blue_dolphin

I wonder if it could be spelled perchero? Google translate gives that as the Spanish for coat rack. I like the idea, similar to the little purse stools they brought us in fancy Paris restaurants. Perfect for showing off your Hermès bag to the dining room. Or, in my case, my handy backpack 🙃

Thanks for the opah mention. I just signed up with a weekly "catch of the day" service here in SoCal and opah is listed as one of the optional "add-ons" for the coming week. I don't think I've ever had it and certainly not cooked it but may give it a try!

I'm not sure how much room is inside those small stars, but I have some battery operated, rechargeable tea lights. The candle base is 1 5/8" in diameter x 7/8" high and the faux flame bulb adds another inch to the overall height. Since they're not real candles, they could go in at any angle. Not all that realistic on their own but they flicker gently so they're not bad inside a holder of some sort. And they'll never ignite a cat or kitten tail or cause a conflagration if I leave them "burning" 🙃

Very excited that my favorite sandwich guru, Max Halley, will be a guest judge on tonight's episode. He's really a hoot and I'm wondering if they'll let him be himself or not. Could be a challenge language-wise. He's looking uncharacteristically serious in this photo he posted on his IG I also want to watch the NCAA women's gymnastics semifinals and have a Zoom Jews United for Democracy event on my calendar, all at the same time. Weighing my options!

Cassoulet toast from Susan Spungen's Open Kitchen, recipe online here. I mostly followed the recipe but used Rancho Gordo cassoulet beans and added one of the Toulouse sausages that I cooked for yesterday's breakfast. A big bowl of cassoulet is a bit too much for me, but this always hits the spot!

I also got the email yesterday for an April 12-14 sale. As far as I know, you can only view the current sale so unless you made note of the previous sale prices, there isn’t a good way to compare. I bought that copper core 4 qt chef’s pan w/ domed lid from them in 2020 for $139.95 but have not monitored the price since then. It's a nice pan, but pretty heavy. The pan itself weighs about 5 lbs and the lid is about 1 lb 12 oz so I definitely appreciate the helper handle.

Indeed. Like Kleenex, Tupperware seems to describe the whole category - in this case, storage containers. I never had any of the real deal Tupperware but I absolutely have a Tupperware drawer!

I think they are very good 'idea' books. Lots of variations make it easy to find something to suit what’s on hand. There are photos but they represent a minority of the recipes. That doesn’t bother me but some people want a photo of each dish. She also leans into condiments that appear as sub recipes, also disliked by some. Generally, I’ve found them to be pretty simple so no big deal if I forgot to prep ahead. Some of the variations are minimally sketched out, literally presented in pen and ink drawings with a few arrows, or just as a list of alternate ingredients following the main recipe. I’m always scaling recipes based on what and how much I want to eat so I’m fine with that but they may not suit someone who wants more precise instructions.

Garlic-smashed chickpeas with roasted carrots, broccolini and ras el hanout apricot almond rig from Grist As you can see in the photo, the smashed chickpeas look rather dry. Reviewing the recipe, I see I was supposed to add butter to them along with the garlic. Maybe I'll try that next time. Or not. I didn't really feel like fat was lacking, just moisture. In any case, the combo of flavors and textures is very good.

Over in this post, I shared the recipe for the butternut squash filling that Evan Funke has in American Sfoglino. He simmers the purée with butter and sage leaves to reduce it, making it thick and also very flavorful. Edited to add that in my hands, it reduced in volume to about half of the original. I think you could easily adapt that to a canned purée.

I made this Kabocha Vanilla Chai Ice Cream with the Ninja Creami, using canned pumpkin purée instead of the kabocha squash. It was good. With praline pecans, it would have been even better!

Thanks for the recommendation. Dave Arnold had Benjamin Lorr a few weeks ago on his Cooking Issues podcast: The Secret Life of Groceries with Benjamin Lorr

Thanks! Cauliflower mash is up next! I wake early and have more energy and ambition in the morning than the rest of the day so it's no effort for me. And what I make is never particularly involved, unless it's compared with a bowl of cereal. Breakfast and lunch (sometimes closer to brunch and linner) are my two main meals though I enjoy a cocktail and nibble in the evening. That nibble could even be a small bowl of Grape Nuts 🙃 Pan-roasted cabbage tossed with mustard and apples with Toulouse-style sausage and cheddar from Ruffage This was quite good. The crumbly Cheddar that @Smithy showed us recently would have been great. The Cabot extra sharp I had was too soft to curl. Should have planned ahead and made it into frico chips.

I think @Margaret Pilgrim described it very well here: I just take a quarter lemon and use my fingers to separate the mushy pulp. If I'm making something that might need seasoning, I set it aside so I can use it to add extra salt/acididity if needed. Then I rinse the rest of the peel and slice, dice or whatever. As Margaret said, some slow cooked or braised dishes will call for a whole lemon. Some people like to blitz the whole lemons to make a paste to be used for seasoning. For my taste, and the way I make them, it comes out too salty to be useful but I can see why others might like it. I usually make a fresh batch once a year but sometimes I've used them for several years. Between the acid and salt, and assuming they are submerged in brine, they are a rather inhospitable environment for spoilage organisms. Any pieces sticking up out of the brine or right at the surface can discolor from oxidation and I see some people here have seen some sort of mold growth. I haven't seen the mold.

Parsnip mash with smoked paprika chili oil, baby kale & pecans from Ruffage with a poached egg on top. I gotta say this was a pretty good combo of flavors. The mash is flavored with onion, star anise and orange zest. The greens were supposed to be arugula, uncooked and dressed with that chili oil but I think the cooked, more bitter greens might be better. This would be great with seared scallops or roasted chicken thighs. The egg was a bonus so I could call this vegetable side dish breakfast. Also, yesterday's poached egg was overcooked so I had to reclaim my poached egg mojo 🙃

Thank you! I've been trying to get more veg into my breakfasts.

Poached egg on roasted cauliflower, tomatoes, parsley and kalamata olives The veg recipe is from Ruffage and should have been topped with garlic bread crumbs. I had a slice of toast instead.

Another Abra Berens cauliflower salad, this one from Ruffage. Shaved cauliflower salad with smoked whitefish mayo, lemon, radicchio and herbs. Plus a bonus sandwich below. As in the barley salad above, I subbed smoked trout for the whitefish. Had this as a main dish salad and ate it all up. I thought this was quite good and would make it again. And, in fact, I did make it again! This time, I made enough for a side salad and planned leftovers. Here's the salad: This time I used a mandoline instead of a knife to cut the cauliflower. Both were fine. Now, about the leftovers. In the intro to the cauliflower section in Ruffage, Abra mentions how her cooking is sometimes similar to Tamar Adler's An Everlasting Meal cooking and describes using the leftovers from one of the raw cauliflower salads in a sandwich. I did the same, adding more smoked trout to the leftover salad and tucked everything into a pita for a bonus lunch the next day. Gingery quick-pickled beets and citrus carrots from Snacks for Dinner on the side. Everything recommended.

She seems to have had a pretty good sense of humor in that regard. One of her quotes that often comes up was:

My thought as well. I might consider buying peeps for holiday decor purposes but marshmallow vodka??? I think not!

Slightly more inclusive:

Bad writing may be part of it but because of how widespread it is, even in relatively recent books, I tend to suspect poor editing, stuck with restricting ingredients to those available in every town, fifty years ago!

Thanks! Wikipedia took me in another direction entirely. Egg War. Fascinating but I couldn't figure out how any recreation of the event would relate to Easter or lead to egg salad 🤣

What's an egg war?

It may be meaningless but I have found this usage very common amongst cookbook authors in the UK, where Talati resides. Ottolenghi, Sami Tammy, Diana Henry, Meera Sodah, Nisha Katona and others all use similar wording, sometimes not even mentioning the size. In another cooking group, we have often speculated whether there is really only one green chilli and red chilli sold over there. In this context, though, it seems perfectly adequate as the OP can choose the from the chillies available to get the desired heat level.