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[Miss Lonelyhearts]

ERE special. Red lentils, two quarts chicken stock, celery carrot onion, turmeric, cumin, paprika, lemon juice, sour cream, and chopped parsley.

[Alphaville]

ERE special. Red lentils, two quarts chicken stock, celery carrot onion, turmeric, cumin, paprika, lemon juice, sour cream, and chopped parsley.

wow

[Frita]

ERE special. Red lentils, two quarts chicken stock, celery carrot onion, turmeric, cumin, paprika, lemon juice, sour cream, and chopped parsley.

Pretty presentation!

[Alphaville]

a note on the chia jam from the previous page: because it already has fat, "jam and butter" turns out to be overkill. all you need is the jam! and a nice piece of bread (or a bowl of plain oatmeal or whatever). i had it with peanut butter too and it was good, chunkier than "jelly", so with 2 fats and double protein it's very filling. mine didn't turn out too sweet in the end which was good, i hate cloying tastes and metabolic sugar distortions.

one thing i noticed looking up jam recipes is they boil the hell out of the fruit because they want it to thicken the sugar to some candymaking point. the chia makes the overcooking moot though. yes it might not be for long term preservation maybe (have not checked the science of canning) but it gets you jam in 5 minutes you can eat today.

[Lemur]

What type of bread is that in picture? Oat? Rye?

Looks good btw.

[Alphaville]

made okonomiyaki again ( i think i finally remember the name "sounds like econo -")

this time i looked for an online recipe to compare

found this one: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-i ... ki-recipe/

this is what i learned:

#1 is that recipe uses dashi for liquid. water is possible, but my original instinct to add nooch to the batter was correct. which gives me personal satisfaction. still don't have bonito flakes but this time i dissolved the nooch and pepper in water: it worked. also added a few drops of thai fish sauce.

#2 is i was making the donkey move of smashing the thing and it's a big no-no!

#3 chopped the cabbage coarser per the instructions. and the quantity of just 2 cups helped me avoid the "muddy jungle" scenario of previous recipes. all this helped in not having to smash the thing. i had red cabbage and it turned out great.

#4 is that now with a fluffier cake i had to reduce the heat which comes to a 3.0 in mu 1800w induction thing. my first one was too hot which made it raw inside so i finished in the microwave ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#5 the instruction to divide the batter in 2 parts worked for me. multiple ones was too tedious, single pancake was unwieldy. 1/2 of batter at a time let me spread it correctly on the pan.

#6 i also dissolved the salt and baking powder with the yeast and egg and pepper before adding the flour, which allowed me to use just one bowl instead of two. plus this recipe had no sugar. can't taste sugar difference so i was glad to eliminate it.

#7 is since i still lack bacon, i used thinly sliced spam! it was delicious.

#8 found out that okonomi means to one's liking so my earlier practice of throwing any vegetable at hand was not anathema but (possibly) encouraged

#9 since this already had pig meat for protein i skipped the peanuts from previous times. seeing as how kewpie was suggested as topping i made a transnational blend of industrial american soybean mayo with calabrian fermented peperoncino.

it was a glorious breakfast. had it with mugs of diner style coffee.

[Miss Lonelyhearts]

@Lemur it’s retail Cheesecake Factory brown bread

[Frita]

Green Chicken Posole

Ingredients: homemade chicken stock, shredded chicken, [blended with some stock: roasted tomatillos/onion/garlic/Chile’s (poblano, serrano, jalapeño)], cilantro, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, pinto beans and hominy (canned due to early COVID stockup last year, masa harina to thicken, lime juice to taste

Garnishes: shredded iceberg lettuce (cabbage is more traditional), chopped onion, julienned radish, hot pepper flakes, salsa, lime, tostadas/corn chips

This gets better as it sets in the fridge and flavors mingle. When we eat it the same day, I get started in the morning so it can set a few hours. This is better than red posole IMO.

[Alphaville]

fake meats: short version: ADD GLUTEN TO THE BEANS

that's basically it hahahaha. i can't believe i didn't know. people make stuff so complicated. go search for a seitan recipe, it will be like 40 minute video and a bunch of mystical bullshit and large vats and many tales of failure.

tldr is just add gluten to the beans. that's the fundamental fact. ofc you must add flavor
but flavor is up to you.

yes, legumes + grains = "complete" protein (lysine and methionine deficiencies get mutually covered). this is the fundamental fact of vegan "meats". it's just pasta e fagioli with reduced starch.

so last night i found this video (thankfully short in spite of slow intro, uses 8 minutes to demonstrate 3 preparations) showing how to make fake meats:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9v1uDct5fw

but rather than try to copy verbatim i started messing with what i already had at home.

my current basic formula is:

1 cup cooked beans (with green lentils, it's ~22g protein)
1/2 cup gluten (46g protein)
2 tbsp oil
water
salt for the gluten
seasonings duh
grind in the food processor, it will get chewy fast.

sssssso, my lentils are quite dry, plus i added 2tbsp nooch for the seasonings (plus 8g protein), so i needed 1/4 cup water for this first attempt.

made 2 big burgers, need to be fried slow. make sure to cook at a low heat so the beans toast without burning and the gluten cooks through. burned beans are the worst.

nutrition was ~40 protein per person all told (lentils had shiitake, etc). tasty and satisfying, and not too starchy!

for the next iteration i might alter the ratios to experiment with nutrition + texture.

i have beef base in the fridge, so i'll try seasoning with that next for the lentil burgers. and chicken base and garbanzo for the nuggets. this is really a great find for me... so simple, it's hilarious.

yes yes, there is a way to make seitan separately, and bla bla bla, but why? it's an incomplete protein anyway and you'll need to add legumes eventually for the lysine. so why even bother.

also, forget large vats.

[Alphaville]

fake meat, part 2

for lunch i seasoned with a tablespoon of roasted beef base (better than bouillon) instead of nooch and salt. also added black pepper amd a dash of smoked paprika for "grilled taste" lol.

it tasted good, but the beef smelled a bit gory while cooking. added a nice beefy umami but i missed the nooch also. maybe i can do both.

big error was: i think i overworked the gluten: added it too early, kept churning while adding seasonings, so by the end it was superelastic, and even though it cooked through, it had the texture of chewing gum

next time i'll calibrate the seasonings first, add the gluten and water at the end, and just knead minimally.

[Seppia]

I made kakuni, which is a delicious Japanese dish.
It's made of pork belly, and it's meant to be consumed in small quantities with rice or as part of a varied meal.
Preparation is super easy but fairly long. Luckily kakuni freezes very well so make a large quantity once and you're good for a while.

Start by cutting the pork belly in chunks



Sautee them in a pan on both sides to add some brown color



Boil for about 2.5/3 hours in a mix of
water
carrots (1)
ginger (slice about one inch)
garlic (2 cloves)
I also added celery



After that, prepare a mix of
1/3 of a glass of soy sauce
1/3 of a glass rice wine (I would think one could more or less substitute with some diluted vodka)
1 glass water
fresh ginger (again about one inch)

Let the pork belly cook in it with the lid closed for around 20 mins (10 min per side)
after the 20 mins, open the lid and raise the flam to reduce the "sauce"



voila'!

[Western Red Cedar]

My sister was out of town and let me pick up her CSA basket. One of the items was a rutabaga which I had never cooked with before. I opted to make a salad with it.

Simply peel the rutabaga and dice. Combine with diced apples and some diced kale. I added chopped walnuts and pumpkin seeds because I had those on hand. I also added frozen blueberries. Dress with your vinaigrette of choice.

(Some goat cheese would really set this salad off. I added a bit of sharp cheddar which is what I had on hand. You could also sub the rutabaga with jicama).

[basuragomi]

Rutabaga generally tastes way better cooked, in my experience.

[Seppia]

Haven't posted here in a while.
An interesting way to cook rice, the Japanese way.
Wash the rice, then place it into a pot with equal parts (by volume) cold water. Close the pot with a tight lid (transparent). NEVER open the lid afterwards.
Let it soak for 20-30 mins, then turn on the flame to medium. As soon as the water starts to simmer, lower the flame so that it keeps simmering, and set a timer to 14 minutes.
After 14 minutes remove from the flame and set aside for another 10 minutes (lid has to stay close).

Voilà Japanese style rice.
For best results use a Japanese polished rice, but works well with any round grain rice IMO.

[ertyu]

I will try this

[Seppia]

It's great for a variety of things, because the rice stays firm (even after a couple days) because it barely gets enough water to cook.
When I do it I usually make more than I need so I have leftovers.
First I eat it simply with a mix of soy and wasabi (Colman's mustard works great as a substitute for wasabi - close your eyes and you won't notice any difference) + some furikake, or with Kakuni (recipe earlier in this thread).
The following day I use it as a base for sautéed rice with chicken and veggies, or doing a rice frittata.

[ertyu]

A friend just came up with this: mix up flour, dry spices, kraft parmesan, salt, baking powder, warm water. knead until soft. fry. A variation on fry bread where you can add whatever suitable you have left in the pantry to spice it up, basically.

[Western Red Cedar]

An interesting way to cook rice, the Japanese way.

This is the method we've used to cook rice for the last year or so after our trusty rice cooker finally wore out. It lasted 15-20 years. DW is really particular about her rice and doesn't like it from an instant pot.

------

A really simple recipe for this style of rice is a spicy tuna bowl.

1 can of tuna mixed with mayo and siracha (or another hot sauce of your choice). Julienne or dice cucumber and carrot. Cut and add other fresh veggies of your choice if you have them on hand (I'll add spinach, lettuce, or bell peppers depending on what we have). Avocado is also a great addition.

We usually have homemade kimchi, and occasionally another pickled vegetables from the Asian grocery store on hand. This really makes the dish in my opinion, along with a little dried seaweed and furikake. Not a big deal if you don't have those ingredients though. You could also cube and pan fry some tofu if you wanted to make it vegan.

[ertyu]

In praise of bulgur



Recipe for the above:

Salt and cooking oil[ - about as much as it takes you to cook a pot of food
Tomatoes[ - some. Any amount would work. Above meal contains 5 med-size ones that had started to go unhappy in the fridge
Onions[ - above meal includes 3/4 of a large head of purple onion because that's what was left in the fridge
Carrots[ (optional, this above meal doesn't include carrots because I'd finished them)
Cabbage[ (optional: other firmer veg such as broccoli, bell peppers, etc). Above meal includes a small head of green cabbage and a smaller head of purple cabbage. The criterion for inclusion was, 1. Is in the fridge, 2. Can fit in the pot when cut up
A bay leaf or two[ would improve this if you have any rolling around. The above meal doesn't include bay leaf.

As you can see, the recipe includes quite a lot of flexibility. Three categories of stuff are important:

1. Salt (and cooking oil)

2. Acid (tomatoes). Traditionally, onions and carrot join them to make the "sauce base"

3. Assorted veg

4. Starch: bulgur in this case.

How:

Chop onions. Make golden in cooking oil. While that's going on (stir), chop tomatoes. Be fast.
Chopped tomato to onion and oil. Add salt. Add finely chopped carrot if you want it to form part of the sauce. If you want to eat it in bigger pieces, cut it in bigger pieces and add with the other veg later.
Cover and simmer while chopping the rest of the veg.
Add the rest of the veg.
Cook for as long as it takes for the veg to be as cooked as you like it (10-ish min on lower-ish heat).
As you cook the veg, they will release water. When you take the pot off the heat, put in some bulgur to soak up the water. The bulgur does not need to be boiled. It will simply soften as it absorbs water from the sauce and the pot cools.

Why: very fast, healthy. Chop chop chop, boil. Bulgur in. Wait. Profit. As the meal sits, bulgur absorbs more of the flavor. Meal is vegan and keeps well. Idk about freezing.

[Seppia]

I have been using a precision cooker for a few years now and it has become an irreplaceable tool.
It allows to cook 1/ without odor 2/ without the need to constantly be on top of it 3/ insures incredible consistency.

The basic way of using it is cooking at low temp, sous vide.
It works this way:
Fill a pot with water
Place food in a ziploc
Create a sous vide ziploc using the “water displacement” method. Basically you submerge the (open) ziploc in the pot of water, the water pushes out the air, you close the ziploc.
You attach the precision cooker (I use Anova - the base model regularly gets discounted down to $100 or so. Don’t buy the “nano” unless you’re single) and set the temp.

Don’t be fooled by MKTG, you don’t need the vacuum sealer. The lid is a good investment though as it will save energy and limit evaporation.

It performs amazing with:

Thick steaks: you cook them sous vide to your desired doneness (for me beef is 125f - 52c) and then you just “finish” it in the grill or on a cast iron skillet. The advantage is you can cook thick steaks (that otherwise will be either burned or undercooked)

Chicken: same as above, only for safety needs to reach at least 60c/140f for at least an hour. Chicken stays perfectly moist yet it is fully cooked

Salmon: you will never want to eat salmon any other way

Potatoes: ditto

I can’t stress enough how much 1/ you will never miss (overcook/undercook) a dish again, 2/ it is super forgiving with time (you can cook the steak 50 mins or 1 hour or 1.5h and it is the same).