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RSincere

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Everything posted by RSincere

  1. That's funny--in the restaurant where I used to be a waitress, we used an ice cream scoop to scoop a lovely portion of softened butter into a small dish; it went on every table with the bread basket. I was amazed at how many times I had to stop people (adults even) from just dipping their spoon into it and eating it; I don't know what they thought it was, but they didn't know it was butter!
  2. Thank you for this! I'm going to experiment today. Friday is grocery shopping day and I want to make room, also don't want to waste anything I already have. I think I'll look up gratin recipes so I get an idea of how much liquid to use, etc. So I can use, maybe, pureed canned tomatoes instead of or in addition to milk/cream?
  3. Soba mentioned this thread in another thread--thanks! I was just looking for it because I desperately need to use up some "stuff" in my fridge and I'm suffering from a failure of imagination. 7 oz. chorizo (ground, not precooked) already has been frozen/thawed, must use soon! 1 1/2 cups already-cooked plain basmati rice 1/2 cup paneer curry leaves 1 cup coconut milk one poblano pepper a couple jalapenos a couple serranos TONS of green bell peppers (given to us...and I don't like them raw at all) three leeks that need using a couple scallions shallots garlic OUT OF ONIONS! russet potatoes shredded Parmesan 2 yellow summer squash and a zucchini getting old I have tons of dried beans, 9 eggs, and also have meats such as stew beef, pork tenderloin, various ground chuck/round/sirloin/turkey, LOTS of chicken thigh/leg combos, four chicken breast halves, 20 oz. cooked ham. ALso have canned tomatoes, different pastas, and tons of rice, basic pantry stuff, and I'm a compulsive spice shopper so I have most anything herb/spicewise that I might need. I am imagining some kind of chili might be a good way to use up the chorizo/peppers...not too sure on amounts. There's a good Indian meal in there somewhere too. But these veggies were all purchased a week and a half ago, and I HATE throwing away food, so that's my main concern! Thanks for helping!
  4. Thanks for all the great tips! I mentioned in an above post that I was nervous about using curry leaves, as I was intrigued by their scent but not sure if I liked the scent... well, I wasn't going to decide against it until I tried it! And I did, and they were fine! Guess I like curry leaves! Thanks.
  5. You know, that worked. I told him, "I know we just had chicken breast yesterday, but I was going to make chicken curry today with some chicken thighs. Unless you want to eat out!" He just looked at me like I was nuts. The curry was marvelous, I might add. (Simple Chicken Curry from The Everything Indian Cookbook.)
  6. I wonder if the meatballs in glop were Swedish, or the ones in grape jelly? I could give you the recipe, if you wanted. My mom considers it her specialty. :-D Amen. I'm loving your blog, as I'm here in Wisconsin probably about 4 hours away from your house, and I'm recognizing so many things here. No "taco dip" on the table? No fruit pizza? What the heck? But the Miracle Whip comment, oooooooh, that burns. I mentioned elsewhere on this site that I sent homemade crab dip to work with my husband for a potluck, and none of the people he works with would eat it because it had mayonnaise instead of Miracle Whip. I mean, it wasn't even touched. He said that some kind of dip made with Velveeta or Cheez Whiz was the big hit of the night. Anyway, I also love how you explain how people have to eat in this area...right now, we're loading up on peaches, tomatoes, zucchini, and red peppers--I don't use red peppers any other time, because they cost twice as much. But I go through them like mad now when they're half the usual price, and green bell peppers at 39 cents apiece! When it's acutally fresh and good, we load up on it. We can have our fill of potatoes and apples in December.
  7. Small world! I grew up in New Ulm, lived there from 1978 to 1991. We lived on the college campus because my dad was a professor there. I haven't been back to visit since 1992, for the high school graduation of my former classmates.
  8. I'm replying to myself. :-) I made the simple Chicken Curry from Monica's book today and served it with Basmati rice. It was really, really good! My husband liked it as well. Also, I went back to the Indian grocer and asked for fresh curry leaves. She gave me a quart-sized baggie full for only 99 cents--this is more than I'd use in a month, I'm sure! Do they get slimy in the freezer after a while or do they last indefinitely in the freezer? Now my other question, which may sound silly. Do curry leaves taste like they smell? I know certain foods don't taste the same way they smell, like hing. I'm intrigued by the smell of the curry leaves, but I'm not quite sure if I like it yet, and some recipes call for 8 of them in one dish. Are they milder when cooked? Thanks.
  9. Thank you, Monica, Suman, and foodietraveler, for your responses. I put off my grocery shopping until tomorrow so I could see what I would need to buy. I already have cayenne pepper so that is good to know! I'm going to make the garam masala from Monica's book now that I have all the ingredients. I was just kind of sad, the owner of the Indian grocery store was so nice to me, and here he was selling me a spice mix that expired a year and a half ago. I'm not saying he did it on purpose, but like I said, the store was tiny and there wasn't so much in stock that he couldn't keep track of it. I take it that fresh curry leaves don't last "indefinitely" in the freezer; they eventually go black and slimy? Since I go shopping every 2 weeks, and they can last in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks, I will just purchase a 2-week supply every time. Suman, is the time between whistles on your pressure cooker the same every time? For instance, if the whistles come every 3 minutes more or less, I could convert the recipes that way. Thanks again,
  10. I have been wondering about Jasmine rice, myself. I cook rice as a side dish probably 5 days a week; I have Basmati, Jasmine, and Uncle Ben's. I usually do the same thing each time: bring 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock to a boil with a little butter and salt, add rice, stir, cover, turn heat to low, ignore for 20 minutes, turn off heat, ignore for at least another 5 minutes. My rice generally turns out just fine. But I have been thinking that I might switch to water for the Jasmine rice, because the stock I use is too strong or something and I can't taste the special rice. I wondered if maybe I was committing a faux pas and using stock with Jasmine rice isn't recommended. Oh, and I never rinse the Uncle Ben's or the Jasmine, because they look so clean. The Basmati rice I bought in a burlap bag, and it smells strongly of burlap and doesn't look very clean, so I rinse it for quite awhile and let it sit wet while I am bringing the broth to a boil.
  11. Oh, I wasn't clear. I meant that I found pressure cooker recipes in other places, not in your book. I can't wait to cook from your book though! Thanks for getting back to me.
  12. I am very inexperienced with cooking and eating Indian food; I grew up eating American midwest-style casseroles which almost always contained ground hamburger, a starch, and a can of Campbell's soup. I have never been to an Indian restaurant. That said, I received "The Everything Indian Cookbook" last week, and I finally have gathered enough ingredients so that I can try some of the recipes! I do have a few questions. First, if a recipe calls for "red chilis" or "red chili powder," I'm not sure what to use. I bought dried Sanaam chilis from Penzey's, because it said on the bag that they were Indian chilis. But for chili powder, I don't know what to use. I have cayenne pepper and ancho powder, but both of those seem Mexican to me. Do I grind up the Sanaam chilis to make "red chili powder"? Or is the cayenne okay to use? Are curry leaves dried like bay leaves? I haven't seen them anywhere. If fresh, how long would they last in my refrigerator? I did find an Indian grocer about an hour away from me, but I bought a can of garam masala from him without looking at the expiration date, and when I got home I saw that it had expired back in April 2003. So I'm not sure if I want to go back there. I was very disappointed with that experience; he has a very small store and not very much stock so it shouldn't have been that hard for him to keep track of his stock. About chutneys and relishes, this is probably a silly question, but I'm not sure exactly what to do with them. I know you serve them alongside your main dishes, but do you just eat them plain, or mix them into the dish, or put them on top of your main dish? I have found Indian recipes that involve a pressure cooker. These recipes often say "cook to four whistles" or "cook for one whistle." I have a jiggle-top pressure cooker that does not whistle. Is there some kind of conversion that I can make; i.e. four whistles = 8 minutes under pressure? When I read cookbooks of foods that are familiar to me, I can imagine just how the food will taste just by reading the recipe. When reading an Indian recipe, I can't imagine how it will taste--it's fun but a little scary! Thanks for your time.
  13. I was training a hostess in at one of the nicer restaurants in our town. We had quite a group of people milling about waiting for their table. She decided to regale us with her personal childbirth story, complete with details about how she gets off on pain so she was...um..."personally" enjoying the labor and pushing, etc. I was mortified, but as a sheltered 18-year-old wasn't sure how to shut her up. However, she was fired at the end of the shift.
  14. Now I did it! I have a big chest freezer in the garage where I keep my meat. I am only 4'11" so I can't reach to the bottom of the freezer. So I keep the meat in plastic bags with the handles up so I can reach them and pull out what I need. Yesterday I had to go digging in the freezer to get out the ground turkey breast. I pulled out a bunch of bags. Yeah, you guessed it, tonight I went out there and realized I left a bag out in the hot garage. Was it the soup bones? No. Was it the bag with only 8 chicken drumsticks? NO. FOUR pounds of ground chuck (bought fresh at full price), 3 3/4 pounds of round steak (reduced), 2 pounds of veal shoulder (reduced). Twenty bucks worth of meat. Now not only are we going to be eating chicken until kingdom come, but my husband doesn't even like chicken, so I serve beef in between to make him happy--so he's going to be crabby for the next couple weeks. Grrrrrrrr. I am so upset about this I'm going to bed early!
  15. If I had no choice but to spend it on kitchen stuff, no guilt about not spending it on groceries? How much time you got? In no particular order food processor stand mixer immersible blender cooling rack where the wires go both ways to make squares (like Alton Brown's) 8 x 8 pan 10-inch skillet with straight sides 3 quart saucepan stockpot roasting pan with rack TOAST AND SERVE! Toaster to go with the Toast-n-serve! Toaster oven that also broils Oxo vegetable peeler (b/c my 7-year-old son was all excited about helping me peel potatoes and he just couldn't get my persnickety one to work--he spent a half-hour on one potato before giving up in tears, broke my heart) New BIG cutting boards! A chef's knife, paring knife, and serrated bread knife! baking half-sheets full set of baking pans big pot with colander-type insert for pasta metal colander mesh strainer basket with handles that stretch to fit the sink flour sifter small mesh strainer cheesecloth can opener sharpening steel set of wooden spoons spring-loaded tongs a couple more heat-resistant spatulas (I already have one and it's great) 13-inch spatter screen a grill See, I don't ask for much! I'd better stop now before I think of more stuff.
  16. I did Atkins for 9 months, was in ketosis the whole time, kept under 23 carbs daily, and lost a total of two pounds. However, believe it or not, that's awesome for me, because I am on several heavy-duty meds that cause weight gain. So just stopping the gain is a huge benefit to me. Anyway, on those days I just couldn't cook, I loved the frozen boxed TGIF buffalo wings. They are supposedly appetizers, but you can eat the whole box for a meal and it's 300 calories and 3 grams carbs. Add some greens and dressing and it's a great light meal. Definitely one of my staples!
  17. I like the idea of going to the grocery store with the sale flyer and making a meal out of that. Very useful for your average home cook who may be cooking the same 10 things but may also be too intimidated to try anything tooooo exotic. At the same time you could maybe sneak one new item or technique into each meal. When I am in a goofy mood and I'm cooking, I give a running commentary. My husband calls my show "Cooking with Pottymouth."
  18. RSincere

    Dinner! 2004

    Wow, Susan! I just dusted some chicken thighs with bread crumbs and "Ozark Seasoning" (Penzeys) and pan-fried them, then made a milk gravy out of the drippings. Homemade mashed potatoes on the side.
  19. Another non-S. Asian chiming in here. I love what you said. This is how it is happening with me. I was raised on a very American midwestern, bland, diet. My mom wouldn't cook any food with fresh onions or garlic in it! I was afraid to try curry powder until I came across a recipe in a Mark Bittman book. I'm sure the recipe isn't authentic in the least, it was chicken with onions and coconut milk and tomatoes and curry powder. But I loved it! It was my first time using coconut milk too. So now I have decided to try to learn some Indian dishes on my own, because I am bored with the same old thing. I'm ordering The Everything Indian Cookbook based on reviews from Amazon.com. To me it sounds like a good starter book to get my feet wet--the reviews say that the ingredients are easy to find and the recipes aren't too complicated. If I didn't get an Americanized cookbook to start, I'd be afraid there would be too many ingredients that were unfamiliar that I couldn't find, and the cooking processes might be too difficult to understand, and I wouldn't know how to put a meal together. I personally need to learn things in baby steps, or I become too intimidated and give up altogether. Now, I wish I had an Indian friend who could teach me! Maybe after becoming very comfortable with Monica's book, I will branch out a little bit.
  20. I also tend to read several books at once. I usually have cookbooks next to my chair in the living room--which I do read, start to finish--and then regular chapter books next to my bed. I almost always read nonfiction. Right now my haul from the library contains several pressure cooker cookbooks, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," "Cookwise," the Fannie Farmer baking book, Alton Brown's "Gear for your Kitchen," and then my nighttime reading is "With These Hands: the hidden world of migrant farmworkers today."
  21. RSincere

    Dinner! 2004

    Still had veal shoulder in the freezer. I used the pressure cooker again tonight and we had a delicious veal ragout with dilled carrots, over rice. It was wonderful!
  22. RSincere

    Hominy?!

    I made pork and hominy stew in the pressure cooker using a recipe from Lorna Sass' book "Pressure Perfect." Ingredients were hominy, onion, red bell pepper, jalapeno, zucchini, pork, chicken broth, tomato paste, cumin seed, oregano, sage, cilantro. I might have forgotten something. It was very good. lmarshal, if you want the recipe, I will PM it to you. It was the first time I put a jalapeno in anything, so I removed all the ribs and seeds because I thought it might be too hot. Then I was disappointed that there was absolutely no spicy heat in the stew. Next time I will leave the ribs, at least. Or maybe I will use a chipotle instead and add some of the adobo sauce from the can. It was also my first time using a pressure cooker, and although there was a point where I panicked thinking I had done it wrong and it was about to blow, dinner and cook escaped unharmed.
  23. RSincere

    Dinner! 2004

    I decided to be brave and try out the pressure cooker (Presto jiggle-top). I made Southwestern Pork and Hominy Stew. I thought it was very tasty but not spicy enough!
  24. Thank you for your blog, especially for all the pictures. They were handy, since I didn't know what you were talking about 95% of the time! (It's that damn exotic Tuna Mornay that did me in!)
  25. RSincere

    Dinner! 2004

    How did it turn out? What was the baste? It was great, thanks for asking! I used this recipe: http://chicken.allrecipes.com/az/ChcknBrstsHrbBstngSce.asp But I changed it. I forgot to add the hot pepper sauce (I always forget something) and since I wanted to roast the potatoes and mushrooms alongside, I added 1/4 cup butter to the basting sauce so that I would have enough for everything. And because I tend to be a little naughty with the butter. I also only cooked 2 chicken breasts. I have been working on seasoning my cast iron skillet so I put the chicken in there and surrounded it with the 2 potatoes and pound of mushrooms. TONIGHT I made a really weird recipe. I used "Cookin' with Google" and typed in ground beef and green pepper and came up with Asian Ground Beef and Pepper Saute. It tasted like a slightly more exotic version of my mom's "American Chop Suey." I was rather proud of myself as I used Thai Red Curry Paste for the first time; I had been afraid to try it. It was good and not too hot for me!
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