Braised some duck legs with butternut squash, leeks and and white wine, added some pear at the end. There’s a new chain of stores called Wild Fork that sell frozen meats and they sell duck leg quarters in a pack of 2 for 10 bucks. Since mom can just about finish one quarter it’s much better than cooking a whole duck for just us.
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I’m amazed at your harvest. I’m definitely going to have to try that!
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When Jennifer Sandlin posted recently about flavorings for popcorn, she showed her air popper, which I recognized as the same one that I have.
I’ve had mine for about eight years, and after a while the plastic top/hood part of mine started to bubble and melt from the heat—not good! Not only has mine become deformed, as you can see in the photo below, but the smell of the hot plastic tells me that I must be breathing in some fumes that I don’t want to breathe.
So anyway, Jennifer’s post inspired me to finally do something about mine.
I pondered how I could fashion a new top that wouldn‘t be plastic… At first I was thinking sheet metal—it wouldn‘t be that hard to duplicate the shape—except that I don’t have the right tools/materials around here. Then I was thinking to use cardboard and cover it with aluminum foil—but might it become too hot for the cardboard? Then I thought of using disposable aluminum pie pans—easy enough to cut with scissors and shape with one’s hands—and I was looking around the house for some, when I saw my glass loaf pans—Eureka! The 9x5-inch one was too big, but the 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 was a perfect fit…
So, did it work? Yes!!
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Brilliant!
Did you figure a way to get it easily on and off yet? That seems it would be the trickiest part.
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Not yet, but it wasn’t that hard to put on there. But I think I can just leave it in place, because with an air popper it’s not like you really need to wash it. And I have another glass loaf pan that size. (I’m thinking of buying a third one so I’d still have two for baking, but we’ll see. I shouldn’t be that lazy.)
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I’m sure I’ve posted this in the past but it’s been a while and if’s a family favourite - banana chillies stuffed with prawn and pork flavoured with garlic, ginger, chili, fish sauce and coriander roots, cooked in a Thai red curry sauce with basil and coriander leaves.
Not shown - the vegetarian version, stuffed with a cooked filling of finely chopped mushrooms and fried tofu, with the same flavours as the prawn/pork one.
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coriander roots ?
i know the leaves and stems (cilantro) and the seeds and use both frequently.
never cooked with (or seen a recipe call for) the roots. i wonder how that flavors the sauce? is it (?) earthier than the fresh greens?
i need to grow some this time of year, as it is too hot in the summer for it to grow, but that’s the only way i’d get to try the root - not something the local Publix is going to have.
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It’s not that different to the stems but it’s a bit more intense/deeper and works really well in curry pastes and coriander & black pepper paste (which is pretty much the stuffing flavouring here).
Were lucky that it comes from the supermarket with the roots still attached,
Hmmm. Now I want to make some green paste from scratch…
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Speaking of which… I was in Bangkok a few weeks ago and saw this at Phran Nok market.
And you can see coriander roots in the top right of this, sold without the leaves.
(It was the curry flavour bundles of lemongrass, lime leaves and galangal that I was photographing).
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Pan fried mackerel, poached egg, buttered sourdough toast topped with arugula and a splash of olive oil and red wine vinegar. A good rainy sunday breakfast 
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The kid and I made this for a party she was hosting.
Pumpkin chocolate, with ganache and pumpkin whipped cream.
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Nicely MacGyvered.
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I love it!
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Paging Doctor_Faustus
You mentioned you wanted ideas for Venezuelan arepa fillings. I will give you some ideas with a description and a link to pics, and if there’s any specific ones you’re interested in you can either Google them or ask me to find ones that look good to me. However if you want a more legit recipe i can ask my mom, who is a really good cook, to give me recipes but it might take longer to get said recipes back 
The first batch of ideas aren’t actually fillings but alternate ways of cooking the dough.
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Bollos or bollitos. The absolute simplest one is. Its meant to be quick, simple and quite plain (but filling). You make a ball or log out of the dough and boil or simmer it for a short period of time, and serve with butter and some kind of salty semi-hard cheese. I’ve also heard of moms making this for toddlers and serving it in warmed milk, i think i’ve had them this way too just don’t forget the butter and cheese.
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Bollo Pelon - it’s basically a Venezuelan dumpling of sorts. You make a disk of dough and fill it with cooked ground beef, and shape it to a ball and seal it. It can be cooked two ways, either boil it in water/stock or cook it with a good pasta/tomato sauce. Serve with the sauce on top and Parmesan cheese.
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Arepa frita - Fried arepa. Also very easy to make, kind of made like a thin doughnut to cook evenly and is more naughty than regular arepas. In my family these are eaten with straightforward fillings like sliced ham, grated semi-hard cheese and butter, but if you look online i see folks using all kinds of stuff so add what you like.
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Mandocas - They use the corn meal dough but the dough is sweetened, and has anise seeds, shaped into loops and fried. Served with grated semi-hard cheese and if you have a sour cream or something similar you can use that as a dip. There are two regional variations, one has mashed mature plantain and the other is sweetened with syrup made from raw brown sugar blocks. I’m sure the plantain one is delicious but my parents were firmly in the other camp. Happy to provide my mom’s recipe, i’d just have to ask for it.
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Arepa Dulce - Exactly the same dough as the mandocas. Shaped just like the arepa fritas and cooked the same way (though they can be made without the hole), and also filled the same way (cheese, ham, butter, and a sour cream type dairy if you have it). You’d have to be careful cooking them because they puff up when cooking and if you’re not watching them you can burn them more easily.
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Empanadas - Easy concept, empanadas. Fill them with the same things you’d fill an arepa, they’re excellent.
If i’ve missed alternate ways to use the dough please contribute.
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Part 2: Again like above, just listing things and if you want specific recipes let me know! And it should go without saying that pretty much all of these can be mixed and matched, add other things like avocado, cheese, etc.
Arepa Fillings:
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Reina Pepiada - Main protein is shredded chicken, it’s basically a chicken salad that has mayo, avocado, cilantro and a few other things
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Arepa de carne mechada - Shredded beef arepa. A foundational side for Venezuelan food. My description below ties into this one.
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Arepa de caraotas negras con queso (aka Arepa domino) - Probably my fave, i generally have it with avocados as well. but it’s also one of the foundational sides you’d need to make/master if you want to make other Venezuelan dishes. The other foundational dish is the shredded beef which is also used as a filling. The full monte for us if you want to go all out is the Pabellon Criollo, which is black beans, shredded beef, and sweet fried plantain and is based on our national dish of the same name.
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Arepa de Perico - Scrambled eggs with sauteed onions, tomatoes and ham. I can do without the ham sometimes, but it’s more typical with it
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Arepa con salchichas - sliced sausages cooked in a tomato sauce. Its simple but quite nice, i haven’t had this since i was a kid since i don’t like sausages as much these days but i would still recommend it.
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Arepa con atun - Another top fave. Not much to say besides it’s tuna. It’s great.
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Arepa con sardinas - Similar but different to the tuna one, and doesn’t involve mayo. It’s more savory and overall more flavorful, this would be my #1. I couldn’t find good pictures of it so look at the tuna one, then imagine something better
I could suggest more but i’ll stop here for now. If others want to recommend ones i’ve missed go ahead but to demystify things. There’s no such thing as the wrong way to fill an arepa, use leftovers or whatever you have. It’ll be good. Hell i’ve used pasta leftovers lol.
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