blue_dolphin

I don't have a Breville but I do the same thing with convection in my CSO and I use a pizza screen (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) instead of a baking sheet to improve air circulation and make turning or flipping unnecessary. The small size of the CSO is a benefit here because it only needs a few min to pre-heat. I have struggled to understand how much better a dedicated air fryer would be for the sorts of things that I cook regularly.

One day when I was sick recently, I had a notion that a pepperoni pizza would taste good so the other day when I went to TJ's I picked up a blob of their pizza dough and some pepperoni. Today, I used half of the dough, sauce from the freezer, mozz, pep and made myself this little 10-incher.

I'm another farro fan. I love the chewy texture. I use it mostly in salads/grain bowls but also in soups or as a simple side. This cabbage and farro soup, adapted from Josh McFadden's Six Seasons is super easy, very warming and comforting.

This was my most minimal version for lazy people. Put some kimchi and kimchi juice in a bowl. Use kitchen shears to chop it up fairly finely right in the bowl to avoid a stinky cutting board and wastage of kimchi juice. Add mayo to make a dressing. Can be mostly mayo with a little kimchi or mostly kimchi with a little mayo. Toss with finely sliced cabbage of any sort. That's it. Less minimal would include julienne carrots, multiple types of cabbage, or even Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced green onions, sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, gochugaru, etc. but minimal gets the job done. Today's lunch. Spaghetti with tomato sauce and hot Italian sausage. Hit the spot.

A small dish of ACV with a drop or two of dish soap makes a fine trap for fruit flies.

Salmon sando with red cabbage kimchi slaw

@gfron1, this is more Singaporean than Chinese but have you looked at Christopher Tan's books, The Way of Kueh: Savoring & Saving Singapore's Heritage Desserts, Nerd Baker: Extraordinary Recipes, Stories & Baking Adventures from a True Oven Geek and his most recent, Nerd Baker 2: Tales from the Yeast Indies or reached out to him with your query? He's @thewayofkueh on Instagram and seems like he might be receptive to such a question. Edited to add that I started following him on IG a couple of years ago, when Elizabeth Haigh's cookbook, Makan, was withdrawn amid charges of plagiarism. I don't recall whether his work was involved or he was just speaking out at the time but he's been interesting to follow.

First cup of coffee of the new year! Toasted English muffin with peanut butter & banana and prunes

First thing I've cooked this year, actually made a couple of days ago but it's the breakfast that keeps on giving 🤣. InstantPot apple cinnamon steel-cut oats with a sprinkle of sweet-spicy pecans. I used this recipe, that starts with toasting the oats in a bit of butter before adding the liquid. I omitted the brown sugar but subbed a cup of TJ's spicy cider for some of the water. I tend to more savory breakfasts but this was pleasantly warming.

I've got a lot of limes falling off my tree and am planning to try this dupe of Roses lime marmalade. I may have to do the chopping in stages but that should be fine. A few years ago, I made and very much enjoyed David Lebovitz's pink grapefruit marmalade and I should make another batch this year. There's a farmer at my local farmers market who grows Seville-type oranges and will bring them to market on request. Haven't been up to going to the market lately but I'll try to hit him up next week. Later in the season, I'll go up to the Ojai farmers market some Sunday AM for some of the more speciality citrus varieties. I know you've got this sorted out, or nearly so, but I'm curious about your comment that no matter what temp you use, it doesn't set. I always use David Lebovitz's guidelines of 218ºF/103ºC and haven't failed to get a good set. What's the top temp you've targeted?

My plan was to make Accara, the West African fritters that, similar to falafel, are made with soaked beans, ground, seasoned, shaped, fried and served with a dipping sauce. If I don’t feel up to making the fritters, I’ll at least cook up a little dish of BEP!

My oven goes to 550°F when I'm making pizza on a steel that's about 5 inches below the broiler. If I left the parchment in the whole time, the exposed edges would surely disintegrate. My parchment is unbleached so it starts out brown and gets browner but retains enough strength that I can pull it out from under the pizza after somewhere between 10-30 sec. I agree about giving it a try. It looks like one could pick up that ceramic stone by the handles and remove it from the oven quickly with sturdy mitts if it seemed like ignition was likely.

I'm not sure exactly what that is, how high the temps are or where the paper would be with respect to the heating elements but I sometimes do what you describe - shape the pizza on a piece of parchment on the peel, deposit it on the steel in the oven and pull the parchment out after about 5 sec.

Yes, thanks for the update, @HKDave! Coincidentally, I was listening to an interview with the father-son duo Jeffrey and Kevin Pang, who moved from Hong Kong to Canada years ago and now make YouTube cooking videos and have published a cookbook. The younger Pang described a dish of Hong Kong-Style Portuguese Chicken with origins in Macau: As you might expect, it’s quite different from the recipes you shared, no chile, no peanut, with curry powder and condensed chicken soup, but clearly a version with good memories for one family. Edited to add that their family recipe is at the interview link I shared above and here in their video:

The eggnog is not blue. Apparently I need better lighting in there by the fireplace. Since I was sipping the nog slowly, I placed 2 ice cubes into the glass to keep it cool and you can see one bobbing on top. I'll consider this creative advice and see what I can do though it sounds like a potential choking hazard!

In my experience, the older they are, the longer they take to cook. Big beans, even more. I dunno how much time you have or how important it is not to waste your time vs the beans but there is likely hope for the them. Today, I cooked a pot of rather vintage Rancho Gordo scarlet runner beans for longer than I've ever cooked a bean but they got there. Also a bigger bean and one with a reputation for long cook times. I soaked them overnight, gave them a good 10 min boil on the stovetop, then put them in the oven. I was shocked how crunchy they were after 2 hrs and 3. Four hours was an improvement. Six hrs and they're pretty good. Either keep going, pull them out and re-start tomorrow, dump them in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot or just dump them if you don’t have the time/patience.

I received one of these Breville Milk Cafe frothers (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) for a Christmas gift a few years ago. I drink my coffee black, have never found a use for it and have failed at every attempt to give it away. Finally found a good use! I tried Uncle Pete's improved Amaro Latte recipe from his video and it's quite a tasty warm dessert drink, if a bit on the sweet side. His template: 1.5 oz Whole Milk 1 oz Amaro .25 oz Liqueur 1 Barspoon Homey Syrup (2:1) Foam/heat with a milk frother. I used Averna and Mr. Black coffee liqueur per the video. Since I don't have an espresso machine with a steam want, I used that Breville frother and it worked very well. Would like to play around with other combos. My only issue is that I need to make a double in order to reach the minimum fill like on the frother I have. Oh well 🙃

Second day of Christmas...first breakfast: I love them, too! I have two of those Waechtersbach red tree mugs and two of the green ones with candy canes and love getting them out every year! There's a cute cat design for Christmas that I've been tempted to spring for but it's rare to find usable mugs in any of their Christmas designs at a reasonable price as they do chip easily. For example, I'd pay this price on eBay, but they're marked for display only due to cracks, etc.

Third breakfast: Eggnog (per Jeffery Morganthaler), @JAZ's spicy sweet nuts made with pecans and more coffee.

Second breakfast: Honeyed sausages with Blackberry and Caraway Slaw from Diana Henry's book, Simple, crusty whole grain sourdough and bubbles. I made the slaw for last night's Christmas Even dinner. Freshly tossed with the dressing it's a perky salad and more slaw-ish after sitting. Good both ways.

First breakfast: Christmas cookies from the tin my cousin gave me last night and a mug of black coffee. Merry Christmas!

If you're adding fruit and nuts (I'm partial to apples and grapes) to chicken salad, consider making it a curry chicken salad. Just toast some curry powder lightly to bring out the flavors and mix with your mayo.

I just watched that yesterday. Do report back when you make it!

Quoting myself here to report that I just realized that I need to go to the store for blackberries, red cabbage, and spinach. I'd expected to get all of them at Thursday's farmers market but the rain kept a bunch of vendors away. Others kept all their produce in their trucks so you had to recognize them and ask for stuff. In any case, I'm now debating whether I should try Sprouts late tonight or first thing tomorrow AM. Arrrrgh! Also, I have done zero decorating aside from setting up an Advent wreath. I thought I'd eventually get in the spirit, but it hasn't happened. The last candle gets lit tomorrow morning, then BOOM, it's already Christmas Eve! Yesterday, my cousin invited herself and husband over on the day after Christmas to exchange gifts. Do you think I can convince them that I was super-efficient and took down all the decorations so quickly? Me, who usually leaves everything up until Epiphany? 🤣

I've never done it but I'd totally be up for removing the skin, crisping it up in the toaster oven or even a skillet and using it as a decadent salad topper!