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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 24, 2019 17:50:24 GMT
Spaghetti bolognese......slurp.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 24, 2019 18:42:55 GMT
Spaghetti bolognese......slurp. Me too!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 24, 2019 20:24:26 GMT
I had a delightful entrecôte with instant mashed potatoes -- but they didn't taste instant at all because I put chopped Chinese cabbage and chopped green onions in the boiling water with a variety of spices, added the milk last and then when it boiled again, all of the vegetables were sufficiently cooked. It all went in the bowl with grated parmesan and when I put the potato powder in, I have to admit that the stirred up result became magically wonderful as well as pleasing visually. Does anybody actually make instant mashed potatoes with just the directions on the box? I could never do that.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 24, 2019 23:23:53 GMT
I haven't made instant mashed potato in quite a while, and it is not because I'm snobbish about them - about other things, yes. Usually I buy a little sack of potatoes when they are on promo at a supermarket, so I have to use them.
Some years ago I was facilitating at a seminar and young participants - French and Spanish, in this case - were so proud to have made "real" mashed potatoes.
I find that there are far better frozen vegetables now than a few decades ago. I hated them because of the texture (waxy and slimy) but of late I've found varieties that cook up like fresh, or nearly.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 25, 2019 11:05:27 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 25, 2019 17:29:39 GMT
It definitely looks delicious.
Did you serve it up on a plate for picture-taking reasons? It does indeed showcase it very well, but I'm wondering if you actually ate it in a bowl, as gumbo is a soup.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 25, 2019 17:59:10 GMT
I've always eaten it on a plate because I don't make all that much liquid.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 25, 2019 18:25:48 GMT
Well, no denying that it looks wonderful your way.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 25, 2019 19:37:30 GMT
If I had not made rice, I could have considered it to be more of a soup.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 25, 2019 21:27:55 GMT
Gumbo is supposed to be served soupily and on top of rice, although I have to applaud your decision to serve the two items side by side to let each shine on its own and also together.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 26, 2019 15:42:47 GMT
Well, that was obviously a photo op choice. In real life, I would have just dumped it on top of the rice.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 26, 2019 17:27:48 GMT
So now you are finally corroborating my guess at #12765. You are perverse! I don't see any sausage, but do see what I think are pieces of tomato, plus the broth is reddish. Did you make a roux?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 26, 2019 18:03:50 GMT
Beef stoo 😊
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 26, 2019 18:51:43 GMT
So now you are finally corroborating my guess at #12765. You are perverse! I don't see any sausage, but do see what I think are pieces of tomato, plus the broth is reddish. Did you make a roux? Actually I did use one of my Vietnamese sausages (there were four in the package). I cut it up into little pieces and it turned out to have pretty much the same flavour (flavourless) as hot dogs even though the sausages looked completely different. I think that the difference just comes from the fact that the Vietnamese do not grind everything up like we do to make the ingredients unidentifiable. Actually, they aren't bad or I would not already have eaten the three remaining ones.
I put a can of tomato bits into the mix, hence the tomatoes that you saw.
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Post by casimira on Jan 27, 2019 18:23:56 GMT
The question remains, did you make a roux. I am curious as to what method you used as all gumbos "first you make a roux".
Also, what did you use for your stock?
(my husband when he makes a classic seafood gumbo always relies on using oyster liquor which he gets from a friend of ours who owns a seafood company here and always gives him a gallon of it. Mind you, this is for a very large pot of gumbo, actually a vat, which feeds many, many people every Thanksgiving).
When he makes a poultry/sausage gumbo he uses chicken or turkey stock naturally.
Also, he doesn't use too,too much okra. His intent is that purpose of the okra is a thickening agent more than for flavor.
Yours looks good Kerouac even though it does deviate from traditional gumbos served here. (the main thing as Bixa mentioned is the texture not being "soupy").
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 27, 2019 18:50:55 GMT
No, I did not make a roux, and speaking of roux, I did not make one for the bouillabaisse that I made tonight, for which a roux is also supposedly obligatory. I am a culinary outlaw.
Photo of the truly excellent bouillabaisse coming up in a day or two.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 27, 2019 19:39:22 GMT
We had cheese toastie for tea...followed by chocolate bars (my first since crimbo) because we went out for a pub lunch today and I had waaaaaay too much beer (hic) So no resistance
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Post by rikita on Jan 28, 2019 0:37:43 GMT
warmed up some lentil soup from the freezer. as i had frozen mainly the lentils and other vegetables, not much liquid, i added water and to add more taste (and because i like sour soups) i added some vinegar and some spices. mr. r. thought it was much too much vinegar, and he was in a bad mood because of it (or maybe he was in a bad mood before and just showed it then).
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Post by lagatta on Jan 28, 2019 1:15:46 GMT
the arroz con pollo I'd made. I simmered a very large (and good quality) chicken leg in poultry stock I already had. The thing was about 800g. I removed it and boned it when it was still a bit pink inside, its bones and some others continued to cook in the stock. Short-grain rice, unlike my usual basmati, pre-chopped and seasoned tomato bits (very good, actually) onion, garlic and some member of the cabbage family, as well as some of the stock.
Yesterday I also made a cheese and onion pie; not a quiche. Two crusts, a more English beast though similar pies are also made in northern France. Around Lille, I believe? Lancashire a source for the English ones, though I didn't stick faithfully to the originals; I used what I had on hand. It is very pretty but nobody has tasted it yet.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 28, 2019 1:52:02 GMT
Rikita, I too like a shot of vinegar in many dishes. Maybe keep a bottle on the table so people can add to taste & the non-vinegar contingent will be happy too.
So what are you saving the pie for, LaGatta?
I made a lovely supper -- cauliflower & carrot curry thickened with coconut and garbanzo powder, served with basmatic rice and raita.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 28, 2019 10:19:10 GMT
I'm giving a good slice to my downstairs neighbour who is opening up a boulangerie (panaderia) with a couple of partners and has been giving me very good bread. Other to be eaten or shared with other friends.
That curry sounds good and there is plenty of protein in garbanzo powder. Is the powder the same as the flour, which makes good, high-protein crêpes and other things?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 28, 2019 11:49:52 GMT
Here is my simplified bouillabaisse. I used just one kind of fish (rouget) plus prawns. Normally there should have been at leeast three types of fish plus mussels. i.postimg.cc/SNT9ttML/bouillab-2.jpg
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 31, 2019 1:25:33 GMT
... plenty of protein in garbanzo powder. Is the powder the same as the flour ... LaGatta, this flour/powder is made from toasted garbanzos. I'll have to ask if the garbanzos are at least soaked before being toasted. It's meant for making soup, but I see many more possibilities for its use. I very much like an atole (drinkable gruel) made from ground oats, and sometimes add the garbanzo flour to that for taste & nutrition. Kerouac, I've made bouillabaisse from just whatever few ingredients came home from fishing expeditions. Once I included pinfish even though they have so little meat because my son caught them when he was little and was so proud. Did you make rouille? I love that stuff!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 31, 2019 4:44:04 GMT
Chick pea flour is sold mostly in health food sections in France since it is gluten free. I only use it to make falafels.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 31, 2019 5:05:21 GMT
The chickpea flour I encountered in the US was the kind associated with Indian cooking. It is not toasted before being ground, so has a more raw taste than the Mexican chickpea flour. I would definitely use it (the Mexican kind) again to thicken curry. I found the answer to my own question above about whether or not the chickpeas are cooked before being ground: yes, they are. www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/gram-chickpea-flour/
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Post by lagatta on Jan 31, 2019 12:38:24 GMT
Chickpea flour also makes savoury snacks traditional in Nice & Genova, and in Sicily. I make falafel from a mix ground less fine than the flour, from Levantine shops. I also make savoury crèpes from the flour, not necessarily with Indian spicing. There id no circumflex on this screen keyboard!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 31, 2019 19:14:11 GMT
I made spare ribs in an oven bag tonight -- a moral and culinary failure.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 31, 2019 22:10:42 GMT
LaGatta, I do think of falafel as being of a coarser grind. I sometimes make pancakes, savory or sweet, using garbanzo flour since that makes them more nutritious. Kerouac ~
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Post by rikita on Feb 1, 2019 0:34:48 GMT
today we had spinach and potatoes and scrambed eggs ...
yesterday, we had broccoli-cream-soup and a "winter salad" with baby spinach (the recipe asked for kale, but i couldn't get any fresh one) and orange slices and walnuts ...
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Post by lagatta on Feb 5, 2019 2:38:08 GMT
I braised another bargain duck today; required minimal watching with a slow simmer. Boned the meat (quite a process) and threw the bones back into the pot. Turned it off now as I am going to bed.
As for supper, some of the smaller bits of the boned duck, with onion, mushroom, garlic+ginger and some things I forget briefly stir-fried, then added in some leftover quinoa. Very good. Ate about a third of what I cooked.
Easy duck recipes using pre-cooked duck meat are welcome!
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