kayb

I took a notion for rye bread and had found Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipe for Jewish rye bread. It overproofed on the third rise -- had to go pick up a grandchild! -- and wound up spreading out and making a wider, flatter loaf than I'd prefer, but the flavor is excellent.

In an effort to get more veggies in daily, I'm working on some different preps. Last night, tried a cauliflower and tomato curry (It called for potatoes, but I don't care for potatoes in curry). Recipe is on Epicurious, here. Had it with wild rice salad made with wild rice left over from the night before, and roasted sweet potato wedges with sweet paprika, glazed with a bit of honey. I'd originally planned the cauliflower for a vegetarian main, but decided I wanted some meat, so I did hamburger steaks topped with caramelized onions and gorgonzola dolce.

Reason No. 1,032 why I love my Instant Pot: I decided I wanted vegetable soup at 4:45 p.m., and less than an hour later, I had vegetable soup.

RRO, that looks absolutely breathtaking. Was it wonderful?

Thanks! Saturday night, if the Schwan's order gets here tomorrow evening as scheduled!

Healthy dinner, to make up for eating not-so-healthy over the weekend.... Sauteed tilapia in lemon butter; wild rice and steamed sugar snap peas. I don't think there is much better than a steamed fresh sugar snap, even if they are out of season and brought in from who-knows-where.

Can I use this method with frozen scallops? I've ordered some from Schwan's, if they ever show up (delivery had been cancelled/date changed for the THIRD time now....), and I'd love to try this. Also, can you give me an approximate range of times for different sizes? Thanks!

I fried 18 pounds of bacon for Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner at church last night. I may give up bacon for Lent. We decimated that and about 8 pounds of sausage, and I don't know HOW many pancakes. Pancake toppings included nutella, peanut butter, regular syrup, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, chocolate chips, pecans, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, pecans, and whipped cream. Maybe some others, but I forget. I settled for regular syrup and pecans. Giving up alcohol and candy for Lent. We'll see how this goes.

@liamsaunt, that sandwich is a thing of beauty. I think I shall have one just like it tomorrow, except on homemade sandwich bread.

I make the Southern Living one as well, the cream-cheese-filled one. One of my expatriate Cajun friends said he likes mine because it's more moist that most you get in LA. I was proud!

I had bought olives and cheese and crackers and had pate de campagne and caviar in the freezer I was planning to thaw. Wound up going to the Thai restaurant for lunch (good Panang curry), and then eating Pancho's (won't mean anything to anyone but @Thanks for the Crepes and me, but a regional only-vaguely-Mexican restaurant in the Memphis area) cheese dip and chips during the game. Proud of the Broncos!

Haven't cooked bacon-wrapped scallops, but in cooking other stuff that the interior would tend to get done before the bacon would, I've had good luck "poaching" the bacon in water in a skillet. Just put it in a dry skillet and when fat starts to render, add a cup or so of water.

I almost hate to post mine after those gorgeous meals from huiray and RRO, but... In this part of the country, the sale of smoked Boston butt as a fundraiser, often for kids' sports teams and the like, is popular. I bought one such and it was delivered Thursday, while I was out of town. I wrapped it in foil yesterday, rewarmed it in the oven, and pulled it; my $30 butt yielded, in addition to dinner for two last night, 3 1/2 pounds of pulled pork, three pounds of which I've vac-packed and frozen. Had it with baked beans, potato salad, and "jail slaw."

Thing about cleaning/cooking frog legs, you have to be sure and cut the tendon, else it'll contract as it cooks and they'll "jump" out of the pan. I've had that happen. It's disconcerting. I love 'em cooked in lemon butter. Just back from an early Mardi Gras visit to New Orleans. Dinners at Desire Oyster Bar (Seafood Louie salad was excellent) and Antoine's (soft-shell crab made my eyes roll back in my head). Wanted to stop at Middendorf's in Manchac on the way back for the paper thin catfish, about which I've heard much, but we just hit the road and sped north. Conference I attended featured John Besh as one of the speakers. Very nice guy, good speaker -- talked more about supporting the local economy/local restaurants and farmers, and his charitable work -- he started a foundation that sends underprivileged NOLA kids to culinary school. High on my list of places to eat next trip is his newest restaurant, Luke. He says he plans to open eight more in the next two years.

Cabbage, RG ojo de cabra beans, brats poached in beer, and mashed potato cakes with scallions and bacon bits.

@Shelby, those look WONDERFUL!

I had two crunchy tacos from Taco Bell. Yes, I'm ashamed.

I love to just cut a wedge of it, sprinkle on a little salt, and munch. Will email you my "jail slaw" recipe. It's a vinegar-based slaw with turmeric, mustard and white pepper.

No photos, but I had a piece of homemade sandwich bread, toasted and cut into croutons and topped with a couple of poached egg yolks, along with a wedge of raw cabbage with salt and a glass of homemade vegetable juice cocktail.

I've been pondering this as well. I'll probably watch the game at home by myself, but I still want some good munchies. May have some crostini with cream cheese and caviar; a couple of deviled eggs; some raw veggies and hummus; still have some ham frozen from Christmas I can make a sandwich with. Or I may just stock up on some good cheese and olives; I still have some slices of pate de campagne in the freezer. That ought to do me nicely.

I made an Instant Pot discovery the other night. I discovered one can cook basmati rice on the "rice" cycle and it comes out fine even if you forget to put the gasket back in the IP. Flashes an error message, but it turned out ok. Go figure.

Grab a plastic baggie filled with what I thought were bread crumbs out of the freezer and dump them in herbed butter with sauteed onions and garlic, only to discover they are graham cracker crumbs. From now on, I will check first. Grrr.

Same model I have. Works nicely for cucumbers, for a salad.Have done zucchini and potatoes.

A sort of bastardized Thai-Indian curry, with chicken left over from tandoori style roast chicken (NYT recipe) I'd cooked earlier this week. Tossed some frozen pineapple in for good measure. Over basmati rice. Wasn't bad. Wasn't great.

There are a few things I will eat at a McDonald's. 1. Fries. Any time. Agree with whoever said ask for fresh. A fresh McDonalds fry is a marvelous thing (and will probably clog your arteries in nothing flat). 2. Hash browns. See fries. 3. Baked Apple pie. Good road food breakfast when you want to eat in the car, with a hash brown and coffee. 4. About once a year, a fish sandwich. With lots of napkins to wipe off some of the pint of tartar sauce they always seem to put on them. I suspect they, too, would benefit from nuking to melt the cheese. 5. Coffee. When you're in the hinterlands, on the road, you can generally count on Mickey D's to be an acceptable cup of coffee. Not great, but acceptable. I loathe their breakfast sandwiches. I'm picky about the quality of my sausage and bacon, and they use about the lowest quality of each that I think exists. Ditto chicken nuggets, although my grandson disagrees. Burger King has a much superior breakfast sandwich, but the best sausage and biscuit (with or without egg and/or cheese) is in the warmer case at a Southern convenience store/gas station or a supermarket deli in a small town. Trust me on this.