We should have a "What are you cooking?" thread. Now we do.

[pickdropper]

We're planning on making some moussaka (mouse kaka?) tonight, pictures will follow!

Paul

Had that a Greek restaurant last week.  Fantastic stuff.

[aballen]

Last years hot sauce.  All gone now but I should have more after this years harvest.  Jon Ill have to send you some for your curry.

[selfdestroyer]

I made some Chicken Penang this week that came out really good. I was super happy with it. I did make it with 2 Thai chillies so it was way too hot for the wife but I really enjoyed the sweats. I love hot food.

[jimilee]

I made Kraft Mac n cheese for lunch yesterday!

[snz728]

you got me thinking of vindaloo now.  I usually use balsamic vinegar.  what wine did you use Jon, maybe my wife will like it with wine instead.

[midwayfair]

you got me thinking of vindaloo now.  I usually use balsamic vinegar.  what wine did you use Jon, maybe my wife will like it with wine instead.

Just some cheap white wine, probably a chardonnay. Think $10 a liter ...

Note that I use half wine and half white vinegar, and I add half the vinegar to the marinade. The wine is traditional (that's the "vin" in vindaloo), but I'm not sure about the vinegar. Do you add the balsamic at the end? And can you actually taste it underneath all the curry?

Oh, this was last Saturday's adventure. I cooked pizzas for 20-odd people for Lexa's party. Just haven't pulled it off the camera until now. This one is black tomatoes and garlic.

[haveyouseenhim]

I'm going to a Puerto Rican kitchen tomorrow when I'm done at the music shop and I'll snap a better pic for yall. This one is from my ancient flip phone. This guy has amazing food that fills you up for 6 bucks.

[midwayfair]

I'm going to a Puerto Rican kitchen tomorrow when I'm done at the music shop and I'll snap a better pic for yall. This one is from my ancient flip phone. This guy has amazing food that fills you up for 6 bucks.

Er ... that photo's in your AOL email.

[haveyouseenhim]

Is it not showing up? Or is is showing info?

[Bret608]

Oh wow, don't even get me started on food!

Jon, I used to use goat for curries and vindaloo a lot back in the day when I lived in NYC. I would buy it at Hispanic groceries under the name "cabrito" or at the Indian stores in Jackson Heights, Queens. It's not so easy to find here in Wisconsin, but it's not impossible as I had a goat curry when we went out for lunch for my b-day this week.

In my vindaloo, I've tried two different vinegars. Apple cider vinegar gives a good result. Also, I used a Filipino-branded vinegar (Datu Puti brand) that I believe a) is made from pineapples and b) is quite close to the vinegars Indians would actually use. I've never tried the wine but it sounds great.

Indian food is one of favorites to cook (Bengali and Keralan regional cuisines in particular), but as my wife is from a Southeast Asian immigrant family, I'm way more knowledgeable about Lao and Thai cuisines (and Vietnamese, Malaysian/Indonesian, and Burmese to a lesser extent). I'll post some pics of things we've cooked if I can dig some up. We're serious enough about these foods to have toyed with the idea of doing a cooking show or blog of some kind.

Josh's BBQ and selfdestroyer's Panang have me drooling as well...

[midwayfair]

Oh wow, don't even get me started on food!

>turns the starter crank<

[midwayfair]

Falafel and pitas!



I learned how to make falafel a few weeks ago, when we had a ton of leftover chickpeas after a batch of hummos and I wasn't sure what else to make. The first go-round was a disaster (they fell apart completely in the pan ... the I figured out to add chickpea flour ...), and the second wasn't much better. A little more practice and this time they came out pretty much perfect. I'm still not sure what would happen in a deep frier (not that I have one), but pan fried they came out great and taste pretty magical. The pitas also all came out right this time ... I've had mixed results in the past.

[DutchMF]

promised some time ago, but here are some pics of the moussaka we made....

Sliced and grilled eggplant:

In the oven:

Just out of the oven, still to hot for consumption!!

Finally!!


This is one of those dishes that doesn't look like much, but taste great! Love the combination of eggplant, potatoes and minced meat, damn I wish I was back in Greece!!

BTW: Jon, my wife made me ask you for the recipe of both the hummus and the falafel, could you share these?

Paul

[hammerheadmusicman]

We're planning on making some moussaka (mouse kaka?) tonight, pictures will follow!

Paul

Definitely not Mouse kaka Paul! Mousaka is one of my favourites, that and lasagne, but i can never decide which one i prefer!

Also, i can't believe our build report addiction has now moved on to our dinners

Although, i have to say, I cook every single meal in our house as Grace is useless, so she does all the cleaning, i think that is an awesome arrangement, as i like cooking proper food!

I'm away on a gig until nov (and have already have been away for a month) and i'm really starting to miss cooking. So thanks for making it worse dudes!

George

[midwayfair]

Jon, my wife made me ask you for the recipe of both the hummus and the falafel, could you share these?

They aren't unusual recipes. The only big thing is that I make everything from scratch -- whole spices, not canned chickpeas, freshly ground sesame seeds and so forth.

Hummus
1/2 cup sesame seeds (grind in a spice grinder or coffee grinder)
1 cup whole chickpeas (cooked and washed)
1/4 cup oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp water
Salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic (chop it BEFORE it goes in the blender)
Some paprika and olive oil for the topping

Put all the solid ingredients in a food process, process until somewhat smooth. Slowly add the water and lemon juice (remember, hummus is actually an emulsion!) and continue processing until very smooth. Pour into a shallow dish, sprinkle with the paprika and drizzle olive oil on top.

If you blacken an eggplant and scoop out the insides, you can add that and some ground coriander and cumin seeds and you'll have baba ganoush.

Falafel
1 cup mashed chickpeas (cooked, washed, and well-drained)
1/3 cup chickpea flour (with some more to coat the balls before frying)
One small onion, finely diced
Roasted and ground cumin, coriander, black pepper, and salt

Mash all the ingredients together and mix well. I pan fry them in a sauce pan with about a quarter inch of oil on high heat rather than trying to deep fry them. Form large flattened balls, cover them well in chickpea flour, and set them in the oil. You're just browning them on each side. Be careful when flipping them -- they can fall apart family easily.

Put the finished patties on paper towels. I stick them in pitas with tomato, lettuce, and yogurt. Try to resist the urge to just eat them the second they come out of the frying pan. They will burn your mouth if you do. ;p