What's cooking? part 4

yeah i was kinda bummed but every cloud has a dessert lining :)

a just one more little sliver lining

i'll be making a lasagna, Brussels sprouts, and a spinach salad real soon now. dessert is in the oven already.

You might wanna throw some scissors in there for that smoky melted plastic flavor :)

sounds daring and innovative, but I'm more of a traditionalist

all the kids are doing it

lj did it first

I GOT A SOUS VIDE MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!

awesome--which one?

Anova

tell me all the great things to do with it besides cooking meat!

eggs on eggs on eggs on eggs

this, for example, is completely magical, and worked perfectly the very first time I tried it (also the first ever time i had even attempted eggs benny)

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/can-t-f-it-up-eggs-benedict

chef steps, in general, has a lot of great sous vide stuff, and is probably my second favorite recipe source after the food lab

i hate runny eggs tho :(

tj's say they won't have more kringle until january (i've only bought one once before but loved it), so gonna make us summa:
http://lovelylittlekitchen.com/raspberry-almond-coffee-cake/

Not that I can eat wheat flour anymore anyway but I really miss the Scandinavian desserts like coffee cake, kringle, bear claws, turnovers. The east coast is so into Italian and Jewish bakery staples, and all their cookies are gross and samey.

I've been cooking a lot but always on a deadline, not the kind of relaxed all-day Sunday stuff that I like. :( I poached some lobster tails in butter (overrated, didn't see the point) and saved the butter in the freezer for some unknown purpose (Idk what but it's white-wine/lemon/lobster butter which seems like it should be GOOD FOR SOMETHING).

The next week we roasted a duck and mistakenly put the potatoes in the bottom of the roasting pan where they absorbed all the duck fat. We started eating with a vengeance but quickly lapsed into lipid comas and I felt stodgy and ill all the next day. It was awful. Duck 1 - Us 0

For Thanksgiving I made no-milk potatoes au gratin with coconut milk and gruyere. I wasn't sure that would work but they were great! Will make again at Christmas and force my family to try something new probably.

my dad is steaming lobsters for our family's christmas celebration this weekend (we're celebrating early since many of us will be traveling on the actual holiday). i haven't had lobster at least 10 years bc i was vegetarian so i am really excited about having one again

i have been cooking normal stuff but have yet to truly regain my zeal. i think i just have a lot of other things going on and preparing new or complicated meals is very low on my priority list. so low it's not on the list.

me too

honestly ive been finding really simple things comforting. dal with rice. black beans and rice with a couple fried eggs.

oatmeal in the morning. for almost two years i was cooking omelettes and huevos rancheros and migas and lots of luxurious breakfasts every day. the past few months i've really simplified that meal and it's been nice.

we have been making pizza from scratch though and that's been really fun. the thing that has really kept me interested in cooking is that my two sons are now old enough to help out -- they are still really little but they are old enough that i can involve them and give them some tasks, and they are really engaged and fascinated with the cooking process.

yeah i am straight simple food groups at this point. or i will make a bunch of (protein) and then put it with different things. not interesting enough to type about but still tasty.

Yeah same I made chicken soup a couple of times and ppl liked it but it was always made in a hurry for an event, no leisure. In order to enjoy cooking I need like a whole day to research recipes, shop, potter around, listen to podcasts, etc. Otherwise it's just a job that needs to get done.

indeed
must feed self/partner, must cook foods
rest
repeat
:(

i still feel like i am eating well or whatever, i just don't enjoy it all that much or try to make new things
also there is probably a point where a home cook has the skills/repertoire they need to eat the foods they want to eat and anything beyond that is a legitimate special occasion.

I regularly refuse to feed my partner who I also do not live with so that's different. It just happens that he really LIKES cooking and likes to cook for me, he's just a little more...experimental at it. Soooo sometimes I need to intervene. If we're not together I probably open the fridge, look inside, and then open a bottle of wine for dinner instead.

honestly ive been finding really simple things comforting. dal with rice. black beans and rice with a couple fried eggs.

rice is like my single favorite food, so i can totally relate. just white rice with some soy sauce or a tiny splash of fish sauce is the most comforting food in the world to me. was already planning on doing this tonight
xposts

I just made (and tasted) XO sauce for the first time and it's AMAZING.

there is probably a point where a home cook has the skills/repertoire they need to eat the foods they want to eat and anything beyond that is a legitimate special occasion.

agreed. I spent from about ages 20 to 50 in the phase of collecting skills and recipes, while progressively slowing my pace of collection as time passed. since then I've just picked and chosen whatever sounds good from what I already know well. that's ok, because I am also old enough that I am slowing down in every part of my life.

I had the thought "gingerbread is good; galangalbread will be good." I was right.

i have kind of a silly question

i had a pork shoulder & cut out the bone and about 1 pound of meat (for reasons). So I now have the bone & 1 pound of set aside raw

i was thinking of making some kind of soup but i really don't know what. should i slow roast these first then use for soup? or boil the bone raw then add the meat to the stock idk idk

Get some hominy and green chilies (Anaheim) and make posole with the meat, imo.

I always roast stock bones before simmering.

I had both in mind with a pork loin, except I bought black beans bc you don't get hominy here afaik

Veg - I slow roasted the loin which is basically the same as the shoulder but w/o the bone. I had stock from a poached chook so used that with ramen noodles, as the original idea was to slow roast the loin then use it for ramen. If you had things like ginger, garlic, mirin, rice vinegar or sake, and scallions/spring onions, plus some carrots, shallots etc then I'd go with ramen. I think I'd only boil with a hock for pea and ham soup but that's just me. If you can make pork stock then you can tailor the broth for either ramen or posole, just depends what you have and/or can obtain readily. Chicken stock works well with pork based soups and stews ime.

about to eat my first attempt from the Pok Pok book:

http://unfussyepicure.com/2014/06/tangy-thai-salad-with-canned-tuna-its-delicious.html

update: delicious. I used 1/3 of the chili peppers (I live in a spice wimp household) and tripled the cherry tomatoes, totally perfect.

i've made that recipe before! and yep its yum

or should i say 'yam'

OTM

this is legit the best damn thing I have made in many months, I cannot recommend it enough (also it's vegetarian!!). I made it w some sous vide filet mignon and daaaaaaaamn

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017946-baked-cheesy-pasta-with-wild-mushrooms

looks like a good hearty winter dish

it is 13 degrees today and snowing, i want that

it is SO RICH and SO GOOD and SO EASY

copied for later

every year is the year i say i want to make tamales and i never do. i want to make them this year though

im eating a pork tamale right now from my favorite mexican restaurant and it is really good, i could eat these for breakfast man they are delicious

reviews so far:

sous vide ribeye: fn exquisite
sous vide tenderloin: fn exquisite
sous vide chicken breast: extremely good but quite different from other preparations. it was juicy and soft to the point of being almost something else entirely. v great tho.
sous vide pork chop: tasted like a well-made pork chop but did not taste like something i couldn't get from other cooking methods. next time I will lower temperature and get a better cut.

also, I made these potatoes today and they were the best i've had: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/12/the-best-roast-potatoes-ever-recipe.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/assets_c/2016/12/20161201-crispy-roast-potatoes-29-thumb-1500xauto-435281.jpg

also made these last week and i think they were the best brownies i've ever made: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018161-salted-caramel-brownies

My husband got me this book for Christmas: http://www.eatthelove.com/2016/12/marbled-swirled-layered-everywhere/

It looks amazing but feel like I need a whole weekend free to make anything plus I can't decide where to start!

PS Stevie those potatoes are what Britishers traditionally eat every Sunday and can be found in most pubs' Sunday roasts- you can see why I was fairly distraught not to find them everywhere when I lived in the US!