The Lazy Gourmet

[Unorthodox]

Having leftovers for lunch.

Made Hyderabadi biryani the other night on a whim. 

Well, technically I cheated as I just used our rice cooker instead of a proper dum cooking.  Whole meal in the rice cooker worked rather well. 

It is seriously my favorite of the Indian dishes I've learned to cook.  (unfortunately most the family prefers my Masala and curry.) 

[Spacy]

Congrats.  Our new kitchen is going in slow - hoping to get counters in next week, then sink, backsplash and little bits of odds and ends and then done.

Congrats on becoming an adult.

Unfortunately, been there a bit too long now it feels like. 

[Elok]

This thread has surprising legs.  Anyway, the other night we had a hunk of boneless pork and no notion what to do with it.  Out with the pressure cooker!  I browned the pork, fried up a bunch of onions, and for lack of a better idea stewed both with apple slices and a bunch of baking spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, plus a bit of brown sugar.  Pork goes with apples.  Apples go with apple pie spices.  Friends of friends, right?  It didn't turn out great, but mostly because I added salt before cooking down the sauce, and then the wife compensated by adding more apples to soak up the salt, and added some more sugar while she was at it.  It wound up tasting just a liiiiittle too sweet.  We'll do things differently next time.  Apple pork, I believe in your potential.

[Buster's Uncle]

That sounds promising once you get the proportions worked out - bbq and a lot of Chinese sauces are pretty sweet, and I love those.  You probably want to move away from all the baking/dessert spices, though, and think like you're spicing meat...

[Rusty Edge]

I was thinking ditch the onions...

 It's good that we bring different palates to the table.

[Elok]

No, actually, the cinnamon worked out pretty well.  Ever hear of Sauerbraten?  It's full of goofy stuff that sounds like it belongs in a bakery, and it's delicious.

[Buster's Uncle]

The onions could easily be overdone, according to my palate, Rusty...

[Unorthodox]

Been feeling like crap since Halloween. 

Made biscuits and gravy as something of a comfort food last night. 

Man everyone else's sausage gravy is so bland...

[Elok]

I might note that the carnitas we just had involved oranges and lemons, as well as the more buttoned-down and predictable ancho pepper and tomatillos.  There's a place for the unexpectedly sweet in meat.

[Rusty Edge]

I was going to make a seafood bisque in my Instapot, but since my mother hinted I was getting an immersion blender for Christmas, I think I'll wait for it to arrive before I do that.

I've been contemplating a sort of "COSTCO soup". Five cheese tortolinis,  tomato-pepper broth, & chicken, to simulate the chicken parmesan flavor profile. Perhaps some diced tomatoes. Serve it with some grated parmesan and some croutons on top.

How does that sound to you guys?

[Geo]

How does that sound to you guys?

Cheesed out?

Personally, I'd just go pick up a 'four cheeses' pizza. Then again, I mosttimes only cook for myself, so...

[Rusty Edge]

This is Wisconsin. Cheese goes without saying. Burgers means cheeseburgers.

I often joke that dairy-free meals are against state law.

[Rusty Edge]

I was reading some soup recipes on Pinterest. Turns out tomato cheese tortolini soup is a thing. You add it to the soup at the end and cook on high for 15 minutes. I'm going back and forth on the chicken, considering alternative meats. Sometimes I think tomato/cheese/ham is a better flavor profile. Perhaps some Parma ham or Canadian bacon. Or tomato/cheese/hamburger.  My wife just informed me she won't be eating it regardless. Not the soup enthusiast my family is. Doesn't like tomato based ones anyway. My niece would enjoy it. I could freeze some for my parents.

Tonight was Pork Parmesan and corn. Head count was 2 plus 2. Not a problem because I figured a 50% chance of plus 1 when I was preping.

Sunday's plan is burgers on the grill for 3. We have some preformed patties left. The nice part about them is you can tell the relative degree of doneness by the diameter shrinkage. Also, you can sandwhich some cheese beween two of them before cooking and then mash the edges together to make a bigger, tastier burger.

[E_T]

Been feeling like crap since Halloween. 

Made biscuits and gravy as something of a comfort food last night. 

Man everyone else's sausage gravy is so bland...

If my ex was still alive, he would be really digging this thread (as well as contributing to it.

UnO, he used to make B & G for dinner all the time and I think that it's just how the gravy is derived from the Sausage Fat, but then, I was the one whom ate the stuff he made and he always kidded that I could burn water (only IF I tried...  ).

[Unorthodox]

If my ex was still alive

Not sure I knew that.  My condolences. 


The secret to sausage gravy lies entirely with the sausage, it's true. 

I use a rather spicy sausage that's actually rather lean.  Then deglaze the pan with a bit of merlot, melt a stick of butter into it and make a roux, then add the milk.