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What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
I’m late to the party by over a year, but I’ve recently gotten into making sourdough bread. I’ve made five loaves so far and each one of them has gotten progressively better. It’s been a fun hobby so far and the added bonus that my family really enjoys it.
Haha, yeah. I just meant everyone seemed obsessed with it at the beginning of Covidtimes.
My son and I made veal cutlets last week, and we'll probably make them again tonight.
They were pretty good. When we were done, we had excess flour, egg and crumbs, so we mixed them together and then pan fried that into crispy biscuits (that was my son's idea). They were actually really good as well.
I can forgive the use of panko, since it's great and I use it too. But how could you use Italian breadcrumbs but not also add some parmigiano to the mix as well? For shame! My Nonna would be rolling in her grave! :P
And you would have also gotten bonus points from her for adding marinara, more parm, and mozarella or provolone cheese on top of the cutlets after they were done frying, and throwing them all under the broiler afterwards to melt the cheeses... AKA veal parmigiana.
p.s. If you don't have one yet, buying a meat tenderizer is also a good idea too. Not only does pounding the veal tenderize it (which is often required since veal cutlets can be quite tough even after brining), but it also then cooks much much faster and more evenly as well. And IMO pounding the cutlets nice and flat is the real trick behind good veal parm or cotoletta (Italian version of wiener schnitzel).
I do sometimes add parmesan or romano but added some other flavours mostly because my family likes them (I do them "grandma style" and in our family that means Goan / Anglo-indian, so a bit of cumin, coriander, garam masala). And yes, tenderizing is a super critical part of most meat prep. This is just the barebones of what I did; it's pretty extensible for however you like doing it.
Ah, gotcha. I wrongly assumed this was your first time making it due to the way you worded everything. My bad.
If I still ate veal, I would be sorely tempted to give that spice mix a try next time I made cotoletta, since I love me some garam masala but have never thought to use it in breading before. Maybe next time I make chicken cutlets I will try it though.
Understandable - I mostly just gave the same instructions that I gave to my seven year old, keeping it simple. Good time of year for breaded things though. FEB:(F)lour -> (E)gg -> (B)readcrumbs is the initialism I told him for remembering the order to do stuff in.
Did you teach them the "dry hand, wet hand" technique too? That was a game changer for me. I always used to get clumps of breading all over my fingers (and kitchen) before learning it. :P
Sure did! Although eventually he got them mixed, but then he started making little fried dough balls, which were also pretty good. Edit: which I realize i talked about right in the first comment
Those lumps just go into the leftovers biscuit, no big deal. :)
Those leftover biscuits are a thing basically everywhere I've had homemade Schnitzel. Which, by the way, is basically what you made.
If you wanna be extra about your Schnitzel, fry them in clarified butter.
Oh, and I'd cut the veal real thin. I'd shoot for 0.5cm or .2 inches. Bit thicker is ok. Double that and you're going to make me sad. You can also butterfly the meat if your butcher sells it thick, but mind your pan space.
Yes, basically schnitzel, but I wouldn't want to offend any Austrian / German food purists by calling it that; it was certainly adjusted; as noted in later comments, there were some other spices in there and I didn't have spaetzel or potato salad to go with it. The butcher cut it quite thin, and then I did tenderize it, so it was quite thin.
Honestly, if you're using veal over pork, you'll shut up most of the purists already. As for sides, I don't think Spätzle or potato salad are at all mandatory. I think the most traditional side is what wikipedia calls german fries - pan-fried potato slices with onions. But that's just that, tradition. You have this german self-declared food purist's permission to use whatever seasonings and sides you like.
We've been going all in with beans lately. I bought a bunch of #10 cans of black beans and garbanzo beans. It fits with my lazy cooking strategy - easy to make, and lasts a few days of lunches and dinners. I don't find cooking beans from dried to be a lot effort, but I wanted to try some new dishes without the waiting. Going forward, I will keep the cans on hand for power outages and use dried beans.
The first thing we tried was this Vegan Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry. I doubled the recipe and we ate on it for 3 days. I added 1.5 the amount of spices the recipe called for and used crushed tomatoes instead of diced. We both really liked it, but I kept feeling like
theirthere was something missing. This recipe will definitely go into our rotation, but in the future, I'll use half the amount of sweet potato, omit the spinach, and add potatoes, carrots, and kale.With the rest of the can I made hummus. In half the hummus I added harissa spice and smoked paprika. And because I was in the mood, I tried my hand at making naan using this recipe: Butter Naan Recipe. I used the baking powder/soda directions, tried both rolling and stretching and used the broiler to cook the second side. I was out of garlic. Whatever I made I don't think it was naan, it seemed more like a pita pocket, and unlike most breads that taste amazing right out of the oven, these tasted better the following day. I will try them again. I might even try making them the same for this up and coming recipe I am going to make: Falafel Pitas With Cilantro-Cashew Sauce
With the black beans, I just tried three different black bean chilies. The first one was vegan, it was edible but not good enough to save the recipe. The second one I winged it, and used two pounds of ground lamb that had been hiding in the bottom of my chest freezer since 2014. I didn't have crushed tomatoes, so I used a can of hunts garlic and onion spaghetti sauce, chicken broth, cumin, premixed chili mix, smoked paprika, red chili flakes, onions and garlic. It was freaking amazing if a little heavy on the meat. For the third one I tried to recreate it using half the meat and it was underwhelming - edible, but disappointing. I'm fairly certain the cause wasn't because I halved the meat. The likely culprit is I don't remember correctly what I did - a sad and common theme when I wing it.
Next up, I'll be working with dried kidney beans. I'm super excited to try Red Bean Stew With Walnuts, Herbs and Pomegranate. The first time around I will make it with the pomegranate juice, but I am wondering if cranberry juice (watered down) can be substituted. I'll also try my hand with a Louisiana red beans and rice. I haven't found a particular recipe yet and am leaning towards an amalgamation of different recipes I have found.
Question to anyone that has made good naan: Can you share a good recipe, or do I have a good recipe but did something wrong?
The last time I made naan I used this recipe (https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-naan-bread), it doesn't use yeast but still tastes amazing.
Also, I think you might have more success using a cast iron pan (like a comal) instead of the oven.
One thing that I have learned with all flatbreads is they work much better on a super hot, ungreased but well seasoned cast iron pan. I usually preheat mine for at least 5 min on high heat before turning down just a bit, If the dough sticks your pan isn't hot enough,
I miss my cast iron! For about a decade I had a glass stove top, and at about the same time, I was having difficulty holding the cast iron due to carpal tunnel and tendonitis. I gave all of it away to my son. Most of the time I don't miss them, but for things like this, I do. I'm on the lookout for an 8ish" fry pan when I go to thrift stores but haven't found a good seasoned one yet.
The recipe you posted looks good. I will make it next time I'm in the mood and will let you know how it goes!
Oh, I just looked up what a comal is. That looks like something I would like to have :)
I don't have any experience with naan (besides enjoying it), but it may be from using the baking soda version, which tends to have a denser crumb and a little saltier(?) of a taste. I used to make a lot of soda breads with soon-to-expire bananas and relate to them tasting better on the day after compared to yeast breads fresh from the oven.
The flour can also make a difference (e.g., high protein flours catch the gas better).
Yeah, it seemed that out of the oven I could taste the baking soda/powder. I've also wondered if it's because my baking powder is super old because over the holidays I made pancakes, and they had that same taste, which they don't usually. Prior to the pancakes, I hadn't used that baking powder in a few years.
How did this turn out? I have a jar of harissa powder that we aren't crazy about when I make it into a paste but maybe if I try different dishes it can shine a bit better.
We liked it better than the regular hummus! Make sure it's stirred in evenly and then let it sit in the fridge overnight. We still liked it right off the bat, but it was better the next day. We don't like the paste that much either, but I had read somewhere about turning it into an oil, which is basically all the ingredients for the paste minus the tomato paste. We like to dribble that onto everything. The powder is also a good dry rub on chicken - I add a little bit of salt.
I made some blackened fish sandwiches last night and truly love this recipe:
https://www.tastingtable.com/686276/blackened-fish-sandwich-recipe-homemade-spice-rub-seamores-nyc/
I do change it up though and typically skip the aioli, opting just for the avocado spread. I also hate chunky tomatoes on sandwiches, so I skip that and add thin yellow/white onions for some extra veggie goodness. If you can't get bluefish fillets, mahi mahi/tilapia works great, cod is great (though more $$), and even sole works in a pinch.
I don't eat a lot of steak, but when I do, my goto is this recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/grilled-flank-steak-with-rosemary-731
It's absolutely crazy delicious and leftovers keep very well. I'm making this tomorrow night once the flank steak I bought a while back defrosts!
That grilled flank steak looks delicious! I will definitely give it a go when grilling season comes back around,
Just made it on a grill pan in my kitchen and it turned out delicious as usual!
I recently acquired a some saffron from my local Asian grocer, so I’ve been experimenting with couscous and kebabs extensively.
A good recipe I recently “discovered” is caramelized teriyaki tempeh with steamed rice and broccoli and sriracha mayo. It’s somewhat healthy. Also said grocer has some delectable umami rice seasoning that makes a nice topper.
I’ve been using the Instant Pot we bought on a whim last week. So far, I’ve made Mexican rice, black beans, and mac and cheese. Great for meal prep, which we tend to do a lot.
I'm eating pieces of a Ritter Sport Raspberry and Rose and its absolutely disgusting. I just don't like rose like this. It tastes like bad perfume. I also have a strawberry one, though, which is my favorite.