What's cooking? part 4

But buttermilk always smells tangy, no? How does it smell when it's bad?

it will stink

if you can put your nose to it & not gag, it's fine

one of my coworkers has cancer and is starting chemo. her supervisor asked if we would volunteer to cook dinner for her and her family for the next couple weeks as she's starting chemo. i would do one night of cooking. it would be her, her husband, and two kids (5 and 7, i believe). i need something i can bring into work and refrigerate all day before it goes to her. also i think she has a lot blander taste than i, the OP of curry chronicles. ideas pls?

although...i could make a mild chicken curry and rice and a vegetable maybe.

I have zero chemo experience, but I think targeting the tastes of the husband and kids might be the most helpful approach--at least 3/4 would be into it!

Lasagna is usually welcome imo

yeah or a chicken congee kinda thing? lasagna seems like a good idea though

Mac and cheese

oh yeah i meant she and her family. i also work with her husband. he actually does the cooking most of the time.

Maybe this is Midwest of me but a lot of people wouldn't touch a curry of any description--all the seasonings would be unfamiliar. Esp to kids.

otm

Crabbits posted a butter paneer recipe on FB the other day that has me itching to make butter-something. Can't find paneer around here, but butter chicken or butter tofu. But at the very least, today is bread-making day.

I have to say, buying good gluten-free soy sauce is kind of changing my life.

i don't think curry would be too insane if it was very mild. i can't do lasagna because literally everyone is like "oh i can just make baked ziti" including my sexist coworker who is using as an excuse that he is a man and therefore is bad at cooking.

chicken and DUMPLINGS!/chicken pot pie casserole?

idk how to make anything like that. i feel like debbie downer today though. i gotta think about it.

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2013/09/baked-pasta-with-broccoli-rabe-and-sausage/

Baked pasta but not lasagna and also delicious. I made this for friends who had preemie twins and it was a good choice.

I have made this many times, super easy and delicious.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/curry-chicken-pot-pie-recipe.html

nb: curry is just curry powder, it's not really curry at all

oh also they said she was having trouble digesting pasta which was one thing that led to her diagnosis :(

old school chicken-and-rice casserole?

with like roasted veg (can serve cold or room temp or warm back up) on the side?

http://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/02/chorizo-sweet-potato-enchiladas/

This is also good. If you aren't sure about chorizo, stir in some chipotle in adobo with the sweet potatoes and add black beans.

xp going to guess chorizo would not sit well with your coworker if she was having trouble with pasta. Poor thing.

Season some chicken thighs, brown in frying pan and finish in oven, roast some veg and serve with couscous and some lemony yoghurt or something? should reheat ok?

Couscous is also pasta just fyi. Quinoa? Depends on their tastes as a family kinda. Personally I can't get mine to eat anything interesting at all.

Vegging out today -- fresh snap beans, new potatoes with dill butter, sauteed yellow squash, cornbread.

Signed up for a bi-weekly CSA, I'm psyched!

Our CSA started up two weeks ago and it is much appreciated.

Maybe a bit late in the day but this is my go to chicken pot pie recipe:

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/chicken-and-leek-pot-pie.html

i made this stir-fry tonight: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/05/stir-fried-pork-chives-recipe-chinese-wok.html

used it as an opportunity to hit up the asian market nearby and to practice stir-fry technique, i don't have a wok but got a skillet pretty gd hot which i'm happy about.

pizza - quartered artichoke hearts, blanched broccoli, torn up kalamatas, grated provolone and italian fontina, topped with a bunch of chile flakes, diced tomatoes, and a scattering of onion slices. pretty good. wish i'd let the dough proof overnight - it rose a helluva lot....

made a load of vegetable chow mein today. essential ingredient i wouldn't have used had i not once worked with a kid from China via Thailand - Pearl River Bridge Light Soy Sauce. not "light" as in low sodium, but a light Chinese style soy that helps stir fry type things just kill. had a wee bit of mushroom soy in there for bottom end. was really happy the way it turned out

last night I made Ina Garten's corn salad for the first time

holy damn is that ever a tasty dish
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fresh-corn-salad-recipe.html

Tried to make spare ribs in the crock pot today. Put them in at 9.30am, set to low for 8.5 hours and then 'warm'. They were on 'warm' for about 1.5 hours. Totally charred when I got home :( I can't use the crock-pot overnight because the cooking smell keeps one of my housemates awake.

On the upside I made Nigella's old-fashioned chocolate cake, with sour cream and golden syrup in the icing, for a lab celebration. Had three pieces on 2 separate days. Rather than 3/4 of a duplicate cake I'd baked to keep at home within the course of 2 hours. That is what used to happen before I allowed myself to eat sugar regularly when I was faced with an opportunity to have a really good cake.

I've been craving frozen desserts SOMETHING BAD and every single fruit bar I've checked uses guar thickener. FUCK THAT SHIT. So I blended a bunch of strawberries into a quart of orange juice, thew in some whole pieces of berry, and I'm freezing it in stages and mashing it with a fork every 40 mins or so. Kind of like a granita? I figure when it's more uniformly icy I'll put it into solo cups to fully freeze/eat. Very pleased with self.

Also, Lechera's recipe for vinegary pulled pork was so easy and amazing and suited to making in the slow-cooker in hot weather without heating up my kitchen that I'm doing it again! 7lb shoulder in the fridge crusted in spice rub rite now.

grilled plantain and tomatoes with seared salmon steaks, caramelised red onions and poached eggs. We cholestrollin in this beyotch.

io I've been similarly craving various cold summer pies although if you've got issues w/ guar gum you don't even want to know what I've been doing with Cool Whip.

made a pomegranate baklava this morning. think it's only the second time i've ever worked with filo and it wasn't as bad as i'd been fearing; minimal rippage..... topped it after baking with pomegranate syrup. letting it rest overnight before we go to town on that baby

i made beans. getting better at them. still working on getting a saucy result. and though i can get them soft enough now i don't know if i'd say they're tender; beyond-soft insides and noticeable but totally edible husks is more like it.

ungh, i upped the liquid (beef broth from a powder) and added a little black olive brine, the result was just a touch too salty but the kind of too salty that makes you feel like a dissolute hedonist instead of the kind that spits your food out; it was GOOD

not sure if this helps but assuming you are pre-soaking the beans, it may help to add your beef broth midway through the cooking process if possible. ~allegedly~ sodium plays a part in the cooking and softening of beans and i'm thinking specifically of the husks becoming more chewing friendly. just a thought....

lately i've been a) soaking about 4-6 hours, b) boiling->letting sit lidded for an hour, c) cooking with add-ins and broth at a simmar for about 45 in-hr. with salt in (c). not sure i could defer the salt any further, but i think i've found a pretty sweet spot now. just kind of weird to me to have to process a food for SO LONG.

ah simmar them aftir bringeng them to a baiul

I want to rehydrate some dried tomatoes with olive oil, salt, garlic, basil

How scared should I be of BOTULISM

Should I keep it in the fridge afterwards

rehydrate with boiling H20, then marinate, yes fridge

careful and use 'em within a week. normally botulism would not be a concern, but mold will occur what with the residual water in the tomatoes even though they're covered in oil and refrigerated. it's not a anaerobic environment no matter how much you dry the soaked tomatoes. basil will get funky fairly quickly too i think. don't wanna add basil to the dish as you need it? not as convenient but i think you'd get the most of its freshness that way. i've had this issue and only buy s.d.tomatoes in olive oil on account of the fact

just made a big chilli plus home-made guac AND a huuuge chocolate Guinness cake and now I am tiiiired

that's a lot of work for one day!

I'm going to make palak paneer and shrimp tikka masala for the first time tonight. Or maybe I'll get tired after just one and will leave it at that.