Kicking back in Manitoulin

[Anna N]

10 hours ago, FauxPas said:

Maybe you could do some tests - put water in both ovens at similar temps and test temp after a certain time or something. Do you do any other baking in this CSO? Has it been OK then? 

 While I probably will not test with water I did check the temperature of the CSO and it is bang on.   It will likely remain a mystery until I attempt to make something else using the convection bake function.

[Anna N]

 So Kerry and I had almost the same thing for lunch today but only one of us was brave enough to post about it.

 

 

Leftover yorkie reheated in the CSO, a little bit of leftover steak and some leftover gravy reheated in the microwave. Kerry enjoyed the same minus the beef but she had an extra yorkie. 

 

I have to tell you that we tossed the yorkies in the freezer and that five minutes in the CSO at 350°F steam/bake returns them almost to their original perfection. Amazing. 

 

 

[rotuts]

Anna N   

 

Yes Yes Yes

 

ones more time !

 

Yes !

 

 

can you

 

I think you can

 

imagine a  GE

 

induction top 

 

with good electronic qualities 

 

with an

 

Combi-Oven  

 

in the Oven ?

 

Plumbed or  with  a nice reservoir ?

 

Idiots the Oven Makers Are !

 

 

[Shelby]

Hmmmm that is really good to know regarding the freezing/reheating of the yorkies.  I love to make and eat them, but the batch is always too big for just the two of us....now I know I can freeze them!

[Anna N]

53 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Hmmmm that is really good to know regarding the freezing/reheating of the yorkies.  I love to make and eat them, but the batch is always too big for just the two of us....now I know I can freeze them!

 Go for it. I want Kerry to make a bunch more and stick them in the freezer...as soon as her to-do list gets a tad smaller. 

[Kerry Beal]

No cocktail tonight (yet anyway) - we had a visitor from Toronto drop by and he's not a drinking man.

 

Fed him the Chicken with Caramelized Shallots and he scooted off to catch the bridge before it swung. He managed to get himself some nice fish to take back home with him

 

[Kerry Beal]

It's never too late!

 

 

A Moment of Silence 

[Anna N]

 

Look at this sky!  See the "prism effect" in the centre of the shot?  

[Kerry Beal]

Can I just say - that is a lot of booze in one cocktail!

[Toliver]

3 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

Look at this sky!  See the "prism effect" in the centre of the shot?  

I believe that is called a "sun dog".

[Anna N]

4 minutes ago, Toliver said:

I believe that is called a "sun dog".

And if I wasn't quite so inebriated I might've remembered that. 

[FrogPrincesse]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

It's never too late!

 

 

A Moment of Silence 

 

That's a nice one from beta cocktails.

 

How do you like the Luxardo apricot liqueur? I've given up on apricot for now because I couldn't find a liqueur that I liked, so I've been using Briottet peche de vigne (wild peach) instead.

[Kerry Beal]

13 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

 

That's a nice one from beta cocktails.

 

How do you like the Luxardo apricot liqueur? I've given up on apricot for now because I couldn't find a liqueur that I liked, so I've been using Briottet peche de vigne (wild peach) instead.

Yup - beta cocktails - one of the ones that uses a huge amount of angostura! I quite like the Luxardo - it's about equivilent with Apry I'd say. So much better than the Bol's apricot which isn't even worth considering. Perhaps not as good as the Rothmans & Winter but that's one I've had trouble getting my hands on here in Canada. 

[FrogPrincesse]

You are not missing much!  I am sure there is worse, but I wasn't too devastated when I finally finished my bottle.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 7/14/2017 at 9:06 PM, Anna N said:

 

 

 So this was dinner. Claggy polenta, khaki-coloured broccoli and some scallops in an orange rum sauce. 

 The polenta was cooked PIP in the Instant Pot, and the broccoli was cooked in the CSO.  Really not 100% sure what went wrong.

 

 

I made some grits tonight that turned out very creamy and smooth from a 4 pound batch I'm still working through that tend to lump like crazy. This cold water method from Sylvia Lovegren tames the lumps easily at least for the stove top method.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎7‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 2:39 PM, Anna N said:

So I think I am missing some critical understanding of how the Cuisinart steam oven actually works. I made up my potato/ham gratin  and put it in the steam oven at 325°F  convection bake loosely covered with some oiled foil. The directions had been to 350° in a conventional oven  without the fan.  After one hour and 20 minutes there was no evidence that anything was happening that was likely to result in dinner before next month.    The oven was obviously working because I could feel the heat  and the indicators confirmed my feeling.  The cream has not even begun to come to a simmer.  At that rate the cream would sour long before potatoes were anywhere near cooked!  

 

 I have now changed the controls to steam bake at 350°F. Am I missing something?  Does it not work as a conventional toaster oven?

 

It is unbearably hot here.  For whatever reason I was cooking my Stouffer's spinach soufflé on convection bake rather than on steam bake.  It was not getting done.  Eventually I realized my mistake.  Steam ovens work perfectly at the press of a button...as long as you press the right button.

 

[Anna N]

9 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

I made some grits tonight that turned out very creamy and smooth from a 4 pound batch I'm still working through that tend to lump like crazy. This cold water method from Sylvia Lovegren tames the lumps easily at least for the stove top method.

Yep. But the whole point is getting creamy polenta from the bowl in  bowl method in the Instant Pot!

[Thanks for the Crepes]

2 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Yep. But the whole point is getting creamy polenta from the bowl in  bowl method in the Instant Pot!

 

I know, but I was just trying to tell you a way to salvage your polenta. This four pound bag of white Quaker grits I bought was a bear until I started using Sylvia's cold water method. It has more finely ground content than any grits I've ever dealt with before, and I've been buying the same brand for decades. The fine starch floats up in surface tension bubbles in the water even in cold, but can then be stirred into the cold water, where it will set up due to the cooking in boiling water and create lumps that are very difficult to smash into submission.

 

Just trying to help, but I'm very sorry if I offended again.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Just trying to help, but I'm very sorry if I offended again.

Thank you. Were I looking for a way, any way, to make creamy polenta your suggestion would be helpful.  

[Anna N]

Good morning.  I do not seem to have suffered too many ill effects  from last evening's  powerful cocktail!

 

 

Toast with caramelized apple cheddar and some Moody Blue. 

 

Kerry has gone off to Wiki for the day once again.

 

I am leaning towards a lazy day of doing little more than reading. I have just opened my copy of Marcus Samuelson's Marcus Off Duty. I am not one to idolize chefs by any means but there are two I would like to meet. Marcus would be one and Jacques Pepin the other. 

 

 However there is chicken left over, including drumsticks, that would make a nice chicken stock in the Instant Pot so I may rustle up enough energy to get that going.

 

And I think it is time to make a serious inroad into seeing what is in the refrigerator that needs using up or tossing out. 

 

 The weather has turned around and it appears it's going to be a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 20s.

   

 

 

[Martin Fisher]

46 minutes ago, Anna N said:

I am not one to idolize chefs by any means but there are two I would like to meet. Marcus would be one and Jacques Pepin the other. 

 

No Nigel Slater? You've mentioned him quite a few times. 

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

No Nigel Slater? You've mentioned him quite a few times. 

 Love his recipes, love his philosophy but no particular wish to meet him.   Jacques because he can still make my knees buckle and Marcus because his story is so fascinating. 

[Kerry Beal]

 

chicken club sub from Andi's

[Anna N]

Lunch for me was OTS style (over the sink).  Odds and sods I found in the refrigerator that were still perfectly edible but needed to be used up. 

 

Made chicken stock in the instant pot which is now in the refrigerator. Tomorrow I will remove the fat and cook the stock down somewhat.  Surprisingly the meat still had a bit of flavor so I might make the chicken salad with it later.

 

 Then I thought I had nothing to lose if I threw in the bone, bits of meat and skin from the ham hock and made a smoky, porky stock.   Too bad it is no longer soup weather here.

 

 

 

 

[ElsieD]

13 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Lunch for me was OTS style (over the sink).  Odds and sods I found in the refrigerator that were still perfectly edible but needed to be used up. 

 

Made chicken stock in the instant pot which is now in the refrigerator. Tomorrow I will remove the fat and cook the stock down somewhat.  Surprisingly the meat still had a bit of flavor so I might make the chicken salad with it later.

 

 Then I thought I had nothing to lose if I threw in the bone, bits of meat and skin from the ham hock and made a smoky, porky stock.   Too bad it is no longer soup weather here.

 

 

 

 

 

Great minds think alike.  Except I am making soup - Hillbilly Bean Soup.