AlaMoi

".....realms of the obsessive......." indeed. I've spent lots of time in Italy - Turin/Piedmont/Sicily/Naples/'east coast'/ Venice-area-into-the- Dolomites . . . methinks the issue is a local pride issue - which is actually unrelated to "tastes good" regardless..... wood auto-ignition temp is 451' Fahrenheit. there's a book about that..... the vastest majority of home ovens design for install around wood do not exceed 500'F - for safety reasons..... our most recent replacement says it will go to 550'F - done that - display reads 550'F - does preheat a baking stone super well.

has anyone found a good reference for herb solvents as in cooking? i.e. some do better extracting in oil some in water.... some in alcohol.... I've not come up with a good guide/reference as Jo said above, bay leaf is one that does well coming out with oil. for example doing chili with diced beef or ground beef I always put the bay in while the beef is rendering its fat - @MokaPot - bay is a very subtle flavor. you'll likely not notice it until it's 'over done' - and too much can be objectionable.... did a dish recently, forgot the bay leaf.... DW opined it wasn't as good as she remembered. when I did a left over reheat, added a couple bay leaves and it improved by magic.....

the debate on stone/steel/aluminum rages on. seldom is asked the question: why must a pizza bake in less than two minutes? I use a stone, it takes 10-12 minutes. I don't have an issue with that.

I'm not too sure I could count all the free/reasonable cost recipe sites that have done the Photobucket suicide thing or simply gone out of business. remember Kodak's free forever photo storage? I capture recipes in .pdf, or .doc or .rtf formats - as dictated by the easiest "capture." when I do them, if it's worth keeping I translate into .txt files with my own notes. I'd go out on the limb and suspect that .txt files will be the last format abandoned by our computer masters..... now, backing up your stuff - whole 'nother issue. Cloud/external drive/CD/DVD . . many options.

aka The Kitchen of Unintended Smoking . . .😄

DD fears wooden cutting boards - "germs" you know..... I got her an Epicurean board - it's a decent next choice to wood so far as knife edges go. short time ago I got a request from her for knife sharpening lessons . . . she's decided covid-house-arrest is a good time to learn how to DIY....

we have a small and a large plastic board. I don't know why. I use, multiple times daily, an end grain 16x22 Boardsmith. we have not thrown away a plastic board last year - or even last decade. the dude has a sanity issue.

Wednesday night I roasted the Berkshire half-loin on the bone. did a piece of it earlier as pulled pork. used a in-oven probe to monitor temp. started it at 235'F - heating too fast, reduced oven to 160'F. at 140'F internal jacked up the oven to 425'F for an oven crust 'reverse sear' pulled it at 144F - carryover took it to 147'F. incredibly good pork - tender, about 60x more flavor than typical supermarket pork. the stuff is more expensive and a whale of a lot harder to come by - but it is well worth it.

checking the price of new stuff, methinks you could have plastic/nylon/HDPE handles turned and mounted for less money.... or even a DIY approach - split the wood handles completely, remount with epoxy, fill any voids with epoxy and sand smooth. if you run this thru a machine washer, I'd recommend the HDPE route - wood and diswashers never ends well....

mulching carrots in the ground works quite well - up until the mice eat them..... fresh not stored-dry-for-weeks are a real taste treat.

crepe pan. they usually have a slight slope to the sides, but verticals side are made. https://www.ebay.com/i/114301208255?chn=ps

I almost always preheat my cast iron fry pans. I put them on the lowest BTU (gas) burner at the lowest setting. it takes time. this approach is not instant sear cast iron.... not recommended for anyone in a hurry. bacon is not something I preheat the CI for.... the question of 'uneven heating' is totally moot. the pan has enough time to disperse the heat everywhere everywhere - all across the bottom and all up the sides and all down the handle. whether the pan is preheated I judge by the handle - when the handle is too hot to pick up without a mitt, the pan is ready. once the pan is "basically hot" I put it on larger burners for the task at hand.....

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocuments/Seafood/FishandFisheriesProductsHazardsandControlsGuide/UCM252393.pdf Freezing and storing at an ambient temperature of -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time), or freezing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below for 15 hours or freezing at an ambient temperature of -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at an ambient temperature of -4°F (-20°C) or below for 24 hours are sufficient to kill parasites. Note that these conditions may not be suitable for freezing particularly large fish (e.g., thicker than 6 inches).

since all the kids are locked down we opted for a nice brunch and spare the waistline the 5,000 cal dinner.... staled & trimmed rye bread, layered with Nova style salmon, drown in beaten egg+crème fraiche+milk+dill then buried in grated Havarti cheese... served with capers and red onion and beverage to suit.....

yup. all the family hunkering down at home. I know it's a really bad situation when DW requests a light soup Xmas dinner..... a brunch savory rye/smoked salmon/egg custard dish and soup later . . . . not a turkey leg . . . nor anything aka spiral ham . . . . . . . anywhere in the discussion.... a covid-19 meal mash......

totally blind accidentally we stumbled across a FL roadside stand with super Honeybelle tangerines/oranges/whatevers..... they're in the Indian River area, they have access to the prime Honeybelle crop - we get a bushel bag every year - they ship. the Honeybelles are like totally seriously worth more than the cost+shipping fee.... anyway, they also have -as seasons have it - fresh crop papershell pecans so we do a combined order of a bushel of Honeybelle + pecans. I call, I ask to have it shipped at "prime quality" - they deliver. Honeybelles are a short season crop, they do not store well - so you get the best off the trees stuff or pay a heap of cash for sub-par fruit.... no relations - no financial or other relations - but iffin' youse hanker some really good stuff: Citrus World 386-615-0329 oh, Honeybelles have a 6-8 week season, late December to January. actually, if you'll excuse me, time to make a phone call....

mandelnuess. heaven in a cone.....

there are a couple of companies/names/brands that produce seriously superior roasted/salted peanuts using the "Virginia" tag. we're not big on the flavored/burn-out-yo-mouth-peppered stuff - we usually get our "fix" at the Kutztown fair vendor(s). whether it's their methods, or their preservation/canning techniques, nadda clue - but with zero point zilch question, better peanuts.

I snagged a Berkshire bone in loin - SWMBO wanted shredded pork. there's discussion about whether pork loin can be shredded.... well, it works. sear, leek&carrot,peppercorn+beer covered oven 235'F braise for 4 hours with a Carolina vinegar based sauce - bit too tart, cut with pot juice

we did Christmas Rabbit Food....

you understand totally correct. one method is to boil the beets, then pickle. our method is to pickle them at the boil.

oh, Dinner - yeah....tonight's dinner, some assembly required we were in the Costco vicinity yesterday. Costco's price on Prime graded beef is = Giant's Choice. . . . . and the rest is a silly question . . .

were beet fans. specifically 'pickled' prep. dead simple: trim root & top 1 cup vinegar - my pref is cider vinegar - 1/2 cup sugar fat pinch of kosher salt cover with water gently boil until tender cool a bid - the skins will slip off very easily slice slice a batch of onion to match glass bowl, insert layers on beets&onion simmer liquid to cover (recommend: add thru fine mesh strainer to avoid 'particles') looks like (onions will go red overnight...) in this pix the beets are not sliced - the prep was for next day so I let the beets cool overnight in the fridge before slicing

there are dozens and dozens and dozens of dozens of recipes for tempura. keeping in mind that the theory of some "original" or "authentic" recipe for a crunchy deep fry batter is patently absurd - it predates "documentation" . . . it's basically what you like. and liking different batters/results for different dishes is perfectly okay! several posters have mentioned - and it was my AH HAH! moment: rice flour. rice flour does a tempura body good....

chicken pot pie, from scratch - used 3 boneless/skinless poached thighs for extra yummy.... chilling out... lunch leftovers: