Food

[geoffbot]

Seafood trend here on iwl.

[Raza]

Asian style crab, asparagus egg soup. We got way too much asparagus this year so we blanched and froze a bunch. It's not fit for eating on it's own, but it stays bright and tasty so a quick plunge into a soup like this is perfectly fine.

Attachment 79503

That looks fantastic!

[Raza]

Seafood trend here on iwl.

I absolutely adore seafood. Are those yours or is that from a restaurant? If you made them yourself, how did you prepare them? Steamed?

[geoffbot]

I absolutely adore seafood. Are those yours or is that from a restaurant? If you made them yourself, how did you prepare them? Steamed?

Actually they're from a packet in a supermarket and I microwaved them!

I've made my own before with shallots, garlic, cream, parsley, white wine, lemon juice, and cooker them in a frying pan. These were good though, and easy.

[Raza]

Actually they're from a packet in a supermarket and I microwaved them!

I've made my own before with shallots, garlic, cream, parsley, white wine, lemon juice, and cooker them in a frying pan. These were good though, and easy.

Nice. I’ve had the microwave ones before, they’re not bad.

[geoffbot]

Tasty

[Henry Krinkle]

Nice. I’ve had the microwave ones before, they’re not bad.

I generally steam mine over whatever I am eating them in. If I am making cioppino for instance I wait until everything is just about cooked, drop all the mussels on top and cover. Steam for 4 minutes. I often check at 3 1/2 minutes. I have had a batch or two where many were still closed after four minutes. You can give them another minute if you have too, but I would never go past 5. Just dispose of the duds at that point.

[Raza]

I generally steam mine over whatever I am eating them in. If I am making cioppino for instance I wait until everything is just about cooked, drop all the mussels on top and cover. Steam for 4 minutes. I often check at 3 1/2 minutes. I have had a batch or two where many were still closed after four minutes. You can give them another minute if you have too, but I would never go past 5. Just dispose of the duds at that point.

I’ve steamed clams at home before, but not often. Littlenecks are lovely with pasta, I just tend not to go through the trouble.

[CanadianStraps]

Up there with fall golf, apples are one of the good parts about transitioning out of summer.
I discovered a somewhat newer orchard not so far from me and it has been my fall mainstay for a few years now.



Its medium-ish in size but they grow a wide variety and have several good pear selections as well.
This is the most 'apple orchard' look I think of, the purple-y colour of ripe empire apples in late leaf trees.



But they aren't why I'm here.
What did I pick? 2 for cooking:

Orange Cox:


And some big honkin northern spies:


And then 2 for eating:

Imperial gala, my snack apple standard. They are pure perfection right now:


And the real reason for coming. The Silken. Maybe the best eating apple I've ever tried, and right now they are untouchable in quality. No grocery store will carry them and when I see them in farmer markets the price is always depressing. They are think skinned despite being so firm and juicy, so stores dont like the short shelf life.


And this orchard really knows how to cultivate them. Look at this bumper crop:


What will I cook? Great question. Both of those cook types have their own distinct characteristics, so I'm sure I'll think of something interesting.

[Henry Krinkle]

A meal we don't eat enough- crispy skin salmon with arugula and cannellini bean salad.