what's cooking? part 5: 2017-2027

finally warm here so it's time to fire up the grill. mark bittman's chicken thighs are always a favorite: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/06/mark-bittmans-grilled-mediterranean-chicken-thighs-recipe.html

you can do anything you want with the flavors, but the core technique of 5 mins skin up cool side, 20 mins skin down cool side, 5 minutes skin down hot side is incredibly effective. i do this on a gas grill with a smoker box on the hot side and the results would make you think i have a much more impressive setup.

I've been making my own lime pickle and now it's in individual jars and ready to eat. I also have a big jar that will now only be any good for making more lime pickle in, so it's just as well I'm going to start a new batch almost straight away because it's so good.

Recipe, pls? I have never made a lime pickle.

https://www.fermentationrecipes.com/indian-lime-pickle/500

I made this one because I'm quite happy with letting things ferment and break down that way - there are lots of others I'd seen that involves cooking the limes which just seems less authentic somehow.

NB Mustard oil is technically not food safe under EU regs because of erucic acid content. Despite this it's still pretty widely available - and Morrisons appear to do one specifically labelled as 'edible'.

Mine had 5 weeks initial ferment then 2 fully mixed and it needed both those later weeks for the oil to lose its harshness/combine flavours. I still think next time I might 50/50 it with mustard oil and olive oil.

I have been trying to copy Pathak's lime pickle, since we apparently can't get it here any more at the 2 Indian grocers I can get to.

This was my first attempt:
7 limes, cut into 8 pieces each
1 tsp black salt
bunch of kosher salt <- just winging it here!
mix in non-reactive bowl, put into glass jar
leave for 3-4 days, mixing a couple times a day

toast and grind:
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tsp fenugreek
1/2 tsp nigella

heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat, then add
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
pinch asafoetida
1 teaspoon dried coriander
½ teaspoon chilli powder <- this was from the Indian shop
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
and cumin, fenugreek, and nigella from above

After the mustard seeds begin to pop (about 30 seconds),
add the limes
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Take the mixture off the heat and let cool slightly. Spoon lime pickle into small, sterilized jars. Seal the jars and let the mixture sit in the refrigerator at least overnight, or up to 4 days before serving. If properly sealed and sterilized, lime pickle can last in the fridge for several months, if not longer.

I will add more brown sugar next time, and also make a smaller quantity more frequently. It has gotten more pungent since I made it last October.

I have had some success replicating Pathak's garlic pickle:
about .25 cup veg oil
50 grams garlic, sliced and slivered
25 grams raisins, chopped
25 grams dates, chopped
1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp fenugreek roasted, ground
1 tsp dried onion (not fried shallots)
1 tsp cumin roasted, ground
1 tsp coriander, roasted (already ground)
1 tsp powdered mustard
pinch of hing
pinch of cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
3 big pinches of kosher salt (Morton's)
.5 tsp crushed dried red pepper
1 tsp ginger paste

1 heaping tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cider vinegar

heat veg oil on low, add garlic, turmeric, raisins, dates, barely simmer until soft, about 30 minutes.

add spices, continue to simmer

take off heat, add sugar, vinegar. Allow to cool, spoon into sterilized jars.

That garlic one looks good.

I should also say the 'cut into 8' leaves them a bit big for my taste - each 1/8th wedge can easily get cut into 3 or 4.

Yeah, I will definitely cut them much smaller next time. The limes were kind of big this time, too.

i got 10 pickling cucumbers (i hate the word "cukes" i'm sorry) from farmers' market this am. they were too fat to fit into my jars whole so i am fermenting a half gallon of spears and a quart of slices. also making fridge pickles with a quart + a pint of spears. "we'll see what happens."

yum! i've done this very lazily before by halving cukes and sticking them in empty pickle jars that still had juice. the liquid is totally reusable 2-3 times i found

that's a good idea! no pickle juice wasted

How long in the pickle juice before they are pickled?

well, i was just going to say, i tried a fridge pickle just now after it had been in the liquid for 24 hours. the recipe i used said to wait that long. it's a good, solid pickle. i'll see what it's like in the next few days. i used this recipe https://www.aspicyperspective.com/best-homemade-refrigerator-pickles/ skipped the onion out of laziness

also used white vinegar instead of apple cider

i'd like to try this one, too. much longer process though https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/08/milwaukee-dill-pickles-cucmber-recipe.html

Thanks, I may try it when my current store-bought jar runs out.

this is literally what i wrote down from book (it's quite simple but the flavors REALLY married after about 24 hours and was the best beans i've ever made iirc):
Simple Beans
1# Black or pintos – cook. Separately carmelize large onion (i cut into thin half-moons), adding t oreg., t cumin, habanero, liquid smoke to finish

― form that slug-like grex (outdoor_miner), Saturday, 19 January 2019 15:45 (six months ago)

I finally got liquid smoke and am going to make this tomorrow. IT HAS BEEN ON MY MIND.

got the Zahav book. Making hummus, pita, israeli salad, and twice cooked eggplant salad for dinner. Hope those bad boys inflate correctly.

How are you doing the pita? I really need to delve into eggplant one day. I love it, but I know most people don't.

Poké tonight but we do poké most saturdays. Saturdays suppers are that or thai noodles or scarpetta spaghetti without fail I realized.

the pita was a pretty easy dough recipe. It has sugar and a fair amount of yeast. You do a long rise, form little boules, second rise, flatten, and put on pizza stone at 500C. They inflate like balloons and are done in 3 minutes.

The Zahav hummus is v good, but the secret has been out for awhile. Think I've made a copy from the internet before. I kinda messed up the eggplant by leaving the skins on the disks and cutting too thin. I ended up blending it all with tahini sauce as a second dip, which everyone liked better than the hummus.

Do you use the soom tahini?

used a different achdut brand, pepperwood

I made the tahini sauce ahead of time and added ice water until it looked like the picture. But it thickened in the fridge. the ending hummus was prbly stiffer than I wanted. Would try to make it all same day in the future.

i usually just leave tahini sauce out @ room temp. when it's earmarked for same day use. have never thought abt making pita before. that all sounds freaking lovely!
japanese eggplants are in the local farmers market so i made some stoopid eggplant pizza the other day that was (nearly) overloaded w/aubergine. also love that they cook in ~5 minutes in a cast iron and don't need salting.

hey, let us know how you like that smokey bean recipe, Yerac. made it a second time and wasn't convinced that i loved it as much as the first time. no idea why that would be the case
xxposts

Hmmm I was wondering if getting the soom tahini is worth it.

Yeah I will report back. Maybe I will just do one can of black beans first to test it out.

made more pita, this time from a hot bread kitchen recipe. this was half wheat flour, which is different and good. Learned that one should flip the the pita at 2 minutes for maximum inflation. These have perfect pockets. Also listened to Southern Accents while baking. When petty said "hey spike, whaddaya like?" I said "pita" but very softly so nobody else would hear me. I think it helped.

Our garden is yielding cucumbers by the armful so I made tzatziki and refrigerator pickles this weekend! Will open pickles when I get home tonight and report back on results. All have dill seeds, dill flowers & greens, and garlic. Some have onion, some have red pepper flakes. If they turn out, I see a lot of vinegar usage in my future.

Any fave recipes for pickling? Actually wait lemme search thread.

Nm I found harbl's! Looks good--I did close to that but didn't have mustard seeds. Will try next time.

Next door neighbor surprised me the other day saying she has ghost pepper, habanero, and Thai chile plants! Am hoping to get armfuls!

A little late, but that Zahav hummus recipe was a game changer. Every other recipe I'd seen involved just blending everything together at once, whereas Zahav explains the tahini sauce and reasoning behind very, very well.

yes, the book is great. and the base hummus is as good as any I've made. I think there is a limit to the enjoyment I derive from the basic hummus, though. I want to try the dressed up versions and the turkish hummus that uses butter instead of tehina. separating the tehina sauce and using it everywhere is a very useful idea. the nearby grocery outlet keeps stocking jars of fancy tehini at good prices, so I think I'll run through that whole first chapter, including the shortbread.

really want to make that persian rice, too. we had a roommate that tried to make it many times with mixed results. it must be good, though, if she tried for so long.

I don't typically like rice dishes but I looooove persian rice. In college I would go to my persian roommate's home a lot and her parents knew to have persian rice with chicken ready for me. I think I have mentioned how our regular snack there was feta and grapes on pita. So good.

I want to try the dressed up versions and the turkish hummus that uses butter instead of tehina. separating the tehina sauce and using it everywhere is a very useful idea.

I’ve done the hummus with the lamb on top, which is great if you eat meat. Also, the one with the whole cooked chickpeas on top is a nice change and adds texture.

The tehina sauce is great on just about anything. You can dress just about any raw or cooked vegetables with it and they will rule.

the ottolenghi meatballs in tahini are incredible

I made those beans, outdoor miner. They were delicious but supposedly intense (I am a bit congested so I may have seasoned it to extremes). I made some alterations, I used a big spoonful of chipotles instead of habanero, and also added some balsamic and garlic. Ate it with brown rice, avocado, cilantro and watercress. Would definitely make again.

Chipotles and liquid smoke? That seems intense. Am not a Yucatecan but i like the chile choice. Mmm water cress is underrated imo.
I think it's gonna be too effing hot to do much cooking for the next few months here in my apt. And next door neighbor with outdoor pizza oven is moving soon. Think I'll be well tired of salads, sandwiches, and gazpacho by October

I did't know how much liquid smoke to add since I have never used it so only added like a teaspoon? to 2 cans of black beans. There are no habaneros where I am so found a good can of chipotles instead that I am very happy I know I can get now. I figured since it was going on rice and not in a burrito it could be a little extreme. They sell a lot of berros/watercress here and it fills my desire for mache lettuce (which I can't get here).

I have to figure out what to do with the rest of these chipotles though. Maybe with salmon? Could mix a little in with a batch of hummus.

a teaspoon is a lot of liquid smoke. that stuff is powerful.

I thought about just doing a couple of drops but figured they would've designed the bottle differently if that was what was supposed to happen. Next time I will know. I liked the way it smelled.

Was gonna say. I'd go with something like 8 drops for two cans. Guessing the bottle you have has no dropper dispensing top.
I usu just puree chipotles upon opening. Either way they freeze well or can last *at least* a month in fridge. I useda make a really nice roasted warm potato salad that had a chipotle-lime dressing.
I think you said you spend time in Chile? I wonder if it is potato-land there in the way I imagine Peru to be.

I'm in chile right now. Which is why the hot pepper situation is dire. I had to bring the liquid smoke here.

eh, I probably used about 8 drops, I kind of just eyeballed what I poured in.

I assumed the chipotles wouldn't be hot either so ate a spoonful straight out of the can to test. They were hot!

https://www.pepperscale.com/chipotle-vs-jalapeno/

I remember tracer had that ^^^ fact on the 'things I just learned thread' which I hadn't known at the time because I never buy chipotles so never considered the flavor. They just started having fresh jalapenos in the grocery store here and they are kind of hit or miss within the spicy range. But I guess that is true with any hot pepper. I always have to taste a little first because some end up being really mild and then something (like a banana pepper) will be shockingly spicier than expected. I have some dry ghost peppers in a grinder thing that I got at Trader Joes that I haven't opened yet.

yeah, tasting is always a good idea

love 2 taste

My refrigerator pickles came out amazing btw. Highly recommend everyone pickle something STAT.

i am finishing up my soy pickled mushrooms, and i am going to do some cucumbers and green beans this weekend.