what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

can you bake in it?

Oh yeah, baking works great, also roasting and all the usual oven-y things. I'm still working out how much faster it roasts with the convection going, it's a work in progress.

one thing you may want to try is adjusting temperature, not time. i usually go 25 degrees cooler with convection and plan for roughly the same time suggested.

Oh that sounds like a great approach, will do that tonight.

my regular oven has a convection setting but i've literally never used it and don't know what it's for lol

it also has random other stuff like '3D convection' 'pizza' etc. i use none of them.

Convection will allow you to cook at lower temp but will dry out food surfaces that aren't covered.

pizza setting makes everything pizza iirc, go nuts with that one

holy shit

My understanding of air fryers is that you can make your oven or toaster oven do the same thing by elevating the food off a tray and onto a rack so the air can move around it?? My oven is old, not convection, and the heat goes off and on so I haven’t used it for years. Our toaster oven has a “turbo” setting, no idea if that means convection though.

It might be like the turbo button computers used to have that either did nothing or made them go slower!

If there is no actual fan moving the air around inside the oven, the only convection currents will be near the walls unfortunately and the food will still rely on conduction and radiant to heat.

Duh why didn’t I think of that? I’m almost positive there’s no fan in there

Why is tomato paste in a tube suddenly so hard to find? I've gone to half a dozen supermarkets this past week and even the ones that used to carry it don't anymore.

because they want you to suffer through scooping out the contents of dumb tiny cans & freezing the lumps or just forgeting the half used can in the back of the fridge bc god forbid we ever have convenient packaging

aren't the tubes generally more concentrated than the canned stuff?

i dont think so?

usually the tubes are sold as "double concentrated" but what does that really mean tbh

i always use the same amt lol

Double concentrated tomato paste in a tube is meant to be used in small amounts, when cooking or substituting for canned paste. Cento Double Concentrated Tomato Paste in a Tube has a more robust flavorful taste than our other canned tomato pastes. When substituting for a recipe that calls for traditional canned paste, follow a 1:1 or equal parts substitution. Double concentrated tomato paste provides a more robust flavor than that of traditional tomato paste.

lol it's all contradictions

used "in small amounts," i.e. the same amount

it all tastes the same imo
its not like ppl spread it on toast lol

yeah it's pretty meaningless afaict. the tube is just easier to store.

i enjoy opening a fresh tube with the pokey thing on the cap

yes!

it all tastes the same imo
its not like ppl spread it on toast lol

― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, April 22, 2022 8:01 PM (fifty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

My swedish friend does this with what looks like tomato paste tubes with added reindeer meat. And the toast is more like a seed covered cracker.

listen

and the cracker is more like a steak, but

sounds good to me tbh

i enjoy opening a fresh tube with the pokey thing on the cap

― towards fungal computer (harbl), Friday, April 22, 2022 11:06 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

things you were shockingly old when you learned

you weren't "today years old" were you ;_;

No, but I was probably in my 40s!

and the cracker is more like a steak, but

― Tracer Hand, Saturday, April 23, 2022 2:07 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

"toast" leaves room for interpretation. Could be covered in cinnamon and milk in a bowl. Melba toasts have cracker DNA. But I understand my post was a tangent.I am going to refocus, double concentrate. Much less of that from me now -- only the exact same amount as before.

be that as it may i’m sensing a noticeably more robust tone in your posts sufjan

i've been making large pots of turkey white bean chili to subsist on for the past few weeks.

my issue with turkey white bean chili is that it always somehow comes out a little bland no matter how much of the usual "make it flavorful" stuff i add into it.

so i literally googled "how do you make turkey white bean chili not bland" and someone suggested soy sauce or worcestershire sauce.

not having any of those, i opted for fish sauce, in the neighborhood of 1 tbsp maybe a little more. i hesitated before i did this.

folks, it is delicious. everything that was blurred and blanded together is now in perfect alignment. worth doing if you're making chili and you need umami.

Bold move, map

I’ve been making this vegan bowl regularly. My husb was ordering a ridiculously priced salad from a bougie health and wellness restaurant so I decided to try copying it:

Wild rice mix (I just use the frozen bags from Trader Joe’s)
Roasted shredded cabbage
Sauerkraut (since it already has cabbage, some other kind of fermented or pickled veg would be better)
Diced avocado
Pan fried tofu (Hodo brand is the absolute best)
Crushed honey roasted peanuts (some kind of sweet roasted cashews would be better)
Chimichurri sauce from Trader Joe’s
Lil splash of balsamic vinaigrette

ooh sounds good i might try that out

seconding Hodo being godheadlike. i like the bowl idea, too

I find that impossible meat substitute is pretty good. Now that my kids are vegetarian I’ve been wanting to try it in some of my older recipes. If only there was an impossible turkey

So I made this bean salad to go along side roasted Japanese sweet potatoes, quinoa and pan fried tofu and apart from the beans it was delicious (I don’t really like beans unless they’re in Mexican food):

2 cans black beans
Zest and juice of one lime
1 grated clove of garlic
1tsp ground ginger powder
4 tsp maple syrup
2 tbsp soy sauce
Half a cup of minced parsley and basil (original recipe used cilantro instead)
5 tsp toasted sesame oil
1-2 diced avocados

Original recipe used twice as much garlic and also chili oil (I don’t enjoy chili).

Since I didn’t like the beans I’m trying to figure what else I could use the rest of the recipe with.

Forgot to add: mix and then salt to your liking

That looks amazing

Justine, are you trying to keep it vegetarian/vegan? In which case, a non-bean protein source like lentils or mushrooms? And I think maybe some eggplant could work too.

Yeah trying to keep it vegan.

It might be too wet for this but I’m thinking of using it like a salsa over taco lentils in a tortilla with some romaine.

add some more soy sauce

I’m trying to get back into cooking again now that I have a way nicer kitchen. This recipe was from a meal kit box years ago - it didn’t have complete measurements so some of this is just my guesses, but it tastes really good and is super fast and easy.

Creamy mushroom pasta:
Get half a pound of penne or similar pasta boiling. About 5mins before it’s done, add a couple tbsp of sundried tomatoes to the pot.

Get a couple of tbsp of oil heating in a large pan. Add a punnet (like 8oz I guess) of mushrooms (my fav is shiitake but reg ones are fine. I don’t like the texture of sliced mushrooms so I dice mine) and sauté till golden (5mins).
Add half a diced onion and a big handful of frozen peas. Sauté till onion is translucent (5mins).
Add 1/2 c coconut cream, 1/4 c pasta water, about a cup of mushroom stock concentrate (I didn’t have any last time so I just used water and like a a tsp of umami seasoning), a pinch of Italian seasoning and 2 tbsp of any kind of parm (I use the cheap shelf stable powder). Stir and let thicken them take off heat and toss in pasta and sun dried tomatoes.

I made shredded and roasted Brussels last time and dumped them on top and it was a great match.

I sometimes add a dash of Braggs at the end just to pump up the umami even more.

I've got my first ever microwave oven arriving tomorrow. If there is another heatwave this summer I'm only using the instant pot or the microwave. And also cooking becomes absolutely exhausting at times. It can be a really stimulating activity when you are learning new tricks and recipes, but doing it routinely for years without a break it becomes like too much work. Perhaps ultra-processed dross in plastic boxes is a necessary evil that I'm going to have to get into for a bit.

I never had a microwave until a couple years ago. Use it pretty regularly to heat rice/grains/soups/etc. Also think it's perfectly acceptable for steaming veg.
Have fun with it!

I've not really got into anything other than warming up chicken chow mein ready meals yet. It's quite liberating having the option of taking a day or two off cooking and just warming up some ultra processed food in a carton, which has actually turned out to be much more substantial and decent than I was expecting.

just made some rice in a microwave steamer pot. It wasn't really any quicker but an easier washing up job and creates less heat and gas is so expensive. So yeah that's one thing I'm into now.

Those microwave rice steamers changed my life. So much easier and zero guesswork.