What I learned today

Great story!

I learned to avoid "Baby Shark" videos on YouTube. That song is mental peanut butter--it sticks to your mind all day.

-Paul W.

No one cared until American actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford dined with di Lelio and were smitten with the dish, tossed fresh and with such flair at the table with a fork and spoon.

That's the story I'd always heard. According to Saveur magazine, the recipe consists of 1 lb of pasta, ½ lb of butter and ½ lb of Parmesan (although I'd also heard somewhere that it was 1 lb of each!). No wonder they loved it.

Slight quibble: Mary Pickford was Canadian, born here in Toronto.

[Jenise]

Wow, that's heavy. The recipe in this mag lightens it up a bit and of course insists on using quite a bit of cooking water to do that. Interesting important fact: they cook the pasta in a minimum of water, just two quarts, in order to have richer cooking water for the sauce. Their recommendation: 8 T butter, 6 ounces Parm, two 9 ounce packages fresh fettucine, salt.

[Jenise]

Today I learned that cold steak sliced and placed over rice (with horseradish instead of wasabi) makes a mighty fine cold nigiri-like sushi item.

I learned one can freeze cherries....

I was in Snorbens market late Saturday as the stall holders were packing up. The greengrocers were selling off unsold items and one stall had boxes of juicy red cherries at a giveaway price which I couldn't resist.

We had cherries fresh an Saturday, Sunday and Monday but there seemed as many left. So Sunday night I put 6 in a freezer bag and popped in freezer. Following evening I took the bag out , put the cherries on a plate, let them defrost and we then ate them. Kept their shape and texture and tasted like fresh.

So I put the rest of them in the freezer.

[Jenise]

They will deteriorate with time, Peter. Or at least, I've bought frozen cherries and they are nowhere near the texture of fresh. Make good slushees though.

[Jenise]

Today I learned that I love Calabrian chiles. Had never had one before, bought a jar out of curiosity and today chopped some into our healthy broccoli breakfast frittata. Delicious!

I recently learned that my crab hash was delicious! I should not have promised crab cakes.

[Jenise]

So what goes into a crab hash, Jim? Potatoes?

There was a famous crab hash joint near where Pumpkin grew up. It was yer basic griddle hash but with crabmeat instead of bacon bits.

I learned today that there is actually lots of room in a sardine can! The one I opened tonight, "Spiced Sardines" by Briosa, despite its avowed 120g weight, contained three fat sardines, a good glug of olive oil, a slice of cucumber, a slice of carrot, a peppercorn, a clove, and a hot pepper. Alas, I don't think the seasonings actually added much flavor (though the little red pepper was hot).

Curiosity satisfied.

They will deteriorate with time, Peter. Or at least, I've bought frozen cherries and they are nowhere near the texture of fresh.

Thanks for the warning. I've now taken some out on two occasions after the first text

When they thawed the later times they released a lot of juice and their texture was softer. This is less than two weeks after freezing. So we will finish them today...

Unfortunately not for long term freezing to eat - to cook into jam or pie maybe

Turkish dried eggplant ..... Back in Wisconsin now and my cooking buddy found a very well stocked Middle Eastern Market near Madison. She couldn't resist a package of sun dried eggplant, product of Turkey. It looks like this but it is not this brand https://www.gourmeturca.com/dried-eggpl ... gI6VfD_BwE
Can't wait to read about how to prepare it. Anyone have any experience with this item? I love eggplant in any form but this is unknown to me.

Turkish dried eggplant

I've never seen that before. A quick Google around suggests that you'll probably restore them (quick bath in boiling water) and stuff them. The stuffings are as various as you would do for a bell pepper: pilafs of various kinds, stews of meat and fig, chopped vegetable mixes. Sounds great.

Today I heard about a new pasta shape: cascatelli (little waterfalls). It was designed over the course of 3 years by someone who wanted a superior shape that would (a) hold sauce, (b) be easy to get on a fork, and (c) be interesting to chew. A friend has tried it and says they are surprisingly good.

Mission: ImPASTAble described here https://www.sporkful.com/heres-how-to-buy-cascatelli-new-pasta-shape/

[Jenise]

They look like something I'd wear on my ear.

But I like the shape, kind of like a track with a curl to it. Would look beautiful in a bowl.

[Jenise]

Yesterday I learned what I already knew, but now it's once-and-for-all-never-again kind of learned, that white corn tortillas are not substantial enough for enchiladas. They disintegrate in long cooking (even 30 minutes) where yellow corn tortillas are much heartier. Only trouble is these days finding a suitable yellow corn tortilla whose package doesn't brag about being extra soft. Apparently, the commercial tortilla gods have decided that 1) white corn is more popular and 2) yellow corn needs to be more like white corn. WRONG-O, Mr. Mission Tortilla Company, WRONG.

What about the sturdier Trader Joe's white corn tortillas, have you tried those? Also, shallow fry the corn tortillas in a bit of oil, as the tortilla will not soak up as much moisture after a bit of frying. Roll it up after removing it from pan. Then unroll to fill.

[Jenise]

Karen, the TJ tortillas are definitely the best around (though not as good as they used to be, they changed suppliers about a year ago) and I use them preferentially for everything. However, I didn't have any on hand and had some Guerrero or something like that, which are too flimsy even for the oil dip/fry. Instead I did my usual, sprayed them with Spectrum organic oil mist and broiled them for about 4 minutes per tray pan--a lower fat method I picked up from Rick Bayless. That works well for a good tortilla, but if one is stuck with the usual grocery brands, gotta go yellow.

[Jenise]

Last night I learned that the more butter the bettah in mixing a waffle batter.

What happened: relatively new to making waffles (classic style, not Belgian, savory not sweet) I don't yet have a go-to recipe. Recipes for a crispy textured waffle typically call for an overnight batter or using mixed flours, like rice, but haven't gone to either extreme yet. I just find and make a recipe and later think, "well it was okay, but." None were crispy, that's for sure.

So yesterday I brought home a piece of fresh Alaskan halibut and really wanted to put it on an avocado waffle with a green chile beurre blanc. (I'm on a Mex kick.) So there I was at 4 p.m. looking up recipes--AGAIN. My search criteria was "savory waffle". First recipe that comes up calls for 2 c flour and 3/4 c sugar. YEAH RIGHT. Hilariously the comments expressed surprise at how sweet they were. [eye roll] Anyway I looked at several others before selecting one that I didn't realize at first had no other liquid but for butter--1.5 sticks!--and eggs (2) for 2 cups flour. Yowzir, but I was intrigued so I went with it anyway, a half recipe that is.

No bueno. Not even close to being a batter, it was more like pie dough. So I diluted half and half with about an equal amount of water and started whisking it in. When I liked the feel of it, I tested some in the waffle iron. AND OMG!!! It was so crispy! Really perfect, best waffle I've ever made. So I added seasoning and the diced avocado and went to town. I got four lovely crispy waffles, two with dinner last night and two that I baked in the toaster oven for lunch today that were not only crispy but possibly better than last night's.

Of course, it's not right to eat that much butter. But wow, were they good.

I have not made waffles in a long time, if ever. But I do like them, so I gave my heart-shapped waffle maker to my friend, Jay Miller. He uses a yeast-raised batter that is splendid.

I've found over the years that batters that are more liquidy with more milk than called for come out lighter and crispier. Of course, you still need enough butter so they won't stick (a quick spray of oil on the iron, esp. for the 1st one also helps). Also on my waffle iron, I have it turned to highest setting. (Settings may vary.)

[Jenise]

I have probably never had a yeast batter waffle. Having zero interest in the sweet side of the waffle world, until I started making my own savory waffles I'd probably eaten but three waffles in my entire life. The yeast batters are what I referred to above as the overnight batters; I guess most people make the batter before going to bed and come morning, voila, it's ready. No reason why one couldn't do that in the morning for an evening cook, but that requires the kind of advance planning I rarely do. What I need is a more spontaneous, small-quantity batter.