What are you cooking now?

[Joseph K]

I just made tofu & potatoes in miso & mushroom gravy. It's a vegan recipe by Isa Chandra Moskowitz which is really tasty. It's been quite a while since I made it because it's a bit time-consuming - so much so that the miso was out of date, but it shouldn't matter. Since my mum is out for the afternoon I decided to make it early and warm it up later - also took advantage of the opportunity to listen to a couple of albums I have on bandcamp via my phone whilst making it:

Wayne Krantz - Greenwich Mean

Ant Law - The Sleeper Wakes

Because I like to have it with rice, I tend not to use many potatoes and instead use more tofu.

Can share a picture of the recipe if anyone's interested.

I made this recipe, first posted here on 06-06-21, this afternoon. As I say, it takes a long time to prepare, but that's largely down to my predilection for using many more shallots than the recipe actually stipulates, which I do because a) I like them, b) I like to have more portions, so increase the amount of every ingredient and c) buying a bag of them, if I only used the two that the recipe requires, then the rest of the shallots would go off (which they might still do, but at least most have been used now). I started preparing the stew at around 2:30 and finished, leaving it to simmer for half an hour, at around 4:15. I was able to listen to a few cuts from Miles Davis's Bitches Brew until my mum came home from a walk, after which we listened to her CD of the best of Cream. As I mention, I only use a couple of potatoes, and in addition to tofu, I fried six veggie sausages which I sliced and added.

It was so delicious, and it's so nice still having the taste lingering in my mouth! I can share the recipe again if anyone's interested, bearing in mind that I heavily customise it. Gotta love that umami miso flavour.

[Barbirollians]

Brodetto - Italian fish soup

[oddoneout]

Judías are beans, judíos are Jews. Coincidentally, I went down to do some shopping at El Colmado this morning - valdeón, dressed olives and cooking chorizo; and on the way back it seemed just the moment to call in at Bomba for a bit of lunch. The tapas were very tasty, but the real discovery was the Spanish liqueur Licor 43 (and also Bomba's apple chutney).

The judías verdes recipes look very interesting. As it happens I bought some young runner beans yesterday so I might try a recipe using those. Though the Jew's mallow/molokhia sounds like a superfood. Pity it's unobtainable here. But my greengrocer is Egyptian - perhaps he'll know how to import some for me

I did read several entries in the search results, such as this

https://spanishskulduggery.tumblr.com/post/60879878540/polyglotinprogress-why-is-jud%C3%ADa-both-jew-and

and this

https://spanish.stackexchange.com/questions/13030/why-are-green-beans-called-green-jews

hence my comments.
I'm intrigued by the Jew's mallow as that was the common name I grew up with for a useful and pretty spring flowering shrub, Kerria japonica. As one might expect these days it tends to go by its Latin name, which fortunately is easy. I will in due course look into it a bit further, but a cursory search suggests that the classic problem of common names applying to several completely different plants may be an issue.

[french frank]

They quite possibly have been already - they are green(French or runner, doesn't seem to matter) beans...

Judías are beans, judíos are Jews. Coincidentally, I went down to do some shopping at El Colmado this morning - valdeón, dressed olives and cooking chorizo; and on the way back it seemed just the moment to call in at Bomba for a bit of lunch. The tapas were very tasty, but the real discovery was the Spanish liqueur Licor 43 (and also Bomba's apple chutney).

The judías verdes recipes look very interesting. As it happens I bought some young runner beans yesterday so I might try a recipe using those. Though the Jew's mallow/molokhia sounds like a superfood. Pity it's unobtainable here. But my greengrocer is Egyptian - perhaps he'll know how to import some for me

[oddoneout]

The only one I have written by a 'celeb chef' (since I haven't had a TV for nigh on 30 years I know very little about such cooks) is Escoffier's classic Ma Cuisine. I also had one issued to my father during the war when he was volunteered to be ship's cook: I pity the crew



No, I don't call that cooking but many would; and if that's what you're happy to eat most of the time, cooking is basically applying heat to raw ingredients (stewing, boiling, steaming, sautéing, sear frying, pan frying, deep fat frying, grilling, confiting, roasting, pot roasting, baking &c). It's about what you cook, how you cook it, how you season it &c. That doesn't have to come from a cookery book. I just cook what I fancy, is nutricious, what's around, what I'm curious about on a waste-not-want-not basis … but I fear green Jews aren't likely to be on the menu - is that Jew's Mallow/molokhia? We don't have it round our way Sounds good.

They quite possibly have been already - they are green(French or runner, doesn't seem to matter) beans... It was the "judias" which set me looking, as I thought it would be a bit odd if it was Jews, but my only experience of the Spanish language is a term of "introduction to" evening classes 20 years ago done for lack of further French classes rather than because I was going to be visiting Spain or encountering Spanish speakers, so I thought I might have been jumping to wrong conclusions.
More recipes(and language practice?) here!

https://www.pequerecetas.com/receta/judias-verdes-recetas-faciles/

Which gave me a chance to try and work out what the "reject all" cookie option was in Spanish...

Had to double check the beans and beens there.

[french frank]

I remember a R4 discussion on ghost-writing where Mariella Frostrup claimed to be surprised to hear that cokkery books aren't written by the celeb chefs who appear on the front cover

The only one I have written by a 'celeb chef' (since I haven't had a TV for nigh on 30 years I know very little about such cooks) is Escoffier's classic Ma Cuisine. I also had one issued to my father during the war when he was volunteered to be ship's cook: I pity the crew

When I said ' I just heat things up ' I didn't mean 're-heat'. I meant taking two rashers of bacon out of the fridge and putting them under the grill, ad boiling an egg. I dont call that 'cooking'.

No, I don't call that cooking but many would; and if that's what you're happy to eat most of the time, cooking is basically applying heat to raw ingredients (stewing, boiling, steaming, sautéing, sear frying, pan frying, deep fat frying, grilling, confiting, roasting, pot roasting, baking &c). It's about what you cook, how you cook it, how you season it &c. That doesn't have to come from a cookery book. I just cook what I fancy, is nutricious, what's around, what I'm curious about on a waste-not-want-not basis … but I fear green Jews aren't likely to be on the menu - is that Jew's Mallow/molokhia? We don't have it round our way Sounds good.

[oddoneout]

Happened to drop in on this thread by accident(arthritic fumble fingers) and got sidetracked by the idea of green Jews as a cooking ingredient. A little bit of searching explained, but I'm not sure my life has been enriched by knowing that this year's prolific veg patch means that I have been indulging in this dubious practice on a near daily basis...

[smittims]

Hmm...

Yes, I suppose reading cookery books is a bit like reading maps of the west of Ireland when I'm never going to go there. I remember a R4 discussion on ghost-writing where Mariella Frostrup claimed to be surprised to hear that cokkery books aren't written by the celeb chefs who appear on the front cover :

'you don't really believe that Jamie Oliver, who said on Desert Isalnd Discs "I do't read books" would write one?'

'Yes , but they are his recipes aren't they?... Oh, I'm so naive...'

When I said ' I just heat things up ' I didn't mean 're-heat'. I meant taking two rashers of bacon out of the fridge and putting them under the grill, ad boiling an egg. I dont call that 'cooking'.

[cria]

I read recently that sales of cookery books are at a high, but surveys show that fewer Britons actually cook than before. Curious...

I buy them for pictures of Nigella's bum & front bits

[french frank]

I'm afraid I don't really 'cook' at all, despite having married a cook 38 years ago. We just heat things up.

What do you heat up? I wouldn't be able to find the food I enjoy already cooked ready to reheat. Isn't that what they're calling 'ultra-processed' food?

I read recently that sales of cookery books are at a high, but surveys show that fewer Britons actually cook than before. Curious...

I can understand that as I have a number of cookery books which I read (or used to) though I don't use them when I'm cooking because I just decide what I want to cook and cook it

[smittims]

I'm afraid I don't really 'cook' at all, despite having married a cook 38 years ago. We just heat things up.

I read recently that sales of cookery books are at a high, but surveys show that fewer Britons actually cook than before. Curious...

[french frank]

Worth delaying pudding for: just poaching a Williams pear in a cinamon syrup. I'd like some cream on it but will have to make do with kefir. Lunch was cold rillons de Tours with salad. To drink: Spanish white with the rillons, Spanish red with the Brie de pays (not bad but the white would have been better, Brie was so-so). I'd like a nice liqueur with the pears but I haven't any (as usual). Hoping the pears will redeem all.

[french frank]

Sounds good, JK. You're right, nutmeg is wonderful. I made my creamed nettle sauce today with freshly grated nutmeg on top of it. As there was too much, I added the nettle blanching water to the remains and tomorrow shall serve it as cream of nettle soup (may add a stock cube; and some more crème fraîche). I may also add some more nettles. The recipes are probably correct: nettles may be tastier in the spring though I only used young tender leaves.

Monday: In the end I didn't add the stock cubes or more nettles. I just reheated the remains of the sauce/soup and ladled it on to a slice of bread and grated Parmesan (as for aïgo boulido). Then, after the cheese course (yes, more cheese) I stewed the second helping of blackberries with some sugar, and added some left-over crème fraîche from the soup.

[Joseph K]

This afternoon I made this:

Veggie Stew – Plant Based And Vegan (plantbasedandveganism.com)

Except I didn't use white wine, only used one potato and (instead) used an XL block of tofu, which I fried in olive oil before adding. I also added a tablespoon of miso paste. It was delicious, I had it with basmati rice and fresh coriander on top. Nutmeg is a good ingredient.
As for music, I left a 'my mix' on youtube from my phone via a mini speaker - which was mostly cuts from John Coltrane's Interstellar Space, but also some John McLaughlin, Miles Davis, Allan Holdsworth and other Coltrane... I could do this because my mum was away for football then lunch at my sister's.

[french frank]

As I mentioned anomalously elsewhere, I had poached nectarines as a dessert today. I don't often makes desserts because I have fresh fruit. But sometimes I have fruit which is not yet ripe, not soft or juicy, usually pears (can be turnipy), or nectarines/peaches (not juicy and flesh like cotton wool). I destone or core the fruit and cut into four pieces, then poach in a syrup for ten minutes or so, covering the pan once the syrup is hot (fruit doesn't have to be cooked). If the syrup's too thick I add a bit more water and if too thin I add some more sugar. For pears I like to add a stick of cinnamon, for peaches and nectarines I add a couple of vanilla pods. Today as I didn't have any cream I added kefir which was quite good. Maybe a squeeze of lemon juice would improve the syrup?