Katie Meadow

I was given a copy last xmas. Not enamored. Maybe I cooked one thing, but I can't even remember what. My most useful cook books are ones that I borrowed from the library and liked so much I had to purchase them. If there are only a handful of recipes in a library book that interest me I just make a copy of the page. My books could really stand a thinning; there's quite a few that get little or no attention. I am thinking that perhaps as I get older I tend to rely on tried-and-true favorites or I improvise rather than actively searching for new recipes.

My last tea order included a sample size packet of Black Dragon Pearls, which had a lot of rave reviews. I've had it twice now and I'm not impressed. It's very pricey and you need at least three pearls (they are large, and Adagio says to use 2-3 per cup) to make a small cup of tea with some body. Otherwise It is pleasant enough but pretty wimpy. For a straight ahead black tea I'm liking Irish Breakfast these days.

I grew up in NY, on the upper west side of Manhattan. When we went out we had Chinese, or deli, or Italian, or my father's obsession, Armenian. He was not Armenian. I don't remember ever being in a Mexican or south of the border style joint in NY. Until I moved to New Mexico in the late 60's I had never eaten an avocado. Guacamole and chips were around every corner and at every potluck. One favorite way to eat it was to scramble cubes of it into eggs with some green chiles and jack cheese. Now I'm very happy to have a really good avocado plain: sliced, with salt and pepper and a little olive oil and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Alternate slices of juicy ripe tomatoes when in season. A good Hass is always good, and so is a Gwen. And there's another variety I love that is large, creamy, very pricey, with a long crook and whose name escapes me just now. Reed avocados can be good. Bacon avocados never seem quite ripe. Many varieties seem a little watery to me. There is an excellent vendor at the Berkeley farmers' market. I have never eaten avocado toast. It just doesn't appeal. It seems, for lack of another word, stupid. The other way I don't like avocado is in Japanese sushi or rolls. Both treatments are ubiquitous here in CA. As for prices generally, it is amazing how, at least here, they have exploded in the last five years. Probably partly the fault of avocado toast mania.

My meatloaf is labor intensive. The "night of" I don't appreciate it nearly as much as my husband and guests. I don't even care about it.. But the next day and the next after that is an unadulterated--and adulterated-- thrill. That's when dijon mustard comes a knockin'.

Although the discussion started in the breakfast thread with @Anna N and @Shelby, I finally got around to making onigirazu, but it was for a late lunch. I call my first try a major success. It was very simple: for the filling just an omelet with salmon eggs folded into it. For a rice mold I improvised and used what was once probably purposed as an ashtray, stolen by my mother from a hotel in Italy a zillion years ago. Perfect size: square 4 x 4 inch. A hard knock onto a wooden board was all it took to release the rice. Excellent. Making it for breakfast would be a great thing, but I am guessing that won't happen. It takes a lot more brain cells to make onigirazu than it does toast.

As Liuzhou suggests, If indeed the source of the illness was a mushroom, it wasn't a true morel, but one of several varieties called "false morels." Restaurants that serve wild mushrooms often buy from local pickers. I am guessing regulations are spotty world-wide. If the picker or the buyer makes a mistake, well, the results may not be happy. If you are buying wild mushrooms from a grocery store and have doubts about the look of the morels, ask that one mushroom be cut open. A true morel is really hollow inside. Many of the false ones are not. Some have a kind of pale cottony interior. Having been a member of the SF Mycological Society, I might think twice before ordering wild mushrooms in any restaurant, star or not.

Mac and Cheese made with a bit of Mimolette is yummy.

Instead of Pig in a Blanket you would have Pig in a Futon.

@Anna N thanks for the tutorial. I'm planning a trip to my favorite Japanese everything store to pick up some supplies in the next few days. I didn't see anyone using a barely seared sesame-crusted ahi tuna as a filling, but that would be yummy. Also eggs with tobiko or salmon roe would be great. I also discovered that before onigirazo became popular, rectangular molds the size of a slice of spam became ubiquitous for making musubi, another serious addiction that must have originated in Hawaii. I believe that in the early days, the empty can of spam was used as the mold for that and the shape became standard. Not being a spam fan by any measure, I can skip that snack. I spent two mind numbing hours last night and put myself to sleep finally by looking at various videos, testimonials, etc. Indeed, most of the onigirazu enthusiasts seem to favor plain rice, not vinegared "sushi" rice. However, many of these folks are also using some very Western kinds of fillings like all the riffs on the BLT. I did find some videos in which more traditional ingredients, such as raw fish, roe, japanese pickles, tamago etc. were called for along with vinegared rice, so @Shelby, you can consider yourself an innovative subset.

Making potstickers from leftover filling and wrappers for breakfast is a total treat. It doesn't happen often. @Anna N The history of onigarazu...I had no idea. I buy onigiri frequently but have never seen these sandwiches for sale. Do you or @Shelby have good suggestions for a place to start if I want to make them? I've done very little Japanese cooking and even will need a refresher on making sushi rice it's been so long. Despite the fact that I am such a lazy breakfast cook and rely primarily on toast or fried grits, the idea of an omelet inside rice inside of nori is truly compelling.

It makes sense to me. Undercooked poultry--just the idea of it--makes me ill. But I don't think it being on the bone is the reason; grilled wings are rarely undercooked. And If you braise chicken pieces in a liquid base they tend to get well cooked and remain tender and juicy. I think the most common reason that chicken on the bone is undercooked is that when roasting a whole chicken people can be so worried that the breast will be dry they don't cook the bird long enough to thoroughly cook the dark meat.

I like it better too.

Haven't we beaten this subject to death? Check those lists of processed bad-for-you foods. Are any of them actually unqualifiedly good for you? Most likely none of them. Does anyone believe that eating fast food morning noon and night is without consequences to our health or our environment?. How many times do we need to be reminded that cutting back on sugar and some fats and chemical additives is a reasonable goal? To say those lists of unhealthy foods are bullshit is to disregard science and common sense. To never allow yourself to have ice cream or a truck stop burger or your favorite kind of potato chips is to punish yourself needlessly if you crave it once in a while, but as your main source of calories and nutrition? It depends on how much you want to gamble.

Lovely pandas; I like them as a group. Tomorrow, the 10th, is my daughter's birthday as well. I could bake something but since she's in Atlanta she won't be a beneficiary.

Real popcorn popped on the stove, yes. Movie and microwave, no. Maybe it's the fake butter, no idea. Love all kinds of long chile peppers, fresh green roasted or dried red. Bell peppers of any color, not so much. Buckwheat pancakes and soba, absolutely. Buckwheat groats, just no.

You're lucky, you get to visit NM! Have you been in the fall during roasting season? My daughter lives in Atlanta and I don't love visiting that city. BTW, your daughter will tell you: don't spell it with an "i"--in NM it is chile! Bowl of red, bowl of green, it's all good. Although I have to admit that I can't handle it as spicy as I used to.

What is an oven bag and why does a pot need to go in it? How much help does a pot need?

Totally agree re RG hominy. I am about to make a traditional Posole Rojo in the next few days. I have a mix of pork butt and pork neck bones and a variety of dried red chiles. Although I have not inspected my stash, most likely there are some anchos and some guajillos. When I lived in NM my good friend's dad was the posole master. He cooked the whole thing in a 60's era crock pot (you can picture that, right?) and always served the red chile sauce at the end, to be added to each bowl to taste. I've never been able to duplicate his red chile. It was the best.

Actually I like most all the pecorinos better than Pecorino Romano. I don't know where you live, but there are lots of pecorino cheeses and different ones might be sourced where you are. The ones I see most often where I buy cheese are P. Stagionata, Molitarno, Maturo, Toscano, Renero, Classico, Calabrese and Antico. Typically there will be a couple of them in stock, but sometimes only one. I'm sure there must be dozens of others. Stagionata is my favorite, Antico my least favorite, although it is pretty common. Sometimes Stagionata comes truffled, which is very good but pricier. I don't see Calabrese very often, but I remember liking it. When there is no pecorino (or I'm shopping away from my home turf) I will get Fiore Sardo, which is reliably available lots of places--and seems to travel well on a road trip.) Anyway, I'm a big fan. I always have some type of aged hard pecorino on hand and use it on pasta, as a soup garnish, etc. And I often sub it when recipes call for Parmesan, which I don't like as much. I'm a creature of habit and in my shopping orbit really there is only one large cheese department and I rarely go out hunting for variety; there's usually something to make me happy. Try what ever pecorino comes your way. Most of them are very likable!

I don't know why I read this thread, except to make myself feel deprived or like I am on another planet. I eat breakfast, but I don't make breakfast. Mainly I eat toast with butter. Maybe marmalade. Lately I am crushing on sorghum plus salt on pullman bread. In addition, I am trying to reduce my wheat consumption, so that's added a very annoying dimension to the toast addiction. The only thing that would make me happy would be if I had a pho vendor come up the block every morning so I could run out to the street with my bowl and fill it with rice noodles and hot broth. Anyway, this is a round about way to give a round of applause to those who actually make/design/cook a real breakfast. Especially those who make it for others!

I will chime in on Jasper White. Both his New England and Manhattan style clam chowders are very good. I grew up in a Manhattan style household, with a mother who was exceptionally snobby about the inferiority of "Boston" chowder, but if it is made well and isn't too bland or goopy-- I can get into it. The main thing is to get good clams, and lots of them, not to let them overcook, and to make a good broth with the juices they render. Hard to do if you don't have access to fresh clams. Here in CA we don't have the quahogs (little necks, cherrystones, etc) that make clam chowder so easy on the east coast, so we have to make do with teeny manilla clams. About red versus white. Unless you dump in a fistful of crushed red pepper the tomato won't mask the flavor of the clams and broth. And when it comes to white, what will drag down your chowder is the use of flour or thickening agents or too much cream. And don't make the mistake of eating oyster crackers with Manhattan clam chowder! Get a nice crusty Italian loaf!

My husband does the prep. He doesn't core the sprouts, just pares off the bottoms enough to take off the outer leaf layer; doesn't seem like a terrible chore. He also cuts them in half if they are a typical size and not tiny. I used to be a dedicated hater until I learned to roast them. Now they are in regular rotation when in season. Love them. Great roasted with a little bacon fat, and also great dressed lightly with a mix maple syrup and mustard just before serving.

I'm not so sure how much or in what way it matters when it comes to pre-made frozen pot stickers or wontons, but if you are making home-made dumplings the type of filling you use does make a difference as to the thickness of the wrapper.The time it takes to properly cook the thicker noodle wrapper for a pork filled pot sticker is too long for cooking a delicate shrimp filling. So for a shrimp wonton or a shrimp potsticker I would advice a thinner wrapper. My potstickers are always pork and vegetable, so I have no experience trying to make a pot sticker with a shrimp filling. My wontons however are always shrimp. The round pot sticker skins sold for that purpose are often thicker than the square wonton wrappers, although at some of the noodle factories in Oakland Chinatown I have seen varying thickness for both styles. I did try the TJ's dumplings once, but wouldn't recommend them. I found them salty and the filling kind of mushy and indistinguishable. In their defense, however, I've never had any other brand of frozen product, so maybe the rest are worse.

That looks so great. Are these west coast clams? What kind are they? And I would love the recipe. Generally here in the Bay Area we get those tiny manila clams, which really don't inspire me like the little necks back east.

My favorite steel cut oats are Hamlyn's Pinhead Oats from Scotland. They come in a can and cost an arm and a leg and are harder and harder to come by. You can still get them on Amazon, but they cost almost twice as much as Bob's organic steel cut, so that's what we buy now. Irish steel cut oats are more available, but I don't like them as much. My problem with hot cereal is that it stays hot for about one minute and then it just isn't so yummy any more. There must be some kind of heated bowl that would keep it hot for longer....