blue_dolphin

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.

Yeah, my library does that, too. Well, it's the "Friends of the Library," the community support group that accepts the donations and sells the books, rather than the library itself. The books I've donated tend to be fairly recent books so I'm happy they can benefit from them in any way. I can absolutely see why you'd prefer that collectable volumes actually go to use in the community library rather than generate funds to support it!

I read it. Whoever writes their headlines is clearly an effective alarmist! Acrylamide is indeed nasty stuff, especially when inhaled and it certainly seems prudent to minimize its consumption. Even though it hasn't been conclusively proven to cause cancer, it seems quite likely. The fact that different species metabolize acrylamide differently makes it challenging to draw conclusions from animal studies and humans are notoriously difficult to study. A lot of the foods on the list to avoid are worth limiting due to their sugar and fat content so obesity and diabetes are probably greater risks from a diet high in fried foods and baked goods than acrylamide toxicity is. As to your second question, the formation of acrylamide in cooking has really only been studied for the last 20 years so neither you nor anyone else knew about it 40 years ago! Edited to add: Maybe don't read those emails in the morning.

Not available for me, either.

@BetD, add me to the list of those captivated by your book. At the risk of going off-topic, I have a plaid BH&G cookbook that belonged to a friend and coworker who passed away quite some time ago. It is positively crammed with old LA Times food section clippings and most special of all, hand written recipes from other coworkers that I can recognize from their handwriting alone and others whose dishes I have fond memories of. Going through them is kinda like a virtual potluck with old friends!

Spicy Roasted New Potatoes with Lemon and Herbs from Falastin with an egg on top. This is an excellent potato recipe (available online here), though I think I might par-boil the potatoes first as the slices of red chile and some of the cherry tomatoes were quite charred by the time the spuds were done.

I know you didn’t ask me but you can always steam dried fruit to soften, in which case, no need to choose a liquid. Just keep checking til you like the texture. If I want something quick, I put the fruit in liquid that’s shy of covering and microwave, covered with a silicone lid, for a min or two, stir, let stand covered til I I’m ready for them and drain. If the recipe calls for a liquid, I might use it to keep the flavor. The choice of liquid is up to you. I like water + a squeeze of lemon for most berries and apricots, orange juice for cranberries, half rum/half water for raisins, port for figs…

Not necessarily. I've been using the Katz vinegars for quite a few years and only wish I could recommend them but they were too expensive for your budget ($1.10/oz) and very sadly, they're no longer available. I bought 10 bottles back in March when they announced their "Last Call" so I've have a bit of a stash. Prior to Katz, I was using Kimberley Wine Vinegars, readily available at While Foods. At ~ $1/oz, also out of range.

@Ann_T, I'm very impressed at the slicing job on the roast! Of course the bread and perfectly cooked beef are swoon-worthy, as is that bowl of chili! Musabaha (warm chickpeas with green chilli sauce and toasted pita) from Falastin Kind of a pre-blender hummus. Nice contrasts between the chickpeas, creamy tahini sauce, bright, acidic green sauce and toasted pita.

I have a big old corded KitchenAid which is still going strong so I'm not in the market but I that Breville would be my pick. Mine also has the little whisk attachment and I love it for whipping a single egg white or making whipped cream for one dessert serving with barely 1/4 cup of cream. Yes, I know those things can easily be done by hand but hey, what are toys for?

A few comments here: The Guilty Pleasure of Somebody Feed Phil

Thanks for sharing. The link didn't work for me but I was able to find it after a bit of looking. It seems to be available at most podcast places and this is Episode 1 from Season 7, titled, "Limes, Carambola, Action!: The History of Food in Cinema." from Nov 2021.

Here's a shelfie from my Mexican collection. I have more on Kindle. If I were going to recommend a single Mexican cookbook to learn from, I think it would be Roberto Santibañez's Truly Mexican. It's co-authored by JJ Goode (@jogoode, when he was posting here) who's written books with a number of chefs and seems to deliver solid recipes while maintaining the voices of his chef co-authors. It's from 2011, so not a brand new title, but has held up well. Excellent introduction with tables of fresh and dried chiles and descriptions of other ingredients. Recipes are clearly written and easy to follow with helpful header and side notes. It doesn't have photos of everything but quite a few. I often use his recipes as a sense-check when I'm cooking from another book. I believe it's still in print but used copies are also readily available for a modest price. Others that I like, in no particular order. The older Diana Kennedy books are classics, but like most older cookbooks, they don't have much in the way of photos. My Mexico just has an inset of ~ 5 or so pages, mostly capturing scenes from the country, plants, people cooking or selling food. One can learn a lot from her books but they don't really draw me in and make me want to cook. Her Oaxaca al Gusto is lavishly illustrated, though most show ingredients rather than dishes. It's a beautiful coffee-table gift book but not great for cooking. Lots of very specific Oaxacan ingredients that are difficult to source. The index is by region only, not by recipe name or ingredients, making it challenging to find a recipe, even when you know what you're looking for. The Bayless books are very accessible and the recipes are reliable. More Mexican Everyday starts out with 3 or 4 basic sauces that you can use throughout the book. No deep dive into unusual regional cuisines but very easy to cook from. I believe we have "Cooking from..." topics on a few of them. He has lots of YouTube videos your friend could check out. Mi Cocina is the newest in that collection and Rick Martinez writes it with the zeal of a born-again Mexican. He grew up in Texas, eating mostly American-ized food and wrote this book after taking a deep dive into Mexican cuisines during a 1 year trip around the country. It gives a nice sampling of regional cooking without being overly exhaustive about it. He also has a lot of YouTube videos available. As the title says, My Sweet Mexico is a book about sweets and could be good if your friend is a dessert fiend. Candies, pastries, breads, beverages, ice creams, paletas, etc. It's by Fany Gerson, who also wrote Paletas, a great little cookbook on Mexican popsicles and ices. Nopalito is one of my absolute favorites. Author and chef Gonzalo Guzmán, whose restaurant is in the Bay Area, grew up in a small town in Mexico where he learned all the old, traditional methods that had already been replaced in the big cities. He brings an appreciation for that tradition to his cookbook. I've cooked a lot from this book, thoroughly enjoyed the interesting flavors and return to it regularly. Amá is Los Angeles restaurant chef Josef Centeno's book of the traditional Tex-Mex recipes he grew up with in Texas. Every recipe has a story about the aunt, uncle, grandparent or other relative whose cooking inspired it. I've cooked a lot from this one and enjoyed everything. Grandma Alice's chorizo is fabulous and the Amá spice blend is something I always keep on hand. Not actually Mexican but really a great cookbook so I wanted to include it. Both of the last 2, being restaurant books, include cocktail recipes. I've made them all and enjoyed them!