Food in the time of a pandemic

[weinoo]

3 minutes ago, rotuts said:

these make very acceptable 

 

paella , and risotto .

 

OMG !   push a button , etc

 

you did have to open the cooker for the last few minutes\

 

of Paella to add the shrimp , scallops , mussels .

 

and close the lid.

 

check in the Ultimate RCcookbook.

 

I will...but that's heresy.

 

I must continue to make my paella and risotto the traditional ways!!

[lindag]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

I received a fun package yesterday...

 

 

Nice, subtle design fits right in.  It cooks like every kind of rice (well, other than pilafs, risotti, paellas, etc.), porridge, oats, etc.  Looking forward to having some fun with this addition (which involved some reorg of the countertop and pantry pull-outs).  And it was put to immediate use last night - robots don't rest!

I have a Zo rice cooker as well and it has always made perfect rice as  well as porridge, etc.  I love it. 

My bread machine is a Zo as well and it is the best one made, imo.

[chromedome]

10 minutes ago, lindag said:

I have a Zo rice cooker as well and it has always made perfect rice as  well as porridge, etc.  I love it. 

My bread machine is a Zo as well and it is the best one made, imo.

My bread machine is an older Zo that I found on a local buy/sell site for $50. Works great, though the paddles are wearing out and getting a bit loose on their posts.

 

I check the same sites every week for a Zojirushi rice cooker at a similarly low price, but haven't found one yet. (shrug) I've got time...

[rotuts]

My Fuzzy RC is National Brand

 

Im told that Japanese for Panasonic.

 

i got it so long ago there were rare in the US.

 

it has a flat bottom , on a non-stick ' insert '

 

it can make ' CrustyBottoms ' for Persian style rice etc.

 

I got my father a 5 cup model later , and it had a rounded bottom.

 

he was never going to do Mix-Ins nor got to a PotLuck

 

at his advanced age.  but I did get him the RC Cookbook

 

and w  the proper rice  ( Valencia Bomba or etc all ,  Risotto rice etc )

 

he easily made the concoctions and enjoyed them.

 

so : its makes  " Risotto-ish , and Paella-is " easily  

 

mine might make a " Paella-ish w a crusty bottom "

 

I have several paella pans from Spain , having lived there w my parents

 

for two years.    they are still hand wrapped 

 

as the the manner in Madrid in 1960  in paper

 

and hand tied from Galerias Preciado  , w common twine,

 

I gave these to a friend , hoping he would hang them 

 

in situ  and as is on a wall at his Hacienda in WH , Cape Cod.

 

these predate , but are the same as you can get now from Spain.

[Katie Meadow]

6 hours ago, weinoo said:

I received a fun package yesterday...

 

 

Nice, subtle design fits right in.  It cooks like every kind of rice (well, other than pilafs, risotti, paellas, etc.), porridge, oats, etc.  Looking forward to having some fun with this addition (which involved some reorg of the countertop and pantry pull-outs).  And it was put to immediate use last night - robots don't rest!

My Neuro Fuzzy is the same. We don't have a lot of appliances (compared to some) but this one is a lifesaver. And I am not one of those people that has ever struggled to make good rice. I make mostly med/short grain or sushi rice in it. We eat a lot of rice and my husband has always had trouble with timing. Not any more.

[heidih]

My ancient KO (maybe 35 y.o.) is perfect every time and the best brown and other rices. I am no slouch with stove top but Big Red is great. Dropped Clifford once and seal is not perfect, but is perfectly imperfect so a minor adjustment in use gets me where I want to be. 

[Kim Shook]

Boy, I wish I could walk and maneuver around.  Jessica is not going to be around for the next 10 days (she's voluntarily isolating so she can spend a little time with our new grandnephew) and the produce box came last night.  Poor Mr. Kim is utterly overwhelmed with work and with caring for me (he's a manager with the state budget office and his specialty is Health and Human Services - crazy days, as you can imagine).  When the box came last night, he (not having a clue how to really take care of all of it) dumped all of the stuff that needs refrigeration in the fridge - just loose and unwrapped.  I will try to diplomatically speak to him about it - maybe he could bring some of it down to the family room for me to wrap/put in containers during my daily "sit up" times.  I'm thinking of suggesting that things that won't save should be taken to his mom.  I'll have to play it carefully so I don't piss off Jessica or insult him.  

[heidih]

Bit tricky. A large paper bag works - breathes and you won't get condensation fostering rot. On really crazy days (which your husband sounds like he is in the throes of) I do a brief simmer of whatever cut roughly. I tend to use chicken powder rather than salt for a flavor enhancer  (yes eye rolls accepted) - and freeze/refrigerate. Gives longevity and options. 

[dtremit]

10 hours ago, weinoo said:

I received a fun package yesterday...

 

 

I feel like "neuro fuzzy" pretty accurately reflects my state of mind these days.

[haresfur]

It is strange how fuzzy-logic sound so cool and high-tech when talking about rice cookers but so unsettling when talking about controlling nuclear reactors 

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, haresfur said:

It is strange how fuzzy-logic sound so cool and high-tech when talking about rice cookers but so unsettling when talking about controlling nuclear reactors 

I just assume that the fuzzy refers to how cute it is, like so much Japanese design. It's like a little egg shaped critter that does your bidding and congratulates you for petting it by chiming twinkle twinkle little star. I admit, it is kinda cheerful in a mindless way. 

[heidih]

10 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

I just assume that the fuzzy refers to how cute it is, like so much Japanese design. It's like a little egg shaped critter that does your bidding and congratulates you for petting it by chiming twinkle twinkle little star. I admit, it is kinda cheerful in a mindless way. 

I always thought it meant computer chippy

[Katie Meadow]

1 minute ago, heidih said:

I always thought it meant computer chippy

Chippy-ish.

[haresfur]

33 minutes ago, heidih said:

I always thought it meant computer chippy

 not to get too geeky, but it's a branch of maths

 

"Fuzzy logic is an approach to computing based on "degrees of truth" rather than the usual "true or false" (1 or 0) Boolean logic on which the modern computer is based."

As I understand it, your rice cooker doesn't know how close your rice is to being done but bases its control on how close it "thinks" it is and modifies what it does based on the response. Or something like that.

[heidih]

Thank you! Geeky is good when it makes me think. However Clifford (my Zo)  works - I appreciate the background technology. In case the reference does not cross continents  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_the_Big_Red_Dog  

[gfweb]

37 minutes ago, heidih said:

Thank you! Geeky is good when it makes me think. However Clifford (my Zo) 

Mine is Pikachu

[heidih]

I know people everywhere are pitching in. World Central Kitchen is beyond spectacular. This local effort brought  few tears today.  https://la.eater.com/2020/11/13/21564073/community-cookout-heleo-leyva-free-east-hollywood-pandeimc-covid-restaurants-los-angeles

[liamsaunt]

This week's CSA.  That is a huge bag of spinach in the back.  Next week, in addition to our usual delivery, they are bringing a "gobble box" for Thanksgiving.  It is HUGE.  I got the list of what is going to be in it today: 8 lbs. mashing potatoes, 3 lbs. sweet potatoes, 3 lbs. carrots, a cabbage, a large butternut squash, 6 lbs. apples, 2 lbs. brussels sprouts, 4 honey nut squash, 1 lb. spinach, 2 lbs. cranberries, 2 lbs. turnips, 2 lbs. watermelon radishes, 2 lbs onions, and 1 lb. leeks.  I am planning on sharing with my Mom and Dad (and maybe the rest of my neighborhood haha)

 

[heidih]

That spinach looks like the nice hearty type that to me is a referred flavor and texture. Have fun! - I am jealous.

[dtremit]

On 11/11/2020 at 4:01 PM, Shelby said:

I'm so excited for this that I can't hardly think straight lol.  I've looked all over the internet for ever trying to find someone that would deliver fruits/veggies like this.  I'd even take CSA where you don't get a choice.  Where I live I can't even get grocery store delivery so this is a great find (especially NOW).  Thank you Kay!!!

 

Another option you might like is Imperfect Foods — their delivery area seems to include all of Kansas.

 

We've done Misfits and Imperfect intermittently since March — sorry I didn't post about it earlier! We ended up liking Imperfect better than Misfits for two reasons:

• They have a much wider range of products available — including a good selection of dairy, meat, and fish, which was a godsend back in the spring. You can pick between a mixed box, all fruit, all veggie, or all organic, and there are multiple sizes of each. They also have add-on "packs" of meat/fish, dairy, grains, and snacks. It was really helpful for us to be able to do "fruit only" during our CSA season; we get mostly vegetables from that.
• You have a lot more freedom in choosing what goes into the box. The way their system works, a few days before delivery they fill an online shopping cart with items based on your subscription — but you have 48 hours to edit that selection and add or subtract whatever you want. My delivery day is Friday, and I can edit the box from noon Monday to noon Friday

That said, I haven't used Misfits since they added the "shopping" option. The Imperfect box ends up being more expensive, I think, as well — but we typically add a fair number of higher price stuff. I think after our CSA ends next week, we might end up getting both again; with COVID ramping up again here we don't really want to go shopping more than necessary.

[dtremit]

7 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

 Next week, in addition to our usual delivery, they are bringing a "gobble box" for Thanksgiving.  It is HUGE.  I got the list of what is going to be in it today: 8 lbs. mashing potatoes, 3 lbs. sweet potatoes, 3 lbs. carrots, a cabbage, a large butternut squash, 6 lbs. apples, 2 lbs. brussels sprouts, 4 honey nut squash, 1 lb. spinach, 2 lbs. cranberries, 2 lbs. turnips, 2 lbs. watermelon radishes, 2 lbs onions, and 1 lb. leeks.  I am planning on sharing with my Mom and Dad (and maybe the rest of my neighborhood haha)

 

I almost ordered that — glad now that I didn't, we would drown! I did sign up for the spring pantry box with the 20% October discount; thanks for calling that out. (In the interim we'll be doing a root vegetable share through Clover.)

[dtremit]

A few recent highlights from our dinners:

 

The Orecchiette With Bacony Collards & Cannellini Beans from this Food52 video with Sohla El-Waylly — part of a new series of "theme and variation" recipes. The pasta is soaked in chicken broth while the greens cook (she tips her hat to Ideas in Food for that), and then added at the end to finish. I can't say enough good about it — it worked perfectly and the sauce is almost impossibly creamy from the pasta starch. Minimal prep, minimal effort. Even reheated well the next day. I used some Rancho Gordo beans (I think reboseros?) I already had cooked, which I'm sure helped.

 

I'm planning to make the spinach and chickpea variation this week, and I look forward to trying some riffs -- thinking maybe sausage and escarole would be really nice.

 

Tonight was a grain bowl — we've been doing more of those, since we both feel good eating them, and they are easy to build out of simple components. This one was farro (cooked in the IP in chicken stock, and tossed with sesame oil and pine nuts); lentils (cooked pot-in-pot alongside the farro, with sauteed onions, jalapeño, garlic, ginger, harissa, and cumin), mushrooms (simply sauteed with shallots and garlic), harissa tofu crumbles (from Hodo Foods — just browned up) and gai lan (steamed in the IP and tossed with butter and miso).

Sounds like a lot typing it out, but really it was a one skillet affair and barely a half hour of work, and plenty left for a lunch some day this week.

[heidih]

Yes that was interesting with the pasta soak ideas. Thanks for giving it a go and reporting back. 

[Shelby]

11 hours ago, dtremit said:

 

Another option you might like is Imperfect Foods — their delivery area seems to include all of Kansas.

 

We've done Misfits and Imperfect intermittently since March — sorry I didn't post about it earlier! We ended up liking Imperfect better than Misfits for two reasons:

• They have a much wider range of products available — including a good selection of dairy, meat, and fish, which was a godsend back in the spring. You can pick between a mixed box, all fruit, all veggie, or all organic, and there are multiple sizes of each. They also have add-on "packs" of meat/fish, dairy, grains, and snacks. It was really helpful for us to be able to do "fruit only" during our CSA season; we get mostly vegetables from that.
• You have a lot more freedom in choosing what goes into the box. The way their system works, a few days before delivery they fill an online shopping cart with items based on your subscription — but you have 48 hours to edit that selection and add or subtract whatever you want. My delivery day is Friday, and I can edit the box from noon Monday to noon Friday

That said, I haven't used Misfits since they added the "shopping" option. The Imperfect box ends up being more expensive, I think, as well — but we typically add a fair number of higher price stuff. I think after our CSA ends next week, we might end up getting both again; with COVID ramping up again here we don't really want to go shopping more than necessary.

Thanks!!  Imperfect is available to me.  Oddly they only deliver to me on Saturdays....  It is more expensive, but I do like that they will ship meats and seafood.  I think I'll wait until I get the box from Misfits and then I'll try Imperfect...or maybe I'll just throw caution to the wind and try it now.

[dtremit]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

Thanks!!  Imperfect is available to me.  Oddly they only deliver to me on Saturdays....  It is more expensive, but I do like that they will ship meats and seafood.  I think I'll wait until I get the box from Misfits and then I'll try Imperfect...or maybe I'll just throw caution to the wind and try it now.

 

I believe Imperfect does all of their own delivery, rather than shipping via UPS — so I think they have a set schedule for when the truck goes to particular areas.