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

[Gary350]

Split Pea Vegetable Soup

Wife cooked a ham bone in the crock pot for 24 hours. Today she added, carrots, onions, celery, split peas, about 12 noon. Soon as carrots cook enough to be soft she will add garden corn. Corn is frozen we microwave it then toss it in the soup. We have lots of frozen onions & red bell peppers. We might add peppers too. -2°f froze some of the tops off the garden carrots. I have been waiting for carrots tops to grow back but the larger 1"diameter carrots are not growing new tops, so I pulled 4 carrots up for the soup.

[imafan26]

That looks really good. It looks like Portuguese bean soup. The only things missing are potatoes, cabbage, crushed tomatoes, beans, and a bigger pot.

[pepperhead212]

I cut up a ham that I got cheap a while back, but couldn't take it over to a friend's house, because of someone in their family that ended up in the hospital,, with a non-covid problem, but people there were still visiting there, so I'm protecting myself. So I cooked the ham in the sous vide yesterday, then chilled it overnight, and today cut the bones out, the solid part (about 2 lbs), and the spiral part, and I got about 3 c of chopped up pieces, after I vacuum sealed about 8 3/4 lbs of ham, in 9 packets, for freezing.

While doing that, I started a batch of blackeyed pea soup in my Instant Pot, starting with cooking out the fat from some of the trimmings, then added a large, chopped onion, and sauteed that, while mincing a couple large garlic cloves, with about 2 tb fresh sage leaves. I added that, when the onion was browning, along with about a tb of tomato paste, and stirred it about 2 minutes, then added 7 c water, the 2 large bones, 4 fresh bay leaves, a tsp Syrian Oregano (my thyme flavor), and a little salt, though not a lot, as more will cook out of the ham. I pressure cooked this for 75 minutes, while doing the other work.

I had soaked the BEPs in some salt/soda water, about 6 hours, and when the bones were finished, I pulled those and the bay leaves out, and set them to pressure cook 8 min, then release 15 min. I got the rest of my greens from the garden chopped up - kale, cauliflower greens, komatsuna, and senposai - all trimmed back in December! I adjusted the seasonings, then the greens went into the soup at the end, and I just let them sit 5 minutes, before serving, with the cornbread.

Misc greens, to add to the soup, and let sit 5 minutes, before eating. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished ham and blackeyed pea soup, with the greens. by pepperhead212, on Flickr


This cornbread I made with a generous cup of roasted, peeled green chile peppers, from the freezer, a can of corn, and the acid dairy product I used, in place of buttermilk, was some yogurt. Otherwise, the recipe was almost the same as a jalapeño cornbread that I've made many times.
a 9 x 13 pan of roasted chile cornbread, to have with the ham and blackeyed pea soup. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

It’s so much fun to read your posts @pepperhead.

- The way you skillfully utilize different cooking methods and orchestrate the ingredients!

- Everything sounds and looks delicious!

…I’m still learning about different ways to use the sous vide — how big total was the ham and what size container did you use? Do you have to have the clear tub that is often shown?

Also, I was intrigued by the bit of purple stuff among the greens — purple cauliflower?

[applestar]

Lately, I’m mostly about “easy” meals — often using leftovers….

Family was on “fend for yourself mode” yesterday with plenty of leftovers to warm up, and my brunch was an oven proof bowl of leftover garlic spinach and mushrooms in vinaigrette, smothered in “custard” of beaten eggs and coconut cream, then a frozen end piece of that matcha/adzuki bean sourdough pushed into it and baked with a bunch of butter slivers on top, then when cooked halfway, topped with a leftover crabcake to reheat.

For last night, I made a pot of rice (short grain brown mixed with “7 grain blend” and “lentil and barley”)

Back to that oven proof single serving bowl, coated with EVOO and “salt koji” some onion slices and about a cup of shredded cabbage — baking covered in the toaster oven, then layering the spinach and mushrooms with sliced battered/fried chicken tenders, a glug of brewed mirin and a good pour of soy-free teriyaki sauce on the chicken, and smothering with 2 eggs loosely beaten with the mushroom vinaigrette. Baked covered while waiting for the last 15 min or so of the rice to finish cooking, then piled on top of (a separate bowl of)
hot rice in an “oyako-don” style bowl, with a smear of ginger from a tube and a good shake of nanami spice.

…Yeah, now that I think about it, I practically ate my week’s worth of eggs yesterday… (I actually shared about 1/3 of the dinner for DD’s to taste )

[pepperhead212]

It’s so much fun to read your posts @pepperhead.

- The way you skillfully utilize different cooking methods and orchestrate the ingredients!

- Everything sounds and looks delicious!

…I’m still learning about different ways to use the sous vide — how big total was the ham and what size container did you use? Do you have to have the clear tub that is often shown?

Also, I was intrigued by the bit of purple stuff among the greens — purple cauliflower?

For a ham - a little over 11 lbs, before trimming - in the sous vide I used a 16 qt strockpot, and it wouldn't fit in a 12" wide vacuum bag, so I used a 2 gal ziploc. And after the ham, I wanted to try something I had read about before, but never tried - some sous vide hard boiled eggs! 1 hr @ 167°. I just upped the temp, then added the 3 eggs; I have only peeled one, and it doesn't peel as easily as the Instant Pot HB eggs, but the slightly less cooked yolk has a better flavor.

And yes, those little purple things there are tiny purple cauliflower! I just cut the entire plant off - mostly greens - when the frost was eminent. I've been using all those greens ever since.

[imafan26]

Sounds really good.

[pepperhead212]

I used those new (to me) green chickpeas today, along with some barley, in an Indian soup, which I seasoned with that malvani masala spice mix I made a while back, plus a few other things. I started soaking 1 c of the green chickpeas in 4 c water, and 1/2 tsp baking soda yesterday. Today, I drained it, and rinsed it, and put it in the Instant Pot, with 5 c water, a tsp of salt, and a teabag (something used in chole masala, and other dishes with regular chickpeas). I pressure cooked it for 25 minutes, then drained, saving the liquid.

Then I melted about 2 tb of ghee in the IP, and sautéed a medium diced onion about 6 minutes, until it was golden. Then I added 2 large cloves of garlic, minced, plus about 2 tb of tomato paste, and cooked about 2 minutes. Then I added 2 tb of the malvini masala powder, cooked briefly, then added the cooking liquid plus water to 5 c. Then I returned the chickpeas to the pot, along with 3/4 c pearl barley, and 3/4 tsp turmeric. I mixed well, and turned it off, put the lid back on, and set it to MANUAL 25 min., and when done, I let the pressure release naturally.

Meanwhile, I got the spices and curry leaves ready for the tarka, and diced 2 small potatoes. And I got about 6 c of greens from the hydro chopped up fine, then tossed them in a wok over medium high heat, until wilted down to about 2 c, only about a minute.

When the IP was opened, I added 1 tsp garam masala, and stirred in the wilted greens and diced potatoes, and simmered 8 or 9 minutes. While simmering, I made the tarka, for tempering, and stirred it in at the end. Then I topped with a little cilantro.
Dried chickpeas - green on left, black/brown on right. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I was surprised how much these looked like the black chickpeas, once cooked. The taste was very close, too, though I'd have to taste them next to each other, to taste the difference.
cooked green chickpeas - hara chana. They look almost the same as black chickpeas, once cooked. by pepperhead212, on Flickr


Cooked greens, reduced by about 3/4. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Spices ready for making tarka, for chickpea barley dish. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tarka, ready to stir into the chickpea barley soup. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished chickpea barley soup. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Tuesday night I made a type of vada, using the leftover chickpea barley porridge, adding some sooji, or coarse semolina to stiffen it even more, then, instead of deep frying it (the usual way those are cooked), I brushed a small amount of oil on the surface of them, then cooked them in a NS skillet. Turned out great! I also cooked some bok choy, that I harvested from my hydro - started with a generous 3 c, and it cooked down to a generous cup.
Sort of a vada, made from the leftover chickpea barley porridge, with some semolina added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

7 outer stalks from the bok choy in the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Those bok choy stems, chopped up to about 3 cups. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bok choy, cooked about 90 sec, with a tb of nam prick pao ready to stir into it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bok choy, cooked with a tsp of soy sauce, and a tb of nam prik pao added for flavor. Cooked down to about a cup, from 3 c. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tonight, a friend came over, and I made some guacamole, with some avocados I had to use today, plus a Mexican omelette, with some ham, roasted green chiles, from the freezer, and some queso fresco. Plus I gave him the two leftover vadas from last night, to reheat.

[applestar]

Today’s soup. I really should have taken more pics — it would have been fun to see….

This is loosely based on a Japanese recipe for layering meat with napa cabbage leaf and rolling up, then standing up the rolls in bottom of a konbu-lined pot, nicely arranging additional vegetable ingredients, then covering with grated daikon radish, adding water (actually unsweetened soymilk— it’s supposed to be a white soup/chowder) and seasonings, condiments, sauce, and cooking covered until done.

For mine, my order for pork shoulder got subbed with lamb shoulder, so I went with that — but trimmed and cut thin and seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black peppers and nutmeg — and also some thick cut maple-cured bacon slices — rolled up in napa leaves.

They had no daikon so I grated a bunch of radishes (pink grated radish made for pretty arrangement) and arranged half head of a cauliflower divided into florets, Greek Sweet Red squash from fall harvest, carrots and potatoes, frozen sweet corn, remaining radish greens and napa leaves chopped up, and shiitake mushroom caps. For condiment, I added a packet of natural/additive free dashi powder, minced garlic, grated ginger, mirin, and soy-free teriyaki sauce.

[imafan26]

Its been cold lately, so these soup ideas come in handy. I started out to make chili, but I added too much water and it turned into chili soup. It's o.k. I substituted beef bouillon and water for the tomato sauce. I did add tomato paste and canned stewed tomatoes, but too much water. I seasoned it with homemade taco seasoning ( I make a salt free seasoning), salt free beef bouillon, sazon (not salt free), smoked paprika, garlic, cumin, and chili peppers that I grew and preserved in vodka for heat. I am eating this with rice.

[pepperhead212]

I made some salad today (too hot to eat soup again. lol), with some chickpeas, kidney beans, and some oat groats, cooked in the Instant Pot, draining them, and rinsing with the cold water, when done.

While cooking those things, I got some sardines broken up, some feta diced up, a large bell pepper diced, a small piece of celery, chopped, a scallion chopped up, and a couple of green Thai peppers, minced up, along with some parsley. Then I mixed the beans and oats in, with just a simple olive oil and white wine vinegar, with some fish sauce, and a generous amount of fresh ground pepper, for the dressing. I just ate this rolled up in some of those pieces of the leaf lettuce, from the hydroponics.
Salad, with chickpeas, kidney beans, oat groats, sardines, bell and hot peppers, feta, and a few other things. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

An interesting article I read about millets a couple of days ago made me think of something I've done often with millet - cooked it with jasmine rice, to give some nutrition to it. Amazingly, the flavor of the millet is incredibly mild, so the jasmine flavor is still strong. And I often do this with Thai curries - something I don't make as often as I used to. But I still had about 3/4 of red curry paste in the freezer.

For cooking the millet and jasmine rice together, I soak the millet for a few hours, drain, then add about 1½ c water per cup, and 1:1 water to rice, and use the RICE mode in the Instant Pot, and it comes out perfectly.
Dry roasted foxtail millet - did not brown much, but mixes well with rice. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Millet mixed with jasmine rice, 2 to one, but the jasmine still tastes incredible. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai red curry, with the chicken and bok choy stems added for the last few minutes of cooking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Thai curry, with eggplant, onion, bok choy, and chicken added, served on the millet/rice mix. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

That looks so good. I like, Jasmine rice, millet and Thai curry. What time is dinner, I be right over. Do you make your own curry powder? Our oriental market has closed I can't find good curry spice. We have a Korean market everything is pre packaged, 1 lb of chili powder was $20 when I was there last summer. The Mexican market use to have 1 lb chili powder for $4 but not been there in 2 years 45 miles is to far to drive.

Do you know millet will pop like pop corn, tiny pop corn you eat it with a spoon. I use to pop millet in a hot air pop corn popper. I have a 40 year old vintage electric pop corn popper.

[pepperhead212]

I make all my own curry pastes and powders, as well as all those Indian spice mixes - nothing like the homemade that I found anywhere. I have all the ingredients for some Thai curry paste, including some galangal in a vacuum sealed bag in the freezer, so I'll be making some more soon.

I hear that millet pop when I dry roast it in a dry skillet. It doesn't pick up much flavor, like other grains do when toasted, but it helps it absorb liquid better, when cooked. Sorghum - actually a type of millet - is a larger grain, and also pops, and is used a lot in that way. I have used a lot of sorghum in Indian dishes, whole, as well as flour - jowar - which is always available in Indian markets.

[imafan26]

I know garam masala is different as each person or region customizes the mix. I have made my own curry paste before, but I usually buy it. It lasts a very long time. For other things, I do grow herbs and spices: lemon grass, kaffir lime, chili peppers, ginger, turmeric, galangal, pandan, murraya koenegii, thyme, rosemary, citrus (calamansi, lime, Meyer lemon), oregano, different kinds of mints, Italian parsley, cutting celery, Mexican tarragon, Jamaican oregano, holy basil, ajaka basil, green onions, chives, leeks, garlic chives, and bay leaves. I can grow sage, other basil, roselle, dill, shiso, cilantro, for some parts of the year or for a short time.

I use most of the herbs fresh. Except the bay leaves which are better dried.

I have been making my own spice mixes for chili, tacos, and fajita. I have to do that mainly because I need a salt free mix. I don't make a lot of Mexican food, but I find the seasonings to still be versatile in other dishes. I also make some of my own salad dressings. I don't do much Middle Eastern or Indian cooking so I have not tried to make a garam masala. If I can find more herb blend recipes, I might do more of those. I do make some hot pepper sauces.

I am not a cook, so I usually, follow recipes and don't stray too far with the spices.
I like things cooked simply. I have to restrict salt and sauces on my diet. It also works better on a low carb diet to keep things as simple as possible.

I love some the recipes you've all done. I have tried a few of them. And I have to admit sometimes I am a little envious of all the different things you make. I pretty much make the same things over and over and don't try new things often.

One of the newer recipes I tried was lime cilantro rice. Mainly because I have cilantro and lemons falling off the trees. That was really different, and simple to make.

[pepperhead212]

I made a creole type dish today, including some bell peppers I had to use, plus some mushrooms, and some ham, from the freezer. I made the tomato sauce, and simmered it briefly, then stirred in the leftover millet/rice mix I had with the Thai curry. I let it sit about 5 minutes, to absorb some of the liquid. Almost the same as jambalaya, w/o shrimp.
The creole type dish, with some mushrooms and ham, before mixing in the millet and rice mix. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished creole dish, after mixing in the leftover millet/rice mix, and letting it sit for 5 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I had to trim those greens in the hydroponics, and got a large amount of them, and it almost looks like I didn't cut any! I made some Indian food - a one dish meal, based on a dal and rice dish, cooked together, but I used some whole oats, instead of the rice. I cooked those together, with some sambar masala and some turmeric, in the Instant Pot, on low pressure, to keep the oats from "exploding". While cooking that, I cooked an onion in some ghee, and several minced cloves of garlic, plus some tomato paste, cooked a couple of minutes,then added some sliced mushrooms, and cooked several minutes, on medium high. Then I added the chopped greens - about 4 quarts - then cooked them down, about 2 minutes. Then I stirred it into the dal, along with a generous amount of chopped cilantro, then simmered it a couple minutes longer.
A bunch of 2 kinds of Mizuna, plus a few stalks of the Wisubina Mustard greens, almost filling an 8 qt bowl, and some cilantro, from the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Onions, garlic, tomatoes, and mushrooms, cooking down. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 4 quarts chopped up greens, cooking down briefly with the mushrooms. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Greens cooked way down, with the mushrooms, before adding to the dal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Generous amount of cilantro, added to the dal. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dal, with mushrooms, and a lot of greens and cilantro, from the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

German Pasty for dinner.

Wife made these for dinner. Cut a pie crust in a 10" round shape like a tortilla. Cook, meat and vegetables of your choice then stir in gravy. Spoon filling on the pie crust then fold over like a fried pie shape. Bake several pasties on a pizza pan of baking pan in 350°f oven until pie crust is golden brown. Put a pasta on a dinner plate then cover with gravy.

Wife had left over filling so she put that on the plate also. These are so good. You can make these with, chicken. pork or beef. There is a restaurant in Michigan UP that sells German Pasta Lunch. Chicken pasta is good with white gravy. Vegetable filling was, carrots, corn, onion, peas, no potatoes this time.

Pasta use to be very popular for coal miners to take to work every day for their dinner. A TV cooking show did a 1 hour show on the German Pasta also known as hand pies in 20 other countries.

https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipe ... ie-2042803

We have left overs, I will eat 1 for breakfast tomorrow morning.

[imafan26]

I got some nice white eggplant from my garden. I gave half of them to my sister. She called and said she never saw a white eggplant before and wanted to know if it had to be peeled. I told her that it cooks the same way as other eggplant. Like other eggplant, it does not have to be peeled if it is not hard or scarred.

I don't have a lot of ways to cook eggplant so I did try a new recipe but I did modify it. Orginally the recipe called for the eggplant to be fried in sesame oil and then basically cooked in a soy and honey sauce with a green onion garnish.


I am not a fan of sesame oil, so I fried the eggplant in vegetable oil. I had to do it in batches because the pan was a little small for 4 eggplant. I modified the teriyaki sauce, because the way it was written, it would take me a day to scrub the char off the pan. I added a saved chicken seasoning packet from a ramen noodle package and added about a cup of water. low sodium soy sauce, stevia (instead of honey or sugar), about a tablespoon of oyster sauce (I like oyster sauce better than soy sauce for stir fry), and mirin. I made a slurry of cornstarch and water as a thickener for the sauce and thickened the sauce. At the very end I added chopped green onions from my yard and turned off the heat. It came out pretty good, but next time I think I will add some garlic and ginger so the teriyaki flavor will be stronger. Maybe some chili or sesame chili oil at the end and toasted sesame seeds. This will be a vegetable side dish that will work with almost any of my regular meats. I have rotisserie chicken and pork loin. For lunner, I had it with fried pork loin chop. It would be better with rice or noodles, but I am trying to cut carbs.

[imafan26]

I got 6 white eggplant from the garden sharing bench yesterday and I picked 2 zucchini off my plant at home this morning. I have a lot of stuff, so I need to use it.

This was the recipe that inspired me to make this: https://healthyrecipesblogs.com/eggplant-parmesan/

Zucchini and eggplant can be cooked the same way, so I cooked them together. I think this was supposed to be in a single layer, but I put all of it in one foil lined baking pan. I ended up using 3 eggs and a little unsweetened almond mild for the egg wash. I cut the zucchini in rounds, but I cut the eggplant in sticks. I dredged the vegetables in the almond flour after the egg wash. Seasoned it all with pepper, garlic powder (3tblspns), and Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning (3-4 tblspns). There will be plenty of salty ingredients later and white eggplant is not bitter so it did not need the extra salt. Baked it all in a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes, turning the vegetables midway. As an afterthought, I could have added some red pepper flakes or cajun seasoning as well, but it didn't happen.

Next, I poured a jar of Prego over the top of the vegetables. I had pepperoni in the freezer, so put a layer of pepperoni on top of the marinara and topped it all with Mexican blend cheese because that is what I had. I had some coarsely shredded paresan cheese, so I put a couple of tablespoons on top of the cheese. Put it back in the oven for about 30 minutes until the cheese was melted and the edges were browning.

The recipe calls for garnishing with parsley and I do have Italian parsley in the yard, but I like green onions better and I can use the extra green onions in my next omelette.

[pepperhead212]

I made a curry out of cooked, diced cucumbers, a green pepper, and a large onion, all cooked in the Instant Pot on sauté until it just begins to brown on the edges, then added a spoonful of gochujang and about 3 tb malvani masala (the last of my jar - have to make more), and cooked it briefly. Then I added 5 c water, and 2/3 c each of red chori beans and mung beans, washed. I salted with some thin soy sauce, stirred in 3/4 tsp turmeric, then set to manual, to pressure cook 22 minutes, and release naturally. While that was cooking, I grated the last cucumber, and made a small amount of raita - the first thing I've made with my mint this year.

When I opened this, I added about 1/3 c black quinoa, stirred in 1 tsp garam masala, and set it to pressure cook 1 minute, then release 5 minutes, then release the pressure, which is enough for the quinoa. When that was done, I prepared a tarka, using some mustard seed, cumin seed, urad dal, 6 whole chiles, some asafoetida, and some curry leaves. I stirred that tempering into the curry, simmered a few minutes, then served, with the raita on the side.
A curry made with malvani masala, Red chori and green mung beans, black quinoa, plus cucumber, green pepper, and onions. And cucumber raita. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Ham (today) and sourdough loaf bread (2 days ago).

Bread was standard sourdough bread recipe with my fruit butter (persimmon, pear, and fig) adding sugar and subbed for some of the water, and replacing the rest of the water with rice milk… then subbing a part of the whole wheat in the half and half - bread flour — with almond flour. Overnight fridge proofed in basket. Didn’t add any butter or oil as originally conceptualized, but it has a cheery crust, moist with complex flavor.

Butt half bone-in 10 Lbs ham cooked in 140°F sous vide for 6+2 hours (due to unavoidable delay), then seared in 450°F roast oven with reduced balsamic syrup and coconut brown sugar + minced red onion glaze.

Not juicy but deliciously moist and tender. Even the burnt fatty bit at the top where the ham was nearly touching the element tasted yummy.

— I actually had to artfully carve off some pieces from the bottom to get it to fit in my little multifunction toaster oven…. Those essentially boiled ham pieces tasted good too and have been saved for another use.

[imafan26]

The ham looks great! Gary, your German pastry looks like an English Pasty.

For Easter, I made myself a chicken and broccoli casserole. Actually, it was not for Easter exactly. It was just time to cook something for the next couple of days. I did adapt it a bit.
I got 4 chicken thighs, dredged them in egg wash and almond flour (cutting carbs)
Seasoned with pepper, cajun seasoning, and Mrs. Dash garlic and herb blend. Pan fried until they were browned. Put the chicken in a casserole with 1 can cream of chicken soup. 1/2 soup can of water and 1/2 soup can of almond milk.
Added additional pepper and garlic powder, and a 10 oz package of broccoli and cauliflower. Cooked it in the microwave for a total for 40 minutes. I had to take some of the sauce out because it was spilling over in the microwave. I also found out that the turntable in my Toshiba 7 in 1 microwave/convection oven/air fryer combo can't handle as much weight as my old cuisine art microwave oven, so I had to make sure the casserole was in the middle or it had trouble turning.

I was also supposed to add cheese on top, but the 1.5 qt casserole is a bit too small and there wasn't enough room for it. I will add cheese to the dish when I reheat individual servings. I would have liked a thicker sauce. The frozen vegetables gave up a lot of water, so I probably did not have to add the 1/2 can of water unless I use fresh vegetables. It made 4 servings.

All in all, it came out fairly well especially if I do the tweaks for a low carb recipe. Actually, I added the soup because I did not want to make a bechamel sauce. The soup is definitely not low carb. The bechamel sauce or alfredo sauce would have added more salt which I also have to limit. It is also one reason why I chose to add the cheese to each serving instead, so I could better control the salt.

[Gary350]

The ham looks great! Gary, your German pasty looks like an English Pasty.

A cooking show I often watch did a 1 hour show on 20 types of Hand Pies. Jewish Knish is almost the same only they use bread not pie crust. Some hand pies are Pita bread filled. English Pasty, wonder who copies who. Greek Gyro sandwich is a hand pie.

No one in town sells Rye bread flour.

[pepperhead212]

After I made those spice mixes a couple of days ago, I've had a craving for making something with one of them. So today I made some Chole Masala, with some beef, some green chickpeas (hara chana), and some whole grain sorghum. I soaked the chickpeas for about 5 hours, which really isn't long enough for the green or black ones. So I started them in the Instant Pot, with that kale purée, 2 tomatoes from the freezer, puréed (I took some out for guacamole earlier), some water, and 2 tb of that chole masala powder (another tb later), and some salt. This was pressure cooked 80 minutes, and pressure released naturally. Those things were still firm!

While that was cooking, I cooked a lb of ground beef until totally browned, then removed to a plate. Then in a bit of ghee I lightly browned a large chopped onion, then added about a tb of minced garlic and another tb of that chole masala, stirred a minute, then put the beef back into the pan, stirred it all together, and set aside.
The cooked beef, added back to the pan, after cooking a large onion in some ghee, followed by 5 cloves garlic, and a tb chole masala powder. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I added 2/3 c whole grain sorghum, set to pressure cook another 30 min.; both of those were almost done, but not quite, and the smell was getting incredibly good. I let the pressure release about 10 min, then released it manually. Then I added 3 small, peeled and diced red potatoes (they were old; usually I don't peel them), and 1/2 c moong dal (to help thicken), and I added the meat mix, 1/2 tb garam masala, and set to pressure cook another 15 min, then let it release naturally. I mashed it some, to help thicken some, then served topped with some cilantro.
The beef, added to the cooked hara channa mix, with a half cup of mung dal and 3 small diced potatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Chole Masala by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Looks great.

[imafan26]

My sister said the Pad Thai sauce and pickled radish she gave me were for two servings. I am now on my third and there is enough sauce and more than enough pickles for another one.

This morning I harvested a handful of bush beans (43 g) steamed it in the microwave.This Pad Thai sauce is hanging on so long and cannot be cooked in advance, I decided to prep for two recipes instead of one. I minced garlic, sliced mushrooms, and soaked 2 servings of noodles.

For breakfast I made Pad Thai with onions, peppers (pre diced and frozen), garlic, steamed beans cut into 1 inch pieces. I found a bag of coleslaw mix, so I used half of that for the vegetables, added the sliced mushrooms and cooked it all in a little oil until they were wilted.

I still have my plate lunch and it needs to be used too (this will my 5th meal made from part of it. I still have a couple of things left some chicken and fried rice to use up). I used half of the sweet sour pork from the plate lunch as the protein, the flavor profile is sweet and salty, it is not usually something that goes in Pad Thai, but I just need to use it up (I still have the other half of the pork to use.)

Stir fried everything, pushed it to one side of the pan and put 1 scrambled egg on the other side, moved the vegetables on top of it and waited 30 seconds and stirred it together. I really like this trick. I don't have to dirty another pan to fry the egg.

Added the noodles (I forgot it was 2 servings and add it all).

Added 2 tablespoons of the sauce (it was a lot of noodles), and a pinch of the salted radish.

Added about 3 tablespoons of water to dilute the sauce and keep everything from sticking to the pan. Mixed and fried it all until the water had evaporated.
I did add some tamarind powder (usually a no no for Pad Thai) and stevia. It needed more sweet and sour taste.)

This was a big meal. I was going to try to save the noodles, but I realize why Pad Thai has to be eaten right away. The noodles become a hockey puck and stick together when they get cold. I will have to soak more noodles for the next one.

I did prep more of the mushrooms and garlic, and I still have more coleslaw and parts of the plate lunch for dinner.

Pad Thai takes a lot of prep, but it is very versatile in what ingredients you can add to it. Usually the vegetable are beans sprouts and tofu. Pad Thai is a street food in Thailand and I was told because of the time it takes to prep and the fact that it does not keep well, most people buy it rather than make it.

It is so versatile though, that I could have it for a few days just changing the vegetables and proteins in it and it would still be a little different. My sister said the sauce would only last a few days, but I found out if it is a traditional sauce it can last 3 months in the frig or frozen in an ice cube tray for about 6 months. The radish has so much salt, it would be like kim chee and last nearly forever.

Recipe for Pad Thai sauce is here. I can get all of these ingredients like the tamarind and palm sugar. They do sell tamarind paste in a jar. Palm sugar is similar to brown sugar but it is not that same because of the molasses. It can still be a substitute if you cannot find it. Other alternatives would be coconut sugar which may be found at Costco, or honey. I could not use 1/4 cup of this sauce because it was just too salty for me. But it may be o.k. if you like salt.

https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/5-min-pad-thai/

The other lesson I learned is to try to prep as much as possible in advance. It is tiring to have to chop vegetables for every meal. Since I can't have too many vegetables around anyway or I just can't eat it all, I should make it easy to use by prepping the vegetables that I can use in a short time (a day or two) .

Like the mushrooms onion and garlic can be prepped ahead. I learned I could freeze onions and peppers and that has made life a lot easier since I don't have to deal with half an onion in the refrigerator or having them rot. Garlic can probably be frozen or infused in oil. I don't use that much garlic, but I don't like to chop it either. So planning ahead and prepping enough garlic for a few days is still worthwhile. It is better to do it all at one time and save time and dishes later.

Right now, I have lettuce and the Caesar salad in the frig. It is going to be a race to eat it before it goes bad. There is also more bok choy in the garden I need to harvest.

[pepperhead212]

I made a one dish meal tonight - something I made to use the last 3/4c of spelt, that was the oldest grain I had on the shelves. So cooked it by itself, before combining it with rice. I also soaked 1.5 oz of dried eggplant (just over a lb) in hot water, while doing the other things.

I made some sage/garlic based sausage, and also used 12 oz frozen ham, added after browning a large onion. After all the meat is cooked, I added some tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, a little more salt (didn't need much more), some of that coriander/cumin powder, and some Syrian Oregano (thyme scented), plus a cup of parboiled rice, 3 c water (including 1/2 c white wine), and all that spelt and eggplant. I brought that to boil, then simmered 25 minutes. Looks just like rice, but it's almost half spelt.

The one dish meal I put together, with ham, sausage, eggplant, spelt, and rice, ready to cook. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The finished rice casserole, which I may add some other veggies to, with all the those leftovers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Looks good. I am still eating left overs. Today I made another omelette with peppers onions, mushrooms, fried fried rice and sweet sour pork from the plate lunch (this is the fifth meal I have made with this same plate lunch, I have a chicken to go.) I used the vegetables I prepped yesterday for the Pad Thai I did not make. Pad Thai is coming tomorrow.

I am getting a lot of mileage from the Pad Thai sauce (I will have a total of 6 meals from what was supposed to be two servings) The plate lunch will also end up as part of 6 meals. It was kinda fun to figure out what to add to the Pad Thai for vegetables to make it different ( I ended up using, Tokyo Bekana, Chard, Bok Choy, cole slaw, and Kale. No bean sprouts because I did not have any.) I also added 6 shrimp from the shrimp coctail I bought from Costco.

The parts of the plate lunch. Chow fun was for dinner with left over beef and Tokyo bekana stir fry. I made 3 fried rice omelettes with different ingredients on different days . I had just the fried rice in the omelette on the first day, added onions, garlic, mushrooms, sweet sour pork and chives the next time, And the last time I added garlic, onions, peppers, mushrooms, the last of the fried rice, and sweat sour pork. I had another dinner with one of the baked chicken and the left over beef and Bekana stir fry. I am going to have the chicken with the Caesar salad.

I will eat 5 or 6 shrimp (from the Costco shrimp cockail) with the Caesar salad until one of them is gone.

Then I will have to think of something else. I still need to eat the rest of the cole slaw, I have a head of loose leaf lettuce, avocado, tofu, carrots, potato, a couple of apples, and celery. What can I do with that.

Tofsy I brought 4 more papaya to the garden and picked up some beans. I steamed and froze those for another day.

[pepperhead212]

I made a curry, with some chicken, about 6 oz of cremini mushrooms, some red chori beans (to empty the jar), about 1/2 c oat groats, and 1/2 c channa dal, plus about 1/3 c masoor dal, to thicken it some. I started with a chopped onion in a little oil, and when getting golden, added a tb of garlic, and cooked briefly, before adding the quartered creminis, and the diced chicken. I cooked on med-high for about 3 minutes, then added 3 tb of that malvini masala powder I made recently, about 10 curry leaves, and cooked that briefly, to bloom the flavors, then added water, the oats, and the legumes. I adjusted the salt, then simmered on low for about 30 minutes, added a half tb of garam masala, and simmered a fer minutes, while I made the tarka, for the tempering. For this, I heated a tb of oil, and added 2 tsp mustard seed, and when they started cracking some, I stirred in 2 tsp cumin seeds, and 8 dried Thai peppers, swirled them until the peppers started browning some, then added a tsp of asafoetida and 10 more curry leaves. I stirred that around, off the heat, then added it to the curry. It was too late to make any flatbreads, but I'll make some, for the leftovers, which I have about 2 qts of.
A curry made with that Malvini masala powder, and some garam masala at the end. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Today I made stuffed peppers. It is a keto recipe, but I can't really leave out the rice. It called for making a filling with beef, onions, taco seasoning,a can of diced tomatoes, cheese, and cauliflower rice. Spooned into a half bell pepper, topped with cheese and baked for 20 minutes at 375.

Instead of beef, I used a turkey Italian sausage chub. I fried that and poured off the excess water. Added minced garlic, onions, and mushrooms ( I still have some left from when I went to Costco). I did have some cauliflower rice in the freezer so I microwaved it and then drained off the excess water, 1 rice cup (3/4 cup) of raw rice,cooked. Added the can of no salt added diced tomatoes with juice and it called for half the cheese but I added it later. I don't like to try to get cheese off my pan. Cooked the cleaned raw half bell peppers in the microwave oven for 8 minutes until they softened. Filled the halves half full with filling, added some shredded cheese ( I had fiesta blend), added more filling and topped with more cheese. Microwaved 4 halves at a time in my microwave oven for another 8 minutes until the cheese melted. I am enjoying it now. I ended up making 8 halves, so I froze half of them for another day. I think if it wasn't low carb I would have liked to add celery and beans to the filling as well.

I think I would have liked to have added some crisp cooked low sodium bacon to the topping with the cheese and while there is taco seasoning in this recipe, it is a taco seasoning I make without salt, it could have used more pepper to make up the difference. The cheese and the seasonings in the turkey sausage had enough salt for me, but other people who are less sensitive to salt would probably want more. The recipe initially called for the peppers to be cooked in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, on the second rack then moved up to broil for the last 5 minutes. It would have made the peppers and topping crisper. I do most of my cooking in the microwave rather than the oven unless I have to. I don't like burnt ends so I am willing to give up the crispness not to have things charred.

It was a quick sort a meal for me and I managed to have some extras frozen as well as prep more mushrooms, onions, peppers, and garlic for other meals. It wasn't really low carb anymore because I did add a little rice, Normally, I would have added more. I added the cauliflower too, which I don't like, so it did well and blended in so I did not really notice it. For me it is a keeper.

For keto the cauliflower replaces rice, but I need rice for stuffed peppers so, I used my microwave rice cooker and cooked one cup of rice. I actually did not believe the recipe calls for each rice cup of rice to use 2 1/4 rice cups of water. So, initially, I made it with a 1:1 ratio which is what I would have done with my regular rice cooker. It turns out the microwave is like the instant pot it really uses twice the water. I don't usually like to cook rice in the microwave because it is messy, the pot always leaks, but I only needed one cup of rice so it was easier to do it this way. If I had actually put double the water in the pot, the rice would have been done in 5 minutes. Learned something new.

[pepperhead212]

I made a creole type dish today - would have been like jambalaya, if I had shrimp. I cooked some whole oats, instead of rice - cooked 1 1/3 c of them separately in the Instant Pot, while I was cutting everything up, and drained them. I had a lb of mushrooms I had to use up, as well as some bell peppers I had to use. I nuked 14 oz of frozen ham, just enough to dice it up. I also chopped up 4 of those garlic scapes, and a large handful of those garlic chives, for the garlic flavor. The spices and herbs were what I use in my jambalaya - cloves, hot pepper (I used some aleppo, to get more flavor), thyme, and ground bay leaf, plus some black pepper.

I pre-cooked the mushrooms, followed by the diced ham, browning both some, and setting aside. Then I cooked an onion in some olive oil, until browning some, adding the scapes towards the end. Then the bell peppers and celery were cooked another 10 minutes, followed by the seasonings mix, blooming the seasonings for a minute or so, then adding the can of tomatoes, and 2 c water. Brought to a brisk simmer, and cooked 15 min. Then I added the mushrooms, ham, and garlic chives, and cooked another 10 minutes. Then I stirred in those cooked oats, and cooked another 5 minutes. I put some halved snow peas in a bowl, to serve it on, just for some crunch!
Onions browned some, then the chopped garlic scapes added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bell peppers and celery, added to onion mix, to be cooked about 10 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Veggies with the spices and herbs, with tomatoes added, and ready to simmer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cooked mushrooms and ham, ready to stir in, and cook 10 minutes longer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cooked oat groats, ready to stir into the creole mix, then simmer 5 more minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some snow peas I just picked, to serve the creole oats on. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Creole oats, with mushrooms and ham. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[imafan26]

Yesterday I made roasted vegetables with the eggplant from the garden, broccoli, sweet potato, potato, carrots, mushrooms, and celery. I used rosemary from my garden for flavoring and I roasted a head of garlic at the same time. Salt, pepper, and avocado oil. It was a good way to use up some of the vegetables that have been sitting in my refrigerator a little too long. I made some Mandarin chicken a couple of days ago, so I am eating the vegetables with the chicken instead of rice.

Today the master gardener training garden had a potluck featuring one of the MG's who demonstrated some of her Indian cooking featuring the eggplant and squash. It was very good, she did not make it too spicy, and I could taste the Indian curry leaf. The others made complementary side dishes some of which I never had before so it was a learning experience for me.

[CarltonCrawford]

Entdecken Sie hochwertigen Rundbogenhallen und Container Überdachungen mit individueller Konfiguration. Die perfekte Lösung für Ihre Bedürfnisse.

[CarltonCrawford]

Entdecken Sie hochwertigen Rundbogenhallen und Container Überdachungen mit individueller Konfiguration. Die perfekte Lösung für Ihre Bedürfnisse.

[CarltonCrawford]

Entdecken Sie hochwertigen Rundbogenhallen und Container Überdachungen mit individueller Konfiguration. Die perfekte Lösung für Ihre Bedürfnisse.

[pepperhead212]

I made a type of curry today, with some dried green beans and eggplants (something I have a lot of, esp. the EP), and I seasoned it with (among other things) some pav bhaji masala I made, a while back, and I used the last cup or so of some masoor dal in the jar in my pantry. I soaked about a pound equivalent of dried eggplant and dried green beans, starting around 10 am. Later, I rinsed, then soaked 1¼ c of brown basmati rice in the Instant Pot, for around 2 hours (while out in the garden). When I started the cooking, I added a half tsp turmeric, a tsp of salt, and I set the IP for 15 min on low pressure - this works perfectly with the brown rice, w/o exploding the grains. I just let it sit on warm mode, until I needed it.

I simmered some chopped onion and garlic scapes in some coconut oil in a small wok, while making the cooking liquid in the Vitamix. I put 2 c water, a handful of dried tomatoes (about a half pound equivalent), the last of the leaves from some mizuna and other greens I had in the hydroponics, 2 cloves garlic, and about ¼ c dried, unsweetened coconut, then blended that up to a smooth purée; I added that to the wok, rinsed the VM out with 2 more water, and put that in the wok. I then stirred in the rinsed EP and green beans, the seasonings, then the masoor dal, and another half cup of water (seemed like it needed it). I brought it to a simmer, and cooked it 25 min., stirring occasionally. When that was done, I took it off the heat, then put the small pot on for the tarka, with a tb of coconut oil, on level 4, and added 1 tsp black mustard seed. When that started popping, I added 1 tsp cumin seed, and 8 Thai peppers, swirled around until the peppers brown slightly, then added 1/2 tsp asafoetida and about a dozen curry leaves. After about 10 sec, I dumped it on the curry. All this takes less than about 30 sec, from when the mustard seeds go in. The tarka is stirred in, followed by the rice, and a few snow peas. I served it, sprinkled with a little chopped cilantro.
An onion and a couple of garlic scapes, cooking in some coconut oil, to start the curry. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some liquified greens, dried tomatoes, and garlic, with the soaked eggplant and beans, from last season, and some pav bhaji masala. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Curry, with the pav bhaji seasonings added, with the masoor dal, ready to stir in and simmer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Tarka ingredients, ready to cook. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The tarka, ready to stir into the curry, after simmering the masoor dal in the greens liquid. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The turmeric rice, being stirred into the curry. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished pav bhaji curry, with the turmeric rice stirred in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Gary350]

Dinner for 5. Garden, potatoes, onions, celery, sweet peppers. Bake beans. Polish sausage & German sausage. On patio cooked on the propane griddle.

[imafan26]

It is Sunday and time to clean out the frig again. I made beef tomato with valentine tomatoes from the garden. A madalyn onion, that I got from the onion field day over a month ago. I used up the rest of my celery, bell pepper, and a pak choy that was starting to turn yellow. I minced up a dozen cloves of garlic the other day, so I used some of that as well as the preserved ginger from my garden.
The pak choy is not usually in this recipe, but I used it anyway. It came out fine.

I marinated thinly sliced pieces of chuck roast in shoyu, sugar, cornstarch, baking soda, and sherry. Sherry is a good substitute for Shaoxing wine. I marinaded it overnight. It does not have to be that long, but I wanted to tenderize the meat longer.

In my wok, I sauteed slices of ginger and minced garlic until fragrant. Added the marinated beef and stir fried until the beef was almost cooked. Removed it to a bowl.

Added more oil and sauteed each of the vegetables separately until crisp tender, onions, bell pepper, celery, pak choy stems, then the pak choy tops, and lastly the tomatoes. I placed each element in the bowl with the meat until all the vegetables were separately cooked. Then added everything back to the wok, stir fried them together for a minute. Added a package of beef bouillon ( I use herb ox, it does not contain any salt, but it does not have the right herbs for Asian cuisine. They don't make a low sodium Asian dashi. Added oyster sauce, ketchup, shoyu, ginger infused sherry, and water. Simmered for 5 minutes. Added a slurry of cornstarch and water to thicken the sauce and served over rice. Very good for me. This is not salt free, there is a lot of salt in this but the low sodium soy sauce, and the low sodium bouillon does help cut the total salt. And I added a lot of water so it is soupier than it should be.I could have added green onions, but I didn't.

Now all I have left in my veggie drawer are a couple of red potatoes, carrots, and the beans I just picked. The beans can be frozen and the other things will keep a while. That is the problem with cooking for one. I can only buy one vegetable at a time, otherwise it is hard to use it before it goes bad. Having the garden is good, because I can get a lot of my produce from the garden, but even then, it has a limited life before it becomes worm food.

The beef tomato will probably last me three or four days. I'll have at least three days to figure out what vegetable I will use in the next thing I cook.

Peppers, mushrooms, garlic, and onions, I am finding very convenient to prep them ahead of time. I can use them in cooking main meals, especially breakfast omelets. The garlic, onions, and bell peppers can be frozen until I need it. I haven't tried freezing mushrooms. I don't know if that is possible.