What's cooking? part 4

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.

I have always been a recipe guy but I'm trying v hard to break out of that and come up w my own dishes. Tonight I'm going to do whole-wheat fusilli with sausage, leeks, currants, and pecorino. Maybe I'll throw in some light-tasting greens like spinach or something (I'd do broc rabe or kale but I really want to showcase the leeks w/o flavors clashing). Does this sound like something good? Should I add other stuff? Should I only cook the leeks for a minute or two to keep their good leeky flavor?

Sounds lush, wouldn't add anything else. Just sautee the leeks in a bit of butter for a few mins, they take a little while to soften

btw I think I don't like porcini mushrooms either - I used to dislike all mushrooms when I was younger but grew to really like them, so I thought I'd be dead into porcinis but yeah they smell funny :-p

i'm terrible at throwing dishes together, but my new fav thing is oven-roasted tomatoes so i would suggest adding OVENROASTED TOMATOES!!!

xp yeah i'm still not a huge fan of mushrooms in general and only ever buy shiitake and king oyster.

I always used to chuck sliced mushrooms into dishes near the end (like with bacon, onions or something) and they often go a bit watery and tasteless but I recently came across a recipe where you sautee them first in a little bit of butter and salt & pepper and they were amazing!

mmm, yes, mushrooms are nonstop umami if you brown them first. The cell walls break down and they give up their water, then after the water evaporates you can get good browning. Little slices of steak without the dead steer guilt.

all i do is throw dishes together
it has occurred to me that if i want to expand my skills i am going to have to use some recipes

stevie your dish sounds good as is, spinach is easy to throw in at the end and wilt a little
some toasted pine nuts or pecans might be good for crunch? lightly fried breadcrumbs are good for this too.

Made the vegetable lo mein I'd been craving for a few days. It really hit the spot.

Sounds lush, wouldn't add anything else. Just sautee the leeks in a bit of butter for a few mins, they take a little while to soften

Using the left over sausage grease is ok too right?

Browned mushrooms are so fucking good. Also damnit I wish I'd picked up bread for crumbs! I love texture contrasts

Instead of the usual mayo-relish-onion tuna salad, I made it Thai style -- tuna, green onions, mint, nuoc cham. Filled a big beautiful homegrown tomato full of it for lunch, with crackers.

i thought i had invented tomato and bread salad but then i looked it up and found this is called panzanella. i made it like exactly right though so i must be a genius of cooking. i inhaled it though, i wish i had slowed down.

mmm panzanella is the best

it is! i just used regular whole wheat bread and toasted it. i got a bunch of purple basil at the fm this morning and had pecorino in fridge. dressing was crushed garlic, olive oil, and white wine vinegar. will make again.

The pasta I made was soooo goooood!! It was about 12oz ww fusilli, 8oz sausage, a giant leek (like almost a pound), a handful of currants, some garlic, some butter, and a good amount of pecorino. Oh man, I might try dried cranberries next time for added tartness but it was srsly great.

i think I am going to make spaghetti bolognese tonight. mmmm italiano

I had a bread salad at a place in Seattle last weekend that was made with summer squash, grilled peaches, mint, and labneh and it was one of the best things I've eaten in a long time, one of those dishes that actually alters your perceptions and makes you rethink things. I need to try to recreate it.