blue_dolphin

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.

Croque-Madame from David Lebovitz's My Paris Kitchen on the Multigrain Bread from the same book. As you can see from the photo, I followed the guidance in the header notes and my first move was "to slash open the egg yolk with a knife, letting it run all over the sandwich and making rivulets of sauce to dip forkfuls of the sandwich into." Who could resist that invitation? Apparently, not me and I'm glad I tried it, though I probably won't make it again. I do love a good grilled cheese but I'd prefer a thin layer of grainy mustard instead of the béchamel and I don't necessarily need more cheese on the outside of the sandwich. I think I complained over in the baking topic that the Multigrain Bread was rather dense. Here, that was a virtue and it held up admirably with some crunch left in the very last bite.

Well, it's 16°C and overcast here at the moment but it should warm up to 29°C once the sun comes out. I hope you get a little warming as well.

You know, it was an entire summer of Sundays (my only day off, and even then, I worked until 1 PM) that looked much like your photo that encouraged me to move to So Cal. Every single Sunday. All summer long . Still, you have a lovely view....

I'm curious, too. I suspect the degree of roasting has something to do with it. I can buy tahini that says it's from roasted or toasted sesame seeds but it's not as dark as the Chinese sesame paste I've seen.

I thought of @Duvel when I saw that first picture. I remember being very impressed with the scenery on the drive to visit Repulse Bay & Stanley and also on Lamma Island but I didn't recognize the exact location and I heard some very confident voices who recognized Portugal

Two more from People's Pops. Roasted Peach & Bourbon. This was a big hit last year so I had to repeat it. A little melty-looking, as is usually the case with the boozy pops as they melt so quickly. I'll try using lukewarm water to unmold these next time. Peaches & Cream: A modification of the recipe for Roasted Yellow Peach Pops, pouring a little heavy cream into the molds as is done for the other _____& cream pops, though I added a bit more this time. I considered infusing the cream with vanilla but decided to stick to plain. Maybe next time. The freezer is reaching capacity. I'm hoping to lure some friends over for after-dinner popsicles tonight

Happy Shopping! The Blueberry Chutney from Deep Run Roots is also excellent (I loved it on salmon), as are the other blueberry recipes I've tried from that book. The Blueberry-Rosemary Breakfast Pudding is delicious - a little savory from the rosemary with a delicious crunch from the sugar sprinkled over the top. The Blueberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Sugar Cookie Crust is a fun variation. The Blueberries & Cucumbers with Pistachios and Yogurt is a light and delicious salad. The Crab Hoecakes with Blueberry Corn Salsa were fun, though maybe not worth the fiddling to get the hoecakes right (cornmeal issue). I'm still looking for an opportunity to make those Blueberry, Buttermilk and Lime Parfaits....

I was expecting friends to pick me up for a dinner out so I skipped lunch. Dressed and ready to go. Waiting. Check text messages. Ooops - that's tomorrow ! Too hangry to cook so....reimagined leftovers: Sautéed some shrimp in butter and garlic, steamed broccoli and tossed with leftover lemon-pistachio couscous.

Inspired by @Anna N's post over here, I riffed on the same recipe for Baked Kashkaval with Sweet Tomato Relish and Egg Yolks from Michael Solomonov's Zahav. No Kashkaval here so I used a mix of Cabot extra sharp cheddar, Gruyere and Taleggio cheeses and added uncalled for avocado, cilantro and a dusting of smoked paprika.

After @ElsieD mentioned the sous vide sausages last week, I took a package of brats from the freezer and cooked them direct from frozen @ 150°F/66°C for ~ 2.5 hrs. I didn't have any beer so they went into the bag solo. I finished one on the stovetop and put the rest into the fridge. The best part was reheating and browning those leftovers in the CSO at the same time I was thawing and baking one of the par-baked ciabatta rolls from TJ's. I put the sausage on a piece of foil and put the roll directly on the rack next to it. The rolls take ~ 12 min from frozen on steam-bake @ 425°F while the sausage sizzled and browned next to it. Easy peasy. Now I need more brats so I can try it with beer.

I know, I was cringing most of the time watching it!

The other day, I was invited to join friends for dinner and I brought a selection of popsicles for dessert. I was asked if I'd tried making tomato pops. I had not but decided I should try. These are paletas de sangrita (spiced tomato-tequila pops) from Fany Gerson's Paletas. Made with fresh tomatoes, simple syrup, tequila, lime juice and Valentina hot sauce (she specifies choosing one that's not too vinegary.) I peeled the tomatoes but didn't remove the seeds. They are very interesting to eat - sweet, tart, spicy and a little boozy! I learned a lesson here. See how the top of these sangrita pops look more melty compared to the end with the stick. That's because I didn't have quite enough warm water when I dipped the molds so the bottoms melted while the top of the mold stayed frozen and wouldn't release. I will pay more attention to that next time. The wife of the friend who asked about the tomato pops loves avocados so I also made paletas de aguacate (avocado pops), again from the Paletas cookbook. Avocado, sugar syrup, lime juice and a pinch of salt. These are cool, rich and creamy with just a little tartness from the lime. I'd say these are best made with very ripe, creamy Haas avocados. Finally my own invention: Cucumber Mojito Pops. Puréed cucumber, mint-infused simple syrup and rum. I added some little cubes of diced cucumber and finely shredded mint leaves to the molds. The diced cucumber cubes were a good addition - kind of like tiny ice cubes in your drink. The mint looks pretty but it doesn't add any punch of flavor and they have an unpleasantly limp texture so I'll leave them out next time. And there will be a next time as I liked these a lot.

From the previous post, it doesn't sound like @Anna N would turn one down!

The Spice House is having a 15% off sale tomorrow: Free shipping on U.S. orders over $45.

Not sure if this has been mentioned here but it appears the Instant Pot people plan to introduce a mini 3qt Instant Pot, currently priced at $69 on Amazon.com (CDN$89 on Amazon.ca) Blogger "This Old Gal" has a review up on her site with some comparison photos.

The last slice of the Taleggio & spinach roulade from Ottolenghi's Plenty More with the grated carrot salad from David Lebovitz's My Paris Kitchen The roulade was cut into serving-size slices and frozen, reheated in the CSO and sliced on the diagonal. Grated carrot salad was made, as specified in the cookbook, with an authentic French Mouli-juilenne:

Seared tuna with preserved lemon, olives & avocado from Diana Henry's Simple along with lemon-pistachio Israeli couscous from David Lebovitz's My Paris Kitchen.

That TJ's calamari has been around in my TJ's at least since last Nov when I mentioned them here. I hope it will continue even though I find it rather dangerous to keep on hand as it's ready to eat in 10 min or less!