What's cooking? part 4

Yeah it was at this banquet lunch I went to

Vinegar/soy vinegraeittteete

Tasted nice, good texture, not stringy, would have again xp

i wanted macaroni and cheese, so i made my first roux, but i didn't have flour, so i used some cornstarch, it didn't seem to matter

woo my cheese sauce is getting better, i started putting cayenne pepper in it too, i think next i'll try mustard

Oh mustard is a great addition. Happy trails!

Made this yesterday as my 'take to work for the week' lunch:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/01/slow-cooker-chicken-40-cloves-garlic-fingerling-potato-recipe.html
So yummy and easy. I hope everyone loves my garlic breath.

It is by far the classiest thing thing I have ever made in a crockpot. OTOH I feel like crockpot recipe books have ruined their image for me as they're usually half recipes like 'hey why not just pour a 2-liter bottle of Dr Pepper into your crockpot and heat it up for six hours?'

Ugh, yeah. Or a couple of cans of chicken soup.

leftover lamb means shepherd's pie for dinner. haven't had it since i was a kid :D

I have a friend who is going to Singapore on a Fullbright, and for his birthday yesterday he instigated a potluck by requesting that people claim and prepare recipes from this Malaysian / Singaporean / Indonesian cookbook (he sent scanned recipes out, but I have my own copy).

It was pretty cool - perhaps a bit presumptuous to invite people over and demand the cook a specific thing but everyone was into it and it turned out really well, a good spread, all thematically similar, more than anyone would be sane enough to attempt on their own. It also gave me an excuse to make fried chicken that had been soaked in coconut milk and spices overnight.

made tomatillo habanero salsa last night. so tonight tempeh and cheese tacos w/avocado and the aforementioned (roasted habs, tomatillos, onion & garlic, lemon juice, cilantro, salt). salsa excites me to no end

shepherd's pie turned out fantastic - used an alton brown recipe and it was v flavorful without being too far off what I grew up with. The only difference really is that I didn't grind up the leftover lamb the way mum used to, I just cut it into chunks.

though I did have a horrible 'y can't VG read' moment, where I made the mashed potatoes according to mr brown's recipes (or what I thought was his recipe)... added the liquid and the butter thinking 'wow that's a lot of liquid' but of course I didn't double check the recipe because I'm in the zone. I mix it all up and it was like soup! I was all "WTF Alton Brown your mashed potatoes suck--"
....ohhhhhhhhhh wait you said 1/4 cup not 3/4 cup liquid looooooooooooool.

So I cooked up another lot of potatoes, mashed them and added them to the 'soup' and bob's yer uncle

note to self. READ recipe.

and it was totally stupid, I make mash all the time I had every reason to doubt that I was putting WAY too much liquid in and I didn't pause for a second thought, so much facepalm

When I make it I melt some butter in a pan and sizzle garlic in for a minute or so and add chopped rosemary and put that in the mash :)

lunch today:
barbequed seitan slices on habanero coleslaw atop some nice sliced crusty white bread. #nomnomnom

I have perfected pancakes, just fyi. 3/4 unbleached flour to 1/4 almond meal, plus a lot of cinnamon added to the regular recipe, cooked in butter in a cast-iron pan for a perfect velvety surface.

Also somehow I got the mix/don't overmix level just right on these so they're fluffy and soft and...I'm so happy.

Oh also more salt and less sugar than the recipe calls for, obv.

Taking pancake notes here. How much sugar does your recipe call for and how much do you actually add?

I use this recipe bc I never have milk in the house: http://mormonmavens.blogspot.com/2012/01/no-milk-pancakes.html

So I skimp on the sugar, and since we only have sea salt and it doesn't mass the same as plain salt because of the flake shape, I actually use a whole teaspoon and not the 1/2 it says there. Substitute 1/4 C of almond meal for part of the flour, plus you could use whole-wheat flour for the other 3/4 if you had it, that would be even better. Then accidentally dump in what you think is way too much cinnamon--I went a little crazy yesterday but it was perfect...maybe a tablespoon or more?

Then I mixed with a plain steel teaspoon, not a whisk or a big cooking spoon, which seemed to minimize the stirred-ness (I usually overstir and things get heavy).

Usually I'd dump a glug of nice vanilla in with the wet ingreds but I'm out of van so I didn't and they were still wonderful.

Fabulous. Trying these at the weekend - thank you!

made waffles last night. loving the sort of time consuming (melt butter, whip egg whites) recipe that came with this nordic ware stove top belgian waffler. pretty simple to make just takes dishes/cleaning. highly recommend the nordic ware though. leftover waffle for brekkie with peanut butter and banana. think i prefer just maple syrup

i read a japanese mystery novel where the detective had eggs on rice for breakfast, so i made eggs on rice. cooked the rice in chicken broth and fried the eggs. some tarragon and soy sauce.

i didn't have any little japanese pickles.

How was??

I still crave fried egg on top of leftover thai curry p regularly. I should whip up a batch of something.

was nice, good balance i think, could possibly omit broth (mine was not that flavorful) if you want the delicacy of the eggs on the rice more. runny eggs (not what i usually eat) impt.

forgot, i used some cornstarch in the rice too, to get the broth to stick to it.

Home from Atlanta with crazy amounts of groceries -- I found almost everything I was looking for except for Szechuan peppercorns and, weirdly enough, grits. The awesomeness of the product they sell at the Dekalb Farmers Market must be getting around, because there wasn't a grit anywhere to be found in the building.

Made a mushroom ragout yesterday, served over sourdough toast with gruyere melted on top under the broiler. Tonight, my first stab at braised veal shanks. They were ok, not amazing.

hey i've got some szechuan peppercrons if yer jonesin', shoot me a email. i know they were banned for a few years from us markets for some reason. picked some up @ rainbow co-op not too long ago.....

anyone have any advice re: making chili in the crockpot? i made the best chili i ever made on super bowl sunday (it was coincidental bc i did not watch the super bowl) by adapting this recipe and i want to do it again in the crockpot. i have a 3.3 lb chuck. just brown it first, drain it?

btw my adaptations were to add 2 cans of kidney beans against the recipe writer's advice, used regular ground beef, used paste i made from soaked dried anchos, added a can of beef broth, made tomato puree in the food processor, didn't have any masa harina

i made some ramen, i added rice wine vinegar to it, so my advice is, add a splash of rice wine vinegar

mine had garlic floating in the bottom of it

just brown it first, drain it?
yeah maybe with some onions?
i add a little cocoa powder to my chili too, not sure if it does anything but i always add it

I made Mole Poblano from scratch last night for valentines and it turned out much better than I thought. I loosely followed this recipe http://www.patismexicantable.com/2010/03/mole_poblano_de_los_angeles/
Except I didn't have chiles mulatos, and I used a few chipotle chiles in adobo. Once the mole was finished I cooked boneless thighs with nopales and stewed tomatoes in the sauce, served over Tera's mexican rice.

outdoor miner, I might take you up on that! Thanks for the offer.

What were you planning on doing with grits? I was thinking of making fried grit cakes with braised turnip greens in a few days.

Through a series of lax communications I casually ended up buying a whole pig which we will be picking up today. The "hanging weight" was 130 pounds so it should be like 90-100 pounds packaged? I have no idea what this will actually look like when I see it.

I am making Beef Picadillo and spinach casserole from The Great American Cookbook. Have tried a few things from it before so have reasonable confidence that these will work out too.

I just love grits as an alternative starch to potatoes, pasta or rice. They're easy to modify with veg or meat stock instead of milk/water, good with some cheese whisked in at the end a la risotto. They spatter like hell when refried in cakes or slices unless they're dredged in egg & flower, and that's usually more work than I want to go.

My Atlanta pal who's going to Big Ears next month is dropping by DFM for me sometime between now and then and bringing me a few pounds, assuming the Atlanta Grit Famine is over.

captain obvious here but you can decrease splatter quite a bit by patting dry with a clean paper towel or whatev prior to frying. oh, and also if you are making it specifically to not serve soft you can use a fair bit (like 20-25% less water when you make it. it will finish rehydrating as it cools and sets ime. (less moisture less splatter) i LOVE that stuff when it gets a wee bit crispy, eh.

Has anyone ever fucked w/ quinoa as a breakfast porridge? Like cook it w lots of water, add butter and syrup?

Yes, and I was desperately hungry within about 2 hours even though I ate it with a bunch of nuts. Had cooked a ton of it so experimented over the next few breakfasts with greek yoghurt, etc. No difference. Ravenous within 2 hours.

I should try mixing it w/ steel cut oats for both fullness and nutrients

i've been making these little oatmeal cupcakes (that i feel somewhat ashamed about because i found them from someone's shitty link on fb and the site is horrible and stupid) BUT they are so wonderful to throw in my bag and eat for second breakfast. i can post the recipe if anyone wants to eat actual oatmeal. what's wrong with eating oatmeal? why quinoa?

Grain vs. pseudo-grain fite

LL, I would love the recipe for those!

since the subject of quinoa came up might as well mention today's lunch (even though i don't like whole foods much as a rule, this recipe rawks!):
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/cranberry-quinoa-salad
only subs were some kinda hot red fresno chile in lieu of serranos; and a wee splash of extra virgin.
and yeah, i'm always hungry after i eat this salad, too. but it is basically fat free

Trying to make kumquat marmalade this weekend. I have this kumquat bush and I can never go through all the fruit, so, trying this!

ljub -- here's the irrationally embarrassing blog that i got the oatmeal cupcake recipe from. http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/01/08/breakfast-oatmeal-cupcakes-to-go/

i've made them a few times, and recommend using 2 bananas + golden raisins + maple syrup as sweetener, but if you are a chocolate nut, some small chips would make them pretty tasty too. i've added coconut and cinnamon too, both were good but the basic taste was the same. recommended to freeze half because there is no way to go through that much oatmeal in the time it takes them to get stale.

that said, i throw two in my bag on days that i teach (need extra energy) and as breakfast supplements, i eat one at 11 and one at 1 or so. then i'm not dying when it comes time for lunch around 2, finally. works well enough and tastes good enough.

also i have no idea what kumquats taste like, but i recommend throwing in some candied ginger because i feel like candied ginger zings up any fruit-based spread. good luck!

Will try those next week LL, thank you!

i used to eat quinoa for breakfast. i cooked it normally, then added butter and milk and some jam or fruit. better texture than oatmeal but less filling. i'm making barbacoa.

iirc, quinoa got its big boost in the US from Diet For a Small Planet, Frances Lappe's book that emphasized the idea of maximizing plant-based protein by balancing the amino acids present in a meal. Turns out that one of the amino acids (lysine?) is hardest to get from plant sources, but quinoa is stellar at providing it. Before that, quinoa was almost unheard of in the USA. Afterward there was a growing demand and health food stores started to stock it regularly. Now it's popular.

Cmon, I didn't say 'what is quinoa' I said 'Why prefer quinoa to oatmeal as a breakfast fuel'
Geez

p much any whole grain is going to give you some complex carbs, so purely considered as fuel, one's about as good as another. there's some minor distinctions among them in terms of protein and fiber, but nothing major. after that it's just personal taste.

btw, I didn't think you'd asked 'what is quinoa'? that whole 'lysine powerhouse' aspect is about the only thing that sets quinoa apart, imo, and that only applies if you're doing the complementary amino acid thingie. sorry if I offended, tho.