blue_dolphin

Today, the NPR radio program On Point devoted time to a discussion related to this topic: Tips to get cooking. The show link has quite a few feedback comments and links to a few related articles, including the NYT article that started this thread. One of the guests was co-founder of Pantry, a service in Brookline, Mass that sounds similar to Anna N's idea: Pantry is a bricks and mortar location where one can pick up a recipe and all the fixings. Apparently, it's also possible to have one of the take-out delivery services like Grubhub deliver to your home. In the interview, she said the stores also sell pots, pans, knives, etc. that would be needed to prepare the recipes. They also offer knife skills classes for both adults and kids. It's all local, no long distance shipping. @rotuts, since you are in the Boston area, I challenge you to make your way to Brookline one of these days, pay these folks a visit and report back to us. Please? You don't need to actually buy anything. Just have a look-see for us. Pretty please? I also look forward to your reports, @Anna N!

I saw this Pineapple Vinegar Vinaigrette with Stoneground Mexican Chocolate the other day on the Rancho Gordo website. Chocolate??? in a vinaigrette??? I was very curious what it would taste like so I mixed some up and made a salad for lunch. The flavor is interesting. In a good way . I can't really taste either pineapple or chocolate (maybe a little chocolate on the aftertaste) and even though I could see fine particles in the jar I used to mix the dressing, there is no sense of grittiness from the chocolate. Mixed greens, roasted asparagus, cara cara orange, red onion, red bell pepper and toasted slivered almonds.

I am working on my taxes at the moment so any spending will have to wait to see how things come out. One way or the other, I will want a drink !

I was inspired by the smoked salmon cream cheese English muffin @Anna N had for breakfast yesterday. Having neither salmon nor English muffins, I mixed up a smoked trout spread with cream cheese, crème fraîche, capers, shallot, red bell pepper, parsley, lemon juice and smoked trout. Sliced and toasted a rosemary roll and roasted some asparagus. I would never try to roast such skinny asparagus in the oven but 10 min of steam-bake in the Cuisi oven did them up just fine.

This is good to know. For some reason, I assumed it needed to be frozen and didn't want to dedicate the freezer space in my always overcrowded little refrigerator. Maybe I should get one after all.....

Nice summary of the various points of view in that NYT response article. I have a lot of friends who use these services and are delighted with them. A few years ago, one friend sent me a freebie for 3 Blue Apron meals so I tried it. If you take a look at the recipe card from one of the meals I got, Braised Pork Chops & Roasted Leeks with Cherry Gastrique over Kasha, you can see that the directions and photos are pretty clear and could be used to guide or teach a less experienced cook. My experience was favorable. I specifically chose meals that were different from what I would usually cook. It was a treat to come home from work and have the chance to cook something new, knowing that everything was on hand. I added more vegetables to each meal but many would be happy without that addition. I was pleased with the quality of the ingredients and the flavor of the finished dishes. I found the amount of packaging distressing, though as @KennethT noted, that comes along with take-out, delivery and other packaged meals too. In the original article, I was glad to see that the companies are working on that. I may have said this on another thread, but I think it would be fun to pair this sort of service with a new cookbook that featured an unfamiliar cuisine so you'd get the ingredients and recipes for a number of meals from a specific cookbook. Some of the celebrity chefs who have cookbooks out are already partnering with these services so it seems like a logical step.

Pandora's Box: Readers respond...

I love that idea! The first Chinese dish I learned to cook was squid and green bell peppers with fermented black beans and garlic. I never thought of tweaking it into a noodle or pasta dish but I bet it would be great. Thanks!

I hope you get the assistance from an international member that you are seeking. In the meantime, I cut a slice through a locally grown California lemon that I juiced a little while ago. The pith was probably somewhat compressed by the citrus reamer so it may originally have been a bit thicker but I think you can see that the thickness of the pith falls within the range that you cited. With some variation, I'd say this one averages ~ 8 mm or 3/8 inch. I do see lemons with thicker pith. As @andiesenji said, it's usually the larger, bumpier ones.

Smörgåsbord of leftovers for breakfast, aka "refrigerator clean up." The last wedge of spinach quiche, chicken on toasted sourdough made with the last of a roasted chicken thigh and some leftover potato and asparagus salad on arugula:

I can't complain about the weather here, it's almost always exceedingly pleasant and enables the growing of all sorts of edible plants but amen to balancing things out a little!

Wow. I'm curious what you thought when you saw that cover. It looks so real, like a book left upside down on a table, the reader called away unexpectedly. And it has YOUR name on it! Wow! How does that feel? Is it any more real to see this than all the work crafting these recipes and notes and the endless files you've been sharing back and forth with editors, proof-readers, photographers and who knows how many others? Well, I'm impressed, even if your eyes have glazed over by this point !

@AlaMoi, can I ask what candied peel recipes have you tried and what citrus you have used in your efforts to replicate the confection you were served and how have they failed to measure up to the original? I only ask as it may help narrow down the options.

It's 95 here at the moment. My plants are shriveling.... But we have a small chance of rain on Friday and an excellent chance Saturday - bring it on!

Thank you! I'd been intimidated by the big racks of ribs that I usually see for sale so I was delighted to spot that small package yesterday. It's in the 80s here today (cooling down later in the week) so it was fun to make a summery sort of meal in honor of the weather.

I made myself a feast for lunch today. Instant Pot sticky marmalade glazed baby back ribs with a potato and asparagus salad dressed with that same Saveur crème fraîche and preserved lemon dressing that I used on the green salad yesterday:

At long last, I have completed my Instant Pot curriculum, originally posted here back in Nov. My IP starter list: Rice The mac & cheese that Anna N made from this site Beans - I saved the handy Rancho Gordo bean list. I have not been a fan of PC beans in the past, but I liked the Deborah Madison suggestion that RG passed along to cook unsoaked beans 20' in the PC and then 20' with the lid off. Grains - I made some wheat berries recently that took a long time to cook and would like to replicate that recipe in the IP Edited to add: the whole pumpkin à la hummingbirdkiss Kenji's Pressure Cooker Ragù Bolognese - this one will require some shopping so not sure how long it will take me to get to it And of course, RIBS! Of course, I've used it for lots of things in the meantime but I finally got around to the ribs! Nothing really new here, but it's sort of my IP graduation so I'm documenting it for you here. Yesterday, I noticed these nice little small packages of baby back ribs and I figured they were quite approachable for a solo eater. I used the method from the basic NPR pressure cooker ribs and the ingredients from this Sticky Marmalade Glazed Ribs recipe from Food & Wine because I have lots of marmalade. Lots. . The rub was just ground fennel seed, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Here they are at the end of the IP cook: And after glazing and some time in the Cuisi oven: Finally, on the plate for my graduation lunch, served with IP cooked potato salad with asparagus and red bell pepper on a bed of arugula:

Replying to myself, in the interest of anyone else who finds themselves in possession of pink lemons and wants a Pink Breakfast Martini.... 50 ml gin 15 ml Cointreau 15 ml lemon juice 3 ml Campari 1 teaspoon lemon marmalade Just enough Campari to match the pink lemons. Not enough to stand out above the bitter and sweet from the marmalade but I thought it tasted a little more balanced. Or maybe I just liked the color !

I roasted a couple of chicken thighs in my 8" cast iron skillet to see how it would work. Since the skillet needs to be quite off-center to accommodate the handle, I thought the cooking might be very uneven but this was not the case. This should be helpful in the future if I want to use the drippings from Cuisi-roasted meat or bird to make a pan sauce. 2 thighs, glazed with lemon-rosemary marmalade, whole grain mustard and a little caramelized onion a la Nigel Slater: In to the oven (the very, very dirty oven... I should probably turn that light on more often ) on steam-bake @ 425 deg F for 30 min: I turned the pan once, at the halfway point. I forgot to take a picture when they came out but it seemed like there was sufficient circulation to avoid hot spots along the edges. You can see one on my plate, over here in the Dinner thread. Of course, I should have roasted the thighs nekkid for ultimate crispy skin, poured out the fat and added the marmalade and mustard to the pan drippings with a little wine or something to make a pan sauce in that skillet on the stove but I was wasn't thinking beyond the cooking step. At least I know I have the tools and next time.... Edited to add that after I finished posting, I went ahead and deglazed the pan with a little orange juice and white wine and it did indeed make a nice pan sauce.

Mmmmm, those oysters and crusty bread look wonderful, @HungryChris! Is that maybe a chilled glass of crisp white wine on the side? I would certainly be pleased to call that "happy hour" my dinner and go home happy! A roasted chicken thigh glazed with mustard and lemon-rosemary marmalade, brown rice and steamed broccoli dressed with this crème fraîche and preserved lemon dressing from Saveur that I had leftover from my salad at lunch.

I made the homemade crème fraîche described in the recipe but after doing so, I think I could just as well have used some of the Mexican crema I had on hand in the fridge. One nice thing about that recipe was how easy it was to make a smaller volume: 1/4 c crème fraîche, 1T lemon juice, 1T oil, scant 1T minced preserved lemon, S&P, all into a little jar and shake. Easy peasy.

They are pretty, aren't they? They're "Pink Lemonade" lemons, a gift from a friend It's a variegated pink fleshed Eureka lemon. The fruits taste like a regular Eureka lemon but both the leaves and the fruit are variegated so it's a very attractive tree. The juice is a very pale pink and I was tempted to try a drop of Campari or Aperol to make the drink look more like the juice. Maybe next time !

Sunday brunch cocktail, a Breakfast Martini. I substituted my homemade lemon rosemary marmalade for the orange marmalade called for and dropped a sprig of rosemary into the shaker. It's sweet, sour, bitter, herbal and goes down all too easily!

Lorna Doone's and Social Tea's are my favorite grocery store plain cookies but I might prefer a snappy ginger cookie like Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snaps. If you don't want ginger in there, the French butter cookies, La Grande Galette would be a treat.

Honestly, even when I was purchasing these some of these convenience items, that I was quite delighted to find, I wondered if the check-out clerks were thinking that I had more dollars than cents sense, if you know what I mean.