What's cooking? part 4

Felicity Cloake's chana masala nearly blew our heads off last night. Very tasty, but fewer chillies next time.

xps OMG I want bb+bs enchiladas!!! I've never made enchiladas before! Do you have a preferred recipe or should i just google one?

Here's the Midwestern Mom Weeknight Dinner edition that I make, which you can complicate by making/prepping the components from scratch as you like.

1 can black beans
1 container of pre-cut butternut squash or one bag of cut frozen butternut squash (can also use peeled and cubed sweet potatoes)
1 onion, diced
Garlic to your preference
Jalepeno, diced, if you are not feeding a toddler
Cumin and chili powder to taste
1 can Rotel tomatoes
Package of corn tortillas
Enchilada sauce (I like the Frontera brand)
Shredded cheese
Salt and pepper

Saute the onion and jalepeno. Add the cumin and chili powder plus some salt and pepper. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Then add the squash and stir it up real good to coat it with the spices. Add drained and rinsed black beans and the tomatoes, then cover and simmer until the squash is soft (20 to 30 minutes, probably, but could be more. Just keep an eye on it and add some water if the squash is hard but the pan is getting dry). Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Meanwhile, warm up the tortillas by whatever method you like (I actually prefer to do this in a dry frying pan, but there's probably a way to microwave them).

Pour about a third of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Spoon filling into the tortillas then roll them up and place them seam-side down into the baking dish. Do this until you run out of filling, tortillas, or room in the dish. Pour the rest of the sauce over top, add cheese to your liking, and bake at 350 until the cheese is melted and bubbly, like 10 to 15 minutes.

Warming up the tortillas is the kind of thing I'd normally skip but it is key to keep them from crumbling when you try to roll them up.

you can warm bulk tortillas by spraying them w/oil, stacking them in twos, and putting them on a sheet in the oven for a couple mins. just cover them with a towel or something to keep them moist while u roll.

microwave tortilla warmers, the insulated fabric pouches, are the best thing

anything that doesn't produce extra dishes. So a hairdryer.

i just got so much flaky Mexican/ceylon cinnamon!! What to do with it??

There's brand that sells refrigerated half-cooked corn and flour tortillas that you heat up in a skillet until they're done - they're amazing.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/best-flour-tortillas-tortillaland.html

huh, apparently they are stocked at a Safeway not too far from me. . . which I happen to be driving past tomorrow. I will investigate!

yeah i'm def gonna hit up price choppers for some of those

I wound up eating half the package of flour ones I got just heating and then snacking.

Made with actual, honest to god no fucks given lard.

I WANT THOSE TORTILLAAAAAAASSSSSS

I saw a video that mentioned Michael Voltaggio's 'signature dish' of egg yolk gnocchi - yolks, salt and olive oil blended then pushed through a pastry bag into boiling water to poach. That sounds pretty awesome and versatile but I don't know where to start with a yolk to oil ratio.

My instinct would be to try it as deep-fried mayonnaise, in the interests of science.

Super bummed that the awesome tortillas were not actually stocked at the Safeway I stopped by :(

i went to farmer's mkt and got a HUGE butternut squash and a pound of kale
i went to costco and got 2 whole chickens and 4 lbs and ground beef
i am gonna make a lot of food for the week bc cooking at night when i'm tired makes me eat crappy or not enough (not making all the ground beef though lol)

Super bummed that the awesome tortillas were not actually stocked at the Safeway I stopped by :(

My boo and I drove to the other side of the city to go to a ShopRite that allegedly carried them but they didn't and the ShopRite was SO CROWDED bcz it was noon on a Sunday and it was a travesty

I may be a sucker and pay a bunch of money to order them online.

Question: any ideas for sorrel?

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/ingredients-fine-foods/50-things-to-do-with-fresh-sorrel/
i've had sorrel soup before. was alright. i like the look of the famous Troisgros recipe Salmon with sorrel cream, and there's more nice ideas on this page:
http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2011/05/salmon_and_sorrel_troisgros.html - i like the fact they namecheck Richard Olney there

have only worked with sunchokes a few times and it was a v long time ago. farmer's market had some cool looking red sunchokes so this is now in the oven and smelling kinda sublime:
http://firstlookthencook.com/2010/02/07/sunchoke-and-potato-gratin/
(i used low-sodium veg broth for the liquid)

I roasted a bunch of turnips and rutabagas the other day. I've been using them as the starch in my meals instead of potatoes or rice or pasta. Pretty satisfied with the results so far.

I have some leftover Thai chicken that is oily and meh. Would it be a very bad idea to blend with stock, herbs and a lot more chilis and turn it into soup?

sounds like a fine idea.

Will report back.

no!! don't put chicken in a blender it will be so aesthetically unappealing. tear it into pieces and put in soup. blend the rest, but i've seen someone do this once with Mexican tortilla soup and it was an abomination, culinarily speaking, imho

oh yeah i didn't read blend as literally, do what outdoor miner says.

yeah I wasn't going to blend the actual chicken, agree that would be odd, I'll tear it up. Wait, what kind of leftovers was the tortilla soup made of?...

it wasn't leftovers. it was a actual Mexican sous chef in a cafe kitchen making soup for service and being a complete idiot

OH MY GOD I AFTER 3 FAILED ATTEMPTS I FOUND THE TORTILLALAND BRAND TORTILLAS AT A SHOPRITE IN NEW JERSEY!!!!!!

https://media.giphy.com/media/MEtSuIu6qu0HC/giphy.gif

omg these tortillas

how are these real

in my own home????

i can die now after having these tortillas, i am at peace w/ life

I wonder if they'd be good as chips - fluff them in the pan then fry or stick them in an oven for a while?

Roasted brussels sprouts in pork fat - tasty but man do I burn out on them after about ten.

Somebody that ESPN pays money to talk about basketball said that he'd be a bust because he "has soft eyes"

help i need a few pots and can't decide between tri-ply stainless steel or hard anodized aluminum! All my exp w/ stainless steel before has been STICKY STICKY STICKY, everything sticks! But maybe I'm just not doing it right. Also you can apparently use metal stuff w/ steel where yr not supposed to w/ anodized. But any advice? What is the real advantage of stainless steel?

feel like anodized gets a bad rap but i have a big calphalon straight-sided sautee pan with a lid that i really like, i am unaware of any abuse that pan can't handle. great for searing, braising, all sorts of one-pot dishes.

Yeah! From what I gather, it's more nonstick than str8 fire stainless but it still develops a nice fond for deglazing

I love my stainless steel – got a nice set about 17 years ago and it's still in great shape. I can't think of anything I cook that is prone to sticking other than eggs, and I keep a good nonstick skillet in the house for them.

we got a set of calphalon tri-ply saucepans & sautee pans 13 years ago and love them. cleanup is easy, never had any problems.

we have a couple of anodized frying pans & they are good for eggs, omelets & when you need a slippery surface.

no reason it has to be either/or - you can have both!

i love cooking with stainless and hate everything else. if it sticks you aren't heating it up enough and not leaving things to cook for long enough before trying to flip. with some exceptions. the advantage of it is imo the fact that it does not stick and great browning!

Yeah let the pan get hotter and let the food sit longer and it will eventually release from the pan. Not totally nonstick but that's a feature not a bug if you're making pan sauces. Like WilliamC I've got some stainless pieces that are over 15 years old now and are totally unbreakable.

i use cast iron for everything tbh, unless I need a saucepan or a soup pot, in which case stainless steel is fine

never made a pie from scratch before ... until yesterday. :)

Congratulations! Pies have simple ingredients, but getting them to behave requires a deft touch. I hope your turned out satisfactorily.

pies rule

My mom's apricot nectar cake is what rules.

whoa that sounds delicious

Basically a sour cream pound cake with some apricot nectar in the cake batter, + some more soaked into the cooling cake, + a simple glaze of more apricot nectar + powdered sugar + a little lemon juice for tartness.

O_O

want!!!

Modify with the Jumex nectar of your choice – mango or peach would be good. Actually now that I have a line on really good sour cherry nectar, I might make one of those.
http://www.sayadmarket.com/product_images/f/459/Tamek_Sour_Cherry_Nectar_Juice_11_5oz__48366_zoom.jpg