Annie_H

Last night was chicken pot pie. Nice gravy from the stock I made Tuesday. (I thought I posted this) apologies if a double post.

Burger night

I'm back in Misfits. I was once a month for a while. Only produce I don't grow myself. It is a-la-carte now. Prices visible. We can cross check local market prices. Always at least 30% less than WholeFoods organic. Good greens for a couple weeks of shredded salads. I've been sending a box once a month to my parents in their early 90's now. Mother gets a bit giddy opening the box with things they cannot get locally so it is a win-win gift for them. Very quick to respond if anything is less than fresh. The penny shop is cute. Things I would never purchase in store. But for a penny... LOL. Jerk. Thankfully we no longer live there.

And what a gorgeous week as I can tell so far...NorthEast We took a nervous road trip a few months ago pre-delta but all vaccinated to visit my parents 93 and 92 yrs. Rented a beach house near them. (EasternShore) Delaware coast where I grew up. A few road trips since to the Catskills were equally pleasant.

Vrimps and Vuna...reads like an Onion rag post. Gasp.... Eater post very funny....HERE

Killer. I want that tonight but may come just itty-bitty close. If one of my three avocados is perfect....roasted corn in the freezer. Just a few tomatoes in the garden hanging on with a warm week here.

That keeps happening to us on a monthly local beef farm share. I need to take over the account. DH forgets and it is on its way when we don't need it. They have the best price in the NYMetropolitan area on add-on bones for stock but he forgets it is out for delivery. Too late for add-ons. We have salmon once, sometimes twice a week. Fortunately we both love it. 90% of the time is cast iron seared crispy skin. Never flipped. Mostly a white miso glaze on top and into a low oven waiting to plate---hot plates. Goes into the cast iron straight from the fridge ice cold. Never over cooked. Sometimes a seed crust with a minute broiler time. (when I ran out of miso---so rare that happens) All our proteins sit icy cold uncovered for 4-6 hours in the fridge---steak, fish, shellfish, burger/mince, straight to the 'not' smoking cast iron....cold interior gives an easy to control rare-medium rare interior. Salmon goes into the smoker frozen at 180º for 45 minutes. ---at full smoke and heat. Thawed at room temp it would fall apart on the rack. I use the tail and collar cuts for smoking. I don't think quality is an issue. Though I have mentioned we have had the best shrimp in years recently. We stopped buying shrimp and scallops a few years ago. Not worth it and the price. $$$ I've never had dry salmon. If in the NYC area and a AmazonWhole Foods shopper---the WildGulfShrimp is fantastic right now. I ordered Atlantic Canada/US but was replaced with the gulf.

Shredded lacinato kale, fennel, salad/slaw on the side. And anything else in the crisper. Usually a ginger, lemon, toasted sesame oil dressing or tahini, cilantro, lime. White miso/ginger. We can't get enough of it. I like it 2 hour-24. DH will have it day three. Loves it. With grains/beans/roasted seeds/nuts, avocado, and his recent obsession----ramen eggs. Makes nice quick-to-put-together lunches. I'm getting veg boxes every other weeks and still pulling from the garden. For me anyway, it is not that far from the classic American cabbage slaw. I just don't use mayo or sugar.

A nice Holiday roast chicken. Sheet pan of roasted veg. I usually put the potatoes back in to double roast while the chicken rests---but they were so tender that lots of fresh lemon at the table was a better choice. Stock today, tacos tonight, pot pie tomorrow. (puff pastry in the freezer).

Apologies not knowing where you want to go with your own personal photos....but we have a 'post production' at our fingertips. Depending on your computer-laptop of choice. You can bleed out the warm temp next day when looking at your photos. I am a hack but you can do it to your desire.

I'm a food photo hack mostly more concerned with the hot plates out of the oven and timing the food being expensive and wanting the best delivery outcome to the table. I plate 99% on a black absorbent cloth next to the sink---above the dishwasher for draining things that need extra drying...(I have a few of them in laundry rotation). My elbows rest on the sink edge as a hack tripod. Crap LED lights over my sink but a huge skylight overhead helps in the better months. Kenji has a decent food photo, very generous, play-by-play, how he does it without the usual crew during lock-down. Probably in the past few-6 months I think. A sunny window...nice photos--- I think for another book perhaps. (?) Anywho, I have a tight kitchen triangle. Wall oven, spin---sink. Snap a few pics. Cell phone or my old trusty CannonEos...vintage at this point. Next day I get a bit frustrated, lol. "oh come-on"----snap a half dozen being digital. Takes two seconds. Then delete. So I do a quick 5 minute post clean-up. The original photo was dark and bland and 'warm' in temp.

I've had an open cart for weeks....maybe hit the button tomorrow if they have corn. 😜 It has been really good this year.

^That is impressive so soon after injury. Hopefully mobility will return in the injured limbs fingers soon. Ouch. Easy shrimp and merguez alla vodka sauce. Best shrimp I've had in years. So fortunate WholeFoods sent 2 bags.

I agree. And so simple. Nothing more. My pasta often looks un-dressed with sauce. Properly cooked it does absorb sauce even the most basic presentation. Perfectly plated simplicity. That said, my pasta meals go over-the-top unnecessary---but I have a heavy hand in the kitchen. Got parsley, basil, mint, cilantro...into the pot/plate just because.

Ah-ha, thanks for that. I just added a pound of trumpet to my WF amazon order. That cart has been open for weeks. I avoid hitting the trigger always. I've used it just a couple times. (They seem to be out-of-stock on the few items I ordered to begin with. Only to find out after delivery....) I would order today from the Sfoglini website if they were not out of stock on some of the pasta shapes I like. Maybe before the holidays they will have better stock. I bet their basic spaghetti is great. I do like the attention they are getting from the 'new' shape. I do like organic quality and local US, especially NYState made. My pantry is pasta thin at the moment so I'll bite soon. One of our favorite shapes... I've been buying Garofalo recently. I'll up my game no problem with Sfoglini.

You certainly made it 'look' amazing. Eggplant can be a bummer at times. I would need to use a bit of tomato paste and a young gorgonzola--skip the eggplant. But that would be something entirely different, lol. 'nduja. en-DOO-ya. Not familiar with that one. I like her recipes. I purchased a large tin of salted anchovies last winter for her anchovy pasta sauce. I used golden raisins or sometimes unsweetened dried cranberries soaked in bourbon. Serious Eats has a good wordy post on 'nduja. HERE Not sure how I feel about the cascatelli shape. Seems a bit bulky. Manly. Like the ruffled edge on cheap lasagna noodles. Thick. Not a shape I would pick from a well stocked brass dye made pasta shelf. Curious about the cooking time. On her box in the video she says 13-17 minutes that she said was too long a cooking time. On the website the box now says 15-18 minutes. I have no issues about the price for a good brass dye made quality pasta. 6 portions in a pound is a buck per serving. I get 8 portions if pasta is a first course. Similar argument with a co-worker that only shops by price. Buys grocery ground beef on sale and can't make a decent burger because they steam. (full of water). Only has burgers out at 15-20 bucks. Good quality butcher grind is 5-8 a pound. Under 2 bucks for an excellent at home burger.

^amazing pantry Duvel. Amazing harvest for October 8th here. Another flush of zucchini flowers and fruit.

Cast iron frittata. An easy weeknight meal. Every few weeks in our rotation using up various crisper drawer contents. As long as I have eggs and a potato---anything goes. Mandoline potato crust started on the stovetop heat while I rummaged for fillers. Lid it to steam as I prep/chop. Had some goat cheese to use up. Ham from the freezer...then into the oven for a bit.

Salmon croquettes. Also surprised they held together. I've been VP of the fall-apart club recently. Meatballs became bolognese. Smashed/crash potatoes became a pan of Diner home fries. Loving these shredded salads. Whatever is in the crisper---different dressings.

Lunches via last nights dinner. Added ramen eggs for a mid-morning snack.

Hot smoked salmon prosciutto bacon alla vodka. Just became the front runner for the NewYears menu. ---smaller portion and maybe an oversized ravioli.

This was really good. A bit ambitious for a weeknight. Pic dated Sept 30, last Thursday... I focused on some zucchini that needed a purpose. Don't care for it. I plant for the flowers. Dislike waste so made some zucchini/corn cakes. I'm VP of the 'fall-apart' club. So I contained in muffin rings. Most important was the shrimp. Shrimp has been meh for years. I blamed my home cooking methods. A couple Baldor orders, a NYC restaurant supplier, were shockingly tough and shells held tight to the flesh. (expensive). This recent WholeFoodsAmazon order are the best I've had in memory. 5-6 years? maybe more. 2 pound bag frozen. They sent another by mistake. Gorgeous so the cooking is not my fault. Another batch of zucchini corn cakes for lunches.

And probably the last harvest bruschetta. RG beans and rice

A few mid-week light dinners covering next day lunch salad bowls. Pesto, miso soup, potato/greens

Lol. Have you posted your landscape, environment, restaurant scene--- anywhere here? (not sure where to look). Nice to see a climate so different than mine... Last nights smoked merguez and salmon. Wild rice mixed grain, hijiki miso dressing. Not pretty in such a heap but delicious. Smoked a couple extra fillets for tomorrows lunch...maybe pasta.