What's cooking? part 4

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?

i have cider, red wine, rice wine, balsamic, white, and an orange muscat.

i actually use limes/lemons way more frequently, too.

trayce i made that mushroom pate and it was really disgusting

Aw bums! It seemed like such a great idea on paper! I wonder if it'd work with field mushrooms?

yeah i think it was mostly the porcini - i've never had them before, and just opening the packet up had me feeling a little gaggy tbh.

i have:
ooh la la fancy balsamic
cheap balsamic
white balsamic
rice
malt
red
white
white wine
sherry
champagne
ume plum
apple cidar

cider, even

the supermarket we go to has an insane variety of flavoured vinegars - i want to buy them all!

They're crazy expensive, but Gegenbauer vinegars are worth at least gawking at. Instead of infusing a wine vinegar with something, they take the something, ferment it, and then turn that into vinegar - so the apricot vinegar is all apricot, the tomato vinegar is all tomato (and was tomato wine at one point), etc. I really want to make shrub with the sour cherry one.

hey btw what is the vinegar chicken recipe!?

Oh! Weirdly, I don't think I have it on my blog, but -

Vinegar chicken, a likely Italian precursor to Buffalo wings

Chicken parts, bone-in, skin-on
Crushed red pepper
Red wine vinegar or any other kind of vinegar
Salt
Heavy metal cleaver, or at least a good strong chef's knife

Chop each chicken part into several pieces, whamming the cleaver through the bone. They're hollow, it's fine. If the bone splinters a bit, you can run it under some water to make sure you rinse off any little bone fragments.

Brown the chicken in a pan, sprinkle with salt and crushed red pepper (it always seems to work better with crushed red pepper than powdered chile), add enough vinegar to come about halfway up the chicken, and then cook the vinegar off until it's become infused with the peppers and reduced to a sauce that's now clinging to the chicken.

You can add onions, garlic, etc., but it seems to work best when it's kept pretty simple. Tangy, spicy, a little sticky from the gelatin in the skin.

ooh. how much pepper do you use?

tehresa the recipe i use for carbonara just has cracked black pepper in it rather than red pepper, maybe worth giving a go

Yeah tbh I dont think ive ever had carbo with chilli. Its meant to have black pepper cos its meant to imitate miners coaldust.

I just bought one of these on student recommendation, but there's one fatal flaw. Anyone care to guess what it is?
(the flaw or the thing)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5065/5599910025_f180a92cd8.jpg

chocolate frother?

yup, molinillo

the only problem is that it's kind of huge -- i don't make hot chocolate for 5 ppl at a time (usually just one, two max), and it's not fully submerged. still, it's a fun little thingie to have.

also my mom never cooked (like pretty much EVER) but she would occasionally make carbonara and OH HOW WE WOULD FEAST. It never had cream, just egg and bacon and parmesan. I still have no idea how she did it, but I would love to eat it again.

ooh. how much pepper do you use?

A liberal shake - you definitely want pepper flakes on every piece.

Damn, this looks interesting.

i would def use red pepper again in carbonara! just not as much. i also used black pepper.
amanda, it's totally easy! you just saute the bacon, throw in garlic + red pepper, deglaze w/ a touch of white wine. mix 2 egg yolks w/ a ladle of the pasta water, then put pasta in the bacon/garlic, add yolk mixture, and fold it all together. then fold in cheese, salt and pepper. garnish w/ parsley.

last night i sauteed a piece of chicken to throw into the leftovers. nom.

yeah cabonara is super easy isnt it, it's one of me + my gf's go-to meals when its the end of the week and we're feeling lazy. and it's always delicious.

i can't believe i'd never tried it!
well, maybe i can. it's not partic healthy!

shhhhh yr not meant to mention that

god that sounds so delicious right now
don't know why i've never tried it either?!?! i guess i thought my mom's carbonara was magical and i could never do it.

Made a crazy amount of al pastor marinade this morning -- will freeze it in 2-cup units for future use. Now the question is, do I want to slice up this pork shoulder and marinate it in strips for quick grilling, or marinate it whole and cook it in the marinade until it's pull-apart-with-forks tender?

Isn't it usually slow roasted (dry, not in a mop or w/e it's called) and then carved off in pieces gyro/shwarma style? That's how I've seen it. Since that might not be an option, maybe strips for grilling might be the best alternative?

Also yummmmmmmmm

Yeah, I don't have the gear for gyro/shwarma style. I think I've decided on slicing the meat and grilling it.

Man, that sounds good.

Come on down, you can get here by dinnertime tomorrow. Bring pie.

btw, after looking at a dozen recipes, this is what went into the blender:

about 15-16 reconstituted guajillo chilies
1 large onion
about half a head of garlic
half of a pineapple
(I didn't have any orange juice, so) a peeled and segmented grapefruit
about 2 oz. of chipotle chilies + adobo sauce
about 1/2 cup cider vinegar
freestyled spoonfuls of cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, salt
palmful of dried oregano

After letting it sit for a while, it smelled a bit "hot" with raw onion and garlic, so I simmered it (covered, didn't want to reduce it) for 30 minutes. Much sweeter now, and the Scovilles are farther out front.