Whatcha Cooking today?

[worth1]

Stopped off at the store and picked up a few items.
Visions of a Texas style gumbo dancing in my head.
Decided to have cold leftover steak and squash salad instead.
Then off to bed for a solid 12 hour sleep.
I can't possibly express how stressful the last two weeks were.

[worth1]

Now I guess it's 5:00 AM and it's time to make a roux.
Fat of choice, homemade beef tallow.
Kettle of choice, the enameled cast iron dutch oven.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

Carmen Hybrids & Jimmy Nardello

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Halved-n-Seeded

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Ready for the grill

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Finito!

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The Gotch

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

The lovely and long suffering Mrs. Gotch 1st Season Salvo of her many-splendoured Tomato Breads, breathtaking in their simplicity: French baguette and thickly-sliced Yaqui Hybrids-n-Mozzarella.

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Then topped with a sharp-edge-leafed Basil I'm embarrassed to not be able to identify

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Just like mini-pizzas...and just this side of Heaven!

The Gotch

[karstopography]

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Cioppino, another San Francisco treat. Story was that the fishermen there would pool their various sometimes paltry and incomplete catches to make this complete seafood stew. My version has mussels, calamari, shrimp, bay scallops and dungeness crab. Used frozen peeled whole garden tomatoes as the base, plus a giant white onion, a little tomato paste, fresh garlic, dried oregano, dried thyme, garden fresh basil, bay leaf, garden cayenne pepper flakes, seafood stock, and Sauvignon blanc. Not a difficult recipe, tons of variations online. Many have fresh fennel, but Kroger had zero of that(why do I bother going there). Fresh Basil flavors aren’t so very different from Fennel. Some recipes substitute the fennel with basil.

Got the seal of approval from the family. It was truly very good.

[pepperhead212]

Someone got me thinking about that butternut flour, so I looked up a recipe that I had made with it before, that called for 15 oz of canned pumpkin. Here it is. I didn't make the frosting, but I have made something like that before, with a cream cheese, that was delicious. I didn't mind baking something, since I had turned that AC off!
https://www.straightupfood.com/blog/201 ... e-squares/

You can see the butternut paste - I made it with 1.25 oz of flour, with water stirred in to make 16 oz, and that made it very thick. Actually, the texture is more like a pie, than a cake.
Butternut flour/water paste, added to a variation on pumpkin cake. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Butternut flour cake, ready to blend, before blending, and mixing with oat flour and spices. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished butternut cake. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I halved over 3 lbs of cherry tomatoes (there are a bunch more ripe, out there, so I had to use these!), and made a large batch of that pasta dish I make many varieties of every season - the one where the hot pasta is mixed into the cold tomato mix. This time, besides the garlic, basil, and olive oil, I stirred in some of that kalamata olive paste and a bunch of chopped up anchovies. I also cooked about 3/4 c kamut berries, and 2 c of dried Northern Beans (which I soaked about 5 hrs), both together in the Instant Pot, and it worked out well (I cooked 16 minutes, let pressure release 15 min, then let the rest of the pressure out, and drained). I drained them, then cooked the pasta, and poured it over those, so all would be hot. When well drained, I poured it all on top of the tomatoes, and mixed well. I got a 4 qt bowl of it, plus 2 more cups of it, plus the bowl I had for dinner.
A variety of that favorite raw tomato pasta I make several times each season. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

This isn't really canning, but will be sort of a refrigerator pickle, after it sits overnight. The jars have already sealed, and will sit maybe a week in the fridge, before I open one. I am giving one jar to an Indian lady I know, that has problems eating hot stuff, so I left the heat out of that, and just made them separately.

It was made with that pickling melon, which was incredibly unsweet. I probably should have picked it much earlier, but I wasn't sure how large it would grow. I scraped all the seeds, and the rest of the "goo" out of them, and got over 2 tb of seeds, in case anyone wants any!
First Asian Pickling Melon of the season, cut open, showing the seeds scooped out of one side. 8-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Peeling the dark skin of the melon, before cubing to pickle. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cooking the second qt of Indian spiced pickled melon, with jalapenos added to the batch. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The two qts of Indian spiced pickled melon finished, one with no heat in it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Seeds from 2 pickling melon - large amount of them, if anyone wants any. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I'll post back later on the flavor. Here's what I used for the recipe for each qt - sort of a mix of some others:

3-3 1/2 c cubed pickling melon, or watermelon rind
1/2 tb pickling salt
1 c water
1 c white vinegar
1/2 tb each fennel seed, coriander seed, cumin seed, and whole black pepper
1 large Indian bay (tej patta), or 2 regular bay leaves, broken up
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 one inch cinnamon sticks
1 med onion, cut into wedges
2 large cloves garlic, sliced thinly
3 or 4 jalapeños, sliced thick (option)
2 tb jaggery, or light brown sugar

I mixed the melon and salt in a bowl, and let sit in the fridge overnight. Then rinsed well, and drained.

Meanwhile, I cut all the ingredients, and measured out the spices, into two bowls. Place the liquids and spices in a 3 qt saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Stir in jagger, until dissolved, then stir in the melon, onion, and garlic, (and peppers, if using) and bring to a simmer. Cook about 3 minutes, then transfer to a cleaned 1 qt jar, though a funnel, pressing the vegetables into the jar, leaving about 1/2" space, and tapping bubbles out. Clean lid and jar, and put the lid on. Let sit, overnight, then move to refrigerator. Let sit about a week, to cure, before sampling.

[worth1]

Got home and put the soaked beans on the stove after draining and putting in fresh water.
Additional ingredients.
Mexican oregano.
Garlic powder.
Onion powder.
Sweet paprika.
Cumin.
Chipotle powder but not too much.
A dash of soy sauce.
Teaspoon of beef bullion powder.
MSG.
The taste of the water is heavenly.

[worth1]

Pinto Beans and rice.

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[pepperhead212]

This wasn't dinner, but a snack, after having another helping of that tomato salad.

I made an okra dish today for a friend and I to snack on, based on a thoran dish - a dish from Kerala, made with many kinds of vegetables, sometimes combinations. The recipe in the lastest Milk Street Magazine was with broccolini, and it gave me the idea to use the okra this way, since I had a bunch of it I had to use.

I based it on some recipe I had made before, using beans. This was a quart of okra, about 3 c, once trimmed and cut into pieces. The half cup of coconut - what makes it Keralan - was pounded to a paste, with 2 cloves garlic and 3 red chilis, and a half tsp salt. And I measured out a tsp each of mustard and cumin seeds, plus urad dal.

I heated up about 2 tb of coconut oil in a wok, on medium, and added the spices - heated until spices crackled a little, and a dozen curry leaves were added, and cooked briefly. And a large chopped scallion was added, and cooked 2 minutes. Then okra was added, and cooked about 6 minutes, stirring frequently, and deglazing 3 times, by adding about 2 tb water each time. Then the paste was added, and mixed well, and cooked 2 minutes, stirring frequently, then deglazing one last time, with a little water.
Makes 2 large helpings, or more, served with more dishes, as part of a meal.
Getting ready to pound the smashed peppers and garlic with the coconut, for the Thoran by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A little coriander cumin powder (dhania jeera) added to the paste. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished paste, for okra thoran. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mustard and cumin seed, and urad dal for the okra thoran. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sputtering the spices in the coconut oil by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Curry leaves added to spices, for a few seconds by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Okra added, to cook on medium for about 6 minutes, adding a couple of tb water, if anything is sticking - did about 3 times. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Paste added, to cook about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. I added another 2 tb water and scraped the bottom, before serving. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished okra thoran by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[worth1]

No sooner than I put the remaining surplus soup in two quart bags in the freezer and cleaned out the enameled Dutch oven I started something else in it.

((((((A whole chicken.)))))

Ingredients are for the wet rub.
Mexican oregano.
Black pepper.
Cumin.
Worcestershire sauce but only about 1 tablespoon.
Fresh crushed garlic.
Garlic powder.
Oil.
This made a paste.
Greased the critter up nicely and put it in the Dutch oven.
Poured in a 1 quart container of chicken bone broth.
This put the liquid level up to where it left a third of the chicken exposed.
Put lid on and in the oven at 200F for a long low temperature braise.
But first I pre heated to 400F and let it coast back down to 200F with the kettle in the oven.
No additional salt was added at this moment.

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

A recipe from my SIL called Tomato Junk: Yaqui Hybrids, Sweet Peppers, Onions, Garlic, Herbs & roasted @400°

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The Gotch

[pepperhead212]

I didn't have a hot dinner, for National Hot and Spicy Day, but definitely a spicy one! I went over to my Indian friend's house, and we had a dinner with a dal, which she made with things from the garden - eggplants, a squash, and tomatoes, and spices, though she doesn't put as many in as I do! I made up for it with a thoran I brought over everything for - like that one with the okra I made a few days ago, but with a bunch of Thai red beans, along with a huge green pepper, cut up to about half inch pieces. This one I put no heat in (Mom can't eat much lately), but I made the coconut/garlic paste, and got the spices I needed for the dish, and cooked it there, in a large CI skillet, which worked great. I also took over one of those green chutneys, made with mint and cilantro, which I left the green chili out of, but separated some, and put some in that, for those who needed heat. The son made some roti - a flatbread, in which he put a little nigella and ajwain seed. We had some rice on the side, but nobody even ate any! Definitely filled with spices!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot - she opened that pickled melon I made almost a week ago, and loved that, as a side with the dinner. It wasn't hot at all - had some whole black pepper, but that's all. I told her it was something I made using a recipe for watermelon rind, so she could probably make that, and get something similar, instead of waiting to grow this stuff.

[worth1]

I had a cold chicken breast, tomato and mayonnaise sandwich for breakfast.
Seasoned with freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt.

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[brownrexx]

Cooked over a fire this weekend. Fried green tomatoes (and one of the orange ones from the Paquebot grow out), sliced potato & onion foil pack, chicken breasts and I tried blistering some Poblanos over the fire but think that it works better on the gas grill. It was a good meal.

20220820_170405 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[brownrexx]

I grew the Wisconsin 55 Gold from the Paquebot Grow Out and we really like the taste and the color (orange not gold) is just beautiful. You can see 3 slices of this tomato at the top of the pan in the post above. It is a slightly sweet tomato and DH asked me to make a pasta sauce with it because he thought that it would be pretty.

I had some ground beef in the freezer and instead of crumbling it into the sauce I made some meatballs. I sautéed some onions and garlic and added skinned tomatoes, salt and Italian Seasoning. It cooked down for almost an hour and then I added some chopped zucchini and chopped fresh basil for color and texture.

Served with Tam Jalapeno poppers and poblano peppers with sharp cheese. Tam Jalapenos have about half of the heat of regular jalapenos and are more my speed.

Wisconsin 55 Gold Sauce by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[karstopography]

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Eggplant Parmesan. Going to bake the eggplant instead of the usual frying. Two Black Beauty just picked and some thawing out whole tomatoes that will be the foundation of the marinara sauce.

[karstopography]

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Smells good.

[rxkeith]

we did a roast in the crock pot that was accompanied by garden potatoes, beans, and beets.
we eat the garden veggies until we are stuffed.



keith