The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2016 Bermuda plus on the Anthem of the Seas.  On June 6 we visited St. Maarten:

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

Asparagus season is over.  Maybe I'll book a cruise.

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2015 Prinsendam back to back.  On June 7 we visited Falmouth, UK:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

15 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Asparagus season is over.  Maybe I'll book a cruise.

Sounds like a good idea.  I'll have to see what the surgeon says at my appointment today but  I think being able to leave the country is still a ways off.

 

Roy

[BWIVince]

25 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Sounds like a good idea.  I'll have to see what the surgeon says at my appointment today but  I think being able to leave the country is still a ways off.

 

Roy

 

Good luck today, Roy!  Hoping the surgeon has only good news.

 

Vince

[KenzSailing]

So, for those of you not following the current fashions in burger making, for a couple years now, the Smashburger has been all the rage.  A Smashburger is exactly what it sounds like.  So the other night I made Smashburgers for the first time, and they turned out quite well.  Juicy, but with a nicely crusted exterior.  And the technique allows you to take out any frustration you might be feeling at the time.

 

Cooking truly is therapeutic.

 

 

[mskatiemae]

22 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Asparagus season is over.  Maybe I'll book a cruise.

Since you mentioned asparagus, and because I had just booked an April 2022 Rhine cruise on Mahler, it seems I should check timing of asparagus season in the Netherlands. Apparently they're originators of white asparagus and the season is similar to ours. So I am hoping it will be a nice mild winter there, so I can get some fresh white asparagus for my post-cruise Easter weekend in Amsterdam!

[Texas Tillie]

9 minutes ago, mskatiemae said:

Since you mentioned asparagus, and because I had just booked an April 2022 Rhine cruise on Mahler, it seems I should check timing of asparagus season in the Netherlands. Apparently they're originators of white asparagus and the season is similar to ours. So I am hoping it will be a nice mild winter there, so I can get some fresh white asparagus for my post-cruise Easter weekend in Amsterdam!

 

I had a fabulous white asparagus dish at Lucerne, Switzerland on a Bach cruise, last week of April, 2019.

 

Patty

[Roland4]

15 minutes ago, mskatiemae said:

Since you mentioned asparagus, and because I had just booked an April 2022 Rhine cruise on Mahler, it seems I should check timing of asparagus season in the Netherlands. Apparently they're originators of white asparagus and the season is similar to ours. So I am hoping it will be a nice mild winter there, so I can get some fresh white asparagus for my post-cruise Easter weekend in Amsterdam!

White asparagus is also a German specialty so you should be able to get it pretty much all along the Rhine! 

[BWIVince]

38 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

White asparagus is also a German specialty so you should be able to get it pretty much all along the Rhine! 

I was just thinking the same thing…. I know it’s popular in many places on the continent, but my German cousins go absolutely crazy for white asparagus every year.  I even see pics of it on Lufthansa’s first class meals sometimes.  
 

Vince

[KenzSailing]

1 hour ago, Roland4 said:

White asparagus is also a German specialty so you should be able to get it pretty much all along the Rhine! 

 

Oh yeah, white asparagus is definitely associated with Germany, and I assume other proximate countries.  It's still available at our local market, but I've been hesitant.  Maybe, if it's still there Friday, I shall take the plunge.  That's my idea of a White Night.

 

As long as we're talking things Germanic, I have Bratwurst happily doing the backstroke in the sous vide gizmo in preparation for dinner tonight.  Tonight's Chez menu is titled "Do Your Wurst."    

[Roland4]

3 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Oh yeah, white asparagus is definitely associated with Germany, and I assume other proximate countries.  It's still available at our local market, but I've been hesitant.  Maybe, if it's still there Friday, I shall take the plunge.  That's my idea of a White Night.

 

As long as we're talking things Germanic, I have Bratwurst happily doing the backstroke in the sous vide gizmo in preparation for dinner tonight.  Tonight's Chez menu is titled "Do Your Wurst."    

My Better Half's family is/was German, so I know of what I speak! In many ports along the Rhine you will find white asparagus in a white cream sauce, with large bits of ham (schinken) floating in it. They are much larger than our North American green cousins, something approaching the size of a twelve inch hot dog, and sometimes larger. Last time we had them was our Bach Rhine/Moselle cruise in June 2019, about a millennium ago!

 

And Kenz, what are you doing boiling Bratwurst?? They MUST be broiled or BBQ'ed!!

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2016 Bermuda plus cruise on the Anthem of the Seas.  On June 8 we visited their private resort at Labadee, Haiti:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2015 Prinsendam back to back.  On June 9 we visited Dublin.

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

On 6/7/2021 at 10:00 PM, Roland4 said:

My Better Half's family is/was German, so I know of what I speak! In many ports along the Rhine you will find white asparagus in a white cream sauce, with large bits of ham (schinken) floating in it. They are much larger than our North American green cousins, something approaching the size of a twelve inch hot dog, and sometimes larger. Last time we had them was our Bach Rhine/Moselle cruise in June 2019, about a millennium ago!

 

And Kenz, what are you doing boiling Bratwurst?? They MUST be broiled or BBQ'ed!!

 

Roland4, I'm afraid my "backstroke" poor attempt at humor led you to a logical, but incorrect conclusion.

 

I would never be so crude as to boil my Brats.  Rather, they go into a food-safe plastic bag along with a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of beer(essential), and then luxuriate in a nice rather warm water bath at a constant 157F(water boils at 212F, give or take a little for altitude.)  So definitely not boiled.  Then on the back end, into a roaring hot skillet for 30 seconds a side for that nice browning.  Yes, I lose those sexy grill stripes, but the succulence of a moist, fully cooked Bratwurst more that makes up for that, IMO.

 

I mean, it's not big, thick asparagus, but still...

 

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2016 Bermuda plus cruise on the Anthem of the Seas.  June 10 was a sea day from Labadee, Haiti to Bayonne:

 

 

A bit of an update.  I think I'm doing pretty well but yesterday my Cardiologist indicated she wanted me to do 3 months of Cardiac Rehab.  I really don't want to fly right now and my cruise options are a bit limited.  HAL has some round trips to Alaska out of Seattle that are attractive (and I can get there on Amtrak) but the rehab will probably limit that.  I'm also considering a later fall Auto Train to Florida, ferry to Bimini, and a Serenity cruise.

 

Roy

[Roland4]

13 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Roland4, I'm afraid my "backstroke" poor attempt at humor led you to a logical, but incorrect conclusion.

 

I would never be so crude as to boil my Brats.  Rather, they go into a food-safe plastic bag along with a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of beer(essential), and then luxuriate in a nice rather warm water bath at a constant 157F(water boils at 212F, give or take a little for altitude.)  So definitely not boiled.  Then on the back end, into a roaring hot skillet for 30 seconds a side for that nice browning.  Yes, I lose those sexy grill stripes, but the succulence of a moist, fully cooked Bratwurst more that makes up for that, IMO.

 

I mean, it's not big, thick asparagus, but still...

 

Thanks for the clarification. Sounds like an interesting preparation. I prefer the BBQ when we can. but this might be worth trying in the winter when the BBQ is generally buried in a snowdrift!😁

[mskatiemae]

20 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Roland4, I'm afraid my "backstroke" poor attempt at humor led you to a logical, but incorrect conclusion.

 

I would never be so crude as to boil my Brats.  Rather, they go into a food-safe plastic bag along with a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of beer(essential), and then luxuriate in a nice rather warm water bath at a constant 157F(water boils at 212F, give or take a little for altitude.)  So definitely not boiled.  Then on the back end, into a roaring hot skillet for 30 seconds a side for that nice browning.  Yes, I lose those sexy grill stripes, but the succulence of a moist, fully cooked Bratwurst more that makes up for that, IMO.

 

I mean, it's not big, thick asparagus, but still...

 

I like this technique with brats but do it all in a covered skillet (not sous vide). I did however get inspired to buy an air fryer equivalent in the form of a largish Cuisinart chef convection oven. As the current temp outside is 98F here in the Twin Cities it seems to me a great fast alternative with the speed convection.

 

So once the cicadademic winds down, Mr Kenz, perhaps you can give more advice on air frying! I'm now good at reheating and pizza, but getting good at other techniques seems elusive...

[BWIVince]

21 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

I would never be so crude as to boil my Brats.  Rather, they go into a food-safe plastic bag along with a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of beer(essential), and then luxuriate in a nice rather warm water bath at a constant 157F(water boils at 212F, give or take a little for altitude.)  So definitely not boiled.  Then on the back end, into a roaring hot skillet for 30 seconds a side for that nice browning.  Yes, I lose those sexy grill stripes, but the succulence of a moist, fully cooked Bratwurst more that makes up for that, IMO.

 

I see a future nod to the Chez in the award category of menu writing (if such a thing exists) -- among its many other accolades.  

 

Vince

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is the last from my 2016 Bermuda plus cruise on the Anthem of the Seas.  On June 11 we disembarked in Bayonne and I was home that evening.

 

 

Roy

[Jim9310]

New England is ahead of the pack!  Ten highest and lowest statewide vaccination rates, as of yesterday----

[Jim9310]

This is not a fishy story!

Cape Cod diver left with a whale of a tale after a humpback spat him out

[rafinmd]

I do not have a June 12 sunrise but do have  a sunset.  On June 12, 2015 MS Prinsendam visited Galway, Ireland:

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

On 6/10/2021 at 6:48 PM, BWIVince said:

 

I see a future nod to the Chez in the award category of menu writing (if such a thing exists) -- among its many other accolades.  

 

Vince

 

Ah you're too kind.  I am but a mere line cook standing on the shoulders of giants(Child, Pepin, Hazan, Lopez-Alt.)

 

My Jacques Pepin story:  we met him at a talk/book signing maybe 20(!) years ago.  He was exactly the person you see on TV: knowledgeable, helpful, charming, humble.  My favorite answer of his to an audience question:

 

"How many knives do I own?  Eighty, maybe ninety.  I use three or four of them."

 

That's a guy who's not ashamed to be called a cook.

[rafinmd]

19 hours ago, Jim9310 said:

This is not a fishy story!

Cape Cod diver left with a whale of a tale after a humpback spat him out

That made our news as well.  I'm also pleased to see Maryland in the top 10.  I wonder though, it seems to be largely because of the leadership of our young people.  In the last week 29% of the first doses and 41% if the final doses have been people under 20.  A number of our colleges are requiring it and that must be part of it.

 

Roy