Red Lentil Curry

Website here

It’s a white person’s recipe so I doubled the spices.

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon refined or virgin coconut oil, or a neutral-flavored oil
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced or grated
• ▢ 1 tablespoon minced fresh turmeric, or 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• ▢ 1-2 serrano peppers, diced (see recipe note below on spice level)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon Indian red chili powder (if you only have regular chili powder, which is a blend, use 1 teaspoon)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons curry powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ▢ Kosher salt or sea salt to taste (I use about 1 tsp kosher salt, and add more at the end)
• ▢ Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 cup (180-190g) red lentils, or split red lentils (the split variety will cook a bit quicker)
• ▢ 2 cups (480 mL) low-sodium vegetable broth
• ▢ 1 (14-ounce / 400g) can crushed tomatoes (or half of a 28-ounce can) ROTEL
• ▢ 1 (13.5-ounce/400 mL) can full-fat coconut milk
• ▢ 3 tablespoons unsweetened creamy almond butter
• ▢ 1/2 a small lemon, juiced
• ▢ 1/2 cup (~8g) fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• ▢ For serving: Basmati or Jasmine rice and Indian flatbread such as roti, paratha, or naan

Instructions

• Rinse the lentils in cold water until the water runs clear.
• Heat a large, deep skillet or large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the coconut oil. Once the oil is shimmering, add the garlic, ginger, fresh turmeric (if using), and Serrano pepper and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent garlic from burning.
• Add the cumin, coriander, chili powder, curry powder, garam masala, salt, and black pepper to taste, and cook for 30 to 60 seconds until fragrant, tossing frequently to prevent burning. If using ground turmeric instead of fresh turmeric, add the ground turmeric now, along the the rest of the spices.
• Pour in the vegetable broth, and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add in the lentils and the crushed tomatoes and mix well. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked through and have mostly softened. If you find that the lentils are not quite soft after 25 minutes, add a few spoons more of broth or water and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Remove the lid and stir in the coconut milk, almond butter, along with salt and pepper to taste Continue cooking on low heat, uncovered for 5 to 8 minutes, until the curry has thickened and is creamy.
• Finally, stir in the lemon juice and cilantro, and turn off the heat. If you want your lentils to even creamier and more on the puréed side, use an immersion blender to lightly purée the curry.
• Serve the curry with rice and/or Indian flatbread and garnish with additional cilantro. Store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Sub Rolls

This takes 3 hours to make. Suggested to make these the day before you want to eat them.

https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/hoagie-rolls

INGREDIENTS (Four 10″ rolls)

• 260 g 1% Milk*
• 6 g Instant Dry Yeast (about 1 packet)
• 8 g Diastatic Malt powder (optional)
• 400 g Bread Flour (all-purpose works too)
• 10 g Honey (or sugar)
• 20 g Olive Oil
• 8 g Salt
• Egg wash: 1 egg white + spoonful of water
• Cornmeal for sprinkling

*Note: You could use a liquid mixture of equal parts whole milk and water. I prefer using all skim or 1% milk.

METHOD

1. Mix the Dough – 5:00 pm to 5:20 pm
   • Warm 260 g milk in the microwave for about 50 seconds. Ideally, the temperature is between 105-110 F to optimize yeast activity. Add 6 g of yeast along with 8 g diastatic malt powder and stir to combine. Let stand for 3-5 minutes until light foam surfaces and bubbles are visible.
     • Note: Proofing the yeast is done to test the viability of the yeast. If there is no foam surface or little bubbles the yeast is likely dead and should be discarded for new yeast.
   • Meanwhile, add 400 g flour, 10 g honey, 20 g olive oil, and 8 g of salt to a large mixing bowl. Once the yeast is proofed, pour in the mixture and vigorously mix the dough with your hands until no dry flour remains in the bowl and a cohesive mass forms, about 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
     • Note: Resting will allow the flour to start hydrating all on its own, and make the dough a little bit easier to work with when we start kneading.
2. Kneading (Gluten development) – 5:20 pm to 5:30 pm
   • Once rested, turn the dough out onto a clean counter and knead for 8-10 minutes. I advise setting a timer to make sure ample time is spent kneading. Knead the dough until it is completely smooth and no longer sticky.
   • After kneading the dough, cut off a piece and test for gluten development by carefully stretching the dough very thin to check for a see-through ‘window’ before tearing.
     • Note: The gluten window test is the key to understanding if the flour has been hydrated enough which is how gluten is developed. If the dough tears before getting to a slightly translucent window continue kneading for another couple of minutes.
3. Bulk Ferment (1st Ferment) – 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
   • Once done kneading, add the dough to the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes though it could take longer depending on the yeast, room/dough temperature..
4. Divide dough + Shape Rolls + Proof (2nd Ferment) – 6:30 pm to 7:40 pm
   • Once doubled in size, punch the dough down and divide into 4 equal portions, roughly 175 grams each.
   • Using your fingertips lightly press and stretch and piece of dough into a rectangle about 8 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Tightly roll the rough from the bottom to the top. Press and seal the seam created on the bottom of the roll. Now, you should have a log of dough with the seam side down. Applying even pressure with the palm of your hands in the center of the dough begin gently rolling the log out into a cylinder, about 10 inches long.
     • Note: For shaping, just take a look at the video, it’s hard to explain in words.
   • Evenly sprinkle cornmeal on two baking sheets. Shape each hoagie roll and place 2 on each baking sheet. Cover lightly with plastic wrap or a towel and let the rolls proof until about 1.5 to 2 times in size, another 45-60 minutes.
5. Oven set up – 7:25 pm to 7:40 pm
   • With 15 minutes of proofing left, preheat the oven to 375 F. Place an oven-safe pan or another baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven.
     • Note: Ice will be dropped on the hot pan to help create a steamy environment for better oven spring.
6. Bake – 7:40 pm to 8:00 pm
   • Using a razor or really sharp knife, score the hoagie rolls with one long slash at a 45-degree angle to allow for oven spring.
   • Whisk the egg white and spoonful of water together. Using a brush, lightly spread the egg wash on the exterior to gives us a better crust. Sprinkle a little cornmeal over top. Note: At this point, you can sprinkle on toppings like sesame seeds, or herbs and spices if you would like.
   • Place the rolls into the oven on the middle rack and toss in 4 to 5 ice cubes on the hot pan on the preheated pan which will create steam.
   • Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the pan. Continue baking for another 8-10 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 200 F.
   • Let cool completely on a wire rack. I actually like to store these in a plastic bag for 1 day before making a hoagie.

Cassoulet

From “Down South” by Donald Link. You will need 6 hours from when this starts cooking to finish. You’ll need about an hour for prep/cutting/putting everything in the pot to cook. Highly recommend home made chicken stock and good beans. If you wanna get fancy, look for a recipe with duck confit but you can really get away with duck fat,

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of Great Northern or Canelli beans
• 2.5 lbs of pork belly cut into 1 1/2″ cubes
• 2 TB kosher salt
• 1 TB black pepper
• 1 lb smoked sausage, 2″ segments
• 4 cups of diced onions
• 2 cups diced celery
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 TSP red pepper flakes
• 1 TSP chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 TB tomato paste
• 3 TB whole grain mustard
• 2 quarts of chicken broth

Directions:

• Soak beans in water overnight
• Season pork cubes with 1TB of salt and 2 TSP of pepper
• Heat oven 250 degrees

• Heat large cast iron pot to med/high
• Sear belly in batches, brown on all sides about 10 mins per batch
• transfer belly to plate with paper towels

• Saute sausage in rendered fat until lightly browned 2-3 min
• add onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaves, red pepper flakes and thyme and 1 TB of salt, 1 tsp pepper
• saute until veggies soften about 5 mins
• pour in wine and simmer, slightly reduce about 3 mins
• add tomato paste and mustard and cook, stirring until the ingredients are evenly combined, 2-3 more mins

• Return pork belly and any accumulated juices to the pot
• add 1 qt of chicken broth and bring to a slow simmer.
• cover and simmer for 60-70 mins – belly should be tender but not falling apart

• add beans and remaining 1 qt of broth, enough to comfortably cover the beans by 2″
• put in oven and bake uncovered stirring the top curst into the beans every hour or so until the beans are tender, about 3 1/2 hrs – add more broth if needed to keep the bean submerged.

• blast the oven to 450 and cook for another 30 mins to form a crust on the top of the bean mixture.
• Push the crust down into the middle of the pot and cook for another 15 mins to form a new crust.
• cool for 30 mins

Baller Beef Stew

Once again, upgrading my regular dishes with Kenji’s video. Link to recipe you can follow.

Notes: I just brown meat, throw everything in a slow cooker and it turns out great but there are some small things to improve on.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (950ml) homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste (2.5 ounces; 75g)
• 3 oil- or salt-packed anchovy fillets, rinsed (or 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce)
• 4 packets powdered unflavored gelatin (1 ounce; 30g)
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon (15ml) Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
• 3 pounds (1.25kg) whole boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 3 steaks
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 10 ounces (275g) white button mushroom, quartered
• 4 medium carrots (10 ounces; 275g), 2 left whole, 2 cut into bite-sized pieces
• 8 ounces (225g) frozen or fresh pearl onions (thawed if frozen, peeled if fresh)
• 1 large yellow onion, unpeeled, split in half (10 ounces; 275g)
• 2 small ribs celery (3 ounces; 85g)
• 3 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 cup sherry, dry vermouth, or red wine (8 ounces; 235mL)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (about 3/4 ounce; 20g)
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 1 pound (450g) Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 ounces (113g) frozen peas

Directions:

• Combine stock, tomato paste, anchovies, gelatin, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce in a blender and blend on high speed until homogenous. Set aside.
• Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season beef all over with salt and pepper and add to Dutch oven. Cook, turning occasionally, until beef is well browned on 2 sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer beef to a rimmed baking sheet or large plate and set aside.
• Add mushrooms to Dutch oven and cook, stirring, until liquid is released and mushrooms begin to brown, about 6 minutes, lowering heat as necessary to prevent scorching. Add diced carrots and pearl onions and cook, stirring, until well-browned on all sides. Season to taste with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
• Add halved yellow onion to Dutch oven, cut-side-down. Add whole carrots, celery stalks, and garlic. Cook, turning carrots, celery, and garlic occasionally until all the vegetables are well-browned, about 4 minutes.
• Add wine or sherry, scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon, and cook until reduced by 3/4, about 3 minutes. Add broth mixture and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat.
• Cut seared steaks into 1 1/2- to 2-inch chunks and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with flour. Add beef and any juices accumulated in the tray or plate to the Dutch oven along with bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Stir to combine and return to a simmer over medium heat. Transfer to oven, cover with lid partially open, and cook until beef is starting to become tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Liquid should hold a slow, steady simmer the entire time. Adjust oven temperature if necessary during cooking.
• Remove stew from oven. Using tongs, fish out and discard carrot, celery, thyme, bay leaves, onion, and garlic. Add potatoes and reserved sautéed mushrooms, pearl onions, and carrots to stew, return to oven, and continue to cook, partially covered, until beef, potatoes, and carrots are tender and broth has thickened, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Remove stew from oven. If necessary, place over a burner and simmer for up to 15 minutes to reduce to desired consistency. Stir in peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve immediately, or refrigerate overnight or for up to 5 days and reheat to serve.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Literally ripping this off of Kenji’s comments from his Youtube Video Here.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound (700g) broccoli
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 TB of butter
• 1 medium onion, sliced (about 6 ounces
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced finely (about 4 ounces
• 3 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 cups water or homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 small russet potato, peeled and sliced (about 4 ounces
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 8 ounces deli-style American cheese, diced (any soft melt-able cheese)
• 1 teaspoon dried mustard powder
• Dash of hot sauce, such as Frank’s Red Hot

Directions:

• Separate broccoli into florets and stems. Cut the florets into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Roughly chop the stems and reserve separately.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering. Add broccoli florets and cook without moving until charred on the bottom, about 1 minute. Stir, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until tender and charred on several surfaces, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet to cool.
• Return the Dutch oven to medium heat and add butter, onion, carrot, and broccoli stems. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until tender but not browned, about 5 minutes, lowering heat if necessary. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add chicken stock, milk, and potato, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until broccoli and potatoes are completely tender, about 30 minutes.
• Toss both cheeses together along with mustard powder in a large bowl. Using an immersion blender or working in batches with a countertop blender, blend the soup, adding the cheese in a handful at a time until completely smooth. Stir in hot sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in reserved broccoli florets and pulse with the blender a few more times until a few of the pieces are broken down but most bite-size pieces still remain. Serve immediately.

Steak/Meat Pan Sauces

Steak au Poivre

Mr Brown Good Eats

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns, coarse ground – use pestil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup Cognac, plus 1 teaspoon
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

• Spread pepper on a plate so you can lay the meat to cover one side (Original directions say both but he uses fillets)
• Cook/sear steaks
• take 1/3 cup of cognac (fucking use brandy it’s cheaper) and add to pan. light that mother fucker on fire.
• Pan medium heat, add cream. Whisk until it boils
• add steaks

Beef Stroganoff

Paula Deen

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs of cubed beef
• Beef Spice/Coating: flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
• 2 TB olive oil
• 2 TB butter
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 1 sliced onion
• 1 (10 3/4 oz) can of beef broth
• 1 (10oz) can of cream of mushroom
• 1 cup sour cream
• egg noodles

Directions:

• Drag meat through beef spice, brown on both sides in a skillet with olive oil and butter. Remove steak
• Add onion and mushrooms to pan drippings. Saute. Sprinkle with flour
• Put steak back in pan, add cream of mushroom and broth, cook on low heat for 30 mins.
• Add 1 cup of sour cream. Serve over egg noodles

Baked Feta Pasta

Fucking Kenji of course. (VIDEO) Let’s emulsify again! Recipe from Liemessa

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of pasta, pref bronze die
• 1 block 7 oz of greek feta, has to be block GREEK, the crumbly American shit won’t work
• 500 g of cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• handful of fresh basil ~1 cup, rough chop
• salt/pepper

Directions:

• Pour olive oil in glass baking dish and throw the feta, garlic and tomatoes in it
• Throw baking dish into a 400 degree oven for 15 mins
• Scorch that bastard on broil for another 10, shit will get smoky
• Boil enough water in a pot to cover the 1 lb of pasta, cook till al-dente, drain pasta, reserve water
• Throw some pasta water about 3/4 of basil in with the tomatoes and stir a bit
• Throw all ingredients together and stir, should make an emulsion and come together, tomatoes and cheese will break apart.
• plate, throw some basil on top

EDIT: Shit is awesome. Used some leftover pork lion, cubed it and mixed it in. Would work great with other protiens.

Tomato Sauce

NOTES: I’ve made Alton Brown’s baked tomato sauce and it’s great but you need specialized tools, the prep takes a long time and it doesn’t yield much for the work.

Kenji-Lopez Alt’s Serious Eats. Doing this version because easier prep, no food mill. Cost effectiveness, doesn’t work well with canned now that food is so fucking expensive. You’ll end up with equivalent of 2 $10 cans of sauce.

Ingredients:

• 4 (28oz) cans of solid tomatoes. Can use regular tomatoes by weight which is 112 oz or 7 lbs.
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 4 TB butter
• 8 garlic cloves minced (3TB)
• 1 TSP chili flakes
• 1 TB of dried oregano
• 1 medium carrot cut into large chunks
• 1 medium onion but in half
• 1 large stem of fresh basil
• kosher salt, pepper
• 1 TB fish sauce
• 1/2 cup of fresh basil and or parsley

Directions:

• Going to be using garden tomatoes so gotta deskin them by getting a large pot of ice water and another pot of boiling water. Cut an X into the bottom of the tomatoes. Immerse tomatoes for 30 seconds or until skins start to wrinkle then put into ice water for 5 mins. Most of the skin should wrinkle.

• Oven rack lowest position, preheat 300. Crush tomatoes with your hands, reserve 3 cups and put into fridge for finishing.
• Heat olive oil and butter in large dutch oven over medium heat until butter is melted. Add garlic, cook for 2 mins until fragrant, not browned. Add pepper flakes, oregano, cook till fragrant, 1 min. Then add tomatoes, carrot, onion, basil and stir. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over high heat.
• Cover dutch oven with lid ajar and put into the oven. Stir every hour. Cook until reduced by half, 5-6 hrs. (reduce oven temperature if the sauce is bubbling too rapidly or the browned bits begin to turn too dark.)
• Remove from oven, remove carrots, onion, basil stems. Add reserved tomatoes, fish sauce, fresh basil/parsley.

4 Types of BBQ Sauce

Chef Billy Parisi

Other two are a South Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce, which I already have and a White Alabama sauce which I don’t really care for. These two are staying in. To be honest, 3 gives you a great taste profile. Tomato for sweet, vinegar for a sharp tang and mustard for a bolder sweet sauce.

Ingredients:

Sweet

• 1/2 somewhat large (or 1 small) sweet/yellow onion , small dice
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 TB oil
• 2 cups of ketchup
• 1/4 cup light molasses
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 TB worcheshire
• 2 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 TB dry mustard
• 1 TSP salt
• 1/2 TSP pepper
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 stick unsalted butter

Directions:

• Med/low heat in saucepan, put oil and caramelize onions 12-15 mins
• add garlic
• put and mix remaining ingredients into pan
• blend when finished

NOTES: Insanely good. Finally found a ketchup based BBQ sauce that is solid AF, excited for vinegar based

Vinegar Based

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of cider vinegar
• ¼ cup of light brown sugar
• 1 TSP salt

---

• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 TB red pepper flakes

Directions:

• vinegar, sugar salt in pan over high heat to dissolve
• put rest of ingredients in, cook med/high heat for 10-15 mins