what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

rfi: what is yr favorite way to prepare fennel?
preferably side dish but i'll take all comers

one place i worked at useda make a potato, fennel and leek gratin that was nice. other ideas: superthin sliced and put in a salad is great, too. or "melted", cooked slowly in olive oil with onions and garlic to get it really soft and borderline carmelised could be a nice side?

fennel is nice roasted

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/02/vegan-ramen-miso-creamy-vegan-vegetarian-food-lab-recipe.html

going to cook this at the weekend

I like fennel raw in salads, sautéed with leeks & green beans, roasted & carved up with a piece of meat or fish

Jim: it's good. Double and freeze, for all the effort.

thanks everyone! pretty new to fennel. i tried braising it in stock & vermouth last night & it turned out delicious, keen to try some of these recommendations

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/02/vegan-ramen-miso-creamy-vegan-vegetarian-food-lab-recipe.html

going to cook this at the weekend

― Islamic State of Mind (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, January 10, 2017 5:28 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh man i've been wanting to try that but its daunting --- soda, you've done it? how long did it take?

i like fennel here are some things

fen risotto, maybe w/ salami
fen & chickpea broth w/ lemon zest and chilli
fen & potato soup
baked fen in like a puttanesca sauce w/ orange zest and feta
roast pork w fen (add fen seeds to pork herb rub too)
any bit of wite fish w/ fen, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest, capers etc

pernod good to have around just for fen

also if u ever want to parboil fen for anything do it in milk, or mostly milk, and keep for mash potato or gratin later

I don't like fennel because it is anise-y. I feel like I need to broaden my horizons tho w/r/t winter vegetables, I can't only eat potatoes all year, and I love kale but let's be honest it's not in season in February.

A friend is coming over on Sat bc she wants advice on cooking large hunks of meat. Considering a pot roast alongside a rolled stuffed pork loin -- one easy, one complicated.

try parsnips! one of our favorite winter things is just roasted winter veggies (beets, onions, carrots, garlic, parsnips, turnips, potatoes) mixed up with some olive oil, rosemary, and a bit of sausage, cover and bake.

best way to enjoy fennel is to throw it in the damn garbage bcz it tastes like licorice and it is GROSS

I made a great pork dish with star anise the other night and the first time I made it I used like one star anise (recipe says 5) because I hate licorice but actually it's so subtle it's really good so I always use 5 now

THANK U STEVIE YOU <---> ME = SAME TEAM

anise and fennel are wonderful flavors

that said i have bought fennel bulbs in the past and they have rotted in my fridge bc i couldn't decide what to do with them fast enough :/

tbh I wish I didnt' loathe anise/fennel bcz it wd make things a lot easier but welp here we are, what can ya do

parsnips are the devil fyi

hmph

parsnips are fine, they're sweet and a lil weird but they're fine

quickest way to ruin a soup imo

THE DEVIL

parsnips are good caramelized together with other vegetables as the base for a winter soup stock, they contribute a lot of complexity and are similar to carrots w/ their sweetness. im not a fan of plain parsnips though

for burly winter root vegetables i prefer celeriac

I stand with VG.

Honey roast parsnips are my secret ingredient in a veggie soup

monsters, all of u

mushroom pizza that has a bunch of rehydrated porcinis sauteed with a load of criminis and garlic, on top of fontina, carmelized onions with rosemary playing the role of sauce on some bland-o plain white dough i made

haven't had farinata in years, might attempt this recipe for saturday lunch http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/how-to-make-farinata-italian-chickpea-pancake.html

we had my brother and his family over for dinner the other night. they love cooking indian and so do we, so we made a huge feast. i haven't cooked this much food in a while:

masoor dal
benghali green beans and potatoes
tomato sambal
summer squash w/ mustard seeds
saag tofu

All the way at the other end of the vegetarian-omnivore spectrum, I'm making beef stock today.

I agree with VG that parsnips would not work well in any soup I know about, but they roast well and were quite acceptable in a beef and peanut stew recipe my wife made just a few days ago.

I really like roasted parsnips but they are such a damn awkward shape--the top fat part and the itty bitty skinny end make it diffcult to get evenly-roasting pieces.

had some oddly delicious parsnip cake last winter

I'm out. Can't take this parsnip thread. Too triggering.

I had a couple of ideas for pesto variations yesterday — roasted peanuts instead of pine nuts, and mustard greens instead of basil. I got some mediocre mustard this morning and tried that one out -- pretty good, but it needs fresher, more-peppery greens.

my co-worker's ex-husband hunted a deer and gave her a bunch of venison she couldn't use and i'm the leading consumer of meats in the office so i got some and made venison/pork chili and it's the best

niiice

My father in law used to give us venison and it was always good in chili. I don't really like chili tbh but it was ok.

i impulse bought a frozen rack of venison back around the holidays and still need to do something with it

just recently realized how freaking awesome delicata squash is. it's my new kabocha (eg fave winter squarsh). thinkin' of stuffing a couple a la http://beardandbonnet.com/delicata-squash-burrito-bowls/

Venison is awesome with mole. You're welcome.

delicata is great xp, i like it too because you don't have to peel it and it cooks faster than other winter squash

I'm also a fan of delicata. And venison! Had a discussion with a rabbi about kosher venison, which is a thing but v. v. expensive.

yeah delicata is like the french fries of squash in a good way

steely dan of squash even?
ended up making a Killer kale salad -- dino kale sliced v thinly, rubbed with salt and mashed roasted garlic, added some lemon juice and olive oil. threw in some quinoa/amaranth that i'd cooked together mixed it together and plated. topped with 1/2" slices delicata that had cumin and smoked paprika rubbed into the inside (automatic salt and pepper all around, natch) and dressed the top of salad with a simple but yum tahini/apple cider dressing. salad loving housemate was in heaven.

i have some lamb mince - it looked nice at the butcher so i bought it. not sure what to do with it.

my thoughts:

shepherd's pie
mince and potatoes cooked separately not in pie

i mean, do any recipes use lamb mince without being some celtic stodgefest?

go greek imo

you could make meatballs! flavor them however you want (i like parsley, something spicy, onion, garlic, ginger, ??) and eat with rice & vegetable of your choice. or put I guess you could also put them in soup.

shepherds pie with garlicky sweet potato mash

Thanks everyone. I gotta avoid potatoes as a main ingredient and I really need to get in more leafy greens (except I hate bitter greens). If I’m adding spinach should I be blanching it instead of just blending it in raw? I didn’t think too hard about it but I guess cooking reduces the oxalates or whatever, which is probably preferable.

RE roasting - that’s my favorite way to cook: chop, toss in oil then bang in the oven and wait. My minimal soup research before this said that roasting was a great base for soups. I roasted a whole head of garlic and a whole medium onion (along with the other veg) thinking that would really up the flavors, but both soups were seriously the most blah soups I’ve ever made.

I like being able to blast it in the blender because then I can add beans or lentils, which I normally can’t deal with the texture of.

kind of crazy your soups are bland with an entire head of garlic in them though

― Tracer Hand

I’m roasting it so maybe that’s why it’s not adding enough punch?

Kabocha is by far my favorite squash/pumpkin but I don’t cook it often because it’s so hard to cut. During my soup research I discovered you just microwave it for like 2-3mins and then it’s super easy.

I do think the key is getting some pan browning going on your mirepoix or whatever yr base is, like frying the curry paste etc, then going to the blender

Kabocha is by far my favorite squash/pumpkin but I don’t cook it often because it’s so hard to cut. During my soup research I discovered you just microwave it for like 2-3mins and then it’s super easy.

― just1n3, Saturday, October 21, 2023 12:06 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Best method for cooking winter squashes like butternut for soups is cut in half lengthwise, place cut side down in a rimmed baking dish, pour about 2 cups of water in the baking dish (the water should be about a quarter or a third of the way up the side of the squash), and bake in the oven at 350F for 45 minutes. Take it out, flip over or remove the squash to cool, then you can remove the roasted flesh from the skin with a spoon. You won't even need to puree it.

My favourite is a curried parsnip, lentil and apple
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/curried-lentil-parsnip-apple-soup

I do it in the slow cooker but you can also just simmer for 30 mins. You gotta have the yogurt, cilantro etc with it!

kind of crazy your soups are bland with an entire head of garlic in them though

― Tracer Hand

I’m roasting it so maybe that’s why it’s not adding enough punch?

I made a pasta sauce that had loads of roasted garlic in it and it was still not very garlicky. Disappointing - need to find the perfect amount because roasted garlic is so nice.

I don't know if there are nutritive or even taste reasons for blanching, but I never do it because it's an extra step for what I think is just an aesthetic thing (it makes the spinach look brighter green).

started off making a basic ragu today and fancied some heat so threw some chilli flakes and green/red chillies in there. Added some bacon because why not. Added some lentils for that nice texture. Added some capers and olives then some fresh basil/parsley. It was haphazard make it up as you go along cooking that was sort of like puttanesca but I didn't have anchovies, but it worked out beautifully.

Restaurants blanch to help expedite servuce ime
Xpost

hi dere I now have 91 lbs of pig parts in the chest freezer

I thawed out a pound of the bacon but it's a lot to sort through. anyone have thoughts on how long I can just leave it in butcher paper vs bagging it all in freezer/storage bags?

so much ham

Is any of it smoked? Bag it in a hurry if so or everything in your freezer may be smoked soon.

thank you - the hock is def smoked

My father raised a hog for butchering around '79-80, whoever smoked it OVERsmoked it, plus zipper seal bags and vacuum sealers didn't exist back then iirc, and we wound up tossing a huge amt of food.

Actually I think Ziploc bags were around but my parents didn't bother, which was a bad choice.

If it's wrapped in plastic under the butcher paper, you're good to chuck it straight in the freezer.

it is!

I bagged some of the unique ones, the back rib/tenderloin/bacon end stuff

helloooo big bags of fat and bones

https://peaktoplate.com/pork-lard/

Oh heck yeah. I render mine in a low oven instead of using the stove - less chance of burning/scorching imo. I also make ghee that way.

yeah I'm gonna use the crockpot!

t/s chest vs upright freezers

chest for me

it's basically convenience (upright) vs efficiency (chest), I went w/the latter

Hmmm yeah I've heard uprights will essentially 'dump' cold air when you open them but the convenience seems pretty great

chest freezers try to increase their convenience by adding various racks and 'baskets', but efficiency is their whole reason for existing. when you calculate the decrease in electrical consumption over the life of the unit it becomes a very good reason.

i got a chest freezer last fall, no regrets. i just get anxious about tracking whatever is in it but that's what spreadsheets are for.

ha I had not considered that re: the pig above, but I should!

Due to limited square footage, I went with an upright freezer. Thanks to spreadsheet contents tracking, it gets opened once every week or two and I move the packages for the next set of meals to the fridge freezer. It holds 1/2 a pig and over 1/8th of a cow, 6 chickens and an assortment of Costco sausage packages.

Does queso cotija taste bitter to anyone else? I kind of ruined a chili I made yesterday by grating a block into it, I probably need to sweeten it to make it more palatable.

for me, cotija is sweet and umami similar to parmesan. like parmesan, I try to stay away from any strangely soft versions.

I only buy the Nuestro Queso version at TJs

This is barely cooking, but sourdough toast with lots of butter and salt and pickled watermelon radish is such a satisfying breakfast.

Spring makes me want to eat all the radishes