kayb

Yogurt, granola, and half a very ripe mango. On 20-oz mug of coffee No. 2. Was out of town for two days and hotel/convention center coffee was execrable. Good to be home.

Many thanks!

I've discovered the link to my favorite Cuban bread recipe is broken. Best I recall, it was flour, salt, water, yeast, and a couple of tablespoons of melted shortening.

Ain't that just like a man.

Ebook of the day: Ottolenghi's Plenty More, 2.99 (US Prime price). Here. Speaking of Prime, who's going to check out Whole Foods Monday to see what you save? Rumor has it we may get a WF here in Jonesboro, but I rather doubt it, as we have two decent-sized natural/organic foods places. Including one locally-owned one I'd hate to see suffer at the hands of the big boys.

Best coffee in the world is from one of those, on a Coleman stove, about dawn when you're camping.

Thanks. They're sprinkled down with sea salt and on a rack in the fridge. Will get them out tomorrow. Next qiestion. This is them. (Packages say ribeye, but damned if they don't look like strips to me.) Minimal marbling. I want rare in the SV, will sear to med. rare on grill (and, sigh, well done for two of them). Time/temp recommendations?

The reason one makes flat meat loaf. Thank you again, @rotuts, for turning me on to brie on a meat loaf sandwich. It's a world-changer.

Laid some ribeye steaks out to thaw this afternoon. Going to dry-brine them overnight, then SV tomorrow, then chill in the ice bath and refrigerate prior to grilling tomorrow night. (Son-in-law and daughter, the Philistines, require well-done steak; other daughter and I are good with rare/medium rare.) Recommendations on time/temp? These are grass-fed, and tend toward having a bit of chew. Not a lot of marbling. I've not dry-brined before. Should I do that in the SV bag, or open air?

Made some peach compote to go on pound cake last weekend. Been eating the remaining compote in my morning yogurt, with the addition of blueberries and granola. Good stuff.

Meat loaf with mashed potatoes and jail slaw. Specifically, it's a pound of ground beef meat loaf, patted out into a 10 x 10 pan, which results in a meat loaf something less than 1/2 inch thick. The purpose of which is to provide lots of crust area, which in turn will mesh marvelously with melted Brie in the meat loaf sandwich I plan to have for lunch today. I will always be grateful to @rotuts for suggesting Brie on a meat loaf sandwich. It's sublime. Mayo, the caramelized ketchup top on the meat loaf, melty Brie oozing into the crevices of toasted homemade white bread...Ain't much any better. I just finished breakfast, but it may be an early lunch.

I'll check -- the 7.49 is respectable, but I can buy them all day long for 8.97 if I can force myself to go to WalMart. On the other hand...I was up home the other day and my stepmother sent me home with 24 empty pints, for which I was highly grateful.

Cajun (and Creole, the other significant cuisine of Louisiana) both tend to be influenced by French and African cooking and ingredients. Thus you see the use of lots of okra. And lots of indigenous meat, vegetables, and otherwise. Except for nutria. Don't know that anybody's figured out how to cook nutria. Not that I would EAT nutria, but then, people eat guinea pig. ( @Panaderia Canadiense, I'm lookin' at you....)

You will, I hope, forgive me if I stick to my grass-fed, locally raised beef.

Faded Rose, a long-time Little Rock restaurant staple, used to have a frog leg entree. Sauteed in either garlic butter or lemon butter, as I recall. Having grown up eating frog legs, they were no big deal for me, but the Yankees in my life always got a kick out of them. But oh, that Faded Rose soaked salad....

God love you. I won't handle much of anything stronger than a Cubanelle without gloves, after having made mole sauce several years ago with ancho, guajillo and chipotle peppers (well, the chipotles were in adobo and all I did was chop them up, so they were harmless). Thought I'd die. And your eyes NEVER itch so much as when you can't rub them.

If sodium is an issue for you, they have an unGodly amount of it. Taste is average, at best.

The "Chicken Dance" song is running through my head.... Da da da da da da DAH Da da da da da da DAHDa da da da da da DAH da da da da.... (repeat as needed)

I really want to be adopted into your family.

So how do you prepare crocodile? Alligator is a big thing here in Cajun cookery in Louisiana and some parts of east Texas. I have never seen the point in it. How do you prepare crocodile and what are its good points? Oh, and welcome!

Re: the mutant Driscoll's strawberries. They are somewhat interesting if you cap them and then fill the core that always seems to exist in the center with something like caramel or white chocolate. Just sayin'.

Re: "....Ate straight up." -- So would I have, my friend. So would I.

I have eyed it, but not yet made it.

A couple of bacon biscuits with homemade blackberry jam. Followed by a nap. Ready for the day now.

Not a Deep Run Roots recipe (but I think Vivian would approve of it): Slice an assortment of tomatoes, salt and put on paper towels to drain. Cut kernels off three ears of corn. Mix with a half-cup of Greek yogurt or sour cream, some cumin, some chili powder, and a healthy portion of grated cotija cheese Mix a half-cup of mayo with a cup of grated cheddar. Brush a pie crust with olive oil. Add a layer of corn mixture, a layer of tomatoes, alternating until you've used them all or the crust is full. Top last layer of tomatoes with the mayo-cheese mixture. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly. Let cool to lukewarm. Try not to eat more than half of it at a setting.