scubadoo97

@Ann_T pancakes look perfect this morning did a batch of small diced home fries with low heat scrambled eggs

Andie, is it essentially a water bottle that's frozen with a handle? Being able to spin it around would help to cool down what ever its in

Last night I smoked a couple fillets of stealhead trout. Did a quick 1.5-2 hr brine in an 10% salt and 5% brown sugar solution. We ate part of one fillet last night with pan caramelized broccoli in a soy glaze. The rest of the trout was was tossed in the fridge and I made a fish salad with it this morning which was even better. Finely diced celery and multicolored mini sweet peppers were used and a mayo, mustard based dressing was made to pull it together. I would have included diced raw onion, but my wife hates onions or so she thinks

@Ann_T Either way, it looks delicious. And fries soaking up that gravy sounds over the top good

Jerk chicken cooked with grapefruit wood smoke from an old tree that didn't make it. Cooked the peppers and onions on the grill in a cast iron pan. Rice and "peas" on the side along with braised greens. Ya man, it hit the spot!

@shainI always blacken my eggplants on the grill before making baba ganoush. That looks real tasty

I would have to taste them side by side. The grape leaves I get are brined but I know what you mean by tea like and think the mulberry was similar. My grandmother had a mulberry tree in her yard and said they were common in Syria were she was born. We use to blanch the young leaves and freeze them for later use. The shape is better for rolling compared to grape. We would roll them sideways instead of steam to tip and called them cigars. But hey it was a Tampa thing

Oily fish are the best smoked. Casting into a school of Spanish mackerel can be a hell of a lot of fun

Vanilla beans have rehydrated and with hearing this year's harvest was short and prices are rising, it's a good thing. Probably have enough beans for the next several years

Threw some lamb ribs on the smoker this afternoon. Fatty as hell but the meat was tasty

Using up stuff from the fridge. Variety mini tomatoes, potato pancake made from leftover mashed and our last four eggs low heat scrambled. Love eggs done this way

Incredibly long berries. I've never seen them that long. As much as I like the fruit, I want the tender young leaves for rolling

Pickled cauliflower. Something I would find in our fridge as a kid. I don't make it often enough

The good thing is Costco has good return policies. My first and only purchase of cod from Costco smelled of ammonia. I tossed it and got a credit. A recent purchase of corvina from them was also off and tasted like it. It also went in the garbage and I got credit to my account. Haven't had problems with salmon or steelhead trout. Tuna I've purchased has been good

Crab cakes and slaw last night

Tenderloin, taters and string beans tonight

It's delicious

Lunch today. Home from work early. Poured a Old Chub Scottish Ale with a legal Cuban

That looks excellent blue_dolphin

Threw together a beef stew with a hunk of chuck, aromatics, sweet potato and dates. Wifey was working late and this is so forgiving. I changed out the veg once before adding the sweet potato.

When I last pulled out my beans and found them dry I sprinkled a little bit of water on them and resealed them. This thread made me remember and go check on them to make sure they were not moldy. It's been a few months Good thing they were not and were even a bit softer. Not like fresh but I think I could split one with a knife. Considering the hardiness of these beans I moistened a paper towel and placed in the bag and did a light vacuum but did not remove all the air. They are out on the counter so I'll now check on them in a few days. Hopefully they will rehydrate more without molding

Welcome back! You obviously love it, so stay focused, set goals that are realistic yet challenging and move up the ladder like you did years ago. From your dishes you still got it!

Soup looks excellent shain. Now I know what to do with the pack of broccoli in the fridge. Thanks

Scanning this topic from '02 brought back a lot of memories from when I first joined eG

Seems 5 + yrs is the max life of vanilla bean under vacuum