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

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

this is interesting http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/health/nutrition/orecchiette-with-grated-squash-walnuts-and-ricotta-salata-recipes-for-health.html

my food processor died while i was grating squash though. i'm not sure if it's because of the squash or because it was just dying. some of it melted and some smoke came out. that's ok because i'm getting a bigger newer one for xmas!

I just ate some more brussels sprouts while watching + lamenting epic meal time

felt like I was committing a sin

harbl what kind are you getting

I thought I broke my new-used kitchenaid because dough got into the little spinning spindle thing but it still works okay

sometimes it smells smokey after I try to mix dough with it though

1/2 HP my butt!!!!

I've had my new Kitchenaid for almost six months -- kinda hate it, miss my old Hamilton Beach stand mixer something fierce.

I love my Cuisinart food processor...I've had it for 10 years, good workhorse. I should use my Kitchenaid stand mixer more but my kitchen is so tiny it's just ugh.

Chicken with brussels sprouts in dill/lemon/dijon.

last night, bf and i ordered our local's tandoori dinner for two, which is easily enough food for six. we were hungry though, so after dinner and breakfast, there's only like one big portion left -- some rice, a few spoonfuls of saag, a couple pieces of naan, two half-cups of kheer.

I need to try out some saag recipes using mustard greens instead of spinach.

i dunno what kind -- my mom's gonna get me one and i put a cuisinart and a kitchenaid on my amazon list

pretty sure i'm getting a fancy chef's knife for my b'day - kind of terrified tbh

i mean, the only i haven't caused myself serious injury in the kitchen is bc my knife set is all cheap serrated blades

Cuts from really really sharp knives hurt less, frankly -- you might go deeper and bleed like a stuck pig, but if you wash/disinfect/bandage it quickly, it's no big deal. Cuts from dull blades hurt like radioactive hell.

The sharper the knife, the less force one applies in prep work. Its the force that turns a nick into a missing fingertip.

i gave myself a wonderful cut one time cutting a bagel in the morning with a serrated knife. it's a pretty good knife so it was cutting the bagel like it was nothing and on one stroke i opened up my thumb. it was like i could see inside it.

You will like not having to saw your vegetables.

from biology class 8 years ago: a cut from a sharp knife heals faster because the cut is clean, the cells can bond together more easily. a serrated knife or a dull knife mushes up all your cells, they can't bond together again, it's awful.

I think I started a thread about oxymorons in conventional wisdom, 'a sharp knife is a safe knife' or something is one of them

Yeah, potatoes cut like zucchini! Good sharp well-balanced chef knife = happiness.

there are other rules of knife safety too - cut away from your body parts, not towards - curl your finger tips inwards so that at most you'll nick you knuckle and never take off a finger tip (unless you wanna join the yakuza)

yeah i'm super happy to finally have a decent knife, but i'm really clumsy and unthinkingly incautious in the kitchen, so i hope i don't do any severe damage.

unrelated: is there a secret trick to removing thyme leaves from the stem???

yeah, just take your thyme

I'm queen of kitchen clumsy, but have cut myself less since we got good sharp knives. Now I just burn myself & drop potatoes on my toe

Cutting and burning and dropping are to be expected imo, part of the deal of being a foodmaker. Might as well minimize the pain and use a decent knife.

speaking of which my knives REALLY need sharpening but i haven't the slightest idea how to go about doing this.

maybe try contacting the closest hair salon to you? i bet they would know where to get blades sharpened.

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.