TdeV

@Smithy's Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini was delicious! Even though I've never coated cauliflower before so I had no idea about proportions or how much sauce to make. I stuck my finger in it to see what it tasted like and thought it was boring, so I added more harissa. Oh là là! This image is rotated (it's not rotated on my computer). Help? Also fresh pasta and tomato sauce. (Also rotated)

Well @chappie, did you try it? The curious want to know!

I just read a very interesting book called CONSIDER THE FORK: A HISTORY OF HOW WE COOK AND EAT by Bee Wilson, a BBC food writer. "Blending history, science, and anthropology, Wilson reveals how our culinary tools and tricks came to be, and how their influence has shaped modern food culture." I was fascinated.

Here in central Illinois, packaged mushrooms are stuck full of mud. My farmers' market mushroom guy has clean mushrooms though.

My dad used to tell stories about rationing, in particular his aunt who would daily save up her week's ration of butter, so she could have it all on Sunday toast. "Might as well have one good meal," she was reported to have said.

@HungryChris, I want to come for dinner! What did you stuff the shrimp with?

Hi @Rasmus, welcome. Are you looking specifically for par cooked, or ways to prep meals ahead of time? If the latter, investigate sous vide cooking. You can take a large cut, say a pork shoulder, and cut it into manageable pieces. This could be slices of roast 1 1/2" thick. The raw meat gets vacuum-sealed in plastic bags and cooked at very low temperatures. After they're done, they can be kept in the freezer for a year (at least). When you open one of the bags, the roast can be sliced, diced for chili, etc. There's quite a few good books now published about sous vide. Also check out the sous vide threads here on eGullet. Here's the current thread

Actually, I could restate this. Mushrooms in machine-sealed plastic bag from the Chinese market, last just fine over one week. Mushrooms in styrofoam from any of the huge grocery stores, might get mouldy in a week; will definitely get mouldy a few days later. Mushrooms in a plastic bag from the vegetable section of the grocery story will definitely get slimy within a week. Mushrooms from the grower in a holey plastic container inside a paper bag will last well over two weeks. Eventually, they will get a little dry (chewy) but no mould. I don't know how much this increased storage life has to do with the total storage time (i.e. the other mushrooms may have been shipped long distance before hanging out in my fridge, which would shorten their viability in my fridge). This is true of strawberries also.

The mushrooms in my fridge do A LOT BETTER inside a paper bag than wrapped in cling plastic.

So they keep in the fridge? Cooked or uncooked?

@Okanagancook, if you had lots of mushrooms to use up but only two persons to feed for dinner, what would you do with the extra mushrooms? Keep raw in the fridge until tomorrow? Cook them? Freeze them raw, stuffed or unstuffed?

Has anyone experimented with "less sweet" butter tarts? Opinions?

@gfweb, tasty-looking photo. If you had choose between a mini-muffin pan (which I own) and a madeleine pan (which I don't), which would you choose and why?

@Ann_T, great photo! You mention using the cornbread as stuffing. In that case, do you actually stuff the chicken or do you cook the stuffing outside of the chicken somehow?

I remember butter tarts! Does anyone here make them? Have recipe?