3781

I want to like Blue Apron, but it seems so crazily overpriced. I could make twice as much food of the same quality for half the price it feels like. And for what, the little bit of extra effort it takes to go to the grocery store and chop a few veggies? :/

3782

There’s no doubt it is overpriced. And you do still do your own chopping.

What you’re saving is the trouble of picking new recipies all the time, going to the store to shop, and ending up with way too much spoiled left-over if there are only a few of you in the house.

Diego

3783

Plus my impression is that they offer ingredients that may not be easy to find at your local grocery. Or at least, my local grocery. (Which, as we’ve established, is pretty limited. I’m told there’s a 22,000 square foot global market in the works nearby, though, so that will be cool assuming I am still living here by then.)

A couple recent cooking sessions:

21st Century Noodle Casserole

From Pasta Revolution

Starts off with cooking about half a package of wide egg noodles in a Dutch oven and then setting them aside. You dry the Dutch oven, add oil, and cook chopped onion in it until it’s soft. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for a little, then flour, cook for a little, then chicken broth and cream, and simmer for a couple minutes to thicken a bit. You take the pot off the heat and then stir in the cooked pasta, about 10 oz of solid canned white tuna, halved cherry tomatoes (I used grape because I couldn’t find cherry), feta, chopped pitted kalamata olives (I now have a 4 lb jug because I love these so much and my grocery doesn’t carry pre-pitted), scallions (skipped these as I often do - too much trouble), and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper, pour into an 8x8 baking dish. Toss panko crumbs with oil, salt and pepper and sprinkle on top. Then bake at 475 for 8-10 minutes, let it cool, et voila.

I am not a fish person but tuna’s all right and this was a really lovely combo of stuff. Plus, pretty easy.

Then on Tuesday I made chicken riggies again (sooooo yummy. Another prompt for my jug of olives). No picture or discussion really since I’ve already posted about it here but I can’t get enough.

Finally, on Wednesday I made (or really, helped make, since my friend did a lot of the work)…

Hunter’s Chicken, from Cook’s Country: Best Lost Suppers
No photo because I forgot to get one, but essentially you cook 4 slices of (chopped) bacon in a skillet then set it aside. Cook 4 12 ounce bone-in, skin-on split chicken breasts in the bacon fat, flipping midway through to get both sides browned, then set that aside. Cut up five shallots and then add them to the skillet with salt and pepper and cook until soft, then add 20 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced (I actually used fresh garlic for this, which I don’t normally, because of the call for them to be sliced) and cook for another couple minutes. Add tomato paste, cook a little longer, then stir in rice, chopped fresh tomatoes and sweet paprika and let that cook until the pan is dry. Finally, you mix in a bunch of chicken broth, a bit of lemon juice, and 2 bay leaves. Put the chicken back into this mix, skin up, bring it to a simmer, and then transfer to the oven to bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Finally, you let it cool a bit, pull out the bay leaves, and sprinkle the bacon pieces over the top along with fresh basil (I had to use dried as fresh wasn’t available).

Served to my gaming group midway through a round of Mythos Tales and everyone really enjoyed. Very flavorful. (Still not a fan of bones.)

3784

Dies

3785

Armando’s picture is a perfect example of why I know my food experience is limited.

That looks like a picture of blah, even though I know it’s probably great, my brain can’t remotely make the connection. It looks like pastes and cat food and I can’t get around the mental hump. I blame my state where anything more exotic than Olive Garden is viewed with suspicion.

3786

It may not be limited food experience at fault, but more a lack of artistry in the photography.

Food tends to look drab and unappealing when photographed unless there’s some effort made with basic composition and decent lighting.

Certainly a quick overhead shot of deconstructed bits in plastic containers doesn’t show the repast in its most flattering light. :)

3787

Possibly, but I don’t think I can identify, even remotely, anything presented.

3788

Indian food is rarely beautiful, and I have all the photographic skills of a blind child, so I’d wager you’re both correct.

A couple of additionals from last night:

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Gajar Halwa, a thick, sweet desert made using shredded carrots, butter, milk, raisins, and chopped, roasted nuts (I used almonds, cashews, and pistachios).


My host-friend’s fabulous plating equipment ;), serving a trio of veggie pakoras (lightly spiced carrots, potatoes, cilantro, and onions in a chickpea flour batter) with some tamarind-date chutney on the left and then a quadro of curries on the right (butter chicken, channa masala, shrimp-and-potato vindaloo, and palak paneer). And finally, lord be praised, some cilantro.

Still on the docket for today is a lot of aloo ka parathas–potato-and-pea-stuffed wheat flatbreads–and two chicken tikka pizzas, plus the leftover curry (the butter chicken’s alllll gone, but the rest of 'em are still going strong).

3789

That looks pretty amazing, Armando! I’ve been dabbling a bit in Indian food, myself, and managed to cook a pretty good butter chicken. It was a lot of work, though, to do it all from scratch, including the base gravy (although now I have a bunch of that stuff in the freezer, which eases the process a lot).

How long did it take to cook all of the stuff in your pictures?

3790

When it’s all said and done (after prepping the parathas, kheer–rice pudding–and chicken tikka pizzas today, my total “active, in kitchen” time will rest at 17-18 hours over three days.

Upside: feeding ~10 people 3-4 meals apiece over two days is fairly impressive! I’m proud of what I’ve managed given what I spent.

Downside: my back is killing me, I’ve gotten a couple of decent cuts and a burn, and three washes later, my hair still smells a little bit like frying onions.

3791

Holy crap, that’s a lot of work! I hope your friends appreciated your efforts, although if everything was eaten, I guess they did. And yeah, feeding 10 people for two days is a lot of work. In those situations, I usually chicken out and make some kind of casserole dish.

3792

Heh, I took one of my engineers to an Indian buffet in state college while doing some work there (one of the best I’ve ever found, I think it benefited from a large Indian student population, and massive turnover during lunch because of the college students) and he hadn’t had Indian food before. He had spent most of his life in central Pennsylvania, and had a pretty bland culinary background.

I remember the look on his face when he first saw it, and skeptical was putting it mildly. I got the impression he thought someone had already eaten the food he was looking at.

But after trying it, he was absolutely sold on it.

3793

Looooove me some Indian food. Don’t eat it much these days because I avoid carbs as much as I can.

3794

And final day:

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Aloo ka paratha–wheat flatbread stuffed with spiced potatoes, peas, chilies, and cilantro and pan fried in exactly enough butter.

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Chicken Tikka pizza, with a spicy chunky tomato masala base and some chopped onion and bell pepper under the broiled, marinated chicken breast, all topped with a light sprinkling of chaat masala.

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Rice kheer (pudding), cooked with golden raisins, cardamom, and saffron, chilled completely and topped with butter-fried almonds, cashews, and pistachios.

HELP WE ARE DROWNING IN FOOD.

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[quote=“ArmandoPenblade, post:3794, topic:50840, full:true”]
And final day:

20161105_172018.jpg2610×1468 957 KB

Aloo ka paratha–wheat flatbread stuffed with spiced potatoes, peas, chilies, and cilantro and pan fried in exactly enough butter. [/quote]

Dang. I want to learn this.

-xtien

3796

Oh, speaking of pizza!

I ordered one of these:
The Big https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XJZXLSQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_d-MhybHY2FK8M
In very psyched about it, after reading about these things on serious eats.

3797

I have one of their baking steels - the reversible one that you can use as a griddle. They are pretty amazing!

3798

[quote=“ChristienMurawski, post:3795, topic:50840, full:true”]

That one’s pretty easy!

Ingredients - Stuffing

  • 1 1/2 lb Russet Potatoes, steamed/boiled and skinned
  • 1/2 cup Green Peas, steamed or boiled
  • 1 tbsp Green Chilies, minced
  • 2 tbsp CIlantro, chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 tsp Amchur Powder (Powdered sour mango)
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds

Mash together all the ingredients into a thick paste.

Ingredients - Parathas

  • 2 cups Atta Flour (Indian finely ground wheat flour)
  • 2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 2 tbsp Oil
  • ~1 cup Warm Water
  • Potato-pea stuffing

In a large bowl, mix together the salt, flour, and oil to form a slightly crumbly mixture. Pour in the water, mixing together and kneading until you achieve a soft, very slightly sticky dough (you may not need all of the water). Cover it with a lightly dampened paper towel and let it sit for 15-20 minutes, then knead smooth again and divide into ~6-7 slightly-smaller-than-a-tennis-ball balls. While you’re waiting on the dough to rest, divide the potato mixture into the same number of slightly-larger-than-a-golf-ball balls.

Flatten each ball of dough into a disc about 4-5 inches across and then wrap it around a ball of potato-pea filling. Pull the edges around the stuffing and pinch it shut into another rough ball. Flatten into a disc, flour well on both sides, and roll out into a thin paratha–1/8" or so, ideally.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Put a paratha down on it flat and let it toast about a minute until it changes color a bit. Flip it and brush a 50/50 mixture of butter and oil over the toasted side. Let the other side toast about a minute as well before flipping again (oiled side down, now). Oil the other side well, and once the currently frying side darkens and takes on a few spots of darker brown, flip one more time and cook the last side to about the same done-ness.

Let each paratha cool a minute or two, then slice as desired.

Recipe can easily be halved, and you may wind up with extra stuffing, depending how adventurous you get with really packing the stuffing in there.

@Timex that baking steel looks awesome! I don’t need to look at that too much. . .

3799

I was in the mood for anchovies :D

3800

I’d never heard of these, but glad you guys brought it up. Thinking of asking my wife to get me the mini griddle for Christmas. That should fit perfectly in my salamander (I think the 18x14 is too big but have to check.