What's cooking? part 4

I think it's really cool.

xpost - She is! I'm super proud of her -- no false modesty, she got it from me. She reached a comfort level of being willing to try foods with unexpected flavors or textures about 15 years ahead of when I did.

Those were good pierogies, btw.

I meant culinary as in her cooking skills, but obviously with her eating too! Says something about her cool upbringing imo.

yeah I mean I was in awe of curd explorations - now pierogies? damn, dude.

Spouse brought home a head of broccoli the size of his head, which is no small head indeed. I am OK with broccoli but don't love it to pieces or anything; suggestions on what to do with it? Thinking I can do some sort of asian-inspired slaw with the stalk; what about the crown? Ideas, please!

I mean I could be like my mother and just boil shit out of it and put some butter on it, but alas, this does not really appeal.

Roast, for the love of green things!

cut it up small, toss it with olive oil, sprinkle chopped garlic and sea salt over it, roast it.

oh yeah, I think that deserves a high five

Toss florets with oo, salt, pepper, spread on baking sheet/parchment and into the oven at 425 for...until the exposed little edge bits get almost blackened/dried-looking. Throw grated parm over top when you take them out of the oven. Eat the whole tray.

Only thing I ever do with broccoli is stir-fry it on a high heat with lots of sliced garlic. Then maybe add a sauce at the end to soften it.

pickle the stems

I love it just blanched in salty water, just a bit of butter on it, with a bowl of plain rice.

I wonder how many vegetables have unfairly deserved reputations in American culture because people simply didn't know how to prepare them right - broccoli, brussels sprouts

whoa whoa whoa I once roasted broc and it came out with such an uber-concentrated cruciferous taste--IN A BAD WAY--that I could not eat it!!! Stir-fry more of a plan, also what kind of saucy stuff/fancy seasoning can I employ?

For the record I am totally down with krispy kale and all manner of brussels and other cabbagey things; not sure why the roasted broc was such a fail.

KILL IT WITH FIRE imo

I don't know, quince, I could eat crunchy broccoli all day.

Oooooh totally going pickle the stems per kinder's link!!! I have some good sherry vinegar hanging around.

ever been to maoz? love their oily broccoli

Third the idea to roast it with garlic and parm (add lemon too)

Ime overly-cruciferous tasting means it was probably old brocc

this is what I tend to do with stir-frying brocc:; http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1399/broccoli-lemon-chicken-with-cashews

ooh pickling looks good

I made a vegan leek and potato cassoulet that was pretty blah, but the biscuits on top were delish, will make those for thanksgiving I think

ha btw I think 90% of the cooking stuff I post here is from bbcgoodfood (I got given a ton of books and then most of the recipes are on the website so if I'm at work and need to get ingreds on the way home, I can look up what I need)

*removes bookmark from thread*

Tonight I'm making gluten free Lasagna for Tera! Never made lasagna before, any tips? In the past when cooking gluten free pastas I've learned to stir immediately after setting into boiling water or the pasta can stick together, anything I should know about cooking the lasagna pasta, all at once or a few at a time?

fourthing suggestion to roast the broc; multiple ppl I have made it for have *wigged out* abt how good it was. so complex; so rich.

My first lasagna was really good, rice pasta didn't fail me!

Have never roasted broc! Interesting idea. I usually lightly steam it and then add it to ramen noodle soup, or the italian approach: sauteee/steam it with a load of garlic, add pesto at the end, toss thru pasta.

But oh god never boil the shit out of broc or cabbage, thats just asking for "I hate this vegetable it smells".

I have a confession: I've never steamed anything, except sticky rice for making mango sticky rice.

BTW I never cook lasagna pasta separately? Just stick the dry sheets in the dish and put in the oven with the sauces. It cooks fine. I have no idea about gluten-free lasagna though.

Whoa, kinder, I had no idea you could do that. I'd be afraid to try that with the gluten free pasta, although, it is made of rice. Might work fine.

Great gluten free lasagna, last night. Had some for brunch. It's been a good four years since I have had lasagna.

making chicken stock tonight, then tomorrow some kind of mexicany white bean soup thing that I've never made before.

as reported in the absent-minded thread, this week I learned that navy beans are in fact white, not blue as I presumed :)

Ha!

got some cranberry-almond-chocolate chip scones in the oven. they're topped with lavender sugar and are some of the season's first baked goods!

also i tried and failed to find a pic of the blue beans in the wicker man but that's what your post reminded me of VG!

haha! <3 LL

timed my chicken-stock making poorly and was up until after 1am. which ordinarily would be fine except I now get up early to go to the farmer's market.
But it kinda balanced out. Even though I felt like boiled garbage, I have discovered that golden time of mid-morning - once I'm done at the market I have about 2 or 3 productive hours of OMG YES BAKING AND COOKING and then I get done and it's barely lunchtime! It doesn't quite cancel out my hatred of early rising but it tempers it, somewhat, lol.

so instead of making white bean soup for dinner, it's on the stove cooking for lunch!

fyi I will be hardcore napping by 2pm I'm sure of it.

Tis the season for white beans, I guess -- that's what I made today too. But there were bugs in the corn meal! Had to go out and get a fresh bag before I could make cornbread.

just roasted and peeled two big butternut squashes. squash soup later today.

that will be my project next weekend. it's been years since I've had buttnernut soup, i didn't like it as a kid but I'm gonna try it anyway.

debating whether to add some curry powder to the basic recipe posted upthread

Last night I cooked a bulb of fennel and half an onion down to almost a paste, added a bunch of garlic, a bit of tomato paste, saffron, some pernod, some wine, and stock, cooked some fingerling potatoes for ten minutes or so and added a couple of cod pieces to just cook through. Served with crusty bread and some aioli.

Right now I'm about to make some pizza dough for later (one with sausage and onion, the other with spanish chorizo, some more potatoes, and goat cheese) and cut up and marinade a leg of lamb for a vindaloo that I'll start today and warm up again for dinner tomorrow with roast cauliflower and rice.

It's funny how different I cook and what I want to eat when it starts to be grey and rainy out.

J. made butternut soup last week, yes to curry powder. It was so delish!

joygoat: sounds really tasty, like yummmmmm

It's funny how different I cook and what I want to eat when it starts to be grey and rainy out.

no kidding! i'm a roasting baking cooking maniac all of a sudden even though i have spent the last few months just kind of assembling/arranging.

currently roasting a bunch of beets and sweet potatoes
not sure what i'm going to do with them yet

There's roasted broccoli in my near future, plus am considering making cookies. COOKIES! ME! Spice ones, anyway.

i'm making smita chandra chicken curry and potatoes. i didn't peel the ginger :o

http://i.imgur.com/50cVk.jpg

l-r: harbl, ginger