What's cooking? part 4

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

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

you been to to the chinese shop near stepney green tube?

no! i usually go to the vietnamese ones on mare st (which still have a lot of chinese & thai ingredients). is the one in stepney green better?

also love the TFC in dalston

anyone wanna share their favorite crockpot recipes?

coming upon frugal times, need to dust that sucker off imo

can of beans
can of stewed or fire roasted or whatever tomatoes
broth or stock
potatoes or rice or pasta

dump in crockpot with your choice of spices

8 hours later: dinner!

i got passionfruit today! lots and lots of it! can't tell you how happy i am! what should i do with it, apart from just eat it all right now in one sitting??

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3126/hot-passion-pina-coladas
I always wanted to make these but could never find passion fruits!

i made chicken salad with homemade rosemary mayonnaise holy crap. i love my food processor btw.
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/food-processor-mayonnaise/

I must have another go at making mayo from scratch with my food processor, I hardly ever use the darn thing! Rosemary mayo sounds delicious.

I have a dinner date at my house tomorrow, I am thnking of making silverbeet + ricotta cannelloni - that seems reasonably simple to build and shove in the oven while someone comes over for dinner, doesnt it? Perhaps I can pre-make the cheese/greens filling tonight and have it ready to go in the fridge...

...and thats what I did! Ive prefilled some lasagna sheets with a ricotta/feta/silverbeet/green onion/dill mix, rolled em up into a lasagne dish, and covered them in clingfilm and shoved back into the fridge. I've never really done much "pre prepare" cooking before so I am hoping this goes ok - the plan is, pull it back out when I get home, coat it in tomato passata and cheese, and bake it. Add a salad, and throw it at my hot date.

Well er not literally, cos that would be rude.

aha, silverbeet is chard! now i get it. sounds delicious!

i just bought a bento box for myself and am trying to brainstorm stuff to put in it for work lunches. i have seriously been wanting one for YEARS and i just decided now was the time. i've been looking at justbento/justhungry forever too, so now is the time to start trying new things.

excited, but i have to take a trip to the japanese grocery with my friend who knows what she's doing. she reads cookbooks in japanese (she is not japanese herself)! i'm super impressed by that.

anyway, bento.

wasn't there an article that said the secret to good artisanal was a teaspoon of water?

making burgers again tonight so I think I'll whip up some homemade mayo

did you mean "artisanal mayo"? i don't think it was artisanal. but maybe i could have a new career as a mayonnaise artisan. i did see an article re: adding water. i didn't add any but i used the whole egg instead of just the yolk because something said it would make it more fluffy.

I am caving and making white macaroni w butter and paprika tonight, don't judge

no way dude, that sounds delish

we had pulled pork on hamburger buns and corn on the cob last night, sometimes simple is awesome

I frequently make pasta with just butter, or butter and cheese. Carbofatlicious