Okanagancook

Thank you for posting about China Seas. I see they have some chilies I have been searching for so I can cook some recipes from The Food of Latin America: Gran Cocina Latina.

HC: simple but good! Needs a twist of black pepper though :-))

OMG! Perfectly round truffle slices to boot.

Over in the topic for the cookbook Taste and Technique there was a discussion about stock making. Here is a copy of it below. Rather than comment on the outcome of my bone stock there I thought I would put it in this thread. The bone stock pictured below was very clean tasting but not very meaty. DH says 'it's very boney'. Different for sure. But, the main thing I learned from making this stock is to use the Chefalarm to keep the stock between 190 and 200 degrees. This kept the stock very clean with not much skimming to do. Part of this is likely due to the fact there wasn't much meat in the stock. Not sure I would make this type of stock again. Not cheap at $25 for 1 pint of 'glace de viande'. " What you said is the way I usually make stock but I thought I would try this recipe out of Cooking the Nouvelle Cuisine in America. I have never made a stock with just bones before and am curious because of the forward in the book. Once reduced to about 1 pint it is their glace de viande which is used throughout their recipes. They say it is essential to make the glace. So I just thought I would try it and see how it turns out. I agree about the addition of meat really making a stock flavourful. I am also trying a new technique: using a "Chefalarm" in the stock to ensure it stays between 190 and 200 degrees F. Usually when making stock over a longer period of time, I come back to the pot to discover it has come to a higher simmer than I want or it has gone too low. With the upper and lower alarm I can relax today."

Lettuce wraps. Simple but good.

What you said is the way I usually make stock but I thought I would try this recipe out of Cooking the Nouvelle Cuisine in America. I have never made a stock with just bones before and am curious because of the forward in the book. Once reduced to about 1 pint it is their glace de viande which is used throughout their recipes. They say it is essential to make the glace. So I just thought I would try it and see how it turns out. I agree about the addition of meat really making a stock flavourful. I am also trying a new technique: using a "Chefalarm" in the stock to ensure it stays between 190 and 200 degrees F. Usually when making stock over a longer period of time, I come back to the pot to discover it has come to a higher simmer than I want or it has gone too low. With the upper and lower alarm I can relax today.

I have three freezer spaces each with compartments/shelves. My inventory tells me on which shelf in which freezer said item lives. Makes it much easier to find stuff in a six shelf upright freezer. One must be religious about keeping the inventory uptodate. Always a struggle.

The cooking instructions in this book seem to be troublesome as I also have found. I made the stock and while it is very good, it is also very expensive to make because there is a lot of meat called for. I am making a stock today from another book and this stock is bone and vegetable based so I shall be interested to compare the two.

I made the shrimp and grits with Gumbo sauce on page 412. I made just the sauce and froze it in four batches. Tonight I pulled out a batch, added some shrimp and cooked the shrimp in the sauce. I made grits in the IP, which didn't work this time around for some reason....hum, maybe because I omitted the cheddar cheese that I usually added. Anyways, the gumbo was really lovely. I liked the okra slices throughout. It could do with more heat for our tastes. The recipe calls for only 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon cayenne/chili flakes. I'll make this again. I didn't add a lot of the additional butter called for seeing I have been over eating and under exercising lately

My Dyson humidifier says to rinse parts of the machine and the water tank with a mild solution of citric acid (30 grams/litre). This would likely be safer than a bleach solution. Perhaps one could use a vinegar preparation but I don't know the specifics of that.

Recently I bought a couple more notebooks for specific appliances/cooking methods as well as my 'everything else' notebook. At the back of my EE notebook I have listed the recipes which we really like and make on a regular basis. Notebooks: Sous Vide Cookery CSO IP Dehydrator BGE (Big Green Egg)

I had a little dish of highly spiced dahl. Love dahl anytime of the day. A picture would not do it justice.

Excellent meals everyone. All so different and prepared with a lot of skill. Great combinations of foods which I find very important. Xmas eve dinner for two. I have racks of lamb in the freezer which are 4 ribs each. So the prospect of only 2 ribs each did not float our boat. I decided to go all out "pigginess" and thawed two packages. Marinated in the usual suspects then a quick hot sear. Served with mashed pots, glazed carrots, mushrooms and sautéed Kale from Taste and Technique. I overcooked the lamb ever so slightly but still delicious and we certainly had enough MEAT. :-)))))

I made the roasted carrots and pan fried mushrooms. Liked both but why is the carrot recipe for 8 people? i made 1/4 of a recipe, sheesh. I like the addition of Parmesan shavings to the mushrooms. I used button mushrooms because I do not get fresh wild mushrooms here.

I made the ritz crackers and the sesame crackers. Again, the baking time is way off. Almost double what she calls for. Meh to both recipes. Forking waste of time, grrrrrr

This like the one the Hospital used to make: Italian Wedding Soup: http://www.goodinthesimple.com/favorite-soup-italian-wedding-soup-recipe-cant-beat/

There seems to slobber on my computer screen! Wow, those looks amazing.

I'm with NancyH.

Italian wedding soup with tiny sausage/pork meatballs, yum. When I worked at the hospital that was my favourite soup at lunch. They put it on about every three weeks. Never made it myself.

Very nice Shelby! Now THAT'S a meat grinder! I'll take two lbs please!

Duh, I forgot about that setting i'll have to try that next time.

I used Peter Reinhart's Napoletana pizza dough recipe. https://www.fornobravo.com/pizzaquest/recipe-neapolitan-pizza-dough/ It was in the fridge for most of the afternoon. I broke off a chunk and put in on the counter top for 1 1/2 hours. I oiled the pan; spread out the dough to a thin layer (I think it was a little too thin because the flat bread was quite crispy all the way through); put some oil on the top followed by some garlic scape pesto from the freezer; Aleppo pepper and black pepper. Baked at the highest convection bake setting for about 13 minutes. Really fast and economical.....didn't have to heat up the big oven for one little flat bread.

Had some freshly made pizza dough in the fridge so made a little flat bread thingie using the tray that came with the oven; convection bake at the highest setting for about 13 minutes. It was a little over done on the top and not as brown underneath. Next time I think I would lower the rack. Tasted good and it was quick.

Berkshire loin chops; 3/4 inch thick; in at 132F for 45 minutes; seared under a bacon press for excellent contact with the hot pan; no magic browning powder. Pretty much perfect.

Anna N, very 'cheffy' looking.