blue_dolphin

Ditto that! I highly recommend it as the first Hong Kong meal for any visitors - a long walk and a bowl of wonton noodle soup are the perfect antidote to jet lag.....well, maybe a nap, too ! Thank you so much for this week's tour, @Duvel - your photos and descriptions really made everything come alive!

If you've been in the industry for 20 yrs, you are probably familiar with your local regulations and understand how widely they vary from state to state here in the US and in other countries. I'm not sure where you are. Here in California, a "cottage food act" was passed a few years ago but it only allows sale of home-produced items that require no refrigeration (breads and some baked goods, candy, jams, mustards and other condiments, dried pasta, granola, etc.) There is a bill in the California legislature (AB-626 - California Retail Food Code: microenterprise home kitchen operations) that seeks set standards that would allow sales of a broader range of foods. If you follow that link in the bill title, you can see the text and get an understanding of the proposed regulations. The tech start-up Josephine, which offers an interface to match home cooks with interested clients had to suspend operations in California last year due to legal challenges related to food safety. The company is now working with its former opposition, the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health as well as cooks, legal experts, and food and labor justice organizations on AB-626. I hope they are successful as it could open some wonderful opportunities for home cooks. For general interest, here's a link to a 2015 Atlantic article: Why I Quit Ordering From Uber-for-Food Start-Ups that compares the Josephine experience favorably to a number of other food start-ups.

I have to say that talk of an explosion that's prevented with a dish towel does not cause me great alarm And in relation to that sauce, should you dare to risk it, this recipe for a Blueberry Q flatbread using that sauce plus roasted chicken, sliced jalapeños, red onion and smoked gouda sounds pretty good.

For some time, I had enough work travel to be in United's top tier of frequent flyers, meaning I almost always got upgraded to first class. This is no longer the case. These days, I fly much less frequently and always in steerage. Aside from the more comfortable seats, what I miss most about those days are the pre-departure beverage (something bubbly, preferably French, thank you ) and the little bowls of hot nuts

Maybe like this?

Thank you! And in the interest of full transparency, I will share today's breakfast: Cupcakes made for me by my 6 yr old neighbor. I ate the pink one, decorated with a cat and will save the blue sprinkles for later.

I appreciate the value of cater wrapping for transport purposes and I'm glad to learn that it's a real process. As a veteran of more catered workplace meals than I care to admit, we always figured the catering staff either suffered from a special "plastic-film-OCD" or wanted us to WORK for our lunch as those plates and platters were devilish to unwrap without something sharper than the plastic utensils provided. Not a method I want to use for anything that's staying in my house!

Has anyone purchased My Master Recipes: 165 Recipes to Inspire Confidence in the Kitchen *With Dozens of Variations* by Patricia Wells? It came out in March. It is due into my library this week and I've placed a hold request on it so I should get a look at it soon. From the Amazon "Look Inside" feature, it seems to be organized by technique.

@robirdstx, I also find that your method of cooking with pressure first, followed by a nice simmer works really well for dried beans. Edited to add that if I just use pressure alone, the beans seem like canned beans. That extra simmer really brings out a better texture and flavor.

I really, really want some conch fritters!

Polenta topped with broccoli, sautéed with garlic, fried egg and shaved Parmesan A modification of the recipe for Polenta with Broccoli Rabe and Fried Eggs from Melissa Clark's Dinner. Single serving of polenta cooked in the Instant Pot as described here.

When I make IP polenta, I usually make extra so I can let the leftovers firm up for fried or broiled polenta but today, I thought I'd see if I could make a single serving AND to it in a dish suitable for serving/eating from. 1/4 cup polenta + 1 cup water + 1/4 t salt, 15 min manual, high pressure, slow release. I was a little worried that it might boil up and overflow. But as you can see below, it it not: Topped with broccoli, fried egg and Parmesan for breakfast. Successful IP experiment!

Before I visited Hong Kong, I was aware of the situation but the numbers of people astonished me when I was out walking. Here's another link that goes into a little more about the food they are sharing: A Sunday ritual for 300,000 women

They are Hong Kong domestic workers: link Edited to add that the people in Duvel's photo are just gathering to spend time with their friends and families, not protesting as in the link. I attached it to give a little more background.

Me three! I loved the smoked corn mayo from Deep Run Roots that I made last year and I'd love to see how those flavors translate to soup. Sounds delicious! Edited to add: @Smithy - see how I plugged DRR for you there?

Two more pops. Lime paletas from Paletas, using limes from my tree: And using the same ingredients as the Cucumber Ginger Limeade I posted about in the Deep Run Roots thread, I made Cucumber-Lime-Ginger pops:

I loved that jalapeño- peach glaze, @Shelby, and I was just thinking that I need to make that stinky-cheese panini with it again! The other day, I made the Cucumber Ginger Limeade I like the cool cucumber-lime combination contrasting with the warmth of ginger. So far, I've tried it with gin and tequila to make it into a cocktail. Both are good but I'm leaning towards tequila. The recipe says to chill everything down to avoid diluting it down when it's served over crushed ice, though to my taste, it can stand some dilution and I liked topping it with some sparkling water. I used the same ingredients: puréed cucumber, ginger-lime syrup and fresh lime juice to make up a batch of Cucumber-Lime-Ginger popsicles

Spaghetti with broccoli, @ElainaA's slow roasted cherry tomato sauce & kalamata olives

If anyone's been wanting to make some of the oh, so marvelous popsicles I've been posting over in the Popsicle thread, you can pick up the Norpro 10-pop mold on Amazon for $12.92, down from the usual price of ~ $19. Usual disclaimer: I'm a US Prime member so your prices may differ. @Porthos - I'll be interested in hearing what you think of that timer. The voice recording feature sounds at once interesting and potentially disturbing - I'm imagining having it shriek, "Hey, get out of your damn chair and go turn on the oven like I told you to!"

Yes! Made it so easy to use public transportation .....and pick up a snack at 7-Eleven

I was able to watch them this morning with Safari. No error messages.

Fried polenta with @ElainaA's Slow Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce This is pretty much what I did, except I used a storage container instead of a salad plate. I prefer to make it a bit thicker and should have chosen a smaller container but this was fine - nothing wrong with more crispy edges!

Leftovers on polenta: I cooked up a quick batch of polenta in the IP and topped it with one of the cod cakes in tomato sauce from Ottolenghi's Jerusalem from last night's dinner.

Cod cakes in tomato sauce from Jerusalem p 225. The fish cakes certainly benefit from some time in the fridge before browning them in oil. This is why the pan does not contain 8 cakes - the first one was fried without chilling and became a crumbled mess appetizer nibbles. And they were welcome nibbles as I'd followed the recipe instructions to make the tomato sauce first, then the fish cakes. I think it makes more sense to prep the fish cakes, then make the sauce while they chill. I chopped the fish with a knife but I'm tempted to put a least a little of it into the food processor (already used for the herbs and bread crumbs) in hopes that it would make sturdier cakes. The header notes suggest serving this with rice, couscous, bulgur or bread. I had it with some fresh corn on the cob and found the sweet corn flavors very compatible so I'd recommend polenta as another option. I've read other comments that say this reheats very well, not something I usually expect from a fish dish so I'll be keen to see how that works out.