What's cooking? part 4

making madhur jaffrey's chicken tikka masala for dinner tonight :D

i want that!

cmon over :D

separate matter, RFI:

mr veg is turning 50 at the end of june. he's not wanting a party or anything so i thought i might cook something kinda fancy.
but i only have a few go-to fancy dishes & was looking for inspiration: what are yr go-to fancy/special dishes you like to make?

no seafood - preferably red meat or chicken, or maybe a pasta something

steakhouse-style ny strip? roast tenderloin?

Lamb of some kind is my special occasion meat - chops or slow-braised sharks or a tagine.

rolled lamb loin is a wonderful roasting cut

ooh lamb is a good idea, we both love it

lol lamb sharks

in like a lionfish, out like a lamb shark (sorry)

lol

Heh :-)

At Veg house, dinner eats you!

>:)

just had a major breakthrough tonight

I am a fairly competent cook but ONLY when I study or follow recipes; all of my attempts at experimentation have produced mediocre-to-bad results.... until tonight, when I decided to throw some fridge leftovers together and came up with CHIPOTLE MISO CHICKPEAS

My goodness, ppl, these are so good w a rich and supple umami bang. Proportions were:

--2 cloves of garlic, sautéed briefly in oo
--Half can of chickpeas plus one minced chipotle pepper, without any addt'l adobo sauce
--keep sautéing for a few min til it's all warm, and then in a teensy lil bowl forkwhisk like btwn 1/2 and 1 tsp of miso w like 2 tbsp of water to make a sauce
--take the chickpeas off the heat and add the miso slurry and stir it, it should just coat it

do what I did and fry an egg and put it all together in a tortilla w some sharp ched and Monterrey jack

yes ma'am, yes Pam, yss Pauline, yes Felicia

dedicated this afternoon to proper rendang, smells fantastic so far. I'm trying frying it with coconut oil, which I generally find to be delicious

I wanna mess around with this a bit

http://luckypeach.com/the-contorni-matrix/

Ooh, hello pretty chart.

made some pesto from a bunch of garlic scapes i got at the farmers market, it is amazing!

eating with pasta, throwing some on toast, on eggs, on some fresh mozzarella slices

I used this recipe to make some steaks,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgHx0zA_dS4
Turned out great but if you need to go out afterwards understand that you will hear "what's that smell? I smell onion" every time you walk into a room.

poor dog doesn't even get to try it

It's not really stew weather, but I had a chunk of pork loin that needed using, so it's green chile stew with pork and hominy today.

mr veg made spareribs last night, so i tried making emeril's "delta slaw" - it's no mayo, which i tend to prefer with ribs. you boil vinegar & sugar, let it cool & pour it over the vegetables. quite sweet, and reeeeeally juicy once you let it all steep.

tried that onion-steak-soy biz last night&it is indeed deliciously tender

taco of sorts - corn tortilla with melted cheese, cast-ironed smart dog (takes the plastic-y edge off), chopped habanero and kim chee. somehow i think it works. . .

Indian black-eyed peas & mushroom dish, substituting fresh purple hull peas.

Nothing. It's too hot. I'm having a cooked chicken and some cheese and almond milk delivered to my house, making spinach salads, and not using the oven again until September.

threw some baby kale, broccoli and corn in with this nice Japanese pasta dish that feat. (y)umeboshi
http://www.food.com/recipe/japanese-style-ume-shiso-pasta-323048

I need to make a 70th birthday meal in August for about 10-12 people, to be eaten outside (that's the British outside, though). I'll have from about 5pm the previous day when I get home till 11am on the day to get it ready. I'm thinking of something like this seafood stew that can be part-made the day before, but I've never made a summer seafood stew. Anyone got any tried and trusted recipes along these lines?

in the process of making chocolate babka for the first time in ages. never used the flax/vegan egg substitute before but i've watched my niece do it successfully. so, to counteract all the delicious heart-stopping butter in this thing i went with that. dough seems to have come out perfectly. now it's a process akin to making danish/croissant dough: rolling out douhg, folding in the butter, doing book fold, rolling out, letting rest for a half hour each time in-between, etc. for a total of 5 times. so about 3 hours away from being able to bake this baby off. . .

I got a mandoline and I'm never eating another Apple that hasn't been shaved into 3mm-thick discs.

mandolines rule

i have a safety-sam v-slicer & its the best

anyone cooked with salted duck eggs?

i bought some this week and made a recipe for salted duck egg and pickled mustard green soup with pork, it was so good. i am seeing people say they are often steamed over minced pork but google is a bit inconclusive...

the only time I had duck eggs I poached them for mega dipping! yum

I made these last night and they are delicious and a great way to use up random greens: http://food52.com/recipes/37163-fried-greens-meatlessballs

ah these are like chinese - they are kind of preserved and have a very rich flavour. i think you can eat them as is but they are more often used in soups annd stuff.

ahh, gotcha. Sounds good!

Shirred eggs w/ a hard sheep's milk cheese that I've lost the name of grated on top - so rich and amazing

oooh what kinda cheese nd what tf is shirred eggs even

Shirred eggs - pour a tbsp of heavy cream in a ramekin, then crack an egg, sprinkle some fancy salt, grate cheese on top, then bake that shit (350F for 12 mins, I think), let it rest for 2-3 more minutes to set.

I can't figure out what the cheese is - it's a French or Basque hard sheep's milk (not P'tit Basque but right next to it in the cheese section of Central Market). Going to find out this week, hopefully.

in one of those weird coincidences i saw the term "shirred eggs" for the first time yesterday in an old family circle cookbook

wait do you like, stir the egg? or does the egg just sit on top of the cream and if so why

i should make quiche

You don't stir it but it kind of... cooks into the cream?

stop calling me shirrley

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sausage-and-mushroom-penne-gratin-350637

rn I am eating this rich as fuuuuuck sausage & mushroom penne gratin.

Go ahead, indulge. You deserve it.

s'posed to serve w/ a side salad but it got too hectic making it so i am just eating it plain, v unhealthy, dngaf

Staying on Lake Superior with my mother in law and her husband who are both avid outdoorsy types who are happy to surrender their kitchen to me - I grilled a bunch of elk steaks with a couple of herbed butters last night and sautéed up a mess of salmon fillets with a tomato / olive relish tonight from the cohos they caught while I was still sleeping this morning.

Too hot for hot foods, so I made a cold rice/asparagus/cucumber salad that is hitting the spot today.

been making wheat berry salads for the heat + watermelon gazpacho <3