What's cooking? part 4

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

i just eat them raw in that case, but i like raw veggies about 100x more than cooked ones usually

Yeah something with lentils would be good

I don't want to do them raw bc it's too cold right now

I think I need to experiment with making some vegan cheeses, to go with the beets, cheese and beets really is the best combo

Cold sunny day today, so a pot of beef stew is in progress.

a batch of curry lentil soup simmering and nearing completion. hadn't considered adding tamarind to this dish before but i remembered a (sri lankan curry) recipe that called for it that i've made in the past and it adds such a nice depth of flavor, another layer, and is another acid (some tomato is in the soup too) to cut through the fat of the coconut milk (which i don't like to add until the end to try not kill its sweet flavor). been my favorite soup to make for the last year and a half.

xpost: on a hot day, a big salad that includes beets and bleu cheese is my idea of flavor heaven no doubt. cold and rainy here now hence: soup!

I bought golden beets and a 3-lb loin roast. I hope roasting chunks of beets under a large piece of beef is a good way to cook them, I'm looking for some roasty meat juice effect on my vegetables.

made chicken meatball soup for lunch, from the Stanley Tucci cookbookI i got for christmas

a little bland, but pretty tasty with some extra salt & lots of shredded parm

I got a grow-your-own-oyster-mushrooms kit in a box for Christmas and I think they're ready for harvesting! Going to do so tomorrow. Any suggestions for quick and simple oyster mushroom recipes?

Otherwise I'll probably just do the simplest recipe on the website of the company who sell the kits: http://espressomushroom.co.uk/espresso-oyster-mushrooms-on-toast/

those kits sound cool. buddy @ work harvested his first batch the other day. forgot what he said he did with them, but the recipe you posted looks like the sort of thing i enjoy - simplicity and letting the integrity and flavor of the ingredient shine through

Yeah, I def want something where the mushroom flavour isn't drowned out, as well as simple because of my limited cooking skills.

The kit was easy and fun - I am the kind of person who kills pot plants just by looking at them and who can always find 2 different interpretations of any set of instructions and worry about which is right, but my mushrooms grew no problems

Made a decent nasi goreng with this paste I wasn't too sure about beforehand but it was good. Except I used tons of rice and not enough of the paste.

Making slow cooker chicken and gravy right now. Used leeks + garlic + onion for the alliums. Smells pretty amazing so far, should be ready around 6.

Also steaming a pumpkin pudding/custard/souffle thing: whipped eggs, coconut cream, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spices.

wow jaq i'm going to have to try that slow cooker chicken! let us know how it turns out

i made chili in a way i have never used before and 2 things happened for the first time

• i used the muir glen fire roasted tomatoes jaq loves (v good)
• food processed onions and garlic did this when sauteed, which i have never even heard of before! i was scared!

Oh wow, I've never had that happen! I have had onions baked into breads turn a blue-green color though.

oh man, VG - this chicken! I thought the gravy would be okay, but it's SO FUCKING GOOD, I can not believe it. I want to drink it. The chicken too - perfect. No crispy skin, but tender, juicy, perfectly cooked meat permeated with rich allium flavors and chicken essence.

Here's the chicken, resting. I didn't take a photo of it plated because there was, you know, (whispers) broccoli.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8508/8355624697_a4ab5e1757.jpg

For the alliums, I used 5 leeks, 2 medium white onions, and 5 cloves of garlic. I also used a full tablespoon of tomato paste. And the chicken was rubbed with kosher salt, cracked pepper (mix of black, white, green, red) and thyme.