cut 2cm ring-pieces. but on backing-paper. salt them.. add black pepper and olive oil.

had them in the oven at around 190 celsius for about 40 min (just see that they have a nice golden roasted color - then it should be alright, every oven acts a little different).

then you can do whatever you want with them. i put them in a salad with balsamico-garlic dressing. but you could put them on a nice bed of bulgur or lime-rice or couscous then you have an uhlalala-side dish.

i love red onions. They're a soul on fire.
uhh if you add some chilli before baking...
i bet there's nothing wrong with that

thanks chef!

the red onion rules.

here is my repayment for the favor. try making this for your fun:

slice some red onion like feathers (traveling down the meridians from the center). thin. not rings or half rings, not cubes. thin feathers.

rinse with cold water / shake the water off / pat dry whatever

add seasalt

add fresh lime juice

a trickle of a oil (neutral, olive works well too)

fresh chopped chili pepper-- something with more flavor than bite

if you wanna cheat (in a good way), a sprinkle of msg

if lacking limes, red or apple vinegar can work

i know you'll be tempted to add cilantro but try not to. if you need a spot of color try maybe a tiny amount of parsley but chopped very small & sprinkled lightly. you could try some cilantro but do not succumb to the temptation of adding a lot of it and going mexican. it's an onion thing, not a cilantro thing.

DO NOT add tomatos or you'll end up with some kind of salsa for chips. this is more of a flavorful garnish not a dip.

the main thing here are the onion and the lime, the chili pepper is to add an accent but not to overpower.

toss and let it ripen for a few minutes and serve it inside pork sandwiches with crusty bread. or over some beans. or with a fried fish fillet. or with a steak, even. great with a crisp lager or pilsner beer.

do NOT prepare it in advance because after an hour or so it will become soggy-- though the flavor may deepen in the fridge the texture will be a bit crap. i've eaten it up to a day old, in desperation, but it's kinda like leaving a camembert in the sun.

enjoy!

Lately eating is annoying. It's like every 5 minutes it's that time to eat again. I can't be arsed sometimes it's like fucking hell it's time to eat again already?!. Yea! or you'll die say's Jiminy. Other things to do innit. Fucker can be expensive as well. Takeaways when I can't be arsed, fillet steaks when I can... I'm replacing food with liquid today

nice!

i have to wait for the weekend for that kind of diet

great. gonna try it really reduced... just with lime juice. "lime-skin" caramelized with some sage. At the step you salt them... that's where it's at. i think "i" want some of that garlicy, harsh taste fo the onion... so, not too long. as I understand you right, you use homegrown onions... you want to keep their "character".
i'm such a jerk
cooking, ha?

this is in no way cooked but a fresh raw live taste. hence it's great with fried fish.

it's more like an onion salad. you know that french tomato and onion salad? with sliced tomato and onion sitting in a tray and then you dip your bread in it in a hot summer day? i've eaten it, but i don't know the name--- it's a bit like that, but not exactly that (no tomato, lime instead of vinegar, chili--a bit more potent & tropical)

the caramelization sounds like an interesting derivation and a great way to explore (i'd like to hear the results so maybe i can try it here), but taste it fresh first! it's super-good, and millions swear by it.

yes, yes
i meant preparing food. ha?

ha ha ha. i think i misunderstood what you wrote!

i thought you were planning to cook down that recipe.

did not understand the jerk/cooking part

anyway, i'm posting you photos of some versions so you can see it.

it's so pretty.

oh god that looks good

i had a pork bahn mi sandwich with lots of sriracha for my meal tonight.

just had an intense session learning to make chapatis. used leftover yogurt because i didn't like the yogurt made with skim milk from last weekend. the yogurt gave them a nice sour flavor and made them toast a bit yellow.

then i made a sort-of-shakshuka with shallots, parsley, and canned tomato (i know, i know...). then larded up the chapatis with irish butter and ate them together (eurasian burrito, lol).

with ceylon tea. and soem orange.

life is good. time for a siesta del gallito*.

* that's a nap that you take after breakfast

I got some stuffed chicaken with asparagus and buttered noodles for my side.

not too bad after drinking last night.

hey symbol man:

the onoin thing.... good stuff. kinda hard to combine with other stuff.

so... avocado.
what do you do with it?
developing a starter with avocado. was thinking about a salbitxada sauce or maybe tahini joghurt... just the pure saltet slices of avocado (salted) and throwing some pomegranade seeds and basil as topping.
what do you think?
how is it used in america, the avocado that is? not interested in guacamole.

how'd you do it?

i would stuff it with crab meat! cut in half and filled in. too obvious uh?

i don't know what salbitxada is (sounds basque)... lemme google...

oh it's catalonian! (close but not too close). never had it. like a sauce? oh charred green onions! mexicans do that too-- the grilled onions.

this recipe: http://spanishfood.about.com/od/side...Salbitxada.htm is it real/correct?

if so-- you wanna make like a creamy avocado sauce/paste?

i don't know.... avocado can be treacherous. one ill-tasting piece and the whole will taste rotten

i live in the us but i'm not originally a gringo btw-- i immigrated from south america. i live here now but my roots are... a lot tastier ha ha ha.

so, that onion thing, it's eaten with everything... rice & beans... pork... roast chicken and fries... fried yuca... it is very potent and sort of takes over though, you need bold spices like cumin in the meats to stand up to it. but people put it on everything-- meat empanadas... there is no end. i bet it would go great on falafel. or doner kebab. try it.

avocado is a tricky bastard. i like it in a sandwich-- like, a steak sandwich? wow. a shrimp sandwich wowowo. i like it stuffed with cold salads (egg, chicken, shrimp, etc). i like it on a soup like menudo (cow parts, posole, chile) or a bean soup (you add it at the end). for an appetizer i don't know... i know some traditional versions that are a bit "porky", but you wanna innovate yes?...with seafood is great (but i know you're allergic). also cold potato and lime. bit of mayo. also hardboiled egg goes well with it.

here's a funny thing about the avocado--i think of it as salty food, a vegetable, but it's a fruit and it goes well with sugar too. in brazil it's eaten with sugar instead of salt and it's used in fruit juices (try it in a smoothie, it;s awesome). so consider some sort of sweet twist. wait, what about some sweet/sour accent like tamarind? or one of those balsamic reductions in a squirter that are everywhere these days lol. or strawberry! (it's the season) i wouldn't know without a test kitchen, but basically sweet, salt & sour go great with it-- it's a creamy fat. bacon, ham... sour cream?

you could try a refined version of the mexican "pepitos" which is a simple sandwich of grilled steak with avocado on french bread (bolillos). (well, maybe otehr things if you do the full torta). puta madre those are so good!

another could be yellow/waxy potato slices with maybe a delicate fish fried some lime and the avocado on top?

with lobster, damn, i've never eaten it with lobster but i bet it's tremendous.

yes i know i'm rambling but i hope it some of it sends you on a trip to a new place that's good... maybe with one of your local farmer pork things...

Yo...I had guac with pomegranate and that shit was delicious. Pom and Avo go pretty well together.

oh hell, that is great to know

pom is sweet/sour

but it's out of season! (in this hemisphere anyway)

CHEEEEEEEEFFFFFFF!!! if you read this. check out the movie "how to cook your life". a documentary that follows a chef/zen teacher. really great! and part of it was shot in austria. i'm not kidding. check it out if you can. i posted a picture on the movie thread. made by someone name doris dorrie (with some umlauts somewhere)

=======

i've been cleaning my food stores for the last couple of weeks. all i have left in the freezer are frozen bananas, frozen strawberries, and frozen greens. the industrial chicken is gone-- but it made a mess of my oven, splattering grease everywhere. s0-- almost there! the pantry shelves are still loaded though-- all kinds of flours, etc. so some interesting things came out of that.

--> a tuna sauce for pasta, with cilantro. delicious.

--> chocolate cake. really nice and moist. that later became a chocolate peanut cake after i mixed peanut butter with confectioner's sugar (wanted to get rid of the sugar)

--> a pumpkin custard (canned pumkin, milk, eggs, molasses, sugar, spices)

--> "bean pizza". a layer of beans, a layer of greens, a splash of tomato sauce, shredded industrial mozzarella (i know, i know). heated up in the oven. sounds slightly monstrous but it's actually decent nutrition. gets boring after 5 days though!

--> cornbread. made with butter and buttermilk. which i ate with The Last Bacon. cornbread was okay but degermed cornmeal is fucking bland and tasteless. no more aunt jemima, i'm growing/grinding my own dent corn from now on.

i'm looking for a recipe for graham crackers-- i have a TON of graham flour. alton brown, that fucking douche, has a highly rated recipe but it's measured in fractions of an ounce. how the fuck do you measure "7 3/8 ounces?" are they weight ounces or volume ounces? the fucking douche... he has good recipes but i hate his guts. "alton".

i'm eating a couple of mini red/orange/yellow peppers. they're so sweet! just raw....so delicious. my girlfriend picked these up ad they're great!

oh and some watermelon too....

haha. ok.
1.
i'm not a chef... just a good dishwasher.

2.
avocados weren't enough for my boss. he wanted a different "center" for the dish.
ended up with errmmm... oriental quinoa-spinach 'rissoles' (don't know about the term, we call them 'Laibchen').

so these went out with sliced avocados, tahini-jogourth (i'm addicted to tahini). roasted lemons and we garnished the whole thing with olive oil and coriander leaves
yes, yes, i read too many ottolenghi recipes lately.

3.
your onion thing actually ended up on the menu. 'pink' roasted duck breast with orange-fennel salad and sage-onions.
decadence pour le decadence

4.
i might have to reconsider my opinion about the chicken.
a friend of mine just came back from istanbul and brought me some spices.
we made a fucking ace chicken Tajin (yes, yes... spices from turkey in a Tajin... welcome to the afterfusion).

5.
gonna watch that 'how to cook your life" movie tonight.

6.
that's the long one, you'll like it:
had day off. started cooking.
first i tried to make 'Sterznudeln' (pastalike noodles that are traditional for some regions from where i grew up, never did it before though and it's a grotesque pasta recipe anyways).



-> you first cook the flour in boiling water before you make the pasta dough.

ok, then i had these noodles. (not done yet of course, wanted to brown them in butter, you could also cook them in water agian but i think it'll end up messy).

also had some red beetroot
I smoked them in a wok.
everything went fine.



smoked them and then put them in the oven at 230 C .
Tought it would take 50-60min in the oven so that they're done.


went to buy cigarettes in the meanwhile.
couldn't get inside the house after that. landlord exchanged the lock 2 days ago, we got new keys and everything.
sitting here with an unpaid bill for 170 euros for the unlock service (that was just for the reversal... door got opened from a neighbour downstairs from the inside).
still i haven't finished the dish.
police got involved too, i locked myself out on purpose for a second time :-)

if you want to know any detarils (cooking, law, etc.)
happy to share,
i'm just very slow on the computer

had red beetroots as well yesterday.
your procedure must have made them tasty.

i just boiled them and some broccoli and ate them with yogurt. not tasty.

policepeople must have felt demoralized or happy, you were the highlight of their day. :)

i used to hate broccoli and now i'm addicted. the main reason is that i started grilling or stir-frying it and eating it with olive oil and soy sauce. it's the tastiest thing. even if you steam it (don't boil it submerged, but use a basket) you can touch it up with a little char on a dry pan. a little char, not a massive burn, wow. but even if just steamed-- soy sauce + olive oil = gold. forget dairy with it (yogurt, cheese, etc = meh). i swear by this.


1. eh! can i call you chef anyway?

2. - the quinoa starter sounds amazing! i like a starter with protein, like an antipasto. so what if it's quinoa and not an animal--works fine. an advantage of the quinoa is that it gets you hungry right after-- so people will buy more dishes ha ha. if you want avocado as the center then use it for a salad then. i used to make an avocado and mango salad... amazing. i haven't had mangos in a while (not the season yet) but do a search for recipes & mod to your taste. it's a great summer taste-- you have a couple of months to develop it.

3.



4. chicken tastes great-- even with just salt, if you reduce the skinfat & make it crispy.

5. sooooo.... did you watch the movie? eh??

6. ha ha "grotesque" pasta. so was it tasty, though? i'm curious. i still have a lot of whole wheat flour to use up.

but the thing-- you locked yourself out... twice? and had to pay for it why? and what did the cops do? damn damn damn. sounds hilarious though i'm sure you didn't have fun during that. most importantly-- you didn't smoke up the house did you? (i smoked up the house cooking chicken last week-- i didn't burn it-- just so much fat)

an overbeaten chocolate cake that flattened in the middle but tastes great anyway

an organic roast chicken that tastes delicious and didn't splatter grease all over

a cheddar/green chile/red onion corn bread

try your corn bread with creamed corn.

try broccoli "raab", basically the sprouted left overs from last seasons crop harvested in the spring. My farmers market has had a lot of it, great steamed, sauteed or stir fried. Had some the other night with some popped and boiled quinoa.

thanks! i have probably eaten creamed corn once in my life but now i'm curious.

the recipe i made was screaming for ham though. for some reason. diced ham in it.

i love broccoli rabe but i think that's a different vegetable. i did get some broccoli at the supermarket the other day with lots of leaves though. it was fantastic. i got distracted and charred it a little overmuch, ha ha.

i made killer tacos tonight with my own guacamole (just some onions, a jalapeno, and lime juice) and AHHH. had some corn, zucchini, peppers, soy chorizo, jalapenos, radishes, a honey sriracha sauce i make, and the guac. it was delicious.

^^ oh that sounds so yummy.

i had a bad experience today-- i've been cooking too much in advance and some stuff turned to shit in the fridge. like these cooked lentils that are over a week old. i put in the scoop to get some out and bubbles formed in the juice. im like wtf-- fermented. being a full primitive i tasted them anyway ha ha ha. wondering if fermented lentils might be a good thing. ate them a little, put some seasoning. they gave me heartburn. the dogs will eat them now. also some hardboiled eggs i cooked in advance started to turn slimy. and i actually ate this funky pasta sauce because it didn't make me sick earlier. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. i deserve a good dope slap.

fermented lentils?! i accidentally let some swiss chard go bad that i had, just totally forgot being out and about or at work lately. and a good half a pound of grated pecorino i have to use. and half a pint of greek yogurt, but i'm going to use that for breakfast tomorrow.

ha ha yes. they weren't quite rotten yet but they were starting. a certain whiff-- a bit sour, but not yet bombed out ha ha ha.

watched the movie. good stuff. makes me want to buy that book of bread.

no no. smoked it up on purpose. locked myself out on purpose second time. took police with me to have 'witness' (first time in my life I could actually need the 'help' of cops. haha. I had fun, not all the time though. landlord will pay for it.

uff...
am sick in bed since yesterday.
had weird caponata-fever dreams. if only i could remember what made it so colourful.

chef, you post here too infrequently! i thought you were trapped outside and things caught fire, ha ha. sorry if you're having trouble with the landlord-- that's what it sounds like.

i have a tassajara cookbook i got from a friend who was moving. it's nice. it's not the same as the bread one but it has a chapter on baked stuff. do you know where the thing was shot? looked great. my favorite part is when the guy talks about "sincerity" and letting the imperfections show.

get better!

--

@ ilducio - i got a can of creamed corn today! let's see what happens... i need some ham though. ham and cheese go great with corn.

--

i just made a rice pudding that came out great. i put a cinnamon stick, some cloves, a few cardamom pods, and full-cream organic milk. the first time i made this the rice was hard (crunchy) but this time i added the sugar once the rice was cooked and it turned out awesome.

eggs and spinach with creamed corn.

watt?

yes. first time eating creamed corn, it turns out! looks like vomit ha ha ha. opened the can to find not kernels but a sweet mush. did not put it in my cornbread--instead i used ham + onions for the bread.

today looking for something for lunch the cornpuke saved me on teh carb front. the spinach hides the pale yellow goo so it works. the sweet goes well w/ egg yolks.

oh, no to creamed corn. but creamed spinach i'll eat.

one of the sushi guys goofed around at work when it was slow, and took salmon skin and made cracklin' of sort from it, and put it in a sushi roll with tuna, yellowtail, and avocado. i have some left i'm eating, and a whole side of the salmon cracklin'. sooo good and crunchy. i miss chicharrones.

for dinner i'm going to make chicken breast wrapped in proscuitto and mozzarella with a salad. it was a publix recipe card. i'm lazy.

don't know creamed spinach. as for creamed corn i think that was first & last. unless something.

that roll sounds yummy. love the crispy salmon skin.

CHICHARRONES! they is GOOOD. when you get a slow cooker i'll teach you to make carnitas. supereasy really. i mean, just press "on". ha ha.

re: lazy. lazyness is the best. must be enjoyed deeply though. polluting it with guilt only spoils it.

i like corn in stuff, but i can't eat it alone. no way.

creamed spinach is amazing. cream, parmesan, white pepper. oh yeah.

and I NEED A SLOW COOKER. i want to make coca cola pork- so tender and good whenever my friend makes it.

the chicken came out great. i was mainly making it to impress a guy and it worked.

go to a mexican supermarket and get an elote con crema (steamed/boiled corn stuck on a stick, covered in cream, chile piquín... maybe some queso... i forget the name... oh hot damn).

--> queso COTIJA



ps- don't let them put mayo on it-- it's some disgraceful cheapo bastardization and a crime


oh i see. some kind of "florentine" thing. sounds nice. spinach + dairy = gold



yes you do. some things you can only do in those. i got one for $30 at costco. but maybe get a small one at like walrats or something. just make sure it's decent so it doesn't set your house on fire.


ha ha ha-- then it was probably overkill

haha. i mean, he's into food (he's a manager at trader joes, which is how we met) and cooking, so it just seemed appropriate to try and show off.

yeah, i'd rather not have the apartment i'm illegally subleasing burn up in flames. i want to get into making stocks and stews eventually.

who puts mayo on corn?!

oh cotija. i used to buy blocks and eat it straight up from a little bodega around the corner from me. there's no real hispanic grocery here but i can prob special order it if i really wanted. miss that stuff.

tomorrow i want to get some cabbage and make stuffed rolls

asparagus everywhere man,
asparagus everywhere

ha ha ha-- it would have been sufficient with your person, now he'll never recover


or yogurt-- or any sort of confits (which of course include carnitas)


swine, that's who


it's sure there's a supermarket where the mexicanos shop. maybe it's a walmart, maybe it's something else. in any case, CREMA is the real key to this-- i'd say the cheese is optional


oh yes! it's the season...

i'm going to resist making a rabelaisian joke here. i'm told my sense of humor is too grotesque.

asparagus. ahhh. give me it all.

and aw, shucks. it was a fun dinner; we played chess, too. swoon. but that's neither here nor there. it's his turn to cook next time, though.

i found where the hispanics shop here in town! next week is cotija time, when i don't have any trips or work too late to make proper dinner..

how's making greek yogurt?

i made guacamole this morning to put on a fried egg.