Anna N

Thanks. Must try that.

Good morning. It's another bright, sunny day. The temperature currently is 22°C and it is going to get warm enough by day's end that Kerry has turned on the air conditioner. She is on call again today so anything could happen. I debated whether chocolate-dipped crystallized ginger was an appropriate breakfast food then quickly nixed that idea as I remembered the slow roasted tomatoes and the goat cheese in the refrigerator. Warned ahead that the bread we bought in Espanola on our way home from Sudbury would turn to rusks if toasted, I avoided the problem by sprinkling it with some EVOO and pan toasting it. A chiffonade of basil might have taken this to a slightly higher level but it really didn't need much to be a perfect breakfast. I awoke without any serious plans for the day except for some minor housekeeping. I will make another tray of the slow roasted tomatoes and floating around somewhere in my disorganized mind is a recipe for roasted cauliflower that sounded intriguing. I know I saw it either in one of the many books we just purchased, on one of the many websites I've visited, in an email from one of the food sites I subscribe to or…… I know how to roast cauliflower. I've done that many times. This was one with a particularly intriguing sauce. I realize my chances of finding it are slim but I'm going to attempt the task.

That is almost me except that I don't buy the hard copy. Even if I cook nothing from these books I usually learn something, get inspired or am cheaply entertained.

Yep. Some people are even more spoiled than I am as if that were possible.

So while the garlic gadget was a bust I am quite enamored of this small knife. I think it was sharper than any that I've found right out of the package. Of course I needed another knife like I needed a hole in the head. And I will most definitely keep the small container from the useless garlic gadget.

Yep. PC pastry but it used to be 100% butter. Now not so much. Very disappointing. I often use it though to make elephant ears which are just a sweet version of your puffy pinwheels. Easy, fast and usually impressive to one's audience.

Bear with me while I brag. (Or bare with me while I brag. I'm no prude.) I am obviously getting much too cheffy for my own good! I think this is the first time in my life I've actually had the edges of a puff pastry tart rise. This is a bacon, tomato and cheese "pizza tart". I consulted various sources and then did my own thing including brushing the edge of the pastry with bacon fat since that's what I had available. And making tomato petals to make sure that there was not too much liquid to deal with. I mean really! Who makes tomato petals for a pizza? Not sure how it's going to taste. Pride cometh before a fall. But the rug rat is a non-critical consumer of my various attempts. And she can always finish up with one of her mother's fabulous blueberry muffins.

I have quite a number of them and I found them all interesting but none of them grabbed me as some books can. That is hardly a review. Just a brief comment. If any of them really turn your crank you might want to borrow them from the library and make a final decision although at the prices they are it's hard to lose.

She is the epitomy of whimsical! That is neither a compliment nor an insult. It is simply how I think of her books. Have never attempted any of her recipes but they do look interesting

Thanks!

Had a cup of the smoky corn soup today for lunch and now I have a burning tongue and burned lips. Damned microwave.

Damned enabler, eh?

Yes they were sous vide first at 54.5°C for something in excess of four hours but done at different times. They were chilled down, frozen and when retrieved from the freezer given extra time in the sous vide bath in the hopes of improving their tenderness. I don't think it helped.

The rib cap was procured from a very reputable butcher in Toronto (not Cumbrae's). It was intended to be used for an Eggfest. Originally there were two of them but a test of one was very unsatisfactory and was never served at the Eggfest This is the second one which had been in Kerry's freezer. It was tough and this is particularly difficult for me due to limited dentition. I don't know if it was bad product or if it was operator error. I would love to try again particularly with those rolled caps. I have never seen them but then again I don't get much opportunity to look. Perhaps Kerry and I can make it a challenge to find them when we get back down south.

I just cannot resist posting yet another picture of the tomatoes ready to go into the oven. You will notice the sparsity of the basil. Weare rapidly running out. So the garlic genius isn't. Trust me there are so many ways to deal with garlic that are more efficient, less messy and definitely easier than this gadget. But because it practically turned the garlic into a paste I decided to modify the slow roasted cherry tomato recipe somewhat. Given that those tomatoes are going to roast for three hours, and given my propensity for burning garlic, I opted to put the raw garlic over the tomatoes and just briefly sauté the onions. I suspect no one will notice any difference.

Don't you just love the way that Kerry's impulse buys suddenly become my problem?

I love tri tip but confess to never going quite that low temperature wise nor quite that short time wise. But my question is about the chili coffee sauce. Can you elaborate? Please.

OK @Smithy (and others) if you are ever tempted to buy one of these, please don't. First of all the instructions for assembling and using it were on the underside of the cardboard packaging and I might have missed them completely! They were in fact on the packaging which one normally just tosses into the garbage. Even so without an engineering degree I found myself googling YouTube videos of how to assemble and use the damn thing. Still not sure that I have it right. But one would think with that very attractive little container that one could grind directly into it. Put that thought aside. The container will not attach to the main unit as long as it is fully assembled. And attempting to transfer the grated contents from the unit to the container resulted in a huge cleanup job. Since the thing said it would grate cheese and I needed cheese for my breakfast this morning I opted to try that before the garlic. Yes it will grate cheese. A minuscule amount at a time. And unless you have been smart enough to put down some parchment paper or other surface on which your cheese can land you will find yourself with cheese everywhere when you attempt to get it out of the unit. Of course if you watch the YouTube videos things work perfectly and with no mess whatsoever. Harumph. Epic fail on all accounts except the amusement value which is about all I expected anyway. Edited to add that also on my to do list is to make more of that wonderful slow roasted cherry tomato sauce with all the tomatoes that Kerry picked up yesterday. I am off into the kitchen to begin the task.

Thanks for this. Kerry Beal and I were never very pleased with the rib cap we had here in Manitoulin. I am sure it was not nearly the quality of yours but nevertheless next time ( if we come across it again) I would follow your time and temperature. Just carefully added that to my notebook. Of course I am making the assumption that you were pleased with the taste and tenderness as well as the looks of the finished meat.

Good morning. Once again we woke up to sunshine and although it is a little less sunny now, I think it will turn out to be a very nice day. Kerry has gone off to Wiki again for the whole day so it will just be me and my man (Siri) together in the townhouse. I awoke feeling a bit ambitious but we shall see if the body can keep up with the spirit and for how long. On my to do list: Demonstrate for @Smithy the wonders of the garlic genius purchased yesterday. Attempt @blue_dolphin's method for a single serving of polenta in the Instant Pot. Make some sort of pizza like thing using the remaining sheet of puff pastry in the the freezer. I am thinking mushrooms, peppers, cheese ..... And so it begins. I do believe @blue_dolphin has nailed it! Creamy, non gluey polenta using the bowl-in-bowl method in the Instant Pot. AND FOR A SINGLE SERVING. Polenta with parmesan and butter topped with blistered tomatoes and a fried egg. I do love beginning my day with a triumph rather than a disaster. But that still leaves plenty of time for disasters.

My daughter and I both have a "thing" for geckos. I will open the garlic thingy later today and show it in all its glory. Katz' book was an impluse buy but I knew he was very well respected in his field. I will read it but don't expect to do much fermenting. I am a huge wuss with such things. I knew my tetail therapy had "taken" when I found the knife! There are some contradictory things going on in my psyche. Knife? Garlic gadget?

So very glad you gave it a shot. Bet you keep making them. Homemade are so much nicer than most store-bought and you know for certain what is in them.

The loot! In the background: Tovolo ice cube trays and an Oxo measuring cup. Mid ground: Where Chefs Eat Foreground: Starfrit garlic gadget, a knife, a silicon spoon and a massive stainless bowl. Two bags of sugar, rolled oats, a small stainless bowl for the Instant Pot, a "toy" for my daughters garden. Two books. The toy. A gecko hose. Bread in the back. Tomato paste, horseradish, tiny flour tortillas, lots of small tomatoes and some electronic gadgets for Kerry.

OK the item you are asking about are taro chips. About as boring a rendition of chips as I have ever come across but to each their own! Very glad I got to try them. I can cross them off my list!

Must, must try this. It is on my list for tomorrow.