blue_dolphin

Thank you - I was thinking of making it my avatar! Eggs purchased at yesterday's farmers market from these folks who pasture their chickens in an orange grove. The chickens control weeds and fertilize the trees. Must be plenty of bugs and stuff for them to produce those pretty golden yolks. With those beautiful fresh eggs, poaching is the only way to go!

Maybe more refurb to come. From this article, 'Smooth sailing for Chi-Cheemaun with steady increase in passengers': Edited to add: And more: Lake Huron ferry undergoes three years of renovations

Host's note: this enticing topic is split into segments to reduce the load on our (web) servers; click here for the previous installment. Po yegg

Great story! Thanks for sharing the saga with us. One note on the last installment: There is no 31st of April

I did finish up a small batch of the watermelon rind pickles and I really like the flavor. My thin-rind watermelon likely gave a maximum yield of fruit but was not the best choice for the pickles but I was curious to try the recipe so I went ahead. I posted a picture of them in the jar over on the preserving thread and on my plate in the breakfast thread. As I mentioned on the preserving thread, I was interested in trying the flavor combination used in the brine: white wine vinegar, sugar, cloves, coriander, star anise, cinnamon stick, ginger, lemon juice and sliced lemon and orange peel and I really like the result. Sadly, I don't think the thin little pickles lend themselves to the bacon wrapped pickle recipe but having enjoyed them along with a slice of prosciutto, I can imagine the combination will be excellent and I hope to try it next summer when watermelons are again in season.

Largely in the interest of trying out some things from the new Deep Run Roots cookbook, I made a couple of small batches - 5 half-pint jars of jalapeño peach glaze and 2 half-pints of watermelon rind pickles. Not the most beautiful of preserves, but I like both of them. The glaze was a good choice for some late season peaches that were less than stellar in texture. I was intrigued by the flavor profile of the watermelon rind pickles (white wine vinegar, sugar, cloves, coriander, star anise, cinnamon stick, ginger, lemon juice and sliced lemon, orange peel) and it did not disappoint. My October watermelon had very thin rind so I ended up with very thin pickles but I will certainly do this again next summer when the melons are in season.

A lightly toasted rosemary parmesan roll with a slice of prosciutto and some of the watermelon rind pickles from the Deep Run Roots cookbook: A little fresh watermelon on the side. In the watermelon episode on A Chef's Life, Vivian visits with a local cook whose grandmother cut the rind for her preserves the size of a biscuit and served them with a slice of country ham. No biscuits nor country ham in the kitchen here, but I thought I'd give it my best effort.

I greatly admire such optimistic spirit - I have difficulty purchasing bananas for next week if they are too green, let alone making a cocktail for next summer! And another thank you for taking us along. I've enjoyed the trip, as I always do.

Thank you for the suggestion! It was very good. I liked the sandwich better than the super drippy tomato version from yesterday and the salad was very good as well. The smoky flavor from the corn really seemed to diffuse through the mayo after sitting overnight. Later today, I went ahead and thinned out some of the smoked corn mayo with some buttermilk and added some more roasted corn to it. I packaged that up in a "salad kit" with a bag of greens, sous vide chicken breasts, cut up red bell pepper, red & yellow tomatoes and pickled onions all in individual containers for my cousin, who just had a baby. That way, they can toss together what they like, when they want it. Early reviews are good on that.

Over on the Deep Run Roots Cookbook thread, I made the Elbow Lick Tomato Sandwich with Smoked Corn Mayo yesterday. @gfweb suggested using the smoked corn mayo in a chicken salad. I am planning to thin the mayo with buttermilk and using it to dress a spinach salad with chicken but I figured I'd try using it to make a small batch of chicken salad to test. Such is the excitement level in my life that I amused myself by fixing two pretty little tasting plates for breakfast. Chicken salad with roasted corn mayo on a plate: Same red Cherokee and yellow pineapple tomatoes and pickled red onion as used in yesterday's sandwich. The chicken salad has celery and red bell pepper for some texture. Chicken salad with roasted corn mayo sandwich on multigrain toast:

I agree. I plan to thin it out with some buttermilk and use it to dress a salad with sous vide chicken breast, baby spinach and some of the tomatoes and pickled red onion leftover from the sandwich. Edited to add: If I had more fresh corn on hand, I'd put some of that in the salad, too.

Yes, do this! For me, the contrast of flavors and textures from the roasted and fresh tomatoes stands out the most when it's hot. When cooled to room temp, they were more melded together, and the sum seemed greater than the separate parts. The bottom crust was still crispy for several hours, though it got pretty mushy after an overnight in the fridge. Today, I made the Elbow Lick Tomato Sandwich and it's also a keeper. The smoked corn mayo is a delicious accompaniment to the tomatoes. On A Chef's Life, she made the sandwich on one of the big round, doughnut-shaped loaves of Sweet Potato and Onion Bread and cut it into individual wedges for serving. I have not tried making the bread yet so I used a loaf of multigrain bread I picked up today at Sprouts. The recipe uses a smoked corn mayonnaise and I have neither a grill nor smoker but I ordered some applewood chips and set up a stovetop smoker in my pressure cooker. Also, I only had 2 ears of corn so I threw some Trader Joe's frozen roasted corn kernels into the bottom of my steamer (smoker???) basket. Here's the before: I took the pressure cooker outside to open it, expecting billows of smoke. It wasn't that bad but you can see a little smoky color on the corn: Sandwich assembly: The recipe says to 'slather' the bread with the mayo and with the corn kernels in the mayo, you are guaranteed a fairly thick layer. I used slices of Cherokee and yellow pineapple tomatoes, plus the pickled onions included in the recipe. The sandwich: The Elbow Lick name is very appropriate. Eat this one outside or with plenty of napkins at the ready - 3 layers of juicy tomatoes does not make a dainty tea sandwich! Before making this, I thought I might want to sneak in some crispy bacon, but no, it's perfect just like it is.

Ahhh, this visit has been short, but certainly sweet thus far. I always enjoy going along on these trips. Before we leave, I have to say that every time I see this thread, I read it as "Meowing in Manitoulin" - guess I have kittens on the brain !

Ditto what @Anna N said, @Shelby! I don't know what the occasion was, but you have my congratulations and sincere best wishes for many more dinners like that one!

The watermelon chapter.....part 1 BLUF - that Pork with Red Curry-Braised Watermelon is a keeper! Here's my little 5 pounder watermelon, purchased in October because of my desire to try the recipe for Pork and Red Curry-Braised Watermelon. I wanted to try it since the Watermelon episode aired a few weeks ago but haven't seen a watermelon in the stores or farmers markets in ages and figured I'd have to wait until next year. Then I picked up this puppy at Trader Joe's last week and figured I'd have a look-see before committing to the recipe. As you can see, the skin is quite thin, so I wasn't sure if pickled watermelon rind will happen or not. I remembered that in the TV episode, there was mention of watermelon preserves made with rind chunks the size of a biscuit, to be served on a biscuit with a slice of country ham. So I went ahead and cut the thickest parts of the thin rind into slabs and I'll try making a mini batch of the pickle. The melon flesh is certainly not as flavorful as a summer melon but the texture is good, juicy and crisp with a sweet watermelon flavor. Not mealy at all. Here's the watermelon rind ready for an overnight in the fridge in a salt brine. At least I should be able to see if I like the flavor balance in Vivian's pickle recipe. Given the strong flavors (vinegar, honey, red curry paste, fish sauce) in the pork dish, I don't think a slightly toned-down watermelon is going to detract from anything so I'll go ahead with that as well. The cookbook calls for pork shoulder or blade steaks while the recipe from the TV episode used country-style pork ribs. All the pork shoulder steaks at the stores I visited were cut very thin so I went with these country-style ribs, which are rather bigger than I usually see but I believe they will be good for a braise.. The top 2 here are boneless and ~ 12 oz each. The bottom one, with the bone, is 16 oz. I decided to use the one with the bone in a half-scaled recipe and freeze the other two for later. I browned the meat in a cast-iron skillet and put the whole thing into the Cuisi steam oven instead of cranking up the big oven. Here we are out of the oven: And on the plate, atop some IP-cooked brown rice for a late lunch: Very nice balance of flavors - spicy, sweet and tart. Yum! Vivian said everyone would think the watermelon was a tomato. To me, it's sweeter and has a different texture than tomato but I would never guess watermelon! Put this one on your list to try when you find a good melon.

I thought that sounded good as well. Last year, I made some pickled winter squash and was rather ambivalent on them. I'd certainly give these a try to see if I like them better.

I do hope you won't make us wait that long to hear the results !

That fried zucchini looks great - I'd be happy with a plate like that any time of day! Open face BLT on toasted ciabatta. This was about the delicious Cherokee tomato. The crispy bacon served as the perfect garnish.

Today, I set out to make the Jalapeño Peach Chicken, essentially either chicken wings or drumsticks roasted with a jalapeño peach glaze. I was delighted that the recipe made enough glaze for several jars but I was very peeved by my peaches as at least half of them had gone brown in the middle. I know late season peaches are a crap shoot but I figured a recipe for a glaze like this could tolerate fruit that lacked perfect texture. I just didn't expect so many totally crappy peaches - yuck! Luckily, I had extra peaches and salvaged enough for the recipe. It came out OK but would probably be better with perfect fruit. Here's the peaches, jalapeños, onion and ginger ready to go: And a few wings, cooked in the Cuisi steam oven. I put them on broil just a bit too long at the end . They were OK - moist, well-cooked chicken with a sweet-spicy glaze. I'd probably prefer regular, crispy-skin CSO thighs served with some grilled or broiled peaches that had been brushed with the glaze. I also made a deconstructed version of the Pecan, Pepper Jelly and Stinky Cheese Panini that appears in the pecan chapter. The recipe calls for spreading the bread with the glaze, a layer of cheese and some chopped Salt & Butter Roasted Pecans and cooking it like a grilled cheese sandwich. The triple-crème Brie I used was so melty that I figured it would ooze out all over the place if I tried to make a grilled sandwich so I just topped it with some of the jalapeño peach glaze and nibbled the salted, roasted pecans separately. The spicy-sweet-tart glaze is a perfect partner for the rich cheese.

Welcome to the club !

Maybe check out Modernist Cuisine at Home - no weird ingredients in that mashed potato recipe.

Me three. Growing up, we had yellow wax beans from our garden and called them butterbeans.

I've never had fresh-picked baby limas and will give Vivian the benefit of the doubt that they are somehow different from the frozen baby limas I've had. I have no plans to try and obtain them or try any of the recipes, with the possible exception of the butterbean hummus.

Did you read the whole section? She explains how she learned that her beloved butterbeans, something she thought unique and so very special to her home, are indeed immature limas, picked very young, before they mature into the dreaded limas. Sounds like she was rather crushed to learn the fact.

Thank you! It is very tasty. It's rather a lot of cooking for a summer recipe, between the caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, pie crust, etc. I usually keep caramelized onions in the freezer (assuming I can find them ) and I think this dish could be made successfully by roasting good canned tomatoes and using some really nice cherry or plum tomatoes for the fresh ones. Of course, I haven't tried it and it might not be as good, but I think it would still give a good tomato-y flavor!