Food in the time of a pandemic

[heidih]

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

@weinoocan have my older Thai basil that I've let flower.  it's really pretty and still tasty.  If you clip all the flowers, it will continue to grow vegetatively, but at its age it keeps wanting to flower.  I have a new plant that's about a week old that still has some growing up to do, but I'm sure will be just as tasty.

When my various basils flowered madly. other than frying them, I used them as one does bay leaves - w/ their flower heads - in for flavor & aroma and plucked out at service or from your bowl. Also covered with a bit of olive oil in a low oven or low flame stovetop . The oil adds a nice flavor in many dishes. Used some in my morning eggs today.

[KennethT]

14 hours ago, heidih said:

When my various basils flowered madly. other than frying them, I used them as one does bay leaves - w/ their flower heads - in for flavor & aroma and plucked out at service or from your bowl. Also covered with a bit of olive oil in a low oven or low flame stovetop . The oil adds a nice flavor in many dishes. Used some in my morning eggs today.

huh. never heard of that... thanks.

[Eatmywords]

On 1/26/2021 at 4:15 PM, weinoo said:

Thank you. The funny thing is - our first apartment together was half the size of this place! And 4 flights up. Oy - those were the days..."I was so much younger then, I'm older than that now!"

Indeed, NYC for a food person, is quite good - I mean, it ain't France (Or Spain, or Italy (or Sonoma or Napa, for that matter)), but it'll do. And believe me, you put with a lot of shit to live here, and not only 5 foot ceilings.

Ingredient quality and provisions, yes on Europe, Napa et al but for global/ethnic cuisine diversity (esp Asian) I'll take NYC.    

 

4 floor walkup (in downtown Manhattan?)  You poor thing!  🤪

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal had an article on the misfortunes of people ordering food on line.  The woman who thought she was ordering 5 carrots and received 5 kilos of carrots.  Another who accidentally ordered 200 lemons.  The man who ordered a number of bananas and got that many bunches of bananas.

 

This week I ordered 1 bunch of leeks to make leek soup and actually received a single leek.

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

I recently posted about how México is starting to enforce the restriction on those of us over 60 entering stores such as Costco, Walmart and Home Depot. We went to Costco in Morelia today and can report that, at least here, Costco is letting everyone in. Yes, we have to have our temperature taken, and we get a squirt of hand sanitizer before we enter, which is the same as it always has been. So we were able to shop normally. I have no idea if this will remain the same or whether governmental pressure will force the big-box stores here to comply. In the meantime, at least in Michoacán, we are free to shop to our heart's content.

[weinoo]

On 1/27/2021 at 10:53 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal had an article on the misfortunes of people ordering food on line.  The woman who thought she was ordering 5 carrots and received 5 kilos of carrots.  Another who accidentally ordered 200 lemons.  The man who ordered a number of bananas and got that many bunches of bananas.

 

This week I ordered 1 bunch of leeks to make leek soup and actually received a single leek.

 

 

Perfect amount of soup for one - maybe they know?

 

I seriously have not encountered a single problem with Fresh Direct quantities. Other quantity problems, and they've been fewer and farther between as I migrate away from various platforms, have been attributable to user (me) error (mine).

[weinoo]

At this point, pandemic confinement is bringing out all sorts of weirdness (in me, the cat, et al.), I decided this needed to be used...

 

 

Since I'm cooking a fair amount of Asian cuisine, why not? It was on a top shelf, kinda filthy as it hasn't been used in years, a nice scrubbing and re-seasoning did it proud.  It's a Joyce Chen carbon-steel (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), probably heavier than I remember, cause when I went to do some flipping, I almost broke my wrist. I moved a phony All=Clad wok to where this one was...I'm going for authenticity!

Edited January 29, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[KennethT]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

At this point, pandemic confinement is bringing out all sorts of weirdness (in me, the cat, et al.), I decided this needed to be used...

 

 

Since I'm cooking a fair amount of Asian cuisine, why not? It was on a top shelf, kinda filthy as it hasn't been used in years, a nice scrubbing and re-seasoning did it proud.  It's a Joyce Chen carbon-steel (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), probably heavier than I remember, cause when I went to do some flipping, I almost broke my wrist. I moved a phony All=Clad wok to where this one was...I'm going for authenticity!

I have a phony All Clad wok I'd love to get rid of.  It's probably about 15 years old and used maybe twice.  I haven't touched it, but since it's been hanging on my pot rack for all that time, I'd assume it has a very healthy layer of settled aerosolized oil  mixed with dust on it.  In fact, I can practically guarantee it.  It was quite expensive when I got it - do you think anyone would want to pay to take it off my hands or should I try to donate to some sad sap?  OTOH, I got a Joyce Chen carbon steel wok relatively recently and have already used it a bunch of times. It lives on my stovetop since it (was pre foot burning) is the most common thing I use lately.

[Eatmywords]

"This is my rifle wok. There are many others like it, but this one is mine. My rifle wok is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle wok is useless. Without my rifle wok I am useless. I must fire my rifle wok true. I must shoot cook straighter than my enemy, who is trying to kill out-cook me. I must shoot out-cook him before he shoot out-cooks me. I will."

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

I have a phony All Clad wok I'd love to get rid of.  It's probably about 15 years old and used maybe twice.  

 

Wonder if we have the same one.  This is an original All-Clad Master Chef, made in good old Canonsburg, PA.

Maybe some poor sap wants two, and we can double up?  Otherwise, it's getting donated along with those crazed Descoware pans.

[weinoo]

Hmmmm - called a "Stir-Fry" pan, these are not that easy to find (model 412 -- 12" across). Maybe we should keep them?

[gfweb]

35 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Hmmmm - called a "Stir-Fry" pan, these are not that easy to find (model 412 -- 12" across). Maybe we should keep them?

 

Original MC is a nice pan.  I'd keep it

[weinoo]

23 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Original MC is a nice pan.  I'd keep it

 

We've definitely discussed these before, and it's a nice pan for sure. Probably even make a nicer planter than that Descoware...I'm keeping it!

Edited January 29, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

Wonder if we have the same one.  This is an original All-Clad Master Chef, made in good old Canonsburg, PA.

Maybe some poor sap wants two, and we can double up?  Otherwise, it's getting donated along with those crazed Descoware pans.

Mine's the All Clad LTD stir fry - stainless interior bonded to an aluminum core with anodized aluminum exterior. It seems like All Clad has discontinued this line.  And it's huge - it's at least 14" across the top if not bigger - though I don't think I've measured it.

[Eatmywords]

I'd be curious to sample the same dish cooked in both pans (properly).  I highly doubt a difference w be obvious.

[weinoo]

At the urging of a friend...

 

 

Company is called Keepwell Vinegar.

[Toliver]

Didn't see this one coming...

 

"2021 just got worse: Now there's a Grape-Nuts shortage"

Quote

If you're having a hard time finding Grape-Nuts at your local supermarket, you are not alone.

The pandemic has come for Grape-Nuts. Supply chain constraints and higher demand for cereal have led to shortages of the product, Kristin DeRock, Grape-Nuts Brand Manager, said in an emailed statement.

 

[Shelby]

13 minutes ago, Toliver said:

Didn't see this one coming...

 

"2021 just got worse: Now there's a Grape-Nuts shortage"

 

Sheesh.  I can't even fathom what could be next lol.

[chromedome]

It hit here in Canada a couple of years ago, when Post stopped distributing the cereal up here (demand, apparently, has been low). As it happens Grape-Nuts are a regionally popular ice cream add-in here in the Maritimes, so ice cream makers have had to import it directly.

[chefmd]

Visiting my son and DIL.  Wish I could see @JoNorvelleWalkersince they are not too far from her.  Their freezer is so full, they store food in ice maker.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I defrosted my freezer earlier this week.  Most stuff is now safely back in the beautifully defrosted freezer.  However I had stored the meat and fish in the blast freezer to keep them from melting.  Now I am wanting to use the blast freezer for drying tonight's duck.  I am trying to summon the energy to get up and attempt to cram the contents back into the freezer.  Wish I had some ice cream.

 

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Wish I had some ice cream.

Could you compromise and have two fingers of Whistle Pig?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

Could you compromise and have two fingers of Whistle Pig?

 

I thought of that.

 

Turns out the largest component of my frozen goods is fish.  Tuna, bluefish, and red snapper.  You see, amazon will not usually deliver fish in small amounts.  Having a blast freezer I simply freeze the excess fish and never think about it more.

 

Now I'm wondering about fish soup.

 

[weinoo]

A little shopping expedition yesterday, to my favorite restaurant (Cervo's) turned market/liquor shoppe etc., yielded these goodies:

 

 

Hudson Valley Fisheries steelhead trout. Fresh Carolina head-on prawns. Spigarello. NY State grass-fed strip steak. Page mandarins.

Edited January 31, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[rotuts]

@weinoo 

 

Wow !

 

I envy you the prawns and the trout.

 

prawns look plump and the trout slab looks like it

 

came from close to the head.   closer to the head is tastier.