What I learned today

[Jenise]

I've never had it before, Jeff. 'Babka' is a name I recognized without ever knowing what it was until offers started showing up in my sidebar within the last six months for ordering thru Goldbelly or somesuch. Of course, that way would have cost $60 instead of the $6 I paid at TJ's. It's REALLY good.

I've never had it before, Jeff. 'Babka' is a name I recognized without ever knowing what it was until offers started showing up in my sidebar within the last six months for ordering thru Goldbelly or somesuch. Of course, that way would have cost $60 instead of the $6 I paid at TJ's. It's REALLY good.

I have a TJ near me so I'll have to look for it. The best babka that I can find comes from Breads Bakery, written about for many years now, e.g., https://www.seriouseats.com/best-chocol ... w-york-nyc

[Jenise]

Good article; and I can assure you that in the three years since that was written the babka now being sold by TJ's, at least in WA state, is nothing like that now. For starters it's hardly sweet (and as a non-sweet eater, my "hardly sweet" is well left of median), not "very very sweet". And in the looks department, it resembles the one shown as Green's. I don't know if that's encouraging to you or not.

It was not really thought out, but a 45+ year old botrytised Auslese made a great deglaze/sauce for sea scallops.Just in the pan for a minute to burn off alcohol, but it seemed to rein in the sweetness as well. I think when I have leftover sweet pradikat wines I'm buyig scallops!

Good article; and I can assure you that in the three years since that was written the babka now being sold by TJ's, at least in WA state, is nothing like that now. For starters it's hardly sweet (and as a non-sweet eater, my "hardly sweet" is well left of median), not "very very sweet" as described in the article. And in the looks department, it resembles the one shown as Green's. I don't know if that's encouraging to you or not.

Yes, both of those are encouraging. As the article said, a babka is not a Yiddish brownie; it's more like Yiddish bread pudding, only not quite so wet.

It was not really thought out, but a 45+ year old botrytised Auslese made a great deglaze/sauce for sea scallops.Just in the pan for a minute to burn off alcohol, but it seemed to rein in the sweetness as well. I think when I have leftover sweet pradikat wines I'm buyig scallops!

Interesting. I had a recent good experience of a 2002 Auslese with a salad of fresh-picked crab meat and fresh-shucked corn kernels. Sweet with sweet, though rather different in each case.

fresh-picked crab meat and fresh-shucked corn kernels.

I reallylove crab, but prices have really seemed insane last year of so. I occasionally see a sale price and think "that's a splurge m but for good jumbo lump..." and then realize price is actually for claw or backfin (or "special"). Similar to lobster. My local guy is now at $18.50/lb for chicks/1.5ers, $19.50/lb for 2 pounders. Now I am "guy who seldom has lobster or crab"

Yesterday, I learned the benefits of eating the core from a pineapple. What? I have been in the kitchen since I was 11 years old and have eaten my share of pineapple, but the core was always tossed. So, my cousin who lives in Washougal, WA, is a horse woman, owns six beautiful, well behaved dogs, many cats, and cooks a lot for other people told me she has been eating the core of the pineapple ever since a friend of hers helped his wife with a health issue using pineapple cores in smoothies. I did some research and found that Bromelain, a proteolytic enzyme, is the key ingredient, along with a few others that are good for us. So, I am sitting here typing this and drinking a smoothie made in the NutriBullet using a small piece of the core, 2 strawberries, a small amount of blueberries, 4 chunks of cantaloupe, raspberries, and the rest of the pineapple juice in the fridge. I always add a little local honey and two tablespoons in my smoothies.
Anyone else using the pineapple core and what do you do with it?

[Jenise]

Don't make smoothies, but I've always loved chewing on the core. I like chewing on tough things. Must have been a rabbit in a prior life.

[Jenise]

New product to me, got a little jar from a friend last weekend, tiny semi-dried cherry tomatoes (super sweet in the first place, flavor further concentrated by dessication), opened it to taste this morning and ended up eating the whole jar:

https://www.oliodecarlo.com/prodottidecarlo/pomodori-sun-kissed/

For a tomatoholic? These are *crack*. OMG.

I have semi-dried tomato halves from Italy...really a unique product. I think I need to get some of the cherry tomatoes. I really like the canned cherry tomatoes for making pasta sauce. Just placed an order for the semi-dried cherry tomatoes on Amazon.

[Jenise]

These are just incredible, Karen. They're preserved in the most heavenly seasoned olive oil. I'll end up using that on fresh tomatoes and cheese, or maybe season mashed potatoes with it (and leave out the butter).

I love your idea of seasoning mashed potatoes, I can almost taste it!

Well I didn’t really learn this today, it’s something we all know, be careful with recipes on the internet,,

I noticed a recipe that called for “1/2 lb. (or 1 kg)” referring to meat per serve! Crikey we metric people sure like our meat

Gave Betsy the new Eric Kim cookbook. Many of the recipes call for gim. I'm thinking I need to go to Hmart for this exotic new ingredient. Then I actually read the pantry section to learn about this new ingredient and discovered we're just talking about nori/laver (everpresent in our home).

[Jenise]

Ha ha! I haven't learned 'gim' either.

I've learned that fresh curry leaves don't freeze well. This is another of those items where they're sold in big packages but you only use them a few at a time. Best to turn any excess into dried curry leaves. Many South Indian spice mixes call for dried curry leaves vs. fresh.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Good to know! I've never frozen them. I do kaffir lime, but curry leaves seem so much more fragile.

Yes, kaffir lime leaves freeze beautifully. Fresh Thai chiles freeze OK, but the texture goes a bit mushy and you need to use them as soon after defrosting as possible. They will go bad overnight after defrosting. Fresh galangal goes fibrous after freezing, but nowhere near as badly as if you just keep it in the fridge.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Yesterday I learned that you can put insufficiently hard-boiled, cooled eggs in a pot of hot water and recook to get the needed done-ness. And I do mean insufficient. Maybe only 50% as cooked as they needed to be owing to the fact that foolish me started them straight from the refrigerator and simmered them too low at that. So my ideal 9 minute egg was really only a four and a half minute egg. I'd have thrown them out and started over except for the fact that I didn't have any more eggs or time to go to the farmstand for more.

Yesterday I learned that you can put insufficiently hard-boiled, cooled eggs in a pot of hot water and recook to get the needed done-ness. And I do mean insufficient. Maybe only 50% as cooked as they needed to be owing to the fact that foolish me started them straight from the refrigerator and simmered them too low at that. So my ideal 9 minute egg was really only a four and a half minute egg. I'd have thrown them out and started over except for the fact that I didn't have any more eggs or time to go to the farmstand for more.

Size does matter. If you cook extra-large or jumbo eggs, you'll also see a difference in timing.

Several weeks ago I bought a couple of dozen eggs. Next to the white eggs, which had been purchased significantly in greater numbers was a big stack of same-brand brown eggs for a dollar less. Go figure. Guess which I bought? I like brown eggs for their aesthetic appeal.

Several weeks ago I bought a couple of dozen eggs. Next to the white eggs, which had been purchased significantly in greater numbers was a big stack of same-brand brown eggs for a dollar less. Go figure. Guess which I bought? I like brown eggs for their aesthetic appeal.

It means the bran hasn't been polished off, right?

[Jenise]

Larry, yes on the timing. I pretty much only buy farm eggs which aren't matched sets. I always leave the larger ones in for another minute.

I pretty much only buy farm eggs which aren't matched sets.

Hercule Poirot wouldn't approve.

-Paul W.