ElsieD

Chefmd, thank you so much for your blog. I just loved it. It is a part of the world I will never see and you made it seem as though I were there. One question - is the food in that part of China spicy?

Fascinating, thank you so much!

I finally cooked something interesting or at least tasty. Due to circumstances, I haven't cooked much the last while, and it was nice to put this together. Easy but good. Korean Stewed Chicken (Dak Bokkeum) with asparagus and bell peppers. Served over white rice.

Mine were about 1 1/2" thick. The claim being made is that with a quick release, it squeezes the moisture out which according to the same claim, won't happen with a natural release. I will try a one minute cook when next I do chops, but what do other eople do? I thought Weinstein and Scarborough were experts.

I normally cook pork chops sous vide but last night I decided to cook them in the IP. I followed the directions in The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarborough. That is, after browning they were cooked on high for 10 with a quick release. Today I recieved an email from Pressure cooking Today also dealing with pork chops. Their recommendation was 1 minute on high followed by a natural release. Quite a difference. When we were eating the pork chops, the first few bites were nice and juicy but the more we ate of them, the drier they got. Any comments on the discrepancy between the two methods?

Reminds me of the time when I was a lowly student in a C.A. firm. I got sent out to work up some financial statements for a paving company. Their office was in their house. The wife of the owner sat across from me for the whole week or whatever it was, I guess to make sure they didn't get stiffed on my hourly rate. The only time she disappeared was one time towards the end when she showed up with a bowl of soup. It had a slick of oil on it that must have been an inch deep. Gag city. I had mercifully forgotten about that until your post. My sympathies.

There are four recipes for shrimp: deviled, cold; grilled scampi style; in mustard sauce; and shrimp and scallop seviche . The deviled shrimp has black olives and pimento in it, among other things. If you want any of these recipes let me know and I will send you a PM. I too got this book when it first came out and I have purchased many others over the years and gotten rid of many, but this one will have to be pried from my cold dead fingers. For some reason, I love this book. I especially liked some of the photography, do you remember the picture of the roast beef pictured in a wine glass? I still make the Cannelloni recipe from that book.

I just happen to have the book, Great Dinners from Life. I checked it when I got home tonight and the recipe is on page 29. You are right - there is no mention of a water bath. It is baked for 1 hour and ten minutes or until firm around the edges, the oven is turned off and it stays in the oven for two hours. Remove and cool for at least two hours, then refrigerate for three.

Norm, I love that window nook, if that is the right name for it. Is that a microwave stand your KA is on or some sort of kitchen portable cupboard?

Thank you all for your replies. I was away over the weekend and on the way back it became apparent that I was coming down with the flu. Today has been a tough day but as soon as I feel better, I will comment on your replies.

Has anyone baked using sugar substitutes? I looked to see if this had been covered before but I mainly found oldish threads and they mainly seemed to deal with beverages. When I went to the grocery store the other day there seemed to be a plethora of them, but the ingredient list (chemical make-up?) of them were different. I know zero about the ingredients that are used as sugar substitutes and wondered if anyone on this forum had any experience with them. My husband is trying to loose weight and if I can use a sugar substitute in baking and desserts with a reasonable assurance that what I produce won't taste like a chemical stew I would like to try it.

Beautiful loaves, Norm.

And what about maple syrup? My current bottle, and all the ones that preceeded it, say to refrigerate after opening. I wish I knew why - native Americans certainly didn't have refrigeration.

We went to Syracuse on Friday so we could go to Trader Joe's and Wegman's. We bought a bunch of the stuff we know we like that I have not seen here, along with some new-to-us items. One of the items was the Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits, shown below. These are bad. They are like eating slightly blueberry flavored sawdust. Really bad. A purchase that won't be repeated. On the way back, we had an experience going back through Canadian customs. We were asked the usual, what did you buy, any liquor or tobacco, etc. We said we bought groceries only and handed over our two receipts. Well, says the customs officer, you are over your limit for dairy products, please go over to that building and park under the canopy. Which we did and two customs agents came out. It seems we are allowed to bring back no more than $20.00 each in dairy products which in our case would have amounted to the grand sum of $40.00. Our crime was that our purchases came to $40.30. We were 30 cents over our limit. So the two customs guys are standing there looking like what they really want to know is why the agent bothered to send us over for .30. However, I guess they felt we needed a lesson in how duties applied so it seems that we are allowed $20 each in Canadian funds which meant that we were actually over by about $12 each. Duty is 270% which meant that, if they chose to apply it, we would have had to pay about $33.00. Expensive butter and cheese. Anyway, they simply suggested we brush up on our knowledge of how much of what we can bring back. They said that since we have Nexus cards, we are obliged to know the rules. So, we said we would brush up on them and they sent us on our way. My husband now thinks we will forever be flagged as smugglers or some such thing.

Tonight I made a recipe called Sweet and Spicy Shrimp with Rice Noodles. Except I used Shiritaki instead of rice noodles in the interest of saving some calories. I also made double the sauce as we like sauce. Which meant that I used a 1/4 cup of sambal oelek and, having finished my share a little while ago, I still have steam coming out of my ears. The recipe also called for a Thai chili which I smartly deseeded before it went into that pot. I think I'll leave that out next time.

Sorry, Shelby, I wasn't very clear. What I meant was, did it arrive in the U.S. from some other country? I am Dutch and my parents immigrated to Canada and they brought some stuff with them from Holland. So if your grandparents immigrated from some other country, that may be where the China originated?

Any idea where the set originated?

Excellent. Thank you, you covered all the points. I'll do it this way next time.

BD, I have the instant pot. How do you cook it in the IP? How much water do you use?

This rice blend is really, really good. I plan on picking up a few more bags when next we go. The first first time I cooked it, there was a lot of water that had not been absorbed. I cooked it again tonight and cut back a bit on the water. Much better. Does anyone else buy this?

Sous vide chicken breast stuffed with Italian sausage with marinara sauce, green beans and TJ's rice medley (long grain brown rice, black barley and Daikon radish seed).

Is there a recipe for these somewhere?

Shredded pork stir fry with sweet bean sauce, rice and cucumber marinated in seasoned rice vinegar. The pork recipe came from The Woks of Life website and oh my, was it ever good.

I had never heard of putting salt in coffee until I met my husband. As I was growing up, my parents always drank coffee twice a day, using beans my mother ground before she made it. He insists on a pinch of salt in with the coffee before brewing. We buy coffee that is ground for us when we buy it. I can't tell the difference between the salt added and no salt added.

Strip loins on the rare side of medium rare with a red wine pan sauce, roasted potatoes and asparagus and red pepper sauté. The potatoes did not take over the plate as much as it appears.