Cooking

This cheese is a staple in the Carolinas. Mayo, cheddar and pimento peppers. We were out to a restaurant one day and they had this option as a one off rare special. It was one of the most magical things ever.

They never had it again. But I knew exactly where they sourced their mix. There is a gas station two miles from any civilization that sells chili dogs. They also sell this perfect blend of pimento cheese. Current price $11.xx for a pint. Almost twice the price of anyone else.

Anyway, I made some oven fries and broiled the cheese on top. Still magic..

Could I make the pimento cheese for less? Yes. But it's like a once a year thing. And when I do it it is the meal.

Cost per person: $8 Can you order it anywhere? Maybe, if you are in the Carolinas on the right day in a restaurant with a racist name run by a guy having a life of crisis who accidentally includes boner pills in the background of their advertising. No. You can't order this.

When society collapses I will miss this.

I use NYT's kimchi fried rice recipe as the base, however I use a bit of chicken broth when the pot is a bit too dry and I add gochujang to add more sweetness. I also added broccoli so its more nutricious.

This time, the kimchi I used was 10 months old so it was pretty sour. I had to add a little bit of sugar as well to balance it out.

Pollo e Patate from Pasta Grammar's YouTube.

I grew up with a variation on this that added peas and spaghetti. I prefer the simpler version just or ease of prep. But I did add some carrots just for fun.

If you have ever had this or a variant you know that the chicken is just a means to an end. The potatoes are the star. They are cooked in the chicken renderings and make your mind melt.

Cost per person: $2

https://www.pastagrammar.com/post/pollo-e-patate-simple-italian-chicken-and-potatoes-recipe

Crispy skin salmon with a teriyaki-hoisin-whatever-bottles-of-sauce-we-have-in-the-fridge-door glaze. Rice, diced cucumber, sliced avocado, and an unnecessary amount of green onion. Topped with a bottle of sriracha mayo I bought for a creamy element in case the avocado was sketchy.

I made some Swedish chocolate balls.

Fried boneless pork chops with portabella mushrooms sautéed with garlic, then deglazed with beef broth because the wine disappeared. Asparagus is perfectly cooked and crisp. Delicious!

I helped a friend move today. In related news I hurt myself today.

I had plans for dinner. I wasn't in any condition to make follow through because of the extreme back pain. Freezer pizza to the rescue. To one I added banana peppers and cotija To the other I added kielbasa, jalapeno and red onion.

It's a great way to turn scraps and leftovers into food.

Cost per person, $5 plus extra toppings. It's almost impossible to put a dollar worth of toppings on a pizza.

• 1.5l chicken broth
• 500g turkey breast
• 200g "glass" noodles
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 1 piece ginger, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 onion
• 1 red spring onion, 1 red pepper
• Fresh coriander
• 1 chili
• Aromatics: 1x Cinnamon stick, 3x star anise, 10x coriander seeds, 10x black peppercorns, 5x cloves (ish)
• Fish sauce, hoisin, cooking sake.

1. Roast the aromatics, onion, ginger and garlic in a dry pan.
2. Simmer chicken broth with the aromatics, onion, ginger and garlic for 10–15 minutes, strain it.
3. Pan fry the turkey breast for 5 minutes on each side, remove and slice.
4. Add turkey slices to broth and poach until just cooked for a few minutes.
5. Add one tablespoon of each fish sauce, hoisin, cooking sake.
6. Cook noodles separately.
7. Finely slice peppers, red spring onion, chilli.
8. Divide noodles into bowls, top with turkey, veggies, pour over hot broth.
9. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Some images during:

Can't guarantee the authenticity of the recipe, I'm an East-European living in Germany, so I just used a few online recipes and the ingredients I had available :)

Does anyone have any opinions on nitro-infused carbon steel? I have a large carbon steel wok at home and found this smaller wok for $30 at my local Asian grocery store. I like it because the smaller size and larger flat bottom makes it easier to wield and cook evenly. Some light research shows it’s more for making the pan more durable and doesn’t really affect cooking, although I did see a comment that it’s a little harder for the seasoning to stick.

I haven’t seen any negative stuff safety-wise yet, but I did see that the process is used commonly for manufacturing industrial materials and is even used in guns. So I don’t really know if it’s safe because ammonia or sodium cyanide are the nitrogen-rich ingredients that are applied to the pan. And to a layman’s ear, that doesn’t really sound nice.

A post elsewhere mentioned potato and carrot enchiladas. I had never heard of such a thing and loved the idea enough to try it.

Make a standard guajillo sauce and fry it.
Dice and boil the potatoes and carrots.
Drain the potatoes and carrots and toss them in a pan with some of the enchilada sauce.
Fry the tortilla in the sauce, assemble and top with lettuce and queso fresco.

I am normally a no lettuce Mexican food person but every recipe I found that wasn't AI generated had the lettuce so I figured it was necessary and if people of Michoacán where determined to use lettuce then I would do it for them.

Yeah, it's gotta have the lettuce. Not cabbage. It adds the exact right amount of texture and brightness. Now I need to figure out what to do with the rest of this head of lettuce because I'm not a fan of it in American food either.

Cost per person: $3.61 Can you order this anywhere? Not anywhere near me.

Something that you can work through slowly to upgrade cooking skills, if that makes sense.

Preferably for Indian food…

A rather standard veg fajita mix served with oven fries coated in an excessive amount of homemade taco seasoning. At the last prep minute I decided to slice up a smoked sausage and crisp it up before adding the veggies to cook. A little queso fresca on top.

We are adding this to the permanent menu.

Cost per person: $2.20 Can you order this anywhere? No place serves oven fries but there are Mexican places that have French fries they could dust with some seasoning before topping with fajita veg.

What do you do when you have basil that needs trimming every day and you have already dried enough to last the next year? You bake some bread and make Panzanella.

Cost per person: $3 because red and yellow bell peppers are expensive.

Too mustardy but still very delicious.

I finally got around to jamming and canning the black raspberries that grow near me.

Enough for 3 breakfasts in the photo.

I just ate the 4th.

Add a fried or boiled egg and coffee to complete.

Sorta followed this recipe: https://youtu.be/JYnyCuJV9UQ

Store bought ramen, shin black beef bone broth. Marinaded the ramen eggs over night! It's easier than I feared!

Tuesday Night Special:

• Korean Style Beef Short Ribs, Grilled over Charcoal
• Kimchi (store bought)
• Oven Roasted Cauliflower
• Cucumber in Seasoned Rice Vinegar
• White Rice (Not pictured)

Pan-fried 1kg turkey breast chunks, set aside. In the same pan, cooked shallots, garlic, fresh ginger, fresh turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, coriander seeds, lime leaves. Stirred in 50g panang curry paste and 500ml coconut milk.

Simmered 10 min, then added turkey back in with some carrot matchsticks. Turned off the heat, finished with chopped red chilli, coriander leaves, spring onions.

Served with jasmine rice.

Is it a taco? fajita? or quesadilla? You decide.

This is another forgiving non-recipe recipe, make it how you like it. I’ve made it before with beef and fish (tilapia) and it’s been in my family’s meal rotation for a few years now. Yum! Serves 2 kids or 1 adult.

Sometimes I end up with the weirdest one offs of meat like pre cooked burger patties for free. Fried rice is the perfect way to use them up and clear out any veg scraps too.

This is the time added fresh ginger. I planted some and now have a supply of fresh ginger to use without paying a fortune.

Eggs free from the yard.

Cost per person: maybe $1