onrushpam

I just saw this on Epicurious and thought of this thread. Chickpea Stew Easy to make a veg version.

StanSherman's post just got me thinking about my college days, when I was probably the only one amongst my theatre major buddies who actually knew how to cook (a little bit)... My mom once sent me home with a ham bone and a couple of cabbages out of her garden. I made a HUGE pot of soup with ham bone stock, whatever frozen veg was on sale at the market, a can of V8 and chopped cabbage. I also made biscuits or cornbread. I think that meal fed at least 25. After that, it became a bit of a ritual... Pam's makin' soup, everybody gather round! I only had 4-6 bowls... so, it was BYOBowl or wait until somebody else finishes and we can rinse out the bowl for the next person! Somebody usually brought "brownies" for afters... Then, we needed more soup! It was the 70s... just sayin'

If they aren't soft/squishy, they should be fine!

Oh, I meant to add about the fried rice... I've found it works better to do the mushrooms first, then add the already cooked protein, then the eggs and just cook briefly, so you get a softish mix of the protein and eggs. Dump that on a plate. Then do whatever other veg (minus the peas) and dump those on the plate. Then do the rice and add the other stuff back in, along with the frozen peas. You really just want the peas to get warm. I usually also add more scallions at the end, because I'm addicted to them and like some not cooked much. You can really play around with this and do lots of variations. You could even switch it up to non-Chinese flavors, depending on what you have available.

Chinese restaurant style fried rice This is my go-to method for fried rice. It says this serves 2-4, but I make a half recipe and it easily makes 4 main dish servings. So, you could probably feed 6-8 with just one "batch". I always throw in some mushrooms, sliced scallions or onion, frozen peas, and whatever protein I have on hand (usually left over pork or chicken thighs). I've also added cabbage and that was really good. I usually also add some oyster sauce. You can make the "omelet" part ahead, as well as the rice. And, it holds well, even after it's all finished.

Here's a recipe I came up with for a cooking contest fundraising event (and it won). All recipes had to be based on sweet potatoes. You could just use water instead of the stock, to make it vegetarian. Also, I think peanuts would work in place of almonds, or even just leave them out. You could also use a curry powder blend, instead of all the individual spices, if it's more easily acquired. I don't know how you could make it lactose-free, though. Roasted Sweet Potato Curry 1 1/2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1-inch cubes 1 medium yellow onion, peeled & quartered 1 1/2 T olive oil 1 clove garlic, peeled & crushed 1/4 t ground cloves 1/4 t ground cinnamon 1/2 t ground cardamon 1/2 t black pepper 1/2 t ground ginger 1 c chicken stock 1 1/2 t garam marsala 1 t chili powder 1 1/2 t ground coriander 1/4 t cayenne pepper 1/2 t cumin 1/2 c whole milk yogurt 1/4 c ground almonds 2 T salted butter 2 T heavy cream Preheat oven to 400 F. Place the squash, onion & garlic in a small roasting pan. Pour in the olive oil & stir to coat. Add the cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, pepper & ginger. Stir until all the vegetables are coated well. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the squash is tender but not smooshy. (You can do this step ahead of time & refrigerate until ready to use.) Put the chicken stock into a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garam marsala, chili powder, coriander, cayenne & cumin. Whisk in the yogurt. Add the almonds, butter & heavy cream. Once the butter has melted add the squash, onions & chicken if using. Bring to a simmer & let cook uncovered for about 15 minutes. Serve over rice 4 (generous) servings

Do you have to do a vegan option, or just vegetarian? I have a couple of ideas that could work, but not if you must do a vegan version.

Sheepish, as one who enjoys coursing my dogs on hare, I'm curious about yours... Is it wild hare or farmed? (I know hare are notoriously difficult to farm, yet turn into pests left to their own devices on farms where they are unwanted!) I've only eaten hare two ways... just the little back strap marinated and then grilled, sliced and served as an appetizer, and chopped up with other game (partridge and venison) in a game pie. Edited to say, the few hare the dogs ever catch usually go into a pot, bones and all, to cook for a long time and then are fed to the dogs that made the catch.

If you have a Beef O'Brady's near you, they have a pretty decent Reuben. It's corned beef, not pastrami. It is grilled, on rye, with 1000 island, kraut and Swiss. They don't grill the kraut before assembling the sandwich, but probably would if you asked.

We just replaced our 30" double ovens and it was quite the challenge! The dead ones were top-of-the-line of the GE brand... convection and all the bells/whistles. They were 15 years old and we'd had trouble with them from the get-go. I wanted just basic ovens, but with self-clean on both (if possible). Other than that, I didn't care if I had convection again (loved it, but could live without). Budget was MUCH more a priority this time around. The problem we hit was finding ovens that would fit our existing cut-out and not require remodeling of the cabinets, and did not cost $3k+. It took me six months to find them! We wound up going with GE again, because we really had no choice. The ones we got were internet-only at several places. But, our local Home Depot had them in the warehouse. Second problem was, none of the big-box stores that sold these ovens would install them. So, we had to find a handy-man to help DH do it. It wasn't hard, but did require some fiddling, as they had to take the old ones out and have them ready for haul-off, then be ready to install the new ones once they were delivered. Granted, we live in the BOONIES and our options are limited. But, I searched every website for every brand. Oh, and do download the .PDF installation guides to check dimensions. I found several of the websites to be inaccurate, including for the ones we bought. I would've passed them by, had I not looked at the .PDF and realized the website dimensions were wrong. After all that, we're quite happy with our ovens, so far. I've done a lot of baking and roasting over the holidays and everything has come out great. The temps are reliable. I don't really like the way the digital controls are setup, but can live with them, I think.

10 bags of Jayme's caramel corn were delivered to the workmates today. It's always fun to see the faces of the "oldsters" who know what's in those bags. I use the holiday themed paper lunch bags, so they each get more than a quart of corn. The comments from newbies are always fun. My new boss said, "Wow! That stuff is really good and I've never had anything like it... buttery, salty, sweet!" Another of the newbies said, "Thanks so much! This stuff is addicting!" Starting more now, so the hubster can take it to his workmates on Monday.

Well, the first big batch of caramel corn is done and successful for us, but maybe not for others... I used Jaymes recipe. But, I was "short" on Karo syrup. So, I used what I had and made up the difference with Lyle's Golden Syrup. It wasn't much, maybe a tablespoon more of Lyle's to make up the half-cup of corn syrup and then another 2 T of Lyle's in place of the molasses. I think it's really good! But, it's a little more "crystallized" than usual. It is very crunchy and DH thinks it is GREAT! Gotta go buy more supplies to do another batch tomorrow night. I have a big old speckle-ware turkey roaster that is the perfect size vessel for one batch of this recipe. I don't use it for turkey, only for caramel corn and Chex mix?

Jaymes, I'm about to embark on the first of several "makings" of your caramel corn. Thanks to you, I now get yearly requests for the stuff! I use Lyle's Golden Syrup, in place of molasses or maple syrup, simply because I love Lyle's! I have a question... I'm willing to experiment, but would rather have the widsom of more experienced caramel corn makers... Do you think I could substitute 100% Lyle's Golden Syrup for both the molasses/maple AND the corn syrup? I make a really killer caramel sauce that is only butter, brown sugar, Lyle's and cream. But, I fear using only Lyle's on the caramel corn might make it too sticky? I may just try a small batch tonight or tomorrow and see how it goes, but would prefer not to waste the pricey Lyle's syrup, if I am doomed to failure. Pam

When we redid our kitchen 15 years ago, I shoulda fired the cabinet guy in the design stage. I got the proposed drawings and quickly figured out he had WAY more cabinets in the design than would actually fit in the space! He redid that part and it turned out okay. I love my big, deep drawers on both sides of the cook-top. They hold a LOT of pots/pans, etc. The design also showed double wall ovens with a microwave above them. Well, that might work for the Jolly Green Giant, but I'm barely 5'3", 110 lbs and no spring chicken! I couldn't have even seen into the microwave and the lower oven would've been on the floor! I made him redo that part and move the microwave to a different place. Fine. Got what I wanted. NOT! When the cabinets arrived, we had the double-oven +microwave from his original design. I made him redo it. So, now I have this weird little "slot" with a pull-down door above my ovens. It's kinda strange, but works great to hold my broiler pan and baking stones! I won't even mention the mess he made of the bathroom we added on at the same time as the kitchen redo. What a MESS!

I made that cake roll last year. Hadn't made it in years. Everybody loved it. But, my most favorite T'giving dessert of recent years is the Pumpkin Sticky Pudding with Caramel Sauce from Epicurious. Easy and so good! I just made a big batch of the caramel sauce yesterday, just because we like it on lots of things. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/PUMPKIN-STICKY-PUDDING-1246680 I usually just make a half recipe of the pudding and a whole of the sauce. The sauce keeps a long time in the fridge. Oh, and I usually sprinkle toasted pecans over each serving.

I will try never again to slosh water out of a pot into a cast iron skillet heating up to sear meat. I had a momentary thought... "Geez! I hope that doesn't catch fire!" WHOOSH! FLAME ON! Thankfully, I had another empty skillet near to hand, which quickly smothered the 3 foot high flame. No permanent damage done and DH proclaimed my dinner of Varkenshaas (skillet) and Brussels sprouts (pot) to be one of best efforts of late!

Oh, meant to say I love the Brick Store Pub! I've had their pimento cheese. I think it was added to a BLT or something. It was pretty decent, but I love pimento cheese! Theirs isn't as good as what they used to have at Watershed. Don't know if Watershed still does it. I SO want to go to Miller Union. Your post just jump-started me into making that happen on our next trip to Hotlanta.

A co-worker does the most awesome boiled peanuts. She gets these ginormous peanuts from a farmer in Chipley, FL, boils and freezes as described above. She uses lots of salt and I think a bag of crab boil, which gives them a little "kick". Our annual department party (Octobeerfest) is this week. Our IT department does brats and beer for the whole organization and a lot of guests. Her peanuts have been a tradition. But, we have a new co-worker who is deathly allergic, so we'll get no peanuts this year. (We try to do only finger food, so we don't need cutlery. We were afraid to do the peanuts with everybody eating them, then picking up buns, getting beer from the kegs, etc. )

Hereis a blog with step-by-step instructions for one that turned out pretty well. It doesn't have a cake base, however.

I've done brisket in the oven many, many times. Liquid Smoke works. The president of the college where I worked many years ago was a born-and-bred true Texas woman. She gave me this formula: 2T Liquid Smoke 2 t granulated garlic 1 t onion powder 2 t pepper 2 t celery salt 2 t Worcestershire sauce Mix into a paste and rub on brisket Wrap in foil and refrigerate overnight Bake 6 hours @ 225 degrees Cool and slice If desired, drizzle with your favorite BBQ sauce, rewrap and bake 1 hour @ 250 degrees. I honestly don't like BBQ sauce on it. So,I just rewarm in its own juices. And, I usually open up the foil so I get a bit of crispier parts on the outside. This is for a smallish piece of brisket, not a whole one. You'd need to adjust for a whole huge one. And, you may need to trim some of the fat. This isn't designed for one with the whole fat left on. We don't get the whole real deal in our groceries.

I despise Rootbeer! (I had the real deal German measles as a child and one of the meds was a vile rootbeer flavored thing... Can't stand the smell of it, never mind taking a sip!) But, I love a Coke float! Best made with real Coke (the Mexican stuff, made w/o HFCS) and good chocolate ice cream (Blue Bell is my fave). Y'all have me craving now... Coke and chocolate ice cream just went on the weekend shop list!

This Marcella recipe is one of my favorites. So easy. So good. It sounds boring, but is much the sum is much more than the parts. I use thyme because I'm not a rosemary fan. Good squeeze of lemon before tucking in.

It is apparently a bang-up year for giant green FL avocadoes... They are everywhere and cheap! Boxes and boxes of them at the farmers' market this morning. More boxes of them at our little local grocery this afternoon. The ones I bought last week were okay... not as good as Haas, but acceptable. They were realtively creamy, no strings and only slightly watery. Not as buttery as the Haas nor as flavorful. (I bought some of each on the same day and compared.) I do think I figured out one key to these. I bought two. One was markedly larger than the other. The smaller one was much better, less watery, more flavorful than the larger one. So, if you're going to buy these, pick the smallest ones.

Earlier this week I went to a fun demo by Kevin Gillespie. For the first course, he made cornmeal pancakes, smeared with bacon/basil mayonnaise, topped with sliced tomatoes and garnished with basil leaves. I wanted to lick the plate! I'll be making this one for DH in the near future.

I added a clop of Mexican crema to the guac I made the other night. I have one of the monsters left, which I will probably slice and put on sandwiches tonight. Or, I might try mixing it into another batch of guac with the one Haas I also need to use.