Whatcha Cooking today?

[brownrexx]

Not exactly a meal but hubby told me that as a child his mother made caramel icing for chocolate cake and that it was his favorite. I think that it's a Southern thing because I have never heard of it around here but his Mom grew up in VA. I saw this recipe in Southern Living.

Today I made a small chocolate cake and had him help with the icing which is butter, brown sugar and milk which is melted and boiled and then 10X sugar is added. It brought back memories for him and he said that it tasted exactly like he remembered!

20200323_132637 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[brownrexx]

I had a 12 lb. turkey in the freezer since Thanksgiving when I got it free with grocery points. We bought a locally grown fresh turkey for Thanksgiving so this one has been just sitting in the freezer. It seems like a good time to make a big meal with lots of left overs. We had sides of sweet potato casserole and home made pear chutney from the freezer.

Tonight will be turkey with different sides and sliced turkey is available for sandwiches for lunch. I LOVE turkey sandwiches.

20200324_160047 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[Rajun Gardener]

I made crawfish etoufee tonight and LORD it was delicious.
Corn from last year smothered down to a thick cream style bringing out all that sugar.

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2 onions, bell pepper and celery sauteed till soft in butter then added flour to make a blonde roux, added water to simmer for 15 minutes, dumped the crawfish tails and another simmer for 15 minutes.

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Served over rice with few dashes of Warrant Man Suicide hot sauce.

This is what good dreams are made of, spicy, sweet and filling!!

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[pepperhead212]

I made a one dish (well, almost) meal today, starting with a small butternut. I was going to make an Indian dish, but I had a bunch of basil I trimmed, that I wanted to use up, so I made it Italian. I started with making a tomato sauce, sautéing a large chopped onion in olive oil, then adding a bunch of minced garlic, and a can of tomatoes, and a generous half cup of chopped basil. This cooked in slow cooker mode of the IP, while getting the butternut, mushrooms, and sausage ready. I added the butternut, 1 c of brown lentils, 1/2 c of whole oats, and 4 1/2 c water, using fish sauce as the salt source - something I use a lot in Italian dishes. After about 2 1/2 hours cooking (and adding a little more water), I added the cooked sweet Italian sausage and mushrooms, cooked another half hour, then turned it off, and added another half cup of chopped basil, and served it, with some grated Locatelli.
Diced butternut, added to the Italian style gruel. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Italian style gruel, finished cooking with sausage and mushrooms. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ready to serve Italian gruel, topped with grated Locatelli. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[brownrexx]

I took left overs from that turkey that I roasted 2 days ago and made 2 turkey pies. I baked one for dinner tonight and put an unbaked one in the freezer for later. I am getting a lot of meals out of that turkey. I am so glad that I had it in the freezer. I am trying to avoid going to stores.

This pie contains peas, limas, corn and potatoes from my garden as well as cubed turkey, carrots, onions, celery, salt, pepper and thyme. I cut it when it was too warm so the filling ran out a bit but it was yummy.

20200326_173825 (2) by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[brownrexx]

It's Friday and time for seafood again. Tonight it was shrimp sauteed in olive oil with red and green peppers, onions and garlic. Seasoning is red pepper flakes, oregano, salt and pepper. The linguine is home made with bell pepper and basil flavor. I buy it at a local store.

Our side dish is stewed tomatoes with okra from the freezer. I use okra in my stewed tomatoes as a natural thickener.

20200327_172104 (2) by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[Rajun Gardener]

I made fried rice and fried shrimp. I used Costco's Asian veggie blend, added onions, bell peppers and ginger with a homemade stir fry sauce. Pro Tip I learned in Spain= add a dallop of your favorite Mayo to make it creamy and it adds zip from the lemon. I also had to add some Sambal Orlek hot sauce.

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[Nan6b]

Roasted butternut squash, cubed and tossed with oil, garlic, pepper & salt. And grilled chicken.

[MissS]

That looks great Rajun. I sure wish that my Costco had that Asian Veggie Blend but they don't. In fact they used to have just a Kirkland Veggie Blend but now there is no Veggie blend of any sort.

[Rajun Gardener]

That looks great Rajun. I sure wish that my Costco had that Asian Veggie Blend but they don't. In fact they used to have just a Kirkland Veggie Blend but now there is no Veggie blend of any sort.

WOW, that's crazy.

I noticed it's in the business center thingy, what ever that means. This is what I use.
https://www.costcobusinessdelivery.com/ ... 69982.html

[worth1]

Found this recipe, made it, OMG!!! https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/24235 ... -potatoes/
Might just be one of the best things I've ever eaten.

That's why I cook with so much lime.

Today I have a big kettle of beef shanks simmering.
Garlic powder black pepper and salt that's it for now.
Started the shanks off simmering in olive oil with lid on and added water later after natural juices were built up.
These shanks I got from the Jalisco meat market and the bones are small and the meat plenty.
$ 3.29 a pound 6 of them a little over five and a half pounds.
The smell is killing me.
Tested some of the meat and it is as tender as can be.

[brownrexx]

Tonight I made our favorite meatloaf which is a bit different than mainstream meatloaf. The meat is a mixture of beef, pork and turkey and it is mixed with sauteed chopped zucchini, red and yellow peppers, onions, garlic, fresh thyme, fresh parsley, salt and pepper and a few red pepper flakes. It also contains panko bread crumbs, eggs, balsamic vinegar and catsup. It's a lot of ingredients but we really like it so much better than standard meatloaf.

I served it with garden peas from the freezer and a baked potato from my stored garden potatoes.

20170920_165233 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[worth1]

That looks really good.

[brownrexx]

Soup and sandwiches tonight. I am trying to use only items which I have at home and avoid going to a store. I had 1/2 quart of milk which would expire in a few days so I made this broccoli chowder with other items that I had on hand. It contains broccoli, cubed potatoes, carrots, onions, a splash of Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth, milk, melted cheese and was thickened with a little flour. Yummy. Burgers were made on the grill and they were good too.

20200331_165742 (2) by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[GoDawgs]

For lunch today it was old school. Grilled cheese and fried Spam sandwiches and a tossed salad. I cut the bacon-flavored Spam real thin, maybe 1/8" thick and fried until about crispy and then put it between two slices of Velveeta on homemade bread and toasted the sammies in the skillet. I haven't had one of those in decades! Sure was good, too. I like these new flavored Spams. The teriyaki flavored one is good too. There's half of the Spam left so we'll repeat that tomorrow but I think I'll try it with American cheese slices, or maybe one of each.

[worth1]

I had lightly smoked sardines in oil and saltine crackers for lunch.

[pepperhead212]

I finally got around to cooking again, not just thawing and heating up leftovers (though I have to do this, since I have to make room in the freezer, for the harvest). I got my seeds in, and all the pots filled, which is what I've been doing the last week, along with stuff in the workshop.

I made a vindaloo curry, with cremini mushrooms, kohlrabi, potato, and edamame. The original recipe called for mushrooms, potato, cauliflower, and peas, so I substituted for the cauliflower and peas, and added some Thai peppers, for more heat. And I baked some WW pav - some yeast rolls often served with Goan dishes.
Toasted spices, for vindaloo sauce. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ground up spices, before adding wet ingredients. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Chiles, ginger, and garlic added to the spices, for the vindaloo paste. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Vindaloo paste. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Paste added to onions and green chiles. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Paste, cooked down for about 8 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Water and edamame added, to cook down. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Potato, kohlrabi, and mushrooms, added to cook a few minutes more. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished vindaloo curry, served with a WW pav. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are the pav, which are usually placed in a pan, where they run together, but I like more crust.
Risen WW pav, ready to go into the oven. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Baked WW pav, ready to come out of the oven. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Nan6b]

What is the thing that looks like a pink cobweb in the right/center of the photo that's titled "Paste added to onions & green chiles"?

[worth1]

What is the thing that looks like a pink cobweb in the right/center of the photo that's titled "Paste added to onions & green chiles"?

Its the bottom of the pan.

[Sue_CT]

Grilled Salmon and Lemon Risotto with Spring Peas

Grilled Salmon and lemon risotto with spring peas by Susan Albetski, on Flickr

The Risotto is made with spring onions, lemon, white wine, homemade stock, parmesan cheese and butter.