Foods I have made! (year 5)

If I have been lax, in my little new fake kitchen, my new housemate (who has the proper kitchen upstairs) has all of two recipes under his belt, I think. Though I've only seen him make one. Well, I left my copy of How To Cook Everything upstairs for him. Who knows?

Meanwhile I need to come up with something clever to make with my minimal set-up.

Yesterday was a pretty great day for food in my household. My boyfriend works 10-7 on Sundays, so I woke up with him and made pancakes, bacon (I learned a trick - put water into the pan to draw the fat out and make bacon crispy) and sliced an orange for us to eat alongside coffee, orange juice and the second last episode of Freaks and Geeks. Oh, I sliced up an apple and turned it into a bit of a compote to serve on top.

For lunch while he was gone, I sauteed some mushrooms and onions in olive oil with rosemary, basil and oregano. I stuck this between two slices of wonderbread and some trashy sliced cheese, pressed sides of bread together, grilled. It was very tasty.

I was feeling adventurous for dinner (I was in the house doing housework and yardwork all day) so I rubbed a steak with dijon mustard, soy sauce and pepper seasonings. I let him BBQ that when he came home from work, and it was served alongside mashed potatoes, (more!) sauteed mushrooms, snow peas, and broccoli. The mushrooms were actually sauteed to create a gravy.. this is where it becomes evident that I was not trained by a cook by any means. I let the mushrooms sweat a while, then poured 1/2 my mixture of soy sauce, lemon juice, rice vinegar, sesame oil, chicken stock, salt and pepper in. I removed the mushrooms, added some flour, and dumped the rest of the mixture in. What can I say, my experiments don't always look pretty but taste great!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/2775051202_4232e1d392.jpg?v=0

Please ignore my mashed potato portion size. I live for mashed potatoes and don't make them often!

Oh, and a camping recipe from last week:

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v308/224/57/516053577/n516053577_706615_2463.jpg

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese and sliced black olives, with rosemary, cayenne and black pepper seasoning. Wrapped in tin foil and cooked over a campfire for approximately 20 minutes, turning frequently.

The juices carmellized in the foil and made for the most incredible flavours... served on a frying pan because none of us had done the lunch dishes yet. Hey, at least my steak knife matched the tablecloth..

I am coming to terms with rice.

Made kimchi & pork dumplings for supper. MMM!

Last night I made hamburger patties with no knowledge of how to make them whatsoever. I used egg, apricot jam, breadcrumbs, soy sauce, pepper, salt and chili paste, then brushed it with HP sauce. Mmmmm.

^^Which of these things is not like the other?^^

Shin of beef braised for three hours in red wine and roasted marrow bone stock. Roast carrots, parsley and mustard mash.

Fish pie: Onion roux, equal parts milk, white wine and white fish stock for sauce, dill, flat parsley, juice and zest of half a lemon, use as poaching liquor for smoked haddock, salmon, prawns. Make mashed potato with a healthy handful of gruyere, more black pepper than seems sensible, pour fish mix into serving dishes, quenelle mash on top and grill til crusty. Serve with a bitter salad (chicory, endive, etc), undressed,and baguette.

I'm going to try an experiment today to use up the quarts and quarts of cherry tomatoes I'm accumulating -- a batch of chile sauce from Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe book, using yellow cherry tomatoes instead of roma tomatoes. If it turns out an interesting enough color, I'll take a photo.

matt, I like the sound of that fish pie, sort of a twist on brandade (which now it's cooling off here I have been craving a bit).

All my kitchen stuff is finally in the new place - just carried over the Kitchenaid last night - so now there are few excuses not to cook. I did test out the oven with a cup custard (made w/o vanilla because I couldn't find it...) and a long-braised pasta sauce. But it's time to start baking bread again.

Rock, I think the thing about using yellow cherry tomatoes would be they are sweeter and slightly less acid than romas. Have you thought of drying any?

No, but the bag of New Mexico chiles I got yesterday will make two batches of Miller's sauce, so I can make an adjustment on the 2nd batch if needed. Lord knows I'll have enough tomatoes. Or if they're just wrong wrong wrong, I'll get some romas.

Okay, YUM.

Yay, we're back! I've mostly been making microwave mug cakes. But I also baked a loaf of rosemary bread (1st loaf in over a year, and 1st loaf in new kitchen).

read that on the blog and OMG woah.

rosemary bread sounds awesome!

I didn't put enough rosemary in it. Apparently, you can just pack it full of fresh rosemary leaves and it will be about right. I'm going to try again this weekend.

I should make some rosemary bread. My rosemary bush is big enough to roast every chicken in the county!

Do the chickens look at it and tremble?

I need to come up with clever, cheap, quick things I can make using my makeshift kitchen.

I made this the other day, and A+++++++ with goat cheese and baguette slices.

i am being semi-homemade tonight and trying to use up things that are left in my house before i grocery shop. can i add zucchini to a can of pea soup? seems like it might be yum. should i saute it first? or just throw it in?

Maybe shred it and just throw it in?

i sauted little slices. for chunkiness. it was ok. not amazing. i also diluted the soup a little so it'd be less salty.

Can anyone tell me what "sucre en grains" is in English? It doesn't look quite like sanding sugar, which is the closest I can find.

granulated sugar?

iirc, sucre en grains is a sparkly coarse sugar, for pastries and candies. You'd probably have to get it from a candy supply shop, or maybe could be found at a commercial grocery in the bar supplies (can sugar rims of glassware, like they can be salted for a marguerita)? Or, maybe this?: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/items/Coarse_Sugar_White

I live across the street from Salumi now and have started buying guanciale. So much pork flavor and amazingly liquid fat. It's really salty though. For breakfast this morning, I soaked 6 medium thick slices in 3 changes of cold water, while Mr. Jaq prepped biscuits. Dried off and fried to chewy-crispy. I then made a fritatta/omelet/scrambled egg thing in the fat, with 3 eggs, 1/2 oz each of romano and parmesan, some tarragon and a tiny sprinkle of oregano. Creamy and delicious and so much flavor from the guanciale.

Yeah it's not granulated sugar, it's what Jaq describes -- it was mentioned in a recipe for oranais, and I thought about giving it a try. I'm sure I could just use sanding sugar or something other sugar, but I realized I've never seen anything quite like the sugar on those pastries, and wondered if it was at all available (or under some other name).

I was checking through my old Bernard Clayton Pastry book, but he doesn't mention it, or any sources. I think I must have come across it in the Pie and Pastry Bible or another baking book I got from the library. Or maybe (and more likely) one of Elizabeth David's books. One of the descriptions I came across made it sound like it was harvested like fleur de sel - raked by hand from the top of naturally evaporating sugar vats.

Wow.

Which, you know, made me want to start growing some in the bathroom.

No, of course. Though you're more likely to actually do it than I am.

the focus of last night's meal was roasted curried cauliflower, from this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/ROASTED-CURRIED-CAULIFLOWER-230653. it came out pretty well, although next time i would reduce the amount of vinegar a bit and toss a bit of garam flour in with the veggies after adding the dressing.

Mmmm, I made something like this a few years ago, definitely needs a revive!

i made a crustless quiche last night: eggs beaten with carmelized onions and orange peppers, red russian kale, parmesan, and bread crumbs, and baked until slightly brown on top. it's a really good last-minute meal, with endless variations possible. if i get good bacon this week, i'll probably try a lorraine version at the weekend.

for the last 6 weeks or so i have been making one of those ^^ every sunday to eat for breakfasts through the week. mine usually has spinach and either gruyere or cheddar or a combination of the both. i used to include pancetta, but it just got to be a little much. do you add a little flour/baking powder to yours? i think it also makes the whole thing taste less aggressively eggy, which is good for me.

i have been a cooking maniac lately, but nothing really of note. now that it's not so hot out i am eager to start trying new things.

i don't add any flour, but i do add a decent amount of breadcrumbs (like half a cup, at least, per 6-8 eggs).

the interesting feature of the baking powder is that, with the flour, it makes the whole thing rise enough that the spinach isn't all sitting on top. it sort of redistributes the egg mixture so it's more even and the spinach doesn't burn on the top. i also like a little cayenne pepper over everything.

the basic recipe i've been using is is 2 eggs, about 1/2 cup egg whites, some milk (1/4 cup? 1/3?), about 5 tbsp flour, 1 tsp baking powder and a little bit of fat-free cottage cheese, for moisture. a bunch of fresh spinach + about 3/4 c. of shredded cheese of your choice + salt/pepper/whatever. (some cheese goes on the bottom of the pie plate, some in the mixture and a little on top.) it turns out pretty well, and lasts for breakfast all week. i'm sure with the addition of more/better stuff it could be more delicious, but if i'm eating it every day, i don't want it to be too overwhelming. bake at 350 for 50 min.

note: i would never EVER eat cottage cheese outside of this conconction. in fact, the thought of it makes me fairly sick, but it is truly indetectable in this thing and lends a little bit of moisture/heft.

eggplant gratin last night (recipe adapted from the nyt). it's basically a more healthful/less fatty version of parmesan, using roasted eggplant instead of breaded, fried slices. there's a breadcrumb topping , so you still a bit of crunch, but it's noticeably lighter than the traditional version while retaining a fair amount of the taste.

last night: black olive & goat cheese stuffed chicken breasts breaded with bread crumbs, parmesan, turmeric, oregano, salt, pepper. very tasty but I needed some sort of sauce with it/my rice/steamed vegetables.

I'm simmering quinces to make jam and jelly - 1st attempts at either.

i wish i'd paid attention to the 5-day forecast when planning tonight's dinner. it's like 75º here (79º tomorrow - thank you, global warming), and i just finished my inappropriately wintry meal of liver (from grazin' angus acres; humane and all that stuff) with caramelized onions/red wine reduction, carrots roasted with thyme and garlic, savoy cabbage braised with bacon, and mashed potatoes.

Oh man that sounds delicious! I have never cooked liver; intimidated.

the cooking part is really easy: cut into strips and toss in a pan (cast iron is good) w/ butter over med-high heat, maybe 2 min per side depending on thickness/size (should be pink but not bloody inside) and then deglaze pan with wine. prepping the meat is sort of annoying, since you have to cut away any connective tissue or membraneous stuff that's there (and it will be there). if you're at all squeamish about handling raw meat, this part will be torturous. i'm a savage when it comes to this kind of thing, and even i don't like it.

oh man, I want a decent eggplant parmesan recipe

we had some in the swanky restaurant in the casa da musicaa in porto that was... sublime

my sister sent me this recipe the other day and i was thinking of ingredients but i couldn't remember what i needed. anyway i made it with random "fish cubes" (i.e. an assortment of fish pieces that were very cheap), 1 shallot, garlic, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, basil, spices to taste... no broth or white wine, though i tossed a dash of marsala in bc i didn't have any white wine (i don't know if this is acceptable but whatever). it was pretty tasty, and i have leftovers :D also i never actually read the instructions, i just kind of made it how it made sense to put the ingredients together.

also MAN i can't wait til i am done with school because it was so nice to be able to come home at a decent time and cook!

So the quince jam turned out really really well and we have been scarfing it down on biscuits and toast. But the jelly. This is what I get for not owning a candy thermometer, and possibly for not measuring accurately as well. First, I had 3 cups of partially gelled jelly, mostly syrup actually, but with some encouraging jelly bits on top and around the edges. I read up on remaking it, boiled it back up with a tsp of lemon juice (in case it wasn't acid enough), and tried to do the "spoon drip" test but failed obv. because this morning I have a solid sticky mass of quince glue that smells and tastes divine but is like a deconstructed Jolly Rancher.

candy thermometer gives good value, esp. for making peanut brittle

I am headed to the restaurant supply store today for some other stuff, and will try to remember to get one. I have a low-range dairy thermometer for cheesemaking, may as well invest in an upper-ranged one as well.

I've got a pigeon casserole puttering away to itself as I type, the smell is driving me nuts.

Oh but I should mention that (pace the wednesday chef) I don't follow Bittman in making a dipping sauce of sesame oil, ginger, and scallions. Instead I just toss the chicken with scallions, ginger, cilantro, a little sesame oil, and a squeeze of lime. And a fair amount of salt.

i like to eat the chicken with sambal. hmm... need to go out for malaysian food very soon, i think.

Tarte Tatin today, I was in the mood for something resolutely old school.

PUMPKIN PIE. Oh ,yes.

Last night we had chicken breasts stuffed with broccoli and a touch of goat cheese, broccoli and carrot slices steamed with a bit of butter and spices on them, and herbed mashed potatoes. Spur of the moment dessert was excellent: french vanilla ice cream with pieces of apples sauteed with cinnamon, nutmeg and a bit of orange juice. Mmmm.

braised short ribs (using a john besh recipe). i'm in love with this farm in upstate ny, grazin' angus acres, and have been buying saving the meat bugdet to buy from them occasionally. next friday i'm going to get flat iron steak, if they're not sold out of it by 9am (which is usually the case).

Sea bream fillets, made this-a-way; amazing because a)fish was sparklingly fresh and super-tasty and b)I didn't overcook it for once. Accompanied by bittman's 'braised' carrots and rye toast with too much butter.

Somehow I convinced myself that buying 1/2 gallon of heavy cream was a good idea. Dinner last night: leftover roast chicken and bowtie pasta with alfredo sauce. 4 oz butter melted with 2 cloves finely minced garlic and a few grinds of pepper, 2 cups of heavy cream added and all brought up to a simmer, then 4 oz of grated parmesan stirred in for about 8 additional minutes of simmering. For good measure and a little sourness, I added ~ 3 oz of cubed cream cheese.

Brownies. With espresso ice cream. Yum.

I now have so much fenugreek. What will I ever do with it all.

Brown bread. Yum yum but superheavy.
Spinach/minced meat on pasta.
Cake with fudge frosting (?): da total yum

Might try my hand at a typical flemish dish: witlof ham and cheese sauce.

http://www.dinnerworld.be/upload/files/shop/1135930672/witloof.jpg

what's wrapped up in the ham?

Are those endives?

Yes, belgian endives or chicory. It was quite lovely although I realize my bechamel sauce was probably a bit off. Ah well, if you have a baby who's screaming in your ear, you are less worried about food. :-)

chicory means something else in the US

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory

Okay, I'm confused because they also state:

Belgian endive is also known as French endive, witlo(o)f in the USA, chicory in the UK, as witlof (the Dutch name) in Australia, endive in France, and chicon in parts of Northern France and in Francophone parts of Belgium.

I don't know, I've only ever heard them referred to as endive over here, with chicory being the root you roast to add to/sub for coffee.

old-school chicken fricassee (done mostly in the slow cooker) came out very well. the recipe is from the best-ever slow cooker, one-pot, and casserole cookbook, which i got for $6 at costco. it's great! lots of interesting recipes for seafood, soups, tagines, curries, game, etc etc. so much better than the several other slow cooker books we have, in which most of the recipes are variations on dumping a can of cream soup over chicken breasts.

there's something deeply satisfying about chicken fricassee, for myself I made some goulash of sorts

Marshmallows! I made marshmallows!

I recently discovered our supermarket has minced chicken meat. HURRAH! I can't wait to try this for an obento. :-)

Roasted broccoli with shrimp: whoa. A new keeper.

do you parboil the broccoli?

Nope, just cut 'em into bite-size pieces.

I actually used broccolini, why because I like that better, but I'm sure regular broccoli would work fine. It's high heat.

My inaugural dinner party menu:

Turkey stuffed with onion, lemon and oranges wedges, sage and rosemary. Smeared inside and out with butter beaten with herbs de provence, garlic and lemon zest.

Garlic rosemary mashed potatoes made extra awesome with a little cream cheese.

Campanelle with pumpkin sauce.

Roasted asparagus.

Yellow cake with caramel frosting for dessert.

PIZZA! Okay, I suck cause I made the dough with my breadmachine. But I'm so chuffed I was able to make a pizza! My husband nearly had an orgasm. hahah So did I. Man, self-made pizzas rock!

chorizo/cod/prawn stew with potatoes, chickpeas, tomato, garlic, onions, celery...made enough to do me for about 3 years.

almost finished preparing:

* quinoa w/red peppers and beer
* broiled sockeye salmon w/butter, lime, cilantro and jalapeno marinade

any tips for broiling fish?

should i wrap it in foil???? halp! i don't want to ruin it!

so i just put in about 6 inches from the broiler, no foil, on a brand-new nonstick baking dish

No foil is good!

new things I have learned and cooked:
omelettes (ya ya I know)
asparagus tart
roast tofu & sweet potato salad
mulled cider
aubergine and fennel farfalle
nettle risotto

Bittman's polenta "pizza" was great tonight. I'm doing a meatless stretch, so I left off the pancetta, but a topping of spinach sauteed with onion and a crazy amount of garlic, with sliced roma tomatoes and mozzarella over the whole thing, was really good.

i recently made my favorite soup, egyptian chickpea. recipe on how to nom. highly recommended.

Tonight I made chicken topped w/ sautee of carmalized onions, apples, spinach, mushrooms, pecans, and bourbon glaze. Mash totos w/ asparagus and garlic butter on the side. Mad tasty.

Tonight I made rotelle with spinach, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and red bell pepper. I do believe it's the healthiest meal I've ever made.

tonight: grilled chicken breast basted with a spiced butter made of butter/garam masala/paprika/garlic/pepper, with some potato/coleslaw. and corn on the cob to begin. a happy meal.

where is the thread with all the potato suggestions?

As posted on the gay thread, I made several burritos with jasmine rice, black beans with sauteed onion and garlic, refried beans with chipotle and adobo, TVP with a homemade taco seasoning, and several dashes of Crystal hot sauce. They are now in the freezer waiting for me!

chicken mulligatawny soup

^highly recommended. I used regular curry powder instead of the hot type and 1% cow's milk (+ about a tsp of brown sugar) instead of coconut milk, but it turned out yummy regardless.

I used this recipe to make candied orange peels for a friend's birthday. I'm unemployed, so I was looking for a cheap, time-consuming, DIY gift, and these turned out great! The ones I rolled in sugar taste like all-natural gummies, but the chocolate-dipped ones are my favorite. You know, 'cause of the chocolate.

I cooked a gammon steak at the weekend with a little bit of lambs liver, then served with coleslaw and some sautéed potatoes. It was incredibly good. Had forgotten about the existence of gammon.

i made simple wonton soup last week but it was delicious!

diced ginger
diced garlic
2 scallions
^^^ sautéed in a tiny bit of oil

add 1 can chicken broth
1 can water
^^^bring to boil

soy to taste
sriracha to taste
chopped savoy cabbage
^^^ simmer til cabbage is tender

drop in a few frozen wontons (i used tj's chicken/scallion ones)
^^^bring back to boil and heat til wontons are cooked

the leftovers a few days later were even better because the garlic and ginger and spice came out a lot more

also i put 25 seasoning salute in like everything i made so i guess add that up there somewhere.

and sunday i made my favorite tuscan standby: sliced chicken (also works with shrimp or fish, or no meat at all), peppers (yellow this time, but red are good, too), spinach, garlic, squash, shallot (first time i've added them in this), diced tomato, seasonings, juice of one lemon, dash of vermouth (you can also make this with white wine instead of lemon), olive oil. served over lemon pepper pappardelle (which was surprisingly really fragrant!). i have like 5 days worth of leftovers!

tonight:
mahi mahi marinated with lime, honey, and chili
spinach, avocado, grape tomato salad

Mini lamb burgers (seasoned with cumin, coriander, and garlic), grilled halloumi, pea shoots, greek yogurt, sriracha, pita bread.

i have been on an insane cooking spree since i moved and have nothing better to do (plus more affordable ingredients).

tonight i made wasabi panko crusted salmon, baby bok choy with orange, soy, and tamarind, and shirataki noodles. served with a dry sake.

the learning curve for cooking on electric stove after years of gas is pretty tough, though :(

here is a picture, btw:
http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp95/tza/102_9137.jpg

I picked blueberries at my parents' place the other day and turned them into blueberry butter. I'm turning into such a stan for fruit butters. Next up, peach butter.

Today was peach butter (6.5 pints).

I also smoked a rack of ribs this weekend for the first time. (Notes: put the hickory chip packets closer to the flame, leave the dry rub on the ribs overnight instead of 2 hrs, use regular dry mustard instead of hot chinese mustard, start the ribs on the upper rack instead of giving them a few minutes on direct heat.)