Okanagancook

Thanks Huiray, both dishes look good especially the andouille with asparagus.

Over on the dinner thread we had a little flurry of activity on the subject of asparagus. Well, we have the Armstrong asparagus ready here in the Okanagan. I just bought two bags full. Some pencil thin and some nice and fat. They are always shipped in boxes so they are lying down and as you can see from the photo, some of the tops are a little bit bent but the heads are tight. Armstrong is about 100 kilometres from here. It just arrived according to the store. I am going to make a salad with some of the big ones, dressed with a tangerine and pistachio vinaigrette from The New Spanish Table. For dinner I'm looking for a recipe with scallops or shrimp to go with the asparagus and some ricotta dumplings I have in the freezer. What is your favourite way of eating asparagus?

Have not used the thicker stalks for salad. Will try that when the spring crop arrives. Asparagus grows wild in the Okanagan. Used to be more of it before the use of herbicides wiped a lot of it out but the older farmers have their secret patches! We get farmed asparagus from north of Lake Okanagan. Lasts about three weeks at which time we gorge on it. I don't buy imported asparagus because it just doesn't compare to what we get locally.

I have to agree about thicker asparagus for cooked. I do use raw in salads where of course thinner is usually better. We have some wild asparagus which is thin and tough unless you take just the tips and use them as a base for soups.

Recently discovered the best tortilla chips, well, to my taste. There are various flavours but I like the sea salt: President's Choice Kettle Style Tortilla chips. Delicious. Bubbly, crispy surface with the right amount of salt and the right thickness AND they are packaged in a sturdy waxed paper bag so that aren't all crushed. Tortilla chips are one of those foods that if they are in the house, I eat them. Even four of these beauties can stave off cravings.

mm84321: beautiful dishes. I have a question for you seeing that our asparagus season is coming up. Thick or thin stalks? Last year I went for the thick stalks. Snapped off the fibrous end and did gentle peel on the stalks.

BBQ's lamb chops, Texas toast, yogurt/cuc/garlic and Ted Reader's BBQ vegetable salad. I hovered over the chops on the grill with Thermapen in hand and cooked them perfectly....really, just as good as sous vide without all the waiting and I got to drink wine while I was cooking them and enjoying the view of our spectacular surrounds

Made the paella last night. Really good. I used a very good stock. Pictures of the mis en place; marinating rabbit and chicken; the bubbling rice and the finished product. After baking the paella it needed to go on the stove to get the bottom crispy......love my brother who cleaned the paella pan this morning

Patrickamory: that spread looks stunning. I bet it all goes!

Does look good. As it happens I am making a Valenciana Paella tonight. Chicken thighs, rabbit, snails, butter beans, green beans, artichoke and I'm putting in a little optional slices of chorizo. Never made paella before so hopefully I can get the crispy bottom.

EliseD, yes if the books you have in your library have been indexed in EYB's library then when you search for a recipe it will search those books in your library. But the search engine is quite sophisticated so you can search on a number of criteria, ie, chicken breast, mushrooms, Asian. It is well designed. They have most popular books indexed and are active at indexing more. In fact you can index books yourself. I find that I am using my books much more. There is probably a topic on EYB. Plus, their daily blog has the latest food news and it will index the magazines you subscribe to automatically each month.

I joined Eat Your Books at the very beginning and have a lifetime membership for $50. Now, that was a great decision because I use it all the time. The one thing I have not been doing is keeping track of what I make using their bookmark feature. I do that the old fashioned way with a spiral notebook always open in the kitchen where I jot down the date and what I made from which cookbook. Took me awhile to find the name of that tomato sauce above but I only have 10 months of notes. So, looking back at the books I have been using has been fun. Lately: Frankies A Matter of Taste Local Flavours Global Grill D. Thompson's Thai Cooking Will it Waffle Foods of the World Series: Germany Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook Ted Reader's Gastro Grilling.....baked sweet potatoes that are then injected with "butter love" which is a combo of spiced rum, maple syrup and butter...that is a great combo

A16 Meat Balls.....to die for Flour & Water egg pasta....simply amazing dough Marcella's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking...Tomato, pancetta tomato sauce These three got raves from friends we had for lunch. One person, whose son is a chef, said that this was THE BEST pasta meal he had ever had...and he is almost 65 y.o. Nice comment and made the half hour I spend kneading the two batches of pasta dough worthwhile.

The local Superstore had some fresh farmed trout. En Papillote with chopped shrimp, parsley, herb butter and lemon slices between the fillets and a row of thinly sliced cremini mushrooms on top then baked at 375 for 14 minutes; steamed mashed potatoes (a little brown 'cause I used some concentrated chicken stock for moisture); steamed carrots and snap peas. A nice lite meal.

Size 18/23 head on shrimp packed with a little oil, cooked at 132F for 20 minutes. These pictures go with my post #342. Just found them.

Romain Lettuce leaf with a bed of celery root remoulade, micro greens from my greenhouse topped with baby shrimp and a little hot sauce. Nice and fresh tasting. Not as difficult to eat as hard shell tacos . There were two of them, after one was eaten, I realized I should take a picture.

Sadly I have not been to the rock. The Canadian Culinary Champion representing the rock was Aqua Kitchen & Bar in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, it’s Chef MARK McCROWE. That should be good as I have been to the finale in Kelowna and all the city champion chefs are very talented. Have a great trip.

I am of two minds about tender meats done sous vide also. However, the most impressive thing is the convenience of sv meat. Especially when you have guests....with the same doneness preferences. If I had a nice 1 1/2 inch ribeye or tenderloin done on a smoking hot charcoal grill producing a crusty layer of grilled goodness and an almost blue interior I would be more than happy.

Oh, my goodness, that looks sublime! And everyone, the last couple of pages of dinners are fantastic. Thank you for sharing.

I will be interested to know how the tongue turns out seeing I have one in the freezer.Did some head and shell on medium shrimp at 132f for 20 minutes. Quite nice, juicy but perhaps a little overdone. I tried a bag at 125f for the same time but once I cooled the 132 bath down to 125 I forgot to turn the thermometer down so had another forking bag of the same thing. Serves me right for trying to watch the Masters and cook at the same time.

I shall have to try some when I cook my garden sorrel which turns a terrible colour when heated.

Weedy, your duck sounds wonderful! I'm making a note this recipe in my SV file! cheers and thanks :-))

Having a timely "Income Tax Cocktail" today. Sweet and dry vermouth, A. bitters, gin and orange juice.

This is always a good website as is her dumpling cookbook: http://www.asiandumplingtips.com/2010/02/how-to-roll-out-asian-dumpling-wrappers-video-version-2.html

Yes, I have tried that technique also. The way they are rolled, the edges are thinner than the middle so that when you fold and seal them that area is as thick as the centre. Makes for even cooking. With practice this technique is faster than using the pasta roller. There are lots of videos of people make them this way. So, yes, practice and that means more pot stickers to eat.