***Club Cucina

Welcome to our own little Club Read Cucina! Come on in, grab a drink, grab a snack, pull up a chair, make yourself comfortable, and discuss food!

What did you cook for dinner?
Any new recipes & dishes you tried out lately that thinking about makes your mouth water?
How about old favorite recipes that are just to die for?
Do you have favorite cookbooks? Favorite cooking sites?
What upcoming meal plans do you have in the works?
Etc etc you get the idea!

I'm glad this thread has come to fruition .Monkey, as I'm always looking for new recipe ideas.

I try to attend a cooking class once a year at this vegetarian cooking school in Bath. It's very well run. I've done Southern Indian Thali, Vietnamese and Thai, and vegan courses so far. Being a vegetarian school they give alternatives to non vegetarian components (such as fish sauce which is in most Thai meals), so it is really useful. I will try to remember to post some of the recipes as I try them out. If they are successful I might even post a picture.

I'm already looking forward to making a couple of Darryl's recipes. This thread may keep me going all year!

Oooh, a cooking thread! I have been enjoying Darryl's recipes in his thread very much, but didn't want to interrupt too much with my own cooking/baking odysseys.

Due to a move across town happening on Monday, this is the first year in the past ten where I am not making Christmas cookies for all the departments at work :( Although, it will probably be for the best; it had gotten out of hand. Last year I made 2131 bite-size cookies -- seven different cookies, packaged and distributed to 15 different departments.

So, in December I am usually thinking about icebox cookies. Anyone have a favorite recipe?

Yes I'm super glad Darryl mentioned the idea!

>2 zenomax: That's awesome, cooking class is one thing I've always been curious about but never done...outside home ec. in jr. high of course, lol. And vegetarian even, that's great! Definitely share, pics too!

>3 ELiz_M: LOL well, rest assured you're not alone in the baking craze; one of my friends elsewhere made an entire table full of goodies for her office (and her neighbors/friends as well) at turkey-day time, she made filled shortbread cookies with jam in the middle, mini pumpkin pies, cranberry orange loaves, pumpkin cupcakes, pilgrim hat cookies (upside down fudge stripes cookie and a mini Reese's stuck to it with melted peanut butter chips and the details drawn on with it, so adorable!), mini salted caramel pumpkin cheesecakes, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin bread, salted caramel dark chocolate pretzels, Reese's pieces chocolate chip cookies... probably other things I'm forgetting, it was INSANE! And it all looked SO GOOD!

You know, I don't think I really even know what icebox cookies are!

>3 ELiz_M: I can't speak for the quality of the cookies from my 1/2 recipe of Icebox Cookies...even if it did come from my Grandmother's collection:



>4 .Monkey.: Icebox cookies are aka refrigerator cookies aka slice-n-bake. Basically, any cookie dough that can be kept in the fridge for fast baking.

Ahhh gotcha. Yeah I have always just made them when I "need" to, never have them stored ready to bake.

I just tried a new soup recipe that has shot right up my favourites list. It's quick and very easy.

Potato Leek Soup



Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.fettlevegan.com/recipes/potato-leek-soup

I didn't quite follow the recipe. It's vegan, and I sauteed my vegetables in a nice swack of butter. Because I had it around, I also chopped up some ham and threw it in--completely unnecessary, but nice. If you want to keep it vegetarian and still have a little smoky flavour, chopped vegan bacon would work well. Finally, I added a heaping teaspoon of herbes provencales. Next time I think I'll add a pinch of culinary lavender.

Since it's baking season for lots of people I thought I'd share my favorite family cookie recipe. If you love brown sugar, these are for you. I like pecans, but they're equally nice without any.

The recipe came from a Christmas centered baking booklet published by the Houston Power Company in the early 1970s. It cracks me up that all my family's favorite cookie recipes came from such a random collection. It also proves just what a packrat my mom is that she managed to keep it through a half dozen moves mostly made in her early 20s (from Houston to Santa Monica to Boston to Cincinnati to Cambridge OH and then to two towns in rural West Virginia).

Brown Sugar Drop Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup sifted flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans
whole pecans

Cream butter, add sugar gradually, beat in egg. Blend in flour and salt, fold in chopped pecans. Drop rounded teasponfuls of dough onto greased cookie sheets. Top with whole pecan if desired. Bake at 350 F about 10 minutes.

My husband and I quite approve of adding butter and ham to a vegan recipe.

I have a towel with a recipe for Lincolnshire Plum Bread. Today I replaced the plums with cranberries, sour cherries, cashews and walnuts for a Chrismas bread. It's basically a rich, sweet yeast bread. In the end I make it as written at least half the time. It's very good with any dried fruit, so I do ring the changes, but the plums are really good.

I've put a picture of the recipe on my profile, but I haven't turned it. http://pics.cdn.librarything.com/picsizes/1e/5f/1e5f2ac99b3e1296370304a6c67434b4...

Yes, the bake worked.

Butter good, pig bad! Definitely bookmarking, though I'd do at least partial broth/bouillon, and add more veg, and seasonings. It looks like a great base, though. :D

Thanks for setting up this thread, Monkey! This past weekend I made one of my favorite vegan recipes, Crispy Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Asparagus and Brussels Sprouts, courtesy of Rhea Parsons, which I hadn't made since the spring (this photo is mine, which I took on Sunday):



Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 package vegan gnocchi
1 bag frozen baby Brussels sprouts or fresh
12 oz. cremini or white mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus (or other veggie of your choice, fresh or frozen)
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced (I always use double garlic)
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
2 Tbs. canola oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Preheat large sauté pan with medium heat. Add 1 Tbs. oil to pan. When the oil is hot, add the gnocchi to the pan, being sure to keep them all separated. Let cook about 3-4 minutes on each side until browned and crispy. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add 1 Tbs. oil to pan and add Brussels sprouts. If they are large Brussels sprouts, halve or quarter them into bite-sized pieces. Cook about 4 minutes on each side until browned and softened. If using frozen Brussels sprouts, they may need to cook longer on a lower temperature to be sure they are cooked through to the middle but you can add them directly to the pan with no need to defrost them. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add last Tbs. of oil to pan and add mushrooms, garlic, thyme, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook about 5-6 minutes until mushrooms are soft and creamy. Meanwhile, if you are using fresh asparagus, steam them for a few minutes to soften them. I do it by putting them in a covered dish with a bit of water and popping them in the microwave for 3 minutes but you can do it the old fashioned way too. If you are using a frozen veggie, you can add it directly to the pan or defrost it first, depending on the water content (for example, I would add frozen asparagus directly but I would defrost spinach). When the asparagus is steamed, let cool to the touch and cut them into pieces, keeping the tips on the side. Add the pieces to the pan with the mushrooms and stir.

Add the gnocchi and the Brussels sprouts back to the pan and let everything heat through. Garnish with the asparagus tips and parsley, if you want.
__________________________________________________________

I haven't found vegan gnocchi in my local supermarkets, so I used potato gnocchi instead. I have never used frozen asparagus or Brussels sprouts. Rhea recommends using double the amount of garlic, so I use four cloves whenever I make this recipe. It's a great one course meal, and this recipe makes four healthy servings.

I use frozen asparagus plenty, but frozen sprouts are vile, they get all soggy and nasty, do not use!! This sounds great (though the photo doesn't work), I will have to try it!

>12 .Monkey.: Can you see the photo now?

12> I agree -- frozen Brussels sprouts are ghastly.

>13 kidzdoc: Yep, all good! :)

My favourite cookbook author is Claudia Roden- everything that I have made from her books turns out really tasty.
I use Arabesque for recipes on chicken pie, chicken and dates, potato and olive salad, and meat cigars. I also have an out of print book Invitation to Mediterranean Cooking - it has great soup, salad, and flan recipes.

>5 lesmel: Haha, no I can't quite read that; it must mean they are excellent (all of my favorite recipes have been spilled upon)!

>6 .Monkey.: I love ice box cookies because it allows the baking process to take place over two (or more) days. I used to regularly work 60+ hour weeks and when I "needed" to make cookies (co-worker's birthday or whatever) I didn't have 2-3 hours or the energy to make them from scratch. So with icebox cookies, I can make the dough ahead of time on the weekend and then "slice and bake" the evening before.

>11 kidzdoc: I love this recipe for it's one-pan directions! My preferred cooking method is to re-use one pan for as many components as possible, as I don't have enough counter space to stack/wash/dry multiple pans and mixing bowls.

>16 torontoc: Hhhmmmm, I may have to track down her Simple Mediterranean Cookery.

My favorite cookbooks are the various Moosewood Cookbooks by Moosewood Collective and/or Mollie Katzen

I especially love Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special for all the soup/salad/vegetable side dishes!

Anything by Claudia Roden is worth reading. I think my favourite is The Book of Jewish Food. It's not just the wonderful recipes.

>17 ELiz_M: Yeah it's handy. I just doubt if I have made cookies more than a few times a year ever, and for at least the past decade no more than once/year if that. :P

Tonight I will be making my heavily adapted version of Pioneer Woman's "Sour Cream Noodle Bake." She has nice starter ideas but in addition to being meat-heavy with a severe lack of veg, she loads everything up with insane amounts of fat, like, I don't shirk from fat where warranted, but there's a line where once you've crossed, you're just being gross and pointless, and she's always on the far side. So yeah, I take her stuff as jumping off points. So, tonight's bake is made to my specs like so:
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
Sauté roughly chopped onions in olive oil until they start to go translucent, add (frozen) green beans and tricolor pepper, (fresh) finely chopped garlic and sliced mushrooms and let it cook a few mins, then add Quorn "mince" and passata and seasoning (salt, garlic powder, basil, a little oregano, a smidge of pepper) and let it simmer a bit, and tossing in kidney beans when it's about ready.
Meanwhile, egg noodles (you need something with some shape, to hold the dish together right) get cooked al dente, drained, and left to slightly cool. Mix cottage cheese & sour cream in a decent size bowl, add noodles & stir, then add a bunch of chopped scallion and stir again.
(These are two types of pasta that work nicely with it, so you see the idea.)

Put half the noodle mix in a baking dish, top with half the tomato-y veg mix, then sprinkle a layer of shredded cheddar, then the rest of the noodle mix, then the rest of the tomato-y veg mix, and top with cheddar.
Then toss in the oven for ~20mins/till cheese is nicely melted.
ETA
Food has been made & consumed! Top view, with what's in my plate removed, and my plate. :P
   

Meat eaters can use any kind of ground meat in the tomato sauce. Veg folk can use any kind of mince substitute or natural-style sub (lentils, more beans, etc) or simply forget about it and use whatever other legumes/veg you like in it. Vegans/non-dairy... well if you know creamy sauce subs you could try using in place of the dairy in it, have at it, I'd like to know how that'd turn out! :)

ETA from my post way later on, for anyone else in the future who may be curious-
I'm not much for measuring, I pretty much just eyeball, but, for the rather larger casserole that it takes me & my husband three days to eat, I think there's 2 med-large onions, maybe like 200-240g? of mushrooms, probably about 4 decent-sized cloves of garlic (probably 2-3 tbsp when minced?), a handful of green beans, a small bell pepper, a can of kidney beans (drained & rinsed of course), the Quorn mince pkg is 200g, seasonings to taste, and enough passata to coat everything nicely (I think I use around 3/4 of a 500g carton, so, 350-400g or so). 3 scallions, ~150g cottage cheese, ~3 heaped spoons of sour cream, and something like 175-200g of pasta? General idea, anyway! :P

So I've been watching this thread even though I'm not the cook in my family - my husband fills that role wonderfully. I have a menu dilemma, though, that I was curious to see if anyone has a solution to. A good friend of mine is coming to Christmas dinner with my family this year. My mom always makes lasagna from scratch, salad, and homemade rolls. Unfortunately, my friend is doing gluten free now, which doesn't work with any of that except the salad! Does anyone know any gluten free recipes that would work with the menu that we could add as a side dish that would sort of also substitute as a hearty enough main course for her?

She, of course, offered to just eat the lasagna and said not to go to any extra trouble, but that's not ok with me!

Great thread, I'll be following avidly ;), especially the vegan stuff (keep trying to reach that Grail, sinning all the way...)

>11 kidzdoc:

Darryl, I just wanted to mention, one of the dishes I picked up from your thread (but no idea which one, now) was a smash hit--the Moroccan chickpea/lentil soup. (Only changes, I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned and added a zucchini, unpeeled, cut in half moons. There was room, I was cooking for eight.) Everyone wanted the recipe and I already had two people "cook it back" for me.

>21 japaul22: Hmm, what about either a nice potato something, or a filled something? Like stuffed mushrooms or bell peppers, or gratin dauphinois? E.g.
http://relish.com/recipes/gratin-dauphinois/
http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2008/09/au-gratin-potatoes.html
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/spicy-spinach-stuffed-mushrooms/
https://eatingwelllivingthin.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/its-good-to-be-over-stuffe...
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/vegetarian-stuffed-peppers

My post >20 .Monkey.: has been updated with dinner photos! Not the best due to it being dark, but you get the idea!

>23 .Monkey.: I like those suggestions, especially the stuffed peppers. I asked my husband, though, and he came up with the idea of a vegetable, bean, and pancetta soup that I think sounds perfect. I'll take note of those websites, though - we're always looking for new recipes.

>20 .Monkey.: -- I'm intrigued by this recipe, but what is Quorn?

I had some ground lamb in my freezer from a Blue Apron delivery, but I wasn't drawn to the BA recipe, so I googled ground lamb recipes and came up with this South African one from Martha Stewart. It was really tasty, and I liked the custardy texture. I halved the recipe as I only had a pound of lamb and used the whole wheat bread I had in by house. Next time I'll increase the spice amounts, especially the cardamom, ginger and cayenne to give it a little more zip.

BOBOTIE

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (1 1/2-inch piece)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 pounds ground lamb
1/2 cup slivered almonds (1 ounce), toasted

4 slices white bread, crusts removed
1 3/4 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons apricot preserves
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

4 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
4 fresh or dried bay leaves

Cooked rice, for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add oil, then onions and fresh ginger, and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden brown and tender, about 15 minutes. (Reduce heat if vegetables brown too quickly.)
2. Mix turmeric, cumin, coriander, cayenne, cinnamon, cardamom, and ground ginger in a small bowl, then stir into onions. Add lamb, and cook, breaking up large pieces with a wooden spoon, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in almonds, and cook for 2 minutes more.
3. Tear bread into large pieces, and place in a small bowl. Add 1/4 cup milk and 3/4 teaspoon salt, and let stand until milk is absorbed. Add bread mixture to lamb, and cook, stirring frequently, until bottom of pan begins to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in apricot preserves and lemon juice, scraping up browned bits from bottom. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon lamb into a 6-cup baking dish. Whisk eggs, nutmeg, lemon zest, and remaining 1 1/2 cups milk in a medium bowl. Pour over lamb. Place bay leaves in dish, pressing into filling. Bake until custard is set around edges and center is no longer runny, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with desired accompaniments and rice.

>26 janeajones: It's a meat substitute, originates in the UK (but is sold all over, in varying degrees). It's made of mycoprotein, so it comes from fungi, not a soy product! It is suuuuper amazing stuff, meat-eaters love it just as much as veg folk! It's got super consistency & texture, highly recommended even for non-veg folk for reducing meat/more food options! :)

>27 janeajones: Ooh, that looks tasty! I'll have to give that a try. I love lamb, and I have another batch of Irish lamb stew going in my slow cooker now. I haven't made this since mid-January, so I'm looking forward to having it tonight.

I took a short break for lunch (I finished the last of the latest caramelized onion, mixed mushroom and Gruyere quiche), and I'll try a new recipe from The New York Times, Indian-Spiced Tomato and Egg Casserole, which looks divine:



This recipe is one of several enticing ones in the NYT Cooking collection Casseroles for Cold Nights. This morning was the first one that's been below freezing in Atlanta this fall, so it's a perfect day to make this tomato and egg casserole. I'll post the recipe and my own photo after it's done.

>20 .Monkey.: & >26 janeajones: If only we could buy Quorn in Canada. I tried this delicious meat substitute in the UK but I've been told Canada has not been able to categorize it for import (food, health food??).

>30 VivienneR: That sucks! It's in the US though in very limited variety, interestingly enough at least a couple of the options are frozen, which we don't have here - only regular refrigerated. Here we get over a dozen options, though a bunch I'm not interested in ("sausages" or lunch slices and such). There's been a handful of other kinds over the years that they've taken away and if you look at the website for the UK they have a ton more there that we have never seen here. The site is awful though, a pain to navigate the options and we have more/different things here than they show on it, so who knows. They changed it up a while ago to make it more fancy and bleh. But yeah it's wonderful stuff!

>30 VivienneR: I heard on CBC that that is a made up issue put forward by the marketing boards from the meat industry. Grrr.

My husband made this last week. It's crazy good and very easy. I'm making another batch for a pot luck.



http://tiphero.com/no-bake-eclair-cake/

There's even a video if you prefer that over reading a recipe.

No Bake Eclair Cake

Ingredients:

Cake layer:
1 box (16 oz) graham crackers
2 packages (3.4 oz each) instant vanilla pudding
3 1/2 cups whole milk
8 oz Cool Whip

Chocolate Frosting:
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp of salted butter, melted
3 Tbsp whole milk

Instructions:

1. Whisk together the pudding and milk in a large mixing bowl until thickened, about 2 minutes. Fold in the Cool Whip.

2. Spray a 9×13 baking pan with non-stick spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a single layer of graham crackers, breaking them in smaller pieces to fit the edges of the pan.

3. Spread half of the pudding mixture evenly over the bottom layer of graham crackers.

4. Top with a second layer of graham crackers, followed by the second half of the pudding.

5. Top with the third and final layer of graham crackers.

6. Whisk together the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, melted butter and 3 Tbsp whole milk to make the chocolate frosting.

7. Spread evenly over top the third layer of graham crackers.

8. Refrigerate overnight so the pudding has time to set up and the graham crackers soften before serving.

Looks yummy!

Enjoying reading this thread. I used to like making lots of different recipes, but I have to confess since my kids came along the whole joy of cooking has gone out the window for me. Recipes we like they don't and vice versa.

What I'd love are if anyone has some really tasty and SPEEDY mid-week supper dishes (don't need to be recipes the kids would necessarily like). :)

Speedy as in on the table fast, or speedy as in quick prep time (then goes in the oven)? And, do you have any devices (mandoline-esque things, food processor attachments, etc) that make prep any faster?

The Indian-Spiced Tomato and Egg Casserole is ready!



Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ pounds fingerling potatoes
Kosher salt
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, seeded if desired, finely chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded if desired, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled ginger
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground garam masala
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
¼ cup chopped fresh mint, more for garnish
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or basil, more for garnish
6 eggs
Black pepper, as needed

PREPARATION:
Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with generously salted water. Bring to a boil; cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. When just cool enough to handle, slice into 1/2-inch-thick rounds.

While potatoes cook, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until almost tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in peppers and cook 3 minutes. Add ginger, garlic, cumin, garam masala and coriander; cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer over medium-low heat, breaking up tomatoes with a fork, 15 minutes. Stir in mint and cilantro or basil. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place potatoes in a single layer in a 9-inch-square baking dish. Pour the hot tomato sauce over potatoes. Transfer pan to oven and bake 20 minutes.

Make six wells in the tomato mixture. Crack eggs into wells and season with salt and pepper. Bake until egg whites are set but yolks are still runny, 8 to 13 minutes, depending on how much the potatoes and sauce cooled before baking. Serve garnished with herbs.
____________________________________

I couldn't find fingerling potatoes at Publix, my local supermarket, so I chose to use Melissa's Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes, which were similar in size. Publix didn't have fresh mint, so I used dried mint instead, and halved the amount I put in. I had to bake the eggs for closer to 15 minutes, until the whites were fully set, and the yolk of the portion I tried was perfectly runny. This dish, which was inspired by a Parsi recipe, reminds me a bit of the shakshouka I had when Paul (Polaris-) and I went to Café Also, a fabulous Mediterranean restaurant on Finchley Road in Temple Fortune, North London, which has a sizable Jewish community. The café is affiliated with and connected to Joseph's Bookstore, an excellent bookshop, and these two establishments are co-owned by Michael Joseph, a Czech-born Jewish lawyer, and Ali Al-Sersy, an Egyptian chef. Paul & I went there in June, and I went with three non-Club Read LTers in September. This recipe is very tasty, but it can't beat the shakshouka at Café Also!

Looks great!

Caroline's Irish lamb stew also turned out well:

OMG my diet is going to the other side of beyond if I read this thread. :)

>35 AlisonY: I remember the time I finally found a workable recipe for making sloppy joes here. My husband and I really enjoyed it. The boys turned up their noses. I realized that I hadn't fed them much Tex-Mex. (It's a lot of work when you have to start from scratch, and the ingredients are hard to get. I'm talking importing Masa Harina, so I could make tortillas to cut up and fry to have corn chips. Things are somewhat better now.) I made Tex-Mex every other days for a few weeks. Pretty soon they were enjoying it, too.

I never felt that our diet should be limited because of the kids (except for allergies), nor was I willing to cook two meals. They learned to eat what we ate.

My kind of cooking is: What's left over in the refrigerator? Throw all in crockpot, add some canned cream of chicken soup and a few spices and voila!

Our fridge doesn't really provide leftovers in that sense, we buy what we need, and if there's a little extra of something it tends to be used in lunches to use it up. We also do no canned soups (or sauces, salsa is the only thing I just buy jars of). :P

It took me a bit of testing but I figured out an excellent sloppy joes recipe that tastes very similar to (the awful but tasty) Manwich cans, lol. But, without the garbage in those. It's quite nice! I scoured the web for recipes, took 5 that looked most appropriate, sat there and compared & contrasted all the ingredients & amounts, came up with my own based on those findings (averaging this, leaving out that, lessening this, increasing that, you know), and then tweaked a here and there the first couple times after trying it out, and wound up with my own final version. Hahaha.

>7 Nickelini: That potato leek soup sounds good, Joyce, and I like your idea of putting a bit of ham to it. Another option to give it a bacon flavor is to add smoked paprika.

>20 .Monkey.: That looks great, Monkey! I'll definitely try that in the very near future. I'll probably use freshly steamed asparagus in place of green beans (as I'm not a fan of them), and I'll have to look for Quorn here (I think that my local Publix has frozen Quorn).

Are people in the US aware of good tasting meat substitutes? I used Tofurkey sausage to replace Andouille sausage the last time I made chicken & Andouille sausage jambalaya, and it made this normally wonderful dish taste vile.

>33 Nickelini: That eclair cake looks good!

>35 AlisonY: The crispy gnocchi recipe I posted in >11 kidzdoc: is a quick and easy one, IMO. Here are a couple of others that I'm fond of:

Chinese tofu scramble: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/chinese-tofu-scramble/

Southwest breakfast scramble (also good for lunch): http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/05/southwest-breakfast-scramble/

If I think of other easy recipes I'll post them here.

>38 torontoc: Thanks, Cyrel!

>43 .Monkey.: Back then, in the dark ages before we had a computer in the house, I bought a British book of American Cookery. Someone else did all the work of figuring out how to get the right flavour without the American groceries.

We got our first PC at home in 1992 when our youngest son was born. My husband was home with the kids for 2+ weeks since I had complications before the birth and an operation afterwards. All of a sudden my arguments that the one in his office was not sufficient weren't as much nonsense as he had thought.

>32 Nickelini: That is shocking but no real surprise.

>33 Nickelini: & >37 kidzdoc: Thank you! I'm putting both of those recipes on this week's menu.

ETA: >44 kidzdoc: We'll be having a Tofurkey roast for Christmas dinner. I used to make my own version until my son convinced me that the store-bought one is just as good without all the work.

>44 kidzdoc: Asparagus would be an interesting choice!
I used to eat some of the Morningstar Farms stuff back before moving. It was the best-tasting ones I encountered, pretty decent; my only real problem with it was their consistency was often not right, and for someone like me with texture issues, trying to eat something that my brain is telling me is a "hotdog" but my mouth is screaming THIS IS NOT A HOTDOG it...caused problems. Lol. But their frozen burgers and mince didn't have that issue. :P All the rest of the brands I tried (and I tried most that were around) were meh. But there's probably some new stuff in the past 6+ years...

>45 MarthaJeanne: Hah! Well, good of him to learn. xP

>36 .Monkey.: just speedy all round Monkey. I have a food processor, but generally I'm knackered in the evening after a long day and just want something new that's quick to prepare and quick to cook.

>41 MarthaJeanne: My biggest problem is that many of the things we all like take 20+ mins prep plus 45 mins tenderising on the hob which is too long as I'm not in from work until 5 and then have homework to do. I run out of ideas for quick things we can all eat together in the evening.

>44 kidzdoc: thank you! Going to take a look at these now.

I had to Google cilantro. Ahh - you mean coriander! We need an international cooking dictionary, lol!

>49 AlisonY: Hah, yeah as an American relocated to Europe I now use "coriander" (or rather, koriander :P) rather than "cilantro" as I used to, because it's actually what most places call it aside of North America/Mexico, so it just made more sense to switch. Just like with dates, and metric measuring... xD

>48 AlisonY: I know I have cookbooks/cookbook sections with quick stuff, I will take a peek!

>43 .Monkey.: You probably have access to better salsa than I do in Germany. It's really vile here, with it all having added sugar, so it's a sweet, viscous mess. When we were in Denmark, there was plenty of perfectly adequate salsa for sale in the grocery stores, so I don't know why Germany only gets the inedible stuff. So I make it all fresh and it's worth the extra time slicing and dicing. Especially with a podcast playing for entertainment.

>51 RidgewayGirl: Odd! Yes, def no sugar in my salsa! There's not many options at all and it's not amazing or anything, but it's perfectly adequate just like you say; so I've no inclination to undertake the, what seems to me, rather large undertaking to make my own. xP

>52 .Monkey.:

Preparing "real" salsa takes time, but I'm very happy for most purposes with a quick frying pan method. Cut up 2-3 (or, you know, however many you fancy) tomatoes (the more ripe the better but I'll do it regardless of ripeness). Slice a clove of garlic or two (if you like garlic), saute it in oil in a well-heated pan, add spices (if you like), add the tomatoes and let them cook, with frequent stirring, add the herbs (if you like--thyme and rosemary go in while the sauce is cooking; fresh basil and/or mint at the end), lower the heat as necessary (not too slow because you don't want the water to evaporate too quickly), as the sauce thickens.

While this is happening I usually have the pasta cooking (pasta is what I use this for most often; it's good in egg dishes, soups and stews too)--lovely quick meal in about 30 minutes.

>51 RidgewayGirl:

That sounds familiar, but what about tomato coulis and passatas, can you not find those? Sometimes they can substitute for salsa just fine.

>53 LolaWalser: I make a pico de gallo; a fresh salsa, made of diced onions, tomatoes, fresh cilantro and chilis (salt and pepper). Simple and delicious.

>54 RidgewayGirl:

Do you boil and skin the tomatoes? That's the part of the process that takes the longest time in preparing Italian-style salsa--my grandma's classic takes five hours.

I rarely bother peeling most of veggies--not carrots, not tomatoes, not potatoes (well, them depending on the recipe)--or fruit.

Eep no, plain old passata wouldn't do at all as salsa, way too concentrated of tomato! You could possibly use it to make salsa, but then if you're making it you may as well use fresh tomatoes or canned whole/chunks rather than smooth very liquidy passata. Passata is a pantry staple in my house, there is always one or two cartons on hand, but I'd never use it in place of salsa! :P However, now I'm curious how it'd work out for making salsa, I may just try making a wee bit in a couple days, I have an open one needing using!

Wait Italian salsa?? What is that??

>56 .Monkey.:

Hmm, a passata is just strained tomatoes--not that different in consistency from what I whip up in the frying pan by the method above. (ETA: well, the saucy parts--I sometimes mush up the tomatoes more or less, leaving more or less crunchy bits, and I don't strain the thing.)

>57 .Monkey.:

Tomato sauce.

Passata is completely smooth, salsa is quite different, with tomato lumps and onions and things, it's not all the same consistency like passata is, quite different!

>46 VivienneR: After my one experience with Tofurkey earlier this year I would have to taste it first in someone's recipe before I was willing to try it again.

>47 .Monkey.: I agree, Monkey! When I cut that vile Tofurkey sausage to put into the jambalaya it had the texture of rubberized spackle, and after it was finished cooking I think the spackle would have tasted better.

>48 AlisonY: You're welcome, Alison! Please let me know your opinion about any of those recipes that you decide to try.

>49 AlisonY: Ha! I had forgotten about that. In the US, I think that cilantro refers to the plant, whereas coriander is used to describe the seeds or the powder made from them. (Feel free to correct me, anyone.) On one of my first trips to London I had a dish with aubergine in it, and I commented to the LTer that I was dining with that it tasted like eggplant (I think it was Fliss or Rachael). She gave me a bemused look, and said "Aubergine is eggplant (stupid)."

Hahaha! Yep, cilantro is the leaves and coriander is the seeds (and their powder form). I actually had someone elsewhere try to argue with me when I informed them other countries call it coriander and they were insistent yes, the seeds! NO, the whole dang plant! Lol urgh.

>51 RidgewayGirl: My favorite pico de gallo recipe comes from the Huevos Rancheros recipe on the Budget Bytes web site:

INGREDIENTS:
1 lg. tomato
½ med. Vidalia onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 small lime

INSTRUCTIONS:
Prepare the pico de gallo by dicing the tomato and ¼ of the onion. Rinse about ⅓ bunch of cilantro under cool water and shake to remove as much water as possible. Remove the leaves from the stems and then coarsely chop. Combine the tomato, onion, and cilantro in a bowl. Squeeze the juice from half the lime over top. Stir to combine and then season with salt to your liking.

My favorite salsa recipe is the one used in my favorite chicken and rice dish, Pollo Ciudad with Pickled Tomato Salsa, from the Food Network:

Ingredients:
1 pound tomatoes, diced
1/2 bunch scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
2 to 3 serrano chiles, with seeds, thinly sliced in rounds
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
2 teaspoons cracked black peppercorns
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:
In a large bowl, toss tomatoes with scallions and serrano chiles.

In a medium saucepan, bring vinegar to a boil. Add sugar and salt, and cook until dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and reserve.

Measure ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, cracked peppercorns, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric onto a plate and place near stove. In another medium saucepan, heat oil over moderate heat until just smoking. Add spices and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until aromas are released, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar mixture. Immediately pour over reserved tomato mixture. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours or several days. Makes 2 cups.
____________________________

This salsa makes at least 3-4 cups, and it tastes fabulous!

>60 .Monkey.:

I assure you I know very well what is a passata, and what is the kind of salsa I'm talking about--salsa di pomodoro in Italian, the basic, staple tomato sauce, which is not, classically, "lumpy" at all, because it gets strained.

I suggested that a passata MAY substitute for salsa--Italian-type tomato sauce--in some dishes, not that they are one and the same.

I just made another pot of one of my favorite hearty winter soups, Red Cabbage and Sausage Soup. I may have posted this on my Club Read thread this year, but since this is a 2016 thread I'll post a link and the recipe here.



INGREDIENTS:
1 cup black eyed peas, dry (or 2 cups cooked)
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 leeks, chopped
2 tablespoons corn starch
6 cups vegetable stock
1 lb red potatoes, washed and cut into ½ inch pieces
½ lb pork sausages, cooked and then sliced into ½ inch pieces
½ lb red cabbage, shredded
½ cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
smoked paprika as garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:
If starting from dry black eyed peas:
Soak peas overnight in a large bowl of water. Drain water and transfer peas to a pot. Cover with at least 1 inch of water. Add bayleaf and a healthy dose of salt and cook for 30-40 minutes, until peas are tender and soft. Drain and set aside.

To make the soup:
Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven. Add garlic and leeks and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.

In a small bowl, combine corn starch and ¼ cup stock. Whisk until corn starch dissolves. Pour corn starch mixture into dutch oven and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining broth, potatoes, and sausage. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add red cabbage and black eyed peas to pot and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Lastly stir in cream and cook for 4-5 minutes more. Remove from heat, ladle into bowls, and top with smoked paprika.
____________________________________

This makes at least six servings, and I like to freeze it in individual sized Tupperware containers and bring it to work, especially on days that I know I'll exceptionally busy and may not get to have dinner until late in the evening. This would be an easy recipe to convert to a vegetarian one, of course.

>55 LolaWalser: Mine is the Mexican Pico de Gallo. You get it everywhere in the north of Mexico and in the American southwest. I could eat it by the gallon.

My mom has a version that incorporates spicy radishes and a bit of tomato paste. I've encountered good versions with canned, diced tomatoes, which are good in winter, when the tomatoes are not at their best, but nothing beats the fresh, simple stuff.

That's pretty much my cooking style - fresh, seasonal and not too many ingredients in a single dish. My husband's style is quite the opposite, so we do end up with a variety.

>66 RidgewayGirl:

Yeah, I see from Darryl's recipe it's with uncooked tomatoes (I thought at first you were talking about tomato sauce generally).

"Fresh and seasonal"--definitely the best, although these days it sure can be difficult to remember what's in season when...

I'm roasting marrow bones with the purpose of scooping the marrow out, spreading it on lightly toasted peasant bread, and sprinkling generously with Hungarian sweet paprika: my last-wish meal, should I ever end, as some have predicted, on the gallows. ;)

I keep buying these with the idea of preparing bone marrow soup and I keep snarfling them straight out of the oven.

>61 kidzdoc: Tofurkey Roast is not at all like the sausage, which I too remember as being vile.

I've made a note of your pico de gallo salsa. So far the perfect recipe has eluded me. Yours sounds good.

>48 AlisonY: i know where you're coming from on that one. I sometimes don't get in from work until 7 or 8 pm, when cooking is the last thing on my mind, but we need to eat. Oven with a timer is my saviour. Casserole ingredients get cut & popped in the casserole pot the night before, oven temperature and timer get set as I go to work, I arrive home to find dinner waiting for me. Not every day, but at this time of year it's usually at least once a week that we have something that's been cooking by itself for a couple of hours.

I don't like cooking, but I love baking. Since I live alone, I have to cook - well, I have to in my estimation, I grew up eating home-cooked food and living on processed/frozen/restaurant stuff would make me sick. But I mostly make cheater meals - cook stuff in advance and throw it together when it's time to eat, and I eat the same thing a lot of the time.

A very common meal for me is Rice And - I make brown rice in the slow cooker ahead of time, 4 meals' worth. I also make my own pesto, mostly from stuff I grow - basil, parsley, spinach, garlic from my garden. And parmesan, walnuts, and olive oil from the store. I make that in batches too, and freeze it in half-pint jars - that's about as much as I can eat (8 meals) before it goes bad, but it keeps beautifully in the freezer. So Rice And is brown rice, pesto, usually avocado though sometimes I use chopped and steamed other veg, diced cheddar; mix it all up on the plate and microwave for a minute and a half. Top with sprouts (that I grow), eat with a glass of milk. Sometimes I feel like having more protein in it, and will microwave and cut up a chicken sausage or a hard-boiled egg and mix them in before I microwave it. Sometimes I find I'm out of pesto (forgot to make it), and I'll steam some broccoli or the like and puree it to a lumpy sauce; it tastes different, but provides the structure for the meal as pesto does. Lots of variants, which is why it's Rice And. Oh yeah, and sometimes I've forgotten to make rice - couscous is a good quick substitute. Quinoa is also a good substitute but takes as long to make as the rice; same for most other grains.

Favorite cookbooks - Rose Levy Berenbaum's Rose's Christmas Cookies, Cake Bible, almost anything by her. Cook's Illustrated Baking, and quite a few recipes out of their magazine (or the annual cookbooks which are just bound copies of that year's magazine). And a lot of recipes off the King Arthur Flour website - I've got a couple books by them, but I'm more likely to go to the website, or get a recipe off the website and put it in Evernote, then search in there. I like a) baking (as I said above) and b) scientific recipes. That is, ones where the authors explain why they do it this way - Cook's Illustrated Magazine recipes always start with what the recipe author was looking for, then explain all the dead ends they hit along the way to making it what they wanted. I find that fascinating - and useful, when what I want isn't quite what they were aiming for - now I know the direction to go to get where I want to end up.

>64 LolaWalser: Ah, it's another language thing! In American (ok, some American), what you're talking about - the passata, or salsa di pomodoro - is tomato sauce, or spaghetti sauce. Tomatoes cooked down to a smooth sauce, usually with spices/herbs added. Salsa is a Mexican dish, with many variants but I think most of them have fresh or only lightly cooked tomatoes, not cooked down into a sauce. It's quite lumpy, with pieces of tomatoes and peppers and onions etc., and usually spicy - with peppers of varying levels of heat.

Re: divided by a common language - I'm a Foreign Service brat, and grew up in lots of little posts all over the world; I had more British teachers and as many British friends as American. I bewilder quite a few people with Britishisms - less so these days, though. And I can still be bewildered. The worst one I ever ran into was when I was attending university in Britain - most of our teachers were American, but there were a few Brits. And in this one class, with an English teacher - it was a math class, calculus, and I'd been struggling all semester. Managing it, but having to work hard to keep the concepts straight. And at the beginning of the last week of class, the teacher said cheerfully, "So, this week we'll revise everything we've studied so far!". The Americans in the class, including me, just about died. In American, "revise" is to change or amend something; to go over something is to "review". Not sure what "review" means in British, but "revise" is to go over it and make sure you understand everything...

Another amusing one - apparently there was a major conference held in Canada, between Americans and Canadians (or Brits? British English speakers, anyway). There was one particular matter that the Brits were determined must be tabled, and the Americans were equally determined that it must not be. It wasn't until (on the second or third day of discussion) someone finally broke out of Robert's Rules of Order and demanded "But why don't you want to talk about this?" that they realized that "table" means opposite things - to the Americans, to table something is to put it aside and possibly deal with it later, to the Brits it means to put it on the table for immediate discussion. They both wanted to talk about it, but language got in the way...

Re: all the posts about vegan "meat" - personally, generally I'd rather have something not at all like meat but tasty rather than something that's trying to pretend to be meat. I can tell - yes, texture is usually a giveaway, and often taste - and it's a waste of effort to try and make something meat-like rather than try and make something yummy but not meat-like.

The best tofu food I've encountered so far is a mousse pie - tofu blended with melted chocolate chips makes a _fantastic_ chocolate mousse, that's protein-rich as well as tasting delicious. My sister (who introduced me to this delight) just tried a variant, and I can't remember what it was aside from not chocolate but she says it's just as good. I'll have to get that recipe from her when she comes at Christmas. I got the chocolate one, but haven't made it yet.

My sister makes a pumpkin pie with tofu that she says noone can tell the difference. I prefer to make mine with eggs and cream.

Me too - well, evap (evaporated milk) rather than cream. But yeah, if you wanted a pumpkin chiffon...

>71 MarthaJeanne: I make a eggless French Silk pie with tofu that is pretty darn tasty, but not as rich as full-on French Silk.

>69 Helenliz: I love casseroles but my kids hate them! I get why they don't like those marinated with wine, but I found a great kid-friendly beef casserole recipe and they hate that too even though I've tried to ignore them and have made it quite a few times now. Even carrots, which they love boiled or steamed, are hated by both of them when they've been marinating in a stew.

Frustrating to say the least....

>70 jjmcgaffey: Your "Rice And" is my type of food. I just wish my husband and the other family members, would go along with it. My son makes pesto and keeps me well supplied with frozen pesto all year.

>61 kidzdoc: As for the Tofurkey Roast, it was good. However, I prefer my own version that I make like a deep dish pie, with double "crusts" made with shredded tofu and herbs, stuffing of choice inside.

Ooh, so happy to find this thread! I love to cook--always trying new things, many of the recipes lower in calories and fat. I'm sure I'll be posting some soon, as well as trying yours!

Happy New Year, everyone! One of the nurses I work with, who is originally from Louisiana, gave me a serving of her husband's gumbo on Christmas Day in exchange for the jambalaya I had made for pot luck lunch in the hospital. It tasted fabulous, and after she gave me his recipe I made it for New Year's Eve dinner. It turned out great, and her husband graciously gave his permission to share the recipe.



Paul Sitz's Chicken and Andouille Sausage Cajun Gumbo

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
3/4 cup All purpose flour
1 lb Andouille sausage
2 lbs Chicken Thighs (bone-in; can substitute bone-in chicken breasts as well)
1 medium/large Green Bell Pepper (chopped)
1 medium/large Sweet Onion (diced)
3-4 ribs celery (chopped)
5-6 cloves fresh garlic (chopped)
1 bunch green onions (chopped)
1/2 cup parsley (chopped)
8 oz frozen okra
2 quarts low sodium chicken stock
1 tbsp gumbo filé powder
3 tbsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne powder (scale based on heat preference)
3 dried bay leaves
Salt/Pepper to taste
Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste
2 cups white rice

Cooking Instructions:

Chop andouille sausage into bite size pieces. Using a large dutch oven, render andouille sausage over medium heat for 5-7 min. Remove sausage and set aside, but leave rendered fat/oil in pot. Using 1 tbsp of cajun seasoning, season Chicken. Then cook in the rendered fat from andouille sausage (4min/side, chicken will not be fully cooked). Remove chicken and set aside. There shouldn’t be much oil left, but use 1-2 oz of your favorite beer, white wine, or bourbon (or even just water) to deglaze the drippings from the bottom of the pan. Reserve these drippings with the chicken and sausage (will be returned into the gumbo later).

Clean out dutch oven before starting the roux. Combing flour and vegetable oil over medium heat. Using whisk, stir roux constantly until it becomes a milk chocolate color. This will take 15-20 minutes, but you should take care to not rush this process because a burnt roux will ruin the gumbo.

Once the roux is the color of milk chocolate, add the chopped pepper, onion, celery and garlic, and cook for 10 min. Add 2 quarts chicken stock, remaining 2 tbsp cajun seasoning, dried thyme, bay leaves, and gumbo filé powder (suggestion: don’t add salt and pepper until gumbo has come to full simmer and you’ve taste-tested). Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Add back andouille sausage and bone-in chicken thighs. Let simmer/stew for 1 hr. Remove chicken thighs and pick meat off bones (suggestion: if you substitute chicken breasts, consider removing after 30-40 min). Discard bones/fat, add back meat from chicken thighs, add okra, and simmer for 20 min. Throughout the cooking process, you may want to skim/remove oil that rises to the top.

Serve over steamed white rice. Garnish with green onions, parsley and hot sauce. Makes 10-12 servings.
______________________________

This is a nontraditional gumbo recipe, as it includes both filé powder and okra. I used Creole seasoning instead of Cajun seasoning. I was afraid of burning the roux, so I cooked it on medium-low heat, stirring it constantly as Paul said, and it achieved a milk chocolate color in about 17-18 minutes. It only took 2-3 minutes for it to transform from a blonde roux to a brown roux, so you want to watch it closely once it starts to turn brown. I'll re-emphasize Paul's comment about the importance of not rushing the time required to make the roux, as the gumbo will be ruined if the roux is burnt. I couldn't tell at what stage the drippings from the Andouille sausage and the chicken should have been added to the gumbo, so I poured it in after I added the vegetables (onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic) to the brown roux. I used Uncle Ben's Original parboiled rice, which is my go to rice for Cajun and Creole recipes. I forgot to add cayenne powder to the gumbo, so it wasn't as spicy as the one Paul made last week, and that made it more palatable to my parents. I didn't add any salt or black pepper, as it didn't need it IMO. It took about four hours from start to finish to make the gumbo, and I didn't find it hard to make. Very highly recommended!

Lisa says that Paul also has great recipes for shrimp Creole, crawfish étouffée and other Louisiana dishes, so I'll give them a try after I get them from her.

This is a recipe for Thai red curry which I made the day before new year's eve. I got the recipe from a 1 day Thai + Vietnamese vegetarian cooking course which I did last year.

This is the cookery school site. I'd recommend it to any UK resident with an interest in vegetarian cooking.

http://demuths.co.uk/

Thai Red Curry Paste

Ingredients:

6 dried red chillies
10 black peppercorns
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
1 tbsp. cumin seeds
4 whole cloves
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
1 small shallot, sliced
2 large red chillies, chopped
2 lemon grass stalks, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lime zest
1 tbsp. galangal paste
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Method:

Dry roast the coriander and cumin seeds.

Use a spice grinder (or pestle & mortar) to grind the coriander and cumin seeds, dried chillies, peppercorns, cloves and salt.

Heat the vegetable oil, add the bay leaves, then fry the shallots for 2 minutes, then add the red chillies, garlic, lemon grass and lime zest. Finally stir in the galangal paste. Leave for 1 more minute on low heat.

Place the fried ingredients in a food processor (or pestle & mortar) and mash to a rough paste.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together to make a smoother paste.

Thai Red Curry

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil
4 shallots, finely sliced
8 baby potatoes, sliced thinly
1 red pepper
3 tbsp. red curry paste (see above)
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
400g tin coconut milk
2 lemon grass stalks, bruised
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
kaffir lime leaves
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp. dark soy sauce

Method:

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion until soft. Add the sliced potatoes, tomatoes and red pepper. Cook 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in the red curry paste and turmeric. Stir fry until fragrant (3 or 4 minutes). Add the coconut milk, lemon grass and lime leaves. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add the lime juice and soy sauce and simmer gently for another 5-10 minutes until vegetables are cooked through.

The curry paste in the mortar:


The curry under way:


On the plate (my wife is not vegetarian so she had hers with added prawns)

>77 kidzdoc: Looks good, though I object to using file in a chicken and sausage gumbo. I was raised that file is for seafood gumbos only. Not sure why though. :)

>78 zenomax: I've found a lot of great recipes at Demuths. Thai Red Curry has just been added to my collection.

Oh my, oh my, this soup was absolutely A-MAZ-ING!!! It didn't taste like anything I have ever had before, but wow, it was SO DELICIOUS!!

Red Lentil Soup with North African Spices
COOK'S ILLUSTRATED SERVES 4 TO 6



4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped fine
Salt and pepper
¾ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
10 ½ ounces (1 ½ cups) red lentils, picked over and rinsed
2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus extra for seasoning
1 ½ teaspoons dried mint, crumbled
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add coriander, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in broth, water, and lentils and bring to simmer. Simmer vigorously, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft and about half are broken down, about 15 minutes.
2. Whisk soup vigorously until it is coarsely pureed, about 30 seconds. Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and extra lemon juice to taste. Cover and keep warm. (Soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Thin soup with water, if desired, when reheating.)
3. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in small skillet. Remove from heat and stir in mint and paprika. Ladle soup into individual bowls, drizzle each portion with 1 teaspoon spiced butter, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.

>81 Cariola: An A-MAZ-ING!!! review by you is high praise indeed. I have no choice but to try this. Thanks!

>78 zenomax: That Thai red curry looks great, Z! I'll plan to make it in the near future, although I'll probably cheat and use the Thai Kitchen red curry paste that I have in my refrigerator. I'll have to go to a farmers' market in suburban Atlanta to buy kaffir lime leaves, though.

>79 janemarieprice: Interesting, Jane! Jim (drneutron, the administrator of the 75 Books group, who is also from Louisiana) posted a recipe for chicken and Andouille sausage gumbo last month, and he uses filé powder and not okra in his gumbo.

>81 Cariola: That Red Lentil Soup with North African Spices looks fabulous, Deborah! I checked my kitchen cabinets a few minutes ago, and I have all the ingredients I need for this recipe, so I'll make it tomorrow, and comment on it here after I do. Thank you!

>83 kidzdoc: and I have all the ingredients I need for this recipe

That means you were able to find lentils! Yea!

>78 zenomax: I never thought to make my own red curry paste, but now that I see the recipe, I have to try it. I make my own Indian curry instead of using the bought powder, so why not Thai red curry paste. Thanks for posting.

>84 Nickelini: Right, Joyce. I bought red lentils last year to make a chicken with red lentil curry recipe in the slow cooker, which I was only lukewarm about (it tasted better when I used brown lentils). I still have 1½ bags of dried red lentils at home, and I had hoped to find an enticing recipe that incorporated them. Deborah's soup sounds perfect.

>81 Cariola:

The spices really make it. One tip I have for any soup with lentils is to roast and grind the cumin seeds yourself right before making the soup--the extra oomph is amazing. (As with any pre-ground spices, by the time they are bought and then used they will have lost a lot of the power.)

I bake one flat pan at about 300F (@150 C) for 20-30 minutes, or until just after the aroma starts to spread.

>86 LolaWalser: Right, without the spices, it was pretty much your usual lentil soup. Toasting them fresh would be even better. And I always add an extra clove of garlic to any recipe.

I did a potluck dinner for New Years with a few friends which was nice. Dishes prepared:

Sausage and Cheese Dip - a more hearty version of Rotel and Velveeta dip


Lacinato Kale and Ricotta Salata Salad - an old favorite

Chocolate Tart with Chocolate Chip Cookie Crust - very tasty even though I'm not a huge chocolate fan

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
½ lb (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
3 cups Quaker oats
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350°.

Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

Yield: about 4 dozen.

>83 kidzdoc: The no file in chicken gumbo is my mother's rule so you definitely should not take it as gospel, but I do. ;)

Just finished baking my favorite dessert-masquerading-as-entree :)

Sweet Potato Souffle

Ingredients:
3 C. mashed sweet potatoes (about two large potatoes)
3 tsp butter
1/4 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. rum
4 beaten eggs
1/4 tsp. of cinnamon

Mash the sweet potatoes and then mix all the ingredients together with a hand mixer. Fold into a buttered or oiled casserole dish. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. (this is the hard part) Wait for it to cool and enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant

I tried two new vegetarian recipes on Sunday, and I was pleased with how both turned out. The first is Bhindi Masala, an Indian okra and tomato dish served over basmati rice, which came from the web site Things I Made Today (http://www.thingsimadetoday.com):



Ingredients:

1½ cup basmati rice, dry
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb okra, washed and dried, stems removed, and cut into ½ inch pieces
2 onions, chopped
2½ tablespoons ginger, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons coriander
½ teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
salt to taste

Instructions:

In a saucepan, cook rice according to package instructions.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add okra and cook until slightly charred and soft. Transfer to a plate.

To the skillet, add onions and cook until translucent. Stir in ginger and garlic and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook until soft.

Add all the spices and mix well. If mixture looks too dry and is not soaking in the spices, add ¼-1/2 cup of water. Taste and adjust salt if needed.

Add okra pieces back in and remove from heat.
_________________________________________

I wasn't fond of this recipe initially, as I had to make numerous adjustments to it on the fly. First, I used half of the chopped onions, since I generally use Vidalia onions, which are considerably larger than most other ones. Fortunately I made this recipe first, and I used the other half of the cooked onions in the second recipe I tried. Two medium tomatoes weren't nearly enough to balance the okra, so I used four instead. I decided to let the okra and tomatoes simmer for 15 minutes over medium heat, and added 1/4 cup of water to allow the spices to infuse into them, along with a few shakes of black pepper. I thought that it tasted good but not great yesterday, but when I had it for lunch today it was much better, and the office staff I shared it with enjoyed it and asked for the recipe.

This recipe was modified from a much more authentic one from Veg Recipes of India (http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/bhindi-masala/), but I didn't use that one, as I didn't have dried mango powder and dry fenugreek leaves. I just found out where to get those spices locally from one of the pediatric residents, who is Indian, so I'll try that recipe the next time I make it.

I also tried the Red Lentil Soup with North African Spices recipe, which Deborah described in >81 Cariola::



I originally wasn't overly impressed after the soup finished cooking, as I thought it was a bit bland, until I added the cilantro and the melted butter spiced with mint and paprika at the end. That brought out all of the flavors of the soup, and it transformed this from an ordinary lentil soup to a special one. Don't skip that last step!

Dinner last night was one of our favorites:

Pasta with Sausage and Greens

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
(measurements approximate)
1 pound Italian sausage (sweet or spicy, pork or chicken) bulk or removed from casings
1 teaspoon olive oil (if chicken sausage)
8 ounces bowtie, penne, or other shape pasta
2 medium onions, chopped
4 ounces diced pancetta (optional)
Kosher salt
1/3 cup white wine
Bunch kale, stemmed and cut into 1” pieces, or 8 ounces baby spinach (or whatever green strikes your fancy)
3 tablespoons butter
Fresh ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese

Instructions
1. In a 12” skillet over medium heat, fry the sausage until cooked through, breaking into small pieces as it cooks. (If using chicken sausage, you’ll need a teaspoon or so of olive oil in the pan.) Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper-towel lined plate.

2. Cook the pasta according to package directions.

3. With the oil left in the pan on medium, sauté the onions (and pancetta, if using), salted to taste, over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to high and deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up browned bits. Reduce the wine to about half.

4. Reduce heat to medium, then add the greens and stir until wilted. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Add the butter a tablespoon at a time, stirring to allow the butter to emulsify rather than melt (the butter will remain a creamy color, rather than melting clear). Add the pasta to the pan and toss to coat. Add the sausage and pepper to taste, and toss.

5. Serve, passing shaved or grated Parmesan.

Variation:
Cut the wine to 2 tablespoons, and add a 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes (including juice) and a cup of chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth along with the wine. Reduce by about a third. Eliminate the butter. (I do this variation, using chicken sausage, for a lower-calorie meal.)

I went with the lower-calorie variation, and no pancetta. We had it (as we often do lately) with a fried egg on top--the runny yolk takes it to the next level.

Sounds yummy.

>93 cabegley: I make a very similar quick pasta for dinner all the time. It's very satisfying.

Thanks, Cariola! I made the lentil soup tonight and it was very popular, even with the twelve-year-old boy.

>96 RidgewayGirl: Yep, that one is a winner! Glad your family enjoyed it.

>20 .Monkey.:

I'm very interested in your Adapted Sour Cream Noodle Bake---could you give some idea of the amounts you use? Thanks.

>65 kidzdoc:

Glad you posted that, Darryl, and thanks particularly for the prep instructions for the black-eyed peas, I struggle with those!

>93 cabegley:

That sounds interesting.

>98 lyzard: I'm not much for measuring, I pretty much just eyeball, but hm, for the rather larger casserole that it takes me & my husband three days to eat, I think there's 2 med-large onions, maybe like 200-240g? of mushrooms, probably about 4 decent-sized cloves of garlic (probably 2-3 tbsp when minced?), a handful of green beans, a small bell pepper, a can of kidney beans (drained & rinsed of course), the Quorn mince pkg is 200g, seasonings to taste, and enough passata to coat everything nicely (I think I use around 3/4 of a 500g carton, so, 350-400g or so). 3 scallions, ~150g cottage cheese, ~3 heaped spoons of sour cream, and something like 175-200g of pasta? General idea, anyway! :P

I made pupusas, a stuffed corn tortilla from El Salvador (similar to arepas), after getting a frozen variety at the grocery store which were on a big sale.



This is the recipe I mostly followed. I would recommend using a little lard or other animal fat in the masa, I think. I didn't add any and I think it would help with the construction. I'm out of cheese so I filled mine with a partially mashed black bean mixture (with garlic, urfa pepper, and chile oil).

For the pupusas:
2 cups masa harina
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup grated cheese: quesillo, queso fresco, Monterey Jack, or mozzarella

Combine the masa harina, salt, and water in a mixing bowl. Knead to form a smooth, moist dough with a playdough-like consistency. If the mixture is too dry, add more water, one teaspoon at a time. If the mixture is too sticky, add more masa harina, one teaspoon at a time. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let stand for 10 minutes.

With lightly oiled hands, form the dough into 8 balls about 2 inches in diameter. Using your thumb, make an indentation into one of the balls, forming a small cup. Fill the cup with 1 tablespoon of cheese and wrap the dough around the filling to seal it. Making sure that the filling does not leak, pat the dough back and forth between your hands to form a round disk about 1/4-inch thick. Repeat with the remaining balls.

Heat a lightly oiled skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the pupusas for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve while still warm with curtido on the side.

I follow that method of rolling them into a ball, but since I have a tortilla press I think next time I'll experiment with using it in order to get a more even thickness of masa. They were perfectly tasty, if not as pretty as the ones in the picture. The smell of masa dough is so comforting to me.

>99 .Monkey.:

Thanks!

>100 mabith: Ahhh you make me want to try doing those again. I only tried once (to make arepas) and failed, possibly because they're entirely foreign to me so I didn't (don't) really know what I'm doing, lol. So I was a bit intimidated to try again, and masa harina is not something available here, I have to have my mom send it from the US. :/

I made Down in the Tremé Carrot Ginger Coconut Shrimp Soup for lunch today, courtesy of the New Orleans jazz vocalist John Boutté, which is one of my favorite winter soups. It turned out well, although it isn't as bright orange in color as it usually is:



Ingredients:

2 pounds carrots
1 thumb-size piece of ginger root
About 7 oz of coconut milk
2-1/2 pounds peeled, deveined shrimp
2 teaspoons fresh fennel fronds
Lemon zest to taste
Salt to taste
Black sesame seeds or freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil the carrots and ginger in water to cover in a sauce pan for 20 minutes; drain, reserving the water.

Puree the carrots and ginger. Combine with the cooking water and coconut milk in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil.

Add the shrimp and fennel.

Cook for 6 minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked through.

Turn off the heat.

Add the lemon zest and salt.

Garnish with sesame seeds.

Serve hot. Enjoy!
________________________________________________________

There isn't much to say here, as this is a super simple recipe. Publix's frozen shrimp come in 2 lb bags, so I use that amount.

Yesterday I made Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad for lunch:



Here's the recipe, from Budget Bytes:

Ingredients:

SAUCE:

½ inch fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
⅓ cup hoisin sauce
⅓ cup crunchy "natural style" peanut butter
1 Tbsp sriracha
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
⅓ cup hot water

SALAD:

1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
3 carrots
1 bunch green onions
½ bunch fresh cilantro
8 oz. linguine

Instructions:

Grate the ginger using a small holed cheese grater into a bowl. Add the minced garlic, sriracha, hoisin sauce, peanut butter, and lime juice. Stir until everything is combined (it may be slightly clumpy), then add ⅓ cup hot water and stir until everything is smooth. Taste and add more lime juice if desired.*

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. When the water reaches a boil, break the pasta in half** then add it to the water. Boil the pasta for 7-10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander and allow it to cool.

While the pasta is boiling, prepare the fresh vegetables. Thinly slice the yellow and red bell peppers. Use a spiralizer or a vegetable peeler to make thin strips out of the carrots, or use a large holed cheese grater to grate them into smaller pieces. Thinly slice the green onions. Pull the cilantro leaves from the stems and either leave them whole or give them a rough chop. Place the prepared bell peppers, carrots, green onion, and cilantro into a large bowl.

Once the pasta is drained and completely cooled***, add it to the bowl with the vegetables. Pour the peanut sauce over top, then toss until everything is evenly coated. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes:

*If the sauce is too sweet for your tastes, you can add a small amount of soy sauce to help balance the flavors. Start with a ½ tsp and add more if needed.

**Breaking the pasta in half makes it easier to incorporate the vegetables into the pasta later.

***Make sure the pasta is completely cooled to prevent cooking or softening the vegetables. If needed, run cool water over the pasta, but then allow it to drain and dry until the pasta is tacky. Watery pasta will make the peanut sauce slide off.
_________________________________________________________________

I used matchstick carrots instead of peeling regular ones, which saved time. I like spicy foods, but this salad is at the upper limit of what I can comfortably eat, as my lips were all but smoking as I was eating it. I used McCormick's Gourmet Sriracha Seasoning, so I would highly recommend using 1/2 or 1/3 that amount, or leaving it out altogether. It's a quick and easy recipe that makes four servings, and I highly recommend it.

>93 cabegley:, >100 mabith: Those look great!

Darryl, what is sriracha?

What, you've never heard of sriracha?! It's been all the rage for years now! Not my thing, I don't care for hot, but, wow! Haha. It's a hot chili sauce, like tabasco only, not. It's very big in Thai food.

No, never come across it before. Thanks for the information.

I'm trying to do two weeks on a vegan diet, and cooking all meals from fresh (based on your example).

So using some of these recipes where I can do a vegan version. I'm looking at Cariola's red lentil soup with North African Spices and Darryl's Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad first up.

I'm also trawling the Demuth cooking school menus extensively for material. I found a vegetarian sausage recipe on their site which I'm looking forward to trying out - as I don't eat quorn products.

Personally anything calling for sausage I simply leave out, not a fan. :P

Vegetarian Times has lots of nice recipes, I subscribed to them for like 2 yrs, might want to take a peek. :)

>106 zenomax:

103-- that looks like an enormous amount Osama soup. How many servings do you think? I still have some ham and bean soup in my fridge from last week. My husband is not too big on leftovers even if he likes the original :(

>110 Nickelini: Yep, that's it. It's commonly called Thai chili sauce in the US, and it's easy to find in major supermarkets here. I used McCormick's Gourmet Sriracha Seasoning, which is probably more concentrated and hot than sriracha sauce, which probably explains why my spicy peanut noodle salad was so fiery.

>111 janeajones: That recipe makes less soup than you would think, Jane. I'll usually get only four bowls out of it, after I peel the carrots and after the shrimp is peeled and cooked.

I just made another batch of Xi Jong Shi Chao 'Jidan' (Chinese Tofu Scramble), which is the meal that I make more often than any other, as it is easy, quick and tastes wonderful. I ordered black salt from Amazon last month, and this is the first time I've made this with it (although I made some two Fridays ago when I visited my parents, as my mother also loves it).



Ingredients:

1 Tbs. peanut oil
1 medium onion, sliced (I use a large Vidalia onion)
1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated or minced
2 cloves garlic, minced (I use 4 cloves)
1 block extra-firm tofu, pressed and drained
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. black salt
4 scallions, finely chopped, whites and greens divided (I don't divide them)
1 medium or large tomato, cut into chunks (I use two medium tomatoes)
Toasted Sesame Oil, for garnish

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a deep skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook until the onion is softened and translucent, about 4 minutes. Break the tofu into chunks and add to the pan. Mix the tofu into the onions and let the tofu cook until it browns a bit, about 5 minutes.

Add the turmeric and the black salt to the pan. Toss the tofu so the spices cover it completely and turn all pieces of the tofu yellow. Pour 1/3 cup water into the pan and mix the tofu well. This helps the spices to distribute more evenly.

Add the scallion whites and the tomatoes to the mixture. Stir and cook until the tomatoes are heated through, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat off. Add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and garnish with the scallion greens. Enjoy!
_____________________________________________________________

I break up the tofu and drain it nearly completely, so I don't add water to this scramble, as it tends to make it watery. Simple, and oh so delicious!

Thanks Darryl, I'm adding that one to my vegan list.

>113 zenomax: You're welcome, Z.

I'm on the lookout for good smoothie and juice recipes, now that I received a Ninja Mega Kitchen System as a (late) Christmas present last week.

Sometimes I come and look at this thread (especially all the Indian food you're cooking) to torture myself. Then I make a sandwich in the terrifying communal kitchen of my graduate housing and go the library, disconsolate.
On a more serious note, though, I'm curious: when you use garam masala, is there a particular blend of spices you're using or is it ready-made?

>115 reva8: The garam masala I use is McCormick Gourmet Garam Masala Blend, which I bought from my local supermarket recently. (McCormick is one of the main manufacturers of spices in the US, which has been in business for over a century.) I could probably get a more authentic version at Patel Brothers Grocery, an Indian shop about five miles from where I live, and I plan to go there later this month to pick up dry mango powder and dried fenugreek leaves, and to see what else they have.

>114 kidzdoc: I make smoothies every now and then - one I make regularly is literally my normal breakfast pulverized. Cooked steel-cut oats, blueberries, strawberries, one or more bananas usually frozen (though fresh works fine too), raisins, cinnamon, an egg (when eaten separately it's hardboiled, but I put a raw one in the smoothie) and milk to make it the right texture/thickness.

The other day I didn't have any strawberries, so I improvised - added a couple dry figs, and (because I was improvising) a tablespoonful of peanut butter powder. The flavor was fantastic - the PBP added an amazing depth to it (and a shot of protein!).

Nice dinner tonight which is part of my ongoing project to cook everything in my mom's family cookbook, photograph it, and make a little book for my mom of the results.



HAMBURGER POTATO ROLL
1 cup onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb ground meat
1 egg
2 slices bread, crust removed
¼ tsp oregano or basil
¼ cup breadcrumbs
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
3 strips bacon
Salt and pepper
Oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small skillet, heat oil and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is clear. Remove to a mixing bowl and add the beef and egg. In another bowl, soften the bread in water, press out the excess water and add bread to the meat. Add salt, pepper and oregano or basil. Mix thoroughly. Sprinkle a piece of waxed paper with crumbs. Press the meat out on the crumbs to make a rectangle, about ½” thick. Beat the mashed potatoes with the parsley and spread on top of the meat. (If leftover potatoes are used, reheat before spreading.) Using the waxed paper as an aid, roll the meat and potatoes, jelly-roll fashion, and place in a loaf pan. Grease the pan if the meat is very lean. Place the bacon on top. Bake about 1 hour. I serve this with a small can of mushroom steak sauce.

Can you all please take it in turns to move into my house...

I need to try making the No Bake Eclair Cake. It looks amazing.

>116 kidzdoc: Ooh, good to know. I have some from home with me, but when it runs out (and it will, soon) I'll go hunting in supermarkets for one of these.

>33 Nickelini: I now have an eclair cake chilling in the fridge :)

>122 Narilka: Awesome! I hope you enjoy it as much as we (and our guests) did!

>123 Nickelini: It's delicious!

I tried a new recipe today, North African Bean Stew with Barley and Winter Squash, which was featured in the Food section of The New York Times this past Wednesday, and I was pleased with how it turned out.



Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more for serving
2 leeks, white and green parts, diced
1 bunch cilantro, leaves and stems separated
1 cup finely diced fennel, fronds reserved (1/2 large fennel bulb)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 ½ tablespoons baharat (see note)
½ cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
½ cup pearled barley
2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
Large pinch saffron, crumbled (optional)
4 cups cooked beans or chickpeas
2 cups peeled and diced butternut squash (1 small squash)
¾ cup peeled and diced turnip (1 medium)
½ cup red lentils
Plain yogurt, for serving
Aleppo pepper or hot paprika, for serving

PREPARATION:

In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil and cook leeks until they begin to brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Finely chop cilantro stems. Stir into pot, along with diced fennel and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in baharat, cinnamon and tomato paste, and cook until paste begins to caramelize, about 2 minutes.

Stir in broth, 3 cups water, the barley and the salt. Bring to a gentle boil, stir in saffron, if using, and reduce heat to medium. Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Stir in beans, squash, turnip and lentils; cook until barley is tender, about another 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, if desired. Remove cinnamon stick.

Ladle stew into bowls. Spoon a dollop of yogurt on top and drizzle with olive oil. Garnish with cilantro leaves, fennel fronds and Aleppo pepper or paprika.

Tip: Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice mix. You can buy it at specialty markets or make your own. To make it, combine 2 tablespoons sweet paprika, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 tablespoon ground turmeric, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom and 1 teaspoon allspice.
_______________________________________

I strongly dislike turnips, so I used two parsnips instead. I used roughly 2-1/2 cups of chickpeas and about 1-1/2 cups of pinto beans. I made the baharat from scratch, and I didn't use either Aleppo pepper or hot paprika, as I couldn't find either one at Publix or Kroger. Otherwise I followed this recipe exactly. It's labor intensive, but it makes a ton of stew, as it filled my large soup pot nearly to the brim. This will easily yield 8-10 servings, and it's very tasty and filling without being spicy hot. Highly recommended!

I altered the butter-less, flour-less peanut butter cookie recipe that was all the rage last year. In mine I subbed a quarter of the peanut butter for nutella and added some cocoa powder. They've been absolutely delicious.

3/4 peanut butter
1/4 cup Nutella or similar
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder (I use part regular and part black cocoa powder)
1/2 cup sugar (I like to use dark brown sugar and often use 1/4 cup instead)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt if using unsalted peanut butter

This can easily be mixed by hand. Keep mixing until the dough really comes together thickly and looks like regular cookie dough. Roll into balls, put on a tray, and flatten them out as desired. Bake ten minutes at 350 Fahrenheit. They'll be VERY soft when they come out but firm up a lot as they cool. Go by smell to see if they're done, if you can start to detect a burnt chocolate smell they're done. If you preheat your oven thoroughly just stick to the ten minutes. Check on them after they've cooled and if they're really too soft after cooling stick them back in the oven for a minute or two.

Don't make them at 8 pm and eat half of them before bed like I did.

(edited to fix sugar ratio, it says something that I have this recipe memorized.)

Easy, easy, easy--and SO delicious! The recipe didn't give amounts. It was one of those photo quickies in either Real Simple or Cooking Light, so I had to estimate. I made a fairly large batch, figuring I'd have leftovers, but it was so good, I went without the meat and just had a big bowl of this for dinner.

ASIAN ROASTED BROCCOLI

1 TBSP sesame oil
1-1/2 TBSP soy sauce
1-1/2 TBSP sriracha
1-1/2 TBSP brown sugar
3-4 cups fresh broccoli flowerets

Preheat oven to 425. Mix rest of ingredients and toss with broccoli (I did this right on the baking sheet). Spread broccoli into a single layer. Roast for 15 minutes, turning once.

>127 Cariola: I imagine how good this is -- the soy sauce-brown sugar combination is like a base mix into which you can throw in everything and get it right all the time. You can try to put in a bit of oyster sauce next time, or better yet, substitute the soy sauce-brown sugar with it, and instead of sriracha, dried chili flakes. If you got garlic flakes, would raise it a notch higher. No need at all for that meat dish!

>128 deebee1: Thanks for the tip! I'm making this again tonight.

Pollo Ciudad with Pickled Tomato Salsa



Ingredients:

4 large, boneless chicken thighs or leg and thighs, with skin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 shallots, diced
3 large mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 to 2 jalapenos, chopped with seeds
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 cup chicken stock
3/4 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
1/2 bunch cilantro, stems and leaves separated
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 cups cooked rice, for serving
4 grilled scallions, for serving

Pickled Tomato Salsa, recipe follows, for serving
Pickled Tomato Salsa:

1 pound tomatoes, diced
1/2 bunch scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
2 to 3 serrano chiles, with seeds, thinly sliced in rounds
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
2 teaspoons cracked black peppercorns
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add oil, and place chicken in pan skin side down. Sear for 4 minutes, then reduce heat to medium and continue cooking for another 8 minutes. Turn chicken and cook another 4 minutes, or until just cooked all the way through.

Meanwhile, make sauce by melting butter in a medium saute pan over moderate heat. Cook shallots and mushrooms until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Add jalapenos and cumin, lower heat, and cook for 5 minutes. Add chicken stock. Turn heat to high and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add cream or half-and-half and cilantro stems and return to a boil. Remove from heat. Puree in a blender, pass through a wire mesh strainer, and return to heat.

Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and vinegar together in a small bowl. While continuing to whisk, pour one cup pureed cilantro sauce into egg mixture to temper. Then combine egg mixture with puree and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce is thick and smooth.

Arrange grilled chicken over a bed of your favorite rice and spoon sauce over all. Garnish with cilantro leaves, grilled scallions, and Pickled Tomato Salsa. Serve immediately.

Pickled Tomato Salsa:

In a large bowl, toss tomatoes with scallions and serrano chiles.

In a medium saucepan, bring vinegar to a boil. Add sugar and salt, and cook until dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and reserve.

Measure ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, cracked peppercorns, cumin, cayenne, and turmeric onto a plate and place near stove. In another medium saucepan, heat oil over moderate heat until just smoking. Add spices and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until aromas are released, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar mixture. Immediately pour over reserved tomato mixture. Stir to combine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours or several days. Makes 2 cups.

Recipe courtesy of Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken.
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Erin, the psychiatry nurse practitioner who works in my office space, shared this recipe with me last year. I absolutely love this entrée, as it's my favorite homemade chicken and rice dish. It's a bit labor intensive, but the bulk of the work comes from making the pickled tomato salsa and the cilantro mushroom sauce. The best part of this recipe is that it makes large portions of salsa and sauce, far more than than it would suggest. I was able to get enough of both to cover 10-12 thighs when I last made it in the summer for my family, so it's great for leftovers or large meals. It packs a good amount of heat, mainly due to the serrano chiles, and when I made it for them I used half of the peppers. Very highly recommended!

ETA: I don't strain the puréed cilantro mushroom sauce. I used portobello mushrooms instead of regular white ones, which gave the sauce a richer taste.

I made harira, a traditional Moroccan lamb, chickpea and spinach soup, for dinner, and I like how it turned out. This is the first recipe I've tried from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, which I received as a Christmas gift last month. His web site doesn't list the full recipe, but you can find it here: http://www.culinate.com/books/collections/all_books/ottolenghi/525335



Ingredients:

1 cup (200 grams) dried chickpeas (you can also use canned chickpeas here (roughly 3 cups or 500 grams) instead of dried)
1 tsp. baking soda (not necessary if you don't use dried chickpeas)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, cut into ⅜-inch (1-centimeter) dice
7 oz. (200 grams) boneless lamb rack or shoulder, cut into ⅜-inch (1-centimeter) dice
2 Tbsp. tomato purée (I used an equivalent amount of tomato paste)
1 Tbsp. superfine sugar
2½ lb. (1 kilogram) canned tomatoes, chopped
5 cups (1.2 liters) chicken stock or water
~ Salt and freshly ground black pepper
~ Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground ginger
~ Pinch of saffron threads
3 cups (100 grams) baby spinach leaves
4 Tbsp. coarsely chopped cilantro
4 to 6 lemon wedges

Steps:

Start preparing the soup the night before by putting the dried chickpeas in a large bowl with the baking soda and covering them with plenty of cold water — it should cover the chickpeas by at least twice their height. Leave at room temperature to soak overnight.

The next day, drain the soaked chickpeas, place in a large saucepan, and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 to 1½ hours, until the chickpeas are tender. Drain in a colander and set aside.

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and fry until soft and translucent. Increase the heat, add the diced lamb, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the lamb is sealed on all sides and has taken on a bit of color. Add the tomato purée and sugar and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes, drained chickpeas, stock, and some salt and pepper.

Bring the soup to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Use a large spoon to skim off any scum that forms on the surface, then cook for about 35 minutes, until the meat is tender.
Squeeze the lemon juice into the soup. Season the soup with the cumin, ginger, and saffron. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.

When ready to serve, bring the soup back to a boil. Wash and drain the spinach leaves and chop them coarsely. Add the spinach and cilantro to the soup just before you bring it to the table. Serve with a wedge of lemon.
________________________________________________

This soup is quite tangy, due to the tomatoes and lemon juice, rich and subtly flavored without being spicy hot. I used diced tomatoes, and the next time I make it I'll use Ro-Tel diced tomatoes with habañero peppers, to give it a kick. The recipes says that it makes 4-6 servings, but it makes a nearly full pot of soup, not including the spinach, so most people should be able to get 6-8 or more servings out of this. This would be good with artisan bread or, better yet, homemade cornbread, and I think it would make a great soup for anytime of the year.

>130 kidzdoc: Egg yolks and vinegar together -- that's a first for me. Intriguing. I wonder how omitting the egg yolks altogether would affect the final taste? I was also thinking that the heavy cream itself would already be a thick and rich enough sauce.

>131 kidzdoc: The puréed version of this soup (except for the meat) should be wonderful. Not to mention giving a very nice colour and creamy texture, with the pale yellow of the chickpeas and the bright red of the tomatoes. You could mix in the diced meat, squeeze the lemon and add a drizzle of virgin olive oil on the plate. Not a very Moroccan soup anymore by puréeing, but would still be great. I'm suggesting it because here in Portugal, we purée chickpeas into a creamy soup and put in spinach leaves at the end. It's comfort food in the real sense of the word. The addition of tomatoes and the spices into this cream soup (to make it similar to the Moroccan recipe) can only turn out well.

>132 deebee1: Right, deebee. I've only been cooking on a regular basis for a little over two years, though, so I wasn't sure if how common that vinegar/brown sugar/egg combination was. I suspect that the omission of the egg yolks wouldn't affect the taste much, and that it was mainly used to thicken the cilantro mushroom sauce. I use half and half (also known as half cream in the UK) in place of heavy cream in this recipe, so it may be considerably thinner than if it would be if I didn't include egg yolks.

The puréed soup you describe sounds good, especially with the spinach, but I prefer soups and stews with distinct ingredients, textures, tastes and especially colors, like this harira or some of the others I've made in the recent past.

>132 deebee1:, >133 kidzdoc: I would assume the egg here is being used as an emulsifier so the vinegar doesn't 'split' from the sauce?

>134 janemarieprice: Ooh, good thought, Jane. That makes sense.

>130 kidzdoc: I have the ingredients ready to go and I'll make it tomorrow.

>136 RidgewayGirl: Excellent, Kay! Please let us know how it turns out.

Mmmm, lots of yumminess around here, as usual...

I'm looking for "the best of the best" Southern red beans & rice recipe, (if without the use of meat for flavour, all the better). What are your secrets? The rice, the beans, the spices?

Thing is, I had such fab examples of this modest food in Louisiana, every other version I ordered or tried to make disappointed me. But now I figure enough time has passed I can stop feeling nostalgic and just try to do the best I can.

Any recipes and tips appreciated muchly!

>138 LolaWalser: My go to for Cajun recipes (other than my mom) is John Folse. He's got a few red bean recipes but this one is my favorite. There's a few secrets to red (or white) beans:

the onion/celery/bell pepper mix is a big key
mashing about 1/3 of the beans gets the right texture
and I cheat and use a few drops of Liquid Smoke for some extra 'grilled' flavor

>139 janemarieprice:

Thanks! "Undefeated"--I love that. :) MASHING! Yes. I think that's at least one thing I did wrong, I could never get that lovely thickness to it.

I don't think I ever used celery and bell pepper at all, that will be interesting.

>139 janemarieprice: Thanks, Jane! I haven't cooked red beans and rice before, so I hoped that you would answer Lola's question, and provide a recipe. I'll also give it a try in the near future.

My favorite red beans and rice came from two places when I lived in New Orleans: the Uptown home of my late great-aunt, who was hands down the best cook in my extended maternal family (which included my mother, who can cook), and Chez Helene, the former restaurant just off North Claiborne Avenue near the I-10 overpass not far from Canal Street, which was one of the best soul food restaurants in the city, along with Dooky Chase and Buster Holmes and served as the basis for the CBS comedy series Frank's Place in the late 1980s. Monday was the day that red beans and rice was served for a special price, $2.99 per plate, I think, and my girlfriend (and college classmate) at the time and I would often have lunch or dinner there. Unfortunately it closed in the mid 1990s, and its owner and chef, Austin Leslie, died during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

I couldn't find a red beans and rice recipe from Chez Helene, but I did find one supposedly based on Dooky Chase's recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/red-beans-and-rice-recipe2.html.

>141 kidzdoc:

Thanks, I will definitely try that one too. This is a Quest!

Oh, nothing compares to Louisiana home cooking or New Orleans restaurants. To make things worse, I was a grad student i.e. never at home and what "cooking" I did in my poky little kitchen was basically the occasional omelette or boiled pasta. But even if I had had more time I doubt I'd have bothered learning when so much exquisite food was available--and not too expensively, if you knew where to go!

And the simplest dishes, like this or fried chicken (there was a soul food restaurant in the downbeat region north of Basin St. camouflaged as a private home--if it hadn't been for a friend with a friend at Times Picayune I'd never have discovered it--shudder!!--never had the best chicken of my entire life!) are actually devilish hard to get. just. right.

>142 LolaWalser: Oh, nothing compares to Louisiana home cooking or New Orleans restaurants.

I agree completely. It's very hard to find good Louisiana cuisine outside of the state; Jane and I have had this discussion before. Although I like the jambalaya, gumbo and étouffée I've made recently, I'd be kidding myself and everyone else if I said that it tasted as good what my great aunt made or the best NOLA restaurants I've dined in. Metropolitan Atlanta has a number of Louisiana style restaurants, but none I've been to compare to the best ones in New Orleans. Several of my colleagues at work said that my jambalaya tastes better than any they have had in Atlanta, which to me is more of a sad commentary than a compliment.

I think it takes years of practice, along with lots of trial and error and the influence of someone who knows what they are doing, to get it just right, as you said, whether it's gumbo, fried chicken, or nearly anything else. I'm at the novice stage where I'm following instructions from recipes that sound good to me, and since I'm not experimenting with those recipes or creating anything new I think I'm more of a technician than a real cook.

>141 kidzdoc: Good add on Darryl, red beans is Monday food.

>130 kidzdoc: The cilantro cream sauce is amazing.

>144 janemarieprice: Right, Jane. I did learn that when I lived in New Orleans.

>145 RidgewayGirl: Great! I'm glad that you like that sauce, Kay, and I certainly agree with you. I had pollo ciudad last night, and it tasted just as good as it did when I first made it.

>146 kidzdoc: Yes, we managed to eat all of the sauce. And we would have eaten more of it. It was worth the time required. And the kids will get omelets (with extra egg white) for breakfast tomorrow.

>147 RidgewayGirl: Did you make the entire recipe, or just the cilantro mushroom sauce? ;-)

Sort of the entire recipe. I didn't have time to make the pickled salsa, and so made my usual Pico de Gallo instead, but I did serve it all with rice and chicken. I'll try making the salsa and cilantro cream sauce on some rainy weekend day and saving them for a weeknight dinner. The kids have become vegetarians and so had theirs with these tofu schnitzel things they like.

But the cilantro cream sauce is similar to what is served in the best Mexican restaurant in the South - Señor Sol's in Athens, GA.

tofu schnitzel

*dead*

>149 RidgewayGirl: Ah. I just looked at photos of tofu schnitzel. Uh...I think I'd rather have chicken. How does it taste? From your comment I gather that you're not nearly as fond of it as your kids are.

>150 LolaWalser: LOL

Seriously, good on your kids, Kay. I'm just amused that Nothing Is Sacred!

I don't remember which resto it was my uncle took me to in Vienna (ummm, 25 years ago), but we had schnitzels like these:

Yes! Until recently, a schnitzel was my son's go-to choice at a restaurant. The tofu ones are about the size of a deck of cards and I have not tasted them.

I've eaten schnitzel at that Vienna restaurant. It was delicious. I did not finish.

And the vegetarian thing comes and goes with my daughter. She eats lunch with a group of girls from India and so is given a good example. My son switched over a few months ago for animal welfare issues and will only make an exception for this one ragu recipe I make every few weeks. I'll put it up here when I get a chance.

>152 LolaWalser: I've not had schnitzel before, to my knowledge. Your photo looks considerably more appetizing to me than this does:



>153 RidgewayGirl: I do like fresh tofu in many meals, but after my experience with Tofurkey sausage last year and having processed tofu in the past I'm not eager to try products like tofu schnitzel. Good for your kids for eating it, though.

It comes breaded and then I fry it. Of course they like it.

While I don't mind it in the few dishes I had in restaurants, where people know how to jazz it up, at home I only use tofu in miso soup, which I love, although I should probably look to decrease the servings (need to work on reducing my salt intake...) I have it for breakfast at least three-four times a week.

>154 kidzdoc:

Tofu seems an odd choice for imitating meat, I thought there were some tougher, dried bean curd versions that do a better job?

Yeah it is definitely awful in terms of being a meat sub, but for a long time it was pretty much the only option people had (or knew of, at least). Now, there's lots of brands that make special subs for all sorts of meat types, as well as many recipes for using combinations of various things in homemade replacements, like lentils, oats, mushrooms, etc. But tofu is still the most widely known thing people think of. Pretty much any time "vegetarian"/"vegan" comes up, the reply is inevitably Oh but I just can't stand tofu!, as though that were the sole food people who don't eat meat, eat. *shakes head*

>157 .Monkey.: though that were the sole food people who don't eat meat, eat.

I hear you. My husband is vegan and the only time we eat tofu is if we order a particular dish at our favourite Thai restaurant. One can eat a perfectly healthy vegan diet without ever eating tofu.

Yup. I've been vegetarian for more than a decade and I eat tofu a couple times a year. I don't care for it in most situations, it has an odd consistency/texture (and I'm very texture-oriented) and no real flavor of its own, and add to that all the debate about how harmful the estrogen in it may be, well, it's not very appealing to me.

I'm struggling to follow a vegan diet at the moment, but for me tofu is a good go to item. If you buy it in a block, compress it to get rid of most of the liquid, and then freeze it, the 'pores' open up and when you cook with it, it soaks up the flavours. The key is to provide interesting flavours which the tofu can soak up.

As a long time vegetarian who doesn't use the meat substitute of choice (Quorn), tofu is a handy standby. Having said that, the best meat substitute is often fresh vegetables and herbs and good complementary spices.

The other traditional meat substitutes for vegans are tempeh and seitan. I haven't tried either, so can't comment on their taste.

Hi .Monkey

>149 RidgewayGirl: I'm not the cook in my household so I'm just following along for ideas to pass on to my husband, but you just actually gave me another kind of tip to pass on - my daughter is probably moving to Athens GA in the fall, so I'll be happy to be able to give her that recommendation!

ursula, Athens has fantastic restaurants. Señor Sol has two locations. The one located in what used to be a gas station is the best one.

I'm not a tofu fan either, but I did have a really good pasta with tofu at a friends. I think she did as you desribe >160 zenomax:, but it turned out really silky and melty. Kinda had a mozzarella character to is. I also think it was particularly good tofu - I imagine there's a big range of product.

Speaking of tofu, which I'm a big fan of, here are some easy recipes from The Guardian.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/21/tofu-recipes-stews-asian-sou...

Last night I made a twist on a standard risotto with added radish. It was pretty yummy and had a nice pink accents and the cooking tempered the bite of the radishes nicely.

>166 janemarieprice:

Oh, I like that. Did you add it at the end or cook through? I'll add chopped shallot to the rice for a similar "bite", but I never cook it with rice. Well, no more than what hot rice does to it on its own.

I've been making chickpea curries using a more typical Indian method than previously (growing up the curry my mom made was more Caribbean style), and it's so delicious. Cooking the whole spices in oil first and adding tomatoes and letting that cook down before blending just gives it so much oomph. Normally I'd add ground spices after the onions have cooked down and then largely use water and coconut milk, and not blend the sauce before adding meat or vegetables.

Not using all the same ingredients but basically following the method used by Chetna Makan in her cooking videos, such as this one for Chana Masala:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdBu0Y2YHRg

I'm always using tinned diced tomatoes this time of year, so where she needs to add some water to the mix I didn't.

>164 janemarieprice: "I also think it was particularly good tofu - I imagine there's a big range of product"

I've had some amazingly good tofu dishes and, unfortunately, some very very bad ones. The type of tofu and the quality has a lot to do with the result.

>165 deebee1: Thanks for that link, I've found recipes from The Guardian are usually good.

I made Roast chicken with saffron, hazelnuts and honey from Ottolenghi The Cookbook- Page 123. I did substitute turmeric for the saffron but the dish was great especially the nut paste topping made from crushed hazelnuts m honey and rosewater. The dish actually looked like the photon page 121!

>167 LolaWalser: I add at the beginning. I start with butter and cook down onion (and in this case added the diced radish then) and cook for a bit till clear, then add rice and fry, then wine until absorbed, then start adding the stock till cooked. I made a super delicious one a while back with celery that really highlighted the celery flavor (if you like celery I can't recommend this one enough).

I made Portobello Mushrooms With Pearled Barley and Preserved Lemon for lunch today.



Ingredients:

Pearled barley:
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 cups (750 ml) vegetable or chicken stock
heaping 1/2 cup (110 g) pearled barley
1/4 preserved lemon, flesh removed and skin finely chopped
1 3/4 ounce (50 g) feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
2 tablespoons purple basil sprouts, radish sprouts, or purple basil leaves, shredded
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

7 tablespoons (100 g) unsalted butter
15 sprigs thyme
6 large portobello mushrooms
3/4 cup (180 ml) dry white wine
1 cup (180 ml) vegetable stock
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
Coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. First cook the barley. Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy-based saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the barley, lower the heat, then cover and simmer for 1 hour, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the barley is tender.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Take a large baking sheet and grease it heavily with two-thirds of the butter. Scatter the thyme sprigs over it. Stem the mushrooms and place the mushroom caps, stem side up, on top of the thyme. Pour over the wine and stock and scatter the sliced garlic over. Dot each mushroom with a couple of knobs of the remaining butter, then season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender. Leave them in their cooking juices until you are ready to serve.

3. When the barley is done, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the preserved lemon, feta, parsley, and thyme. Taste and add salt and pepper. To serve, reheat the mushrooms in the oven for a few minutes, if necessary. Place each mushroom, stem side up, on a serving plate. Scoop the barley on top and spoon some of the mushroom cooking juices over. Garnish with the basil sprouts and drizzle over the olive oil.
_______________________________________

I didn't have or make preserved lemon, so I used ¼ of a fresh lemon instead. This was an easy recipe to make, which came from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, and I thought it was rich but mildly flavored, although the flavors were significantly enhanced by adding sea salt to the pearled barley at the the end. It's a nice main entrée, which would go well with a side salad or green vegetable. It didn't knock my socks off, but I did like it and would make it again.

>171 janemarieprice: Thank you for linking the celery risotto recipe. I noticed that I had half a bunch lingering in the fridge and made it this afternoon (with kale instead of dandelion greens and the greens from scallions rather than chives). It is quite tasty!

>173 ELiz_M: It's really one of my favorite finds. For being pretty simple it's packed with flavor.

After our talk I had the craving for some red beans so made a batch for super bowl (pretty appropriate I think).



Plus some blueberry muffins for desert. I cannot stress how simple this recipe is and how much better muffins are with fresh blueberries - they just burst in your mouth.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
1 ½ cup flour, sifted
½ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
½ cup milk
¼ cup oil
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Into a mixing bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. In another bowl, mix the egg and milk together and add to the dry ingredients. Before this mixture is completely blended, add the oil and blueberries. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin well or use paper baking cups. Fill each cup 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes. The muffins may be frozen after baking.

Yield: 10-12 muffins

And in honor of Mardi Gras:

CRAWFISH KING CAKE
½ cup butter
½ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
6 tbsp parmesan cheese
8 oz cream cheese, softened
12 oz crawfish tails*
½ tbsp. liquid crab boil (optional)
Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls (8 oz each)
Food coloring: purple, green, and yellow

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat, sauté onions, bell pepper, and celery until translucent, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cream cheese until melted. Stir in crawfish tails. Combine well.

To assemble king cake:

1. Unroll crescent dough separate into 16 triangles. Arrange 11 crescent rolls in a circle on a large round baking stone with wide ends of triangles toward center; skinny points of triangles will extend outward and hang over the edge of stone for now. Wide ends should overlap slightly.
2. Arrange the remaining 5 crescent rolls in the center with wide ends matching up alternating wide ends of the outer ring of crescent rolls. Skinny points will overlap in the middle for now.
3. Spoon crawfish filling onto the dough in a circle on top of the overlapping wide ends.
4. Begin folding up the skinny points over the filling and tuck under the wide section. Continue overlapping the points and tucking until all filling is covered and you have a ring of filled dough resembling a king cake.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until king cake is lightly browned on top.

To decorate with colored cheese:
Place 2 heaping tbsp. grated parmesan cheese into separate bowls. Add food coloring to tint cheese purple, green, and yellow. Purple: add 4 drops purple food coloring or 2 drops blue and 2 drops red. Green: add 4 drops green food coloring or 2 drops blue and 2 drops yellow. Yellow: add 4 drops yellow food coloring. Using the back of a spoon, stir cheese until all is tinted the desired color. Sprinkle cheese over king cake, alternating colors.

*Note: if using pre-packaged crawfish tails, place tails in a skillet over medium heat, season with crab boil and Tony Chachere’s. Cook for about 5 minutes or until tails start to curl up. Drain any liquid that accumulates and set tail aside. If using crawfish tails left over from a boil, you can skip this step.

>175 janemarieprice:

Whoa, that's messing with my mind! That shape, those colours--I taste the sugar immediately! :)

Alas, no crawfish up here... *heavy SIGH*

We used to gang together and go for those huge outdoors crawfish boils, with long tables strewn with newspapers and mountains of shells in the aftermath.

>174 janemarieprice: Ooh I will keep that in mind come summer! I had planned to make some blueberry muffins this past summer, my husband bought a huge thing of blueberries from the greengrocer on the corner, and I do not like them at all just on their own, but blueberry muffins are tasty, and our oven was supposed to be delivered like 2 days later. Well it wound up being a few weeks because the company pulled a big fat FAIL and we had to eventually give up & cancel it and get it elsewhere, and by that time the season was about done. Pfff. No muffins for me! xP

I will be making a (somewhat heavily adapted, as per usual) version of

polenta cheesecake, for dinner tonight. Being veg, there will certainly not be any speck/bacon involved, and I also dislike pumpkin. So my plan is to do the polenta bottom, while caramelizing some onions, and when they're nearly done adding some scallions & garlic to just heat through a smidge, and then adding that mix to the cheese & egg, along with some crumbled feta and chives, and it'll be eaten alongside some sautéed mushrooms and Quorn, probably with more onion & garlic as well and like some other veg too. Oh and I'll be making it much smaller since the amount they call for is huge! lol

ETA
Oops, link removed, because sometime between now and like 3 days ago when I opened their site up and found the recipe (they mention it on the box), they broke it and the page is no longer found, hahaha oy. If anyone wants the specifics, of theirs or of mine, once I eat it and see if it's any good XD, I can get them for you. :P

Okay, dinner has been consumed, and it was pretty good! The polenta needed some butter and a bit more salt (the box/recipe just say "salt the water and add polenta" and then stir and then when it's done put it in the bake form), and I'd like to figure out something to add a bit more flavor to the cheese part - bacon is very strongly flavored and what I added just wasn't quite enough to make up for the lack of it. But aside of needing a little something extra added, it was good, and I will make it again once I figure out something to try for next time.

>179 .Monkey.:

I'd like to figure out something to add a bit more flavor to the cheese part

Something peppery like chipotle maybe? I picked up a tip about chipotle in adobo sauce from one of Darryl's recipes and have been stuffing them in everything.

P.S. Even just a little of the adobo sauce--sans pepper--would work fine with cheese.

That could potentially work, except not for me, as I'm not a fan of spicy, haha. My dad loves chipotle peppers, he used to eat bowls of them at the Mexican restaurant we frequented, the Mexicans all thought he was nuts and laughed about him, lmao. I'm actually not even sure that they sell them around here, heh. Interesting thought though, hm, they do sell regular ol' jarred jalapeños and other similarly mild "hot" peppers, maybe chopping up a bit of one of those...

Oops. Yeah, not sure what else could make like bacon, taste-wise. I like herbs with cheese. Or you could garlic it up the wazoo!

You could add some liquid smoke and/or mushroom base better-than-bullion to it, to make up for lack of bacon flavor. Or smoked paprika.

True, one can never have too much garlic! XD Ooooh maybe next time I should also get some Boursin to put in, nice herby cheese!

>183 mabith:

Smoked paprika, I like the sound of that.

I need to go back to Budapest and get new proper paprika, hahaha.

Hmmm--roasted sweet long peppers? I roast and eat them as a meal on their own but no reason why they couldn't be added to stuff. Ambrosia, is what roast peppers are.

They would definitely work in this. :D

I know it's a day late, but we had pancakes for supper. Mine with Lemon & brown sugar, his with orange & white sugar (but I know he's a bit odd). Did you partake of this seasonal treat? What's the traditional accompaniment wherever in the world you are?

>189 Helenliz: I have no idea what you're a day late for. Are you a Brit? I seem to recall British friends in the past talking about a pancake day... I'm American and American pancakes are to be eaten with maple syrup! But Dutch(/Belgian) pancakes are an entirely different thing, more similar to a crepe, and can be eaten with nearly anything, sweet or savory. My preferred Dutch pancakes are with cheese, but apple is also nice.

>190 .Monkey.:

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, infidel! :)))

Hahaha hey, I'm a non-observant Jew, what do you expect! XD My Brit friends only called it "Pancake Tuesday" and I doubt if they even knew it was any sort of religious thing lmao.

It was pancake day, you eat pancakes, who cares why. Fail to see that as an issue. Although he was out and I can't toss a pancake for love nor money, hence we're a day late.

I never argue with eating pancakes! Except they're a pain to make (timewise, gotta do a whole batch, ever so slowly, then freeze the extras), so I rarely do. And Dutch ones are too unfamiliar to me, only hubs makes those! xP

We always did pancake day at boarding school, though largely to eat up the maple syrup the sophomore class made each year from trees on campus. I'm not sure Quakers do much for Shrove Tuesday, and similar church holidays, in general. I'm more concerned with getting to the store this time of year to pick up pączkis!

I love pancakes (particularly these cornmeal pancakes, best made with medium or coarse ground yellow cornmeal and served with sweet and sour kale/any hearty, dark greens), but pączkis are only around once a year.

>194 .Monkey.: Oven Pancakes

2/3 cup flour
pinch of salt
3 lg eggs
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425. Sift flour/salt. Beat eggs lightly then add milk. Add flour & beat just until bubbly. Pour into oven-proof skillet/cake pan/pie pan & place on lowest rack. Bake 15 minutes without opening the oven. After 15 minutes, pierce the pancake(s) lower the oven temperature to 375 & bake for 10-15 minutes.

Incredibly easy to make and kids love them especially if you tell them what we called these in our house growing up. Ahem, boob-y pancakes

In my corner of the world (Vancouver), pancake day is a Catholic thing, and if you're not Catholic you're not likely to know it exists. At least that's my experience. YMMV. Being Canadian, pancakes are correctly eaten with maple syrup -- not Aunt Jemima's, which is mainly corn syrup.

>196 ELiz_M: That's not something I recognise as a pancake!

Pancakes (proper ones)

2 eggs
5 oz plain flour
10 fl oz milk

Whisk ingredients together. Find a small, flat, very clean frying pan. Add lard to pan and heat until smoking. Pour a quantity of batter into the pan and swirl across the base. Cook until firm. Toss (or otherwise turn over) and brown on the obverse. Repeat from adding lard. We got 8 out of that quantity.

If you can't eat immediately, pop onto a warm plat on a low heat oven until you can sit & scoff.
20 odd minutes from start to clearing plates after eating.

I'm all for multi culturalism, but you've all got it wrong. >;-)

>198 Helenliz: It's BETTER than pancakes, so light and puffy. Not those heavy, soggy flat things that soak up waaaaaaay to much syrup.

>196 ELiz_M: I will have to try that sometime!

>197 Nickelini: Yeah I think it's probably similar in the US. I had heard of "Shrove Tuesday" but yeah the name is pretty much the only thing about it that I know, lol. Also yes, there are a lot of "maple flavor syrup" in the US that are just HFCS, blech. Have to pay attention to the labels!

>198 Helenliz: No no no, you have nothing for making it rise, no fluff, that is no good! xP

>199 ELiz_M: If you like puffy pancakes you should have poffertjes!! They're Dutch, and they're the BEST THINGS EVER! They are very similar to an American pancake in flavor, but the batter is a little thinner, and they're like "silver dollar pancakes" in size, except they're like little flying saucers, they're made in a special poffertjes pan and poof out, and then you cover them in powdered sugar, soooooo good!

What the British eat for Pancake Day North Americans would probably recognize as crepes. Delicious with sugar and lemon.

And while my family is Catholic, none of us really like pancakes (agree with >199 ELiz_M:). So we had waffles instead. It works, it still uses up butter and eggs which is the point (religiously) of Shrove Tuesday (so there's none in the house for Lent). I made buttermilk sourdough overnight waffles - yum! It's a King Arthur Flour recipe.

1 c (8.5 oz) sourdough starter, fed or unfed
2 c (8.5 oz) flour
1 oz sugar
2 c (16 fl oz) buttermilk

Mix all together, leave lightly covered on the counter all night. How much bubbling you get will depend on the temperature of your house and the activity of your starter, but the flavor will build anyway.

In the morning:

2 large eggs
1.75 oz vegetable oil or melted butter (3 Tbsp)
3/4 tsp salt
1 scant tsp baking soda

Beat the eggs, and mix with the oil or (slightly cooled) butter. Pour into the overnight sponge and stir together. Add the salt and baking soda and stir, it will bubble up. Make waffles in your waffle iron (or if you don't have one handy, these do make decent, reasonably fluffy pancakes. Waffles are better though). It makes about 8 waffles, depending on the size of your iron.

I doubled this, as I usually do - the only changes are a little more butter (I melt a whole stick, 8 oz) and reduce the baking soda a little, to 1.5 tsp (very scant). Otherwise it tastes of soda, bitter.

And we ate them, as we usually do, some with butter and maple syrup, some with yogurt and jam (of various sorts - this year including my mother's failed cherry jam, which was a fantastic cherry syrup). And this year some with Double Devon Cream, which is quite nice - like soft unsalted butter.

I am making one of my favorite Madhur Jaffrey recipes tonight, Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Onions.

1 medium head Cauliflower (5-6" dia)
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 1" pieces Ginger Root, chopped
3 TBSP Olive Oil
6 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp ground coriandor
Lemon Juice, 2 Tbsp
2 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 Jalapeno Peppers, seeds removed, finely chopped
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground turmeric2 TBSP Lemon Juice
1 tsp Garam masala

Break cauliflower into small pieces. Soak in cold water for 30 minutes.

While waiting for cauliflower, place onion, ginger, and 4 Tbsp water in blender or food processor (small bowl). Blend to make paste. Set aside. Prepare garlic, tomatoes, and jalapeno.

Heat oil in large nonstick pot or skillet. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until golden. Drain and add cauliflower and cook over medium-high heat until some browned spots appear (about 5-6 minutes).

Remove cauliflower and onion to a bowl. Add onion-ginger paste to pan and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Add cumin, coriandor, lemon juice, and tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is a medium brown. (I stir with a slotted spoon, mashing tomatoes with back side.) If mixture sticks to pan, add a Tbsp water.

Stir in salt, jalapeno, cayenne and turmeric. Add cauliflower and garlic and any drippings in bowl; stir gently to coat with tomato mixture. Sprinkle 3 Tbsp water over cauliflower, cover, and simmer gently 5-10 minutes or until cauliflower is tender but still firm. Sprinkle garam masala over top and serve.

Makes 4 servings--or 6 servings as side dish.

>203 Cariola: I'll try that! I usually just toss cauliflower florets with a bit of olive oil and parmesan and roast it all, but I'm a little bored of that (and winter vegetables in general, really) and so will try this. It's good to give the children something to complain about, and they may well like this.

It's good to give the children something to complain about,

:)))

Made some good recipes this week:

BAKED LEMON FISH WITH LEMON SAUCE AND LEEK PASTA



Lemon fish*
Lemon pepper seasoning
Butter
Flour
¼ cup green onions chopped
½ lemon

Place fish in baking dish, sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning. Bake in 375 degree oven until cooked but not dry (30-45 minutes). While fish is cooking, make a white roux with about 2 tbsp butter and enough flour to absorb all the butter. Heat and set aside. Do not brown this! Remove fish from oven. To the white roux, add ¼ cup green onions and the liquid from the baking dish warming over low heat until sauce is correct consistency. Taste and add lemon juice as needed.

*Lemonfish (apparently cobia) is fished in the spring in the Gulf, not sure if it's available commercially. I used halibut. Any thick, white, but still flaky fish would do (NOT COD).

For the sauce it's important to cook the roux just enough to blend so it doesn't taste flour-y without browning it. The addition of the lemon juice makes it into a nice creamy sauce that would be lovely on chicken or pork as well.

And for the side I use this very easy and SUPER yummy leek pasta. This is excellent, the leeks turn out a sweet sauce. It also uses up all that leek you have leftover from soup that only needed 1/4 cup.

TURKEY MARSALA



1 turkey breast, sliced into cutlets
Salt, pepper, or seasoning of choice
Flour for dredging
Butter
Olive oil
1 sprig rosemary
1-2 large shallots, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 oz mushrooms, sliced
½ cup Marsala
1 cup chicken broth

Season cutlets and dredge in four. You may soak in milk first if desired. Melt 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Sauté meat until golden brown. Add more butter and oil as needed for second batch and set aside in a large plate when done. Add 1 tbsp oil to the skillet, the shallots, and the garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add more oil if needed and the mushrooms cooking until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the Marsala and simmer until the Marsala reduces by half, about 2 minutes. Add the broth and rosemary leaves and continue to simmer until the sauce is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Return the meat to the skillet, pour in all the pan juices and cook until heated through. Stir the remaining tbsp. butter into the sauce and season to taste.

Note: Serve with pasta of choice.

This is a good simple marsala recipe - I always forget how easy it is really and how much I like it. I used chicken (as turkey is crazy expensive for some reason) but can also use pork as well.

I saw a post about a disappointing Hot & Sour Soup recipe on Darryl's thread, so I'm posting a good one:

Hot and Sour Shrimp Soup

Recipe courtesy Madhur Jaffrey
Prep Time: 35 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Serves: 6 soup servings or 4 main-cour

Ingredients
1 pound medium shrimp
2 fresh lemongrass stalks
4 fresh or dried kaffir lime leaves, or 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
6 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon fish sauce, or salt, to taste
3 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste
1 teaspoon chile paste
1 (15-ounce) can straw mushrooms, or 12 medium fresh mushrooms
3 fresh hot green chiles, for garnish
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Wash the raw shrimp, then peel and devein, saving the peelings. Wash the shrimp again, drain and pat dry. Cover and refrigerate.

Cut each lemongrass stick into 3 (2-inch) pieces, starting from the rounded bottom end; discard the straw-like top. Lightly crush the 6 pieces with a heavy pestle, a mallet, or the blade of a knife.

Combine the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, the stock, and shrimp peelings in a pan. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer very gently for 20 minutes. Strain this stock and return to the rinsed-out pan.

Add the fish sauce, lime juice, and chile paste. Stir and taste again, adding more fish sauce or lime juice if required.

Drain the straw mushrooms and add them to the seasoned stock. If using fresh mushrooms cut into quarters, drop into lightly salted boiling water, and boil for 1 minute. Drain and add to the seasoned stock. (The soup may be prepared to this stage several hours ahead if necessary and refrigerated.)

Prepare the garnishes shortly before you are ready to serve the soup. Cut the green chilies into very fine rounds, and wash and dry the cilantro leaves.

Just before serving, heat the stock with the mushrooms in it. When it begins to bubble, drop in the peeled shrimp. Cook over a medium heat for about 2 minutes or just until the shrimp turn opaque. Serve the soup immediately in individual bowls, garnished with the green chiles and cilantro leaves.

And here's another that was VERY different, but also good:



Joanne Chang's Hot and Sour Soup

Restaurants and recipes for hot & sour soup invariably use cornstarch as a thickener, but it doesn't have to be that way. Yes, cornstarch plumps up the broth, but in doing so puts a hazy, viscous layer between us and the sour, spicy sting we crave. Chang's version is thickened with egg instead and makes a number of other smart updates without compromising what we love about the classic. From Flour, Too (Chronicle Books, 2013).

Serves 4 to 6

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, smashed and minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 scallions, white and green parts, minced, plus more for garnish
8 ounces ground pork
4 cups store-bought or homemade chicken stock
1 pound soft or firm tofu (not silken and not extra firm), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 or 5 medium button mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced (or substitute dried, rehydrated wood ear mushrooms)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2/3 cups rice vinegar, or to taste
3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 tablespoon sesame oil, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce, or to taste
2 large eggs
White or black pepper for garnish

1. In the saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions, and pork and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute. You want to break up the pork into smaller pieces with a spoon, but don’t worry about breaking it down completely or cooking it through.
2. Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the tofu, mushrooms, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, sesame oil, and Sriracha sauce and bring the soup back to a simmer over medium-high heat. Taste the soup. If you want it hotter, add more Sriracha sauce; if you want it more sour, add more vinegar.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. With the soup at a steady simmer, slowly whisk in the eggs so they form strands. Bring the soup back to a simmer. Divide the soup among 4 to 6 bowls and garnish each with a little sesame oil, scallion, and white or black pepper. Serve immediately. (Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The soup may take on a slightly different appearance, but it will taste just the same.)

>207 janemarieprice:/>208 Cariola: wow, these sound good.

This past Sunday I made Mushroom-Spinach Soup With Middle Eastern Spices, using a recipe that was in the Food section of last Wednesday's edition of The New York Times:



INGREDIENTS:

*6 tablespoons unsalted butter or extra-virgin olive oil
*1¼ pounds mixed mushrooms (such as cremini, oyster, chanterelles and shiitake), chopped
*½ pound shallots, finely diced
*1 tablespoon tomato paste
*2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
*1½ teaspoons ground cumin
*1 teaspoon ground coriander
*¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
*Pinch ground allspice
*2½ teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
*1 teaspoon black pepper
*5 ounces baby spinach
*Fresh lime juice, to taste
*Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)

PREPARATION:

Heat 3 tablespoons butter or oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add half the mushrooms and half the shallots; cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are well browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a bowl and repeat with remaining butter, mushrooms and shallots.

Return all mushrooms to the pot and stir in tomato paste, thyme, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and allspice; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in 5 cups water, the salt and the black pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook gently for 20 minutes. Stir in baby spinach and let cook until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.

Using an immersion blender or food processor, coarsely purée soup. Mix in lime juice. Thin with water, as needed. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve with dollops of yogurt if you'd like.
______________________________

Mmm. This was a very quick and easy recipe to make. My preferred local supermarket (Publix) sells sliced mixed mushrooms in the grocery section, and I just gave them a quick chop before I added them to the pot. I didn't purée the soup for long, as I prefer a thick, chunky soup. I added a heaping tablespoon of Greek yogurt to the reheated soup. After sitting in my refrigerator for six days it was thicker and tasted even better than it did after I first made it. This recipe makes four full bowls, and I'll add it to my regular rotation of favorite stews and soups.

Ooh yum that sounds great!

>211 kidzdoc:

Thanks, I made that today (minus the lime juice, didn't have any). Oh, and no blenderising--I chopped up the mushrooms instead. Very nice.

>213 LolaWalser: Great! I'm glad that you enjoyed the mushroom-spinach soup, Lola. A handful of the members of the 75 Books group have tried it, and they liked it as well.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered The Indian Slow Cooker on the recommendation of my group's practice manager and one of my partners, who are both of Indian descent. The Sunday before last I tried two recipes, which both turned out well. The first was Aloo Baingan (Spicy Punjabi Eggplant with Potatoes):



Ingredients:

* 3 large eggplants, diced, about 12 cups
* 1 large potato (russet or yellow), peeled, diced, about 2 cups
* 1 medium red or yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
* 1 piece (2 inches long) ginger, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch matchsticks
* 6 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
* 3 to 4 Thai or serrano chilies, chopped or sliced lengthwise
* 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
* 1 tablespoon red chili powder
* 1 tablespoon garam masala
* 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
* ¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

1. Put the eggplant, potato, onion, ginger, garlic, green chilies, cumin, red chili powder, garam masala, turmeric and oil in a slow cooker. Cook on low, 3 hours.

2. Remove the lid; cook, 2 hours (to dry up some of the moisture released by the eggplant).

3. Add the salt and cilantro. Serve with roti or naan, or stuffed inside a pita pocket.

Note: You will need a 5-quart slow cooker to fit all the vegetables. If your slow cooker is smaller, try cutting back on the quantities by one-third.
_________________________________

I used one russet potato and four serrano chiles. I tasted it after I took the lid off, and was worried that it would be too hot to eat. Fortunately mixing it into basmati rice tempered the spices and provided a nice balance to it. I think I would cook it uncovered for 90 minutes instead of two hours, as it's a wee bit on the dry side, and use half of the sea salt. This recipe makes seven cups of eggplant, and with a roughly equal amount of rice I'll get seven servings out of this. This didn't knock my socks off after I initially made it, but I loved it the following day and subsequently.

The second recipe was Aloo Gobi (Spiced Cauliflower with Potatoes):



Ingredients:

* 1 large cauliflower, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 8 cups/1.89 L)
* 1 large potato (russet or yellow), peeled and diced (about 2 cups/473 mL)
* 1 medium yellow or red onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
* 1 medium tomato, diced (optional)
* 1 (2-inch 5 cm) piece ginger, peeled and
* 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped, minced, or grated
* 3-4 green Thai, serrano, or cayenne chiles, stems removed, chopped or sliced lengthwise
* 1 tablespoon (15 mL) cumin seeds
* 1 tablespoon (15 mL) red chile powder
* 1 tablespoon (15 mL) garam masala (see Notes)
* 1 tablespoon (15 mL) salt
* 1 teaspoon (5 mL) turmeric powder
* 3 tablespoons (50 mL) vegetable or canola oil
* 1 heaping tablespoon (20 mL) fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients except the cilantro in the slow cooker. Mix well.

2. Cook on low for 3 hours. Mix once or twice during cooking, especially in the beginning. Eventually the cauliflower will release enough liquid to prevent anything from sticking to the sides of the slow cooker.

3. Add cilantro. Mix well but gently so as not to break up the cauliflower. Serve with roti or naan and a side of onion and cucumber salad.
______________________________________

I did add a tomato, as Anupy Singla in The Indian Slow Cooker said that her foodie father liked it that way. I used three serrano chiles instead of four, but it was still very spicy, although having it over basmati rice gave it a perfect balance. I also liked it immediately after it finished cooking, but I loved it after a day or two in the refrigerator.

This cookbook contains 50 recipes, of which all but eight are vegetarian. I loved both aloo dishes, and many of the other ones in the book are also very appealing.

Glad to hear that this is a good cookbook, Darryl--it has been on my wish list for more than a year. Time to order!

Not so much a cooking query as a growing one. I like my garden to be productive, but it also has to be easy and pretty much look after itself with minimal interference from me. So I have a strawberry patch, rhubarb plant, damson tree, blackcurrant bush and a blueberry bush in a pot (we're on clay). I have space for one more plant/bush/thing (plot a bit over a foot in each direction). Can be fruit or veg. Can't be a tree. Should be edible. Has to survive outdoors in the UK.

Any suggestions - along with ideas of what to do with them!

I've seen a red gooseberry plant, which intrigued me, what are they like?

Helen, if you like the flavor, I'd vote fennel. It's basically a weed, requiring no care and all of it can be used. But I tend toward herbs anyway -- with fruits and veg, the moment where you're able to harvest is the moment everyone else can, too and is desperate to get rid of the excess.

I miss the part of living in Phoenix where all the coworkers hauled in great bags of oranges and begged people to take them.

Oh I hate fennel, when my husband cooks it rather than eats it raw it nearly drives me out of the kitchen! The raw bulb isn't quite as aromatic, though. :P

How about plating some scallions there? Or garlic that you can store and use throughout the year?

>218 RidgewayGirl: I understand the glut issue, hence only having a small number of lots of different things. Also, a freezer. It gets stocked with soups & stewed fruit; last year I made strawberry coulis and froze it in ice-cube bags so I could use defrost as much as I wanted the rest of the year. Great on ice cream. Not to say that there aren't things lurking at the bottom that are indistinguishable and have lost their labels, but that just adds to the excitement of "freezer surprise".

Fennel - hmmm. Not sure I've ever had it that I know of. Worth a look. Weeds I can grow...

>220 Cariola: not had much luck with anything from seed, hence most of what I grow being bush or hardy plant type. It has to thrive on neglect. I'm a great "slash & burn" gardener, less good and the routine weeding & deadheading and useless at watering stuff.

>221 Helenliz: Do you like licorice? Anise? That's what it's like, quite strong & fragrant. If you're a fan of anise, you ought to love it. If you're not, you'll likely hate it. xP

>222 .Monkey.: thanks for the heads up. Can't abide Liquorice. Maybe the Fennel's a pass...

Yeah if you're not an anise fan it's highly unlikely you'd enjoy it. Maybe you can sniff some in a store? I'm not so sure how aromatic the herb part is, but if you cut into the bulb, whoo boy! XD I bet you ought to be able to get at least a small whiff of it and see what you think.

I tried this Guy Fieri recipe for mussels last night, and it was pretty awesome! I didn't have serrano peppers, so I subbed a jalapeno, and I didn't have cream but used half and half instead. (Some reviewers recommended using coconut milk.) I'll be making this one again!

Spicy Steamed Mussels
Recipe courtesy of Guy Fieri
Total Time: 40 min Prep: 20 min Cook: 20 min

Yield:s: 4 servings Level: Easy

2 pounds mussels, washed and beards removed
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (2-inch piece) ginger, minced
2 serrano chile peppers, seeded and diced
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves chopped
3 scallions, sliced
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 large ciabatta loaf, sliced into 1/2-inch thick diagonal slices
2 tablespoons olive oil

Pick through the washed mussels making sure that they are all tightly closed and all of the beards have been removed.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions, garlic, and ginger and saute until translucent but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chiles, curry powder, and coriander and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the wine and the water and bring to a boil.

Once the mixture is boiling, add the mussels and cover. Steam the mussels for about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they have all opened.

Remove the mussels from the heat and discard any that are not open. Place the mussels in a large serving platter, cover to keep warm. Return the pan to the heat, add the cream, season with pepper, to taste, and bring to a simmer. Add the cilantro, scallions, lime zest and juice. Pour the liquid over the top of the mussels.

Preheat a grill pan to medium-high heat. Drizzle the bread with olive oil and grill 1 minute per side. Serve with the steamed mussels.

This was an awesome soup recipe! I used fresh peas. The dill adds a lovely fresh flavor, and the little bit of yogurt added at the end gives it just a touch of creaminess. It's much brothier than most lentil or pea soups.



Lentil Soup With Peas and Ham
Total Time: 40 min Prep: 10 min Cook: 30 min Yield :4 servings

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup diced ham (about 4 ounces)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 stalks celery, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, diced (3 to 4 medium potatoes)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dried yellow or red lentils, picked over and rinsed
1 cup fresh or frozen peas (thawed if frozen)
3 tablespoons plain yogurt

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ham, onion and 2 tablespoons dill; cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is golden, about 5 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, potatoes, 1/2 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are just soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups water and the lentils; cover and bring to a simmer. Uncover and cook until the potatoes are tender and the lentils begin to fall apart, 12 to 15 more minutes. Stir in the peas, yogurt and the remaining 1 tablespoon dill. Ladle the soup into bowls.

Per serving: Calories 428; Fat 7 g (Saturated 1 g); Cholesterol 36 mg; Sodium 649 mg; Carbohydrate 62 g; Fiber 12 g; Protein 28 g

>226 Cariola:. Yum. Always looking for good soup recipes. Where do find fresh peas at this time of year?

>227 Nickelini: Hmm, posted a reply but it seems to have disappeared. Spring peas have just started to come in at the local grocery store. They are already shelled, so a little pricey, but definitely worth it. They were in the row with those itty bitty whole carrots, zucchini, and other "gourmet" veggies. But as you can see from the recipe, frozen peas will work just fine.

Couple of really good recipes I made this weekend.



SAUSAGE STUFFED DUCK
1 duck
½ lb fresh sausage
1 medium onion, sliced
Salt and pepper
Oil
1 can chicken broth
2 tsp Lea & Perrins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove sausage from casing and stuff inside duck. Coat a cast iron with a small amount of oil and add sliced onions. Place seasoned duck in pot on top of onions. Add Lea & Perrins, broth, and enough water to almost cover duck. Cover and bake for 1-2 hours, baste every 30 minutes. When duck is almost done, remove cover and allow to brown. Make a gravy with liquid and serve over rice.

I cannot say how good this was. So flavorful and kept the duck nice and moist.



OYSTER SOUP
½ gallon oysters
1 stick butter
1 cup shallots, chopped
4 cans cream of celery soup
1 can cream of asparagus soup
LA hot sauce to taste
Lea & Perrins to taste
¼ cup parsley, chopped
¼ cup green onions, chopped
Oyster crackers, if desired

Drain oysters, reserving liquor. Sauté 1 cup shallots in butter until limp. Add soups, simmer 15 minutes. Add Worcestershire and hot sauce, cook 5 minutes. Add oyster liquor and simmer 15 minutes. Add oysters, cook 5-10 minutes. Add parsley and onion tops.

Note: Serve with oyster crackers if desired.

This was very easy and yummy. Last hot soup I plan to make on the season - I've officially declared it spring in my life.

>229 janemarieprice: Oh, yum. Where do you live again, Jane? ;-)

I've made a couple of new recipes since my last visit here. First, Penne with Brussels Sprouts, Chile and Pancetta from NYT Cooking, courtesy of Laura (lauralkeet) from the 75 Books group, who posted it on my thread earlier this month:



Ingredients:

Sea salt
8 ounces penne
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
3 ounces pancetta, diced
1 large rosemary sprig
6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 jalapeño or Serrano chile, thinly sliced (or substitute 1 large pinch crushed red pepper flakes)
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons butter
Fresh lemon juice, for serving
Freshly grated Pecorino cheese (optional)

Preparation:

Bring large pot heavily salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook until pasta is just al dente (do not overcook).

Meanwhile, heat large sauté pan over high heat and add the olive oil. When oil is hot, add the pancetta and rosemary, and sauté until the fat on the pancetta starts to turn translucent and very lightly brown, about 1 minute. Add the garlic, chile and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and sauté until garlic and pancetta turn richly brown, about 3 minutes. Add the Brussels sprouts, a large pinch of salt and a splash of water to pan, and sauté until sprouts just start to soften, about 2 minutes. Spread sprouts mixture in pan and press down to flatten. Let it sear for a minute, then stir it up and repeat. This helps brown the sprouts. Add the butter, and sauté for another minute.

Drain penne and add it to pan with Brussels sprouts mixture. Cook, tossing, until everything is well mixed. Spoon into pasta bowls and top with a drizzle of oil and lemon juice, and a little cheese if you like.
________________________________________________________________

I made this last week, but the ingredients were burnt, even using medium-high instead of high heat. Today I cooked the pancetta initially on high heat, then turned the setting to medium to cook the other ingredients, and the result was much better. This easy recipe makes two healthy servings, and it tastes far better than it did the first time around. For vegetarians, I think that substituting mushrooms in place of pancetta would give an equally delightful result.

>231 kidzdoc: I love pastas like this that lend themselves to easy substitutions.

I tried a new recipe for lunch yesterday, Peruvian Seafood Stew with Cilantro Broth:



Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tablespoons oil
1 yellow or white onion- diced
1 fresh green ancho chili - chopped
1 green bell pepper - chopped (optional)
6 cloves garlic - rough chopped
1 Tablespoon coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
4 cups chicken broth or stock
3 cups water - divided
4 cups small diced potatoes
2 cup diced carrots
2 whole bunches cilantro, including small stems
2 lbs seafood, mixed -shrimp, scallops, mussels, fish, (or sub cooked chicken, or chickpeas)
½ teaspoon- ¾ teaspoon salt
cracked pepper
2 limes
cilantro and sour cream for garnish
crusty bread for dipping

INSTRUCTIONS;
Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pot, over medium high heat.
Add onion, and saute for two minutes, stirring often.
Add ancho chili and bell pepper. Turn heat to medium and saute until tender about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Add garlic and spices and cook for two minutes or until fragrant.
Scrape this all into a blender and set aside.
In the same pot, add 4 cups chicken broth or stock, plus 1 cup water.
Bring to a boil.
Add the small diced potatoes and carrots and simmer over medium heat until just tender, about 10 minutes.
In the meantime, add two whole bunches of cilantro to the blender, stems and all. I usually cut or twist off 1-2 inches off the stems, leaving the rest.
Add 2 cups lukewarm water to the blender. Bend everything until VERY smooth, at least 45 seconds.
Do not add this yet, just have it ready.
Once the potatoes and carrots are tender, add the seafood and simmer until desired doneness, or about 3-5 minutes.
When seafood is cooked, stir in cilantro mixture from the blender.
Heat, but do not boil too long, or you will lose the lovely green color
Squeeze the limes - I used 1½ limes.
Taste, adjust adjust salt.
Serve in bowls with cilantro sprigs, sour cream (optional) and crusty bread

NOTE: Don't boil the cilantro mixture too long or you will lose the pretty green color. In the photos you see me using 2 poblano chilis, and this was quite spicy. The next time I used 1 plus a green bell pepper - spicy, but not overly.
__________________________________

I used 1-1/2 lb of Patagonia scallops and 1 lb of mixed seafood (calamari, mussels, octopus and baby shrimp) from Publix, my preferred local supermarket, so my stew is chock full of seafood. Other than that, and using 3 tbsp of lime juice in place of the juice of 1-1/2 limes I followed the recipe to the letter (I used up nearly all of the potatoes in my refrigerator, a mixture of Yukon Gold and purple potatoes). I normally don't use much salt when I cook, but this needed a bit more than the recipe called for to bring out the flavors. This recipe makes nearly a full pot of stew, and it should provide 6-8 healthy servings. This tastes as good as it looks, and I've added this to my list of favorite recipes.

I tried another new recipe for lunch today, a copycat version of the Chicken Gnocchi Soup that is served at Olive Garden (for those of you not in the US this is a popular Italian restaurant chain that is located in numerous suburbs here). As I mentioned on my Facebook page I haven't dined at Olive Garden in roughly 25 years, but I found this as I was looking for recipes that contain gnocchi this weekend, as I have four packages of potato gnocchi in one of my kitchen cupboards. This recipe sounded good, and the end product didn't disappoint.



Here's the recipe, from the web site Dessert Now, Dinner Later:

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup carrots, shredded
3 Tbsp flour
1 quart Fat Free Half & Half
1 (14 oz) can low sodium chicken broth
1 cup fresh spinach, chiffonade (finely sliced)
¾ tsp dried thyme
salt & pepper to taste
1 (16 oz) package Gnocchi

Instructions:

In a large stock pot heat olive oil & saute chicken breasts. Season with a little salt & pepper. Cook until mostly done (very little pink showing.)

Add butter until melted & then add the onion, celery, garlic & shredded carrots. Cook until onion is translucent. Add flour to absorb the liquid from the butter which will form a roux. Stir well.

Add the half & half and chicken broth. Stir until it comes to a boil. Allow to simmer while you cook the gnocchi in another pot of boiling water until dumplings float (3 minutes.) Drain & set aside. (*You could possibly just add the gnocchi to the pot of soup, but it might thicken the soup too much & be slightly starchy.)

Add spinach, thyme & cooked gnocchi to the pot of soup. Taste & adjust seasoning with salt & pepper. Serve hot.

*If the soup is not thick enough, add 1-2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with just enough COLD water to stir it smooth. Add to the HOT soup & wait for it to boil to thicken up.
____________________________________________________________

I bought a package of three chicken breasts, so I used all of them in this soup. Otherwise I followed it exactly, using a 16 oz package of Gia Russa potato gnocchi. I did add red pepper flakes to the bowl of soup I had for lunch, to give it an extra kick. I was very pleased with this soup, and although I divided it into five Tupperware containers, not counting the bowl I had, I should probably have put less soup into at least two other containers, as it is a very rich and filling one course meal.

Artichoke Farinata (Vegan & Gluten free)



I tried this recipe (taken from the Demuth site) a few weeks ago, and have now tried a couple of different variations of topping.

Ingredients:
•200g chickpea/gram flour
•1 tsp salt
•1 tsp paprika
•600ml warm water
•Small handful of chopped parsley
•30ml olive oil plus 1tbsp for roasting
•75g artichoke hearts, sliced
•75g sun blushed tomatoes, halved
•2 tbsps capers
•30g black olives, de-stoned
•Sprigs of thyme
•Pinch of paprika and Maldon sea salt

Method:
1.Pour the warm water into a large bowl and sieve in the chickpea flour, salt and paprika a little at a time, whisking all the time to avoid lumps forming. You will end up with a thin batter. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place for at least two hours, or you can leave it overnight.
2.Preheat the oven to 220C.
3.Remove any foam that has formed on top of the batter and stir in the olive oil and most of the parsley.
4.Heat a shallow baking tin (approximately 26×36cm) with 1 tbsp of olive oil. When the oil is hot, pour on the batter and sprinkle with the artichoke hearts, sun blushed tomatoes, capers, olives and thyme. Sprinkle with the paprika and Maldon sea salt. Return to the oven and bake until set and browning on top, which will take around 15 minutes.
5.Serve at once, cut into wedges and sprinkle with the remaining parsley.

The gram flour gives this a nice savoury taste. I also enjoyed a mushroom and roasted garlic topping as an alternative.

Oh that looks really interesting!