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Tomato soup - inspired by Igorrr's Vegetable Soup.

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2L tomato juice
1,5 medium carrots
2 onions
3 large sweet tomatoes
1 pack of cherry tomatoes
1 can of black pitted olives
1 pack (~200g) of bacon
spices: cumin, basil, smoked paprika powder, coriander, ground mixed pepper, garlic powder, khmeli suneli
~2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
2 medium potatoes
1,5 tbsp flax oil
1 (~400g) black bread (for croutons, optional - best works if said bread is on the sweet side)
4 tbsp sunflower oil (for croutons)

1 large soup pot
1 large frying pan
1 large mixing bowl
1 medium bowl (for fried stuffs)
ladle, spatula

• dice potatoes into small-to-medium chunks (they'll sink to the bottom, keep in mind)
• grind cumin and pepper, add garlic powder/khmeli suneli/coriander/basil, potatoes
• pour juice/spices/flax oil in pot, medium heat - stir and bring to a low simmer, evaporate for at least 10 minutes
• cut bacon strips into pieces (perpendicular), fry both sides until crispy, put away
• dump olives into pot (sans brine)
• dice carrots and onions small, fry in bacon grease (add plenty of paprika, soy sauce), mix with bacon
• pierce cherry tomatoes halfway through with a fork, put away
• dice tomatoes into medium chunks, put away
• fry croutons, shake together with garlic powder and basil (optional)
• dump bacon-carrot-onion-tomato mix into pot, stir, let simmer for additional 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally

Hearty, but somewhat low-calorie and TOMATOED AS FUCK soup that is best served after cooling for a couple hours, once the flavours have gotten to really know each other.

P.S. Storebought croutons BTFO.​

Best soup I've ever made. Surprisingly complex flavour (thanks to flax oil and cumin - right call!) and excellent mouthfeel for a random idea.
 
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Uncorked a bottle of dandelion and a bottle of pinapple wine that's been sitting for half a decade today. Still have a bottle of 11 year old strawberry I'm saving for a special occasion.
 
I found fiddleheads for the first time in 15 years, so cooking those. Wish me luck fellas.

Washing them down with steak and potatoes.

Update: they came out great.


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I found fiddleheads for the first time in 15 years, so cooking those. Wish me luck fellas.

Washing them down with steak and potatoes.

Update: they came out great.


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How do the fiddleheads taste? I just saw them for the first time ever in my local grocery store and joked in my head that they made the thing from Stardew Valley real.

As much as I love most vegetables, I have always been a lifelong onion hater. But I recently bought a single sweet onion for a family recipe that mandates it. (A friend jokingly asked me if I was feeling okay, since she knew my distaste for onions well.) I’ve now discovered two things that might help my fellow onionphobes to expand their horizons:
  1. A sweet onion makes a big difference from something like a regular yellow onion. I’ve always disliked onions because I don’t like that sharp, stinging acid flavor combined with the watery crunch texture. But I ate some of the sweet onion raw and was stunned when I realized I didn’t hate it at all.
  2. Properly caramelizing the onions also makes all the difference. Not the half-assed caramelized onions you might get at chain restaurants sometimes, but fully caramelized over an hour or so. It breaks down the onion into a soft, jammy, occasionally crunchy texture and the sweet and savory flavors are really brought to the forefront, leaving behind that bitter spiciness from the raw form.
I considered skipping the onion for the recipe, but now I’m really glad I didn’t. It made the dish better, and I’ve also learned how I can work with a vegetable I usually avoid.

Up next I want to tackle the other vegetable I’ve historically disliked: peppers.
 
A month ago the cooked Bone-In easter hams were marked down to about $1.00/lb to clear stock after the holiday. So I did what any normal person would and bought 50ish pounds of them. Spent the next couple days butchering them up, freezer bagged the meat and rendered down most of the fat into lard.

The meat/protein left behind after the rendering was delicious, had a couple meals that were just small bowls of that. Also used a bit of lard as a spread on slices of bread, most of it is still stored in the fridge for cooking instead of using vegetable oil.

I do regret not buying more at that price, but my freezers were already quite full. Also, there was some meat/fat wastage as I tossed the bones directly, forgot I had a pot big enough to boil them in.

I do so little of my own “butchering” that breaking down the first ham was slow and sucked. But by the fifth I had a process that actually had me enjoying the work and cost savings.
 
How do the fiddleheads taste? I just saw them for the first time ever in my local grocery store and joked in my head that they made the thing from Stardew Valley real.
Should have bought them, they’re usually only available for like a week out of the year.

Forgive the crudeness, but they taste like a milder asparagus without whatever that compound is that gives you asparagus pee. I’m quite fond of them, so I’ll buy them on sight for whatever they cost, because they’re so uncommon. Like I said, I haven’t had them in 15+ years because they’re so uncommon. I found them by serendipity - I had intended to buy asparagus.
 
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i baked a pie. after dinner i will update you guys on if it was good.
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Edit: it's good.
 
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So it turns out that a combination of Better than Bouillon chicken base and harissa paste mixed into your rice cooking water with long grain rice will make for a pretty solid facsimile of Mexican rice if you just chuck it all in a rice cooker. Do with this knowledge what you will.
 
Just got out my gratinated couliflower out of the oven

I used one head of cauliflower, then i made bechamel to go with it. I laid on the baking tray the cauliflower, coated with olive oil, tossed a little bit, then covered it all with bechamel. It was standard bechamel, but i sauteed a little garlic on the butter before proceeding with the roux, then added a little parmesan to the bechamel as it thickened. I added some parmesan on the top and drizzled a little olive oil and baked for 30 min at 200C

I'll eat it with rice with veggies (mainly zucchini, onions and tomato) and chopped calabresa sausage

And i'll have a nice steak to go with it
 
So it turns out that a combination of Better than Bouillon chicken base and harissa paste mixed into your rice cooking water with long grain rice will make for a pretty solid facsimile of Mexican rice if you just chuck it all in a rice cooker. Do with this knowledge what you will.
That makes sense, a lot of the time Mexican rice is just toasted rice simmered with El Pato and Knorr chicken powder.
 
just cooked beneless skinless chicken breast on the bbq. i marinated it in garlic and herb marinade qwith a bit of liquid smoke mixed in, the wrapped them in aluminum foil and threw them on the bbq.
 
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