blue_dolphin

One of the variations for the Cream of Celery Soup from Six Seasons p 150 that I posted above is to use it as the base for "a delicate seafood stew." I did that here, using a mix of shrimp, scallops and squid. I added a squeeze of lemon juice, a squirt of yuzu hot sauce and about 1/2 the specified amount of cream. I thought it was going to taste like celery soup with a few fishy bits floating in it but it actually came together as its own dish.

I read that article the other day. I was a little surprised how close many of the prices were. I expected the larger sizes at Costco would have much, much lower than the smaller TJ's sizes.

That looks delicious, @Anna N! I've got the Spicy Fish Sauce Sauce on hand so I'll make this recipe one of these days. The book says the Spicy Fish Sauce Sauce is good for a month or two. And yes, I do like saying Spicy Fish Sauce Sauce If you've got any leftover, it's also used in the Fried Cauliflower p 194 that I made with roasted cauliflower instead, the Grilled Wax Beans & Tomatoes, Basil & Spicy Fish Sauce Sauce, the Squash Ribbons with Tomatoes, Peanuts, Basil, Mint & Spicy Fish Sauce Sauce and optionally in the Sautéed Greens with Olives p 105. Several of them are also using fresh herbs, which I understand aren't in good supply at this time of year.

It's primarily an essay on the fearfulness, reluctance to read instructions and/or failure to follow them of US consumers than it is about the Instant Pot itself! Commenters fall into various camps: IP users and lovers, people who tried the IP once or twice with poor results and returned or tossed them, people who think all such appliances are "fads" , people who use conventional pressure cookers and don't see any advantage of the IP, people who see no value in any sort of pressure cooker, etc.

Sorry!

The Wall Street Journal had an article, dated yesterday, about the fears and imagined (and real) hazards of the Instant Pot that's garnered almost 200 comments: America’s Instant-Pot Anxiety: ‘I Said a Prayer and Stayed the Hell Away’ Not sure if there's a paywall. I was able to access the article via Google on a browser I've never used to log in to the WSJ by searching for the article title: America’s Instant-Pot Anxiety: ‘I Said a Prayer and Stayed the Hell Away’ so that may work.

Cream of Celery Soup from Six Seasons p 150. Not my favorite celery soup, but I enjoyed it. I used a very leafy celery the size of a baseball bat from the farmers market so I put the trimmings, a big bunch of leaves and part of an onion into the Instant Pot with half homemade chicken stock and half water to make a quick stock. Tasting the soup, after puréeing but before adding the cream, I thought it was a bit bland and needed a shot of acid so I added some white balsamic vinegar to the raisins and gave them a few minutes to sit before adding them to the rest of the garnish ingredients. The book allows for quite a generous amount of the garnish and I felt that the sweet-tart raisins, slightly bitter celery leaves and toasty walnuts really added a lot to the soup. Another celery dish: Celery, Apple & Peanut Salad from Six Seasons p 149. I thought this salad was fresh tasting and fun to eat with the crisp celery, sweet-crunchy apples, salty roasted peanuts and a nice level of fruity heat from the manzano pepper I used as the "medium-hot fresh chile" called for in the recipe. It's lightly dressed with just a bit of lemon juice and olive oil so the flavors of the individual ingredients really shine and each bite is a little different, depending on what's on your fork. I left the skin on the apple for color but otherwise made this according to the recipe.

Very interesting selection of bottles! Please do keep us updated on your experiments! You, too! Either in Drinks! or the Creme de Violette thread. I would welcome new ideas for using some of my Creme de Violette.

As I continue to try to get your minds off that dreadful kale, here is a variation on the Fontina-Stuffed Arancini from Six Seasons p 379. Edited to add that this uses the Winter Squash & Leek Risotto on p 378 that I posted yesterday. My modifications were to use a soft blue cheese instead of fontina and to use my usual method of flour -> egg -> panko -> olive oil spray -> bake instead of frying first, then baking. They are not as golden brown as they would be with frying. That can be helped by toasting the bread crumbs before dipping but I was too lazy . Served with Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Butter & Onion. I'm very happy with these. I love the combination of blue cheese with winter squash and the simple tomato sauce was the perfect partner .... with a glass of pinot noir

Today, I made the Winter Squash & Leek Risotto from Six Seasons p 378 for brunch/lunch. I wasn't sure I'd go for the sweetness of the squash here but it was pretty good. I made the made the broth with all the trimmings from the butternut squash and leeks in the Instant Pot but cooked up the risotto as written. Next time, I will adapt the rest of the recipe for the IP. I was hungry and scarfed up my bowl without taking a photo. This is my second helping and you can see that it's not as "brothy" anymore. Still tasty though. Looking forward to arancini!

Well, lucky for you two, I've finished my big bunch of kale so I, at least, won't be forcing you to look at any more kale dishes for a while There's a kale pasta sauce p 312 that will make an appearance when I get some more but it won't be for a while as I've got a couple of winter squash recipes on deck. Next up for me, after that, is another polarizing vegetable - CELERY !

Excellent connection! When Melissa Clark first wrote about that recipe in the NYT in 2007, she describes her experience with the dish at Fanny's, as prepared by Joshua McFadden, author of Six Seasons - full circle! Edited to add: In Six Seasons McFadden credits that write-up, "... But once it got written up in the New York Times, the world seemed to have an unending hunger for kale salads!"

Raw Winter Squash with Brown Butter, Pecans and Currants (I subbed walnuts and raisins for those last two items) from Six Seasons p 377. The recipe calls for using a vegetable peeler to shave the squash into thin ribbons but suggests a thin julienne as an alternative. I decided to try both to see what I liked. That would be the julienne, though that would make it more of a slaw, it's what I would do if I make it again. Currants (raisins in my case) get soaked in red wine vinegar for at least 30 min, that mixture is then tossed with the squash, scallions and red chile, seasoned and tasted before adding the brown butter p 36, olive oil, pumpkin seed oil, mint and toasted pecans (walnuts here). I'm not totally head-over-heels in love with this as a main-dish salad. I ate it for my lunch today and tried adding a bit of feta or ricotta but neither of them were quite right. I think it would make a very different, fresh-tasting side dish at Thanksgiving, maybe substituting dried cranberries for the currants.

Did it again Boiled small potatoes, smashed, drizzled with olive oil and crisped in the CSO. Topped with ricotta, leftover wilted kale (from Six Seasons) and a soft boiled egg. This was pretty good without the egg, but it's breakfast and all There was also this small amuse bouche to amuse moi while the egg was boiling: A little two-bite potato, treated as above but topped with a dab of pimento cheese and returned to the warm oven to melt. Could have just eaten more of these for breakfast!

Thanks for the link to that article! I also enjoyed reading this one that was linked to: How Phantom Thread Made Toast Irritating I'm planning to see Phantom Thread this week and usually avoid reading commentary until after I've seen the film but I'm glad I read both of these articles first.

All the potato talk in this thread got me wanting some. That and a condiment overload in my fridge yielded this mess: I boiled a few small potatoes, smashed them and crisped them up in chicken fat, topped with a dollop of the whipped ricotta from Six Seasons (homemade ricotta whipped with salt, pepper and olive oil), soft-boiled eggs and some carrot-top salsa verde leftover from another Six Seasons recipe.

@rarerollingobject, as usual, your baked items are works of art. As is the dog, in a slightly different way !

Two more kale recipes from Six Seasons. First up is The Kale Salad That Started It All p 309. Not the best kale salad I've had but quick and easy. Dressed only with crushed garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and chile flakes and topped with Pecorino Romano and the Dry Breadcrumbs p 30. I'd play around with this recipe again. I'm wondering how it would taste with some of the vinegar-soaked raisins used in the recipe below. The next recipe is titled, "Wilted Kale, Alone or Pickled on Cheese Toast" p 311. I liked this a lot. I don't understand the title. Golden raisins (regular specimens here) are plumped in white wine vinegar for an hour and eventually tossed with kale that's been sautéed with garlic and a generous amount of olive oil - 1/4 cup oil/8oz kale. This is to sit for another hour or two so it seems to me the kale is getting pickled whether it goes on toast or not. It's suggested that more olive oil be added to the kale/raisin/vinegar mixture at this point. I did not do so. Next, we are to spread grilled bread (toasted, here) with a thick layer of the Whipped Ricotta p 37 (ricotta, blended with olive oil, salt and pepper), top with "a juicy mountain of kale" and toasted walnuts and finish with yet more olive oil. I used my Misto to dispense the smallest drizzle of olive oil, but I don't think it was necessary. As I said, I thought this was quite good. The regular raisins almost blend into the kale, color-wise, so I'm sure the golden raisins would have made for a nicer visual, but either way, after marinating in vinegar, they bring a nice punch of sweet-sour flavor. I've had mixed feelings about that whipped ricotta. Tasted on its own, I was dismayed that I'd wasted lovely homemade ricotta and made it all heavy and oily. It turned into a lovely sauce in the Pasta with Broccoli & Sausage p 179. I found it unappealingly heavy again in the Farro & Roasted Carrot Salad p 291 but I liked it here on the toast. That said, I don't think I'd make it again just for this dish and would likely choose one of the suggested alternates - fresh sheep or goat cheese. I think a plain ricotta would be good, too. I'll try that as I have some in the fridge. The main thing I'd do differently concerns the kale. The recipe says the leaves should be torn into big pieces. If you're going to put this on toast, it would be better to chop it smaller, unless you have razor-sharp teeth that can cut through that "juicy mountain of kale" without having stray leaves landing on your chin and/or nice clean shirt . I knew this, but followed the recipe anyway because I was being a sheep

I'm not @weinoo, but if I had this lovely set-up, that's exactly the way I'd put the knives. If the points were facing down, towards the counter, I'm sure I'd run my hand into them while tidying the errant coffee grounds on the countertop.

Thanks for sharing everything all along - the result looks like a great place to cook! I especially love the drawers, an area where my kitchen is sadly deficient.

I've been catching missed episodes on Bravo, I didn't realize they were on the Food Network, too. I've been watching since the beginning and following along with the recaps here. My most and least favorite challenges have been Quickfires. I really liked the one where the chefs had to recreate one of the most complicated dishes on their own restaurant menus in less than 30 minutes. My least favorite was the kids' menu challenge where they're supposed to elevate a children's menu item into something sophisticated and healthy. That part of the challenge by itself was great but forcing the chefs to use tiny pots, pans and utensils was silly. I was glad that wasn't a sudden-death quickfire. I'm cheering for Carrie. Not sure she has what it takes to win but I love her attitude. She had the good sense to choose a coherent team for Restaurant Wars and I loved her in the camping challenge. I like Chris, too, and would like to see more of his cooking. I love Brother Luck's name but he did seem a bit shady for hiding the plastic wrap from Tu in Last Chance Kitchen. He's still doing well there so maybe he'll be back.

I agree. It's kinda rich with the sausage and cheese but with just the fennel and apples, it's not heavy and starchy. Next up for me is the Kale and Mushroom Lasagna from Six Seasons p 314. I really liked it but will make some adjustments. Like most lasagne recipes, it's better the next day so don't hesitate to make it ahead. I've made enough lightly sauced lasagne recipes (like my favorite lasagne al pesto) using no-bake pasta to know that getting the moisture level right is a balancing act. Other reviews for this recipe confirmed that might be an issue here so I made a "tester" lasagna in a loaf pan. I often do this when I want to try out flavor or sauce combinations and find that 1/3 of a recipe designed for a 9" x 13" pan will make up nicely in a standard loaf pan. Makes plenty to serve 2 - 3 and can easily be baked in the CSO or other toaster-type ovens. The layers here, starting from the bottom are: velouté, noodle, mushroom (duxelles), sautéed kale, noodle, ricotta + lemon zest, noodle, velouté and finally grated parmesan. I baked it at 375°F, covered with foil for the first 30 min, then an additional 15 min uncovered to brown the top. The recipe itself fails to mention a specific temperature or whether it should be covered or not. Three changes I will try next time: 1. The kale layer wasn't as delicious as it could have been. Maybe my fault for under salting. I will use my customary method of blanching the leaves in boiling water, chopping and then sautéing in olive oil with a bit of garlic and red chile. 2. All the umami-rich parmesan went on top. I'd add a sprinkle between the layers, or at least on top of the kale. The flavors did blend better the next day, but I'd still like to give them a head start. 3. I thought the velouté was too thin, so I cooked it down to reduce it. My mistake, the thinner sauce would have added needed moisture to the dish. I'll also consider making a bit more sauce.

I followed up on that suggestion in Six Seasons and used spring onions I bought at yesterday's farmers market and the Artichoke Mayonnaise p 42 for this take on James Beard's onion sandwiches: I should have made one with regular mayo for a side-by-side comparison but in any case, they were tasty little fellows! I also finished off some vegetables by trying a couple of recipes. Burnt Carrots with Honey, Black Pepper and Almonds p 294. I don't particularly care for cooked carrots but was curious about the method of roasting them until they are very dark brown, then cutting them into chunks and marinating briefly with white wine vinegar before they get drizzled with honey, dotted with butter and returned to the oven until they are fully tender. Served topped with chopped, toasted almonds. This recipe is in the "late season" carrots section so I expect it would have been better with larger carrots than the smaller spring carrots I had. Glad I tried it. Probably won't do it again. Another curiosity for me was the Fried Cauliflower with Spicy Fish-Sauce Sauce p 194. The recipe calls for deep frying the cauliflower florets (not breaded or battered, just dropped into the oil) until they are dark brown. I don't usually deep fry things so I made a variation with roasted cauliflower instead. Overall, I thought this was OK but not an enormous upgrade over the deliciousness that results from a lovely fresh cauliflower, sliced and roasted to golden brown with olive oil, salt & pepper. That's pretty great right there, in my book. After frying (or in my case, roasting) the cauliflower is tossed with chopped fresh garlic that's been soaking in olive oil and some of the Spicy Fish Sauce Sauce p 43. As suggested, I made the sauce the day before so I could taste and adjust it before using. I'm glad I did as it's really salty so I held back on salting the cauliflower. Also, the sauce has quite a bit of garlic in it so I'm not sure the additional fresh garlic is necessary. I tried it both ways and preferred it with less fresh garlic added to the cauliflower. I had some of the chopped, toasted almonds handy so I tossed some of them with the cauliflower and found the crunch to be a good addition. Perhaps the deep frying brings more crunch and magic to the dish but I probably won't try that. Here are the ingredients for the Spicy Fish Sauce Sauce I used serrano and manzano chiles in the sauce. The recipe says to use a mix of colors. Not sure why - you can see the colors in the photo below but they all turn sort of brown after sitting overnight. This morning, I made the Roasted Fennel with Apples, Taleggio Cheese and Almonds p 157. I like this one a lot. This recipe also includes fennel sausage (or as I substituted, Italian sausage plus fennel seeds) which gets crumbled and browned. Sliced fennel is shallow steam/sautéed with a little olive oil, garlic and chile flakes. Sausage, fennel, thin apple wedges, chopped, toasted almonds, fresh thyme and some of the Taleggio cheese all get turned into a baking dish and topped with more cheese, dry breadcrumbs p 30 and dotted with butter, then baked. I loved all the textures in this dish and would certainly make it again.

Can you say a little more about how these are made? What kind of cheese you use, etc. Google showed me several recipes and most were boiled and white-looking. These look much more appealing, like they were either baked or fried.

Yesterday, @Chris Hennes started a thread on Cooking with Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India. For those who would like to join in, or just follow along, I'm seeing the Kindle version of the book, Vegetarian India: A Journey Through the Best of Indian Home Cooking, selling on Amazon.com for $4.99. I'm a US Prime member, not sure what others will see. I checked Amazon.ca and unfortunately, it was not the same price.