what are you cooking for dinner tonight, recipe and all?

[fads]

oh, yes.

there's something really satisfying about making a huge pan of the stuff... just watching it bubble away.

also, there is loads for leftovers/lunch (although i forgot to pack it in my bag today. *sulk* ) and it just tastes better.

[roundbitsofplastic]

also, there is loads for leftovers/lunch (although i forgot to pack it in my bag today. *sulk* ) and it just tastes better.

I have leftover chilli for lunch today. I HATE it when I forget to bring my lunch. Not least of all cos I am a total cheapskate.

[roundbitsofplastic]

Tonight I hope to make either butternut squash soup or those fucking beetroot burgers I've mentioned half a million times.

However I might just sit on the sofa bitching about how cold it is and eating dry bread.

[lynsosaurus]

Make the burgers and then tell us how awesome they are.

I have been pretty good at cooking rather than eating crap this week. We had Moroccan chickpeas with couscous and veg on Monday (a slow cooker special), red Thai curry with loads of veg and jasmine rice last night (I even made the paste myself, yeah!), and I currently have a block of tofu defrosting. I'm going to try a new way of crisping it up so it doesn't go all nasty and have it with noodles, broccoli, sugar snap peas and baby corn and some ginger/soy/sesame business.

[humblebee]

That thing in that 'unbeef stew' recipe, wherever that was - where you bake the tofu on a low heat to dry all the water out. When I tried that, the result was amazing.

[lynsosaurus]

That thing in that 'unbeef stew' recipe, wherever that was - where you bake the tofu on a low heat to dry all the water out. When I tried that, the result was amazing.

It was awesome, eh? I did think about trying that again, thinking that it would work well if I marinaded it to soak up some flavours then stir fried it. But then I like crispy tofu with a tasty outer shell and a slightly softer inside when it's in a stir fry. So I think I'm going to marinate it a bit then dry fry (or maybe deep fry) it separately and then chuck it on top of the rest of the meal at the end.

[roundbitsofplastic]

I had a stab at the burgers and I shitted them up. Forgot the lentils, used too much beetroot and didn't have any breadcrumbs. I basically had smooshed beetroot, which is alright if you like beetroot. It would probably be alright if you actually even pretended to follow the fucking recipe.

I did a little blogpost about it, you can read that here.

I'm sure I used to be able to cook.

[lynsosaurus]

Aw, sorry the burgers weren't up to much! LIVE AND LEARN, Ray. At least that's what I keep telling myself when my cooking goes to shit.

Tonight we are having cauliflower and cumin fritters from the Ottolenghi cookbook. I shall be serving them with lime yoghurt (also from the book), pita, hummus and a Greek salad. I bloody love cauliflower, me.

[roundbitsofplastic]

I always think cauliflower is weirdly squeaky.

"Fritter" makes me think it's gonna be fried though, and I'll take anything fried.

[lynsosaurus]

We made a joint effort at a veggie shepherd's pie tonight, with green lentils as the, um, 'sheep'. We had cheesy mash on top and ate it with tenderstem broccoli (possibly my favourite veg ever). I'm in potato heaven.

[Wheatabeat]

I'm getting in salad-mode now, ready for summer. So I made this tonight using a load of store copboard stuff I've got. It's not groundbreaking or owt, but massively delicious and healthy to boot.

Niciose salad with pasta. Serves 2.

Cucumber (7 or 8 slices)
1 x vine-ripened Tomato (sliced)
Half a red onion
1 x fresh beetroot (diced)
couple of big handfuls of rocket/spinach leaves (chopped up)
Half a Baby Gem lettuce (sliced)
handful of Jalepinos (from a jar, optional)
1 red pepper (from a jar, sliced finely)
handful of capers (from a jar, chopped finely)
handful of black olives (from a jar, sliced)
teaspoon of pesto (I used green pesto, but any would do)
2 eggs
100g pasta (I used cellentani, but anything like penne or similar would do)
1 x tin of tuna in brine
half a mozzarella ball (diced, or you could also use feta or goats cheese)

salt and pepper

for the dressing

2 x teaspoons of wholegrain mustard
1 x teaspoon of golden syrup
1 x teaspoon of olive oil
big glug of lemon juice


1. Boil the egg for 9 minutes. Bit longer if from fridge (but you should never really store eggs in a fridge). This ensures it's hard-boiled but with a little bit of yolk oozage.

2. Boil the pasta. should take the same time as the eggs. Then mix the pesto into the pasta.

3. While this cooking, throw the salad ingrediants together, along with the pasta/pesto and mix well then season with salt and pepper. May not need much salt as the capers, olives and pesto is fairly salty anyway.

4. Serve with the peeled and sliced egg then drizzle over the lovely sweet and tangy mustard dressing.

[malaise]

I have been making these bomb ass vegetarian cheesesteaks. I'm obsessed with them.
This is real Philly shit, except not gross.

Homemade seitan, chopped up as fine as you can make it. Should be like crumbs almost. You should have two handfuls of it.
Two thin slices of onion, chopped up real good.
Handful of mushrooms, chop those jawns up.
Two slices of American cheese if you want to be authentic, but other cheeses are better. I use provalone.
A hoagie roll, toasted up golden in the broiler or the toaster oven.

Heat up plenty of oil in a medium sized frying pan.
Sautee the onion a good while, til it turns clear.
Add the seitan and the mushrooms, and sautee all that until the seitan starts to turn dark brown, but don't let it get crispy.
Add the cheese. Use the spatula to chop it up and mix it around so it all melts and is distributed evenly. You want a big gooey mess.
Scoop it up and pack it into the roll.

You wanna make enough so a layer of it covers like a 10" frying pan. You want the roll to be stuffed to capacity, so make more than you think you'd need.

Variations:
Before you add the cheese, douse it with Frank's Red Hot to make it a buffalo cheesesteak. Or add some pizza sauce and use mozzarella to make it a pizza steak. I use lots of sriracha to make it spicy. Other appropriate additions include hot peppers and/or sweet peppers.

BTW This homemade seitan recipe is out of control delicious.

[malaise]

(but you should never really store eggs in a fridge).

For real? Never heard that.

[this clump of trees]

hail seitan

[Wheatabeat]

IT'S NOODLE SALAD WEATHER!!!

Tonight's was:

Dressing:
2 garlic cloves
A slice of scotch bonnet chilli (A fucking slice mind, not a chunk!)
A few peppercorns
Bit of sea salt
Handful of chopped coriander
Some ginger paste (or a thumb of fresh ginger)

- pound this in a pestle forming a paste then add...

Glug of plum vinegar
Drizzle of honey
Glug of sesame oil
Glug of lime juice
Glug of fish sauce
Glug of dark soy sauce
- then mix up well into a dressing. Taste as you're going, that's why I'm rough with the amounts.

The salad:
Packet of egg noodles (cook until soft & drain)
Handful of sugar snap or mangetout (Blanche with the noodles)
Cucumber (sliced)
Handful of rocket (chopped)
Handful of baby gem lettuce (chopped)
Raw carrot finely chopped (or peeled into wafer thin strips which was what I did)
Cherry tomatoes (halved)
Spring onions (or shallots, thinly sliced)
Handful of cashew nuts (wazzed up in the food processor)
Half a red pepper (thinly sliced)
Handful of sesame seeds.

Mix the lot together. Ace, healthy, refreshing. We have most of the ingredients besides the salad stuff in the cupboard so always easy to knock up. You can play around with it several ways, so if no plum vinegar use rice wine vinegar etc.

[Wheatabeat]

(but you should never really store eggs in a fridge).

For real? Never heard that.

Yeah. They're never stored in supermarket fridges, or shouldn't be at least. They form condensation inside so changes of temperature aren't good for the egg)

[lynsosaurus]

Ooh, that noodle salad recipe sounds good!

I have never, ever stored eggs in a fridge, but I can't even remember the number of times someone has asked me why I keep the in the cupboard. I never realised there was an actual explanation for it. I just did it out of habit.

[Wheatabeat]

Ooh, that noodle salad recipe sounds good!

It was delicious Lyns. Thanks to there being a huge Chinese supermarket about half a mile from me in Chadderton of all places, our cupboards are always stocked to the gills with dressing ingredients. I recommend the plum vinegar too. Amazing salad dressing 'must'!

I learnt the eggstuff from being an eggman. Yes, I really was an egg salesman. (And also roughly in the shape of an egg before I lost a bit of weight too).

[lynsosaurus]

I've never tried plum vinegar! I can imagine it being incredibly tasty though. We've got a few good Chinese supermarkets round here, too, although we're going to be moving quite soon. I'll need to check out the new 'hood. I think there might be a Thai supermarket nearish to the new place though!

Hah! I can't believe you used to be an egg salesman. For some reason, I find that absolutely hilarious.

[Wheatabeat]

Hah! I can't believe you used to be an egg salesman. For some reason, I find that absolutely hilarious.

Yep. Knew all the tricks of the trade. Mainly how to peel off best before dates without leaving a little trace of torn paper. It was a bit more than eggs to be fair, but that's how the company (ha! Two blokes selling from a market stall more like) started. Our second biggest product was frozen ducks. We had the monopoly on Chinese restaurants in Chinatown Manchester back in those days. The triads didn't fuck with us.