what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

i finally unpacked my cookbooks after they were in attic storage for a year and it is so much more enjoyable browsing through them rather than food blogs and cooking websites

What is the conventional ilxwisdom regarding preparing corn tortillas for enchiladas? Warm in dry pan? Warm over open flame? Quick dip in hot oil? Dip in sauce before rolling?

Enchiladas are a pain in the ass to make imo.

cheap fresh tortillas from masa harina, dip in sauce, and quick fry in oil on skillet imo

it'd probably also work well making from better store bought masa. I just think fresh is best for avoiding tears, and a tortilla fancier than maseca probably won't make much difference in enchiladas.

Dip before fry??? I assumed it was fry then dip.

yeah, i see that in recipes as well. my father-in-law has been making them for decades, and he dips in sauce before frying. it makes the skillet pretty messy.

we also do not bake them, though. it looks like this may be a difference in assembly between enchiladas and enchiladas suizas

i hate handling slimy sauced tortillas so i just make layered enchilada casserole now #lazy

the method described in beloved ilx favorite the border cookbook is to heat 1/2" to 1" of oil in a small skillet till hot. dip the tortillas in until they go limp (happens almost immediately ime), then sauce them, fill them, and roll them.

this has worked great for me so far.

fry then dip imo

border cookbook is so great, could be my favorite cookbook tbh

In Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen, he has recipes where he warms up the tortillas and then spoons sauce over, and then he has the "..."other" style of enchilada preparation: a cold tortilla is dipped in a robust red chile sauce, then seared quickly on an oiled surface. One taste and you'll understand why they're a favorite street food."

So I guess the dip-cold-and-fry method may be the street food style that is usually done with red sauce?

taking that book out led to creamy beet greens, potatoes, and poblano tacos, as it usually does

that pepper-infusion cacio e pepe method i reposted a little while ago worked pretty well. gradually building the sauce with pepper water and pasta water before adding the pasta seemed to prevent any major clumping. i will say that i would add pepper to finish much more aggressively than the recipe implies--the infusion is a nice backbone but it doesn't really kick your ass with black pepper like i want.

obv much better than any oil/butter method.

I don't understand the "keep the sauce warm, but not over direct heat." part. Does that imply that you should turn on your oven?

honestly i didn't really do that part except for adding small amounts of warm pasta water until i was happy with the consistency

xp double boiler I assume?

double boilers technically are direct (conductive) heat, their max temp is just limited to the 100C

i usually take "keep warm but not over direct heat" to mean "put it in the oven" (convective) or just keep it close to something that's hot (radiant)

maybe directly heat a pot of water on adjacent burner?

I would also normally put something in a low oven to "keep it warm". anyway cad skipped it and lived, so we are good.

i have an induction range so radiant heat isn't really around, also the oven was in use roasting some asparagus. could've used the warming drawer i guess but it did work out ok.

btw if you want to skip the pasta-making portion technique i just subbed the 150g of pasta the recipe makes for 5 oz. of dry pasta and the proportions seemed totally reasonable.

thanks, gonna try this one.

was in the mood for soup a couple days ago when it was cooler and dreary outside. just getting around to making but i like the look of this recipe (w cumin and cinnamon for a soup sounded nice and warming) https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017980-mushroom-spinach-soup-with-cinnamon-coriander-and-cumin?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_ck_20170916&nl=cooking&nlid=73417899

made the popular NYT red lentil soup 2 days ago and it was perfect for the cooler, breezy afternoon yesterday. this one looks good to maybe try next. also pre-ordered that Soup Bible book somebody recommended in other thread. been making/freezing lots of stock. bring on the soup!

tomato jam seems to be very popular rn. a very fancy (overpriced) bakery is selling biscuit, egg, cheese, and tomato jam sandwiches for $8, which is insane. But I've been making my own tomato jam and putting it on nearly every sandwich I eat. Really gives them a "this is a fancy and expensive sandwich" feel.

Tomato jam a staple at my regular, too. Surprised by how sweet it is!

haven't baked any cookies in a few years iirc. saw this neat looking recipe where the pans get shaken while baking to create textural dynamics. they're in the oven now and are gonna rule. subbed guajillo chile mexican chocolate and reduced the amount of sugar in the batter by a fair bit to balance

that's cool!

I was a pastry chef for years so I burned out on a lot of that, but I still make cookies. Mostly chocolate chip, sometimes oatmeal raisin or holiday varieties when appropriate. I prefer the melted butter version, wife prefers whipped, we split the difference.

how often do you shake them?

i've been making chocolate chip cookies lately w/ dorie greenspan recipe and they are the bomb dot com. haven't tried a cookie with melted butter yet.

I'm tired of tomato jam already

I'm turning into a flatbread pizza badass these days, so many good ready-made crusts available

i ended up shaking them a couple times after first putting them in for ten minutes. they don't look like the pic, but i bet they're deece. they look nice!
https://scontent-dft4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/22289782_10214411195535333_7459497610865515378_o.jpg?oh=87796497b4e7e28bdcd8fbfc7e4e7a33&oe=5A430827

don't think i've ever done cookies w melted butter but my fave brownie recipe uses that. mmmm oatmeal is the deal! xxpost

mmm y'all choc chip cookies w/melted butter are the best, more caramelized and chewy, flatter and kinda translucent

melt 1 stick butter
whisk with 1/2C white and 1/2C brown sugar
add 1 tsp vanilla, 1 egg
sift 1C plus 2T AP flour with 1 tsp soda and 1/2 tsp salt
add at least 1/2C chips, or more to taste

bake 10-12 mins at 350

I usually put the dough in the fridge for a few minutes to set up, the heat of the butter can make the batter a bit loose right out of the bowl

gonna try these imo

help i impulse-bought some spanish (cured) chorizo what shd i do w it?

soup!

Fry up with taters!

Cook up with mussels or clams!

Something like this, super good, really easy:

potato and chorizo stew

I also love it with fried eggs, and it’s been a long time but I used to frequently make sort of a chickpea and chorizo in saffron broth almost-soup with sautéed cod and garlic and smoked paprika butter plopped on top to melt at the end.

oh that sounds delicious

ignore the spanish and put it in paella. it's v good in red lentil soups though

this is cooking at château d'harbl tomorrow http://www.italianfoodforever.com/2013/03/slow-cooker-rabbit-ragu-for-pasta/

chez harbl must smell amazing today!

i had bad experiences with rabbit as a kid but i wish u all the best harb

WELL the rabbit guy didn't bring rabbits to the farmers' market because it was raining. not sure what that has to do with rabbits except maybe just expecting fewer customers. he was sorry. i made it with half ground beef half sausage instead. it does smell good.

I fired up the slow cooker and did a sort of beef bourgignon which was surprisingly good. Past few Sundays I've been making myself cook double so I don't need to cook on Mondays and it's been a brilliant idea.

I am midway through a slow cooker bouillabaisse with turkey thighs and tons of Pernod.

I made a seafood risotto with swordfish and it was my best yet