What's cooking? part 4

now i want to make everything with puff pastry!

i think i'm gonna do little PP apple pies for xmas - but they have to be vegan, can i skip the egg wash? it's just a shiny thing, right?

you could brush with maple maybe?

Doesn't puff pastry have butter in it? I thought that's how it got so flaky?

pepperidge farms makes an accidentally-vegan kind, i guess it has shortening in it instead?

Yeah I love accidentaal veganism and PP is common for it suprisingly! I think because veg shortening's cheaper than actual butter?

Mayo in this category too, cheap ones are made with thickeners instead of egg...

i almost always make my own pastry and i only use butter but i think a lot of the commercial ones are vegan.

omg you make your own puff pastry?
for real?
if so, i bow to you.

i think the egg is just for shiny, so you could easily go without

oops that last thing was to just!ne

also last night i made the chicken soup my host grandma (lol year abroad) taught me to make, which was the first time i had ever been taught how to make anything without a recipe. she is still my inspiration.

You can make reasonably good pie crust with Crisco instead of butter, it's not my favorite but it doesn't completely ruin it. So there's your vegan pastry. :)

The Trader Joe's puff in my freezer has butter in the ingredients. Nice to know there's a vegan option.

Making your own puff pastry is pretty impressive, estela!!

I made it when I saw frozen stuff for $10 in Whole Foods. It's fairly easy even for a baking idiot like me.

I have made my own puff pastry but it has never turned out well. All that folding...

puff pastry is not at all difficult if you have 'the touch'.

i've been hesitant about making pork tenderloin due to memories of them being plain and dry, but i did one tonight. followed the sear-roasting method of my gal molly stevens, did some chinese 5-spice in addition to salt and pepper. came out nice and tender and satisfying.

yay! it's so good! and v easy once you get the knack.

woke up way too early, the mouthful of cereal I ate before I headed out the door was not nearly enough...sooooo: second breakfast/brunch of scrambled eggs with goat cheese, spinach and mushrooms coming up

:D

Mouthful of cereal or a lone bagel is my usual breakfast and it leaves me feeling shitty til I eat again so I decided this morning would be diff and that I would cook some of the eggs I just bought! In orbit held my hand and walked me thru the process of frying an egg (which I've never actually done) and the egg-flip was both fun and successful!! This was paired w a toasty cream-cheesed onion bagel and a glass of horchata w 2 shots of espresso in it. Breakfast perfection.

It was like the time I taught gravel puzz to toast a bagel.

Jk, Stevie! It was my pleasure, of course.

my new breakfast plan is to eat a hell of a lot of soft-boiled eggs.

what is this fried egg flipping technique? Do you use a spatula or flip the pan or???

In the air. Kitchen-style.

nice! do you use a nonstick pan or regular?

second breakfast otm

fking best idea I've had this year

Non-stick pan w sloped sides required.

Chicken, cider and leek casserole with buttery crispy-skinned baked potato, I <3 you

oh hi yeah think I might love that too, wow

:D

what is this fried egg flipping technique? Do you use a spatula or flip the pan or???

you put your hand upon the grip, when I flip you flip we flip

^^^ lol

chicken with a sell-by date of 12/6. ok or not ok?

ok

actually if bacteria have been producing toxins or something then probably even cooking wouldn't get rid of them so

No, it's fine. Sell-by doesn't even mean use-by, it's just a general guide. Just cook it and be conscientious about the clean-up.

Unless it smells funny. I go by smell with meat.

it wasn't slimy or bad smelling but i started to take it out and i just had a bad feeling about it. i bought it on december 1. it didn't seem right. i had some other, newer chicken i bought yesterday. i think the "rule" is within 2 days of sell-by. i wish they would say use by but then maybe they'd be afraid someone would sue them.

i made pilaf with saffron and yogurt curry chicken. very yellow dinner.

I've erred on the side of caution and also done the opposite and paid the price (with chicken specifically). Usually I go by smell too but sometimes you gotta go with your gut.

After all, it's your gut that'll pay if you fail to listen to it ;)

Milk from 11/24 is defs a no-go, tho, yes?

I have a bad habit of buying milk 2-3x a year and then not drinking it.

yes

don't drink milk

i think bad milk is not as unsafe. you can smell or taste it and tell with good enough accuracy. that's a long time ago though. also since you cannot smell you'd be better off dumping it.

Yep, bye milk.

Uuuugh I just confused the ponzu with the sesame oil. A very sesame dinner is upon me :( :( :(

Ahhhh! Oh no but that is kind of funny, too. When I discovered sesame oil I went NUTS with it, which was okay for a while but eventually I'd had enough. That love affair has not been rekindled with quite the same fervor since.

Verdict: it tastes ok but do not wish to make that mistake again.

Also? Quinoa easily just as good as rice in stir fry.