blue_dolphin

That (small spuds, buried in salt) seems to offer more moisture control and seasoning than simply placing (nestling?) a big tater atop a bed of salt. I get the salt would allow more air circulation than directly in a pan. Presumably less circulation than if it were right on a rack. Curious the salt is so crucial.

I bought a bag of Lucy Glo apples at Trader Joe's today. Two lb bag for $4.99. They are very nice apples. Good sweet/tart balance. Not the crispest apple ever but not at all mealy. The skins are a little tough or chewy. Noticeable but not off-putting for me. I think the apple I just ate is less colorful than the one that @BeeZee shared 2 years ago and I had another one that was even paler so there seems to be some variability. I gather there is a Lucy Rose sibling that's all looks and less flavor. Not sure I'll be looking for them but I'll buy these again if I see them.

I stopped by a local farm to pick up a few squash this morning. I got a small kabocha, a couple of delicata and a carnival. I think they're all pretty common. I snapped a few photos of several varieties that were less familiar to me. This one is called One Two Many Pumpkin. It's a white pumpkin with colorful veining. Normal pumpkin color on the inside. Red Warty Things. Yes, that's really the name. Goosebumps: Galeasux d'Eysines. I thought this was one of the most unusual, both in name an appearance! Lumina - white on the outside, orange inside Ambercup. I think this one is getting fairly common. Jarahdale. These were quite striking, almost looked like they were glowing. I managed to capture the sign for these but there are some other squashes photo bombing the photo. These were very lumpy and blue. Banana squash. My photo doesn't capture how massive they were. Maybe in comparison to those normal sized acorn squash on the left. Rascal. Fun name Speckled Hound Blue Hubbard Porcelain Doll Cinderella

Yeah, try it again and definitely ask for an explanation. I've been a member of that Fine Cooking Community group for quite a while and the number of new members seems to be going through the roof lately so I suspect they have to be careful of malicious bots and such. They have a searchable index (though I generally search with Eat Your Books) and PDFs of all the regular issues and many special issues on a Google drive. Finding a recipe is a 2-step process. First search for the recipe, then download the PDF of the issue it’s in. Not as handy as the FC website was but most stuff is there.

I've been meaning to try that one, though the prune and Armagnac version sounded pretty good, too!

And I would be delighted with Moe's breakfast any time of the day...maybe with a glass of wine, depending...😉 LGD and eggs are a match made in heaven! The original mash had a lot of scallions - white parts cooked with the potatoes and cauliflower and the greens added later. I would have preferred leeks but using the scallions two ways was a good call. For a cup of mash, I added half an egg, a bit of diced country ham and a handful of grated parm to make four 1/4 cup pancakes. Since the cauliflower made this wetter, some panko would have been a good idea, I just let them cook a bit longer. Today's breakfast sando: thinly sliced and browned leberkaese and a fried egg on toasted sunflower seed sourdough rye with mustard: Unlike some people around here who make their own, I bought a little dolphin-sized leberkaese loaf from the German sausage peeps at my local farmers market.

I have only heard that vegetable referred to as winter melon. Maybe an American corruption of the name. The link that @ElsieD posted yesterday lists many of the more common winter squashes around these parts, though there are others.

Yes! In The Greens Cookbook, Deborah Madison's recipe for Winter Squash Soup with Red Chili and Mint also makes a stock with the seeds, skin, fibers and trimmings from the squash along with some aromatics, etc. and I've been using that trick ever since I first made it, either on the stovetop or by making a quick stock in the Instant Pot.

I started the subscription when I got my first job but quickly realized they were too expensive for my budget. Over the years, I've picked up some in used bookshops and more recently via online used booksellers. My collection currently stands at 20 volumes.

Yesterday's breakfast was some spiced chickpeas (balilah) from Falastin and pita from Shaya. The chickpeas are delicious. The recipe uses lemon zest, diced lemon pulp, lemon juice and thin slices of lemon plus plenty of parsley and mint, green onion and red onion, toasted and crushed cumin and coriander seeds and Aleppo pepper with olive oil, of course. I'd brought both to a gathering on Thursday evening and these were leftovers. Today I had French toast with a little bourbon maple syrup, breakfast sausage, a sliced persimmon and two mugs of black coffee. The other half of the French toast slice was staying warm in the pan when I took the photo.

Same here. I'm still trying to figure out what works best. I bought a countertop container (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) to collect the food waste in. It would be big enough for a few days worth but even with the lid, I end up with fruit flies pretty quickly so now I'm keeping it (and attendant fruit flies) out on the carport. When it's hot, it gets pretty disgusting by the end of the week. I see people on Nextdoor saying they keep the food waste in their freezer until trash day. No. Sorry. My freezer is packed already and I'm not dedicating a shelf to garbage! I'm thinking I might just as well start composting it myself. Since I don't eat too much meat, I could compost the majority of the food waste.

I don’t think I’ve used buttercup squash before but I bought one the other day, thinking it was a small kabocha and learning the difference after the fact. I peeled it and roasted in wedges but then read that the peel is edible. It seems less sweet than a lot of winter squashes, which would make it more versatile. Can you say more about your “roast, bag, freeze” process and how you serve it?

Yes. It looks like they’ve incorporated a GFI sort of shut off into the power cord and I’m sure there are other considerations on the unit itself. Yes, i agree that smoking would be the big selling point. Being able to keep it and use it outside has some appeal to me. My kitchen has only 2 outlets and no exhaust hood. If the air fryer function worked well enough, that would be a plus. On the other hand, maybe I should just put the money towards a functional hood fund 🙃

Kind of. Plus a fan for the "air fryer" function. Much like their indoor grills, I believe what they refer to as the grill grate is more or less a ceramic-coated non-stick ridged grill pan with an opening at the back to allow fat to drain into the removable grease tray underneath. They sell a flat-top griddle that looks like it would drain in the same way. The crisper basket seems to hold food above the grate so the fan can pull air through. I see people saying they are using regular pellets, not just the Ninja brand, so that's a plus. Yeah, I think it would appeal to the apartment/condo market that aren't allowed to have gas or charcoal grills on their balconies or patios. Assuming they have a pretty good sized budget. Once you add the cost of the little cart ($179) and assuming you want the premium version with integrated thermometer, the price really adds up.

I was going to try @Senior Sea Kayaker's herbed eggs but the first egg I cracked was a double yolker and I managed to nick one so I pivoted to scrambled with tarragon and smoked trout

The 30 dogs aren't stacked in this photo from their website, but they sure do look cozy! Given the grill marks, I'd say they were cooked in batches and lined up in there for the photo. And here are wings going in for a smoke in a screen cap from this YouTube video. At one point, the woman in that video says Ninja can make good appliances but they can't write a decent recipe booklet! Here's the 2 racks of baby backs, cut in half, from this YouTube video reviewing the unit: Here's a 7.5 lb pork butt going into the smoker (from this YouTube video), so it looks like a 9 lb brisket might just fit. Though as she points out in one of the videos, it's not always easy to find a 9 lb brisket and you probably can't fit anything much bigger.

@Senior Sea Kayaker, that is one fabulous looking breakfast. I needed a nap just looking at it! Can you say more about the herbed eggs? Looks kinda like an egg pancake with herbs and 2 yolks on top? Is it baked or cooked on the stovetop?

Yes! This was ladled from the pot on the stove into the bowl so it was very warm. The header notes in the cookbook say it means swimming or floating and my chickpeas weren't quite bobbing about in the tahini sauce but it was a warm, saucy dish.

A friend asked if I could use some basil - she had 2 pots that needed trimming - so I stopped by… …now to haul it inside and get to work! Pesto anyone?

Harissa-creamed cauliflower from I Dream of Dinner, on toasted sourdough per the recipe. It's just cauliflower and canned tomatoes cooked in cream and harissa until tender and served on toast. This was surprisingly good. My intent was to purée it and serve as a side with something else but I started getting hangry so just went with the book. I've got plenty more to play with. I added a couple of kalamata olives and a sprinkle of parsley and feta. And I had another, smaller serving.

Been grabbing a package or 2 of these whenever I happened to be at Aldi. This was what was left on the shelf today.... ...so I bought all 9!

I'd consider it. I don’t have an outdoor grill. A justification for getting one is that I’d be able to use it when the power is out and of course that wouldn’t be a factor with this one. I’m not at all a fan of their marketing but the products I’ve used (multi-function blender, Creami and a Shark vacuum) have all been solid. I surely won’t be the first but I’ll be watching this space.

Turned some of yesterday's cauliflower/potato mash (without the smoked trout and preserved lemon and plus a bit of diced country ham and some cheese) into pancakes. With a scrambled duck egg, cherry tomatoes, sour cream and pickled onions

That stuff really does wonders for a simple bowl of beans. I should make a batch while we’re still getting plenty of good peppers. I tend to reach for Red Weapons for that purpose in the warm weather and Community Organizer when it cools off. Both excellent pantry staples.

Cauliflower Mash with Smoked Trout from I Dream of Dinner. The header note for this recipe just says, "Kinda sorta colcannon." The mash is about 1/3 potato, 2/3 cauliflower and I used baby kale as the green. I added some diced, salt-preserved lemon to my bowl and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. I'd say both are musts. WRT mashed veg, I come from long lines of ricers, on both sides 🙃 so that's what I used, but I chose the medium size to maintain a bit of texture. I was thinking of adding cheese to the leftovers but I think I'll just have another meal. Warming, comforting but not too heavy.