Ashen

My personal best cup is a well made Americano , at Planet Bean, a local roaster. ( technically it is a Long Black , as they pull the shots into the hot water instead of adding hot water to the espresso)

a picture of my first batch of tomato jam. I used it on a jalapeno popper burger last night and also with melted brie ,roasted garlic and crackers today. I water bathed a couple jars to hopefully be good for xmas.

I just finished making a batch with small roma tomatoes. tastes awesome but very different looking than the pictures on here . It broke down to a semi-chunky jam instead of discernible pieces by the time it got to 222 F . .. I will take a picture later.

meals from the past couple nights. keralan fish curry, steelhead trout. Pork chop and baked potato tonight.

The pizza dough threads were the original reason I started coming to egullet, only the beginning of things I learned here but still one of my favs. autolyzed , high hydration 65% , only a two day rise in the fridge but still decent flavour.

September 6 and 7 . If you are thinking of going , I would recommend going early on the 6th, I think the grounds open at 8 am . Some varieties are limited and even by the afternoon of the first day the choice starts to narrow a lot. There is an admission charge 7$ , 1 $ off coupon if you subscribe to the festival newsletter. http://www.stratfordgarlicfestival.com

I do the set and then add to the top side and push down method as well. My go to batter is the Instant Pancake mix from Alton browns Good Eats. The buttermilk/baking soda and baking powder give these a lot of loft, 1/2 " easily up to 3/4 " if I use a plain yougurt/milk mixture instead of buttermilk. I like that you only have to mix the dry every three or so times you make them. I will sometimes go a step further and mix all of the wet needed for three batches and freeze them individually . Pull out the day before and let thaw in the fridge and the next morn you can have homemade pancakes just by dumping wet on dry and mixing. Sorry not blueberry but you get the idea how easy it would be to bury even the biggest blueberries in these pancakes. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/instant-pancake-mix-recipe.html

The more varieties I try the more I like. I really like Music and I am partial to most rocamboles but I really am looking forward to the going to the Stratford Garlic festival again this year. Being able to try different varieties for different dishes is eye opening. thai garlic used to flavour the butter before making an omelette was a real winner. After forgetting or being confused other years as to which I had tried or wanted, I took a picture of my haul after coming home from the festival last year. I wanted to be able to remember varieties tried and varieties to buy again. . I will pick up some brown rose ,bogatyr , duganski and choparsky if possible this year and try some more new ones. There is one vendor that grows over 100 different types of garlic but she only brought around 30 last yr.

I love her videos, there is one I have only seen on facebook where she is using crescent roll dough to make donuts. It is different than the sweet thing for kids one on the above link. Search it out, I almost fell off my chair when she goes silence of the lambs on the cameraman.

how about making some pickled baby eggplant . I have only ever eaten it prepared this way , but google has a few recipes. Seems to be a Middle Eastern origin for most of them.

I bought some roasted gorgonzola crackers last time I was there.. love them, wish I had bought another box as it will be a while until we get back to Amherst. Also bought a bottle of blood orange italian soda which I haven't cracked into yet. Hoping it is as good as or better than Galvanina.

I agree with DiggingDogFarm, I call bullshit. I will give them points for detail though, july 1 2004 was on a thursday.

stopped at Kacaba Winery today on the way back from Niagara region and had a barrel tasting. Tasting right from the barrels brought back memories of my fathers wine barrels in his fruit cellar. 2013 barrel fermented Chardonnay was quite nice, high praise from me since I pretty much despise oaked Chardonnay. I was too pleasantly surprised to really remember much specific info about it. This is what the winemaker says about it on their website. http://www.kacaba.com/product/barrel-fermented-chardonnay-2013/71 "The Kacaba 2013 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay was barrel fermented using exclusively new French oak, which gives it its rich golden color and great texture. Aromas of honeyed apple, nuts, lemon-lime, and oak spices complement the full flavored palate of silky, buttercream flavors with hints of toasted bread and oak. This 2013 Chardonnay is nicely balanced, full bodied, and ends with a clean, elegant finish. Enjoy this wine on its own or match with poultry, creamy dishes, salmon or lobster. " " 2013 Merlot was very nice ,too light bodied for my taste and a slightly noticeable alcohol bite . this may disappear when different barrels are blended before bottling according to the guide for the tasting tour. 2013 Cabernet Franc .. My favourite , blackberry jam on the nose, medium bodied fruit forward but clean finish. all three will be bottled in October.

I agree, the inverter tech is a great feature. I have a 2.2 cu ft panasonic that is on its own wall mounted shelf I love how if you go down to 10% power you can truly use it as a keep warm option. low power defrosting and melting things like butter is much more precise. No more blasting at full power then switching off for a time , then blasting again. My microwave is big enough , I tend to use it for unusual things. If I want a large pot of boiling water fast, I split the amount between the stovetop pot, my electric kettle , and a large 8 cup pyrex measure in the microwave. once all have boiled pour into the big stovetop pot. I will use it as a proofing box for dough, I put a small pyrex cup with water into it and get it hot then place the towel covered bowl of dough in it. it fits the measure cup and a big bowl easily. good humidity and the hot water keeps warmth even. It is my go to spot for resting meats. just large enough to fit a large oval turkey platter with a 20 lb turkey on it and keeps resting meats out of the way and temp from cooling off too quickly.

I get that completely.. I personally will take a good Cava over champagne any day.

I am loving nicoise salads for lunch lately.

CatPoet.. I had never heard of Rot month before, had to google it. I find it fascinating the beliefs different cultures have about food. Do most people in Sweden still observe rot month even with refrigeration these days?

Have you ever been to a thai restuarant? I won't suggest that it is exactly the same but the cooking styles and ingredients are often the same or similar . If you liked Cambodian cuisine you will most likely enjoy Thai food as well.

My Jamaican bro-in-law takes his mother to a local asian grocery store for goat. So any asian grocery store with a meat counter is also a potential source. Something I have only heard from his mother , is that there is a difference between the meat of male and female goats. She believes that male goats have a much stronger gamey smell and taste to their meat than the females. After tasting her curried goat , I am willing to believe whatever she says about goat.

I buy fresh goat at a Halal butcher in a nearby city , and some local supermarkets carry frozen goat stew pieces for the local caribbean comunity.

It would easily scale in half, although with a brine you do need a certain amount for coverage to soak properly. After rolling in cornmeal and letting dry it freezes well in 1/2 lb to 1 lb chunks that you can slice after defrosting. Also works really well as an oven roast or slow cook on the BBQ. It is a wet brine cure, injected and soaked. Something I have found out the hard way is to inject while the meat is submerged in the brine.. It keeps the brine from spraying about when you move the needle to another spot.

I have given up looking for good storebought and just make my own these days. So simple and so good and I know exactly what is in it. I use the recipe from The Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts the hardest part was finding decent centre cut pork loin, but Costco solved that.

How do you feel about something like Korbel California Champagne? it does state where it is from , but use of the word champagne is only allowed because it is grandfathered under the wine trade agreement between the USA and France from a few years ago that keeps new producers of sparkling wine from using it. Producers in the USA have a tendency to name products with a supposed place of origin. Italian bread, Canadian Bacon, Greek yoghurt , etc that often bear little resemblance to the product as it is enjoyed in those countries. It is pretty funny when people visiting from USA want some real "Canadian Bacon". The processed monstrosity that goes by that name in the USA bears no relation to good back bacon other than at some point most of it was a pig. Backbacon or its even better selling cousin peameal bacon are just brine cured pork loin . The peameal is then rolled in cornmeal. ( yeah weird but the peameal name is a holdover from long ago when they used it ) while Backbacon is just smoked after brine curing.

That is some nice looking peameal... I hate the kind that seems to be taking over these days, which is just too wet , doesn't brown up nicely and has that weird white spume that leaks from it.. bleh.

Microplanes are very fun and useful gadgets but a sharp knife and a mortar and pestle can do most of what they do equally as well. The knife work can take a bit more skill though. the only thing I would really miss if I couldn't have one, is the fluffy mounds of parm a zester micro can produce.