What's cooking? part 4

dudes
so i am eating waterbug when i order up a curry from the thai place?!
sonofabitch! i may like it . . .

Seriously -- more info abt "waterbug essence" b/c I know i should be cool with it but...

they totally look like cockroaches, right? a big ass grasshopper was up on my porchrail the other night and i watched it closely as it made noises and thought, "should i eat this thing? no way, it's cute." but those waterbugs are a different matter

i thought waterbugs = "oriental cockroaches" meaning those big black cockroaches that can't fly and are slow. but also assuming that's not what's in nam prik paste. i hope.

When I was a kid in middle-of-nowhere rural Michigan in the late 80s, I had a friend whose mom was from Thailand and had all kinds of scary things in the kitchen, one of which was a jar of chili paste with a picture of an ant on it. She swore that it contained some sort of insects and didn't really get why we thought it was the nastiest thing ever and would dare each other to eat it.

In retrospect I'm pretty sad palate wasn't what it is today, as nowadays I'd love to eat whatever it was she was cooking then.

http://theinfosphere.org/images/thumb/7/76/Family_bros_pizza.jpg/225px-Family_bros_pizza.jpg

"contains-a three kind of things!"

oops
http://theinfosphere.org/images/thumb/7/76/Family_bros_pizza.jpg/225px-Family_bros_pizza.jpg

There's a couple of species of water bug, but I think these are the ones popular in Thailand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belostomatidae

They only gross me out when they're carrying eggs on their back, like this little fellow here:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Toe-Biter.jpg/250px-Toe-Biter.jpg

Their most common use is just fried plain as a street food, I think: I saw them a lot in Bangkok, but couldn't bring myself to try them. I think their use in that nam prik recipe is a variation, shrimp paste is more common. They're not a normal component of Thai curry, jdchurchill, although a small quantity of fermented anchovy is, which isn't really any less gross.

Dear Mr. Ratsey:

We welcome your decline to our level. Soon you will be screeching "tits or gtfo" with the best.

Dear Fotherington Thomp,

Hope this didn't sound snarky, thomp! It certainly wasn't meant to be - I was just returning the Molesworth love, but I wrote it when drunk and like so many things done when drunk it seems to have a different sound in the morning than when written.

Back to the amazing water bug discussion.

no offence taken lol

wow this is ilke the most controversial ilc has ever gotten! cept maybe that one time shasta went all nuts about how to make sushi on that guy.

salmon poached with white wine, dill, lemon, red onion, salt, and pepper. spinach and zucchini sautéed with garlic, lemon and olive oil.

what do you do with leftover poaching liquid? anything?

Seafood risotto maybe?

eh. i'll just toss it. i just wondered since there are all those nice things floating in the water.

ok so when we eventually move to seattle how bout tza u move in with us as our chef and i will pay you with... books?

i'd settle for free rent!

Wait just a minute, I want this gig!

no wai they are mine

uh sorry that sounded crepey

btw i make grebt crepes!

looooooooooooooooooooooooooool

honestly meal preparation is one of the great non-pleasures of my life. i have tried and tried to feel some enjoyment in the process, esp since i do all the cooking in our house (my expression of love for my husband), but i just hate it! hate it! hate it! and i hate that i hate it, which is even worse!

see, meal preparation IS a pleasure for me but it's the eating that isn't really because even if i make something awesome i just sit there and eat it alone so i think this arrangement may very well work as long as you don't want me to just make the meal and then sit in the chef's quarters while you guys dine.

service entrance and eating in the kitchen for you, young lady

NO DEAL

cook for yourself

unless WmC has no self respect, that is.

Just momentarily to come back to the poaching water thing - when making kedgeree it's worth using the water that the haddock's been poached in to cook the rice in.

cept maybe that one time shasta went all nuts about how to make sushi on that guy.

:o(

I did make sushi once after that happened and thought about how inauthentic I was being and didn't care at all cause what I made was delicious!

service entrance and eating in the kitchen for you, young lady

― DAN P3RRY MAD AT GRANDMA (just1n3), Monday, September 28, 2009 11:08 PM (Yesterday)

NO DEAL

― can i lust (tehresa), Monday, September 28, 2009 11:11 PM (Yesterday)

cook for yourself

― can i lust (tehresa), Monday, September 28, 2009 11:11 PM (Yesterday)

unless WmC has no self respect, that is.

― can i lust (tehresa), Monday, September 28, 2009 11:11 PM (Yesterday)

Self respect got nuttin to do with it, this sounds better and better! I'd get full just tasting the dishes as I cooked anyway.

yeah i really like meal preparation. it makes me stop thinking about other things!

well, i wouldn't like it if i felt like i had to do it tbh

asparagus mint and broad bean pilaf tonight oh shi-.... looks delicious in the cook book

Marinated sliced chicken thighs in the kecap manis I made awhile back (dark soy, carmelized sugar, ginger/star anise/bay), then stirfried with bok choi and wide rice noodles. Those noodles are my current favorite ultra-fast starch, almost as fast as couscous, just boil some water and drop the noodles in and stir. I tossed a bit of sambal oelek in at the end of cooking, served everything topped with peanut sauce and chopped cilantro. Delicious and fairly quick to throw together.

nommmmmm

i just ate leftover poached salmon for lunch. still good!

Chicken, big rice noodles, and broccoli/bok choy/other greens with varying degrees of peanuts, kecap manis, soy, fish sauce, herbs, and chili paste is one my favorite things a big staple for me.

a big beautiful artichoke (mayo + roasted garlic); new potatoes with butter and a ton of chopped fresh dill.

Oooh I never thought about making one's own kecap manis! Thats awesome.

It turned out great, just a small hazardous explosion of soy sauce steam when I poured it into the super-hot caramelized sugar! I made enough to last almost 2 years, and it's just gotten better from the whole spices that are still steeping in the liquid.

roasting brussels sprouts. i love fall!

mac & cheese or puntas ruffinas (beef slow cooked in a chipotle/adobo/crema sauce) for Sunday dinner?

last night

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3975791150_d6d4afa5f0.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3476/3975028535_cf3d8717bd.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3453/3975028993_78e7eb80a4.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2567/3975031351_17326d37da.jpg

scallops!

Mmmm! Is that dill or fennel fronds in the marinade?

dill

that beef sounds amazing
those scallops look nom!

looks good but i am truley sorry for your lots with that electric stove!

lady u don't even know :(