pastameshugana

So I (semi) regularly make a roasted tomato soup for the family. It's easy, freezes well, and everyone loves it. Tomatoes are just coming into season here (South Africa), so I got a couple kg's worth and made a big batch a couple of days ago. It's very simple: I chop and roast tomatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, red & yellow bell pepper, and a couple of small chillies (birdseye this time) under the broiler, toss with salt & pepper and a little olive oil, then into a pot to simmer, then blend with an immersion blender. At the very end I add cultured buttermilk before we eat it. This time, for the first time ever, while simmering (after blending) I got a persistent layer of scum on the top that had to be scraped off. Similar to when you're making a stock and you have to skim it. Because the soup itself is so thick, it was quite hard to get the gunk off the top without losing a lot of the soup itself. The only difference this time: Normally, when I chop the tomatoes, I dump the insides (seeds and goo) into the trash, but this time I thought I would try to get some of that 'tomato water' so I put them into a fine sieve over a bowl while I did the rest of the prep. I ended up with about two cups of very delicious tasting juice that I added to the mixture. Could that tomato water/juice be the culprit? Or is there something else I'm missing? Thanks in advance!

Thanks to you, I've downloaded the book - looking forward to exploring it!

I asked this question to Dia (AI browser) and it gave me: Estimated yield from 12.44 lb of beef fat Beef suet is roughly 70 – 80 % pure fat; the balance is mostly moisture and a little connective tissue that cooks away or is strained out. Seasoned Advice’s meat‐science contributors put the average fat fraction at about 75 %. ⁠ Redditors who routinely render at home report getting anywhere from 70 % tallow when they chop coarsely and rush the process to 90 % when the fat is finely ground and rendered low-and-slow. ⁠ Applying the mid-range 75 % figure to your 12.44 lb (5.64 kg) of raw beef fat: 12.44lb x 0.75 = 9.33lb So you can expect roughly 9 lb of finished tallow. If your trim is especially clean and you grind or mince it before a long, gentle render you could see close to 10 lb; if there’s a lot of connective tissue or you hurry the cook, yield might dip toward 7½ lb. ⁠ In short, plan on ending up with about 9 lb of shelf-stable, ivory-white tallow from 12.44 lb of beef fat, with a plausible range of 7.5 – 10 lb depending on how meticulously and patiently you render.

This sounds amazing. Especially with something like a brie and a blueberry or raspberry syrup. I'm going to have to make some...

My wife and I were in Brisbane for a few days for my work, and our route took us through Hong Kong. On the way home, we had a 17hr layover, landing at 7am and departing just after midnight. I took advantage of that and planned a food tour of the city. Even though we took the train/subway everywhere, we still ended up walking nearly 11 miles, so we earned our food! First up was a dumpling shop called Sun Hing on the Island side. Communal dining as it was tiny: We had: Custard lava bun, shui mai, shrimp dumpling, pork bao. The custard buns were amazing. One of the best bites in my living memory. Salted duck egg yolk custard in an amazingly perfect bun. All the others were world class as well, but I have (literally) had dreams about this custard bun since we've been back. Custard bun: Pork bao: Then off for roast meats at Dragon State Kitchen restaurant. We had duck and pork, both were excellent. There were others that were more highly recommended, but a combination of closed restaurants and location/distance landed us here. Still, we were not disappointed. Cash only, so I had to leave and find an ATM, but they didn't seem worried that I wouldn't come back. Pork: Obligatory pineapple bread and egg tart somewhere along the way: Then we bopped over to the mainland for the rest of the day. First stop was Mak Man Kee for wonton noodle soup: Another communal dining experience. Our table-mate spoke a little bit of english and offered to take a picture of us. The wontons were exceptionally good. Absolutely the best I've had. I loved the noodles, my wife not so much. They had an earthy flavor and strong chew. I couldn't work out what was different about them, but they were fantastic. Maybe buckwheat? After this a few hours of wandering around Jordan and various areas (it's a bit of a blur now). Made it to Kowloon Park and the free aviary, where I snagged a short nap on a bench while my wife watched flamingoes and tourists. There we found a little McD's ice cream kiosk selling Dark Chocolate Kit Kat Sundaes. So of course... Then ended up in a 7-11 looking for a power bank, and bought the first Slurpee I've had in probably 20 years - Orange and Blue Fanta: Spent a little bit of time at the Temple Street Night Market, and bought an egg waffle. It was nice, but definitely more photogenic than earthshakingly delicious: Took some photos of food I wanted to eat but was too stuffed to manage: Then for dinner, went to Hing Kee for clay pot rice. This restaurant, along with the first one (Sun Hing) were recommendations from Bon Appetit's Lucas Sin, and they are absolute winners. Oyster pancakes, broccolini(?), and black pepper beef clay pot rice. The broccolini was cooked perfect, a garlicky hit and delicious. The oyster pancakes were amazing. Plump oysters and scallions in a hot, crispy batter with a tangy chili sauce to dip them in. Both of those dishes we ordered after seeing them on someone else's table. And the clay pot rice was fantastic. The flavor of the beef and sauce on top were perfect, I dipped some of my other dishes in it. If you eat it carefully and don't disturb the rice around the edges/bottom, by the time you get about halfway done, they are nice and crispy. Then we broke it up and stirred it in for the lovely rice crunch. Amazing. Finally, we stumbled upon this little dessert place while looking for something else: 甜公館 or Sweet Moment She had Rice ball & brown sugar pearls in mango pomelo sago: And I had brown sugar mochi creme brulee with ice cream: They were both fantastic. What an incredible city. I would love to spend a couple of weeks here just eating, but life goes on...

That is usually a pre-requisite... ...ba-dum-tish...

That chicken looks and sounds wonderful!

I was home last night nursing a cold and trying to take it easy (I've got several speaking engagements this weekend, so doing all I can to get better / not get worse). Was reading a little story about a bakery and thought 'I need to bake some bread.' Realized we were out of flour so bopped over to the shop for flower, and saw a little (250ml) bottle of cream and thought, 'Why don't I make some butter while I'm at it?' - which I've never done before. So, I made some basic salted butter, which was so easy and felt a little bit magical when the whipped cream 'suddenly' became butter. Then the super-easy no-knead bread that we usually make, but I substituted the buttermilk for the water called for. Made for a delicious breakfast. The texture of the bread was definitely different, reminds me a bit of a biscuit. I'm curious what is happening chemically when using buttermilk instead of plain water in a break recipe (or any baking, for that matter). Anyhoo, toasted with plenty of butter, what a great brekkie. And I probably need to go have another slice now...

Can you share your recipe/method for the popovers themselves?

The popovers look amazing!

@C. sapidus That egg looks amazing.

Looks beautiful, would love to see a 'profile' or side picture to see the stack. Also, great dish!

Something that is regrettably true about most of my kitchen escapades...

Thanks so much for all the input and thoughts. @Maison Rustique - no new medications lately (thankfully!) @Tropicalsenior - a shame! Now I feel kind of silly, because after all the handwringing over this, and trying to figure this out, I realized that there might be a simpler answer. Our iodized 'table' salt has been stored in a metal container all this time... some googling suggests that this could likely be adding the pronounced metallic taste I've been experiencing. This is good news for another reason: I despise that container and it's stupid-hard-to-open lid, so now I have a good excuse to buy a new one that I like! Fingers crossed that this solves the issue.

One of the things about heavy-handed rubs is that it always seemed to me they had the potential of limiting the smoke influence on the meat. I'm sure it's actually minimal when you consider the molecular sizes/etc., but one of those things that sticks in my head. On the other hand, I can't fathom the heavy BBQ basting that many do while smoking. In essence, you are now just smoking the sauce, rather than the meat. Or at least it sure seems that way.