Today I Made:

[Quercus]

Unfortunately, this delicious vegan thing had basically nothing holding it together (maybe I made it too big?) so it fell apart as I was eating it. Still hella yummy though.

Chickpea juice! The answer's always chickpea juice (i refuse to call it aquafaba, just sounds too bloody pretentious, even for a miracle ingredient)

[Kewangji]

Oooh! I'll save the juice next time I make hummus, I guess. (Does it keep long?)

[Zohar]

Or just call it a sloppy Joe instead.

[Quercus]

Oooh! I'll save the juice next time I make hummus, I guess. (Does it keep long?)

Not really in the fridge (a week tops). but you can freeze it (tried, in ice cube trays, and it works great) or dry it (not tried). After either of those it lasts pretty much indefinitely. 3 tbsp replaces one egg. Make sure it's nice and thick - about egg white consistency or just a little thinner. You can reduce it over a low heat if the particular chickpea brand has thinner juice.

[Kewangji]

Fantastic! I knew one could make meringue out of it but didn't know it also worked as egg replacement.

I'm trying to remember how these burgers were when I made them with egg though -- it's possible that they fell apart just as easily then.

[Quercus]

Fantastic! I knew one could make meringue out of it but didn't know it also worked as egg replacement.

Mayonnaise too (works even better if you add a tiny pinch of Xanthan gum to stabilise the emulsion)!

[PAstrychef]

For New Year’s Day-a big batch of hoppin John, which brings luck if you eat it today. It’s black eyed peas, ham, onion, celery and green pepper, various spices and rice. Last night we had sous vide lobster tails and leftover prime rib, very rare. Baked potatoes and pan roasted Brussels sprouts with hunters bacon, and pie for dessert. I stayed up until after 10!

[natraj]

yum! i am in the middle of making some hoppin john right now! but no ham and celery and i put collards in mine. it is one of my favourite things in winter. i would say my favourite new year tradition but also i think it's my only new year tradition.

[Liri]

Black-eyed peas and collards in this house, too. They were especially delicious this year.

[Zohar]

I've never heard of Hoppin John and now I'm curious.

We didn't get around to having a proper Hanukkah party so for New Year's I made some jelly doughtnuts (generally good but slightly underbaked) and Alex made some amazing latkes.

Yesterday he made a bunch of chili - we used our instant pot to cook the black beans, worked super well. Problem was Alex often makes food that's too spicy for me. We intended to freeze half the black beans but ended up adding them, and after having dinner I just told him he's probably going to have to eat the chili on his own.

[freezeblade]

Catching up post from holiday eating!

Yuletide I made (helped make, a family that cooks together stays together): So many cookies, Olallieberry crumb coffee cake, Tamales (4 kinds: cheese/chile, chicken mole, beef in chile rojo, and shredded pork in chile verde), and a big pot of delicious heirloom beans (Flor de Durazno).

New Years I (again, actually a group effort) made: Whole chicken wrapped in a hot water pastry crust and roasted, along with roasted root veg (rutabaga, parsnip, sweet potato, celeriac, shallot, garlic). I also made a big batch of Ponche* spiked with rum.

*This was my first time making a proper ponche out of fresh ingredients instead of using dry or canned, as I live somewhere where I can get some of the important ingredients (Tejocote being the main one, known as hawthorne apple, is particularly hard to find, and is included along with fresh sugar cane chunks, mexican guavas, crab apples, prunes, raisins, dry apricots, cinnamon sticks, and sweetened with raw sugar cones)

[Zohar]

Yesterday I made a lovely big batch of fall soup. Roasted veggies in the oven - cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, celery, parsnip, carrots, onions, and garlic. Then I fried some ginger in butter, added everything and lots of veggie stock and pureed it. Finished off with salt and pepper (of course), some dried adobo-like spicy stuff, cinnamon, turmeric and a little bit of lemon. It was really good.

[pogrmman]

A couple days ago I made croissants for the first time. I was surprised at how easy it was! They came out really nice. The recipe I used had too much sugar IMO — even though I cut down on the sugar amount.


I ended up underproofing them somewhat, but they were awesome! I turned the scraps into palmiers and brioche — which were also fantastic. It’s pretty cool how the different shapes can taste different as the lamination is destroyed and as the layers are baked crispier (like in the palmier).

[Moo]

My friend came for dinner on Friday night, and she's trying to be super good in January after a very indulgent December - but her birthday is in January! So I tried to make a healthy but fun evening. We had rice cakes, veggie crisps and veg crudite with homemade tsatsiki and salsa dips on the table. Hubby made chicken thighs and corn over the fire and butternut squash wrapped in foil in the coals, and a salad to go with it; all served with a lower kJ and lower alcohol wine (choice of white and dry rose).

For desert I made a yogurt baked cheesecake. The crust was a bit boring (I'd made it from "light" digestive biscuits and 50% fat spread instead of butter) but the filling was quite good. Not nearly as rich and indulgent as a traditional cheesecake but also not nearly as prone to curdling or cracking. It was definitely the prettiest cheesecake I've ever made. Filling was just yogurt, smooth cottage cheese, 2 eggs, xylitol, lemon juice and gelatin. I'm definitely remembering that one the next time I have to make desert for calorie conscious people.

[Ginger]

ONE DAY G made an entire cherry cobbler by Herself w/only minor help from a recipe book and her mommy. Just tellin' not actually doin' Ginger did it all by herself. Pitted the cherries herself, made the crusty bits herself, cooked it herself... and then ate it while it was still hotness hotness. Just kidding~ <3 And I shared it w/my family and even gave some to the pets. When it was not hot.

[PAstrychef]

Portobello mushrooms filled with white beans, spinach and prosciutto. A nice meal, after a few weeks of semi chaotic cooking due to being sick, plumbing issues in the house and having company-at least they stayed at a hotel.

[Zohar]

Made some roasted Brussels sprouts which turned out good (olive oil, honey, chili flakes, salt, pepper, squeezed a lemon on top once they were done). Got some pizza dough and made a pizza but while it was delicious it wasn't very pizza-y. Too much cheese and the instructions said to set the oven to 350 which is dumb and I should have gone for 500 from the get-go.

[Peaceful Whale]

Mochi... but I’m to lazy to divide it up into balls, so it’s just 2 big globs... which is ok, I’m the only one who eats it in my family.

[Thesh]

I tried making baked beans using dried navy beans. I didn't soak them because Serious Eats said it only saves 20-30 minutes. Overall, it took a couple hours longer than I expected, and they still weren't quite done when I got tired of waiting. I think the altitude messed everything up. Next time I'll soak them.

[Zohar]

For what it's worth, I made dry black beans in an instant pot a few weeks ago with no soaking in less than an hour. I would assume there are cheaper alternatives if you're looking for a pressure cooker, but so far I'm pretty impressed with it.

[Sandry]

For what it's worth, I made dry black beans in an instant pot a few weeks ago with no soaking in less than an hour. I would assume there are cheaper alternatives if you're looking for a pressure cooker, but so far I'm pretty impressed with it.

Yup, I have an Instant Pot-esque machine and start to finish beans are now quick enough that I don't keep any canned beans at all anymore, and just have pounds of dry beans available. It's really fantastic from an expense and a space perspective. Plus I never have to worry about rinsing and salt and whatever.

[PAstrychef]

Braised chicken thighs in white wine and stock with fennel and artichoke hearts. Roasted some golden beets and made maftoul (the big couscous) with preserved lemon and mint.
The meal was heavy on the beige spectrum, but tasty.

[Ginger]

TIM: Coffee in my French Press. I do it a lot. It is heavenly having warm coffee on a day of cold weathers. And I've got new coffee recipes to try in the futures now.

[PAstrychef]

A quesadilla ring with lime chili sour cream dip for a pot luck event.
I was remembering the days when you would eat at a friends house and recognize the dish as coming from Mastering The Art of French Cooking, and wondering when I will hear “that’s from a tasty video, right? The party apps one, with the lasagne ring too, right? “

[Thesh]

Baked beans 2: revenge of the cook

Went with an 8 hour soak in salted water. Cooked in just under 3 hours, decent flavor, although needed to add some flour to thicken it (didn't have corn starch on hand). Tasted alright, but could use... Something. It was pretty simple: navy beans, molasses, mustard powder, garlic, onion, bacon, black pepper. Browned the onions and bacon first, then deglazed with chicken broth. Should probably consult a recipe or measure ingredients or something.

[Moo]

I'd always been taught soaking in salted water makes the skins tough; did you find this to not be so? Asking for science.

[Thesh]

From what I've read, salt helps the water penetrate the skin:
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/quest ... f-the-bean

[Zohar]

I've also heard you shouldn't add salt until the last bits of cooking, though my pressure cooker experience seemed fine.

[Liri]

I've also heard you shouldn't add salt until the last bits of cooking, though my pressure cooker experience seemed fine.

I've heard that for lentils, but not other legumes

[freezeblade]

I've certainly heard that (re: don't salt beans until end of cooking) and have seen it in some cook books I trust (Such as the guy I get my heirloom beans from, Rancho Gordo) I have heard though if you want to soften tough beans, to throw in a pinch of baking soda. (http://nymag.com/restaurants/recipes/inseason/55335/ is the base recipe I use for a basic pot of beans, from Rancho Gordo, cooking times vary by how fresh the beans are)

[sardia]

I've certainly heard that (re: don't salt beans until end of cooking) and have seen it in some cook books I trust (Such as the guy I get my heirloom beans from, Rancho Gordo) I have heard though if you want to soften tough beans, to throw in a pinch of baking soda. (http://nymag.com/restaurants/recipes/inseason/55335/ is the base recipe I use for a basic pot of beans, from Rancho Gordo, cooking times vary by how fresh the beans are)

If you don't believe the links, test it out yourself. Beans are a buck a pound, so it's an easy test, just time consuming.

[Zohar]

Today I made cheesecake in an instant pot, because I saw the recipe and figured that would be interesting to make. And it was! They turned out pretty good and not a lot of work.

[Zohar]

On Saturday I made a peach crumble for dinner with friends. Yesterday I made a batch of veggie enchiladas to eat at work.

[Sandry]

This weekend I wanted to make something like grain bowls for the week, and realized I'd run out of brown rice, but I do have quinoa. I've made quinoa before, and it's fine, but I don't love it, so I haven't made it much in recent years. Anyhow, I was thinking to myself, "ah, I bet I can make it in a rice cooker! But which is the correct setting, brown rice or white?" and after debating that far too long I actually went to make the stuff and thus found out: I am apparently the type of person who owns a rice cooker that has a quinoa setting. Yikes.

Anyhow. Quinoa came out just fine! Though I do now have a theory: quinoa is the glitter of the culinary world. I think because it's tiny, globular, and doesn't self-adhere all that much, it basically just is very easy to get absolutely *everywhere*.

I also made apple crisp and massaman curry.

[freezeblade]

My oven is currently (mostly*) broken, and I just don't know what to do with myself without one.

Today I wanted to be making:
Sandwich Bread for the week
Pan Dulce attempt: conchas**
Roasted Chicken leg quarters with winter root veggies

Today I'm actually making:
Chicken Stir-fry with brown rice

*Spoilered for boring and rant-y speculation

Spoiler:

I say mostly broken, because if you really work at it, it can mostly work, but needs constant attention. I have a gas oven with an electric ignition (score another one for pilot light being the better option), and the ignitor will activate, gas with flow, but the gas will not ignite unless the oven door is open. Once the flame is working, I can close the door, and it will continue working until the temp sensor turns the flame off. This means that I have to stand near the oven and open the door each time I hear the gas being released, or the temp will continue to sink, and more gas is wasted (this is also a safety hazard). I figure this may have something to do with the oxygen mix mechanism, as opening the door will waft O2 past the gas and ignitor, allowing it to combust. Either way, broken oven until the landlord fixes it is no bueno

**Found a new method/recipe for pan de muerto that turned out amazing, so now I'm re-trying a few pan dulce recipes that I had given up on, using the new method.

[Sandry]

Well that sounds frankly terrifying, and given how often you bake I certainly hope your landlord can get that fixed ASAP.

[PAstrychef]

A friend is visiting, so a special menu was in order. Racks of lamb with a Hunan style glaze crusted with peanuts, Kagayaki six grain blend and eggplant and potatoes and green pepper stir fried with a garlic sauce and leeks.

[Thesh]

Chili with pork. Marinated pork shoulder in a chili sauce (dried peppers in a blender with water) cooked with onions, jalapenos, habaneros, and poblanos. Added some canned kidney beans near the end which, ironically, were overcooked and falling apart after about 30 minutes.

[natraj]

i made mushroom stroganoff bc i was craving it after suggesting zohar make it in a different thread

[Liri]

i made mushroom stroganoff bc i was craving it after suggesting zohar make it in a different thread

Zohar's recommendations have a high success rate at Being Awesome