What's cooking? part 4

no they've always been weird and gross imo

yeah I think I'll replace them with MOAR DATES next time, not that they taste of much in a cake
The muffins are good! Haven't tried the loaf yet.

i got about 1.5 lbs of lamb front shanks 50% at farmers' market today. i guess you're supposed to braise them. i also have rosemary, thyme, and sage. and a lot of turnips. and potatoes. and probably some carrots in the fridge. and i have a lot of kale. how do i shot?

50% off i mean, so i had to get them no matter what they cost originally because sale

Brown them well then braise on low for hours with your herbs. You could put the root veg in for the last hour or so. Or not. Maybe roast them. The shanks are done when the meat falls willingly off the bone.

Roast them with them being root veg not shanks

I love making indian curries with lamb shanks if you're into that sort of thing. Still braising, flavors work great, etc.

yeah that's a good idea (and of course i'm into that, i am the OP on curry chronicles of course!) but now i have like 100 lbs of turnips. a week or so ago i ate at this place that makes a prix fixe dinner they change every week and it was meatloaf made in an animal casing with turnips and parsnips and spaetzle. i think it had mushrooms too. it rekindled my interest in turnips.

oops too many of courses. i meant after all. i'm hungry now.

Turnip pickles!

The place I moved into has this sad little Charlie-Brown-Christmas-tree-type scrubby little bush that it turns out is a Meyer lemon tree. "Tree." I am projecting "YOU ARE WICK" beams at this little thing in the hopes of someday getting a Meyer lemon. It seems like it's the only way I can get them!

Every time I water it I think how magical these lemons will be. I love you, sad little plant!

lemony vibes

There is a kumquat tree but it got overfertilized (word on the street says) and since then they're all pith. Kinda disappointing. I like to eat them anyway and tell the tree, "You ALMOST made a kumquat." The grapefruit tree makes perfect grapefruits, though. I kind of went nuts making g-fruit juice for a while.

You should sing that lemon tree very pretty song to encourage it. I'm envious of having a grapefruit producing tree btw.

Mr Veg got me a new wok for my birthday :D :D

as the better the wok, the cheaper it is, I hope he spent a buck oh five.

I dunno from how much he spent, all I know is it's silver, kinda heavy, and from the Wok Shop in San Francisco.

sounds legit

i want a g-fruit tree!!!!

I want to go nuts making g-fruit juice.

otoh i feel pretty juiced to make grapenuts

cashier lady at whole foods asked if i was a chef? i don't know if she meant pro or just "do i do the cooking at home." i guess maybe because my shopping basket was basically all raw ingredients except for a loaf of bread? idk, i'll take it.

what are y'alls favorite things to add to steel cut oats for a hearty and nourishing (but most imptly delicious) breakfast?

almond milk
ground flax
honey (just a little)
small pecan pieces if i'm feeling nutty
raisins/other dried fruit if i'm feeling fruity
both if i feel like really going crazy

chopped fresh apple (cooked with the oats) or dried fruit (cherried, cranberries, raisins, apricots) for me

I am feeling nutty and fruity tbh

I need to up my dried fruit game, I think.

The huge losses in Michigan's 2012 cherry crop has made one of my favorite fruits insanely expensive. I noticed that a 14 oz. can of Kroger's store-brand cherries was $4.50+ the other day.

dried apricots and/or cranberries/tart cherries are good

what are y'alls favorite things to add to steel cut oats for a hearty and nourishing (but most imptly delicious) breakfast?

I subtract the oats and add eggs and bacon.

xp Oooh, my mother brought me a bag of dried cherries that I'm hoarding. Now I feel even hoardier.

I made a beef & barley soup today that turned out great, even though the stew beef my wife had gotten was ridiculously lean -- I think it was cubed-up eye of round. Simmered the beef on low heat in homemade beef stock, red wine, worcestershire and a bit of tomato paste for a couple of hours before I made any moves toward turning it into soup. I haven't used barley much before -- gotta put it into heavier rotation.

I think I'm on my way to making chorizo a household staple. I found an awesome Mexican spot that sells it for $4.99 a pound which I mean isn't dirt cheap but seems perfectly reasonable (and also it is gooooood). I like to make this recipe and keep it in my fridge all week and then for breakfast I fry up an egg and put it on a tortilla and add a few big scoops of this and some cheese and salsa and YUM CITY U S A

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/sauteed-potatoes-with-chorizo-recipe/index.html

also I am rediscovering yukon potatoes (Abbott I <3 you so much but why you hate on these wonderful nuggets of flavor?)

Spouse made a HUGE (I mean HUGE HUGE) pot of refried beans, except I think maybe the pot of beans is the first "fry," and then we will portion them out and re-fry in LARD and/or CHORIZO FAT to order. I have never really done the refried bean thing, so thoughts on the process much appreciated (Stevie I seem to recall you did refrieds?).

Yes yes!! I am a v big fan of Bittman's recipe who says you can fry in butter, which I do bcz it is always in the house and I've never fucked w/ lard before.

I actually brought "How to Cook Everything" (as in, my hard copy) to Mexico, along with Diana Kennedy's "The Essential Cuisines of Mexico," James Peterson's "Fish and Shellfish," and a ceviche book.

Will check the Bittman recipe post haste.

Some things I have not yet tracked down in La Paz (the nearest city, which is about forty minutes away):
-ginger
-cornstarch
-canned beans that are not refried or otherwise seasoned (spouse started from dried)
-pine nuts (ok lol like I can't live without pine nuts)
-golden raisins
-chick peas and tahini (gonna make my parents pack these when they come to visit because c'mon, I need to make hummus!)

tonight was my first attempt at DIY Indian food; I made Cooks' Illustrated's Tandoori Chicken and my god is this flavorful. I also made *perfect* brown basmati rice in my rice cooker. This is a v exciting dinner.

yay!

I tried out my wok last night...overloaded it with too much stuff & it all kinda steamed, so doing a do over tonight with less ingredients & more conscientious effort

fun though!

do you have a proper gas range? you can wok away happily while pitying those of us with electric stoves

I dunno about 'proper' but I have a gas range yes

Put out chix breasts to thaw today because I knew it would force me to cook them. Put olive oil over some heat, dumped in garlic until it just started to smell, took off heat and added chix broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, thyme, and sage, poured over chix in pain. 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. Then while the chix rested I reduced the pan sauce a little. Holy mother of all poultry.

"...poured over chix in pain..."

What's going on over there?!

I got given a cool wok cookbook, so I went to the azn grocery to get exciting ingredients like chili bean sauce & black vinegar

On Monday I might be making kung pao chicken from scratch weer

I'm in the process of trying to cook my way through the extra stuff in my kitchen before we move, so tonight it was chicken w/ sherry reduction (goodbye frozen chicken, goodbye sherry), green beans, and couscous.

My first go at chile rellenos. Pain in the ass tbh.

*weee

I'm excited for your wok adventures!

Today is kitchen day - 6 lbs of kerrygold butter in the oven for ghee, slow cooker chicken with leeks and shallots on, first batch of coconut butter treats hardening up. Cat food, roasted beets for a week of lunches, and maybe some sweet potato muffins coming up after lunch.