What's cooking? part 4

I feel like my kitchen is ruined by the fact that the large space is on its own, away from the sink. I've kind of trained myself to do all my vegetable/meat cutting next to the sink for the sake of cleanliness and it's not really convenient?

What I really want to do is replace double sink with large single sink, put a dishwasher under the counter where the second half of the sink currently is, then use the space above a dishwasher as new counter space next to the sink!

i think that should keep you busy for a while

unfortunately kitchen is project #3

I can't wait til he raises the ceiling. Think how much cupboard space that'll add!

is it a bad sign that after having my enamelled cast iron pan on high heat while blackening some tomatoes, the bottom is all fucked up? i noticed it sort of stuck to the element when i tried to remove it while hot, came off fine once it cooled down. the bottom has black ring marks on it (the enamel is red), but i can't tell if the enamel is damaged or the element is damaged - there doesn't seem to be any trace of red stuff on the element itself.

j i don't know! mine is a little black on the bottom but not marked. if it didn't chip off i would think it's fine.

i made black bean soup today that tastes good but i messed it up because i soaked the beans first contrary to instructions, then added the amount of water it said to, so there's too much water. i gotta put a can of beans in the food processor and add them tomorrow. i am making baked white fish with fingerling potatoes and some sauteed broccoli rabe. and white wine.

You can burn the enamel off a cast iron pan - it's only good to around 750 F. The high setting on an electric stove can melt aluminum (around 1250 F). If you need a pan to be really hot, just leave it on medium heat for 15-20 minutes to heat up.

oooh that is good to know, thanks jaq!

i made a vegan quiche the other day - surprisingly, it was the crust, not the filling, that was disappointing.

the hottest and spiciest chicken enchiladas ever accidentally made with beans

pumpkin cheesecake with an almond flour crust just came out of the oven and the whole house smells delicious

Lunch was half a leftover roast chicken, deboned and chopped, casseroled with broccoli in a sauce of heavy cream and reduced-to-jelly chicken stock, topped with parmesan cheese - baked until bubbling and the cheese was melted.

jaq; is that gluten free pumpkin cheesecake? Yum, can I come over?

It is, at that - stop on by! :) Be warned though, it's also low carb (sucralose). When I started doing all this low carb baking, we became a gluten free house by default.

That is awesome!

I tested positive on a Celiac test in 2010 and have been gluten free since. I have not made much from scratch though. Christmas cookies sucked but I have not played with almond flour or combos of other flours. I basically have stuck too Bob's gluten free flour and then there is the electric stove. I do so much better with a gas stove for everything.

I've had the best success with almond flour in short crusts and coffeecakes (these made with huge amounts of egg) - I've got a recipe for sandwich bread I'm sadly not even tempted to try. If you ever want to play with coconut flour, it's strange stuff. Works well in one recipe for brownies, I think because the cocoa behaves somewhat like wheat flour, but has the weirdest texture in pancakes and other batters. It's used in south Indian cooking, breading for pakora, a component in dosa - things like that. I still have to try these.

I am still on my 'fit in last of the plausible winter cooking in Arizona' marathon, so I made oxtail stew today.

Have to try them out when I get a kitchen of my own one day.

i made gluten free mac 'n cheese last night for my sister using quinoa macaroni. (it's really quinoa and corn, they act all quinoa power! but corn is the main ingredient). i had a rack of ribs from salt lick in the freezer left over from a family gathering a few months ago. also made collard greens. god, i love collard greens.

Quinoa and corn pasta are the best. Anything else just turns to creamy mush. Tried some rice and tapioca blend, ugh! Threw it away. Big Lots has had a few gluten free items at considerably lower prices lately. Bought great pasta there. It was al corn. The whole GMO thing bugs me, really does, but I don't eat GF pasta that often and try to cut down on the amount of corn chips. GRRRR GMO corn.

I love collard greens too!

Cooked up some sliced king trumpet mushrooms, which have to be my fave mushrooms ever, w/some baby bok choys and some tofu (stuff I needed to use up) w/mirin and soy sauce and garlic...yum.

Sauteed shallot & garlic in OO and butter, with some rosemary, then chicken broth, and a shitload of grated parm. Dumped in half-cooked handmade orichette pasta and finished it in the sauce, topped w diced tomato. Woah. Roasted broccoli & chicken sausages on the side, but the pasta is the thing here.

Oh, because if a little is good, more must be better, I stirred 2 forkfuls of pesto into the sauce too.

i made this mee goreng recipe a couple of days ago and it was SO DISAPPOINTING. i really miss malaysian food, i had high expectations, but it was just bland and boring, nothing like the stuff back home.

now i have a jar of bean sauce - what else can i use it for?

i also made a lentil walnut loaf that was completely diastrous - the recipe didn't specify what kind of lentils and all i had were these tiny red ones. they turned to mush and the whole loaf just never set, tasted like nothing, was kind of gritty from the oats and made me feel like i was eating prison food.

arroz con pollo, as we speak

Jus the problem with that mi goreng recipe is it is missing the essential ingredient! The kecap manis! (and the dried onion, really)

(unless thats what "sweet bean sauce" is?)

kecap manis is just sweet soy sauce, right?

and thank god i only used 1 tbsp of sambal oelek instead of the 3 listed in the recipe - it was really hot!!

It's soy sauce with carmelized sugar and some other spices (star anise for one)

in better cooking news this week: i had been craving a ginger loaf my mum used to make when i was a kid. i finally found a recipe for it, veganized it, and it turned out FANTASTIC: moist, sweet, sticky, and good crust.

yeah kecap manis is sticky and thick, im p sure adding sugar to reg soysauce wouldnt be the same.

Proportions vary for kecap manis -- I think the last batch I made was about 3 cups soy sauce, 2 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup water, a hunk of ginger (sliced), 1 star anise pod, 3-4 bay leaves and 4 cloves of garlic. I also add just a little hot chili paste, about 1/2 teaspoon. No need to boil it hard, just simmer together until it's thickened into the right consistency syrup.

thanks!

That makes a really big batch though -- for the first time, maybe make a smaller amt using those proportions -- you might like it less sweet, more garlicky, etc. I'm on my 3rd batch and I adjust it a little each time. I think I added a little piece of cinnamon stick the first time, but left it out the last time. An empty ketchup bottle with a squirt top is the perfect way to store it.

I just buy mine, all the azn grocers around here have plenty of brands.

(its v good on fried eggs)

yeah our main grocery story might sell it, but there asian section is pretty small.

I just don't cook well on electric stoves...ugh! Everything I attempt to make is shitty. I was baking juicy turkeys and roasted chicken, great pastries and now...enchiladas aren't even fit for a dog. Things I made all the time on my old gas stove are severely sub par now.

Using cast iron on electric stoves seems wrong too. That's not the problem though. Envious of all the successes on this thread, envious of my previous gas stove successes.

another mee goreng recipe i found had sambal tumis listed as the main ingredient. unfortunately, the main ingredient of ~that~ is shrimp paste. i'm not really sure what a good vegan sub for that part would be - something made from king oyster mushrooms maybe?

I can't stop braising! I cut up a turnip and a daikon and braised 'em in veg stock w/ a little Golden Mtn seasoning sauce (my faves) and mirin, and then threw some miso on that mess, and it's awesome. Also p proud that I got this random root veg in my CSA share and freestyled it so well. Having it w/some dressed greens and a steamed pork/veg bao, I have to say my dinner rules.

Yesterday I caramelized like 10lbs of onions and made a lamb shank curry, both of which were cooking for several hours. Today I realized while riding the bus to work that my jacket stank like something that had spent several hours in an enclosed space absorbing 9 pounds evaporated onion juice and various lamb / ginger / garlic / cumin aromas.

you smell delicious

Eating my leftovers from the other night: baby bok choy and fresh shiitakes with chicken over brown rice

I've been making spinach and feta gozleme all week. Really easy and totally delicious.

I loooooooooooooooooooooove anything with spinach and feta -- no idea what a gozleme is though

omg i just looked it up
looks GOOD

They are!

This week I made
lemon-crusted seitan: bland and disappointing.
” tangled thai salad”: pretty good.
banana soft serve with a pb-chocolate-coconut sauce: A+

Tonight I make” chicken” lettuce wraps.

Nothing in my kitchen, but there's a 2-day barbecue festival/competition in Tupelo tomorrow and Saturday. There are some folks around here who seriously misunderstand good barbecue, but with almost 100 teams competing, I have high hopes.

I made panko crusted mahi last night that I was really proud of for not being soggy