what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

I am midway through a slow cooker bouillabaisse with turkey thighs and tons of Pernod.

I made a seafood risotto with swordfish and it was my best yet

I finally learned how to fry the perfect egg and feel it is one of my life’s greatest achievements. No more undercooked white or semi cooked yolk!

game changer!

what are your tips xp

yes please share i love a good fried egg

I use a little non stick pan, high heat, crack the eggs into a bowl first rather than straight into the pan, and then after adding the eggs the trick is adding a little water and then covering - I’d read that using lots of oil and spooning the hot oil over the whites was the way to get the whites cooked first but it was a pain and didn’t work that well, but THEN I read that adding a bit of water steams the whites. It’s super fast too - takes about a minute.

I’ve been doing it this way for a week and getting totally perfect eggs every time.

I only use water, no oil, in case that wasn’t clear

I also do it that way, but with melted butter first. I'm not sure it is a very "pro" way of cooking eggs. I like that it doesn't make any hard bits, and no flip is very low stress.

I like to pile two fried eggs onto a piece of grainy toast slathered in good butter, so I prefer to avoid butter or oil in the cooking

Earlier this week I made a coconut-milk-based curry with shrimp and winter squash, garnished with lime and cilantro, served over brown basmati rice, that I just ate again as a leftover tonight. It earned my seal of approval both times.

the cream from a can of coconut milk is a wonderful thing

recipe on deck for tomorrow
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013946-home-made-mushroom-lasagna?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ck_20171103&nl=cooking&nlid=73417899

that was a tasty lasagna but seriously almost too cheezy. maybe that was my fault.
just made nutella from scratch. made it once before but it seized after a few days. gonna be more careful abt letting moisture near this this time.

tomorrow I am making red beans & rice :D

nice. i made a vegetarian version before that i loved.
went and got lemongrass, galangal and kafir leaves yesterday, so just made a tom kha broth. getting excited for soup

nice sunday cooking day - my fishmonger had some very large oysters for a pound each, so i got a few. had never shucked an oyster before but it all was quite easy contrary to the impression i had. grilled them with a butter made from parsley/garlic/lemon zest then served them with a slice of lemon and tabasco.

prior to that i put on a braise of short rib, onion, garlic, star anise, juniper berries, bay leaves, stock, and india pale ale - had some mashed potatoes with chives on the side.

i have now cleaned the kitchen :)

stealing that braised short rib concept, thanks!

it was v good - i kind of mashed together the bits that sounded good in a few diff recipes. i had it bubbling very low for about 3 hours, oh and i also used some pancetta i had, and thyme too.

brb adding star anise and juniper berries to today's shopping list

would pink peppercorns sub for juniper berries? that combo sounds DELICIOUS

hehe - i've been using the berries in loads of stuff since buying them for some recipe or other. they're p versatile.

star anise makes every braise better ime.

the red braised pork on this page uses it really well: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jul/17/china-best-kept-food-secret-fuchsia-dunlop-jiangnan-recipes-sea-bass-prawns

xpost not sure - in the uk at least juniper berries are more common than i would have thought, they seem to be in most supermarkets.

for the braise i riffed off this recipe and another one i had in a book plus whatever i had in my cupboard: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-braised-short-ribs-105868

thought the beer was nicer than a red wine braise which i've done a few times before - can be kinda heavy

red beans and rice turned out fantastic.
Mine was slightly bastardized from the traditional version.
I used the hambone leftover from our thanksgiving ham instead of a smoked hock
and for smoked sausage i used polish sausage instead of andouille or something more traditional because I can't handle a lot of heat in my spicy food lately.
but goddamn.
here's the recipe I used https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-red-beans-rice-recipes-from-the-kitchn-183859

love stuff like this where it's so simple and so flavorful

used an updated 19th century-vintage scottish shortbread recipe tonight & holy balls it was good

candied peel & almonds mixed in & caraway seeds on top

will need to tweak my technique & cook time a bit bc it was too crumbly but the flavor & texture was bang on - pretty much my platonic ideal of perfect shortbread

that sounds amazing

braised thighs & potato recipes are my kryptonite
this one is super good. potatoes come out like frenchified german potato salad!
i would cut back the sugar by half though, slightly too sweet for my taste.

https://www.macheesmo.com/dijon-braised-chicken-thighs/

made a Ethiopian dish that caught my eye a couple weeks ago but subbed tofu for chicken: https://www.africanbites.com/doro-wat-ethiopian-chicken-stew/
it. was. ridiculous.

https://i.imgur.com/qNo7E81.jpg

ah, the hot bread kitchen book has a doro wat recipe to go along with the recipe for injera. that looks good!

ooh bookmarking

"spiced butter" seems worth it

oh yeah i'm in

i made an Ethiopian feast* for Christmas! There's a little shop nearby that sells injera/berbere/other and they have the spiced butter. It's totally worth it.

*red lentils, spit peas, spinach, beet/fennel salad, lamb & fish

wow that sounds so good

it was! it was easy to make the lentils/greens the day before so that on day-of-feast, i just had to chop the vegetables and cook the lamb/fish + reheat the rest (which are probably better next-day anyway. one of the best parts were the many leftovers that i actually wanted to eat (as opposed to more traditional fare)

i made spinach pies from the leftover spinach

i keep thinking about this food and cultural anthropology and how if more people were exposed to ethiopian food there might be some carryover to caring about East Africa or trying to understand it politically or culturally but what the hell do i know.
i'm infatuated and making some spiced butter now in preparation for making a split yellow lentil dish (from africanbites blog) in the next day or so. should put on some Mulatu or ethiopiques disc i guess.

made this tonight: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/steamed-fish-with-lime-and-chile-380597#reviews

i seldom use my bamboo steamer but i can see myself doing this again many times. bit of sambal oelek on the side and a beer.

wish i had entire unscaled fish meals in my life

made this easy thai curry, https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015694-vegan-thai-curry-vegetables, and thought it was great (affirmed by partner). Used snow peas instead of green beans, half the palm sugar (piloncillo actually), and the green curry paste recipe in Splendid Soups. I used the shrimp paste, but it would be still good and vegan without. Will be my go to recipe for having veg friends over.

and good god, why haven't I gone to the thai market for coconut cream before must have been 10 options.

also v happy to find thag same store sells reasonably sized shallots

going to make mussaman curry paste and sub it in that same recipe because I was forced to overbuy eggplant at the market. recipe feels like a good baseline for testing different curry pastes. only complaint is that eggplant absorbs too much water if you reheat leftovers.

mmmmmm sno-peas. . . and thai curry. i must do this sometime soon, thx for the idea!

thank you for introducing me to spiced butter. this is what went into the molcajete for the paste (from Peterson soup book). dried red chilies used for red curry paste.

Green Curry Paste
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
0.5 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp grated nutmeg
0.25 cup cilantro leaves (tightly packed)
0.5 in. ginger, peeled and grated
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp shrimp paste (optional, leave out for vegan according to NYT recipe)
1 tsp salt
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 lemongrass stalk, bottom half only, finely sliced, then chopped
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
8 Thai chilies, seeded and chopped (or 12 jalapeno)
0.25 cup peanut oil

lovely! hell yeah to the eggplant idea, too. gonna do this someday soon

been cooking more tofu: extra firm, pressed, and dry fried. never marinate because adding to stuff with sauces, usually. anybody know a good way to press tofu quickly? or can somebody recommend a clever way to press tofu in the fridge while out or at work? or maybe pressing that hours ahead is a bad idea? is freezing really necessary?

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/02/vegan-experience-crispy-tofu-worth-eating-recipe.html

^^^addresses the question of pressing

hmmm. hot salt water idea is interesting. not crazy about consuming more paper towels after increasing surface area.

question:

i am making red beans and rice - recipe calls for smoked ham hock.
all I could find at the store is smoked *PORK* hock, so, not cured.

should I cook the pork hock in the oven first before making the the red beans and rice, or is it ok to use it as is?