@FaheemMitha ATK - America's Test Kitchen. It's part of a huge company that looks into the science behind what makes recipes work and tries to make the most successful version of the recipe... They use people as testers to find out how people feel about the recipes before they release them... granted, it's all very subjective as to what's "best" but they certainly are good at finding excellent methods for making particular dishes.

@Catija Do they pay their testers?

@FaheemMitha Nope. They have a very avid group of followers who are more than happy to do it for free to have early access to recipes. There's no requirement that you do the testing, either... if you don't have time or wouldn't usually eat the type of food in the recipe, you just skip it

@FaheemMitha Yes, those are 5 or 6 bananas that I peeled, chunked and put in ziploc bags in the freezer, knowing that someday they would become banana bread. Today is that day.

@Catija I see. Figures.

@Jolenealaska Oh, ok.

@catija some say atk makes the most 'successful' recipe. Some say it makes the most average recipe...

@ElendilTheTall I tend to use their baking recipes with great success. I like their methodology and the science they use. I have some of their cooking books but I don't use them as often... cooking is so much more art than science, for me... there's certainly plenty of science in cooking but not to the degree of baking.

@ElendilTheTall Marco

I am making banana bread tonight from ATKs recipe.

I think you're right that ATKs recipes can be very "average", but I only see that in savory things. Particularly in ethnic recipes, they play it pretty safe.

I love them for baking though, the very best cheesecake I have ever made was theirs. The very, very, very best brownies I have ever made were theirs.

They walked me (a very novice breadmaker at the time) through ciabatta that turned out great.

Tonight I am making their banana bread, And I have very high hopes.

SAJ would call this extremely overly fussy:

Be sure to use very ripe, heavily speckled (or even black) bananas in this recipe. This recipe can be made using 5 thawed frozen bananas; since they release a lot of liquid naturally, they can bypass the microwaving in step 2 and go directly into the fine-mesh strainer. Do not use a thawed frozen banana in step 4; it will be too soft to slice.

Instead, simply sprinkle the top of the loaf with sugar. The test kitchen’s preferred loaf pan measures 8½ by 4½ inches; if you use a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness five minutes earlier than advised in the recipe. The texture is best when the loaf is eaten fresh, but it can be stored (cool completely first), covered tightly with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.

And If that seemed complicated to me, I could watch the video! The video can actually be very helpful. I loved having it when I made my ciabatta.

I had frozen bananas, so I strained them overnight.

So I skipped the microwave step. Since I always throw overly ripe bananas in the freezer, that's the way I would always do it.

My bread will be much darker, since I fostered my bananas on the counter, they (and the juice) oxidized a lot. The bananas are black on the surface (I had plenty to scrape the worst of the surface away, and the juice is dark brown.

@jolenealaska polo

There you are! You're late!

It's Saturday, ya loon

Oh yeah....

Last night's macs went well

I keep forgetting that since it's my Friday night.

Getting a handle on the mixing... They were much easier to pipe

Ah, you're doing another batch?

Done

They browned, not unexpectedly

So did you emulate that video we watched?

To a nice latte brown

:)

I used that back and forth and new, 75p flexible spatula

is this the salted caramel?

I also engaged my brain and used the paddle on my mixer to mix in the almond mixture

Much easier

Yes, salted caramel

Pic of the spatula? I need to replace the one I killed.

In retrospect tinned caramel is just a little too runny - I should have added some butter

But they'll taste good anyhoo

OOH! I can do that paddle thing once I get my mixer! 5 more days.

It was just the cheapest one they had at Asda (walmart)

I just mixed it on 1 until it incorporated, then macaronaged

I took photos, I'll process them in a bit

I got a couple of cheapos when my good one died, but they are too flexible for macaronage.

I'm glad that reminds me...

All in all my yield was much higher: 41 usable macs

I don't think you can have too flexible a spatula for macaronahe

It helps to smoosh the batter against the bowl

(smoosh is the technical, French term. Le smoosh)

Mine is downright floppy.

amazon.com/OXO-Grips-3-Piece-Silicone-Spatula/dp/B005PP9ACY/…

Added to order that is getting big.

I shouldn't have, but I got their credit card.

That's how I am setting up my indoor garden.

I found a strain that is very low in THC, but very high in the compounds that are supposed to be good for certain MS symptoms.

I'm growing that one, plus one intended to be fun.

I see

My whole kitchen smells like banana

The Amazon listings for stuff like grow lights are just bold about it.

great for tomatoes or cannabis

"Herbies Seeds in no way intends to condone, promote or incite the use of illegal or controlled substances."

That particular one has been in business for at least 10 years.

@ElendilTheTall My dinner tonight is crostinis with the first loaf of bread I made with my new pizza stone and the olive full sauce I made for yesterday's pizza.

I'm going to put an egg yolk on each, and save the whites for next week's macarons.

macs sans colour

@ElendilTheTall Those are gorgeous!

Banana bread? Yummy.

Yep...It's done and I've already had a slice. It's great, very banana-y

Cool!

Looks like your virus has infected Lindy...

Poor, poor Lindy, or what is left of him.

@Cerberus Lindy?

woop

Hi @sourd'oh, long time no see!

howdy. how've you been?

I'm good!

I seem to remember that you have been known to cook with cannabis, is that right?

Yeah, I was doing recipe development for a dispensary.

You may be one to talk to then. I'm setting up a grow. I am hoping to well document any symptom relief with different strains and different ways of administration (MS)

I am going to get involved with the cannabis club here.

I'm sure you saw the news reporter that quit on-air just before the election?

With a live "Fuck it"?

@ElendilTheTall Your macarons look amazing

@Jolenealaska Yes, Lindy.

Short for Elendil.

SAJ came up with that.

OH! I remember now :)

@Jolenealaska Yes, I do remember that!

She's the one I'm talking to.

Oh, wow. Working with a celebrity!

Heehee

Yeah, she's famous for a 1 second expletive on live TV.

That of course went viral.

I did a lot of recipe development and worked on that end, but outside of the kitchen the grow was really disorganized. I'd be happy to answer any questions, but the disorganization means I probably won't have good answers for more technical stuff on that end.

Well it's recipe stuff I'm interested in. I won't have anything to cook for a while, but when I do, I want to make tasty treats, both for me and patient members of the club.

As you know, the stuff tastes nasty.

Gotcha. And yes. That was kind of my area, making recipes that masked/complemented the flavor.

What will you be cooking with/what form are you getting from the grow?

I will probably cook with the powder, that when pressed, makes hash. I don't know what that's called...

And butter made with good trim.

It's so nice that it's legal here...even for recreational.

I used to have a medical card, but it's long expired.

kief

that's what the powder is called?

Yep.

You'll have to decarboxylate it, which isn't as complicated as it sounds.

My sous vide set up might come in handy.

Nope...too low

Good article:

marijuanagrowershq.com/…

We did it on a sheet pan in an oven, like you'd caramelize onions in an oven

Would lower temps work with oil?

I think we did 215 for 30 minutes in a convection oven on low, and we stirred it every 5 minutes.

I'm thinking of making butter with my sous-vide

You undoubtedly could. I think you have to decarb anyway before you put it in oil or butter (or such was the prevailing wisdom at the time)

We made infused butter and coconut oil and those were the bases for most of our stuff

I think we did an olive oil too

ooh, and a heavy cream

I used to live, commune style, with a group that served as a dispensary and a political voice for legalization. We got it an the ballot in 2000, but lost.

it's been like a year, and oddly I don't remember it too clearly ...

Nice! (the group, not the loss)

We made butter just by long simmering the butter and leaf.

I don't remember what temp we used.

I know a lot of folks who do it that way, but the pros swore by decarbing first. (And it uh... certainly seemed much more potent that way)

Once my dog ate the stuff we strained out.

Once decarbed, I dissolved it into the fats for our bases

oh yikes

He was nearly comatose for 3 days.

Living proof that it's impossible to fatally overdose.

Make sure he has a warm bed and plenty of water, he'll be fine.

and he was

yeah, a THC overdose is noooo fun though

I've only once been more stoned than I wanted to be (mini overdose)

Very paranoid

I have an e-cig from way back when when I finally quit smoking cigarettes.

I'd love to learn how to make the juice with pot, but what I have found makes it seem very complicated and expensive.

I'm guessing those involve the alcohol extracts? Yeah, you can do a lot if you get oil extractors or some of the more expensive equipment, because you can minimize the flavor a lot more. It's super expensive though

I had an OD from working in the kitchen. I've kind of avoided pot since.

like, no lasting side effects or anything, and the whole time I was like "YOU CAN'T DIE FROM POT! YOU'LL BE FINE!" but it was pretty horrible

Nasty

I'd like to be able to quantify the dose per treat.

If your grow gives you consistent stuff, you should be able to fairly easily

Until they (government bodies) get it worked out, the legal limit is 6 plants.

Oh, wow.

So I plan to grow six autoflowers at a time.

I think here there's a personal limit like that, but you can have like cooperative grows that can be pretty huge.

our kitchen was in an enormous grow house. It was like being in a weed sauna.

That will happen, eventually. Now it's done but only with all members having cards.

So six is my limit unless I get a card, which is a PIA I don't need.

My "commune" had a big grow. 6 cards X 6 plants, if I remember right.

We invited news crews several times to our legal grow.

oh, nice

ours was like a machine shop that had been converted, so there were all these little corridors and side rooms. I think there were close to 1000 plants

I missed having my picture in High Times by 4 days.

drat!

That'd be some resume padding

If you google my full name, which I will post in a moment and quickly delete, you will find a lot from that era.

I'll check :)

It's kind of funny.

I was working as a Veterinary Technician at the time.

Someone always clipped my letters to the editor and put them on the billboard.

I answered my home phone "Free Hemp in Alaska".

The two lives overlapped all the time.

It was never a problem.

I just kept my scrubs in a big tupperware container so they never smelled like my home.

One day I was tidying up our main living room.

well, 15 years later... it's paying off!

I picked up a tin of Altiods...

it rattled...

I was startled, and opened it...

Wow...these things come with mints! Who knew?

Lol!

Wow it has been 15 years. Jeez

I know that feeling, but because I always use them for electronics stuff.

You're the second person who has said that to my little joke.

Makers are everywhere...

I did have a system worked out with roommates once. Peppermint tins were for weed, spearmint tins were for electronics.

HA!

One of our biggest funders (for the 2000 attempt) is from Arizona

Patricia Anne Steward

Hmm, maybe she funded the one here too?

Has recreational legalization made your ballot yet?

no, I don't think so

I have the feeling that it is going to go the way of gay marriage...It has momentum now. More states are going to legalize every election, and eventually the feds are going to give in.

You went to my home state to get married, come here for a second honeymoon! Celebrate legal pot!

There has actually been discussion of moving to Alaska

Really?!

sadly, with the gay marriage thing, then you get all these states trying to make discrimination legal on religious grounds

This state has a lot going for it.

Yeah, Arizona was never a permanent thing, I really hate winter though. I think I largely hated it because Nebraska's winter was so sporadic, you couldn't really get into it.

I like cross country skiing and stuff

Yeah, it seems like it. You can see Russia from your backyard, etc...

Heehee....

that was a hoot.

I've actually met her.

I like Tina Fey better.

I knew as soon as the Hobby Lobby ruling was announced that people were going to use it to attack gay marriage.

It took like 2 days.

Yeah. I wonder if the reverse is true? Like all the gay owned restaurants, florist shops, contractors, etc can be like "Oooh, I see you've got a crucifix up. Sorry, can't do, won't do."

That has my vote!

What the hell happened here?

here where?

Both pics were taken within seconds of each other

Camera on auto

I want to eat some some of the Italian loaf, but not until I have a good picture!

The banana bread is good.

oh wow, no weird lighting change or anything?

Nothing

Just pictures snapped, right in a row.

I'm going to take another, not in auto

brb

good luck

Sometimes answering trends on this site kind of annoy me

Oh yeah? Which one this time?

lol, it's a trend for me, isn't it?

much better!

That's just a snippet, the whole file is too big, but yeah, I think that will do.

The recent one on curing vs fermenting.

It seems like a lot of times people will just post a much longer version of an existing answer without really adding relevant info.

Good, cause I'm hungry and I have some great crostinis planned. I hate that.

It feels wrong to downvote, but it's annoying.

Crostini time!

These should make for a nice picture.

Crostinis are in the oven

LUNCH!

You forgot half the loaf

Oh, and crostini is the plural :P

good to know!

the other half of the loaf is above

Lookin' good!

I tried to get a close up of this:

@ElendilTheTall I was just...stop stealing my lines!

In case you try this wicked move with me again, for future reference:

> one panino, two panini

But I couldn't get it to focus any closer.

What's on it?

The sauce I made yesterday that's like a tapenade mixed with an uncooked tomato sauce, a mix of Italian white cheese, half of a hot pickled chili, and an egg yolk.

Interesting.

my goal was to get the yolk warm, but still runny.

It worked!

Yay!

Up to about 55 degrees, it should remain runny?

Or even 60?

I toasted the bread and heated the sauce in advance.

That helps.

Then I assembled and put it into a 175C oven for 8 minutes (ish, I didn't time it)

I made this pizza yesterday:

so that was a warm-up for these crostini.

so the single is crostino?

@ElendilTheTall did you see the 2 pics above? What happened?

What happened?

Did it not focus?

AF systems can be finicky. If in doubt, use Manual focus.

Did you see the pics up a few messages?

That one was a color thing,

this one just wouldn't focus at all until I pulled way back

I haven't focused manually yet. I'll do that your Monday morning.

If you want to focus super close, you can also use macro mode

I was in macro.

That's the little flower symbol, right?

I'm going to do exactly that crostino again, exactly that shot, but without the yellow chili.

I love, love, love runny yolks.

they're the only way to go

That's about the only thing that will make me return a plate to the kitchen...don't break my yolks!