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I followed the recipe for Swordfish Cavatappi with Cherry Tomatoes, Mint, and Fresh Chiles from How to Cook the Finest Things in the Sea by Ari Kolender except with a different pasta shape. The sauce is a puttanesca-like flavor bomb with anchovies, onion, fennel, garlic, capers, olives and plenty of fresh herbs. The recipe is available online here.

Yeah, this has never happened in my kitchen. But it's def a technique restaurants use for any number of different rice dishes. In school, we learned the "French" way of cooking rice, which is sorta like cooking pasta. What do the French know about rice anyway?

Managed to score a bagged, sanitized salad mix. Labeled "Thai" the greens were great, but the dressing was way too sweet. We added siracha and it made a big difference. Bought some arrachera (marinated skirt steak) at a local market and very pleased with both the marinade and its texture and tenderness. It grilled up fast and stayed juicy. Made for a nice Thai-Mex steak salad after a few too many pasta meals at home and some heavy meals at restaurants the past few weeks.

I paid a visit to TJ's this morning. Of course, I picked up a container of All the Things cookies, following the advice of @rotuts to avoid the paler specimens and choose a box with more “well done” cookies. I agree with his assessment that they’re on the sweet side but I don’t find them overly sweet at all. I saw comments elsewhere that they were too dry but I found them pleasantly light and crisp. Nice with a cup of coffee. They won’t replace the Triple Ginger Snaps as my favorite TJ's cookie but I don’t think I’ll have any problem finishing them off. Edited to add one more comment on the cookies. I’m a nibbler, so I take tiny bites to make my treats last long as possible. What’s fun about nibbling on All the Things cookies is that each little bite is different. I like that. I also got a box of the All Butter Apricot Shortbread cookies. I believe they had an apple version last year. There's 15 cookies/box @ $3.49. I like these a lot and probably will grab a few boxes before they disappear. I’m not usually a fan of strawberry ice cream but I was curious so I got a pint of this new item. It’s quite good with little strawberry chunks that have a nice, tangy flavor. I also picked up the following: Clockwise from the top: I usually get fried shallots at an Asian grocery but it’s nice to have a more local source. I’m not sure how I feel about greige pasta but I always like trying new shapes and this line of Italian pastas tends to cook up almost like a fresh pasta so I bought a box of the Black Pepper Barilotti. Not sure what I’ll serve it with. Seems like it would work in a cold pasta salad with salami, tomatoes, etc. The salsa macha has a chili crisp look in the labeling and the consistency of the contents. The salsa macha I make (with the customary peanuts) is a bit more pulverized while the seeds here are all intact, floating in the oil. I’ll try this on roasted Brussels sprouts or maybe Romano beans…. The organic, dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes are grown in California so I’m not sure if they’re widely distributed but they are nice little tomatoes. They’ve been offered at my TJ's for a couple of years but just for a short period. I forgot to get tomatoes at the farmers market so these are a decent sub.

Roasted mushrooms and summer squash. Amatriciana Estiva, a more summery, lighter version of the classic bucatini all'Amatriciana. Main difference is the use of fresh tomatoes (cherry, or as in this case, Lancaster Farms' organic garden gem tomatoes), and draining off a bit of the rendered fat from the guanciale. The pasta used is Setaro's Mezze Rigatoni, one of my favorite brands of dried pasta.

I think it all sounds delicious! My take might be to chop the peppers and garlic more finely than the pancetta so there was a textural difference in the finished pasta, but that may not be what you're after. Let us know the final result!

I get the basic reasoning behind iodized table salt. I've never had a problem with it, really. Great for pasta water, or just kept in a dish for a quick salt addition when needed. I've also really enjoyed other salts over the years. Different sea salts, and while I certainly don't have a 'golden palate' there have been times when I've tasted salt that was definitely 'better' or 'worse' than others. However, recently, the iodized salt has started to really bother me, taste-wise. It's like I can suddenly taste 'it'. There's a distinct metallic tang that is really standing out to me that never has before. I've stopped using it when cooking almost universally, and on the table we've got sea salt in a grinder. It's weird because it's really sudden and pronounced. The other day my wife made pasta, and used sea salt in the sauce but the iodized in the pasta water, and I could taste it on the noodles. Has this ever happened to any of you? Am I becoming a salt snob? Am I destined to die of goiter because I can't stand the taste of iodized salt?

For many years I have made my beer money by writing and translating for one of China's top wine trade publications. The editor-in-chief is an old friend. This is one such article of mine which appeared bi-lingually in their flagship magazine, several years ago. I have spared you the Chinese version. In Lombardy, Italy, in the town of Desenzano del Garda, on the banks of Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, it is a warm spring Sunday morning. The Gallo family are gathering together for lunch. Four generations will be present for the meal. A large table is set out in the garden and the noise of chopping, the banging of pans and the voice of Mama Gallo issuing instructions is emanating from the kitchen. Eventually all the family arrive and take their places around the table, which by now is covered with food. A short prayer of thanks is said and everyone begins to eat. This meal will last for hours. The excited talking and laughing dies down as the Gallo family start to eat, eagerly tasting every mouthful. Mama apologises for the plainness of the food and everyone assures her it is delicious, which it certainly is. After a while, people start to slow down, but continue to nibble and sip at their wine until, finally they begin to feel sleepy. All over Italy, many families are doing the same. Thousands of kilometres away, in a small town in central China, the Li family are gathering together for dinner. Four generations will be present for the meal. A large table is set out in the sitting room and the noise of chopping, the banging of pans and the voice of Mama Li issuing instructions is emanating from the kitchen. Eventually all the family arrive and take their places around the table, which by now is covered with food. A short welcome is said and everyone begins to eat. The excited talking and laughing dies down as the Li family start to eat, eagerly tasting every mouthful. Mama apologises for the plainness of the food and everyone assures her it is delicious, which it certainly is. After a while, people start to slow down, but continue to nibble and sip at their wine until, finally they begin to feel sleepy. All over China, many families are doing the same. Yes, despite the distance between the two countries, the descriptions of these meals are almost the same. Like no other European country, Italy holds food dear to its heart. They live to eat, not eat to live. Food and eating together is central to the culture. To not offer guests at least a snack or, better still, invite them to join the family meal is almost unthinkable – just as in China. But the similarities do not end there. Let’s look at what they are eating. On the Gallo family table are several dishes featuring pork such as a spicy pork stew called Lo Stufato Dell'Adriana, On the Li family table there may also be a spicy pork stew such as Chairman Mao’s favourite, 红烧肉 (hóng shāo ròu), Red-Braised Pork. The Gallo family will be enjoying several types of sausages and hams. Italy’s Parma ham is enjoyed all over Europe and the Americas. Chinese sausages are also world famous and Jinhua ham from China’s Zhejiang Province is enjoyed all over China and beyond. Both countries are known for using every part of the pig from the nose to the tail. Parts of the animal which are thrown away or used only to feed pets in some countries are loved by both Italians and the Chinese people. The Gallo family are also enjoying fresh carp which, earlier this morning, was still swimming in Lake Garda, the beautiful lake they can see as they eat. The Li family are enjoying fresh carp from their nearby river. Mama Li bought it, still live, in the market earlier in the day. On both tables is a wide selection of beautiful, freshly picked and carefully cooked vegetables and a wide variety of mushrooms is used in both countries. Of course on the Gallo family’s table, there will be pasta. And the Li family are also eating noodles. Who can imagine Italy without pasta – or China without noodles? Italians like to say that noodles were introduced to China by Marco Polo, while the Chinese people like to say that Marco Polo took them from China to Italy! Actually, neither story is true. There are certainly records of noodles being eaten in China and pasta being in Italy long before Polo was even born. The truth is noodles probably evolved separately in each place. A plate of ravioli lies on the Gallo family table while a plate of jiaozi is on the Li family table. The shapes and flavours are a little different, but they are essentially the same thing. Tortellini look so much like wontons that they are known in Chinese as “Italian Wontons”. And like wontons, they are often served in soup. Due to the pressures of modern life, the large, four hour long dinner which was once a daily event in Italy, is now usually confined to the weekends and holidays. Similarly, the Chinese large dinner is usually only held for special events and festivals. But the busy worker in Rome and the busy worker in Beijing may eat a remarkably similar lunch. In Rome, a quick bowl of tasty pasta al pomodoro (pasta in tomato sauce); in Beijing a quick bowl of tasty zhajiang mian. While China is the world’s top rice growing nation, Italy is top in Europe. Whereas in China rice is mainly grown in the south, in Italy it is the opposite. And while Chinese stir-fried rice is known the world over, Italy is also renowned for its classic rice dish; risotto. Italian food and Chinese food are the top two international cuisines. There are Chinese restaurants in almost every country of the world; just as there are Italian restaurants. Of course, not everything is similar. Ingredients and flavourings are sometimes very different. Italy relies heavily on dairy products such as cheese and cream in its cooking; something many Chinese people cannot accept. And, of course, there are many Chinese foods and tastes which would be unacceptable or unfamiliar to most Italians. Also, the wines and other drinks accompanying the meal will probably be somewhat different. The Gallo family will be drinking a locally produced wine, possibly a very local Bardolino or a Valpolicella from nearby Verona. Papa Gallo and the older men may finish the meal with a drop of Grappa, the strong liquor made from the skins, stems and seeds used in winemaking. The Li family will more probably celebrate with a rice or grain based wine, but red grape wines, both imported and domestically produced, are becoming more fashionable. And Papa Li would probably appreciate a small glass of that Grappa while Papa Gallo toasts him back with a glass of Baijiu! But overall, the Gallo and Li families could change places and be familiar with much of the food they find and perhaps surprised to find that the two cultures aren’t as different as they imagined. Gustoso！好吃！

I've made non-wheat pastas with my older philips pasta maker. It is challenging but doable. There are facebook groups dedicated to home pasta making and those folks might be able to help? I don't have facebook, I'm not sure why the groups are more popular than forums which are so much easier but anway... I have been able to gleen some info from them browsing. One in particular is pastafanataholics, which is a collab between the italian company Pastidea and some home cooks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/767285674024266/ There are also german and french groups dedicated to it. Pastidea is an italian company and I'm sure they might have insight how to create corn-only noodles, you can even reach out to them directly, in my experience they have always been helpful but there is a little language barrier. The ingredients suggest it is simply ground corn, and as suggested above it's possible there are trace other ingredients. However, I think their success is likely to do with different methods of processing which would allow it to correctly bind, perhaps specific pressure, temperature, steam, etc. If available to you cheap, you might try using masa, since that corn has undergone nimxtamalization (and might make it easier to bind... ? If you are okay doing so, a little xanthan gum or perhaps something like ground chia/flax might be helpful, too. I once made noodles from wheat flour and avocado, as an eggless-egg pasta, maybe the avocado could be used with the corn flour, too. Lots to experiment! If you do learn something, please get back to us here, I'd be very curious to know

I said at the start of this round of salmon smoking that I hadn't tried the hatchery fish. Well, I have now and there is a marked difference, enough that I added where the fish was from to each vac packed bag. it's not bad. Its different. Much milder in flavor. And soft. Soft almost on the verge of what Id call mushy. Soft enough to nearly be off-putting, to me at any rate. Next time, the hatchery fish will get a way longer smoke , with heat, in an attempt to firm it up more. Tonight I'm going to try it in a pasta dish. Later this week it will go in dip for a function. It's edible, not bad. Just different.

Fresh Campari tomatoes , w Basil/Garlic oil , finely diced Parmesan-ish , FastaPasta linguini : mise: Tj's Campari tomatoes , seeded , sliced into ~ 1 " chunks , Penzey's Tuscan seasoning blend . the tomatoes sit w the seasoning , so it hydrates. I kept the seeded juice . Ive seen seeding the Campari's for my Naan-ish pizza , which works better as w/o doing this the pizza might be a bit soggy . decided to do that here , and reserve the juice to add to the hot pasta , in place of the usual pasta water . EVOO ( one of TJ's ) w one unit of Dorot's Fz basil , and a bit of Dorot's Fz garlic. the basil and garlic are not cooked. thawed and mixed only . Window green onions . Fasta ready for the micro , afer adding the water 13 minutes in the Micro , drained . plated , the the juice , the EVOO/Basil/Garlic , then the tomatoes , the diced cheese , and green onion. this was outstanding . I used to my the same sort of dish , all summer long when I grew my own tomatoes , generally Early Girls. this was so close to that dish , as the Campari tomatoes were very nice , and I generally keep two packs on the counter for several days until I use them . makes a difference . I buy based on color , the red-er ones are better , understanding they are bred for color , but the deeper the red , the longer on the vine. these are not the same as a perfectly ripe Early Girl , still warm from the garden but quite close . Ill be having this often , as long as the Campari's are up to the challenge . Fresh , Simple , a bit of Spring , right on the plate.

Yesterday was our last full day in Paris. Niece and nephew wanted to go shopping on the Champs d’Elysses. After about 15 minutes of fighting the crowds, they turned to us and said “we hate shopping!” 😂. We did have the unfortunate experience of ending up in a cafe on the street because nephew was starving. We just ordered some lattes and dessert. It was pretty terrible but we were expecting it to be. Interesting ceiling decor Crepes Banana Nutella crepes Chcoclate ice cream We retreated and went to a less crowded area for the rest of the day, but then regrouped and decided to do the most touristy thing of all: have dinner with a view of the Eiffel Tower! We were seated at a window table with a pretty good view of the tower. Drinks. asparagus with bearnaise pizzetta salmon tartare Husband, niece and I played it safe with omelettes nephew had pasta with ham and Comte sister had coconut cod curry dessert was a millefeuille a liege cafe pain perdu and strawberry sorbet with a sparkling reward Overall, it was a pretty successful trip considering the size of our group and differing interests. We have some time before our flight, but I am not sure if eating will be involved. If it is, I will update this thread. If not, see you soon on the dinner thread!

Yep! Only spaghetti. And in fact, spaghetti and egg noodles for chicken and noodles were the only pastas that existed in our house. Mom was a great cook and she made a lot of different things--we always had lots of different veggies and dishes, but she was not known for her international cuisine.

Swiss chard-sweet potato lasagna with different layers made from 1) lasagna pasta 2) sautéed Swiss chard stems, shallots and garlic 3) blanched Swiss chard leaves 4) thinly sliced sweet potatoes 5) bechamel sauce made with bay leaves, cloves, nutmeg and a bit of sugar 6) goat gouda

Rana pasta ,refrigerated noodles and filled pasta has been around here for a few years https://www.giovanniranausa.com/products.html Ive not looked too closely at it , as its significantly more expensive than Contadina /// buttony /// Trader Joes // other store brands . I thought it was just a marketing '' Hand Made Italian Artisan '' 'then this showed up : my thinking is that the company overpriced its niche , and was trolling for lower end shoppers i.e. Me. then I made some , and discovered the pasta is egg pasta , if you will . Ive made my own pasta , and ravioli in the past w a standard Italin hand crank machine and a cu9isinart . loved doing it. the filled pasta Ive been getting is pasta w/o the egg. Ive never made filled pasta w egg pasta its very different in taste and mouth feel. and this brand has a version w prosciutto I gave it a try mise : same pot , but w less stock. plated , w a little of the broth in the bowl. from time to time when Ive made filed pasta as a plated dish , rather than in a bowl as soup . the pasta needed a little more stock or got sticky the plate : very generous w the EVOO this stuff is terrific ! if you see this or other refrigerated egg pasta as torts or ray's give it a try . needless to say Ive tried several of their version , ad liked them all and indeed I stocked up during this sale .

I rarely think to take photos anymore! But recently, I made Marcella Hazan's Bolognese sauce. On a pasta kick, I also made lasagne. This is a piece about to be reheated. Ate a late lunch/early dinner in a town north of us at a little Filipino-owned café, tried the chicken adobo. Quite good, but I think mine is just as good, ha. Also had a lovely dinner at a local Italian restaurant which sadly is closing, as owner is retiring. So many items are from the local Valley farms. We did the chef's 5-course tasting menu with wine pairings. Amuse-bouche was a small arancini and had that with a Negroni Bianco. Followed by a wonderful salad featuring gorgeous pink radicchio, beets, other greens, water buffalo cream cheese, balsamico and the most amazing proscuitto (?) or some kind of ham. The button on the top left says "Last night a Negroni saved my life." 🙂 Then Anolini in Brodo. Filled with bison meat sourced from a herd just north of us. Gnocchi Vongole came next. Followed by a slow-cooked chuck roast. So tender, with a gravy and leek oil. A potato croquette, roasted kalettes with a crunchy garlic topping, can't remember the purée details, but it was good. Finally, a flourless chocolate cake, which I sampled before taking a photo. 🙂 Part of the outdoor patio/deck area, too cool to be open that night. Sorry this place is closing, it had a lot going for it. 😞 And finally, thought I would share one of my worst room-service dinner experiences. I had a very long and slightly stressful day over in Vancouver and was dog-tired when I got to the hotel. I was pleased with my room as I was able to upgrade to a suite using some of my Marriott points. It's a nice hotel, fairly upscale, right downtown near the waterfront and I was looking forward to a nice relaxing evening. I was given access to the Concierge Lounge and had a much-appreciated vodka+soda from the honour bar. There were some nice charcuterie offerings along with some kind of hot appy and some turkey sliders, but I decided to pass as I was looking forward to a quiet dinner in my room. But the concierge put out some choux pastries and I couldn't resist trying one. Turns out I should have stayed in that pleasant Lounge and made a complete dinner from their little buffet. Off to my room but the room service menu was disappointing. I should have used Uber Food or Skip the Dishes (I kept thinking about Thai) but for some inexplicable reason, I ordered a cheese burger from room service. Rather a boring choice and it turned up packed in a flimsy cardboard and plastic tub, dropped off in a paper bag sans china or cutlery. No cart, no cloth napkin. I'm embarrassed to admit how much it cost! (And of course the lounge offerings were complimentary, should have stayed, ha.) I have to go back in a few months, will definitely do something different for dinner and/or pick different hotel.

We are back in Wellfleet for the next week and a half. My husband booked this visit as a surprise for me, because what has always been my favorite house in town (from the outside, anyway) came on the rental market for the first time. He snatched it as soon as he saw it. We are literally the first people to rent it. It's an old sea captain's house that, according to the sign on the door, was built in 1820 and renovated in 2000. Here it is from the outside And here's the kitchen, where I will be making some meals later this week. That's my weekly tomato share from my CSA piled in the far corner. I guess the crop was abundant this year! My sister and niece are with us for a few days before my sister has to bring her back to NYC for college. My nephew is also here for the whole time, and my husband's brother is joining us later today. The first night it was just me and my husband. We walked into town to try Winslow's Tavern, since we have not been there yet this year. Menu, with some new things for this season We were seated at an outdoor table We ordered the striped bass belly roulade to share. The flavors were nice, but the fried oyster on top was odd and didn't go with the rest of the dish Since this was our only meal where we'd be able to order shrimp due to my nephew's allergy, we also ordered the grilled shrimp appetizer. It was pretty but nothing special, flavor wise. Husband ordered the mixed sea pasta. It was kind of flavorless And, continuing the shrimp theme, I ordered the shrimp pasta even though it sounded really weird. Tempura shrimp on pasta? And it was, indeed, weird. The pasta was good, and the flavors of the tempura were nice, but they did not work together at all. Plus the sauce made the tempura coating soggy. I ended up picking the shrimp out of the tempura batter. We shared a lemon tart for dessert. Again a mixed bag. The curd and meringue were delicious, but the crust was terrible. It was raw tasting. And the compote was incredibly bitter. We just scraped the curd off it and ate that with the meringue, leaving everything else on the plate. Winslow's is always hit or miss, and that meal was no different. The beautiful setting makes up for a lot. My sister, niece, and nephew joined us yesterday, and we headed back to Mac's Shack. Oysters Calamari stew for my nephew Razor clams (nephew requested I cook these at home later this week. He could not eat these at the restaurant as the broth had lobster stock) Spicy tuna mango martini for my niece More niece food: salmon poke bowl and gon jah mon roll Falafel burger for my nephew Tuna with soba noodles and wasabi cream sauce for me Special of lobster pesto gnocchi for my husband Lobster fettuccine for my sister Mac's doesn't really do dessert and we were all stuffed anyway.

We are back on the Cape for a few days, this time in Chatham. My husband booked a long weekend at Chatham Bars Inn because he has been wanting to stay here again for years and I have been dragging my feet. I used to have to come here every year for a multi day conference when I was working, and it was not fun. Being here as a tourist is a completely different experience, and much more enjoyable. Our room is in the spa building rather than the main inn. This part of the resort that is child free, so it is very quiet. The rooms are nice. The massive bathroom has a steam shower, a sauna, and a whirlpool tub that fills from the ceiling. There is a pool area just for the spa suites guests outside our room, but we probably won’t get there. Why sit by a pool when you can walk by the ocean? The resort is at peak capacity. My work events were always in early June, so I have never experienced crowds like there are here now. It’s crazy. We are afraid to move our car because we might never get another parking spot 😂. There are multiple weddings here this weekend, and the amount of flowers I have seen trucked in here for them defies belief. Last night we walked into town for dinner at Viera on Main. Drinks. Husband’s dirty martini and my phony negroni We shared some garlic clams and then husband had striped bass and I had a seafood pasta with clams, mussels, cod, and shrimp We skipped dessert at the restaurant in favor of hunting down some ice cream We chose coconut caramel swirl (way too rich, went uneaten) and heath bar peanut butter Friday nights are band concerts on the town green, so we stopped by for a bit. It’s a popular event! This morning we had breakfast on the veranda of the main inn. Scrambled eggs with avocado and asparagus on a smashed croissant and poached eggs with stracciatella cheese, speck, tomato, and greens After breakfast we took the resort boat shuttle over to North Beach Island, directly offshore from CBI. It was fairly uncrowded. Heading away from the CBI beach Lots of lobster and fishing boats doing their thing We ended up walking over six miles just while exploring the part of the island we got to. We are going back tomorrow to explore some more. Dinner was at Stars, the fine dining restaurant at Chatham Bars Inn. Menu Drinks. I had a non alcoholic amarena spritz, and husband had a cocktail with mezcal and strawberries. I forget the name of it. Amuse bouche of duck rillettes with cherries. I don’t like duck but husband said they were tasty. We shared some appetizers. Oysters. They were delicious, but very small! tuna and the peach burrata salad. These were both delicious I had the scallops and husband had the waygu with a lobster tail added Dessert menu I knew I wanted the berries and cream. It was really lovely. Husband got the coffee torte and regretted it after he tasted mine. Torte berries There was a complimentary parting dessert as well, but we had our server box it up for us to take to the room for tomorrow since we were both too full to eat anything else!

Strangely enough, this is usually my reaction to "take my mind off things" but this time around was different. "Easy" was the ticket! And continues to be, for the most part, since we're closed up for travel and have no dining room. One benefit of all the vegetable prep I did for our sadly-delayed travel was that I already had asparagus and red bell peppers ready to go. There were cherry tomatoes too, but they don't need much prep. We also still have a variety of tube steaks (Caprese Chicken sausage made by some artisan I've forgotten; Beef Polish sausage from Kiolbassa company, some others) that are simply made to be cut up into coins and added to some dish. One of my back-pocket-I-don't-need-to-think-how-to-do-it recipes is more or less pasta Alfredo. I'll say "more or less" because the proportions may not always be right, and the additions probably make it Alfredo no longer, but it's easy and we love it. Take a bunch of pasta and cook it. I had elbow macaroni and cavatappi, not enough of either to do a full pot of the stuff, or so I thought. I cooked it in as little water as possible in the deep part of the big pot I've kept out for travel. In the shallower half of the pot I sweated chopped onion (already in the refrigerator), the peppers. When they were soft I added the meat coins, browned them, then added the pasta, butter, cream (half and half, in this case) and grated parmesan. The steps, in case anyone's interested, are to add the butter and toss everything in it to be coated with melted butter, then add the cream (about twice as much by volume as the butter, but who's measuring?) and the parmesan (about the same volume as the cream, but whatever it takes to make a thick sauce). Stir and toss. Add the asparagus when it seems the mixture is only a few minutes from being done. Serve. Enjoy. This was the first night's iteration, as we sat with a broken suspension. I learned something important, too: if there's too much cooked pasta, bung the unused cooked stuff into a container and freeze it. I'm pretty sure we've talked before in other topics about reversionary starches. This qualifies. Henceforth I think I'll PLAN to cook too much pasta so it will be ready to use from the freezer. A few nights later, I used more of that pasta for a different iteration of the Alfredo dish. I'm out of asparagus now, and peppers, and tomatoes (I cut up my remaining Camparis and added them to the second dish). I hope I'll be able to find something in a local grocery store before we start driving again, or the road food pickings will be pretty slim!

Recent mentions of children’s menus and children-friendly meals on other threads have got me thinking. I know that this concept is not universal - kid’s menus I mean. Maybe not thinking, either. I’m now wondering what the kids’ menus situation is around the world. I don’t recall ever seeing a kids’ menu in Asia although they may may well exist some places. I haven’t particularly been looking for them (until now). I certainly haven’t seen one ever in mainland China or Vietnam, the two countries I’ve spent most time in in the last three decades. Don’t recall any in India or Thailand. Hong Kong has them, but then it is very westernised. It has been suggested on the internet that this is because dining out in China is a communal event with the food served family style and shared. While this is true to an extent, it isn’t the whole picture. Many restaurants do not serve food this way and they don’t have kids’ menus either. My younger friends with children have never heard of the concept. Similarly, little if any provision is made for child-friendly meals at home. Children eat what their parents eat – even in the chilli heavy parts of China such as Hunan and Sichuan, etc. Restaurants may be willing to reduce portion size but I doubt many parents would even think to ask. The bland, clichéd, patronising choices on so many kids’ menus* wouldn’t wash here. Do we spoil or kids too much in the west? That could explain the number of fussy eaters (which are not found nearly so much here – I’ve only ever heard of one among friends). Also, childhood allergies are not so common here. When my kids were growing up in London (a long time ago – they are in their early fifties now), there were no kid’s menus and I certainly didn’t prepare separate ‘friendly’ dishes for them. They are now still both very adventurous eaters as are my grand-children. Not sure about the great-grand-ones. They are only just-turned-3-year-old twins whom I've never met. So, we have members here from around the world and we have members who travel widely. I’d love to know your experience and thoughts in different places. And what foods are offered if any. * eg Macaroni and Cheese, Bangers and Mash, Meatball Pasta with Tomato Sauce. Burger and Chips from Ramsay Plane Food restaurant, London Heathrow Airport.

山西菜 (shān xī cài), Shanxi Cuisine, 晋菜 (jìn cài) Jin Cuisine This won’t take long. Shanxi Province (山西), not to be confused with Shaanxi (陕西)*, its neighbouring province to the west, is in the north of China, also bordering Hebei to the east, Henan to the south and Inner Mongolia to the north. The capital is Taiyuan. The region has a reputation in China for being poor and very conservative. It is China’s largest coal-mining province and also host to satellite launching sites. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Unlike most of China, they eat pork much less and little beef (with none exception), Shanxi people tend to favour lamb, mutton or goat much more. The cuisine is not well known (or much liked) in the rest of China, with only a few exceptions. These are vinegar and noodles. I tend to agree with the rest of China apart from these exceptions and despite my love of sheep and goats, I believe this is the least appealing province in China in which to eat to eat. So, the exceptions: 山西老陈醋 (shān xī lǎo chén cù), literally Shanxi aged vinegar, is a type of dark vinegar made in the province, as it has been done for over three centuries. It is one of the most popular dark vinegars in China, only outshone by Zhenjiang vinegar from Jiangsu province. This vinegar is inexplicably rendered as 'Chinkiang vinegar' only in North America. At a minimum, the vinegar is aged for 9 months before being sold, but better quality examples can be up to ten years old. The vinegar can be used as a condiment, but is more commonly used in prepared dishes as an ingredient. It is a protected origin product in China. Shanxi Aged Vinegar A couple of foods traditionally ascribed to Shanxi have made their way into neighbouring provinces and beyond – especially its noodles where they have been popularised. 刀削面 (dāo xiāo miàn), or knife shaved noodles are one such example. These are made, as the name suggest by the chef taking a lump of dough and theatrically shaving off small pieces directly into boiling water. Knife Shaved Noodles - Image: p1.ssl.qhmsg.com 猫耳朵 (māo ěr duo) literally ‘cat’s ears’ are basically a Chinese version of the Italian orecchiette pasta and found everywhere. There are some in my pantry, many, many miles from Shanxi and bought five minutes away from home. Cat's Ears - Image: n.sinaimg.cn Then we have 凉皮 (liáng pí), literally ‘cold skin (noodles), reportedly another Shanxi invention, but now probably much more associated with Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi. These are rice noodles made from the starch extracted from the rice by long soaking. It then forms a soft paste which is sliced into noodles. Liangpi Despite the general disinterest in beef, Pinyao, an ancient city in central Shanxi has a long tradition of making 平遥牛肉 (píng yáo niú ròu), a type of cooked and pickled calf leg. Pingyao Beef - Image: pic.nximg.cn Almost finally, I’m going to get in your head and play with your brain. Two perhaps odd Shanxi dishes. First up is 傅山头脑 (fù shān tóu nǎo), Fushan brains which, like many people has no brains. It is a winter soup made from lamb, rice wine, yam and other spices. It is named after Fu Shan (1607–1684), a scholar and artist from Taiyuan. Maybe he had the brains. Fushan Brains - image: static.yueya.ne Then, if you’ll still short of brains we have 太原头脑 (tài yuán tóu nǎo), literally ‘Taiyhuan brains’ from the capital (pun intended) city. It is still brainless. It’s a kind of porridge with mutton, rice wine, and various vegetables and TCM herbage that do nothing they claim to do. Taiyuan Brains - Image: soho.co Finally, the most popular local spirit is 汾酒 (fén jiǔ), Fenjiu, a "light fragrance" variety of sorghum baijiu that is generally sweeter than other northern Chinese spirits. It is the most palatable type of baijiu for most people – but only just. Maybe it’s this that has done for their brains. Fenjiu Next, I’ll go to somewhere more interesting. * I known these province names seem ridiculously similar to most western ears and did to me for a while. I could never remember where I lived when I was in Xi’an. However, they are not in the least confusing to native Chinese speakers’ ears or eyes. Different characters and different tones. The double ‘a’ in Shaanxi is one of the few times pinyin breaks it own rules, but was introduced to placate ignorant foreigners like me. Otherwise uncredited images are mine.

I agree with you about the subjective descriptions of F&W's categories. They seem rather arbitrary. I hadn't caught the price info of Newman's Own v Rao's ... good catch. Yes, I'm about to make a big batch of sauce. Just waiting for the second part of the order to arrive. I like having some jarred sauce available because, in no particular order, I don't care to eat the same sauce time after time. Even with a stock of homemade sauce, I'll still whip up something different every now and then, such as a puttanesca, variations of Aglio e Olio, pasta with tuna or salmon, etc., maybe just butter and cheese. Some of the sauce I'll make is going to be given to friends, so there won't be as much in stock as one might think. I'm not a good planner. Sometimes I run out of an ingredient or two, sometimes I want to prepare a dish quickly and on a moments notice. Since I'm a poor planner, I try to plan for my failing ... belt and suspenders, if you will.

its cooler now , so I brought out the iPot and made a concoction Id been thinking about for some time : a ground turkey , creamy , wine-y , something that would go over Rice , or pasta , or a baked potato. Id make enough to freeze in blocks , the way I do w my turkey-redsauce-ragu. mise : I sue this brand gr truly as it comes in 20 oz slabs ( thicker than 1 lb slabs ) , goes on sale regularly and seem less wet than newer entries ( years now ) Perdue , Tj's ) I also wanted to see what would happen in the iPot w ' cream' soups , as ' Hip pressure cooking ' suggested avoiding milk in the iPot ie scorch9hne ? I brushed off the 1 lb mushrooms , coarsely chopped. dumped the turkey slabs in the iPot , added the chopped mushrooms , and the two cans of CofM no salt soup. I reduced 1/2 bottle of Cote d Rhone I got at Tj's this has more flavor than Tj's Coastal Zin. and yes its a table wine , not a chit/chat wine wine reducing Left. Looks yummy already ! the wine went down to 3/4 cups , and remembering the 1 cup rule , added someone salt chicken stock. it was 8 oz for the unit. more on this later . iPot's on low pressure ( mindful of the possible ' milk ' issue , for 30 moon , then quick release. I added no seasoning what so ever . my plan it so salt ( I use a different salt ) and season each batch after the cooking, thus varying each meal. still looking very tasty ! clearly a Cat , possibly a Dog , didn't care for this ! added a little salt , and it was very tasty . I was going to brown the slab , on each side , and the chopped mushrooms for added flavor , but went the lazy route . the idea is ' very easy to put together , tasty , and thick enough for Rice , pasta , baked [potato ' this effort was too thin. I made a mistake by added the extra 8 oz commercial Ck stock. and , Illl pull out the Cuisinart next time to get an easy , much finer dice on the mushrooms. the dice here was wrong. but , I learned Cream of ... condensed soup does not burn in the iPot and once the result is thinking , and more uniformly diced a very nice item to easily make , Vac freeze in blocks and season each time I pull out a block fro the freezer. P.S.: I ended up not using the miso . it might be an add-in for individual servings in the future. P.P.S: there was a very small amount of scorching , after all . in the rim , 1 " x 3 " no more .''sealed up easily w some hot water and a teflon-ish sponge. Ive done many many turkey ragu , similar ingredients : slab turkey , jared tomato sauce and iP'd on high no scorching .

I'm taking the plunge into milling my own flour to use in breads, sweets, maybe pasta etc. I have no experience....I've never even seen a home mill in person until last week when I became the very, very proud owner of a Komo Fidibus XL 600 watt grain mill. The glass tube on the right is a sifter that attaches to the mill when you remove the bowl. There are inserts for the sifter down in front that are different sizes. I think it's so pretty. Which is a good thing since it will be living on my kitchen counter a lot I'm well stocked with many different kinds of heritage and ancient grains: The manual that came with my mill says that you can also grind spices, legumes and coffee beans. I've read online that you can also do rice which must be true because the manual also says that if you need to clean it for some reason (meaning you milled something oily that isn't recommended) you are to run long grain rice through. So, the last few days I've been googling and reading and watching videos online and also reading through the following books: The manual that came with my mill doesn't say to do this, but I read online that it was recommended to run a couple cups of grain through and then discard the flour--just to make sure it's all clean and working right. I'm glad I did because it gave me a little chance to play with adjusting the mill from fine to coarse and in-between. I used this kind: Rule #1: Turn the machine on and THEN dump your grain in the bowl/hopper. Oh it smelled SO good. Clean and sweet and a bit nutty. You adjust from fine to coarse by turning the bowl/hopper--to the left is Fein (fine) and to the right is Grob (coarse)--it's made in Germany and comes with a 12 year warranty. I was a bit confused at first. You see that black dot on the bottom of the bowl/hopper? I assumed that meant that if you want it the finest grind you can get that you move it all the way over until it can't move any more (the bowl/hopper has "clicks" that you can feel to make your adjustments). That isn't the case. When I put it clear to the left and turned the machine on, the stones were touching/grinding together. You don't want that. I had to click to the right about 6 clicks to get it to stop doing that. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't calibrated like I thought it should be until I started thinking about the grinding stones and how they heat up during use. The more you use it, the warmer they get causing you to maybe need to adjust lower to get to the finest setting you can. Trust me, you know immediately if you need to adjust up so that the stones don't hit each other. Side note: After opening the bag of grain I decided to see if the Vacmaster would seal it up for me again. It worked! That will come in handy! Anyway, I've stocked up on yeast. But, then after reading a bit online I decided it would be wise to make a starter. I've never done that either. Frankly, it seems daunting. All the feeding and then throwing some of it away and then feeding again. I don't have children....but I have something similar, it seems, in a jar on my counter now😛 I'm starting with a very basic recipe from a book listed above called The Best Bread Ever. It's called Simple Wheat Starter. It uses some AP flour, some whole wheat flour (I used the hard red shown right above here), water and a pinch of yeast. Here is is just after I made it: Question: Could I have used the whey that is in my fridge that I saved after making cottage cheese in place of the water? Here it is right before I went to bed last night Right now the bubbly part has doubled, but see that bit of liquid in the bottom of the jar? Well, it's about an inch tall now. I was concerned but after reading online maybe that's normal for such a starter like this? It smells very sweet and good. I'm going to feed it again here in a bit. Sigh. I'm nervous. The starter is supposed to be ready to use by Wednesday morning. I could use major pointers on starters. And , pretend you're explaining it to a 4 year old so that I can understand 😁 ********************************** Now, I'm going to jot down a few thoughts, questions, things I found online etc. Later, after I have my own experience, I can either debunk or support. Yesterday, for me, a half cup of the hard red winter wheat berries netted roughly a cup of flour. BUT it was "fluffy". The hard wheat might be better for breads and the soft wheat might be better for pastry and sweet things. Spelt might be better for pastry items too. In a recipe that uses store bought AP flour, if you sub fresh milled flour you usually have to increase the water. Or, you generally use 3 T. less of milled flour per cup of flour in a recipe. If using spelt flour you might use 2-4 T. MORE per cup in a recipe. I have a great video where the person making the bread uses no measuring at all. Just goes by feel. I want to get to that place and be like him! Using the autolyse method seems like a good way to go. Is that the same as kneading for a bit, and then resting for 10 mins and then kneading again? Also, while kneading, have a bowl of water to dip fingers in to reduce sticking to hands. Vital wheat; I ordered some. Should be here the end of the week. Do I need it? I dunno. I've read that it helps with rising when milling your own grains. Then, I've also read that there is enough gluten so why would you need to add more. Is there more gluten in hard wheat than soft wheat? Need to do more research on this. So, that's what I've been up to. Anyone have a mill? Anyone that can answer my billions of questions? I'll post here with successes and failures. I hope others join in.

todays NYTimes Food section goes over 5 foos myths : https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/08/dining/kitchen-myths.html for review purposes : 1 ) Truth or myth: Never use soap to wash a cast-iron pan. '''' The prohibition against soap comes from a time when all soap was made with lye, which could eat through a patina in minutes. And it’s true that most of the time, soap is unnecessary. Most of your cleaning power should come from hot water and gentle scrubbing or brushing, the way cast-iron pots like Chinese woks and Indian kadai are traditionally cleaned. '' 2} Truth or myth: Pasta cooking water should taste as salty as the ocean. '''' To test the myth, I cooked eight batches of spaghetti at salt levels ranging from none to Pacific Ocean (3 percent) to Mediterranean Sea (4 percent). I can confirm that seawater is too salty. As I worked my way up from a teaspoon to a tablespoon of kosher salt per gallon, the pasta was noticeably undersalted, and its flavor got lost in the finished dish. I most liked water that tasted as salty as a light chicken stock, or two tablespoons per gallon of water. ''' 3) Truth or myth: Always wash rice until the water runs clear before cooking. ''' For the indica rices (jasmine and basmati), the difference between unwashed and rinsed rice was imperceptible. For the japonica, to my taste the washed rice had just a microdose less starch, taking it from already excellent to perfect. ' 4 ) Truth or myth: Have all of your ingredients prepared and your cooking oil heated before starting to cook. ''' But for slower food, like soups and stews, it’s perfectly fine to start the pan over low heat, and turn the heat to high only once everything is in. Diced vegetables like onions and celery take longer to cook than minced aromatics like ginger and garlic, so put the vegetables in first. They will soften, and then turn golden, and then — quite a lot later — caramelize. (Speaking of: Another persistent myth in American cooking is that it takes 8 to 10 minutes to caramelize onions, which is pretty much impossible unless you are a restaurant chef and stirring onions over high heat is your only job.) ''' 5 ) Truth or myth: Always brown meat at the beginning of the cooking process, to ‘seal in’ the juices. ''' If you’ve ever spent an hour patiently browning chicken thighs in batches, only to move to the next step and find you’re about to submerge them in liquid that will reduce the skin to flab, you may have wondered what all that work was for. Many traditional stews are built without it: a Central American jocón, a West African mafe and a Provençal daube all skip browning and rely on other ingredients to deepen their flavors. '' the whole article might be behind a paywall. its possible your public library card may be used , through the libraries site online to view the NYTimes , WSJournal and other newspapers . of course , if you live in a country that shuns P.L. , you might be out of luck.