TdeV

To draw the attention of @paulraphael.

These Chilean chefs have found a novel and sustainable way to share their culture and respect for Mother Earth with visitors to the Atacama Desert. Link to article at BBC Travel

Hello @Lesley65. As you can no doubt tell from your CTM post, there are lots of opinionated eGulleters! Hope you have fun here. Welcome.

The source of the original recipe is Jaime Oliver's ULTIMATE WEEKEND COOKBOOK

Re: science. I recommend following @btbyrd's advice and watch that clip of Heston Blumenthal. I started at 13 minutes in but watched the rest.

@FauxPas, these hocks are actually fresh (unsmoked). Wonder how much time to add?

Maybe this belongs in Absurdly Stupid Questions but I have a couple frozen ham hocks which I would like to cook in the Instant Pot with stock, then shred for a bean soup (beans to be added later). Do I need to thaw the hocks first? If not, for how long should I cook them under pressure?

I ate the third ball last night, Yoda. I think that I understand how to eat them. Unfortunately, that was my last one! 😜

Hello @happysoup. This is a great group of folk, I hope you'll soon see. Hang onto your wallet as eGullet is full of enablers! Welcome.

I see, Yoda, that this is a complex issue. 🤣 🤣

Hello @Lauren S.. Many great folk here. Welcome to eGullet.

Funny you should mention, @Yoda. I recently bought some of those balls from my farmer's market. I knew they were hot chocolate, but that's all I knew. There was no information about what was inside. Also, I had no idea how to prepare them. Milk or water? Microwave? How full to fill cup so that there's enough for the ball, but not to overflow? So the result was less than stellar because I made some incorrect choices. And the experience was sufficiently disturbing that I haven't tried again. Maybe I should go try one now. 🙃 Edited to add: Some instructions for newbies woulda helped.

Thank you @Nancy in Pátzcuaro. My absolute favourite bread recipe originated with Eckhardt and Butts from Bread in Half the Time ©1991. It's called Bread Machine Pain de Mie which I have modified to add whole wheat and other stuff. Curiously my favourite pizza dough comes from that book too. Both recipes use semolina, I'm thinking that's perhaps why. And I bought a copy of Rustic European Breads from Your Bread Machine just now on Thriftbooks. Thank you again.

Hello @Yoda, I would eat those chocolate monsters in a minute! Yum. I don't make chocolate but I like to read about it. Here on eG there are many great folk. Some are very knowledgeable, some are very funny, and sometimes, people are a bit of both. Welcome to eGullet.

I don't know when I purchased my Weston Supply Vacuum Sealer (model 65-201), but I still have some whole nutmeg vacuumed in 2001. It's a semi-pro machine, so a lot more powerful than a food saver. I once gummed up the works (by vacuuming liquid) which was fixed by using a maintenance kit to replace the hoses (one of which I purchased in 2021). I suspect that this model is essentially the same thing (which may be why the maintenance kits are still available). Now I'm more careful with vacuuming liquids. Also @PedroG posted about how to vacuum seal liquids; if you want the exact post, I'l have to look. Essentially, use a very deep bag, e.g. from a roll, and hang the bag off the end of the counter. The vacuum sealer now has to fight gravity to suck the liquid up the bag. I find that an extra 8" or 12" is enough. Sometimes I think I'd like to have a chamber vacuum sealer, but not quite enough to get one. YMMV.

I'm so sorry. Tim was engaging and I shall miss him.

Hi @lemniscate. First, I've never spiralized anything and not sure if I've ever eaten anything spiralized. However, I think it's an interesting idea (I regularly add thinly sliced cabbage to spaghetti). I think you'd need to slice the noodles quite thickly. The zucchini in the referenced photo was maybe 5" wide at the base, so those half moons were between 2.5" - 5" long when fresh. The original zucchini was 12" - 18" long. It was peeled, sliced in half longitudinally, then seeds removed. I don't remember exactly but the slices might have been 3/8" thick. So I think you'd need to start with at least 1/4" thick noodles before dehydrating. Rehydrated dried vegetables definitely have an attractive, thicker, chewier texture and don't dissolve as quickly as fresh vegetables. And the marinade made them very tasty as a snack. Please let us know if you try it!

I have destroyed a couple of ancient Cuisinart work bowl setups grating Parmesan. The reason that it's a couple of separate setups is that the bowl is now made by a different Chinese company and no longer fits with the other parts (top, sleeve, etc.) Like @JoNorvelleWalker, I have shredded my hands trying to grate cheese on a hand grater. I now use gloves for any grating or mandoline work. And thanks to @weinoo, I also have an old Moulinex which works remarkably well. (Only mine is orange, from ebay).

This maybe should more properly go in the "absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions" but How long do the spices stay fragrant if they are toasted in this manner and then ground? (I have some idea that ground spice blends don't last long).

@JeanneCake, what marvellous news! An Amazon search shows brushes which can be added to the end of a drill, or a Rubbermaid thingy which looks like an electric toothbrush. Could you please tell us a little more about your devices?

What is this "other" site?

@Orbit, I first came to eGullet to learn about sous vide. First, one of the first books you need is Douglas Baldwin's Sous Vide for the Home Cook which will tell you many things you want to know. For a preview, that website will tell you lots. I have a bunch of other good sous vide cookbooks, let me know if you want to know more. One thing @rotuts convinced me was to keep notebooks for Sous Vide (and Instant Pot and half dozen more). This has had many benefits, not the least of which was @btbyrd realizing that I was quoting him in my notebook. 😂 PM me and I will send you a note (with links) for my sous vide equipment set up. One great discovery was that sous vide is very excellent for really tough cuts. eGullet links will take you further than any published cookbook; for example, lamb shoulder can be sous vided for 3 or 4 days for excellent results! What great discoveries are in store!

It is possible to steam the inside which makes it slightly easier to clean. What I want, though, is a self clean cycle. 😡

@Katie Meadow, about cutting onions . . . my DH puts on his KN95 which seems to solve the teary eyed stuff. And I wear the KN95 to cut poblano peppers. 🤣