Okanagancook

Made the Cherry Clafouti on page 200 last night for dessert. I hardly ever made dessert but this looked so easy. I made the batter ahead of time and let it rest in the fridge for a couple of hours. Used fresh frozen cherries from last year's crop. My Bird's Eye Custard for the top failed (that's another story) so we just had it plain. We liked it because it wasn't too sweet. Ours cooled off a bit too much. It would have been nicer perhaps five minutes after it was out of the oven. Took 50 minutes to cook.

I have one of those spice toasters but mine is definitely tipable it is very thick and does a great job. I love it.

We are far behind last year's early start to spring. DH is having shoulder surgery on Friday.....8 WEEKS IN A SLING....he will be useless for most things....heck can't even open a bottle of wine with one wing can ya? So I am getting out into the garden for three or four 3/4 hr to 1 hour sessions at a time...I have a bad back from playing way, way too much squash in my early days. I have two more rows of grape vines to prune and shlep the cut up vines to a central pick up area I am using for when my garden help comes with a big truck to haul all the trimmings away. Roses are pruned...I have about 25 plants. After the vineyard, I am making list of stuff this gardener fellow can help me with...grasses need cutting, etc., etc. I just can't do it myself. My back is about to give it up...gotta go get the heating pad. Sheesh.

Turkey sausage. Almost as bad an idea as turkey bacon. Come on man!

I am curious. What do you mean by 'a pleasure in vintage case iron"? Why/how is it different. I have shi.....t pans without any markings not sure where and how I got them...some are my parents who would not spend money on cooking equipment.

I just ordered three lbs of sausage meat from my butcher....'going to have a go at it'.....in honour of my Dad who adored sausages of any description!

I could look at that. Sounds very creative and delicious!!!!!

There's a good way to mess up oatmeal (tongue firmly in cheek)....not a fan of herrings and most things fishy.

Dang....could not resist these beef short ribs at my butcher today. They are in the bath at 144F until Thursday dinner time. I took them off the bone and portioned them into 4 oz pieces...that's plenty for me. Bones and trimmings along with mirepoix are in the IP for gravy making.

Not to worry. I stole the idea from a restaurant in Mazatlan! They are really good but one needs some big shrimp and thin, thin bacon......I happen to have thin bacon in my freezer that I made just for this very purpose. I think I feel a feast coming on. Very glad you like them. Make a nice appetizer too.

I 'nailed' it last night. One minute total time in a medium-high hot pan. It was pink. The picture is not so 'nailed'. Chop was about 3/8inch.

Those shrimp remind me of the big ones we got when in Mazatlan, Mexico (shrimp capital apparently). We used to slice them open to make a pocket; tuck in some cheddar cheese then wrap them in thinly sliced bacon; on to the grill.

Potato dumplings from it's German package; caramelized onion/pork stock gravy, German red cabbage, Brats (home made). Delicious.

'Briefly' is the key. And, don't multi-task like I did. Here is the before and after shot.

I just cooked my little steaks and forking over did them! too high a heat, darn.

@robirdstx , that looks delicious. I need to get some corned beef this week. @blue_dolphinGood lord! Could you turn it sideways and maybe, just maybe, I can get my mouth open wide enough

SnB is nice with a squirt of lemon. Coating needs to be thin otherwise the meat is lost.

I have some pork loin slices that are about 3/8th inch. Last time I fried them with a little butter over a medium heat for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on one side; flipped and did another minute or so on the other and cut into it to see if it needed more. I go for medium so still a little pink for me. Just keep checking them.

duck breast with a port wine sauce, cauliflower mash, carrots with pistachio butter, wild rice and mushrooms. butter, sauce and duck from freezer breast done over low heat for 25 minutes then flipped for a minute or so

Her Complete Asian cookbook is the most used book in my collection. In fact I trashed the binding on my first copy and DH got me a new one several years ago and it has duck tape on the spine to keep it together. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Not a bad recipe in the book. The Indo section meat recipes are really good in the summer.

I see that I also have made: Szechwan soup and rated excellent. cucumber yogurt soup on page 69 was 'meh, bland" green and gold soup on page 67 was very thick and needed another cup of liquid braised cabbage, Chinese style p283 made and rated good braised broccoli, Chinese style made and rated excellent stir fried veggies p315 was "bland, nothing special" okra curry p317 I made this on BBQ in a veggie basket...excellent

Went to Eatyourbooks to see what was been made with ratings. Here is what I found 5 star rated p82 pasta p52 fettuccini with creamy red pepper sauce p447 no roll dough p83 spinach pasta p350 eggplant pickle p91 leek and broccoli flan 4 star rated p78 asparagus soup

Let's see, I had two cups pureed squash; about 1/2 cup confit onion (you could sub in some browned onions); confit garlic cloves..about 4;chicken stock; simmered 25 minutes; blended in the Vita mix; added some hot sauce from the fridge and some lemon juice seeing it was quite sweet; S and P. Take it from there to new heights.

Looked it up. Page 175. i have posted the Modernist Cuisine way of cooking eggplant before. I wonder how using the microwave would work. i usually slice the eggplant at about 1/2 inch. Put between paper towels and nuke for 2 to 3 full power. They can then be sprayed or brushed with oil and fried or grilled. Maybe dicing them first for this recipe would work for an easier method.

[Host's note: this topic is part of an extended discussion that grew too large for our servers to handle efficiently. The discussion is continued from here.] Slowly, it is coming around. I have quite a bit of compound butters made from fresh summer herbs. I moved them from a hard to get at drawer to one at shoulder height; separated them into tubs with a list of what is in each tub; wonder of wonders, I am using them almost everyday for something! Today I made soup with two one cup containers of pureed winter squash and confit onions which I made in the IP. That was a quick soup. Tonight we are having a duck breast that has been vac sealed and stored in the freezer since 2013! Still good. No freezer burn but clearly TIME to use it. Pulled out a port/cherry sauce to go with. For tomorrow we have some homemade Brats out of the freezer along with some red cabbage German style.