What's cooking? part 4

acids are cool for cooking meat, it's beans that won't cook

Aha! Thank you. According to Cook's Illus it also slows cooking for potatoes; this is why they put the vinegar in potato salad after cooking and draining and not in the water. But I'll remember that about meat.

Our grill plans were foiled by all bbq's being occupied whenever we wanted to cook. Should have figured that would happen on memorial day weekend, but I've really never seen anyone use those grills ever in the past 2 years! Even on holidays!

does anyone have any fav cookout/grilling side recipes?

potato salads?
pasta salads?
salad salads?

i am hosting a crowd on saturday and want to make some stuff

want to make a cupcake recipe again but was too sweet last time -- is there a good rule of thumb of how much sugar to reduce when wanting to change the sweetness? 1/4 cup less?

Potato salad:

Roast 1-2 lbs halved baby yukons, tossed in a little oil, smoked salt and pepper, at 425 for 30 mins

Slice up 1-2 bunches of asparagus into 1” pieces, saute with smoked salt, pepper, oil for 6-8 mins

Make dressing of:
1 large shallot minced
2 tsp oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp dijon
1/2 yellow mustard powder or seeds
1 tsp dried dill
Smoked salt
pepper

Toss together

asparagus too? sounds v good!

My favorite is this cucumber salad my Oma makes that is only thinly sliced cucumbers with fresh dill, vinegar, water salt, pepper and sugar. I wish I knew the portions. but I did find this recipe which looks close her salad, except I would add pepper

xp it is! except the shallots in the dressing will make everyone's eyes water

this is another favourite salad:

spinach (or romaine - probably any kind of robust green would work)
green onions
avocado
finely grated carrot
oranges (optional - i leave these out)

tossed with a dressing of
2 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp fresh oj
1/3 c oil
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp dijon
salt/pepper

this mark bittman chickpea and arugula salad is also really good and simple.

forgot to include the recipe
2 cucumbers (2 pounds)
1 small red onion
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh

Slice the cucumber lengthwise, remove the seeds, and slice thinly. Thinly slice the onion.

toss the cucumber and onion with the salt and let it sit and drain for 20 minutes. Press the liquid out of the vegetables and rinse well with cold water.

In a medium bowl combine the vinegar and sugar and stir well. Add the cucumber mixture and toss to coat. Stir in the dill.

Made a delish vat of chicken cacciatore last night. Tho I feel it wasnt quite right without any olives... but N hates olives.

PS that chickpea/rocket salad looks delish! I'll bookmark that one.

got all this mint and basil in the fridge I need to use b4 it turns, hmmmm.

there was originally some purpose idk

Hate it when I do that - buy some big batch of something then Im all "wtf was I gonna make with this". Currently have giant bumch of silverbeet. Contemplating making saag aloo or saag chicken with it.

arby's you should make an herb paste and then put it on everything

you can make basil/mint pesto which is good w/ chicken or pasta or pasta with chicken and grilled vegetables

basil, mint, walnuts, garlic, olive oil, salt

That's an herb paste!

Tonight's menu is slocki chicken with vegetable red curry with rice noodles. Was stunned to find that I had zero honey in the house (I feel like I'm always collecting it and have jars that are years old), so subbed brown sugar. Oh well.

Two of my default summer side dishes:

- potato salad from a Cook's Illustrated I got years ago that consists of boiled sliced red potatoes tossed with a dijon vinaigrette, toasted walnuts, blue cheese, and arugula.

- quartered and cored red cabbage, really thinly sliced into long strips, tossed with lime juice, fish sauce, finely chopped toasted peanuts, some sort of heat (powdered red chile, sriracha, chile paste, whatever), a clove of garlic, and some sort of herb - thai basil, cilantro, mint, etc. Basically it's a lot like green papaya salad but with cabbage which is much easier for me to find and way faster to prep.

I had a salad based on watermelon, feta and mint at a BBQ recently and even though it's pretty simple it was awesome.

that's one i was def thinking about doing

My beef adobo came out awesome! Deglazed w a bottle of Red Stripe, everything else about it was exactly as I said except I put it on stove top instead of slow cooker because fuck the heat and also I didn't have 5 hours to wait. The amt of hot pepper I used, though, turned out to be at the very edge of what I can personally tolerate! I have to load my tacos up with avocado and queso for relief.

gonna make some herb paste

took the advice, made a paste/marinade thing with the last of whatever things i scrounge from the fridge and cupboard, baked some chicken breasts in it. mint (lots), basil (some), macadamia nuts, the very last squeezin of box wine, rind and juice from half a lemon, juice from half an orange, olive oil, pinch each of cumin and garlic salt, little ground pepper. was good!

I have some trout fillets and no idea what to do with them - any recommendations?

I have creme fraiche that needs using and my original plan was to buy salmon and make a creamy sauce, but the salmon didn't look too fresh, so now I have trout instead and the recipes I can find online mostly just bake/pan-fry it in butter and lemon with no sauce. Is a creamy sauce too much for trout?

chocolate and cheese works great with fish i hear

Best trout I ever made was baked in foil pouches with dabs of butter and slices of lemon and onion. I don't think a creamy sauce would be overpowering, but with fresh trout, I think I'd leave it naked.

Thanks WmC! (And ledge, in a different way)

Mr Veg is grilling up some marinated chicken thighs (pineapple juice/soy concoction), and I've made a quinoa & black bean salad to accompany. I am very much looking forward to putting it all in my face :D

dear just1n3,

my guests totally housed the potato/asparagus salad and it was met with many good comments. thanks so much!

:)

Going for the basics tonight and roasting up a fresh organic 2kg chook slathered in evoo, crushed garlic and rosemary, gonna add roast veg to the mix later (tatoes, pumpkin, etc), simple meal but so damn good on a chilly winter Sunday night.

I had to look up "chook" cause I grew up knowing it as definition #3 here:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chook

i marinated some chook in lemon juice, olive oil, crushed garlic, and herbs and made greek salad and tzatziki and greek potatoes. it was imho very good

I got a sri lankan cookbook and I am gonna cook like hell from it. Although it is getting hot and I do not want to turn on the stove, so I am planning to somehow do curries on the grill. Like, get a good hot fire going, plop a pan in there, and cook from there.

Meanwhile, tonight is bratwurst with sauerkraut from a can.

loling @ the idea of a roast hat =)

BTW my roast chicken dinner was DELISHUS. Though I couldnt sleep for hours as I was so overstuffed with food and wine :(

I've made lots of stuff recently, but this salad is the prettiest. Three kinds of beets julienned, spinach salad w/ apple mint and sage flower garnish, toasted pine nuts, orange vinaigrette.
SUMMER IS HERE Y'ALL

(not the best picture, i'll admit, but i was hungry)

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7083/7331996004_b3c7d16782_z.jpg

Lunch is about to happen -- a toasted bagel/cream cheese/homemade gravlax with tomato, onion, capers, fresh dill from the garden.

Last night, with few meats in the freezer to choose from, I made a sausage, chickpea, lentil, spinach, red pepper and tomato sauce casserole. It's AMAZING! I am feeling rather proud of myself. Cumin, curry, garlic, onion powder.. a little cheese very browned on top.. good times.

barely cooking, but ceviche.

Amanda, that salad is beautiful

Any y'all got experience making vichyssoise? I'm reading equal amounts of things saying "use stock!" and "use water, not stock!" and I'm just stumped.

My only experience is that I my attempt to make a potato soup in the vitamix was an absolute disaster, unless I were planning to hang wallpaper with the stuff.

Use stock!

Yeah vicyssoise or any potato based soup would be dreadfully bland with just water, I'm sure.

My dad always made fish stock for vichyssoise