ElsieD

Wise move. FWIW, We have the Breville Smart toaster and are very happy with it. It toasts evenly, which past toasters failed to do.

Makes two of us.

Here is my contribution, courtesy of Serious Eats, Slow Cooker Sticky Thai Meatballs. I made a paste of lemongrass, shallots, garlic, jalapeños, fresh ginger and fish sauce. Half of this was sauted for a few minutes and then I added Thai Chili Sauce (not the super sweet stuff), brown sugar, soy sauce and rice vinegar. That got cooked for a minute then added some water. This was left to simmer until it reduced by half. This sauce was moved to the slow cooker and cooked for a further 8 hours. At that point, chicken meatballs were added and cooked in the sauce for about a half hour. The chicken meatballs were made by combining ground chicken, the other half of the paste, panko, an egg and some sliced green onion. The meatballs were served on top of plain white rice and topped with a mixture of chopped cilantro, chopped unsalted peanuts, sliced green onions and fresh lime juice. Very good.

I have done eye of round sous vide and thought it was great. The temperature would have been about 134F. It did not fall apart and sliced very well. It made great sandwiches.

I have the BSO Pro and like Rotuts said, it makes terrible toast. That doesn't bother me as I didn't buy it for it's non-existent toast making properties, but if that's what you want it for, my advice is don't buy it. Look for something else.

I've never heard of that brand but there is a new to me brand called Skyr that is made the way the people in Iceland make make theirs. Costco carried it for a time but then stopped. Loblaws here has a Skyr Style yogurt but I don't find it as good as Skyr. I mostly make my own now which I strain so it is nice and thick but very tangy. I need a way to make it less so. When I go to NY state on a grocery expedition, I pick up some Fage yogurt which I also like.

I pulled out some beef sausage today and made Tunisian beef sausage ragu. Served over pasta. It had 2 Tomatoes in it that also came out of the freezer. I made a double batch of the sauce so the other half is in the freezer.

@Fernwood. That's interesting. I use unbleached AP flour for most things, but if a recipe calls for cake and pastry flour I use that. Similarly, I only use bread flour for bread. But, I have made pathetic attempts to make pastry and unbleached flour might be the problem there.

How do they differ?

@HungryChris. Did they say when they would be selling them in Canada?

@Smithy I make these Thai Turkey Burgers that may or may not interest you. I used this to make burgers but I see no reason why they can't be meatballs. Thai Turkey Burgers 1 tablespoon fresh lemongrass, minced 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced 3 green onions, minced 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh coriander, chopped 2 Thai bird chilis, seeded and finely chopped 1 lime, zest only 1 tablespoon fish sauce 1 lb lean ground turkey Mix the turkey and the other ingredients together by hand until they are well combined. Portion into approximately 4 oz. "patties" And put them in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes for them to firm up a bit. Take out of the fridge and shape into four equal sized burger patties. Top with the following salad A mixture of julienned vegetables. I use carrots, jimica, red sweet pepper, cucumber, chopped red onions, chopped pickled ginger. Mix 3 parts unseasoned rice vinegar to one part sugar until dissolved. Add to veggies, stir to mix well and let sit while you cook the burgers.

Last night I took chicken enchiladas that I had made using some of the Christmas capon, but nothing that started with a c went with it. Tonight I thawed some Chicken thighs that were frozen May 27 last year. I made the same dish as one last month - Japanese Chicken Curry with Carrots served over rice. Love that stuff.

Noted, thank you.

I too tried separating the skin from the meat and cooking the meat sous vide and the skin in the pan. I'd much rather leave the breast intact. I just bought some breasts at Costco and will try scoring the breast meat before coking it sous vide a là @gfweb . The "Sous Vide Books" topic reminded me that I have the book "Sous Vide - Help for the Busy Cook" by Jason Logsdon. I checked what he had to say about duck breasts and he says that "This is one of the cases where I really like to sear the food without bringing it back to room temperature first. This allows you to really get a great crust on the duck without over cooking it any, especially on the fat side." I'll try this also.

The last couple of days I've been thinking of making something with ground meat. Except for a batch of chili con carne, I haven't made anything wth ground meat for ages. Hmm. Time to put my thinking cap on. Great topic!

Do you score it first?

Me with a car and you with access to a Costco with beef short ribs. Too bad I'm not closer.

@Anna N. Best stock up on those beef short ribs! I called the other four Costco's in my area and none have them and none show them as being on order.

@gfweb. That is one amazing kitchen. Just beautiful.

@Anna N I just came back from Costco and alas, they did not have short ribs. I asked about them and was told they had some about a month and a half ago and they haven't seen them since. The did have blade roasts and pork shoulder roasts, two per package. There are four other Costcos within a short drive and I plan on calling all of them if need be, to find out if they carry them. Not being able to get some made me feel a little bit sad.

Lamb Shanks tonight but nothing starting with an L or an S to go with it, unless salt counts. Everything was cooked in the IP, 30 second green beans as per @JoNorvelleWalker, mashed potatoes as per @Anna N, carrots cooked a tad too long, some pearl onions added to the sauce as it was reducing. Just realized that potatoes are also known as Spuds so I guess I'm okay. Last night we had chicken drumsticks but they don't count because they went into the freezer after the FCO started.

Anna, thanks. I haven't looked at their meat lately as I have been trying to eat what is in the freezer. But when I buy beef it is usually at Costco and I will be going there on the weekend so I'll have a look for them. Same with the pork shoulder, another favourite cut of mine that I haven't seen there. Strangely, I never buy chicken there except for the odd cooked one. That I buy at my Italian grocer. I do buy lamb chops at Costco.

Lucky you. I love short ribs, bone in or out, but I have never seen them at the Costcos here.

I had a look at this and a number of reviews said not to use the full amount of sugar. Do you use the full amount?