What's cooking? part 4

xxpost

I cheat and use a little canola-oil spray when cooking. since you can't grill outside where I live in NYC, the grill-pan is essential for burgers, hot dogs, chicken, shrimp. it can get smokey, tho.

recent hit was cod w/tomatoes & bread crumbs. sauteed 1 lb of grape tomatoes and a chopped red onion in olive oil for ten minutes, then dumped it over cod filets, added 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. topped lots of salt pepper & fresh parsley and a couple tbsp olive oil. baked for 20 minutes @ 350 and serve w/crusty bread and steamed green vegetable. "simple but effective."

I felt funny about using cod, keep reading about how fished out it is but the fish store labelled it cod (scrod) - guess that means it's generic white fish not proper cod? anyway its tasted good and had the texture of "real" cod.

i love a sturdy white fish with tomatoes!
miss west coast rockfish.

Was inspired by this thread and made tilapia w/ tomatoes, kalamata olives, basil, smoked paprika!! It was super zesty :)

cookware protip: All-Clad has a factory seconds store online. When I was growing up in P'burg (near where All-Clad is made), my mom and I would get up at 5 in the morning to go to the semi-annual factory seconds sale at the racetrack grounds (this was pre-Internets, obv). All of my All-Clad is seconds, and I've had all of it for almost 20 years and *still* can't figure out why it is "seconds."

I treat non-stick stuff as disposable: I have a 12-inch for fish fillets and frittatas and a 5-inch for omlettes, and replace them every couple of years when the coating looks sketchy. I do make sure they are oven safe to 450 F +, because I do stick them in the oven to finish off a fat fish fillet or egg dish.

My Chinese coworker/friend--an incredible home cook who years ago went to culinary school in China and worked in several restaurants--told me that she and all of her Chinese immigrant friends use a cheap, non-stick, flat-bottomed-but-deep-and-round-sided, glass-lidded pot in lieu of traditional wok for stir-fry. I took her advice and have never looked back, and won't until I get serious BTUs working. I find these things at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for under $20, and even less at the Asian markets around town. I don't put them in the oven (don't need to with stir-fry), but replace them every couple of years and stick to wooden utensils.

i have to check the brand on my stainless, flat, deep, glass-lidded pan because it is one of my favorite things to cook in! i made puttanesca in it last night because you can saute things really well and then dump in the tomatoes on top. much better for sauteing things that go in a sauce than a deeper pot, imo.

some kind of smothered rabbit and grits this weekend.

That wound up being rabbit smothered in kimchi, ginger, and some kind of green onions, with dan dan noodles, not grits. Lots of riches at the Korean market.

Just now put some dough/batter/whatever for black-eyed pea "falafel" in the fridge, we'll see how that works out.

I've been thinking lately about making blackeyed pea hummus. I like the flavor of b.e. peas 1000x more than chickpeas.

That should certainly work! Hummus takes so well to seasoning, there's plenty of room there for the flavor of blackeyed peas.

Bill, who do you get your grits from? I've bought my last few batches at the Dekalb Farmers Market in Atlanta, but I'm running low and don't have a trip planned any time soon.

http://www.noramill.com/store/index.php?cPath=48

Same with my cornmeal. I've had Anson Mills before, but apart from AM's use of particular heirloom breeds and all that, most of what makes them special is just that they stone-grind the grits and don't keep everything sitting in warehouses for a year. Nora Mill is much cheaper, and I buy five pound bags and keep them in the little dorm fridge that I don't have any other need for.

Oh, and actually - these aren't my everyday grits because they're more expensive, but the roasted and blue corn grits from Muddy Dog are terrific: http://muddydogcoffee.com/coffee/index.php?cPath=67

(I'm also hooked on their aged peaberry coffee, when I can afford it - but it was the blue corn grits that got me to finally place an order after being aware of them for a year or two.)

Good to see you here again btw mister!

I'm about to dive into the unknown waters of vegan-friendly cooking, and it's good to have a new challenge to my repetoire. Now, if only I had a fscking decent kitchen to do so in. Soon, soon.

Soon soon you're a balloon. Thanks Trayce. Or ty ty tbh challops bazinga, I guess, in nu-nu-ILX speak.

Okay, the black-eyed pea falafel definitely works, I'm having some now with comeback sauce and pepper vinegar. They had too little flour at first, but that probably has more to do with using canned peas than with the chickpea/BEP substitution.

I also soaked some rice for risotto per this method, because I want to get the basics of arancini down before making fried jambalaya sometime after Lent.

Or ty ty tbh challops bazinga, I guess, in nu-nu-ILX speak.

Hahahah =)

This weekend I'd like to try making indian kofta balls, they look reasonably simple, just crumbled paneer, nuts, mashed potato... kind of like a gnocchi I suppose. Never thought about it that way. Anyone tried them before?

I cobbled together something similar (didn't have paneer, which isn't readily available here) not long ago. I didn't use any of these recipes, but read through them to get a feel for, you know, how it all works (it's one of those things people make a million different ways):

http://loveetocook.blogspot.com/2010/12/malai-kofta-potato-croquettes-in-gravy.html
http://www.monsoonspice.com/2009/03/malai-kofta-temptress-seducer-and.html
http://www.tarladalal.com/Aloo-Kofta-in-Makhani-Gravy-31033r

Oh nice thanks! Non-paneer versions welcome anyway so theyre veganised I suppose.

vegan paneer recipe here

Ah! Now, I did wonder if one could make paneer with soy milk. So it does curdle succesfully if you add citric/vinegar to it then? I must try some scientific comparison tests w/milk version.

I also soaked some rice...

... and salt-cured some egg yolks. Threads like this make me realize how much I have in progress at any given moment, and what a pain in the ass my kitchen will be for my survived-bys in the event of my untimely demise.

Ramp season! I've got five pounds coming from my ramp guy. Deviled eggs, falafel, kimchi, dip, and a ramp-filled leg of lamb for Easter. I'll figure out what to do with the rest of them when I see how they are this year.

I've never had ramps. Maybe I should find a source this year.

Should definitely be in season by you - if you want to go the mail-order route, eBay is the best bet, and sellers generally won't insist on the unnecessary overnight shipping that online stores do. A lot of the stuff that comes to my mailbox, I might not get if I had to pay for it, but ramps are a staple. Whatever I don't use fresh, I freeze the greens and pickle the bulbs. Or this year, make kimchi out of them.

I always know when my ramps have arrived because I can smell them as soon as I get out of the car - even before I open the parcel locker, nevermind the actual package itself.

Going to get a fresh pineapple and some guajillo chiles and make a pork shoulder al pastor, probably Sunday.

guajillo is one of my favorite chiles!

Guajillos are awesome. I under-ordered the last time I got them, I'm never good at converting ounces into number of chiles.

I have three 12 oz bottles of Japanese citrus juices to play with, and am preheating the oven for "lemon" bars with one, and about to make a cocktail with the other.

q for bill: are you on erstwhile ilxor that once made pop rock bacon?

q for bill 2: is this yr work - http://okaycheckitout.blogspot.com/

if so, it is awesome, and an inspiration

Yes to both! I mean, someone else might have made pop rock bacon too ... bacon got huge. But yeah, I'm the ilxor formerly known as Tep, the blogger okaycheckingitout, etc. Thank you!

I found an interesting Indian currypowder mix at the markets labeled "special" and it says it has ramps and Methi in it. I'm not sure what flavours that adds but its a nice spice mix.

Whoa, I've never seen ramps dried - they'd account for a garlicky pungency, though.

Kabosu bars in the oven, some peeled grapefruit sections freezing to plunk into a Hemingway daiquiri with the ... yuzu, I think.

thought it was you! Welcome back---always enjoyed yr food ~thoughts~

xxxpost awesome! and speaking of yr blog, i am totally on board w/ 2011 being the year of the amaro, we just came back from italy w/ bottles of ramazzotti, averna, fernet branca & aperol (maybe the last one doesnt count as an amaro tho)

Thank you both!

I am so behind on my amaro posts! February was not only a - well, it's April now, isn't it. February and March were both busier than anticipated. I'll catch up. I haven't had Ramazzotti (I think it's carried in NY, so I'll order it sometime this year), but I'm a big fan of the others. Aperol especially is crazy flexible - you can substitute it for orange liqueur, so it makes an interesting margarita, etc.

yeah for sure, even my gf likes aperol despite not being really down w/ bitter things (btw you shld check out cad's mixology thread if you havent already - in the 2k10 i am learning to make cocktails. this is my mixology thread)

Yeah, it's much more user-friendly than Campari, and I think the bitterness is more in the range we're used to in food (grapefruit etc). Man, a whole mixology thread - will do.

holy shit, Tep!!!!!!! Very excited to see you here again! I think of you every time I make your vinegar chicken!!!!!

i just bought some amaro too! weird.

oh i like amaro nonnino or whatever it's called!

I don't even remember talking about vinegar chicken on ILX! That's very cool.

Nonino's another one I can't get here. New Hampshire's state-run liquor stores have an eclectic selection (one of the only states where you can get Root, but I can't get maraschino), so I wait until there's $100 worth of stuff I need so I qualify for free shipping from DrinkupNY. But there's a lot I haven't worked my way around to as a result.

The yuzu daiquiri is very cool but I need to remember that exotic citrus juices often aren't as tart as lemon/lime.

I don't even remember talking about vinegar chicken on ILX!

Seriously!? Dude thats one of them things you was KNOWN for.

Well. I know me for DIFFERENT things!

Hhaha <3

waht is it maed

i made my first carbonara last night (egg yolks, no cream). it would have been amazing, but the recipe called for 1 tsp red pepper flakes, which seemed excessive... but i put them in anyway. BAM. too much.

Oh man now I want carbonara for lunch but I will NOT get something like that cos I know I will be ill.

trayce i made that mushroom pate and it was really disgusting - i guess i don't like porcini mushrooms!!

i counted the vinegars in my cupboard the other day and realized i have TWELVE DIFFERENT KINDS. 6 months ago i had one.

oh snap

i have...two? apple cider and balsamic. i don't have reg vinegar around for some reason. but i use lemons/limes all the time?