kayb

It's mild, with a rich, buttery note.

My newly-opened Kroger -- one of the big upscale models -- has a great (for small-town South) cheese section. I've been getting fresh buffalo mozzarella, and Rogue River blue, St. Andre, and more kinds of cheddar and gouda and Swiss than you can shake a stick at.

I got up hungry this morning (because I didn't have time to eat dinner last night amid canning tomatoes), so I cooked bacon (needed some chopped up bacon to keep in the fridge anyway), and eggs. Added a slab of Anadama bread toasted in the CSO, topped with some fresh ricotta and apple butter. I'm ready for the day.I

This is the recipe from the book. I followed it to the letter (scaling it down by half). It was awful. Much more bland than the restaurant version. I'm going to roast the eggplant next time, use a tangier cheese, and up the seasoning. The texture was pretty much on point.

It's this one. I am trying to duplicate the Boars Head brand horseradish pickle that I love so much, and this recipe looks like it ought to be about right. Instead of strips of horseradish root, I'm using a tablespoon of prepared horseradish per jar.

Well....correction. Pickles will be tomorrow. I had tomatoes that were going to be too far past their prime if I didn't do something with them, so they took precedence. I'd bought a box of "seconds" at the market Saturday, and had close to a half-gallon of Romas and cherry and grape tomatoes I'd picked here. The toll so far: 11 pints of tomatoes (I still have quarts left from last year, and sometimes, a pint is all I need), three quarts and a pint of tomato juice. Still on the stove simmering is tomato sauce; I estimate there'll be 12 half-pints of that.

Thanks!

I'm pickling today as well. Sweet-spicy horseradish pickle chips. Cucumbers soaking in ice water now. Must make a quick run to store and get more horseradish. I do not run out of horseradish at this house.

@Shelby-- next time, try coating that scored surface of the eggplant with a mixture of honey and miso. Read that in a blog somewhere and it remains one of my favorite methods. I am still attempting to recreate one of my favorite restaurant dishes, an eggplant casserole that features onion, cheese and cracker crumbs, from a local meat-and-three institution. The recipe is in their cookbook, which I have. The cookbook lies.

I love shrimp, and I agree, for the most part, with your construction of cocktail sauce. I'd add a drizzle of lemon juice and a shake or two of Louisiana hot sauce. Your meal looks gorgeous. I'll eat fresh when I'm on the coast and can get 'em, but many shrimp are flash-frozen on the boats within minutes of being caught, and are very difficult to tell from fresh. I refuse to deprive myself of a food I truly love just because of circumstances of geography. Surely is. To me, smothered represents a gravy, as Ashen notes -- a flour- or roux-thickened sauce. Grew up on smothered round steak. But I must quarrel with you, as a Southerner who loves her grits -- it's CHEESE grits -- never CHEESY. As Mitt Romney found out during the most recent Presidential campaign.

Well, it's not going to happen early this week; I've just learned I have meetings each of the coming three evenings, so that does for cooking. Will go ahead and start the steak marinating today and plan to have it Thursday. Meanwhile, I'm going to choose Lisa Shock to share her ingredients, and perhaps whoever else is in the pipeline can cook and report back before I can.

That is a thing of beauty. What was the temp? Re: SPFs -- if you have Schwan's delivery frozen stuff in your 'hood, they do a good SPF.

Sold! I love a Hawaiian rib-eye (used to live near a good restaurant that served them). I have everything but pineapple juice, and the grocery is only a few blocks away. About to get the steak out of the freezer right now.

I'm going to pick and choose from among sartoric and Lisa Shock's suggestions, because the sweet potato salad intrigues me and I'd been thinking about poke anyway, but I don't want to thaw out that huge honkin' shoulder roast until I have more people on hand to feed. So it will be a steak on the barbie, accompanied by poke and a slightly altered version of sweet potato salad to take out the things I don't like and add things I do. It's likely to be Monday before I can do this, as I am up to both ears with a grandson today, and tomorrow is son-in-law's birthday dinner and he's requested pork tenderloin.

I want all of that. But where's the little mouse?

I'm most impressed at your container garden. Mine just don't do that well. I think they are in too mjuch direct sun (from noon onward).

Going to get my list out there early, as I'm going out of town this evening and won't be back until tomorrow night. I have on hand: Protein: A freezer full of assorted beef (steaks, roasts, ground beef) At least two whole frozen chickens A frozen Boston butt, about 6 pounds Pork chops (loin, boneless) A single tuna steak Veggies: Tomatoes, corn, peas, sweet potatoes, Yukon golds, onion, garlic Pantry: Pasta, rice, dry beans, wide variety of condiments and spices A whole wheat baguette in the freezer. A half-loaf of Anadama bread in the fridge. A reasonable collection of eggs, dairy and cheese, including some Rogue River blue I'd love to use. I'll see responses Friday when I get home and let you know!

Grapes out front, certainly, but I'm good with a bit of raspberry or cherry. No oak taste in the BB. Nice "big" taste, typical of a Zin. Lord, I love 'em.

Today, I am knee-deep in Old South Lime Pickles. These are a tangy sweet pickle that make an excellent accompaniment to cold lunches or dinners, and are great chopped up in potato or egg salad, should you be a fan of sweet pickles in those preparations. They're also a two-day process. Day 1, you cut up your cucumbers (either chunks or, because mine were sizeable, I did short spears, and soak them overnight in a solution of water and pickling lime. I'm grateful for my laundry room sink, where such soaks can take place. Day 2, which would be today, you drain them, rinse them through three changes of cold water, and then soak them in ice water while you make a brine of water, vinegar, sugar, salt and pickling spice. The drained cucumbers soak in that for 5 to 6 hours to overnight, and then boil in it for 35 minutes before being put in jars and processed. I've somewhat screwed myself over because I had so many cucumbers my only option was to make the brine in my water bath canner, in which the cucumbers are currently soaking. Seems to me like an inordinate amount of brine, but I went by the recipe. While they're soaking, I'll work up the 50 ears of FREE corn I got when I bought tomatoes the other day, and put that in the freezer. Next week will be tomatoes. I am making sauce with my back-yard Romas, but am having to buy tomatoes for canning plain, as my other plants just aren't producing that much. Will change varieties and fertilize better next year.

My Aldi does not sell wine or spirits (no such in grocery stores in AR), but I live about 50 miles from an Aldi in a Missouri town that stocks a reasonably good Prosecco for about $5 a bottle. I stop through when I'm traveling (it's on my route "up home"), and will make a special trip if I'm going to be doing a brunch that calls for lots of mimosas! My current evening glass, unless it's something specifically paired to a meal, is Bota Box Old Vine Zin. Pretty doggoned good for really cheap wine (works out to something less than $4 a 750-ml bottle). I like Gnarly Head, as well.

Question -- and that looks tremendous, by the way. Did you just put your chicken in without any liquid, other than the olive oil? What kind of dry rub? Intrigued by this.

Kroger has informed me on my last six checkout receipts about the recall, specifying Gold Medal flour, which is what I generally buy. The first one came out after I'd finished off my last bag of Gold Medal. I have not died. Guess mine was OK.

I'd take the pork butt steaks and marinate them in a pernil-style sofrito of onions, garlic, cumin, oregano and either some vinegar or lime juice overnight. I'd gril them very low and slow, maybe finishing up in a pan under foil to keep from drying out but still get plenty of tenderness. Served with fried maduros, yucca frita, and a Caribbean-style rice with cumin, peppers, onions and coconut milk, if you have any.

I am intrigued by the Roti John. But I don't know that I'm intrigued enough to try it, as it looks damned complicated. What was the verdict on the taste?

@Shelby-- That's a big ol' catfish! River? Can't eat river cat around here; they're too muddy-tasting. Have to get farmed. @ninagluck -- that is a beautiful meal. Much too ambitious for me, I fear. @mgaretz -- I know you have posted this before, but as I don't do well at the search function (if there's a tutorial on using it and some host would like to point me toward it, I'd be most appreciative), would you share your recipe/method for char siu tenderloin again? PM is great.