Cocoa or coffee are sometimes used to add some complexity and bitterness, sort of like mole. My last batch, I used a coffee-beer that I didn’t like very much and was just taking up space in my fridge. It smelled overwhelmingly coffee-y when I added it, but upon reducing and letting the flavors meld, it just gave it some satisfying body.
Yeah, I’ll usually use a stout or a small bar of dark chocolate in my chili. It’s pretty decent!
I will definitely have to try some cocoa next time I make a batch. I am not a coffee drinker and don’t have any in my home so that’s something Ill have to borrow a cup of, before it will ever happen.
Dark cocoa works really well if you are using chipotle or ancho chilles in the chili. Compliments the sweet and smiley well.
Have to try the coffee / cocoa now.
Cinnamon and cocoa powder are the “secret” ingredients in Cincinnati or Greek-style chili.
Yep, I must say, tasting it after it has had 8 hours of slow cooking, cinnamon really adds a new flavor dimension to chili. I can see why it was recommended to me. Very tasty.
I made a meatloaf tonight because it was my day off and I could take my time to just make the darn thing.
I actually enjoy pretty plain meat loafs, especially with bacon, but I had an urge for a stuff meatloaf. I had to substitute a few things since I didn’t have what I normally make it with but it turned out pretty well
Technically this should be a roll, but I just make it a stuffed loaf… I stopped trying to roll cakes, meat loafs, awhile ago… they never roll right for me.
That looks really good.
Looks good to me too. Why have I never thought to put olives and mushrooms in a meatloaf. Excellent idea!
I’ve used kalamata as well as pinto stuff. The pinto stuffed added a bit more flavor I think, but I had kalamata on hand this time so I used those. I grew up on bacon, ketchup stopped meatloafs too but I use chili sauce or ketchup and sriracha for a kick on these.
I’ve never been a huge fan of ketchup in general and as the glaze on meatloaf. I’m stealing that sriracha idea as well.
I’m a wimp. I would never use that much sriracha on a loaf, but there are other chili sauces that are a lot milder. hehe.
I compromise. I like the glaze that ketchup provides so I use a mix of ketchup and hot sauce to top my meatloaf.
On the docket today: at least the base elements of some miore-or-less from-scratch ramen.
Got split pig’s feet, chicken wings, and a nice big slab of pork belly. Got green onions, garlic, ginger, and carrots. Got soy sauce, sake, mirin, and brown sugar. Got eggs and nori and some halfway proper noodles (alas, couldn’t find any fresh/frozen, as I was technically at a Korean mart that doesn’t specialize in Japanese cuisine, despite the high level of overlap between the two). Thinking this is gonna be a multi-day project, though. . . so there’s also ingredients for okonomiyaki, vegetable curry, and chicken katsu handy, just in case.
I’m gonna make this tonight I think:
I have some canned jackfruit… It’s good stuff, in general, if you need to do vegetarian or vegan cooking. Has a very good replacement meat texture… is similar to artichoke hearts in some ways.
But using it like this is a really cool idea.
Oh, here’s a pic of a pizza I made last night. Whole wheat dough that worked out very well.
Ok, so I did it, and it worked well.
I dunno how appetizing it looks, but here it is.
Some things I’ve noted…
First off, the kind of jackfruit I used was, of the two brands I’ve tried, the inferior one. I specifically did this to use up this jackfruit, which while young, is not green… I think the green kind is younger, and firmer. Whatever the case, this brand was worse than the normal kind I get. It comes out of the can kind of pink. It’s not bad, just inferior to the other brand.
Anyway, the end result here is good. I would recommend it to people looking for meat substitutes. It’s a good leverage of jackfruit’s texture.
It’s not the same as pulled pork, and really, meat substitutes never actually taste like meat. You really need to appreciate them on their own, or just don’t bother.
The actual texture here is probably most similar to canned tuna. Meaty, but softer than something like pork.
The natural flavors of jackfruit is pretty neutral, so you could likely flavor this however you like. I used berbere spice, and the result was good.
Anyway, I’ll try this again with my “good” jackfruit, but even with the inferior stuff, this was good. Also super easy. I’d recommend it.
Here it is, in a burrito:
@Timex That pizza looks wonderful. The jackfruit, less so. That is to say, I am used to what pizza looks like. And not at all used to what jackfruit looks like. Which is not to say that I wouldn’t gladly try your jackfruit. I have to tell my computer that jackfruit is a completely cromulent word. And cromulent as well. Stupid computer!
In other news. My venture into the production of limoncello was… interesting. Let’s call this the Limoncello Autopsy.
First of all I didn’t follow any recipe completely. I am one of those people that think that a recipe is only a framework that one can hang their own choices on… upon? Whatever. And as well people who cook that way also know that you can’t pull this shit on baked goods. Baking is not alchemy. It is science. Stray from the recipe at your peril. At least until you are really good. Which I am not.
So my version of limoncello ended up… interesting. And I believe that my mistakes were:
-
I used the wrong way of removing wax from the fruit. I ended up going with the white vinegar wash and wipe method. Because I was too lazy to do a heat method. My bad. I think I found wax floating on the top of my one jar. Tried to remove it. Maybe didn’t.
-
I was going to use 90proof vodka as the solvent. I didn’t have enough 90 proof. So I used 80 proof to fill the last two inches.
-
Then there was the simple syrup. I hedged on that as well. Can you see where I’m going here?
-
I ended up with one full jar of slightly bitter lemon vodka. And another jar, maybe a quarter full of really good shit.
My next venture will follow an exact recipe. Because I must make perfect limoncello!
Laugh here.
Your reaction is appropriate. It is not the most appetizing looking thing I have made. But I still recommend it, because it tastes good.
This is supposed to be some sort of miracle fruit, and surprisingly enough, one of our local stores actually sells it. Are you telling me it’s not only edible but it can be… good, like worth the trial and error to try it?