16 Comments

The wine and snacks! Yum! 😋

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Thirsty Thursday?!!!

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I like it! 🍷

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That TJs wine is the one I serve in all my cooking classes. It’s a great value. Have you tried the TJs label Bandol rosé? It’s decent!

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Right?!!! Totally agree that the Bandol rosé is a very decent value. I have a weakness for rosé and typically load up via Kermit Lynch (which has a good discount if you meet their minimum for mail order). 😉

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I loved your hint about using a perforated pan with an induction burner to char vegetables. I ordered the Oxo pan and bought some shishito peppers. My induction burner has been a stop gap measure for too many years (i love the down draft vent of my Jenn Air stove but hate the electric stove itself). I cook exclusively now on the induction burner(s). Looking forward to trying it out but I know it will work. Thank you.

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That OXO pan turns out to be darn good. I was skeptical, to be honest. Because many people have switched to induction, I'm glad I tried out the pan on induction. If you have to facilitate contact with the hot pan surface, use a flexible spatula to press on the peppers. I sometimes use metal presses. Look forward to your feedback!

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I was very happy with my purchase. I just used tongs to turn the peppers. I have a whole bag of peppers so I think I am going to try it in a regular un-perforated pan. Had not previously thought what might be the difference between holes and no holes so to speak. Buying bags of shishito peppers has become more mainstream. Trader Joe’s has had them for a while but they are not convenient to me. So availability at the Big Y is a biggie.

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I love the content! Where can I find your recipe for vegan bologna????

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Fabulous, Anna! The vegan bologna recipe mentioned in one of the chat threads is from my book, Ever-Green Vietnamese. Here's more about it! https://andreanguyen.substack.com/p/ever-green-vietnamese-cookbook-cover

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Andrea, I just ordered the cookbook!! I loved the recipe for the tofu dressing from last week. I have so many boxes of tofu from Thrive market. Thanks for that recipe!

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I’ll have to investigate the chat feature, because I like the ability to share pix. I’m wondering why you don’t use a propane grill to char veg (even though you mention the side burner)? Is it because many apartments/condos don’t allow them? Or does it cook the veg TOO much? I appreciate the wine info, because that is my least confident area of the store.

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Oct 10·edited Oct 10Author

A gas grill definitely works but its side burner, if available, touches the vegetable more to nicely. I think I mentioned a gas grill earlier somewhere. Let me throw that into the website post. Thanks for the reminder!

A portable propane burner would work too. I just didn't invest money in one because I have an induction burner.

The wine shelves at TJ are fun to explore.

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Oct 11Liked by Andrea Nguyen

Update: When I read your post super early this morning, I certainly didn’t think I’d be charring vegetables anytime soon. Then as the day progressed I felt the need to make salsa. When Rose came home from work she found me in the kitchen charring tomatoes/chiles/onions in cast iron. Needless to say she was excited. Because I was in the kitchen for so long making all kinds of things (it had been a while) I listened to The Sporkful podcast. So interesting! I’ve always wanted to track down a book about Sophie Scholl and this was a good reminder. So cool that you have your recipe in that cookbook and the new Rebel Girls cookbook. 💪🏼

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I LOVE THIS! Rose and Rory are kitchen buddies. When he came into the kitchen after I charred two Hatch chiles, he said, "Can we have Mexican food soon?" So we did that night!

Thanks for giving a listen to the Sporkful. Dan's book is a fun one to check out. Rebel Girls is a good one too.

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I think R & R would get along great. Her exact words were, “You’re channeling Mexican Grandma vibes and I’m feeling it!” 🤣 My wonderful MIL is Mexican and I told her I appreciated the compliment.

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