What's cooking? part 4

Tonight I'm making rice with gravy from a packet and pre-shredded colby jack (aka cojack) cheese. It's like the meal equivalent of wearing hole-filled sweatpants.

i am sure i would like that better than risotto

i made a "pesto" from raw spinach, walnuts, garlic (too much probably), lemon zest, and olive oil. i am waiting for the bow ties to cook!

yeah harbl I think I'll throw the can into some tomato sauce. but I already bought a can of clams for that same purpose. I wonder if they'll taste differently?

I was also thinking, maybe you want like a 'white' sauce for oysters and/or clams. maybe for clams. but what is an italian 'white sauce'? like... vinegar? lemon juice? hmmm

i don't think different in a bad way. i don't like any kind of white or cream sauce so i don't know but i made red clam sauce all from scratch a while ago and it was great!

also my spinach pesto has parmesan in it i forgot

white wine, butter, garlic, herbs

red clam sauce hmm I think I will make a bold clam sauce tomorrow

oh yeah i would def eat something made of white wine and butter, i guess that does count as sauce

the recipe was from marcella hazan italian cookbook

I haven't bought butter in so long I don't know if I know where to look for it anymore

maybe I can squeeze some out of the blocks of cream cheese I keep in my fridge it comes from the same animal right

olive oil would be alright too

you disgusting heathen

but what is an italian 'white sauce'? like... vinegar? lemon juice? hmmm

I can't decide if you're being sarcastic, but bechamel is the basic Italian white sauce (the French borrowed it from Italy). White sauce for clams is typically based on white wine and clam juice, maybe some butter to thicken it. Red, white, just some olive oil and garlic, it's all good.

smita chandra chicken curry i have made like 20 times in the past 2 months
― tunnel joe (harbl), Sunday, November 6, 2011 9:49 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yo harbl is there a recipe u can share?

did some actual cooking for the first time in a while tonight and it was v. simple--acorn squash, red onion, crimini mushrooms roasted with bone-in chicken breasts. i was extremely happy with it tho.

thanks bill! I don't think I've ever actually had a clam sauce before.

here is a picture my father used to taunt everyone on facebook for a while
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/75637_168662633162678_100000568271968_475752_7049978_n.jpg

i think he said it was a lidia bastianich recipe. you should make it!

i am braising some chard but
a. this is kind of embarrassing but i'm not really sure how to braise greens
b. i've never had chard before

i just tore the green off the stems, washed in cold salty water, dumped in large frying pan with about a cup of water, a cube of veg stock, half a tsp of fake chicken stock and a splash of white wine. and a dash of garlic powder. did i do wrong??

i guess i could have researched braising on the internet beforehand, but i was in hurry to get dinner going.

i must have done something right, bc that was fucking delicious!

I made braised chard tonight too - I always heat up olive oil, toss in sliced garlic, then red pepper flakes, then the greens and a bit of salt, cook them over pretty good heat until they're shrunk down a bit and add some water or wine and cook for half an hour or so. I add black pepper and some sort of acid at the end, usually lemon or sherry vinegar. I do kale, chard, collards, and mustards the same way and just vary how long I cook them depending on how tough they are.

Today I had these with little mini fingerling potatoes and chicken legs and wings that I just brown the hell out of in a cast iron skillet and put in a 450 degree oven until the chicken is super crispy. Probably technically overcooked but I love it this way.

Thats basically what I do with silverbeet J so it looks right to me! I fry onion/garlic/chickpeas (and sometimes a little wee bit of curry poweder) and then add chopped silverbeet/chard then fry it, add a little stock, and simmer for 5-10 mins. Yummo.

OK it's really really early AM but that clams/pasta pic is making me hongry

cad this is basically the recipe, it's a little different in her book (cuisines of india) in at least one way. the book has 2 T yogurt and 2 T sour cream. no reason not to just use yogurt and let the water boil off, or use greek yogurt. also she adds cumin 3x and i just did it twice, no toasting or roasting. and i used amchoor instead of lemon.
http://www.smitachandra.com/chickencurry.html

thanks :)

jerk chicken, cinnamon fried rice, griddled corn on the cob, lime & coriander dip.

didn't make the match any better to watch, but was k-awesome

I am making a soup with anasazi beans and carrots and cabbage and flavorings. The recipe recommended a ton of ham too but the pieces of ham : bay leaf ratio in this is 1:1. Like if you find a piece of ham you get to make a wish.

'i wish there was more ham'

lamb meatballs from claudia roden middle eastern cookbook, butternut squash and prunes from najmieh batmansd;lfkjsgl;ksdjg cookbook

man i'll bet that's a pain to type out every time

i got an enamelled cast iron skillet w/lid today! i'm irrationally excited about this gift. it's the house brand from costco - feel like i covered all my bases of needing a dutch oven, a cast iron pan etc.

i don't need to season enamel, right?

AFAIK, you only need to season iron.

No need to season the enamel - use wood or silicone or nylon utensils to keep from scratching it and don't put cold water in a hot pan and it should last a good long time.

j i have an enameled cast-iron dutch oven and i use it so often, i love it. very sticky though so i mostly use it for soup and curry. which is most of what i eat anyway!

does anyone know of any indonesian soup recipes that contain peanut butter? i remember having a soup at the place that made the "korean" chicken soup that was some type of sweet potato-y soup with peanut butter and chili but i don't know how i can make it. it was obviously not some authentic indonesian thing so i'm not worried about that but what do i want to use? peanut butter, sambal, turmeric, coconut milk? maybe it's like that. i have jalapenos too. i'm gonna use chickpeas and sweet potatoes. might get some cabbage.

i got a ton of sweet potatoes for $5 today so i'm gonna be yamming it up like crazy

I bought a bucket of waxy potatoes each of them are like the size of a golf ball what should I do with them?

harbl I think you should make yams casino

roast those waxy dudes

what's the diff between roasting and baking

Quarter them, deep fry them, serve with a lot of rock salt.

idk i think roasting is like getting something brown and crusty

maybe I'll try "broil"

roast potatoes - peeled, roughed up a little and tossed in a tray with fat/oil

Baked - in skin on the rack

In my house leastaways

tho tbh with small waxy ones you prob don't need to peel them, tho boiling for ten mins first wouldn't hurt

i like to make my own shake-n-bake: salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili flakes, some dried herbs (whatever), grated parmesan --> toss that into any old plastic bag that is clean and size-appropriate --> add unpeeled roughly cubed potatoes --> drizzle with oo --> shakeshakeshake --> empty onto foil lined baking sheet --> bake at ~(?)385 for maybe 20 or so? depending on size. flip/toss somewhere in the middle.

oh wow I gotta try that!

it's always good!

harbl, my coworker made this butternut squash and peanut soup for our last potluck: http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/chefs_recipes/5575

it was super tasty, esp w/ the cilantro and lime.