blue_dolphin

Bastardized Butternut Bottoms! Oh my!

Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence has geek written all over it! Jeffrey Morgenthaler's The Bar Book spends quite a bit of time on juices, syrups, infusions, etc.

I don't have any expert answers to your query, @helenjp, but it inspired me to pick up a few bottles of Beaujolais to 'study' . My wine book (Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible) tells me that while many prefer to drink them as soon as they are released, Beaujolais Cru wines can be kept for 5 yrs or more and Morgon is one of the crus with the most aging potential so while a 2010 Morgon is getting on, it's not unreasonable to think it could still be drinkable and even enjoyable. The book also says that much modern, commercial Beaujolais stretches vines for max yields, adds sugar to compensate for underripe grapes and filters "severely" so it will be completely stable. In comparison, old-style Beaujolais is produced using low-yield grapes, no additional sugar and filtered "lightly if at all," so it would seem that an unfiltered Beaujolais Cru could be a traditional product. My local wine megamart had a dozen or so Beaujolais Cru wines. None specified "unfiltered" on their labels. I picked up 2 Morgons, 2012 and 2014, and a Fleurie, 2013. I'm curious to taste them. Back to the filtering question. There are those that believe filtering can strip wines of flavor and body, although this article says that the limited studies performed show no conclusive evidence either way with respect to taste. I have had unfiltered wines and they were fine. I don't specifically seek them out but I've tasted them during winery visits. Here's an unfiltered white from Booker in Paso Robles, CA: Not sure this photo adds much to the discussion but does show the cloudiness of an unfiltered wine. I took the photo during a visit to the winery in 2011 when I purchased a bottle of this wine and an unfiltered rosé. I've had later releases from the winery that were filtered so it's possible the wine maker was just playing around, although it seems like unfiltered or lightly filtered Beaujolais Cru wines could be a real artisanal product.

Squash soup du yesterjour. Today's toast, with brie and pickled cranberries, got a quick run under the broiler - just enough to make the cheese all melty.

I see your point, though it's never bothered me. Over on Serious Eats, Kenji gives the nod to the Breville model that displays the info you want, along with additional info. With my nearsighted eyes, I'd need to get closer to read the display than to see the IP sensor has dropped . And it's more than twice the price but if it's important to you, it may be the way to go.

I was reminded of @chromedome's mention of molasses storage tanks when I read this story in the NYT: Solving a Mystery Behind the Deadly ‘Tsunami of Molasses’ of 1919 , about recent student research to understand why the incident was so deadly. Not particularly related to cooking but certainly on-topic for a molasses thread !

Almost instant roasted squash soup from fridge contents: leftover roasted butternut squash, roasted onions with sage, a small clove of confit garlic, a bit of roasted red pepper from a jar. Not shown are the last of a bag of frozen chicken stock, a little water and a squirt of sriracha. Served with a dollop of sour cream. Should have thought to thaw out one of those little loaves of roasted onion and sage quick bread. Only so much thinking I can do before breakfast and the toast was nice!

A friend gave me a bunch of them from her garden here in So Ca not long ago. No hard frosts here but also no ill effects for me.

Yep. It's $68.95 a Black Friday deal of the day, on now.

Funny you should mention this as I just saw a little video how-to for using brown butter candles to sauce food at the table. Sounds a bit messy to me!

I posted a polenta-crusted quiche over in the breakfast thread but I thought I'd mention the crust here since the IP made it super easy. You do need a fresh batch of polenta since it has to be shaped before it sets up. Pre-IP, I would never bother stirring a batch of polenta on the stove just for this. I cooked half a cup of polenta with 1.75 cups of water + 1/2 t salt + ~1 t butter in the IP with the @Anna N pot-in-pot method, 15 min high pressure, slow release. I poured the polenta into a greased 9.5 inch pyrex pie pan and used a silicone spatula to spread it across the bottom and up the sides. Once it cooled, I used lightly oiled fingertips to even things out. Here's the crust, pre-bake: I baked it at 400 deg F in a convection until the rim just started to brown lightly. I forgot to note the exact time but it was in the 20 - 30 min range. I took 2 steps to avoid a leaky crust. Not sure if they were necessary. First, I gave the baked crust an egg wash and put it back in the oven for 1-2 min to set the egg. Then I sprinkled the bottom with about 2 T of grated parmesan cheese and returned it to the oven for a couple more min, until it melted and started to brown. Then I followed my usual quiche protocol with grated cheese, filling and custard. The outer top rim turned out crisp (needed a sharp knife to cut), the bottom and sides were crisp before I filled it but after baking it softened up. It still holds together well enough to slice and serve without falling apart. That little layer of parm might be helping stabilize the bottom. You can see that thin layer of browned cheese just above the bottom crust in the photo above.

I used the rest of my leftover sausage/kale/leek/squash filling to make a polenta-crusted quiche: With sliced persimmon from last week's farmers market:

Listening to a recent Cooking Issues podcast, Dave Arnold mentioned they will be floating a Black Friday pre-order price of $699 for his 500 ml food centrifuge, named the Spinzall. They won't actually be manufacturing unless they hit a target # of pre-orders. If they do, he estimated a June 2017 delivery timeframe. He said that the centrifuge will work in Europe with an adapter. According to Eater, the MSRP will be $999. Pre-ordering will go live through Modernist Pantry on Friday. Until it does, you can see a rather obstructed view of the video on this splash page. Not really in my budget but it would be fun to play with.

Breakfast eggstravganza.....aka leftovers with a poached egg on top. A few squares of broiled polenta with some of the spicy sausage, Tuscan kale (avert your eyes, kale-haters ), leek, butternut squash filling I preped yesterday and a lopsided poached egg.

Everything you've shared with us has been amazing but this...THIS is brilliant! I had no idea cheese was so popular in Korea, let alone that one could have melty fondue with spicy hot BBQ. Google tells me versions of this are available at Korean BBQ places in the LA area so I may need to do some more research This is perhaps not a question for this forum, but you've got one or more long haul flights back home and I can't help but wonder how you manage. Some of the big Asian airports have some excellent dining spots. Do you take advantage of them, pack provisions in your carry-on or leave yourself at the mercy of the airlines? Thank you for taking the time to share your travels with us.

It's a really nice combination with the spicy, slightly fatty sausage, sweet, caramelized squash, bitter greens and crisp cheesy topping. I will certainly make it again.

Here we have the Stuffed Butternut Bottoms. I decided half a bottom was sufficient for my lunch, so I cut it in half. The fat, round end of the squash gets de-seeded and baked while you prepare a filling of spicy sausage, leeks, garlic, turnip greens or kale, fontina cheese (I subbed Comté) and some of the squash neck. The stuffed bottoms get topped with panko and parm and go back in the oven. I should have lowered the shelf of my CSO or paid more attention (or both) as the topping got a bit too brown. Good stuff though. I only used cooked one squash but made up the full recipe of stuffing so I have that to play with....pasta? risotto? something to sit under a poached egg? Hmmmm.....

It seems to be the convention around here that cookbook discussion goes here in the Cookbooks and References forum but actual cooking discussion tends to be in a separate thread in the Cooking forum. I went ahead and started a "Cooking from Deep Run Roots" thread over in the cooking forum. In part to comply with eG convention and in part to possibly generate some more interest in the book from folks who might not look over here. Cook and post away !

I and others have already posted a number of dishes in the Deep Run Roots thread in the cookbook forum but I suppose we should follow convention and have a proper thread here in the cooking forum so here goes. Everyone cooking from this book is more than welcome to join in! Playing catch-up, in the other thread, I posted about cooking: Roasted and Fresh Tomato Pie Jalapeño Peach Chicken Pork and Red Curry-Braised Watermelon Elbow Lick Tomato Sandwich with smoked corn mayo as did @Steve Irby in this post Watermelon Rind Pickles Party Magnet Cheeseball The vanilla pecan butter from Breakfast in the Car The Kitchen Sink Mayo from the Fried Popcorn Oysters and Kitchen-Sink Mayo recipe Fried Chicken Livers with Balsamic-Marinated Figs Marinated turnips with orange and pumpkin seeds @gfweb posted about making Roasted Grapes, Brussels Sprouts and Sausage @Shelby posted about the Creamed Collards with Pickled Collard Stems, as did @Anna N in this post. @Okanagancook posted about the Gumbo Sauce with shrimp and grits @Anna N posted about the Every Day Cucumbers @Steve Irby posted about the Grits, Green and Pork Rinds If I missed any cooking efforts from that cookbook thread, it was unintentional. I aim to be inclusive!

I have to say that the sage might not be the very best choice. I do love it in the roasted onions that I used for the recipe and I didn't want to add yet another flavor. I've enjoyed the bread but it makes me think of turkey stuffing a bit more more than I would like. Maybe it's the season ! Edited to add: maybe I should try it with a bit of cranberry sauce on top to complete the effect!

I'll put in a plug here for a recipe that @Anna N referenced over in the Savory Baking topic. She used it to make a jalapeño cheese and chipotle bread but the recipe is very flexible, listing 10 sweet and savory variations and giving guidelines for using other ingredients. It's this Buttermilk Quick Bread with 10 Variations. I've only made a savory version with roasted onions and parmesan cheese but I think it would be a fun recipe to play around with. Maybe mango, coconut and macadamia nuts?

Dang! I can imagine the small size would be a boon in the confines of the Princessmobile. Oh well, next year!

Marinated turnips with orange and pumpkin seeds: In this recipe, both the thinly sliced roots and blanched turnip greens get marinated together in the dressing (fresh ginger, scallion, garlic, orange zest & juice, honey, rice vinegar, soy sauce, hot sauce and olive oil) with orange segments and pumpkin seeds added at serving. I liked the combination of sweet, peppery and crisp turnips and their slightly chewy and bitter greens. Next time, I would dial back on the scallions and/or garlic, maybe substituting shallot for one or both. I used the Hakurei turnips that Vivian recommended in the header notes. The review of Deep Run Roots in the Washington Post says: Now, having read the turnip chapter, it seemed pretty clear to me that for many in Vivian's area, the greens are the star attraction of the turnip plant and they grow some varieties that don't form roots at all. This recipe calls for "turnips with their roots attached," which sounds a little funny if you've only seen the roots but I thought it was pretty clear. All the farmers markets I've been to always have the greens attached to the roots, as was the case with the bunch of white Japanese turnips I bought. Anyway, this is a great make-ahead salad or side dish if you happen to find yourself in possession of young turnips with their roots attached

I was curious to try a savory quick bread so I also used the recipe that @Anna N linked to and @Tri2Cook made with jalapeño and habanero peppers. I diced up some of the roasted onions with sage that I made yesterday, minced some more fresh sage leaves and added half a cup of grated parm. I used the same olive oil that I used in roasting the onions, reduced the sugar to 1T and baked up 3 little loaves. I'd like to try the pepper version but this was nice. I'll wrap 2 of the loaves and freeze them. They are calling out for a bowl of soup so I should make that happen one of these days. Maybe this evening as it's supposed to rain.

Oh, yes indeed! We are finally having some cooler weather so I took advantage by first cooking up some bacon in the oven, followed by a pan of the Roasted Onions with Sage from Deborah Madison's Savory Way cookbook. Oh, the smell was just divine! On toasted ciabatta with a sprinkle of grated parm ....with a glass of red wine.....mmmmmm! Edited to add: In the interest of full disclosure, this happened yesterday. It was a very late lunch. A third piece of toast was prepared and there was more than one glass of red wine. Then there was a nap. No dinner was needed.