What's cooking? part 4

i have some skinless drumsticks. not sure what to make.

Dinner was
brie & pita crackers
six figs
a tiny leftover corner of steak
two screwdrivers
perfect

I know it's not cooking but that's because GOD DID IT ALL FOR ME
for once

i love nibbly meals like that

GUYS I COOKED TODAY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A MONTH:

cavatelli w broc, garlic, butter, Italian turkey sausage. Very good and healthy-ish I hope.

Two diff stores were out of chickpea flour :-(

Made that orzo and eggplant thing! It's great! not really taht much prep compared to stuff I usually make, except for salting the eggplant, which I think did make a difference.

Awesome. I'm glad you liked it. I guess it just seemed like there was a lot of chopping. lol.

I just made THE BEST MOST ULTIMATE BEEF STROGANOFF

it is so fucking unreal; every bite is a universe of flavor

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 pounds sirloin steak tips, trimmed of excess fat and cut lengthwise (with grain) into 4 equal pieces (see note)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 pound white mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered (see note)
2 teaspoons hot water
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
Ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
Table salt
2 teaspoons tomato paste
4 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon white wine or dry vermouth
1 1/2 cups beef broth (see note)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves or dill

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Using fork, poke each piece of steak 10 to 12 times. Place in baking dish; rub both sides evenly with soy sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour.
2. While meat marinates, place mushrooms in medium microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high power until mushrooms have decreased in volume by half, 4 to 5 minutes (there should be as much as ¼ cup liquid in bowl). Drain mushrooms and set aside; discard liquid. Combine water, dry mustard, sugar, and ½ teaspoon pepper in small bowl until smooth paste forms; set aside
3. Pat steak pieces dry with paper towels and season with pepper. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place steak pieces in skillet and cook until browned on all sides and internal temperature registers 125 to 130 degrees, 6 to 9 minutes, reducing heat if fond begins to burn. Transfer meat to large plate and set aside while cooking sauce.
4. Add mushrooms, onion, and ½ teaspoon salt to skillet and cook until vegetables begin to brown and dark bits form on bottom of pan, 6 to 8 minutes. Add tomato paste and flour and cook, stirring constantly, until onions and mushrooms are coated, about 1 minute. Stir in 1/3 cup wine, beef broth, and mustard paste and bring to simmer, scraping ¬bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat to medium and cook until sauce has reduced slightly and begun to thicken, 4 to 6 minutes.
5. While sauce is reducing, cut steak pieces across grain into ¼-inch-thick slices. Stir meat and any accumulated juices into thickened sauce and cook until beef has warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let any bubbles subside. Stir in sour cream and remaining tablespoon wine; season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley or dill and serve.

cannot even deal w/ how rich this is

looooooooove stroganoff, I will try that recipe for sure!

I've had a weeklong craving for it but tbh after tasting this I realize I've never actually had real legit stroganoff before.

legit stroganoff is the best

I've just realised I haven't made a proper roast dinner since I've been back (several months) and as it's rainy out I'm going to compensate with roast lamb, mint sauce, stuffing, roast spuds etc etc

Making Jamaican goat curry tonight!

Made a batch of meatballs the other day to go with a tomato sauce and spaghetti, but I held some of them back for today: meatballs in an onion cream sauce over rice, with leftover green peas w/mint on the side.

excitedly made my first thing from recently-acquired mexican everyday by rick bayless--mole amarillo with chicken thighs, chayotes, and green beans. it resulted in a really nice stew type thing over some brown rice and got me interested in trying the "authentic" mole recipes (since this book is designed to take some shortcuts).

that sounds incredible

I've made the "authentic" red mole from one of his earlier books and it's kind of a pain but if you get your space together it isn't so bad. It's actually pretty great for a lazy sunday sort of thing where you can babysit it for a while and do a bunch of dishes.

I've doubled (tripled?) the recipe and frozen the extra with no ill effects which also makes the time it takes not as bad.

How do I learn how to stir-fry/saute properly? Like I'm doing mushrooms, leeks, and garlic tonight to put on pizza and I know better than to just throw them all in the pan at once but I'm still not sure what order to do it in to make the mushrooms rich and earthy, the leeks still sharp and leeky, and the garlic pungent and garlicky. I guess mushrooms for a while, then leeks a few minutes before they're done, and then garlic at the v end for like 30 sec?

I dunno if this is 'right' but I take mushrooms out and put in a bowl when they're done as they give off so much liquid.

I tend to cook each ingredient separately too, so they're just right, and then throw them all in together at the end for a minute or so, stirring/flipping continuously to blend the flavors.

I would do them in the order that you said - separately, or add each to the same pan as you go.

Main thing with mushrooms, or any sauteeing really is not crowding the pan, and a nice med-high heat so they get nicely browned.
I find that the mushrooms will reabsorb some of the liquid they give off if you cook them for long enough, it makes them nice and plump.

Get the mushrooms in there in one layer and after you've tossed them a bit to get the oil distributed on them, spread them out and don't move them, don't stir them around. Let them sit and sear for a good 2-3 minutes, then flip them like a bunch of little steaks for the other side.

You may wish to google Julia Child's mushroom technique because those turn out sooooo good. Leeks I don't have suggestions for :(

WmC pretty much explained the JC technique. But she uses butter AND oil, heh.

julia's mushrooms are the bomb.com

don't overcrowd the pan, that's my $0.02

I got a delivery of dried pig's blood yesterday. Going to try and source some backfat today and if I can will attempt black pudding over the weekend.

I got some fresh Brussel's sprouts yesterday, which is my new favorite thing. I am going to wrap them in foil and throw them on the grill with a lot of butter.

Also, I live around a lot of Greeks, but I can't find orzo anywhere anymore? Is there a embargo against Greece that I don't know about?? I guess I can mail order it!

I spent ages trying to find orzo the other day! Got it in a deli in the end.

http://www.israelisuper.com/ShowImage.asp?file=RONZ1-22.jpg&folder=/Images/&xSize=200&ySize=300&HWM=0

Just in with the reg pasta at my supermarket.

that's where it should be! We have literally 5 shitty small Tescos within 5 mins of each other all selling the exact same range of stuff so if you don't find it in one, it won't be in the others. Rage-inducing.

within 1 min of each other actually, took 5 mins to visit them all.

Brussel's, Belgiu'm

What is a good thing to do w 2c of beef broth? I never use this stuff but have some sitting in my fridge.

french onion soup?

If you don't know what to do with it yet, you can always freeze it.

that is true! I always forget abt my nifty freezer

It's great to add to stuff like bolognese, chili, awesome for pot roast, tomato soup, etc. If you can freeze into 2 or 4 oz portions, it's handy to plop in a cube vs having to thaw the whole thing at once.

u could cheat and add a couple of cups of water to it & make risotto

or freeze it

Beef and vegetable and barley soup. Barley soaks up the meaty broth just PERFECTLY.

Awww, black pudding turned out awesomely. Chock full of nom.

it's a slightly chilly rainy day so I'm cooking potato leek soup!

soup came up in conversation yesterday & it was just like OH MY IT'S TIME TO MAKE THAT AGAIN
gonna happen soon

(right now i am cooking some green split peas, i haven't tried them before & they look great)

I was reading Julia Child's recipe for Potato Leek soup, but it seems so basic. no herb except for parsley or chives as a garnish. I was thinking of adding thyme while cooking. I also have no crème fraiche. Is crème fraiche that different from heavy cream?

It's more like sour cream than heavy cream - slightly tangy.

Ah like Mexican Crema?
http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/jocoque.jpg

that would be a great sub imo