OT: Whatcha cookin'?

[Chatchka]

If I had to go veg I'm pretty sure I would starve to death. I'm not even sure what you people eat besides salads. It would seem like a hellish, vast wasteland of abandoned potluck side dishes. (shudders) Meat and potato for me, please!

Regarding stickers on cars (or anything really) I can't imagine why anyone would purchase something that costs so much as a car and then put stickers all over it. The edges peel up and look all gunky, they fade, the crack and just look messy. I've rarely seen one applied perfectly straight. The other ridiculous stickers I see are those ones that show Calvin pissing on a Ford or Chevy logo. And those reverse image headlines that people put on their windshields above the visor/sight line. "El Loco Vido" or "Real Chix Drive Trucks" Good lord. What are they thinking? It might as well say "Please pull me over because I'm likely to drive like an asshole." or "I wear my heart on my bumper."

[63falcon]

[quote="Divemistress of the Dark"]Backpacking store job?! (ears perk up)

Hooting at Sock's avatar...bet there's a tale there...

Went veg, mostly, back in October but am still eating shrimp and whatnot. Mr. Dive has learned a couple of terrific Indian recipes - anyone got one for saag paneer? I am nuts about that cheese they use.[/quote]
Oh yeah, I work 2 PT jobs: LSA 2 for the local Library system here (absolutely fantastic rare books and A-V collection-very underutilized) and have been FT ot PT at a locally owned specialty outdoor outfitter here for 20 yrs (an early 90's recession survival job that, well, there I still am to some degree). Have some really good outfitter skills, but (yes luna, Virginia rearing w/ NC roots) the southern lady upbringing keeps them under my radar.....
for Larnold: Back home in Amherst Co. a lot of folks use venison/deer for chili and barbecue. Have learned a couple good Bavarian stew recipies since living here mit all the OH Deutsch-great w/ spaetzl, mmmmm......
Now that my Lunch in over gotta' go...I loved reading all y'all's recipies by the way!
I agree w/ sockii's avatar!

[TheEqualizer]

spaetzl, mmmmm......

Truth

[moonstone]

[quote="Chatchka"]If I had to go veg I'm pretty sure I would starve to death. I'm not even sure what you people eat besides salads. It would seem like a hellish, vast wasteland of abandoned potluck side dishes. (shudders) Meat and potato for me, please![/quote]

Ha ha! It's really not that bad. I would shoot myself in the head though, if I had to give up pasta, potatoes (especially roasties), cheese and chardonnay. I do love the smell of frying bacon though and kippers cooking reminds me of my Dad who always had them for tea on Saturday. Love the smell but don't want to eat them.

Most of my friends are meat eaters though they all know not to let me cook for them, I'd probably accidentaly poison them because of lack of cooking knowledge. Bar-be-ques are best. They can all cook their own and i can dispense drinks and music. Roll on the dry weather again. I love outdoor eating.

[TheEqualizer]

I think that a lot of people don't like vegetarian dishes because they never had good vegetarian dishes. American food is generally rather bland, and so US versions of vegetarian dishes are usually particularly awful (usually something like a mix of vegetables). For good vegetarian meals, I would recommend trying food from a culture that has a strong contingency of vegetarians. Indian cuisine is a good example. They can make a dish features peas or chickpeas that will make your face melt Raiders of the Lost Ark style (not just due to heat but due to mind blowing yumminess).

[sockii]

I think that a lot of people don't like vegetarian dishes because they never had good vegetarian dishes. American food is generally rather bland, and so US versions of vegetarian dishes are usually particularly awful (usually something like a mix of vegetables). For good vegetarian meals, I would recommend trying food from a culture that has a strong contingency of vegetarians. Indian cuisine is a good example. They can make a dish features peas or chickpeas that will make your face melt Raiders of the Lost Ark style (not just due to heat but due to mind blowing yumminess).

Yes, Indian is great for vegetarian food, so is Chinese. There's a Kosher-Vegetarian restaurant in Philadelphia that I LOVE - they do amazing dim sum on the weekend that definitely shows off what you can do that's interesting and exciting with veggies-only. There's a new place that opened here too - simply called Vedge - that is getting rave reviews and may become one of the top restaurants in the city if they can win over more of the omnivorous crowd.

That said, a life without Rib Eye steak, Sushi and Bacon would not be a life I could bear living I'm too much of a foodie to take any kind of eating experience completely off my table. Though I also try to be a conscientious consumer and as much as possible buy from ethical, small-scale farms (that goes for produce as well as meat), and select/avoid fish based on the seafood watch guides (http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/c ... nload.aspx) to protect species in danger from overfishing and contamination concerns.

[TheEqualizer]

and select/avoid fish based on the seafood watch guides (http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/c ... nload.aspx) to protect species in danger from overfishing and contamination concerns.

I am really big on this mainly due to the overfishing concern. I admit that I have a somewhat selfish motivation behind this practice. Some of my favorite fish are overfished, and I hope that easing up on the overfished fish may cause the population of those fish to bounce back. I'd hate to never be able to enjoy certain types of fish simply because they no long exist.

[sockii]

and select/avoid fish based on the seafood watch guides (http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/c ... nload.aspx) to protect species in danger from overfishing and contamination concerns.

I am really big on this mainly due to the overfishing concern. I admit that I have a somewhat selfish motivation behind this practice. Some of my favorite fish are overfished, and I hope that easing up on the overfished fish may cause the population of those fish to bounce back. I'd hate to never be able to enjoy certain types of fish simply because they no long exist.

EQ, may I recommend a book by the brother of one of my best friends? I think you'd find it interesting (and also anyone else who wants to know more about the fishing industry and some of the issues involved with farm-raised fish):

"Swimming in Circles: Aquaculture and the End of Wild Oceans"

http://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Circles- ... 228&sr=1-2

[Lynne]

Ooooh, ooooh, a cooking thread, yay! I cook a lot. This weekend I'll be making my signature black bean turkey chili; not very sexy, but yummy and healthy and comforting. I'll share more interesting recipes and photos as they happen, perhaps including my light-your-mouth-on-fire vindaloo recipe.

My concern with vegetarian/vegan eating is twofold: getting enough protein to fuel recovery and muscle repair processes, especially after exercise, and the pernicious effects of carbohydrates on health. A high-carb diet creates a lot of work for the body's endocrine system, and one of the things insulin does is storing excess carbs as triglycerides in the body's fat tissue. So if you're concerned about heart disease, you have to be concerned about triglycerides (not cholesterol), and a high-carb diet creates the conditions for high triglycerides. Different people have different sensitivities to carbs, but this is something that I know I have to pay attention to in my own eating and cooking habits.

[quote="sockii"][quote="TheEqualizer"][quote="sockii"] and select/avoid fish based on the seafood watch guides (http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/c ... nload.aspx) to protect species in danger from overfishing and contamination concerns.[/quote]

I am really big on this mainly due to the overfishing concern. I admit that I have a somewhat selfish motivation behind this practice. Some of my favorite fish are overfished, and I hope that easing up on the overfished fish may cause the population of those fish to bounce back. I'd hate to never be able to enjoy certain types of fish simply because they no long exist.[/quote]

EQ, may I recommend a book by the brother of one of my best friends? I think you'd find it interesting (and also anyone else who wants to know more about the fishing industry and some of the issues involved with farm-raised fish):

"Swimming in Circles: Aquaculture and the End of Wild Oceans"

http://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Circles- ... 228&sr=1-2[/quote]

Thanks for the book rec! Overfishing is a particular interest of mine. Traditional fishing quota regulations have been an epic fail, but in places like New Zealand that use transferable catch shares (each boat has a property right in a specific percentage of the allowable catch, which regulators can change annually based on population data, and they can buy and sell those rights) fisheries are healthy again, profits in the fishing industry are healthy again, in ways consistent with economic and environmental sustainability. Now if only the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing industry would stop being so damned short-sighted and adopt catch shares, maybe they won't go extinct ... and take their industry and its profits with them.

[ladyhawke]

lol theequalizer you said is bambi

[sockii]

Dinner tonight: Broiled swordfish with mango/sweet pepper salsa.

[DirtyMartini]

I think that a lot of people don't like vegetarian dishes because they never had good vegetarian dishes. American food is generally rather bland, and so US versions of vegetarian dishes are usually particularly awful (usually something like a mix of vegetables). For good vegetarian meals, I would recommend trying food from a culture that has a strong contingency of vegetarians. Indian cuisine is a good example. They can make a dish features peas or chickpeas that will make your face melt Raiders of the Lost Ark style (not just due to heat but due to mind blowing yumminess).

Yes, Indian is great for vegetarian food, so is Chinese.

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean (all around the regions) also wonderful, wonderful sources for veg*n recipes/styles as well.

I think another problem is few (Americans, at least) have been taught how to cook/prepare vegetables well. How to Bake a Chicken Breast seems to be on many parents' lists of Things to Teach Child, but How to Make an Interesting Salad or How to Make Awesome Cauliflower: not so much. Which is sad because salads and cauliflower can be aaaaaawesome.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

I went veg partly for political reasons (animals are disposable to many in this culture, and that's something I do Not Want...not accusing anyone here of anything, I just have issues with the conditions under which a lot of animals are raised for the fast food industry etc.) Mostly that but it also makes me sick to think about the hormones and yuck that goes into a lot of meat. Clearly this isn't the case with everything (and I'm trying pretty hard not to be a preachy vegetarian, this is a decision I've made for myself only and Mr. Dive still eats meat. He took it pretty well when I woke up one day and announced this decision...) To each his/her own.

That said, I'm lucky in that I actively like salad. I eat a lot of yogurt, which would make the vegan thing iffy I suppose, and bean-based protein. Hey, you don't have to give up cheese, or butter, or sugar.

Guess I'm lucky also in that I like, as was mentioned, Indian food. Spinach enchiladas, yum. I still eat a little bit of shrimp, so I can't rule out Thai. Last ditch, a trick I learned from Supercat - grilled cheese!

Meg, how do you do it, babe? Interested in the details.

[sockii]

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean (all around the regions) also wonderful, wonderful sources for veg*n recipes/styles as well.

True. Unfortunately I can't eat a lot of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean (except for real* Italian) because of the heavy use of raw/undercooked garlic, for which I have a major intolerance...

I went veg partly for political reasons (animals are disposable to many in this culture, and that's something I do Not Want...not accusing anyone here of anything, I just have issues with the conditions under which a lot of animals are raised for the fast food industry etc.) Mostly that but it also makes me sick to think about the hormones and yuck that goes into a lot of meat. Clearly this isn't the case with everything (and I'm trying pretty hard not to be a preachy vegetarian, this is a decision I've made for myself only and Mr. Dive still eats meat. He took it pretty well when I woke up one day and announced this decision...) To each his/her own.

I totally get all that as a lot of these issues bother me too, and why I'm increasingly fussy with the sources for the meat I eat. And I'm glad there's a growing support/understanding for why it's better to support small farms and heritage breed** animal husbandry, even if it's more expensive, versus buying the factory-farmed stuff in the supermarkets. I haven't bought pork in a supermarket in about a year - no need to, and I know exactly how the pork I'm eating was raised, that it only received the necessary antibiotics and deworming treatments for its own health, and these animals led at least a 2-year long life before they actually got so large they were a danger to the farmhands - and to the other pigs. Every time I visit my mom I come back loaded with turkey & chicken eggs from the birds that are happily free ranging all over the backyard (yep, it's a bit of a circus!) - you won't get me near factory farmed eggs.

Unfortunately it's so financially difficult for these types of farms to survive today, and that's sad, and why they're dying out without support from conscious consumers. But I want to look into getting beef and other meats from similar independent farms around here where you can visit their operations and buy, say, a half a whole steer when it's grown and finished. It's also a good practice because less is wasted - I'm learning to cook all sorts of odd cuts now and render fat so that I feel I've given an animal proper respect. There are some fishing cooperatives I'm looking into as well.

Ha, anyway you can tell this is a subject I can really go off on, having personal family interest in farming I think we can all have a good debate/discussion on the ethics of food without preaching from either side of the (barnyard) fence.

* Real as in not Italian-American Italian food. Garlic is actually used very judiciously in Italy, well-cooked and often removed from a dish before serving. A stark contrast to the way its handled in our "Red Gravy" joints in these parts...

** Heritage breeds are great because they haven't had all of their natural instincts - and physicalities - bred out of them. Most "egg-layer" chickens these days, bred solely for that purpose, are pretty dumb birds with no instinct for sitting on eggs/mothering chicks. We've got some Golden Lace Cochin Bantams (http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGA/ ... inBty.html) in contrast that, while small and producing small eggs, are fierce, smart and possessive little fuckers. Ditto the White Holland turkeys (http://www.albc-usa.org/cpl/wholland.html) we've got - your typical American large-breasted "butterball" is so genetically malformed at this point, they cannot breed naturally (breasts are too big) and will generally die from the physical strain on their system after only about a year-two years tops. Meanwhile mom started with one White Holland tom and hen and now she's up to 13 - all naturally bred, and the toms are hilariously protective of the young. They even will sit on the eggs and try to hatch them.

[ladyhawke]

socki did you make the fish in picture? it looks real good thank you for sharing