hi i love cooking!

I am also 16 months into an air-dried ham experiment.

what do i make? sauces. stews. steaks. chicken in various forms.

nothing exciting!!

what should i make for dinner tonight?

slocki - exciting as in complex or exciting as in setting the kitchen on fire? I am making forays into indian spices and traditional asian foods (dashi, steamed humbao, twice-cooked pork) now that we are back in a place with access to ingredients (and good restaurants to provide me with examples and inspiration).

What's in your larder, and what's the weather like?

We had lake fish, always dredged in cornmeal and fried. And Mrs. Paul's. I am steering clear of horrific childhood fish memories by always avoiding these.

slocki, how about a spiced up italian-influenced chicken/cecci stew? Or a toothsome mushroom risotto? (I'm doing risotto tonight myself)

lol and mmm

larder: not much beyond some very basic provisions! but i'm near lots of good shopping so it's no problem. tell me about this cecci business... got any exciting recipes?

I'm about to just make a big messy improvised Italian stewy chicken dish - I usually just combine browned chicken thigh pieces with a mixture of fresh and pureed tomatoes, peppers, onions, basil, garlic, olive oil, maybe some other spices, and whatever I feel like throwing in (perhaps some olives tonight), and just let it simmer. Good with rice or pasta.
-- Not For Use as Infant Nog (hurti...), December 30th, 2006 11:49 PM.

I'd add oregano, crushed red chilis and a can of cecci (garbanzo/chickpeas). Mmmmmm. What's left will keep for a few days in the fridge, or longer in the freezer.

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/2006/bones/bones.jpg

IT'S GOOD

here's how i would do it differently next time

-would definitely add olives. why did i not heed this advice??
-would add more peppers for more of the spicy spice.
-would maybe skip the purée and go for a thinner sauce? i may just be saying this because i made a meat sauce last week that had a very similar consistency and perhaps i was just bored of that?
-would ROLL THEM BONES.

-- jergins (jer....), January 8th, 2007 10:05 AM.

I'll make you some when you get back to the US :)

just cooked properly for the first time

improvised everything, from the 20 quid supermarket sweep to the cooking process

the dish:

Haunch of venison baked with pak choi
Slice of dolcelatte
Boiled butternut squash in a minced olive, oyster mushroom and mascarpone sauce

rather good if you ask me but my mum went into a funk about how i'd allegedly undercooked the meat, i was all "this is venison, c'mon, it's meant to be eaten in its own blood" but she was having 0 of it

the big success was the sauce, mmm

altho a bit rich maybe

tomorrow i might make a pizza with the leftovers

I made chicken stock and pulled simmered chicken to freeze for later, but I think I need to refine my technique a little -- need bigger pot, need to keep under a simmer, change up the garni, and so on.

What I REALLY need, though, is one of those conical mesh strainers because my stock is C-L-O-U-D-Y.

can i get in on this?

that sounds dangerously like you know what yr talking about laurel

whereas my cooking is gloriously unrefined, unpredictable and impulsive

and bound to come a cropper

tiarnan let us poison ourselves magnificently

So I've got a new housemate and we were cooking together and what I was making is pretty heavy on Balsamic Vinegar and he started using his Tesco Value stuff and there was no real way to stop him without it being kind of awkward and then it really didn't taste right, but I looked like the really bad chef!

xpost to Laurel - It's important to spoon every bit of scum out when you initially bring it to a boil, if you want it clear. You could fine it with egg white though. Beat a couple of whites into the cold stock, then bring it up to a boil. The whites will cook and float to the top, trapping all the impurities. Spoon out the egg white cap and viola! clear stock.

That is really weird that that works

O_o

i'm meant to be cooking every day this week

lesson 1: lay off the cheese a bit

because i feel a bit sick now

Oh good idea! Unfort I ran out of patience and just let it settle in a bowl, later pouring off the clearer bulk and freezing them overnight. I can't really let things sit around my kitchen b/c of bugs and dirt/dust and roommates. Maybe next time, I forgot how good it is to have home-made stock around and I vow to keep up with it more.

Mr. Jaq brought home some cheap off-brand balsamic when we'd run out, and there is just no way to make it right I'm afraid. Reducing it with some sugar to a syrup, maybe. I've got to do something to get rid of it so we can justify buying more of the good stuff.

Meanwhile, a person who I once encouraged to make her own stock has now progressed to living in a farm house in the country and setting aside one night every couple of months to MAKE ALL HER OWN BUTTER. I hate her.

xpost IT JUST TASTES LIKE SOUR

I've been reducing my stocks down to concentrated jelly for the last few years - they keep in the fridge forever that way, and just a couple spoons in hot water makes a great base. It does turn the stock making into a 2 day (minimum) event though. I end up boiling 1 gallon down to approx. 1 cup - seems to work for all meat/fowl based stocks.

hahaha! farm house butter country hate hate hate <sob!>

Is it just me or does stock seem really wasteful, how you're just using a lot of meat and vegetables to make water tastier

oh shit

I only use the carcasses and bones of roasts and the tops/ends of veg, so no.

That sounds really nice, I've immediately decided that's what I'll have. Sauteed with a little balsamic vinegar would be really nice.

right let's go and mess some shit up

Just one of those nagging details of real-world housekeeping.

zing acknowledgement and koodoos

er, kudos. blame viral marketing in Toronto

yeah for a second there I had no idea what you were talking about, my brain really didn't make the leap on that one!

how many aubergines do you have aubergine? do you have lemon too? I have a nice pasta recipe tht needs three aubergine

no just one, but it is just for me! And I'm not gonna eat three aubergines!

this one involves baking the three aubergines and scraping the flesh out, whisking with olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice, toasted pine nuts (optional) and seasoning... run through shell pasta, or nib-ended penne; add parmesan (optional)

sorta like Imam Baildi?

that sounds really good. what size aubergines does the recipe specify? the late-summer monsters i've been getting the past few weeks are easily 1.5-2lbs on their own. i can't imagine using 3 of those for 1lb of pasta.

i just reread your description and I don't know why I said what I did...

i think i found that recipe online, or a version of it. definitely gonna try it later this week.

oh, you guys are talking about eggplants.

I say I have a recipe; nigel slater has a recipe:

Pasta with aubergine and pine kernels

I use trofie pasta for this because just the right amount of sauce seems to cling to its twists. But nib-shaped penne or one of the shell pasta shapes would be fine here, too. Much will depend on what you happen to have in the house. It is worth remembering that pine kernels won't stick to ribbon- or spaghetti-style pasta. You will need some Parmesan to pass around. Serves 4.

300g dried pasta

for the sauce:
2 large aubergines
olive oil
a large handful of basil leaves
½ lemon
4 tbsp pine kernels

Split each aubergine in half lengthways, make shallow cuts almost down to the skin in a crisscross fashion, then brush with olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes or until soft to the touch. Alternatively, prick the whole aubergine all over with a fork then grill till the skin darkens and the inside is soft. Scrape the flesh out of the aubergine skins into a mixing bowl. Beating constantly, pour in the olive oil a little at a time - you will need about 8 tbsp - but stop as soon as you have a smooth sauce that is just thick enough to coat your pasta.

Shred the basil and fold into the aubergine sauce with a seasoning of salt, plenty of pepper and a shot of lemon juice.

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling, heavily salted water. Meanwhile, toast the pine kernels in a dry non-stick pan until golden.

Drain the pasta. Toss with the aubergine sauce and divide between four warm bowls, topped with the toasted pine kernels.

thanks! i'm looking forward to this.

'TWAS

MAIN COURSE: Conventionally flour-and-butter-fried lamb liver, served with a garnish of olive oil-fried tiger prawns in sauerkraut and sprinkled with Baxter's Cullen Skink haddock soup

DESSERT: Pear chunks, baked lightly with cinnamon and sugar, served with melted white chocolate, sliced mango and ground cashew nut sauce, itself heated slowly while stirred together

COMMENTS

were generally of the "wow nice one, go LJ" nature. Dessert especially brought joy and cheer but the main worked a treat too.

Of course they will only push me on to freakier things.

oh no.. are you like my cousin who loves to brag he doesn't eat vegetables and most fruits and has never had a strawberry in his life?

Pear chunks though - I serve a similar thing (just a bit of butter and brown sugar, sauteed) on the side of decadent weekend breakfasts occasionally, inspired by the phenomenal Auntie's and Uncle's in Toronto. Mmm.

nah I eat fruit and veg! check what i made yesterday for further, greater confirmation of this.

ah fair enough, I see some veg very good! My cousin's FB status of the day is bragging about how he "got a nutritionist.. and still doesn't have to eat vegetables!" so I am understandly irrational today

I'd actually like to eat far more fruit and veg. Hopefully as cook I can incorporate the ones I like for a change! (No more celery! EVER!)

I like celery but (this could be all in my head) I feel like I can't breathe as well after I snack on it. I always feel like the little um, strings from it are stuck in my throat.

Tonight's dinner: sole with lemon and dill, roasted red potato, and something I have not yet decided but definitely involving two large portobello mushrooms, with snow peas. Mmmm. Was supposed to be last night but we didn't end up cooking - ordered a pizza. Silly.

mmm that sounds lovely!

i have to do a pasta dish and a fish dish before the end of the week. possibly.

and then maybe

just maybe

a pizza CALZONE

I went through a big pizza-at-home phase but I couldn't get the dough just right and eventually gave up and bought Pilsbury pizza rolls, which are decent. Leftover chicken, broccoli and BBQ sauce, mmmmmmm.

tonight is going to be linguine with a basil-heavy tomato sauce, with a tiny bit of cream and crabmeat.

^^^those are perfectly acceptable pizza toppings btw, for any passing USA citizens reading this thread

xpost

and yet not xpost too

Almost anything can go on a pizza and be excellent! I also lace everything with banana peppers and sometimes carmellized onions.

that's the spirit!

last week my big cooking effort was 3.5 lbs of bbq pork and sour cream cornbread. it turned out really well, although there was a dog visiting my house and i still haven't found where it hid the bone from the pork shoulder.

since then i've been semi-lazy, just making tacos 94/7 (usually chicken, avocado, cilantro, onion, some salsa). i want to start making salsa!

I braised a pork belly with soy, ginger, five spice powder, and leeks last night. After peeling the solid half inch of pork fat off the top it's going to be dinner tonight with rice and bok choy.

mmm bok choy, the wondervegetable

is it even better than pak choi?

or it is just pak choi differently transcribed

i think it's just a diff. transliteration.

ahhh, I assumed pak choi was something I'd never heard of, haha

okay sorry to keep going on about this, but what do you think are the best vegetables to make stock from?

katy perry

???
I thought Pak Choi and Bok Choi were just variants on the same thing, like is the big ones and the other is the little bud ones. I could be totally making this up.

My stock (HAW) veggies for stock: onions, carrots, celery, garlic.

Good god. You turn your back for a couple of minutes. Jagger turns up, it all goes odd.

My stock thoughts: Jaq is, as ever, entirely correct about the egg white, perfect way to clarify consomme also. I agree with RH about stock veg for veg stock, I'd add leek to the list, myself. Celeriac, also.

Quincie's chicken is basically poule au pot, which is a marvellous dish. Here's how I do it at work (scaling down prob necessary, unless you've a big do on the go).

Rough chop two leeks, ten good sized carrots, a couple of onions, chuck in a big pan, add thirty chicken thighs and enough water to almost cover (Fergus Henderson writes about an alligator lurking in a swamp being the level of water you're looking for here). Simmer for an hour or so on as low a heat as you can manage (it's impossible to overcook this dish). Remove the chicken and fish out the first lot of veg (which is why it's a good idea to rough chop it, makes the fishing out significantly easier), discard. add the same veg again (but cut for eating, i.e baton the carrots, finer slice on the onion and leek) plus a bag of quartered salad spuds (Charlotte, Belle de Fontenay etc), a healthy bouquet garni of whatever you can grab and a liberal hand with the seasoning. Chuck the chicken back in, give it until the spuds are cooked (thirty mins or so). Whack up a vinaigrette with egg yolk whisked in and some finely chopped egg white and capers. Makes ten healthy portions

Basically time plus gubbins equals stock. Most UK butchers will give you bones/offcuts for free. Ask for pigs heads, veal tails, the shit they can't sell.

Added cheapo bonus stock-like recipe for these straitened times. Pea and ham soup:

Soak two small (kilo-ish) ham shanks overnight in lots of cold water. Strain the water off and discard. Cover the shanks by three or four inches in fresh cold water and boil for an hour or so, skimming the scum off as you go. When the shanks are done shred the meat from one and reserve. Save the other for butties, midnight snackage, general scrannage needs. Take the cooking liquor and pour in a bag of yellow split peas, a couple of bay leaves and a healthy handful of finely chopped onion. Boil the arse off the whole lot until the peas are done, throwing in plenty of pepper but absolutely positively under no account whatsoever ANY SALT. Chuck the shredded ham back in and serve.

i made the eggplant pasta recipe that cozen posted upthread. the sauce had a great consistency/mouthfeel, but it was a tad bland. lots of shaved parm on top helped to remedy that.

yeah, you need to go heavy on the parmesan with that sauce!!

pepper too, tho I think I tend to over-pepper things

I REALLY LOVE PEPPER GUYS!!

OMG ME TOO!

I'm really into saving bits of vegetables after this.

I realized after this thread and some extra curricular reading, that I need to admit to making BROTH, not STOCK. I think I'll save a couple of chicken carcasses and try the real thing soon.

potayto potahto

Am I correct in assuming I make chicken stock because I boil the bones? A cursory googling tells me broth is from the meat.. I do leave the scrappy bits of meat/fat on the bones when I boil them though, so now I am consuming! Maybe I make.. BROCK.

My BF just bought me a stand mixer. A WHOLE NEW WORLD!

I'm making Mexican sugar skulls for Las Dias de Los Muertos. I need to make royal icing for decorating. I need advice!

egg white+vanilla+ powdered sugar+paste food color. Sift the sugar, mix enough in (2 cups or so, depending on yr egg white) so it is almost stiff. Cover tightly until you use it. Let it air dry for 5-6 hours. It will be like armor.