blue_dolphin

The Gas Station Biscuits p 14 keep catching my eye. Basically, squares of a thinner than usual biscuit dough get sandwiched with a mixture of Parmesan & Fontina held together with a bit of mayo. A tablespoon of Little Green Dress is added and the sandwiches are then baked in little foil "boats" to contain the melty cheese. If I had @Ann_T-caliber biscuit skills, I'd have made them already! Sadly, I've never made nor been served a biscuit that I wouldn't happily trade for a nice slice of toast. While I'd love to try the real biscuit version, I know my limits, so I translated this into a grilled cheese. No complaints 🙃

@Smithy's right, you can make candied citrus peel from those butt ends. I've used David Lebovitz recipes for candied grapefruit peel and candied orange peel. I used the orange recipe for lemons, too. Alternatively, you can strip off just the zest (no pith, use a vegetable peeler) from those ends before you slice them. Slice them thinly and cook in syrup. Some recipes blanch them first, though they are less bitter than the whole peels as used above. Edited to add: here's a link to an Instant Pot method that I've used with lemon and limes

Different strokes, for sure. The narrative is very likely what inspires me to cook something a little different. An author's story or philosophy is what draws me in. I've got lots of recipes I can modify but I love spending the time you can't bear to waste to read other perspectives and take inspiration from them.

I've never signed up to get emails so I don't know how that compares but I totally agree that the overall site isn't as good as it used to be. I still check in every 2-3 weeks or so and peruse the recent posts. I usually read a couple of them. They lost me to some extent when they revamped their reviews to only identify top picks and stopped pointing out any "cons," which I usually find to be the most helpful points. I can't remember if that was around the time of the previous sale or not.

Dang. I was not aware of that. His last podcast episode just announced a return from hiatus. I guess that didn't last!

Any particular reason why now? As compared with September's email deluge of eggplant recipes? I appreciate that amongst the sites that re-post past content, it's easy on Serious Eats to scroll down to the bottom and select "Latest" to see newer content. Still too many older recipes on the site that are go-tos for me to give up on checking in from time to time.

I thought it looked familiar!

@rotuts, as a lover of soft, ripened cheeses, this one is for you. I saw this Fromage Pavé mentioned in the Fearless Flyer so I bought one yesterday. $5.99 for 7 oz. Mine has a "best by" date of 12/24. It's nicely soft and buttery now. Still a bit of firmer cheese in the very center. Might benefit from a little more aging in your specialized cheese cellar. I'll pick up another one or two if they are still available on my next visit. I enjoyed some for breakfast today on crusty bread with the cranberry caponata I made from the Pasta Grammar recipe.

I went to TJ's today as well. No waiting. Save for very early in the pandemic and last week with all the pre-Thanksgiving stuff, I haven’t experienced waits of more than 5-10 minutes if I go fairly early on Monday thru Wed or Sundays. Often, like today, there was no line. I still try to limit my trips as much as possible. One day, I had to wait about 10 min. As I entered the store, the staff member manning the door asked the guy behind me how long he’d been waiting and the guy said, “35 or 40 min.” Sheesh! I know there are longer waits at times but some people have no concept of time! i appreciate the heads up on the maple syrup as I missed out last year. It's now on my list. The TJ's Reserve Brut Rosé North Coast Sparkling wine that makes its appearance around the holidays every year has been back for a few weeks now, along with its non-rosé sibling for the usual $9.99/bottle. They also had the “Platinum Reserve” brut sparkler for $14.99. Nice, but not head and shoulders above the $9.99 “Reserve,” at least to me. Both usually disappear after the holidays, sometimes before New Year’s, so if you are optimistic about having things to celebrate next year, now's the time to stock up! They also had the calvados that shows up seasonally. $19.99 and not a bad bottle at all. Quite satisfactory for a batch of Réveillon cocktails. I've been looking to try these thin dark chocolate bars with salted caramel and finally spotted them today. Very nice little nibble.

Sounds like you have perfectly controlled conditions. My kitchen can be anywhere from mid 80's on a summer afternoon to around 55°F on a cool morning. I guess that's why I need to let the dough be my guide!

Oh, I totally misunderstood and thought your dough was pulling back and didn't want to be shaped. Forgive me for going on so much 🙈 As long as the dough is elastic and happy to be shaped, I just keep working it in the direction I want.

If the dough starts pulling back, give it a rest. Pour yourself a glass of wine or go for a walk around the block so both you and the dough get to relax for 10 or 20 minutes. Pulling and tugging a stiff dough is just frustrating. I'm not an expert at all, so take this with a grain of salt. I usually make a 12 - 14" circle with a 225g ball of dough that's usually 70% hydration and I don't have a bread machine but I do let the dough balls rest in the fridge for a few days. If the dough's been in a cold fridge for several days, it could take a little more than 2 hrs for 500g ball to warm-up/wake-up and be ready to shape, particularly if the kitchen happens to be cooler than usual. If the ball seems stiff, especially if it feels cool, let it sit longer, maybe in a warmer spot. I found Ken Forkish's videos that accompany his Artisian Pizza book to be very helpful. I learned to let the weight of the dough do the stretching work. The dough he's working with in this video is particularly supple and elastic so he's barely lifting it but I find that the method works well even if I'm letting all the weight of the dough do the stretching. I don't throw anything, but I sometimes drape the dough over my hands to let it stretch. If it gets tight, that's where everyone needs a break to relax! Hope your next crust won't fight back!

Sorry that was such a tough job! I often steam dates for a while to soften them up if they are older but it's always a balancing act as that can make them more sticky, too. I hope the end product was worth the effort.

Nuts.com has a good reputation around here. Have you checked their site?

I keep waffling on the kindle version (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) of Thomas Keller's new French Laundry, Per Se (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) cookbook. The list price of the hard copy is $75. That is currently selling on Amazon in the US @ $48. I am unlikely to pay either of those prices and I can't say I'm all that likely to actually cook from the book but still, it tempts me. The kindle version is presently $9.48. Not quite as "Crazy Good" as the title of this topic indicates, but still a good deal. And I have enough credits to push the price under $5. What to do, what to do....

I like to use scissors

I've made the recipe for Grandma Alice's Chipotle Chorizo in Josef Centeno's Amá (recipe available online at this link) using pork and pork belly. It's quite tasty and I highly recommend the recipe if you don’t already have your own favorite.

No kidding! I've got plenty of petty grievances WRT usage of food and cooking terms but this thread makes me feel very chill in comparison!

If I saw that on a menu, it would be my first choice and if I saw that photo, I'd buy the whole thing!

This isn't exactly a recipe from the book but I treated myself to a brunch of shrimp & grits, Little Green Dress-style Cooked the shrimp in a bit of bacon fat, added a splash of chicken broth to make a little "gravy" and stirred in some LGD. Excellent!

In my opinion, it loses flavor over time. Just rummaged through the cupboard and found a bottle of Nielsen-Massey orange flower water with a best by date in 2016. There's not much to it, but what's there is delicate and pleasant. I've been using a bottle of Cortas brand, purchased in the last year, with a best by date in early 2022 that's about 1000% more aromatic. I don't believe it should be dangerous so go ahead and give it the sniff/taste test and see if it's got anything left.

Definitely watch the flour. Using less will make it easier to press. A side benefit is more tender cookies. My "bible" for pressed cookies when I was a teen, Betty Crocker's Cookbook, recommends testing the dough for consistency before adding all the flour by putting a small amount in the cookie press and squeezing it out. Edited to add that I always hold the last 1/2 cup of flour aside and start testing. It should be soft and pliable, not crumbly. Betty says to chill only if the recipe recommends, otherwise use at room temp. If the dough seems too soft, Betty recommends adding the yolk of an egg. If it's too stiff, a tablespoon or 2 of flour should do the trick. She says if the dough is of the right consistency, it shouldn't be necessary to exert a lot of force on either the press or the handle. I'm sure you have plenty of experience with all of this but as long as I'm sharing her tips - don't lift the press from the cookie sheet until enough dough has come out to form the cookie. She says that for some cookies it may be necessary to wait a moment to allow the dough to adhere to the sheet before lifting the press. With some doughs, I find I need to pull up briskly to ensure the cookie stays behind on the sheet. Good luck and keep us posted. I'm thinking I need to go make some!

I'm in awe of the dedicated bitters shelf. The whole thing sounds like a work of art. Mine are crammed into a low spot in my pull-out pantry. Last night I was rummaging for Peychaud's & mole bitters with one hand while trying to keep 4 curious kittens from sneaking in with the other.

I hope you get some helpful info here, @Gayle28607! I love making pressed cookies, too, and really wish I would have stolen my mom's old one. It had a ton of shapes and she never used it. I have a Marcato Atlas biscuit press and it works fine but I miss some of the fun shapes, like the little gingerbread man! I can imagine using a pastry bag to pipe out S-shaped cookies or little "kisses" but, like you, I can't imagine how it would work with all the shapes so I'll be curious to hear how people do it.

The other day, Eva on Pasta Grammar put her own Italian twist on a Thanksgiving dinner. You can read the recipes and watch the episode at this link. I'm intrigued by her cranberry relish, Caponata di Mirtilli Rossi. Pretty much everything you'd put in a caponata with cranberries and apples subbing in for the eggplant. Ingredients are: cranberries, apples, celery, onion, tomato, capers, pine nuts, raisins, kalamata olives, tomato paste, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, S&P. Sounds like it would be good with cheese or sandwiches. I'm not having a turkey but I think I'll try it.