Are you a cook?

[rokytnji.1]

For the veggie only dudes and dudettes

1 butternut or acorn squash, cut in half
Oil
3/4 cup walnuts
3 garlic cloves, ends removed but skin intact
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups coconut milk
2 cups rutabaga, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon. pepper
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 1/2 - 2 cups sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 small onion, chopped
teaspoon nutmeg

All the above ingredients can be substituted with others because of your personal tastes. If you don't like sweet potatoes. Sub a regular potato.

Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub the squash with coconut oil and place cut-side down on a baking sheet. < Ours is a Okeefe and Merrit Grillevator

Cut ends off garlic, coat with 1 teaspoon coconut oil, and then wrap in foil. Coat the rutabaga and sweet potato in oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Add both to baking sheet. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until softened, stirring diced veggies once.

Caramelize the small onion in a frying pan and let cool. < takes about 10 minutes on low heat . do it till browned >

Add heated broth to mix listed below. This is gonna be creamy soup. Makes a good potato chip dip when thick.

Remove roasted veggies from oven and blend together with the remaining ingredients in a food processor until smooth. The nuts may remain grainy, but that's OK. Add water to reach preferred thickness.

I started eating this because on my wellness test at the Docs. I was told I need to eat more walnuts.

[Cristobal]

@cristobal,

Here is my tree or more knife, made in japan. It's with this I cut vegetables, fish etc These knife are since more 35 years to use it
Your picture are very beautiful , very nice , congratulation

Thank you.

I've read those Japanese blades are very reputable and many Western chefs use them, you must be a pro (there's a Nakiri in the group photo?).

It reminds me my father who did a hotel school, he had this case from back in the day (a bit like a Pelikan case lined with some protective foam) to transport all of his knifes (around 5 if I remember correctly and they were likely German, some brand from around Solingen).

Personally, what I like in the Chinese cleaver, is its multi-purpose role, one knife to replace all (less maintenance too); some Chinese chefs are supposed to an additional cleaver, which is thicker, for cutting bones.

[scottr954]

I'm making chicken parm today. It's really an easy dish and darn near impossible to mess up. I can get chicken breasts at 1.99/lb and the rest of the ingredients can be had cheaply also. Makes fantastic left over sandwiches.

[JayM]

Personally, what I like in the Chinese cleaver, is its multi-purpose role, one knife to replace all (less maintenance too); some Chinese chefs are supposed to an additional cleaver, which is thicker, for cutting bones.

That's actually a Chinese chef's knife. (I have one, and also a western-style chef's knife.) They look like cleavers but they're not meant for chopping through bones as their blades are too thin for that.

[Cristobal]

Personally, what I like in the Chinese cleaver, is its multi-purpose role, one knife to replace all (less maintenance too); some Chinese chefs are supposed to an additional cleaver, which is thicker, for cutting bones.

That's actually a Chinese chef's knife. (I have one, and also a western-style chef's knife.) They look like cleavers but they're not meant for chopping through bones as their blades are too thin for that.

Yes, I know, "cleaver" is used as a a generic term; Chinese chefs (those I've seen) have usually a thin cleaver for chopping vegetables, fish and meat, and a thicker one that can cut bones.

On another note, I've started my sourdough 2 days ago: 50g of T110 flour (the higher the index, the less refined is the flour) plus 50g water and a pinch of coconut flower sugar (not really necessary), then the same amount of water and flour, and 100g of each this morning (although, since many recipes differ, I might have gone with wrong proportions). Some bubbles have burst since yesterday evening, but the odour doesn't smell acid yet, the flour smell is slowly dissipating though.

[JayM]

It can take 4 to 5 days depending on the temperature. You don't need to keep adding flour and water to it at this stage, only after you've used some in a recipe, which you should do about once a week. Just leave it alone and wait a few days for it to get nice and bubbly. Then you'll be ready to bake your first sourdough bread, or make sourdough pancakes, or muffins, or try it in a cake batter, or pizza crust dough, or ???

These sites may interest you:
https://www.acouplecooks.com/how-to-mak ... h-starter/
https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn ... sourdough/

CSB time: right after I graduated from college I took the summer off, and two friends of mine and I decided to go on a ten-day expedition-style backpacking trip across the entire Olympic National Park in Washington State, US, following as closely as possible the route of the Seattle Press Expidition of 1889. I don't remember why but we decided to alter the rout a bit and come out along the Queets river (through a rain forest) instead of the north fork of the Quinault, further south, as the Press Expidition had done. Probably because following the Quinault would have taken several extra days and required that much more food, and our packs were over 20 kilos each already.

Anyway, I brought along a sealed plastic Tupperware container half full of my sourdough starter, sealed inside of a plastic bag, along with some flour, intending to make some sourdough pancakes for our breakfast as some point along the way. Unlike the original expedition who chose to cross the mountains in December(!) we opted to do our trip in the middle of summer. The combination he summer heat and being jounced around in my pack all day every day caused my starter to expand to the point where it escaped not only its container but also the plastic bag. It was like the blob! That stuff got absolutely everywhere! In fact, when we arrived at the car we'd left at the Queets ranger station I took out a clean, dry pair of jeans, double-wrapped in sealed plastic bags, that I'd decided to save to war during the car ride home, and I found sourdough starter on them!

[jj1j1]

For those who like meat with their veggies. It's a simple classic, but it's hard to beat.

15"x10"x3" baking dish
Large skillet-
3-5 lb chuck roast-thawed
1 to 2 T salad oil
1 large onion-chopped 1 to 2 in pieces
2 turnips- skinned, chopped 3/4 in pieces
3 stalks celery-sliced 1 to 2 in pieces
3 large carrots-peeled, sliced 1 to 2 in pieces
1 c green beans-sliced 1 to 2 in pieces
4 mushrooms-1/8 to 1/4 in slices
1/2 c barley-dry uncooked
3 med red or golden potatoes-peeled or unpeeled, sliced to 1 to 2 in pieces, (I like these cause you don't have to peel them, unlike russets)
3 large cloves garlic-peeled, pressed, or finely chopped
1 c red wine- any cheap red wine will do
2 c water
2 pot roast-slow cooker seasoning packets


Preheat oven to 350 F. Add oil to hot skillet. Let oil get hot then add roast. Sear all sides. Place into baking dish. Add vegetables; place around and over roast. Combine wine, water, barley, garlic, and seasoning packets in bowl. Blend well, and pour over roast, and vegetables. It may look like too much liquid, but the veggies, and barley will absorb much of it. Cover dish with foil. (seal well.) Bake 4 to 6 hours with cover sealed for the first 2 hours, then for rest of cooking time, reduce oven temp to 300, and open up corners of foil so steam can escape easier. No need to check temp of roast. I just stick a fork deep in roast near an edge, and twist. When the fork easily turns, and meat fibers separate, it's time to remove from oven, and let sit for 10 minutes. Then prepare yourself for a meal you won't soon forget. The wine gives this a deep richness, but it may take a few times to get the right ratio of wine/water as tastes are different for everyone.

[JayM]

I made a big pot of red beans (for red beans and rice) yesterday afternoon and evening. I got a late start on my cooking because I was doing some laundry in the morning. This is the first time I made this traditional Creole Monday dinner* dish from New Orleans, Louisiana (because Mondays were washing day and the homemaker could leave a pot of beans simmering on the back of the stove all morning while busy with the laundry.) It was typically made using the bone of Sunday's ham plus some sliced andouille sausages (or smoked sausages such as kielbasa), red kidney beans soaked in water overnight, the Holy Trinity (green bell pepper, celery and onion), the Pope (minced garlic), seasoned with a blend of paprika, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, white pepper, salt, thyme and oregano, bay leaves, some chopped parsley, some hot sauce and some Worcestershire sauce and simmered for at least two hours in chicken stock and served with plain cooked rice.

I opted to make mine more Cajun style by making and adding a dark roux. Most cooks nowadays use a commercial blend of Cajun or Creole seasoning such as Zatarain's or Tony Cuchere's brands, but of course these are unavailable in the Philippines so I had to make up my own from scratch. Celery and green bell peppers aren't that common either. I opted to use Hungarian sausages which are similar to a cross between kielbasa and bratwurst and somewhat spicy like andouille. I didn't have a ham bone or any other pork bones so I just added the sausages. This being the Philippines I had to visit four different supermarkets to get all of the ingredients. Due to my late start, the time it took to make the roux, and the long cooking time required it wasn't ready until around 8PM but it came out pretty good, though a bit salty (note to self: don't add too much salt during the cooking even it it tastes too bland when you sample it. Wait until it's finished then add more salt if needed right before serving.) The saltiness isn't too bad after the plain rice gets stirred in though.

*In the American South, dinner, the biggest meal of the day, is or was the mid-day meal, and supper is/was the smaller evening meal or snack usually consisting of the leftovers from dinner. I think this is due to the warmer climate in the southern states throughout a good bit of the year combined with the fact that cooking was traditionally done on wood-burning stoves and they didn't have air conditioning way back when. So most of the heavy cooking was done early in the day and the stove's fire left to burn out and die so it wouldn't be quite as hot at night when people were trying to sleep. The nomenclature continues to this day: in the north people eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the south they eat breakfast, dinner and supper, even though these days supper may be the most substantial meal just like dinner in the north.

[scottr954]

I made a big pot of red beans (for red beans and rice) yesterday afternoon and evening. I got a late start on my cooking because I was doing some laundry in the morning. This is the first time I made this traditional Creole Monday dinner* dish from New Orleans, Louisiana (because Mondays were washing day and the homemaker could leave a pot of beans simmering on the back of the stove all morning while busy with the laundry.) It was typically made using the bone of Sunday's ham plus some sliced andouille sausages (or smoked sausages such as kielbasa), red kidney beans soaked in water overnight, the Holy Trinity (green bell pepper, celery and onion), the Pope (minced garlic), seasoned with a blend of paprika, cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, white pepper, salt, thyme and oregano, bay leaves, some chopped parsley, some hot sauce and some Worcestershire sauce and simmered for at least two hours in chicken stock and served with plain cooked rice.

I opted to make mine more Cajun style by making and adding a dark roux. Most cooks nowadays use a commercial blend of Cajun or Creole seasoning such as Zatarain's or Tony Cuchere's brands, but of course these are unavailable in the Philippines so I had to make up my own from scratch. Celery and green bell peppers aren't that common either. I opted to use Hungarian sausages which are similar to a cross between kielbasa and bratwurst and somewhat spicy like andouille. I didn't have a ham bone or any other pork bones so I just added the sausages. This being the Philippines I had to visit four different supermarkets to get all of the ingredients. Due to my late start, the time it took to make the roux, and the long cooking time required it wasn't ready until around 8PM but it came out pretty good, though a bit salty (note to self: don't add too much salt during the cooking even it it tastes too bland when you sample it. Wait until it's finished then add more salt if needed right before serving.) The saltiness isn't too bad after the plain rice gets stirred in though.

*In the American South, dinner, the biggest meal of the day, is or was the mid-day meal, and supper is/was the smaller evening meal or snack usually consisting of the leftovers from dinner. I think this is due to the warmer climate in the southern states throughout a good bit of the year combined with the fact that cooking was traditionally done on wood-burning stoves and they didn't have air conditioning way back when. So most of the heavy cooking was done early in the day and the stove's fire left to burn out and die so it wouldn't be quite as hot at night when people were trying to sleep. The nomenclature continues to this day: in the north people eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the south they eat breakfast, dinner and supper, even though these days supper may be the most substantial meal just like dinner in the north.

Hi Jay, I love red beans and rice, especially with those spiced meats/sausages you mention! Comfort food at its finest! Well reading your post made me think of my pressure cooker, which I absolutely love. After soaking beans overnight in water, they cook perfectly in my pressure cooker with anything I add: beef, ham, rice, etc.

So does anyone else have a pressure cooker and love it also?

[jj1j1]

Something I learned as a cook in the Marines was a way to rescue spaghetti from too much seasoning, (which happened a lot because many cooks couldn't or wouldn't follow the recipe). Blend 1/4cup of sugar and 1cup of water, and heat on burner until sugar is dissolved. Then gradually stir into sauce tasting frequently so as not to add too much. Only add until the overpowering seasoning taste is neutralized. Preparing batches for a thousand folks we sometimes had to use imaginative methods to save a product. In this case it did add a sweetness to the sauce, but could be somewhat masked by adding more seasonings.