Sandbox thread for cooking, nutrition nazis, your fucking lunch, etc.

oooh i like that website! i've made a veganized version of her raspberry scones that was delish.

my fucking lunch is a turkey sandwich and some apples, again
my fucking dinner will be kale, navy bean and turkey stew, again

no complaints about either.

My fucking lunch: leftover beef stroganoff, leftover "butterpeas" -- some strange and wonderful hybrid pea that my dad discovered and grew this year, a delicious cross between blackeyed pea, butterbean and sweet pea.

So much garlic, I'm going to knock someone unconscious at my 3.30 department meeting. Garlic and kale are a match made somewhere wonderful.

I have another crock pot experiment going - black bean, tomato, carrot, cumin, chili powder, veg broth.

BUTTERPEAS! I want to eat them
I decided my favorite easy home sandwich is avocado + salt & pepper + radish sprouts on toasty bread; I think I have told about this before but I am a proselyte for it!

dear deli llama:

paella dinner @ 10PM = not good idea

all best,

yr tummy

I started eating stuff that is making me irrationally dragon-level hungry so I'm going to need a lot of easy home sandwich recipes, keep them coming because the nutritionist is quite expensive. OK thanks sandbox bye.

Oh btw I made that vegan gravy that just1n3 says is the bestiest gravy in the world. And it was pretty damn good. I made my own veg stock for it (so glad it is finally cool enough to make stock). Veg stock is probably my favorite kind to make, esp since imo the veg stock I have bought tastes like compost dirt. The gravy was yummy but it tastes kind of carroty. I love carrots but it's not a flavor I'm used to in gravy. First time I used nute yeast too; that stuff is funky!

i have never made veg stock & always want/mean to, not because the stock i have isn't good but bc it sometimes denudes me of a sense of auteurial control over how i made a meal delicious

imo it is fun as hell to put five pounds of veg in a pot and think 'I am stealing your SOUL, vegetables!'

so glad it is finally cool enough to make stock

Assuming you've got a non-climate controlled kitchen. Here's the second place (besides beans) where a pressure cooker really shines. A thoroughly
cooked stock can take under an hour, there's less heat loss from evaporation, and once the cooker comes up to pressure (15 psi over ambient), one can turn the burner down very low.

I make 8 qts at a time and freeze it in 1 qt ziplocks, and always add a couple of tbsp of Marmite which gives it a nice savoury flavor.

if i had a deep-freeze i would totally be into making my own stock, but as it is, my little freezer is full (i always freeze leftovers, always have frozen bananas and bread, plus vegan cheese, gardein, tomato sauce...).

my blackbeantomatocarrot crockpot soup was pretty delish, btw.

I just moved 10# of beef neckbones from the freezer to the fridge for stock-making this weekend.

I made a clean-out-the-vegetable-drawer minestrone soup the other night. I didn't have stock but I used a lot of tomato puree in the broth. It turned out pretty well. A pinch of sugar helped the flavor.

brussels sproutttsssssss

So I ended up making a cauliflower puree with steamed cauliflower and garlic thrown into the vitamix with a half cup of milk and two ounces of cream cheese, 'cause that's what I had. A little nutmeg, too. Tasty and not a terrible substitute for mashed potatoes if you are on the NN train.

I will pick up more cauliflower from the farmers' market tomorrow and will give the other suggestions a spin!

OK so moving on, will everyone please tell me everything they know about MISO and uses thereof? TBH my experience with miso is only of the japanese (and sometimes korean) soup version in restaurants, which ime is kinda meh.

Also of recent interest: korean bbq prepared at home.

good in salad dressings?

i like to make a paste of miso + hot pepper paste + sesame seeds and put it on/in things
it has a name but of course i can't remember what it is
you may know it as the stuff they serve with bibimbop?

roasted delicata squash w/miso-based dressing and harissa (have made this and it was good - has kale in it too)

and this one is a potato salad from tal ronnen's book:
1lb fingerling or baby potatoes
3-4 handfuls of baby spinach
4 green onions, sliced

Boil the potatoes in salted water till tender. Drain well and slice into rounds. Refrigerate over night.

Add the spinach and green onions.

2tbsp yellow or white miso
1 tbsp agave
3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
salt & pepper
1 tbsp dijon or whole grain mustard
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 shallot minced
1/2 safflower or canola oil

Add all of the above to a food processor (or whisk in a bowl) and pulse till combined. Slowly the oil until emulsified. Pour over vegetables and toss till everything is coated.

aha ssamjang?

you can google for recipes or just wing it
here is one http://www.trifood.com/ssamjang.asp

tastes good on virtually everything imo (not sweets, obvs)

http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/miso-tahini-and-nut-paste

Any tips on what miso to buy? My big-ass "international" grocery store has dozens of kinds, many of which have labels I cannot read because lolmonolingual 'merican. How long will it last in my fridge unopened and how long unopened? I am a pitiable miso novice.

I did manage to procure some ssamjang for my korean-bbq-at-home experiment tomorrow. I suppose it would help if I had any korean bbq experience whatsoever, nevermind at home (I am decently versed in korean non-bbq such as bibimbop, soondubu, panchan, etc.). . . will report back.

But MISO remains a mystery. Also: various types of latin american cheeses and wtf to do with them.

http://www.justhungry.com/handbook/just-hungry-reference-handbooks/japanese-miso-primer

^^^just bookmarked that site, looks good!

For Korean BBQ sesame oil with salt is the best dipping sauce. I love it way more than ssamjang. Also grilling some onions and garlic cloves and mushrooms with it is awesome.

The red to white miso spectrum reflects Japanese climate, as the amount of salt required to prevent summer time spoilage rises going south. So traditionally the more highly salted red (mostly soy) misos came from the south, while less salty, sweeter (with more rice or barley) misos occur further north on Honshu.

I use it almost exclusively for miso soup, and I think I've got a two pound bag of Yamajirushi shiro (white) miso. There are some much more white misos useful for salad dressings, but I hated them in soup.

Could I get a recommendation (specific brand or general miso "class," either would be helpful) for: 1. soup 2. salad dressing 3. bbq marinade 4. dipping sauce component

oh man, i just discovered this site - they're having a big sale!! i spent $41 total (free shipping!!) on a cookie sheet with silicone insert, a 1.5 qt saucier, and 3 qt sauce pot!!

why am i so excited about cookware

SMOOVE are u steviedee

also ps it is December which means it is time for fucking TAMALES and the vegan Tex Mex place is selling em by the dozen I AM ABOUT TO ROCK THIS GODDAMN TWO WEEK BREAK IM GETTING IN TWO WEEKS

lol no but i am his vegan-lovin' twin...

the sandbox is...a treacherous land of mistaken identities

i am making this today, it's marinating now (8 hours instead of 24 should be fine imo) http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/filipino-style_chicken_adobo.html

the filipina ladies i work with made an incredible chicken adobo last xmas - i have my fingers crossed they'll bring it in again this year!!

i'm so excited to eat it!

that looks like a real good recipe! I wonder if you can use tofu instead?

might be better with tempeh, i think i'll try that sometime

but I have a short tempeh

yeah i was thinking tempeh

the potatos I bought from the farmers market, I forgot about them and now most of them are kinda soft and feel gross

:(

it happens to all of us, just don't do it again

http://clandesdinempls.com/

doing this tonight

you cookin or eatin?

eating like a boss

the chicken was awesome. i made some roasted sweet potatoes & garlic w/ cinnamon and rosemary too.

i made burritos with black beans, roasted butternut, and cumin, stuffed inside steamed cabbage leaves w/spinach, a salsa made from tomatoes and red onion and balsamic, and vegan sour cream.

this rules btw

I don't know if this is the right place but I just made my first pecan pie from scratch, so excited!! :D

i disappeared a box of them over the last few days

now I have a meat hangover

i'm feeling like a human spare rib today. sweated BBQ sauce doing pilates this AM, grossing myself out. brussell sprouts & farro for dinner tonight

could probably do with a week off meat myself, but, b_g's coq au vin photos and brownie's duck recipe both looking goooood

(bonus of duck recipe: we accidentally have two nearly full jars of cloves, so any clove-featuring recipes are much appreciated currently.

we tried mulling some wine, in a half-assed "which of these random ingredients we happen to have in the cupboard seem like they might possibly go in mulled wine" sort of way, but then had to admit that neither of us much liked mulled wine even when made by people who know how to mull wine)

if anyone is interested this is more or less the recipe i followed for coq au vin:
http://cookware.lecreuset.com/cookware/product_Coq-au-Vin_10151_-1_20002_20065__

yes, it calls for 2 cups of bacon. i used slightly less than that but just about.

i added celery and carrots to the sauce and substituted pearl onions for shallots in the glazed mushroom mix because it's what i had on hand.

i really have to stay on track with my whole "lower my cholesterol" plan. my breakfast this morning was the french fries that came with the hoagie i ordered for dinner last night.

the hardest part is cutting back on red meat, cheese, and egg yolks. my diet has basically been turkeychickentunaturkeychickentunaturkeychickentuna. today it's tuna for lunch and fish tacos for dinner (the fish is probably cod or haddock).

i got this book called 660 curries and i made black lentil curry from it tonight and it's like a flavor explosion. i think i'm gonna cook through all of it but not the pork parts. there are enough legume curries to go for a while (esp since i have 4 lbs of urad dals i have to use now).

are they split or whole? I bought a bunch a while ago w the intent of making dosa batter but I just don't do it tht mch why bc it takes too much time

bunch of split urad dal, I should say

i want that curry book!

i made the tagliatelle and lamb ragu from the frankie's cookbook which was ready yesterday - came out totally delicious. today i made the beet and avocado salad from the same book and had ragu leftovers. this is really the first time i've taken the initiative to cook for my mom and sister so i am kinda going overboard.

nye menu:

smoked salmon & cc on endive spears
pigs-in-blankets (storebought)
grapefruit/avocado/arugula salad
chicken "bolognese" (more like a ragu, really) on fusilli
leftover birthday cake

champagne, wine. the chef will be sipping gin martini(s)

would do something more adventurous but guests preferences should be accommodated imo

it's a cheap book for what you get, i recommend it. i'm not even a big cookbook person. the urad dal are whole. i was concerned i bought the wrong thing but apparently these have like 10 different names. like everything indian bc they have so many languages i guess

i think split would work really well for any soup calling for them. i don't know why i've never used them before. they have a texture like black beans.

"u rad, doll"

Prosperity dinner tomorrow - pastrami (subbing for corned beef), cabbage, hominy, black-eyed peas.

Worked on condiments today -- a fresh batch of kecap manis and some of Chuck Hughes' apple barbecue sauce to go with a big hunk of oversmoked beef brisket I got from my parents. Prosperity dinner tomorrow I guess. Monday I'm going to make my folks a batch of tom kha gai and blow their minds.

NYE - courgette fritters, salmon-head soup, left over from day before but still v nice. Roman beef stew, with some fresh parpadelle I bought from Italian deli and some braised fennel.

Guys I am so fucking excited abt these kale smoothies. I usually do 5-7 leaves of kale, a banana, a good handful of frozen strawberries, and maybe a cup or so of non-dairy milky bev. This morning I added a heaping spoon of PB and holy shit this just went next level.

I wonder if I could do like choc soy milk with PB and banana and kale?

i don't think i've done that before but i don't see why not because the kale taste is always masked by whatever else you have. i mostly use baby spinach instead because my blender doesn't do kale that well. it's true it's very exciting! i use almond milk and soy protein powder and a banana and frozen strawberries and mangoes.

Just discovered the wonder of avocado smoothies (with almond milk and whatever else I have around - usually frozen blueberries or an apple).

brb, making cream puffs

that's fun!

have you ever made gougeres? they're basically cream puffs with gruyere mixed in to the dough and no filling. i want to make them.

^^ that is exactly the recipe I use - I used to be a pastry chef and made gougeres every day

ground pepper, fresh thyme, and gruyere in addition to the basic pate aux choux

btw my first dozen I tried in tinfoil and the bottoms stuck, the next dozen I did on parchment and the bottoms burned

I miss the professional convection oven I used to use

now I have a bunch of cream puff halves that I will conjure into a misshapen approximation that will be delicious

maybe I will come home early tomorrow and make more, we'll see

the secret is to chill the dough, like, a lot. I used to put it in the freezer for 45 minutes, then into the fridge for another hour or so.

making a 2nd batch now, gonna leave it in the fridge for longer

325 seems like the sweet spot in our home gas oven

this is very great, the sandbox was crying out for a proper pastry chef, we love pastry.