What's cooking? part 4

Making a chicken + veg stew for tonight.

Making papri chaat (does that count as a summer salad? It involves chickpeas and yogurt, so maybe?).

Also gonna make a potato salad.

Also gonna make ropa vieja (actually spouse will make this, but will require coaching).

Day of foods.

korean carrots

^^^recipe, pls

Day of foods sounds greeeeat

I made bizarro tacos for dinner and have some bread pudding (cinnamon raisin bread from last week w nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom) in the oven. It's in individual ramekins! So appealing.

i was looking all over for a recipe, including russian cookbooks at the library, but not finding one that was similar to what i had at an uzbek restaurant here. i basically did this http://shesimmers.com/2010/08/russian-korean-salad-%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F-%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8C.html but omitted the onions because i don't think they were there, they take longer, and are messy and not necessary imo. also i don't use enough flavorless oil to justify keeping it anymore so i used olive oil. i added chopped dill but parsley would be good too. the uzbek restaurant puts dill on everything.

we had some leftover steelhead in the fridge plus some carrots from the CSA that needed used up. Yellow curry with carrots and chunks of steelhead was very good.

Now I wish I hadn't used all those carrots up - want to try that Korean carrot salad

i've finally been actually using the carrots i get at the farmers' market. 2-3 large carrots makes a huge bowl of salad. i can't stop eating it.

i made almond & orange cookies and a decadent caramel slice. also eating leftover roast chicken sandwiches. any good ideas for roast chicken apart from that delish-looking salad kinder posted upthread?

You can do anything with leftover roast chicken! Anything!

I'm just fishing for exceptional ideas. I've used it in risotto, salads, pasta bakes, pies, just wondering to what other uses people have put it.

Chicken turned out great, btw. Za'atar made another guest appearance, as did its neighbour sumac. Love those spices so much.

got up close and personal with a whole lot of fava beans tonight

Make a tower with arepas, vegetables of your choosing, and your leftover chicken.

Make Vietnamese spring rolls?

My bread pudding just came out of the oven (why am I baking?! Too hot) and they look beautiful.

I was boiling a chicken breast and my power went out only ten minutes into cooking it, for two hours. RIP noble chicken breast, you coulda been a pizza.

i'm not all into burgers, veggie or otherwise, but these look gooooooood http://www.thekitchn.com/restaurant-reproduction-bestev-96967
i keep thinking of other things i want to put in/on them -- basil, stilton?! various chiles? something crunchy? oh man.

my friend just made those--they were pretty good, not amazing imo.

Recipe for success:

Trader Joe's turkey burger, sauteed, on a
Trader Joe's British muffin, toasted, and topped with
Trader Joe's Xtra Xtra Sharp New York Cheddar which is a bit bitter on its own but turns into magic when melted on a burger and gives a wonderful and straightforward cheddar POW! w/o wacky notes (like that grassy New Zealand shit, yuck!) and is reasonably priced
add some sliced scallions

omg

english muffin is secretly the best burger container

deeply proud of the ribeye i grilled tonite (i am a nervous griller)

I've a very nervous griller too, but I've had success with 30 secs on each side and then 1.5 mins on each side in the oven (sets the smoke alarm off less often too). Is this heresy?

not if it works :)

It seems to! It was so long since I'd had a steak and I was so happy to end steak-drought that I doubt I'd be able to tell if it was slightly sub-par.

I had the most amazing spring roll thingies yesterday from my local banh mi shop -- the spring roll wrapper contained a few rice vermicelli noodles, a lot of lettuce, mint, some crunchy fried tofu strips and thick avocado slices with sriracha on them. they were so good i think i'm going to try it at home. the crunchy tofu bits can probably be replaced by something else i have lying around, right? surely. everything else i already have! i totally lose my appetite in super hot weather, so it's good to find something appealing.

I made spring rolls with that exact filling the other day - but also added a little basil, finely grated carrot and chopped roasted peanuts.

for the tofu -if you decide to do it - I press out a block of tofu, chop it and toss it in a mixture of 2tbsp flour 1tbsp cornstarch. Cover the bottom of a skillet in a little peanut oil and cram tofu in one layer, frying for about 20 mins till golden. Then season with salt, maybe a bit soy.

oh hell yes, will add basil now that i have some!
i will prob skip the frying because there's enough oil on my greasy face but that sounds reeeeeeal good.

Jicama works really well for some fresh roll crunch! Or a strip of rice cracker (local Vietnamese restaurant does this)

ugh lettuce ew

I loooooove plain fried tofu with a bit of salt. So good.

Stevie I am also anti-lettuce or v. light lettuce on most things. Except salads.

Question: what does and does not belong in a broccoli salad? [a list sub-thread]

Answer: broccoli

(sorry)

broccoli, red onion, raisins, chopped bacon, mayo, some acid (lemon juice or good vinegar), S&P, uh...I think that's all I put.

Quinoa or orzo, broccoli, Parmesan, pine nuts, balsamic vinegar. Maybe diced tomatoes.

And olive oil obvs.

Oh god that's what DOES belong w broccoli.

I knew I was forgetting something! I also put pasta in mine, usually farfalle.

Hmmm OK I dunno about the mayo part; will contemplate. Thanky!

vegan pad thai

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3834/9340359376_f09089d728.jpg

That looks great! What do you use in place of fish sauce?

nothing (i don't think)! it's some veganized recipe i found online - it's probably missing some... umami or something, without the fish sauce, but it's pretty good, esp for such an easy/quick meal.

I made boiled kale and then cracked eggs into it and we had it on toast for breakfast and it was RAD

That sealed the deal for me: I am DEFINITLEY making shakshuka next weekend.

I bought some salmon yesterday to make gravlax. Unwrapped it today and it did not smell fresh at all. I went ahead and did the preparations and it's wrapped and weighted, but should I cook it instead? Or will curing the fish be better than cooking it?

Hmmmm that is a good question. If it is still "good" but not "perfect," I think my strategy would be to cook it and serve it as a component of a dish, not the main event. One way I really like cured or cooked salmon is tossed with pasta with goat cheese, capers, lemon juice, herb of some sort (dill would be ace).

In case that didn't make sense: big chunk o' fresh goat cheese thinned out to sauce consistency with the pasta water.

I just made shakshuka this morning for me + my roommate (who is not my boyfriend) (yet)! He loved it a ton!

i just got one of those infamous all-clad skillets (12") today!! so excited to use it, my MIL bought it for me as an overly generous gift for helping her sell a bunch of her handmade jewelry.

Nice! I have an all-clad steamer insert - it's built like a tank. What wil you cook first in it?

made a delicious stir-fry with carrots, jicama, and watercress last night. mixed it with rice noodle threads. really good, the cress is delicious