Last cooking thread died a while ago here's a new one. Made some poached eggs and bacon. The vinegar trick really does work for the eggs, but don't use too much - only a splash in a full pan.
I made some stovetop macaroni cheese (well spaghetti actually) to enjoy while watching the super bowl. I find that adding a couple of whole peeled garlic cloves, lightly crushed with the flat of a knife against the chopping board, really elevates the sauce. Still working on the best ratio of mild cheese to parmesan for optimum flavour.
Shakshuka. Mostly following the serious eats recipe though with feta as suggested by chef john. Also couldn't find fresh chiles so using diced pickled ones. Really delicious one of the best things I've made. Just need to work out how to nail the eggs. Undercooked on top and overcooked underneath. Probably because my pan lid didn't fit, maybe also need to get the sauce up around the eggs more.
I moved up North coming from southern Europe. I find my relationship with food changing. Here, people don't share meals as much, and I don't feel as much as cooking nor eating. Meals have becoming way simpler, dare I say, modest, a bit like local food. I don't know if it is a good thing. >>1169 What's your recipe?
>>1190 So I didn't use one recipe I blended a few together based on what ingredients I had / what sounded good to me. 1. Add one red bell pepper, thinly sliced lengthways, and one medium sized onion, also thinly sliced, to the pan on a medium high heat with generous amount of olive oil. 2. Fry until beginning to char, then stir and reduce heat to a more gentle sautee. 3. Add roughly minced garlic, about four cloves, and some chopped pickled jalapenos. Continue to cook for maybe a minute longer until the garlic has begun to soften. 4. Add generous amount of spanish smoked paprika and ground cumin, and a little oregano (not too much of the latter - do not want it to taste like pasta sauce). Mix well and cook for thirty more seconds. 5. Add tin of good chopped tomatoes. Bring pan to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook for five to ten more minutes. 6. Crumble half of your feta cheese into the mixture and stir through. 7. Make wells in the mixture for each of your eggs. Carefully break an egg into each. Using your wooden spatula, bring the sauce up and around each the white of each egg. Season top of each egg with a little salt. Reduce the heat of the burner to prevent overcooking the underside of the eggs and cover with a close fitting lid. (I failed at this part and didn't have a proper lid which is probably why mine didn't cook perfectly) 8. Allow five to ten minutes for the eggs to poach in the sauce, checking frequently. Take the pan off the heat when the eggs are slightly underdone, allowing them to finish in the residual heat of the sauce. Finish by crumbling over the remainder of the feta, and some fresh chopped herbs - coriander would be ideal, but I only had basil. Serve with thickly sliced fresh crusty bread.
>>1202 Looking forward to seeing your version! >>1204 It's not rusty is it? If it's rusty that will require a bit more work but otherwise just give it a good clean with washing up liquid and a scouring pad. Then wipe it all over with a thin film of vegetable oil, then put it on the hob at a medium high heat until the oil smokes somewhat. Then cook a few rashers of fatty bacon for a bacon sandwich. Eat the sandwich. Your pan is now perfectly serviceable again.
Made an egg and bacon fry up but instead of having toast as is traditional I had rice which I sort of semi-fried and seasoned with garlic powder and paprika. Pleased with how good it was.
I made Spaghetti all'assassina, the bizarre pasta dish which you cook like a risotto almost to the point of charring. I thought this was really good. My only regrets were that I didn't use a nonstick pan (because I don't own one), only my cast iron, which meant that it was hard to get the really deep brown crust to remain on the pasta strands and not just burn onto the bottom of the pan. I also would have added even more chilli. It was hot but the intense flavour of the sauce is so well suited to being made really spicy. Sorry for the terrible picture. >>1207 the purpose of seasoning is to have an even layer of polymerised oil completely coating the metal of the cooking surface. if this is what your 'weird black crust' seems like, then your pan is well on its way to being usable again, and you just need to keep cooking with it. If it seems like burnt food, though, there is no point trying to season over the top of it. Use whatever means necessary to remove it, including chemical cleaners. This will strip whatever seasoning you have on your pan but it will provide a clean slate for you to start using it again
I made a polish style bacon, onion, mushroom, and sauerkraut stew with home fermented sauerkraut.
anons what's your bfast of choice? I've been trying to shake it up these days. I have a cup of coffee, either brewed via moka pot, french press, or pour over, and, lately, a slice of toast, generously buttered, and a small smear of vegemite (I'm just an american who loves the stuff, not even strayan). When I have them, I'll do scrambled eggs, and if not, some hard cheese sliced onto the bread. previously, I did oatmeal cooked with frozen fruit, but it didn't feel filling to not have some protein source.
Today is Good Friday, so no meat or dairy. I made rice with carrots, corn and mushrooms. Most usual daily breakfast is cheese, 2 hard boiled eggs and biscuits with jam and peanut butter
I need someone to explain this to me. How on earth do people (only northern europeans afaik) enjoy aspic?? Besides the fact that I don't eat pork, I just couldn't see myself trying it even. Savoury and gelatinous just don't go together in my mind. I can appreciate the gelatine in thick rich sauces, WHEN THEY'RE HOT AND LIQUID that is, the moment it starts to cool down and set I'm just out.
>>2470 I don't consider myself a picky person at all, but savory cold food never sits well with me. The worst I've tried is naengmyeon, a Korean cold buckwheat noodle dish that's incredibly popular there in summer. Often it's served with ice in the broth to be as cold as possible. I've tried it several times and even on a hot summer day the sensation of ice-cold noodles makes me involuntarily gag immediately.