pepperhead212
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Re: Let's talk recipes -- are you as random as I am?

Today I made a jambalaya like dish in the Instant Pot, without the ham or sausage, to use up the 3 cups or so of okra I had, plus about 3 c of cooked brown basmati rice I had. I chopped up a large onion, followed by 4 jalapeños and 5 Numex, one ripened, all chopped up, plus about a tb of minced garlic, a tb of fresh thyme, 5 fresh bay leaves, plus a half tsp of ground cloves. I also added a can of corn on a whim - something that was right next to the 28 oz can of diced tomatoes I was getting; I also chopped up 5 small fresh tomatoes, to use them up. I put in 1/3 c oat groats (emptied the jar), and 1/2 c dry white vermouth, and simmered it for about 30 minutes, before adding the cooked rice, to heat through. While all that was cooking, I peeled about 14 oz of thawed shrimp, and sautéed it on only one side in a skillet (so this wasn't a one dish meal), and set aside. When the oats and rice were done, I stirred the shrimp in, and cooked it 3 minutes, and that was it!
ImageJambalaya like creole dish, before adding the shrimp, for the last 3 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageShrimp, browned on just one side, before adding to the dish. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished dish, after cooking the last 3 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished jambalaya type dish. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

imafan26
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the jambalaya looks good. I don't have any okra now but I have some roasting peppers that need to be harvested and this is a great idea to use them.

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I was having a craving for some Szechwan dish, and I have been wanting to use up some of that bag of greens I have in the fridge. So I used up half of what I had left of that, and a generous 2 cups of long beans. I also used up a lb of the venison my friend gave me a while back, since he just got more! So I made a meat sauce, like I make for my eggplant - a lot of minced garlic and ginger, followed by the chili paste with garlic, and some black soy and black vinegar, and a third of the garlic chives - then cooked beans in it for 4 minutes, stirred in the greens and a second batch of the chopped up chives (my substitute for scallions, since I don't have and of those growing), and wilted those for 4 minutes.

Before starting this, I cooked 2 different things in the Instant Pot on low pressure cook, draining them in a strainer - 1 c oat groats, followed by 1/3 c black quinoa. This was all stirred into the meat sauce, sort of like a fried rice, but a lot more nutritious, then a little more soy, and black vinegar was stirred in, along some sesame oil.
ImageGreens, cleaned, chopped, and spun dry. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageOat groats and black quinoa, cooked separately in the IP. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageGreens stirred into the meat and beans, ready to cover and wilt for 4 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageOats and quinoa stirred into the dish, before adjusting the seasoning. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished dish, with a garnish of more garlic chives. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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I made a dish inspired by Pepperhead's Jambalaya. I used a chicken basil sausage because it was the second thing that fell out of the freezer (hot dogs were first). I sauteed the sausage with some onions and garlic. I diced and added the smaller of the peppers I harvested. Nuked the beans I harvested and added a package of frozen mixed vegetables. 1 can of diced tomatoes with the juice, a packet of sazon (salt free), Herb ox salt free chicken bouillon, worcestershire sauce, a couple of ounces of sherry, chopped mushrooms and a cup and a half of rice. I sprig of fresh rosemary and about a tablespoon of fresh thyme from my yard. I used regular rice, which around here is short grain rice. Since, the amount of water matters in cooking rice and this is a fast dish anyway, I made it on the range top in a wok. After adding all the ingredients I simmered it for about 30 minutes. I did have to add a little water.

It was good, but it is on the blander side since the salt comes from the sausage, tomatoes, and worcestershire sauce. Most people would not have used the salt free sazon or salt free bouillon and may even have added more salt to taste. Since, I have to restrict my dietary salt, it was good enough for me. The peppers have a little heat, but I added more pepper, since when I can't use salt, I use a lot of pepper instead.
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pepperhead212
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I made a vegetable version of dhansak today - an Indian dal, often made with lamb, but I was using up a bunch of vegetables I had sitting around, plus 3 types of dal - I think that there were over 25 ingredients in it! I made a new batch of dhansak masala, with 14 types of spices in it.
ImageSpices ready to toast for the dhansak masala. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

While I was doing this, I was cooking the toor, moong, and channa dal in the Instant Pot, for 12 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally, then drained (not much liquid left).
Image3 dals, cooked for the dhansak, drained, and set aside. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Then I chopped up a large onion, started by cooking that in some ghee, then added some minced ginger and garlic, plus 4 jalapeños and 4 large Numexes, finely chopped. Then peeled and cut up an old sweet potato, a small butternut I had to use first, two small red potatoes, a piece of bottle gourd cut up, and 3 small eggplants, cut up. I used up some junk tomatoes - about 10 oz total, which I liquefied, and added to the IP, then rinsed out the pan with 3 c water, to make up for the 1 cup of oat groats I added. I added 2 tsp of that spice mix, along with a half tb of kashmiri pepper, salt to taste, then I pressure cooked it for 12 minutes again, then let it release naturally.
Image6 or 7 vegetables, plus the usual onions, ginger, and garlic , plus a cup of oat groats, pressure cooked for 12 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Then the mashed dal is stirred in, along with 1½ tb more of the dhansak masala, and some tamarind (some recipes have lemon juice, for the sour). Then I let that simmer another 7 or 8 minutes, while I fix the tarka - cooking in a tb of oil over medium heat, 1 tsp each black mustard and cumin until they start sputtering, then add 5 or 6 Thai peppers, cooking very briefly, until it starts browning, then a dozen curry leaves and a half tsp of asafoetida, and let them spatter, then quickly add to the IP. Stir in about 1/4 c chopped cilantro, then serve.
ImageFinished dhansak, after simmering 10 minutes with the masala, then adding the tarka. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And to serve with this, I experimented with making a Belgian waffle, using 1 c jowar flour (sorghum), and 1/4 c ground masoor dal (red lentils), plus 2 eggs, 1 tb oil, and some yogurt, for the liquid. I did this for a friend of mine with celiac disease, and it worked out great! The final one with 1/2 c batter worked best.
ImageSome gluten free Belgian waffles, I tried for a friend, with jowar flour and some ground masoor dal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

imafan26
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Looks delish.

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An Indian grandma at the supermarket encouraged me to put a box of instant Indian food back on the shelf, telling me that Indian food was easy to make from scratch.

It's still on my to-do list ten years later. It seems so daunting!

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I love India food. My problem is, I can't cook anything that taste good. I can't get the spices & don't know the correct way to cook it. Years ago I use to eat 2 or 3 times a week at a new India restaurant in town when prices were reasonable but now it cost $16 each person for lunch that = $35.20 with sale tax for 2 lunches. For that price we can eat several times some place different. It has been about 5 years sense we have had restaurant India food. We often bought Tikka Masala in a jar and make a very good stir fry but the sauce changed now it is mostly 80% tomato sauce and cost $4 a jar it makes Tikka Masala that tastes like pizza. That sucks we have not good India food in 9 months. I bought an India cook book but can't get local spices & online spices cost more than eating at a restaurant so I gave up.

imafan26
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When we did have orchid club meetings we always pot lucked dinner. A couple always brought Indian food. I loved her samosa and raita and she made a dish with cream of wheat. I don't what that was called.

pepperhead212
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Tonight, I had some leftover eggplant dal, with some of those waffles, toasted in my toaster oven. As a side dish I made some foogath, with some fresh green and long beans. This dish is sort of a reverse dish, starting with the ingredients of the tarka, then the onions added, along with the garlic and green chilis, then the beans are added, and cooked 5 min. It is finished by stirring in the coconut, cooked 2 minutes, and the chopped cilantro stirred in.
ImageGreen beans and red beans, foogath style, before adding the coconut. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished fresh beans foogath. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Tonight we had colcannon; a traditional 'frugal' Irish dish I believe. Basically fried onion & chopped cabbage mashed together with boiled potatoes & butter. Along with the potatoes we cooked some carrot, parsnip, turnip and other heel-ends of root veggies from the fridge. Pretty damn tasty!

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I made sort of a sambar today, with 3 dal, some barley, and some of the last veggies from my garden. I haven't made anything like this for a while, due to the experiment in my Instant Pot. But I do have other pots. :lol:

I minced 6 cloves of garlic with 2 jalapeños in the FP, then coarsely chopped up 6 Numex chiles with one onion. All this was cooked slowly until soft, in just enough olive oil to coat them. Then the 3 tb sambar masala was cooked about a minute, then the water with a little turmeric, dal, barley, okra, bottle gourd, and a little turmeric. Salted to taste, rought it to a simmer and cooked about 35 minutes. Meanwhile, I made the tarka, and added this when it was ready. Served with some cilantro, and a toasted atta/jowar waffle.
ImageA sambar made with 3 dals, some okra, and a trimmed bottle gourd - about 2 c of cubes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageThe usual tarka added to this - mustard seed, cumin seed, Thai peppers, asafoetida, and curry leaves by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished dish, with some cilantro, plus a toasted waffle, broken up with it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Looks good. I just got off work at noon and I stopped at Walmart for gas and carrots. They did not have any carrots. This is the second Walmart that did not have them. I got other things. Never go shopping hungry. I decided to make some spaghetti. I have the roasted peppers I made in the freezer and lots of tomatoes in the yard to make a chunky spaghetti sauce. I picked up a fresh pepperoni pizza for lunch. I still had to bake it. Then, since I still had no carrots I went to safeway and finally got a couple of carrots, mushrooms, olives, frozen corn, bread to make garlic bread, and Italian sausage. Unfortunately, I was still hungry and it was almost 2 p.m. by then, so I stopped at the Chinese deli and got a pound of roast pork, a pound of char siu, and 3 siu mai (I have to buy three, that is the only way they sell it. They had no manapua, shucks!)

I finallly got home at the siu mai and some pork, a soda and ice cream I picked up at McDonald's on the way home, then finally baked that fresh pizza.

It was a pepperoni pizza and I sliced a couple of the mushrooms I just bought, and defrosted some of the roasted peppers. I put those on top of the pizza with more cheese on top and finally sat down to lunch. My cats wanted some too. I did not give them any, it wasn't time for their dinner yet. It was really good. It had a thin crust and it was a bit crispy. I usually get pan pizza so it was a nice change. I would have put more herbs on it if I did it over again. Now I have 3/4 of a medium pizza in the refrigerator. I have no room in the frig, and I am finally full. I may not need to eat again today. If I get hungry later, I have plenty of leftovers now. I will have to eat them before I make the spaghetti.

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I made another one of those “can’t ever make this again” — today’s is a small apple pie in a side dish casserole (probably about 1/2 size.)
  • Combination of underripe to overripe Enterprise and Arkansas Black peeled diced apples
  • Macerated in mixture of raw date sugar, spices, Flying Dragon juice, apple brandy, rice flour
  • Melted a stick of butter in the casserole, then drizzled and cut into mixture of all purpose flour, a packet of instant maple spice oatmeal, rice flour, sea salt, that date sugar/spice mix, etc. Added cold water until the dough came together, then wrapped to rest in fridge.
  • To butter that was left in the cassserol, spooned a pile of cane sugar, then baked to caramelize, then added the macerated apples and stirred until well coated, and baked to cook.
  • In the meantime, put all of the skin and trimmed/seeds removed core in a small saucepan with water to cover, added the rest of the Flying Dragon juice from the in fruit (basically lemon juice sub), and simmered to extract the apple flavors, then strained and added sugar and honey and simmered to reduce. (This smelled amazing.)
  • Rolled out dough and latticed it on top of the apples, then baked the pie. When about 15 min left, spooned the apple syrup along the pie crust (sizzled) then finished baking.
… and voilà! :D
762BEDCB-9521-46F1-8118-88178BFD05CE.jpeg
— It tastes INTENSE! Can’t eat more than maybe a fudge brownie piece size at a time. So yum 😋

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That looks great!

My wife is baking up apple crisps.

Lots of apples to cook right now! :D

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I wish I could get some of that! Cold fruits are shipped in and they are not that good. The low chill varieties can be grown but they are not that happy. However, I make a really good lemon meringue pie with my Meyer lemons. Hopefully, mine will ripen before Christmas. Right now, I have mostly limes and calamondin which are going in my tea.

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It's soup weather! I got my Instant Pot back to use, and, while this can be done as a one dish meal, there is no way to get all that browning in the IP, so I do two things at once whenever I brown mushrooms or meats, or both, as in this delicious mushroom barley beef soup. The broth I used was just 4 c chicken - I'm not crazy about store bought beef broth, but chicken is fine. This darkness is from the browning in the pan, and some from the 1 oz of dried boletus mushrooms - I add those or porcini to just about every mushroom dish I make, except Asian dishes.

While sautéing the mirepoix in the Instant Pot, first the mushrooms, then the cubed beef were browned in that wok. While those were all cooking, I squeezed the grit out of the boletus, then filtered the water.
ImageAll the browning from the mushrooms and the beef, for the soup. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

After those were finished, I deglazed the pan with some white vermouth, then that filtered soaking water. I added enough water to make 3 c, plus the 4 c broth, and added to the IP, after cooking some garlic and 2 tb tomato paste the last 2 minutes. I added 3/4 c pearled barley, and the beef, plus a tb of low sodium soy. Then I pressure cooked it for just 15 min., let the pressure release naturally, then added one good sized potato, diced, and the browned mushrooms. It was a little thin, so I also stirred in 1/4 c red lentils. I then pressure cooked them again, for 15 min., let the pressure release naturally, and it was ready! I had to have a second, not quite filled bowl - been so long since I had this, and it was so good!
ImageAbout 2 qts of the mushroom beef barley soup, left in the Instant Pot, after I had my fill! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMushroom beef barley soup by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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That looks good, what time is dinner I be right over. LOL

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Mushroom and barley beef soup sounds great and is something I want to make, especially since my wife is fond of that kind of soup.

What cuts of beef do you use with that?

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webmaster wrote:
Mon Oct 18, 2021 1:21 am
Mushroom and barley beef soup sounds great and is something I want to make, especially since my wife is fond of that kind of soup.

What cuts of beef do you use with that?
I used a pound chunk of top round, cut into about ½" cubes; usually, I would use some chuck for this, or chili, but beef has gotten outrageously expensive, even chuck, bottom round, and other things I used to stock up on, during sales. Even ground beef is horribly expensive, though I grind my own, when they do have the big sale Now, for some reason, at least around here, the only cut that goes on sale way cheap occasionally is the top round. I get some, and Foodsaver it, until next time! As with many things, when they go too high, I just don't buy! When people support high prices, they keep rising. Toilet paper and the likes are essentials, but beef, and many other things with rising prices, are not essentials, at least to me.

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Yeah, the cost of everything is up. I have not had a lot of beef for years. A steak would cost close to $20.00 raw. I do get hamburger chubs from Walmart. That has been the cheapest place, but I eat the most hamburgers at McDonalds and those prices have gone up as well. The McDouble is now $2.99 and a quarter pounder is $5.99. There is a buy one get one deal at McDonalds now, so I am stocking up my freezer with McDoubles. At $3.00 each it is the cheapest burger and bun I am going to get. I still stock up on Costco's hot dogs too. They freeze well and are good to take for lunch or break at work. at $1.50 for the hot dog and a drink, it is less than buying hot dogs and buns and making it myself. The Bacon at Costco is $21.99. The quality of the bacon is worse. It is cut much thinner than before. I have been eating less bacon lately. Beef has been too expensive for me to eat much of it. I usually mix the hamburger with ground pork or turkey when I make spaghetti, patties, or casseroles. I haven't been able to afford much beef except when the chuck roast goes on sale and that has been awhile. I did find that the round cuts were the cheapest too. I don't know why. I have been substituting pork for beef for awhile now. Instead of beef stew, I make pork stew. I don't really like adobo, but that and vinha dah los are couple of recipes that are good for pork. Mah po tofu, pork stir fry , pork chops, makes it a versatile meat. Chicken is expensive too and they shrink when they are cooked. I hardly buy uncooked chicken. Most of the time I buy a rotisserie chicken from Costco and after I have a couple of chicken meals, I use the leftovers for making Jook, topping ramen, casseroles, and to supplement the cat's food.

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pepperhead212 wrote:
Mon Oct 18, 2021 12:16 pm
I used a pound chunk of top round, cut into about ½" cubes; usually, I would use some chuck for this...
Okay, thanks! That makes sense.

I stopped eating beef and pork 25 years ago but recently started eating it again because it's so delicious. Now I'm researching all the different cuts when they go on sale to make sure I'm getting something worthwhile.

Seems like there used to be cheap cuts of meat but not so much anymore. Seems like $4.99 is the lowest average sale price for things like chuck, top/bottom rounds and beef ribs.

I've been buying whole chicken when they go on sale for 79 - 99 cents per pound and then cut them up at home and bag them in the freezer.

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I was having a craving for something Indian, after trimming all those curry leaves! :lol: So today made a mixed vegetable kootu, using my smallest butternuts, and the end of my okra, plus a small sweet potato that was sprouting, and a small potato that was sprouting.

I made this in the Instant Pot, using slow cook mode, starting out with 3 different dal, and a few steel cut oats (maybe 1/3 c left when I filled the glass jar), some water, salt, and turmeric, for about 90 minutes. While that cooked, I made that raita, I got a couple of things done outside, then I got the seasoning paste ready, and the vegetables peeled and cut up. The okra went in for about 20 minutes, then that seasoning paste, and the squash and potatoes. That cooked another 20 minutes on low cook high, then I added that tarka mix, and let it sit on off about 5 minutes. Served it with some sorghum/rye bread sticks, plus that basic raita, using some of my last mint from outside.
ImageIngredients for the seasoning paste for the butternut kootu, fresh and dry peppers, ginger, and cumin, followed by coconut. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageGround up paste, after the coconut was added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Image3 dal, plus some oats, cooked for the kootu, after cooking the okra briefly, and adding the butternut. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageThe tarka for the kootu, cooked in coconut oil, with shallots added at the end, to slow down the cooking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished mixed vegetable kootu, topped with some curry leaves. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageSuper simple cucumber raita, with just some cumin and mint, with the yogurt. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Wife cooked Spaghetti Squash for dinner. This is very good. Cut squash in 1/2 remove seeds. Remove spaghetti chop into smaller pieces, stir in butter, return spaghetti to each squash 1/2 then bake at 350° until squash is cooked done about 30 minutes.

Stir hot spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce into the spaghetti. WE like pizza sauce best. Add hot meat balls. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top. Heat in oven about 10 minutes to melt cheese. Very easy & quick to make.
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I made a delicious casserole based on that Boogaloo meat sauce I saw on pbs, instead of sandwiches - the original was sort of a sloppy joe, topped with cheese. I made it with venison, and instead of the dried garlic in the sauce, I used 2 large cloves, pressed into the meat, towards the end of the browning, about 2 minutes before adding the sauce. I cooked some brown basmati rice and oat groats together, and rinsed a can of dark red kidney beans, and mixed that into the grains, and put that into a 2 qt casserole. I spread the meat sauce on the casserole, then I topped it with some shredded queso panela - a mild Mexican cheese that browns well, and has a slightly buttery flavor.
ImageBoogaloo sauce, cooked and set aside. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageBrowned onions and venison, with Boogaloo sauce added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished Boogaloo meat sauce. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageAdded a can of rinsed kidney beans to some of the grains. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMeat sauce spread evenly over the beans and grains. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageTopped with shredded queso panela. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished Boogaloo casserole, baked 12 minutes in a 425° convection oven. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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pepperhead212 wrote:
Tue Nov 09, 2021 10:25 pm
I made a delicious casserole based on that Boogaloo meat sauce I saw on pbs
That Boogaloo casserole looks great! :D

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Yeah that looks delish! :D Sort of a meal that you can’t help taking and eating too much of :>

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It was difficult, but I cut it into 8 helpings, and only ate one at a time! And it reheats well in the MW (I reheat things like this for longer, at a lower level) - an easy breakfast dish! :lol: I would make it again, next time maybe mixing some grated pecorino into the rice mix. The sauce basically tasted like a standard BBQ sauce - nothing special, so it could be made with a BBQ sauce, and next time some heat added, maybe some chipotle.

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I was going to make this last night, but my cousin called, and we talked for over 2 hours! So I made it today, instead. It's a Goan style dish - hot, and sour, with a coconut base, a LOT of garlic! I doubled the original recipe, as it was for 2 lbs mussels in the shells, but I had 2 lbs frozen mussels, removed from the shells. I didn't have fresh coconut, so I used some re-hydrated, unsweetened coconut instead, like I usually do, when it's ground to a paste.

The onions are sautéed in some oil, until golden, then garlic, ginger, and 6 chopped Thai green chilis are added, and cooked 2 minutes. The coconut paste (with roasted coriander, cumin, and 18 dried chilis in it), tomatoes, tamarind, salt, and a little water is added, and cooked down about 10 min. Then the mussels were added, and cooked, covered, about 4 minutes. Some coconut vinegar was added here, and a little jaggery, to adjust tartness. Served on some reheated brown basmati rice and oat groats. Absolutely delicious, and not too hot, even with all those peppers. Most were the late harvested Meteors, so this sort of proves they weren't very hot.

This probably took less time to cook than the rice and oats a couple nights earlier!
ImageAbout a half cup of minced garlic and ginger for the Goan style mussels. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Image2 cups coconut, plus roasted coriander, cumin, and Thai chilis, to grind into a paste. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageCoconut spice paste for the Goan style mussels. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageLightly browned onions, with garlic, ginger, and green chilis added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageTomato, water, and tamarind added to the cooked onion/garlic mix. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageSauce cooked down, with a little water left to steam the mussels. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMussels added, before mixing in, and cooking for 4 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished Goan Mussels by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageGoan style mussels, served on reheated basmati brown rice and oat groats. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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I made a soup with the loosely 2 gallon culled and thinned turnips and radish greens from yesterday’s harvest. They were all young and tender even the daikon twitch distinct pencil thick taproot. I started with leftover fried peppers, carrots and onions with sausage, and added 3 leftover hotdog franks, a couple of old dried up but still good big cloves of garlic and more onions … then added 2 of those pre-freeze harvested green and starting to blush Queen of Malinalco tomatillos, a handful of baby bello mushrooms, some more carrots, and added one of the old daikon I harvested a few days ago — peeled and pre-cooked in rice washing water and konbu (the enzymes from the rice grains and konbu help to sweeten and soften the daikon). I also added a carton of chick peas, added water and brought boil, and then some diced potatoes and a bunch of white/yellow cherry tomatoes.

I pulled the konbu from the daikon boiling water and added to the brown rice cooking water.

The soup is really good by itself but I like it even better with the rice.

Chopped up every 1/4 to 1/2 inch, those greens reduced and practically disappeared in the soup.
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Gary350
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pepperhead212 wrote:
Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:03 am
https://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/spaghet ... trapanese/

I made this pesto today, almost doubling the recipe, and using 20 oz of small ziti and 12 oz of precooked red beans, added to the pasta water at the end, to heat them up, before draining. Upon tasting it for salt, I thought that it had enough salt, but needed some acid - even with all those tomatoes, it didn't have enough. So I stirred in about 1/2 tsp citric acid, and it added just enough - about 2 tb lemon juice would do about the same. I also added more basil, when blending, until it tasted about right - 12 large leaves is sort of a vague term.
The 1 tsp of pepper flakes I used was barely noticeable, so I topped it with more!
pepperhead212, on Flickr
I rarely eat pasta but this looks good. I see no beans? Did you puree beans to make pesto?
Several things you mention I have no clue what they are, where to buy them, or if I can buy there here?

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Looks really hearty and good.

Thanksgiving is a week away. I got an invitation to the neighbor's for lunch, so I am set. I might make a side dish, but I don't know what.

Yesterday I pickled peppers three ways. I did chili pepper water. I made that one first and I overestimated the amount so there was a lot of garlic in that one. The second is a pique, which is basically peppers in vinegar. This is the first time I have tried this recipe. The third is peppers in vodka. I will find out in a couple of days if they are keepers or if they get tossed down the disposal.

I loss my sense of smell years ago and it totally disappeared except for things that were acrid. It lasted about 3 years. I did get my sense of smell back, but I don't think it came back to normal. While the peppers were burning my arms (I did wear gloves), and my eyes and sinuses were like faucets, The peppers did not smell as hot as they should. I could smell them after a while, but really, it should have been more potent than that. I know my peppers are hot. I can still taste the burn.

pepperhead212
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Gary350 wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 11:46 am
pepperhead212 wrote:
Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:03 am
https://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/spaghet ... trapanese/

I made this pesto today, almost doubling the recipe, and using 20 oz of small ziti and 12 oz of precooked red beans, added to the pasta water at the end, to heat them up, before draining. Upon tasting it for salt, I thought that it had enough salt, but needed some acid - even with all those tomatoes, it didn't have enough. So I stirred in about 1/2 tsp citric acid, and it added just enough - about 2 tb lemon juice would do about the same. I also added more basil, when blending, until it tasted about right - 12 large leaves is sort of a vague term.
The 1 tsp of pepper flakes I used was barely noticeable, so I topped it with more!
pepperhead212, on Flickr
I rarely eat pasta but this looks good. I see no beans? Did you puree beans to make pesto?
Several things you mention I have no clue what they are, where to buy them, or if I can buy there here?
Those beans are fresh beans - Thai Red Long Beans, but you could use any fresh bean, just cut them the same length as the ziti. They are not very visible because they are covered with the sauce.

What things did I mention that you don't know about? The citric acid is something not everyone has in the kitchen, but that was about the only unusual ingredient I could think of.

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Gary350
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pepperhead212 wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 10:41 pm
Gary350 wrote:
Thu Nov 18, 2021 11:46 am
pepperhead212 wrote:
Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:03 am
https://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/spaghet ... trapanese/

I made this pesto today, almost doubling the recipe, and using 20 oz of small ziti and 12 oz of precooked red beans, added to the pasta water at the end, to heat them up, before draining. Upon tasting it for salt, I thought that it had enough salt, but needed some acid - even with all those tomatoes, it didn't have enough. So I stirred in about 1/2 tsp citric acid, and it added just enough - about 2 tb lemon juice would do about the same. I also added more basil, when blending, until it tasted about right - 12 large leaves is sort of a vague term.
The 1 tsp of pepper flakes I used was barely noticeable, so I topped it with more!
pepperhead212, on Flickr
I rarely eat pasta but this looks good. I see no beans? Did you puree beans to make pesto?
Several things you mention I have no clue what they are, where to buy them, or if I can buy there here?
Those beans are fresh beans - Thai Red Long Beans, but you could use any fresh bean, just cut them the same length as the ziti. They are not very visible because they are covered with the sauce.

What things did I mention that you don't know about? The citric acid is something not everyone has in the kitchen, but that was about the only unusual ingredient I could think of.
I don't know ziti? I need to read the post again but where did it go?

This forum is driving me nuts. I click the red flag to see new posts when they open I don't notice they are 6 months ago or 9 months ago. Same thing for email I click and don't notice one thread was 2 years ago. I must have replied to something you posted long ago it is no longer here.??? I am off to bed I might look for it tomorrow.

pepperhead212
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The ziti is just a straight, tubular pasta.

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Gary350
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pepperhead212 wrote:
Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:26 am
The ziti is just a straight, tubular pasta.
This is weird. Date on this post is.

Re: Let's talk recipes -- are you as random as I am?
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Fri Nov 19, 2021 10:26 am

The ziti is just a straight, tubular pasta.

But forum says I am on row 5 and there are 10 rows total in this thread. Each row has about 30 posts and 5 x 30 = 150. There should be 150 more post after this post. That is not possible. Something crazy going on ???

I still have not find the pasta picture that I replied to ???

imafan26
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I run into that too sometimes. I don't know why it does that. I just go to the top or the bottom of the page to make sure I am on the last page.

pepperhead212
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Here's the finished pasta dish again, plus a photo of the drained pasta and beans, before the sauce and cheese were stirred in, which shows the contrast. I put the pasta in for a couple of minutes, then added the beans, and finished them together.
ImagePasta with Thai red beans, with Lidia's Pesto Trapanese. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImagePasta and red beans, to mix with pesto Trapanese. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

pepperhead212
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I was going to use that turkey and broth, but instead, I put the quart of it in my freezer yesterday (I was tired of turkey already), and I made another batch of that dhansak, that I used up some old veggies in, like I did the other time. And it went quickly, since I still had some of that dhansak masala that first batch made enough for about 3 batches.

This time I made it differently, starting with barley, as the grain, and started with that in the Instant Pot, since it takes longer than the rest of the ingredients - pressure cooked 12 minutes in salted water, with turmeric, then released naturally, while prepping other things. Then added 1/3 c each channa, toor, and urad dals, plus my last two sweet potatoes, peeled and diced, 2 more cups water, and 2 tsp dhansak masala, and PC'd 6 minutes, releasing naturally.
ImageThe barley, 3 dals, and diced sweet potatoes, cooked for the dhansak, before adding the sauce. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

While doing this, I prepared the sauce, using some green tomatoes, in place of the tamarind, for the tartness, and the rest of the barely ripened tomatoes, adding a tb of paste, to make up for the light red tomatoes. I started in reverse with the ingredients for the tarka first, adding the onions and ginger, to cook a few minutes, followed by some garlic and the tomato paste, then the blended up tomatoes, plus 4 more tsp masala, and the last bottle gourd of the season, peeled and diced - about 2½ c. I cooked this down, until fairly thick, and the barley/dal mix was finished. I mixed the two, corrected the seasonings (the green tomatoes did the sour well!), and simmered a few minutes, before adding the cilantro. I also put some of those rye croutons on - goes well in these dishes.
ImageSauce and tarka, cooked with the last bottle gourd of the season, for the dhansak. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageDhansak, after combining the two parts, and simmering briefly. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageFinished dhansak, with some dried rye bread cubes, and cilantro, for garnishing. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Vanisle_BC
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Location: Port Alberni, B.C. Canada, Zone 7 (+?)

Neighbor gave us a nice big chunk of native-caught Chinook salmon. I marinaded it in soy, maple syrup, ginger & garlic (all 'to taste'), baked it in the oven and served it with DIY fettuccine Alfredo, garnished with grated nutmeg. Finished the meal with coffee and Collier's cheese on veggie-flavored crackers. Mmmm that was good.

Xmas will NOT be turkey but a basted, oven-roasted plump, organic, free-range chicken with 'Jamie's roast potatoes' (herbed) and fresh from the garden al dente Brussels sprouts . Can't wait!

https://www.jamieoliver.com/videos/jami ... -potatoes/



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