What's cooking? part 4

~*~ATTN ATTN MIND-BLOWING RECIPE ALERT!~*~

I went over a friend's house and he made/served this mexican pasta w/ tomato sauce, chorizo, avocado, cotija cheese, and crema and it was FUCKING INSANE!! Here is recipe:

http://www.patismexicantable.com/2011/05/mexican_style_pasta_with_tomato_sauce_chorizo_fresh_cream/

wow that looks delicious

would love to try some Mexican recipes but I don't think there's any way to get the right ingredients where I am

currently eating the end of last night's pork vindaloo, made from Classic Indian Cookery - it tastes pretty good! Nothing like the standard curry house vindaloo, which is just a spicier version of the standard curry.

I made some stir-fried chicken with a bunch of portabello mushrooms I had that I needed to use up. Lacked a juice, so I used agave syrup, soy sauce, five spice powder, garlic, and some chili garlic sauce. Ended up pretty tasty. Feel like I'm finally getting a handle on five spice

mr veg made bacon-wrapped jalapenos stuffed with pulled pork & cream cheese as an appetizer tonight - they were so big we ended up eating them for dinner

that sounds like a dinner!

so good!

I have never fucked w/ 5spice

I haaaaate licorice/anise/fennel though

It kind of loses the individual flavors in the blend, but I could see a pronounced dislike coloring your impressions, still.

I'm with Stevie tbh. I avoid that stuff.

u crazy

I don't like cinnamon all that much but it's ok

oh man 5-spice is the shiznit

I used to live down the street from what appeared to be an Asian food warehouse and distribution center, and biking by there was like being dropped into a vat of 5-spice. Bleargh.

yummmmmmmmmmmm

:) asian food warehouse <3 <3

Hahah. It was a block with now-defunct light industrial properties--machine shops and stuff--that were mostly turned into warehouses and garages. No signs on anything but lots of trucks loading boxes of food and everything smelling like anise.

no people
tons of anise
aw yeah

where is this oasis

Yes, this is where I need to be 4ever

how do I shot frozen shredded hash brown potatoes?

i make those every sunday for breakfast! are you just looking to cook 'em up basic or do you want to do something *interesting* (nb i never do anything interesting with them)

Either as long as they come out tasty

ok, so for basic, i use oil, nonstick pan, high heat. dump 'em in, as close to one layer as you can get. let them crisp up for a couple mins and then flip them--they're ready to flip when they're turning golden brown and your spatula wants to pick up a segment that has kind of fused together. let the other side cook for a couple more mins, season generously with salt and pepper, and serve in mounds to sop up over-easy eggs.

Exactly right, on all counts. I throw in some chunks of cheese at some point right before I flip 'em but I'm midwestern like that.

oh hm! No butter even?

you can use butter if you want
are there not instructions on the bag?

Well there prob are but I wanted to see if you guys had like insider pro-tips

i dunno, the bag seems like a place to start for basic cooking instructions. the rest would be limited only by your pantry/palate/creativity. maybe add some onion or garlic powder (or actual sauteed onions/garlic) for flavor? some scallions? some herb-of-your-choice? mix in some shredded zucchini for added health? make more solid potato cakes with garbanzo powder, garam masala, curry powder, and an egg? i dunno.

garbanzo FLOUR not powder

sorry!

yeah onion/garlic powder would be the first obvious place to go

I used to live by a star anus warehouse and boy did it smell bad. it smelled like poop

soup du jour: tortilla. And should probably do this stir fry thing but may just claim soup as dinner.

made a really fun rick bayless salad tonight--boston lettuce, mango, avocado, bacon, queso fresco, and tangy dressing. added some chicken to make a full meal of it.

that sounds heavenly

goddamn cad

snows provides license to stay inside all day making julia's boeuf bourguignon

Made a really good 'Tropisk Aroma' Norwegian spiced chocolate cake yesterday. Absent mindedly started doing some brownies this evening, got half way through the recipe and realised i didn't have any plain flour. Suspect that substituting pasta flour may not work out that well.

actually curious as to how that turns out--keep us posted

i'm making sri lankan chicken curry

What makes it Sri Lankan?

no clue except the name. i've made this recipe a few times. it's awesome. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sri-lankan-chicken-curry/

i went to the indian grocery today and got an assortment of things. including 4 cans of chaokoh because the chinese store is always sold out of it.

Coconut milk, for sure! Sri Lankan curries are kind of a hybrid of Thai and Indian curries, with some specific Sri Lankan stuff included (like dried Maldive fish for seasoning). I have a Sri Lankan cookbook that has been really great to cook from--I can find basically all of the ingredients from Indian grocers.

I want to make that. Time to find curry leaves.

yeah that looks great

I used a can of panang curry paste that I bought in Chicago with LL and it is HOT but good! Added the ush, more onion, garlic, ginger, diced tomatoes, coconut milk, and veg. I'm so glad I have another can to look forward to. :)

actually curious as to how that turns out--keep us posted

Not great. Tastes ok but is too dense and claggy.

I had an embarrassing freezer related incident with our Christmas venison so it's been all deer round these parts for the past few days. So far we have had venison mole and a recipe using Lewis & Clark's marinated, but I jugged the remainder on Thursday so it's about ready to eat.