Raamo

So this is from Page 379 of 1000 Indian recipes I've linked before. I've never made this before, but I will again, oh I will again! Chickpeas in Traditional Curry Sauce. We used a can, because I decided to make this 2 hours before, and we don't have dry chickpeas on hand. So it's 1/4 the recipe... But I used way more tomato - likely 3x then required because it was an entire canned jar. Also I used way more yogurt since I was trying to finish up a already opened container. Oh and she says this is soupy cuz you add a lot of water, I was like nope - no extra water - cook the tomatoes down a lot but not totally dry. I've done that to a ton of her recipes - add far less water then she calls for cuz that's how I like it. BTW isn't this color awesome? But with those changes... this was AMAZING. It's got paprika, cumin, garama marsala, turmeric, lime juice and much more. It had heat, acid, and complexity of flavor. It's in the top 5 recipes easily of all the ones I've made from this book. There was some left in the bowl after we ate all the rice (I added more then you see here while I had rice) I ate all that w/o any rice.

Ratatouille crapes! Made this a few times over the years and modified the recipe to my liking. Went from it's ok - more for my wife to this time - dang I really like this. Tomatoes are roasted - not pureed. Also I cut everything small and roasted like that.

Good old Fish and Chips - recipe out of ATK Don't do this often cuz it's quite fatty

Goat Cheese & Date Tart with Caramelized Onions and Thyme from The New Mediterranean Table. We made this with guests this weekend, it's again very much a restaurant level dish - you can do so much ahead and it goes together quickly at service time. The salad is larger then the "pictured" size in the cook book, we used up what we could with this meal

This was actually dinner earlier in the week. Made a full one for friends but didn't use all of it. So this is Chicken Bastela for 2. Here's what it looks like from the side It's from The New Mediterranean Table.

It's a multi step recipe. I used to order at the authors restaurant. Inside the book is 2 version of ras el hanout - a easy version and the restaurant version - I made the "hard core" version and it's amazing! So the kefka is ground duck with ras el hanout, onions, other spices, panko, and an egg. The sauce is tomatoes, onions, and harissa: I use AB's version. You finish it with chickpeas + sauce + kefka then once they all hot add egg yolks, preserved lemon, and cilantro. The Ras El hanout, Harrisa, and Preserved Lemon really make the dish for me. The cook book is only $12 right now (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) it's got a lot of neat recipes. We enjoyed the slow cooked green beans at the restaurant, and have made it at home our selves. He's got a recipe for chicken bastilla in the cookbook that I plan to make next weekend for guests. Uses the Ras el Hanout as well as the Preserved Lemon. I've made it before and it's the best meat pie I've ever had. We're down to the final 1/4 or so of preserved lemon in our fridge - so I started a new Jar - it'll be "ready" in a few months - Alton says you can use it after 30 days, but it's much better after 6 months or more. Our current stock is a few years old. Here's the new lemons and salt compared to the years old lemons and salt. You usually only use the rind - it's super soft and the flavor is amazing!

Tonight it's Duck Kefka Tagine from the cookbook pictured. it was cheap on Amazon so I got a hard copy (have it on nook since it came out)

We have enough pots and pans that that mostly fit in two drawers under our induction cook top. Something under 20 pots and pans. It's a Thermador unit that wasn't cheap. it's 10x better then any induction single portable burner. Has control from very little heat up to massive super fast for boiling water. I love it!

It's non-tomato based pasta this week (goes better with chardonnay IMO) So this is flavored chicken sausage with chili peppers, onion, chicken bouillon and sour cream. Not pictured is a glass of HDV Chardonnay Le Debut 2018

So 3rd day of Modernist Pizza New York, and this one was pretty spot on perfect:

Day 2 or 3 of Modernist Pizza - New York style, the one last night wasn't so picturesque so here's one with onions on both sides and sausage on mine that looks better:

Basic Chicken Curry is ANYTHING basic in this cookbook... This is from page 456 from 1000 Indian Recipes. I love this dish. Few changes. We bought a rotisserie chicken on Friday so we used already cooked meat. This means when I never added the chicken to a hot pot, I also did not add a cup of water. It was the reserved water from the canned tomatoes (we grow then and can them and they work fine in this dish, but you don't want the water in the pan with the tomatoes because that step requires boiling out all the moisture.) Instead one I added a bit more then just the water from the canned tomatoes to get the texture you see below. Once that was done I just poured the hot sauce (this is 1/6 or so - I made a full recipe and we used 1/3 for the two of us) over the chicken and that heated it up enough to work great. Every other time I have made this I have sous- vided the chicken. The texture of the rotisserie chicken is superior to even that IMO. Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic, Ginger with a bunch of spices including turmeric just make this awesome color. There is so much depth of flavor too!

I emailed asking this and the director of porkchops (mike) said soon! Like maybe this week.

So short story behind this dinner. I got covid from the person who cut my hair almost 2 weeks ago. That lead to us having to cancel two weekends (concerts with dinner out both times) including today. I've also been unable to drink wine due to being sick and then to being on antivirals which keep the liver busy enough that alcohol is a bad idea. Skip to today - I'm on the mend still - got a 2nd infection - and now on antibiotics - but they don't inhibit wine. Waygu Ribeye has gone up quit a bit in price - so this is a $32 steak.. But we've saved so much money from not eating out... I had mashed potatoes for lunch - so I decided to cube and fry these. So tasty. Not pictured is some Hawaii salt we picked up in Hawaii. Also not pictured other then the bottom of the glass is a 2012 HDV Cabernet Sauvignon. I have 6 bottles of this wine - had no plans to open any of them up yet but the last 2 weeks have been hell. I've not been this sick in over a decade. So I was like screw it - lets open a really good bottle of wine. (It's on the higher price for cab then I normally buy) It had more fruit then I'm used to in my aged cabs - worked REALLY well with the steak. Also I got to searzall the steak for the first time. So that's cool.

I received my searzall pro today. Used it on a wagyu steak.

28 days of traveling and I might get this by Monday.... so 30 days to get to me

Interessting I've got mail in past but not this time. I found the OG mail: Indiegogo contribution #449 receipt for Searzall Pro I found a tracking link on inidigogo after using a link from my email... it's in the USA and should be here soon.

I remember I backed this once in a while. I'm guessing this means soon I'll get a box

Wow a thread started over a decade ago. We cook often with fenugreek seeds! We also use fenugreek leaves!

It's a small unit that we rarely use so maybe. It's not that old though.

The microwave was on the far wall in the other room. The probe was on the the counter opposite the oven. Oven is a built in on the wall between the two rooms: Wall Wall Exterior Wall |Probe Oven| dining room Microwave|

I've used the probe 3 times now. I made meatballs and cooked them at 200-300F with the probe in (so good sized meatballs) It works quite well - the center of the meatball was not where the point was and it had no issues. It seems when the microwave was running it disrupted the signal between the probe and the station.

Tonight was Grilled Bell Pepper Fried Rice, from the India cookbook I've mentioned a lot. We modified the recipe a little, instead of getting golden onions and leaving them in - I carnalized them and removed them so I'd have a crunchy element. We won't do this again since I don't like the taste of roasted red pepper with rice and spices.. it was too weird for me, but some may really like this.

Tonight was a what do we have around... I still have Lefse which I posted some time ago. (so 2 pieces of that with butter rolled up the way I always eat it) My wife got a micogreen kit from a charity auction. These are sweet pea microgreens: They remind me of fresh peas which I simply love and am very happy my wife grows each summer. You don't get the same thing buying frozen peas. I eat them raw right out of the shell. for Dessert white grapefruit. Don't eat this then a microgreen; not a good combo.

I love waffles so we may have to give this a try. I'm not so much a fan of pancakes.