What do your meals look like (show me pictures)....

Gai yang drumsticks, pork loin using the same marinade, nam jim jaew dipping sauce, carrots caramelized with cola, bok choi stir fried with oyster sauce, bulgur.

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

acpgee wrote: »

In the spirit of @Adventurista I make homemade stock due to thriftiness. I permanently have 3 ziplocks in the freezer for poultry bones, fish carcasses and shells of crustaceans, vegetable peels. My tip is not to forget to save stock ingredients from store bought food such as rotisserie chicken, a bucket of KFC, or a takeaway seafood boil. My household doesn’t eat enough bone in beef to have a beef bone bag.

@acpgee @Adventurista

you're more industious than I. I am thinking I should harvest and use for stock all my veg waste from salads.

yes @mjbnj0001 ~ i do that too except onion skins. Also use or freeze to use any liquids from cooking veggies. I did use regular recipes when I was learning to make broths/stocks, now I just kitchen sink what I have - and I often 'pre-spice' with a variety of seasonings. My fav base is to use pan drippings & things that had been smoked on a bbq - And after it cools, to skim off any fats on top, pick out the non-edibles. scoop & freeze the clear broth on top, then stick blend the rest of the veggies & broth from the bottom which makes a nice bodied/complex base for soups and stews. Although rustic, I figure that retains some of the nutrition and fiber that we otherwise would be throwing out with the bones.


i was inspired by Julia Child who came to take up learning & cooking later in life... I try to try.... sometimes it works, sometimes it flops.

Next adventure - @acpgee - will be to try making focaccia bread... hoping to check out flour today on the way home, if there's enough time after my meetings. This discussion really does inspire! Thank you all for the shares


last night for dinner - cauliflower steaks on the grill (spritzed a bit of olive oil and spiced. drooling now! glad we have leftovers!)

acpgee wrote: »

Cullen skink followed by air fryer cheese souffle and green salad. ...

@acpgee I had to chuckle ... here in the US, "skink" is a little lizard. I looked at your dish's photo, then did a little googling to see what it was. Scottish fish stew or soup. No little reptile parts floating around, LOL.

Adventurista wrote: »

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

@acpgee @Adventurista

you're more industious than I. I am thinking I should harvest and use for stock all my veg waste from salads.

yes @mjbnj0001 ~ i do that too except onion skins. Also use or freeze to use any liquids from cooking veggies. I did use regular recipes when I was learning to make broths/stocks, now I just kitchen sink what I have - and I often 'pre-spice' with a variety of seasonings. My fav base is to use pan drippings & things that had been smoked on a bbq - And after it cools, to skim off any fats on top, pick out the non-edibles. scoop & freeze the clear broth on top, then stick blend the rest of the veggies & broth from the bottom which makes a nice bodied/complex base for soups and stews. Although rustic, I figure that retains some of the nutrition and fiber that we otherwise would be throwing out with the bones. ...

sounds good, thanks. literally, "food for thought."

acpgee wrote: »

Thanks @mjbnj0001. I promised to do a focaccia on the weekend and will try your recipe. I have ordered strong bread flour arriving today so will try that out for the first time too. I have been using regular all purpose flour up to now.

Good luck! Most of the flour I use, we call in the US, just "bread flour." The brand I normally use is unbleached, and has a protein content of 12.7%, which would be "strong" in UK parlance. My usual whole wheat flour has 13.2%. I have successfully made (but not recently) both focaccia and fougasse using methods similar to this video, which I why I shared it to you after your previous "looking for simpler" posting.

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

acpgee wrote: »

Thanks @mjbnj0001. I promised to do a focaccia on the weekend and will try your recipe. I have ordered strong bread flour arriving today so will try that out for the first time too. I have been using regular all purpose flour up to now.

Good luck! Most of the flour I use, we call in the US, just "bread flour." The brand I normally use is unbleached, and has a protein content of 12.7%, which would be "strong" in UK parlance. My usual whole wheat flour has 13.2%. I have successfully made (but not recently) both focaccia and fougasse using methods similar to this video, which I why I shared it to you after your previous "looking for simpler" posting.

Your recipe is actually very similar to the one I use. Mine mixes together the dough ingredients waits 30 minutes then stretches every 30 minutes for the next two hours. Followed by a slow prove overnight in the fridge or a quick prove at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then one last stretch and put in the well oiled baking tray, rested for one or two hours before dimpling and baking.

Your recipe mixes together ingredients, rests at room temperature overnight, and then goes through three stretches once per hour. After placing in baking tray it rests for two hours before dimpling and baking.

So I am not sure it is less time consuming but at least your recipe doesn't require re-organizing the contents of the fridge to fit in a big bowl of dough. One thing I plan to change with your recipe is the use of tin foil and plastic wrap. Just use a sheetpan to cover the dough between stretches.

@acpgee , lovely remembrance.


Added my meatloaf to sausage veggie/potato soup.

First dinner of vacation: salad (greens from CSA box), stir fry on top.

acpgee wrote: »

Cullen skink pulled out from last weeks batch in the freezer with today's focaccia as a starter. Followed by cheese souffle and green salad.
I added some photo's of today's focaccia which I made in multiple small pans because it might keep better over a couple of days than a single loaf made in a traditional large tray. I used the Emma Fontanella recipe (skipping the optional overnight slow prove in the fridge) in conjunction with bread flour and suspect that it results smaller bubbles/holes than the Chef John recipe. There was no discernable difference in the eating experience, and Emma's recipe dirties fewer dishes and her stretch and fold technique that needs to be performed periodically dirties only one hand instead of two.

looks pretty good as is, don't always need the giant bubbles.