What Have You Cooked Recently?

I heartily recommend Colman's. It is some no-joke mustard and is great on any deli-style sandwich.
Definitely. I was gifted some from some English friends a year or two ago and it's my goto with any kind of beef cold cut.

I also have some Colman's powered mustard. You can add that to other creams or spreads to spice them up.
Cream biscuits (easy and they only use all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and of course cream). If you add buttermilk, you can make crème fraîche which can be used for all kinds of wonderful things. Both crème fraîche and slightly whipped cream can be turned into savory sauces by mixing in herbs, shallots, capers, lemon etc. There are a lot of crème fraîche variations for salmon (nice in summer) and horseradish cream sauce is really great for beef. My favorite is a simple one from Cook's Illustrated:
Horseradish Cream Sauce for Horseradish-Crusted Beef Tenderloin from Cook's Illustrated November/December 2007

1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon of table salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Whisk cream in medium bowl until thickened but not yet holding soft peaks, 1 to 2 minutes. Gently fold in horseradish, salt, and pepper. Transfer to serving bowl and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to an hour before serving.
Thanks! I'll need to give them a try.
Subbing out cream for mayo had me screaming (and leaving out the cognac!) but I'm glad it tasted good. I haven't been motivated to cook anything interesting lately; it's motivating to read about someone making pâté :semperfidelis:
Yeah... I get what you mean, but I didn't really have my heart set on an authentic French pate necessarily. I feel like that's what I got in the restaurant I was in Philly, so I gave myself a little wiggle room. So anywhere between a French pate and a Jewish deli chopped liver spread (which legitimately might contain mayo) was fine for my little home experiment.

If I can find an easier way to strain the final product (maybe a potato ricer or something), maybe next time I'll go for a more authentic version.
 
Lately I've been making pasta Puttanesca a lot, I love the combined flavors of the anchovies, garlic, tomato, capers, and olives. I like experimenting with different types of pasta too- spaghetti is a classic, but with a thicker and more olive-heavy sauce ziti actually worked well. If you're pressed for time you can even sear up the aforementioned ingredients (minus the tomato) and just dump some store-bought marinara in there. Maybe not the most ambitious cooking project (semper fidelis to all our paté-making Chads) but it's been fun to do.
 
End of the month so I'm just trying to use up what I have in the house. So I made some seasoned fries, threw some leftover chicken, fire roasted corn on it, covered it with cheese, salsa, and sour cream, then called it a day. Was pretty good. Potatoes continue to be the perfect vehicle for other foods.

Probably gonna do the same thing again tonight for dinner, just use asparagus or brussels instead. Feeling in the mood for bitter greens.
 
My wife found this recipe for Pasta Primavera that she and my kids love. Take:
2 zucchinis
2 summer squashes
1 red onion
2 large carrots or 1/2 bag of baby carrots
2 bell peppers (cut into strips)
Cut up veggies into half-moons and place in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of minced garlic, salt, pepper, and fresh or dried Italian seasonings. Drizzle olive oil onto veggies enough to lightly coat. Toss and place on to baking sheets. Bake at 450F* for 10 mins. Remove from oven. stir or flip and return to oven to roast another 10 mins. Remove and let cool.
Cook you favorite short length pasta. (I used penne) In another large bowl. Put in pasta and roasted veggies. Add Parmesan cheese (as much as you like) and the zest and/or juice of 1 lemon. Also add cherry or grape tomatoes for an acidic kick. Drizzle a little more olive oil to and give it one last toss and ready to serve. you can add a protein. I did good ol' chicken.
Light alternative to sauce heavy Italian dishes.
 
This is my first time making a soft boiled egg, I don’t think the results were too bad except for that third egg, which I absolutely fucked. IMG_0890.jpeg
I made a marinade with half water with soy sauce, rice vinegar, Red wine, honey and shoyu.
 

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Greek salad and homemade fried shrimp + shrimp ceviche tonight.
Might pick up pizza tomorrow since my husband took a random day off- the kids don't know yet, so we're just going to surprise them with him being home during the week and probably go to the park or take a hike and pick up some slop on the way back since it's been months.
 
The new Adam Ragusea recipe. Turned out really good, and he is totally right, is very tasty warm and cold. I couldnt find shallots so I subbed with red onions and used farfelle pasta. Recommend, its going into my staple week night pasta rotation.
I have dried shallots for this kind of thing because I get shallots for some recipe and then use like a third of one and since it's so infrequently that I use them, the rest go bad (I generally prefer onions).
 
Using a can of cream of mushroom soup and this recipe for inspiration, I made a damn fine potato dish that you can serve alongside some chicken that I braised in it too.

First I sauteed some onions until they started turning yellow. Then you chuck in the garlic for about a minute at most. After that I added the soup mix I whipped up for this dish.

You mix about one can of the stuff with one to two cups of chicken stock, adjusting to avoid being too much of a salt bomb if possible. You then go about one half water and one half milk to round out the body of the liquid between savory and rich. Top off with pepper, rosemary, and a bit of red pepper flake.

After that you place potatoes loosely cut into I'd reckon eighths for a medium to large sized spud. Place your beast in the oven for one hour covered at between 325 to 350 degrees F. Then do the remaining half hour without the cover. The final product is damn fine, and can serve as the basis as a side dish itself or a part of a brilliant stew using the base you whipped up as the element.
 
Last night I made up a beef stroganoff and it was a huge hit. No matter how many times it happens, I feel like God when I cook something and people enjoy it.

Since I feel quite confident in these simple pasta dishes, I'm on the hunt for some more challenging recipes to really push my cooking skills and hopefully expand my repertoire a little before I move out. Was thinking I might try my hand at a risotto or something.
 
This Japanese-style curry is ridiculously good for how easy it is. But instead of using three pans like the recipe suggests, I use one pan to sear the meat and then sauté the veggies and deglaze because fuck you that's my fond and I want it in the curry. Warming and complex, but not very heavy. I'll probably make it even more during mid/late winter
 
This Japanese-style curry is ridiculously good for how easy it is. But instead of using three pans like the recipe suggests, I use one pan to sear the meat and then sauté the veggies and deglaze because fuck you that's my fond and I want it in the curry. Warming and complex, but not very heavy. I'll probably make it even more during mid/late winter
Nice.

It's funny, the other night I made a Japanese-style curry using one of those curry sauce mixes. So it involved about as much culinary talent as making a box of mac and cheese, but it was good nevertheless.

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I went full lazy dinner mode. My grocery store has pre-chopped mirepoix mixes, so onions, carrots and celery. I grabbed one of those and a bag of potatoes.

I also fried up some chicken thighs, breaded with panko. The rice was some boil-in-bag jasmine rice.

All in all, a really tasty, filling dinner, plus leftovers for the next day.

Though looking at that picture of the box now, the Japanese have a really weak understanding of spicy, I think. I added some hot chili flakes to give it a bit more kick.
 
I pickled some cucumbers. Used apple cider vinegar, bay leaf, mustard seed, garlic, and peppercorns. Turned out excellent, slightly sweet and tangy.

Made a spicy version where I threw in a habenero cut in half and some sliced jalapenos can't wait to see how that turns out as it will be ready tomorrow.
 
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