blue_dolphin

On the pricing, I rarely go out to restaurants so I'm no judge but I think everything has gotten really expensive, especially for small places that can't take advantage of big corporate purchasing contracts. I recently saw a mention of a new Korean restaurant in Ventura and was sort of shocked at the menu prices. A "small bite" kimchi pancake: $13.45. Kimchi fried rice: $15.75 plus $4 if you want to add beef or $3.50 for pork. Fruit drinks like mango-ade: $8.25. Adds up! Edited to add that it's a "fast-casual" place where you order at a touch-screen kiosk and pick up your food and utensils at a counter in the back.

There's a local take-out spot that makes excellent jambalaya, gumbo and etoufee. They might be closed today if they have a lot of catering jobs but if they're open, maybe I'll treat myself to one of your recommendations. I'd always heard that the RB&R was made on Monday because they could use the ham bone leftover from Sunday dinner and because Monday was traditionally laundry day, it was good to have something that could simmer all day without attention. Either way, Tuesday clearly isn't the right day!

well, I grew up in northern NY state with pancakes for Shrove Tuesday and now I’m in SoCal where anything goes 🤣 But, do tell, what would your raised in NO wife deem an acceptable meal for today?

Still aiming towards the RB&R. I put a pound of Rancho Gordo Domingo Rojos to soak. They're what I usually use but then I realized that I have a bag of RG's King City Pinks and they may be more traditional so I put them to soak as well. I retrieved the andouille sausage from the freezer. Sadly, I apparently used the last smoked hock from Broadbent. I'll sub a little bacon seasoning meat from Father's (overwhelmingly smoky on its own) and supplement with some ham from Broadbent's dinner steaks. Just need to go to the store for a green bell pepper - I'm not a hater 🤣 Even sadder than the lack of a smoked ham hock in my freezer is the fact that California's meddlesome Prop 12 means that Broadbent won't ship me any more of them...or any of their other pork products. Dang!

I'm think I'm going to do the Red Beans & Rice from Shaya but I should sroll back through this topic for other ideas.

I also had avocado on toast. Mine with kimchi, crab meat and a drizzle of kimchi/mayo:

I just remove the grates, spray it on, let it stand a while (a few minutes or up to overnight if there's a bad spill) and wipe it off with a damp sponge. My cooktop looks like this... ...when it's clean 🙃

I have a CSO, which weighs much less than a million pounds. There have been a few occasions when I thought it needed more than the steam clean cycle, which my original one didn't have. The first time, I pulled it out a bit and tipped it on its back (first removing the water tank) so I could more easily see and clean the "ceiling." The door did not get in the way. I've since decided that part doesn't get all that dirty and I can see inside well enough to clean it without tipping it. I use Easy Off Fume-Free oven cleaner, which I also use on my stainless steel gas cooktop and consider a miracle cleaner.

Have you tried Deb Perelman's recipe for Chicken and rice, street cart style from her cookbook Smitten Kitchen Everyday?

Not sure how mushy the spuds are but I'd toss them about in a hot pan to see if you can dry them out a bit before doing anything else like mashing, etc. Maybe try Kenji's roast potatoes if they have at least a little substance left:

Not sure what you have in mind. Risotto? Something else? This recipe from Zojirushi, Chesapeake Crab Carrot Rice uses carrot juice and Old Bay-type seasoning in the rice cooker to season the rice. This one, Chicken Dry Curry, adds a whole bunch of stuff. And this one, Eastern Mediterranean Vegetables and Brown Rice

I haven't seen it done here but I would't be surprised to see it from a vendor like Novy Ranches, which sells their beef at my local farmers market but also has a small retail shop and sells to a few retail butcher shops.

Crabfest continues. I enjoyed yesterday's meal enough that I repeated it with a couple of changes. I made the preserved lemon aïoli from Shaya and boiled some tiny potatoes per Diana Henry with sprigs of mint. The crab doesn't really need any adornment but the aïoli is good with the veg and the little spuds were a nice touch. I've got some leftover picked crab from this one so I'm debating how to use it. A bisque? Omelet? Crab Bennie for breakfast would be nice but I used up the last of my eggs in the the aïoli. Hmmmm.

I have 1 qt/liter (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and 4 qt/liter (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) versions of those Cambros and agree on the durability. I use the big one a lot for straining hot stock and it's held up fine.

I picked up cooked and cleaned crab from my fish share this afternoon and made this easy Dungeness Crab with Harissa Aïoli and Grilled Vegetables. Tots and tomatoes on the side

Yes, that may give you the best sense of it, @ElsieD. I took a look at EYB and it lists 209 recipes. A handful are sort of non-recipes like "Toasting Whole Grains," Popping Whole Grains," "Cooking Whole Grains." About 58 recipes use some sort of flour in items like pizza, breads, pasta, etc. Another 10 or so, use a small amount of some sort of flour along with whole grains.

Funny, based on your first post, I searched for "IMSA Breaker" and "IMSA Beaker" but came up empty and yet, I actually have one of those things (purchased years ago on a recommendation from @Smithy! As I said, I'm more of a weigher so I haven't had much use for it...but today I learned that it's called a Perfect Beaker!

I do the same with cilantro and parsley. Parsley lasts a reliable 2 weeks or more. With cilantro, 10 days is more my average. It’s amazing how a whole bunch of cilantro can go from perky to slime in a day! Some produce comes in plastic bags with holes in them and if I have those, I use them. For basil, I do the same thing but keep it out on the counter. Tarragon and dill go in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel, in the fridge I have tons of rosemary outside so no need to preserve that one. Oregano, too. I need to replant sage and thyme.

Sounds good. Also, not surprising to me as I've often observed that beans often firm up after cooling. Sometimes it means they need more cooking, sometimes, (like yours) it means that overcooking has been averted.

Very crap photo of a good Egg McMuffin-ish breakfast. Should have looked and taken another but I was hungry. Broadbent country ham biscuit slice, Cabot extra-sharp cheddar and egg on a toasted and buttered English muffin.

I’m confused. I've never heard of anyone using a beaker to measure volume. Yes, laboratory beakers usually have rough volume markings on them but they’re not accurate for measuring anything. Of course, the markings on most kitchen measuring cups are pretty rough estimates, too. Just weigh it out.

Sounds like they don’t make ‘em like they used to! 😢

Same here. Mine probably range from 20-30 years old. The big 2 qt one is the youngest, maybe 12-15 years old. I sometimes wash them by hand but they go into the dishwasher regularly, too. They all look just fine.

I just saw this. I didn't buy the original but might bite on this one. Here's a link to their blog post: Introducing Modernist Bread at Home—Your Guide to Exceptional Homemade Bread

I took a flyer and made some major substitutions in the Fig, Blackberry & Tahini Cake from The New Way to Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi. Since we don't get figs at this time of year and I didn't have blackberries (though they are available), I decided to use strawberries as the sweet/softer fruit and kumquats as the tart/tangy one. I made a half recipe, baked in a 6-inch springform pan. I like the cake quite a lot but I found the mascarpone icing quite sweet and I don't think my choice of fruit worked particularly well with the cake. I might try a thinner layer of the mascarpone icing with a drizzle of fig butter and some of those blackberries.