What's For Dinner #60 - The Hot August Nights Edition - August 2020

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I vote this pic as the best of five gorgeous food shots in your post, Eli. :grin:

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My respect for you remains. No one is perfect. grin

Have you used a conventional stove-top pressure cooker? Faster than any electric pressure cooker and easier to clean. Holding at serving temp is important in commercial environments but if you need more than a few minutes at home something strange is going on.

24-hour yogurt makes my head hurt. Yogurt takes 8 to 10 hours. The IP makes yogurt (like rice) overly complicated. See https://instantpot.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Duo-Evo-Plus-English-Full-Manual_2020-05-12-INTERACTIVE.pdf page 48 - 50. THREE PAGES for just making yogurt.

I hear you about cults. To my mind near-religious adherence to views (a hallmark of cults) is dangerous. Where is critical thinking? Good science requires questioning, most importantly of one’s own conclusions.

You can keep chili or rice warm in a simple slow cooker, in a heated pan, over a hot flame tamer, or on serving dishes heated in an oven. You don’t need an electric cord. That is before we start talking about chafing dishes.

Does. Not. Compute. :wink:

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I disagree, because you cannot brown foods in most slow cookers. Sure, you could use a separate pot. But by that point you’ve defeated the one-pot and cleanup advantages. Might as well just braise in the oven or stovetop then and take advantage of evaporation, which neither IP nor slow cooker offers. You can at least remove some steam with IP quick release.

For what little it’s worth, my stovetop pressure cooker (Fagor), which was in heavy rotation pre IP, has been used exactly never since we got the IP. I like that I don’t need to babysit the IP like a sputtering PC on a burner.

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That sounds fantastic.

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I succumbed to instapot praises but never quite grew fond of it. It now sits in the dining room, also unused. I plan to drag out my old fashion stove top PC once the cool weather begins.
Dinner last night was baked stuffed shrimp and scallops. Didn’t follow any recipe but hope I can recreate it because it turned out quite well.

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I do have a stovetop PC and used to use it often - before my “doorstop” arrived :laughing:. For me the IP is easier to clean because there is NO mess on the outside of the pot - it totally self-regulates temp/pressure so there is no sputtering or steam to crust onto the lid or sides. And because the IP walls are so tall/pot is so deep, it better contains grease splatters when browning than most conventional PCs (unless you use the really big pot). I do think a PC heats more evenly and can achieve a deeper crust/darker browning that an IP. But for my purposes the IP is usually sufficient. Unlike my PC, my IP insert goes right in the dishwasher. And there’s a non-stick version.

I won’t argue about holding at serving temp except that parents of kids with busy schedules, like me, would heartily disagree.

24-hr yogurt appeals because it completely ferments out the lactose. So I don’t need a lactase supplement to consume. You can make yogurt for as little or as much time in the IP as you want - there’s nothing particularly fussy about it. It heats the milk to a boil, then you cool it down to 118° F and whisk in a few Tbsp. yogurt as a starter culture. It’s actually less fiddly for me making it this way because we used to rig up a heating pad wrapped around the fermenting vessel to keep the yogurt at the ideal fermenting warmth. With the IP it’s set and forget. No worries about contamination, etc.

But enjoy that doorstop :grin:

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SATURDAY - RESTAURANT INDO CHINE BY LEAP - BARCELONA - EXIAMPLE …
2 photos - copyright: INDO CHINE BY: LEAP
ALL OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS - MY DEAR SNAPPED ON HIS CELL MOBILE …

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As someone who has ordered another round of hot and spicy jumbo shrimp FOR DESSERT when at our favorite Szechuan restaurant, I understand this. :laughing:

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That’s my kinda order! :laughing:

Good ideas. I’m usually serving multiple dishes to a group of thirty five with outlets but no burner. I do use another multifunction cooker, and a slow cooker as well, but other than the larger capacity, I don’t find the slow cooker better than the multifunction cookers.

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My favorite dessert is fried oysters.

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Was it The Trident, Zack’s, Ondine’s? I grew up in Sausalito but have never had a gin fizz!

I agree with all these, and I’m an experienced stovetop PC user (daily use) from a culture that considers a PC the most important cooking vessel, put up with separators (dal, rice, whatever else will fit to “use up the space” and not waste the energy being used) every morning.

It’s taken me years to decide if an IP would be a worthwhile addition to my kitchen (given the scarce counterspace).

This pandemic displacement with daily IP use has finally convinced me.

I’m not tossing my regular PCs though - the IP doesn’t “do it all.” But no appliance does - that’s why I have an immersion blender with a mini-FP - and a full size blender and full size PC. The latter don’t get as much use as the little guy, but that doesn’t make them obsolete.

Lemons and oranges? Or maybe limes and lemons.

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Pork-a-Palooza: The Final Chapter - Char Siu.

Marinated and frozen a week or two ago, cooked sous vide overnight, basted and broiled to finish.

I learn when I cook something like this that it’s always that last step that seems like overkill that actually makes the dish.

Before the “lacquering,” it was meh. After, exactly right!

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Looks amazing! Just needs some sticky rice :grin:

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that’s why I have an immersion blender with a mini-FP - and a full size blender and full size FP

Fried rice and/or chow fun for me! That’s my order from the cheapie chinese hole in the wall on my block!

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Tonight I made sweet tea-brined, smoked pork chops rubbed with home-grown coriander and black pepper. Had those with a green salad with fig balsamic dressing and shawarma spiced butternut squash from the garden. Also whipped up hummus and pulled flat bread dough from the freezer. The chops were just okay.

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Nice platter combos. Looks delicious.

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