JoNorvelleWalker

If it helps, the Wall Street Journal has an article today on roasting eggplant, either outdoors or directly over a stove burner. Neither of those options work for me but I think eggplants would roast fine on my Philips grill. If I am remembering the article correctly, the eggplants in question were grilled whole, so presumably the seeds were still inside.

I've never tried freezing bread. There is usually no room in my freezers anyway. Modernist Bread suggests preventing mold by storing bread under CO2. I never tried that because I don't have a suitable container. But I just had a thought: I keep my baguettes in plastic bags designed for bread storage. It would be easy enough to flush the bags with CO2. Plus if I were making a batch of Methode Rotuts to have with dinner, no CO2 would be wasted.

It's always a challenge to decide in which cutting board topic to post. But this is the Wood Cutting Boards topic and I took delivery of a new wood cutting board. So anyway, a bit of backstory: I have three Boos boards. The smallest is 15x20 inches, by 3 inches thick. The largest a few feet by several feet, by 2 1/4 inches thick. I do not actually use them for cutting. The little walnut end grain board has shown up in many of my kitchen photographs. It is more for show than blow. But I wanted something I would actually cut upon that was more gentle to my knife edges than the poly boards at my disposal. The board I bought is 12x18x1.75 inch end grain cherry, from Brooklyn Butcher Blocks: https://www.brooklynbutcherblocks.com/collections/end-grain/products/end-grain-cherry-butcher-block?variant=31721875177572 I chose cherry as it is the softest wood offered. Not to mention, the least expensive. The board is quite attractive. Searching eGullet I find no love for Brooklyn Butcher Blocks? I wonder why this is.

Not a stereo microscope, but amazon is having a deal today and I ordered a USB microscope. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Until the microscope comes I remain pleased with my new Chef's Choice.

Callipo tuna, Rancho Gordo Cranberry beans, romaine, boule. Soave not shown.

Last night I was devastated when the third of last weekend's batch of baguettes horridly molded. So this time it's a kilogram boule again. One difficulty with large loaves is the dough drapes over the sides of the little Exo peel I originally purchased for use with the CSO. It's always a challenge not to land the dough on the kitchen floor. A larger Exo peel is now on order. That will make my fourth Exo. I've been raving about Exo Super Peels long before they were pictured in Modernist Bread.

Wow, I only have three pressure cookers total. (Though I admit I have three Paragons, not that that helps you.) Forgive me for misremembering the probe temperature range. I think I was previously corrected about this in an earlier thread. On the Paragon they allow the probe to go up to 375F, which is useful for deep frying. In my post just above I clarified that for use with a pressure cooker you would need the mat, which also goes up to 375F. I use the Paragon with the mat several times a week (most recently the last two nights), whereas I seldom use the probe. I do not know if the mat would work with the stovetop or not. To pressure cook with the mat, usually a batch of Rancho Gordo beans, I set the temperature to 260F till in a couple minutes the pot comes up to pressure. Then I reduce the temperature to whatever temperature I want for cooking. I can then go take a shower or read eGullet without worrying about beans on the kitchen ceiling.

I happened to think that if the GE part number includes only the probe it would help with the stock pot situation but not with pressure cooking. For using a pressure cooker you would need the Paragon mat. I may be misremembering but I recall @lindag has a GE induction stove. Perhaps she could say more?

I shall never again allow an entire loaf of bread (eg. my dinner) to go moldy.

https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=22533 Yes, the temperature control is for one burner only. How many pressure cookers and stockpots do you have cooking simultaneously? It looks like Best Buy has the probe for $159.99... https://www.bestbuy.com/site/precision-cooking-probe-for-select-ge-induction-cooktops-red-black-gray/4685300.p?skuId=4685300

My stove is not induction, but last I looked some of the higher end GE induction stoves had provision for using a Paragon probe to set precise temperature. I love my Paragon for pressure cooking. Set temperature. No fussing required to get things just right.

Penzeys is offering free Mexican vanilla extract with any order. Ask me how I know.

We have a water bottle filling station at work. It even counts the number of water bottles filled. Yesterday when I went to fill my little water bottle I saw a patron filling up a gallon container to take home with his books. I figured his tax dollars paid for the machine. He may as well get some water out of it.

As I think I mentioned above in the thread I too have made this in the Ninja.

My new knife block arrived on schedule. I moved the older knife block to the living room, along with an assortment of my less used knives. So far so good. For the first time I can arrange all my cheese knives in one location.

My one and only air conditioner stopped working last night. Dinner is baguette with tuna bean salad over romaine.

The amazon price of the NW-JEC10BA dropped $100 overnight. At the moment you can have it for $606.39.

As mentioned above, I've had a Chef's Choice 120 for more than twenty years, and a Chef's Choice 1520 since 2014. After eight years my well loved New West 9" chef's knife was noticeably no longer sharp. I cannot fault it. I may not be as sharp myself. But before shipping the knife back to New West for (free) resharpening, I decided to invest in a Chef's Choice XV. I followed the Chef's Choice instructions methodically. Then my knife was sharp but as I believe you say, grabby like a sawblade. Sadly disappointed I thought about making a return. Then I remembered the XV manual says if you want an edge for butchering or for cutting fibrous materials to skip stage two. My inference was that if one wanted a smooth sharp edge one should increase the passes on stage two. The amazon product page suggests the same. So I did that. Followed by liberal passes on stage three. What a difference. I sliced onion. My old 9 inch New West chef's knife was now a joy! I compared my new New West 8 inch chef's knife with the factory edge on the same onion. Both chef's knives were sharp and did the job. However if I had to choose I'd say the Chef's Choice sharpened edge worked better. Your mileage may of course vary, but once again I am a Chef's Choice believer.

Plowed Yankee woman lunch.

Plowed woman's lunch at 3:00 am. I wanted to compare English cheddar with Cabot's Vermont cheddar. I expected to discern a major difference. I was wrong. The English cheddar was slightly more yellow, but you might need a colorimeter. Both cheeses were very good when washed down with Soave and Branston pickle.

Natural ironwood is offered but costs extra. I am fine with fiberglass.

Until I open the 500g wax sealed jar I have no idea.

Today's delivery from New West: left to right, 9 inch bread knife, 8 inch chef knife, serrated utility knife, and chopper. So far the New West bread knife is perfect for a baguette but I'm afraid too short for a large boule. But wow, it cuts much better than my 10 inch Henckels. If New West is listening, please make this in a 12 inch. I wanted a smaller chef knife. I got it. Haven't tried it yet. Serrated utility knife makes short work of limes. I had not realized how dull my rosewood handled Kyocera was. Can't wait to try the chopper, but that won't be tonight.

I do my best for science...working on it now.

Indeed.