What's cooking? part 4

Got some chile pequins (chiles pequin?) today. There are some areas where I am a total pansy about pain but I am starting to become a real capsaicin masochist.

Plan #1 for these: http://cookinginmexico.com/2010/11/26/salsa-de-chile-piquin-del-estado-san-luis-potosi/

I misread the package that said "use 1 to 2 in moles" as "use 1 to 2 moles," which is probably enough chiles to cover the entire earth.

I also learned birds aren't sensitive to capsaicin!

lol @ cooking using moles
i make thai green curry with chicken thighs and vegetables

xp -- that was one of the most interesting things I learned on the tour at the Chile Pepper Institute -- only mammals have capsaicin receptors!

then why do they use the oil from peppers to repel bugs and barnacles and stuff? is there something else they are reacting to?

Bill/Tep had a very wise post on his cooking blog recently about how the noodles in a packet of ramen are perfectly serviceable, and it's the seasoning packet that's the abomination in the sight of god. At $.15 per serving tops, and so quick to hydrate, ramen make sense when you want a quick lunch. So I've been making ramen with stir-fried broccoli, ramen with stir-fried mushrooms, and today, ramen stir-fried with a few shrimp, a lot of sliced mushrooms, onion, a bit of chopped tomato, and a garlic black bean paste/kecap manis/sambal oelek sauce.

― improvised explosive advice (WmC), Sunday, April 15, 2012 6:34 PM (59 minutes ago) Bookmark

it's true that even some eateries will just serve you instant ramen noodles, either stir fried or in a soup, with real seasonings. worth noting though, that instant ramen noodles are preserved by deep-frying in oil, so they still remain quite fatty.

maybe not bugs, i am recalling there is some spray you can make with cayenne pepper to apply to plants but i can't remember if it's supposed to repel rodents or bugs

I just something the other day about people traditionally referring to the hottest peppers around as "bird peppers" because birds were the only things that would eat them.

this curry is like the best i have made from canned paste but i think it's time for me to learn how to make it myself

you are ready to take this step

cooking it's like the only thing i am good at and work hard at imo

i need to try some stuff from that mexican blog abbbottt linked too

Speaking of ramen or other cheap noodles, Asian groceries are super cheap...if you want to cook from scratch but don't have a lot of money or time.

stir-fried asparagus with garlic and lemon juice squeezed on afterwards. better than roasting!!

also, I left a package of unopened cream cheese out overnight by accident. still safe to eat??

I'd probably be willing to eat it.

Coworker just gave me a recipe for guacamole which includes a cup of cooked peas, which apparently blend seamlessly in with the guac while cutting back a bit on the fat!

i am gonna make a lamb and potato curry tonight from the curry book and lentil/spinach soup from claudia roden middle east book tomorrow. and bc i am resolved to eat more lentils will probably make lentil and bulgur salad after that.

I'll be right over.

xxpost

i made a guacamole w/peas from a Nigella Lawson recipe my wife shoved under my nose. Frankly it was train-wreck awful and I love peas.

last night I made pork tenderloins w/walnut vinaigrette. cooked the meat and deglazed the pan w/red wine vinegar, added olive oil to that and blended into the toasted walnuts and garlic paste I had pulsing in the cusinart. Poured this thick dressing on arugula/endive and placed sliced meat on top.

garnished w/some more toasted walnuts and it was pretty good.

I have about a third of a bottle of red wine that's been open for a week and I'm scared to drink it...what could I cook that would help use it up?

You can put it in an ice cube tray for when a recipe needs a little wine! I just did that the other day with the bit left over from our third bottle, post dinner party.

Wow you seriously didn't just drink it? Tza you should sniff it, and if it's good you should drink it or, I guess, freeze if you're so inclined. If it's bad, you don't want to keep it to cook with anyway?

Well we had drank about two bottles to ourselves and it was 2am. Sometimes we would. ;)

Ha, those are exactly the circumstances under which I would have been like glug glug glug, for better or (more likely) worse ;)

i got some of those silicone "poach pods" the other day for poaching eggs. they worked well this morning but the eggs tasted a little funny. not sure if the source of the funniness is me or the pods though.

Xp Me too, but his parents were here so we were tired/hung from cleaning all day.

I love poached eggs! I have decent luck pouring them into a soup ladle in the boiling water then releasing after ~20 seconds.

i read somewhere a long time ago that the way to do it is in a pot - bring water to a simmer and then whisk into a whirlpool, drop the egg into the middle.

last night for tera's birthday dinner i tried cooking things i had never tried before, stuffed portabella mushrooms with italian sausage topped with spinach and moz cheese, grilled eggplant with toasted pine nuts and mint, grill asparagus and crab cakes. everything was better than i had hoped!

My thought was that it might be a little past drinkable but would be ok for cooking still. Should you not cook with old wine either?

i can't imagine it would taste very good? i dunno.

i would feel ok cooking with it at one week

tonight will be coq au vin night

awesome poached egg tip: add a tsp /splash of white vinegar to the boiling water, and it will help the white coagulate. Works like a charm

yup that is a must for poached eggs

That reminds me I need to replenish my vinegar, I am out of white vinegar (I think my last bottle lasted me like 5 years, lol)

-bought some steel cuts and cumin from a by-the-pound place - though they were bagged separately, somehow the cumin smell infused the steel cuts, so now my oatmeal has a faint taste of cumin

I bought cumin yesterday too! Sealed bag so it did not taint anything else. But still.

i am going to have 2 chicken sausages and sweet potatoes roasted the best way but i can't remember where i got this sweet potato recipe it's like a cinnamon stick, a few unpeeled cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper. also wine, which had foil on top that would not wiggle off and i gave myself a deep cut on the thumb trying to cut the foil off. then i put the bandaid on too tight. probably gonna lose my thumb and have to say i had a wine accident.

oh duh i found it http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/cinnamon_roasted_sweet_potatoes_and_garlic.html

tonight was improvisatory fish tacos with various condiments based on stuff i felt like making. i'm trying to be v. mindful of technique so the highlights of the meal were focusing on getting a nice golden brown sear on my fish pieces and making my own mayonnaise to turn into a creamy chipotle-garlic thing.

Stressful weekend ahead, think I am going to wind down on the lord's afternoon by making carnitas. I got some corn tortillas what are begging to be stuffed with pork.

for our first meal back home from the hospital i made a big salad with goat cheese rolled in crushed toasted pine nuts and baked and topped with crab cakes!

my god

Congrats! Xp

i am gonna make spinach- & ricotta-stuffed shells and pull a brownie and drink a lot of wine imho

damn those carnitas were GOOD
hot sauce
corn tortillas
cilantor
onions
carnitas
joy

I just needed a day where I sat around at home cooking a multi-hour epic meal, drinking wine, listening to all my favorite songs.

flying out tomorrow so eating the very last fridge remnants. Glad to discover that pita bread with goats cheese & fig jam is the best thing ever.

I have never made carnitas! I need to try this.

Tonight I made chicken breasts rolled with asparagus, basil, prosciutto and shaved parm. They were so good! I also made cupcakes bc I borrowed someone's cupcake book and I need to return it but I hadn't made anything, they are too sweet and too dry and I feel like I wasted a ton of time for something meh.