blue_dolphin

The liner does seem like a brilliant idea. The step of transferring a wet loaf into a hot cast iron pot seems to present the biggest no-knead challenge to new bakers.

I buy it to avoid hard water build-up in the cats' drinking fountains and to make somewhat clear ice cubes for cocktails. Hadn't thought about the steam oven and steam mop but will consider that.

Over in the Soup topic, @Darienne complimented my dishes and to avoid going off topic over there, I'll reply here... Thank you! They were my grandmother's wedding dishes. A Staffordshire flow blue pattern named Watteau. The shallow soup bowls are a nice size - not too big. In addition to the bowls, there are dinner plates, luncheon plates and salad plates. Sadly, just a few cups and saucers and a number of serving pieces. I wish I had more of these dishes but I'll enjoy the ones I have!

Potage Parmentier (Potato & Leek Soup) from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. So simple and delicious.

@Smokeydoke: 1. Thanks for the French 75 mention - I am sipping one now so you're helping me use up leftover bubbles....not that it's ever a problem! 2. I have a bottle of the Clear Creek Kirschwasser that I've only used for cheese fondue and baking but it seems like very nice stuff so I'm also curious about the "horrible for drinking" thing. I guess I should do my own research and try it

I was paging through Six Seasons, with an eye towards healthy, vegetable options to try in the new year when I spied a note under a recipe for Frico in the basic intro section, suggesting they be offered as a snack with Champagne. I just happened to have a big wedge of Parmesan AND some leftover bubbles in the fridge. Excellent snack. Obviously I still need to work on the vegetable thing !

Just wanted to report in on the sausage rolls that I made from the link that @Anna N shared just upthread here. I posted a photo over in the savory baking thread here and have since had an opportunity to bake them directly from frozen in the CSO. Steam-bake @ 400°F for 20 min worked very well and I believe they were more evenly browned than when I cooked off a second batch (again from frozen) on convect-bake @ 400°F, which required a few more minutes. In both cases, the temp of the sausage meat in the middle of the little rolls was 200°F or a bit higher so I assume they were safely cooked. In my opinion, they are OK at RT, but much better warm. If you use the CSO, you could always have a small plate ready "on time" and then cook up more when late comers arrive. I believe they should reheat very well in the CSO but sadly, (or perhaps happily for my waistline ) Trader Joe's puff pastry is sold out for the year at my local stores so I can't conduct further experiments!

I know that people began receiving this message in 2017, as soon as 10Speed released the errata, so I'm assuming it will be along fairly soon. Sweet was the cookbook for Dec in a couple of Facebook cookbook groups and Helen was very active in helping people troubleshoot and correct these errors.

I like citrus (lemon or orange zest & juice) and ginger with persimmon. Persimmon, vanilla and coconut is also a nice combination - add a squeeze of lemon or lime for tartness if it's too sweet. I used this in some popsicles but have seen it in cake recipes, too. I think star anise would be lovely with persimmon. Having made a coriander simple syrup recently, I'd like to try that flavor with persimmon for something a little unexpected. I have no arguments with the cardamom crowd either

Starting the new year with something simple.

Melamine is not a protein, nor is it biodegradable. It is a chemical compound that is high in nitrogen and will confuse the results of certain protein tests that measure nitrogen to estimate protein content. More here and here. The concern with using melamine dishes when heating food in the microwave is not so much that the plates might burn people but that a certain amount of melamine can migrate into the food (particularly high acid foods, at high temperatures) and be consumed. The FDA believes that without heating, the levels of melamine migration into food are low enough to be deemed safe, except for babies. More here.

Give it a try some day when you're in the mood for a messy sandwich If you're not into that, it could be less messy with a more welll cooked egg.

Looks delicious! What are the disc-shaped rounds under the lamb?

One thing that it's great for is thawing anything that can go into the bath. Of course, you can cook things sous vide directly from frozen, too, but it's also handy to speed up thawing without the uneven heating you get with MW thawing. Just set the heat as low as it can go and drop in a few ice cubes if your tap water isn't chilly enough.

A cocktail in which I substituted almost every ingredient but still enjoyed a tasty drink. Starting with Damon Boelte's Radio Silence, served up last Friday on NPR's All Things Considered in honor of news anchor Robert Siegel's upcoming retirement. Radio Silence from Damon Boelte of Grand Army Bar 2 ounces Brooklyn Gin - subbed Barr Hill Gin, which I'm sure is nothing like Brooklyn Gin but is awfully tasty 0.75 ounce Lustau Manzanilla sherry - subbed a Lustau Fino 0.25 ounce Bénédictine 3 dashes Bartlett pear bitters or sub 1 dash Angostura bitters - I used a couple of dashes of Boker's bitters (because I thought they would go well with the Barr Hill gin) and a dash of Clear Creek Pear Brandy (because I have no idea what Bartlett pear bitters taste like but figured a bit of pear couldn't hurt) Stir with ice, strain, lemon twist. I'm sure the honey in the Barr Hill Gin turned this in a very different direction than intended so I'll look forward to trying it again when I get some Brooklyn Gin.

Absolutely true!

Perhaps the messiest egg sandwich ever.... This is Gail Simmon's My Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich from her cookbook, Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating. The recipe is available online here. I wasn't sure about the dill pickles and peppadews but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tuna salad on toasted ciabatta

Thank you for sharing your lovely photos, @ProfessionalHobbit - I'm now very hungry! Which SONY camera did you settle on?

You remind me of the little girl in Willa Cather's Shadows on the Rock, explaining what she is doing out of bed on a very bitter night in Quebec, "Papa, j'ai peur pour le persil." - Papa, I fear for the parsley.

I made a Blood Orange & Campari marmalade last year. I used that, along with a splash of fresh orange juice and fresh cranberries to make this stuff for Thanksgiving. I've been enjoying the leftovers with brie and other cheeses.

Toasted ciabatta, spread with Silver Goat Chèvre and topped with a tart and ever so slightly bitter Cranberry-Blood Orange-Campari preserve:

Oh my! I wasn't going to buy more but now I may need them !

I don't usually have a big sweet tooth but I was unusually hungry on a recent TJ's visit and picked up a number of seasonal sweet treats. The little peppermint "Hold the Cone" ice cream cones are tasty little fellows. The very bottom of the cone is pretty much filled with chocolate....to prevent leaks, I'm sure ! 260 calories each. - Note correction below from @patris - the serving size is THREE cones for 260 calories! I've also been enjoying these tiny shortbread cookies - Mini Dark Chocolate Mint Stars A serving of 13 cookies is 120 cal so they can be a more frequent treat than the cones. I can't find these on the TJ's website - Stelle Di Notte "Stars at Night" Cocoa Hazelnut Crispy Cookies made in Italy These are very light and crisp, not terribly sweet. Nice with a cup of coffee. Four cookies for 140 cal.

I spy David Lebovitz's My Paris Kitchen for $2.99 on both Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.