What Have You Cooked Recently?

Kinda woke up with the beginnings of this idea, made whole by realizing I had a whole bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer:

Mediterranean Tomato-Cucumber Salad:
1 carton grape tomatoes (16oz preferable if available)
1 english cucumber
1 bag frozen, peeled, deveined shrimp (obviously any shrimp totaling around 3.5 cups will also work)
4 green onions
~1 cup chopped parsley
~2 cups crumbled feta cheese
Tons of ancho chili powder (regular also works)
Tons of cumin
Fair bit of cayenne
oil
salt/pepper

Dice the cucumber and all of the tomatoes (quartering grape tomatoes works fine as a dice)
Mince the green onion
Mix the above in a bowl
Toss shrimp in spices until the color sticks to all sides
Heat neutral oil (I used grapeseed) in pan
Cook shrimp on medium heat, about 2 mins/side, they should have a very slight bounce when turned
Drain shrimp if necessary (frozen shrimp bled a bit and mixed with the oil and spice, gross)
Chop up shrimp into smaller bits, toss into veggie bowl
Add parsley, feta cheese, a bit of olive oil, salt/pepper to taste
Mix well.

Came out damned fine. Fresh bits from the vegetables and a nice mid range of savory and spice with the shrimp. A bowl of it makes for a pretty excellent, relatively healthy lunch.
 
I got drunk and apparently decided to buy like 10 frozen Red's burritos despite not having them before (normally get Tias like a cheap fuck) because they were on sale for 1.50 a piece. Woke up today and saw them in my freezer so I figured why the fuck not. Cooked one of the chicken cilantro in my oven enchilada style with some habanero sauce. Frozen burritos have no business being that good. I'd be buying these bastards every day for lunch if they weren't like 4 bucks a piece normally.
 
Made Cream of Mushroom soup a couple days ago from scratch.

10 oz Cremini mushrooms, chopped
10 oz Oyster mushrooms, chopped
fresh sage (I use a whole pack because flavor, minced)
4 cups chicken stock
head of garlic, roasted for about 45 mins to an hour at 400F
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup butter
1 cup heavy cream

Brown the butter, add the sage, cook for a minute, add the onions and mushrooms and sautee for about 5-10 minutes, until it sweats out and starts to de-glaze the pot. Add the stock and cook for about 5 minutes. Blend in batches with the roasted garlic, once added back, add the cream and warm through. Salt and pepper to taste. Surprisingly filling and a nice treat in the fall/winter months.
 
I went on vacation and have been cold for 3 days so I felt like making jjanjangmeyon. It's noodles with black bean sauce, meat and vegetables and it's very comforting/warming.

-Chicken thighs/porkbelly/ or tofu, really any meat type things on hand work well
-1/4-1/3 cup of black bean paste. Lee Kum Kee makes the best imo
-chopped garlic, I use a whole bulb
-onion and/or leek
-1 cup broccoli
-a bunch of chopped cabbage
-about a tablespoon of ginger
-1-1 1/2 cups of stock
-corn starch slurry
-1/4-1/3 cup rice wine (shaoxing or white wine work well)
-1 tablespoon palm sugar
-fresh or dried lo mein/soba/egg noodles. I prefer soba, it's a nice flavor
-neutral oil

Saute the meat until browned then add the garlic, ginger, and onions with the oil on high. Cook until softened. Add the black bean paste, broccoli, and cabbage then cook for a few minutes on medium/medium high. then add the wine and cook until it's reduced a bunch. you can use more to deglaze throughout the cooking. Then mix the sugar with the stock and add that to the dish and turn it to medium and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Cook the noodles in the mean time. Plate up! It's really good with an egg or some crunchy vegetables like cucumber or lightly cooked mushrooms. It's a nice savory-sweet dish and really lots more veggies can be added and it will be even better but I didn't have a lot on hand today.
 
Pan fried pork chops topped with marsala sauce, served with bacon-wrapped leek gratin and white wine roasted potato rounds:

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I have yet to find a roasted vegetable I can't improve by wrapping it in bacon.
 
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head of garlic, roasted for about 45 mins to an hour at 400F
I love garlic and this one weird tip takes it to another level. I usually chop the top off the whole head of garlic and remove the outside layer (although it really doesn't matter much so long as you get most of it). Then top it with olive oil, wrap in foil, and do it until it's done.

What I love about this is that you just squeeze out the garlic, can spread it like butter, or do whatever.

Anyway sounds like a great soup.
 
I'm finally out of my cooking slump, tonight is oven roasted BBQ pork tenderloin and brocolli with some kind of potatoes side dish, I'm not sure what that entails yet. I have 2 hours before I have to even start cooking, anyways!
At least you're making a strong comeback, that sounds great! You should post a pic when you're done.

Today's breakfast as thread tax. Aloo Anday, Pakistani curried eggs and potatoes. The key is lots of turmeric to give it that nice, radioactive look:

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I'm not the best at presentation or photography, but here's a pic of my pork loin dinner. I ended up roasting the broccoli with garlic and olive oil. I also seared the pork in a pan before transferring it into the oven, and cooking home fries in the pan that the pork was seared in. Next time, I think I'll let the pork season a little longer in the fridge, but it's overall almost exactly how I wanted it!
 
At least you're making a strong comeback, that sounds great! You should post a pic when you're done.

Today's breakfast as thread tax. Aloo Anday, Pakistani curried eggs and potatoes. The key is lots of turmeric to give it that nice, radioactive look:

IMG-20211210-224029-01.jpg
Mirin that flashlight attachment. Are you a cop or just a defense gun?
 
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