Do we have #coffee connoisseurs on the #fediverse that can recommend a good coffee machine? ☕
Pretzel buns
I used the brioche bun recipe I like (but don't love the plain egg wash finish), and the lye and pretzel salt from the pretzel recipe I like (but don't love the tough chewiness of the bread), so hopefully I've got something good here
Really I should have dipped the buns in the lye to get a nice even coat, but it's a very soft dough and I thought I'd ruin the rise that way, so I brushed it on with a silicone pastry brush 🥨
Following through on my intention to try out at least one new recipe a week! This time I'm digging into the green leafy options a bit, leaning on some common flavour combinations, and putting together a side dish for the protein I baked up earlier in the week.
Peel, tip, and tail the garlic, then smash it; peel the ginger, then slice very fine against the fibrous grain; then dice them both together, quite finely, to roughly the same consistency.
Chop the roots off the bok choy, wash thoroughly, then cut the green leafy parts away from the white stem parts. Cut the leaves large and set them aside to add later, since they cook so fast; chop the white parts smaller and keep them at hand, they'll go in soon.
Mix sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and brown sugar very vigorously - aim to emulsify it all a bit. A small mason jar with a lid works well, or a high sided bowl and a fork.
Dry toast the sesame seeds. Add a bit of vegetable oil into a pan and fry the garlic and ginger until very fragrant and starting to brown a bit, then add in the white bok choy stems and mix until well heated. Add the red pepper flakes, the mixed sauces, the green leafy parts, and about ¾ of the toasted sesame seeds (set the rest aside for garnish); toss well and cook through.
Plate, and garnish with the extra sesame seeds!
(Next time I do this I think I'll try thickening the sauce a bit with just a touch of corn starch.)
Follow-up photos downthread!
Same recipe as upthread only I doubled the jalapeños and swapped out the pinto beans for black beans. (I'm still on the slow cooker method despite convincing advice to switch over to the pressure cooker because I want to finish developing this recipe fully before moving on to an entirely different method, since that usually involves a bunch of secondary adaptations.)
meat, fish
Standard Tuesday evening meal again, but I've been teaching myself how to pick fish with more discrimination and boy howdy has that effort been paying off in meal quality.
Hot sauce
I did it finally
I used roughly this recipe: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/hot-sauces/fermented-aji-garlic-hot-sauce/ but I had red Anaheim peppers rather than yellow ají ones, and I fermented a mix of the Anaheims with red sweet peppers because I have a low tolerance
It's good! Very hot for me, still, but the strong garlic flavor I wanted too 🌶🔥🧄
meat, pork
Cremini mushrooms, Brussels sprouts with bacon, fresh tomatoes, beef disc. Mostly just using up stuff in the fridge, but it made a pretty delicious pair of dinners!
Valentine’s dinner, pic this time
Just to double down, added some smoked jalapeño and cheddar bratwurst on the side.
It’s the right smooth texture, with a decent, building kick; the pasta is on point; the sausage adds, obviously, heavy savor, and a more char-like smoke.
Happy Valentine’s Day, you fuckers.