mgaretz

And lower calorie too (so you can eat three times as much!).

You've all heard of cantaloupe wrapped with prosciutto. This gives you the same kind of flavor, without the prosciutto: I have been playing with my latest toy, a chamber vacuum sealer, and compressing some melon, flash pickling cukes, etc. It can also be used to infuse flavors into the melon, so I decided to give that a try. I cut a 1" slice from a golden honeydew (about 12" across), removed the rind and cut into 1" pieces. Then I mixed up 1/2 cup of cool water, 4 drops of liquid smoke (I used hickory) and a heaping 1/8 tsp of sea salt. Put about half of that (so 1/4 cup) into the bag with the melon and compressed. Came out very tasty!

Last night's dinner was Char Siu Ribs again. Served with carrots cooked sous vide with butter and honey. Dessert (not pictured) was compressed honeydew.

Costco has the Blendtec Classic on sale for $250 right now. For $50 more it's definitely worth it.

I have one like it but it's Pyrex. I use it all the time. They call it a batter bowl. http://www.amazon.com/Pyrex-Prepware-8-Cup-Measuring-Plastic/dp/B00LGLHU5A

I do mine at 180F for 8 hours.

Well the verdict is in: too much vinegar. Will cut it in half next time. The watermelon was a surprise and a big hit!

Thanks everyone. I ended up ordering two bag sizes (8x12 and 12x14) and a bag stand from Vacmaster direct because they gave me a 10% off coupon and the stand was already 10% off and all ships for free with that size order. Should last me a while! Yesterday I made space on my counter and bagged some powdered soft serve mix (weighed to the amount I will need in my next batch) as an initial test. Then I bagged some water (of course). Today I played with compressing watermelon and also made some flash pickles from English cucumber slices. I free-lanced a brine: 1/4 cup water 1/8 cup white vinegar 1 tsp sea salt (fine) 1 tbs sugar 1/4 tsp dill seeds 1/4 tsp dried dill weed a pinch of garlic powder I liked them, but we'll see what DW thinks tonight. Anyone else have any brine recipes for cucumbers?

I just got a VP112S and I'll need to get some bags. I'm not sure what size, so does anyone have a source for somebody who sells an assortment or what are your recommendations if I just bought one size?

Teo, A strong taste of pistachios or the neutral oil?

Last time I had leftover crusts like that I diced them up and made stuffing.

I haven't tried it yet, but the Blendtec, and especially with the Twister Jar, is supposed to make very smooth nut butters. I wonder what a neutral oil would do, like Rice Bran oil.

I have looked at the recipes, especially the "home" versions, but haven't tried one yet. Maybe I'll do one next. Probably try peanut since I'm too cheap to buy the expensive pistachio oil, but I wonder how subbing peanut oil would work for pistachio and/or cashew? The picture was just shot with my iPhone 6 on my kitchen counter.

My latest and oh so good! Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Banana. Non-dairy. 187 gr Precision Foods Soft Serve Mix (vanilla) 16 oz almond/coconut blend milk, unflavored, unsweetened 3 tbs cocoa powder 3 tbs peanut butter powder 2 tbs Torani Banana Syrup 1.5 tbs vegetable glycerin After two days in the freezer, great texture and mouth feel, not icy and scoopable with a regular teaspoon!

Dinner last night was boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs, cooked on the pellet grill. Served with my first attempt at mashed cauliflower. The mashed cauliflower was microwaved then put into the Blendtec Twister Jar with butter salt and pepper. Very tasty but was more whipped than mashed, going to try a slower speed next time.

Cut up ribs. Marinate in Meathead's marinade at amazingribs.com or a dry rub of NOH char siu marinade packet overnight. (Prefer the former having tried both methods, but both are good.). Cook at 225f for 3 hours. At the 2.5 hour mark, baste with honey. I found this step goes easier if the honey is warmed for about 20 seconds in the microwave. Yes I made them in the smoker, but you can also do the oven. For the oven you need a water pan so the drippings don't burn and smoke up the house.

I wanted smoked ribs, my wife wanted Char Siu ribs, her new favorite. So I split the rack of baby backs in two and did half as my normal smoked ribs and the other half as Char Siu. Same cook, just had to add the Char Siu ribs about two hours in. Served with sweet white corn, salad with romaine, celery, carrots, daikon, baby cucumbers, red bell pepper, tomatoes and avocado along with my raspberry vinaigrette. Not shown is the appetizer of home made hummus, made with my new birthday present, a Blendtec Twister jar.

Made some tri-tip again last night. Sous Vide for 4 hours (from frozen) at 120F then seasoned with McCormick's Montreal Steak Rub and seared on screaming hot GrillGrates (flat side) for a few minutes. You've seen my tri-tip many times before, butI'm posting again mainly to tell you about the side dish. I often make cauliflower with butter and crushed cashews. This time I decided to try some crushed pistachios. Yum! One of our new favorites now!

In as much as they "carry" anything, you can often find some All Clad pieces there. HomeGoods too, (same ownership).

Yes the glycerin is for lowering the freezing point. Haven't tried dairy as I am lactose intolerant.

My guess is that if you have a scoop, you're changing the sharpening angle as you move the blade, unless you pivot the blade to match the scoop.

What I have found works best is the basic ratio of 200gr mix to 16 oz of liquid. Currently I'm favoring the Silk brand almond/coconut blend, unsweetened and unflavored. Then add in your flavorings. Some of the flavorings I use are liquid, and these generally have some kind of glycol/glycerin component and that keeps the finished ice cream scoopable. When I'm just using powdered flavors, like above, I have added in a tbs of vegetable glycerin. So far, in limited testing, that has worked.I put the liquid in the blender jar, then add the powders and mix on stir or low until blended well. Then I just pour into the ice cream maker. I don't bother to rechill or cure the mix.

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/chinatown_char_siu_ribs.html

Last night's dinner was char siu style baby back ribs:

I just made one of the best batches of non-dairy "ice cream" yet: It's chocolate peanut butter! I made it with some powdered peanut butter that showed up at my local Costco and I knew I had to try it. The recipe was: 200gr Precision Foods Vanilla soft-serve mix 16 oz Silk brand Almond/Coconut Milk blend, unsweetened 2 tbs cocoa powder 4 tbs powdered peanut butter 1 tsp instant expresso powder I mixed all of the ingredients in my blender and churned in the Kitchenaid Ice Cream bowl attachment.