blue_dolphin

Did you really taste it direct from the can? Eeewww! Very thin slices, fried up crispy can make a nice sandwich on toast. Small dice are similarly tasty when added to fried rice. But raw? Eeeewww!

Congrats on the new toy getting one step closer to you! As a former lab rat, there have been any number of cooking and cocktail making moments when I’ve thought, “I wish I could just spin that down!”

Those look really good! Reminds to make asparagus wrapped in phyllo while the local stuff is still available.

Or permeate

Infuse

Lentils from Puglia arrived in the most recent Rancho Bean Club box so I subbed them in for the Castelluccio lentils from Umbria called for in this recipe for lentils on toast with favas, mint and chèvre from Renee Erickson's Getaway, Food and Drink to Transport You. The legumes are mixed with olive oil, lemon zest and olives before being piled on top of grilled bread spread with goat cheese.

Interesting! I knew albedo was the spongy part but had not heard flavedo before, only zest.

Poke? Here's one recipe for skipjack poke. If you make poke for a party and have leftovers, you can make wok-fried poke the next day. Here's Sheldon Simeon's wok-fried poke recipe and here's a Sam Choy video: Seared tuna loin steaks are always good. I've been using the salt/pepper/crushed coriander seed coating that I got from a recipe in Taste & Technique. Once seared, you can serve as a steak with any sort of salsa/relish type thing that appeals to you. Or slice up the seared steaks and use on a salad or stuff into tacos. Smaller pieces are good candidates for making tuna confit. Here's an LA Times recipe Conserved Tuna that's similar to the one that I use from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook and use it to make this Pasta with Preserved Tuna. I like the seasonings in that Zuni tuna recipe but sometimes use the Chef Steps sous vide method instead of the stovetop.

That brought to mind this LA Times article: Nickel Diner, beloved by Jonathan Gold, Guy Fieri and others, to close this weekend which I’m sure is behind a paywall so I will quote a few sentences:

I think this is the article.

I was quite amazed to find this at the farmers market so I’m having fun!

No, I was a little concerned, but it was fine. I rinsed the samphire first and it gets tossed into the water with the pasta for the last 30 sec of cook time so that’s like two baths. Also, I chose my “nice” anchovies that aren’t super salty.

Pasta with anchovy and samphire from Ottolenghi's Simple. Spaghetti would have been better than bucatini, as it almost alway is, but I was out.

Mine, too. I guess pistachio and cherry seemed fancy partners for the chocolate compared to vanilla and strawberry. Haven't had it in years but will keep an eye out. I suspect I might be more satisfied with a commercial product than making the flavors myself.

Toasted chili cashew butter (from Snacks for Dinner) on toast with banana, lime zest and a drizzle of maple syrup

I have to say the bromance between Tyron (Big T) and Logan (the chef-y guy) is pretty sweet. Also sweet that Tyron made a dessert in each challenge.

I tend to say “soss” rhymes with cross I have heard others pronounce it more like “source” rhymes with horse The BBQ showdown contestant from Long Island pronounced it similar to this:

Don't be offended. She's from Lawn-Guyland, not NYC! A quote from Michelle:

I’m glad you like it. I’m quite pleased with the book as well. Lots of the recipes are good ideas for using up leftovers. I went ahead and cooked the chard for today’s breakfast but I can see it working with all sorts of leftover veg, too.

I binge-watched all 8 episodes yesterday and pretty much agree with the review that I linked to above. The "make a cooker from junkyard finds" episode was unfortunate and while I get that mastering fire is key, I suspect we could have seen better cooking without all of that time spent on that and some of the "trench" episodes. I found the contestants to be aninteresting mix in terms of experience and generally quite likable and the judging seemed fair, based on the edited clips we see in the show. Melissa was kinda whiney about getting a hot bite in the chili episode and seemed to think Logan was too chef-y, "Ramen is NOT barbecue!" but also offered positive feedback to contestants who were struggling, which was nice to see. Overall, I found it quite watchable. Even more than most cooking competitions, I really wanted to taste what they made. I may have to re-watch and pull some of my ZEF-tovers out of the freezer to munch on! I'll be curious if anyone else decides to watch and what you think. @Kim Shook, if you and BBQ-judge Mr. Kim have Netflix, I'd especially love to hear your take.

More from Prue. Duck egg & rainbow chard with Dijon butter on toast from Bliss on Toast. Edited to add that Dijon butter is a very good thing!

It’s Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend that contains pearled couscous (mostly), orzo, baby garbanzo (oh the horror) and red quinoa. A handy side that cooks up in a 10 min simmer. Probably discontinued as my TJ faves tend to be!

Excited to use the sea beans I got at the farmers market yesterday, I tried a recipe for Sand Dabs with Shallots, Sea Beans and Sherry Vinegar from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I got Pacific grenadier filets in my fish share this week so I used that instead of sand dabs. Pacific grenadier is often by-catch in black cod fisheries. It's a mild white fish, good for fish & chips or fish tacos and worked nicely here. The fish is floured and pan-fried in butter and the remaining browned butter is the base for a sauce of shallots, sea beans and sherry vinegar. Very easy and delicious. I tossed the sugar snaps with a preserved lemon butter but needn't have bothered as the brown butter/shallot/sea bean butter would have done the trick.

Looking forward to cooking with these sea beans, already mentioned above by several people, but a new item for me and the first time I've seen them at my local farmers market. They are foraged and were being sold by Murray Family Farms who come down to our market from Bakersfield, not exactly a coastal town 🙃. I'll ask them for more deets next week. My plan is to try the recipe for sand dabs with shallots, sea beans and sherry vinegar from Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I'll use Pacific grenadier that I got in my fish share this week instead of the sand dabs. Prue Leith includes a recipe for mussels and sea beans in a toasted bread bowl in Bliss on Toast so I'll try that if I can track down some mussels. Zuni also has a recipe for pickling them simply in white wine vinegar so I'll do that with whatever's left.

TJ's Délice de Bourgogne triple cream ripened cheese & blackberries with chili sauce on rye from Prue Leith's Bliss on Toast. The recipe calls for sweet chili sauce. I used sriracha. Sambal oelek might have been better but I'm out. Edited to add that this needs a super flavorful, sweet and tangy fruit to stand up to the rich cheese and spicy chili sauce. These blackberries were only so-so.