― nathalie, Friday, 11 May 2007 12:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jaq, Friday, 11 May 2007 15:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jaq, Sunday, 13 May 2007 21:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― lauren, Thursday, 17 May 2007 14:35 (seventeen years ago) link
― Porkpie, Thursday, 17 May 2007 20:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― lauren, Friday, 18 May 2007 01:17 (seventeen years ago) link
― aldo, Friday, 18 May 2007 08:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― Madchen, Friday, 18 May 2007 11:37 (seventeen years ago) link
― Madchen, Friday, 18 May 2007 11:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― aldo, Friday, 18 May 2007 12:21 (seventeen years ago) link
MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
― Porkpie, Friday, 18 May 2007 23:44 (seventeen years ago) link
I made POTATO SALAD. Extremely yummy. Consists of ham, garlic, mayo, potatos (ORLY), onion,...
― nathalie, Sunday, 20 May 2007 09:07 (seventeen years ago) link
I made cow's milk mozzarella yesterday because there was none at the grocery and I had some lovely roma tomatoes and fresh basil and gallons of organic milk were on sale. This morning for 1st breakfast, I made myself a caprese omelet. Mmmmm.
I also started a biga last night using some of the whey from the cheese as the liquid. I'll bake a loaf of bread this afternoon. Here's the last one I did, which was very toadstoolish:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/198/498781793_aed50f2cde.jpg
― Jaq, Sunday, 20 May 2007 16:06 (seventeen years ago) link
How do you make mozz, Jaq?
― Madchen, Monday, 21 May 2007 13:41 (seventeen years ago) link
Mr. Jaq got me a kit a few years ago from these folks. Basically, you add citric acid or lemon juice to a gallon of non-ultrapasteurized milk, then warm it up in a stainless steel pot to 88 deg F. At that temp, you remove it from the heat and gently stir in a tiny amount of rennet, then let it sit for 5-7 minutes for the curd to develop and solidify. It looks like a soft white custard in a yellowish clear liquid (the whey) at this point. You run a long knife through the curd, cutting it into 1" x 1" long rectangles, which helps the whey to drain out of the curds. You ladle the curds out as gently as possible, trying to drain out more of the whey.
After all the curds are out of the pot, they need to be gradually heated up to 135 F and kneaded and stretched into mozzarella, with some salt worked in. I use the microwave (zap on high for 1 min, knead and drain, then zap for 35 secs, knead some more, then zap again for 35 secs and knead and stretch). You can also just heat the whey up and dip balls of the curd into it to heat it up, which is more trad, but a lot tougher to control. After it's all a nice smooth ball, you cool it off in some ice water and start eating it.
1 gallon (about 4 liters) of milk makes about 3/4 lb (about 1.5 kg) of cheese. Making it's sort of technical and also magical so pretty fun on a weekend, as long as milk's on sale.
― Jaq, Monday, 21 May 2007 17:45 (seventeen years ago) link
Banana pancakes. Not bad, but not a big success with Ophelia and DH. (hah I just typed DH)
― stevienixed, Tuesday, 22 May 2007 19:04 (seventeen years ago) link
FRENCH FRIES. well, deepfreeze ones so not really anything special. :-)
― stevienixed, Thursday, 24 May 2007 08:56 (seventeen years ago) link
Simple black bean salad tonight - delish.
canned black beans (well washed) avocado chopped tomato chopped red onion chopped cilantro fresh lime juice salt & pepper shredded cheddar cheese (served with blue corn tortilla chips)
― Hurting 2, Friday, 25 May 2007 02:10 (seventeen years ago) link
Perfect meal for hot evening
banana ice cream mint ice cream
― nathalie, Saturday, 26 May 2007 14:36 (seventeen years ago) link
i've cooked two real meals in the past week: grilled colombian chorizo, avocado salad, garlic spinach, and fried plantains last saturday, and grilled steak/chicken thighs with tomatillo sauce, red/orange pepper salad, wonderfully fresh asparagus with lime, and mashed plantains last night. i'm on a slight latin kick.
― lauren, Saturday, 26 May 2007 14:42 (seventeen years ago) link
oatmeal chocolate chip cookies fudgy mocha brownies
(I guess that's more "baking" than "cooking," though.)
― Sara R-C, Monday, 28 May 2007 20:41 (seventeen years ago) link
so much grilled stuff! i spent saturday night grilling for TWO HOURS. it's because i don't let people near my grill, it's sad.
― Ai Lien, Tuesday, 29 May 2007 02:34 (seventeen years ago) link
Work has been taking its toll on my cooking, plus I am STARVING when I get home from work so more inclined to eat massive quantities of CHEESE instead of making something for dinner. But last night I made a nice pork roast (black pepper and thyme) and some blistered asparagus (get a cast iron skillet hot, add oil, toss in asparagus spears, sprinkle with crushed red chilis, flip about with tongs until bright green and getting some blackened spots).
― Jaq, Thursday, 31 May 2007 15:04 (seventeen years ago) link
Yes! I have been doing that to asparagus all week, bought some cheaply in the supermarket.
Last night I made a shepherd's pie as we both have horrible colds and needed some comfort food. Served piping hot with some buttered green cabbage and a big glass of milk = dinner like my mum did when I was a little girl and feeling poorly. It was brilliant. I saved some of the lamb mince and shall be making it all spicy and stuffing an aubergine with it tonight.
(I had bought the aubergine for doing moussaka and then couldn't be arsed because I was feeling like crap)
― ailsa, Friday, 1 June 2007 12:14 (seventeen years ago) link
Nothing! In Tokyo so eating out a lot. HURRAH! I just miss Schweppes Tonic, really. I can't find it anywhere. :-(
― stevienixed, Saturday, 2 June 2007 16:31 (seventeen years ago) link
i made a very improvised "moroccan" saute to go with some quinoa i had hanging around. onions, carrot, chickpeas, pine nuts, raisins, dried apricots, and ginger, and an odd but tasty combo of kecap (indonesian condiment) and pomegranate molasses for the sauce.
― lauren, Saturday, 2 June 2007 22:34 (seventeen years ago) link
(lauren, that sounds really great.)
Went to the market this morning, there were no eggs to be had but got a nice chicken instead. Also, 2 lbs of Chelan cherries which will make a tasty clafouti if I stop snacking on them.
Mr. Jaq has been reading bits of a New Yorker article about sushi to me ALL RQ#$%!$T#$R@ DAY LONG and it's warm out, so damn it we are going to a sushi-go-round for dinner.
― Jaq, Saturday, 2 June 2007 23:52 (seventeen years ago) link
My parents dropped by on the way home from a party in Brechin and brought me a giant organic steak they'd bought from a farmers' market up there. I cooked it to perfection for once in my life (ie. rare but not cold in the middle) and ate it with some grainy mustard on a plate of its own. I didn't want to sully the dish with veg.
I think the expression is 'nom nom nom'.
― Madchen, Monday, 4 June 2007 15:34 (seventeen years ago) link
damn, i have a savage craving for kale right now!
― Ai Lien, Monday, 4 June 2007 21:27 (seventeen years ago) link
i used up the last of the ramps i had from the Union Sq. green market. they're probably all gone for the season =(
i'll miss those little stinkers till next spring!
― Samski, Thursday, 7 June 2007 15:44 (seventeen years ago) link
B.L.T.
― Ai Lien, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:21 (seventeen years ago) link
Nothing but plain seared meats lately - burgers, steaks, chops tonight. And asparagus. I ate all the cherries, so no clafouti. Nothing baked, nothing involved or the least elaborate. Simple simple simple. I stared at the cast iron pan I was about the cook the chops in tonight and thought about a nice pan of cornbread, but that's as close as I got.
― Jaq, Sunday, 10 June 2007 01:41 (seventeen years ago) link
last night i made a thai curry with very fresh squid from the greenmarket. their skate always looks really nice, so this week i plan on getting some. i didn't get any ramps this year, sadly.
going shopping in flushing today, YAY!
― lauren, Sunday, 10 June 2007 14:09 (seventeen years ago) link
Used a birthday gift cert to buy a new cookbook: Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon. I didn't have the exact ingredients for any of the recipes, but have an inspired braise of lamb, onion, currants, dry-roasted pine nuts, and cubed butternut squash in the oven now, seasoned with cumin, paprika, allspice, cloves, turmeric, saffron, and some of the preserved lemons I put up a month ago. I'll serve it with couscous I think.
― Jaq, Monday, 11 June 2007 00:41 (seventeen years ago) link
Damn, that was GOOD! And enough left over for lunches tomorrow. The lemons are insanely tasty.
― Jaq, Monday, 11 June 2007 04:01 (seventeen years ago) link
I am cooking roast dinner for everybody once a week and really getting into it. Chicken, sweer potatoes, parsnips, roasties, yorkshire pudding, stuffing, gravy - in June!
― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 12:36 (seventeen years ago) link
Extra thick pork chops, brined in brown sugar and salt, then stuffed with bacon, smoked gouda, walnuts, green apple, and sage. Pan-seared and finished in the oven. Definitely the best I've ever made.
― lindseykai, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 16:58 (seventeen years ago) link
Mmm, a Sri Lankan-style curry with monkfish, tomatoes, a heap of coriander and a big dollop of dijon mustard, among other things. Thank you Madhur Jaffrey and your Curry Bible, it was just what my flu needed tonight.
― Madchen, Tuesday, 12 June 2007 22:37 (seventeen years ago) link
Wait, Lauren, where are you that you'd go shopping in Flushing?
― Casuistry, Wednesday, 13 June 2007 21:27 (seventeen years ago) link
bklyn. if you've got a car it's a pretty quick trip.
― lauren, Thursday, 14 June 2007 02:02 (seventeen years ago) link
Asparagus risotto (sp?). It's way out of my league. Risotto, have some patience with me.
― nathalie, Thursday, 14 June 2007 10:12 (seventeen years ago) link
Actually it was actually quite tasty but risotto sure is an attention seeker: you can not leave it alone for one second.
― nathalie, Thursday, 14 June 2007 14:14 (seventeen years ago) link
I just cooked a giant bundle of rhubarb down with sugar into a syrup, fuel for a summer of rhubarb margaritas, rhubarb prosecchi, rhubarb sodas.
― eater, Thursday, 14 June 2007 15:58 (seventeen years ago) link
3 cheers for rhubarb. i want to get some in the country this weekend and make a pie.
― lauren, Thursday, 14 June 2007 16:01 (seventeen years ago) link
Hello all, I'm a long-time lurker on ILC but I thought now was a good time to take the plunge and register so I can talk about ASPARAGUS and RHUBARB and all the other delicious stuff that's going on at the moment. Nigella has a great rhubard recipe - just a basic fool I think, but she used cooked-down rhubard stock to make a syrup to go over the top (yum).
― hejira, Thursday, 14 June 2007 21:31 (seventeen years ago) link
Rhubard = rhubarb, duh
― hejira, Thursday, 14 June 2007 21:32 (seventeen years ago) link
mmmm rhubarb.
i made hummus the other day and ate it with raw green beans (my favorite) and other delicious vegetables. i need a better food processer, though :\
― tehresa, Thursday, 14 June 2007 23:00 (seventeen years ago) link
Some mint 'n'coriander yoghurt chicken concoction. Turned out quite well. Even Ophelia loved it.
― nathalie, Saturday, 16 June 2007 12:13 (seventeen years ago) link
It's an even quicker trip if you're in Bayside for the summer, is all.
― Casuistry, Sunday, 17 June 2007 17:59 (seventeen years ago) link