What's cooking? part 4

xp i believe the wasabi ginger ones won the contest and will be available going forward.

they were good but i think i liked the mango salsa ones better.

we got lamb&mint flavoured chips in nz too!

My cousin used to get a box of chicken in a biskits and a can of easy cheese as one of his gifts from my aunt and uncle every chistmas and I have no idea why this was a thing.

And yeah I got really sad about US chips after seeing so many insane chip flavors in thailand and singapore this year, I had no idea. These ones were the best, I had no idea they had such an extreme commercial for them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsJgSpFeZ-g

As for actually cooking I made this today using lamb shanks and I could have eaten twice as many tortillas dipped in the broth as I actually did

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/birria-mexican-goat-chile-stew

(XP) I don't think you ever blind bake puff pastry - the weight of the baking beans would stop the layers puffing up. Just stick the filling in your dish, put a lid of pastry on top, cut to size and use a fork to press down and seal the edges. Any trimmings can be cut into decorative (flat) shapes for the top. Brush with beaten egg and into the oven for however long it suggests on the pastry pack.

Any other leftover bits are really good brushed with beaten egg and sprinkled with sugar, and cooked at the same time as the pie. Kind of petit-fours misshapes.

But that doesn't have a pastry base therefore isn't a pie!

No, we mustn't have the pie debate AGANE.

Anyway, if you use puff for the base too it'll be fine, it just won't rise but this best suits a shallow pie rather than a deep one.

Hello, ILC, long time since I've been here.

I more or less stopped cooking, or at least enjoying it, a handful of years ago when I was working daft hours and living in a house I was beginng to resent and a kitchen I began to find useless. Now I. The countryside, with a decent kitchen and garden, I'm getting back into the swing, a year on ive yet to start being creative again and rediscover my love of cooking but at least I am, three or four times a week.

Nothing too exciting to report, except that I have had a decent chilli crop this year and in addition to chucking something in most stews and curries I am fermenting a sauce from the main crop (about 750g over a number of varieties) and picking off the leftovers - made a batch of jam/chutney at the weekend with some of the late ripeners.

As for actually cooking I made this today using lamb shanks and I could have eaten twice as many tortillas dipped in the broth as I actually did

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/birria-mexican-goat-chile-stew

― joygoat, Tuesday, November 4, 2014 12:36 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

damn, this recipe looks so good!

I got a terrible stomach ache today from eating kettle corn so I made this and now I'm just a balloon of broccoli-potato soup.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/potato-and-broccoli-soup

except there are leeks in it, it's all pureed, and I finished it with almond milk (I'm sure it would be better with cream).

olive oil is some dope shit

we made this penne with broccoli and garlic and the broccoli is so soft and tender and this dish is basically just drowned in olive oil and it is so good.

hey marcos what is your go-to olive oil?

The Trader Joe's Kalamata is my definite favorite

http://www.traderjoes.com/images/fearless-flyer/uploads/article-1164/20484-greek-kalamata-olive-oil450.png

honestly we go through so much olive oil that i don't spend a ton of money on it. we'll buy one of those huge 3L tin jugs of whole foods brand or trader joes or filippo berio and tbh we go through about one of those per month. we tend to buy italian or spanish rather than greek for no other reason than my grandfather is spanish and my wife's family is sicilian. nothing fancy although we've gotten some gifts of nice estate oils and we'll save those for certain dishes or salads or with bread.

pure kalamata i will totally have to try that

and pretty much all the olives we buy tend to be greek

olives are also some dope shit.

alphonsos are probably my favorite, mostly b/c my dad had them all the time growing up (he'd buy a few pounds of alphonsos and that bulgarian feta i mentioned in the other thread from the same greek market every month or so)

that is a fairly big bottle and it's only like $8 or $9, it's v inexpensive for the quality. It's got a really nice fruity and peppery notes. I always stay way from, well, most brands of olive oil bcz a ton of them are adulterated w/ other oils even if they say 100% olive oil; apparently this one was tested and is up to snuff.

http://www.truthinoliveoil.com/2012/09/toms-supermarket-picks-quality-oils-good-prices

^ useful

yea totally! that TJ kalamata is mentioned there as being very good

I like the TJ's Californian olive oil for things where taste is more important. It comes in a tall, cylindrical 1/2 liter bottle, but I can't remember the exact name. I use Bertoli for frying.

yes good question when you are frying things does it matter too much if you are using a compromised or adulterated oil? that said i usually use olive oil for low to medium heat frying. high heat frying i tend to use safflower oil which has a higher burning point iirc.

thanks for that link, carl

Very useful! Apparently I've been using basically the worst olive oil of all and hadn't even noticed.

oh with cooking it will make absolutely no different. For mixing with herbs and dipping bread in, however...

does anyone else cringe a little when you visit somebday and they have all their oils and spices lined up on an open rack above 3 inches above the stove? don't want to me a snob b/c i guarantee there is plenty of shit that more seasoned cooks would scoff at in my kitchen but still, all that constant heat, vapor, and temperature change is gonna burn out all your shit.

i mean it's not idea but i don't hang w/many ppl who have ideal kitchens.

I don't understand anybody who puts anything nice and not machine-washable in their kitchens. Art? Paper goods on display? Whatever dudes, everything in my kitchen is covered in a thin layer of grease and Victorian home dust, so

Haha, yes and in my case not just the kitchen but the area just outside the kitchen door gets that grease/dust film on it (stove is next to the door).

oh yea definitely. the hood over the stove is just very gross

does anyone else cringe a little when you visit somebday and they have all their oils and spices lined up on an open rack above 3 inches above the stove? don't want to me a snob b/c i guarantee there is plenty of shit that more seasoned cooks would scoff at in my kitchen but still, all that constant heat, vapor, and temperature change is gonna burn out all your shit.

Yes!! I think about this sometimes!!

We're moving to a new flat on Saturday and already I'm worried that there is only one cupboard which isn't immediately next to the cooker. So I need to work out which foodstuffs will take a little warmth without being affected. Rice/pasta/noodles? Cans of tomatoes maybe?

canned anything shd be ok, i would think? rice pasta lentils etc too
our storage cupboard gets blasted in summer bc it's in the back part of the house & we haven't had any exploding cans or anything perish

Making sourdough starter for the first time. Science is p cool

oh yea i need to make some sourdough. i was inspired to try an all-rye flour sourdough after reading about it in sandor ellix katz' wild fermentation but it sat in my pantry for too long and i didn't store it properly and some moths got into it. need to restart.

but it sat in my pantry for too long and i didn't store it properly

lol meaning the rye flour, i never got around to actually starting the sourdough!

with cold weather coming i am eager to start making sour porridges again. i was doing a steel-cut oats sour porridge past few winters and it is very tasty. much creamier and richer than any regular steel-cut oats porridge.

my sister-in-law made these yeasted waffles last year on a trip to VT at my wife's folks cabin/house. we let the batter sit at room temperature and took from the pot each day for breakfast, and by the fourth day the waffles were deliciously sour. we put some whole milk yogurt and some VT maple syrup on top and they were just incredible.

man, what's up with your crazy perfect life?!
i have never even heard of sour porridge

yeasted waffles are the BEST!!! I swear by Marion Cunningham's recipe.

xp i never heard about it either until i got katz' book, but it is super easy to make! you basically just let any kind of grain - oats, millet, cracked wheat, a mix if you want - soak in water for at least 12-24 hours and then cook it the same way you would oatmeal (on the stove, in a slow cooker, whatever). soaking at room temperature for a while will allow it to ferment and the sour-tasting cultures to proliferate. optimal taste for me is maybe 2 or 3 days in winter but it will vary on the temperature of the room. after a while it smells terrible and then it's done. in summer or in a warm house it will ferment much faster.

fall inspired kale salad ruled today: roasted kabocha chunks, roasted, sliced shiitakes, sliced bosc pears, toasted chopped hazlenuts, baby kael, balsamic/agave vinaigrette and smoked salt judiciously sprinkled on top
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152375457127890&set=p.10152375457127890&type=1

all that constant heat, vapor, and temperature change is gonna burn out all your shit.

my cheap grocery store spices get all caked up to shit just from the steam they get when i'm dumping them into what i'm cooking : /

ooh i might try sour porridge

i made some tortilla soup in the crockpot and man is it good
the recipe i use calls for 1 chile but i went crazy and put in 2
the difference is amazing! so much richer and more delicious.

I keep reading "chile" as "child"

it's just how it's spelled! it's a chile pulla (which i realize is lol but also accurate and i'm not sure what else to call it)

la lechera what is your tortilla soup recipe. i love tortilla soup

one of my favorite dishes to make is posole which is pretty similar -- a very rich brick red broth, corn flavor, fun garnishes. i've made it with a green broth too that relies on a pumpkin seed mole for its base

which chiles are pullas? are they the small and round ones?