Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I think you should go with something that tastes better the next day since you can't do something fresh and delicious. Some things reheat beautifully in the micowave the next day, like meatballs and sauce that can be garnished with fresh parm and chopped parsley or basil. Lasagne and baked ziti are in this category too. How's your bolognese recipe? You could jazz it up by preparing it with brisket, beef ribs, or smoked turkey. Again the garnish with fresh grated cheese and herbs will liven up your reheat. If I were doing this challenge I'd go for the bolognese and choose an interesting strand noodle. On the veggie side, I'd wow 'em with Mario Batali's pasta and cauliflower, which is scented with saffron.

Do I break the rules if I mention a restaurant meal? Last night was Korean BBQ at Honey Pig (Gooldaegee), in Annandale, VA. Absolutely delicious and totally satisfying!

You're welcome @jammin83! I haven't one in a while but isn't it good to know that we can make them at home?

Oops! Link for the rhubarb ginger jam is --->here

Eugenia Bone has written Well-Preserved, a cookbook on canning and preserving that includes a chapter on making sauerkraut as well as recipes to use it with. She also blogs for the Denver Post, and might be able to answer your question. I've yet to try making sauerkraut though I've got a nice head of cabbage from the farmers market that I plan to use. I know that she specifies a two week ferment in her recipe as well.

Does your recipe use pickling salt only and no other seasoning? That's Eugenia's recipe but I'm tempted to jazz it up with mustard seeds or carraway or something even though it will be my first attempt. What do serious eaters think?

I like Faith Willinger's Red, White, and Greens: The Italian Way with Vegetables, which is not a health cookbook at all, but it has plenty of delicious recipes where vegetables are the star. The book is divided into chapters by vegetable, so it would be very easy for you to expand your repertoire of your family's favorite veggies. Of course it's got plenty of pasta and risotto recipes and because Willinger's husband is from Florence I believe, Tuscan preparations abound. It's also an interesting read about the history of the foods we eat. Definitely worth checking out from the library.

Interesting question. I'm not convinced that the slow cooker temperature translates directly to oven temp. I have two slow cookers, one that boils even on low so I know it's calibrated to be more than 212 degrees. The other one never really boils but braises beautifully for making pulled pork and vegetable dishes like eggplant caponata.

But I've also braised a lot of meat roasts in my 5 1/2 quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven in the oven at a slowly bubbling simmer at an oven temp of 310 to 350 depending on how long it's in the oven and how close it is to done. The slow cooker is meant to replace the oven braise so I'd think you might want to start at 325 and go up or down from there. Molly Stevens has a comprehensive book on oven braising and she eschews the slow cooker. Chances are she has a recipe similar to the one you're contemplating, so I'd defer to her, but I'll check. I can say that her chicken recipes are usually braised in a 325 degree oven, using a heavy metal pot like a Le Creuset.

I have seen recipes for cooking long (like 9 hours) at 200-225, but have no experience with that technique.

To echo @ec_washington, crisped bread crumbs make a fine garnish to practically anything, especially vegetable and pasta dishes. Blitz the bread crusts (or equivalent amount of bread) in the food processor with a couple cloves of garlic. Drizzle in a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Cook over medium high heat in a wide skillet for a few minutes until toasted and crisp, stirring occasionally, but don't turn your back! Adds a nice crunch to greens, cauliflower, mashed potatoes, pasta, etc.

Hard to choose one favorite, so I'll go with the two most recent: Monday (last) night was spaghetti alla Bolegnese (made the Mario Batali way with bison, pork, and slab bacon) and Sunday night was chicken and dill dumplings.

My mom didn't make chicken and dumplings often, but I always loved hers so I felt really cozy comfy making and serving that dish to my partner and a friend who was able to join us for dinner. The spaghetti alla Bolognese I love to make when we have a bit of leftover wine to use up and we served that for dinner to my partner's brother who's visiting for the week.

Hey I just today learned from my co-worker who keeps kosher that brussel sprouts (as well as beef tenderloin/fillet mignon) are not kosher. Seems that bugs could get into the layers with no possibility of thoroughly cleaning in between. And since eating of insects ain't kosher, brussel sprouts aren't either. Totally off topic but I thought it was an interesting tidbit.

Make breadcrumbs in the food processor. (I never understand recipes that recommend cutting the crust off sliced bread when making bread crumbs. Makes no sense!)

My partner the New Englander loves cod which I always seemed to overcook to the rubbery stage. One of the best preparations I ever hit upon was to roast it in the oven with a bread crumb crust: Blitz a couple cloves of garlic with a slice or two of bread (or the equivalent in bread crusts. Drizzle in a tablespoon or so of olive oil while the processor is running to moisten the crumbs. Add in your choice of chopped sun dried tomatoes, olives, parsley, dill, marjoram, etc. Drizzle with olive oil on both sides and arrange the fish bunched together so that the fillets are touching each other. Salt and pepper the fish, top with the bread crumbs and roast in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes. Moist and delicious cod every time!

I've had great success canning chutney. I use a recipe similar to this one of Martha's. You won't need pectin because cranberries, like other tart fruits such as granny smith apples, have plenty so no worries about thickening. I just follow my recipe and the instructions I have in the Ball canning book for processing chutney and it's all good! What a nice idea though!