To get tasty thing out of oven you must first put tasty thing into oven

[Maaik]

man, that sounds good.  And _filling_.

[Wally]

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE FOOD WE HAD LAST NIGHT! i WAS THERE AND I STILL DO NOT BELIEVE IT! i FELT LIKE A QUEEN!

[auto-da-fey]

While I have mad respect for John, I probably should have learned after that Stockholm Monsters album that his loves are not my loves. Still, when you're walking around a Thai grocery store and you suddenly come across bitter melon for $1.07, why the hell not? Those damn liner notes made a strong case.

Well, here's why not:



Granted, I have the culinary abilities of a ramen-eating undergrad, and no one but me can be held accountable for my decision to make some random bitter melon, tofu, and egg concoction. But still, nasty stuff here . . .

[titus a.]

Bitter gourd is definitely an acquired taste.  I love it when it's used to greatest effect in Indian/Pakistani dishes (naturally).  Generally, they serve it with yogurt to offset the...unique taste.  I heard they serve it differently in the South, I'd like to try it some time.  Definitely I don't understand how it would be appealing to eat in a stir fry, though.  I'm sure there's some trick to it though.

[auto-da-fey]

Definitely I don't understand how it would be appealing to eat in a stir fry, though.  I'm sure there's some trick to it though.

Yeah, in retrospect it might have been wise to exert more effort than googling "bitter melon recipe," opening five random tabs, and going for the easiest looking one, apparently from Okinawa.

Also, it's conceivable that substituting leftover dried shrimp from a more successful papaya salad-making endeavor for bonita flakes was also in error, but live and learn, I guess. This is the most adventurous food effort I've made in ages, so all's good.

[milesofsparks]

is bitter gourd the same as bitter melon?  I've had it in Indonesian food (which has strong Indian influences) and it was...  alright, I guess.

in other news, today I made pancakes for breakfast.  I had to use ghee for butter and (baking soda + cream of tartar) for baking powder, but they were DELICIOUS. I made small silver-dollar sized ones.  so cute.  but then I got all sad about cooking for myself when there were a ton left over after stuffing my face, but I ate them with jam for lunch and was happy again.

an angsty mood struck me again this evening, so I made delicious and comforting linguini with asiago sauce.  I made a roux, people!  I haven't made anything that required a roux in ages.  the sauce was SUPER DELICIOUS.  I am, like, a genius cook or something.

[Mike24]

these don't go in the oven, but they are delicious.  They're like fruit loops but smaller and made with real fruit juice.

[Gracelette]

Grace's Chicory Carbonara - Summer Edition
For when you have a hankering for carbonara but have no eggs and don't want to eat any more pasta...

2 tablespoons of water
100g of diced bacon
2 heads of witloof chicory (separated into individual leaves)
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
2 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese
Ground black pepper (to taste)

Preparation time: 5 minutes (maybe a bit more if your bacon doesn't come pre-diced)
Cooking time: 10 minutes

1) Heat water in one of those deep-dished frying pans
2) Add bacon and cook for 4 minutes over a low-medium heat
3) Add chicory and lemon zest and cook until chicory is tender
4) Remove from heat, stir in mascarpone
5) Transfer to serving dish, add some black pepper to taste, and eat

I had this for breakfast brunch this morning because I am skanky like that. It was really good.

[plainenglish]

VELVEETA FUDGE*   

1 lb. butter
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 c. cocoa
4 lbs. powdered sugar
1 c. nuts

This is great fudge - not too sweet, and easy!
Melt butter and cheese. Add other ingredients. Mix well. Pour in two 9x13 ungreased pans. Put in refrigerator.
 


*The poster claims no association with this recipe, and in fact feels quite oogy even contemplating such a thing.

[Greg Nog]

Oh man, that looks crazy easy.  I can do that in a snap!  Go midwest!

I'm gonna get my yiayia's recipe for soutzoukakia.  Apparently, my cousin's been hoarding it.

[SPACERACE]

grace, that sounds super delicious.

the fudge recipe makes me heave a bit.

[plainenglish]

Oh man, that looks crazy easy.  I can do that in a snap!  Go midwest!

I'm gonna get my yiayia's recipe for soutzoukakia.  Apparently, my cousin's been hoarding it.

Soutzouwhosienow? Qu'est que c'est?

[YojimboMonkey]

That seems like a whole lotta goddamn fudge.  I think you could scale that recipe down pretty easily.

Also

Soutzouwhosienow? Qu'est que c'est?

[girl]

the fudge recipe makes me heave a bit.

I don't understand how it can have 1 c. of cocoa but 4 POUNDS of sugar.  I'm gonna go on pretending that I don't know about it.

[SPACERACE]

also a pound of "cheese"

[Greg Nog]

It's Greek meatballs in a tomato sauce, and it is delicious.  I had to look up the spelling, actually, as all the Greek food my family eats gets pronounced in a sort of slurred Anglicized way.  It's a bitch when I'm trying to find recipes online.

[Andrew_TSKS]

the fudge recipe makes me heave a bit.

seriously. just reading it makes me feel like i have to go to the bathroom.

[YojimboMonkey]

Oh man dudes, Mindy just made some of that awesome fried rice like she made the night of pitchfork, holy shit is it good.

I'm going to have to ask you to hand over that meatballs recipe once you get it Greg, I've never tried that and it sounds tasty as all hell.

[Greg Nog]

Oh my oh my, it is delicious.  I'll pass it along.

I picked up most of the ingredients for Velveeta fudge today, but the store didn't have the key component -- Velveeta.  I guess I'll have to make it another night.

[Aglaya]

Greg, don't!  It's not worth it!

[Greg Nog]

Have you ever tried it?  'Cause it sounds pretty excellent to me.  Though I think for the first time, I'm just gonna make a half-batch.

[nonotyet]

AGAIN, VELVEETA IS NOT MIDWESTERN
I SALUTE YOUR ADVENTUROUSNESS AND HOPE THE RECIPE GOES WELL, BUT GOD DAMMIT

Also Ween condones the use of chocolate and cheese together. So there.

[Aglaya]

I haven't, I just have very extensive Velveeta experience (most of my childhood), and no good has come of it yet (the first time I had mac'n'cheese out of a box- the powdered cheese, 99 cents a box kind, I thought it was amazing). 

[jess]

Chocolate + cheese = delicious. Not so sure about velveeta, granted, but I had a chocolate and cheese truffle from Vosges the other week, and it was excellent. Then again, I also thought their bacon chocolate bar was fantastic, all salty, smoky and chocolatey, so your taste may vary. My friend and I couldn't stop eating the free samples of it though.

[auto-da-fey]

My favorite Ween recipe is bananas and blow.