What's cooking? part 4

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.

I'm pretty sure "lamb" is used as a generic in a lot of the US. Mutton occasionally, but I don't think I've ever heard a non-chef american say "hogget"

In the US, meat from a sheep 1 year old or less is lamb. Any older and it's mutton.

Pasta primavera and lamb sausage. Yay vegetables!

the first thing i did when s picked me up from the airport yesterday was ask to go buy kale! made my own primavera of sorts with chicken sausage lst night! today i am making guacamole and pico de gallo and some sauteed shrimp and maybe peppers and onions and kale to go with.

Bill/Tep had a very wise post on his cooking blog recently about how the noodles in a packet of ramen are perfectly serviceable, and it's the seasoning packet that's the abomination in the sight of god. At $.15 per serving tops, and so quick to hydrate, ramen make sense when you want a quick lunch. So I've been making ramen with stir-fried broccoli, ramen with stir-fried mushrooms, and today, ramen stir-fried with a few shrimp, a lot of sliced mushrooms, onion, a bit of chopped tomato, and a garlic black bean paste/kecap manis/sambal oelek sauce.

Got some chile pequins (chiles pequin?) today. There are some areas where I am a total pansy about pain but I am starting to become a real capsaicin masochist.

Plan #1 for these: http://cookinginmexico.com/2010/11/26/salsa-de-chile-piquin-del-estado-san-luis-potosi/

I misread the package that said "use 1 to 2 in moles" as "use 1 to 2 moles," which is probably enough chiles to cover the entire earth.

I also learned birds aren't sensitive to capsaicin!

lol @ cooking using moles
i make thai green curry with chicken thighs and vegetables

xp -- that was one of the most interesting things I learned on the tour at the Chile Pepper Institute -- only mammals have capsaicin receptors!

then why do they use the oil from peppers to repel bugs and barnacles and stuff? is there something else they are reacting to?

Bill/Tep had a very wise post on his cooking blog recently about how the noodles in a packet of ramen are perfectly serviceable, and it's the seasoning packet that's the abomination in the sight of god. At $.15 per serving tops, and so quick to hydrate, ramen make sense when you want a quick lunch. So I've been making ramen with stir-fried broccoli, ramen with stir-fried mushrooms, and today, ramen stir-fried with a few shrimp, a lot of sliced mushrooms, onion, a bit of chopped tomato, and a garlic black bean paste/kecap manis/sambal oelek sauce.

― improvised explosive advice (WmC), Sunday, April 15, 2012 6:34 PM (59 minutes ago) Bookmark

it's true that even some eateries will just serve you instant ramen noodles, either stir fried or in a soup, with real seasonings. worth noting though, that instant ramen noodles are preserved by deep-frying in oil, so they still remain quite fatty.

maybe not bugs, i am recalling there is some spray you can make with cayenne pepper to apply to plants but i can't remember if it's supposed to repel rodents or bugs

I just something the other day about people traditionally referring to the hottest peppers around as "bird peppers" because birds were the only things that would eat them.

this curry is like the best i have made from canned paste but i think it's time for me to learn how to make it myself

you are ready to take this step

cooking it's like the only thing i am good at and work hard at imo

i need to try some stuff from that mexican blog abbbottt linked too

Speaking of ramen or other cheap noodles, Asian groceries are super cheap...if you want to cook from scratch but don't have a lot of money or time.

stir-fried asparagus with garlic and lemon juice squeezed on afterwards. better than roasting!!

also, I left a package of unopened cream cheese out overnight by accident. still safe to eat??

I'd probably be willing to eat it.

Coworker just gave me a recipe for guacamole which includes a cup of cooked peas, which apparently blend seamlessly in with the guac while cutting back a bit on the fat!

i am gonna make a lamb and potato curry tonight from the curry book and lentil/spinach soup from claudia roden middle east book tomorrow. and bc i am resolved to eat more lentils will probably make lentil and bulgur salad after that.

I'll be right over.

xxpost

i made a guacamole w/peas from a Nigella Lawson recipe my wife shoved under my nose. Frankly it was train-wreck awful and I love peas.

last night I made pork tenderloins w/walnut vinaigrette. cooked the meat and deglazed the pan w/red wine vinegar, added olive oil to that and blended into the toasted walnuts and garlic paste I had pulsing in the cusinart. Poured this thick dressing on arugula/endive and placed sliced meat on top.

garnished w/some more toasted walnuts and it was pretty good.

I have about a third of a bottle of red wine that's been open for a week and I'm scared to drink it...what could I cook that would help use it up?

You can put it in an ice cube tray for when a recipe needs a little wine! I just did that the other day with the bit left over from our third bottle, post dinner party.

Wow you seriously didn't just drink it? Tza you should sniff it, and if it's good you should drink it or, I guess, freeze if you're so inclined. If it's bad, you don't want to keep it to cook with anyway?

Well we had drank about two bottles to ourselves and it was 2am. Sometimes we would. ;)

Ha, those are exactly the circumstances under which I would have been like glug glug glug, for better or (more likely) worse ;)

i got some of those silicone "poach pods" the other day for poaching eggs. they worked well this morning but the eggs tasted a little funny. not sure if the source of the funniness is me or the pods though.