What's cooking? part 4

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.

Where was that, joygoat? b/c I want to eat that.

yeah i think i'm gonna make that

but tonight i am making marinated lamb and roasted vegetables. i'm gonna die roasting things in this heat but meh

but lamb

lamb sounds good! what are you marinating it in?

last night we did lamb and a sort of improvised red wine sauce with redcurrant jelly, except we overdid the redcurrant jelly, which was rather sweeter than we expected. but still pleasant, must try again and remember not to panic if the sauce looks a bit mean/thin and start throwing more solids into it

crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dill, salt and pepper

oh i also added dried oregano

that does sound good! i'd never thought of dill with lamb, interesting. enjoy!

that's like the same marinade i use for everything. dill is good in the way mint is good, not too overwhelming just there. i was going to make tzatziki but i don't feel like doing that many foods. i'll make it later this week.

Man, I havent eaten lamb in forever.

Jaq - it was at the blind pig bistro in Eastlake. Everything we had was really really good, and surprisingly inexpensive.

OMG guys 3 words;

Boneless.
Skinless.
Thighs.

yeaaaaaaaaaaaah

Why in fucks name do moms and everyone else everywhere buy breasts exclusively? I mean oh my god girl these things got flavor like Stevie got sass

everyone's scared of the fat content in thighs

Also people like my mom and dad won't eat dark meat chicken because it's too weird and gamy tasting. I am not joking.

yeah I know a lot of people who don't like the taste of dark meat

them ppl be crazy imo

The boneless part a-ok but NOM SKIN

I am eating a giant taco/tortilla/unrolled burrito thing with:

• Cabot Private Stock super-sharp cheddar
• black beans refried in butter
• green pep, onion, garlic sautéed in butter
• chicken BST's simmered for an hour w chili powder, garlic, cumin, cayenne, oregano, salt
• chipotle salsa

xpost I've trained myself not to eat skin but every now and then I break down and omnomnom

Tonight's dinner, spaghetti bolognese. An old classic, maybe mu favorite comfort food ever

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/pp201/sharonjoy666/9be6153c.jpg

My food styling could use work, I know

Dammit Stevie now I want to make a chicken cacciatore for dinner with thighs, italian passata, and some good olives and capsicum.

also thats a tasty lookin classic bol, Veg! :D

it was deeeeelicious

Stephanie Alexander bol sauce recipe. Tried + true

I have an all-day recep from somewhere--it is awesome but sometimes at the end of the day I'm starving and I'm like THIS took 5 hours?? or whatever.

Maybe it's from Cooks Illus, I use their everything.

Yeah, see I find their recipes v tiresome and overly complicated, often with silly instructions to do things that truly don't matter.

I have a recipe of theirs that I use, only I don't don't line the pan *just so* with four woven together strips of parchment paper or use that particularly difficult to find type of blueberry. Or whatever -- you know what type of instructions I'm talking about. Following their recipes to the letter doesn't usually lead to any better results ime than when I make small changes to make things easier for myself; really what I want is something that tastes good when I want to eat and doesn't make me feel stressed out while I'm preparing it. Their recipes are a guide, but usually I chart my own path (and take notes) when I use one.I find the cult of recipes kind of weird and interesting, tbh. (Also I hate being told what to do)

Hee. I cut corners w their stuff sometimes but then it doesn't come out the same (obv). The thing about the spag bol recp is that it calls for you to cook all the water out of the meat 3 separate times: first the brown ground meats until they give up water & go dry, then add milk and cook til dry, then add white wine and cook til dry, then add tomatoes and start the simmer period. Not even including the mirepoix etc.

But then I love painstaking things, I just get hungry in the 4-5 hours it takes to make.