What's cooking? part 4

Whoa, large! Sry!

<3

so beautiful

country ribs rubbed with salt, pepper, garlic, and loads of 5 spice powder, steamed for an hour with a tablespoon of rice vinegar and finishing now uncovered in a slow oven - smells incredible.

yuuum

Mr Veg is bbq'ing a flatiron steak marinated in worcestershire/soy/ginger/tequila ... served up with a heaping pile of sauteed spinach, mushrooms and zucchini on the side.

Oh, that sounds delicious too!

Tomorrow, I'm going to make a meatza.

Hosted brother in law for brunch yesterday: eggs hollandaise, home fries, sausage, bacon and a fruit and spinach smoothie. The men looked so happy - though my husband layer begged for a dinner with "no spinach." I made stuffing, chicken, roasted carrots, cauliflower & mashed potatoes. Finally used up the bag of potatoes from Christmas, heh.

There was a sale and I now have right red/yellow/orange peppers. (bell) what to make? Bonus points if freeze able.

Right=eight :P

roast peppers and then blend with walnuts, butter beans, basil and garlic for a good pasta sauce

Oooh! I'm not much of a pasta eater but roasted peppers in general are a good start - I always mix peppers into things without considering they're good on their own.

roasted, pureed with kalamata olives garlic/basil or whatever herbs you like/evoo gets you a nice tapenade for crudites/crackers

yah the walnut/bean/pepper mix makes a good dip or sandwich spread, too

re our earlier convo about kitchens, we have been house-hunting and OMG there are some almost-mansions with amazing kitchens (kitchen islands!! dishwashers!! garbage disposals!! walk-in pantries!! tons of counter space!!) for ridiculously cheap prices right now BUT they're a. just too far from a train station for me b. too much of a commute for ytth c. HOA fees (DNW to be part of any HOA).

my inlaws just moved into a huuuuge mcmansion out in a new farflung suburb...huge kitchen with island counter/sink, dishwasher, walkin pantry, separate "wet bar", granite counters. It's pretty O_O

But the whole house is kinda, ott. Like a 5 star hotel. Not that I'd say no to it, it's just a little much.

I haaaate my kitchen. But I have learned to "love" it , we're so underwater here we'll be in our little house for the foreseeable duture

I made these inordinately cute Scotch eggs for dinner. Stoked to take leftovers to lunch so other people can see. I hope they reheat well.

Oh my. Those look delish.

I wouldnt have a clue in heck where to buy quail eggs from, though! the markets, I spose.

I got them at an Asian grocery store. About the same price as a dozen regular eggs, I was surprised!

Made that spicy tempeh/broccoli/pasta funk from Veganomicon and having Stevie D lovewaves.

Lasagne for dinner tonight. Bolognese sauce from scratch, bechamel with mozzarella, Australian-style lasagne. None of this red sauce and ricotta nonsense.
Also instant lasagne because I will never understand boiling lasagne noodles. It's just weird to me.

Weird, I'm making lasagna bolognese tomorrow because I haven't eaten it in forever and had sudden massive craving for it. But I'm boiling the noodles cause the non-boil ones are weird and strange to me and I'm sort of afraid of them not working or something.

I've never had a problem with non-boil. They always work. Just have to make sure you put enough bechamel/liquid on top so the top layer doesn't turn into a crusty iron roof

i scored a dutch oven at home goods today! so excited.

sweeeeet. someone snatched a cast iron dutch oven from under my nose when i was shopping at work a few weeks ago. i haven't completely recovered.

yay dutch ovens rule

in fact, there were 2 at the store and i was so excited in telling the bf about how excited i was to find it and how it was a good deal that the woman browsing nonstick pans next to me decided to snatch up the other. i think i should get a commission from the store, tbh.

i love my dutch oven!
i got 3 herbs for $5 at farmers' market today so i am gonna marinate some chicken in balsamic and have roasted potatoes and carrots and salad. i have suddenly been cooking less though. i did make another kind of chicken curry with peanuts the other day.

I tried making salmon croquettes today but despite using two eggs the salmon would not stay together in the pan

Did you use any breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs? My mom always used crushed saltines.

In a comfort-food mood today, I made rotel chicken spaghetti, but with egg noodles instead of spaghetti.

my lasagne turned out great! Maybe my best ever. I must have simmered the sauce at the perfect temperature bc it was perfectly cooked down at the end of its simmer time, and when the lasagne came out of the oven and I cut it, it didnt collapse or spread AT ALL. Usually its kind of a goopy mess the first night and firms up the second day. So i guess i did something right. Yay me!

Opted for plain bechamel and sprinkled mozzarella on as I went, because dealing with stretchy cheese sauce just makes me angry. Maybe put too much mozzarella on top though, I'm not a big cheese person. But otherwise, success!

Did you use any breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs? My mom always used crushed saltines.

― Whiney Houson (WmC), Sunday, April 1, 2012 4:01 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah - I used crushed crackers

singapore noodles w/ chicken and pork and spring onions and u know the usual p much

technically i got takeaway the other day and just reheated it but u know it turned out nice thanks to my excellent reheating skills

Experimenting with gluten-free low-carb dutch babies this weekend. Yesterday's was meh, used coconut flour (1 tsp only!) and 1/4 tsp guar and neither one added much. Today's was a winner though, more like custardy french toast than a puffy baby though. Recipe repost from FB comment: 2 eggs, 1/3 c Bob's red mill whey powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp almond butter, 1 c half&half (or milk - which might make it puffier). Heat the oven to 350. I use a small cast iron skillet and preheat it with the oven. Beat the eggs well, then beat in the whey powder until there are no lumps. Beat in the salt and almond butter until the batter is smooth. Whisk in the half&half last. Take the hot pan from the oven and drop in a lump of butter. Swizzle it around then pour in the batter. Bake for approx. 30 min, until the center is completely firm. Slather with butter, sprinkle with sweetener and cinnamon.

Thai-ish chicken soup with ginger and lemongrass and coconut milk, after I went 3 different places looking for lemongrass, which I'm sure will be worth it. I'll start cooking as soon as I eat this chocolate cake the grocery store had prominently displayed in the main aisle....

got all the ingredients, going to make a batch of kimchi following the momofuku cookbook recipe this week

This soup is so good. I have to remember what I did so I can make a hundred more times.

Loved this very much last night. Served on top of sauteed spinach/onions with goat cheese stuffed chicken breast.
http://www.thekitchn.com/pre-dinner-snack-recipe-roasted-curried-chickpeas-with-rosemary-and-thyme-167855

I made chick peas today too - threw them in the crock pot with some olive oil, cumin, lemon, salt, garlic and onions. They were cooked in less than three hours and were tender in that canned chick peas way that I have trouble achieving that effect with using the stove. Only difference is how fresh they tasted - without that tinny can flavor.

This may be the best way to cook hummus from now on. I've been told my hummus is underwhelming, I'll try cooking the chick peas this way.

I've long been a snob about crock pots but my dad left me five of them, each in a different size! Cut hundreds from your monthly grocery bill!

I love crock pots. I broke mine ;_;

I guess I should get used to them, those chick peas are the best I've ever eaten! Bean dishes must turn out great in them. It was kind of fun making a dish with one.

I really want one

have any of you-all ever used a vegetable starter culture? i'm dying to make these fermented beets (nourishedkitchen.com/fermented-beets), and i guess i need the aforementioned thing before i can make them.

I haven't tried that - sounds like you might be able to use whey from yogurt (full of lactic acid), but that it would take quite a bit. I want to start a nukazuke bucket this year - wonder how beets would do in that?

i figured i would just buy some to make the beets and then use the remainder to experiment
seems like a fun enough spring project?

yes! and there are so many fresh little veggies to try to pickle in the springtime

Jaq, do you heat process any of the veggies you pickle? or seal? or do you just quickly brine/store in fridge?

I've done preserved lemons and sauerkraut that were just left at room temp until used (I froze some of the kraut before it got super sour, we weren't eating it fast enough). Other veggie pickles have just been fresh and stored in the fridge - the texture changes so much with heat processing, I haven't tried it. We have gotten wonderful pickled asparagus and cauliflower from friends though that have been cold processed canned.

Trying another bean recipe in a larger crock pot today.

I can also make grape leaves in my crock pot, can't I? Found a jar in the cabinet. Seems like they might turn out better from the crock pot than cooked in an oven (had disappointing results here too).

Sorry, just looked it up. Now those jars of grape leaves won't sit unopened for months!

When ready to roll bundles, place a grape leaf on the counter with the shiny side down and stem end closest to you. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling near the end, fold both sides in, and roll away from you, firmly but not too tightly. Place seam-side down on a plate. Repeat until all grape leaves (and rice) are used up.

Into the slowcooker: Place all the grape leaves into a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker, arranging them in layers. Pour the 3 cups of water and lemon juice on top. Cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.

No more running to the middle eastern place to get my favorite food! Good for dinner parties, no?

there was a recipe with picture instructions in bon appetit last fall and i got a jar of leaves and we still haven't gotten around to making them!