What's cooking? part 4

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

salmon en papillote w/ tarragon, lemons, butter, garlic
roasted potatoes w/ rosemary
steamed kale w/ tahini dressing
wiiiiiiiine

i made a completely veganized version of that smitten kitchen baked orzo, and it was REALLY good -

1. i used just plain old penne, bc i have kind of a lot of pasta on hand (thanks, costco) and didn't want to buy orzo specially. i used the same weight as the recipe for orzo, plus the same amount of stock and it was fine.

2. i used daiya mozzarella shreds and galaxy fake parm

i guess real cheeses would have been better, but this was still very creamy and tasty, ytth's eyes just about bugged out of his head when he tasted it.

Has anyone made kale chips? if so how?

i haven't tried to make it yet but i have this kale chip recipe bookmarked.

Thanks!

I want to make kale chips so bad! I was cooking kale in the cast iron the other day and added cayenne pepper and salt, then went off and forgot about it. I returned just before it burned and ended up "chiplike" kale. So now i want J. to make the proper.

I've been making kale crisps (they're not really chips this way) in the microwave lately, because it's less hot than running the oven for so long, an objection that will matter much less when the outside temp drops below 50.

I de-rib the kale leaves and tear into pieces but you could leave the ribs in and/or leaves whole. Put in bowl, coat with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne, and some smoked paprika. Then spread on a plate and MICROWAVE for like 7 minutes. Somewhere around 5-6 mins I usually open it up and blow some steam out, all that water has to go somewhere. Continue until all kale is crispy. Eat entire mixing bowl of kale in one sitting. Great for topping soups or salads or bowls of rice that need some crunch.

dat crunch

I am going to make Stevie's stroganoff tonight! Will report back.

I'm waiting for the weather to get below NINETY to crack that one

ugh this weather is messing with my love of fall cooking

i have really not been experimenting with my cooking for a while, just cooking the same things, which are good and delicious (not only to me; proven by friend-science), but the change of seasons has brought with it a desire to cook different things. and lo! today a publicist sent me a cookbook about food in Burma!
tamarind-pumpkin curry? yes please!
lemongrass-ginger sliders? totes
coconut sauce noodles? all the time
all that and more + pretty pictures + hardcover

i will try to make kale chips because kale i eat it all the time

coconut sauce noodles sound like my favorite thing in the world

srsly i know