blue_dolphin

Today's lunch was the Burrata with Lentils with & Basil Oil from Russell Norman's Polpo made with some of the black lentils from my recent Rancho Gordo Bean Club shipment. On the side are pieces of the Zucchino, Mint and Chilli Pizzetta from the same book. This is a warm lentil and vegetable salad dressed with a mustard vinaigrette and topped with burrata and the basil oil. Smitten Kitchen made a streamlined version, combining the basil into the dressing. Link here.

I'm surprised you needed to wait a long time for a response but it's good you did get one eventually. I've only emailed them rather than phoned but have found them very responsive. The RG peeps shared this earlier via Facebook:

I have no idea. What do you think? Edited to add that either way, I predict no snow in my local area 🙃

Most often, I go to the local markets. There's one on Thursday, only a mile from my house, so I go there most every week or shop at a local farmstand. Sometimes I hit up the other Ventura County markets in Camarillo, Ventura or Ojai. However, I used to live in Santa Monica and miss those markets so I occasionally head down, as I did this past Wednesday, to visit my old stomping grounds. It's about 45 min to a hour drive, depending on traffic. That's nothing compared with the Penryn people driving down from Placer County, north of Sacramento - yikes!

I think they can work well together if one is dominant and the other playing more of a supporting role. In this case, the recipe called for 2 T of Dijon mustard and 3 T of freshly grated horseradish. Next time I will likely dial back on the mustard so the horseradish can be more clearly in the lead. Edited to add that ratio is going to depend on the particular mustard and horseradish being used, too.

Smoked salmon, horseradish cream and dill crostini from Polpo The horseradish cream is crème fraîche, horseradish and Dijon mustard.

Asparagus, Taleggio & Speck Pizzetta Recipe from Russell Norman's Polpo.

Thanks, @Shelby! I'd say Dining In is good but not great. I've enjoyed trying everything I've made and have more recipes marked but, at this point, I wouldn't give it my highest rating.

Persimmons and Pears with Blue Cheese and Spicy Pecans from Dining In p 93. This is a fun salad to eat with its different flavors and textures. I found both Bosc pears and chocolate persimmons at the Penryn Orchards stand at the farmers market and I had some Pt. Reyes blue cheese on hand so it was time to make this salad. The spicy pecans are made by cooking them in a skillet with maple syrup and Aleppo pepper. I like the flavor combination and will try adapting those ingredients to the method used in @JAZ's Spicy Sweet Walnuts as it's less tedious than standing at the stove as I did with these. There are no greens in the recipe as written but I served it on a bed of arugula and was happy with that addition.

Egg salad on little toasts This particular loaf of bread had big holes throughout so I used a judicious layer of speck so the egg salad didn't fall through. Very successful and tasty, too!

Prosciutto, Mint & Fig Crostini from the Cichèti chapter of Polpo. Barely a recipe, really, but as the book says, they are particularly pretty!

I've seen recipes that suggest rinsing but my Chinese friends recommend against it. I just give them a rough chop.

This morning, I continued my pizza efforts with this Pizzetta Bianca from Polpo I thought the pizzette would go well with the Harissa and Manchego Omelette from Ottolenghi's new book, Simple but I ate most of it while I caramelized the onions for the omelet. This is a 2 egg version (the recipe calls for 3 eggs/serving), cooked in a 6 1/2 inch cast iron skillet. I like the flavors of the harissa, caramelized onion, cheese and cilantro but can't help thinking that I might prefer this as a conventional omelet or maybe turned into a frittata with potatoes.

Stracchino, Potato & Rosemary Pizzetta from Polpo

Two wrapped, low-carb appetizers from Russell Norman's cookbook, Polpo. Bresaola, Rocket & Parmesan Wraps. Very easy to assemble, these are little arugula & Parmesan salads, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, wrapped in paper-thin slices of air-dried, salted beef. Smoked Salmon, Ricotta & Dill Wraps Slices of smoked salmon are topped with a spoonful of a ricotta/lemon juice and zest/dill mixture and rolled up to "about the size of your little finger." That wasn't happening here, these are more like the size of my thumb.

I think you will like the assortment. It includes some of my favorites and a couple I haven't tried yet.

Thanks, @liuzhou! Both the pale green stem type posted by @liuzhou and the white stem type that @rotuts shared below are available locally in sizes that range from the size of a thumb up to larger than a forearm. The small ones are often labeled "baby" in the stores. The white-stem sort shared by @rotuts And the most recent photo looks very much like what I see in stores labeled as Choy Sum or Chinese flowering cabbage.

I just enjoyed watching the 4 episodes of Samin Nosrat's Netflix series. It has the same name as her James Beard & IACP award winning cookbook, Salt Fat Acid Heat (some eG comments on that here). In the book, Samin comes off as the best sort of teacher - part teacher/part cheerleader - who truly wants her students to succeed. The book is info packed and as a result, it reads rather like a textbook. This series adds the colorful food photography that the book lacks and incorporates her warm personality and enthusiasm, though it only conveys a fraction of the book's information. I may try to re-read the book, with a break after each section to watch the relevant episode. Recipes from the series will be available online starting Oct 19 at this link, where you can also watch a trailer. I want to try the focaccia recipe, at least. Some online mentions from Eater: ’Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is a New Kind of Food TV Show ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Recap: Samin Nosrat Samples the Bounty of Olive Oil and Parmesan in Italy ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Recap: Samin Explores the Wide World of Salt in Japan ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Recap: Samin Heads to Mexico for a Study in Citrus ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Recap: Nosrat Summons Superior Flavors Using the Power of Fire Food52: How Our New Favorite Netflix Show Is Making Us Better, Smarter Cooks Bon Appetit: ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat’ Is the New Netflix Series That's Very Much Worth Your Time Food & Wine: 29 Essential Cooking Tips From Samin Nosrat’s ‘Salt Fat Acid Heat’ on Netflix

I will make an effort to report what I cook with my bean club beans over in that thread.

My box-o-beans arrived a few minutes ago. It's a great selection and I'm already giving the first pound a bit of a soak.

@Ann_T, may I ask what temp you use for the CSO steam-bake bacon? And do you put it flat on a pan or up on a rack?

Just email them at customerservice@ranchogordo.com They are very responsive. I'm a member of the club and got a code that says it's good until the end of Dec.

Today's breakfast was the chopped chicken liver crostini that I posted this over in the crostini topic.

Two more crostini from Polpo. Chopped Chicken Liver Crostini Compared with other chopped liver recipes I've seen, this one uses shallots and garlic instead of onion and olive oil instead of schmaltz but otherwise the method is similar, including the usual hard boiled egg. Both port and brandy are added at the end of cooking. The recipe recommends to process until just combined but not too smooth so I stopped before I normally might. I served this on slices of sonora wheat rosemary baguette from Roan Mills. Tuna and Leek Crostini I wasn't sure about two things: adding brandy to the tuna-mayo mixture and topping them with sliced, raw leeks - I love them cooked but never ate a raw leek. I needn't have worried, these are tasty little morsels and another good pantry crostini. I never would have thought to serve guests baby tuna sandos, but why not?

I got one email from them on 30 Sept with the end of Nov shipping estimate. It was sent from info@darto.org