JoNorvelleWalker

180. Still trying to find a whole fish to try out the Deba. Not to mention someplace to safely store the Deba. My cutting board collection is approaching thirty boards.

My experience has been different. I'd be all over any new Anova oven if I weren't broke and not strong enough to lift it.

I keep mine out on the kitchen island. I never thought to put it in a drawer.

Sadly I seldom cut with the Watanabe nikkiri because it is too beautiful, and I have a perfectly serviceable cheap nikkiri/nikiri that I am not afraid to dull on a plastic cutting board. However after taking the picture, I brought out my better hinoki board and used the Watanabe for ken cut cabbage that accompanied last night's dumplings. The Watanabe does make a difference.

I may have made extra since I was roughly scaling down the recipe. However if memory serves, for a full recipe the stated amount of toping was sufficient.

iPad it was. Nikkiri for comparison.

I'll try to take a picture at some point, but I don't have the energy I used to have, and I can't even get to my camera until I move some furniture around. I'd hate to have an iPad picture suffice.

Following up on my last post from two years ago. The Yen is still weak against the dollar. Watanabe's prices are about to increase yet once again, and I have a new Deba that I can't afford. What's worse, I have nothing to cut with it and no place to store it. A friend took me to a local supermarket with a worthy fish department. I was hoping to find a bluefish on which to practice Mukoita. No bluefish. No whole fish on offer at all. I did purchase a wild caught black sea bass fillet that was delicious, however no help whatsoever with improving my cutting skills. The weight of the Watanabe is 424g and the thickness of the spine is 7.136 mm (Mitutoyo digital micrometer). I have three knife blocks. None has a slot to accommodate a Deba, so the Deba is still in its box. I'm not about to play Deba does Damocles with the magnetic knife strip that dangles my almost as weighty Chinese cleaver not far from my head. Not sure what I'll cut, but cut something I shall. Hopefully not some part of me. The Watanabe cladding on this Deba is stainless and I believe the steel is Blue #2. If you want a Watanabe, don't wait. Now might be a good time.

From last weekend. Ken Forkish method but steam baked in Anova APO on heavy baking steel, not in a Dutch oven... Slackest dough I've ever tried to work with. My guess is slightly over proofed. Scoring was out of the question and I decided to use parchment on the peel. Excellent flavor. I've found it's easier for me to mix by hand than wrestling with the machine(s). Also got to try out new proofing box.

So glad things are improving!

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Has been earning its place on my kitchen counter for sixteen years.

Last night a friend took me to an Oaxacan restaurant, or at least a Mexican restaurant owned by an Oaxacan. I had chile relleno. Quite good. If I had to guess I'd say the pepper was poblano. But this was in Princeton, not Puebla. Years ago the restaurant owner mentioned half the population from his small town in Oaxaca now live in Princeton. He once told me most of his supplies and ingredients came from upstate New York.

In my life I've never been inside a Trader Joe's but at least two thirds of my internet time while at home is spent on Amazon. And that after I boycotted Amazon for several years. Still, at least from the WSJ article, Amazon's methods with regards to Trader Joe's snacks struck me as unethical.

Please pardon iPad shadow. It's not an eclipse.

I love the taste of grouper but I had a pet grouper for about a year, which makes me hesitate to order grouper at a restaurant.