weedy

so... I've many times stolen Michael White's brilliant idea of a Sea Urchin and Lardo Crostini but no matter how thinly I have the lard sliced, I find it never melts evenly and perfectly over the top, the way his does. It invariably curls at the edges and contracts as I melt it, no matter if I try it under the broiler or with a torch. Anyone have any ideas or hints?

Peanut butter is America's great gift to the food world.

Here we are last year backstage about to eat dinner. NOT peanut butter

Peanut butter and jelly is on my dressing room rider... it's always there, all round the world. When we had blues legend Charlie Musselwhite playing with us, he would usually make a sandwich to take back to his room or the bus after show to have for breakfast the next morning. One thing (amongst many!) Charlie and I agree about is that "peanut butter is good with just about everything and anything"

Some comedian once said of Martha Stewart that she probably buys oxygen and hydrogen to make her own water.

so, my first foray was a pork chunks in a Mexican salsa verde kind of thingy. it was good, but to my taste a bit on the dry side. is it possible that cooking it too long might make it dry in this environment? I'm new to pressure cooking, and I'm used to the ultra tenderness of sous vide, so be gentle...

Really? so for example if I put a cup of rice and a cup of water in a small stainless bowl inside the inner pot, I'd add more water around it in the inner pot?

Anna, do you place that inside the inner pot, or just instead of? i have small stainless steel mixing bowls but I wasn't sure they'd be happy in direct contact with the IP heating element. Thanks!

so... I ran the recommended initial test run tonight, and I have a question. I filled to the recommended 3 qt line and ran it on Steam for 2 minutes... but then, once it finished and I turned it off, it still hadn't "naturally released" after anther 40 minutes... is THAT normal? also, anyone want to recommend a smaller insert for pot-in-pot cooking small rice or grits quantities?

People obviously make their own choices but I haven't seen any compelling (even a little) evidence that stainless steel cookware isn't 'safe'

A conversation about expectations is certainly a good idea. But I would not at ALL assume that "older" means either provincial or bland How old are we talking about ? On the other note, if you are doing this just as a private caterer for one couple, I doubt very much that you need a commercial kitchen license in your area.

Agreed. I also like my swordfish generally cooked through; Whereas most fish I prefer with a rare or nearly raw centre. I make a mexican smoked swordfish dip that I SV the fish for because I want it cooked through and then I'm going to mash it anyway. (Mixed with diced serranos and coriander and a little Mexican cream, then smoked with the Smoking Gun).

What SV does well for salmon (if you LIKE that) is a kind of gelatinous creamy texture. If you want firm, stay together, texture I think you're better off just searing. Fish cooks so so quickly that the only reason to SV, in my opinion, is to get textures you can't otherwise get. Some peoole also prefer the texture of low temp, quick cooked , SV fish to totally raw when you finish with a fast sear. I'll sometimes do that for tuna. But generally, I'd rather cook fish in a pan, even though I'm a very big SV fan for many other things.

My experiments with butter, or oil, with beef or pork SV are inline with Kenji Lopez-Alt's conclusions ... all you end up with is meat flavoured butter. You're actually pulling flavour OUT.

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That's the thing. I suspect, or hope?, I may get some use out of it as a pressure cooker and a rice cooker. But I am not a 'one pot meal' kind of cook at all.

I bought an Instant Pot. Now I just need to figure out why.

Yes. Exactly. I also don't see the advantage to pressure cooking over just boiling for a half hour ish.

Also FWIW, cleaning shrimp is dead easy and not messy.

I'm not buying any fish (and ESPECIALLY shellfish) from questionable waters. If I can't afford good fish, then I won't buy fish.

Okay then just skip it and use salted water. Or season it with your fave Cajun spice. Etouffee doesn't require stock.

If you can't get stock just use salted water. Etoufee has plenty of other flavour going on (or should, anyway). But, if your store is shelling and cleaning th shrimp for you, what not ask for the shells (and heads if they have them) in a bag from them?

good suggestions! (except for Blue Apron )

okay, I found this: https://www.fda.gov/food/recallsoutbreaksemergencies/outbreaks/ucm561199.htm#Recalled seems like it's primarily CA focused, and about frozen "cubes" or "steaks"... products that some restaurants might indeed use, and might cook to 'rare', but not likely to be found in sashimi another reason I buy fish from my well KNOWN TO ME fish markets, only. never from supermarkets or 'bulk' stores.

what states WERE affected?