blue_dolphin

Has anyone seen Bao? It's an animated short film (~ 10 min) from Pixar. It's apparently showing ahead of Incredibles 2, not a film on my must-see list. It's set in Toronto's Chinatown and features an empty-nest mother who gets another chance at motherhood when one of her homemade dumplings comes to life. I listened to an interview with the director on Evan Kleiman's Good Food podcast yesterday where she described how she had her mom come into the studio to make dumplings so the crew would know how to animate the process. She also describes some of the process in this LA Times article: How 'Bao' director Domee Shi stayed true to her 'weird' idea and created a specifically Asian story and there's a photo of the director and her mother making dumplings in this NYT article: The Creator of ‘Bao’ on That Twist: ‘Part of Me Wanted to Shock Audiences’ Linking to this YouTube clip because it shows the the bao-making process, though it's also choppy and full of spoilers, so beware: In this interview from the Toronto Sun, the director talks about some of the Toronto-specific images used to set the scene:

Nothing terribly exciting, just a few small items from Goodwill to entertain me. Google tells me the oblong, navy plate in the back is from Frankoma Pottery in Oklahoma and is the tray portion of a soup & sandwich set. I returned to the store to see if the soup mugs happened to be displayed with the coffee mugs, in which case, I might have picked up more of the plates as well. Alas, they were not but I'm happy to use the plates as is. A dollar for each of the plates and 69 cents for the glasses.

Of this, I have no doubt!

More peaches. A little simpler peaches-on-toast version than yesterday's breakfast that I posted over here in the Deep Run Roots topic. Toasted ciabatta, homemade ricotta, fresh peaches, drizzle of Mike's Hot Honey and mint.

I turned 2 big, ripe peaches into 8 popsicles. Top row: Roasted peach & bourbon. These are a little melty. I may have exceeded the recommended % EtOH for freezing Bottom row: Peaches & cream Both based on recipes in people's pops. Only 6 of 8 pops pictured due to QC testing.

Any chance you'd be willing to share some of your culinary plans/goals/aspirations for this trip? A little preview of coming attractions? Not to put any pressure on....I do respect island time

There are indeed quite a few recipes in the book that call for ginger - 27 of them according to EYB. I can't recall an explanation of Vivian's affinity for it though. Maybe someone else will remember.

Today's breakfast was a riff on the Country Ham--Wrapped and Roasted Peaches from Deep Run Roots p 456. I've made these before, as written except for subbing prosciutto for the thin-sliced country ham. The wrapped and roasted peaches are served on a pool of gingered goat cheese, drizzled with balsamic honey and sprinkled with pecans. For this round, I spread the gingered goat cheese on toast. I suppose it's a little more luxurious without the bread but this did seem a little more breakfast-like 🙃!

This salad has lots going on! String Beans, Pickled Beans, Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Olives on Tonnato from Six Seasons p 203. Great main dish salad. The book describes carefully plating the salad ingredients on a layer of tonnato, which I did but I felt the starting photo didn't really capture this salad so I took a mid-meal photo to share the experience: I could have been happy with the tonnato and steamed string beans but no, there's much more here - every bite is a little different: tender/crisp string beans, crunchy pickled wax beans p 59 that actually add a sweet element, tart tomatoes, peppery arugula and fragrant basil, salty olives, sharp, crunchy red onion all of which get bathed in delicious tonnato. I skipped the optional croutons in favor of some crusty bread but I put a couple on my plate as I was finishing and they do add a welcome crunch. I used a different tonnato recipe but I've tried the one in the book and it would certainly work well in this dish.

First you pickle all the vegetables (see a few just upthread here) and chop them up into little bits: From left: purchased pickled red peppers and zucchini, spring onions, green string beans, radishes, carrots, manzano chiles, yellow wax beans, all from Six Seasons p 58 & 59. Then you make the Pickled Vegetable Butter p 35: I'm not the biggest fan of compound butters but I though this one looked very pretty so I made a half-recipe. It calls for unsalted butter and does not add any but since the brine in the book is fairly light, I think it could use a bit. I'm going to soften it up again and add a little. With the colorful confetti of vegetables, it's certainly a pretty way to serve butter at a party or buffet table. Next up is the Farro with Tomatoes, Raw Corn, Mint, Basil and Scallions p 263 - summer in a bowl! Nice seasonal salad. I lightened up on both the olive oil and salt to suit my taste. As written, the serving size is ample enough to be a main course. That's about 1/2 a serving on my plate above. If serving as a main, some cheese (grilled halloumi?) or grilled chicken or seafood would be good additions to provide some protein. The farro benefits from a bit of time to absorb the flavors but that time is not kind to the croutons so I'd hold them out until ready to eat, especially if you foresee leftovers. Alongside is a slice of toasted bread buttered with the Pickled Vegetable Butter that wasn't really needed here as the salad also contains the Torn Croutons p 29 but I wanted to try it anyway.

I don't think the Sous Vide Everything guys review ovens.

I watched last night and liked the fact that it was a whole hour with a good amount of time devoted to most of the interviewees. Looking forward to the upcoming episodes.

It does seem less flexible in the sorts of containers it will fit than either the original ANOVA or the Joule but the sub $100 price point might be enough to convince some to take the plunge into the SV bath.

One of @rotuts's good buddies has posted a review of the ANOVA Nano. Bluetooth, no Wifi. Currently listed @ $99 on Amazon. I wonder if it will be a Prime Day special?

Better stick with your toaster if it works better for you! Personally, I tossed my toaster as the CSO works so much better. I usually start my toast on # 3, maybe #4 for thick, frozen bread. Sometimes I give it another round on #1 if necessary.

Leftovers for breakfast. I already posted this over in the Six Seasons thread but I thought I'd share the egg porn here, too. Crostini made with garlic-rubbed toast spread with whipped ricotta and topped with the Raw Corn with Walnuts, Mint & Chiles from Six Seasons, a soft boiled egg and a sprinkle of ground chiles.

Best variation of the Raw Corn with Walnuts, Mint & Chile from p 222 so far is the leftovers that I had for breakfast. I made the crostini on garlic-rubbed toast as above then slid the loaded slices back into the CSO to take the chill off the corn and whipped ricotta while I cooked a soft boiled egg to put on top. More ground chiles sprinkled on top. I was thinking that some crispy bacon crumbles would have been excellent here, though this version lets the sweet corn be the star of the plate.

Another Happy Birthday, @Kim Shook! I hope you will enjoy your CSO! It's absolutely brilliant for reheating things, something that will probably come in handy even if you are not doing a ton of cooking due to the changes in your household. I use my CSO more than any appliance in my kitchen. MORE than my coffee maker !

It's like getting a whole new book with all these summer vegetables coming along and I'm envying your beautiful garden-fresh produce. It would make the most of these recipes for sure, especially your beautiful corn! I had to make myself a new list and note items I'll need to buy or prepare for the corn, string bean, cucumber and tomato recipes: Gotta pace myself Here's the Raw Corn with Walnuts, Mint & Chile from p 222. I had it first as a side salad: Then I made the crostini variation: Toasted bread (the Pan de Pueblo from Roan Mills, made with corn flour in the dough), rubbed with garlic, spread with the whipped ricotta (p 37) and topped with the corn salad mixture. Edited to add that the header notes for this recipe say it's inspired by the classic Mexican grilled corn on the cob served with chile powder, lime, mayo and Cotija cheese. As a salad, the fresh corn is so sweet that it's a much more delicate flavor profile. With the charred bread, whipped ricotta and the sprinkle of Nopalito spices (a mix of dried, toasted and ground de árbol and guajillo chiles) I added, the crostini came much closer to the Mexican street corn flavor profile.

I've seen that stuff at my Total Wine and also noted the relatively high price. Note that the linked Campari Negroni is actually a ready to drink pre-mixed Negroni cocktail. I guess it could be handy in some situations but it takes away all the fun of mixing! While you're waiting for the appropriate hour, you could also peruse the Ideal Negroni thread for some background reading Looking forward to your report!

No. Sweet, the book he wrote with a Helen Goh came out last year. The upcoming release is titled Ottolenghi Simple.

I've been wanting to try the savory lamb swirl buns but haven't gotten around to it.

From the Manitoulin perspective, Jersey is Deep South

I know what you mean. I've cooked quite a lot from the Ottolenghi books I own but there's plenty (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) in them that I haven't tried yet. I feel sort of the same way about Dorie Greenspan. Ina Garten, too, even though I don't own any of hers. Both of them do put out rather reliable recipes, though. I pre-ordered Nik Sharma's Season and Lillie O’Brien's Five Seasons of Jam. I'm tempted to cancel that last one and get the Kindle version (which is available now) instead.

Nice list! I've got a couple on pre-order and am resisting several more!