kayb

From a 3 1/2 pound or so fryer (organic, from the farm, whole), I'll get a minimum of two. Sometimes two will be it, if the first one is for four people as opposed to the usual two at my house. If it's two all the way, I may get four or so; one of sliced roast chicken, and the rest "chicken something." I have two leg quarters from one we had for Sunday dinner, and that's going in a chicken and mushroom risotto tomorrow or Saturday. Will probably produce enough risotto for us for a meal, and significant leftovers that might recycle as arancini, or just reheated risotto.

I'm not sure I've recovered from the notion of people eating guinea pigs, or whatever pet-like creature it was! But I am most looking forward to your blog, and will be anxious to learn about rambutan and salted fish!

Being healthy tonight, in preparation for overindulging tomorrow night on corned beef and trimmings. Miso-glazed cod with scallions and sesame seeds; rice cooked with furikake; steamed buttered snow peas.

Well, the adventure continues. Big ol' brisket (7.2 pounds, grassfed) came out of the brine yesterday (Ruhlman recipe, five days as specified). I soaked it about 24 hours, with two or three water changes during that. Cut it in half; bagged one half with pickling spice, rubbed down the other one with a pastrami rub that alleges to "be like Katz's," and, having not had the pleasure of eating at Katz's, I don't guess I'll know if it does or not. (Recipe here.) It went into the bath at 145 degrees (what most of the SV threads I've read agreed upon), and will stay there for 24 hours-ish. The pastrami will chill and then go in the freezer to be smoked at a later date. The corned beef will be checked for tenderness and taste tomorrow night, and hopefully will be duly ready for dinner on Thursday. With, of course, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. And beer. Much beer. Front, the pastrami, waiting to be bagged; rear, corned beef, bagged with pickling spice. Coming up to temp.

Bring it! Always have loved the food blogs. Happy to see another one!

Thanks. I'll make a note of that.

In a small southern town where I once lived, there was a garden club that did an annual "international day" celebrating the heritage of its members with a fundraising international food fair. In this town, there were three or four Syrian/Lebanese families. I remember their offerings at the food fair including spanikopita, grape leaves, and falafel. Bless you and your community for welcoming these folks. I agree with those who have said that attempts to offer something "homey" will be appreciated, but I think it will be a good opportunity to showcase what your local region has to offer. Wish I was there to help.

My totally grabbed-it-out-of-the-air attempt at steak and Guiness (well, actually, Green Flash Double Stout) pi. Reasonably decent, although Child A considered it "too beery." Didn't look too pretty -- I forgot to reset the oven temp, and it was too hot.

joiei, I'm absolutely including the Dixie Pig. Along with the Kream Kastle and the little trailer in the grocery store parking lot. And the Hog Pen in Osceola. I live in Jonesboro. Smokehouse is adequate, Wild Hog is ok, but there is really no GREAT 'cue here. Ditto Crittenden County, where I lived for 30 years, at least not since Bill's Grill closed. But Memphis, however -- the trouble would be limiting it to three places. You'd have to include Central, Payne's and, well, the third would be a tossup between Interstate and Cozy Corner (yet to reopen after their fire, last I heard, but you can get their Cornish hens at the soul food place across the street) and Germantown Commissary and Three Pigs and BarBQ Shop. Note I am including the Rendezvous nowhere on this list.

I know nothing of croquants, but this is certainly the place to learn about and share your sous vide adventures! Many very skilled folks on this forum. Welcome!

How wonderful it must be to have olive trees and be able to brine your own!

Would have loved to have been on that trip, if only to talk about how much better Memphis barbecue is (). However, if any of you would like to do a Memphis and/or East Arkansas crawl, I'll be happy to tour-guide either of those. There is some fine 'cue in Mississippi County, AR, just south of the Missouri line, and likewise in Memphis. Can also lead a respectable Mexican or Vietnamese crawl in Memphis, although one of my favorites, Saigon Le, burned the other day. Y'all let me know.

It may be the usual ham, but I'm also thinking about SV-ing a pork loin, and maybe finishing it on the grill if the weather's decent, indoors if it isn't. There will be asparagus, and fresh green peas, if I can find them, and whatever other green thing I can get at the farmers' market. I may do some potato salad, or a corn casserole. And of course, the requisite deviled eggs. Today would've been a fine day for grilling; I have the a/c on for the first time this year. Hope that holds for a while.

While the photo doesn't show breakfast, it does show the prelim for it (along with two of my three girls, and two of my three grandkids). We were visiting the mom, left, of the two kids in the pic, in Nashville, and went to our favorite breakfast spot, Pfunky Griddle. The aforementioned griddle is in the center of the table, and one cooks one's own pancakes with add-ins of one's choice. I can just tell you, banana slices and Reese's Pieces added to pancakes are a combo made in heaven. The kids went for M&Ms, and my eldest chose berries and walnuts. You can also fry up your own potato cakes or hash browns with add-ins -- mushrooms, peppers, cubed ham, cheese. Or make your own omelet. I think it's a great idea for a restaurant.

That's gorgeous. I never thought of mini-Hasselbacks. Great idea! I'm doing cod cakes sometime this week, and will give that a whirl. The classic ones are a ham and cheese on, generally, white bread, then batter-dipped and deep fried. I don't like powdered sugar sprinkled on them, although that's traditional, but I'll take the raspberry jam for dipping.

Tried to add this to the previous post and it didn't wish me to do so, so here's the first time I've been in the kitchen since last Wednesday. Sunday dinner for the kids: roast chicken, corn casserole ( @Kim Shook, it's the Jiffy one!), green peas, baked beans. Simple, easy, good.

Thanks! This is Silver Queen corn I froze last summer. I dumped a pint carton of mostly-thawed corn in a skillet with 1/4 stick of melted butter, let it saute/steam over medium heat until the water from the corn is all cooked away (there is quite a bit of water put off by the thawed corn) and all the kernels are well coated in butter. Added about 1/3 cup milk, and let that cook mostly away as well, on medium low heat with the lid on. Let it go just a bit too long, and actually got some browned bits, but that didn't bother me. There is NO corn any better than Silver Queen. Right, @Shelby?

Looked at the link. I like those. I have one Rubbermaid one that's a plastic/resin of some sort, and I do like that I can put it in the dishwasher. I have two bamboo boards which live on my countertop, along with a granite slab that doubles as a rest for hot pans. The plastic one comes out to cover the sink when I'm canning or working up vegetables, and I have a bigger one of the same material that serves as a bread board. And a little one in the shape of a pig that I treasure because my father made it for me.

I swear, I believe these people dip their sandwiches in funnel cake batter. I don't want to know the calories and fat content. I ordered a Monte Cristo at a restaurant in Memphis a couple of years ago, and got a ham and cheese sandwich between two pieces of French toast. It was grim.

Thanks, folks. This is a flat cut, so I think it's sirloin tip. Why aren't butchers consistent? Anyway, I'll leave it longer, next time, and cut the temp back just a bit.

It's rainy and miserable outside. I am jonesing for some good bread. But as I'm leaving town tomorrow, I'll wait until I get back and bake on Saturday or Sunday. OK, maybe Monday. No, not Monday, I have work obligations. Doggone it. Must bake Saturday or Sunday.

@huiray, the eggs with Chinese chives look wonderful, in particular. And what is taucheo kamkeong, which I am trying to type from memory and think I just screwed up? Are those peanuts on top?

There are few places in the world you can still get a traditional Monte Cristo, which apparently is a very 80s sandwich, but one I dearly love. One such place is a tiny little sandwich shop in a nearby small town, which boasts some of the best sandwiches you can get anywhere. My lunch companion had a Reuben that looked scrumptious, though it likely would not hold much of a candle to a New York one, but we take what we can get down here. Anyway, they make a Monte Cristo like God intended Monte Cristos to be made. I always have them leave off the powdered sugar. But the strawberry preserves, I'll take that. Rings were excellent, but for the fact they were too heavy with the black pepper in the batter.

I cooked a top sirloin steak SV at 140F for four hours yesterday, and then seared it in an iron skillet. Damn steak (local, farm-raised beef, bought in a quarter-steer increment from the farmer) was still tough. I was astounded. I really feared I had left it in the SV too long (my schedule interfered; I really should learn how to use the wifi function on my Anova), but still tough? Seriously? Suggestions?

Yeah, kinda sad. But even chicken mcnuggets might be improved with a poached egg on top of them....