blue_dolphin

Today's market purchases: Clockwise from the eggs, we have avocados, cilantro, basil, carrots, radicchio, lemons and tomatoes. I didn't buy any but zucchinis have arrived so summer is certainly on the way.

Looks like they are making the sides more steeply sloped to increase the flat surface area.

Over on the EYB Kindle bargain listing, I saw Spritz and clicked on it thinking, "Oooo, a whole book about pressed cookies, that could be fun! I found a rather different book, that I was aware of and really should have made the connection . I bought the Kindle edition of Spritz: Italy's Most Iconic Aperitif Cocktail for $1.99

Couscous with English Peas, Apricots and Lamb Meatballs from Six Seasons p 88. The sauce, couscous and meatballs all have mint and scallions and I was worried it would seem redundant but the other ingredients give each component unique flavors. All the mint and scallions in the yogurt didn't exactly give me a drizzle-able sauce but it was still delicious - I think I ate 2 servings worth of that so next time, I will make extra. The vinegar-marinated apricots and sweet peas make the couscous look very spring-like and the meatballs are nicely flavorful. I was short on English peas so I added some sliced up sugar snap peas and I think it worked fine.

I just want to try a slice - that would be a first for me, too!

The hardcover version of Matt Jenning's book Homegrown: Cooking from My New England Roots has been selling on Amazon.com for $3.48 for about a week or so. Not sure how long that will last. Sadly, not on Amazon.ca

Such talent and fun going on there! I remember reading those challenges while they were happening and thinking, "I am not worthy to join this group!"

This is what remains today, after peeling off 4 big ribs for the braise and chopping several inches off the top for some tuna tuna-flavored celery salad: I am embarrassed to show my messy condiment-crammed fridge but it does demonstrate the size of that celery!

In an attempt to barber down a 2 ft long bunch of celery so it would fit in my fridge, I decided to try the recipe for Braised Celery p 153, sidebar from Six Seasons. I think braising in a generous amount of olive oil - no broth or other liquid other than a little bit of white wine - may help concentrate the celery flavor. I had some for breakfast with a poached egg: The olive oil used for the braise is deliciously garlicky and flavored with red chile and thyme so I drizzled some over the egg and on my toast. Now I'm curious to try the Braised Celery and Radicchio Salad that this is used for in the book

Is that really all one restaurant? I can find review of Blanchy Street as a Japanese-Peruvian restaurant but none of the reviewers mention Lebanese items. Regardless, a remarkable mash-up to find in Ho Chi Minh City!

Two more pops from Nopalito Paletas de Fresas (Strawberry Popsicles): Paletas de Mango con Chile (Spicy Mango Popsicles): Both of these are a fairly thick fruit purée (4 cups fruit + 1/4 cup orange juice) sweetened with agave nectar. Strawberries were fresh from the farmers market but I used frozen mango chunks from Trader Joes. The strawberry version gets a little lime zest and the mango pops have chile powder added. I reduced the amount of chile in the mango pops so it can be added to taste - I like Tajín for dipping because it has that little hit of salt & lime.

In a recent omelet discussion, @DiggingDogFarm shared a link to an episode. I wasn't aware of Alex before that but have been watching a few episodes here and there. Funny.

That has been my experience as well, although I see the current iteration of those tables has been edited, in some cases significantly, from what's in the booklet I received with my IP and the edited times are more in line with what I've been using.

@Smithy, I browsed through a few posts over on one of the IP Facebook groups and it seems that people who posted recently (this month) about getting new Instant Pots are still getting a hard copy manual and recipe booklet. Not sure what happened to your friend's. Are the tables you are looking for something like this - Instant Pot Cooking Time, which I believe is the same information that appears on pages 45-52 of the recipe booklet.

I've been cooking a fair bit from Nopalito which uses RG's Midnight black beans or Santa Maria Pinquitos as go-to side dishes and I've been enjoying both of them in that way, though Eye of the Goat is one of my favorites to serve as a side. If you choose one you like, I don't think you can go wrong!

I skipped the Thursday market closest to me so I went to the Camarillo Farmers market this AM and managed to control myself with this fairly modest haul: Clockwise from the very large celery (I had to provide scale for that one) : English peas, fava beans, lemons, grapefruit, parsley and eggs

That name made me look! From an old article in the NYT: Sounds good to me!

= Hazardous Waste Container? = History of Western Civilization? = Heavy Whipping Cream? = Handle With Care? ?

As a kid, Sky Bar was always my pick on the rare occasion we were allowed a candy bar - like 4 candy bars in one!

Good for you - I got the same newsletter and debated too long! Ah well, it's OK. I have a pretty good stash of RG beans on hand at the moment.

Interesting. I have a silicone mold similar to that. It was sold to make "shot glasses" made of ice. If I ever find it, I'll steal your idea. I have some gravy-loving cousins who would love it!

I rarely buy bread at the supermarket and when I do, I just grab a loaf of Roman Meal sandwich bread so I was completely unaware of Dave's Killer Bread. The website suggested it was available at almost every supermarket in my area so I set out to find some this morning. The Walmart Neighborhood market nearest to me was my first stop and had several varieties. I picked up a loaf of the 21 Grain bread. They had the thin-sliced version, my preference for sandwiches. I put it immediately to the test with a peanut butter and banana sandwich for a late breakfast. Very nice! They also had thin-sliced Good Seed and Powerseed loaves so I'll try them in turn. It seemed a tad expensive $4.88 for a not-huge loaf but I didn't compare to similar offerings so it may be an average price for supermarket whole-grain breads. I'll look more carefully next time. I've been buying bread recently from Roan Mills. They are growing a number of heirloom grains locally, including the Sonoran white wheat, milling them and baking excellent breads that they sell at local farmers markets and at their bakery in Fillmore. They sell the grains and flours as well. I've tried their ground corn (polenta) and rye flour and have been pleased with both. Reading the descriptions of the others makes me want to try some bread baking. If you'd like to try their Sonora wheat flour or any of their other flours (listed here on their website), I'd be happy to pick some up and send it to you, assuming the Princessmobile remains in one location long enough. And if the Princessmobile happens to pass near Fillmore on a Wed or Saturday, the bakery is well worth a stop even if the breads are more expensive than Dave's Killer Bread

I've never cooked goat but enjoyed delicious roast kid shoulder several times in Barcelona. We were told it was a traditional Catalan preparation. As far as bones go, I recall that it came to the table complete with the humerus!

I know that real cocktail people don't get their recipes from restaurant cookbooks but as an occasional cocktail drinker, I sometimes do. Here are the cocktails I've recently tried from Gonzalo Guzmán's Nopalito cookbook. The Killer Bee is a mezcal version of the Bee's Knees 2 oz mezcal (Del Maguey Vida) 1.5 oz lemon juice 0.75 oz 1:1 honey syrup Nopalito's El Diablo recipe uses less cassis than other versions I've seen and it's more refreshing to my taste. 2 oz blanco tequila 0.75 oz lime juice 3 oz ginger beer 1-2 dashes crème de cassis Margarita - just a little agave nectar for sweetness 2 oz blanco tequila 1 oz lime juice 1/2 oz orange liqueur 0.25 oz 1:1 agave syrup Mezcal Paloma - the Nopalito version swaps in mezcal for the usual tequila and uses fresh juices and a dash of Cynar. I'd say the Cynar nicely pumps up the bitterness in the very sweet grapefruits I had. 1.5 oz mezcal (Del Maguey Vida) 1.5 oz grapefruit juice 0.5 oz lime juice 0.5 oz 1:1 agave syrup 2 oz soda water 1-2 dashes Cynar The Blanco Rojo got a positive review in one of the cookbook threads and I give it a thumbs up, too. The cookbook gives a recipe for an 8-serving batch. This is what I used for one cocktail: 1/5 oz blanco tequila 0.75 oz lemon juice 0.5 oz Campari 1 oz 1:1 agave syrup (scaled down from the 2 oz called for in the book) Mexican Coffee - I thought the orange zest in the whipped cream was a nice touch 1 oz añejo tequila 0.5 oz coffee liqueur 4 oz hot coffee Top with whipped cream (8 oz heavy cream + 0.5 oz agave nectar + orange zest) and sprinkle with cinnamon Bloody Maria - a tequila Bloody Mary that includes orange juice and smoked jalapeño vinegar. I don't care for Bloody Marys but I thought the OJ and vinegar might be interesting. I suppose it was - I could taste each ingredient but I still didn't care for it. 2 oz tomato juice 1 oz orange juice 1 oz Smoked Jalapeño Vinegar (3 smoked jalapeños, puréed in apple cider vinegar) 1.5 oz blanco tequila salt to taste

Pasta with broccoli rabe, slow roasted cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives. My plan was to have this for dinner last night but I got lazy and had popcorn and a gin & tonic instead !