ElsieD

Beautiful shots, @gfron1. I didn't realize there were so many different mushrooms. I am really, really, enjoying your posts and looking forward to many more.

@liuzhou those are fine looking fish and chips - especially the chips!

Lexi is adorable.

@cakewalk yes, i made them with the toasted sugar but can't really say if the fact that the sugar was toasted makes any difference in the flavour as the sugar on the outside caramalizes anyways. Thanks for the compliment on the tea pot. When I went looking for one, I was drawn to it because of the colourful polka dots.

Would you be willing to share your recipe for the shrimp? I bought some of the spice a little while ago but have yet to do anything with it, and I have shrimp in the freezer.

What was in the Roti Canal appetizer? It looks delicious.

One of the things I like about the mini pot is that you can change the sautè levels while it is on simply by using the sautè button. No need to shut it off.

This is great. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

What are faux apple pies?

Kouign Aman. Not as well shaped as they could be, but very, very good. Within an hour of them coming out of the oven, 5 of the 12 had disappeared!

@Smithy tonight we had IP Mac and cheese, made in the mini.

I have had the Messermeister for a long time and it works well on ripe tomatoes and peaches as long as they are not too soft.

@Smithy I have only used the 6 qt. once since I got the mini and that was to cook pork ribs. I absolutely love the mini. It works as well as the larger one with the added bonus that it fits nicely in a corner of my counter which the bigger one didn't. Right now it is cooking the spuds for dinner and two nights ago I used it to make yogurt. I have also used it to cook rice and have cooked some meat dishes in it, such as a Korean chicken stew. I highly recommend it.

I did this the other day out of curiosity. I am a big fan of Stella Parks. The author of the article you linked to did hers for 6 hours, I did mine for 2 hours as per the book, Brave Tart. Excellent book, BTW. My sugar is much lighter than PLAP, but strangely, not as sweet as untoasted sugar. I haven't used any yet, but I am using it to make Kouign Aman which I plan to do within the next couple of days. Based on taste alone, I would not be bothered doing this again, but I may change my mind once I do some baking with it.

One thing I have learned from cooking my way through my freezer is that I now vacuum pack ALL meats. No exceptions. I too am guilty in the bread department. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 7 different kinds of breads/buns in there.

We had the aged beef braising ribs I mentioned up thread for dinner last night. They were cooked for 48 hours at 134F. I have never, in my entire life, had a piece of beef as good as that. It was exceptionally rich, I guess from all the marblng. I had ordered beef cheeks from this same butcher and we went out to pick them up today. I asked about the ribs and he said he always dry ages them for a minimum of 4 weeks but when I got mine last week, I got lucky as they were part of a batch aged for 6 weeks. I asked if he had any ox tails and he did. I said I might buy one depending on the price. He got one out and it was just shy of $50. I told him that was too rich for me so he gave me the package of 3.8 pounds for $25. I'm a pretty happy camper right now, with my pig cheeks, beef cheeks and ox tails. As we were leaving, whole fresh lamb carcasses were being delivered. He also, he told me, had fresh local rabbits which I passed on. I love that place, but I sure am glad it's not next door.

Bought this today for $1.99. It looks brand new.

@weinoo Are you related to my husband?

@scubadoo97 glad to read you are all right, I have been wondering how you are faring. I was in Dunedin a couple of years ago and it is a very pretty town. I hope there isn't too much damage.

@Anna N thank you. I have made note of the time she cooks them at in case I ever take leave of my senses and buy them again but you have convinced me to do them sous vide. As mentioned, I have them in the freezer until my circulator has been freed up. I'll post my results over on the sous vide thread when I do them.

@Tropicalsenior lots of goid looking ideas there. I never have a problem figuring out what to do with braising ribs. They look amazing, very well marbled. They are swimming away in their water bath and will be for the next 48 hours.

I think I might try this. Thank you. How much pork belly do you cook at one time?

@Okanagancook this is what my pig cheeks look like. They are from the Big Black Pig breed if that makes any difference. As you can see, they are quite lean, at least from what I can see. These have been separated from the jowls which is indeed, very fatty. The pictures below are of the front and back. Total weight is about 13 ounces. I am about to settle in and read the referenced links. Thank you all for your help. I have vacuum packed them and they are in the freezer until I decide how to cook them.

@rotuts when I bought the pig cheeks I also bought 6 week dry aged beef braising ribs. They will get cooked sous vide starting tonight, so sousvide cheeks are not an option this time. Also coming from the butcher this week are beef cheeks. I have never cooked them either but Douglas Baldwin covers that topic. Off topic a bit, he also had ox tails. The butcher, not Mr. Baldwin. Wish I had snapped those up.