My spouse and I like to cook — a lot. She’s a former pro, which helps, and I love food and find in cooking a kind of empty-mind release, so there are a lot of nights on which we make a pretty complicated meal.
And then there are the other evenings: we want good stuff, but it’s eight or so, and we don’t want eat at ten, or we’re just tired, or it’s too f**king hot, or we’ve been dealing with the sprout in ways that have consumed all our attention or whatever.
That was last night. There wasn’t anything onerous, but me working on the book and she on a very tricky design, and the need to take a bike ride through the nicest late afternoon we’ve seen in a while, and this and that and then some more pushed us past the “let’s build a recipe” opportunity.
So we picked up a really pretty bone-in rib steak and set out to produce a meal that wouldn’t take that much longer to put together than the cooking time for the meat.
It turned out great — my other half roasted some late season corn on top of the stove, to be incorporated in a corn-and-peppers-and-onions relish; there was some farmer’s market broccoli rabe, quickly sauteed, and we got the steak right, done to a really nice medium rare, and given ten minutes to rest.
But my point in all this — and I do have one — is that the cherry on top, as it were, was a sauce for the steak that doesn’t come from any cookbook or online recipe. Instead, it just kind of emerged one evening as I was throwing some stuff together, and has gotten a little refined, and has now become a go-to.
It started from a simple garlic oil, the kind you put on pasta w. a bunch of cheese when you don’t want to cook at all. Say, two or three cloves, depending on the monstrousness of your garlic bulb, finely chopped and dumped in a couple of teaspoons of hearty olive oil and some salt. I use a tiny ceramic coated cast iron saucepan inherited from some long ago group apartment; anything small and heavy is great.
I put the pan over very low heat: the goal is to stew the garlic, not to fry it. After a minute or two, I add some finely chopped shallot — about half a bulb, more or less the same volume as garlic, or at least not too much more than that. Again, stew (or poach, if you prefer) over low heat until the shallots are nice and soft. I often toss in some fresh thyme at this point.
Then I add two or three pappadew peppers — the pickled, kind of sweet red ones — again, finely chopped, and let them warm through. Once the whole mix is up to temperature and nicely blending, I add between half and a full teaspoon each of whole grain mustard and prepared horseradish. I taste, add a little maple syrup to give it that slightly sweet flavor I think goes great in a steak sauce, adjust again (had to add a little lemon last night, as I overdid it on the syrup pour), give it a stir, and call it done.
I have no idea where that came from; it may be just that I was looking at the inside of my fridge one evening and saw the necessary ingredients. But it’s dead simple and the bee’s knees — and it is a kind of all purpose thang too (it makes a great light pasta sauce on soba, for example). Try it. To use the phrase every Hollywood mogul employs to say “f**k you”…
…trust me.
And with that, given it’s Sunday, and we may want to spend more than ninety seconds not utterly consumed by disasters, natural or political, how about a thread on cool stuff to eat you just made up. And who cares if your delight might repulse the vast majority of humanity? If you invented it and like it, share it.
And, hell, this is an open thread, so anything else you’ve conjured out of the stray corners of your mind, (especially if its an invention in any domain of which you are ordinately proud).
Image: Adriaen van Utrecht, Banquet Still Life, 1644
debbie
That is a damn big lobster!
Tom Levenson
@debbie: Coming for you in your dreams after you’ve indulged in the two for one special at the Krusty Krab….
joel hanes
Wild duck breast is _dark_ meat.
My dad used to hunt, and we were at his place, and no one else was cooking.
Instead of doing the complicated roast thing with dressing,
I skinned out the breasts and thighs, sliced ’em thin crossgrain.
Sprinkled with garlic salt and black pepper and let stand at room temperature for fifteen minutes.
Seared ’em in a hot cast-iron skillet touched with oil until medium rare,
served on buttered toast points. Damn.
I’ll probably never get another chance to do that one;
Dad’s gone, it’s illegal to sell wild game meat, and domestic duck is nothing like wild duck.
Kay
I have a LOT of tomatoes, so we’re eating them on and in everything. This is the best tomato year in the past ten for me. I used to can but it’s too much work so now I just slice,roast and freeze or give them away. The beets were a failure which is sad- I love beets.
debbie
@Tom Levenson:
It does make you wonder how people decide they can eat this or that thing. I don’t remember the cooking show I was watching, but the guy said he would love to meet the first person who looked at an artichoke and thought, yes, I can make something with that.
Corner Stone
That’s my kind of kitchen nowadays. A graze-through opportunity where I don’t have to cook anything. Grapes, figs, peaches, what look kind of like a pear, some kind of small melon. Find a round of cheese somewhere and I wouldn’t have to touch a stove or oven for a couple weeks. Think that may be a ham or pork leg on the back left table. Paradise!
Tom Levenson
@joel hanes: Wow.
We do a bunch of stuff w. duck, but never that, which sounds great.
pamelabrown53
Well, your secret sauce sounds delicious. Still, too labor intensive for a whip-it-up kind of thing for me. Guess I lack good chopping skills. Plus the spouse is mostly just in the way in the kitchen so…no division of labor.
Corner Stone
@debbie:
He weighed about 115 pounds and you could see every one of his ribs.
TaMara (HFG)
Spicy blueberry sauce, which I don’t make often enough. Yummy, yummy and so good on grilled steak.
Tom Levenson
@pamelabrown53: The dividing line for too much work for me is if can I chop everything I need in the time started by putting the first ingredient on the heat. That works with this one, so it’s OK. But I’ve had the opportunity to learn knife work from my partner; I’m no where near her speed or precision, but I’m a lot better than I was before we met, and that certainly helps.
Cheryl Rofer
I plan to clean a number of large garlic cloves, from the garlic farmer at the Farmers’ Market, and roast chicken quarters on top of them.
Although I bought some Italian sausage and peppers, which I may do this week.
Decisions, decisions!
Corner Stone
@pamelabrown53:
I petered out on it about the time it got to “garlic, oil, salt”. Ok! I’m calling it right here, thanks!
Tom Levenson
@TaMara (HFG): Gotta try that. I wonder how it would be with a little fresh mint in it, or even mint and oregano?
Tom Levenson
@Corner Stone: This is why the FSM made jars, and at least some competent companies to fill them. ;-)
OzarkHillbilly
Peanut butter and dill pickle sandwich.
James E Powell
@debbie:
“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.” – Jonathan Swift
Tom Levenson
@OzarkHillbilly: An abomination.
But your abomination, so good on ya.
Corner Stone
Can’t say I really invented it, as I am sure I saw some variant somewhere else, but as an add on to steak – sambal olek, a little fish sauce, a few squeezes of lime juice and a couple pinches of coarse salt. Let it all set together until the salt is essentially dissolved, then dip a bite of steak in as needed.
debbie
@TaMara (HFG):
TaMara, how long would the spiced blueberry sauce keep in the refrigerator? I’ve seen a couple other recipes, but they all involve canning, which is way beyond my abilities.
bk
I make a pasta sauce with broccoli rabe, sauteed briefly with chopped up garlic, and then I swirl in a few flat anchovy fillets before pouring in some vegetable stock and heating it and then simmer while the pasta is almost done, Great with penne or similar tubular pasta.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’d swap out the pickles (better on a pizza) and replace it with Hellmans.
Tom Levenson
@debbie: OK.
Now this is truly testing my de gustibus non disputandem est chops.
PB and mayo?
Really?
Gelfling 545
Lately I have been liking vegetable mixes, usually broccoli or string bean based. Starting with said base, I toss it the veg in question with olive oil in which I’ve heated a few garlic cloves. Then I add other vegetables in smaller quantities: thin sliced yellow summer squash, thin sliced red onion, whole button mushrooms, halved cherry tomatoes, pre- baked chunks of sweet potatoe – any or all depending on what’s available. I toss it all together & add a bit more oil if it looks dry, make it into an aluminum foil packet & put it in the oven. I usually give it a shake or two of Wegmans Tuscan Seasoning, though sometimes I grate romano cheese over it instead. Leftovers can be eaten for lunch the next day over pasta or in chicken broth. If I use broccoli, I usually blanch it first so the other veg don’t overcook waiting for the broccoli to get tender. I started doing this when I was still doing a little vegetable gardening and the yield would be a handful of this and a handful of that. It’s become my favorite way to do vegetables.
scav
@Kay: We’re normally firmly in the freeze-em tomato camp, but ran across a tomato-orange marmalade recipe that intrigued and made it yesterday. VERY good on toast this am, so we may need to dive back into the full fray despite ourselves.
MagdaInBlack
Thai garlic chili sauce, brown sugar and a squeeze of lime makes a fantastic bbq sauce.
laura
@debbie: my dad loved, Loved! Peanut butter and mayo sandwiches. It’s not for everyone.
I love a white bread, summer ripe tomato, scrape of mayo grind of s&p sandwich on a hot, too hot to cook night.
Gelfling 545
@Gelfling 545: Also julienned or chunks of sweet peppers. Sometimes leafy greens added in the las few minutes of cooking.
Yutsano
I have those nights when I just want to throw things together based on what I have. But my go to on the really lazy nights is always some form of carbonara. Which I bastardize in numerous ways.
Ruckus
@joel hanes:
We used to hunt, 50+ years ago, my friend and his parents and a couple of other friends. Goose and duck. His mom would do all the work and cook up a feast at the end of the season for everyone. Simply amazing. Well all the parents are gone, we live far away, rather than a couple dozen blocks, I have no use for guns……
You are right wild bird is far different and better than raised.
MagdaInBlack
@laura:
Grilled ripe tomato and swiss cheese sandwiches…mmmm……wear a bib ☺️
OzarkHillbilly
@Tom Levenson: I thought so too when I was introduced to it as a child by a friend. Even now it sounds horrible, but damn is it tasty.
MagdaInBlack
@OzarkHillbilly:
Peanut butter and crushed potato chips ?
Amir Khalid
I get it now: I need distortion and some reverb to sweeten it. That and better string-bending technique, or I’ll never learn to play the blues.
@debbie:
Back when tomatoes were to Europeans still an exotic import from the New World, some people believed they were poisonous. I wonder where that belief, and similar misconceptions about particular foods that we have to this day, came about.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I’m not a gourmet. My wife is an amazing improvisational cook, she somehow thinks in flavors, in a dimension I can’t even imagine. Most recent example: I made a big batch of end-of-summer gazpacho (no recipe, so I guess that counts for this thread) and felt I’d ruined it. All I could taste was too much garlic. She sipped it and said “vinegar: a little rice vinegar and some pickle”. And she was right. Transformed it entirely.
One time while trying to do something interesting with mussels, I came up with a white wine and mushroom sauce. Completely unreproducible. I have no idea what I did and have never made anything close to it since.
JPL
My dad would watch the Red Sox play on a Saturday afternoon, and open a can of sardines and put them on a cracker. That was how he prepared food.
scav
Oh, and usual go-to for lazy nights? Omlette souflee. Yes, have whip up the egg whites, but it’s sooo much bigger and looks more like a complete and accomplished meal. Plus all the variation possible in filling or just simple good parmesan.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: @Tom Levenson: I’m sitting here wondering what the mayo would bring to the sandwich.
schrodingers_cat
I use New England ingredients with Indian recipes (West (coast of India) meets East (East coast of India)
I make pickled cranberries, Indian style
A spicy cranberry drink inspired by amrit kokum.
Also too,I have simplified many of the traditional Indian recipes does that count?
OzarkHillbilly
@Gelfling 545: That sound really good.
Ruckus
@Tom Levenson:
That’s the secret to over the top cooking. Being able to imagine what adding one or two seasonings would do to the rest of the meal. Cooking the meat or veg isn’t that difficult (OK it is for some) but knowing what does what. Some of that comes from experience and some seems to be instinct about food. My sister was a natural at it. She could turn something that you despise into a meal to enjoy and in very little time. I learned a lot from her but now that my sense of smell and about 95% of my taste has left home, it doesn’t work any longer. Ah the joys of getting old(er).
randy khan
This is a couple of years ago. We had some potluck event to go to, and nothing obvious to bring, but we also had a ton of mushrooms and a Vidalia onion, plus some puff pastry. I chopped up the veg, sautéed everything in olive oil until the onions were brown and the mushroom liquid evaporated (with some salt and pepper), rolled up the mix in a long sausage of puff pastry, baked it all, and sliced it into little rounds to serve. (Actually, I pre-sliced the pastry about 1/4 of the way down before baking to make it easier to cut.) I got asked for the recipe, much to my surprise, so I had to go home and write it down.
MomSense
I like to roast potatoes with lemon, garlic, oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper. I make home fries with the leftovers. I sauté diced jalapeño, onions, and a clove or two of garlic (added at the end so it doesn’t turn bitter). Then I add the roasted potatoes, brown sugar, chili powder, and maybe a tablespoon of butter. Don’t add too much brown sugar. You can always add a touch more after tasting.
The homefries don’t taste sweet but the brown sugar does keep them moist and helps the flavors meld together.
Tastes great with a fried egg sunny side up or over easy.
rikyrah
@Kay:
What are you cooking with tomatoes?
rikyrah
@MomSense:
Sounds delicious ??
JR
Young kids have shortened our repertoire quite a lot. Typically it’s Banza pasta (with vegan bolognese — the Kenji Alt version), tofu tacos, homemade pizza, the occasional grilled chicken thighs. Lots of salad for mom and dad.
debbie
@Tom Levenson:
Yep, providing it’s Hellman’s. On toasted white so the peanut butter is a bit melty.
Melusine
@Amir Khalid:
I believe tomatoes are members of the nightshade family.
schrodingers_cat
@schrodingers_cat: I meant to write east coast of the United States.
Kristine
I’ve been making a few of the jams from the Foolproof Preserving cookbook by the America’s Test Kitchen folks. I love the Blueberry-Earl Gray, but the last time I wanted to make some, I didn’t have the right tea bags. So I substituted Dragon Spice Chai. Also added a couple of peaches that were going off. Spiced Blueberry-Peach Jam. It was so good.
I really like that cookbook since the recipes are geared toward small batch refrigerator jams etc. So far, I’ve made strawberry-basil, blueberry-Earl Gray, and the mango chutney. The chutney is wonderful.
All I’ll add is that I usually wind up with more jam than the recipe says I will. No clue why that happens.
debbie
@laura:
Yeah, my dad is where I developed my test for them. It may have been the only thing he knew how to make, other than grilling meat.
I’ve pretty much lived on tomato sandwiches since the farmer’s market opened in late May. They’re my second favorite on toasted sourdough with a basil leaf.
Major Major Major Major
@debbie: I’ve seen bigger.
Really, I was volunteering at a charity event that involved a lot of lobsters in high school. We were selling them maybe? Anyway, the live lobster shipment included this ENORMOUS ancient lobster. Can’t remember what became of the guy. Lobsters don’t die of senescence, you know—they just keep growing until something else kills them, or molting becomes too onerous.
realbtl
@Amir Khalid: Amir re: 009″ strings. I’ve been playing for almost 50 years and prefer 011s. It takes a bit more effort to bend but the paybacks are a fuller tone and less breakage. You might want to try a set.
Ruckus
@Amir Khalid:
Some people are allergic or very sensitive to various foods, especially new things. I used to love tomatoes but the skins do not like me anymore. It can be any number of things that causes a situation like this but it can lead to people thinking that things are inedible or poisonous especially if it’s a new food to them.
debbie
@Amir Khalid:
I guess every civilization has its Mikey.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
It cuts through the dryness of the peanut butter. The tang of the mayo contrasts the nuttiness of the peanut butter. Or, my taste buds are mutant.
Melusine
Cooked veggie noodles, cold, tossed with whatever random veggies i have, chicken, oil, lemon juice, mint, lavender, fresh basil, sea salt and pepper. Tastes like a bowl of Spring.
Major Major Major Major
@Ruckus: also people may have thought tomatoes were poisonous because they look super poisonous, and many other nightshades (and parts of nightshades) are super poisonous.
NotMax
Back in 1982 or 83 whipped up a spur of the moment quick pasta sauce using leftover London broil and a bunch of other odds ‘n’ ends sitting around. To this day have not the slightest idea of exactly what was tossed into it (the only other ingredient can recall is lemon juice) but dang it was tasty.
Lost sometime long ago during moving was a recipe gotten from a friend’s mother back during the 1950s for a dynamite barbecue sauce. Can remember who gave it to me and can remember mixing it up on the stove top but no further details beyond the first two ingredients: 1 bottle of ketchup, 1 ketchup bottle of water.
Corner Stone
Well, we know what the Texans *do not* have in their repertoire. Guarding against a fake punt.
schrodingers_cat
@debbie: I add chili garlic sriracha and sweet hot chili sauce to it to peanut butter and mayo, makes a great dip. I love it with eggs.
germy
@realbtl:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/binky-philips/its-all-eddie-cochrans-fa_b_1375763.html
TaMara (HFG)
@debbie: It’s so quick to make, I usually only make a small batch. But it freezes well and last quite a while in the freezer. I’d say no more than a week in the frig.
TaMara (HFG)
My absolute new favorite is the Jalapeno Relish I made. I froze five jars and had two in the frig and I’m going through it at an incredible rate. The good news is, I can probably repeat it in the winter with store bought english cukes and jalapenos.
Ruckus
I developed a dish of eggplant once. I was tired of the standard eggplant, parmesan etc and just tried whatever I had at hand.
Egg dip and brown the eggplant as normal, layer with different all white cheeses, bake until cheese is just starting to crisp on top…. The problem is that it’s been decades ago, I can’t eat much cheese at all, and I forgot what spices I used. But it was goood.
Major Major Major Major
In college we called such adventures “ninja cooking.” The name stuck with me.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: Hmmm… I don’t taste any tang in mayo, but my tastebuds aren’t particularly discerning.
Felanius Kootea
So, jollof rice is a West African staple – created by the Wolof people of Senegal and Gambia (Bourdain ate it on his show when he visited Senegal). Nigerian jollof is my inspiration for a twist on black beans. Soak two cups of black beans overnight or bring water to a boil and soak for two hours in the hot water. Sauté a diced large yellow onion, loads of chopped scallions and minced garlic in oil in a pressure pot with cumin, coriander, black pepper, fenugreek seeds and two whole cloves. Blend two tomatoes, a red bell pepper and a scotch bonnet pepper (drop if you don’t like spicy) with 1.5 cups of water in a blender. Add black beans and blended mix to sautéed onions in pressure cooker, throw in two smoked turkey drumettes and pressure cook for 50 minutes. The turkey meat falls off the bone. Add salt to taste after pressure cooking. This is delicious on its own as a soupy bean dish or over white rice.
shelley
@rikyrah: One of my favorite tomato recipes; a tomato pie. Spread some basil mustard over the bottom crust. The layer of thinly sliced cheese like gruyere or fontina. Then layer of tomato slices. Sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar. Bake at 350 for about 30 min. Lovely.
NotMax
One thing want to try someday which is off the beaten path is this plantain lasagna.
frostys
@Tom Levenson: PB and cheddar cheese on whole wheat. Or whatever cheese and bread is lying around..
shelley
I notice the Orange Julius has given up twittering about the hurricane and back to whats realy important, ranting about the ‘illegal’ Mueller probe.
Ruviana
Here’s one I’ve been eating for almost 25 years (there’s some in the fridge right now) from an old issue of Eating Well:
Open and drain 3 cans of beans–black, garbanzo and a third of your choice(I’ve used kidney, pinto, cannellini all to good effect). Toss in a dressing of oil, apple cider vinegar and one or more chopped chipotles with some adobo sauce. It can be more or less spicy according to your taste.
The black and garbanzo beans are important at least when I make it. You can sub in a bunch of different vinegars. Lately I’ve been using some spiced asian vinegar and/or some red wine vinegar. It packs well and goes to work with me a lot.
Felanius Kootea
@NotMax: I had that in Puerto Rico! Most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted but I still haven’t worked up the nerve to try making it.
Nigerians have a plantain dish (ukpo) that looks like Mexican tamales but made with sweet, almost going bad plantains instead of corn. I’ve made that once but mostly stick to eating my mom’s version of it because mine doesn’t come out as good.
frostys
@Amir Khalid:
I never got even remotely good at bending. Switched to open tuning and slide and never went back. Well, once, trying to work on Quicksilver, then gave it up again.
normal liberal
@schrodingers_cat:
spicy cranberry drink inspired by amrit kokum
Intrigued, subscribe to your newsletter, etc.
Could you explain this a bit? A trip through Google didn’t get me to method or proportions, because I’m an idiot at this sort of thing. The pickled cranberries also sound really good.
I would pester my Indian boss, who’s from the Indian east coast (southeast-Andhra Pradesh), but she gives new and volcanic meaning to spicy…
James E Powell
@Amir Khalid:
@realbtl:
The relationship between string gauge and tone is one of the top five guitarist arguments that will never be resolved to anyone’s satisfaction. For some interesting, informative discussions, go to youtube and search “string gauge tone” – I recommend That Pedal Show’s discussion.
B.B. King used .009’s, Stevie Ray Vaughn mostly used .013 – .015 – .019p – .028 – .038 – .058.
For most of my bar band life, I went back and forth between 10s & 11s, favoring the 11s when I was in a blues/R&B band because I thought it made the chords sound fuller. (NB – Telecaster & Les Paul).
I’d say two rules of guitar playing apply here: 1) go with what feels & sounds right to you, and 2) try new things because you never know.
geg6
What I saw in my fridge and pantry and am making tonight:
boneless chicken breasts (four, cut from two very large ones)
orzo
chicken stock
Salt and pepper
cream cheese (1/4 cup)
shredded mozzarella (about 1/2 cup)
shredded Parmesan (about 1/4 cup)
chopped fresh spinach
a jar of artichoke hearts, chopped
parsley and lemon wedges for garnish
Brown chicken on both sides in olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet. Add a cup of orzo and 2cups chicken stock. Put in 375F oven, covered, for about 25 minutes. Take breasts out of pan. Add the spinach, artichokes, the cheeses and a cup of water to the pan and stir to mix. Put chicken on top and put back in the oven another 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top and serve with lemon wedges on the side.
I’ve made this one other time and it’s delicious. Kind of like chicken and pasta with spinach and artichoke dip. We always have these ingredients and it’s not labor or time intensive at all.
normal liberal
Finally, someone who understands my approach to kitchen organization. Although I might draw the line at the monkey.
I hope I can find a nice poster.
Betty Cracker
We make homemade pizza nearly every week, and if I remember to do it in time, I roast a head of garlic and spread it on the pizza crust before the tomato sauce goes on. Just cut the top of the garlic head off, set it on a piece of foil, drizzle the cut top with olive oil, wrap the foil around it and bake at 350 for about an hour. It’s so soft at that point that you can just squeeze it out of the bulb onto the crust, and it spreads pretty easily. So good!
NotMax
@Felanius Kootea
Yeah, am in the same working up the nerve boat. Plantains can be … temperamental when cooking
germy
@James E Powell: Eddie Cochran used an unwound G.
Robert Sneddon
I’m of the “food is fuel” faction. I just whipped up my “Bucket O’ Noodles” recipe, ingredients mostly out of the freezer and packets, filling a five-litre Pyrex dish with veggies, bell peppers, noodles, grilled sausage etc. It will last me for four days with reheats in the microwave and the addition of wholemeal bread to sop up the gravy. Cost about three bucks total.
I have no taste.
Pete Mack
@pamelabrown53: Since the ingredients are stewed rather than sauteed, there actually isn’t much labor–just a bit of chopping, but minimal stirring.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Absolutely addictive as a dip, spread or sauce: Lebanese Toum.
debbie
@schrodingers_cat:
Very interesting!
Amir Khalid
@realbtl:
I have 9s on the Squiers, Lady and The Girl, and 10s on Sister, the Epi Les Paul. Those are the factory-fitted string gauges. I might try string bending on Sister if my fingers feel up to it.
@germy:
I thought wound Gs only came with acoustic string sets.
Ruckus
@Robert Sneddon:
Is this something you grew into or has it always been so?
Cause that actually doesn’t sound bad at all.
I notice that a lot of the dishes that people write about are not usual things in the area they live in. And yet they are good and become sort of staples. Maybe this eating thing has a lot wider range than say, the menu at an Awful House.
Theodore Bloat
Did anybody see Jamie Oliver’s “Jamaican Jerk Barbecued Rice” in The Guardian a few weeks back? Lord what storm that kicked off.
Kay
@scav:
I kind of liked canning at the time- it’s methodical and mindless and comforting- but I can’t imagine doing it again. Homemade jam is really really good- it tastes like summer. Someone should make it and give me some. They can have tomatoes as a trade.
schrodingers_cat
@normal liberal: kokum is the fruit of the mangosteen tree. It is very tart. Amrit == nectar of the Gods. Very cooling during hot summers.
Unsweetened fresh cranberry juice makes a good substitute.
germy
She passed a lie detector test. There’s no doubt Kavanaugh did it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/california-professor-writer-of-confidential-brett-kavanaugh-letter-speaks-out-about-her-allegation-of-sexual-assault/2018/09/16/46982194-b846-11e8-94eb-3bd52dfe917b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.51a2dd71af9b
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
Here’s one I whipped up for a marinade/sauce for grilled pork chops: combine equal parts cooking oil (I used olive oil but the milder kind for sauteing not extra virgin) apple cider vinegar and unsweetened apple sauce (I used a third of a cup of each for two athick cut ones) and add a teaspoon or two of chopped rosemary, a couple teaspoons (or more) of the mustard of your choice and salt and pepper. Marinade the chops in the sauce, turning occasionally to make sure both sides get to soak some up. I did mine for about 4 hours.
Remove the chops from the marinade (no need to rinse) and let them sit for a half hour or so at room temperature before grilling. In the meantime pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil and simmer for several minutes to thicken and kill any bacteria the chops may have left behind. Use as a baste and sauce for the chops.
cope
Some 35+ (million?) years ago, I made fried rice for the first time ever using left over veggies, rice, fresh eggs and chunks of the only meat we had on hand, a chunk of pepperoni. Though my wife and I both remember it as being the best fried rice either of us had ever had, I have never made it again.
Inability to relive a first kiss moment? Fear that it might be as bad as it sounds and not as great as we remember? Who knows but I am content with the memory however faulty it may be.
Felanius Kootea
@Theodore Bloat: I heard about it but didn’t see the original. Loved the spoof by “Jonny Oliver” who’s supposed to be Jamie’s cousin and has his own ideas on jerk. Oliver stepped in it a few years ago over jollof rice as well.
MomSense
@germy:
The Republicans fucking knew about this. I do not find it remotely plausible that in a matter of hours, 65 women who knew him then organized themselves to come forward as character witnesses. It’s also irrelevant because not one of those women were there the night Kavanaugh allegedly assaulted Ford.
There is nothing the GOP won’t do for their precious tax cuts, oligarch benefactors, and desire to subjugate women. I’ve had more than enough of this BS.
Robert Sneddon
I grew up in a household where we ate potatoes five days a week because they were cheap. The garden provided veggies, not exotic varieties or heirloom breeds but carrots, onions, leeks and more potatoes. I remember one year my Dad tried something different, growing peas but he only did that once. The only really exotic thing he grew regularly was beetroot.
My mother’s cooking was indifferent to terrible, my father was actually a little bit better cook than she was but he only prepared meals for us occasionally since he worked a lot of overtime — Sunday breakfast typically, if he wasn’t at the pit. Things like garlic, pasta, rice, spices, peppers, they were for rich people so I never grew up with umami and flavour and a taste for different kinds of olive oil (lard, on the other hand…)
The noodles recipe (if you can call it such) is a “throw it all in a pot and boil it into submission” dish like most of my food preparation. It takes me 45 minutes from opening the freezer door to my first forkful and that’s probably thirty minutes longer than anything else I “cook” (apart from boiled potatoes which take half an hour).
James E Powell
@germy:
Pretty much everybody in rock uses an unwound g string on electric guitars. Outside of jazz players & some country players, wound g’s are certainly not unheard of, but they are not typical. There are wound g partisans whose passion exceeds all reason. Don’t know who said it first, but the statement that 90% of tone is in the fingers turns out to be true.
normal liberal
@schrodingers_cat:
Thanks-I may have over complicated my Google hunt. We get mangosteens around here – there’s a large Indian community, and some of the supermarkets have taken to scouting the small South Asian grocers to see what will peel off their customers.
debbie
@germy:
Of course she did. And of course he did it.
I would like to know more about the 65 women who signed Grassley’s letter. I have my doubts. Of course.
debbie
@TaMara (HFG):
Thanks. It’s the end of the season here and they’re not as tasty, so this might be something to try.
germy
@debbie: Just elites circling the wagon. I doubt more than a few of them had more than a passing acquaintance with him, if even that.
SWMBO
We used to go to an Italian restaurant called the Way Marie. The owner was an old Italian guy from NY as I recall. He had a dish he called paella Italiana on the menu. It was Italian sausage, chicken, mushrooms, white wine, garlic and some seasonings that he served with a side of pasta. He died before I could get the recipe or figure out what he had done. If anyone has a good paella recipe that can be adapted to this, I will be your best friend for life. Seriously.
debbie
@germy:
Harrumph. If even they’re women. //
germy
@James E Powell: Pretty much everybody in rock uses an unwound g string on electric guitars.
germy
Someone on twitter said imagine how ridiculous it would be if he were accused of physically attacking a man, and 65 men signed a letter “well, he never physically attacked me”
John Revolta
@James E Powell: Stevie Ray played 13s, but he also tuned down a half step. i mean, he was human.
Ruckus
@debbie:
I commented last night on the 65 women.
John Revolta
@Ruckus: I’m putting together a list right now of all the banks I haven’t robbed. You know, just in case.
James E Powell
@germy:
Here’s another good article on Cochran and his influence. He is not as known or celebrated as he ought to be. Maybe it’s because nobody ever made a movie about him?
kattails
@Betty Cracker: You can leave the cloves in their skins and just roast them in a small frying pan until soft, it goes quicker and you don’t need to start up the oven.
I wandered into the thread after just picking a huge bunch of swiss chard, which will cook down to a handful; a couple of leeks, some basil, some lemon thyme, over half a pound of mixed beans which I got in really late but here they are! I have corn from the farm market, red peppers, chicken and leftover rice. I love growing leeks, they give you no trouble at all and you can dig them when the ground is frozen. And they’re expensive to buy. Same with shallots. There are also potatoes from the garden. Slice up the chicken, saute with olive oil and lemon, steam the rice. Beans, corn on the cob, leftover beans/corn off the cob & into chowder with the potatoes. New potatoes with butter one night, mashed with corn off the cob and some melted cheese for leftovers, it needs minimal seasoning because you just want those super fresh flavors.
Also have late peaches to brandy, throw the rest in the freezer. I already made peach, brown sugar, and rum jam. I love Helen Witty’s book Fancy Pantry, out of print but available. Have not done much canning for the last couple of years but miss having all those lovely jars on the shelf. I don’t bother with tomato sauce because there are good ones available in jars; I stick with stuff you just can’t buy. So I’m also planning on a burger relish (canned) and “Escoffier’s condiment of sweet peppers” (keeps in fridge for a few months). This is all of course completely insane and will knock a chunk out of the week. Better get to it. Happy eating kids!
Amir Khalid
@James E Powell:
Brian Setzer played him in the Richie Valens movie. Does that count?
Ruckus
@John Revolta:
Maybe we should all make a list of all the things we haven’t done, and the places and times we didn’t do it, just in case someone wants to accuse us of doing that.
What a lame fucking idiot this guy and all his “friends” are, supreme court justice? He’s too fucking lame to be in a help video about how to tie your shoes. And his friends are too lame to understand that video so it’s a wash.
catclub
@joel hanes:
so you can still steal it, …
but the people you are likely to steal it from have guns.
Duck is great.
catclub
@debbie:
I read a sort of comprehensive look at the future by GMO (Graham mayo Otterlink, I think) and they think that we might beat global carbon with solar and wind, but then all the other things also coming in the future will end up killing the world – the main other thing was depleted soil productivity – washing away topsoil. The depleted ocean is also on that list.
The relevant one to the large lobster is that all the fish in the sea that we catch are getting smaller. Also land animals.
Mary G
I made gingerbread this week, and used an online recipe and 2 tsp. ginger from Penzey’s Spices. It was really strong, and gingery, because the recipe’s author probably used supermarket ginger, and I didn’t think anyone in the house would like it and planned to freeze most of it in servings sizes for myself. Instead, everyone loved it and fought over it and I didn’t get to eat nearly as much as I would have expected. Have to make it again.
Juju
@Betty Cracker: Roasted garlic thickly spread on a whole, whatever size, Brie that has been baked just to melted inside the rind. Served with sliced French bread. One of my favorite quick appetizers.