What's cooking? part 4

The yogurt recipes I've seen say to bring the milk up to 180, but then cool it back down to, uh, 115 or so? before adding the cultures.

yeah when we've made yogurt we've followed this: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/yogurt_making/yogurt2000.htm

what was your starter culture, remy?

my dream is to get a yogurt starter from northern china - there's this amazing yogurt they have everywhere in the city, so good. the one we made from dannon was very middling, tbh.

I know v little abt yogurt but I've been put under the impression that it's usually v thin if you don't either strain it or add thickeners

well, i tried making yogurt twice.

attempt #1: i brought half a gallon of milk to 185° and then lowered it to 115° and stirred in half a cup of fage plain yogurt innoculated w/ 1/2 c of the warm milk and 1/2 c of nonfat dried milk powder. i poured this into the slow cooker, which i kept on warm for about 14 hours, since it didn't thicken. sometime between 13 and 14 hours, it turned brown and kind of rancid and the surface turned to milk plastic

attempt #2: i brought a quart of milk to 185° and then lowered it to 115° and stirred in about half a cup of fage plain yogurt (live, active cultures) and 1/2 cup of nonfat milk powder. i used an immersion blender to break up the yogurt, then poured the whole sloppy kit-&-caboodle into a tupperware floating in a cooler filled with warm water. i put the cooler in the sun, put the cover on it, and checked back in eight hours. yogurt tasted amazing, but was only kefir-y in texture.

our yogurt came out pretty thick!

we spooned it into jars, then submerged the jars in water at w/e temp that's good for inoculation , kept the whole thing in a big picnic thermos

I only heat the milk up to around 120 F, mix in the yogurt (greek gods) and do the dayo treatment to keep it warm. I do use whole milk, don't know if that makes it thicker or not.

what to cook when your kitchen is a thousand degrees? i hate grocery shopping when the weather is like this, i'm a hardy winter meals sorta guy.

Look here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?_r=1&ref=theminimalist

i eat a lot of stovetop grilled vegetables and cheese and bread
also things that stir fry quickly like greens and peppers and zucchini and whatnot
also anything that can be baked quickly in the toaster oven (fish with some mint chutney on it -- yes, mint chutney from a jar)
stuff like that is what i'm eating
and salads + bread

when all else fails, cheese + crackers + spinach salad because i always have those things hanging around

What to Eat when It's so Hot out you can't think straight?

Cold asparagus dipped in peanut sauce
vietnamese summer rolls
beer popsicles

i made tortilla soup today – leftover grilled chicken, corn, pepper, onion, and canned tomato in turkey stock. i love spicy food when it's sweltering, and hot soup.

This thread insipred me to make shrimp and grits! awwwwwwwwwwww yeah

maybe it was some other food thread where the grits talked happened but awwwwwwwwww yeah

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/1291131680_two-thumbs-up.jpg

now all my grits got shrimp in it

damn this is the best food
god bless usa

Do grits microwave ok? I made too much for one lady.

Cold asparagus dipped in peanut sauce
vietnamese summer rolls
beer popsicles

a little poem

Yes! One of my favorite breakfasts is some reheated grits with a couple of fried eggs laid on top.

-cracked open a coconut, water smelled and tasted really rancid, so did the coconut. (nb this was not a young coconut, but rather a mature one w/ husk)

Just took a pound cake out of the oven - first cake I've baked in ages, smells delicious

Grits is basically polenta, yeah? I think Ive asked that before.

Pretty much, yeah. A lot of southern kids grow up eating them with butter and sugar, same as oatmeal or Cream of Wheat.

i tried that shakshuka recipe, too, and i wasn't super into it. good, but with all the garlic, chilies, spices, and the FETA i imagined a lot more flavors leaping out at me but the tomatoes kinda overpowered everything.

^^ yeah kinda how I felt. I will up the chiles and maybe amount and a half the spices? hmm

i used 5 anaheims and added a little tumeric bcz why not and idk it was just all tomatoes to me

I wuld think cumin and a lot of salt and garlic would be the key to such a dish?

yeah which is why i'm kinda not sure what happened

**V IMPT SHAKSHUKA UPDATE**

I just tried this recipe from Bon Appétit that adds chickpeas and feta and subs a 28oz can of hand-crushed whole peeled tomatoes instead of 8 diced romas. It took it from really good to WHOA OMG SO AMAZING. Also fuck putting it in the oven to cook the eggs, just put the lid on and cook for like 6-7 min

This makes me want to open up a restaurant so I can have a brunch menu so I can serve shakshuka to ppl

xp that's exactly how i made it minus the chickpeas. idk, hmmm. ah well.

don't know what's got me making soup all summer but doing an indian lentil/veggie thing w/ coconut milk, moghul garam masala, saffron. will attempt to make my own ghee!

Oh ooops recipe is at
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2011/12/poached-eggs-in-tomato-sauce-with-chickpeas-and-feta

I reaaaally want to try this but I know myself and how skeeved I get about some textures and I'm pretty sure that I would cook this thing and be so excited and then either freeze up before I even take a mouthful or eat some and never touch it again.

I wish I wasn't such a baby. I want to clone myself to find out!

ghee attempt #1 = failure
disposing of failure ghee = failure
mopping
ghee attempt # 2

also flipped bowl of ground spices onto the floor, this is one of those nights

I sympathize. I hate those nights.

was going to ask "what went wrong with the ghee?" then I noticed step 3 and can probably guess

what went wrong was a burned it. ~then~ what went wrong was there was a big hole in the garbage bag i poured it into.

cooking utilities i thought i had, i don't have, must have belonged to gf's old roommates? idk?
spilled saffron threads i was soaking all over everything in the fridge. how? not certain.

universe punishing me today

WILL FINISH COOKING

it turned everything yeeellow

my quest for the perfect vegan pate has finally ended!!!

i got the real food daily recipe for their in-house pate and made it tonight - french lentils, walnuts, basil, thyme, miso and umeboshi paste are the main ingredients. it has a really great meaty taste and the same texture as good pate.

i'm so happy!!!

Oh nice! Did you ever try out that mushroom pate I posted ages back? I should give it a try myself. Dating another vegan now (heh!) so need to get back into the cooking experiments :)

yeah i did and it was FOUL. actually i never actually tried it, the smell alone was horrendous. i think i hate porcini mushrooms.

here is the recipe, trayce:

3/4 c. dried green lentils
3 c. water
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 sm. onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp mirin
1 1/4 c. walnuts, toasted *
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil or 1 1/2 tsp dried
3 Tbsp yellow miso
1 1/2 Tbsp umeboshi paste
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme or 1 1/2 tsp dried
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c. tofu sour cream for garnish **
basil sprigs for garnish
thyme sprigs for garnish
wheat-free rice and sesame crackers

Combine the lentils and 3 cups of the water in a heavy saucepan. Add the bay leaf and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are very tender. Drain, remove the bay leaf, and cool completely.

Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 8 minutes, or until the onion is golden brown. Stir in the mirin. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

Chop the walnuts in a food processor until a paste forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the lentils and the onion mixture, and process until smooth. Blend in the basil, miso, umeboshi paste, thyme, and pepper. Line a 3-cup bowl or mold with plastic wrap, leaving a 3-inch overhang. Transfer the pate to the prepared bowl, packing it in firmly, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the pate, cover, and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

Uncover the pate and invert it onto a plate or small platter. Remove the plastic wrap. Drizzle the sour cream over the pate decoratively and garnish with basil and thyme sprigs. Surround the pate with crackers and serve.

xp i meant: i made it, but i didn't actually eat it bc i was too grossed out.

lol hahah fair eough :) i guess if mushrooms are a grossout it'd be intensely bad hehe. your one sounds good tho!

it's just porcini mushrooms, or at least the dried version - the smell is just so... revolting.

I have to admit Ive never tried them - all those dried mushrooms weird me out which is odd cos I like mushrooms. I wonder if the pate would work with field mushrooms in its place?

i love mushrooms but hate dried mushrooms. they always taste extra stinky to me and i hate the chewy texture.