What's cooking? part 4

apple spice cake is...cooked.

had to whack the bottom of the pan with a rolling pin to get it out, lol.

tasted some of the remnants. :/
god it's dense. between the oat flour & rye flour it tastes like christmas horse food, lol. so I'm making another sweet potato apple gratin as a backup. worst case the dogs get it, lol.

lol @ christmas horse food

took on this tonight: http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/zuni-roast-chicken-with-bread-salad

involved but basically foolproof--i got a beautiful roast chicken out of this.

yuuuum! i love that dish so much

zuni is one of my fave cookbooks

made grilled cheese sandwiches with italian bread dipped in egg for breakfast

almost great except the cheese didnt melt! bread was too fat i think.

microwaves are good bandaids in a pinch :/

Yum, veg!

That looked super tasty, destroyer! Prep seemed easy but yeah the whole roasting thing seemed involved.

Pork and artichoke stew for lunch: leftover slow-roasted pork shoulder, garlic, all kinds of italian herbs and spices, tomato paste, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, a large amount of quartered artichoke hearts.

gotta love those tomatoes! they'll do anything you tell them to do.

Muir Glen forevah! I have 3 dozen cans in the basement.

omg seriously? i wish i had space for that

I have a set of cleaning stuff shelves and a set of pantry shelves down there - it's a wonderful luxury to have this much space, for sure.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8212/8331566686_982f046387.jpg

- added christmas smoked salmon to my leftover pasta carbonara lunch
- feeling p fancy tbh

xpost holy shit JEALOUS

When we were living tetris-style in a 700 sq. ft. loft, I squeezed those 2 shelves into the bathroom and had a shorter one out in the kitchen. I use a 6' tall square one as a pan rack still.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2314/2253267939_7d4f831bc3.jpg

what a gorgeous kitchen

It was the absolute best thing about that place. Here's the whole set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/illiterati/sets/72157602064290691/

So noisy! (2 doors down from a tavern that did live music every night with their door into the alley open - where our one window was) Dark and crammed with all our crap :) But I dearly loved that kitchen.

yeah seriously! it's awesome.

i hate our kitchen. I knew I would when we bought the house :/

The tool chests are hilarious!

My friends are finally having their '50s-vintage kitchen remodeled. Going to be pricey, but considering they're gutting the entire room and replacing everything, it should be worth it.

I would so do an industrial garage themed kitchen again, all that diamond plate and maple - some day!

I pan-cooked 3 chicken breasts and now I have to wash my entire kitchen. Having no vent or hood or anything is a giant pain in the ass and everything in my kitchen is now covered with aerosolized grease, including the tile floor which is now a skating rink.

Ugh, I know that feeling - when I tried to deep fry some shrimp it destroyed the entire kitchen. We have a stainless splatter screen for skillet frying that sort of works, but no help for deep frying.

Marinated boneless skinless chicken thighs for 30 minutes in a can of coconut milk mixed with a great big spoonful of tamarind paste. Shook off some of the extra marinade and wrapped each thigh in a slice of bacon. Baked uncovered at 350 F for about an hour. Fabulously good. Sour/sweet/creamy/salty/smoky. Served with broccoli nuked in ghee.

i'll just pretend the broccoli didnt happen. holy crap that sound so good

Fixing up today's traditional prosperity dinner - no butter in the house and am using the bacon grease to make the cabbage, so made the cornbread up with ghee instead. Smells absolutely incredible!

i made velveeta queso for nachos for lunch. p sure I'm going to hell

Nothing wrong with that in my book - melts nice and smooth, good salty flavor, mix in a bunch of chopped jalapenos and tomatoes and you're good to go.

rotels + velveeta god it's so good

I ran out of sorrel/jamaica a while ago and I didn't realize how much I'd missed it until today when I re-upped with a package of nice big whole flowers that look like little aliens in my tea. It's not really "cooking" per se but it is enjoyment of food.

my friends make pho from scratch every new year's day. since I hosted the NYE party they usually host, I get to join them in the pho-eating this year

heading over there shortly!

I would trade in the prosperity dinner for from-scratch pho...maybe.

But not this year! Peas, cabbage and cornbread have been eaten, with sweet Italian sausages grilled out back in a 45-degree pissing rain.

This cornbread made with ghee is possibly the best thing ever.

Soup: I'm just in it for the barley.

Argh. Making a classic awld zucchini and carrot slice (a kind of frittata I guess) but I forgot to put milk in with the egg and cheese. Its gonna be... very omlettey, I guess? Urgh Oh well.

I am going to try massaman curry tonight, I think! There are so many different recipes! Help!

I want to do more things with beets but I need ideas. I roasted a bunch if golden beets this week, just ate them with greens and balsamic, was just kinda :/

throw them away

just kidding; I am such a beet hater. I love you though.

Ask Lechera. She loves beets.

I do love beets.

Have you considered trying them raw? I love them julienned with fennel, orange bell pepper, pea sprouts, a light vinegar, some roasted nuts, greens.

There's always a root vegetable roast, rustic borscht or fancy pureed borscht -- I just asked my coworkers (Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak) and they all agreed that people could argue about different/best ways to make borscht/beet soup for days. :)

I also like a beet slaw on a sandwich or as a side

(i only mention soup because it's winter. one of my coworkers said that beet soup was the first thing she was taught to cook in home ec class!)

Pretty sure I posted this before but this is my favorite beet thing: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/dining/roasted-beets-with-chiles-ginger-and-yogurt-recipe.html

I also like making a warm-ish salad with lentils, roast carrots, roast beets, goat cheese, a little bit of bacon, and a slightly mustardy vinaigrette.

oh yeah, that too!! that's a good one. haven't made that in a while!!

I tried steaming them this week, til just tender. I think I def prefer them roasted. Something about the consistency was just a little ick to me

i've never steamed a beet

still takes about half an hour so it's not ridiculously faster than roasting. i imagine a good option if you're just plopping them in a salad with other stuff maybe