what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

I really love porcinis but I don't think they are a necessity. I actually prefer them dried because of the texture. I love all mushrooms.

if you made a pasta recipe that had them out in front, do you know what you'd sub for them? or would you use rehydrated ones?

Is it like a butter, sage sauce? I would use regular baby portabello/cremini and see if they have one of those porcini mushroom powder/graters which might be more available. If you like shiitake that might work too. I would probably add all of them.

yeah, i'd use other mushrooms and a bit of rehydrated porcini to get some of that flavor into the butter

sound like good ideas, thanks!

We, and by "we" I mean I chose a ridiculously complicated recipe and my boyfriend actually carried it out, made posole on Sunday and it is B.O.M.B. I got guajillo, costeno, and arbol chilies for the base and we used a 3lb pork shoulder for the meat.

Incredible.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/posole-rojo

so many good things in life start with 3 pounds of pork shoulder

did you use the spareribs as well? curious if having both cuts of pork in there is meaningful. i guess you'd get some collagen and stuff from simmering the bones.

We didn't--the shoulder seemed like enough and it's delicious tbh so I wouldn't bother.

cool, thanks. the ribs seem like overkill esp. where i'd almost certainly be halving the recipe.

I guess it could have used more gelatin/collagen but tbh there's so much flavor from the chilies and the shoulder that it doesn't seem like anything is missing.

The quantity is enormous (5 qts iirc of liquid plus all the solid volume!) but it also takes like 5 hours to make so it hardly seems worthwhile for less??

That looks really really good.

could probably just add some powdered gelatin during simmering to fake it.

seems like i'd get 6 servings or so out of a half recipe which is probably all we'd need before we were sick of eating posole or needed the freezer space. maybe i'd make the whole thing if we had some guests.

I made something similar to that this weekend but with just pork shoulder, and 6 pounds of it. The vast majority was destined for the freezer from the start.

Pork shoulder is fast becoming my favourite thing to slow cook

This isn't particularly a slow-cooker recipe per se, and I've probably posted it before, but it's fairly simple but really nice with some rice, possibly one of my favourite dishes (I say that about most meals though)

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4679/asian-aubergine-and-pork-hotpot

coriander = cilantro

https://blog.workman.com/2017/12/raw-winter-squash-with-brown-butter-pecans-and-currants/

Made this tonight and hoooooly shit was it good. Maybe the highest goodness-to-simpleness ratio I've come across. You only need to know how to brown butter, toast pecans, and use a vegetable peeler.

xp that pork recipe looks like a good one, and I am always searching for good recipes that use some of the huge bag of star anise I foolishly purchased.

xp big fan of that six seasons cookbook

do you have any favorites from it? I liked the cabbage soup and late season potato recipes as well. Would like to pick it up for spring and be agressively seasonal.

aggressively g-sonal as well

emphasizing seasonal foods is always a nice approach, especially if you have a bunch of favorite recipes that fit the different seasons well, so that, for example, when spring rolls around you can break out four or five lovely recipes you haven't eaten for nine or ten months. I look forward to October for this very reason, even though it heralds the approach of winter and darkness.

Have you ever eaten at Ava Gene's, Aimless?

Nope. tbh, I eat almost no meals out -- maybe once or twice a year, tops. But even more to the point, I have not even heard of Ava Gene's. I take it they specialize in seasonal menus?

yes, it is the portland restaurant of the chef who wrote the six seasons book. He is all about seasonal cooking. I've not been there, either.

It's true enough that Oregon offers just about the best variety of seasonal and local foods in the USA. We're still behind California, but not by much, especially when we can share in the best that Washington State produces, too.

Oregon seems like a good food state. Some of the worst produce I ever bought was at a grocery store in Visalia, CA that was surrounded by farm land. Maybe somewhere in between, like Arcata, is the place.

just realized that the kindle edition of the Six Seasons book is included with amazon prime. I though it was only kindle unlimited, which I cancelled after the trial period.

sufjan i cant remember any particular faves at the moment, i havent cooked from it for a while but i really went crazy when i got it at the beginning of last year. its consistently good.

i don't know humboldt county, but i have spent lots of time in chico and the produce at the saturday farmer's market is insane. some of the best oranges, carrots, potatoes i've had. plus amazing tomatoes and stone fruits, melons and berries. And LOADS of different types of winter squashes, and yes, sublime romanesco, late-summer corn. all kinds of asian ingredients on account of a large Hmong population. they have it all. much much nicer than the handful of sf and la markets i've been to
xpost

Sacramento farmer’s market is pretty awesome, produce-wise.

I'm trying to up my nut content, did a v delicious satay-ish/peanut butter curry stir fry last night, it was so good it felt like a breakthrough. also been scoffing a lot of gong bao chicken but haven't attempted that yet. any other hot saucy nutty favourites?

I think I've posted this here ad nauseum but I love this soup, posted ages ago by someone somewhere on ilx:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012581-west-african-peanut-soup-with-chicken

I like ground cashews replacing ricotta in lasagna, but I don't know the recipe (also can get expensive).

I use almond meal instead of bread crumbs to coat stuff.

cashew cream sauce for pasta. soak to soften. blend with a milk product in a ratio 2 parts cashew: 1 pt liquid. i also throw in some garlic (and salt, obvs). made this the other day and had some roasted jalapenos around so they went in the blender, too. was good!

i am making spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow. seriouseats says ina garten's recipe is the best. i also have marcella hazan's book. whole foods sent an email saying parmigiano reggiano is on sale tomorrow. what else do i need to know? thinking about doing beef and pork for the balls

lol my partner excitedly forwarded me that cheese sale email today. For meatballs, I think the best sauce recipes go in the super thick and roasty tomato sauce direction. https://troublewithtoast.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/recipe-oven-roasted-tomato-sauce/

might forget the pasta altogether and eat that with garlic bread, ricotta, and romaine, though.

season the beejesus out of 'em, and don't forget the panade? I dunno my meatballs never turn out as well as really really good meatballs I've had in restaurants.

What's cooking at my place: not much, as the kitchen reno has begun! Spouse and two cats and I moved into a 400 square foot studio. The kitchen(ette) is not bad but 1) where the fuck are all of these spices going to go and 2) how the fuck do I use these fancy ass miele appliances? The oven is a "speed oven" and the manual is like 300 pages long?

Congrats on new digs. Since I moved last summer and it was hot af at the time I just stuck my spices in fridge. They are still there and no worse off for it iirc.Am guessing that I am a big weirdo and this will not work for most.
Made a new-to-me vegan Mac n cheese last night that was awesome. Sauce had steamed cauliflower., Some roasted yam, miso, nooch cashews, a little unsweetened soymilk, turmeric, cayenne. Was a minor product but a big hit.

Product = production. Die automisspell, die!

Harbl do the scarpetta tomato sauce (unless you don't like spicy)! We are going a trader joes ravioli with kale, shallot and avocado sauce?thing tonight. Trying to use up some groceries.

congrats on new place. I love sorting stuff out in new places. it's like a top chef challenge.

Quincie, I settled on little magnetic tins from the Container Store for spice storage. They stick to the side of my fridge.

Something like this:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/localkitchenblog.com/2010/12/12/space-solutions-magnetic-spice-tins/amp/

My other space saving tip is doing most of my grocery shopping each night before cooking, This way I don’t have to find space to store too much stuff.

borscht is simmering. i don't know if i've ever even tasted björscht before but this looks/smells earthy and nice. sorta smashed together a few different recipes. weather has warmed up here quickly so looking forward to having nice cool spoonfuls later tonight and/or tomorrow. wish i had some sour cream to lay on it.

also made a tempeh baked in harissa/tahini marinade earlier that is a little zippy and something different (made it once before but didn't cover it while baking so it was dry and not that nice)

hake fillets wrapped in nutmegged leeks and steamed in wine its good

haven't tried any new recipes in ages. Except for a couple of slow cooker things which were so-so.

hi everyone I haven't cooked anything recently but I just want to say fuck ultra-pasteurized dairy products (as opposed to just plain regular pasteurized) and how they taste weird and cooked and almost cheesy