What's cooking? part 4

While I'm quite competent at following a recipe, I totally lack imagination when out comes to throwing things together. I'm gonna be home late tonight and I eras in a hurry this morning so I threw the following into the crock pot and fingers crossed it's edible:

1 diced onion
1 c pureed san marzano tomatoes
1 diced sweet potato
2 c cauli
3/4 c dried mung beans
8oz tempeh
Dashes of:
ground coriander
Garlic powder
Curry powder
Nutmeg
garam marsala
Turmeric
Chili flakes
Ground ginger

I basically raided the cupboards and threw in anything that sounded like it might remotely go together. Is this genius or disastrous? Should I just pick up thai food on the way home?

I hope it's good. It sounds completely horrible.

(sorry)

yeah i dunno about that...could be mushy -- but experimenting is what makes you more comfortable with experimenting!!
no salt? i am a salt maniac though.

1. forget recipes
2. learn ingredients
3. learn techniques

otm

:(

Oh yeah there is salt - that is a given, so I didn't write it. And I remembered I put a blob of fake beef stock in. guess it's take-out tonight.

i dunno, i worry about the texture and different cooking times for those various things
also possible lack of liquid?

Oh shit

I added a cup or two of veg broth and cup or two of water

i think experimenting with fewer ingredients is easier, if you are looking to experiment

I'm not concerned about texture bc I can just soupify it with my fancy new immersion blender

well then it will taste just fine, i bet!

i didn't mean to be negative earlier; i just don't like cauliflower very much. (sorry)

ahhhh buddha's hand looks like weird giger nightmare

I think this will be one of those dishes that is literally so bad I can't even eat it, but my husband will be all MMM SO TASTY

i think experimenting with fewer ingredients is easier, if you are looking to experiment

otm

Xp to ll - it's ok!! Tbh this thread is the single reason I'm 10x a better cook than I was a year ago, and more adventurous.

i have failed MANY times while experimenting, so you're not alone
to date i have made only one panang curry that was even remotely edible
most of them ended in takeout or spaghetti

this last convo has done a great job of making me want thai food.

my crock pot mess was totally edible! like, not amazing or special, just a tomato stew type thing, but def fine to eat, which is saying something bc i'm notoriously fussy. tbh i DID dump a pile of tater tots on top.

Anyone have a pecan pie recipe that isn't an overly sweet goopy atrocity?

xpost TATER TOTS! Oh man Mr. Quincie loves those so much, they are his favorite junk food by far.

Ok, so while that stew was pretty fine, I would like to see if I can do better - I still have about 1.5 c of the tomato puree, a couple cups of veg broth, kale, chard, potatoes, lentils, delicata squash, carrots, and a reasonable array of herbs and spices.

suggestions?

i would make a stew and put it over some arepas or eat with bread?

stovetop stew, not crock pot
maybe with some rosemary? rosemary and cumin? (don't knock it til you've tried it)

Nah it's gotta be crock pot - I need to be able to throw it together in the a.m. and have it ready by the time I get home

i guess in general i find crockpottery kinda mushy for vegetables -- good for chili or beans or slow roasting meats but vegetables don't take that long to cook, so when they are in there for a whole workday they become too mushy for me.

i made these cookies today and they were DELICIOUS

when i was pouring out maple syrup today, some very very weird stuff was in it - i thought it was dead leaves at first, but it was a putty coloured sort of slime, but also kind of dusty as well? goes without saying that i decided not to use it. any ideas what it is?

wuergh! That sounds gross. Sediment, maybe? I have a tin of pure syrup that has definitely had some crystallised bits in it in chunks, but I dunno if they were slimy per se.

I just poached some chicken breasts in vege stock, soysauce and herbs for my work lunches (will chill them and chop em into salads) and now I'm thnking I'll use the left over liquid for a soup - ive added a bit of actual stock I made to boost it, and I might simmer it down a bit before I soup it up. Is that a good idea? ie, reduce it to a stronger flavour?

This is a borderline strongo neuvo cuisine item, just warning you:

I feel like I haven't cooked any meat in forever, so I was going to attempt Chinese bbq pork...only I didn't have hoisin and I didn't premarinate anything, so that kinda blew that plan, but I did remember to defrost the meat, and so I marinated briefly in a mixture of the following:

Chinese worcestershire
soy sauce
bitter orange marmalade
fig butter
maple sugar crystals

and then seasoned the pork with paprika, salt, pepper and half the sauce.

Baked at 500 for 10 min, then added the rest of the marinade and cooked for 10-13 more min,

Then removed from oven and reduced pan juices to sauce.
It was really tasty!!

Look: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6676059731_ccd4d3bfcd.jpg

mmm!

That looks and sounds so tasty! Not strongo at all.

i made the korean chicken soup i posted way upthread and added napa cabbage that's been in the fridge forever and shredded carrot. i'm pleased.

Vegetable barley casserole with naked Quorn cutlets. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Amanda that looks v professional!

my cooking of late seems to be

1.) pasta with canned tomato sauce
2.) throwing random shit in a pan, and then squirting sriracha all over it when it's done

halp!

you need to do more grocery shopping
that way there will be better options when it comes time to squirt the sriracha in the pan

also, thank you ENBB!

i made that korean chicken soup one night a while ago. it was really good!

it is so good as leftover work lunch. i need to find other ways to use gochujang though because i have a lot of it now.

you can do so many things with gojujang!

-i think it's really tasty as a dip for cauliflower or blanched broccoli / other veggies
-you can also make bibimbap with your leftover gojujang (sauce the rice with gojujang and sesame oil, and add cooked veggies like spinach, fern(?), bean sprouts, etc.)
-you can make bibim noodles -- coat the noodles w/sesame oil, gojujang, and some sugar, add in some lettuce/other green (usually raw) if you desire, top with cucumber and a soft boiled egg

my cooking of late seems to be

1.) pasta with canned tomato sauce
― bob loblaw people (dayo), Thursday, 12 January 2012 22:34 (Yesterday) Permalink

yes, co-signing this, i'm coming out of an extended custodial-dad's-makeshift-weekday-meal phase. there's something kinda depressingly adequate about pasta. i went back to risi & bisi as a default recently & am glad, the easy flourishes of frozen spinaches/cooking w/a little stock &c make it way more interesting.

I will never learn: by the time you feel hungry, it's too late to start cooking!

i am making chana masala from the 660 curries book

I went to an south asian grocer yesterday and bought vindaloo and biryani paste. very excited

it was good but i am always making this mistake: i cooked a pound of dried chickpeas. after a couple hours of cooking i sampled *one* chickpea and found it perfectly cooked. turns out half of them are a little undercooked and about ten percent of them were a little crunchy! i need to remember to take a statistically meaningful sample next time.

gonna coat these nice thick "cod (scrod)" filets w/fresh thyme oregano S&P, add some halved campari tomatoes marinated in olive oil/sliced garlic, cook at 450 for 20 minutes and SEE WHAT HAPPENS

tonight i finally got to try a recipe from all about roasting by molly stevens (which i got before xmas but then our landlord kindly decided to give us brand new counters and cabinets which killed all cooking for about two and a half weeks).

anyway, it's a n.y. strip steak seared in a cast iron skillet and finished at 375 in the oven. dirt simple but tender as hell and wonderfully flavored. she has a knack for providing really detailed directions that don't feel like handholding. for sides i did glazed carrots and smashed red potatoes w/garlic.

woah this thread is great!

i am very frustrated with my home cooking at the moment, for one the stove in my place a. is one of those flat top things that never quite gets hot enough and b. the 2 largest burners no longer work. that's been that way for about 6 months, then a couple weeks ago, the oven stops working. wtf. what can i cook on the 2 smallest burners and a toaster oven. jack shit and sandwiches.

however i work in a cafe and get to do a lot of cooking there so i'm not too upset about it ha.