Okanagancook

Headed to Newfoundland?

Cover the top with a slice of bacon.

Very sad if you are a pig.😓

Oh God, why do it look at this thread with all the lovely loaves. An inspiration. I was inspired but the outcomes are not post-worthy yet.🙂

Yes @rotuts has made some excellent points which missed back in March. I have no idea about some of his questions. Need to investigate. I guess I just really like the convenience of decent coffee...it is not as good as my brother’s which is made with more skill. We have a decent number of visitors and the machine allows them to draw their own coffee how they like it and I can get on with other things.

The spring rolls turned out really well. In about 10 minutes in the air fryer they were ready. DH commented they were better this way compared to deep frying them. And yipppeeeee, I have a whole tray to go in the freezer.

Today was a rainy day project. During our annual pig roast we cut the trotters off the pig so the spit turns better. And each year I make Happy in the Kitchen's Trotter Spring Rolls with the most delicious ginger remoulade sauce. Today was the day to make them. The trotters are simmered for three hours with onion, carrot, vinegar, wine and herbs. The bones (all 25 of them per trotter) are removed and discarded everything else (yes all the skin too) is chopped up and mixed with browned onions/soy and a pinch or coriander. The meat is formed into logs using plastic wrap. This was a favourite technique of Michel Ricard, RIP. I used the wrapper rolling technique I documented a couple of entries up thread...makes for a nice neat roll. The logs are chilled until firm then wrapped in spring roll wrappers and deep fried. This year I am going to try them in the Air Fryer because there is enough fat in the filling that not deep frying them may actually them better. They are in the fridge setting up. Here's some pictures. I highly recommend this recipe or even just the ginger remoulade sauce.

Spinach salad made with the compost spinach (garden thread for details) and lovage/celery soup.😁

@Smithy Why not use the air fryer for the tator tots? Use a more moderate temp and I bet they would be good. If your timing is off a little they would reheat in a flash. Don't retire your AF, it's a gem...bet you could have toasted the bread in there.

I had a big juicy peach gifted by our neighbour! I am going to try really hard to remember to take a picture of lunch today🙄

I recently read a review of Pok Pok Noodles and it's just as well. Save the $5 for something else. Can't for the life of me remember where I read the review.

Yikes. At their beck and call then! Your meal tonight was certainly balanced from a nutritional stand point: meal, starch, veg and maybe a little dairy on the macaroni.

Or steam them in the CSO

I grow NZS every year but the ones that spontaneously appear in the compost do the best. I will have to address perhaps a soil issue in the four foot square boxes I use. They are kept under a shade cloth but those plants don't get nearly as big as the compost plants. I made a delicious salad with the greens today. I love the texture of NZS.

Yes, I pull of the shoots and they were raised by moi as per usual. Seeds started from seed, in the heated green house with grow lights. Planted when they were about a foot high. It is the lack of heat. My friend plants around 20 plants every summer and they are a good five feet tall with a plethora of fruit...not this year. Glad to hear yours are going nuts! Tomato envy.😁

Everyone is in the same boat around here. It was very cool and lots of rain. The coolness I think it what killed everything. I mean I have pepper plants that are two inches tall that were raised in the greenhouse (as usual) and planted after the May long weekend. The fruit set on the wine grapes isn't the greatest either which could be a good thing...less grapes....better quality. Thanks.

I may have whined before that this year's garden is an absolute bust. My Cherokee Purple plant has three pint-sized tomatoes and my Early Girls maybe 3 to 5...normally 20 or more. The cherry tomato plants aren't bad. Likewise the cucumbers suck...just three off four plants. I have given up weeding. But, you can't keep a good zucchini plant down and my two are producing some lovely ones. These are a different variety but I like them because not many seeds and nice firm flesh. And.....never underestimate nor neglect your compost pile....Best produce so far. This morning I harvested a huge amount of lovely New Zealand spinach. There's a small tomato plant in there. The other bin has a large squash plant plus two others 😁 Our neighbour got some spinach and cherry tomatoes in exchange for some lovely peaches which my brother's dog was very interested in.

Meatballs, before and after.If you haven't made these from OL's Jerusalem maybe consider. Many positive comments on Eat Your Books. My second time making them. The yogurt-sumac sauce is a must.

@ShelbyThey turned out great although slightly higher temp that I was aiming for....probably related to ball size! Thanks

Ok, thanks @Shelby...I'm on it

Thawed without their shells. They were the large Argentinian shrimp.

Anyone cooked meatballs in the CSO? I have ten turkey/zucchini 45 grams meatballs from OL's Jerusalem that need to be cooked for reheating at another time. Or should I go Convection Bake at 400F for 10 minutes turning at halt time? Thinking 350F on bake steam for 10 to 15 minutes. Check the temperature (aiming for 165F). They can be quickly browned after reheating.

I had three fairly large shrimp that I wanted cooked to go in a veggie stew. I put them in a small pyrex bowl and steamed them at 200F for 8 minutes. Wow, beautifully moist and cooked perfectly. Who knew....only trouble is I only have two left to go in the stew 😋

@Paul BacinoThat's creative. Nice flavour combo!

My pasta loving DH would love that... 😃