Cooking, cheap eats, recipes and more 2007

and don't mess up your stir fries by trying to add vinegar or something silly (though, i'll maybe allow rice vinegar)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/347982519_9ece185bd4.jpg?v=0

Also, check the new pot, it was an xmas gift, I love it.

If I was going to choose a new career, I'd be a pastry chef. Instead, I just work on making my friends fat with too many desserts. I made truffles yesterday, which are actually incredibly easy to make. Spiffy recipe:

1. heat some water in a double broiler
2. add some semi sweetened chocolate to the bowl part (I just buy baking semi sweetened chocolate, but you can use fancy stuff like sharfen berger for extra chocolateness)
3. melt the chocolate
4. mix in some heavy cream
5. optional, add some flavor like a liquor or caramel or whatever
6. remove from heat, let it cool a little bit
7. melt some more chocolate in a new bowl
8. get a big bowl of ice water, dunk your hands into it until your fingers are painfully cold
9. use a spoon to scoop out some chocolate & cream mixture (aka ganache), quickly roll it into a ball
10. roll it around in some cocoa powder (optional)
11. impale it on a fork, swirl through melted chocolate from step #7
12. plop on some wax paper
13. try to wait until it hardens to eat some

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/136/348462167_e8af0f7099.jpg

it is hip now, srsly, i bought it all cut up in a freakin celephane bag (was on sale!) instead of, y'know, normally existing kale. spinach is sooo out now btw.

Anyway, we smuggos who actually live near an ocean feast on kale every day. (Sorta.)

and now, you know, KALE

THE WAR CHANGED EVERYTHING.

i hear whisperings about rapini

The flowers are talking to you.

hahaha @ "Rapini is some Rapunzel shit"
but do you know that i'm pretty sure i knew that b/c of that show from the late 80s called "Fairy Tale Theatre"?
i have learned a lot from tv

also: edible flowers, kinda late-90s

;)

Was this from How To Cook Everything, by any chance? I love that book, and I love collard greens, but damned if I can tell the difference between the collard greens recipes in it.

i bought rosewater yesterday

It could well be (I've celebrated said book elsewhere) but in this case it was with the little thing I get with each food delivery.

raised-eyebrow w/ squinting eyes emoticon

Suspicion!

it is b/c ned RENTS

I have a feeling the apartment complex people might be concerned at the proneness of their renters to blow up gas stoves.

I must suffer, apparently. (Seriously, haven't you seen enough photos to know I'm not starving here?)

Ha, I didn't want to say it, but I kept thinking "Aw, it's so sad to see those delicious greens covered in tofu."

The perhaps weird thing is I'm not vegetarian. (But personally I'm all for eating more healthily as I can, and that's a good step -- I'd much rather make a good veg soup from scratch, for instance.)

"Aw, it's so sad to see those delicious greens covered in tofu."

I was actually going to eat them straight! The tofu was a last minute addition.

There's got to be some somewhere, I get billed for it each month!

Gas stoves cost a bit more up front than electric (as do gas dryers). And it's probably not the blowing up but the asphixiation potential that deters more apartment complex owners.

Ned, you are in a fantastic spot, and you've got room on your deck for a small hibachi to char your peppers (and your eggplants, for baba ganoush). Get one large cast iron skillet and you're set for your flatbread needs.

i bought fennel toothpaste! mint has been weirding me out lately

Good idea, actually. I might consider getting one in time for summer. (A heftier skillet than the solid enough one I currently have would be no bad thing.)

Do you have any suggestions?

For recipes? Oh heavens no, I've just got one myself and am learning!

hibachi!

Entirely possible. Mine was built in the 1980s (which I'm more than happy with in that I'd prefer something relatively more likely to be up to earthquake code to start with, for one).

Drawbacks - heavy as all-get-out, takes a bit of specialized care, not the best for long-cooked highly-acidic foods (but this just increased the maintenance needed, doesn't give bad cooking results).

Decided to ignore seasonality last night and made quite a summery dish ('though I had to cook the hell out of it to counteract this): garlic, onion, red (bell) pepper, eggplant, zucchini, couple of rock-hard tomatoes, all sauteed until mushy, then laid a couple of trout fillets on top to steam in the juices. Basil stirred in at the end (In London. In January.). Quite good, actually.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/349177946_f5934b08d3.jpg

It is, needless to say, brilliant. And thus my breakfast:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/349178242_8a7fa945c3.jpg

as for tofu, i like making sandwiches out of this http://theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/recipe.php?RecipeID=38

Yum! I'll have to give that a try!

Right. I thought maybe pancake batter, or maybe even chilli at a pinch, but I have to figure that what I actually have here is someone's bad idea of a decorative bottle of oil. I can only hope that the person who bought it for me didn't pay very much, because I fully intend to chuck it out. Space in our kitchen is at a premium.

I had a gift cert to a certain snooty kitchen store and instead of using it as a fraction of a giant stockpot or something, I blew it on food items. Namely these!

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/LimitedLiabilityGirl/Newcamera014.jpg http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/LimitedLiabilityGirl/Newcamera016.jpg

That's, like, nine month's worth of vanilla from Madagascar and Oregon hazelnuts. Next I'll probably start importing my granola from Trappist monks.

As for canola oil - don't know, but I've been in the habit lately of using this relatively cheap Smart Balance oil blend for the initial sauteeing and adding a little good olive oil later for flavor - I think the olive oil tastes better when it's exposed to less heat anyway. Could be pure superstition on my part though.

Also what about lunches, these are even worse as I used to have sandwiches and now it's nigh on impossible to know what to eat...what is wheat free bread like?

You can never go wrong with this option, I find.

1/2 pound pork sausage (I used hot, yum)
1 whole onion, chopped
Garlic to taste
Four carrots, chopped
2 cans of beans (I used one light kidney and one white navy, since that's what we had)
Chicken stock
Bay leaves
Seasoning to taste

Brown the sausage; add the onions and cook til nearly done. Add chicken stock and water in whatever proportion you prefer. Add garlic (or garlic powder), beans, carrots and seasonings and let it simmer together.

We had it with crackers, but I was wishing for a thick slice of garlic toast. Nothing's better than soup in the winter.

Hey, good fake cassoulet! I bought sweet sausage and white beans yesterday to make something similar later this week.

also what's the general aversion to canola oil? it's one of the good guys -- free of trans fats, very high in mono and polyunsaturated fats, low in saturated fatty acids (6-8%), neutral in flavor, high in alpha-linolenic acid, cheap, and (when refined) with a smoke point higher than olive oil. admittedly it's not good as a flavor agent, but surely there are a lot of uses baking and prep-wise that make it a great kitchen item. paul's idea of making apple fritters is a good one, but i think i'd be inclined to do-up some churros.

My worry with brining too long is that the meat breaks down a bit if the brine's acidic, and gets a crumbly dry texture like it's overcooked, aka sauerbraten syndrome. If it's just a salty junipery brine though I don't think the meat'll absorb much extra flavor over the last day. But let us know!

we got something like this from my aunt. it's basically supposed to be an indoor bbq. or something. Going to make a brisket this weekend and look forward to roasting chickens in it.

Yesterday I roasted a turkey that had been in the freezer and am going to use some of it tonight for a pot pie. This is very simple (my favorite kind) and not nearly as healthy or exotic as other recipes here. but if you cook for someone like my boyfriend it's pretty good.

combine leftover cooked meat (rotissere chicken is good) with a bag of frozen veggies, a couple of cans of cream of mushroom soup and whatever else you want into a glass baking dish. Cover with biscuits from those tubes, bake until biscuits are done and voila. I have a big tub of leftover mashed potatoes and might try those tonight for a shepherd's pie type thing. so there you go, trailer cooking.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/353478887_41d8cceb78.jpg

Not that I am obsessed with this fucking bottle of oil or anything, but having looked at it yesterday for the first time since Christmas day, I can now see that it contains canola oil, black peppercorns, bay leaves, and a cinnamon stick. It's like the cinnamon stick fell in there by acciednt and they just said "fuck it" and sealed it anyway.

My!

Meantime, last night I was lucky enough to be part of one of the best meals ever -- menu and meal can be found via the Flickr set (work from the last one, a shot of my friend Y in a stunning dress, forward).

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/357526606_214969404e.jpg

remy otm as per usual... canola is my go-to all-purpose cooking oil and it's never steered me wrong. it doesn't have the highest smoke point of all the oils, but it's high enough and it's very affordable.

ned: if you have leftover garlic-butternut squash, try some on a (sauceless) pizza. we used it as a sort-of substitute cheese when we were making vegan pizza for friends and it was pretty awesome.

Portobello mushrooms, 'grilled' under the broiler for 5 minutes a side. Piled into nice rolls from waitrose with: roasted red pepper, rocket (that's arugula to some), and that boursin garlicky herby cheese. Mmmmmm. And healthy!

As for cinnamon-infused canola oil - I was going to say it sounded good for frying Roman doughnuts, which are basically just deep-fried balls of ricotta cheese and flour (water if necessary). But then you posted that there are black peppercorns and a bay leaf. Maybe not.

I have a yummy and really simple butternut squash soup recipe, it is like this:
an onion, chopped and sauteed in a couple tablespoons of butter
some thyme thrown in with the butter
a butternut squash, in pieces
enough water to cover the squash
So you sautee the onion & thyme, put in the squash and water and boil until the squash is soft, and then break up with a spoon or run through a food processor and salt to taste.

My current problem with cooking is that my food budget is way too high, so I need to not cook nice things with expensive ingredients like meat or artichoke hearts or fancy cheese or squash for awhile. It's all about what I can do with pasta, rice, frozen vegetables, and spices at this point.

Also, does anyone have a fairly quick and foolproof bread recipe? I'd like to learn to make some.

Maria, I shall remember this. :-)

that spaghetti w/scallops sounds sweet but bay scallops were $30/lb last time I looked at the market! sea scallops are about half that.

When you cook with cast iron, make sure it is hot before you add the ingredients to it. Because it's so heavy, let it sit on the flame or in the oven for at least 10 minutes to heat up and let the heat even out. To make the best cornbread ever, let the skillet heat up in the oven as it's preheating. Drop in some (less than a tsp) lard or oil once it's really hot, then pour in the batter and bake. Amazing crust! If you make something that has a wet, acidic sauce (like spaghetti sauce or tomato-based indian food or gumbo), you'll probably have to reseason.

To clean, just wipe out (if you baked something) or use hot water and a copper or steel scrubber (no soap or detergent). Don't be upset if the hot water still has a little oily sheen after you've rinsed a few times; that's okay. If you scrub too hard, you'll take the seasoning off. If that happens, just reseason. Dry well when you're done. Mr. Jaq seems to always remember to rub a little oil in the pans that aren't used as often once they are washed and dried, but I don't. If there's a rust spot on one you haven't used in awhile, scrub it hard with steel wool then reseason. If your pans have lids, and you have room, don't store them for long with the lids on, or stack them.

Favorite stuff to make in cast iron skillets: the standards of bacon and sausage, steaks, hamburgers, chops; everything baked - cornbread, biscuits, free-form yeast loaves, coffee cake, quick breads, toad in the hole, clafouti; stir fries; bolognese sauce; curries; pizza.

http://www.chefscatalog.com/images/catalog/product/97097_med.jpg

xpost; I have that Dutch oven and love it, it's what I make cassoulet in. Be very aware of whether or not your oven rack is slightly askew, though, because it's heavy on its own and it holds enough food to become significantly heavier still. I've burned myself more than once by grabbing the thing to keep it from falling when the rack slipped out of place.

Also good in cast iron: dressing, bread pudding, french toast. I wish I was home so I could cook something.

I've never been satisfied with other hot sauce recipes, because I like the aged pepper mash taste of Tabasco, and you can't get that at home without actually starting with pepper mash (which doesn't help with using up chiles).

That said, though: one summer I had a bunch of habaneros that tasted amazing but were far too spicy to cook with. So I candied them. Not only are they tasty, but the syrup is a cool addition to other sauces (or ice cream). To candy fruit (or chiles), I use the fourteen day method here: http://www.ellenskitchen.com/pantry/glaceed.html

Ned - Boo, no :( Well, I'm here until 1/27, but working 7 day 12-hour shifts and no vehicle access after work, which completely sucks. So much life has been drained out of me on this project, I am resorting to frozen microwave food.

Charlie, I have a great recipe for homemade sweet chilli sauce that uses those little birds eye chillis. I'll email it to you later if you like, I need to look it up in one of my cook books. Its really easy!

Ooo, I'd love to have a party at our place! Though lxy and jergins' is better suited for a big ole bash.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/365439197_78f8140666.jpg

Let some of them dry - just hang them in a dark, well-ventilated cupboard for a few weeks. Crush them later (they'll keep for months) into pasta sauce or salsa or stir-fried cabbage.

I treat my non-stick in the same way as cast iron, it's the only way to keep the coating for long, detergent hammers it.

any vegetarian coming round for a fried egg sandwich at mine will be getting their egg fried in the bottom of something stainless steel.

I really fancy a Dutch oven with legs for camping purposes, has anyone ever tried the lightweight aluminium versions?

xx

i also am asking for a salad spinner, ice cream maker, and food dehydrator for beef jerky

speaking of pots, story time! one of my roommates' cooking accomplishments yesterday was burning a pot of rice and putting the pot on the kitchen table to get it off the stove, creating a dark brown & black burnt circle on one corner. as long as we don't all get charged for damages at the end of the year, i think it's hilarious. (it was less hilarious when one of them burned something at the beginning of the year in MY new stainless steel frying pan and put it on a plastic trash can that melted onto the bottom, putting the pan out of commission permanently. boo. any way to get off a thick layer of melted and hardened plastic....?)

the meal was good though. chicken stir-fry, side of snow peas and carrots, and some thai omelet, which is apparently the same as a regular omelet but with soy sauce and cilantro.

My friend roasted a lovely chicken recently, inserting several dozen little chilis under the skin with salt, refrigerating for a couple of days, cooking, then discarding the chilis.

cast iron (or black iron for that matter)

What is black iron in this sense?

The kale, soy and lime soup with veg broth:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/366604943_7f7e1db467.jpg

The (quite delicious) onion and dill bread, in a blurry shot:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/115/366604945_28691b03a4.jpg

And the baked tofu recipe as suggested by caitxa way upthread:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/184/366604948_face350e40.jpg

I have in my battery which I consider complete:

1x ridged cast iron griddle
1x cast iron skillet (although it is too small)
1x Analon Pro Non-stick Frying Pan
1x 24cm Iitalla Dahlstrom '98 pan/saute pan with lid
1x 20cm Iitalla Dahlstrom '98 pan
(both Stainless aluminium sandwich construction)

1x 32cm LeCrueset Orange Cocotte

I've got a heat diffuser for jam making as well

From that you can probably guess I have cast iron for grilling meat and frying chicken, non-stick for generall purpose frying (gets used for ersatz stir fry I have no wok), stainless steel for general purpose and enamelled cast iron for stews/roast.

How do you want to cook your meat, phil.

Aw, thanks. :-) But yeah, starvation would suck.

i don't know really the difference. i love grilled but i dont have outdoor grill and my oven doesnt have a ventilation hood so i think my entire apartment would reek of meat, not that thats totally bad, but still. i've been broiling meats since it causes less smoke in my kitchen, but i dont know how to do it right. i dont know how to get a nice crusty char at the top.

I want something like this.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/productdetail.asp?productCode=M650&BrandGroupCode=&BrandGroupName=&ShopByBrand=

Tonight's meal -- stir-fry brown rice (cooked and chilled two days back) with broccoli, plus onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, vegetable broth, etc.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/121/367574418_9ca23528dc.jpg

Indeed, and I have to keep reminding myself about this--certain purchases are probably best left unpurchased for the near future.

CHEERS TRAYCE, that would be good. Also thanks to Tep for those recipes!

(Also it is good to cook them in a wok as you are not supposed to wash up a wok BY LAW)

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i134/dgoobl/skilletmortar.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/174/375089337_29830671dd.jpg

This was then all mixed with freshly cooked spaghetti squash, topped with Parmesan:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/123/375089339_51649b4084.jpg

In a word, yum.

now that i'm doing thesis research and will be in a library pretty much every day of the week until may i will have no time for cooking so i will live vicariously through everyone in this thread. deal? deal. (alternately, someone suggest interesting and yummy sandwiches i can pack for myself on trips uptown. i plan on ingesting lots of peanut butter + fig jelly + banana + cinnamon sandwiches until then.)

I did another variation on my giant pseudo-Italian chicken stewmajig tonight - this time used canned diced tomatoes and not quite as much tomato as usual so it was less saucy. Also added a bit of the Berringer shiraz I was drinking - worked out nice, and simmered for less time, which I think left the flavor a little more delicate but less fully integrated.

it's currently cooling and I'm using it for a dinner tomorrow

Behold -- zucchini bread:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/193/528815403_2ac43d91e8.jpg

To quote my flickr caption:

"A first time attempt with this and I think it turned out swimmingly (since the photo was taken I have sampled the bread and can confirm it's quite delicious). I've had zucchini bread suggested to me before but I only got around to having the right equipment, ie a bread baking pan, today. Further, I was able to use soy milk and canola margarine and it still rocks nicely. A little burnt at the top but hey."

And tonight for dinner, as muttered elsewhere, a chicken/mushroom omelette and a bean-radish salad from scratch, plus a homemade garlic/mustard dressing:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1086/539921808_88a5c25883.jpg

Hmm, just me on this thread these days? ;-)

Path of a meal tonight -- from growth:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1377/573268936_ca8e813306.jpg

...to harvesting (friend Y is holding it, that's another gardener in the background):

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1173/573576839_bb2f443197.jpg

...to devouring:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1071/573371782_db361525b8.jpg

And today a nectarine cobbler, which I've yet to try. Looks nice, though!

Sam and Rob, WHERE ARE THE BLOODY PICS of your kitchen! :-)

Yeah, darnit!

Tonight:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1341/803465593_5a099fe338.jpg

As captioned:

Well let's see. The soup is a tomato/chicken broth combination (but of course vegetable broth would be more than fine), prepared last night with tomatoes from my garden, as was the basil. This was then frozen and partially thawed, so ice crystals were still in the soup to provide coolness on a hot day. The bread is accompanied by a variant of bleu cheese called 'Source D'Aniert,' I think, but I could be wrong. The salad contains tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden plus other goodies from my basket, and the wine is more pinot grigio. Roxor.

Looks fantastic - and yum pinot gricio. I question your enjoyment of bleu cheese, but everyone has their quirks.

Hmph!

Kind of as a joke, Rufus and I made pickle juice popsicles. They're yummy!