What's cooking? part 4

I mean that show/mag/cookbooks are getting ripe for an onion piece at this point

basically they were doing One Weird Trick before it was even a thing

Yeah but guys, SCIENCE!!

If you have to add pork to chicken to make it taste as good as beef, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD just cook beef. Unless all you HAVE is bacon and some chicken thighs, which tbh is exactly what's in my freezer right now. But jeez.

i think i'd prefer chicken made with bacon used along the way.

Ya but chicken is like $3 and beef is like $9

I prefer not-beef bc beef upsets my stomach and I don't like it much. Beef beef beef. I love the word beef, though, as food, grudge, or verb.

ll in "beefing with beef" beef

'umami hacks' yay

today, this:
http://circle-b-kitchen.squarespace.com/food-and-recipes/2010/7/1/avocado-fries.html

whoa

and o-ma-gawd they were better than i expected. chef loved 'em and said it reminded him of some kinda white trash grilled cheese sandwich from down South that involves pimientoes/shredded cheese/mayo.
made a sambal aioli for 'em. really liked the crispy exterior/creamy interior aspect. and since avos firm up when they cool off they're a little better not piping hot out of the fryer.

attempting chicken & DUMPLINGS! for dinner :D

nailed it iirc

totally! so good.

i used this recipe
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/chicken-and-DUMPLINGS!/

the only things I did diff was remove the skin from the chicken; used milk instead of half & half in the DUMPLINGS!; and I only added a couple of spoonfuls of cream to the broth instead of a full half cup. but holy shit so good.

oh and she has too much liquid for dumplinngs - one cup is plenty, no need for one and a half

LOL that avo chips lady is complaining theyre expensive at $1.50 each. I paid $4 for ONE avocado on the weekend :(

hey Stevie D, re: thai cookbooks (conversation from ages ago), I just got the pok pok one & its pretty dope... maybe more useable than the pink david thompson one?

so for our Filipino coworkers today am making 'em:
http://www.chow.com/recipes/29790-halo-halo-ice-pops

they're freezing now and it looks nice

Stevie, to honor the late great Marcella Hazan, the Classic Italian Cookbook would be very worthy addition.

crackerz in oven!!

You're gonna spend the rest of your day with a belly full of crackers!

i know, i cannot fucking wait

also: a sink full of dishes

on first glance i rolled these way too thick!!

Massive lamb casserole with cobbler topping in the oven right now. Smells good but bit dubious that the lamb is any good...

these are just kind of okay-tasting biscuits :-/

:(
Lamb was awesome. Also made passion fruit creme brulees and meringues..

Mmmmm cheese crackers make me want ginger ale, just like potato chips make me want Coke. Maybe I'll make a side-trip when I go to the laundromat....

i recommend rolling them out/baking on parchment paper -- and roll them super duper thin!!

Ya I made a double batch and made them as thin as I could make them on the cookie sheet but oh well whatever

It's tom kha gai weather here.

wait, stevie, did you just roll out all the dough into one sheet of crackers? i divide mine into smaller equally sized portions to cook in batches -- i think usually 6 balls (6 sheets of crackers) for a double batch iirc.
they look like this

before cooking
[http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5038/5888487973_a412d4df05.jpg
after cooking
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3484/3770411927_7cabc1a5dd.jpg

after slightly overcooking (but i like the burnt ones)
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5038/5888503815_1bdb510642.jpg

i think the last ones have paprika on them too

Yeah I just did one sheet (scored of course) bcz I didn't realize how much they puffed

I did cheddar instead of parm too and I think it just didn't quite turn out right

ahhh that's the issue
next time divide, roll out, score, bake, gobble

I'm to make a dish for thanksgiving and I'm thinking of some sort of orange-vanilla-cinnamon cranberry sauce that I am going to sort of wing (unless someone has a recipe?)

My thoughts:

12-oz cranberries
1/2-3/4c sugar
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 vanilla bean
1/2t cinnamon

does that sound about right?

Should I use a stick of cinnamon instead of the ground?

Ummmm this is gonna simmer for a while? Yes? If so, I think just having a stick in the burbling brew, then pulling it out before serving, is a nice way to not make the whole thing a cinnamon bomb.

Oh yes, simmer for 15-20m for sure

agree w/stick cinnamon

STICK IT GOOD

stick cosigned

made tortillas for the first time for fish tacos. turned out ok, but i wish i'd used a nicer fish than red cod. looked up tilapia out of curiosity, made for some pretty o_O reading. apparently they feed them chicken shit in thailand, just dangle the bird over the pond and the fish come swimming to the surface, mouths agape like Cartman's mom.

left one tortilla uncovered in the oven, bam! surprise cracker. was great with salsa, liked it even better than the tacos.

never heard of red cod before but this seems unfortunate:
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/what-we-do/publications/-best-fish-guide-/red-cod

i LOATHE that Asian tilapia but can stomach some domestic; still not a fish i'd go and pay for.

had one of those weird "what's in the pantry" nights last night. i made some bizarro meatballs and they were sooooo good.

1) bought "jenny's handmade romanian sausage" from my fave market
2) added some shawarma seasonings (bought premixed spice blend on a whim, not sure why)
3) added cumin seeds
4) topped with/dipped into sauce made of kefir and deshi chutney (not really sure what's in there but it's spicy and green)

served with roasted brussels sprouts/cauliflower
it was great!! i even froze some balls for later. i think they would make great sandwiches!

yum. i'm going to make meatballs tonight but they won't be nearly as exotic, altho i did make a nice roasted garlic/capsicum tomato sauce for them to simmer in. sometimes i find buying something like premixed spice blend is the only way i'll try a particular flavour combination, even tho i have a lot of spices in the cupboard that i put to use for many kinds of dishes.

xpost :( i'm usually good at buying ethically, and try to memorise lists like that so i won't end up feeling guilty about what i've eaten. i actually thought red cod was better than blue cod but maybe i just convinced myself of that so i could buy cheaper fish. it wasn't v good anyway, i think it's only really ok in fish curries, but i won't be buying it from now on. you've successfully shamed me. i kind of naively wish that fishmongers and supermarkets especially would be legally required to have those lists displayed at the counter but i don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

awww, didn't mean shame, hope yr kiddin'....
anyways, found some sunchokes laying around so today we make a roasted veg sando:
roasted jerusalem artichoke, roasted red bell pepper, roasted roma tomato, balsamic roasted shallot - gonna pile on a nice bread, top with some kinda cheese and get it melty and toasty

I bought a boneless pork loin roast at Trader Joe's for crock pot pulled pork and then learned after that you don't rly make pulled pork w pork loin roast

What do I do w this thing?