making sour stuffed cabbage for tonight, with baked ribs.
i've always helped my mom make it but this will be my first time making it by myself (couldnt make it up north to see my family this year).
found a whole head of sour cabbage at my local metro store and got some sauerkraut. the filling is ground pork and cooked rice. traditionally the dish has smoked ribs added but i didnt buy any in time (i've only found them in a hungarian smokehouse, other euro delis dont seem to carry it) so i'm baking them instead before adding it to the dish. i'm serving it with sour cream. hope i can manage rolling the cabbage tight enough so they dont fall apart when cooking.


anyone else making food for the holidays?

GIMME

Cooked for the house yesterday... quartered a re-gifted turkey and roasted it off, made stock and gravy with the giblets and spine, made some veg gravy, non-dairy mashed potatoes and vegan friendly dressing with fuji apple, and cranberry-ginger jam.

... and a whack of gin-cran-gingerale things.

made vegetable stock last night, turned out awesome. freezing most of it for soups and sauces.
i also made pesto without cheese, and added walnuts instead because i dont have any pine nuts.

I never use pine nuts in pesto. Not that I have anything against them, just that I don't generally go out of my way to buy them.

Instead I use whatever nuts I have in the house, which usually means pecans and pistachios...both of which RULE in pesto!

i do have pistachios but i figured walnuts are fattier, next time i will try using pistachios. i also freeze it in small quantities to use later, because of the basil i find it goes bad really fast (a day or two) if theres too much space for air in the container when i store it in the fridge.

i also made gingerbread cake last night too and holy fuck it turned out awesome. i ate a large chunk of it with chocolate whipped cream a while ago

Chinese food is awesome. That is all.

I have a new addiction:



I've used Sambal Oelek (this brand particularly) in various Asian sauces over the years, but I hadn't really tried it on it's own as a straight up hot sauce until this week. Holy FUCK, this has to be the damn tastiest shit ever (even better than Sriracha!). The heat combined with the almost pickled-tasting salty acidity is just fucking fantastic. And without any real "Asian" flavors or ingredients in it, it works on pretty much everything.

For me this one has always been food specific. I only enjoy it with certain things. My all-rounders are still Franks thick, and Lee Kum Kee chili oil.

I haven't tried the Lee Kum Kee oil.

I have some House of Tsang "Mongolian Fire Oil" ( ) at home that I use fairly often. It has a lot more flavors going on than just chilis, so it's very food specific for me, but it's damn tasty just the same.

It's very plain and basic. But it's cheap. It's become the only thing I can eat chicken with for whatever reason. I've never heard of that Mongolian oil. I'll have to track some down.

I got a box of Cookie Crisp that I paid $15 for on Ebay (as cheap as it goes) the other day. I've always wanted to try it, and it's a shame they don't have it in Canada.

It's pretty good. Just the right level of sweetness. I didn't taste any chocolate in the chips, however. I'd buy it again.

The new mascot wolf Chip creeps me out, however. The old Chip was a lot better.

I think I'm gonna finally hit up that Lebanese restaurant I live beside, heard mixed reviews but I'll be the judge of that.

i'm making a meatloaf.

i know that sounds pretty fucking simple, but i've never made a meatloaf before.

i also thought ketchup was a pretty main ingredient in meatloaf, but this recipe did not call for it. it wanted chicken stock instead.

i also don't have a meat thermometer, so i'm just going to the halfway point of the suggested time range and hoping for the best.

edit: turned out mediocre. essentially tastes like a big sausage roll. meh.

Lots of people top it with ketchup (or a ketchup-based sauce) before throwing it in the oven, but it's not generally added to the mixture...thank god.

if i remember correctly, the recipe was

1 pound ground beef
1 and 1/2 cups italian breadcrumbs
3 eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
14 ounces chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

then bake for 1 to 1.5 hours @ 350

any suggestions for improvement?

Add some Worcestershire Sauce (maybe like half a cup), and some diced onion. Get rid of the chicken stock, and add beer instead. I recommend using a dark malty beer. Also, most stores have a ground meat loaf mix that is something like 85/10/5 % beef, pork and veal. Get that stuff instead of straight up ground beef if you can.

pretty much this...

I don't know if I'd add a half cup of worcestershire, maybe 1/4 max, probably more like 1 tbsp, probably sub half the beer for beef broth/stock, and toss some fresh garlic to help out the garlic powder... hit it with some earthier spices - thyme, rosemary, oregano... that whole bag of grass.

been making lots of salads for breakfast, lunch and dinner (usually with meat: chicken or shrimp)
tonight is no different! salad with garlic flank steak and pesto as the dressing.... i also like to add cilantro, parsley and alfalfa sprouts.
oh, and i made a blueberry crumble for dessert. its just two pints of fresh blueberries with an almond meal/chopped walnuts topping.

yeah i'd thrown in a fair bit of basil and oregano, i don't generally keep rosemary on hand or reach for thyme unless the recipe specifically calls for it. that something i should make a point of changing?

Rosemary and thyme IST KRIEG!

No but really...they're a couple of the basics that would round out your spice rack.

yes! rosemary is great with meat and thyme is better with veggies.
you can make salt with both: one part salt to one part dried rosemary or thyme and use it to flavour your dishes. i grind the dry herbs down with the salt in a mortar and pestle! great way to flavour steaks for example and not burn the herb like you would if they were in bigger pieces. unused portions of the salt can be kept in a small plastic container in your spice rack/cupboard.

Barley "risotto" ist uberkrieg!