blue_dolphin

I tried the awkwardly named Trader Joe's Uncured Ham & Swiss Cheese Flaky Croissant Dough Squares . They're sold frozen in a box of 4 and each one is individually wrapped. So far, I am not greatly impressed. I could perhaps improve my cooking method but the texture of the ham wasn't great so not sure it's worth the effort. They're frozen squares of a laminated dough, topped with small cubes of ham and shredded cheese. They don't need an overnight proof like some of the other croissants but the directions say to unwrap and let them sit out at RT while the oven pre-heat to 350°F. In my case, that was 10 min. Longer time or an O/N thaw in the fridge might have helped it cook more evenly. They're supposed to bake @ 350°F for 16-20 min. The first one I did at those temps in the CSO for ~ 22 min on a parchment-lined baking sheet. It was getting overly brown on top but still raw-ish looking on the bottom. Second round was @ 325°F for ~ 25 min with the parchment directly on the rack, no pan. Here it is out of the oven: The bottom looks much better than the previous one, though still a bit underdone: I've done a dissection here so you can see that below the top layer, only the edges are nicely cooked and the middle is still quite doughy. This was edible, except for the very middle but I like such things to be a treat and this was not. Since I've got 2 more left, I will try the O/N refrigerator thaw and also baking one on a pre-heated baking stone but I probably won't purchase more.

Nice tribute from Jonathan Gold's brother, Mark: He bridged cultural divides and saved the sharks: Jonathan Gold's brother remembers his impact

Sounds like your bean situation is well in hand but should you find yourself with more of them, I highly recommend the Roasted String Beans and Scallions with Pine Nut Vinaigrette from Six Seasons that I posted about yesterday. If you don't have pine nuts, I think you could use most any nut in that vinaigrette. Both the sauce the the finished dish are excellent but if you didn't want to bother with the roasting and scallions, it would still be good on simple steamed, roasted or grilled green vegetables of any sort, either as a dip or thinned with lemon juice and used as a sauce.

@kayb & @Thanks for the Crepes - thank you for the compliments! Greek yogurt, fresh July Flame peaches from the farmers market and some of the Spiced Pecan and Pumpkin Seed Crumble from Deep Run Roots. The crumble is seasoned with cayenne, fennel and Worcestershire sauce so it adds a savory contrast to the sweet peaches.

I made up a half batch of the Spiced Pecan and Pumpkin Seed Crumble from Deep Run Roots p 135. The header notes say this is like a savory granola, meant for a snack, salad or cheese plate. The savory spices (cayenne, fennel, Worcestershire sauce) appeal to me and I thought it might take my ordinary fruit and yogurt up a notch. I encountered one oddity in the instructions. You're to whisk 2 egg whites until "quite foamy" then add additional ingredients, including 1/4 cup grapeseed or sunflower oil, and continue to whisk until you have stiff peaks. I'm not sure who can get egg whites to form stiff peaks with that much oil in there, but it's not me. No matter, it seemed to come out fine anyway. After baking and crumbling: With Greek yogurt and fresh peaches:

Hmmm. This stuff just popped up on a website I follow... He certainly looks happy!

Two more peach pops. Peach & Jalapeño from People's Pops These use a jalapeño-infused simple syrup so I saved some of the chile slices to decorate the pops The Paprika Peach Pie from Four and Twenty Blackbirds has been getting a lot of love lately in a baking group I follow so I used the same spices to flavor these pops: paprika, white pepper, allspice, ginger and Old Fashion bitters I'd probably just call these spiced peach pops as the paprika doesn't really jump out head and shoulders over the rest.

Roasted String Beans and Scallions with Pine Nut Vinaigrette p 205 The recipe for the Pine Nut Vinaigrette is in the go-to section on p 39 and the header notes say it's an Italian version of an Asian peanut sauce. Whatever it is, it's very delicious. The recipe above is the only one in the book that specifically calls for it but it would be very good with any number of vegetables and very worthy of being called a go-to! Back to the string beans. I used a mix of green beans and yellow wax beans. Along with the scallions, they get tossed with olive oil, S&P and roasted until softened with a bit of char here and there. They're tossed with a little red wine vinegar and allowed to cool down before being mixed with the pine nut vinaigrette, mint, basil and pine nuts. I thought the portion size was on the large side (1.5 lbs beans/4 servings), but I gobbled them all up and look forward to making this again.

A note beneath the Tonnato recipe in Six Seasons says to spoon it on bread and top it with soft-cooked eggs, tomatoes and capers so this is what we have here. I made it because I couldn't imagine what it would taste like. Turns out it tastes very, very good. I prep'ed the tomatoes as he does in other recipes in the book by cutting them, seasoning with salt, pepper and some red wine vinegar and letting that sit whilst the eggs cooked.

My theory is they go to the in-store rotisserie dept. They're always much smaller than any of the uncooked birds on offer.

Combining a meal kit with a drive thru sounds pretty smart.

Ditto I use tap water for the CSO, though I can understand why some choose otherwise. I haven't had problems yet. I've followed the instructions to run a vinegar solution through the system and have done that ~ once a year or so.

Blueberry, Buttermilk and Lime Parfait Popsicles This is a riff on the Blueberry, Buttermilk and Lime Parfaits in Vivian Howard's Deep Run Roots cookbook. In that recipe, she layers a blueberry jelly, buttermilk panna cotta, lime curd, buttermilk whipped cream and fresh blueberries in small jars or glasses. The top layer is equal parts buttermilk and heavy cream, with a little vanilla extract, lime juice and some simple syrup to sweeten - similar to what's in the buttermilk panna cotta except for the gelatin. I dropped fresh blueberries, cut in half into this layer. The middle layer is lime curd made with this quick blender method. The curd was fairly thick so I didn't get a smooth layer between it and the blueberries. I'll have to see if I can smooth it out better next time. The bottom layer is pureed and strained blueberries, lime juice and zest and simple syrup. Again, the same ingredients as in the parfait except for the gelatin. The parfaits get topped with a Spiced Pecan and Pumpkin Seed Crumble but I left that off for now and called these close enough!

I tried the high speed blender method that @Soupcon mentions (Recipe: Easy Blender Lemon Curd) to make some lime curd and it is indeed very quick and easy. I followed the recipe as written, just substituting lime for lemon. As in the photo on the website, it's opaque rather than the somewhat translucent product that I'm used to but it was fine for my purpose. This photo was when it was still warm, it's set up a bit more now that it's cool but it's still a soft curd. The texture is very smooth. I microplaned the zest but didn't strain it and it's undetectable. Guess 5 min at high speed in a Blendtec will do that.

An ill advised early afternoon iced coffee meant I couldn't sleep last night and spent hours and hours reading remembrances, his reviews and recipes and listening to his bits on podcasts. Lots of links from the LA Times here: A note to our readers: The Times has lifted its paywall on Jonathan Gold coverage I especially appreciated this one: Jonathan Gold, the cook: Favorite recipes from our Restaurant Critic. In several of the recipes, he uses his trademark second person writing style to bring us into the kitchen instead of the restaurants. Wrenching to lose a powerful community builder at a time when it's so needed.

Do run it through it's paces so you'll know that it's not defective. Don't worry about getting it dirty. I have done so and learned that it can be cleaned. It's been over a month and mine is still looking sharp but I won't hesitate to cook anything in it again!

A @HungryChris-inspired sandwich, adapted for the smaller appetite. Trader Joe's half-baked panini roll, melted sharp cheddar on the bottom, Black Forest ham, pickled zucchini, tomato, mustard & mayo.

Trader Joe's has it

Well, you did offer this comment: which told me that we surely live in different lands as there are no Quaker grits - quick, instant or any other in any grocery store I've been in! But I do love trying new things and am as grateful that I can mail order grits as I am that I can get help in cooking them from folks here!

I buy peaches and other stone fruit from Tenerelli Orchards who bring peaches to our local farmers market from June into November. Here's the sign in their booth that shows the varieties of yellow peaches. The first on on the list is a cling peach, all the others are freestone. Last week, I got June Lady and June Flame. This week, there were lots of Fancy Lady and the July Flames were just starting. O'Henry is my favorite, but they are all good. Yesterday, my power was out for an all-day, planned outage. Last year, when they did this, it was out until 9 PM and my popsicles suffered badly so I picked up some dry ice for the freezer, then packed up the peach popsicles I made last week and brought them down to the guys working at this stand. They were very appreciative. From other stands, I bought corn, parsley, dill, green beans, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, 3 kinds of heirloom tomatoes and blueberries. Out of curiosity, I bought a box of these little cheese rolls. They're maybe 2 bites, sold in a box of 30. Bake from frozen in ~ 15 min. Gluten-free because they are made from yuca or cassava flour. I have no need to eliminate gluten but when tried them, I thought they had a nice chew that's usually missing from GF baked goods - maybe it's the cheese 🙃.

Vivian Howard's recipe for Foolproof Grits in Deep Run Roots also uses a double boiler and I've found this method works very well with the uneven stone-ground grits that I've ordered from a mill in South Carolina. She uses 1 cup grits and 3 1/4 cup of milk or other liquid and whisks occasionally for 25-40 minutes depending on the grind of the grits. She also recommends using a tea strainer to skim off any bits of chaff that float to the top and it certainly helps produce a perfectly creamy result. I can cook the evenly ground stuff in the Instant Pot but the uneven mix of particles in the stone-ground stuff really seems to need at least an occasional stir.

I just signed up for the club to give me a nudge to eat more beans but I've been buying Rancho Gordo beans for at least 12 years and the quality is excellent. Not everyone is a bean lover but these are the best!

I took advantage of the recent openings to sign up. Just got my first box: Better start eating more beans 🙃!

Ditto here - kinda wanted leftover pasta, kinda wanted a poached egg.....

Congrats for trying something new! I came upon a good reminder when I was consulting Samin Nosrat's recipe for Kuku Sabzi in her great book Salt Fat Acid Heat. There's a whole little pep talk about flipping the Kuku and then she says, "If something goes awry....don't freak out! It's only lunch. Just do your best....." Wise words to remember in the kitchen!