I purchased it @ $15.11 about 2 yrs ago) and on the Lodge site

With my zero level of experience eating sauerkraut, I was still a bit wary of whether or not mine was on track. I decided to follow @Maison Rustique's recommendation and bought a jar of the Trader Joe's stuff. I did a side by side taste test and they taste very similar. The TJ's version lists garlic in the ingredients and I can taste it but it's not overwhelming. I'm sure this would be a good sub in Vivian's recipes if you happen live in Trader Joe's land and don't want to make your own kraut.

The "brown" flavors go well with the roasted garlic in the Herbdacous so you make a good point. Also, my whining about frying mess and blender washing should be taken with a grain of salt. My kitchen drain is clogged so I've been hauling dishes out to the garage to wash in the laundry sink out there. Then the water heater in the garage started leaking so I've also had to heat water on the stove and haul THAT out to the garage, too. Cold water just doesn't cut it when washing greasy dishes. My 2-week wait for a plumber should be over tomorrow. Fingers crossed that he can fix at least one of those things!

This is 40 Fettuccine from This Will Make It Taste Good p 223 In my book, it's only worth frying things if they are going to end up crispy and that's not the case here so while it's a nice pasta dish, it could have been quicker, easier and probably just as good. Half the "golden brown" fried zucchini goes in the blender with the Herbdacious where it dulls both the color and flavor of that brilliant green sauce and unnecessarily uses a blender. The other half of the fried zucchini gets tossed in at the end. 1/4" slices of zucchini fried to golden brown are pretty soft so there's not much textural contrast with the pasta. I love the Herbdacious and think its a perfect for a veggie pasta dish but I'll try steaming a mix of colorful veg and adding a squeeze of lemon juice to accent the bright flavors.

My kraut experience is pretty much nil. Ditto rotting cabbage. I didn't open or sniff my kraut until the 2 week point when it smelled pickle-y but not rotten. I did happen upon this site that discussed a lot of kraut issues without going off into the phases of the moon after the first frost. You'll have to scroll down to get to the odor part: Maybe asking over in the Sauerkraut topic might get more expert responses?

@Anna N I like the naan/LGD/cheese/tomato combo but can't say the same about your cabbage report 🤢! I was looking at the book to see if Vivian specified a brand for the small dried shrimp for the furki. I missed any specifications in the recipe but spied them in the accompanying photo: At first glance, reading sideways, I thought they were called "Dried Shrimpkins" and thought that was terribly cute! 🙃

More Can-do Kraut here with the Avocado Toast on Coronation Day p 76 This is pan-fried toast topped with avocado (prettily sliced and fanned in the book photo, scooped out of the shell and mashed in mine) and a small pile-o-kraut. I thought this would be lacking compared to kimichi-avocado toast, but it was pretty good. Because I liked the combo of cheese & kraut in yesterday's omelet, I shaved some Jarlesberg to melt on to the toast before I mushed on the avocado. Perhaps not necessary, but good.

So far, the Herbdacious purée of roasted garlic and fresh herbs is the only thing I used a blender for. It does make for a silky smooth result but there's no reason why you couldn't make it more like a pesto with a mortar & pestle. Per Vivian on p 222, adjacent to a dressing recipe where she recommends using a food processor or blender: That makes it sound fairly optional.

I am beyond impressed with the citrus graphic on the label and the coordinating jar lid! Today I used the Can-Do Kraut in the Krautcakes with Fried Apples & Dijon from This Will Make It Taste Good p 79. Drained kraut mixed with a bit of pancake-type batter, fried up and topped with Dijon mustard and apple slices sautéed with ginger, butter, brown sugar and lemon juice. These would make a great side for grilled sausages or roast pork or chicken. I wish I'd spread them out more to get more lacy, crispy bits but they were still quite good. f you use a 1/4 cup measure for these, you'll probably end up with 8 rather than the 6 that the recipe indicates.

For the first use of the Can-Do Kraut, I elected the Breakfast of Compromisers p 75. It's a Swiss cheese & kraut omelet with a sprinkle of poppy seeds. I used 2 eggs instead of 3 and Jarlesberg instead of Swiss. Reading the recipe, I thought there should be some shreds of pastrami or something in there but was plenty tasty as is. A kraut omelet wasn't really on my radar screen but I'd make it again. Assuming I suffer no ill effects!

It does not

Except for the kumquats, I've always cut the fruit in quarters. Makes it much easier to pack the jars full and Vivian's recipes all call for X # of quarters, so easier on both ends! I agree the lemon pie sounds really good and that margarita sounds pretty great, too. Especially the mezcal version. Ahhh, the kraut! If we count the day I made it as day 1, then mine reaches the 2-week point today. Vivian says after 2 weeks, "... this magical fairy has likely done all it will do..." and it should go into the fridge. Smells like something between a cucumber and pickle. The liquid looks a bit cloudy, but that was kinda the case in the beginning, too. The Krautcakes with Fried Apples and Dijon on p 79 were what pushed me over the edge into making this. Now I just need to work up my courage to taste it. Maybe the avocado toast? I like kimchi on avocado toast. How much worse could this be? Here it was at the beginning, as posted upthread: And today: Edited to add that while Vivian says this should sit where it's roughly 70°F, after putting this up, we had a heat wave. It was more like 80°F during the day in my kitchen so I moved it out to the garage which actually gets hotter but there's a small but non-functioning freezer. I put it in there, hoping the insulation would moderate the temp. The last week, on the other hand has been unseasonably chilly and it's currently around 50°F in the garage so maybe this got a hot start and cold finish? I read over in the sauerkraut thread that mushy-ness was attributed to warm fermentation temps. I braved a small bite of this and it doesn't seem mushy. Very salty, a bit pickle-y. Not as crisp as fresh cabbage but not mushy either.

I'm planing on trying whatever I can find so I wouldn't hesitate to throw in some clementines. In the past, I've made salt preserved lemons (regular Eureka, Meyer and Pink Lemonade), limes, kumquats and oranges, but all separate batches, not combined into one. I found all the lemons and limes to be pretty interchangeable. The oranges were distinctly different and the kumquats were great. In addition to grapefruit, I'm hoping to add tangelos, tangerines, limequats and mandarinquats to the mix. I've usually used quart jars but might need to move to something bigger this time!

That looks verbatim from DRR. Very easy!

I have a bag of that shape pasta that I purchased at Eataly for more than your "expensive" price. This one. Not sure what I paid in the store but the online price of $5.90/500g converts to € 5.02 I do like it.