Annie_H

Shrimp and Dumplings. Made a shrimp stock with the shells and a 1/2 pint of Kombu master stock from the freezer. White miso, fresh ginger, hijiki and wakame added at the end.

Had to look them up. What a collection of spice mixes. Nine pages! The Gaspesian Rub has an interesting blend of plants and tea. Bookmarked.

Not sure what is so thick you cannot get out of the jar. Broken record here but any humus, nut butters, salsa, yada-yada---anything thick I just add a bit of AC Braggs or 'organic no sugar added' rice wine vinegar....a bit of toasted sesame oil if fits the ingredients...zip it and you have a dressing or a dipping sauce for dumplings. No need to dig the crap out. Most blender ingredients can be used in any dressing. Do tell what was in the jar.

Shawarma. I've called it Shawarma pretty much across the board and internationally due to the method of a vertical or horizontal spit/kabob in rotation, then slicing or shaving as it roasts. It is up to the establishment to call it what they want once carved or how it is stacked and spiced. Los Taco calls the stacked pork 'trompo' as it is heavy at the top like a spinning toy top. I'm pretty sure it is pork. Adobada is their Shawarma pork on the menu but Adobada usually refers to the spices or wet rub. Some Turkish restaurants with a bank of vertical rotisseries use shawarma all over the menu but another will use the Turkish 'Doner'. I see Al Pastor and Gyro meats cooked on flat tops all over the city. Not a vertical rotating Shawarma roaster. My favorite stop in Astoria Queens, a Greek neighborhood, uses a Shawarma vertical rotis. Gyro with the 'works' is always shaved from the shawarma rotis. All other options are from the flattop griddle/or grill. Ordered accordingly. I had never heard Donair until I lived in Halifax, then Calgary. It is usually a beef minced compact log. Not a stacked layer of sliced meat. Not always a vertical shaved 'Shawarma'. Even see it in groceries in Canada sold like cold cuts. From a roasted rectangle log similar to bologna. Beef with an odd Cream sauce. Not tzatziki yogurt cucumber sauce I so love. Some still call it Doner, rhymes with boner, lol. Changed to Donair at some point to make it sound fancy. When I see a vertical or horizontal meat stack in a rotisserie be it lamb, chicken, pork, or beef---a mince or sliced stack and shaved as it roasts...it is Shawarma. To me anyway.

Exploding crisper drawer I needed to use a giant spaghetti squash. Poked with a paring knife and microwaved 5 min so I could cut it in half. Rubbed with chili oil and za'atar and roasted a hour cut side down. Then stuffed with chard and meatballs and three cheeses.

Interesting to see this link. I started looking over the holidays and have a file started. A NYC store Korin is on the short list. I purchased a couple bowls from Ikea a few years ago to test the size. Straight flared sides, not too deep and at least 8 inches across at the top.

^it is an impressive wine selection. We are well stocked via our local. I was hoping for a two-buck-chuck type white or red for cooking. (five buck Misfit). Interesting they went that direction. Excellent prices as far as I noticed.

^pink sous vide pork, pink rack of lamb, med-rare-on-the-rare-side beef---burgers, steak. We prefer. Storm freezer shopping. Tuesday sloppy Tacos, Hump Day Dogs. Found a package of TetonGrassFed. A bit on the salty side but some quick pickles helped. RG beans and rice. Found two nice packages of BoSaam pulled pork.

Storm food. Snow then freezing rain/ice. Meatball success last night. With Vodka Sauce. Thursday night burgers. On Martin's diner rolls so more like sliders.

^Yes, newspaper and cardboard are great insulators. Foil bags with re-freezable ice packs---I keep mine in zip-locks in case of leaks. Frozen foods in the bottom of your cooler with ice packs and top with a couple layers of cardboard. Then any cheeses, veg...not frozen stuff but needing fridge temps above the layers of cardboard. Ice packs just under a layer of cardboard will keep all that fridge cold. I can travel three days with frozen and fridge foods in a cooler. (a bit more planning but can be done). I keep insulated bags in my car for my shopping bags. If I have multiple errands I toss in a few ice packs. *Walden local meat share are recycling their canvas insulated bags again but all 2020 they did not want them back. Before covid I purchased a couple similar on Amazon. I save the foil pack bags from Misfits and deliveries that use them. We have had whole chickens, a turkey, and various meats arrive solid frozen delivered fed-x. Sometimes two days in transit. The last pastured raised chicken from Misfits took three more days to thaw in the fridge after delivery. We have been off our homemade bread game for about a year now. I'm not a TJ shopper for many reasons but really want the scallion pancakes!. I have a good recipe but at that price, yum.

I managed a total hack/fail with sushi. It was 'extra credit'. The meal was planned dumplings. A big side salad. I was not set up properly for sushi but went for it last minute. It has been a while. I forgot all the tricks. (bowl of warm water for hands, etc) I had more sticky rice on my hands than the rolls. The flavor was there. Good trial run for the next dinner guests whenever that will be. (a couple friends have teens---nasty winter colds passing around and we don't need that) ...with SeaBeans...

I really like Walden. Not sure how they pull it off with free shipping with their own vans at such a reasonable price. We have the customizable, to a point---select some key desirables for 89$. A few add-ons. My next delivery is the end of this month. Easy to put it off for a while----our last delivery was pre-thanksgiving. I just added, this morning, lots of ofal,--- chicken paws, necks, and various bones for a master stock. ...and they answer their phones if need be.

We have been snacking the sea beans as a garnish. Had some with sushi and dumplings last night. I'm not usually tempted by oddities but glad I did. I stock a few dried seaweeds and bonito flakes having a great shelf life...but yes, a really good fresh crunchy treat. My Misfits box came a day early, 🤪. I was not prepared but dealt with it. Gorgeous and so fresh...they sent double cilantro and extra purple sweet potatoes---both were small so they doubled. Three giant leeks. Huge celery with a boat load of tender leaves. Thought a perfect box---then just realized they left out the avocados. 🙄. Bummer. I've been ordering the bag of six minis. Always firm and ripen over 10-12 days but not all at once. Very dense for their size, so easy to judge and fridge the few that are a bit soft. Three big bunches of scallions!

I wish they had perforated punch handles on each side. I just take outside my fabric insulated handled bags from the local meat share and divide into pantry, freezer, and crisper/fridge. Leave the boxes on the porch for recycling. Saving the foil insulated bags for the food pantry. I had to try the sea beans as well. Crunchy and salty like the sea. I just keep forgetting I have them. Sushi planned tonight so need to remember to pull them out. I was religious about photographing the unboxing until recently. It really helps menu planning to have the loot in my photo file. And to check what is missing. Misfits gives a couple days to add and delete before shipping. My next box is only veg, no pantry. Except for a bag of organic brown rice from the penny shop. I really need the 3 bunches of scallions but that is one thing they often screw up. Multiples of any one item. The fermented jar of seaweed salad is from another vendor from an order of oysters and lobster. Big box of veg for 50 bucks including shipping... I still have another giant watermelon radish, and a red pepper, most of the fennel, cucumbers for salads and slaws for now.

Spicy Goat Milk RedMiso Veg Roasted Chicken Curry

My last curry adventure was 2016. Found the three 1/2 pints in the back of the freezer last year and shuddered. Awful. A few months ago I revisited. Fantastic trying a new recipe. We both agree on this one. In the past I would order my favorite and DH would get his non-curry dish at a favorite restaurant. I got sucked into a curry base via a blog post. Not good. Package directions...5 minutes in minimal water. They swell up quickly. I made 1/3 the pack for two. If I needed a next day lunch...might make the entire package...probably super for a cold sesame noodle. (the usual suspects...toasted sesame oil, toasted seeds, etc). I have the multi-nut and grain/seed nut butter. Should make a nice cold sesame noddle dish.

Fortunately the glass component for the roaster is not very expensive. I'm as cynical about ingredients as just about anyone---organic moringa powder. Some superfood of the moment. All I care about is the texture and that works for us. Color can be a plus if a chef, but we are home cooks. Still fun having a variety at good Misfit prices. I had to look... I do have many rice noodles from HMart. Pale pinks, purples, and greens using various roots.

Black bean Chicken Noodle Soup. Friday night storm prep. We had shrimp and salmon thawing but it was getting dark. Roasting coffee beans, the pups got the zoomies and took the cord out---roaster crashed to the deck during cool down--- beans and glass went flying. Bummer. Too late and dark to bring out the back-up poppers. (back-up roasted half pound in the freezer). 😜 Freezer shopping found a pint of chicken in master stock and a pint of spicy Oaxaca black beans. He wanted pasta, I wanted rice. Compromised with a new-to-me rice noodle. (misfits) Nice 5 minute noodle. ...even after holiday gifting I have so many RG beans to go through. No complaints. I like the choices.

Roasted a pasture raised chicken Wednesday---storm prep. Usually a Sunday meal. Chard and collards. Smashed potatoes. Extra credit a frozen packet of wild rice stuffing from the holidays. Then a stock from the carcass. Last night a chicken and wild rice veg ginger soup. 5 pints of chicken soup for the freezer and 4 1/2 pints of stock. Storm prep, check, done. Lots of choices if we lose power. Pantry and freezer good. Stuffed. My stupid odd grain obsession I just want a good white basmati or anything simple. Nada. Lots of noodle choices so that is good. A bag of 'sticky rice'.

NYTimes has had many LunarNewYear recipes featured recently. Looking forward to trying some new things next week. NYTimes Nonya Hokkien Stir-Fried Noodles Not possible to post the entire e-mail menu of recipes...

I did the same recently. I paid close attention, process pics and took notes...they totally fell apart so it became a ragu. Then made another batch that were excellent. Did not pay attention. So good we had them again the next day. No idea what I did differently, 🙄

Busy Saturday. Not as busy as it looks. Tasks spread out throughout the morning/afternoon. 3 different RG beans, 2 pounds of stew beef in the oven to braise low and slow. Had a successful Japanese chicken curry a few weeks ago, so made a big batch of Garam Masala. Melisa Clark's Za'atar chicken marinated, then roasted. (boneless skinless thighs) for the curry. Had that Saturday night, no pic, but made up a few with beans for the freezer for lunches or an easy dinner. Sunday a chickpea spicy Korean stew and Monday a beef, veg and noodle thing. Ended up with 8 pints total for the freezer. Nice to have a couple days to clean the kitchen, 😂

I did not have much trouble with Baldor. Used them every 3-4 months. Less now. Not really necessary with the few deliveries we are happy with. Never had an issue with 'home' quantities. But that might be NYC. I was just pointing out what to look out for. Unexpected added fees. I've not been in a Walmart that I'm aware of. Not at all a convenience here. We all seem to have worked out our comfort zone for grocery shopping. Minor adjustments trying new vendors. All our shopping trials happened the first have of 2020. My Misfits delivery yesterday---the eggs are 2.99, the tomato paste, 1.99. every veg and pantry staple is 1-2 dollars cheaper than even Walmart. 35 items. That adds up. Bragg's AC vinegar, Vermont creamery butter and cheese. Things I have always purchased before covid. Not a club. No order, they do not send. FreshDirect is a big deal in NYC for at least 20 yrs. Most of our friends use them.

Decent. Not pasture raised like WaldenLocal. But familiar I have purchased before.

We used insta-cart a couple times local. During the 'freak-out' phase. Baldor, only NYC, is next day but different now with restaurants being open-ish. Some of the add-on fees with insta-cart were a surprise. Heavy load+10 bucks, etc. Baldor is free shipping. (we do tip heavy)...really nice guys delivering. My Misfits just showed up on my front step. My parents, with my brother and his wife visiting them from Idaho just got their boxes and my SIL and MIL who now live together in Charleston just got their Misfits gift boxes I sent. All saying via text---better than Christmas!, 😂 My yogurt exploded under a whole roaster chicken. Only one exploded yogurt sent---should be two. Three dozen eggs sent---I ordered one. Organic extra virgin olive oil I did not order. (not a brand I like)...other choices they have I would order. Not sure how they keep screwing up in my favor, 😜 Shipping is 4.50$ flat with Misfits. Two giant boxes today. I snacked-up, lol. And a boat load of greens. Cilantro looks like hell. My 13 day old is still fresh so no guarantee. My SIL texted an oddity in their box. One can of fancy tonic water. Saw it in the penny shop....but I sent a box of penny soup... "tonic, my fav, but no gin!"....my reply...."if there is gin in the house, your husband, my brother, diluted it 50 years ago".