I know, right? 
Maybe to accommodate creamy vs crunchy peanut butter? Maybe to accommodate varying humidity levels on the day one makes them? I’ll never know unless I try the recipe.
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A lot of my grandmother’s recipes are like that. It’s because what she really did was add flour/oats/butter/milk/whatever until whatever she was making looked/felt/tasted right, rather than actually measure anything. Which is fine for non-bakery foods, but for breads and cakes and the like, it can require some trial and error to get right.
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At the point where you are literally setting something in stone, not having a precise recipe seems like Memaw is getting the last laugh.
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It’s the halfway point between the modern molecular gastronomy approach: “take 37.5 grams of ingredient, and sousvide at 81°C for 9 minutes 47 seconds…”, and the medieval recipe approach “Take enough of the ingredient, cut it into pieces of the correct size, put it into clean water, and boil it until it is cooked…”
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Damn that looks good!
Cheers!
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Today I came to the realization that you can make an outstanding meal by taking your leftover fasolakia and topping it with a can of high-quality tuna fish in oil (like a tonno or a really good yellowfin, anything that they sell packed in olive oil will work).
This isn’t terribly surprising as there are a number of classic salads with tuna that include tomatoes and green beans. Unsurprising or no, it made a delicious dinner.
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Speaking of, I keep meaning to make this. It’s from a Dinah Shore cookbook - so I can’t read the description without hearing it in the voice of Dinah Shore. I don’t really care how authentic it is or not; they had me when I imagined this in her voice…
Salad Niçoise
Missy discovered this one-when she discovered beautiful room service in beautiful Paris. I think she first ordered it because it had tuna fish in it–but when Mom got a taste of it, it was forever after a perfect whole meal salad–without lettuce–imagine!
1 2-ounce can anchovies, drained
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
2 medium tomatoes, cut in wedges
1 pound cooked green beans, cut French style
1 green pepper, cut in strips
8 ripe olives, pitted
2 potatoes, boiled and sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick
1 sweet onion, cut in thin slices
1 6 ½-ounce can tuna, drained broken into bite-sized wedges
French dressing (page 148)
Marinate green beans in French dressing in refrigerator over night, if possible. Chill remaining ingredients. Place all ingredients in a large, chilled salad bowl. When ready to serve, pour French dressing over and toss lightly, but thoroughly, being careful not to break up tuna too much. Serves 8.
Basic French Dressing
6 tablespoons good fresh olive oil
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
1 clove garlic, pressed
Combine the above ingredients in a tall jar. Shake well before serving Yields enough dressing for 6 salads
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I was delighted to learn from Serious Eats that panzanella doesn’t have to have tomatoes.
And let’s get one thing straight: panzanella is not a tomato salad with bread; it’s a bread salad flavored with vegetables.
I happened to have a slice of whole wheat bread, plus some cut-up and lightly-steamed carrots, zucchini, and red pepper on hand.
Normally, I would cube the bread, put everything in a bowl with some salt and pepper, pour some packaged chicken broth over it, heat it up in the microwave, and call it soup.
This time, instead of broth or microwaving, I tossed it with olive oil, white wine vinegar, and some dried basil. Topped it with some very middle-of-the-road pre-shredded parmesan cheese.
Was it Serious-Eats-worthy? HAHAHA, nope, not at all. But it was my panzanella, and I enjoyed it 
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Happy 75th to Harold’s!
Back when I was a new vegetarian, Harold’s was an exception, because if your friends were going, you didn’t want to miss out:
Harold’s Chicken Shack is legendary. The Black-owned fried chicken chain started 75 years ago on Chicago’s South Side is name-dropped in lyrics by Chicago rappers-gone-big from Common to Juice WRLD to Noname. People argue over which location is the best, even setting out to try every one and rank them objectively. It has its own markers and customs: an ax-wielding figure chasing a chicken for a logo, a turnstile through bulletproof glass to deliver your food, specific lingo for orders, and vinegary mild sauce that ends up dousing the bread and fries that come with the chicken.
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The ads for that series here featured Stanley saying “The great thing about Italy is, no matter where you go, they treat you like family.”
I dunno, but I think being a famous movie star with a documentary crew in tow and the last name of Tucci just might have some influence on that.
I’m sure it’s a lovely show, however.
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Famous movie star is maybe a bit much. I don’t think anyone in Italy has heard of character actor Stanley Tucci. Or at least that was true before Conclave came out.
And yeah, I was skeptical, too, but it is actually a lovely show. He is genuinely interested in the people and genuinely enthusiastic about the food. And he speaks the language, unlike most travel show hosts.
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The CNN series he made was superb, so I have ahem high hopes for this, too.
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The poor dope wandered into an Olive Garden and didn’t even notice!
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Anyone tried these before? Having one now.
I wasn’t sure when I first tried it, but it’s growing on me…
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ooh! i love those!
tajín on mango is a combo that was simply meant to be! i put tajín on fresh mango, fresh cukes, on the rim of a margarita… the stuff is versatile, man!
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Have you seen this?
It’s from a while ago…
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i would totally demolish that dinner and desert!
tajín churros, dipped in chocolate?! oh yeah!
definitely going to do the fish tacos, myself!
thanks for the vid. now i’m going to have to get in the kitchen and cook!
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