kayb

It's been my experience in pot roast and a few other things I just, for some reason, prefer to braise in the oven, that 275-300 works just fine for a long, slow cook. At least with pot roast, it doesn't seem to me to be time-critical, once you get it to the falling-apart-when-a-fork-is-twisted-in-it stage. 300F for 4 hours does a 3 pound pot roast very nicely, or that's been my experience. I wouldn't expect chicken to take that long, and I could see it benefitting from a lower temp.

Have to confess I don't even do that. It's not scorched...just kind of solidified in a very thin layer. I just clean it after I make the yogurt. Doesn't impart any kind of taste to it.

I don't make it any more, because I much prefer the ripe tomato version. But essentially, this recipe from Edna Lewis' The Gift of Southern Cooking" is pretty much it: Green Tomato Relish Ingredients: 12 - large green Tomatoes, cored (about 20 small to med size) 4 - green bell peppers, seeded 4 - medium or 1 extra large yellow onion 1 - red bell pepper, seeded 1 - tablespoon + 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seed 1 - tablespoon celery seed 2 - cups apple cider vinegar 2 - cups regular granulated sugar 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons kosher salt Directions: Chop the tomatoes and peppers very finely or if you prefer a chunky relish dice into chunks. Either by hand or in small batches in a food processor. Add the chopped vegetables in a large pot (heavy bottom non reactive stock pot) add the mustard seed, celery seed, vinegar, kosher salt, and sugar. Stir well and bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer and simmer over medium heat. Cook stirring often and skimming any foam as needed. ( I did not have to skim off anything) Simmer until the relish/chow chow cooks down and thickens into a relish, about 2 hours. Fill mixture into hot sterilized pint size jars and process in a hot water bath. Process 10 minutes for pint size jars. Remove jars using canning tongs and place on a counter with a towel. Let jars cool until the lids have popped and sealed. Recipe Yields: 5 - 6 pint size jars @rotuts would fuss at the bell peppers, but while I hate 'em, I can handle them in this application. But I think Mama always used sweet banana peppers. Host's note: this perennial topic continues in Gardening: 2016 (Part 2)

No photo, but as I was still starving this morning, I stopped by a little diner after taking my grandson to pre-school (he had a McDonald's hash brown and a biscuit in the car on the way to school, which made me shudder, but carbs are about all the kid will eat!) and pigged out on a proper breakfast; bacon, over easy eggs atop hash browns, and a biscuit. Some orange juice and lots of coffee. I feel refreshed and renewed. That hit the spot.

I always just set my milk to "steam" for 0 minutes, which takes it up to temp, natural release so it doesn't spray milk-steam everywhere, then take the liner out of the pot and set it on the stove or a cutting board to cool more quickly....then add the starter, whisk and hit the yogurt button. My only quarrel is that a thin layer of milk protein sticks to the bottom of the pot, but I soak it for a bit and take my plastic scraper to it, and it cleans right up. I did use the remaining 2/3 cup of yogurt from my last batch to start my current one, and it worked like a charm. I think perhaps I didn't use enough yogurt to "seed" it properly last time. Only other difference is using dry milk now, which I love.

Two suggestions: If you expect to go back to frying later, slice and freeze the tomatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and when frozen, put into a plastic bag and back into the freezer. Bread/batter as usual and fry from frozen. Or...make green tomato relish! The bananas are cool. The bug looks evil. You sure you shouldn't take a .22 to that critter?

Makes sense. Thanks.

Before the advent of photographs and illustrations in newspapers, the Times was known for its narrow columns and small headline fonts, lending to it a "grey" look. Until recent years, the Times still looked "greyer" than many papers, being late to the present style of color photos, more white space and "airier" layouts. (The things one remembers from the History of Journalism class one took nearly 40 years ago...)

@Shelby, how do you bread/batter your fish? That looks more like a batter than a dry breading. And were they cat, or of the bass family?

Has anyone tried Sun Basket? It purports to have all-certified-organic products, and offers vegetarian, vegan, paleo and gluten-free options. Got top marks from a BuzzFeed review of several different servcies (I loved the one for Purple Carrot; in the "good" category, they noted, "The box arrived.")

Lettuce wraps!

Sigh. Today, my entire food intake has consisted of a package of Ritz cheese-n-crackers and a half-bag of trail mix for breakfast (I found both in the car en route to an early out-of-town meeting); Sonic onion rings and a cherry limeade for lunch, and a bowl of Corn Chex cereal for dinner. Damn this working for a living. I'm too old to start out at 7 a.m. and get through at 10:45 p.m. I'm starving but too tired to fix anything.

I'm with Jo. Haven't regretted mine for a second.

A worthy threat. "Pink stuff" or "green stuff"?

@Franci, I will be interested to hear your experiences with baking bread in the CSO when you try that. I have been thrilled with my results. It fits my two 8 1/2 x 3 1/2 pans perfectly.

Very nice. I JUST remembered I have a chunk of pork loin, cured for Canadian bacon, air-drying in the fridge. Oh, well, it'll get an extra half-day's drying time, as I'm not about to start smoking it at almost 8 p.m. CDT.

Talk about a tough choice. I guess, if I had to choose, I'd pick the CSO. Maybe. Although I'm awfully dang fond of my IP. Neither of which I'd own were it not for eGullet. Bunch of freakin' enablers, we are. And I love it.

Damn. Ordering a new gasket. Or two. ETA: Oh, cool. They have a two-pack, sweet and savory version: Instant Pot Silicone Sealing Ring SWEET and SAVORY Edition - Two Pack

Amazon has the CSO on for $224.46 today as one of its Gold Box deals.

I'm contemplating eggplant lasagna tomorrow in the CSO. Put me down with the eggplant lovers.

Ginger drink crystals to top a fruit dessert. Absolute freakin' genius. On the list to look for at Kroger tomorrow.

Maybe the "vegetable-focused" was what I was thinking of. I thought you made a reference to it about the time you came back to eG with the new name. Perhaps I hallucinated it (I do that on a fairly regular basis...sounds better than blaming dementia....)

I wonder if one could make mango puree and freeze it? I see no reason why not.

Absolutely fascinating; I never thought of doing my own tuna in olive oil, but as it's hard to get any here, it's surely worth a try. What kind of tuna? I'm limited to tuna from the grocery, which does have a "custom" seafood counter that offers tuna; I would be willing to wager it's been frozen, but I don't know. Can one use frozen tuna that has been thawed? Should/could one use ahi tuna? Lastly, I believe I will be limited to dried bay leaves (I had a bay tree once, had to move off and leave it); should that work? I notice you cook a lot of (VERY tasty-looking) Italian dishes, which is not what I tend to expect from a vegan/vegetarian, which I remember you were for a while. Is Italian a long-standing culinary interest for you? Those meatballs and sauce the other day were things of beauty.

Leftover shrimp? I can hardly wait to see your breakfast post!