Whatcha Cooking today?

[worth1]

The peas beans and cumin seeds soaked enough.
So I cooked the peas and beans and let them cool.
The water from the cumin soaking was really bitter so I poured it off.
Everything is mixed up and in a bowl in the refrigerator.
Here's more or less what the ingredients are.
1 cup each of dried black eyed peas and black beans.
1/3 cup of cumin seeds maybe more because I like cumin.
Soaked everything in water for a few hours then poured the water off.
Put beans and peas on in separate kettles to cook.

Next the ingredients.
1 tablespoon each of.
Granulated garlic.
Paprika.
Mustard powder.
Two tablespoons of Mexican oregano.
2 teaspoons of ground black pepper.

1/4 cup of..
Hamburger dill pickle juice from the pickle jar.
Peanut oil.

1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
Mixed the.
Oregano.
Mustard powder.
Paprika
In with the pickle juice and oil.
The mustard powder is an emulsifier.
Set this aside.
Let beans and peas cool naturally do not pour cold water on them or it will rip the skins off.
Mix everything and taste.
The product should not be runny with liquid settling at the bottom.
I'll put the rest of the fresh ingredients in tomorrow.
They will be some fresh dill and colorful sweet peppers.
This stuff is very cumin forward obviously but it's delicious.
You could almost call it beyond meat it's that good and vegan friendly.
And obviously middle eastern and north African influence.

[worth1]

All you can eat fried fish with a homemade curry sauce typical of what one might seen put on German currywurst but thicker.
Basically ketchup with my homemade hot curry powder and extra turmeric and black pepper.
It's actually quite tasty and just the right amount of heat.

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[svalli]

I made blini pancakes with sourdough starter. Usually those are made using buckwheat flour, but I used whole grain spelt. Blinis are more traditional in east side of Finland and this was just second time I made them, so I do not know if these were made properly, but our son and my husband liked them which is more important. We ate them with various toppings like smetana, trout and whitefish roe, grawlax, diced onions, smoked moose meat, bresaola and garlic scape relish.

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That old cast iron pancake pan is great for frying small pancakes and all sorts of patties. It is one of my thrift store finds. My grandma had exactly same model and when I was a kid she used to make small pancakes for me and my sister.

[rxkeith]

easy stuff today.

sirloin tip roast in the crock pot with light seasoning, and onion.
baked russet potatoes from the garden.
left over monstah squash. takes awhile to eat a 33 lb squash. a one gallon
bag is in the freezer. still some left in the fridge.


keith

[karstopography]

Black-eyed peas, white rice and collard greens.

[Sue_CT]

Leftover shrimp tacos. I love leftovers as much because they let me be lazy as because they taste good.

[worth1]

Crispy batter dipped fried chicken hearts and gizzards smothered in butter and hot sauce.
The new budget friendly hot wings replacement.
The were pressure cooked a month ago and frozen for today.
Got some homemade Weisswurst on the offset smoker.

[bower]

Well I didn't have much in the way of special meals this season on the special days due to the high prices. Too lazy to cook the black eyed peas for new year but I did find the old recipe for upcoming days of not too lazy. I have a lot of things cooked and ready to eat in the freezer so unless I have company, motivation is low.
I went shopping today because of the imminent stormy weekend. Just a couple of things on the list and I was determined not to buy anything else... So what do I see but NZ spring lamb legs at $11/kilo. Best before January 5. I haven't seen a NZ leg of lamb for less than $50 in some years, and for sure I could not resist a $20 leg, even if I have to cook it today.
I have been buying these legs frozen for 30+ years, not too often in recent years because of price. I figured they thawed them for the Christmas market and didn't sell in time. But when I checked the package it says the lamb is fresh, and on the back I found a sticker that said 'cook or freeze by Jan 5', as in, they flew them in from NZ in a fresh condition and there they are, getting to expiry date.
Anyhoo I opened the package and what a smell. Not used to a strong smell on raw meat of any kind. I rinsed it like I would with fish, but still a kind of odd smell I don't remember from those frozen ones, for sure. The meat also seemed soft compared to those cold joints of yore. I put it on to roast anyway. The usual, salt pepper and scored deeply and stuffed the cuts with onions, garlic, rosemary and bay leaves. 400F for an hour and a half. Smelled delicious after the first hour. Just pulled it out and tenting before I make gravy. House smells like a barnyard! Strong stuff...

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[bower]

Oooh I think I spoke too soon. Cut into the meat and I get this strong smell like anise??? It is not a meat smell. The 'barnyard' is not a good smell either (unless you're in a barn). I think this meat is spoiled and I won't eat it.
What a bad 'special'.
I might stop shopping at this store. Rotten meat is the limit.

[worth1]

My wife and I right after I met her put a chicken out the thaw from the store.
We came back after an hour and the place smelled like the sewer.
Obviously a rotten chicken from the store.

But on the bright side I'm heating up my anasazi beans with some Weisswurst I cooked on the offset smoker.
The beans had a lot of liquid in them so I added long grain rice.

[pepperhead212]

I made a rasam, with that new batch of rasam masala I made last night. I started in the afternoon, soaking some dried vegetables, starting with the equivalent of 3/4 lb tomatoes. In another container, together, I soaked 3/4 lb worth of eggplant, and 1/2 lb worth of green beans. While all this was soaking, I cut up an onion, a carrot, and a green bell pepper, and chopped up the greens from some bok choy, and cut the stalks up, separately. Eventually, when soft, the tomatoes, and about 1/2 c of thawed coconut, I blended it all totally smooth (and eventually rinsed the blender out with the 5 extra cups of water used).

I started with about 4 tb oil in the Instant Pot, on sauté, and cooked the onion about 3 minutes, before adding the bell pepper and carrot, and cooked about 7 or 8 minutes, then added a tb of that garlic/ginger paste, I keep in the freezer, plus a generous 3 tb of that rasam masala, and sautéed it about 1 min, before adding 2 c water, the tomato/coconut paste, and rinsed the VM out with 3 more c of water. Then I added the drained eggplant and beans, masoor and chana dal, some leftover, cooked brown rice, and the chopped bok choy greens. I added some salt, then set on BEANS 15 min, and let the pressure release on its own. The thickness turned out just right with the 5 c of water. I then added the bok choy stems, and let them cook 3 or 4 minutes, while preparing the tarka, to tempering the rasam. For this, I heated about 2 tsp coconut oil in the small pan, along with a tsp of mustard seed and 3/4 tsp, and when the mustard seeds started crackling, the broken up byadagi peppers were swirled around briefly, then the curry leaves and asafoetida were cooked about 10 seconds, and it was quickly added to the rasam, along with a quarter cup of chopped cilantro.

I ate the last (at least from that jar) of those pickled green beans with it - something I took a jar of to an Indian lady, who liked them so much she now wants to grow the beans next season! Her garden might be bigger than mine next season.
Some coconut blended with about 3/4 lb equivalent of soaked, dried tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 3/4 lb of dried eggplant, and 1/2 lb of dried green beans, soaked and drained, and added to the rasam, with 5 more cups water. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

1/2 c each of masoor dal and chana dal, plus about 2 c cooked, leftover brown rice, added to the rasam. by pepperhead212, on Flickr



About 2 c of chopped up greens from the bok choy added to the rasam (stalks go in last). by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Rasam, after pressure cooking 15 min, and released naturally. Perfect thickness, from the dals and rice. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A generous 2 c of bok choy stems, added to the rasam, to simmer 5 minutes, while preparing the tarka. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The tarka ingredients ready - the mustard and cumin seeds, 3 byadagi peppers, broken up, and a stalk of curry leaves, and a half tsp of asafoetida. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cooked tarka, ready to stir into the rasam (after I had stirred in about 1/4 c chopped cilantro). by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The finished rasam, with some pickled beans, with cumin and garlic - good things with Indian dishes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[worth1]

Ladies and gentlemen I present to you..........
Beetloaf.
That's right a beet themed meatloaf.
2 pounds of ground chuck.
One cup of homemade cracker meal.
Takes a whole sleeve of them.
3 teaspoons of Knorr beef bullion powder.
2 tablespoons of dill pickle relish.
3 teaspoons ground black pepper.
1 teaspoon garlic powder.
About a 1/4 cup of ketchup.
The juice from a 15 ounce can of whole beets.
The beets cut in half.
2 jumbo eggs.
1 cup of fried onions from a package.
Mine are from the Netherlands.

Mix everything up except the beets.
Wait awhile and mix again.
Start adding the beets and try to place evenly in the loaf.
Baking at 350F for I don't know how long or if it will even turn out.
Not a lot of spices but it's an experiment.
The thing is literally red as a beet and is huge

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[svalli]

That sounds like Biff à la Lindström in form of meatloaf.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biff_%C ... str%C3%B6m

[worth1]

That sounds like Biff à la Lindström in form of meatloaf.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biff_%C ... str%C3%B6m

I'm continuously edging into Northeastern Europe for flavor changes.
Plus I love beets and was raised on them.

[worth1]

Good lord I figured I'd pass the time playing bass guitar and almost burned the darn meatloaf up.
WTH over two hours later and it's way above my set internal cooking temperature.
Definitely got a crust on it.

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[Sue_CT]

Not a huge fan of beets, but mixed with other stuff, who knows. Had a breakfast burrito (?) and used the last of the homemade chorizo from Pepperhead’s recipe, for lunch. I should make more but try using chicken instead of pork this time. For dinner I had Tex-Mex “bowl” with chicken seasoned with fajita seasoning, and bulgur with fajita seasoning, tomatoes, lime and a garlic lime crema over everything.

Not sure if it was a burrito technically since I just wrapped up the eggs, sausage and cheese and closed one end, left the other end open and I didn’t toast in a pan. Cross between a burrito and a wrap, lol?

[worth1]

@Sue_CT

Depending on where you look there are all manner of opinions on a burrito.
Some say the backbone of all burritos is rice.
I don't buy that.
Others say it originally came from Mexico.
Others say California.
Rest assured your burrito with one open end and not toasted is a burrito.

I never ever go to burrito places because who wants a flour tortilla stuffed with rice.
That's not healthy at all.
If you tell them to hold the rice you won't get much of anything.

[worth1]

Fresh carrots are the theme of tonight's meal.
Lord only knows what else it will involve.

[karstopography]

Just made the dressing for a slaw for shrimp tacos. Dressing is fresh picked garden cilantro, one green onion (Texas legend), whole mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, and EVOO. Going to toss that on shredded big flat head cabbage.

[worth1]

I decided to add some Yukon Gold potatoes to the carrots and am cooking them down until there's nothing but butter left.
Added.
Salt.
Black pepper.
Mace.
Nutmeg.
Slice of bacon.
I have a whole strong not sweet yellow onion roasting in the oven at 400F with too many bacon ends and pieces.
But can you really have too much bacon?
We shall see.