Wolf

I think buckwheat flour is also very good for gluten-free breads, but there are few things to bear in mind- e.g. I just learned today that buckwheat flour made from roasted (instead of more commonly just dried) buckwheat is great for baking and polenta. It's the way it's made in Austrian cuisine.

And then you get recipes like ropa vieja which make you look at flank steak and make you think 'how can I make this cut-o-meat more stringy".... Cutting meat, is like many things in life, common sense- but with clear goal in mind, one can throw even common sense out of the window. I'm about to start cooking tonight- got m'self 5 lb of beef shank, part of it is going in tonight's goulash but majority is going into beef carrot daube tomorrow (I run into gournet friend of mine when grocery shopping and forgot to buy shallots- he got hold of russian kale and had to share recipe that makes it shine, then we discussed differences between 'regular' and 'golden' hake, then one thing lead to another and pints of stout were consumed and many things discussed while market sort of got closed on me ). Digression aside, is there a better way to cut it into 'stew meat' than cut into 1/2" steaks and then cube them (fror goulash part- for daube, I'd go for 3/4" steaks and cubes)?

Yesterday's lunch was panissa (recipe from Pasta Grannies @ Youtube), which didn't turn out as planned, but was nevertheless excelent.

Last night I experimented with chickpeas (trying to make a posh version of a humble stew), and am very pleased with results...

Feeling a bit less ashamed now... Ropa vieja (with fire roasted peppers) plated without the rice, which looked a bit overcooked but was perfectly fine (cheap supermarket brands tend to piss me off in that regard). Turned out absolutely fantastic (even though I cut down on amount of spices).

I'm almost ashamed to post after those splendid photos above, but this is my tommorow's lunch (WIP). I'll let it sit overnight, shred the flank simmering in the pot, add peppers being roasted in the photo, stuffed olives, parsley (if I find any in the fridge) and simmer some more.

Last night I did a hen stew (local name, tingul od kokoši)- I bought a 7lb hen on impulse, and had to portion it and wing up a recipe for a dish I never ate or have cooked. Even more foolishly, I left the house during the cooking for a few beers with friends, and a miscommunication resulted in the stew simmering for 7 instead of 3 hours. I winged it even on wine selection, which was a touch too sweet- not surprisingly, tingul turned a bit too sweet too, so I touched it up with a glug of port, pinch of pepperoncino and a teaspoon or two of mustard and few grinds of pepper. The result was nevertheless finger-lickingly delicious. And

Rotuts, sorry for the delay, but here's one of those... Store nearby had 20% off on enamelled cookware (and as luck would have it, today was my payday), so I couldn't help myself but to snatch a 9½" one...

Foodwishes has 4 recipies- two for classic version and two for casserole (cheater version, sort of). If I was making it at home, I'd probably opt for the latter. Link to all 4 HTH.

Kayb and Heidih- you are both correct. I appologize for confusion- these are older symbols which I remember seeing in cookbooks when I was young, so I still use them in my notes (from which I copy-pasted the recipe before translating it to english). Edited to add- Kayb, maybe disolving a small piece of boullion cube in the reserved cooking water before adding it to the dish would be OK substitute.

Since this thread attracts quite a few bean afficionados, I thought I wouldn't be wrong in sharing a recipe for what is considered a Macedonian staple dish- gravče na tavče (literally translated 'beans in a pan')- a very spicy baked beans that go well from side dish with BBQ or simple sunny side up eggs to stand-alone dish... I haven't seen anything of the sort on this site, so I thought you might enjoy trying something from 'lesser known' cuisines (which is IMHO quite delicious... I always eat it as a stand-alone dish). Gravče na tavče 400 grams white beans (original variety is called 'tetovac'*, probably best substituted with cassoulet beans) 1.5 deciliter oil 250 grams onions 1-2 heaping tsp paprika 1 heaping Tsp tomato puree 2-3 cloves garlic 1 Tsp flour 2 hot peppers (chilles or pepperons), dried or preserved 2-3 fresh tomatoes 1 green pepper 1 bay leaf parsley 1 Tsp Vegeta (Croatian all-purpose condiment, containing a number of root veggies, salt & MSG**) salt, pepper to taste, mint to taste Soak the beans overnight, discarding the water and cook in salted water until almost done (shouldn't in no circumstances be overcooked). Drain and reserve some of the cooking liquid. Lightly brown/sautee thinly sliced onions, add paprika, tomato paste, finely diced garlic and flour. Stir well and sautee a bit (keeping in mind that burning paprika will impart an unwanted bitter taste to the dish). Add beans with reserved liquid, Vegeta, bay leaf and diced hot chilles. Add salt and pepper to taste and boil shortly. Transfer to an earthenware, or similar ovenproof dish, cover with tomato slices and (deseeded and de-membraned) squares of fresh pepper, sprinkle with parsley (and mint should you choose to use it) and oil. Bake in preheated 220°C oven for 20-30 minutes. This dish should be very hot and is excellent BBQ side-dish, but can be served with eggs or as stand-alone dish. (E. Buljina) * the name means 'from Tetovo' (a Macedonian city) ** in my family we use a homemade condiment made with one bunch of parsley (roots and leaves), one bunch carrot, one bunch parsley and celery leaves each. All ingreadients (with stems removed) are run through meat grinder, drained of water, 20% of dried weight of salt is added, drained again and jarred. We usually substitute 1Tbsp of our condiment for 1tsp Vegeta. Added- a 'bunch' is a unit used in our marketsČ the way I understand/guesstimate it is that bunch of e.g. parsley is 1kg, whereas 1 bunch of parsley or celeriac leaves is the amount of leaves with stems one would get when buying a bunch of said vegetable and cutting off the roots. I should conclude this post as chef John from FoodWishes with "I hope you try this soon and, as always- eeenjoy".

I could offer $30 (and would be willing to) for that one, and it would barely cover shipping to my neck of woods.... You guys have it so lucky with such cookware. OTOH in my neck of woods we're happy with excellent quality sheet steel pots from neighbouring country (Slovenia)-can't go wrong with those for sauteeing, stewing dishes in those EMO Eterna dishes...

I guess this is the wrong thread to post how I made my guanciale (it's basically done, but I'll leave it on my balcony for a day or two before I decide what to do with it... beside carbonara and Amatriciana)... ETA it has survived quite adverse conditions with regard to humidity, which rarely dropped below 85% over three weeks it's been hung...

I'll probably skip dinner tonight... I sort of get full from aroma when I cook- and tonight I have a date with 5lb of oxtails I intend to make into oxtail ragu (I had to splurge... cost me $9.50 the lot). Yesterday I prepared 5lb of tomato sauce, portioned off some to the freezer, and I'm about to start with ragu- wish me luck (I'm starting rather late).

I think the reason is that stainless steel is poor conductor of heat (most of the heat going into pure stainless steel pan will try to warp it), and as aside bonus carbon steel can get 'non-stick' patina. I've done patina (by applying horseraddish and ketchup, of all things) on one of my carbon steel knives which prevent it from rusting, but does not prevent it from imparting 'metallic' taste to food being cut. I like to keep things as 'traditional' as possible, hence me trying to figure out a way to make (what I percieve to be a quintessential) wok work in an environment (heating element) not very suited to it. I'm more of a braising and simmering (european style) type of guy, but this experiment of mine is making me want to try stir-frying on electric stove (any my stove has 3 gas burners ) just as a proof of concept.