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@Maison Rustique I have a John Boos mobile butcher block island (30.75 inches wide x 20 inches deep - stands 35 3/8" tall). It has 4 locking casters, with drawer + (1) 10" drop leaf, model "CUCE" CUCINA ELEGANTE - MAPLE TOP. My kitchen is a small square. A regular island would interfere with the oven door, dishwasher door, and opening drawers; a moving island can get out of the way. Interestingly, I rarely lock the casters, having learned how to place hot dishes or groceries on the top without causing the island to move. When my friend comes over with a contribution for dinner, I lock the casters so she can use it (It confuses her otherwise). The butcher block island wasn't cheap. But nothing else would work as well. https://www.johnboos.com/collections/islands P.S. Because it's so lovely, I haven't yet started using it as a butcher block; I bring a cutting board to it! (I bought it in 2021) Edited again to add a "close" look alike https://www.johnboos.com/products/maple-cucina-elegante-kitchen-cart-double-drop-leaf?Drawer=With+Drawer Mine has only one drop leaf.

@Smithy I found this http://www.xianguotea999.com/the-art-of-crafting-traditional-eight-treasure-crispy-cakesa-step-by-step-guide/ No idea if it's sensible or not. Searching 'Xinjiang eight-treasure cut cake recipe' produced a lot of items for sale.

Yesterday DH and I made a yogurt lemon chicken dish that tastes fine but I think it looks a bit grainy. DH thinks the sauce is not broken. To @Shel_B's point, this sauce used arrowroot (could be a bit old) and the sauce is not very thick. Can I add something/cook something to make the sauce creamier, more homogeneous? And thicker? Or, could I put a piece of pastry on top so the guests won't notice the texture? 😅

@KennethT's first post of this diving and eating trip is dated July 18th. Read today (July 24) The "return trip" Airline Food starting post is dated July 12th! And I've already reacted to those airline posts. @ElsieD So I'm confused.

@ElsieD, rats!

@KennethT, I can't find your photos on the airline trip home . . .

What a delight your posts are, @KennethT !

@JoNorvelleWalker, recipe has arrowroot in it. I have very little experience with arrowroot. Google does tell me it's a thickener, but not how much cooking it takes to activate, nor if cooked too long whether it will break.

I've posted a question on the Absurdly Stupid Questions thread about how to convert a stovetop recipe to an Anova oven (v 1) recipe where the sauce absolutely must not boil. Advice sought, please.

I'm looking to convert a stovetop medium low recipe to the Anova steam combi oven (v 1). The instructions are to stand around and watch it simmer for a while (tedious) and absolutely not allow the sauce to boil. It's a chicken/salmon recipe which uses yogurt and lemon. How do I approach this issue? Set the Anova to sous vide mode and temp to 200ºF? Put the probe into the sauce set to wail at 205ºF? P.S. I've placed this request here because this topic gets lots of traffic.

@Duvel. Lovely! Could you tell/show us more about the Okonomiyaki dish please. Edited to add: and the yakitori is chicken?

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE BLT ! ! ! GORGEOUS AND YUM. Looks delish. Could you please post the recipe?

@IndyRob, the roast wasn't a perfect texture. I swear that I did not have the roast long in the hot sauté pan (20 seconds a side x 3) but it was a knobbly shape because of the tied string, so I put a heavy bacon press on it. Usually I like my beef more medium than rare, but his had a medium to medium+ texture and was a bit tough or dry. I'm wondering also if the meat was long in the freezer (I hadn't dated the package). No one on eG has suggested a lower temperature for the sous vide. Of note, this was done in the Anova sous vide without being confined to plastic. Many variables to consider for the next attempt! Edited to add: My rub was a failure; it washed off. It had a lot of salt in it, so the jus was not tasty. Herbs and spices would have helped, I think.

Jo, I'm sure you've told this already, but what is a chicken pop and how did you do them? @JoNorvelleWalker

This Saturday we'll be having a Wine Time. Sous vide flank steak is planned as one of the dishes. The flank steak is 1.6 lbs, about 10" - 14" long (it's currently folded). The plan is to marinate for a few days, then sous vide. In the past we've sautéed after the sous vide has finished. Currently, no outdoor barbecue. Suggestions? Recommended time and temperature? @rotuts @gfweb @btbyrd @Okanagancook @ElsieD

@Tropicalsenior, I don't seem to have your banana bread recipe. Provide me with a link, please?

@rotuts. Yes, I didn't like the drippings. Also my rub included quite a lot of salt which "steamed off" in the Anova. Both DH and I had sliced roast for lunch, me in a country style sourdough loaf (Panera) and DH in a tortilla. My roast slices weren't super thin, but they were mighty tasty. I shall have to try this experiment again.

There was no sauce, so it was mildly dry. In the ChefSteps video, the chef browned the roast before the sous vide which I didn't do, so I did the browning at the end. I wasn't sure how to apply a frothed egg white coating on warm meat (would it have cooked it? And then should I have cooked it again?) I didn't like roast drippings. I will make a sandwich today and report on the meat as a leftover. We also had new potatos roasted, served with French butter. And a lovely succotash. The okra was broiled/steamed with @Okanagancook's method. Okra was trimmed and threaded on thin skewers, painted with oil, dusted with spices (in this case Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave Seasoning from Penzeys). 400ºF with 25% steam for 7 minutes a side. Our dinner guest raved at how great was the okra that I found myself telling my memories of various dishes Okanagancook has made and tales she told. Unfortunately this was when I realized that I had forgotten to take a picture of the okra. Sorry.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/larry-olmsted-real-food-fake-food-new-book-investigates-fraud-labels/ Turns out there's a lot of mislabelling around. Larry Olmsted's book was published in 2016 and has LOTS of instances of misappropriated food labels. I found it a fascinating read. Edited to add that I have no idea if this is the case here.

Can't edit to fix: Why are there instructions to cut off the bread crusts (and discard) when making breadcrumbs?

Why are there instructions to cut of the bread crusts (and discard) when making breadcrumbs?

@RWood, so delicious looking!

What defines a "soft dough" ?

Can I use the Bamix immersion blender to mix dough for flatbreads?

See also Delish! at Thriftbooks.