What's cooking? part 4

#meat

I make chicken and steaks and stuff, little portions, but large pieces of meat just ... I don't even know how to handle them or what they are. The only large piece of meat I can handle is a pork roast --> nc style bbq (but not on a smoker or anything)

I think part of it is that I just don't really enjoy eating meat all THAT much, so putting a lot of effort into cooking large amounts of it is just kinda...not a good use of my time. But I want to improve, so I guess I have to dedicate myself or something.

This was my tofu kale beet thing from earlier btw. It was really tasty!
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8195/8135646895_5c20b8d4df_n.jpg

Boneless leg o' lamb: marinate in garlic, rosemary, lemon juice, and good olive oil; grill on charcoal grill or grill pan; pull it at like 115-120 F max interior temp--rest and it will get up to 120-125 or so which is perfection imo.

hey justin3, if you're doing the oven I've used this Jamie Oliver before and it turned out p great - good simple beginner-y method. (Except I put it in a roasting tray instead of straight onto the oven rack, hate cleaning the oven as it is, lol)

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/best-roast-leg-of-lamb

(sorry I'm kind of a recipe person vs a wing-it person)

that looks great LL!

now I want some BEETS.

Thanks! I got a new phone so now the camera is a lot better and doesn't make everything look like greasy slop.

yeah that is a v appetizing photo

Yeah I can't grill it, gotta go with the oven method. Lamb is my fav meat, so excited!

love lamb so much

Me too! My favorite meat, or maybe that is pork? But lamb and pork tops!

yeah, definitely nature's beasts

Lamb is my favourite too! Slow-cooked is amazing.
I like putting bits of leftover roast lamb with couscous and either roasted veg, bit of red wine and spices, or halloumi, olives, red onion, pine nuts/almonds and probably other stuff I can't remember. Leftover roast lamb always looks dry and horrible but then softens back up immediately when you heat it ime.

Lamb and pork are my favorite meats to cook, for some reason I hardly ever cook beef. I'd like to cook a beef roast for stew or even beef tips and rice, but when ever I look at the beef at the grocery store, I end up just getting flustered and walking over to the pork.

i need to cook lamb sometime soon, haven't really done lamb at all since i started taking cooking seriously.

i like cooking beef but the problem is nothing seems as good as the sear-roasted n.y. strip recipe from all about roasting so that's all i ever want to make.

this is what i wound up making with the sweet potato i roasted yesterday
my favorite tofu company has these little fried puffs you can float in soups or, as i found, stuff with whatever you like. i mashed the sweet potato with some spinach, cut off the the top and stuffed the puffs, and then warmed them in the toaster oven. served with cukes/soy sauce/wasabi. it was really good and virtually no work at all. AND it tasted just like a sweet potato tempura roll.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8188/8136842869_cd86a38246_n.jpg

that's v. creative!

are those tofu skins? i bought some to try awhile ago but they went off before i had the chance

they looked like these, and then i cut off the top and cleared away the inside (just kinda pushed it out of the way) to make room for the filling
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Db3qWGi5F_s/TagszTBhjuI/AAAAAAAAI-Q/v3xvFpJRG0Q/s1600/tricken+tofu+puffs.JPG

also ty!

they weren't as square though, more rounded edges
my tofu co doesn't have pics online afaik

that does sound/look like a really good dinner! i'm making a veggie tart thing tonight, hope it tastes good.

emergency: we bought some fresh pasta (gemelli I think?) but don't know the cooking time

I googled around -- saw a Batali recipe that said because they're denser than normal fresh pasta cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
Give it 3 and starting checking doneness from then on?

fresh gemelli sounds good. love those twisty noodles mmm

yeah I was thinking 5 min and then see if they get the white tips?

good luck!

oh it's fresh? just wait till a bunch of it floats to the top and starting tasting. i'd start tasting at 3 mins.

oh okay thanks!

I made a bastardized hoppin' John: Swiss chard, chicken sausage and black-eyed peas with rice.

made a massive not-quite-vegetarian pinto bean chili (cooked pinto beans in chicken stock early on) and very inauthentic cornbread (baked in a tin in the oven, using sugar, no lard or butter, etc etc). it's really nice having someone to cook for again but I'm already feeling like I don't have any new ideas about cooking and am just making variations on the same three dishes.

Imma track down some Mae Ploy curry paste and Chaokoh coconut milk and start currying more. I am excited abt this tbh.

chaokoh coconut milk rules

accept no substitutes

finally FINALLY my local sfway has started stocking Chaokoh -- used to be only the $avemart across town had it.

I've never had it but err'one seems to love it

I think I might make a batch of gumbo zeb (gumbo aux herbes) base this weekend. Depends on the freezer space.

I'm making a coconut macaroon cake for my friend's birthday. I made lemon curd to go with it yesterday. It's nice but perhaps a bit... lumpy

I just picked up some of that Mae Ploy curry paste ($2.69!!) and Chaokoh ($1.39!!) and made the most amazing red curry w/ chicken thighs, broc, mushroom, onion, bell pepper, and carrot. It is so fucking yummy, and it is about 90% there, it just lacks the citrusy brightness that Thai curry from a Thai joint has. Obv this is bcz I didn't add kaffir lime leaves or Thai basil bcz I couldn't find them, so what can I sub to give it that zing that it's missing?

also fish sauce smells gross but gives this a v full richness!

I feel like lime juice will get lost in the mix and not really do much, but I could be wrong. Maybe lime zest?

fish sauce is the greatest. palm sugar is another good addition, gives a nice viscosity to the coconut milk and lifts it a bit with the sweetness (brown sugar is an ok subsitute)

lime zest works well - try taking it off with a peeler, instead of grating it, gives you a bit more citrus bang for your buck

also don't forget lemongrass!!!

oh yes I was going to buy lemongrass! and then didn't. I don't know why. I've also read palm/brown sugar is good though this already tastes sweet enough from the coconut milk.

yeah it's not a must, it's just good to try if you're fully into the thai curry thing. and it balances the fish sauce, kinda raises the flavor level somehow idk the science of it lol

palm sugar I mean

lemongrass is KEY

here's the red curry recipe i have

you use about one cup of coconut coconut cream to like 4 tablespoons of paste which is made from : chilies, galangal, lemongrass, lime zest, coriander, shallot, garlic, shrimp, coriander, cumin, peppercorn (i.e. out of a bag)

you fry this paste in the coconut cream and add 1 tbs palm sugar, then 2 tbs fish sauce, then cooked ingredients, then finish by adding two cups of coconut milk and some lime leaves

I had a tub of mae ploy in my fridge for years, after R the ex bought it, made like one curry then moved out on me. Red curry is way too hot for my taste so I never used it :(

...I didnt intend for my logic flow to sound like R went "making curry... oh man! I gotta dump trayce and LEAVE!" lol

I never found red curry that hot? maybe because it was sweeter or I just wasn't having hot enough red curries lol. Green was always hotter to me.