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heddylamar wrote:We're still eating cabbage from CSA, so I made this tonight. I did modify it a bit -- when don't I? No sage, so I used thyme and ended up adding a bit of smoked paprika too.

Well you inspired me (us - there was a lot of slicing and dicing!) to start here. Definitely a comfort food type of meal and given that it was a day of wind and heavy rain and in the 40s, excellent timing. I just followed the recipe more or less, used green cabbage and made it like a casserole (no cabbage leaf layering). I used 1/2 pound of cremini and 1/4 pound each shitake and chanterelles. We also added croutons and chopped walnuts to the top. I'm looking forward to see how the flavor develops after sitting overnight. We had it with an rustic artisan bread.


ETA: Next day leftovers did not disappoint! Earthy/shroomy flavors much richer and more developed - yum!

Tonight will be a Broccoli Cheddar Quiche with my homemade crust along with a salad. I made Lemon Bars yesterday and let me tell you about these lemon bars. They are not ordinary. The recipe is from Cook's Illustrated and they are exquisite. They are a bit more work, but very worth it.

Rockabilly - I don't think it's fair to leave us hanging like that! Recipe please for your lemon bars?

I thought google would help but Cook's Illustrated has more than one option:

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articl ... lemon-bars
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipe ... lemon-bars

silk wrote:I thought google would help but Cook's Illustrated has more than one option:

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articl ... lemon-bars
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipe ... lemon-bars

Yes, that is the recipe and well worth making.

Rockabilly wrote:

silk wrote:I thought google would help but Cook's Illustrated has more than one option:

https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articl ... lemon-bars
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipe ... lemon-bars

Yes, that is the recipe and well worth making.

Which one!!!!! There are two

The second one.

In a nod to the cold, I'm trying my hand at vegan pho tonight. I've cobbled together a vegan recipe from Kenji's recipes at Serious Eats, a vegan one from Food52, and Alton Brown's redo of his old Good Eats episode.

I'm making Chile Verde in the Instant Pot tonight. I grew so many green chiles last summer! On the side, black beans and sauteed veggies.

Shrimp Tacos with lettuce, avocado, tomatoes & Jalapenos on white corn tortillas.

After we finish the cheese enchiladas tonight, it's off the veg wagon for a couple of days with the Braised Cabbage and Chicken. I included the link. Heddy L has us on a cabbage craze!

https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/02 ... athy-gunst

So I have a bunch of frozen slow cooker dump-meals in my freezer. You just put the frozen block into your slow cooker, set it for 8 hours and voila. I thought this was the ultimate in Lazy Cooking (my specialty).

But NO! I CAN BE EVEN LAZIER!

Last night I decided to experiment -- grabbed the pork chops in sauce because pork's usually my least favorite so no big deal if I ruined it -- and put the frozen block in my Instant Pot. Set it for 15 min and.....voila!

Took about 40 minutes total accounting for the pressure build/release.....but no actual fore-planning, no prep work, no supervision of the cooking process, and only one cooking dish to wash (the IP inner pot).

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE IN LAZINESS AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

The pork chops themselves were pretty boring. I have yet to make pork that I have actually liked, but I'm still trying. (I have had pork other people have cooked that was good, so I know it's possible.)

I've been eating a lot (a lot) of zucchini, as that's coming out of the garden prolifically (a lot). Also tomatoes, although not so prolific, but delicious. Lots of ratatouille, "zoodles" with meat (and maybe pasta and most likely tomatoes).

This week I didn't go to the supermarket. At all.

Kelo wrote:So I have a bunch of frozen slow cooker dump-meals in my freezer. You just put the frozen block into your slow cooker, set it for 8 hours and voila. I thought this was the ultimate in Lazy Cooking (my specialty).

But NO! I CAN BE EVEN LAZIER!

Last night I decided to experiment -- grabbed the pork chops in sauce because pork's usually my least favorite so no big deal if I ruined it -- and put the frozen block in my Instant Pot. Set it for 15 min and.....voila!

Took about 40 minutes total accounting for the pressure build/release.....but no actual fore-planning, no prep work, no supervision of the cooking process, and only one cooking dish to wash (the IP inner pot).

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE IN LAZINESS AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

The pork chops themselves were pretty boring. I have yet to make pork that I have actually liked, but I'm still trying. (I have had pork other people have cooked that was good, so I know it's possible.)

I have no idea how this would work with an IP, but, if you season your pork chops with salt, pepper AND paprika before frying (depending on thickness, probably about medium-high to high heat for 4-5 minutes each side, or, 2 min each side then finished in the oven to cook through)... delicious! if you like spice a light sprinkle of chilli is a good addition to the paprika.

Air-fried Brussels sprouts, dill parsnip mash, and Salisbury steak-ish (burger patties with sauteed onions and mushrooms, not whatever's in the real deal)

I made apricot walnut Rugelach today and I'm going to make strawberry banana smoothies so that will be our dinner.

Tonight: zuchinni with zuchinni on the side.

silk wrote:I have no idea how this would work with an IP, but, if you season your pork chops with salt, pepper AND paprika before frying (depending on thickness, probably about medium-high to high heat for 4-5 minutes each side, or, 2 min each side then finished in the oven to cook through)... delicious! if you like spice a light sprinkle of chilli is a good addition to the paprika.

The best ones I've had were cooked using sous vide - made them very tender and flavorful. But I don't have a sous vide and don't plan in investing the money. I'll try your description and see if it works. Do you prefer thin or thick chops, bone in or boneless?

I have gathered a couple more recipes too, just to experiment and see if I can find something I like!

Kelo wrote:

silk wrote:I have no idea how this would work with an IP, but, if you season your pork chops with salt, pepper AND paprika before frying (depending on thickness, probably about medium-high to high heat for 4-5 minutes each side, or, 2 min each side then finished in the oven to cook through)... delicious! if you like spice a light sprinkle of chilli is a good addition to the paprika.

The best ones I've had were cooked using sous vide - made them very tender and flavorful. But I don't have a sous vide and don't plan in investing the money. I'll try your description and see if it works. Do you prefer thin or thick chops, bone in or boneless?

I have gathered a couple more recipes too, just to experiment and see if I can find something I like!

To me, chops have bone, or they're not chops
Bone-in chops shouldn't be too thick. Maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, ie not as much as an inch thick. Roughly. If they are thicker, you'll need to finish them in the oven to cook through, if thinner, you can get away with just frying them. The key will be to 'just' cook them, ie, not overcook them and make them dry.

I'm in Las Cruces, NM and had fresh tortillas and salsa with pork adovada, beans, rice and Chile relleno. So yum. I hope my travel companions will be up forore Mexican food before we head home Friday.

We're having wild rice and chicken soup along with a salad. It's a chilly rainy day here. I did make a lemon cheesecake with lemon curd on top and I meant for it to last 3 days; however in this house it did not.

Night before last, I made hot and sour soup that was really good. I am enjoying the leftovers!

Last night I made a large batch of Thai Massaman curry.

Pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, capsicum, onion, Kaffir lime zest, lemongrass, garlic, Sambal olek for extra spice, and some slow-cooked lamb roughly chopped at the end and warmed through. Not sure the lamb was the best idea (it was delicious, but the flavour didn't quite 'go' with the curry). I'm away on a training course this weekend so the curry is destined for lunches.

Tonight is bolognese, made with the very very very last of our home-grown tomatoes. The weather has finally cooled a little (still quite warm, but a decided chill to the air overnight) so I'm craving comfort food.

silk, your curry sounds wonderful!

I am now trying my hand at making spring rolls; they are slowly looking less like an art project gone bad and more like actual roll. Fortunately any version tastes good!

I've done (large) spring rolls - very successfully. They are just time consuming to layer/wrap so you ideally need a production line

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could share our food? I would love to try yours, silk.

I would soon be 400 pounds if I got anywhere near your cooking, Rockabilly - haha!! I love food, especially good, tasty food.

Yesterday I realized I could put green chile in my homemade sourdough bread. Next step is to partially dehydrate a batch so I can add more without making the dough soggy.

Big pot of chili to go with it. Yum.

Strawberries are in season here so I am making everything strawberry. Last night's dinner was spinach strawberry salad. I made the dressing for the salad. Then we had fresh strawberry pie. I made the crust myself and the filling from fresh strawberries. Then I added whole strawberries to the filling. It is the most delicious pie. I am going to be able to get fresh vegetables from my Amish neighbors very soon. I'm getting beautiful eggs from them now.

Rockabilly, have you ever tried strawberries with balsamic vinegar? You hull/chop/slice the strawberries as usual, into a bowl, a little bit of sugar if that's your thing (it is not mine), a teaspoon or two of balsamic, mix, and leave to macerate a while. The balsamic really intensifies the strawberry flavour.

Here, it's pumpkin in everything. The dirt scraped off my brother's house site was put into a large pile. In order to reduce the weeds that could grow, mum planted pumpkins. About a hundred plants (we had just cut the last pumpkin from the previous year so used all the seeds). The result was 85 pumpkins at first pick (the landscapers indicated they would soon be dealing with the pile of dirt), with about 10 or 15 left to mature a little longer. Or so we thought... she found another 40! (smaller ones) when she went back to get the last 10-15. We can't possibly eat them all so have been giving them away to as many people as we can.

Last week I made Bolognese sauce. It contained about 300grams of mince (ground beef), two finely diced broccoli stalks, carrot and celery, onion, tomatoes, and about 1/8 of a large pumpkin, grated. By the time it had cooked for an hour on very low, you couldn't even tell there was pumpkin in it. It was a HUGE batch of sauce.

For a change from pumpkin, last night I had cauliflower. I attempted to cover it in tempura batter but I didn't have enough oil and it wasn't hot enough so the batter ended up at the bottom of the saucepan, and I had cauliflower without batter. The sweet and sour sauce I'd made was OK but I'd call the dish a complete fail LOL.

Today I have bolognese, without any extra veges. Just onions, meat and tomatoes, cooked slowly until perfectly delicious. To be served with fettucine and loads of melty cheese on top.

silk wrote:Rockabilly, have you ever tried strawberries with balsamic vinegar? You hull/chop/slice the strawberries as usual, into a bowl, a little bit of sugar if that's your thing (it is not mine), a teaspoon or two of balsamic, mix, and leave to macerate a while. The balsamic really intensifies the strawberry flavour.

.

I am going to try this very thing tonight. I have never tried this before, but I have some balsamic vinegar worthy of a Queen. Thanks!

Rockabilly wrote:

silk wrote:Rockabilly, have you ever tried strawberries with balsamic vinegar? You hull/chop/slice the strawberries as usual, into a bowl, a little bit of sugar if that's your thing (it is not mine), a teaspoon or two of balsamic, mix, and leave to macerate a while. The balsamic really intensifies the strawberry flavour.

.

I am going to try this very thing tonight. I have never tried this before, but I have some balsamic vinegar worthy of a Queen. Thanks!

I do this both in fresh and cooked form. The cooked are roasted strawberry and balsamic jam, and essentially the same (cooked for 1/16 the time) in ice cream form.

I have friends coming to visit me so will be really nice bbq on a terrace with some nice beer

Impromptu "stir fry" - start with Spanish onion, add seasonings: thyme, salt, pepper, chilli seasoning (which is mostly paprika IIRC), throw in finely sliced carrot and small pieces of cauli, then a bit of chicken breast, stir a bit, add a splosh of water if needed to cook the veges through, voila!

made mushroom and chard pasta using the 'one pot pasta' technique:

I sautéed mushrooms with garlic in a pot, dumped in some chicken broth, a can of diced tomatoes, seasonings and brought to a boil. Threw in the pasta and let it cook (stirring from time to time) until it was almost done (4 minutes or so less than cook time) then added in a splash of heavy cream and the chard (any green would have done). Kept it cooking until pasta was done and then added some grated pecorino cheese and black pepper.

All that cheesy, creamy, carby goodness felt like a series cheat on my attempt to eat better. Ah well.

The long, dry, Indian summer appears to be coming to an end. It's a little chilly and even rained this morning (we sorely need it, we have only had half the normal annual rainfall this calendar year). So, the fire is on, just slowly, to take the chill out of the house. I chopped one pumpkin, the stalk and leaves of one cauliflower, few kale leaves and a little bit of leek (it was too long to fit in the fridge so I trimmed it), a small tablespoon each of garlic, some chilli jelly stuff, and some relish, added a bit of water and it's on the fire to cook slowly. I'll puree it later and no one will guess there's anything except pumpkin in it

silk, I did try the strawberries. They are addictive. I didn't add sugar either because I didn't want them gritty. Thank You. I am getting more strawberries tomorrow and what I'd like to do is make a salad with strawberries and balsamic vinegar. Do you think that would work?

Rockabilly wrote:silk, I did try the strawberries. They are addictive. I didn't add sugar either because I didn't want them gritty. Thank You. I am getting more strawberries tomorrow and what I'd like to do is make a salad with strawberries and balsamic vinegar. Do you think that would work?

That sounds wonderful to me!

I think strawberries in salad would be wonderful! I don't think it will matter whether you prepare the strawberries separately or just throw them in the salad then dress them with balsamic.

If you are leaving them to macerate, the sugar will dissolve, but they are just as good (if not better) without any additional sweetness.

Fresh vegetables are here. I got the first garden tomatoes on Friday and they are so good. I had to eat one standing over the sink. I got kennebec potatoes which make the best mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli, cucumbers, onions, squash. I made a dinner of just fresh vegetables and southern tea and it was just so delicious!

I nearly died and went to heaven last night. Got home after an 11 hour day (ugh) and my new flatmate asked me what I was doing that evening. He had decided to cook for the flat! Side note: he's a chef. A very good one.

So, we had a wonderful evening. First a platter of meats, cheeses, olives, bread and crackers. Then, a mushroom risotto with chicken, finished with truffle oil and parmesan (I don't like mushrooms but it was really good despite them ), and for dessert, poached pears with pear syrup, cookie crumble and chocolate ice cream, with shaved chocolate on top.

Did I mention he's a VERY good chef?

I'm impressed! Your very own chef! Around here I am chef, sous chef and bottle washer.

Rockabilly wrote:I'm impressed! Your very own chef! Around here I am chef, sous chef and bottle washer.

Me too!

silk - I may have to come live with you! That all sounded delish!

It's August, so naturally i took out the frozen hunk of corned beef which has been taunting me from the freezer. Any ideas for an updated August version of slow cooker corned beef?

Corned beef tacos? Maybe with a nice fresh cabbage slaw dressed with vinaigrette or yogurt instead of mayo.

I think tonight I'm going to replicate the ham and cheese potato salad I made last week. The potatoes get crisped up in a pan along with the ham. Then when cooled, toss the potatoes with some pickle juice, salt and pepper, add in a mustard-heavy dressing, some chopped pickles, celery and small cubes of cheddar cheese, red onions and olives.

Oven pulled roast pork sandwiches on homemade buns with a crispy slaw. Homemade carrot cake for dessert.

Dinner last night and lunch today: roast chicken with pieces of roast pumpkin, sautéed onions and julienned broccoli stems, plus chilli, balsamic-garlic preserve, with pasta. Both versions were different, even though I used the same ingredients (leftovers from the Sunday night roast + fresh broccoli), due to slightly different seasonings added.

fallingwaters wrote:It's August, so naturally i took out the frozen hunk of corned beef which has been taunting me from the freezer. Any ideas for an updated August version of slow cooker corned beef?

Traditional in our house: cover it with water, add a splosh of vinegar (usually ACV, any will work), a few bay leaves, some whole cloves poked into a whole onion, a carrot, and a tablespoon of golden syrup, which is a lighter sort of treacle. Cook low and slow until meltingly tender, serve with mashed potatoes.

I've never found another really good recipe that differs significantly from this flavour profile.

Brasciole with the addition of fresh carrots from the garden. Steamed green beans and a homemade yeast roll.

Love my garden right now! Last night I grilled some salmon with Dijon mustard and tarragon, and on the side we had tiny red and blue new potatoes, Shishito peppers, and parm fried green tomatoes.