what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

parsnips are good caramelized together with other vegetables as the base for a winter soup stock, they contribute a lot of complexity and are similar to carrots w/ their sweetness. im not a fan of plain parsnips though

for burly winter root vegetables i prefer celeriac

I stand with VG.

Honey roast parsnips are my secret ingredient in a veggie soup

monsters, all of u

mushroom pizza that has a bunch of rehydrated porcinis sauteed with a load of criminis and garlic, on top of fontina, carmelized onions with rosemary playing the role of sauce on some bland-o plain white dough i made

haven't had farinata in years, might attempt this recipe for saturday lunch http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/how-to-make-farinata-italian-chickpea-pancake.html

we had my brother and his family over for dinner the other night. they love cooking indian and so do we, so we made a huge feast. i haven't cooked this much food in a while:

masoor dal
benghali green beans and potatoes
tomato sambal
summer squash w/ mustard seeds
saag tofu

All the way at the other end of the vegetarian-omnivore spectrum, I'm making beef stock today.

I agree with VG that parsnips would not work well in any soup I know about, but they roast well and were quite acceptable in a beef and peanut stew recipe my wife made just a few days ago.

I really like roasted parsnips but they are such a damn awkward shape--the top fat part and the itty bitty skinny end make it diffcult to get evenly-roasting pieces.

had some oddly delicious parsnip cake last winter

I'm out. Can't take this parsnip thread. Too triggering.

I had a couple of ideas for pesto variations yesterday — roasted peanuts instead of pine nuts, and mustard greens instead of basil. I got some mediocre mustard this morning and tried that one out -- pretty good, but it needs fresher, more-peppery greens.

my co-worker's ex-husband hunted a deer and gave her a bunch of venison she couldn't use and i'm the leading consumer of meats in the office so i got some and made venison/pork chili and it's the best

niiice

My father in law used to give us venison and it was always good in chili. I don't really like chili tbh but it was ok.

i impulse bought a frozen rack of venison back around the holidays and still need to do something with it

just recently realized how freaking awesome delicata squash is. it's my new kabocha (eg fave winter squarsh). thinkin' of stuffing a couple a la http://beardandbonnet.com/delicata-squash-burrito-bowls/

Venison is awesome with mole. You're welcome.

delicata is great xp, i like it too because you don't have to peel it and it cooks faster than other winter squash

I'm also a fan of delicata. And venison! Had a discussion with a rabbi about kosher venison, which is a thing but v. v. expensive.

yeah delicata is like the french fries of squash in a good way

steely dan of squash even?
ended up making a Killer kale salad -- dino kale sliced v thinly, rubbed with salt and mashed roasted garlic, added some lemon juice and olive oil. threw in some quinoa/amaranth that i'd cooked together mixed it together and plated. topped with 1/2" slices delicata that had cumin and smoked paprika rubbed into the inside (automatic salt and pepper all around, natch) and dressed the top of salad with a simple but yum tahini/apple cider dressing. salad loving housemate was in heaven.

i have some lamb mince - it looked nice at the butcher so i bought it. not sure what to do with it.

my thoughts:

shepherd's pie
mince and potatoes cooked separately not in pie

i mean, do any recipes use lamb mince without being some celtic stodgefest?

go greek imo

you could make meatballs! flavor them however you want (i like parsley, something spicy, onion, garlic, ginger, ??) and eat with rice & vegetable of your choice. or put I guess you could also put them in soup.

shepherds pie with garlicky sweet potato mash

mince is ground meat right?

yep

actually I was looking at this keema recipe earlier, could try that?
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/461642/keema-with-peas

yeah that's right, sorry should have said!

meatballs is prob a good idea, i thought about something like a kofte tho think the spices i'd need might not have survived moving flat a while ago - could prob improvise a bit with szechuan pepper or something maybe as the spicy element.

xpost that keema recipe looks good, prob do have the spices for that. i can obv buy new ones just my cupboards are packed.

oh ok, in that case, keema meatballs?

lately my favorite meal is meatballs as described above + rice w saffron & a small piece of cinnamon + some kind of chopped radish/greens thing. colorful and flavorful but not overwhelming.

that does sound p good. i have saffron i believe. i think the meat should be quite nice so prob doesn't need too much done to it.

trying to impress a new friend of the human female species so am gonna try and pull off homemade ramen noodles, which i've been considering for awhile. http://luckypeach.com/recipes/fresh-alkaline-noodes/
and gonna use a couple bits from that cool recipe someone posted above for "the ultimate rich and creamy vegan ramen" like the soy shiitake tare and the mushroom-scallion oil

I've had an Instant Pot for a week now. I've tried steel cut oats, soft-boiled eggs (one batch overcooked, one batch undercooked -- I'm zeroing in on the sweet spot), pork loin roast, and potatoes and carrots to make hash out of the leftover pork roast. It's an interesting tool, worth the money I think. Going to try yogurt in the next few days.

xposts
Bifteki. I usually make it with ground beef, but sometimes a mix of beef and lamb; all lamb would probably be awesome. Especially if you could grill it over an open flame.

One of my favorite Indian restaurants does their lamb rogan josh with minced lamb. It is reminiscent of a bolognese sauce and is divine.

A lamb burger with feta and/or tzatziki is easy and tasty, too! Lately I really like dill with lamb.

my dad sent me a bunch of fancy beefs for valentine's day (??) and now i have ground beef for the first time in....many years? i never buy it

do i make chili or meatballs or

make yrself a kickass hamburger for a start

ooh yeah

i got some sodium citrate a couple months ago with the intention of making fancy velveeta cheese and then never did, this is as good a time as any for fancy burgs

Nothing says "romantic love" like beef from dad

Once my college friend sent me and everyone he knew 5 lbs of cheddar (each!) for Christmas.

lol

http://rocketlunch.blogspot.com/2011/07/madhur-jaffreys-ground-lamb-with.html <----my favorite

What will sodium citrate do with beef?

housemate bd in a couple days so making the sauce today for something i think she'll love, i used to work at this joint - http://greensrestaurant.com/2015/02/black-bean-chili/. will cook the beans and finish the dish tomorrow.
for tonight we already baked the baking soda for the ramen noodles that i mentioned the other day. i have a backup plan in case of noodle fail, but i hope it works. making a miso-ginger broth for it, and from "the ultimate vegan miso ramen" recipe i cherrypicked the mushroom scallion oil and shiitake-soy tare as other ingredients

courgette sliced thin and fried with garlic, with linguine, basil pesto and italian sausage

in the end, with the lamb, if anyone cares, i did make meatballs - used garlic/onion/parsley/cumin and dusted a bit of paprika picante over the top to give the oil they cooked in a saucey quality. cooked rice with saffron, it was all good!

on friday i made this aligot recipe and cooked two toulouse sausages - big glass of red wine obviously :) https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018430-aligot-mashed-potatoes-with-cheese

what are ilxors favourite fish recipes? most sundays lately i go to the fishmonger, it's the only day of the week i can make it while it's open and i love fresh fish. a lot of the time i just buy a bream or a rainbow trout and cook it whole in the oven with a load of herbs and spices and a few bits of lemon in the cavity, and maybe have some roasted veg alongside it or some greens. i wish i lived in a country where fishmongers were a daily part of life and not something closer to an extravagance.

i still find good butchers and fishmongers a bit difficult - it's hard to balance the impulse purchase with a plan for the week and accompanying veg etc that doesn't lead to waste. but buying what looks nice is sort of the fun of going to an independent store i guess.

it's basically convenience (upright) vs efficiency (chest), I went w/the latter

Hmmm yeah I've heard uprights will essentially 'dump' cold air when you open them but the convenience seems pretty great

chest freezers try to increase their convenience by adding various racks and 'baskets', but efficiency is their whole reason for existing. when you calculate the decrease in electrical consumption over the life of the unit it becomes a very good reason.

i got a chest freezer last fall, no regrets. i just get anxious about tracking whatever is in it but that's what spreadsheets are for.

ha I had not considered that re: the pig above, but I should!

Due to limited square footage, I went with an upright freezer. Thanks to spreadsheet contents tracking, it gets opened once every week or two and I move the packages for the next set of meals to the fridge freezer. It holds 1/2 a pig and over 1/8th of a cow, 6 chickens and an assortment of Costco sausage packages.

Does queso cotija taste bitter to anyone else? I kind of ruined a chili I made yesterday by grating a block into it, I probably need to sweeten it to make it more palatable.

for me, cotija is sweet and umami similar to parmesan. like parmesan, I try to stay away from any strangely soft versions.

I only buy the Nuestro Queso version at TJs

This is barely cooking, but sourdough toast with lots of butter and salt and pickled watermelon radish is such a satisfying breakfast.

Spring makes me want to eat all the radishes