Cooklog: kitchen experimentation

2 April 2003

Mashed Potatoes

Not just any mashed potatoes. But rather a combination of early spring red potatoes with their skin on, some kind of big-ass Idaho potato, and a sweet potato. They are cooked in the ordinary way that potatoes often are (start with the sweet potato, then the Idaho, then the small red ones... that way they get even cooking time). Once they're done, drain 'em and proceed to mash. Add a little bit of butter and milk for mosture.

And then the key bit: sweat some shallots and garlic and a smelly mushroom (I used shiitake) all diced up into tiny bits. Right near the end add some butter and enjoy the amazing smell. You'll want these to be slightly underdone since once you chuck them into the potatoes, they'll keep cooking because of all the kinetic energy trapped in the potato mash. Let sit for 10 minutes, and enjoy.

I had mine with some sort of meat thing. (Any burnt bits from when you cooked the shallots, onions, etal can become an excellent pan sauce for the meat if you deglaze 'em with a bit of something nice).

2 March 2003

Mango and Ginger Salsa Redux

Onions tasted way too strong, and the entire thing had a "not quite together" feeling to it. Tossed the entire deal into a pan, and heated it for about 10 minutes until the onions softened up a bit. Let cool; refridgerate some more.

I think that in the future it's a good idea to cook the onions and jalapenos a little bit before combining with the rest. An argument could also be made for cooking the mango-ginger-lime juice combo, but I would like to experiment with that both ways before coming to a conclusion.

Alternatively, a less strong onion would be a good choice here. All the online recipes called for red onion (of which I had none at the moment), and I think that those definitely have merit in this context.

1 March 2003

Mango and Ginger Salsa

Two mangos (chopped), a bunch of ginger (finely minced), an onion (chopped), a garlic clove (minced), two jalapenos (no seeds, seared on the outside, chopped), juice of one blood orange, juice of half a lime, an assload of cilantro, two healthy pinches of brown sugar, a bit more salt than what would taste "okay". Combine everything in a container. Should look chunkier than a relish, but finer than a fruit salad. Refridgerate overnight.

Will post tomorrow about how it tastes.

Linkout

No cooking experiment today, but a foodie website that I stumbled across: Food Porn

17 February 2003

Rice'n'Lox

I had leftover cooked rice with beans (and shallots and green pepper for texture and color), and some smoked salmon scraps. Reheat rice, add fish, cover, let stand. Enjoy.

Total prep time: 10 minutes, tops. Taste: tasty.