What's cooking? part 4

omg jaq that is so amazing

cheap, fun to make, ppl will be all "whoa"

I never did this but thought it would be cool for a party... if you have access to these: http://www.bolaniandsauce.com/home.php you can spread them with the spreads (I really like the cilantro and garlic mint cheese together) and then maybe cut into strips and roll up to make little rolls? Bonus because most are vegan iirc? Anyway you can change up the combinations and they are tasty! Maybe veering to near to hummus though....

They had lots of them in my local Whole Foods and also at farmers markets

Mmmm, kinder that sounds tasty!

Stevie, I think it is la lechera who repped for Trader Joe's puff pastry - you can cut it into shapes, put some delicious stuff on it, bake it, and it's amazing. I made tiny little shells full of triple cream blue cheese and fig spread for one party, so good. For that I baked the pastry first, then filled post-puff.

we just bought some of that bolani stuff for the first time yesterday! the jalapeno spread is really really good.

PUFF PASTRY is my jam
you can put anything on it and people think it's fancy

well maybe not ANYthing but lots of different things -- you're limited only by your imagination

also they can be sweet or savory, yr choice

One of my default cheap easy finger food party items is to brush olive oil on good bread and run it under the broiler for a minute, then rub each piece with a halved garlic clove. Lay these out on a plate with a bowl of tomato mixed with some garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe a splash of sherry vinegar and a little smoked paprika. Grate tomatoes if you can get good ones or food process a drained can of diced ones if you can't.

It's basically assemble-your-own pan con tomate. Vegan by default but you can add slices of manchego or jamon Serrano (or more realistically prosciutto).

Spain has the best food.

I am getting so many good ideas itt

One of my favorites is small mushrooms marinated in a lemon-thyme vinaigrette.

a couple weeks ago i bought some pork ribs from this specialty market and had no clear plan for what to do with them (i don't own a charcoal grill or smoker so the obvious options were out). dug around online and found a recipe that calls for oven braising them in tightly-wrapped foil with herbs, then broiling briefly with a sweet/sour balsamic bbq sauce.

we ate late tonight but damn if that wasn't a satisfying meal to make.

That sounds great. Smoke is good, but the oven is always amazing when done right.

How do you make chex muddy buddies/puppy chow a bit more interesting? sub almond butter instead of peanut? or maybe hazelnut butter?

that sounds like a great idea! maybe add some garam masala and/or other spices? is that gross?

unsweetened coconut?

garam masala might not go the best w/ almond butter and chocolate but i AM making roasted chickpeas w/ curry also which i am excited abt

ok, how about cayenne pepper then?

that could be good!

coconut otm

I biked to a Bangladeshi neighborhood to look for kafir lime leaves, since it's the nearest thing to "Indian" that I wouldn't have to go to Manhattan for (and I didn't feel like biking to the Atlantic market). There were no lime leaves. When I asked people about them, they laughed. One woman said they were "very rare to find" and that if they ever had any, they would sell right away.

Did buy some whole nutmegs and some green cardamom pods and 10lbs of basmati rice in a bag. Fish curry is for dinner if the fish ever thaws!

Yeah I've been trying to get my hands on kaffir lime leaves for ages! Some kinda customs restriction appaz? I found them once years ago at my food coop in a little plastic coffin, never since then. :(

yum fish curry!

i got them at a thai grocery store once

Is there some recent change in availability of these? I've never really had problems finding them, though it's been a while since I've looked. I know I've bought them in the past year at the small Asian grocery in town here, and I'm in the middle of nowhere.

I don't know, but I've been in like 4 Asian & Bangladeshi stores and nobody had them.

Huh...I used to be able to find them pretty easily at the Vietnamese market in Memphis, but I haven't been there in a while.

Not me doing the cooking, but my daughter has been picking the bumper crop of muscadines on the vine running on the fence between our back yard and our neighbor's. The neighbor is just renting the place and is hardly ever there, so we're getting them all. So far, at least 3 gallons of grapes on one vine. She made her first batch of jelly today, and I'm starting to think about muscadine pie, muscadine hull pie and muscadine cobbler.

I used to get these little jars of kaffir lime leaves - they definitely had them in Whole Foods.
These! (apols if huge) http://www.melburyandappleton.co.uk/ekmps/shops/melburyapple/images/preserved-fresh-kaffir-lime-leaves-114g-668-p.jpg

I'm not sure how much they taste like actual fresh leaves but I've used them for years.

sort of unintentionally been partly vegan lately. started with our sweet 14 y.o. vegan niece being in town and having a bunchof leftovers from a nice vegan Asian joint here called Golden Era. i think my taste is changing a little re: animal products. i normally crave fish now and then (been "pescatarian" for ~30 years) but lately what i ate i wasn't loving. anyways got turned onto this pretty cool cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance and making my second recipe from it for dindin - Black Bean, Mushroom and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers (i got poblanos for this).
highly recommend the book. it's informed me, too(besides the recipes which mostly look like things i'll enjoy); for example ground flax mixed with water can be a egg substitute in certain recipes.
lime leaves are fairly easy to come by here in SF. they seem more of a Thai/Vietnamese ingredient than Indian to me (i.e. wouldn't expect to see them in a Indian-specific market but what the hell do i know)

VWAV was my first vegan cookbook and oh man it is so so great

i always thought vegan had/has too many rules and maybe it does but that book makes it seem a lot easier and more fun

Well really the rule is just "if its animal in origin, dont eat it". It is just that that becomes tricky because a lot of baking especially hinges on eggs and/or dairy.

I like cooking vegan for my friends/partners thereof, but it isnt something I could dedicate myself too. I love cheese far too much.

I don't even know if New York HAS a Thai or Vietnamese neighborhood! The recipe I was using that called for lime leaves was purportedly Indian but it's from that model-turned-cooking-show-host woman's book, so who knows.

i can mail you some if you want? i work 1 block from tons of vietnamese/thai foods stores AND a post office.

damn that's a nice offer. just sayin'....

and xpost to Trayce - i think i meant "too many rules" more figuratively. like you ALWAYS have to be on guard and aware of what you are getting yourself into. want garlic fries @ a Giants' baseball game? you have to know about commercial fries. want Japanese food? you need to know what's in dashi. and on and neverending on....not complaining it's just the way it seems to be.

i have been eating a lot more meat lately. last night i had a double bison burger with blue cheese and tonight i am making a beef burger with avocado and i got a lot of jalapeños at the farmers' market this morning so i'm roasting stuff for salsa. i'm trying to eat different things because maybe there is some reason for constant tiredness.

also i'm only working 3 days this week so i have time for cleaning and being organized and therefore will eat better. maybe. i'm gonna make something fancy on saturday.

bison burgers are the business.

trying to eat out vegan is such a headache esp if it's American food

iirc literally nothing -- even the salad -- is vegan at Friday'S

having been in said establishment, I would not feel confident claiming a glass of water is vegan there

I don't even know if New York HAS a Thai or Vietnamese neighborhood!

saw this article just yesterday... http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2012/08/bangkok-center-grocery-chinatown-thai-market.html?ref=title looks like they have them

I need to check out some of small groceries in a neighborhood north of downtown, here. It's an interesting mix in that it's been economically depressed for a long time, and also a common area for immigrants to move. I think I saw vietnamese, mexican, and ethiopian groceries within a few blocks, including one combination mexican/asian grocery which has to be intriguing.

going to ethnic groceries is one of my favourite things ever tbqh

having been in said establishment, I would not feel confident claiming a glass of water is vegan there

― your native bacon (mh), Tuesday, August 21, 2012 11:10 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

have it on good authority that the bacon-infused spring water uses all-vegan flavorings

going to ethnic groceries is one of my favourite things ever tbqh

― just sayin, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 10:18 AM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark

i live and work in the right part of town for it too, so that's convenient