SV octopus is the best, I wouldn’t bother with most other seafood cooking SV. One drawback is octopus is expensive… half the weight is the water, but you don’t really see it until it’s cooked. For this reason eating octopus in restaurants is even more expensive, even in octopus loving countries. One small tentacle costs about 10 euros.
I love dried octopus and calamari from the Asian store, reconstituted with hot water overnight or with a teaspoon of baking powder in 1 q of water, then pat dry with paper towels, add seasoning such as soy sauce, garlic, wine and korean chile, with sesame oil overnight then grilled. It was a favorite childhood dish. Your sichuan chile in oil looks good.
Leftover chicken sliced up, some goat cheese, and chopped roasted red pepper made for a pretty nice (albeit plain) panino. Should have added some Aleppo pepper for a bit of zip.
Tater chips and wine alongside. Early to bed, early to rise tomorrow, as I have to be at Mom’s on Wednesday morning for an 8:30 appt. Oy.
Dumb question alert - so I’ve only recently been buying potatoes regularly but I know to store them in a cold, dark and dry place but it seems every bag of potatoes starts to sprout within a week. Is this normal?
Yes. It is, and this winter it has been worse than usual.
3 Likes
meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
407
I seem to have better luck taking them out of the bag and placing each in the pantry where they can have some air around them. Might be my imagination but they seem to last a bit longer.
Definitely get them out of plastic. They need to breathe. And if you leave them on the counter underlights will spoil even faster. They will grow eyes.
Thanks! I’ve been taking them out of plastic. I was leaving them in a closet that “sees” every day light and they were turning green so realized that was too much and put them in a closed cabinet. The last bag I bought they were all already sprouting when I opened it. It might be better to just buy singles.
Oh, I am with you. I have had luck storing potatoes in a brown paper grocery bag, with the top of the bag rolled shut to keep out light. The bag gets tucked on a shelf in the basement, which stays cool though not that dark (thus the paper bag).
The potatoes sprout less quickly. Without the bag, the taters might have held a couple of weeks. With the bag, as long as a few months. My results vary highly depending on temperature and humidity though.
Good to know. I’ll put the next bag in the basement and see if that helps.
1 Like
meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
415
As a solo cook That is what I generally do. I only by a bag of russets if the price is good and I have several dishes planned that use them. The small bags of mixed (red/yellow/purple) are mesh and I hang them from a hook on the pantry door. The quantity is small enough that I can usually use them before they go bad.
One grocery chain in my area has all the small potatoes and onions (boilers/shallots/etc.) in bins at the same price so you can choose the exact variety you wish. They do the same with small tomato varieties. Unfortunately their locations are not within my usual haunts but I love the idea. They also have live herbs “planted” with snips handy so you can cut the quantity/variety you need - priced per bag. Costs more than one package of herbs but cheaper than two and you come home with just what you need. Both of their locations that I go to are located in areas with a large single population. This option is brilliant for that demographic!
I’m a solo cook but eat for 2-3 people depending on the day and training so bulk is usually a better buy but not when it goes bad. Also the bagged are smaller which I appreciate because I’m not committed to a giant spud.
Wow, that’s a great idea. The bouquets of herbs can be such a waste.
I never buy a lot of potatoes. Love the fingerling that Costco carries but they do not always have it.
Was lucky that I was in a yard sale and saw a small oak cabinet made by Amish people.
It has the upper drawer for Taters and the lower smaller shelf for Onions, nicely carved for $10.00.
I snatched it up so fast. Unbelievable workmanship and price.
Now,Ino longer mix my onions and potatoes together in my kitchen cabinet
I used to buy the 10lb bag of potatoes because they were cheaper per pound than buying singles or the 5lb bag, but we can’t go through 10lbs quickly (we don’t eat a lot of potatoes). I’ve switched to buying singles – they cost a bit more per pound, but I buy them as I need them and don’t have to worry about them going bad. If they are on sale, I’ll buyt a couple extra – I have 2 stacking baskets in my pantry where I store my onions, garlic and potatoes. Onions and garlic on the top bin and potatoes in the bottom bin. If I buy baby or fingerling potatoes, they go into the pantry as well.
Of course you are assuming we have a basement…I don’t, but have a garage which is dark and is un heated, although integral to the house…thus I use that, and put the onions far from the potatoes…seems that they sort of get together and they all go bad at once…I keep my onions far from my taters
