What new dishes have you made recently, and how did it go?

I hadn't made potato salad in about five years so I decided to follow Martha Stewart's recipe. Was very disappointed and tossed more than half of it out. Guess the fam was disappointed, too.

Okay, so don't trust the food tastes of a prison convict. Noted .


My last two dishes were Beef Bulgogi (very adventourous for me - this is a korean dish)

under this recipe Bulgogi and I added about 2 tbsp white wine.

It was very good, but all that cutting made me realize I need to replace my crappy K-mart knives.

Also, I made a macaroni & cheese recipe that was very involved. It turned out delicious but I think I should have used french bread crumbs on top instead of progresso plain bread crumbs, because it made the texture too gritty.

Also, I made chicken with curry powder and peanut butter mixed in and fried that. It was pretty good.

I just ordered 15 packages of Fregola pasta from Italy via my US importer to replenish my pantry. This is an unusual and great salad any season of the year. ---BBB

Recipe for Fregola Pasta Salad by BumbleBeeBoogie.

This unusual original pasta recipe is one of my favorites.

INGREDIENTS:

*Fregola pasta, cooked
sweet or red fresh onions, peeled and finely chopped
bottle of small capers
diced ripe tomatoes, diced into small pieces
pine nuts
Greek catalama olives, pitted and chopped
Extra Virgin olive oil
Italian flat parsley, chopped

I haven't listed the ingredient quantities, I just add them in proportion to the amount of Fregola I have.

* Fregola is a Sardinian specialty which is thought to be an ancestor of modern pasta. It consists of small, chewy balls made from coarsely ground semolina. It can be used as a bed for sauces, but it's also terrific in soups. I like it best in a salad I make.

Fregare means "to rub," and fregola pasta is made by rubbing coarse semolina pasta and water together to create crumbs. The crumbs are then toasted, which imparts a rich, earthy flavor to the pasta. The pasta is cooked a little like rice, with an excessive amount of water that is allowed to evaporate during the cooking process."

If you cannot locate Fregola pasta locally, you can substitute Acini de Pepe pasta. Or you can search for sources on Google for Fregola pasta.

I made some pineapple cookies and they were heavenly. Puts you in that "let's have a tea party with the gals" type of mood.

Just started pickling. But so far the pickles aren't ready yet. The ingredients are just -

a cuke, sliced fairly thin
balsamic vinegar
water to go all the way to the top of the pickle jar
kosher salt
sugar
pickling spice
coriander seeds, whole
celery seed
garlic

Put in sterilized glass jar, cover tightly, let sit for a few days. Eat.

They should work out okay. I've got faith.

I was walking down the sidewalk the other day, minding my own business, whistling a tune, when suddenly...blam!.... I'm hit in the face by some friggin' potato salad!

If I ever find out who threw that potato salad, I'm gonna-

The other night, I made an interesting Moroccan-style stew with Vidalia onions, eggplant and ground beef, with mostly sweet spices, cinnamon, a touch of cumin and turmeric, a little ginger, white pepper, a pinch of cayenne, tomatoes, chickpeas, and fresh mint. It was very good.

! believe your wife is the most fortunate one of the world, Cav

I've started experimenting with adding instant packet soup mix into mashed/creamed potatoes to give it some body (them crunchy croutons are good) and a unusual taste.

Not quite in most other people's league but it keeps me happy...

Not that I want to admit it, but Knorr's onion soup powder mixed with sour cream makes a really nice dip for chips, or crisps as they are called across the pond.

I am at that point with pasta that other people reach with chicken. I'm a little bored with it. I made a nice pasta dish which is good cold or hot, but it was...... well, boring.

Campanelle with halved grape tomatoes, spinach, fresh basil and parsely, olive oil, and feta.

Tricks of the trade, Cav? I though you chefs liked to keep trade secrets under your (tall white) hats!

On a similar tip to Cav's dip for crisps, I'd like to add that a convincing Marie Rose sauce (aka. 1000 Island, I think) can be made by mixing 2 parts mayonnaise to 1 part tomato sauce (ketchup). If you're feeling posh then lemon juice, worcester sauce, tabasco or paprika can be added as you fancy to give it some 'zing'.

That sounds very good - kind of like Musaka? I've been on a cinnamon kick lately, adding a dash of it to just about everything.

It wasn't like a moussaka, but if you sliced and roasted the eggplant first, made the stew seperately, and topped it with an egg yolk enriched bechamel, it would indeed make a fine moussaka.

oops.


I helped make a Chicken Moroccan soup yesterday and also Lime Curd.

The soup was made by browning chicken meat with onions and spices, then adding stock and just before it was time to eat, couscous, garbanzos and zucchini. It was OK, filling and spicy, but not my favorite. I wished we'd put in tomatoes, for one thing. I think I prefer more vegetables and to have it as a stew over the couscous, rather than a soup. Oh well. Soup is good for you, I'm certain of it!

The lime curd was interesting -- it took six limes to hand squeeze all the juice. I made a pile of grated peel, too. It was a long process, though I sure like those micro-graters. I became adept as a teen at mixing the heated juice & btter with the sugar & eggs so as not to cook the eggs... took a time or two, but ever since I'm confident as to how to incorporate raw eggs into hot stuff so that no eggs will be scrambled. I wish we had put the curd into meringues. We decided to go for store-bought tart shells -- not nearly as good.

My most enjoyable cooking moments were mincing. I am a happy mincer! I minced a bit of onion and rosemary and was having so much fun. Teensy tiny bits for an herb bread.

I'm not actually averse to eating rodents, especially Mince, a type of mole, and Peeve, related to capybara, and prized for it's fur. The pelt is woven into a fine weave for jackets, suits, and all manner of clothing. It's native to the Ukraine. Now, Peeve are raised domestically, but the wild Peeve have better fur, and it's considered something of a status symbol to wear clothing made from wild Peeve. Social climbers in the area have a tendency to be obnoxious regarding locals wearing Peeve, and will often go up to them, feel the fabric, and snort "OH, Peeve....it must not be wild, because it feels more like domestic, or pet Peeve."

streeeeech
....

I could tell a terrible joke about koala tea, but it would take too long to type out.

Every time I make brownies from scratch, no matter what recipe, I end up liking the box mix version better. They always come out well, especially when I add a bit of hershey's syrup to the mix.

I have an eggplant sitting on my kitchen counter. Truly one of nature's marvels, aesthetically speaking. The rich purple color of the eggplant contrasting with its perfectly formed green hat is like a sculpture that should be behind glass.

I'm gonna run upstairs, smoke another joint, and continue to study that eggplant.

So I went to Johnny Carino's Italian and had this great pasta dish called a Bowtie Festival, and liked it so much that I now make it at home (better than they do, of course).

Boil a pound of farfalle (bowtie pasta).

While it's boiling, cook six slices of bacon (I use Louis Rich Turkey Bacon, on the premise that it is a bit healthier) and crumble into 16 oz. of your favorite alfredo sauce; mine is Classico Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo. Heat that up on low.

Fold into the sauce about one lb. of grilled chicken breast cut into forkable pieces. Here in Deep-In-The-Hearta we can buy fajita-styled chicken pre-cooked at the market, so I do that because it simplifies the process.

You may add minced garlic or onion or tomato (pico de gallo-sized pieces) to the sauce if you like but they aren't necessary. I usually add some crushed red pepper because I like it spicy.

Drain, pour or spoon into a two-quart serving bowl a one inch layer or so of the pasta; barely cover the pasta with a layer of sauce; repeat until full. Pop the bowl in the microwave for a few minutes depending on how hot you want it.

That'll serve four people and take about 20 minutes if you buy the pre-cooked, pre-sliced chicken.

My latest variation involves adding some small pieces of a favorite cheese (currently smoked gouda) when microwaving, so that there are small hunks of gooey-ness hiding in there. I also use 32 oz of alfredo sauce (a second 16 jar) with the recipe above because I like it real thick.