What's cooking? part 4

http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/mexicanchorizo.jpg

Oh yes, okay! Then Spanish, definitely.

My recip is also supposed to have saffron in it but I don't have any. It's okay, though, the carrots lent sweetness and some color, and the 2nd day taste was EVEN BETTER once the oils and flavors saturated the potatoes. The leeks almost just break down into a sauce. Making it again tonight with my other package of scrod. Scrod. Scrod.

portugese chorico is even differenter, and kind of good but not a good replacement for either spanish/mex chorz.

portuguese, even

Spanish chorizo plus cod plus potatoes in some combination is one of the best things ever.

spanish is dried and mexican is...not. i don't know the vocab for discussing sausage, but the spices are different too iirc.

It took me years to sort this out before the internet - so many cookbooks seemed to completely ignore the multiplicity of chorizos.

The Spanish chorizo sold outside of Spain is dry-cured, is the main thing. If you can let it sit in your refrigerator for a couple years, or if it's sold at room-temp in plastic bags, it's dry-cured. Like salami, pepperoni, etc. Same with Portuguese chorico and linguica. It takes months or years to make dry-cured sausages, as well as refrigeration (or central AC) or a cool dry climate.

New World chorizo - Mexican, Caribbean, etc - is usually a fresh sausage, as perishable as any other ground pork, and doesn't need to age - you can mix some together right now and use it immediately. Sometimes sold bulk, sometimes in links, sometimes in cans.

Confusingly, fresh Spanish chorizo and dry-cured New World chorizo do exist. They just aren't as common in the US. There's also chaurice, in Louisiana - both smoked and fresh - which looks similar to the Spanish/Portuguese style but tastes completely different (several of the major brands use vinegar and jalapeno as seasonings, which makes the flavor profile very different from the other Louisiana sausages). Pretty much the only commonalities among all these sausages are pork and paprika and/or red pepper, but there's no specific spice blend that makes a sausage chorizo, just a sense that certain ingredients are options and others aren't. One word, many sausages, and a lot of confusing recipes when there's no cue as to which one you want.

There are also a lot of American brands now which make a chorizo as one of their many sausage options - I'm not talking about the American producers of Spanish or New World chorizo, but the sausage companies that'll offer their version of chorizo, andouille, etc., in addition to bratwurst or hot dogs or whatever - which don't even really resemble any of the above. Fuck them.

yeah even whole foods does their own chicken chorizo!

so yeah i was making paella a while back and could NOT find the spanish ANYWHERE. which is really odd, because in brooklyn they sold a cheap-o goya version at the ghettoest of groceries (c-town).

Yeah, that's what I mean! It's one of the cheapest meat products in any given grocery store, hanging, vacuum-sealed and at room-temp, on a forgotten end cap somewhere.

it's like $6.99 here -- cheaper than that? also the one we have isn't goya, but it's not like ~gourmet~ or anything -- palacios, i think?

http://di109.shoppingshadow.com/images/di/55/75/70/4768536f4949677a6a6671446a6d4345526d77-149x149-0-0.jpg

There are also a lot of American brands now which make a chorizo as one of their many sausage options - I'm not talking about the American producers of Spanish or New World chorizo, but the sausage companies that'll offer their version of chorizo, andouille, etc., in addition to bratwurst or hot dogs or whatever - which don't even really resemble any of the above. Fuck them.

Yeah the Coles supermarkets here do a line of gourmet snags of various flavours (lamb and rosemary, wagyu beef and garlic, italian pork and fennel bla bla) and they do a "chorizo". In all honesty I dont mind it. I'm not looking to make paella or a tapas spread, I just like that smoky slightly spicy taste when I do a puy lentil casserole or something. Genuine chorizo'd likely be too hot for me, to be honest!

Oh i dunno -- It's not spicy at all ime -- like picante spicy, not "spiced" spicy. Zesty: yes; burn yr mouth: not at all. Try it!

Asked in 4 bodegas for chorizo to re-do that recp tonight and not one even knew what I was talking about. Going to have to leave the neighborhood I guess?? Dayum.

LL, the ones I see here are shorter links and cheaper, I think? Links about 3-4" long and come either 2 or 4 to a package.

l, srsly - c-town on graham ave always had it if you really decide to venture out.

I'm pretty far from there! Part of problem is that this area is so heavily residential that I almost live in a food desert, and it's not at all Hispanic or Latino, so that influence is missing.

i know, you're way out in boonies now.
but in case it entices you, c-town is tumbling.

got two monkfish fillets for £1.50 today, guess they were about to go out of date. rolled them in paprika and a bit of salt and had with a salad, was really nice and cheap.

besan zucchini pancakes
tomato/cucumber/spinach salad
merguez

xposted from the "lime" thread:

I have six pounds of limes. The plan is to make candied lime peel.

Problem: I'm going to be out of town Friday through Sunday, and my candied-peel recipe takes three days, so I can't start it until Monday. How to keep the peel freshest until then? a) Juice the limes and keep the peels in the fridge in an airtight bag until Monday? b) Keep the limes whole in bags until Monday? c) Or leave them at room temp until Monday? I think if it's A or B, they need to be kept in fairly airtight bags since the fridge is a dry environment and I don't want the peels to dry out.

What's your opinion?

i'd guess b - lock in any moisture that might escape with c.

i made a sort of salad of julienned english cucumber and granny smith apples, dressed with equal parts honey and rice vinegar, served with king oyster mushrooms scored and seared in peanut oil. it was a nice combination but was missing something to make it a proper meal - i made caramelized leeks and onions but it just wasn't right.

any suggestions?

that sounds amazing. maybe add dry fried tofu?

well, the mushrooms are the sort of meaty/proteiny part, so tofu would just be doubling up that same flavour. i was trying to think of a contrasting flavour/texture, but nothing seemed right.

a weird thing: i've been experimenting with mushrooms a lot lately, and while i really like the flavour (after a lifetime of never eating mushrooms), something about them makes me almost gag a little. i guess it is the texture?? idgi

there isn't really a lot of nutritional value in mushrooms though, is there? tofu seems like a good idea.

Mushrooms make great stock, if you want to get the flavor without the texture. When I used to cook with mushrooms a lot more, I would save stems in the freezer for that (that was just economy, there's no reason not to use the caps). In the fall, mushroom stock, wild rice or wheat berries, some squash ... that's a great soup.

I might consider throwing some crushed peanuts on top, too.

Rice noodles perhaps?

i was thinking more along the lines of like how a big vinaigrette-dressed salad goes really well with a rich creamy pasta - but in reverse, for this dish. the salad is sharp and light, but it's not really the kind of salad you serve with rice or mashed potato.

xp yeah rice noodles could work

Candied lime peel, day 1.
All these lime peels seemed fairly thin as I was removing the pulp and membranes, and I was beginning to think "so that's why I never see candied lime peel for sale." But the blanching process made me realize that it's as much for making the peel plump up as for taking a bit of the bitterness out. All those nice fat water-filled cells will be nice fat sugar-filled cells in a couple of days.

You remind me, I wish to make some limoncello again. Must get lemons now while they're cheap by the kg.

Crossposted from 77 -- I rediscovered the best fruit cobbler recipe, which I had mislaid for a couple of years. I made it this afternoon with 2 cups of peaches and 1 cup of blueberries. It turned out extra juicy -- partly because I used so much fruit, but probably mainly because these blueberries are really huge juice-bags.

I made this in a 9" round baking dish, but a 9" square pan would probably work better.

- Put your fresh fruit, at least 2 cups, in the bottom of the baking dish.
- Boil together a syrup of 1 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar, pour over the fruit.
- Cream together 1 stick softened butter and 1/2 cup sugar.
- Mix in 1 cup self-rising flour, 1/2 cup milk, some cinnamon and some vanilla extract (recipe doesn't give a specific qty of these; I just eyeball it...about a teaspoon of each?)
- Spoon this batter over the fruit and syrup, spread it out more or less evenly. Don't mix the fruit layer and batter layer, and don't worry if there are some gaps where the fruit shows through.
- Bake at 350˚ until golden, about an hour. It still looked a little wet in the middle so I gave it another 10 minutes.

As the batter on top bakes into a soft biscuity topping, it'll wick up the fruity syrup from underneath. Really good.

made the bittman greek nachos tonight (i think harbl posted them originally) but used some chicken sausage (took it out of the casing) instead of lamb. still delicious but i think lamb would have made it amazing. also added diced red pepper. the sauce is really tasty! i may use it to accompany future meats (lots leftover) or to make some sort of mediterranean salad.

going to make lemon rosemary zucchini bread tomorrow. i got a ton of great zucchini from a relative's garden (local! organic! pesticide free!) last weekend and have thus far made zucchini panckaes, a zucchini ratatouille, and zucchini fritters (breaded w/ chickpea and rice flour; these kinda sucked). figured i'd use the last of it for something not savory. i am going to be so sad when it's gone, though!

I recently noticed that our grocery store has a small section in the "foreign" aisle devoted to British goods. I'm amused and my curiosity is piqued. I'm going to have to buy something. Dear Britishes, what I could do with a can of golden syrup?

YES BUY GOLDEN SYRUP!!! it really is delish.

things you can do with it:
- use it as a spread on toast ESP CRUMPETS MMMMM with lots of butter
- pour warm over pancakes
- make anzac biscuits/cookies
- make old-fashioned gingerbread loaf
- make hokey pokey biscuits
- make golden syrup steamed pud
- eat spoonfuls of it straight out of the can/bottle

Steamed syrup sponge or treacle tart (although I prefer black treacle for the latter).

Also (although the real answer is on Rowies, but nobody knows what I'm on about there) great in flapjacks.

around here it's a pretty popular biscuit (not-cookie) topping; use as you would sorghum

Biscuits make sense in the rowie use, it acts as a counterpoint to the saltiness of the other.

::googles rowie::

yesss

Flapjack:

125g / half a pack butter
120g / 8 tbsps demerara sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
220g oats - (2/3 normal, 1/3 jumbo oats in my mum's famed recipe)

melt butter in large saucepan, add sugar and syrup, stir well, add the oats, mix well, tip into baking tray lined with baking parchment (or er hmm just greased, i suppose) & put in oven gas mark 4/180c/350f for 20 mins. allow to cool but cut up while still warm. these measures just about fill my 35*20cm baking tray.

That sounds like an anzac w/o the coconut!

Justine, I've been meaning to ask - did you use sweetened shredded coconut for the anzacs or unsweet?

Flapjack a bit easier than anzacs i think? no flour or bicarb. You can put other things in though, dried fruit is a fave.

xp pretty sure it's unsweetened?? idk, i just buy it from the bulkfoods section. but there is a cup of sugar in the mix so probably stick to unsweetened.

Thanks, everybody! I can't wait for my next trip to the store!

want to make this four thieves vinegar, but have no idea where to find fresh (or even dried) anise hyssop for sale? i haven't done much searching for mail order stuff, just looked locally where i normally shop (produce markets, farmer's markets, etc) don't have a garden ;_;

http://nourishedkitchen.com/four-thieves-vinegar-recipe/

i know i could go ahead and make it without that, and that it would taste pretty great (probably) but (1) i really like the way it looks in the bottle and (2) i loooooove anise and want to infuse as much of the stuff into my life and my vinegar as possible

among other things, i am experimenting with improved condiments/garnishes/flavor pastes this year in order to simplify my life
(a boring old salad tastes a lot better with rose-infused vinaigrette or spicy candied walnuts and they're easy to make and have around without spoiling)

This weekend the new Big Green Egg debuted with a beer-butt chicken and a smoked pork shoulder, both of which came out way beyond expectations! Need to learn to control the temp better in the very low range (190-200 F); turns out there is a fine line between "low fire" and "no fire." I'd like to cold-smoke fish and cheese!

I got a couple of really nice smoked ham hocks at the Nashville Farmers Market a couple of weeks ago, so I made a pot of white beans with them yesterday. While they were simmering, I took a look at all that good smoky pork broth and said "hmmm" -- pulled aside a couple big ladles full of it and used it to braise some chicken thighs, so today I have some really tasty chicken to shred up into a hoagie-roll sammich.

La Lechera, you could use fennel fronds or angelica instead of hyssop to get a similar flavor. I love the idea of infusing vinegar - have a huge pot of lavender in bloom right now as well as rosemary and tarragon doing okay in the garden. Need to get some mint planted though - I want it to take over the yard, think how amazing that would smell!