What's cooking? part 4

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.

oh wow. okay you convinced me

I might give this a shot next weekend. how big of a bird did you use, and how long did it take to cook?

It was a little over 5 lbs - I cooked it for the full 6 hours on low. I was worried at the end that it wasn't cooked enough, but I checked the temp - 160 deg F, which raised to 170 while it rested.

excellent!

I'm afraid to be a lesser being in Lechera's eyes but I tried golden beets roasted in marinade and meat juices and they're just too sweet for me to like them. I kept one raw so maybe I'll try a slaw this week or next. ;___;

Awww, very sad.

rip

It is sad. I've come around on broccoli (well, a long time ago) and avocados and brussels sprouts and asparagus and kale, for the love of god, but beets are beyond me.

haha beets are kind of my last vegetable frontier too

I like beets but can't figure out the appeal of cauliflower.

i've never really understood cauliflower either -- it's too white. i like my vegetables to be as colorful as possible and cauliflower is just blah looking. Maybe the purple kind or the romanesco or w/e it's called would be more appealing.

sorry about your beets, l -- just be content to like what you like and stop trying to force stuff on yourself!?

No, when you grow up in the Midwest and your natural preference is to subsist wholly on roast beef and cheese, you kind of have to force things on yourself. It's okay, I'm a big girl. I gave beets a chance, I gave spaghetti squash a chance (holy mother of gross), I won't choose them but I don't have to fear them, either.

Spaghetti squash is the worst - a big F U to all these people who were like ” it's just like pasta!”

ppl who say that clearly don't like pasta. that spaghetti squash shit is gross

It took me a very long time to undo the Midwest meat and starch only thing and I'm sad it took so long. I went from mushrooms being basically the only vegetable that I ate to essentially having no vegetables that I won't eat.

This is reminding me of the recent stories of my grandfather's diet, as he lives alone and my parents drop by every week or two to pick up around his house and get his laundry. Without anyone else around, he's been eating pretty much one thing at a time for a few weeks before moving on to something new. My dad has informed me that grandpa is currently eating about eight Oreos and a glass of orange juice for breakfast.

I grew up in the midwest too, but I think the difference is that you guys maybe actually saw people cooking and grew up eating "meals" with "family", whereas I had never really seen a full meat-vegetable-starch meal prepared for more than 2-3 people who were all eating that meal until I was...12? 13? My mom would make things sometimes, like rice-a-roni or mac & cheese, but we p much never ate together and never all ate the same thing. I've had to learn how to eat new stuff too, it just wasn't a particularly grueling process because I didn't have a set off assumptions to offset. I just knew I needed to eat food and I was kind of tired of the handful of things I was eating.

Anyway, I'm sorry you don't like beets, but it's not like I give a shit what anyone else eats or doesn't eat. It's not a mark of valor or anything. (Some of the pickiest eaters I've ever met have been students who grew up eating their own ethnic cuisine and turn up their noses - hard! - at basically anything/everything else) In sum, I would never assume anyone is a lesser being based on their food preferences. Do you not know me?

Poor grandpa. My dad eats green beans for lunch sometimes. Just raw green beans on a plate.

That's probably healthier, although not as fake-prepared as me stir frying them with a little soy sauce and seasoning for a couple minutes and eating them with rice.

I should start a thread reporting the horrors my parents report about my grandfathers. It's always something.

huh, i just finished off the last of the spaghetti squash in the fridge and then put beets on my grocery list (i've been roasting them with anise like mad lately) and here we are a feudin' over 'em. i grew up in the midwest, too, and the thing i'm pickiest with still is meats. always trimming away the nasty bits and getting accused of being wasteful (prob true). but i still vividly remember the first time i tasted broccoli and being ecstatic over it. i think i grew up in the wrong place!

whoever told justine spaghetti squash is exactly like pasta is a prankster and a real germ. love the stuff, but that is crazy talk.

I grew up on veggies but beets and asparagus were always given to me canned, and I was pretty convinced I hated them. Discovering the taste sensation that is fresh beets and asparagus was a huge moment for me.

had a group lunch at work today, and I realized 2/3 of the people around me were eating solid meat/starch lunches, with pasta/chicken and sandwiches w/fries being the most common

i like spaghetti squash but i really like squash. it's not like pasta!

attempted to rectify boring Tucci chicken soup with fire-roasted tomatoes & tomato paste. Much better: it actually tasted of *something*. But still kinda meh. Stupid tucci :(

I grew up on veggies but beets and asparagus were always given to me canned, and I was pretty convinced I hated them

Haha me too, I think thats a very Aus thing. I *still* havent ever tried fresh roasted beets, theyre always pickled in vinegar etc, which you know I do like, but Im guessing its better fresh. Asparagus? God, I hated the mushy tinned shit we occasionally had meted out for tea in summer with salad. Fresh steamed aspag was a revelation to me. but then again so were peas and corn, when I had them not boiled to within an inch of their life which my mother STILL DOES, seriously even steaming veg she manages to overcook it :(

I didn't know beetroot/asparagus/peas/beans came in fresh form until I left home. Well, I guess I knew in an abstract sense, the same way I knew that protons exist. On the other hand, I was very familiar with carrots, cabbage and potatoes. And tripe.

i'm making the chicken jaq posted upthread tomorrow! gonna roast some asparagus too.

right now gf is in the other room with ac/dc up really loud making some kind of peppers stuffed with quinoa and godknowswhat

they had whole chickens at winco for $1 a pound at winco last night, so I snagged one for that jaq recipe too! to make this weekend.

Jaq, looks like you're on the clock :)

xpost peppers stuffed with quinoa and RAWK

God do I love/hate Winco

i hadn't been in years: their canned goods & meat prices are possibly unfuckwithable. but it's def a zoo and fraught with non-bargains

I miss WinCo more than anything in Idaho. Anything@!

i was like a kid in a candy store. ZOMG SO MANY CANS SO MANY BARGAINS

We just ate the last of that slow cooker chicken tonight for dinner. Mr. Jaq had to fend me off with a fork because I was eyeing his gravy. I hope you all have great success with it! Keep in mind the skin on the back won't necessarily look done at 6 hours and the juices might not be clear, but the internal temperature will be just right for safe eating.

sweeeeet

so excited

pedantic question for Jaq: is your crockpot an older or newish one?. slow cookers within the last 5 or so years have higher wattages (a food safety deal) an so wind up cooking things a lot faster. i always ruin stuff in the crockpot anyway. i might do this in the dutch oven with the oven on 180-200ish and just cook to internal temp? hmmmmm.

Mine's newer - I've had it for 3 years or so. The low setting is 165 deg F though - I checked it to see if I could use it for sous-vide (too high for that).

ah, ty! actual temp is way more helpful.

just put it in the oven! rubbed the bird w/ black pepper/sage/salt blend, stuff it with carrots and half a lemon. in hindsight wish it was an orange. so now.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0ankfnUTS1rqfhi2o1_500.gif

i made these rolo knockoffs and they're much tastier than i would have guessed (i normally don't like dates). dates blended with pb and salt, rolled into balls and dipped in chocolate melted with coconut oil.

new fake cheese sauce is also amazingly delish: roasted yellow peppers blended with cashews, nutritional yeast and milk - way better than even the butternut squash fake cheese sauce that i used to love.

xp LOL

I don't get fake cheese sauce...I don't even know what nonfake cheese sauce is. Like nacho cheese?