What's cooking? part 4

Canned the apple butter today that I made in the slow cooker all week and have a pumpkin cheesecake in the oven now. House smells of warm cinnamon + allspice.

just stick a space heater in there

― guanciale diary (s1ocki), Wednesday, October 13, 2010 9:56 AM

http://www.donuts4dinner.com/2009/12/08/office-smores/

There are few food things sadder than an overcooked piece of chicken imo.

― Jaq, Wednesday, October 13, 2010 4:51 AM (5 days ago)

I nominate undercooked chicken for the sadness sweepstakes.

Undercooked is a helluva lot easier to remedy than overcooked fwiw. I totally overcooked the meat in the chicken paprikash I made yesterday (should have used bone-in thighs w/ skin instead of pieces of boneless/skinless breast) - good flavor but chokingly dry texture. Sad.

what's the difference between veggie stock and veggie broth? can i sub one for the other in any recipe?

I think when you are talking veggie, stock and broth are basically the same and should be no problem to sub.

Carnivorously, broth has less gelatin and a clearer meat flavor because it is made by poaching raw meat/bones/aromatics in water where stock is made with much higher ratio of bones to meat (and both are generally cooked first).

tried a pork/rice noodle stir fry thing w/ lots of thai red chili peppers and lemongrass and ginger, mint garnish. sauce got too salty but mint was a really key and gonna try again changing up the sauce and adding peanuts or something as additional garnish. oh and fresh basil, or as fresh as i can get.

will be awesome when i get it all balanced out and whatever.

The last four meals I've eaten (plus lunch tomorrow) have all had mustard greens or broccoli rabe sauteed with garlic and chiles with some lemon or vinegar after they've cooked for a while. Kind of sad it took me so long to realize how great these are.

Made the cheesy cornbread the oth day, in my skillet! Alto I over-baked it slightly, that's easily remedied next time. Man, quick breads are super fun. May have to hit the Irish soda bread again, I love that sourness.

i wanna make cheesy cornbread!

Warning: it takes less cayenne to have an impact than you might think. Two taps on the side of the jar might not LOOK like a lot, but it was noticeable in taste.

is there a recipe upthread?

No, someone mentioned that it was the Mark Bittman one, so I googled and found it here.

The cheddar cheese and cayenne were additions recommend by someone in another thread! Possibly a thread about cornbread in particular.

oh sweet it's probably on my bittman app!!

which is rad

Almond flour biscuits (more like drop scones) - first foray into gluten-free baking. They are really tasty - interesting texture. Chewier crust than something made from wheat flour, but less mealy than I thought they would be.

oh sweet it's probably on my bittman app!!

which is rad

otm. still need to leverage the shopping list feature

oooh jaq, i would love to see that recipe!

It's pretty simple -
2.5 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil or melted butter
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tsp lemon juice

Oven at 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, taking out all the lumps. Beat the eggs in a second bowl, then mix in the rest of the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until very well blended. Drop by 1/4 cup onto the parchment, leaving some room to spread. Bake 15-20 min, until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out relatively clean. Makes 8.

I used coconut oil and subbed maltitol syrup for the agave. Honey would also work, or maple syrup (though you'd want to use a bit less). Or use a tablespoon of granular sugar (brown, white, turbinado, sucanat) and a scant 1/4 cup of water.

made this soup, ended up adding harissa to the finished product because... i dunno, i had no cheese or lemon and i put harissa in everything these days. really satisfying and tasty, i recommend. (thx tehresa!!)

Chicken & white bean zoup yesterday, black bean zoup on the menu for today! Really looking forward to it, for some reason.

glad you liked it! i have been thinking about making some lately!

i picked a giant bag of apples yday

(quebec apples ftw)

what should i make?

thinking maybe:

pork chops & apple sauce
apple crumble

what else?

Do you do any canning/preserving? Apple butter is always good.

i was thinking about pork chops, roasted yams, and roasted brussels sprouts tonight.

maybe i will do the apple/cranberry stuffed chops!

I have been thinking a lot about this apple cake recipe.

i dont really fuck with canning :(

One of my favorite things to do with apples is make sausage-apple-cornbread stuffing and make stuffed, baked winter squash.

o man i am making the fuck out of that apple cake

Made a great cake at the weekend, also gluten-free as it happens, and seemingly impossible to fuck up (it's been great every time I've done it, and my baking is patchy to say the least. It's an Italian Easter cake apparently and is very light, slightly austere and very delicious, excellent for afternoon tea.

150g blanched almonds, whole or flaked
3 eggs, separated
150g caster sugar
60g rice flour
2 oranges
30g soften butter
icing sugar for dusting if you want (I normally don't bother)

160C/gas mark 3 oven. Chope the almonds finely (food processor good for this) until they're crumb-like (ground almonds are too fine incidentally), whisk egg yolks with sugar until pale and creamy. Add the almonds and rice flour. Grate the zest of one orange into the mixture then had the juice of 1 1/2 oranges. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt into stiff peaks, hem hem. Fold into the orange-and-egg mixture. Butter a 20cm round cake tin - butter it heavily, it gives the cake a great crust. Pour in the mixture and bake for 50 mins, should be slightly springy to touch, cool it on a wire rack.

Goes great with tea, as I say, darjeeling or something like that.

jaq – i have made the smitten apple cake (not in a bundt pan). it is pretty awesome!

so i made roast chicken pasrts & apple & fennel

then a dope apple crisp

and still so many leftover apples

apple cake it is!

When I have a bunch of apples, I like to cut them into cubes, put some cinnamon on them, and fry them up for breakfast. For some reason my husband finds this idea abominable.

id buy that for a dollar

Seriously. My bf also hates apples cooked with foods, will not let me include them in the potato mixture I put under pork roasts.

The first time I made fried apples for breakfast, he looked at me like I was trying to feed him Gravy Train on a plate.

That's crazy, sauteed apples are wonderful. He needs to come on this thread and face his critics.

Yes, I like them with butter and lemon zest and thyme.

That sounds amazing!

My plan for dinner tonight is to make this soup. So stoked.

From the Martha Stewart food magazine! It's great, if geared slightly toward soccer moms who are solely responsible for both working a job and cooking for their entire families, 7 days and nights a week.

I mean the magazine is, not the sauteed apples.

lol at their instructions for "chopping peanuts" -- don't they know the best way is to wrap them in a clean towel and pummel w rolling pin??? None of this utter NONSENSE involving FOOD PROCESSORS.

jaq – i have made the smitten apple cake (not in a bundt pan). it is pretty awesome!

remy, I must have gotten that link from you - I've had it bookmarked for ages and have yet to make it. Now we have an apple tree, so piles and piles of fresh apples for the picking.

btw, sauteed apples for breakfast would be AMAZING in my book.

lol Laurel – Bittman loves his food processor so much.

I love mine too but it was a hand-me-down from my mother and JUST WON'T DIE. But I'd love it even more if I had a dishwasher. Right now I can't justify the extra washing.

Oh man, I just finished this soup & it is tasty. Defs a solid B+. I think it could work just as well without the chicken and then it would be totally vegan.

oh my, an apple tree! that is so awesome!