weinoo

Looks like you have an nicely appointed house to vaca in! How far from the beach is it? Wow - it was ten years ago!

Wow - I guess after working all day with each other, they prefer the solace of eating alone, out of take-out containers with plastic utensils. And half-naked! When he comes home, do you eat half-naked?

Quimet et Quimet, in Barcelona.

If you could send me a few kilos of percebes (at that price!) I would be most happy.

You know, when I think of all the garbage and germs and street meats and dirty water dogs etc. etc. I’ve eaten over the years, if I kill my self via botulism via not defrosting wild Alaskan salmon properly, I’m gonna be pissed off.

I mean very lucky you. Is your plan to be making any excursions into Barcelona, or might you be trying to avoid the potential for crowds?

Well, no kidding. But not the point I was trying to bring up.

Oh, that's nice!

Funny, I think my produce drawers are colder.

Actually I just checked the TWO real thermometers I have in the fridge. One said 32 and the other 35 in different locations. (Probably why I get the occasional frozen lettuce or why some things I put on the bottom shelf take 3 days to defrost).

Uh oh, how long does botulism take to manifest itself? My guess is there was a hole or two in the packaging after i ripped it out of the freezer. I do keep our fridge at the lower end of temps possible without stuff freezing - around 37-38℉.

I don't understand because I defrosted it in its packaging. Then I salted it like you'd salt anything before roasting it, so no - it wasn't desiccated.

I don't think so; it thawed for around 36 hours in the fridge before I cooked it this morning, and before cooking, i patted it as dry as possible with paper towels, salted it, and cooked it.

Oooooh, lucky you!

Yes - no steam, just plain old convection bake. I didn't look to see if it goes lower than 200℉ - but imagine it would be even juicier at a lower temp. By the way, these two pieces were packed together in one vacuum pack - they were a little thicker, too which can't hurt.

Preference here is for a nice off-dry Riesling with much Chinese food, especially spicy. Or even a nice, fruity young gamay.

Of course - weren't you also lusting after musk-type melons? Was wondering then if either of the two services offers them?

This morning I experimented a little more with two pieces of sockeye from Wild Alaska. Came out as moist as I've ever been able to do in the CSO - 200℉, no steam. For about 12 minutes. It's delicious.

Certainly could've been, and if I were making it at an airBnB in Paris (oh, if only), exactly what I would have called it. Never had a Jersey tomato this good in Paris!

Of course you're right. I had some fun scouring a few books yesterday... According to the book at lower left, smörgåsbord is composed of two words: smörgås (open sandwich) and bord (table) (this is from the Swedish book). The Danish word (which I was totally confusing with the Swedish word), as Anna mentions, is smørrebrød: It's all meant to confuse we non-Scandanavians. Or at least confuse me, but I'm glad I learned the difference. Just to confuse me further... So for lunch yesterday, I guess I made smørrebrød, and served them as part of a small smörgåsbord. And they say English is a hard language! Open-faced tomato sandwiches (with the best tomatoes I'll probably get this year), bread buttered and Duked. Salted and peppered. Gazpacho of tomatoes, cucumber, jalapeño (mild), red onion, sherry vinegar, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. Light garnish of avocado and chives.

Here's a question I have about all these meals - served in those little (whatever they're made out of) to-go containers. Why not provide either washable or compostable real plates? I realize they're not dining in the most lush surroundings, and the jobs are insanely tough, but wouldn't it be nice to eat lunch and dinner off of a plate? Just for the slight mental or morale boost. It might not make all the difference in the world, but my guess is any difference made which makes something feel a little homier, would be nice.

Here are a couple of interesting products, probably impossible to source here... https://www.prestigioytradicion.com/en/product/kko-destilado-de-cacao-50cl/ https://www.thecanberradistillery.com.au/shop/cocoa-liqueur/

Once I scored a line on le beurre bordier, it gets used pretty much exclusively (particularly like the demi sel), except for baking, where the expense would be crazy. For that, I can usually find Land o' or Cabot on sale. I've always baked with unsalted, but then I saw something somewhere, and decided it didn't matter as long as I adjusted the salt for the finished product.

Now you're talking!

Indeed. Good dried morels are nothing to sneeze at (and with vin jaune, just great). Similar to porcini, the dried porcini from Italy are magnitudes better than those from, ummmm, not Italy.