What's cooking? part 4

Man, you're good at that stuff. I should keep more vegetables around for that kind of thing.

it was REALLY easy! arepas are super easy to make too, and a bag of masa lasts forever. (make sure you buy masarepa, i like venezolana brand better than goya, not just cornmeal)

the basic stew:

can of diced tomatoes (with juice -- if you really don't have any spices on hand get the "with basil" flavor or whatever and you just need to add salt at the end)
can of garbanzos (drained and rinsed)
whatever else you have that won't get sog, like green beans, onions, bell peppers, whatever

add spices of your choice -- i like it kinda spicy but usually with cumin, rosemary, and cayenne, sometimes berbere for added flavor, curry would work obvs

cook for a while, salt, taste, serve over whatever

I usually have mushrooms in there but I ate them all already.

also this reheats well in a workplace environment -- sent the leftovers to work today, in fact
ok done

can of tomatoes + can of banzos + X veg is one of my faves meals; I eat it like once a week. I keep getting chard in my CSA share so that's usually the veg.

I have cans of chickpeas from someone who was cleaning out her cupboards and I haven't done anything with them because...meh. Maybe it's time to start! I'm going to take your advice re arepas, that seems like something I could make happen.

lol @ can of banzos

arepas -- make like it says on the package with those proportions of salt/water, only add (per my experienced arepa-making student's advice)

* a spoonful of sugar (so small an amt it's not worth skipping, trust me)
* a plotz of earth balance/butter if you desire, not too much

it will all melt together when you add the boiling water to the powder and yield a more delicious product, also less likely to stick to the pan with a little grease already incorporated
also let's face it more delicious

also get yellow and not white

Sound advice. Will pick up next time I'm in Bushwick! There's a new grocery store open at the north end of my street, it's all clean and shiny and carries like everything Latin.

If you have lots of chickpeas to spare, roasted with some cayenne pepper on it makes an amazing snack

BTW my fermented beets came out very pretty, crunchy, sour/tangy, and flavorful, but maybe a bit heavy on the clove and cinnamon. i'll use more ginger and orange next time.

any advice for fermenting daikon? i was thinking of using some beet juice to make them a nice light pink color and then wrap them with pickled ginger, cilantro, lime, lettuce in rice paper spring rolls? dipping in sweet chili sauce? sounds pretty nom to me.
+ tofu?

sorry i said nom
i meant "delicious/tasty/other more acceptable word"

Your tomato chickpea veg concoction resembles something I make probably every two weeks - I always think of it as leftover ratatouille. I can throw in anything but the chickpeas are what makes it for some reason!

I've never made arepas but I have at times served it over polenta!

Same thing, basically. Arepas are just fried/grilled polenta blobs only you get to call them arepas.

They were delicious smothered in my chicken adobo tomato saucey and potato soup.

I found the GOYA yellow masarepa at the first West Indian vegetable market I went into, btw! Score.

Nice! Leftovers?

"Leftover" is a relative term; I usually eat the same thing for about 4 days. I figure I'll get tonight's dinner out of the stew, and I am looking greatly forward to that.

made a stir fry with chicken thighs and some frozen corn and green beans but somehow botched things by putting basmati rice in the rice maker. it was ok, but not the right match.

A few weeks ago I put orzo (pasta) in my rice maker ;_; That was a very sad stir fry.

I think I need a new rice maker, or at least a new rice maker pot. I have no idea wtf I did, but the bottom has scrape marks and I think I ate a batch of rice that had material from the rice maker in it :(

Yeah I am getting a new rice maker I think. I want one with a timer and that will make oatmeal in the morning

Anyone have any recommendations? I mean, any old rice maker will work, but those fancy japanese ones are pretty awesome. Zojirushi or something?

yeah zojirushi

they're pretty pricey tho

It can cook as little as 1/2-cup of rice and also bakes cakes.
Menu settings include: white/mixed/sushi, porridge, cake, rinse-free and quick cooking

wtf

http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-NS-LAC05XA-Uncooked-Cooker-Stainless/dp/B000G30ESY/ref=br_lf_m_1000220711_1_5_img?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=kitchen&pf_rd_p=385185701&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_i=1000220711&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1NZGEYCT3AYKSVMPVMPF

130 bucks for the best electronic kitchen thing i own

With such an endorsement, how can I go wrong? I shall order this small godlike rice appliance.

yeah maybe I'll pick one up today. also want to get an over-the-sink cutting board and some food-grade storage bins for like, everything you could possibly store. a little gunshy after the mouse debacle.

on the upside, nuking my entire pantry means I get to start from scratch. a lil pricey, but I just got my loan money and it's nice to have a clean start.

I think I need a new rice maker, or at least a new rice maker pot. I have no idea wtf I did, but the bottom has scrape marks and I think I ate a batch of rice that had material from the rice maker in it :(

― mh, Tuesday, May 8, 2012 10:25 AM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark

we have a zojirushi but I think whatever coating hte pot uses isn't very durable, our pot has lots of scratches and you can see the bare metal in places (nb I don't know what my parents do to that pot, it might be okay if you don't abuse it like they do)

you are fucking up your pot, i've had my pot for three years and it's fine. don't put it in the dishwasher.

yeah I wanna order a replacement pot but I know they'll just fuck it up again

we never put things in the dishwasher! we never use our dishwasher for reasons unknown

are they like scrubbing it with steel wool or something? this is really weird to me.

yeah I have no idea. I just ordered a replacement pot out of shame.

Probably using other utensils in the pot instead of the little plastic rice paddle it comes with.

good point; you def want to use that thing

i need a more fancy rice cooker but i need so much stuff right now so probably not getting it soon

I got some dumb red rice cooker at Target for $13 and it works a treat. Brand is Aroma. It came with a little metal container with holes in the bottom so you can steam food, too.

i have the cheapest zojirushi. i need more capabilities.

yeah i used to have one of those cheap ones but having the timer actually changed my life; in addition to overnight oatmeal you can go to work and come home to cooked rice--esp with brown rice the cooking time is long enough that if i waited to start it until getting home i'd just snack and snack and etc.

I still make rice on the stovetop #littlehouseontheprairie

have any of you guys done any brining of poultry? tonight i brined a couple of bone-in chicken breasts and roasted them and i did less than the minimum brining time but i can't decide if it was too damn salty.

ooh yes mr veg has brined chicken and turkey before.

I don't find it too salty, makes the meat so juicy and yum. I love it!

was your brining solution designed for brining just pieces, or for a whole bird? If you use that same solution for pieces I could see how you might end up with a saltier piece of meat

I want to do either of these two

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/03/the-pizza-lab-awesome-pizza-without-an-oven-aka-skillet-pizza.html

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/07/the-pizza-lab-how-to-top-grilled-pizzas.html

I still make rice in a pot on the stove too, absorption style, always comes out perfect. Ive never had a rice cooker not flake off its teflon on me within 3-6 months, theyre all made like shit. And no, I dont scour, use forks on it, or put it in the dishwasher. It just loses its integrity after minimal amounts of time. Theyre always made with shitty cheap aluminium bowls. I dunno.

xxp nope it was designed for pieces--it's the brining instructions for bone-in breasts in all about roasting by molly stevens. she really recommends a 24-hour-in-advance presalting so maybe i'll try that next time.