What's cooking? part 4

idk about all the other types, those are the 2 i go for when I am looking for chuck

i go for chuck steak but thats usually all rthe supermarket has in terms of stewing steak, if its marbeled, it'll do ya.

shank or short ribs would also work well

Today's soup will be broccoli-cheese along the lines of this recipe (I know Panera blech but the recipe actually looks decent; a bunch of them called for processed cheese a la Velveeta! No no no no no):

http://www.food.com/recipe/panera-broccoli-cheese-soup-150384

I ain't got no cream so we're just gonna go with milk and maybe some half-and-half

I believe this has been discussed previously, but any updates on an awesome cornbread recipe?

All I can say is:

S: Any that are more salty than sweet
D: Containing kernels of corn

find the ones that used bacon grease

back when corn still existed. the present grows ever bleaker.

i make mine with powdered sugar and vanilla in it so me and orbit might have to dance battle

I just bought a pressure cooker.

Cornbread recipe at the end of this post: http://isthatpie.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/my-favorite-pan/#more-121

Leave out the sugar. Use 1 c milk + 1/4 c melted fat of your choice (bacon grease, butter, ghee) instead of heavy cream. Chop some jalapenos into it. Mmmmm.

I will do just that! With bacon. I don't have jalapenos atm, but I do have some leftover cilantro pesto (cilantro, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, S&P) that I will toss in. I have an 8 or 9 inch cast iron skillet, so I'll plan to use the leftover batter for some sort of corncakes for breakfast tomorrow!

I gotta say that the best part of being unemployed thus far (now on, er, day 2) is cooking a nice breakfast and lunch for myself, and getting dinner prepped without a mad after-work rush.

Anyone have a tagine type recipe they like?

Agree w your first point 100%. My two weeks off, once I got mobile again, were amazing for eating fresh foods at home and on my own schedule.

Lamb Tagine with Carrots and Celery (from Paula Wolfert's Moroccan Cuisine, my favourite cookbook of all time)

1+ kg lamb shoulder, cut into 3cm chunks
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp ginger
pinch of pulverised saffron
1/4 tsp turmeric
2tbsp chopped coriander leaves (optional)
4tbsp veg oil
1 small onion, grated
450g celery
450g carrots
2 preserved lemons, rinsed
115g Kalamata olives
4tbsp lemon juice

1. Toss the lamb with the garlic, pinch of salt, spices, oil, herbs and onion in a large casserole. Cover with 225ml water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1.5 hours, turning the meat and adding water if necessary.
2. Destring the celery sticks and slice into 5cm pieces.
3. Peel the carrots and cut into strips the same size as the celery
4. When the meat is almost tender add the veg, and more water if necessary. Continue cooking until meat and veg are done.
5. Quarter the preserved lemons. Rinse the olives. Add both for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Stir in the lemon juice.
6. Remove the lamb and veg. Boil the sauce rapidly until it is reduced to a thick gravy. Serve!

That's exactly what I had in mind! Now I just have to track down some preserved lemons. .

They are fairly easy to make yourself if you're interested in doing so - I use a mix of regular and Meyer lemons. Quarter them and pack in a glass jar layered with kosher salt, put the lid on and let them sit at room temp for 3-4 weeks. Shake the jar every so often. I keep them in the fridge after that, where they last for a year or more.

I need to preserve/freeze/pickle more things! Those lemons sound like a good idea. My homemade kimchi turned out pretty well so I may pickle some vegetables.

I have made some spiced beets that turned out ok (if not somewhat unpopular among those who tried them with the exception of myself and maybe 2 other people). I made cucumber pickles once too and they were pretty good.

I've made lots of infusions type stuff -- syrups and liqueurs and vinegars but I started to feel weird buying these huge bottles of vodka (I know I could give it away, but I feel like people aren't really into "hey here's this weird alcoholic concoction I made that you didn't ask for") and I don't consume that much syrup so I put that on hold.

It's really easy -- you just need a modicum of motivation to do it, the patience to wait, and the ability to admit "ok this is gross" when it doesn't turn out so well.

and the desire to consume more than one item made with, say, rose fennel vinegar
^^ this is my challenge

The problem is that I'm lazy and couldn't come up with a complete meal plan so I ended up with some sliced steak, white rice, and smothering them both with kimchi

what's wrong with that?

Nothing, really!

I wonder if I could dry blood oranges in a method similar to the lemon method upthead. I think the ones in my fridge are on their last legs.

Yes! I've done limes the same way and they were fun. Need to do that again actually.

I failed in my attempt to find preserved lemons--I can usually find them at the olive bar at WF, but apparently they are having issues with their supplier. So for now I will just use fresh lemon, and will start my own batch as soon as I can find a proper container. . .

Soup du jour is the moroccan spiced cauliflower soup linked somewhere above, and a chicken tajine. Bring on the harissa!

Oh and for the past few days I've done a fried egg over easy (a la the StevieD and in orbit spatulaless flip!) on toast with avocado and sriracha. Hot breakfasts are such an awesome little luxury.

Hot breakfasts are killlllller.

I mean eggs and meat/cheese/vegetables mounded up and essentially stir-friend together, now THAT is a meal to be getting on with your day with.

+ hot sauce

preferably splattered like blood because i am disgusting

La Dextera

I've been really into over-easy eggs fried in sesame oil and topped with sriacha lately.

today's my big dinner! last night i prepared the rice salad and black beans (w/ chiles and a some juice from an orange), and it came out pretty well. tonight i'll quickly throw together the guacamole and cheese salsa while cooking the chiles rellenos.

good luck!

woo go Z S

almost everything in this meal has chiles in it. i should serve little individual chiles as appetizers, and then drop some chiles in everyone's drinks!

for real though i'm excited about the chiles rellenos. i don't think i've ever even tasted one before, but they sound like they're going to be good. i have 24 ounces of chihuahua cheese, ready to stuff into the chiles!

Cheese + chiles = can't lose

Recent case in point: Spouse and I getting ridiculously excited when we spotted "Jalapeno Cheese Bombers" on the menu of "Texas Chicken" (?) at the Dubai airport at 2 in the morning. Of course we ordered said bombers, aka "poppers" in the US of A, and promptly burned the shit out of our mouths biting into them. So worth it.

clean the bathroom, just sayin

Way to fan the flames of romance, VG!

sorry

you guys, the dinner went really well!

a couple people came over and helped me out with the frantic last 30 minutes or so. they took care of the salsa and warming up the black beans and tortillas as i concentrated on the chiles rellenos.

chiles rellenos debrief

holy shit, this was crazy. i didn't really realize what i was getting into here, but 3 of the 4 chiles came out reaaaaally well. the recipe i followed involved roasting the chiles for about 45 minutes, peeling the skins, cutting a slit in the side and removing the seeds, stuffing them with an unholy amount of monterrey jack (supposed to be 3/4 cup per chile but i couldn't fit close to that much inside), tying them back together with skewers, and then dipping them in a batter made of a cup of beer, 1/2 cup of flower and 2 whipped egg whites, then basically deep frying them in 3 inches worth of cooking oil.

sounds simple enough, but roasting the chiles for that long and then peeling them made them extremely weak. stripping out the seeds just made them even more unstable. and three inches worth of cooking oil in a giant pot turned out to be waaaaaaaaaay more cooking oil than i anticipated - i barely had enough. the first chile cooked way faster than i anticipated. i was supposed to leave it in for about 5 minutes, but after 1 minute it the batter had blackened so much that it was inedible later. the other 3 came out great!

anyway, we had a few friends and housemates join us for dinner and it was just a pleasure. everyone was very nice and complementary, especially on the chiles rellenos. i think they were kind of surprised that i tried to make them - "you made chiles rellenos but you didn't even know how to separate egg whites?" i explained i'm just really naive, though less so than i was last week i suppose!

you got n00b's hubris!
congrats on your succcessful dinner :)

impressive! i hate deep frying

i should just retire now before i fuck up too badly!

but yeah, for next week i am definitely going to massively scale back and only make 2-3 things from scratch.

Awesome news, ZS - welcome to the great adventure that is cooking :)

I'm terrible at deep frying - the last time I tried it, I destroyed the kitchen. Batter and oil spatters everywhere, barely edible fried objects, etc. Your chili rellenos sound delicious!

yeah, the oil went everywhere, it was a complete mess. my cooking eq is really terrible. the pot with the cooking oil was way too small, and when i dipped the first chile the oil immediately bubbled up almost over the edge as everyone ducked for cover.

That's the best thing. You tried a whole bunch of new things and you weren't really phased by it til you got in there. And you had a fun dinner as a result. So you can still look at the whole thing as a good experience, and just revise techniques and things next time you try it out. That's the best way!

Nothing worse than having things be so incredibly FAIL from start to finish that you never want to do them aqain.

Positive mental attitude is a great chef tool!

mega props to you for Chiles Rellenos btw

roasting the chiles for about 45 minutes, peeling the skins, cutting a slit in the side and removing the seeds, stuffing them with an unholy amount of monterrey jack (supposed to be 3/4 cup per chile but i couldn't fit close to that much inside), tying them back together with skewers, and then dipping them in a batter made of a cup of beer, 1/2 cup of flower and 2 whipped egg whites, then basically deep frying them

i want to go to there

yeah, it was probably on the unhealthy side. i also experienced a flashback to my long john silvers days. i could almost hear my sister call to the back "20 fish, 20 chicken, and more fries!"

*shudders*