weinoo

Well, the whole experiment ended up as a bit of a shitshow, but not for normal shitshow reasons. First - the ice cream. We really liked the flavor of the ice creams (at least the coffee one we got to really taste - more later). But texturally, I just don't know. Sure - it has more of that commercial ice cream shop feel - chewier, not as quick to melt, or other issues that I'm unable to describe. Paul will be happy to know it really wasn't too sweet, though I could even dial back the sweeteners by a tablespoon or two w/o much problem, I think. There's so little cream cheese in the overall mixture as well - but it needed straining anyway - maybe I didn't whisk it enough. The coffee flavor came through nicely - I used an espresso roast, coarsely ground, and steeped it in the cream/milk/sugar/corn syrup mixture for 5 minutes before straining that. Vanilla was, well, vanilla-y. I wonder why she brings the mixture to another boil after adding the cornstarch slurry; cornstarch begins its thickening at lower than boiling point, and then can even start to thin out if stirred too much or overheated. I would be tempted to try again, with some slight mods to the recipe. But would they suck then - like if I only heated the milk to, say, 180 for a minute or so? Now - what happened that really was the shitshow part? I had the first batch (the vanilla) sitting pretty in its container in the freezer. When I opened the freezer to get the 2nd container out so I could transfer the ice cream from the Lello to the freezer, the container with the vanilla came sliding out of the freezer, smashed onto the wooden floor, and broke into like 50 pieces. Here was my just made vanilla ice cream, melting in a pool of broken glass, on my nice wooden floor. Who uses glass in a freezer?

Made two bases this morning, to spin later this afternoon. Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream's Black Coffee and Ugandan vanilla. Followed the recipes EXACTLY (though i don't have Ugandan vanilla beans). Okay, maybe NOT exactly - I did 1/2 recipe of each instead of a quart of each; this way, if they suck, I can just start over and not feel so bad about the waste. Quite interested to see how my first attempt at using both light corn syrup and cornstarch turns out. She boils the milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup for 4 minutes before doing the cornstarch thing. Any idea why?

I went 4 bags - but I was hoping to see more info about the nuts also, @JoNorvelleWalker. More Thai stuff! Don't know how the dried is, but since I have trouble sourcing fresh galangal, I figured I'd give this a try. Now, as far as the next purchases are concerned... Staying off the computer after dinner, after wine, after other mind-altering substances; well, that might not be a bad idea.

For @liuzhou ! I often take delicious sweet corn off the cob, and sauté it in butter, with some scallions and chives thrown in. If it's good enough for Jacques, it's good enough for me. So, for dinner - crab cakes, corn sauté with yellow squash (sprinkled with parsley for extra goodness), tater tots.

Top and bottom of a frittata made with 2 varieties of leftover pasta; one was pesto and potatoes, the other tomatoes and basil. This is a preferred method (for me) of frittata, as opposed to my sometimes thicker, custardier one.

A few years ago, I helped prep for the Nordic food festival known as North. My job was shucking many Maine diver scallops. Many. You can just see, in the lower left-hand corner, some of the many little fishies that came out of those scallop shells. Who knew?

So you're not making tabbouleh any time soon? It''s in my weekly herb delivery without fail, and I use it not to tart up my otherwise delicious dishes, but to add a certain slight punch to same. Spanish smoked paprika is a wonderful spice - and it comes in 3 heat levels. Great for sprinkling on corn, or potatoes, or... Citrus in the form of fresh lemon or lime juice enlivens many things. And whole spices, rather than ground, when possible. I toast all whole spices and then grind them in a small mortar/pestle, for dishes as they are needed. Black peppercorns ( a mix) are kept in a grinder, but I will toast them for a cacio e pepe or something similar, when pepper is the main spice.

Okay, taking one (or two) for the team: Vanilla Products Grade As were $2.20 a piece. The Villa Vainilla are Mexican vanilla beans from Papantla, and were $4 each. When I opened the outer package with the pouch of Vanilla Products' beans in it, the aroma was amazing. The other don't smell through their packaging, which is a sealed glass tube.

How close u are to the store, for when I come to visit.

Chervil is one of those super delicate herbs. I'm surprised you can't grow it between the city (too cool, not enough sun?) and the country (too hot, too much sun?).

My favorite was the scallion pancake sandwiches - with roast duck!!

Indeed - I was going to do a little more browsing (they have like millions of sauces and stuff), but someone was stocking shelves and my comfort level waned after a few minutes.

Oh, to have a consistent supply of chervil and tarragon...imagine how French I'd become!

Oh, I'm sure they looked fine. Bok choy in the IP - what'd that take, like 30 seconds? I think we're all becoming Asian cooks!

Believe me, I'm confused too. But I will buy high-quality boneless thighs when necessary...from the freezer to supper then takes not much longer than if I were using fresh thighs.

Confession - even though I have the dried chives, I do like to up the ante on the Ranch a bit by adding real parsley and real chives, which might be my new, favorite herb (thanks to Jacques and his use of it in almost all his videos).

No, not yet. Classic jasmine rice. And next time, it'll be alongside. Probably a good way to use a ton of vegetables is making that curry sans meat. Can tofu go in?

Oh yeah - we did. If you look closely, you can see that I tried to cut the thighs into 2 pieces, through the bone with a poultry shear. I did it leaning into the sink, as I didn't want to mess up a cutting board again, and it didn't exactly work. I have to say the sauce was pretty good, but I think nicer would be to serve the rice separately in a rice bowl.

My foray into Thai cooking, using any number of the recently procured ingredients... Looked absolutely disgusting, but tasted much better than its appearance might make you think. I defrosted the wrong chicken thighs for the dish; I wanted boneless, but instead got 3 bone-in D'artagnan Green Circle thighs. Which are great, just not necessarily perfect for the above Thai chicken curry with eggplant, carrots and onions.

Or maybe in a pot on top of the stove or in the oven?

They just flipped to their other sides! I, too, often freeze pesto in individual batches, but without the cheese added, which I prefer to do à la minute.

Maybe you found that linguica in Fall River, possibly the capital pf Portuguese grocery shopping in the United States, and about a 10-minute drive away from New Bedford. Two great old towns, in my opinion. We pass through them on every drive to Cape Cod. Where you found the kale is anyone's guess.Maybe @chromedome's? @KennethT - If the store has a name, I'd never know. But it has been there for a long time - it is the first green grocer you encounter if you were to be walking west on Grand St., on the south side of the street, right after you pass the corner of Chrystie Street. It looks like, from this picture, to be the Ken Hing Food Market, at 247 Grand Street. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7182615,-73.9941966,3a,37.5y,197.81h,90.91t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKZYC6RP9drT3zS979GDEmw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Two pretty weird lunches. My lunches, falling as they do in between breakfast and dinner, are starting to become mostly repurposed stuff. I guess that's OK, in the middle of the 5th month of a pandemic? So, without further angst ado: Sig Eater loves her borscht. This was an ok version, actually. But beets are interesting - some are super sweet, some more earthy, etc. etc. Here, with a dollop (or two) of sour cream. Freshly made (at lunch!) za'atar pita crisps. Crudités. Baba ghanoush. Tzatziki. Another day, another lunch... Included tabbouleh on (Boston?) lettuce leaves. Baba ghanoush on crackers. Something else leftover I think?

This box, from Hepworth Farms via Fresh Direct... is $30. It's insanely packed in the middle of harvest season. Like enough for both of us for a week. Potatoes, scallions, garlic, shallots, yellow squash, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, kale (why?), eggplant, celery, carrots, lettuce, escarole, chives, dill, basil, blueberries, oy. A few more Thai ingredients arrived at my front door... And in my first ever venture to a store since the pandemic began, I walked over on Grand St. to a Vietnamese-ish greengrocer for more ingredienti... Purchasing herbs (and eggplant) which I believe to be, from top left: Thai basil Rau răm Red perilla Birds eye chilies Fun times ahead!

A million Italian nonnas just rolled over in their graves. Here, I try to soothe their worries... via a classic tomato sauce (canned tomatoes!), fresh basil. Parmigianno-reggiano - grated at the table...