Please consider this a free post to talk about cooking that you’ve done recently!
I hope no followers of Shining Path will wander in this thread.
After months (years maybe?) of hemming and hawing, I finally found a recipe, bought the ingredients, and made a szechuan chili oil this weekend. It is so delicious! I’ve been putting it on everything (eggs, popcorn, beans and rice, etc.) and it’s a party in my mouth.
Szechuan flavors are rad! That red pepper is a really interesting flavor to me!
Yeah! The numbing peppercorns combined with the spicy chiles is so good.
My wife and I have been sort-of doing stardew valley in real life. We have chickens, we have planted a 30ft by 40ft garden and have been eating from that garden a lot. And my wife has leaned into it 200% and has made homemade pickles, various canned vegetables, we’ve both been baking with the eggs we have, and it’s been a lot of fun. In addition to that, we both have been feeling better mentally and physically, and we have lost enough weight that we’ve gone down a couple of clothes sizes.
Oh wow, that’s really the dream! I’m really happy for you that you’re making it work. Homegrown food is the best! :)
This evening I cooked some chicken with some veggies and rice. I tried making it taste close to chinese/asian and after tasting I think I achieved that. Using seasoning that I had at hand and letting them fry in watered down japanese kikkoman soysace with a teaspoon of sugar added did the trick. I’ve also made some New York style oven cheesecake a few times now.
I made my own hot sauce by collecting vinegar from jars of jalapenos and then blending it with finely powdered nooch, onion, garlic, more chilis, and MSG. Then I boil it together and pour it into the empty jars, and as the mixture cools it also reseals the jar so it’s shelf stable.
I’m getting pretty good at cooking steak. My partner prefers mine to what we get at fancy restaurants.
My technique is pretty simple. Just let them warm to room temperature out of any packaging, then rub plenty of olive oil and some salt/pepper/garlic into the meat. Fry for about one minute each side over extremely high heat to sear (cast iron strongly recommended, as it’s oven safe and holds heat well). Then move the frying pan to the oven until steaks are just under target temperature (about 2 minutes). Rest for 10 minutes, then enjoy.
Last weekend I attempted to vegan-ify my long-standing family favorite potato soup recipe and it wasn’t horrible. Not nearly as good as my chili recipe. It still needs to tuning so that gives me an excuse to make it more often.
Neat! How’d you adjust it?
The big changes were using almond milk and veggie broth for the base. I was in the fence on if I should use oat or almond but went with almond for a more neutral flavor because the oat I have right now is very oaty tasting.
I also used a mirepoix instead of just onion. I was gonna add soy “meat” crumbles to it but forgot.
The one big change I wanna try and tackle is that my original recipe called for half a lb of shredded cheese melted I to the soup before serving and that added a lot of savory and depth. I’m trying to figure out how to do that. Nooch isn’t really gonna do it. I’m not sure what to do for that honestly.
I was curious on how you’d replace the milk, I’m glad almond milk worked out!
Mirepoix is a good idea too.
I know it’s not cheese, but what do you think of something like coconut cream? Not sure how the flavor would work, but it might address the fatty element the cheese provides.
Good luck with it, it sounds like fun to experiment with!
So a note on the milk: I did add flour when I added the milk to the broth, then simmered for like 1.5 hours. In the beforetimes, I would add the milk/flour slurry to the soup a few mins before serving and let it thicken.
I love me some coconut milk/cream but I’m looking for something funky and umami. I do have some “vegan” fish sauce(that’s basically pineapple/soy) that might help bring out a bit more savory. I’m also considering doing like carmelized onion/mushroom as a topping that might help. Worst case scenario, Vialife shreds are really good, but a bit expensive for just dumping into a soup. Might work if not add a bit of that vegan cheese plastic taste :/
That makes sense with the flour! I usually simmer flour when I add it as a thickener (or even add it early like a roux). If I’m using corn starch I do it right before serving. I’m not sure if it makes a difference!
There’s always miso or crumbled tempeh if you’re looking for funk! It sounds like you’ve got some great ideas to experiment with!
I have a whole package of miso I can try. I’d have to cut back the salt elsewhere though. Gonna keep that in mind!
I made a pretty solid raengmyon last night, one of my favourite things to eat in the summer (I know it is technically a winter dish, but I like it in the summer)
Over the weekend I made macarons, I love to bake but I actually hate eating sweets. My girlfriend, fortunately, enjoys them.
I’ve been leaning on the crockpot a lot recently, now that it’s so expensive to cool the house.
I’m pretty proud of the pot roast I’ve been turning out recently - the initial sear, some wine to deglaze, and lots of extra time help!
I made Japanese curry (store bought mix) and just cooked it with chicken, potatoes and carrots! Shoutout to people who make that stuff from scratch :')
Oh rad! Those box mix curries are really great!
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bacon and eggs 💀 at least I didn’t burn any of it.
Fuck yeah, dawg. As long as it nourishes you, and you’re happy with it, that’s all that matters! :)
