kayb

I love quiche of all kinds, and make it at any provocation. One of my favorites is Southwestern -- with diced potatoes, lightly browned in oil and drained; black beans; whole kernel corn; and queso fresco, along with some ground red pepper, chili powder and a bit of cumin. I sprinkle some grated cheese on top, along with some chopped, drained tomato and diced avocado, to serve. I find that about two ounces of goat cheese beaten into the egg-and-cream add a luscious degree of extra creaminess.

Made vegetable soup earlier this week with the leftovers from the pot roast. RG beans cooking now, with some diced Black Forest ham from Aldi.

While my mother was a respectable cook, she was not an outstanding one. It was something she did because we had to eat, not because she loved to do it. Oddly, the one exception was sweets (odd because she was a severe Type 1 diabetic); she made petit fours for every wedding shower that happened, and batches and batches of candy at Christmas, popcorn balls for Halloween, and potato doughnuts whenever I could talk her into it. I still make candy every Christmas because it seems like the right thing to do.

Am putting RG Mayacoba beans on to soak in a minute. It'll be my first time to try them. Think I'll cook them with some diced up bacon, salt and a little pepper.

Chicken pot pie is one of the things I make myself, but in a "semi-homemade" fashion. I use the readymade rolled pie crusts in the cooler section at the grocery (Pillsbury is better, if more expensive, than store brand); frozen mixed veggies; either canned (if I'm REALLY in a hurry), or poachedc chicken breast mea;t cream of chicken soup, and grated cheddar cheese. It's about three ounces of cheese, or, if you're using the pre-grated in the bag stuff, as much as you can reach in the bag and grab in one big handful. One pie crust in the pan. Mix chicken, cooked and mostly drained veggies, cheese and soup. Dump in bottom crust. Top with top crust. Cut slits in top, and bake at 325 for about 40 minutes, until crust is golden. I've made these from scratch, and they're not enough better than the open-and-dump-it-together variety to warrant the extra effort.

After giving up on my attempt at sourdough, it was back to basics for me yesterday. This loaf, oatmeal honey whole wheat bread from the King Arthur Flour website, is soft, pliable, makes damn fine toast, and I think will make most excellent pimiento cheese sandwiches to go with my vegetable soup. @Anna N, I'm confused as to why you're having trouble with your loaves hitting the top element of your CSO. When I have my rack in the lower position, with loaves crowned an inch above the pan to start, I have plenty of room. This recipe calls for 30 minutes at 350; I had the door open for a few minutes to cover them with foil for the last 15, and I guess let it cool off too much; I had to add another 5 minutes on convection bake, without foil, at the end to get the temp where it needed to be. I cut the sugar in half because I didn't want a sweet bread, and left out the cinnamon. Good loaf. I'll make it again.

@Doofa-- Below is the method some kind soul posted on eGullet (I failed to note the name, so my apologies; you, I hope, know who you are, because I don't!). Worked like a charm for me. Roll the scallops in a couple of layers of plastic wrap (don't use the commercial PVC type that stinks). Cook at 50°C. Time varies by size of the scallops. Chill in an ice water bath (still wrapped). this improves texture and keeps scallops from overcooking when you sear. Dry them. Optionally, dust very lightly with a 1:1.5 baking soda/glucose mix to speed browning. Get a pan very hot. Right before searing dust scallops lightly in wondra flour (also optional). Browning should take 15 to 20 seconds per side. Here's a good starting point for time: 1” diameter: 40 minutes 1.5” diameter: 80 minutes 2” diameter: 120 minutes 2.5” diameter: 40 minutes (don’t roll. ziploc bag with space between scallops) Here's a more exact formula for the brine: Water 100% ice 20% salt 6% (will be 5% after ice melts) sugar 4.2% (will be 3.5% after ice melts) -disolve sugar and salt into room temperature water in a plastic container -stir in ice and add scallops -cover and hold in refrigerator for 30 minutes -drain and replace brine with plain icewater -soak for 10 minutes The brining, obviously, happens before the wrapping and cooking. As I recall, it was in two separate posts, and I just copied and pasted into a word file.

Those eggs are things of beauty. Time/temp details on how you cooked them, and then the soy sauce bath??? No photos, but a decent dinner tonight. I am leading a "Cooking Matters" class at my church; the class is aimed at teaching low-income people to cook healthy meals on a SNAP-sized budget. Tonight we did a recipe from the book provided to participants, "Chicken with Apples and Onions." Essentially, one sautees a mix of onions, carrots and apples (we used Granny Smiths); takes bone-in chicken pieces, spices them with a mix of cinnamon, cumin and coriander, along with salt and pepper, and pan-sautes in the same skillet; add veggies back in, add chicken broth and raisins (I used Craisins, because, well, I don't like raisins) and simmer until the chicken's done. Served with a mixed veggies (frozen, in a bag, nuked with some butter, salt and pepper), and topped with toasted slivered almonds. No one (but me) had tried that spice combo before. Most were doubters. Everyone cleaned their plates. This was really pretty damn good, as opposed to some of the recipes from the book, which have been OK but not, well, exceptional, and some that have been just downright awful (the "Cheesy Hamburger Skillet" has WAY too much thyme; does no one vet these things?). I highly recommend to any of you looking for a volunteer project for your church or civic group to give this a whirl. We've had a great time, and made lots of new friends in the process. Here's a link.

I, for one, would love to see pictures! I've envied your garden all summer. I had a weird thing happen with herbs this year. When it got hot and dry, my herbs (basil, cilantro, tarragon, chives, parsley, rosemary, sage, lemon verbena, a few others that escape memory right now), they all up and died on me. ALL of them, including the rosemary (which I am MOURNING, as I am used to being able to harvest it all winter). I am not certain if it was the uber-hot spell we had in July and early August, or if the lawn guy got enthusiastic with his weed treatment and it drifted into my herbs (which are pot-grown, and lined up along the sidewalk that no one uses, leading to the front door, which no one uses). I suspect the latter. But for future reference, in climes where midsummer daytime temps hover in the upper 90s for two months or more, should my herbs be in pots that have full sun exposure from about 11 a.m. until late-late afternoon (easily 6 p.m., maybe later)?

Welcome aboard. Anxious to learn about some of your Greek cuisine! That's an area about which I'd like to know more.

I have, in the past, cut up okra, tossed with cornmeal, and frozen on cookie sheets from that point, moving to bags after it's frozen. Does it work better to bake it first? I've been pretty pleased with the freeze-raw method, but always open to improving!

Given that I picked up four frozen broilers from my local farmer today, I believe this will be on my agenda in the next week or so. Thanks, @mgaretz, in advance for the recipe! **95** of 'em? Dear Sweet Baby Jesus. My fingers ache in sympathy for you. That said, I'm stopping by the newly opened Asian market here in my town (YAY! Don't have to drive an hour to Memph) is any more!), and in hopes they'll have quail eggs. Because I picked up fresh farm sausage at the farmers' market last weekend!

This was the roast that happened to come to hand when I grabbed in my freezer. Most of my chuck roasts have had the cross section of leg/femur in them. I never know what configuration my roasts are going to take, when I buy a quarter-steer at a time.

Oh, my...you had me nodding my head to Bill Monroe. Grew up on bluegrass. Actually, some of the best beans and cornbread I ever had was at the Crittenden County Jail (home of the infamous jail slaw!) when I was a young reporter covering cops and courts. It was cheap, easy, and there was generally a trusty in the house who had some acquaintance with cooking.

I have actually been surprised at the flavors NOT being as strong as I'd anticipated. I'd absolutely go with the sage and butter in the bag.

In the only energy I expended yesterday, I put a pot roast in the oven and managed (barely) to make myself a plate of it. Ate dinner midafternoon, only meal of the day, between Naps 2 and 3. Ready to go in the oven: My much less than fancy plate (I couldn't even be troubled to fix a green side). Remains of the roast will go into a big pot of vegetable beef soup later this week. Pot roast is a great meal for when you're catching up with a lazy day after two non-stop weeks on the run.

Made me miss having hunters around. Looking forward to venison!

I love, and still make periodically, sugar toast. Much more fond of it than cinnamon toast.

Just freakin' brilliant. I always tend toward steak and eggs the morning after...this is a great change.

Do you have a link for Franci's milk bread? Is it, by chance, the same as this one from the NYT Cooking section:

In the immortal words of Jimmy Buffett, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere."

I try not to make changes in a recipe the first time I use it, the two exceptions being if it calls for an ingredient I just can't abide, but otherwise the recipe looks good, in which case I'll either leave it out or sub something, or if it calls for an ingredient that's just too difficult to find in my part of the world, in which case I'll go to my trusty Food Lover's Companion for an appropriate substitute. Wholesale changes have to wait until I've made the recipe a couple of times, at which point the recipe simply becomes a starting point off which to riff.

I did well.I started to buy one, and passed it up.

Let me tell you. That chicken dinner, sans drink, was $5.99. I defy you to find a better meal anywhere at that price. And the chicken is, consistently (I stop there at least once every couple of months, and this is generally my choice) excellent. News from the doc was good, too. Kid's ears don't require (another) surgery! ETA: BTW, Pie was extra. Still a bargain.

Enabler.