gulfporter

Lemon goes well with blueberries. I got the orange marmalade and cardamom idea from this recipe that we also make especially in winter. https://cookingwithcarlee.com/simple-giant-orange-cardamom-roll/

It's from WaPo so it's copyrighted. This is link. https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/blueberry-cornmeal-cake/ As a subscriber I can send limited free links to others. I will send a link to your msg's here at egullet. fyi, the recipe calls for making it in a cast iron skillet; I gave mine away during out last move. It just became too darn heavy for my hands (Dupuytren's Contracture issues). So I combine all ingredients and put in well greased-floured 8 or 9 inch square pan. Though I bet it'd be extra good in a skillet! The recipe calls for corn meal; I have always used polenta, the fast-cooking time (the one I use cooks in 5 minutes stove top). Not sure if that's called "quick" or "instant." As I said, this time I added cardamom (a spice we both adore) to batter and instead of the sprinkle of sugar on the top before baking, I skipped that and instead brushed orange marmalade over the top when it came out of oven.

I've made this Blueberry Polenta Cake before. I found it a tad too plain. This time I added some ground cardamom to the batter and I glazed it with orange marmalade as soon as I removed it from the oven. We both like it better with these minor changes. I got a crack and a small dip in the center but so far the interior seems fine, not sure if that will be true when we get to the center of cake. I did it in Viking oven with convection bake....dropped the bake time from 45 to 50 minutes to 37 minutes when I checked it by thermometer and it was between 202 and 210 degrees depending on where I poked it (ouch!).

TJ's Indian frozen offerings are some of best things in entire store. They are the only frozen meals we keep on hand for last minute rushed meals. Or when mi esposo is Home Alone.

Grilled blackened salmon on a croissant with beefsteak tomato and arugula. This prep picture, before grilling.

Refreshing!

Mountain Lion!!!! I'm impressed and thanks for the explanation on hunting, quotas. We saw one once at Bandelier National Monument in NM (west of Santa Fe). It loped in front of our car, moving slowly with one glance at us. When we told the Park Ranger at the Entry Gate, he was so jealous. He said he'd worked there 20 years and never saw a mountain lion, though his colleagues had.

Maybe that would happen if I were doing heavy duty knife work. But as I said, just 2 in my household, so chopping or slicing half an onion or shallot, or 2 apple, a beef steak tomato, halving grape tomatoes....it's literally 10 to 30 seconds per veg or fruit. Not enough time to infiltrate the paper plate. If I was cooking for a family of 6, it might not be feasible. Most of the proteins we cook are already portioned by the seller or by the protein itself. In MX at home we mostly eat shrimp (which I buy deveined and shelled by hand at local fish shop), or salmon which the purveyor slices to my specs or I buy a fillet that I grill whole then portion with a fork to plate. . About the only meats that need post-cooking slicing at our US home are lamb racks (I separate into ribs) and duck breasts that I slice. For these I have an old wooden board (going back to our marriage in the early 1970s).

I use a paper plate to protect my counter. Just the two of us and works fine to chop a shallot, dice a cuke, slice a tomato, take corn of a cob.

True confession: Most of the time I use a paper plate.

Grilled rack of lamb.....oh the flare-up! Time to clean the grease tray 😇 Side is white bean salad with grape tomatoes in a light pesto, topped with garlic bread croutons. Cherry-chipotle dipping sauce.

Grilled blackened salmon. Pasta salad with cuke, green onion, tomato. Dressing was store-bought Cilantro-Avocado (in refrigerated section). Was a tad cloying, so I added juice of half of a robust lime and cracked black pepper.

Simple pasta with bacon, shallots, peas topped with parm.

@Nancy in Pátzcuaro I buy Presidente brie from Guadalajara Costco. It is soft, not a great rendition, but edible given no other brand available. I think yours may have dried out in store or in transport.

Duck breast with arugula salad with pearl couscous. I'm really in love with pearl couscous. Years ago I tried it (back then it was more commonly called Israeli couscous). I had mixed results as it was cooked like rice, measuring water so it would be absorbed. Now I boil in a lot of water (unmeasured), wait for it to get tender, then drain. Lots of chefs now doing the same with rice.

Splurged on wild-caught lump crab meat from Costco...highly recommend. It's $33 a tub, but we get 6 good sized servings out of one. I bought this tartar sauce at Safeway (grocery chain here in AZ) and must say it's quite good! The croissants are so buttery they charred quickly in the toaster, but tasted fine.

MXN camembert that I buy is quite nice. The ones I buy could not be grated. They are soft, maybe not as soft as the DOC camembert of France; though I can't fairly compare as I've only eaten the former for the past 15 years. To add another comparison, MXN manchego is soft, compared to the hard manchego of Spain. I eat and enjoy both of these regularly both in MX and in ESP.

It's made in MEX from goat milk. Not uncommon in Central Mexico.

I have had goat camembert in Mexico that was dry. Is yours from goat milk?

It's a cool and rainy day in Tucson (we went from 103 yesterday to 70 today). Good baking day! Blueberry sour cream pie.

Review of the GF puff pastry. AWFUL. No layers, no flake whatsoever! Can't say that was a surprise given the ingredients list. Oy!! On the plus side, I saved a lot of calories by not eating the crust. And my filling was good.

I pulled out from freezer some frozen grocery-store puff pastry sheets. To my surprise, they are Gluten-Free, an import from Italy. Mi esposo bought them months ago to replenish our freezer stock, unaware they weren't what I usually buy (Pepperidge Farm). My plan is to make them into turnovers (or square packets) filled with a mixture of cooked leftover chicken shreds, (well drained) spinach and cream cheese. The package shows 400 degrees baking temp; I find I have better luck with Pepperidge farm if I put (well-chilled) item into a 425 degree convection oven. Any advice on using this GF version of puff pastry versus the Pepperidge Farm brand?

Rack of lamb with pearl couscous salad.

Even though it's as hot as hades here in Tucson and I normally drink whites in warm weather, I am drinking red here almost exclusively. Reason: Ozempic makes white wine taste awful! It doesn't affect red, for me anyway.

Blackened salmon with mango salad.