blue_dolphin

Parsnip, Date & Hazelnut Loaf Cake with Meyer Lemon Glaze from Six Seasons p 361. @Anna N posted about this earlier in this thread and I've been wanting to try it every since. The flavor is very interesting, in a good way. I don't think it screams "parsnips" but there's a pleasant spicy flavor that I enjoyed. My dates were kind of dry so I plumped them up in a bit of orange juice and drained them well. I baked this in 3 small loaf pans - 1 to enjoy now, 2 to freeze. They still took 45 min to bake even in the small pans. I usually skip the glaze for loaves like this but I was intrigued by the addition of black pepper and had plenty of Meyer lemons so I gave it a go and I found it a nice touch. It's looks pretty with the flecks of yellow zest and black pepper so if I was give this as a gift, I'd certainly use the glaze.

Leftovers for lunch. I added some microwave-steamed sugar snap peas and yellow bell pepper plus a sprinkle of feta to the pasta with kale sauce from Six Seasons that I posted yesterday. I found this more appealing than the overwhelming green-ness of the original.

@Thanks for the Crepes, sounds like you had a nice weekend! What did you actually get for lunch at the seafood place?

I borrowed Nopalito from the library and when the sale popped up, I decided it was worth the 2 bucks. Haven't actually cooked from it yet. From the current sale crop, I sprang for: POK POK The Drinking Food of Thailand: A Cookbook @ $2.99 (NOT on sale at Amazon.ca) Simple Thai Food: Classic Recipes from the Thai Home Kitchen @ $1.99 (same price on Amazon.ca) Kristin Kish Cooking @ $2.99 (NOT on sale at Amazon.ca)

@Chris Hennes, I would have put you in the "serious student" category, with your deep dives into various cookbooks and especially recently with breads. I guess there's an element of "one of" experimentation there, too, but you are building what you've learned in each area and becoming more expert as you go. I used to be a repeater. I did most of my cooking on the weekend, mostly on Sunday, sticking with things I knew would freeze well or hold a few days in the fridge, plus a few quicker dinners during the week. I tried new things but depended on some version of the regulars for most meals. I made some sort of smoothie for breakfast every day for years! Now I have more time to play so I'm certainly leaning in the "one of" direction.

Kale Sauce with Pappardelle from Six Seasons p 312. I used a different pasta shape, although it's impossible to discern that through the overwhelming green-ness of the sauce. If anyone's looking for a good St. Paddy's Day pasta, this could be for you . I like the economy of this sort of dish. Salted water goes on to boil, garlic gets gently warmed in olive oil, vegetables are cooked in the water then scooped out to make way for the pasta, then everything comes back together in the same pan with a splash of pasta water. Elsewhere, I read comments from others who thought the the sauce was excessive for the amount of pasta so I only added ~ 2/3 of the sauce. I'd say that's still a bit overly sauced for my taste. I also took note of those who thought the sauce was lacking in flavor so I was generous with the garlic, added a squeeze of lemon juice and used a mix of parm and pecorino Romano for a little extra tang. Feta could also have been good, I think. Flavor-wise, I was happy, though I tend to like pasta with some more textural contrast from lightly cooked vegetables.

The kindle version of Kristin Kish Cooking, Recipes & Techniques is currently on sale for $2.99 on Amazon.com. Sadly, not on Amazon.ca

Made the Deli Rye English Muffins from Smitten Kitchen Every Day. They use 80g dark rye flour + 175g all purpose. No dough-y insides!

Egg & sausage on a toasted English muffin I made the Deli Rye English Muffins from Smitten Kitchen Every Day, added one of the Maple-Sage Breakfast Sausage patties from The Food Lab and an egg from the farmers market.

I happen to like a margarita made with reposado tequila. Maybe I haven't found the right blanco. Or maybe I just found what I like

Parsnips with Citrus and Orange from Six Seasons p 358. I thought raw parsnips might have a very strong flavor, but they were just pleasantly pars-nippy in this fresh-tasting winter salad. I used sweet and very juicy Cara Cara oranges and my favorite oil-cured olives, both from the local farmers market. The recipe has an instruction to use half the vinegar but never tells you what to do with the rest. I added it when mixing everything to macerate for 15 min, before adding the olive oil. During that time, my parsnips started picking up color from the olives so they don't look as snow-y white as in the book. Next time I would add the olives last.

I hope the stove will work out, @TechieTechie. I had an old stove, not as lovely as yours, in an apartment I rented for quite some time. I loved that thing. The burners were way more powerful than my current Wolf, although the new one handles a low simmer better than the old behemoth. A number of members here shared their kitchen renovation tales (@weinoo, most recently here) and it's always interesting to follow along. If you're interested in taking us along on your saga, I'm sure there would be interest.

I pounded mine to ~ 1/8" thick, although they look thicker in the photo I posted.

Welcome to eG, @TechieTechie! I love your stove. Is it one that you were using prior to the kitchen problems or did you purchase it for the remodel? And if you used it before, how did you like cooking with it?

I was happy with the result, but would have been happy to see any of the last 6 or 8 contestants win. Excellent, though predictable, fan favorite, too. Even if she hadn't gotten sick, she would have deserved it because of her hilarious quotes. Overall, seemed like relatively little drama between the contestants this season. I used to think much of that was done in editing but if that was the case, they might have manufactured more of it this year. Either everyone really was that nice or they wanted a kinder, gentler Top Chef season? And while the dishes in the finale looked and sounded great, I might love the Tiny Kitchen versions even better. Here are links to the Tiny Kitchen videos on the Bravo site: Joe Flamm's Ribeye Adrienne's Appetizer

@liamsaunt - your beautiful photography makes every dish looks its best but this stuff looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!

I didn't like having that kettle challenge so late in the season. I guess making the very act of cooking so difficult can inspire creativity but I don't care for them, especially this late in the game. Preparing 200 portions of a vegetable centered dish, outside, for that crowd of chefs was enough of a challenge without throwing in the kettles. I also missed having Gail at judges table in so many episodes this season. She always seems to come up with nicely verbalized summary comments about the dishes.

It's good to know that @Anna N is starting her day appropriately fortified Me, too: Bacon & parsnip fried rice topped with a crispy fried egg inspired by a riff on kimchi fried rice in Julia Turshen's Small Victories. Crisp up some diced bacon and reserve, brown diced parsnips in the bacon fat then add cooked rice (TJ's brown rice medley), the reserved bacon and a handful of parsley. I added a crispy fried egg,

No, I don't think you've been rude. From my understanding, and consistent with @chromedome's small survey (n=1) many, maybe most hotel guests don't tip the housekeeping staff. I tip, in part because that's what my parents did on the rare occasions when we stayed in hotels, but mostly because I know they work very hard in an environment where many of their colleagues (bell staff, parking attendants, room service, restaurant wait staff, etc) are regularly tipped and it's an opportunity for me to offer a small token of thanks.

Fritters from leftovers: I had leftover filling from the Cabbage & Mushroom Hand Pies I made yesterday and leftover brown rice medley from the Broccoli & Wild Rice Fritters from lunch the other day so I mashed up the recipes and made Cabbage, Mushroom and Wild Rice Fritters. Served with sour cream and apple mustard.

Made a version of the Peach Melba Popsicles from Smitten Kitchen Everyday. I've been wanting to make these since they appeared on the Smitten Kitchen blog a couple of years ago and finally got around to it. I'm not good at softening ice cream - I usually forget about it until it's become entirely liquid - so I used Greek yogurt instead of the called-for vanilla ice cream. I added a little of the simple syrup to the fruit and mixed the rest, along with a little vanilla extract, into the yogurt.

Since we're talking about tipping, how about tips for the housekeeping staff? Do you tip more in a suite? When traveling with a pet? I'm pretty tidy and don't make a big mess so I generally leave $5 - 10/day. I make sure to leave a tip each day. I double it if there's anything extra to clean up or if I've made a request for more towels or something. Still doesn't seem like much given how hard they work. I've been leaving that same amount for years and years and it used to seem OK to me but now I'm thinking that I'm being too cheap.

I don't perceive any slam against Sqirl in the LA Times comments that you quoted. The place was indeed new and innovative 5 or 6 years ago when Jonathan Gold wrote his first review of Sqirl. The fact that it's still on his list of the top restaurants in LA suggests some regard, even though there are a lot of wannabes around town these days. I'm looking forward to hearing more about what you're cooking from the cookbook. I have it on request from my library so when I get it, I hope I can try some of your top favorites.

Cabbage & Mushroom Hand Pies from Six Seasons p 338, served with some of the Apple Mustard from Deep Run Roots and lightly dressed baby greens. I used the cheddar cheese dough from Art of The Pie and used an egg wash. I inadvertently let the mushrooms, leeks and cabbage get a bit brown and having read that some people found these lacking in flavor, I may have been generous in measuring out the seasoning ingredients - balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and hot sauce. In any case, I thought the results were tasty and I'd make them again.

I bought the book because it's this month's book in the Food52 Cookbook Club. I enjoy Deb Perelman's writing and have tried enough of her recipes from the blog that I figured it wouldn't be a complete bust. Neither did I expect to be overwhelmed with inspiration. So far, I've been pleasantly surprised. I've got a list of recipes that I'm looking forward to trying and I'm adding to that list as I see recommendations from other group members. It's a very accessible book, no particularly difficult-to-source ingredients or complicated preps. In spite of that ease, the recipes I've tried deliver pretty well in the flavor/texture/interest department. It's not a cookbook that absolutely inspires me to cook but so far, I've found easy (and easily adaptable) recipes that are different from my usual same-old preps so I don't regret buying it. Stay tuned throughout the month and you'll see more as I'll be using it often.