blue_dolphin

Here are links to two good, authentic recipes: https://www.seriouseats.com/real-texas-chili-con-carne https://leitesculinaria.com/101686/recipes-chili-con-carne.html Both offer suggestions of what to serve with. Neither use minced beef.

I've been remiss in responding, partially in hopes that my library would get the book and I could actually get a look at it! Food52 Simply Genius is the cookbook of the month in the Food52 cookbook club and while I usually get the books, I wasn't sure about this one because it contains so many recipes from other cookbooks I own or online sources I can access. I asked my library to buy it and I'm sure they will but it's not here yet. Thus far, I've been cooking recipes I could access via the EYB digital preview, Amazon's "Look Inside" feature or online on the Food52 site or the original sources. There are some I'm curious to try that I haven't been able to find so it's not a complete rehash of readily available material. While I'm not sure it's a worthwhile book for me, it does gather some simple cooking "tricks" from a range of sources and presents them in a consistent and approachable way that I think less experienced cooks would appreciate. For example, Aki and Alex from Ideas in Food tend to share things that are just that, ideas, rather than recipes. The Caramelized Cream Seared Smashed Potatoes from their site isn't really something I think beginner cooks would feel comfortable tackling - no quantities, no pan sizes, timing, etc. I haven't seen this recipe in the book but I'm pretty sure Kristin or her team have fleshed it out into a proper recipe. Are all the recipes "Simply Genius"? Well, I thought that cocoa almond oatmeal was "Simply Awful" 🙄 On the other hand, that 5-minute tomato sauce from Heidi Swanson that I made yesterday is pretty great. I often keep a jar of Rao's Arrabiatta sauce on hand for emergency hangry situations. This recipe is a perfect sub and ready in the time it took the pasta to boil. That one is a keeper. Others are in-between. Like the sheet-pan roasted mushrooms and greens where you roast the mushrooms in the oven, then wilt the greens by tossing them right on the sheet pan and popping them back in the oven, taking them out for a stir a few times 'til they're done. Kind of efficient. Kind of a nuisance to keep opening and closing the oven. I'll keep it in mind but am not overly enamored with it. If you've viewed the Amazon "Look Inside" preview of the book, you will likely have noticed the use of rather small fonts, particularly in side notes or recipe variations, and sometimes on colored backgrounds. It's not the worst I've seen but I've had to take a screen cap and blow it up to read clearly, something I don't normally have to do. That leads me to believe that there might be readability issues with the print edition and of course, that can't easily be zoomed. This was confirmed by at least one of the cookbook group who said she was returning the book because she couldn't read it. I think they've sacrificed readability for the attractive open spaces in the book design. There - my 2 cents, from someone who hasn't actually seen the book 🤣

I was true to my word yesterday and only ate two bites of that cinnamon roll. Warmed it up in the CSO and am enjoying it for breakfast today. They posted this photo of the platter that they tempted me with yesterday on their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl9XZVXPPDH/ I think they poured all that extra caramel sauce on after I got mine!

Had a craving for pasta with spicy Italian sausage so I tried Heidi Swanson's 5-minute tomato sauce from Food52 Simply Genius. This is a bright, somewhat acidic sauce, not a sweet, mellow one but perfect with the spicy sausage.

I thought the texture was a bit different but not at all unpleasant. The curds were soft and moist and the part that's still liquid when you take it off the heat kind of gels up so it's not too liquid-y. I think I tried this when she first shared the recipe on her blog but can find no evidence of it but I don't recall being wowed. I probably used cornstarch, which Mandy has since removed from the starch options. I used potato starch this time. It's an extra step but seems to provide a little insurance, preventing them from getting too hard when overcooked or liquid-y when undercooked. I'll try to remember to play around with it next time I'm in a scrambling mood. Exactly! I know I cooked it thicker than some people like their oatmeal but there was never a point in the process that it looked appealing! Unbaked cookie dough is a very charitable assessment compared to how I would describe the earlier stages 🤣 This morning, I went to check out a new bakery in the area. They're not officially open yet but are working out the kinks so I was able to get some bread but had to Venmo the owner as their payment systems aren't up yet. Nice looking bread: Since I hadn't had breakfast yet, I let them talk me into taking one of their cinnamon rolls home. Here it is after a couple of bites: I told myself I'll only eat a little and save the rest for tomorrow. We'll see how that goes!

Breakfast was some of that Fromage Pavé on toast, topped with TJ's Ginger Spread, kinda like a ginger marmalade, lots of little chunks of ginger. Not the sharpest ginger bite but still very nice with cheese. The label suggests using it to glaze salmon, ham or roasts. Edited to add it was $3.99/12 oz jar

Cocoa almond oatmeal from Food52 Simple Genius. A bowl of brown oatmeal doesn't really appeal to me so I planned to skip this recipe but a chilly morning put me in the mood for either hot cocoa or oatmeal. Why not? Part of the "genius" of this recipe is the use of a small non-stick skillet to cook the oatmeal - it supposedly cooks more quickly and cleans up more easily than a saucepan. Well, you really need to stir well to mix in the cocoa and it was too easy to slosh over the sides so not that "genius" to me. There's no sugar, which appealed to me as I don't like sweet oatmeal, but the resulting flavor was that of unsweetened cocoa. I added the requisite swirl of almond butter but it still looks like a bowl of poop so not terribly appetizing. I tried adding some diced, crystalized ginger and that was a nice touch but not enough to make me want to try it again.

Made some cookies earlier and figured the oven only needed a little more juice to get up to pizza temp so I had this for a late lunch Topped with leftover oven roasted mushrooms and baby kale from yesterday's breakfast.

Made Eric Kim's Gochujang Caramel Cookies from NYT Cooking Cookie Week. They're quite good. Sue Li's Orange, Pistachio and Chocolate Shortbread cookies are next.

Sheet pan roasted mushrooms and greens with Mandy Lee's 15-second creamy scrambled eggs, toasted sunflower seed rye and grape tomatoes

That pretty much describes my usual pantry collection. Crystal is my go-to if nothing else is specified. I like to make Soldadera's Hot Sauce from Josef Centeno's Amá but when I'm out, Cholula, Valentina or Tapatio are easy to grab. Some kind of chipotle sauce like the RG Felicidad mentioned above or just a tin of chipotles in adobo blitzed in the blender and thinned with a bit of vinegar or other liquid. Inner Beauty is my choice for a Caribbean-style, fruity, Scotch bonnet sauce but I like to try others. I like to have a fresh, green sauce on hand and like the Green Chili Adobo from More Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless. It's just garlic, serrano chiles, cilantro, parsley, olive oil and salt and easy to take in different directions. I've also got Hoy Fong Sriracha, Sambal Oelek and Chili Garlic sauce, Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp, Gochujang, Harissa, Calabrian Bomba sauce, Thai Green Chili sauce...

Here's one older topic: Eastern v. Western (U.S.) butter sticks I seem to remember something more recent and will continue to look. Edited to add: one helpful company offers two different butter dishes with a handy map in their Amazon listing (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) that tells you which one to get:

I picked up a couple of pounds today and it was the same as always - the chubby quarters standard on the west coast. Maybe you got our butter by mistake 🤣 I believe we had some discussion of this here. I grew up with skinny sticks but have adapted. NPR story: https://www.npr.org/2022/01/30/1076798492/the-east-coast-and-west-coast-have-differently-sized-and-shaped-sticks-of-butter

Phew! I’m very relieved!

Oh, no!

Can you say a bit more about what you disliked about them? Looking at the recipes where I’ve cooked them, they were always part of mix of vegetables rather than solo voyagers. Sometimes, they are more leafy and other times more…well…shoot-y and the latter definitely benefit from some companions.

The comb side is used after eating to remove any stray cake crumbs from your mustache and beard.

Cammie Kim Lin, the author of the article I linked to above, mentions the recent cookbook she wrote with her sister, Leah Su Quiroga, a former head chef at Chez Panisse. It's titled (Serious) New Cook: Recipes, Tips, and Techniques (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and written with their kids in mind. I read through much of the generous sample available via the “Look Inside” feature and it looks quite good with detailed explanations of ingredients, implements and techniques up front in an “extra credit” section. Those terms are underlined in the recipes so that instructional material can be accessed as needed or skipped over if it’s not. Much as I love all the teaching Samin Nosrat put in those first 4 chapters of Salt Fat Acid Heat, I can’t see new cooks slogging through those 200 pages before they get cooking. And a lot of it only makes sense once you’ve actually done some cooking. The “learning” in this book seems much more accessible. Another nice feature: each recipe has 3 variations, the first presented with step by step photos, so new cooks get a chance to repeat and refine skills without having to make the same thing again. The organization scheme seems absolutely made for an ebook, but it’s not available yet. Hope they are working on it

Some interesting cookbook comparisons in this article from Stained Page News. Not Just How, But Why: Recipes That Teach, Instruction versus education, via recipe.

That just makes it easier to get the money out of that clenched fist of yours!

Thanks so much for squeezing this blog in during such a busy time. I always enjoy it and this trip was no exception. And now, you absolutely deserve a nap!

Wild Fork (probably not the WF you had in mind) sells whole Pekin ducks from Culver Duck Farms @ $4.38/lb, about the same as Culver charges on their website. Aldi periodically has whole, frozen ducks from a Canadian supplier @ $2.49/lb, also with the 12% brine that @rotuts mentioned. $2.49 Aldi salt water is a little less annoying than $7.49 Market Basket salt water 😉

Heard this new-ish book recommended today by the owner of Omnivore Books in San Francisco and thought I’d mention it here: The Whole Duck: Inspired Recipes from Chefs, Butchers, and the Family at Liberty Ducks (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Amazon's “Look Inside” view shows a good bit of the intro but no full recipes, which sound very tasty from the table of contents listing.

Pimentón Fried Eggs with black-eyed peas, sautéed spinach and grape tomatoes The egg recipe, from Canal House Cooking Volume No. 5: The Good Life, suggests an optional addition of vinegar or lemon juice to the pimentón olive oil the eggs are fried and basted with. This is not optional. It turns the oil into a warm, smoky vinaigrette that improved everything on that plate.

Sunday Suppers at Lucques (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) is a restaurant cookbook that may not be as aspirational as you are seeking for your annual blow-out but I can highly recommend the book. It offers multi-course seasonal menus for six. Used copies are available at very modest cost so it might be worth a look. We have a thread on it here: Cooking from Sunday Suppers at Lucques.