Take that, you beans! (notes on recent forays into cooking)
Last weekend I made my first ever 5-bean salad. One can tri-bean mix (black, pinto, and kidney beans) & 2/3 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained, plus a handful or two of green beans (trimmed, cut into 1" long pieces, nuked for 3-4 minutes with the tiniest bit of water to make steam). My vinaigrette: olive oil, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, black pepper, fines herbes, whisked together. My initial version of the dressing tasted too sour to me, too mustardy, so I buffered it with more oil before adding it to the beans, and then let the whole mixture marinate for a couple hours. Adding more oil was a mistake - I was not taking into account how much flavor beans can absorb. Next time I'll know to leave the dressing to strong (for my palate) when tasted by itself. I may not like it, but the beans can take it!
As for the other dishes on the to-do list I posted earlier this week:
Red beans & rice - I made the red beans, but I never made the rice. Not being able to use chili peppers was very limiting in a dish that's supposed to be spicy. I used onion, black pepper, and crushed cloves, plus bay, allspice, etc. This gave me good flavour (I'm glad I thought of the clove). Unfortunately in the attempt to spice up the beans I added garlic and proved to myself, yet again, that garlic does not like me. So the last bit of the red beans are sitting in my fridge, uneaten, because they hurt my stomach. Which is why I never made the rice. :/
Baked tofu - I marinated the tofu using a bottled teriyaki sauce, modified with sesame oil, sesame seeds, rice vinegar, and grated ginger. (Note to self: whole sesame seeds don't work. Try grinding them into tahini to use instead. And add way more ginger.) I'm not impressed by the flavor of this batch but it came out ok. The texture would have been better if I had cooked the tofu within 12 hours of marinating it. Instead it sat in the fridge for a few days before baking. And I was reminded of why I don't make it very often - between the pressing and draining, the marinating, and the low & slow baking, it's a lot of time for not much food. Not much effort, but a lot of time.
On Wednesday I bought canning jars and other canning supplies. Yay! No pickles have yet been made but I hope to change that soon. I've got a book from the library called Preserving by the Pint: Quick Seasonal Canning for Small Spaces. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the recipes. The author is very clear about the process, and the fact that they are tiny batches (a pint's worth, in most cases) makes me much more comfortable about attempting canning, which I've never done solo before.
Chicken and rice - This wasn't on the list but it was a needed goodness. Thursday was a horrible day and I wanted comfort food. I was feeling sorry for myself because so many of my historical comfort foods are no longer available to me, but then I thought of chicken and rice.
I had a general idea of how I was going to cook it, and the internet said I was thinking the right direction. Brown chicken in a big skillet with oil, salt, and pepper. Remove chicken from pan. Saute onions in the chicken fat. Add the rice (I used 1.5 cups brown rice), and saute until loses that "dusty" smell and is coated with oil and a tiny bit golden. Add back the chicken, some dried shiitake mushrooms, some seasoning. Add 4 cups of liquid (I used 3 cups water and 1 cup red wine), cover, and cook on low for about 40 minutes. Check it at 30 minutes and add more liquid if needed. You're trying to get the rice properly cooked and the chicken falling off the bone. At the very end I added a cup of peas and 2 finely sliced scallions, and I served it with some grated romano cheese on top. Tasty stuff.
So I'm 5 days in to the to-do list I posted earlier this week, and I've done 2 of the dishes I planned, plus one I didn't plan. I still have carrots and cabbage that need to be used, and basil that is close to bolting. This means carrot soup, coleslaw &/or sauteed cabbage, and a basil pesto. The big vat o' bean stew gets bumped for now, because my hands are not up to making it.
What have you been cooking lately? What are you hoping to make soon?
As for the other dishes on the to-do list I posted earlier this week:
Red beans & rice - I made the red beans, but I never made the rice. Not being able to use chili peppers was very limiting in a dish that's supposed to be spicy. I used onion, black pepper, and crushed cloves, plus bay, allspice, etc. This gave me good flavour (I'm glad I thought of the clove). Unfortunately in the attempt to spice up the beans I added garlic and proved to myself, yet again, that garlic does not like me. So the last bit of the red beans are sitting in my fridge, uneaten, because they hurt my stomach. Which is why I never made the rice. :/
Baked tofu - I marinated the tofu using a bottled teriyaki sauce, modified with sesame oil, sesame seeds, rice vinegar, and grated ginger. (Note to self: whole sesame seeds don't work. Try grinding them into tahini to use instead. And add way more ginger.) I'm not impressed by the flavor of this batch but it came out ok. The texture would have been better if I had cooked the tofu within 12 hours of marinating it. Instead it sat in the fridge for a few days before baking. And I was reminded of why I don't make it very often - between the pressing and draining, the marinating, and the low & slow baking, it's a lot of time for not much food. Not much effort, but a lot of time.
On Wednesday I bought canning jars and other canning supplies. Yay! No pickles have yet been made but I hope to change that soon. I've got a book from the library called Preserving by the Pint: Quick Seasonal Canning for Small Spaces. I'm really looking forward to trying some of the recipes. The author is very clear about the process, and the fact that they are tiny batches (a pint's worth, in most cases) makes me much more comfortable about attempting canning, which I've never done solo before.
Chicken and rice - This wasn't on the list but it was a needed goodness. Thursday was a horrible day and I wanted comfort food. I was feeling sorry for myself because so many of my historical comfort foods are no longer available to me, but then I thought of chicken and rice.
I had a general idea of how I was going to cook it, and the internet said I was thinking the right direction. Brown chicken in a big skillet with oil, salt, and pepper. Remove chicken from pan. Saute onions in the chicken fat. Add the rice (I used 1.5 cups brown rice), and saute until loses that "dusty" smell and is coated with oil and a tiny bit golden. Add back the chicken, some dried shiitake mushrooms, some seasoning. Add 4 cups of liquid (I used 3 cups water and 1 cup red wine), cover, and cook on low for about 40 minutes. Check it at 30 minutes and add more liquid if needed. You're trying to get the rice properly cooked and the chicken falling off the bone. At the very end I added a cup of peas and 2 finely sliced scallions, and I served it with some grated romano cheese on top. Tasty stuff.
So I'm 5 days in to the to-do list I posted earlier this week, and I've done 2 of the dishes I planned, plus one I didn't plan. I still have carrots and cabbage that need to be used, and basil that is close to bolting. This means carrot soup, coleslaw &/or sauteed cabbage, and a basil pesto. The big vat o' bean stew gets bumped for now, because my hands are not up to making it.
What have you been cooking lately? What are you hoping to make soon?