Paper bag “ripening” the last little tomatoes picked three weeks ago before the first hard freeze. They have the color and texture of fast food tomatoes, so I’m not expecting much in terms of flavor.
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What are the odds?
But that does explain why you bothered to look closely at the penny!
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Just pickle them.
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We find that making gratinati can usually make even meh tomatoes pretty tasty…
Half em, slice the them with crosses about halfway in, then add a touch of salt, and cover with breadcrumb mix, (breadcrumbs, we make from stale nice bread, chopped garlic, parsley, salt and pepper, mix with enough EVOO to moisten, keeps in the fridge for a while) and pour a bit of olive oil on before roasting til the tomatoes are soft, and the crust on top is browned…
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That sounds delicious!
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We also do cherry tomatoes and use them as a sauce for pasta, and I’m starting to make myself hungry…
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I always thought Chop Suey was invented in
California’s gold rush?
“For many Americans, Chop Suey was their first exposure to Chinese food. For many Chinese immigrants, Chop Suey was their first exposure to American food.”
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Chinese turkey anyone?
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First go at braising beef short ribs tonight. Did the pan sear, then into the oven for 3 hours with the braiding liquid. Got the texture just right, house smelled delicious, meat itself tasted good, but the sauce was … ok. Not quite meh, definitely not as tasty as the aroma teased it being. Will try again next time they’re on sale.
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I didn’t review the Chef John episode before I posted it. Did he smush some anchovy into the sauce? That makes a big difference. He calls it “Italian MSG.”
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No, he actually considered the sauce a bit of a fail in that it didn’t deliver the promised flavor. So I followed the technique but did my own take on the gochujang based sauce. I’m amused that I got a similar result: the meat was great, the sauce was just ok, mostly because the gochujang zing and heat disappeared during the long braise. Maybe next time I’ll try a red wine based braise instead. (With anchovy paste)
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Could you just add more gochujang at the end?
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Interesting! I had been told soldiers coming back from the Korean War missed the food they’d sampled over there and came up with American chop suey as a substitute. All kinds of urban legends about that one!
Coincidentally, we just got Gastro Obscura from the library. I’ll keep you posted if I stumble upon anything especially noteworthy.
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The flip side of that is that spam became very popular around US military bases in Korea and Japan, to the point that it is now considered an essential part of Okinawan cuisine.
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Awesome typo 
We call them “garbage burritos” around here, when we fill tortillas with random leftovers, but I can get behind “crap tacos.”
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Beware Muphry’s Law! Muphry doesn’t always strike fast, but he always strikes. 
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As long as he brings hot sauce, I won’t complain!
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Seems a fair trade.
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Between this digression and the “crap taco” I’m reminded of a hilarious story from, I think it was radio lab. This couple was trying desperately to get their dog to stop eating poop at the dog park. One vet recommended they put hot sauce on it, so it would taste bad to the dog.
So the couple is at the park, the dog sees some pooh and runs towards it. The husband holds the dog’s leash while the wife runs up, crouches down, and sprinkles hot sauce on the turd. Then the dog runs up at eats it.
Imagining what that looked like to an “outsider” cracks me up every freaking time I remember it.
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