kayb

That pie looks magnificent. Gravy appears perfect. Now I want one. It's my eldest child's birthday. She has requested Italian roast chicken, "but not tonight, please. I can't eat Italian roast chicken when it's 98 degrees outside." Can't say that I blame her. I want a pot roast badly, but it's just...too...danged...hot...... Come on, fall. No indication of heat breaking in the immediate future. Even a sun-worshiper like me can't deal with it in mid-September. So we went out for a birthday lunch and had steak. Dinner will be snacky something.

What a treasure! I have my Mama's recipe box, a small wooden box crammed full of 3 x 5 index cards in her handwriting, as well as newspaper and magazine clippings. Some classics in there.

Because of the configuration of the rack, there are four possible height settings in the CSO. The highest is about 2 inches from the top element. The lowest if 5 1/2 inches from the top element, and about 1/2 inch from the bottom element. Please forgive the condition of the interior of my CSO. It gets a lot of use and it needs cleaning. I'm kinda embarrassed. This is the highest position. Rack is 2" from upper element. Same slot, rack turned over (this is where I use it 90 percent of the time. This is the next-to-lowest position. Bottom slot, rack turned "upside down." And this is the lowest position. Rack about 1/2 inch from lower element. I use this to roast chicken (using the accompanying shallow roasting pan and rack that sits inside it; a 3 1/2 pound chicken just fits, and you need to put a sheet of foil over the top during the first half of the roast to keep the skin from burning). I make toast and toasted cheese with the rack in the second position, using the toast function (which employs both top and bottom elements, as opposed to broil, which uses only the top). Depending on the bread, I may play with the toast darkenss setting (goes from 1 to 7). I love this thing, and use it more than any other small appliance in the kitchen with the exception of my coffee maker.

For grilled cheese, I slap the cheese between the bread slices, butter the outside, and cook in a skillet, pressing down as if it were a panini. For toasted cheese, I open-face toast two slices of bread, each topped with a slice of cheese, take them out, and put them together. Fillings can be added to the middle. I don't do condiments on either, but some folks do.

Send it to me. I'll use it for you.

Here you go. clickety Originally from Yankee Kitchen Ninja. I think the thread originally referred to Ivins Spiced Wafers, and that's what I googled and found these. Easy and good, but I don't cook them as brown and crisp as recommended; I like them chewier.

The CSO will most assuredly do toasted cheese. With or without any additional toppings. And do it well. Get one. You will not regret it.

@TdeV -- allow me to chime in. Slice green tomatoes 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Dip In milk and egg wash. Then bread with a mix of half and half flour and cornmeal, seasoned with salt and pepper. Fry on medium high heat until golden. Top as desired They're marvelous in a BLT, and work well as the base for eggs Benedict.

Truth? My preference is to eat potato salad when it's still warm from cooking the potatoes. I don't like it nearly as much when it's cold.

Ditto, as well as Half Baked Harvest, because I like her blog.

I found a recipe online last year and made these. They were pretty wonderful. If it'd ever cool off, I'd do it again.

Oh, Lord. Where do I start? All the things I would have never tried and bought (or rather, bought and tried/loved). Sous vide. My CSO. My Instant Pot. Assorted and various ingredients, cuisines that never crossed my radar. Ordering spices from Penzeys. Making duck confit. I have learned so very much from this site.

Forecast was wrong. It was 98 today. All I want to eat is ice cream.

$26.97 hardback, $16.99 Kindle, on Amazon US. B'lieve I'll pass.

@dcarch, the BBLT is a thing of beauty. Tomatoes are just about all gone down here; burned up in the September heat. (96 here yesterday, 93-97 all week...sigh...)

For the second time this summer, I got hold of some zucchini which had a distinct cucumber smell when grated. I tasted a bit of the raw grated stuff, as I had begun to doubt myself and wondered if I'd grabbed cucumbers instead of zucchini. Nope, zucchini. Smell disappeared after it was mixed into fritters and fried. Tasted like regular zucchini.

You are in error. That is a pile of HEAVEN. Seriously, looks like fine pork. My compliments to Mr. Kim.

Damn all y'all. I just ordered mine.

I love me some okra, as long as it's roasted or fried, and not boiled. Some of the best okra I ever ate was tiny pods, maybe two inches long, skewered and apparentely dipped in egg wash and then breaded in cornmeal mix and fried. Pretty wonderful. I will eat as much fried okra as you will put in front of me. I like roasted okra. I will tolerate okra in gumbo, etc. But don't be serving me any okra boiled with anything.

Ooooohhh-WEEEE! I want to eat dinner with YOU!

Saving that one. Thanks, from a newly gluten-free cook.

Great story. And since I had to dash back home unexpectedly and missed it, I'd certainly be up for doing it again!

Your local big box store should have several options for grill baskets. I have one that's a heavy-gauge wire in about 1/2 inch squares with a top that closes over it so you can flip things; it's handy to grill squash, eggplant slices, burgers, etc. I have another that looks like a 10-inch saute pan but the bottom is covered with round holes. They are about 1/2 inch wide. I have not specifically seen one, but I'll bet you could find one with the equivalent of a screen wire bottom, or make your own with some heavy-duty screen wire, a cheap springform pan sans bottom, and a soldering iron.

NICE!

@HungryChris -- I notice when you serve corn on the cob, it's always swathed in a tea towel. Is that to both keep it warm and take up moisture remaining on the ears so butter will adhere better? Never thought of doing it that way. I generally just put it in a baking dish and slather butter on top, then make sure my ear is one of the last out of the dish, so I can roll it around in the accumulated melted butter.