Annie_H

^one of my favorite pastas. Not sure what this is. I guess it is a smoked salmon/proscuitto bacon rice bowl. Not sure how I went through that stuffed crisper drawer so quickly. Needs noodles. Good anyway. I usually make a quick frittata when I've put off shopping but only 2 eggs in the house.

I'm usually fine with the seasonal offerings, even if they need to travel like fresh artichokes from California. Temptations are out there but I would need a special occasion for 15 mangoes. tropical mango box

TommyAdkins popular with growers due to their long storage? They take forever to ripen and so stringy. I have two ataulfo coming Wednesday. A shame they didn't have merguez. Easy yelp search but not the same looking at pics. Not sure I will bother going out of my way. Appears to have been cleaned up and acquired by a developer and a grocery chain. They only have a few other markets in Florida but no longer has the tented permanent market vendors. 98cent a pound tomatillos right now but not worth the time and gas. (Baldor has ten pounds for 35$). Would love to smoke some tomatillos for salsa this weekend. HMart is an easy trip.

We had three meals and a couple lunches from the new-to-us pack of merguez. I had pulled pork and the merguez with some sides on the table so the squirts on the pita, ( homemade I found in the freezer), was not meant to be cute. Broil toasted, flipped, then chili crisp, green hot sauce, saba. I was rushing--we like hot food/hot plates. Cucumber, yogurt, red onion pickled, feta---at the table.

I have not looked yet, but will. We have an International market the size of a Costco with a exterior surround like a Mexico City market that went bankrupt in 2016. I heard it is back up with help from the community. The owner is very committed to the local politics and loved., So good to hear he has bounced back.(it is a bit of a road trip but worth it) Another in Corona Queens that is on my 'house guest' food tour. A small Vietnamese restaurant with an excellent market in the same small parking lot, so, easy parking. Have lunch and shop for a dinner meal at home. A small family Italian market with a true butcher but started to 'salt lick' their sausages. Changed the recipe?. Three tries, too salty. I ferment a half gallon of hot sauce every early Fall. Not spicy enough a few years in a row so we go through it quickly. (I prefer it for flavor). But home fermented is gone by the holidays if not spicy enough. One thing about commercial hot sauces, I can easily test with a squirt on my finger for heat level. But some of these odd gluten-free amino this and that are recipe disruptive. I keep a couple sharpies and a paint marker to skull and cross bone certain odd condiment labels. I should toss them but might need them for certain friends/family members. Have purchased D'Artagnan for years. Even my holiday turkey. I researched what I purchased/posted, FabriqueDelices. So much better than any I've had. So much better spiced than any higher end brands. D'Artagnan is too light on spice. I don't like to add later. Constantly adjusting. Not being combative. Just sharing good affordable produce and pantry/proteins at quality/prices less than market price.

I had to look up cane vinegar.... A type of vinegar, common in Asian food preparation, which is made from sugarcane that has been crushed, fermented and cooked into a syrup substance before being distilled into vinegar.

I should add that I usually just break off two sausage links while still frozen, then re-pack the other four and back into the freezer. Not sure why I had doubts about the quality. I expected lots of shrinkage and had dinner, lunches and two links for a NewOrleans type of dirty rice-n-beans planned. Instead they swelled like an RG bean. I like the mushrooms. As crispy as a good potato chip or crouton. Finally opened the artichokes. Tiny and very tender. No hard chewy bits like some jars. Not oily. Needs some fresh seasonings like lemon and herbs but I prefer to do that anyway. And/or a bit of broil roasting. Miso glaze?. 8+ brunch guests I like to set out piles of different greens, dressing choices, and add-ins salad bar style. A chocolate tasting bar with broken up and into small bowls with the wrappers under each bowl. Not a dessert making person. I do like to make mini ice cream sandwiches. A good do-ahead. Misfits has mini wafer cookies--blonde and chocolate.

We are prepping for a Memorial Day mixed grill. The other sausage is chipolata. (Pork, Onions, White Wine, Salt, Herbs de Provence (Basil, Thyme, Fennel, Lavender), Black Pepper, Spices (Nutmeg, Coriander, Caraway, Allspice). Encased in Natural Lamb Casing.) Sounds good. Really scored on menu items and appetizers. More 3LittlePigs offerings like spicy cornichons, and petit toasts for a buck fifty. Who knew DrBronners makes chocolate bars, 🤪. Their packaging looks just like the soaps.

I like what I saw from Umamicart when I came across them last year. They don't carry a few of my pantry staples I get from HMart. During the first lock-down I had to settle for a few replacement items that really screw with a few recipes so I was not interested in settling for more replacements. Nice to hear about such good produce. That happens all the time. Then finding an item elsewhere at double the price, 😂 If you like Merquez, this brand is excellent. I started it on the stovetop with onion, garlic, bit of water and white wine, covered. Finished in the oven low and slow to roast. --while I finished my sauce in the stovetop pan. Just put three packages in my cart and another from the same maker. And lamb chops--new items.

Avocado and fruit with Italian saba for dessert.

We have been wanting to try a new-to-us merguez. (just lamb, olive oil, lots of spices in lamb casing like the brand we've been having). This one is better so I'll stock up. Quick pasta dish. Started the sausage with sliced onion and garlic, gathered more ingredients. Leek, celery, fennel, parm rind. Removed the merguez to the oven to slow roast. Olives, marinara, chili crisp, lacinato kale.

You have posted the site before. I also find the website overwhelming in choices. Hitting 50$ is no biggie. Nice to see some recommended choices. We don't eat much rice but recently DH has been loving some recent rice sides with beans. (we met in NewOrleans). Eater is impressive in video features. Missed that one. I think I'll order next Fall when we like trying new things after the summer harvest. Rarely have rice in the summer months. I do make a mixed grain most weekends for the week. Prefer a bit of grain for breakfast with broth and miso. Or granola with fruit and yogurt. Tiny teacup. (oatmeal makes me gag).

That looks amazing. We are big 'piggy-backers'. If we smoke, four small trays, cheeses first as a cold smoke, then a few salmon fillets, then often shrimp/scallops, an appetizer. Then some sausages like merguez...ribs pre-braised, or spatchcocked chicken, or a lamb rack, or thick pork chops. Endless combinations for a few days or for the freezer. Roast a sheet pan of veg or next day chicken for salad, etc. Use that heat for another dish.

I do the same. I make 'double wides'. Warm water on my hands. Two rice papers touching with a third on and overlapping in the center. Meis en place ready to go to build and roll. Alex-theFrench-guy has a video using rice papers a dozen ways. Might be the first video I ran across from him 5-6 years ago. I've wrapped miso glazed fish fillets, with rice paper, then glazed with a miso/soy sauced glaze and baked. As long as it is kept oiled or glazed it gets crispy. I did get a fussy brand during lock-down that gave me endless issues turning to mush. I've heard their is a 'new-kid-on-the-block' that just needs a light mist spritzer on a kitchen tea towel to be pliable. I purchased the same brand for years with a shallow warm bath dip. No issues. When my local international market went bankrupt I lost the brand name. As well as the baked hand pie empanada wrappers. I now take pics of every product that I have success with. Sucks when all the prep is ready and the wrappers do not deliver.

I would have loved that as a kid. A shame my parent were not adventurous cooks.

Smoked salmon spring rolls and a pickled vegetable with avocado. Only had one nori sheet so the rice paper is handy to have on hand. Sloppy but always good. (sesame seed flip top container failed) First mango and watermelon of the season. Both excellent.

Spicy smoked salmon croquettes. Tried the pulverized pork rind 'breading'. Baked. Wild rice mixed grain. Lacinato kale.

I know nothing about mangoes but fuck that was good last night.

You could write a cookbook, 'Brunch with Blue Dolphin'. Crediting inspiration and the cookbooks you feed from. Using pantry staples, TJ's, yada, yada. Always looks so good.

Victory Seed has a long keeper, Long Keeper Tomato BunnyHop used to have one on the same Victory site but I don't see it. I remember 'corsica' in the name.

Spinach gnocchi with butter sautéed celery, fennel, beet greens over roasted tomato marinara

I've been on a tomato forum for years. An adorable Spanish member has been sending to us seeds even with limited English language skills. I've been saving seeds for a few years. --And we send what he wants to try. He just calls it 'Mallorca Long Keeper'. It is golden red/yellow about the size of a marble shooter, a bit smaller than a golf ball. Long keepers are traditionally, in Spain and Italy, are hung in cold storage, not fridge temps, but cool, and rubbed on toasted bread all winter.

Short story. DH went to a nephews wedding 5-6 years ago in SCarolina. His hotel was next to a weekend farmers market. 6 weeks before our tomato harvest, he asked if I wanted a few tomatoes...."only if they are blush". He found a vendor that pulled some beauties from under their table that knew about blush. In his luggage were three gorgeous massive heirlooms. Weeks ahead of my harvest in NY. Blush on the counter out of direct sunlight will ripen to perfection. An informed grower/market vendor, should educate their public shoppers showing a blush, and a few on the scale to ripe. They would/will sell more tomatoes teaching the blush to ripen on a counter. A nice tomato, each day, all week. As they ripen like an avocado or a banana. Vine ripen is BS.

Tomatoes are challenging in most climates. Cold, rain, and heat are enemies. Leaf diseases, etc. I have grown over 500+ varieties over 30 years. This years 4 1010, 36 cell trays, 3-5 seeds per cell. A couple early trays for insurance. Potting up now I have 300+ having a good year but I gift starts to neighbors and friends. Similar to SteveSando keeping old varieties alive, I play the same game with tomatoes and new varieties being crossed. Typical August-Sept Sunday morning harvest. I have to harvest heading back to the city for the week. Circled is probably a 4-5 but would be totally lost during the week unattended. Obviously more than we can use in a week but roasting, smoked, and frozen are tomato packets all winter. Similar is threat of frost we harvest in early-mid September. Cherry tomatoes go into zip-locks whole. For frittatas and pizza. Spanish long keepers and blush greens last through the holidays.

Looking forward to my first ataulfo tonight. The smaller one is very ripe. Probably straight up or on the side of a salad plate. Tomatoes are climacteric. If you can find a market vendor that knows what that means you will be much happier with heirlooms. If you look at ripening say 1-10, a good solid blush around 5-6. 7-8 is good but any fruits over that I consider ripe. Picked early morning they will continue to ripen out of the sun and heat and be best that evening, maybe next day. Watching the weather and picking 5-8's before a storm prevents splits and waterlogged. Pick an 8 or 9 and I risk birds pecking and critters taking bites. Old timers will have none of it. Like home bread bakers that will continue their laborious habits and not even glance at KenForkish pinch and fold or JimLahey methods. climacteric vs non-climacteric fruit "...Whether or not a climacteric fruit can ripen to its full extent is dependent on if the fruit was harvested at the proper maturity stage. An example we can all relate to is with tomatoes. Tomatoes are climacteric fruit that continue ripening after harvest. However, they need to reach a certain maturity stage while still on the plant in order to ripen properly after harvest. If not and they are harvested prematurely, it results in the issues we see with store-bought tomatoes that cannot compare to home grown tomatoes..."