Anna N

Just a selection of the batch of cookies I made today. Thank heaven I opted to make only half the recipe. I don’t expect these will get kudos from my usual audience. They are a little too plain and probably not nearly sweet enough. They came about because @Kerry Beal returned from her trip to Belgium with a jar of speculaas spice for me. I knew I needed to put it to good use. Googling suggested that I really needed a special mold (springerle) to make these cookies but that was not going to happen. And having had a look at these molds online I don’t think this dough would have worked very well with them. There was too much spreading and expansion that would obliterate any fine lines. Still I wish I had at least had a windmill cutter. These are really my kind of cookies to enjoy with a cup of coffee.

What a lovely, lovely story. Thank you so much for sharing.

A somewhat different take on bacon and egg. In a little book that Kerry Beal thrust into my hands yesterday, Posh Toast, I spotted a recipe for bacon soldiers and soft boiled egg. Basically it is little more than crispy bacon mixed with butter and used as a spread. I felt compelled to guild the lily just a little and added some smoked paprika to the butter and bacon mixture. I am also a complete wuss with soft boiled eggs. So here is my interpretation — a poached egg on toast that has been spread with bacon and butter. It is not going to take the food world by storm but it did keep me amused this morning and was very tasty.

Kerry is about to fly away once more and leave me to my own devices. We managed to squeeze in a lunch today. We found a new place in Oakville called Celadon House. It advertises itself as serving Asian comfort food Kerry enjoyed some roasted corn tea. I thought the water was a whole lot tastier. Spicy calamari with an interesting vinegar and garlic dipping sauce. Celadon Chicken Adobo Asian Spice Pork Chop.

Yup. They can! Which is not to say they are but it’s surprising how many recipes turn out food that would be inedible to most of us but still garner stars on the Internet.

That definitely makes sense to me. I would certainly never choose chicken breast as an ideal protein to be cooked in the Instant Pot.

And surely fun is what it is all about! Life is much too short to think otherwise.

Thank you. No they were seasoned with salt and pepper but that is all and they were cooked in olive oil as per the recipe. I used an enameled cast iron griddle pan.

I positively had to try the green beans in the instant pot cooked for zero minutes. I was quite positive they would be overcooked but, au contraire, they remained a little too toothsome for my taste. Will try one minute next time.

Ditto.

I was also taken aback by the use of beef sausage but to each their own. I find beef sausage to be on the dry side. If one is prepared to use commercial pastry, sausage rolls are one of the fastest and easiest ways to serve something “en croute”. This is my fallback recipe.

Many thanks.

I think there are a lot of variables at play here and that what works for one person and one type (and age) of mushroom may not work so well for another. I shall be very limited in what mushrooms are available to me but I have it in my heart that I will give all these methods a shot and decide what works best for me and the mushrooms that I have on hand.

From David Tanis’ new book Market Cooking — seared cauliflower with anchovy, lemon, and capers.

That is a gift of cultured butter on the muffin made using the Spinzall. Delicious.

But it might perhaps be a bit challenging for a sous chef.

Simple but oh so good. A friend dropped by this afternoon carrying gifts of foodstuffs. Too many choices faced me but it seemed only right to attack each one according to its likely longevity. The green beans won. I sliced up a shallot and made some crispy shallot rings. I steamed some of the green beans, crisped up two slices of prosciutto, sauteed some mushrooms in garlic oil and then tossed everything together and sprinkled the crispy shallots on the top.

I confess that I did perhaps short change some of the middle of the road grocery stores. Fresh oyster mushrooms are usually available and occasionally I variety pack but it usually contains a little more than oysters, shiitakes and creminis. Dried mushrooms in tiny expensive packages are generally available. Costco will occasionally carry fresh chanterelles and they are a wonderful treat. I used to make the occasional trip up to Peterborough which is north of here and there was often a “mushroom man” at the farmers’ market where you could get quite an assortment of foraged mushrooms. Jane Grigson’s book on mushrooms is quite enchanting.

Thank you very much for the suggestion. But here’s the thing. I’m not huge fan of ham. My usual way to deal with pork tenderloin is to slice it into coins, flatten them, season them well and fry them along with some apples and some onions. Lots of chance there to develop some flavour! I am thinking that sous vide pork tenderloin is just not my thing.

Thank you.Thank you. I did quite a lot of searching to try and help out so it seems necessary to provide a source for your statement. I do appreciate that you did so.

Citation?

Chicken breast (bone-in, skin-on) mushrooms. There might have been more mushrooms if I had not stood at the stove, chopsticks at the ready, doing quality-control. Click.

Well, @rotuts, I got to tell you it was not tasty. Not a bit. I could’ve been eating anything. I truly do not know where the problem lies. Perhaps the pork. Perhaps my taste buds. Perhaps it needs a sauce with a little fat in it to bring out the flavor. It was just flat. Very, very flat.

Sous vide pork tenderloin with sugar snaps.

Thank you but I don’t think I really deserve the credit. I’m sure I found it elsewhere else I might’ve extrapolated from something. I am usually careful to credit my sources but not always.