What's cooking? part 4

I've been wanting to do that sometime - how does it work out?

It worked out great the first time I made some, about 5 years ago. It helps that I have a 2nd fridge out in the carport shop. Take two sides of salmon, make up a mixture of salt, sugar, pepper and chopped dill. Rub them down good with it, pack a lot of it between them (so they're both skin side out), wrap 'em up in plastic wrap and let them cure in the fridge for a few days, turning them every 12 hours. Et voila, gravlax. My mom has a vacuum sealer and I sealed 3-4 oz. portions -- they keep for years in the freezer if they're vacuum sealed.

jealous. I just realized that bring away for a week means I'm not going to be able to cook anything for myself and I an kinda sad/worried about this.

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!

uhhh, why?

Going to make shrimp and grits later this afternoon.

I have one shallot in my cupboard, what should I do with it

Anything else in the cupboard at all?

small bag of turmeric

Go get takeout or have something delivered then.

hah, okay, but what can I use it for in the future

Good in a vinaigrette. Mince up really fine, add to eggs for scrambling. Deviled egg filling.

ty

Didn't mean to sound curt, I'm watching the golf at the same time. Trying to think of other ideas. It kinda calls for preparations that are uncooked or barely-cooked.

sautee some mushrooms & a finely minced shallot, then add zucchini when shrooms are browned, season w/ s/p to taste = YUM

just eat the shallot raw and cry

hold it aloft & recite Tennyson's Lady of Shallot while watching Anne of Green Gables

3 lb bone-in veal roast (marinated in olive oil/lemon thyme/lemon juice) currently in the smoker with cherry wood. Couple of sweet potatoes on there, too. Salami and tater tots as appetizers.

!!!!

* drool *

I tried using the shallot like you would red onions w/ a cream cheese and sardine and sriracha sandwich, but shallots are actually pretty strong

so I roasted them with olive oil instead, yum

yeah they're closer to garlic than onions strengthwise

you could use them raw in a cream cheese dip but kinda sparingly

roasted sounds delish tho

it was delish

I don't think I've ever done that, I only ever roast garlicks
*lightbulb*

Braised beef with tomato and cumin and a lahahahat of dried red chilies. And curry and ginger and stuff, natch. Because I had all this saffron rice left over from hosting Lechera and horseshoe and it was just sitting there in the fridge, mocking me, along with a plate of thawed stew beef.

This stuff'll put some heart intah yah.

i had this delicious asparagus dish at an indian restaurant a few weeks ago, pretty successfully replicated it at home tonight!! pan-fried asparagus with smoked paprika and maldon salt served with a creamy dipping sauce made of soy sour cream, soy yoghurt, tahini, lemon, miso and cashews. so so so good.

I'm going to try curried chick peas in the crock pot this time. It will be a few hours.

Gravlax is in progress. I started it Tuesday -- will let it cure until Saturday at the earliest, maybe Sunday.

tonight! vermouth-braised short ribs.

^^^this was fun although a lot of work (which i knew going in). couldve let them braise longer but it was getting late and i was hungry. shallots, leeks, garlic, celery, carrots, herbs, etc. etc.

most satisfying part was getting to break out the le creuset and watching the ribs sear perfectly with absolutely no effort on my part.

any pro tips for making baby back ribs without a grill?

pretty sure you can do them successfully in the oven. If I recall Alton Brown laid out a pretty sound method?
I'll google and see if I can find it. I think a lot of people do them in the oven, it's not totally uncommon.

here it is

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/who-loves-ya-baby-back-recipe/index.html

i cooked a greek dinner for my family tonight, homemade humus, stuffed grape leaves, greek meatballs, falafel, tzatziki with an olive mix and feta. not a big hit with the family

send it to meeeeeee

i was sort of disappointed, everything was so good and i had never made any of it before, but they are not very adventurous with food, not that greek food is a big risk, oh well

it's so sad when ppl don't like greek food, it's like...but it makes life so much better! it's the greatest!!

I've found that Mr Veg's family, and coworkers are very squicky about lamb and greek food, everyone I know hates greek yogurt, thinks feta tastes like feet, lamb tastes too 'gamey', so depressing. Greek food is like heaven to me. My brother's girlfriend is taking Mr Veg and I out for a full Greek banquet lunch when I go back home to Australia and I can't wait.

all Mediterranean food is heaven, wish i knew more about what distinguishes greek from turkish food.

there's a lot of crossover, my feeling is that greek food is more, rustic? overgeneralisation perhaps but that's kind of what I think of.

I wonder if ppl who think lamb is too gamey maybe have been tricked into eating mutton or hogget instead.

I think it's just, well at least the people I know, they don't really have much experience with strong-tasting meat in general? Like they're used to mild flavors that they can cover with condiments and sauces or whatever, rather than having the meat be the whole source of flavor.

That's my theory anyway. But if you've never eaten it, I could see (maybe, kind of) how it could be an acquired taste.

OMG Greek yogurt is the best. They sell it in all the supermarkets where I live now. I'm vegetarian but I like Greek flavored rice and potatoes.

I found fennel seed in the cabinet. It looked like it might be good in a middle eastern recipe, but should it be ground first or can I throw it in a pot as is? I cooked those garbanzos with the whole seed and it was lovely.

You can use it whole - they soften as they cook in liquid or fat. It's used a lot in Italian cooking.

Lamb is my favourite meat, it shouldn't be gamey!
I've found a couple of times in the US I've ordered a lamb dish in a restaurant and I've actually been warned about it - I've never understood what exactly, that it's going to be 'strong tasting' or something? And then it just tastes like normal wonderful lamb.
Greek food is amazing and is the one cuisine that I've not found too much of in the Bay Area whereas I did in the UK. (Had a reservation at this fancy greek place in SF but my o/h got ill and we had to cancel :((( )
Dying for a delicious tender kleftiko!

I use fennel seeds in curries sometimes.

I don't find lamb gamey at all, I think that's the descriptor ppl who don't eat lamb use to describe the taste, when really they just object to the strong taste.

Mr Veg buys lamb sometimes and cooks it on the grill..omg so good

I think Americans complain about lamb because it just doesn't taste like beef. I personally love it (and also goat).

Yeah I don't really get ” gamey”. But the first time I ate lamb in the US it tasted distinctly like mutton or hogget.

lamb + rosemary + mint sauce is all-time flavour combo

i have never been warned about lamb! that sounds so bizarre... i've never heard of lamb being some weird exotic thing! obviously some don't like the taste, but it's never been framed as a challenging meat to eat in my experience.

If I order lamb shank then sometimes it tastes a bit like tripe - which should make it better but somehow makes it worse. Never get that with mutton or hogget but that might just be because they're cooked differently.

I never had lamb when I was growing up, as my mom was terrible about eating anything other than beef or chicken. Everything else was scary and weird.

It does to me, or at least did when I first started to eat it, taste sort of "gamey" in a way that I can see putting people off if they've only ever had heavily processed chicken and beef and always cooked both to the point of flavorlessness.

My wife grew up with both sides of her family really into deer hunting so she always feels lamb sometimes isn't gamey enough.