So what have you cooked lately? (Year three!)

MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made POTATO SALAD. Extremely yummy. Consists of ham, garlic, mayo, potatos (ORLY), onion,...

I made cow's milk mozzarella yesterday because there was none at the grocery and I had some lovely roma tomatoes and fresh basil and gallons of organic milk were on sale. This morning for 1st breakfast, I made myself a caprese omelet. Mmmmm.

I also started a biga last night using some of the whey from the cheese as the liquid. I'll bake a loaf of bread this afternoon. Here's the last one I did, which was very toadstoolish:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/198/498781793_aed50f2cde.jpg

How do you make mozz, Jaq?

Mr. Jaq got me a kit a few years ago from these folks. Basically, you add citric acid or lemon juice to a gallon of non-ultrapasteurized milk, then warm it up in a stainless steel pot to 88 deg F. At that temp, you remove it from the heat and gently stir in a tiny amount of rennet, then let it sit for 5-7 minutes for the curd to develop and solidify. It looks like a soft white custard in a yellowish clear liquid (the whey) at this point. You run a long knife through the curd, cutting it into 1" x 1" long rectangles, which helps the whey to drain out of the curds. You ladle the curds out as gently as possible, trying to drain out more of the whey.

After all the curds are out of the pot, they need to be gradually heated up to 135 F and kneaded and stretched into mozzarella, with some salt worked in. I use the microwave (zap on high for 1 min, knead and drain, then zap for 35 secs, knead some more, then zap again for 35 secs and knead and stretch). You can also just heat the whey up and dip balls of the curd into it to heat it up, which is more trad, but a lot tougher to control. After it's all a nice smooth ball, you cool it off in some ice water and start eating it.

1 gallon (about 4 liters) of milk makes about 3/4 lb (about 1.5 kg) of cheese. Making it's sort of technical and also magical so pretty fun on a weekend, as long as milk's on sale.

Banana pancakes. Not bad, but not a big success with Ophelia and DH. (hah I just typed DH)

FRENCH FRIES. well, deepfreeze ones so not really anything special. :-)

Simple black bean salad tonight - delish.

canned black beans (well washed)
avocado
chopped tomato
chopped red onion
chopped cilantro
fresh lime juice
salt & pepper
shredded cheddar cheese
(served with blue corn tortilla chips)

Perfect meal for hot evening

banana ice cream
mint ice cream

i've cooked two real meals in the past week: grilled colombian chorizo, avocado salad, garlic spinach, and fried plantains last saturday, and grilled steak/chicken thighs with tomatillo sauce, red/orange pepper salad, wonderfully fresh asparagus with lime, and mashed plantains last night. i'm on a slight latin kick.

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
fudgy mocha brownies

(I guess that's more "baking" than "cooking," though.)

so much grilled stuff! i spent saturday night grilling for TWO HOURS. it's because i don't let people near my grill, it's sad.

Work has been taking its toll on my cooking, plus I am STARVING when I get home from work so more inclined to eat massive quantities of CHEESE instead of making something for dinner. But last night I made a nice pork roast (black pepper and thyme) and some blistered asparagus (get a cast iron skillet hot, add oil, toss in asparagus spears, sprinkle with crushed red chilis, flip about with tongs until bright green and getting some blackened spots).

Yes! I have been doing that to asparagus all week, bought some cheaply in the supermarket.

Last night I made a shepherd's pie as we both have horrible colds and needed some comfort food. Served piping hot with some buttered green cabbage and a big glass of milk = dinner like my mum did when I was a little girl and feeling poorly. It was brilliant. I saved some of the lamb mince and shall be making it all spicy and stuffing an aubergine with it tonight.

(I had bought the aubergine for doing moussaka and then couldn't be arsed because I was feeling like crap)

Nothing! In Tokyo so eating out a lot. HURRAH! I just miss Schweppes Tonic, really. I can't find it anywhere. :-(

i made a very improvised "moroccan" saute to go with some quinoa i had hanging around. onions, carrot, chickpeas, pine nuts, raisins, dried apricots, and ginger, and an odd but tasty combo of kecap (indonesian condiment) and pomegranate molasses for the sauce.

(lauren, that sounds really great.)

Went to the market this morning, there were no eggs to be had but got a nice chicken instead. Also, 2 lbs of Chelan cherries which will make a tasty clafouti if I stop snacking on them.

Mr. Jaq has been reading bits of a New Yorker article about sushi to me ALL RQ#$%!$T#$R@ DAY LONG and it's warm out, so damn it we are going to a sushi-go-round for dinner.

My parents dropped by on the way home from a party in Brechin and brought me a giant organic steak they'd bought from a farmers' market up there. I cooked it to perfection for once in my life (ie. rare but not cold in the middle) and ate it with some grainy mustard on a plate of its own. I didn't want to sully the dish with veg.

I think the expression is 'nom nom nom'.

damn, i have a savage craving for kale right now!

i used up the last of the ramps i had from the Union Sq. green market. they're probably all gone for the season =(

i'll miss those little stinkers till next spring!