kayb

I have the figs and cheese. Headed to the grocery to get proscuitto shortly.

Ah, scuppernongs. Brings back a fond memory. When I was a little kid, my mother used to take me swimming at the lake. One day, she was on the bank watching me swim, and discovered some wild scuppernong vines that were loaded down with ripe scuppernongs. She looked all through the car for a bucket or container of some sort in which to pick them. Finding nothing, but not to be denied, she tied knots in the legs of her capri pants she'd worn over her bathing suit, and picked them full! We enjoyed scuppernong jelly all winter.

No photo, but a nice little salad. Sliced tomatoes left over from last night, diced up; ripe figs, diced; fresh mozzarella, diced; some basil oil and some balsamic glaze. A caprese with figs. I have always thought figs went with anything; I can now testify they go with capreses. I might have preferred a more assertive cheese in that setting, though.

I generally don't have flare-up problems with chicken, as I use indirect heat, but chicken was the first thing I grilled after I got them. I got them chiefly for burgers, which tend to stick badly and tear up on my conventional grill, on which the ceramic coating was beginning to pit and wear. I think they'll be very beneficial for anything that cooks over direct heat, which is when I have my flare-up problems.

Sprayed them down with canola oil, per the instructions. I'll do that the next 2-3 times I use them. Anxious to use them with burgers, as that's what I've had the most trouble with sticking to the grill.

In honor of the Labor Day holiday, when I believe it is a legal requirement to make a burnt (or at least grilled) offering via the back yard, I quartered and grilled some local chickens. Quite excellent. It was also the inaugural run with my Grill Grates, which, on the basis of one effort, are well worth what I spent on them. Thought about the traditional baked beans and potato salad, but decided to go with seasonal veggies instead. Sweet corn roasted (a bit too long) on the grill; purple hulled peas with tomato relish; fried okra and sliced tomatoes. Three chicken quarters left. Chicken enchiladas tonight.

New at the market yesterday -- sweet potatoes, and figs. Late corn and late tomatoes coming in. Picked up some yellow zucchini, as well. My egg man wasn't there -- good thing I've been light on egg use this past week!

I found figs at the farmers' market yesterday, first figs I've had this year. In previous years, I'd make a pilgrimage to a friend's home to get figs from her neighbor's tree which hung over her fence and shed figs all over her driveway. Last year, I brought home about 25 pounds of figs and made multitudinous jars of fig jam, so I'm not in fig preserving mode this year. But I do love a fig and walnut upside down cake -- single layer, with a butter/brown sugar/nut layer on the bottom, topped with face-down halved figs in a nice pattern, and your favorite cake batter. I have a recipe for a ricotta cake that includes a grated apple that I love in this preparation -- it's tremendously moist to begin with, and marries beautifully to the figs. And of course, I have to save a few to grill with some blue cheese and honey. Because if there's anything better than that, I'm not certain what it is.

Bran muffins this morning. No photo. They looked the same as the last time I posted them here.

I have gotten excellent corn from Kroger this summer. Surprisingly good. Fresh. Don't know where it's from. Fried okra. (IMHO.)

OK. I'm going to side with safety. Out the chops go. Thanks, everyone, for your contributions to my future well-being.

No, I didn't. I cooled them on the counter until they were cool enough to handle easily, then stuck them in the fridge. They were probably on the counter for 30 minutes. A thermometer in the fridge for an extended period of time revealed readings between 34 and 36F.

I'm inclined that I will. Particularly after gfweb's point about pastuerization. As long as they pass the "smell" test.

Good question. I don't know. I'll check.

I have what is probably a really stupid question, but it's one to which I really don't know the answer. A couple of weeks ago, I was expecting guests for dinner on Sunday, so on Saturday, I sous vided two frozen packages of pork loin chops (two chops each) for about three hours at 145F. These had been cut from a frozen pork loin I defrosted in the refrigerator earlier in the summer, broke down into a roast and several packages of chops, and re-froze. (The whole loin came from the butcher shop, frozen.) I took the chops out of the sous vide on Saturday evening, and put them in the refrigerator to go on the grill the following day. Guests couldn't come, I didn't grill, and the chops got shoved to the back of the refrigerator -- where I found them today. They are still in their vacuum packaging, seal unbroken. They've been under refrigeration since they cooled from the sous vide cook, at least two (but possibly three -- memory fails!) weeks ago. My question -- are they safe to open and cook? Their only potential exposure to any pathogen came when I was cutting them up and repackaging them, and I keep a pretty clean kitchen -- not surgical suite clean, but I've never given anyone food poisoning, either, and I'm pretty meticulous about washing down cutting boards, etc. Appreciate any input. Hate to ditch the chops, but would rather do that than have food poisoning.

A peach twist on the old Southern standard, Cherry Cheese Pie: Body of pie is an 8 oz block of cream cheese, a can of sweetened condensed milk, 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1 tsp vanilla, per the recipe on the Eagle Brand label for maybe the last 50 years. Topping was fresh sliced peaches, with a glaze made of a diced peach boiled in light simple syrup with almond flavoring, pureed, and thickened with a bit of cornstarch.

Not a great photo, but boy, was it good! Carnitas -- pulled slow-cooked braised pork shoulder roast, which had first been marinated in a dry rub consisting of salt, cocoa powder and spices overnight in the fridge. Cooked on low in the slow cooker for about 9 hours; pulled and the meat refrigerated overnight before being reheated in the oven Sunday. Should have been reheated in a skillet, but for the fact I had most of the stovetop busy. Mexican rice that was the first time I've approximated the taste of restaurant Mexican rice as well as the dry, semi-fluffy texture. Long-grain rice rinsed thoroughly for 2 minutes, then sauteed for at least 10 in vegetable oil, then cooked in the oven in a mixture of pureed tomato/onion/garlic, chicken broth, and spices. Cranberry beans cooked with ham, ancho chile powder, a bit of cumin, oregano and lime juice. Arepas, made with pureed corn, masa precocida, milk and water. I ate WAY too much.

I have that book. Will look those up.

Getting into definite lack-of-variety season at the market here. Still plenty of yellow squash, zucchini, and purple hulled peas. Green beans and corn are gone. Tomatoes, after a temporary bout with the drift from rice spraying, have recovered to some extent. There's eggplant, and peppers, and we're starting to get some winter squashes.

Made some foccacia for a church bazaar; two loaves brushed with basil olive oil and studded with roasted cherry tomatoes, which promptly fell off and which I promptly ate, and two brushed with garlic oil and topped with onions. This was significant oven spring week; not sure what all is going on with that. Had some brioche dough languishing in the fridge from a few days ago, so I decided to use it up as savory breakfast rolls. Rolled it out to about 11 x 13, topped it with butter, some bacon jam, and some grated smoked gouda cheese; rolled it up and sliced it. Good breakfast rolls with some honey!

Had just baked a fresh loaf of sandwich bread, so took advantage of it for a bacon-and-tomato sandwich. With a bread-and-butter pickle spear and my guilty pleasure, Pringles chips.

liuzhou, thank you for your detailed instructions. I've printed out the pic of the bottle and stashed it in my purse, so I can compare when I get to the Asian market next! Kay

Thank you, Anna N and Smithy! I've saved both of these, along with the Missing Map cheese wafers, and will give them all a try between now and time for Christmas goodies! As it stands now, contents of the baskets will be a jar of bacon jam, a jar of tomato chutney, a pot of chicken liver pate, and a pot of smoked salmon spread; some crackers, and some candies (toffee and pralines). That should keep 'em all happy. I'd prefer to replace the pate and salmon spread with something that would be shelf-stable, but, oh, well. K.

Well, Shelby, it must be alien bread week. Mine blooped up a bit too much, as well; I think I mis-measured and made a bit too much dough, as I've split this recipe between these two pans before with good resuts. It's the Cook's Illustrated New Best Recipes sandwich bread. Best sandwich bread I've tried. One loaf was destined for a church bazaar -- we shall have to see how it looks when I get it out of the pan.

Ah. Thank you. I thought I had saved that when you (or Kerry) posted it in the Manitoulin topic, but I had not -- Googling failed me, but I went back and scanned Manitoulin until I found it! Thanks! Still open for other suggestions. Would like to include a variety.