finding myself in the position of having a lot of random ingredients used to make various recipes over the years but very few staples/binders* to go with them; any suggestions for adaptable templates?
* that said I do have staple ingredients like flour (semolina and regular, the semolina is probably going to go faster since I've been using it as a thickener), a ton of sugar, and oil, no eggs currently, just one box of tomato puree and two cans of hopefully-still-good whole tomatoes, no milk as of right now
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 16 March 2020 15:36 (four years ago) link
basically, just imagine the candles meme except with, like, culinary lavender
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 16 March 2020 15:37 (four years ago) link
crackers are good if you only have flour/water/salt/other
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 16 March 2020 18:23 (four years ago) link
eat the crackers w some soup if you have anything you can puree into soup
not at the moment unfortunately, I do have stuff to make anchovy stock though (left over from making a few korean stews a few months ago during my then-rare windows of having time to cook)
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 16 March 2020 18:45 (four years ago) link
you can make tomato soup!
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 16 March 2020 18:52 (four years ago) link
could, yeah, at least once (also have a lot of miso)
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 16 March 2020 18:56 (four years ago) link
idk if there are asian groceries near you but they are open and stocked pretty well afaictget some kombu + bonito flakes + dried shiitakes + noodles/greens of your choice and go nuts w miso soup! i made it recently w this recipe https://thewoksoflife.com/superfood-miso-soup/
you can toss in whatever you likedried shiitakes are pretty versatile too
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 16 March 2020 19:00 (four years ago) link
all that stuff is shelf-stable toomiso soup is the best, i'm gonna make it again as soon as i run out of things to eat
there's an H Mart that normally I would say is "near" me but without public transportation it's about 30-40 blocks
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 16 March 2020 19:02 (four years ago) link
this may be too personal but do you live in chicago?
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 16 March 2020 19:13 (four years ago) link
i have heard that Devon Market is pretty well stocked, Tai Nam on Broadway, Fresh Farms on Touhy looked surprisingly well stocked this morning aside from chicken and butter ?!!?
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 16 March 2020 19:15 (four years ago) link
katherine, have you tried a bodega for just some pasta/rice/noodles/eggs.
― Yerac, Monday, 16 March 2020 19:21 (four years ago) link
nope, nyc
xp -- yeah, I'm planning on doing a grocery run later today, at last check the bodega still had that kind of thing; what I am more concerned about is two, three, four, etc. weeks out
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 16 March 2020 19:43 (four years ago) link
don't worry about that yet, just focus on nowworrying about the future is futile/catastrophizing doesn't help
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 16 March 2020 20:25 (four years ago) link
hard to tell what's catastrophizing in a catastrophe but that is a topic for another thread
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Monday, 16 March 2020 20:45 (four years ago) link
my point is that if you have no food right now, get some eggs and whatnot and worry about the rest later! there are eggs on shelves.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 16 March 2020 20:50 (four years ago) link
Easter is coming, so egg suppliers have been gearing up to deliver a much larger quantity of eggs than normal.
The overall supply of non-perishable groceries hasn't shrunk at all. The big problem right now is that the normal smooth flow of supply and demand disappeared under a tsunami of end-consumer demand, so that 5x more carloads of stuff than normal swiftly got transferred from stores into people's homes. This can't instantly be replaced. It will take many extra truckloads of stuff getting delivered t stores to remedy this imbalance and there aren't any more trucks out there than there were last week. Give it time and the stuff will arrive.
― A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 17 March 2020 00:19 (four years ago) link
thought jesus said easter was cancelled this year
― ℺ ☽ ⋠ ⏎ (✖), Tuesday, 17 March 2020 00:22 (four years ago) link
But He didn't cancel the hens.
― A is for (Aimless), Tuesday, 17 March 2020 00:23 (four years ago) link
has cancel culture gone too far
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Tuesday, 17 March 2020 01:07 (four years ago) link
(also, for an actually worthwhile contribution to this thread, this is a very adaptable template; just made this the other day: https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/03/spinach-and-chickpeas)
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Tuesday, 17 March 2020 02:47 (four years ago) link
btw: The I Love Cheese Board has much more recent, active cooking threads.
― Yerac, Tuesday, 17 March 2020 13:21 (four years ago) link
fuck it, going to make me some onion bhajis with 6 month past its sell-by date gram flour, because google told me its ok and it would be a sin to waste good flour at this current time of scarcity.
― calzino, Saturday, 6 June 2020 10:35 (four years ago) link
We found a kg bag of 00 flour in the cupboard, expiration date 2017. What exactly goes bad in flour anyway?
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 6 June 2020 11:16 (four years ago) link
as a precaution I spooned some of the the top layer of the bag in the bin, but probably didn't need to it looks absolutely fine.
― calzino, Saturday, 6 June 2020 11:21 (four years ago) link
I wouldn't hesitate to use 6 month past flour. Might not have optimal results/flavor depending on the application, but it won't hurt you.
― Night of the Living Crustheads (PBKR), Saturday, 6 June 2020 11:48 (four years ago) link
onion bhajis turned out fine by my standards, fuck the modesty they were extra nice!
― calzino, Saturday, 6 June 2020 12:06 (four years ago) link
I recently made arepas with areapa flour that expired in January 2019 because I really wanted arepas. They tasted like something that expired a year and a half ago.
― joygoat, Saturday, 6 June 2020 14:58 (four years ago) link
6 months is probably not so bad but i had some chickpea flour that was 18 months past and it had that characteristic rancid stink. 00 flour probably fine because it's white--no oily brown parts to go bad.
― contorted filbert (harbl), Saturday, 6 June 2020 15:06 (four years ago) link
yeah - in California i have found my only caveat to using old white flour is checking for weevils/flour moths - our summers get SO hot that it can def fuck w my flour if i am not careful.but otherwise, go crazy!
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 6 June 2020 16:16 (four years ago) link
what are people's fave falafel recipes? I've been getting into the habit of making them frequently recently. Mine are quite boring but nice: processed chick peas, onion, garlic, gram flour, cumin, coriander, fresh flat-leaf parsley, sesame seeds, cayenne pepper. just would be interested to hear other falafel ideas.
― calzino, Friday, 17 July 2020 00:38 (four years ago) link
I too am interested
― a morley steve vai bad horsie what? (Sufjan Grafton), Friday, 17 July 2020 00:45 (four years ago) link
i always just buy the mix :/
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 July 2020 06:25 (four years ago) link
I do not and will not own a deep fat fryer but luckily Leather Lane has about 10 different great falafel joints.
― santa clause four (suzy), Friday, 17 July 2020 06:29 (four years ago) link
big pot! frying oil! slotted spoon! cheesecloth to strain the oil and re-use (next time more fragrantly!)
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 July 2020 06:33 (four years ago) link
Tiny flat! Fine mist of frying oil over everything!
Also the best felafel I know can be had for five pieces for £1 (“If you can wait two minutes we’ll give you fresh ones!”) at the Middle Eastern ship on my way home from the farmer’s market.
― santa clause four (suzy), Friday, 17 July 2020 06:49 (four years ago) link
looking at online recipes the only ingredient mine have been missing is fresh dill and some recommend refrigerating the mix for at least an hour before cooking and add a little baking powder before rolling them.
― calzino, Friday, 17 July 2020 07:42 (four years ago) link
oh god fresh dill. One of the greatest things ever. My kids hate potatoes (!?) so I haven't made any dill potato salad in a long time. fuck em though. It's that time of year.
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 July 2020 08:22 (four years ago) link
How does anyone hate a potato! I need to dig into this, what are their views on chips and crisps?
― American Fear of Scampos (Ed), Friday, 17 July 2020 08:49 (four years ago) link
One of them will tolerate them, the other refuses to countenance even a Walker's BBQ. It's astounding. The root of it (heh) as far as I can tell is a memory of eating a particularly 'floury' jacket potato once and finding the texture so disgusting that its memory has tainted everything potato-related since.
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 July 2020 09:10 (four years ago) link
i have been making this lentil soup w fresh dill weekly for what feels like months -- i love it and never get sick of it! https://myheartbeets.com/instant-pot-dill-lentil-soup/
as for falafel, when i have made it at home i have used a mix from a middle eastern bakery and baked it in the oven rather than deep frying. still tastes great! don't miss the frying or the oil.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Friday, 17 July 2020 14:00 (four years ago) link
I've gotten into regular shallow frying recently partly cos I like it and also for the quite weirdly ridic reason that when I do it in my carbon steel wok it seasons it beautifully for when I do stir fries/fried rice type scram!
― calzino, Friday, 17 July 2020 14:03 (four years ago) link
might have to get some cheesecloth my habit of filtering the fat with a funnel and kitchen roll are often too messy.
― calzino, Friday, 17 July 2020 14:13 (four years ago) link
made the bon apetit falafel and it went over much better than expected. Got rave reviews from my partner and 2 friends. Partner said 'take out quality' and then upgraded to 'best ever had' which is super rare.
― a morley steve vai bad horsie what? (Sufjan Grafton), Saturday, 18 July 2020 23:57 (four years ago) link
we were on 2nd bottle of wine, though. That said, it is a good recipe. Made the zahav mujadara to eat with and an herby tahini sauce that was a hybrid of the bon apetit and zahav recipes.
― a morley steve vai bad horsie what? (Sufjan Grafton), Saturday, 18 July 2020 23:59 (four years ago) link
made potato salad today with dill relish and fresh dill, used Yukon gold potatoes and managed not to overcook them
― Dan S, Sunday, 19 July 2020 00:00 (four years ago) link
one cooking gadget i got recently that i highly recommend: a Dash egg cooker. Makes perfect hard boiled eggs way more easily and quickly than cooking them in a pot. Haven't tried the poach or soft-boil settings yet.
― just1n3, Thursday, 20 August 2020 23:35 (four years ago) link
"Boils up to 12 eggs at a time"
not a recommended feature to test out if you have a prescription for lactulose solution!
― calzino, Thursday, 20 August 2020 23:47 (four years ago) link
sorry not being flippant, but don't understand how you can fuck up a perfect hard-boiled egg in a simple pan full of boiling water.
― calzino, Thursday, 20 August 2020 23:49 (four years ago) link