what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

parsnips are fine, they're sweet and a lil weird but they're fine

quickest way to ruin a soup imo

THE DEVIL

parsnips are good caramelized together with other vegetables as the base for a winter soup stock, they contribute a lot of complexity and are similar to carrots w/ their sweetness. im not a fan of plain parsnips though

for burly winter root vegetables i prefer celeriac

I stand with VG.

Honey roast parsnips are my secret ingredient in a veggie soup

monsters, all of u

mushroom pizza that has a bunch of rehydrated porcinis sauteed with a load of criminis and garlic, on top of fontina, carmelized onions with rosemary playing the role of sauce on some bland-o plain white dough i made

haven't had farinata in years, might attempt this recipe for saturday lunch http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/how-to-make-farinata-italian-chickpea-pancake.html

we had my brother and his family over for dinner the other night. they love cooking indian and so do we, so we made a huge feast. i haven't cooked this much food in a while:

masoor dal
benghali green beans and potatoes
tomato sambal
summer squash w/ mustard seeds
saag tofu

All the way at the other end of the vegetarian-omnivore spectrum, I'm making beef stock today.

I agree with VG that parsnips would not work well in any soup I know about, but they roast well and were quite acceptable in a beef and peanut stew recipe my wife made just a few days ago.

I really like roasted parsnips but they are such a damn awkward shape--the top fat part and the itty bitty skinny end make it diffcult to get evenly-roasting pieces.

had some oddly delicious parsnip cake last winter

I'm out. Can't take this parsnip thread. Too triggering.

I had a couple of ideas for pesto variations yesterday — roasted peanuts instead of pine nuts, and mustard greens instead of basil. I got some mediocre mustard this morning and tried that one out -- pretty good, but it needs fresher, more-peppery greens.

my co-worker's ex-husband hunted a deer and gave her a bunch of venison she couldn't use and i'm the leading consumer of meats in the office so i got some and made venison/pork chili and it's the best

niiice

My father in law used to give us venison and it was always good in chili. I don't really like chili tbh but it was ok.

i impulse bought a frozen rack of venison back around the holidays and still need to do something with it

just recently realized how freaking awesome delicata squash is. it's my new kabocha (eg fave winter squarsh). thinkin' of stuffing a couple a la http://beardandbonnet.com/delicata-squash-burrito-bowls/

Venison is awesome with mole. You're welcome.

delicata is great xp, i like it too because you don't have to peel it and it cooks faster than other winter squash

I'm also a fan of delicata. And venison! Had a discussion with a rabbi about kosher venison, which is a thing but v. v. expensive.

yeah delicata is like the french fries of squash in a good way

steely dan of squash even?
ended up making a Killer kale salad -- dino kale sliced v thinly, rubbed with salt and mashed roasted garlic, added some lemon juice and olive oil. threw in some quinoa/amaranth that i'd cooked together mixed it together and plated. topped with 1/2" slices delicata that had cumin and smoked paprika rubbed into the inside (automatic salt and pepper all around, natch) and dressed the top of salad with a simple but yum tahini/apple cider dressing. salad loving housemate was in heaven.

i have some lamb mince - it looked nice at the butcher so i bought it. not sure what to do with it.

my thoughts:

shepherd's pie
mince and potatoes cooked separately not in pie

i mean, do any recipes use lamb mince without being some celtic stodgefest?

go greek imo

you could make meatballs! flavor them however you want (i like parsley, something spicy, onion, garlic, ginger, ??) and eat with rice & vegetable of your choice. or put I guess you could also put them in soup.

shepherds pie with garlicky sweet potato mash

mince is ground meat right?

yep

actually I was looking at this keema recipe earlier, could try that?
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/461642/keema-with-peas

yeah that's right, sorry should have said!

meatballs is prob a good idea, i thought about something like a kofte tho think the spices i'd need might not have survived moving flat a while ago - could prob improvise a bit with szechuan pepper or something maybe as the spicy element.

xpost that keema recipe looks good, prob do have the spices for that. i can obv buy new ones just my cupboards are packed.

oh ok, in that case, keema meatballs?

lately my favorite meal is meatballs as described above + rice w saffron & a small piece of cinnamon + some kind of chopped radish/greens thing. colorful and flavorful but not overwhelming.

that does sound p good. i have saffron i believe. i think the meat should be quite nice so prob doesn't need too much done to it.

trying to impress a new friend of the human female species so am gonna try and pull off homemade ramen noodles, which i've been considering for awhile. http://luckypeach.com/recipes/fresh-alkaline-noodes/
and gonna use a couple bits from that cool recipe someone posted above for "the ultimate rich and creamy vegan ramen" like the soy shiitake tare and the mushroom-scallion oil

I've had an Instant Pot for a week now. I've tried steel cut oats, soft-boiled eggs (one batch overcooked, one batch undercooked -- I'm zeroing in on the sweet spot), pork loin roast, and potatoes and carrots to make hash out of the leftover pork roast. It's an interesting tool, worth the money I think. Going to try yogurt in the next few days.

xposts
Bifteki. I usually make it with ground beef, but sometimes a mix of beef and lamb; all lamb would probably be awesome. Especially if you could grill it over an open flame.

One of my favorite Indian restaurants does their lamb rogan josh with minced lamb. It is reminiscent of a bolognese sauce and is divine.

A lamb burger with feta and/or tzatziki is easy and tasty, too! Lately I really like dill with lamb.

my dad sent me a bunch of fancy beefs for valentine's day (??) and now i have ground beef for the first time in....many years? i never buy it

do i make chili or meatballs or

make yrself a kickass hamburger for a start

ooh yeah

i got some sodium citrate a couple months ago with the intention of making fancy velveeta cheese and then never did, this is as good a time as any for fancy burgs

Nothing says "romantic love" like beef from dad

Once my college friend sent me and everyone he knew 5 lbs of cheddar (each!) for Christmas.

lol

http://rocketlunch.blogspot.com/2011/07/madhur-jaffreys-ground-lamb-with.html <----my favorite

What will sodium citrate do with beef?

housemate bd in a couple days so making the sauce today for something i think she'll love, i used to work at this joint - http://greensrestaurant.com/2015/02/black-bean-chili/. will cook the beans and finish the dish tomorrow.
for tonight we already baked the baking soda for the ramen noodles that i mentioned the other day. i have a backup plan in case of noodle fail, but i hope it works. making a miso-ginger broth for it, and from "the ultimate vegan miso ramen" recipe i cherrypicked the mushroom scallion oil and shiitake-soy tare as other ingredients

I've made this recipe for lamb barbacoa for tacos, which has some similarities:

https://www.feastingathome.com/oaxacan-lamb-barbacoa/

I'm going to have to give that pork shoulder recipe a try.

5-7 lbs pork shoulder or other protein

4 big dried guajillos

2 C coconut or rice vinegar
1 C coconut milk
1/3 C roughly chopped ginger
9 peeled crushed garlic cloves
1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp coriander seed
1 T salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar

put dried guajillos in 1" of water, bring to boil, let sit 15-20 minutes, drain

add drained guajillos and everything else except the pork to a blender, blend 1 min until smooth

score the fatty side of the pork, put into an enamaled dutch oven or other sealed acid-resistant baking vessel

pour blended sauce over pork, rub in, seal up container with heavy lid or foil

bake at 325 F for approx 5 hours, until skewer meets no resistance

uncover, then broil for 4 minutes until top is well browned

remove pork, shred it, skim remaining fat, reduce remaining liquid to 2C

return pork to liquid, mix well

eat with the sides of your choice

muchas gracias, manguito

Getting hungry just reading that.

oh and 3 bay leaves!!

interesting to me that the pork is not raised off the bottom of the pot with a rack

well, it's braising innit

i guess i don’t know what braising is

just looked it up okay that makes sense. “Pressure cooking is also a type of braising.” also makes sense

if you've ever had a good pot roast, i mean a good pot roast that is tender & luscious, you have tasted the miracle of braising. it's an excellent technique for cold weather -- your dish is simmering away on low heat for hours, warming the kitchen and filling your home with its rich perfume. damn i wanna braise something right now. closest thing on the recipe agenda is this romanian cabbage (part of my years-long battle to make cabbage intersting)

it did in fact make the house smell lovely

I used my hot sauce from upthread on the tacos too, freaking delicious

Braised mushrooms yesterday for a vegan bourguignon and it started to smell amazing long before the garlic and onions even entered the picture. Just chopped portabellos steaming in their own liquids. Om nom nom

we did an irish stew last night (well, my partner did most of it), it turned out a little bland unfortunately, though much improved with a lot more of the worcestershire sauce it called for (i cannot vouch for the authenticity of this recipe as i have no idea what irish stew is supposed to taste like other than good hopefully). i also think not leaving the browned meat in the instapot while everything else pressure cooks for 30 minutes would be a good idea, as it was past well done and very far into congratulations.