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Post by Kapitan on Jul 31, 2022 13:42:58 GMT
OK, you've decided for me. Indian it will be.
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Post by carllove on Aug 6, 2022 14:52:28 GMT
My herbs are going nuts! My drying racks are almost full. Time to make more pasta sauce. Tomatoes are washed and ready.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 13, 2022 17:40:21 GMT
Ah, the problems of small gardens... I only planted two tomato plants, one of grape tomatoes, one of a larger breed. Some critter, presumably squirrels, destroyed the larger one. Snapped the main stalk almost in two. Couldn't just steal a tomato or two? So now, I have no fresh (bigger) tomatoes.
They already wreaked havoc on the dill and cilantro. Little assholes.
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Post by carllove on Aug 14, 2022 13:47:35 GMT
Ah, the problems of small gardens... I only planted two tomato plants, one of grape tomatoes, one of a larger breed. Some critter, presumably squirrels, destroyed the larger one. Snapped the main stalk almost in two. Couldn't just steal a tomato or two? So now, I have no fresh (bigger) tomatoes.
They already wreaked havoc on the dill and cilantro. Little assholes.
Oh dang. Get some big pots and plant more next year! I have six plants on my lower deck in pots, in addition to the 57 in my garden. I canned a few more quarts of sauce yesterday, but the plants are slowing down. It took forever to get my bell peppers going - they are FINALLY producing. I’ve had jalepenos for months. My melons are running really late as well. I go out every couple of days to pick tomatoes and gently tug to see if the melons are ready to release yet. Not a single one has let go yet! I don’t even remember what variety I planted. I’m just ready for home grown melons. So much better than store bought!
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 14, 2022 14:04:47 GMT
The problem is, if I plant too many (and they all make it to fruition), it's too many. And I don't want to go to the trouble of canning. I can never get the balance right, it's always too many or too few in the end.
The peppers are finally budding and seemingly going to bear fruit. The summer has been so strange: when it's warm/hot, it has been heavy drought and even watering hasn't helped a lot; when we've had occasional stretches with rain, there hasn't been any sun to complement it. My first cayenne pepper of the year is finally getting along, 2-3 inches long though still puny and green. And my serrano plant has produced precisely one pepper so far...
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 21, 2022 17:35:30 GMT
I've got a culinary experiment in mind for today. It'll be heavily pulling from Indian foods, with a few components being by the book: palak paneer and naan. But I am also going to make a beef curry that is largely typical--it has been marinating in yogurt with garam masala, ginger, and coriander, and will be simmered with chilis and coconut milk, too--but with a major twist. I don't know exactly where the idea came from, but as it braises, I'm going to have cherries in the sauce. Obviously fruits and savory dishes, especially spicy ones, go well together. Red meat and cherries aren't unheard of together. But I don't know of any specific Indian precedent for this. It just seems like it'll be good to me.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2022 13:25:02 GMT
carllove seems to have had a pretty great seafood feast for her birthday: a boil with lobster tail, crab, crawfish, shrimp!? Impressive! (Though personally I would pass on crawfish. I always feel like the payoff isn't worth the effort.)
Today I'm going to do an old-fashioned pot roast. I'll cook it with carrots, parsnips, turnips, and potatoes. I made beef stock yesterday and have some red wine to use, so the eventual gravy should be pretty rich and delicious. It's the kind of slow-cooked dish that will make the house smell great all afternoon.
Though it turns out our weather has taken a turn for the better, so it actually will be pretty warm (mid 60s) and sunny! Cool enough that the dish will still be appropriate, but I was imagining a more typical October's 50-something, gray day!
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 6, 2022 14:07:59 GMT
carllove, do you do much baking of sweet / dessert breads? I ask because yesterday I tried an apple-cranberry bread and, as happens every single time I make anything like that, whether a banana bread, a dried-fruit bread, or something with fresh fruit like this, I bake it according to the instructions, oven fully preheated, up to temp, etc. As I get to the early end of the time range, it's not done, so I go to the late end of it. (In this case, 45 minutes.) I do the little toothpick test to see if it's done, and according to the toothpick, it is ... but to me, it still seems a little undercooked. So I go maybe five more minutes. I let it rest in the warm oven, even, because I know what's coming...
And sure enough, every time, when I remove it from the pan, the center is slightly undercooked, sometimes even sticking or just falling out of the loaf.
If you happen to know, do I go with hotter temps, or the required temp but just longer still? It drives me insane. (btw, the bread actually did turn out quite tasty.)
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Post by carllove on Nov 6, 2022 14:14:55 GMT
Kapitan - The fruit releases moisture into the bread dough - so you will need to go about 10 minutes after your toothpick test at 350, 15 at 325. Do not turn up the heat. That will make the crust burn. Then it needs to rest at least an hour on a wire rack before you cut it or wrap it.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 6, 2022 14:18:04 GMT
Kapitan - The fruit releases moisture into the bread dough - so you will need to go about 10 minutes after your toothpick test at 350, 15 at 325. Do not turn up the heat. That will make the crust burn. Then it needs to rest at least an hour on a wire rack before you cut it or wrap it. Thank you! That was exactly my concern over turning it up.
As much as I love (and consider myself pretty good at) cooking, and even baking bread, biscuits, or naan, I am pretty incompetent with most other forms of baking. (Anything sweet, really.)
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Post by carllove on Nov 6, 2022 14:28:51 GMT
I learned a lot watching The Great British Baking Show. So many undercooked disasters when they add fruit to dough.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 17, 2022 0:27:11 GMT
If you're like me, you used to watch old cartoons and TV shows that always referenced anchovies on pizza ... but maybe not only never tried such a thing, but never even saw them on the menu anywhere. As far as I knew, it was something that existed in Bugs Bunny or something, but that's about it.
Well, I bought some anchovies recently to make puttanesca sauce for cod. But a little jar of anchovies in oil has a lot more than you need for that recipe (and lasts years). So I thought I'd try to make a pizza with anchovies. I also used balsamic-sauteed mushrooms and shallots, as well as kalamata olives, as well as mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, pepper flakes, and dried oregano (and homemade pizza sauce). The result? I LOVE IT. Not "fishy" at all. And I did a thin crust at hot (500 degree) temp.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 11, 2023 0:48:05 GMT
Yes, yes, I'm mostly trying to eat better and drink less, blah blah blah. But on weekends, I've got leeway, and tonight that meant another homemade pizza (and red wine). Tonight's pizza was smoked Italian sausage, olives, and roasted garlic, with mozzarella and parmesan, with some grape tomatoes.
I am feeling very, very good about my pizzas, to the point that I prefer them to almost any delivery now. I still think that eating in a good pizzeria would top what I can do. I'm not insane! But I'll take what I can do at home over what even a good pizzeria can bring to me via the time-wasting delivery, especially if you factor in the cost of a good pizza being delivered.
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Post by carllove on Feb 11, 2023 3:25:23 GMT
Oh dang Kapitan - that pizza sounds awesome! Now I want to make a pizza. I still have some home made dough in my freezer.
I went Mediterranean this week. Made some Chicken Shawarma, falafel and a salad with grape tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and kalamata olives topped with feta. I used a Greek vinaigrette this time, but those same ingredients actually taste better when I use tzatziki sauce. I bought the hummus though. It was all so good! I know you are supposed to use both thighs and breasts for the Shawarma, but I only had breasts and it was still very juicy. I also grilled it on a skewer. Definitely pays to marinate the chicken overnight.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 11, 2023 14:01:23 GMT
Sounds fantastic, carllove. I love shawarma and a lot of other Middle Eastern type of foods. Such great seasonings. In fact, because of a good shawarma place here, I began making my own za'atar to keep around the house: ground sumac, dried oregano, marjoram, and thyme, roasted sesame seeds, a little cumin and coriander, and a little salt. (Like chili powder or curry powder, there are endless variations on it.) It's great on roasted meats, vegetables, and as I was delighted to learn at the aforementioned place, french fries! I also began making my own hummus a few years ago (not that I am above buying it, either). It just is so inexpensive and if you use a food processor, takes no time at all. Especially since I am not that big a fan of the tahini that is often included, it's really simple with just the chickpeas, oil, garlic, salt, and whatever seasonings I'm going to use (sun dried tomatoes, dried or fresh herbs, etc.). In fact you've got me thinking that perhaps I'll do something of that general region this weekend. I am about to go grocery shopping, after all.
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