blue_dolphin

Interesting little tidbit from @rancho_gordo in a bean club discussion. He said they monitor the moisture level in their beans as they are drying, targeting a level that's good for the home cook. He described visiting Italy and seeing beans being dried much more than that because the farmers wanted to avoid even the slightest chance mold, etc. My take-home, without any actual testing on my part, was that there might indeed be beans that would benefit from a nice soak if the goal is a completely smooth, evenly creamy purée with no firm bits.

Used some of the pickled shiso leaves in this Quinoa Bowl With Jammy Eggs & Pickled Shiso They're a great salty, tangy little condiment. The recipe said to use one piece and I suppose it may depend on the size of the leaves, but I used several in my bowl. I'll make more.

Some granola recipes use egg white to help bind the bits together. Or a couple of tablespoons of ground flaxseeds mixed with the same amount of water to make a slurry. You could try subbing one of those for part of your maple syrup.

I'm afraid I'm no help. There's a local farm that grows the peppers and sells a small quantity but I've never managed to get any from them. This would probably be a good time for me to ask again. Boonville Barn also sells their own California-grown stuff. I ended up getting a little 15g jar at a local gourmet/import shop. It seemed reasonable, compared with airfare to the south of France, but I do tend to hoard it!

Eric Kim's Rosé Shrimp from NYT Cooking. The shrimp come out really nice and shrimpy and the orange zest and piment d’Espelette work really well together. Next time, I'll have this with crusty bread to sop up the sauce instead of diluting it with the pasta.

Fly tying was my first thought, as this one is described but you are quite correct that it's really a general purpose "helping hands (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)" sort of thing. Edited to add that with all these stunning food and drink photos, I can't believe I'm choosing to comment on a piece of vintage table decor 🙄 Thanks, @liamsaunt, for taking us along on these marvelous trips!

@JoNorvelleWalker, maybe you should just strap on a headlamp?

Pretty much. You whisk a couple of eggs with any add-ins, heat ~ a cup of oil to about 400°F in a wok, pour in the eggs, cook 20-30 sec, flip, cook another 20-30 sec. Result is crispy on the outside, soft and tender inside. Not something I plan to repeat with any regularity but I was curious to try it. You can see Kenji making it in this video. The egg business starts around the 4 minute mark.

It's the best! I have a tree that's been struggling for the last few years of drought. It's got a lot of little fruits at the moment and I've got my fingers crossed that they'll grow big and juicy!

I realize I'm replying to a regular poster in both the culinary and non-culinary "I will never..." topics, but don't see a reason not to. If heat is an issue, it will just burn out more quickly than it otherwise would but in a completely open setting, it might not be an issue.

Last year, I made a shiso and grapefruit ice cream, based on a recipe using basil and grapefruit. The flavors came through but the cream muted them. This is much more vibrant. I saw a recipe for lychee and shiso sorbet and may give that a try next.

Made Raspberry-Shiso Sorbet from Nik Sharma's book, Season. The recipe calls for green shiso leaves, muddles and infuses them in the sugar syrup. I used red shiso because that's what I had on hand and I subbed shiso vinegar for the lemon juice in the recipe. Spun on the sorbet setting.

I was going to make the same suggestion, @Tropicalsenior. Most pressed cookie doughs I've used would be difficult to roll and cut but they work nicely in a piping bag. Especially with a fluted tip, you can make little "S" shapes. Or just pipe long strips, cut them to the length you like and dip the ends in the icing. Now, I've talked myself into trying them!

Raspberry-shiso sorbet from Nik Sharma's Season. The recipe calls for green shiso leaves, which get steeped in the sugar syrup used to sweeten this. I used the red shiso I have and subbed shiso vinegar for the lemon juice in the recipe. The shiso flavor comes through nicely.

Spicy Celery Margarita from Lukas Volger's Snacks for Dinner. Recipe available online. I was surprised how green both the celery juice and the finished juice are. I liked it. A little savory and not too sweet.

Thai-style omelet with ground pork and shallots over rice with Sichuan-style blistered green beans from The Wok

I see that price on the website so I don’t think a special link is needed. $520.99 with free shipping is kinda tempting though the recent update issues give me pause. Plus, the old CSO is still chugging along…and it makes good toast!

Easy Tortilla "Jian Bing" from Kenji in The Wok My flour tortillas (TJ's Truly Handmade) were a bit smaller and thicker than the usual so the result wasn't as crêpe-like as intended and aside from the hoisin and chile oil, mine skews more quesadilla than jian bing but still a quick, tasty breakfast.

One view, found here:

Thanks a bunch for sharing this! I just listened to the first 4 episodes and am saving the final episode for later. I didn’t search to see if an audio book with Fuchsia reading is in the works but, if so, it will be a delight to listen to. I tend to race along when reading and this is writing that deserves to be savored. Her pace and pauses allow for that beautifully. Edited to add - oops…just noticed your quoted message from Fuchsia confirming the audio book!

Fried duck egg with cherry tomatoes and Kenji's Stir-Fried New Potatoes with Hot and Numbing Spices from

I only soak really big beans like Royal Coronas or Christmas Limas as it seems to help them cook more evenly and still remain intact. If you know you're making a purée, the only advantage is a shorter cooking time - less energy used, less heating up the kitchen. Pressure cooking is another option, either in a stovetop pressure cooker or an electric multi-cooker like an Instant Pot. Lots of people swear by them for beans.

Maybe clickbait to get readers to click over to Seitsema's piece.

Thanks for tidbit of apple info. One of the growers who sells at our farmers market regularly brings Mutsus. I like them but didn’t realize they had another name.

I hope I’m right! It's unpleasant to see well-meaning people respond thoughtfully to a comment only to be told, “Ha ha, just kidding and most everyone got the joke!” Carry on with your alerts for those of us too obtuse to catch the humor!