My camera doesn't capture red... (what did you cook last night)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > My camera doesn't capture red... (what did you cook last night)

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Theophany: Jul 22, 2014; SUCCHIAMI IL MIO CAZZO DA DIETRO, RANA RAGAZZO

2022 FIA Formula 1 WDC

Just as an addendum, I had quite a few ingredients from the curry leftover and seeing as it's a grey day and F1 qualifying hadn't started, I figured I make saag aloo to go with the curry!

I started by parboiling 1kg halved new potatoes. 10 minutes on a gentle rolling boil. Once done, I drained and set aside with the lid on the saucepan to retain the heat.

Make sure you have the right equipment. How can something as delicious as onions be such a bastard to chop?

Same as the curry, sweat those onions down on a low heat for around 25-30 minutes. I used the 3 large brown onions I had leftover.

Once they're ready reach for your spices. Again, I went with cumin, garam masala, smoked paprika, ground coriander, turmeric and fenugreek. I also added a can of chopped tomatoes, garlic puree, ginger puree, tomato puree and some naga chilli sauce.

Mix all of that together and simmer gently for 15 minutes

Then add the spinach and mix in. I went for around 500g of baby leaf spinach. I think if you wanted a greener, more restaurant-type-looking result you could probably opt to go for a 750g - 1kg.

After 15 minutes of gentle simmering, break out the blender. Again, my �10 unbranded stick blender seemed to give good results albeit after quite a while of blending.

Once that's all smooth, you can add your parboiled new potatoes and continue a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes to make sure the potatoes are properly cooked.

Serve! (Or portion into foil containers, whatever).

The above was enough for 10 pretty generous takeaway servings.

# ? Nov 12, 2016 17:06

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# ? May 24, 2024 16:23

feedmegin: Jul 30, 2008

Theophany posted:

As to adding the turmeric late, I honestly have no idea. I was just doing as I was told. My only guess would be a key flavour that won't get lost in the medley before and the authentic 'look' of a takeaway curry - the turmeric is what creates the characteristic yellow stains if you spill any anywhere and the additional ghee creates the slick of oil that sits on top.

If I recall, turmeric also burns fairly easily.

# ? Nov 12, 2016 17:31

FaradayCage: May 2, 2010

Theophany posted:

curry curry curry

How does the chicken prep work, exactly? You apply the rub/marinade and leave it for a night then you just plop them in a crockpot with nothing else for X hours on...I assume high?

# ? Nov 13, 2016 01:17

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Theophany posted:

Sure do man, being a camera nerd and whatnot.

I took 9 large brown onions, sliced them thin and put them in a large cast iron pot with two tablespoons of ghee, then sweat them down for about 30 mins. Because there's so much onion and you don't want to burn them, I found slow and low was the best approach, but my pot isn't that big.

Once done, I added 2 thinly sliced carrots, 3/4 of a heavily chopped cabbage and 3 bell peppers sliced up. Keep cooking for another 5 minutes until they sweat down too.

Once that's done, you can dump in the flavour stuff. I went with a couple of tablespoons of garlic puree, a couple of tablespoons of ginger puree, then two tablespoons of garam masala, cumin, smoked paprika, ground coriander and fenugreek. Then add in tinned tomatoes and water until the liquid level just about covers the vegetables. At this point, I also added some naga chilli sauce that I really like to add some heat. This was off piste - my restaurant told me they'd typically add the chillies at the meat stage below.

Then simmer for a half hour, you want to get all the veg nice and soft because the next step is to blend it all until it's smooth like a soup.

I only have a cheap �10 hand blender, but perseverance is key. I think I spent like 15-20 mins blending it until I was happy. It still looked a bit gritty, but a quick taste test confirmed it didn't have that bad mouthfeel like a bad smoothie. Once you're at that stage of smoothness, you're golden.

The final step was to take a frying pan, melt a few tablespoons of ghee and once hot, put in a few tablespoons of turmeric. You don't want it to burn, so it takes less than a minute. Once it starts to brown, take the frying pan from the heat and pour into your base 'gravy' and stir in. Return your gravy to a simmer for anywhere between 30 mins to an hour. At this point, I took a bag of baby leaf spinach, chopped it up finely and added it to my gravy. I also cut another 3 onions into 8ths so there was a bit of extra onion crunch; if I'd had tomatoes to hand I'd have quartered a few of those too for that authentic restaurant taste.

Once you're all blended, the final bit is to add the meat. The night before, I took about 2.4kg of boned chicken thighs rough cut into quarters and dredged them in a mix of cumin, garam masala, turmeric and smoked paprika. Then I ghetto vacuum sealed them in a ziplock back in a sink full of water and let them rest overnight. My local restaurant gave me this recipe and their advice was to cook whatever meat you're using separately. I used a crock pot to cook mine because it gave it a bit of a drier (ghetto) tandoori texture, but they told me there's no real rules as long as you get the spice combo right. Once you combine, you're good to go!

With all those measures, I ended up making 16 good size portions! Got a couple of bags of spinach leftover too so might have a crack at the saag aloo recipe they gave me too.

You wouldn't mind putting this on the wiki would you?

# ? Nov 13, 2016 03:27

Theophany: Jul 22, 2014; SUCCHIAMI IL MIO CAZZO DA DIETRO, RANA RAGAZZO

2022 FIA Formula 1 WDC

FaradayCage posted:

How does the chicken prep work, exactly? You apply the rub/marinade and leave it for a night then you just plop them in a crockpot with nothing else for X hours on...I assume high?

Exactly right. I did 4 hours on high for 2.4kg of diced boneless chicken thighs and they came out at pretty much the level of 'doneness' I was after; not quite falling apart but extremely tender.

# ? Nov 13, 2016 11:01

franco: Jan 3, 2003

Theophany posted:

gorgeous-looking saag aloo

my mouth is watering over here, you monster!

Related: you've mentioned your cheapie stick blender a couple of times. Trust me on this - I was firmly in the "a stick blender's a stick blender's a stick blender - how good can such a simple thing get?" camp and laboured on with a cheapie myself for years and years until I got my hands on a much nicer model recently (we're not taking made with unicorn tears and costing a million - just not a tenner

) and the difference is insane. So, so worth it. Witness a 10 minute blend job drop down to 45 seconds etc. Please treat yourself or get someone else to for xmas, you won't regret it!

# ? Nov 13, 2016 12:24

Theophany: Jul 22, 2014; SUCCHIAMI IL MIO CAZZO DA DIETRO, RANA RAGAZZO

2022 FIA Formula 1 WDC

Stringent posted:

You wouldn't mind putting this on the wiki would you?

Done and done

http://goonswithspoons.com/Tikka_chilli_balti and http://goonswithspoons.com/Saag_aloo

franco posted:

my mouth is watering over here, you monster!

Related: you've mentioned your cheapie stick blender a couple of times. Trust me on this - I was firmly in the "a stick blender's a stick blender's a stick blender - how good can such a simple thing get?" camp and laboured on with a cheapie myself for years and years until I got my hands on a much nicer model recently (we're not taking made with unicorn tears and costing a million - just not a tenner ) and the difference is insane. So, so worth it. Witness a 10 minute blend job drop down to 45 seconds etc. Please treat yourself or get someone else to for xmas, you won't regret it!

I think you're right, it'll definitely be worth the investment. There was a roundup of various ones over on Serious Eats so I'll have a look on there and Amazon and see which is the best bang:buck!

# ? Nov 13, 2016 13:07

Bald Stalin: Jul 11, 2004; Our posts

Theophany posted:

Done and done

http://goonswithspoons.com/Tikka_chilli_balti and http://goonswithspoons.com/Saag_aloo

Quality stuff, thanks man.

# ? Nov 14, 2016 01:21

Mister Facetious: Apr 21, 2007; I think I died and woke up in L.A.,
I don't know how I wound up in this place...

"Scallion oil noodles"

1.) I need a new camera (N5); it took two lamps to get this exposure.
2.) Forgot to add chopsticks to the presentation.
3.) It's not called for, but I like adding toasted sesame to mine.
4.) My asian mart has "Shanghai style noodles" in three sizes; I prefer the middle one.
5.) I am never going to eat dry noodles again if I can afford it; hand pulled, all the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5me5Cgt3-M

Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Nov 14, 2016

# ? Nov 14, 2016 08:19

Theophany: Jul 22, 2014; SUCCHIAMI IL MIO CAZZO DA DIETRO, RANA RAGAZZO

2022 FIA Formula 1 WDC

That looks like a big bowl of delicious right there.

# ? Nov 14, 2016 11:15

Phil Moscowitz: Feb 19, 2007; If blood be the price of admiralty,
Lord God, we ha' paid in full!

Do they sell hand pulled noodles at your Asian market? Where are you located?

That does look good.

# ? Nov 14, 2016 13:53

Mister Facetious: Apr 21, 2007; I think I died and woke up in L.A.,
I don't know how I wound up in this place...

Southwestern Ontario, Canada.
Fresh noodles have this amazing chewiness to them. I would seriously consider using them even in French/Italian dishes.

# ? Nov 14, 2016 17:06

MiddleOne: Feb 17, 2011

I don't really see how that would be meaningfully different from those cuisines use of fresh pasta. :raise:

# ? Nov 14, 2016 17:15

Mister Facetious: Apr 21, 2007; I think I died and woke up in L.A.,
I don't know how I wound up in this place...

Fresh western pasta is ironically difficult to find where I am, and I say this as a guy who works for Italians at a bakery with an adjoining deli. :ironicat:

# ? Nov 14, 2016 17:18

MiddleOne: Feb 17, 2011

That's just sad, your lasagnas must be miserable affairs.

# ? Nov 14, 2016 17:20

silvergoose: Mar 18, 2006; IT IS SAID THE TEARS OF THE BWEENIX CAN HEAL ALL WOUNDS

MiddleOne posted:

That's just sad, your lasagnas must be miserable affairs.

What is dried pasta? A miserable pile of lasagna.

# ? Nov 14, 2016 17:31

Bald Stalin: Jul 11, 2004; Our posts

Actual Italian people NEVER use dried pasta :rolleyes:

For Sunday I made a roast. Half a pork picnic to be precise. There's a German dark wheat beer (dunkel weissbier) in there, and the resultant pan juice combined with home made chicken stock created the best gravy ever. And 'broiler' mode in ovens is like a cheat code for great crackling.

I also nogged.

# ? Nov 14, 2016 17:48

MiddleOne: Feb 17, 2011

Ranter posted:

Actual Italian people NEVER use dried pasta

French people are all uppity about the sanctity of their food culture until they go home and eat frozen pizzas and mcdonalds.

(the one French guy I've ever known in my life cooked loving chicken risotto for a poker night which he served with copious amounts of wine, all the stereotypes are real)

# ? Nov 14, 2016 17:51

Theophany: Jul 22, 2014; SUCCHIAMI IL MIO CAZZO DA DIETRO, RANA RAGAZZO

2022 FIA Formula 1 WDC

Ranter posted:

Actual Italian people NEVER use dried pasta

For Sunday I made a roast. Half a pork picnic to be precise. There's a German dark wheat beer (dunkel weissbier) in there, and the resultant pan juice combined with home made chicken stock created the best gravy ever. And 'broiler' mode in ovens is like a cheat code for great crackling.

That looks like the Sunday dinner I wish I'd had.

# ? Nov 14, 2016 21:27

AnonSpore: Jan 19, 2012; "I didn't see the part where he develops as a character so I guess he never developed as a character"

Mister Macys posted:

Fresh western pasta is ironically difficult to find where I am, and I say this as a guy who works for Italians at a bakery with an adjoining deli.

With eggs flour and salt you too can be the proud eater of fresh pasta and it will change your life forever

# ? Nov 15, 2016 00:06

Veritek83: Jul 7, 2008; The Irish can't drink. What you always have to remember with the Irish is they get mean. Virtually every Irish I've known gets mean when he drinks.

Did the Food Lab sous vide "turchetta" for dinner (and so I could make a big batch of turkey stock for use next week). Very tasty, very messy. Want to get the skin wrapped a bit better and bit more evenly crisp next time.

# ? Nov 15, 2016 05:10

Plinkey: Aug 4, 2004; by Fluffdaddy

Veritek83 posted:

Did the Food Lab sous vide "turchetta" for dinner (and so I could make a big batch of turkey stock for use next week). Very tasty, very messy. Want to get the skin wrapped a bit better and bit more evenly crisp next time.

You should post this in the Sous-Vide thread some people were asking about it.

Also looks great. I could never get the skin to work on mine.

e: Oh you did, nevermind.

# ? Nov 15, 2016 05:28

ShadowCatboy: Jan 22, 2006; by FactsAreUseless

Ranter posted:

Actual Italian people NEVER use dried pasta

For Sunday I made a roast. Half a pork picnic to be precise. There's a German dark wheat beer (dunkel weissbier) in there, and the resultant pan juice combined with home made chicken stock created the best gravy ever. And 'broiler' mode in ovens is like a cheat code for great crackling.

Goddamn that is one fine rear end piece of pork. What cut was this?

# ? Nov 16, 2016 09:07

Bald Stalin: Jul 11, 2004; Our posts

ShadowCatboy posted:

Goddamn that is one fine rear end piece of pork. What cut was this?

Ranter posted:

For Sunday I made a roast. Half a pork picnic to be precise.

The lower part of the shoulder, but cut in half. It's called a picnic roast in the USA. Above the picnic is the shoulder aka 'boston butt' cut.

# ? Nov 16, 2016 18:49

emotive: Dec 26, 2006

After about a dozen times of trying to be "healthy" and baking falafel, I gave up and pan fried it using Serious Eats' recipe.

My life is changed.

# ? Nov 17, 2016 04:27

theres a will theres moe: Jan 10, 2007; Hair Elf

emotive posted:

After about a dozen times of trying to be "healthy" and baking falafel, I gave up and pan fried it using Serious Eats' recipe.

My life is changed.

Haha, congratulations. I can't imagine baked falafel.

# ? Nov 19, 2016 01:15

mich: Feb 28, 2003; I may be racist but I'm the good kind of racist! You better put down those chopsticks, you HITLER!

Mister Macys posted:

2.) Forgot to add chopsticks to the presentation.

Hey, maybe don't feel like this is a thing you should have done. Do you need to include a fork if you're presenting a plate of pasta? Asian food can stand for itself without adding exoticizing props.

# ? Nov 19, 2016 20:12

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

I wouldn't but I eat pasta with my hands though so I'm not being racist

# ? Nov 20, 2016 05:28

Grand Fromage: Jan 30, 2006; L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?

I made Thanksgiving again.

This year the main meat was a porchetta that was not actually blurry IRL. Also starring meatloaf, mac and cheese, cheesy grits, mashed potatoes, stuffing made with duck stock.

# ? Nov 20, 2016 07:57

angor: Nov 14, 2003; teen angst

Aaannnd now I have too cook Thanksgiving dinner with a slipped disc :smith:

I wonder if I can drink on this medication?

# ? Nov 20, 2016 11:14

iajanus: Aug 17, 2004; NUMBER 1 QUEENSLAND SUPPORTER
MAROONS 2023 STATE OF ORIGIN CHAMPIONS FOR LIFE

angor posted:

Aaannnd now I have too cook Thanksgiving dinner with a slipped disc
I wonder if I can drink on this medication?

The answer is always yes.

# ? Nov 20, 2016 11:56

Grand Fromage: Jan 30, 2006; L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?

I mean, is it possible to make Thanksgiving dinner and not drink?

# ? Nov 20, 2016 11:56

Jose: Jul 24, 2007; Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer

whats the medication because that might be more fun than drinking

# ? Nov 20, 2016 16:31

Random Hero: Jun 4, 2004; I could sure go for a Miller High Life...

Cross post from the sous vide thread... Made the Serious Eats turchetta (x3) last week along with a bunch of other delicious food for an office Thanksgiving:

Turchetta in progress.

Had to cut them in half to fit a little easier in my dutch oven when frying.

Sliced turchetta & venison sausage.

Stuffing muffins, white chedder & gruyere mac & cheese, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy from scratch.

# ? Nov 21, 2016 04:40

The Doctor: Jul 8, 2007; Fallen Rib

my sweet gently caress. the sausage.

# ? Nov 21, 2016 04:43

Mister Facetious: Apr 21, 2007; I think I died and woke up in L.A.,
I don't know how I wound up in this place...

mich posted:

Hey, maybe don't feel like this is a thing you should have done. Do you need to include a fork if you're presenting a plate of pasta? Asian food can stand for itself without adding exoticizing props.

What's your problem dude? Nothing wrong with a little authenticity.

And you use a spoon for KD, everyone knows that. :rolleyes:

# ? Nov 21, 2016 06:59

Casu Marzu: Oct 20, 2008

Mister Macys posted:

What's your problem dude? Nothing wrong with a little authenticity.

And you use a spoon for KD, everyone knows that.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah you're such a piece of poo poo

# ? Nov 21, 2016 20:07

Appl: Feb 4, 2002; where da white womens at?

Mister Macys posted:

What's your problem dude? Nothing wrong with a little authenticity.

And you use a spoon for KD, everyone knows that.

Nice authentic dirty bowl

# ? Nov 21, 2016 20:13

Aery: Nov 15, 2005; Where is my motherfucking HAT

Mister Macys posted:

What's your problem dude? Nothing wrong with a little authenticity.

And you use a spoon for KD, everyone knows that.

Your bowl is as a gross as you are. I hope you find that to be helpful.

# ? Nov 21, 2016 20:19

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# ? May 24, 2024 16:23

mich: Feb 28, 2003; I may be racist but I'm the good kind of racist! You better put down those chopsticks, you HITLER!

I explained what my problem is. Asian food doesn't need to be exoticized with props. The food can stand alone by itself without you adding things to the picture to emphasize "HEY LOOK THIS IS ASIAN." It's something that happens with photography of Asian food a lot. Some Asian cultures don't even use chopsticks! Adding utensils to a picture of food can play a role if the purpose is in the composition of the photo. Adding it as a prop to make the food more "authentic" is problematic. Plus, it looks like you squirt sriracha all over a bowl of Chinese noodles, how "authentic" is that?

I know it seems like not a very big deal but it's all part of a bigger picture of "othering" Asian culture.

If you don't realize how prevalent it is, look at the google image search results for "spaghetti":
https://www.google.com/search?biw=1...504.IzGPyeqFaBQ

Now look at pho:
https://www.google.com/search?biw=1...318.zgcvDCEa4Fo

# ? Nov 21, 2016 20:28

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > My camera doesn't capture red... (what did you cook last night)

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