what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

not because it really needs to go to 2027 because we'll all be under the ocean by then but because part 4 started in 2007

i made some pretty great tomato soup yesterday

san marzano toms + butter in pressure cooker w salt and baking soda
veggie stock + drained liquid from toms + a few bags of lapsang souchong
puree toms w stick blender, drain through sieve, combine with liquid ingredients
maple syrup + fish sauce to taste

how do you get to the point in life where you're putting heterodox ingredients like tea, maple syrup and fish sauce in tomato soup? is this entirely your own invention or are you following some unknown and wild tradition?

its the food of my people

bored single men who spend a lot of time on food blogs

well I am impressed, it sounds delicious (though not sure about the tea). how long did you cook it for?

toms were in the pressure cooker for 20mins, which is the bulk of the cooking time

in the context of bold tomato flavor and stock, the tea adds primarily smokiness and some sweetness. it's worth trying, i think!

Were these canned whole toms? Why pressure cooker? Why baking soda???

whole canned toms

pressure cooker reaches higher temperatures, which, in combination with the increased pH you get with baking soda, leads to caramelization that would be impossible otherwise

i actually made a batch earlier in the week that i forgot to add baking soda to and the difference is pretty noticeable --- w/o it the soup is much brighter and more acidic/tomato-y (which might be what you want!)

i have a bream in the oven, stuffed it with lemon, garlic and parsley, threw a few slices of potato around it and i've got cabbage braising in some stock on the hob. been roasting fish a lot in the last few months, feels like one of the nicest things to eat without much effort.

Making a lamb shoulder tonight with broccoli and the serious eats roasted potatoes that I believe somebody posted on the other thread and have been intriguing me since.

how do you get to the point in life where you're putting heterodox ingredients like tea, maple syrup and fish sauce in tomato soup?

otm

its the food of my people

bored single men who spend a lot of time on food blogs

loltm

What are these blogs? Are they instant pot propagandists?

hey gbx do you do a natural release or quick release on the p.c. with this method?

mine's electric so i just do a slow release

should I get an instant pot? it seems like more like an appliance of convenience rather than one of, like, some crazy new benefit (like sous vide)

rfi: what is yr favorite way to prepare fennel?
preferably side dish but i'll take all comers

one place i worked at useda make a potato, fennel and leek gratin that was nice. other ideas: superthin sliced and put in a salad is great, too. or "melted", cooked slowly in olive oil with onions and garlic to get it really soft and borderline carmelised could be a nice side?

fennel is nice roasted

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/02/vegan-ramen-miso-creamy-vegan-vegetarian-food-lab-recipe.html

going to cook this at the weekend

I like fennel raw in salads, sautéed with leeks & green beans, roasted & carved up with a piece of meat or fish

Jim: it's good. Double and freeze, for all the effort.

thanks everyone! pretty new to fennel. i tried braising it in stock & vermouth last night & it turned out delicious, keen to try some of these recommendations

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/02/vegan-ramen-miso-creamy-vegan-vegetarian-food-lab-recipe.html

going to cook this at the weekend

― Islamic State of Mind (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, January 10, 2017 5:28 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh man i've been wanting to try that but its daunting --- soda, you've done it? how long did it take?

i like fennel here are some things

fen risotto, maybe w/ salami
fen & chickpea broth w/ lemon zest and chilli
fen & potato soup
baked fen in like a puttanesca sauce w/ orange zest and feta
roast pork w fen (add fen seeds to pork herb rub too)
any bit of wite fish w/ fen, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest, capers etc

pernod good to have around just for fen

also if u ever want to parboil fen for anything do it in milk, or mostly milk, and keep for mash potato or gratin later

I don't like fennel because it is anise-y. I feel like I need to broaden my horizons tho w/r/t winter vegetables, I can't only eat potatoes all year, and I love kale but let's be honest it's not in season in February.

A friend is coming over on Sat bc she wants advice on cooking large hunks of meat. Considering a pot roast alongside a rolled stuffed pork loin -- one easy, one complicated.

try parsnips! one of our favorite winter things is just roasted winter veggies (beets, onions, carrots, garlic, parsnips, turnips, potatoes) mixed up with some olive oil, rosemary, and a bit of sausage, cover and bake.

best way to enjoy fennel is to throw it in the damn garbage bcz it tastes like licorice and it is GROSS

I made a great pork dish with star anise the other night and the first time I made it I used like one star anise (recipe says 5) because I hate licorice but actually it's so subtle it's really good so I always use 5 now

THANK U STEVIE YOU <---> ME = SAME TEAM

anise and fennel are wonderful flavors

that said i have bought fennel bulbs in the past and they have rotted in my fridge bc i couldn't decide what to do with them fast enough :/

tbh I wish I didnt' loathe anise/fennel bcz it wd make things a lot easier but welp here we are, what can ya do

parsnips are the devil fyi

hmph

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.

It's available at Trader Joe's (as garlic spread/dip), which is a godsend. No more going to Zankou when I crave it.

Vegetarian meatloaf slathered in a salsa glaze with a coating of pepper jack cheese

makin' the famous Moodles chili tonight

Made a kuku sabzi tonight, chopping all the vegetables took almost an hour. But our teenager liked it enough to proclaim it good so I am taking the w

This evening I’m making a beet and potato roesti. I have to grate/shred and pat dry two pounds of vegetable matter, uff da.

thoughts & prayers

thank you. we all make choices.

Thoughts and gruyeres.

Tater Tots and prayers.

we have bushes of rosemary gone wild out the garden and i always feel guilty leaving it go

its taking over the place tho

The beet & potato roesti came out delicious although it looked like one of the lower levels of hell, blood red inside and charred to a crisp on top

Got a lot of bones from the butcher so been reupping my stock. Huge pot of chicken stock yesterday which I'll freeze in 500ml containers, and today have a pot of bones bubbling away which will eventually become veal demi-glace. I made it before about fifteen months ago, time-consuming but an amazing thing to have, and you get a lot of it for the effort. Will freeze cubes of it also.

I used up the last of my broth last week so next weekend I am making brodo/sugo which takes about 16-20 hours and yields about 4-6 quarts of broth and about 1 quart of sugo (like a demi-glace). I usually set it up before I go to bed the night before so most of the cooking time is while I am asleep.

I was a bit afraid to leave this on overnight tho it prob would be fine. I have a gas hob so the flame while I sleep feels a bit risky.

I roasted the bones and veg yesterday then fridge overnight, deglazed the tin this morning and now its bubbling away. My recipe says 18 hours but I think I'll call it a day after 10 or so, before the final reduction into demi-glace.

It becomes very hard to settle for cubes or similar once you get used to making your own stock.

I have gas, too. My wife is weirded out a bit, but it's on such a low flame and there is a safety valve I don't think there is much risk.

I haven't bought stock from the store for years. Imo it's the single biggest thing one can do to make your food better.

After trying different methods over the years, I've settled on Frank Prisinzano's method, available on his youtube. No roasting required (though you could if you wanted). Basically:

1. Put your meat in the biggest stock pot you have and fill it to the top with cold water leaving only enough for it not to boil over. I have a 16 quart pot, but probably will do two at once with my smaller stock pot as well. You want lots of meat for broth (as opposed to stock) because the meat is where the gelatin is. I will use an entire chicken for the 16 quart pot. 3-4 turkey legs would work. I've got 3-4 turkey/chicken carcasses I've saved in the freezer that I am going to use with some assorted beef bones from steaks I've cooked this year.

2. Bring the pot of water/meat to a boil, skim off any gunk, then turn it down to low so that it is just perking slightly. Let it barely simmer for 10 hours (overnight if you want). Skim the surface as you go or in the morning. You should still have 70-85% of your original volume.

3. Add your vegetables. Carrots, onions, garlic, celery, ginger, whatever. Continue to simmer for 2 hours (vegetables only need about 2-3 hours to give up their flavor).

4. Add your seasonings (whole peppercorns, bay leaves, star anise, thyme, fresh parsley, whatever you want). Continue to simmer for 1/2 to 1 hour (spices and herbs only need a short time to give up their flavor).

5. Turn off the heat. Using a ladle and trying to not disturb the meat too much, ladle most of the liquid out and into receptacles. When the liquid gets low enough that it is no longer covering the meat you are finished. This is your brodo (broth).

6. Start the sugo (sauce), which is your second extraction. Refill the same pot containing the meat and vegetables to the top with cold water. Bring to a hard boil. Back the heat down slightly to a light boil and continue to cook until the pot is reduced by about half, at least 3-4 hours.

7. At this point, you can clean up the pot as the second extraction is done. Strain the liquid from the meat/veg pot into a clean pot (or other receptacle while you clean the original pot). Once the strained liquid is in the clean pot, bring it to a hard boil and continue to boil until reduced to about 5% of the original volume. Let cool, then put into small containers or ice cube trays. This is your sugo.

totally gonna try that, thanks

Yeah likewise must give that a go in future.

Amazing, thank you! I do a much more rustic version and I didn't know to put the veg in LAST, I put everything in at once and walk away. What I have started doing recently is using my slow-cooker, which I feel much better about leaving all day or overnight, which is very helpful and maintains that low simmer. Unfortunately it only holds about 2ish chicken frames plus veg at a time.

Does you all have good luck getting bones and scraps from your butcher? I've gone to stores before that charge for them and they're not cheap!

PS I made posole last weekend with a couple pounds of bone-in pork shoulder, and just the broth with pork, onion, a SHIT ton of garlic, and bay leaves, pulled way more than its weight in deliciousness even before I added the reconstituted pepper puree that makes it posole. Incredible. Could drink it by the pint. Would save your life.

Love posole. Yeah, broth is life!

I'm not sure if the veg at the end matters that much but it's what my guy does and it makes for a nice flow.

I sometimes buy the meat just for the broth, but a lot of time it's just leftover parts from other meals/purchases. Any time I roast a whole chicken, the carcass goes in the freezer. If I have time, I will just buy a whole chicken when I just need breasts, take the breasts off, then use the rest for stock. Even taking breasts and the thighs/legs off for other meals will leave a decent amount of meat for stock. Two of those carcasses is probably good enough. You could also buy a small package of wings to supplement if you needed to.

I throw them in big ziplocs in the freezer until I need them. Since the broth is boiled and a simmered for a long time, the risk of contamination or spoiling is low. I won't hesitate to use chicken that has been in my freezer for 9 months.

i buy meat from an online butcher a fair bit, just cos the butcher near me is more expensive, plus also i like to plan meals and buy a decent amount of stuff.

i tend to buy the carcasses etc from them. they aren't too badly priced but i've defo seen some really exorbitantly priced for some bones at other places.

with the veal bones for demi-glace if i didn't buy them idk how i'd have them, since i guess i'm just never gonna be in a situation where i eat a thousand osso bucos or roast a big joint of veal on a sunday, though maybe i should change my life.

My wife draws the line at veal. I will still order it out once every few years, but I'm not cooking it at home anymore (not that I did that much before).

I can only imagine what that demi-glace smells like at the end. Heaven.

it is lovely, it's close to being done now. once it's done it's so amazing for pan sauces if you cook a steak or similar.

Totally save all veg scraps and chx frames and scraps in my freezer for embarrassingly amounts of time and then hard roast them to caramelize and then make a dark broth/stock. When it comes to beef and veal I don't cook those as often and I don't have a few gallon bags of beef bones lying around so it would be helpful to get some cheap, but it seems like meat counters have figured that out. : /

Tonight is blackened mahi mahi on a bed of creamy saffron orzo night. I am not usually enthusiastic about orzo but it’s in the pantry and I have a recipe so we’ll see how it turns out!

I'm making black-eyed pea stew with both smoked and unsmoked ham hocks.

Tonight had leftover lamb ragu from the freezer, amazing to be able to enjoy something that would take hours in fifteen minutes with no chopping or washing. Also made some garlic bread as had a piece of baguette.

xpost PKBR do you have a recipe? i have only made black eyed peas once & am trying to build my rrpertoire

I need to come up with a way to make vegetarian hoppin’ john

I mean I could just leave out all the pig parts but that seems like taking the easy way out especially given my proclivity for experimenting with fake meat

xxxp have been firing up the slow cooker recently and got a bunch in the freezer for when I want that feeling

I've started to label stuff in the freezer which I prob should have done years ago also. It's not just identifying it when you are looking speculatively, it's more being aware it's there when you are looking for other stuff, and noting that for another time.

i hate digging through the freezer or trying to remember what's in there so I even have a list stuck to the freezer door like a total nerd

I put a special Sharpie and labels beside the fridge now, haha. Maybe I should have a list also :)

xp I have a whiteboard* on the pantry door for freezer contents, but it's at least 2 years out of date.

*idea swiped from erstwhile ilxor Tep

We should be keeping our freezer contents on the big whiteboard next to the fridge, instead of just using it as a magnetic surface to stick other people’s holiday cards on

Tep has a great food blog that he only posts to like twice a year but each entry is ca. 5000 words

https://www.patreon.com/c/therecipe/posts

xpost PKBR do you have a recipe? i have only made black eyed peas once & am trying to build my rrpertoire

― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, January 4, 2026 3:47 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

No, I was being lazy and basically just treated them like beans, but they cooked a lot quicker (I had soaked them for a long time). I browned the fresh ham hocks, then sweated the soffrito (onion, garlic, carrot, celery), added the peas, brought to a boil for 5 minutes, then backed it down to a simmer and added salt and pepper, some Mexican oregano, and the smoked ham hock. After about half an hour I added red chard (subbed for collards because I couldn't find them). The peas were done in about 45 minutes. Then removed the meat from the hocks and added it back in with 2 tsp apple cider vinegar to brighten it up.

yum! thx!

Wait WmC isn’t Tep?!

lol no tep is a different dude. glad he’s still posting somewhere!

I count Tep as my guru in some ways, no idea if he'd be appalled by that or not, but he's taught me a lot and I ran with it (mostly down the beverage aisle).

wow @ that tep link, thanks!

it’s overcomplicated vegan chili day again!!!

My overcomplicated chili uses a homemade chili powder blend.

Do you add vegan cheese to yours?

I do not - at serving time it is up to the consumer to apply their toppings of choice, which in my household means the vegan qualifier immediately switches to vegetarian

My homemade chili powder blend includes sumac because I am an alchemist (see above)

i used to make chili powder blend, but at some point returned to basics and started using dried chiles, like ancho and guajillo, and making a puree. once cumin and oregano get introduced to the cooking (and typically a chipotle), i've found that's really all i need as far as spices.

I reserve my minimalist instincts for crafting beats on my phone, when it’s chili time I end up trying to pack too many warm seasonings into the pot because THEY’RE IN THE SPICE DRAWER I SHOULD USE THEM

Speaking of spices, I made a grill full of jerk chicken thighs, which should get me through the week along with the large amt of rice pilaf I also made. Nice to be able to go out and grill without dying of heatstroke.