What's cooking? part 4

Niiiiiiiice

whoa

Pasta carbonara, er...primavera. Thingy. Yum.

damn so i spent a LOT of time cooking on thanksgiving doing the traditional foods, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, etc. we're vegetarian so i made a whole pot of vegetable stock that i used to make the stuffing and gravy. i would say it came out really really good, the stock was rich, complex, and flavorful so it supported everything really well. we've been doing this for a while and this was probably one of the best years in terms of how everything came out. we also made a pumpkin pie that was dynamite.

but all in all i am realizing that, fuck, i don't really like the traditional thanksgiving meal? it's not that interesting? i felt really bored with it this year despite feeling like things came out objectively well. my family who eats meat ate the vegetarian stuffing and talked about how good it was, which is rare because they usually just prefer the standard turkey stuffing. i'm just kind of feeling like next year i need to do something different. i wasn't into it. it's a lot of work and the food just didn't come out that interesting, i spent a lot of time but didn't feel creative.

i think i needed more vegetables. brussel sprouts or something. we had green beans but they were just okay. thanksgiving is such a heavy starchy bready meal, cranberry sauce isn't enough to lift the palette amidst all that heaviness. i need something more stimulating.

what are some interesting things you guys cooked for thanksgiving?

tbh i've never liked trad t-giving food
it always reminded me of cafeteria food at worst and just kinda good bland food at best -- not worth the trouble for me personally
i made gumbo and it was fantastic
i think people should spend the time and energy (and money) to make whatever they want to eat and celebrate the giving of thanks however they please

yeah i'm not a huge fan. i enjoy stuffing, but that's about it.

I got a reminder of how bready it all is this year, for sure.

I think there are variations one can try but tbh if it's not your thing why bother? Personally I've never liked stuffing OR cranberry sauce, I'm only there for the turkey, potatoes, gravy, and the apple pie.

This year my fave thing tho was someone else's turkey juices, so much flavor bc of the way she brined and roasted it, poured over spicy garlic sauteed spinach, on top of rice. Each of the individual dishes was so well done they were perfect together.

Aside from the turkey, which I can take or leave, except for the all important stock/broth/juice/gravy, I love traditional Thanksgiving food. The breadier the better. Growing up the standard spread was turkey, dressing (oyster and plain), DUMPLINGS!, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, gravy, rolls, and probably some vegetables but I that's not what I'm there for so they don't stand out.

I do remember standing in line for one particular Thanksgiving at my step-paternal grandmother's house with an in-law who appraised the food and remarked in awe, "Everything is so... blonde..."

Anyway, when it's just me cooking I don't often do the whole turkey feast thing since it's a lot of work. I've made fancy lasagnas in years past that were really good. There was a really good recipe on ATK for homemade saag paneer that I might try the next year we have friends over. In short, LL OTM - give thanks for the tasty food if your choosing!

standing in line

In case that sounds weird, that side of the family is LOLhueg (my parents have been hosting since my grandmother died. This year they had 23 people, which my mother said was too quiet) and we always had did buffet-style holiday dinners that required a few minutes of standing in line and waiting your turn.

oh yea we always wait in line, if it's more than 8-10 people then it's tough for the food to be passed around on the table

We had pulled pork on kaiser rolls, with cole slaw, and cranberry sorbet for dessert. For three days. Then, yesterday, pulled pork soft tacos.
But it was just the two of us.

have had this shrimp paste layin' around a few weeks not knowing how to properly utilize it's stink. sauteed some minced garlic ginger habanero for 10 seconds in a nearly scorching pan. tossed in some marinated tofu. let it get color. turn heat down a notch. dumped in a bunch of chard;stir, let it go;stiritup let it wilt. poured in mixture: 1 Tblsp fish sauce and 1 tsp shrimp paste one juiced lime and a tsp sugar and let it go for a minute or two on lower heat. revelatory. to me anyways. the two stenches: fish sauce and shrimp paste cancel each other out when they're raw. and once the mixture cooks together it's some indescribably dee-lish-niss. partly putting this here so's i'll remember. but i highly doubt i cld forget

Pasta carbonara, er...primavera. Thingy. Yum.

― Orson Wellies (in orbit), Saturday, November 29, 2014 10:30 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This, emphasis on the thingy - no pork, just egg, cheese, broccoli, garlic. Unintentional Bud Trillin tribute?

T-giving was guinea hen, wine/root veg sauce, wild rice, corn pudding, cranberry relish, apple pie, linzer cookie.

dashi braised daikon

that was a little snack with leftover daikon [from making matchstick sized pickles for banh mi (aka orgasm sandwich) that'll happen in a few days]. and it was really comforting and yum. it may be impossible to overcook daikon. it never fell apart just got more wonderful the more it simmered.

Cooking for friends tonight:
- rosemary and garlic marinated steak strips w/ tomato jam
- roasted beets
- baked parmesan risotto

I don't really know what I am doing, and I am mostly worried about the tomato jam part.

crockpotroast
brussels sprouts

I made a big stock pot of borscht last night and served it with some homemade oaten scones & butter.

Broccoli cheese soup. Second try. Didn't cry over failure this time.

The problem with being a fairly confident, don't need no recipe cook: you fail to follow good advice sometimes.

I made a pork ragu yesterday and simmered it for 4 hours, it's p great but not mind blowing. Alas.

What are some of your favourite recipes for cheap cuts of red meat that don't involve slow-cooking?

by slow-cooking do you mean cooking slowly or using a slow cooker? because i think the only way to cook cheap cuts of red meat is slowly. otherwise you will be chewing slowly. forever.

I dunno if you do a skirt or flank rare and cut thin against the grain you will be OK. What cuts are we talking?

this isn't really fancy but one i like for a beef stir fry that's easy and cheap to put together and tasty, except i would sometimes swap out the soy sauce for something like kecap manis and not put in any sugar, also maybe use ginger & garlic paste instead of the garlic powder and ginger powder, or add a bit of onion powder for flavour. something like schnitzel which should be comparatively cheap works well for this sort of recipe.

xp - I meant cooking slowly (sorry, that wasn't very clear) - I know how to do that to good effect, but I've never tried cooking cheap cuts more quickly. I'm not eating much red meat at the moment and I want to eat more, both for iron reasons and because I really enjoy it. Go-to techniques for cuts like skirt or flank, or for cube steak? Best tenderizing marinades? There's loads on Google, but all a bit overwhelmingly detailed so just wondered whether people had go-to techniques that don't have never-ending tweaks stretching through pages and pages and on into the comments section...

thanks qiqing. I've never tried kecap manis! I want to.

skirt and flank both cook well in a skillet or grill pan after a marinade with some acid. cook to medium tho some say medium-rare and that's fine too.

just do like oil/lime/salt/chili powder and slice for soft tacos.

Hadn't thought about tacos, nice.

Yeah, I should have said that I prefer as close to rare as I can get with these kinds of cuts. cad, how long do you marinade? Or rather, what do you think is the shortest time I can get away with? (I'll forget at first, I'm sure).

i think a lot of recipes suggest 1 hr refrigerated so i (as a madinade-forgetter) would probably attempt 30 mins at room temp.

if you have or can get a foodsaver, you can marinade in 30 min

or less

xposts the garlic powder is good for flavouring the meat without having to do an extended marinade, so i would usually keep that in. also the comments in that recipe have some useful tweaks, even though i just go for what i figure will work without overdoing or losing flavour

kecap manis is your friend if you want something other than soy sauce to give depth of flavour to things like stir fries. it's usually surprisingly affordable too. it makes me think of something like sriracha for making things taste really good without needing many ingredients, like a shortcut to getting bombass flava.

I had to Google foodsavers - wow! No access to one, unfortunately, but I'll see what happens if I do 30 mins at room temp. Good tip on the garlic powder, thanks.

IME skirt>>>>>>>>>flank and takes a marinade fine in 30 min. Season really really well with salt and sear in a hot as shit pan to get a crust on outside but rare on inside, rest with a foil tent for 7 min, the cut 1/4 AGAINST THE GRAIN. A skirt off of a yummy cow (prime if you can get it, a bit aged if possible) is really great and beefy and fab.

I also love skirt in ropa vieja. Cuban (?) dish--I'll look for the recipe from Steve Raichlen's Miami Spice to post

I meant 1/4 inch or less. Or do the boil and shred and stew method as in ropa vieja!

Thanks Q, those are exactly the kinds of things I had in mind!

Broccoli cheese soup. Second try. Didn't cry over failure this time.

― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Sunday, December 7, 2014 4:56 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This happened to me last week. I still don't really know what went wrong, and I think I hate broccoli cheese soup now because of this experience.

oh i didn't even think of skirt or flank. depends on what "cheap" means though. i was thinking chuckkkkkk

Not a cut as such, but you can do so many quick, cheap things with minced beef and lamb.

Was it on here somebody mentioned keema recently? 30-45 minutes bish bosh.

Korean-style bulgogi if you can find thinly sliced eye of round or sirloin! Asian grocery stores will have them (generally frozen). I do them with rice in lettuce wraps and that tasty Korean spicy bean paste. And jimc her, of course!

Um that should say "kimchee," not jimc

made lamb saag for the first time this weekend and it was fucking great. usually when i cook something well the first time out it somehow gets progressively worse on every subsequent occasion, so i'm kinda apprehensive about attempt #2 already.

I get fed up with minced beef fast for some reason, but minced lamb I should have more of for sure. Or maybe I just haven't been adventurous enough with the minced beef. Bulgogi is a great idea!

did those ottolenghi meatballs in tahini sauce the other day (with kosheri), not quite as good a job as last time but def a good use of mince

saw ropa vieja mentioned upthread, what a great dish! i'll make it with rice and black beans on the side with some fried plantains. i like this recipe: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Cuban-Style-Ropa-Vieja

ok I make an exception re: the beef for meatballs, and I love tahini.

Going to a Christmas potluck tomorrow night... decided to make a mushroom crepe cake.

Also, I had an epiphany about tasting for seasonings. I have a bit of an asbestos tongue and realized that I need to let whatever it is cool down before I taste it. I kept oversalting stuff and wondering why it didn't taste so salty on the stove... turns out it was way too hot for me to get an accurate read.