blue_dolphin

Thanks! This was my first time making falafel and I was quite pleased with how they came out. I thought the use of whipped egg white to bind them while keeping them light was a good trick. They freeze and re-heat quite nicely.

Late lunch/early dinner Leek Top Cacio e Pepe from Lindsay-Jean Hard's Cooking with Scraps. I always feel better about downing a big bowl of pasta when there's a vegetable in there! Here's what the leek tops looked like after I sliced them up and before they were tossed in to cook with the pasta for the last minute or so.

I make quick vegetable stocks in the Instant Pot when I am making vegetable soups or risotto. I use the trimmings from the vegetables and herbs that will go into the dish plus an onion, leek tops, that sort of stuff. No cabbage, no cruciferous and usually no garlic. Depending on the recipe, I may use the sauté function to brown the veg in a bit of butter or oil or just throw everything in and cover with water. Manual, high pressure, 10 minutes, slow release for at least 10 min, then vent. Strain and use.

Winter Squash Soup with Lemongrass and Coconut Milk from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Interesting and enjoyable flavor profile for a puréed vegetable soup. It's topped with cilantro, parsley, basil and diced jalapeño. This soup uses the Stock for Curried Dishes with the addition of the squash skin and seeds, galangal or ginger and herb trimmings. Since the stock for curried dishes is itself a variation on the Basic Vegetable Stock, this seemed like a lot of variations but it paid off with a rich, complex flavor.

A new shipment from the bean club should on its way soon so I need to eat up some beans. I made Bright Green Falafel made with Rancho Gordo garbanzo beans using a recipe from Shaya. Edited to add this link to an online version of the recipe. These got tucked into homemade pita and drizzled with a lemony, garlicky tahini sauce. This recipe calls for about 1/2 a pound of garbanzos and a quart of lightly packed parsley leaves which accounts for the green: I used some of the midnight black beans to make Black Bean-Smoked Chile Dip from a recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The bean dip was used to make the Individual Nachos and the Quesadilla with Smoky Black Bean Spread and Salsa, both from the same cookbook.

That pile-o-bacon looks pretty good, too!

From Shaya, Mom's Leek Patties (leek & potato) topped with an egg I started to rummage in the fridge for some tomato chutney but then remembered this came from Shaya so I grabbed the harissa instead.

No, it is not "idiot proof" or at least not "blue_dolphin proof" 🙃 As you can tell from reading the threads, most of us have gone through a learning curve involving a fair amount of trial and error. I've had my share of mess-ups but overall, I've found it a worthwhile addition to my kitchen. For me, a stovetop pressure cooker required an annoying amount of attention while in use. I very much appreciate the ease of being able to set up the Instant Pot and walk away without coming back every few minutes to tweak the gas burner. Stews aren't my thing so with the exception of an occasional risotto-type dish, I rarely cook an entire meal in the Instant Pot but I still use it quite often.

@Biz1010, where are you located? I'm thinking that if you were in a country were home ovens were less common, your idea might be quite appealing. Personally, I'd be unlikely to purchase a "blank canvas cake." I'm happy to bake simple things for simple occasions and if it were a fancy, special occasion, I'd probably want something both baked and decorated by a fancy, special bakery.

More creamed collards from Deep Run Roots Unseen at the bottom of the pile is a potato patty I made from extra twice-baked collard potato stuffing, coated with French fried onion pieces and baked until crispy on the outside. It was then topped with more creamed collards, a boiled egg and pickled collard stems.

I'm ready for another round of that pistachio butter so I can make the beet slaw again. That's one of my favorite combinations of flavors and textures in the book. I used a regular vinegar when I made this but I've since purchased the Katz vinegars the author recommends. Made from late-harvest grapes, they have a bit more sweetness but the level of acidity (5.8% for the zin and 5.5% for the sauv blanc) are on a par with other vinegars. It will likely add a touch of sweetness but I don't think that will detract from the dish. We'll see.

I had lunch out with a friend today. It was excellent, though not nearly as interesting as @Anna N's meal just above. The location was curious as it's a small café in the lobby of a fitness center. They sell breakfast and lunch and also packaged meals to go or for delivery. The packaged meals seem to be their main business and they operate the cafés at a number of fitness centers in the LA area. I guess you can go work out and then take home your paleo, vegan, gluten-free, whatever meal. We didn't work out, just pigged out 🙃 My friend ordered the Chicken Tetrazzini Pappardelle I had Pistachio-Crusted Salmon with a garbanzo bean and beet salad and polenta cake.

Twice-baked collard potatoes from Deep Run Roots Baked potato flesh is scooped out, riced and mixed with creamed collards and crème fraîche, then stuffed back into the shells. They're browned, cut-side down in a cast iron skillet before being heated through in the oven. Topped with a boiled egg (which is not part of the recipe) and pickled collard stems (which are.)

I took a peek at it at the library the other day and decided I wouldn't be able to more than scratch the surface in a 2-week new book loan so I ordered it, too. Looking forward to its arrival!

Not a looker but I took a picture so I'm posting it. Leftover kabocha squash, cavalo nero and farro, a cooked and crumbled sausage patty and a boiled egg.

Food52 shared this New Yorker cartoon today. I couldn't decide whether to post it here or over in the "cooking through your freezer thread" 🙃

This is based on the Grilled Squab with Farro, Kabocha Squash, Cavolo Nero and Pomegranate Salsa p 346 in Sunday Suppers at Lucques With neither a grill nor a squab at hand, I used chicken thighs and cooked them in the CSO. Aside from the honey causing very dark, but still flabby skin, not sure the marinade (toasted bay leaves and coriander seeds, white peppercorns, thyme, honey, sherry and olive oil) did much for them. The squash/kale/farro dish had good flavor but it was kind of dry, although the pomegranate salsa (shallots, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds, olive oil, parsley) helped out. The small cubes of squash are roasted, the kale is first blanched then cooked, "slowly over low heat for ~ 30 min, until it turns a dark, almost black color and gets slightly crispy) and the farro is spread out on a baking sheet to cool and dry before being sautéed until it's slightly crispy so there's just not a lot of moisture in there.

Two TJ's items that may be of limited interest The 2016 Hillersden New Zealand Pinot Gris is a very acceptable, food-friendly, white wine for $3.99. It's surely a limited-time offering but worth snagging if you see it and enjoy such wines. The Bloom Avocado Honey is a local product to my area and the Bloom website says their honey is being sold at TJ's in Southern California. The 16 oz jar was $7.99. The label says it has subtle hints of avocado. I can't say I can taste avocado specifically but it has a definite savory note and quite a deep color. They also had lots of the Organic Brown Rice Treats that @MelissaH learned were being discontinued. I forgot to look for the pancake bread.

Between the Eztemper and the hotel iron, I'm sure something could be done!

A few more 50 cent glasses for my cocktail collection The pattern of the glass on the left is Twist Clear by Imperial Glass in Ohio and was made from 1943 - 1967. Interesting contrast between the thick, twisted stem and the thin, blown body of the glass. They look hazy from the window glare but they are nice and clear. I got 3 of them. The middle glass is April by Tiffin-Franciscan, made from 1951-1966. It has a pretty cut glass pattern of flowers and leaves and a faceted stem. There was only 1 of these. I'll keep my eye out for another one! I don't know what the last one is, I'm sure it's not anything fine but it has a dainty etched pattern and straight stem. Just one of these, too.

Me, too. I looked for them several times but I never found them. Like you said, probably for the best.

Thanks - perhaps it is indeed the be-all of vegetable cookery. It's at my library so I will check it out.

As part of Fine Cooking's 25 year anniversary, they have published a list of "25 Cookbooks That Belong In Every Food Lover’s Library" 9 of the 25 are baking or dessert books, a much larger proportion than my own collection, though that is an understandable personal preference. I'm sure there are nits one could pick about all of the books but I look particularly askance at the selection of Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italy as the only Italian cookbook. Is it really on a par with the selections from Madhur Jaffery for Indian, Diana Kennedy for Mexican and David Thompson for Thai cookery? I guess I should take a look at it. With the exception of Ms Jaffery, it's consistent with their choice of an Anglo interpreter for other cuisines. And no Wolfert? I guess Ottolenghi is covering parts of her world on the list. No China, Japan, pickling/fermentation. Nothing modernist. No classical French, unless Patricia Well's My Master Recipes is supposed to cover that, though I wouldn't agree. Nigel Slater's Tender is the one vegetable-seasonal eating book. I'll have to take a look at it to see if I think it's the be all in that category. Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential is on the list. I agree it's a great read but it wouldn't make my own list if I had to winnow them down to a top 25. I've never looked at Mark Peel & Nancy Silverton at Home but it surprises me that it would be in anyone's top 25 collection. Maybe I should attempt my own personal "top 25" list, not that I would impose them on anyone else! What do you think about the Fine Cooking selection?

I like this combination of photo and caption: I know very well that the caption refers to an earlier photo but I did look carefully to be sure those weren't little airplane garnishes on an omelet.

I had a package of already shelled pumpkin seeds and used them so no shells. It is a delicious soup. And thank you for all your excellent reviews from this book!