Join Us for Part 2 of Our Tayama Thermal Cooker Test! Welcome back to the second installment of our exciting two-part series, where we put the cooker to the ultimate test! In the first episode we unboxed and described the thermal cooker. In this episode, we’re diving even deeper into the amazing capabilities of this innovative kitchen gadget. Whether you’re an experienced chef or just love trying out new kitchen gadgets, you won’t want to miss this!
Hands-on cooking demonstrations with a mouth-watering recipe
Tips and tricks for getting the most out of your cooker
Real-time taste test and honest feedback
Will the Tayama Thermal Cooker live up to the hype? Watch our video and find out! Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more culinary adventures.
Hello my friends. Chef Blondie here. Our video is a little bit different from what we normally do. We actually tested the present I gave my Sous Chef Fuzzy for Christmas – the Tayama Thermal cooker. So we tested the cooker by making a large pot of beef stew.
Thermal Cooker Test Criteria
Here are five important test criteria that we considered in our evaluation:
Heat Retention • Criteria: Measure how well the thermal cooker maintains its temperature over time. • Evaluation Method: Take the internal temperature of the beef stew after cooking without reheating.
Cooking Time Efficiency • Criteria: Assess the total time taken to cook the beef stew in the thermal cooker. • Evaluation Method: Record the start and end times of the cooking process.
Energy Consumption • Criteria: Determine how much energy the cooker uses. • Evaluation Method: Note the energy consumption in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
Build Quality and Durability • Criteria: Evaluate the physical build and material quality of the thermal cooker. • Evaluation Method: Inspect and note the sturdiness of the cooker, ease of handling, quality of materials, and any signs of wear after use.
Ease of Use • Criteria: Assess how user-friendly the cooker is. • Evaluation Method: Evaluate features like ease of setup, clarity of instructions, ease of cleaning, and any special features (timers, etc.).
We will release the complete test results next week. Until then, watch our video, thank you, and happy cooking.
Warm up with a bowl of Jacques Pepin’s Quick Mushroom Soup! As the temperature drops, join me and my trusty sous chef, Old Fuzz Face, in the kitchen as we whip up this comforting and hearty soup in just 30 minutes.
Using fresh cornmeal and a medley of mushrooms, this dish is not only quick but also incredibly satisfying. Perfect for cold, dreary days, this recipe from Jacques Pepin’s ‘Quick and Simple‘ cookbook is a must-try. Pair it with freshly baked sourdough bread for the ultimate cozy dinner. Happy cooking!
Why make this amazing mushroom soup?
Hello my friends. Chef Blondie here.
You know it was cold and snowy this morning. And right now it’s dark. It’s dreary and so cold. It’s wild outside.
My somewhat capable sous chef, Old Fuzzface and I want something warm and satisfying for dinner tonight. But we just don’t have the time to prepare a big meal. In cases like this, we turn to Jacques Pepin’s cookbook, Quick and simple.
So for tonight, we’re going to Prepare an easy dish. It’s a pot of mushroom soup. To make this soup a little more filling and comforting, Jacques adds some yellow cornmeal. I think he does this to thicken it up a little bit. And it just so happened that Fuzzy milled some corn yesterday and it’s as fresh as it can be. To go along with this soup, we’re going to have sourdough bread made with all hard white wheat that Fuzzy baked this morning.
Friends, this is the perfect comforting soup to warm you up after a day of shoveling snow. It’s quick and easy, and it’s so very satisfying. You’ve just got to try it!
For this recipe, you’re going to need unsalted butter, mushrooms, leeks or scallions, and chicken stock. We’re going to use vegetable broth, yellow cornmeal, cream, salt, ground black pepper, and chopped chives. We’re going give it a go.
What do you do when you have no homemade salsa, but you do have a freezer full of frozen tomatoes? Well of course, you do some Christmas canning and make up a batch of Serendipity Farmhouse Salsa.
Serendipity Farmhouse Salsa Emergency
Hello, my friends. Chef Blondie here. First of all, I want to wish all of you a very, very Merry Christmas. And then I want to tell you we have an emergency here at Serendipity Farmhouse Test Kitchen. I went into the pantry to find some salsa to go with my chips. Well, guess what? There was no salsa to be had!
And if I didn’t have any homemade salsa, my grandkids would not be happy because they love their tacos my salsa on it. So, when we go over to have lunch with them it’s, “Granny, did you bring any homemade salsa?”
So, here we are today. My sous chef and I, we’re going to be making salsa. I looked in my freezer and I said, hey, we’ve got some of these frozen tomatoes from season 2023. We’re going to use those. So come along with us on this journey as we make salsa. Happy cooking!
Why we used frozen tomatoes in our salsa
The idea of using frozen tomatoes for salsa is nothing new. I’m sure other people do it. I’m sure I can find videos on it. But we haven’t ever tried it. So, we thought the soon-to-be-world-famous Serendipity Farmhouse Test Kitchen should give it a try.
The whole idea started back in September of 2023. The reason was, we had such an overpowering abundance of tomatoes. We had grown eight or ten varieties of tomatoes. We had so many tomatoes and we just didn’t know what to do with them.
So, we froze them. What we did was we flash froze them, then we use the Food Saver and vacuum sealed them and weighed the individual packages. We thought that someday we would figure out a way to use them.
When planning for this SFH-TK test, we determined that we needed about six pounds of tomatoes to make at least five pints of salsa. Then we selected the bags of frozen tomatoes that would give us the six pounds we needed.
The SFH TK Quest for Better Salsa
Another crucial factor in this test was to continue our efforts to improve our own salsa mix. Our current version of SFH Salsa Mix, was derived from a copycat recipe, but we’ve adapted it to make it uniquely our own. For various reasons we decided not to use dried garlic. Instead we use either our own fresh or fermented garlic.
To the extent possible, we use our own homegrown hot peppers and herbs. This year, we dehydrated our own bell peppers and our next batch of salsa mix will include them.
Now that you know the backstory on why we used frozen tomatoes in our SFH-TK Salsa, watch the video and learn how we overcame challenges with preparing the key ingredient, and how we managed to come up with the best winter salsa ever.
What happens when two friends of 40 years make their favorite Christmas Cookies together? It may be a whole lot more than you would imagine. – Watch as Chef Blondie and Miss Nancy spend a day together baking cookies and so much more.
Hello, my friends! Chef Blondie here. Today, I have a special treat for you. My friend, Nancy. We’re going to be making our famous Christmas cookies. She’s going to make gingerbread cookies and I’m going to be doing my famous sugar cookies.
Why We Decided to Make Christmas Cookies Together
Nancy and I have been best friends for almost 40 years. Nancy will tell you that it started out Rocky – a little rocky. But it all worked out, and after all these years, we’re closer than ever.
If you’ve followed this blog since 2018, you well know we used to do what we call “Yard Trash Day.” (See here and here.) We would make beautiful floral arrangements out of just stuff from our yards.
But this year we said you know what, let’s do something different. So, we decided to try Christmas cookies and see how that works out. I will do rolled sugar cookies, adapted from a recipe in an old Better Homes & Garden cookbook. I’ve used this recipe for over 40 years. Because I made them with my daughter many times, and she likes them so much, I call them Kathy’s Christmas Cookies.
Nancy decided go back even further and make gingerbread men from a recipe from a very old edition of the Joy of Cooking. The recipe poses many challenges, but the end product is tasty. The old recipe includes instructions on how to make templates for the gingerbread men, and it would be great fun when done with a child or grandchild.
So, watch our video and see how much fun two old friends can have when they make Christmas cookies together.
Today, we’ll be exploring the rich culinary history of the Azores, focusing on a traditional and frugal dish—Azorean Bean Soup with Linguiça.
Hi! Old Fuzz Face here. Welcome to the soon-to-be-world-famous Serendipity Farmhouse Test Kitchen!
In the late-1800s and early 1900s, life on São Miguel was simple and community-oriented. Meals were often prepared with whatever was locally available, making use of seasonal ingredients and foods like linguiça sausage.
Our video will show you how to use linguiça in a traditional bean soup that tastes great and is warm and satisfying. – A perfect meal for this time of year.
By the way, don’t be worried if you don’t have any linguiça. A number of grocery chains such as Harris Teeter sell various brands of authentic linguiça sausage. And if you are really daring, try making your own linguiça using my recipe here.
Sous Chef Lessons Learned
Mr. Monte claims that I’m not the sharpest claw on the paw. I’m not saying our video proves him right. I will say that I learned three important lessons while making this about how to make Azorean Bean Soup. Watch the video to see what those three lessons were.
A Recipe on a Journey from the Azores
In 1903, my dad’s parents emigrated from São Miguel to Massachusetts. They didn’t bring much with them, and they had to start here from scratch. But my grandmother did bring one very important thing with her, that was her skill at cooking traditional Azorean dishes.
My grandfather died young, and I never got to meet my grandmother. My dad became the head of the household in the late 1920’s. I learned through my cousin Emma what types of meals my grandmother made for my dad and the family. This bean soup we’re preparing today is an example of what my grandmother would make back in those days. We think you’ll enjoy this bean soup because of its great flavor and ease of preparation.
On YouTube you can find an enormous number of videos showing how to make French onion soup gratinee. For example, Jacques Pépin has at least three different videos. But have you ever seen one video on French onion soup Lyonnaise-style?
Hello my friends, Chef Blondie here. – French Onion Soup Lyonnaise-style is a Jacques Pépin mystery recipe that makes a great French onion soup even better.
How did Jacques do it? What were his mystery ingredients?
Well, if you want to learn the answer, watch as my trusty sous chef and I show you what Jacques did.
Happy cooking!
What makes this onion soup recipe better than the rest?
Of course, Jacques has many variations of the typical French onion soup gratinee. But in this recipe, which comes from the Lyon region of France, the soup is much thicker than the usual kind.
In his cookbook Essential Pepin, Jacques recounts his personal recollection.
It’s often served as a late-night dish. When I was a young man, I often made it with my friends at 2 or 3 A.M. after returning home from a night of dancing. … It looks thick and messy, but it is delicious.
The Two Mystery Ingredients
What sets this recipe apart from all the others is what comes at the very end. It is an added touch that you can perform in the presence of your dinner guests. This simple addition adds warmth to a cold evening and brings people together.
When you take the basic onion soup out of the oven, it will still be bubbling. That is when you add two egg yolks to 1/2 cup of sweet Port wine and mix well. Then you make a hole in the crusty top of the hot onion soup and pour the egg and wine mixture into the opening. As you fold the mixture in, the soup becomes rich and creamy and develops a wonderful aroma.
While your friends huddle around watching, you instantly transform your once typical onion soup into a warm and romantic dish to be shared and savoured.
Key Differences in Jacques’s Onion Soup Lyonnaise-Style
Texture: The Gratinee has a thinner, more broth-like consistency. The Lyonnaise-Style is thicker and creamier due to the addition of egg yolks.
Preparation: The Gratinee is typically served in individual bowls with a crusty cheese topping. The Lyonnaise-Style is baked in a large tureen and served from the center.
Flavor Enhancements: The Lyonnaise-Style includes port wine. This adds a sweet, fruity depth to the soup, and egg yolks, which give it a richer, creamier texture.
The Role of Egg Yolks and Port Wine
Egg Yolks: They thicken the soup and add a velvety, luxurious texture. When mixed with the hot soup, they create a creamy consistency that elevates the overall mouthfeel.
Port Wine: This adds a sweet, complex flavor that adds wonderful undertones to the savory onions and cheese. It also gives the soup a unique depth and richness that is not present in the Gratinee.
What are the two mystery ingredients in Jacques Pépin's recipe for French Onion Soup Lyonnaise style? Chef Blondie will show you what they are and why they make a difference.
Adapted from the cookbook Essential Pépin
We did two things to make a good rye bread even better. First, we enhanced the flavor by using our own home-milled rye berries. Then, we found a way to add the wonderful character and aroma of caraway seeds without suffering the problems often associated with seeded breads.
Hello, my friends.
My hubby and I have been working in the soon-to-be-world-famous Serendipity Farmhouse Test Kitchen. Our most recent project has been to perfect a bread machine recipe using home-milled rye.
In our YouTube video, we show you how we’ve adapted a recipe for Scandinavian Light Rye Bread from The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbookby Beth Hensperger. We’re sure you’re going to love it.
A Few Wry Comments on Rye and Rye Bread
Rye is classified as an ancient grain, belonging to the wheat family, and it has been cultivated for thousands of years. Compared to wheat, rye contains fewer carbohydrates and is richer in vitamins and minerals, making it a nutritious choice. This is a time-proven grain that remains ever so versatile in modern baking.
Perhaps those comments weren’t so wry, but they did let you know that rye, especially when freshly milled, will help you to make a good rye bread even better. So, watch our YouTube video to see how we did it. Also, if you like the looks of that pimento cheese, check our post Pimento Cheese IHO Mom and try out our recipe.
Resources
It’s been nearly 25 years since Beth Hensperger authored The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook. The updated edition comes out this month. Check out the following link for details on The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook, Newly Updated and Expanded: A Master Baker’s 300-Plus Favorite Recipes for Perfect-Every-Time Bread–From Every Kind of Machine Paperback – October 22, 2024 by Beth Hensperger (Author)
In case you were wondering about what bread machine we used to make our rye bread, check out the following link. Cuisinart Bread Maker Machine, Compact and Automatic, Customizable Settings, Up to 2 lb Loaves, CBK-110P1, Silver,Black
After harvesting and processing, the next step in a successful winter food prep is making use of preserving skills. This is key in ensuring that favorite summer foods will be there during the coming months. So, let’s talk a little about the preserving methods we used here at Serendipity Farmhouse during the week of September 15th.
Farmhouse Food Skills Category 3 – Preserving
Hi! Old Fuzz Face here. In the first two posts of this winter food prep series, we talked about where we get our winter food and the farmhouse food skills we use to process it. But that’s just the beginning of our winter food prep. There’s another set of food skills we’ve learned that helps us preserve the food we’ve processed.
Food Preserving Skills
Q – Okay, now that we’ve processed our raw ingredients, what do we do to preserve different types of farmhouse food products?
A – We employ a variety of techniques to extend the shelf life of food, such as canning, dehydrating, fermenting, freezing, and vacuum sealing herbs and other food products. In the future, we hope to explore smoking and other traditional techniques.
You can find any number of lists describing skills needed for preserving food. The lists pretty much agree on primary techniques, but it’s hard to find a single standard list. In our list of six preserving techniques, we show the ones that are important for us here at SFH. For other folks, the list will be different.
6 Important Preserving Skills
Technique
Description
Canning
Preserves fruits, vegetables, and meats by sealing them in jars and heating to kill bacteria. This technique is vital for ensuring long-term storage without refrigeration while retaining nutritional value and flavor.
Dehydrating
Removes moisture to prevent spoilage. This is essential for preserving herbs, fruits, and vegetables, making them lightweight, compact, and easy to store, with a long shelf life.
Fermenting
Utilizes natural bacteria to convert sugars into acids or alcohol, preserving food while enhancing its nutritional value and flavor. Perfect for making pickles, sauerkraut, and other fermented goodies.
Freezing
Slows down enzyme activity and bacterial growth. Freezing is indispensable for maintaining the quality and nutrition of fruits, vegetables, and meats, making them last well beyond their natural season.
Root Cellaring
Uses the earth’s natural coolness for storage. This energy-efficient method is perfect for keeping root vegetables, apples, and other hardy produce fresh over winter. (We don’t have a root cellar or basement, so we have to use the coolest places we can find in our old farmhouse.)
Vacuum Sealing
Removes air from packaging or containers to extend the shelf life of foods. This method is critical for preventing freezer burn and oxidation, keeping frozen and dried foods fresh for a longer period.
Farmhouse Preserving Skills
Here are some preserving skills we used during the week of September 15th.
Canning – Spicy Dilly Beans
We’ve been canning spicy dilly beans for three years now. It’s a great way to preserve those garden-fresh beans and to kick them up a notch. Sure, they can be used as a side for dinner. But with these spicy dilly beans you can also serve them as an appetizer or as a snack at lunchtime. It’s really worth the effort to can beans this way because it ensures that we will have a crunchy, tangy snack or side dish all year-round.
Sage is an essential herb for adding flavor to dishes. Dehydrating this herb takes little time and it’s about as easy as it gets. Now that we’ve started dehydrating products from our own gardens, we can be sure that we always have a supply of aromatic, home-grown herbs to season the foods cooked in the soon-to-be-world-famous SFH Test Kitchen.
This is our first year dehydrating tomatoes. We’re compiling a list of ways that we can use them in various recipes. They reconstitute easily and they’re going to be found on top of our pizzas and in clam chowder and other dishes. Looking further into the future, we expect to turn some of our dried tomatoes in tomato powder for making tomato paste, tomato sauce, and other basic tomato products.
As we see it, dehydrating tomatoes is a way to preserve summer’s sweetness for those colder months. It’s a great way get the most from our summer garden.
Fermenting – Cucumbers
Fermenting cucumbers, or making pickles, is an excellent way to add tangy, probiotic-rich foods to our diet. During the summer we get a large number of cucumbers from our CSA. In fact, we get more than we can use during a normal week. Fermenting those excess cucumbers means we can preserve them for several months and use our own homegrown dill and garlic to add flavor. So, we end up with a healthy, flavorful treat that’s perfect for snack platters and sandwiches.
Fermenting – Garlic
In mid-September our homegrown garlic meets a critical point in its lifecycle. Without a proper cold storage room, this is when our garlic starts to go down hill. We’ve found a few good ways to preserve garlic from two to six months beyond this point. One way we used to preserve the garlic was in red wine. Now, we prefer to ferment our garlic. That’s because, not only does it last longer, in the fermenting process it gains the healthy benefit of becoming a probiotic.
Fermenting garlic enhances the flavor and gives it a little more kick. Now our garlic is long lasting, has great flavor, and it’s healthy. Who could ask for more?
We dehydrate, pickle, and freeze our okra. But, we never ever ferment it. The one time we tried that, we regretted it deeply. So for now, freezing is our go-to method for preserving okra. It’s a simple, effective way to preserve this nutritious vegetable. Freezing okra ensures that we have a supply of this versatile veggie for soups, stews, and gumbos all winter long. Of course, frying is our favorite way to use okra.
Once you learn a preserving technique, you can apply it to a host of other food products. Freezing some veggies like okra is very simple and straightforward. Other vegetables, however, require an added step of blanching to lock in color and flavor. Crookneck squash requires that little bit of extra preparation. After that, it’s just like freezing okra and tomatoes.
You’ll really want to try this. That’s because everybody knows that by mid-summer they’ve seen too much summer squash and zucchini. Freeze it now, and enjoy it in February.
Farmhouse Food Skills Series
We hope that you’re enjoying this series of post and videos about farmhouse food skills.
Join Chef Blondie as she shows you how to prepare an elegant yet easy RV meal by Jacques Pépin. In her latest YouTube video, “Dining by Candlelight,” she takes you on a culinary adventure inside the cramped kitchen of our cozy 24-foot motorhome. You will be amazed by the simplicity and style of this most appetizing dish!
When we arrived at our campsite, the outside temperature was 101°F. Nevertheless, my dear, fearless Chef Blondie demonstrated that she can handle the heat in the kitchen. She also made it clear that anyone can make a tasty dish, even on a getaway trip in a small, hot RV.
Reprise of an Easy RV Meal
On this RV trip, Chef Blondie decided to prepare a delightfully easy RV meal inspired by the legendary Jacques Pépin: Rice with Mushrooms and Steamed Asparagus. This is not the first time the soon-to-be-world-famous SFH Mobile Test Kitchen staff has made this dish. No, almost exactly one year ago, our intrepid crew made their very first YouTube video featuring this same recipe. (See Simple Rice with Mushrooms & Asparagus – Jacques’s Way for the original story and the printable recipe.)
Now one year and over 500 new subscribers later, Chef Blondie confidently steps out in front of the camera, without a script. She’s justly proud of her media ventures highlighting her culinary achievements and her useful cooking tips.
Easy RV Meals Come with Challenges & Rewards
To many, cooking in a motorhome might seem challenging, and it definitely is. Yet, with the right recipe and preparation RV Cooking brings great rewards. In this video, Chef Blondie demonstrates how simplicity and creativity can lead to gourmet meals, no matter where you are. This Jacques Pépin recipe showcases the fresh flavors of mushrooms and asparagus, making it a perfect choice for a romantic candlelight dinner in the camp setting of your choice.
In the video, Chef Blondie provides step-by-step instructions on how to prepare the rice and sauté the mushrooms to perfection. She also shares her tips for proper cooking of the asparagus and ensures that every bite is bursting with flavor. The warm, earthy tones of the mushrooms combined with the vibrant green asparagus create a visually stunning dish that’s sure to impress.
Set the Scene for Elegant Dining
As we set the scene for our candlelight dinner, Chef Blondie emphasizes the importance of ambiance in dining. With soft lighting and a beautifully set table, she transforms our motorhome into a charming dining space, proving that you don’t need a fancy restaurant to enjoy a special meal.
Whether you’re an experienced cook or just starting out, this recipe is accessible and delicious. Perfect for camping trips or a cozy night at home, it’s a meal that brings comfort and satisfaction. So, grab your ingredients and join us on this culinary journey!
Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more delicious recipes and cooking tips from Chef Blondie. Let’s make dining memorable, no matter where the road takes us!
Creme fraiche is a versatile and delicious ingredient that can elevate your culinary creations. This rich, tangy cream is a staple in French cuisine, perfect for adding depth to sauces, soups, and desserts. If you’ve ever wondered how to make this tasty dairy ingredient at home, you’re in luck! Our latest YouTube video walks you through the process step-by-step, ensuring you achieve that perfect creamy texture.
Helly, my friends!
I’m getting ready to make Julia Child’s Cheese Tartlets. A key ingredient is Creme Fraiche. You can buy it in the store, or you can make it yourself. Providing you have just a little time to spare the day before making your special dish, this will be easy to make and quick to prepare.
Let me tell you, the little bit of effort invested pays huge dividends in flavor.
What is Creme Fraiche?
Creme fraiche is a cultured cream that has a slightly nutty flavor and a velvety consistency. Unlike sour cream, it has a higher fat content, making it less tangy and more luxurious. It can be used in both sweet and savory dishes, from drizzling over fruit to enriching pasta sauces. Making it at home is not only easy but also allows you to control the ingredients and flavor.
Why make it at home?
Making creme fraiche at home is not only cost-effective but also incredibly rewarding. You’ll find that homemade versions taste fresher and more flavorful than store-bought options. Plus, it’s a fun way to experiment with your culinary skills!
My dear friend Pierre LeChat has talked about this ingredient in his post Julia’s Tartlets – Pierre’s Test Case. For a detailed demonstration, be sure to check out our YouTube video on how to make creme fraiche. You’ll see the entire process in action and discover tips to customize it to suit your taste.
Happy cooking!
Creme fraiche is a versatile and delicious ingredient that can elevate your culinary creations. This rich, tangy cream is a staple in French cuisine, perfect for adding depth to sauces, soups, and desserts.
