Cooking

no but here's a non-slowcooker carnitas recipe

https://www.homesicktexan.com/2008/07/carnitas-houston-style.html

NB cannot account for why the author chose to illustrate this recipe with weird close ups of the food

xpost TJ's has a lot of prepared stuff but it was really the only grocery store I went to (besides a local veg/fruit stand) and I eat pretty healthy. They have an easy selection of vegetables, things I like: shishito peppers, avocados, brussell sprouts, haricots verts, persian cucumbers, and the bags of baby spinach and broccoli florets made making salads easy, sizes were perfect for one week. I always kept almonds from there in my desk too. Oh and they have pretty good hummus/guac/pesto/ types of things. Nothing ever really goes bad for me but I always try to keep my overhead super low so I pointedly try not to waste food. I will juice everything in the fridge before that happens.

Oh man, I do not look at the serving size at TJ's. If it comes in one container it's for one person.

Also I like cooking for one person. I find I eat a lot better because I don't have to alter things, change things up for other tastes or feel compelled to make something taste better by adding more oil or salt. So like if treeish is trying to eat better, it's easier to only be concerned with yourself.

TJ's veggie selection is actually something that I tend to avoid! In some cases it's portion size (those zucchinis(?) are way comically enormous, I will never make anything with however many celery stalks as they come in), but also because I'm trying to reduce the amount of packaging waste from stuff I buy (which is where the unpackaged produce of my coop comes in).

Yeah the packaging is ridiculous. Although at least it's mostly bags rather than clamshells. I only see those tiny/baby zucchinis? But I also typically cook all my veg at once and then snack on them through the week or use it for salads/toppings.

Maybe I'm the one due the Japanese knife accusations. I really like $40 ceramic chefs knives, and you would too if you get angry that you can't seem to cleanly slice tomatoes with conventional knives after a month's use. At least I'm not pushing $200 knives like Alton Brown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a783vEF2yYA

this isn't the smoothest presentation on seasoning a wok, but he knows what he's talking about.

Holy shit, just did an egg fried rice/minced beef/ stir fry concoction on my seasoned carbon steel wok and the fucker passed the non-stick test with flying colours 🍳🍳🍳🍳🍳. I'm now a believer, and I had some moments of doubt last night when the smoke kept setting off alarms, I was thinking I might be losing my marbles.

I made a vegetarian white sauce lasagna with cremini mushrooms, but the sauce ended up being gray. I've used this recipe before, though this time I used unsweetened almond milk (I probably used whole milk previously) and flour to make the sauce. Could that be why it turned out gray? It tastes fine, so I'm asking mostly out of aesthetic curiosity.

Yep. Some brands of non-dairy milk add yellow coloring, like annatto, to give a buttery hue.

Personally, I just avoid most prepared non-dairy milks for cooking, as I can taste the calcium carbonate (chalk) that many use for calcium when warmed. Anyway, soaking raw cashews in water, then blending, makes for a perfectly fine substitute for creamy soups. As does blending unsalted almond butter with water.

can you explain what you mean by "use for calcium when warmed", Sanpaku? idgi

one of the reasons i love trader joe's unsweetened plain soymilk so much is that it's just water and soybeans.

It's missing a comma, I read it as: "when warmed, I can taste the calcium carbonate (chalk) that many [brands use to fortify with calcium]."

I've been making my own tofu recently and sometimes its hard to get past the soy milk stage, fresh warm soy milk is so delicious. The left over bean meal is a great addition to potato salad too.

This is like when I always get a jolt when my garlic turns blue because of the vinegar I added.

I can't leave my copyeditor hat off: "when the milk substitute is warmed, I can taste the calcium carbonate (chalk) that many [brands use to fortify with calcium]."

i felt like a ninny. but i kept reading that, knowing the calcium carbonate is a ionic compound so dissociates in liquid and the calcium doesn't require heat to be reactive, and missed the point.

Google: my boyfriend thinks my bolognese is unimpressive please help me

would it help to add a splash of acidity? what's the deficiency, or is your boyfriend inarticulate about food?

How is there not a show about couple cooking difficulties? I would love to be the asshole on that show giving f'd up advice.

xxp
go for the Antonio Carluccio trad bolog recipe, which doesn't use garlic or herbs and is just a nice simple beef, onions, carrots, celery, wine, tomato puree, butter and pasta type deal iirc.

https://antonio-carluccio.co.uk/recipes/tagliatelle-al-ragu-bolognese/

if in doubt, add MSG

I really like the Robert Sinskey recipe, which uses bone-in cuts, equal parts homemade stock/wine/milk, and a long cooking time. The secret is orange peel, which gives it a slightly exotic flavor.

http://www.robertsinskey.com/kitchen/recipe/bolognese-authentic-style

I think the 1 1/2 hour simmer is one of the most important steps, but ppl don't always have time to do this. I tend to avoid diced pancetta because I blame it for making me ill once - probably need to give it another try - cos bacon isn't a proper substitute and there aren't any fancy delis that sell the quality stuff you see italian chefs using in my neck of the woods.

Milk in a bolognese sauce is a secret I picked up on Facebook (from an ILXOR actually) a while ago that definitely works.

I've used cream before, but never milk.

The milk works because you don't actually want a creamy sauce, but the milk still gives the sauce some body.

I used to do a very long, like 2 hour simmer, with first drying out the meat then doing a milk evaporation process, then a wine evaporation process, and then adding the tomato element and some anchovies somewhere at the end. It's a lot.

I like the tomato-less bolognese that someone tried to convince me was the most legit, just pure beef goo

I made an oxtail ragu this winter that was basically just oxtail, onion, tomato, stock, and wine and cooked for 5 hours. It was incredible.

I love the idea of ancient and very simple recipes. Was listening to this Indian master chef on BBC WS the other week and he was waxing lyrical about the simple pleasures of cooking - talking about throwing loads of onions into the pan and frying them with loads of garam masala and taking pleasure in this simple act. and i could smell those frying onions.

We're vulgar people, but in my house the answer is always more garlic, more acid, more heat, and more salt.

Calz, is there a Booths near you for pancetta and other posh bits?

nah only 3 branches in Yorkshire + in distant places like Settle and Ilkley by tat!

how are there only 3 booths in yorkshire

My friend from high school (American but so embedded she’s got an English accent unless yelling at her kids/husband) is the PR for Booths - food retailers do a press event called Christmas in July where they serve journos and editors their holiday range far ahead because of lead times. I went to Booths’ one last summer and it was insane/amazing/more expensive than Waitrose.

they are all mostly in Lancashire, unless I'm looking at the wrong Booths. but of course most people in Yorkshire just need an Iceland and will be fully understood when they walk into one and say "fugging chips"!

No, that’s right (lots in the Lake District too), but I keep suggesting to J that they should do an Xmas pop-up in Kings Cross/St Pancras...

I like the tomato-less bolognese that someone tried to convince me was the most legit, just pure beef goo

― ogmor, Wednesday, May 8, 2019 2:55 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I know this is bolognese cannon, that it's not as tomatoey as people think from Americanized versions which are basically just red sauce with ground beef added, that in fact it's still bolog with NO tomato. But I like a healthy thumblength of tomato paste for umami and tang.

I'm not against a little puree but I like the pure umami tangless verzh & I think making it is instructive bc it forces you to get the beef right

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/08/classic-elizabeth-david-recipes

I used to like this Elizabeth David recipe, havent had it in years tho as I no longer eat meat. I wouldn't use the liver

As someone who makes a lot of Korean food, this is the best method for getting garlic peeled!
👌 pic.twitter.com/14GGJDQhRj

— 𝖛𝖆𝖑𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖆 ✣ 𝖑𝖔𝖗𝖉 🌑 (@VPestilenZ) June 17, 2019

nice technique.

Gonna try this tonight, will probably lose a finger in the process

i can't tell exactly what tool she's using where you can safely choke up on a sharp blade like that?

I still crush the bulb in my hand and then chop a thin slice off the top and bottom of each clove and awkwardly peel. But will try this at some point, preferably when sober!

Buzzfeed tried this method with three different heads of garlic (tightly packed, loose etc.) They had mixed results. I probably wouldn't do a whole head at once, worried about drying out the insides.

I do use the two mixing bowls or tupperware/shake method but sometimes it's just too loud.

I still crush the bulb in my hand and then chop a thin slice off the top and bottom of each clove and awkwardly peel.

This is how I do it, too. I'll try the above method but in all honesty can't see myself pulling it off.