Anybody do any interesting cooking lately.

[Denninmi]

Me, not so much. But I harvested a sack full of root vegetables and related hardy stuff yesterday:

Celeriac, carrots, parsnips, leeks, onions, daikon.

Maybe I'll do something fun tonight, if I can stay awake.

[kestrel91316]

1. Oh you reminded me to make celeri remoulade.

[grasswire]

3. one of my favorite dishes yum

We have it on New Years Day along with peel and eat shrimp, a three-citrus polenta fried crispy, and a few other dishes

[cbayer]

2. I love to cook a really cheap piece of meat for a very long time

on top of the stove and add all those things towards the end..

I usually get a chuck roast and simmer it in water with soy sauce, star anise, sherry. Old fashioned pot roast and it just gets better on days 2 or 3.

[kestrel91316]

4. I grew up with a mom who dutifully cooked most meat until it was shoe leather.

In my later years I have finally discovered the joy of long, slow braising. I like meat best when it's falling apart, lol.

[EFerrari]

5. I accidentally improved my standard red pasta sauce.

I changed out chicken stock and burgundy for beef stock and merlot, and flavored the sauteed vegetables with a little thick bacon and an andouille sausage that needed to be used.

Best, my new oven is in and now we can bronze the little toaster oven that has been our stand in. The truth is, the toaster oven has been perfect for making roasts because the heat just brushes by on its way to the kitchen ceiling so if I get the crust right, it comes out perfectly pink, cooked through exactly, lol. But it will be so nice to be able to bake again and of course, there are things that don't fit into a toaster oven. :)

[Ohio Joe]

20. Never retire a toaster oven

Unless it breaks... But then get a new one right away. Toaster ovens are one of the greatest inventions ever.

[Denninmi]

6. Hey, I managed to stay awake.

Diet Mt. Dew, you are truly a God.

Anyhoo, I managed to get partially through my bag of mixed root vegetables.

First, I cleaned the leeks and put them to soak in a bowl of cold water to remove the residual sand and grit.

Then, I grated up the parsnips with some onion, threw some salt, pepper, and eggs into them, and made parsnip latkes. Yummy, I had to sample them last night.

The, I grated up some daikon and onion to make a slaw tonight. Mixed up a sweet and sour mayo dressing to go over it.

Mixed up a meatloaf with some onion, carrot, and a big portobella mushroom cap.

Finally, threw a ham bone into the crockpot to simmer for ham stock, and cut up the rest of the things to make a pot of bean soup.

So, while I'm at work today, all my mother has to do is finish things off -- throw the meatloaf in the oven, mix the dressing into the slaw, and at some point, throw the rest of the soup ingredients into the crockpot, since I took out the bone and shredded the ham that was clinging to it this morning.

Didn't get to dessert, though, I picked a few Ark Black apples off the tree in the dark as I walked the dog at 6:00 (yeah, dark at 6:00, joyousness). I was going to threw together either a crisp or a coffee cake, but didn't make it. Oh well, we'll live.

[tigereye]

15. sounds great!

Ark Black apples? Do tell. that's a variety I've not heard of. I did have an Amish Black apple (old rare graft I was told) once at an apple fest- excellent.

[Blues Heron]

7. made butternut squash mole

That was a first for me. Soak some dried chillies in hot water (I used aji panca but the recipe called for anchos), char some onions and garlic under the broiler, toast some almonds, cloves and allspice, blend with some of the soaking water, fry the resulting paste in a bit of oil, then add pureed squash and some chicken broth, simmer till thickened. Amazing glow from the peppers, complex flavor from all the roasting and toasting. Had it with some simple roasted chicken.

[Lucinda]

8. Yum. That sounds wonderful.

:)

[Blues Heron]

10. Here's the link to the recipe I used

From Pati's Mexican Table

http://patismexicantable.com/2011/10/pumpkin-and-ancho-chile-mole.html

It was really good! :)

[Lucinda]

11. Thank you! it's gorgeous too. I knew the color would be great.

Bookmarking her website too. I hadn't see it before. Going to check out some of the video episodes now. ♥

[elleng]

13. I see her weekends on PBS; like to watch and listen to her.

[tigereye]

16. good one- I've had the mole book staring at me for weeks

and not done a damn thing with it. Looking for inspiration. Thanks!

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Got short ribs on sale.

Seasoned, rolled in flour, sauteed in olive oil, made a mirapoux, added burgundy wine and homemade beef stock. Cooked one hour.

Very happy with results.

[Hotler]

12. I made yogurt cheese....

Take a quart of plain yogurt and tie it up in some cheese cloth. Hang it up over a bowl to drain in a cool part of the kitchen for a few days and you have a good substitute for cream cheese.

[tigereye]

14. I made a moroccan stew a friend told me about

it had sweet potatoes, potatoes, lentils, broth (I used chicken stock I made but veggie broth would do), honey, middle eastern spices like cinnamon, cloves, cumin, and curry powder, spinach (recipe orig. called for kale, but I didn't have much), carrots, and dried apricots. It was very tasty and filling and it tasted even better the second day.

[pinto]

17. Made an upgrade on simple applesauce, fwiw. Guava, apple, pear, raisins, dried cranberries, almonds.

Playing with variations on egg drop soups. Sweet/sour, curried, etc.; all veggie, pork, chicken, beef; very simple to almost stew-like.

Coming up with a number of breakfast shakes (I'm on a weight gain program) using different combinations of blend-able foods - milk, greek yogurt, bananas, peanut butter, Ovaltine, protein powder, coconut milk, berries, soft fruits, etc. etc.

Non of it very cutting edge, but fun puttering in the kitchen. :hide:

[Tsiyu]

18. "Fush n Chups"

My dad got me thinking about this, he will complain to the wait staff if the chips are not really "chips."

So recently he was complaining in a phone call about another restaurant with bogus chips, and I started craving some.

Flounder breaded simply in bread flour with some salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika, ginger and chopped fresh parsley. Fried and served with REAL chips. No malt vinegar, but the apple cider kind worked fine.

Just yum.




.

[pscot]

19. Beet greens sauteed

with onion, bacon and pepper flakes. served as a side with pork cutlets and baked acorn squash. I used the stems too, diced small.

[GoCubsGo]

21. Carrot, ginger and cashew soup

Pretty tasty. Here is the recipe: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/carrot-ginger-cashew-soup.html

I used Garam Masala instead of curry powder, and I used well more than the "pinch" they called for. It was more like a good, heaping teaspoon. I think there is a similar recipe in the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook.

[The empressof all]

22. Well I had a quick and easy dinner....

I mixed a can of tomatoes with a can of Trader Joes Veggie Chili and some left over Quinoa....

:hide:

Now ordinarily I wouldn't call opening up a few cans ...cooking... but it was still really tasty. :rofl:

I did make some Macaroons and Brookies last week end (Brownies with chocolate Chip Cookie Dough plopped in them).