What's cooking? part 4

These prosciutto wrapped mini frittata muffins just came out of the oven. I've got a slow cooker chicken and gravy going (hoping for double the gravy this time). Time to roast some beets, and then some bacon-wrapped chicken thighs, and that should do me for the day (and the coming week) of things wrapped in pork products.

Made some beer soup from a French cookbook. It was ok I guess; had quite a bitter aftertaste, which may or may not be intentional. The recipe called for "bière blonde" so I used Leffe Blonde, maybe there's scope for using a different beer for greater success. Not sure I'll try again.

Oops I should change my dn.

I put sriracha in my microwave mac & cheese is the extent of my cooking today #dayoff

weekend of tacos
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8219/8396063229_cdee46eb7d_z.jpg

i got this salsa with chocolate in it and i keep putting it on everything. i gotta figure out how to make it because it was $5. today i am making chicken curry with almonds, raisins, and spinach.

made jansson's temptation tonight, and a leg of lamb, really nice evening dinner on a very snowy day.

Celeriac/celery root ended up in a soup with carrots, leeks, potatoes, chicken stock. Blended until smooth.

I've decided that I actually prefer chunky soups over pureed.

For dinner tonight I did Ina Garten's beef bourguignon recipe, which involved my first-ever cognac flaming. Fun! Will serve over some mashed potatoes shortly.

I tried flambeeing last week for the first time...I guess I used too much brandy and for a second I was certain I was going to burn down the house, or at least scorch the ceiling. Got away lightly in the end though.

The only time I've tried to flambe something was at 2 am in the driveway during a 24-hr cook-a-thon.

What sort of fish do you put in a thai curry? Just any whitefish?

Do I spy some tomatillo salsa in that food shot? Just bought some yesterday btw, have spices in cupboard just waiting....

yup!

Anyone got some good (easy, not too spicy) suggestions for something with Thai basil in?

Also is it ok to freeze? I've found some Google results saying you can freeze the sprigs whole and some saying you shouldn't do that and should chop/mince it, put it in water in an ice cube tray or freezer bag, and freeze that. I'd prefer the former as I'm lazy and my small freezer is permanently short of surfaces flat enough for ice cubes.

(Bought a big bag when I saw some because I couldn't find any last year for a recipe which very specifically said to use it and not European basil, but now I can't remember what the recipe was for or where to find it. Oops.)

Not too spicy = I have a pack of very mild medium-sized red chillies in the fridge but would not like to use more than 2 per recipe or swap them for a spicier variety

Anyone got some good (easy, not too spicy) suggestions for something with Thai basil in?

two dumpling wrappers, prebought or homemade, stuff 'em with mashed sweet potato and 5-spice, a fresh thai basil leaf. pan fry 'em in butter, deglaze w/ a little balsamic. eat as asian ravioli.

Ooh, DUMPLINGS! sound good. Thanks. Will try to get to the Chinese supermarket for wrappers.

(will it do the DUMPLINGS! substitution? If not, I'll have to do it myself: DUMPLINGS!!!)

Thinking of trying some kind of chicken with Thai basil as I used to live near a takeaway which did an excellent one of these (probably not at all authentic, as it was a Chinese takeaway with a very Anglicised menu), but the versions you get in restaurants over here vary wildly as to how it tastes and the ones I've had have ranged from "not at all spicy" to "made my eyes water for 20 minutes afterwards", so picking a recipe online seems a bit of a gamble.

soda that sounds DELICIOUS
will try!!!

Attention Beet People of ILC -- do you peel yr beets before roasting?

I have been keeping the skin on and then peeling them when they're cooked but UGH I'm really not happy with the arrangement and am seeking alternatives.

I roast then peel -- the skins slip right off.

hmm. what temp do you roast and how long

I have a devil of a time getting them to 'slip right off'. the skins blister up and they sort of slip but they're still really difficult to deal with. maybe I'm not cooking them enough

It's been a while, I don't remember. Do you roast them covered or wrapped in foil, with a bit of oil on them? The foil holds in moisture so they steam as much as roast. Maybe I'll roast some beets today -- it's been too long and they are good eating.

I put oil on them but I don't cover them in foil -- I usually do them at 350 for about 45 minutes

Just checked -- Bittman says 45-90 minutes at 400˚F, aka a good long time at a good hot temperature.

Okey doke. I'll crank the heat next time and see if I have more luck!

Thanks!

I leave the skin on and eat it. It's not pretty but tastes good. btw, Mr. Jaq bought 3 of the most giant beets I've ever seen at the produce stand last week - bigger than baby heads! I had to use my cleaver to break them up.

cleavering baby heads, what have u become lol

I bought some golden beets this weekend, I'm excited to try them

they are all so pretty - like eating jewels.

Just got back from the sto' with some beets, time for roasting. I think I'm going to cut them up and toss them with a lot of nuoc mam, some mushrooms and some noodles.

I always freeze thai basil because it's hard to get where I live and dirt cheap when I go elsewhere. It isn't ideal but it works, especially if I'm using it in soups or stir-fries where the texture sort of doesn't matter.

I love stir-frying chicken with asparagus or green beans and a lot of shallots, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, white pepper, coriander, with some peanuts and lime and thai basil at the end. And tons of chili paste.

^^^this is my favorite thing ever. Also good with thinly sliced pork.

adding quality olive oil to store-bought hummus has been a very important discovery to me as A Person

Getting better at crispy chilli beef, just ate a MOUNTAIN of it

Recent soup du jours: borscht and avegolemono.

Any ideas for a lot of hot italian sausage, other than the usual suspects?

Orecchiette & broccoli rabe w/ the italian sausage - is that one of the usual suspects?

I like hot italian sausage with braised greens like chard or kale; or some kind fideo is a good use of it if you arent averse to pasta

oooh avgolemono is so good!!! yum

making a mario batali minestrone tomorrow - excited imo

Two chickens coming out of the smoker in a few minutes -- I'm hungry enough to chew on my own elbows, but they have to rest a little while first.

resting is torture when you're hungry

Italian sausage and pasta is happening tonight; maybe some sort of savory bread pudding with sausage and random veg?

What sort of soup might involve sausage? I have some cabbage. . .

hmmm, like a russian cabbage soup w sausage in place of beef shank or w/e? idk about that w italian sausage tho. italian sausage soup sounds like something outta louisiana. lots of shrimp or potatoes or something!

Saute onions + garlic, crumble (or slice) sausage in and brown lightly. Pour off the fat if you like. Add pork stock (or chicken), about 1/2 of what you will want for the volume of soup. Let it simmer for 5 min or so. Chop some kale or other greens, toss in the soup. Stir for a minute or two. Thin with milk to the amount you want and eat.

adding roasted sweet potato to my repertoire tonight. I don't usually cook with it but I'm determined to start including it on the reg.

what kind are you using? my favourite are the purple-skinned/white-fleshed bc they are exactly like new zealish kumara. i could live without the orange ones.

garnet are the ones I have tonight

the orange ones are my jam but I like all of them. the 100% purple ones are CANDY

I love soup like jaq's with the addition of white beans

I got some special supersweet Japanese sweet potatoes a few weeks ago - not only sweet and delicious, but floury, like roasted chestnuts. We're now back to the normal orange ones - I roast them in the skins until they caramelize.