What's cooking? part 4

It's a light puffy candy like honeycomb but it's made from golden syrup and baking soda. like a violet crumble (that's a uk candy bar, right?)

No, it's an Australian one.

bought this interesting (dry) rice mix today that I'm going to cook up for dinner -- smoked basmati rice with dill and saffron etc etc

super excited to try it out

hey, just1n3, and anyone else who knows their vegan stuff. I need to cook something on Friday for a vegan dinner for friends. Something that's nice enough to feed visitors but is reasonably quick and easy. Any thoughts?

I was thinking of doing these roasted sweet potatoes with star anise, but I need them to go alongside something else. And for dessert, maybe this choc-avocado mousse.

I'm on it!!

ok i would skip the sweet potatoes and do more of a close-to-one-pot dish - it's just easier to manage one single recipe than to cook a bunch of sides. here are some suggestions:

tofu tikka masala - so so good, pretty simple. i skip the habanero and sub ground coriander (1 tsp) for the dried cilantro.

creamy cheesy roast pepper sauce with pasta - this is such a complex sauce (lots of umami) but ridic easy to make. i skip the tahini, and also skip the cashew-soak by just boiling them for 10 mins. you can serve with what steamed veggies you want.

sweet and stick cashew tofu - another simple favourite that's totally delish and restaurant-level.

black lentil and quinoa salad with avo basil vinaigrette - love this and it's easy (although you have to get a few pots dirty). you can switch out the quinoa for coucous (or probably even small pasta), or use french lentils instead of black/beluga. i use half the amount of jalapeno bc i am weak. keep in mind it does need to sit for an hour after it's made so i suggest making it the night before.

desserts:
pepperidge farms, if you can get it in canada, makes an accidentally vegan puff pastry, perfect for these simple apple turnovers (add cinnamon if you must!)

these super fudgey rich amazing cookies make a great dessert served with vanilla ice cream (they don't hold together that well so are best eaten with a spoon). i also switch out the walnuts for almonds, which i think is maybe better.

my cheesecake recipe seems complicated and time consuming, but you just need to follow the filling instructions (simple if you can get vegan cream cheese) and then smash whatever cookies + melted vegan marg of your choosing and press into a tin/s, swirl in whatever you want to the filling, like berries, and cook. or just add chocolate chips. or some grated choc on top with some nuts.

Whoa, thank you so much! I'm going to read over these and decide which one to go for later today. Really looking forward to this. Thanks again!

I couldn't wait so I checked them all out furtively (I'm supposed to be working). I'm going to do the pasta with roast pepper sauce, maybe also the lentil/quinoa salad or maybe just some dips instead, and the cheesecake! (Turns out someone else who's coming along doesn't eat chocolate). Now I just have to find vegan cream cheese, but I should be able to get it locally, I think. Fantastic options, and I signed up to your blog.... will report back on my results.

If you got any questions, just message me!

I fried chicken for the first time last weekend, it was rosemary-lemon brined and coated w/ buttermilk and this very flavorful smoked paprika breading and let. me. tell. YOU!

so good. SO good. This is by and far the best fried chicken I've ever had in my life, and one of my new favoritest recipes.

https://food52.com/recipes/19368-michael-ruhlman-s-rosemary-brined-buttermilk-fried-chicken

whoa

Giving Pope Yes a run for their money; I love it!

I cannot describe to you how good and flavorful and impossibly brilliant this chicken is

It is a total #gamechanger

Vegan cheesecake prep: caramel #1 spectacularly burnt (only just too much, nearly got away with it looking deliberate but not quite). Caramel #2 mollycoddled and may get sticky rather than crunchy but the main thing is: not burnt! Cheesecake looks fab, hoping it firms up ok as it's very wobbly but I think that's supposed to happen.

yeah just fridge it and it should firm up to the same consistency as a reg baked cheesecake. that caramel recipe is weird - mine def did not turn out anything like the recipe said it would (a thin sauce).

Mine is a thin sauce but only because I was super-cautious after #1. This is my first ever cheesecake, I don't know why I've never made one before since I'm a big fan. I ate some of the ginger/Earth balance base with a spoon.

the base is the best! i was eating spoonfuls of it out of the blender.

I got a VacMaster chamber vacuum sealer, so I infused watermelon w/ rum for a graduation party. Favorite new way to get hammered.

Vegan dinner was excellent, thanks again Justine! I loved the pasta/pepper sauce. It's amazing how the ingredients come together and taste nothing at all like themselves. The cheesecake was a bit too wobbly and too sweet for me but that could easily be adjusted if I make it again.

yay!!!

Also I'm definitely going to use that caramel sauce for ice cream.

So, some of you may and some of you may not follow Tep's food blog. His most recent post was about butter -- http://okaycheckitout.blogspot.com/2014/05/what-we-blog-about-when-we-blog-about.html -- and we've been shooting the breeze lately by email on food and other topics, so I decided to follow his inspiration and make garlic butter by fat-washing garlic in whipping cream and turning it into butter. I used a whole bulb of garlic, and grated it rather than chopping it so it was extra stout -- possibly too stout. Two cups of heavy whipping cream plus two tablespoons of buttermilk, in goes the garlic (1/4 cup? possibly a bit more), let it sit at room temp for 16 hours then whooped on it hard in the mixer with the whip attachment. Beware, when the whipped cream breaks down into butter and whey, the whey will want to splash everywhere. Washed the butter as well as I could with two changes of ice water to get as much whey off of it as possible.

This stuff is an aggressive raw-garlic punch in the mouth, but it doesn't stay with you the way eating raw garlic does. The taste dissipates pretty quickly. So far I've just had a bit on a toasted english muffin -- I think it'll make great garlic toast and be useful for pan-grilled sandwiches or tossing with pasta to make buttered noodles. I think it's a bit too radioactive just to spread on warm bread, but since I'm making a batch of bread right now I'll find out soon enough.

just curious, what else can be fat-washed

Hmm, you could combine rum and butter and have butter-flavored rum for your hot toddy and rum-flavored butter for any number of things -- hard sauce for a bread pudding, spread it on your pecan waffle, etc

just1n3, after making that black lentil quinoa salad you posted and based on how amazing it is i hafta work my way through the rest of those recipes. thankyou!
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never heard of "fat washing" - innerstin'!

I could use some fat-washing myself /jk

The jury's still out on this first stab at garlic butter. It's extremely harsh with hot/raw garlic, but it might work as a cooking fat. If I do it again, I'll either use much less garlic or use roasted garlic. In the meantime, this seems like a brilliant way to make herb butters. Next time I get a big bunch of fresh dill, it's going into some cream, and the resulting butter is going to get on some corn on the cob.

Or on a baked potato or some asparagus.

now you're talking! I know I'm not going to get around to doing it, but I love the idea of fresh dill butter.

Just1n3, I'm still eating that pasta with the pepper sauce - I made a ton. Today I had some cold, with hot buttered spinach and dill. It was superb.

Peach peelings, cinnamon stick and vanilla bean steeped in cream; whipped into peach cobbler butter, omg.

OM, did you make it with cilantro or basil?

cilantro was what was on hand. such a crazy delicious and texturally out of this world dressing!

i made a strata for my class this morning
it's pretty good but i think i should have used more eggs and milk

xp def try it with basil next time. i mean, i'm not a fan of cilantro so clearly i'm biased, but the basil makes a great alternative.

makes sense. and i def. will

vegan bacon wrapped scallops!? holy cow that sounds and looks yum

i made this chana masala, first time for me

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2006/02/public-display-of-chickpeas.html

it was good, had to do w/o actual cumin seeds and cardamom pods but seemed ok anyway. could have used a bit more bottom end somehow, not sure if that was my choice of spices (definitely under-did it out of caution, working w/ so many crazy unknown spices at once). looking forward to second-day leftovers.

also british and/or indian people yes i know this is some kind of american travesty, oh well.

I suspect this has already been discussed itt, but I will throw it out again: wtf do I do with the miso that I bought with no actual plan in mind?

I bought a whole box of amchoor powder and a container of tamarind paste last weekend and I have next to no idea what to do w them! Going to TANGY, TART, HOT, AND SWEET for ideas (very bad travel guide, pretty good cookbook). I also have seasoning mixes for like 6 difft kinds of curry--korma, karahi, karachi beef biryani, kahari gosht, fish masala, etc--and am so excited to use them I think I'll pound some raw cashews and make butter chicken tonight.

^^^^SAME HERE only mine is spelled amchur

amchur is necessary in chana masala imo. something else i used it for too but can't remember.

what type of miso, quincie?
miso butter (2 parts softened unsalted:1 part white miso) is lovely on just about any steamed veg i can think of. you can miso glaze fish (salmon, cod both work well) and also eggplant. mixed with tahini and you get a brilliant salad dressing. i think that's all i got right now,except for the obvious - soup. but also, if you keep plastic directly on top of it it can last up to a year (or so) properly refrigerated. if you got a dark miso then most of my ideas may be void.

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A spoonful whisked into just about any soup stock adds depth and richness imo. I never think about doing miso-glazed fish -- I gotta try that.

Thanks! It is a white miso, and I honestly wasn't sure how long it would last once opened (and have thus hesitated to open it). I'll plan to put plastic wrap down on the surface and then stick on the snap-on top. I have tahini in the fridge as well and will try a salad dressing for tonight--I had already planned mixed greens plus steamed asparagus :)

Good tips, thanks! Proportions for miso-to-tahini-plus-other-ingredients for dressing???

I've had good luck with miso kept in the fridge with a bit of plastic cling film on the surface to keep it from drying out. It has kept for many weeks that way.

you'll need to mix the tahini with water first to make it more user friendly. 1/4 cup of each, it'll seize at first but will be fine. i reckon up to 2 tablespoons of miso for that amount. could use a squeeze of lemon if you have, no biggie if not. also a pinch of pepper if you like.
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I beat you to it, but ended up doing something similar and it was GREAT! Approximately 2:1:1:0.5 of rice wine:tahini:miso:honey, thinned out with a bit of warm water. Just making enough for myself, so mixed a small portion in a single bowl, tossed in the veg, profitted.

I usually (er, only?) make vinaigrettes, so this was an excellent change up to something more creamy/different. Amazing what that lil bit of miso does! A++ will miso salad dress again.

Also: will definitely miso fish this weekend, on grill.