kayb

Would wager not too many folks in Memphis were, in fact, deglazing over a fire pit. Unless somebody at Central Barbecue got REAL creative. (Your neighbor 60 miles up the road in Arkansas.)

I'm fond of Shirley Corriher's Cookwise. But I'll confess to getting HTCE for folks for a wedding gift. No, it's not a book most of us in this forum want or need. For someone just learning to cook, it's not bad at all.

Chuck roast would be the most difficult cut of beef for me to give up. I'd rather have it, cooked right, than a steak.

Pork is the biggest thing standing between me and being vegetarian. I could give up beef, game, and even chicken first. Just don't take my pig. That said, I must have cooked pork chops thousands of times over the past 40 years, probably in at least 150 different ways.

Welcome! Several people on this forum do some dehydrating, including me, although I'm not very experienced at it. What kind of equipment do you have? I started with sheet pans and the oven, and have graduated to a cheap Ambiano that seems to work quite well. What else do you like to cook?

You only THINK they haven't learned how to open the refrigerator. How do you think the sandwich got into the cabinet?

The two things for which I will always be grateful to HTCE (and I got it when I was a MUCH less accomplished cook than I am now, not that I'm all that accomplished now) -- pizza dough and fried rice. Worth the price of the book for those two alone.

Semi-sweets, more like it. A loaf of date-nut bread, left, and a fig-and-blueberry crisp. The date nut bread, from the recipe on the King Arthur Flour website, was primo. I'll make that again. The crisp, which I kind of winged, needs work.

Ask and you shall receive: Three packages. Not a lot of visible get. First point cut, rubbed. And smoked to an internal temp of 150. It's now wrapped in waxed paper and in the fridge to set the crust. I'll steam it tomorrow in the IP.

Around here, the range of restaurants being limited, I usually stick to my tried-and-true. If I'm in Memphis or Little Rock, where the selection is much better, I will go about 50-50 between hitting a new spot and sticking with an old favorite. If I'm completely out of town, I'll go for some local place I've looked up that looks interesting.

A general answer for your general question: Michael Ruhlman details the process here. Those are the directions I followed and mine was good.

Another piece of yesterday's quiche (similar to yesterday's pic!). Followed it up with a sample of the fig-berry crisp. I kinda tore it up getting it out of the pan. It's topped with Greek yogurt sweetened with honey. Although I'd seen a recipe for dried figs in a crisp, I wish I'd reconstituted these in some kind of fruit juice.

MOOOO--OOM! I want FISH!

Stopped off in Aldi this morning to check out the corned beef situation, as they had none last week. This week, there was plenty; point cuts, most of them about 2 pounds, for $1.99, and flat cuts, larger, for $4.99 a pound. Not sure why the price difference. I got three point sections and threw two of them in the freezer; the third got a rub of coriander, black pepper, paprika, onion and garlic powder, and a bit of brown sugar, and is on the smoker now. My grass-fed brisket is still brining; I'll cook it Saturday or Sunday. I was pleased to find the point cuts, which are about the size I want to use for pastrami.

@Thanks for the Crepes, glad you had a good weekend and got to visit your husband and your family, not to mention getting some great meals!

I'm kind of all over the map. I have favorites I'll make once or twice a month. At least twice a month, I'll take a flyer on something I've never made before. In between, it's usually riffs on something I may have made, but how about if I subbed this for that, and something for something else? I do like to perfect things, and there are a few things that I have gotten pretty close to perfecting. But there's always room for one...more...tweak...

Daughter brought it back to me from a road trip to LA. But you can order it from cajungrocers.com. I got a tad too much ham in it. Wasn't enough to keep for something else. And you're welcome to come eat breakfast with me any time this week.

Undecided as to whether to post in the breakfast or lunch topic, as it was the first thing I ate today, but it was 1:30 when I did so. Quiche with tasso ham and Gruyere. Will be good breakfasts here the rest of the week.

Thank you!

Superb reviews. On my list when I go up for a Cards game this summer

That looks marvelous. Do you mind sharing a recipe? Always on the lookout for a new soup. I had soup kitchen duty this morning, and we had...soup. Vegetable beef soup with turkey sandwiches on the side; we have a Butterball plant that processes boneless turkey breasts into lunch meat, and they donated the turkey. Good soup (I make damn good vegetable beef soup, if I do say so myself), but I'm about done with soup for a little while. I've still got time for two or three good pots this spring, though.

Doggoned if I see the need in a canner that size. I guess if you were doing small -batch stuff. What can you put in there, three pint jars, maybe? Although, if I'm small-batching, it's likely either pickles or some sort of jam or preserve, and I can just get out my stock pot if I don't want to fool with the big canner.

I've done that. You have to par-cook the bacon, in a little water so it doesn't get crisp at all.

A brief conversation in the "Daily Sweets" thread about gluten-free brownies got me started thinking about the gluten free cooking topic. I suspect many of us are in the position I am placed from time to time, cooking for a relative who has celiac disease. I'm fortunate that my daughter leans heavily toward fish and fresh vegetables with little preparation other than steaming or roasting, but still, there are sauces and breadings, as well as desserts, to consider when she's one of the crowd at a family dinner. For desserts, I tend to go toward berry crisps, with oats that are certified gluten-free. I didn't realize many brands of oats are processed in the same factories as wheat, and thus may have some wheat gluten in them. It doesn't take much to set her off with a reaction (though, thankfully, she's not to the level of walking through a bakery and having an episode triggered by breathing in flour particles), or ice creams/sherbets over poached or baked fruit. A crustless custard pie is always a good choice. Likewise, I bake quiches without crusts when she's around. But I think one of the best hacks I've come across is using either crushed Rice Chex cereal or crushed potato chips for the breading on something like a schnitzel. Gives a great crispy coating, and the flavor is fine. I've also used crushed rice cereal with milk to make the panade for a meat loaf or meatballs; not quite as satisfactory as bread, but it works. I can usually approximate the taste of a prepared Asian style sauce, as most of those have gluten in them, and thicken with cornstarch, if necessary. I've made a roux that was acceptable with a combo of rice flour, potato starch and cornstarch; takes more fat than a regular roux proportion. I use white corn tortillas in place of lasagna noodles. No, you won't mistake them for lasagna noodles, but they do make an adequate vehicle for separating the layers of cheese, sauce, and other goodies. And the kid does love her lasagna. (I've also found the quinoa pasta to be pretty decent.) I'd be interested in hearing about gluten-free "hacks" others have come up with.

I had a granola bar. And coffee. Sigh.