blue_dolphin

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!

In the last few weeks, lots of vegetables featured in Six Seasons have made their appearance at the local farmers market. Cucumbers, string beans and summer squash from the Midsummer chapter and corn and tomatoes from the Late Summer chapter are all plentiful now and I bought all of them at a local farm stand. I set up a few jars of cold brine pickles p 58. My fridge is overcrowded with condiments so I limited myself to small amounts to use in a recipe or two. I used 3 different types of summer squash in the Squash and "Tuna Melt" Casserole p 213. Not really something I'd normally make in the middle of a heat wave but it was very tasty. Alongside is the salad of Cucmbers, Celery, Apricots and Pistachios p 196. The salad was excellent, although not the best pairing with the casserole. I knew that going in but I wanted to try both recipes. The salad's got tons of flavors and textures and would be excellent with a simple roasted chicken or the like. The technique of plumping the dried apricots in red wine vinegar with a smashed garlic clove was a nice touch. The casserole was a bit salty for my taste. The squash are salted to draw out excess moisture and I blotted them well but should have given them a quick rinse first. This would probably be successful made with old grocery store zucchini but the flavor and texture of the farm-fresh squash make it pretty special.

Wine is always cheaper in gallons

Cool! They look similar to cherimoyas (Annona cherimoya) that are grown locally here in So Cal. They are usually at the farmers markets from ~ Dec to early spring. Do you know how the flavors compare?

Pasta with Corn, Pancetta, Butter & Sage p 201 in the Zuni Café Cookbook With excellent fresh corn from a local farm and gobs of butter, this can't help being delicious. I substituted prosciutto in for the pancetta, as allowed in the header notes.

I didn't do nice step-by-step photos like @sartoric did above and I think some of the photos in that original thread have been lost but here's the finished product of a batch I made from Suvir Saran's recipe:

Thanks for taking us along on this trip, @FrogPrincesse! I've been enjoying it! I'm also curious as I haven't been to Napa in a while. I recall that Opus One charged $25 for a single taste, though you can see it was a fairly generous pour: A number of the Napa wineries we visited were open for tasting by appointment only. Not sure how common that is. In Santa Ynez and Paso Robles, wineries tend to charge $5-$10 for tasting, also credited to the cost of a bottle. The # of wines on offer varies widely. There are a few who still do free tastings and some have an official charge, but don't seem to pay much attention to it.

That sounds great, @Bhukhhad! Don't forget the legendary Tomato Chutney recipe from the equally legendary @Suvir Saran. He also references his source for the recipe as being from Andhra Pradesh but the heat level is easily adjustable to suit individual tastes.

I must say that's one of the best uses of flight delays I've seen - kudos! it was 112°F here yesterday. We got a cool-down to 80°F overnight, but it's already started to heat up again so at 6 AM, a Paleta de Café con Leche was in order.

I was going to guess the same - a strawberry or raspberry fruit leather.

I'm back in So Cal but had a breakfast that takes me back to my recent northern NY trip. While up there, I bought a basket of Saskatoon berries at a local farm and turned it into a Saskatoon-ginger preserve. The cheese is a Vermont Spring Brie from Vermont Farmstead Cheese Co. that I picked up at the Trader Joe's in Burlington, VT. This is a luscious cheese and I highly recommend it if you see it in your area. The bread takes us back to So Cal, grown, milled and baked by Roan Mills.

Up at 4:15 AM to see my brother head off to the airport. I'll be doing the same later this afternoon. Since I was up, I started the day with a walk to take advantage of the pre-dawn coolness (76°F/heat index 83) after yesterday's high of 95°F/heat index 109. Today is forecast to be hotter. Here's a pre-sunrise view of the lake from the neighborhood beach, just down the street. Folks who don't live directly on the lake can moor their boats here. By the time I was back at the house, the sun was up and ready to sizzle! Did I mention there is no AC is this old house? Breakfast on the porch: Fresh fruit, iced coffee and an doughnut from Rulf's Orchard, just down the road. They used to sell them along with fresh pressed cider just during apple season but they now have a year-round bakery and café. Best doughnuts ever and the only ones I'll eat!

Last night, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Anthony's Restaurant in Plattsburgh, NY. I had sautéed scallops and roasted vegetable ratatouille with roasted garlic aioli served over linguini. I posted more over here in the Upstate NY Dining thread. My third dinner at this restaurant this week and all have been excellent.

Last night, I went to Anthony's Restaurant in Plattsburgh, NY for the 3rd time this week. Excellent food, wine and service each time. Both of us started with a seared foie gras appetizer special. Apologies for the poor photos, they really don't do the food justice. The foie gras was served on toast with mango chutney, pea shoots and a roasted plum. The pea shoots and flower garnish are from their on-site garden. I followed that with the Sauteed Sea Scallops & Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille It was served with linguine & roasted garlic aioli. My brother had the Sautéed Shrimp & Sea Scallop Risotto With dinner, we shared a bottle of Soter “North Valley” 2014 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir For dessert, we shared a scoop of the house made ice cream I think it was called roasted coconut crunch or something like that. Delicious. On my previous visits this week, I had the house salad that was packed with fresh and lightly pickled vegetables from the restaurant's garden, a fabulous soft-shelled crab with sauce Provançal, the Duck Confit Spring Roll appetizer and the Grilled Salmon with Warm Lobster Salsa. All were excellent. The wine list is good, head and shoulders above any other restaurant in this area with plenty of food-friendly selections that are fairly priced. When we were there on Saturday night, there was a party of 50 in one of the dining rooms and the rest of the place was packed as well with lots of tourists due to the Canada Day holiday but there was no negative impact on the food or service. I may be biased as long time chef-owner, Scott Murray grew up just a few doors down the street from my family but I've eaten here many times and have never found anything I could complain about. If anyone happens to be traveling through or near Plattsburgh, NY, I highly recommend Anthony's.

Had a michigan and potato chips for lunch A michigan is a hot dog with a squiggle of mustard, topped with a mildly spicy meat sauce. Can be ordered "wit," "wit buried" or "witout," all referring to the addition or absence of raw, chopped onion. My michigan above is wit buried. Procured from Clare & Carl's I took the photo above yesterday AM, before they opened for lunch. The parking lot is usually filled with cars while they're open. They have car-hop service but my brother picked up ours to-go. I had one, he ate three.