I made some devil's food cupcakes this weekend :) Click here for the recipe

Hola pornistas - I'm hoping someone can help me out with some food porn inspiration.

See, my boyfriend and I generally plan our dinners each week in advance, usually allowing at least one day to clean up leftovers or just cook for ourselves individually. This week, however, we mis-counted and have an extra day with nothing planned, and for the first time in a long time we actually have NO leftovers to go through.... so we'll be stretching it a bit if we can't come up with a good meal for the remaining day.

The worst part is that this week we've sorta been eating on a theme (mushrooms, because my boyfriend has never liked them much but wants to learn to like them, mainly because I love them, so we've been using a bunch of different varieties in as many different kinds of meals as we can to see how he likes them best) so the contents of our kitchen are currently rather single-minded..... I guess this is the drawback to shopping for specific meals most of the time.

To add yet another level of difficulty to this conundrum, we're trying to cut back on our carb and fat intake, so I can't just go to my usual fallbacks of pasta dishes and bread and potato-based meals.

I think that right now we've got some chicken and turkey breast in the freezer (probably something like 1/3 lb of each, leftover from other meals), a bit of Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage (the bulk kind), a bunch of canned tomatoes and tomato paste, a can of chick peas, a can of corn, some frozen veggies like edamame and green peas, almonds and walnuts, various fresh veggies (broccoli, onions both red and yellow, red bell peppers, scallions, carrots, some escarole that I was saving for soup but that I'm willing to use otherwise, three kinds of mushrooms....) and romaine lettuce for salads, eggs, a few kinds of cheese, various dressings and typical pantry fare (pastas, rice, polenta, bouillion, baking ingredients, etc) and a LOT of spices - probably almost anything you could think of thats readily available in most grocery stores plus a few specialty items like galangal root and fancy vinegars. I'd prefer not to have to go to the store for a bunch of crap, but I wouldn't mind stoppng to pick up an item or two on my way home.

Because of the tomatoes, chickpeas, and poultry, I've sorta got my heart set on something meditteranean, indian, or moroccan, especially since everything else we've planned this week has been either very italian or very french-american. I know I could make a pretty basic curry or stew or something similar, but I'm trying to think of something maybe a bit more creative and interesting. I've had some very half-baked notions in my head of a meditteranean pizza using a thinned hummus as a sauce, fresh veggies and grilled chicken, with appropriate spices and maybe some feta, or perhaps samosas filled with chickpeas and chicken rather than potatoes or ground beef/lamb.... not really sure about either of those though.

So, anyone got any creative thoughts for me? Favorite recipes? Ways you think I could make my ideas work? HELP!

Thanks in advance :D

I have about 500 ml of home-made chicken stock left over from the risotto i made for my girlfriend last weekend. The question is, what should i do with it? I will have time to go shopping before creating the meal, but i thought i would inquire what the fine pornistas would advise.

Oh, and very nice community. :) I got the recipe for the Risotto from a post under the budget tag and it was much appreciated.

so, it's my friends birthday tomorrow, and i thought i'd make him a nice meal. i told him anything. anything.
and what does he ask me for?


meatloaf.


.....



that's right. meatloaf. Now, the guys never had it before. he's jamaican and has grown up in the city. his mother cooks all sorts of wonderful jerk chickens, cajun/southern-american/caribbean feasts. But he's never had suburban cooking. meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, that sorta stuff.
So the guy asks me for meatloaf.

And how can i say no? He's actually really excited about it. lol. 

So, on to my question. i know how to make meatloaf. The kind my mother used to make with a packet of onion soup mix and all that jazz....
but i want to try to spice it up at least a little.
im going to do homeade scalloped potatoes with it, and some sort of veggie dish...
but i have no idea how to jazz up meatloaf. Any creative ways youve done it before? i was thinking of making it with mushrooms(?) but not sure. Perhaps even a mushroom gravy.

Any ideas?


...

i still can't believe he asked me to make meatloaf.
lol.

i made cupcakes.





they lasted about 5 minutes when i took them into my boyfriend's clinic last night.

I've been here for a while and you folks have helped me so much, and as a sort of "thank-you", I will finally be able to post proper porn. :)



( Recipe and story.... )

Ok I've been going through all of the wonderful recipes people have given me, and thought that tonight I'm going to make this and maybe put them into a salad.

What I want to know now is; how long do cooked lentils last for? Can I just put them in the fridge for ages or will they go off really quickly?
Do they need to be in a sealed container?

Thanks!

X-Posted

So, my generous boss has given me 2 1 inch or so slices of pate de fois gras. I've never eaten it outside of a restaurant...I'd love to have it tonight. Short of serving it on some lovely toasted bread, does anyone have other suggestions? I'm also looking for ideas of what to serve with it, or what to drink with it? PS...time is of the essence - I'm going to try and hit the store on the way home!!

**Update!

I let the fois gras warm up to room temp, and then served it on very thin slices of baguette, brushed with butter and toasted. We ate it with a lovely assortment of cornichons, fresh blackberries, olives, and a few goat cheese stuffed peppadews just for color. We drank a lovely bottle of Asti. A good time was had by all! Thank you to everyone for your wonderful suggestions - food for thought :)

As on any typical Wednesday I spend a good part of my lunch hour checking out the food sections of a few newspapers on their websites. The three I always look at are the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune. If I have the time or if I'm expecting something special I'll look at the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, or, not actually a newspaper, the BBC too. Today, however, I took that time and came up with this spiffy little poll so you can tell us all about what you read and why.

Poll #913375
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

My local newspaper food/dining/cooking section is:

I read my local food section for (check all that apply):

I would rate my local newspaper food section as:

My favorite newspaper food/dining/cooking section is:

And it is my favorite because:

You are welcome to expand on your answers in the comments. You could even link your local paper's food page for all to see.

Also, I've posted this poll in my own LJ, sousrature, so click here if you want to see what a group of non-foodies have to say on the subject.

Once upon a time I made bulgur wheat casserole using ground turkey, onions, raisins and other ingredients that escape my memory.

I did a google search, but most of the recipies that come up are for cool salad dishes.

But what I'm looking for is a good cold-weather casserole.

I could always wing it, but if you have a good recipe I'd love to have it.

I volunteered to bring snacks for a small meeting of co-workers on Friday. I'm thinking of making something sweet and something salty. This will be a multinational meeting (we're in California but there are more French people in this group than all other nationalities combined, go figure). So I don't want to make anything overtly unhealthy, but I also want it to all be yummy.
I've got a bunch of lemons, so I could make lemon bars or maybe a lemon-poppyseed bread (anyone have a good recipe for this?).
For the salty, I was thinking of making tortilla roll-ups with cream cheese, salsa and diced green chiles, but I would love to hear your ideas.

Hello all. I bought an iceberg lettuce yesterday for my burritos...unfortunately I barely even used half. What do you all like to do with an iceberg lettuce, other than salad? I'm really not a fan of the stuff, but I'd hate to waste it.

Also, a recipe for you all - zingy Zucchini and Mushroom Pasta

2 small zucchinis
5-6 mushrooms
1 lemon
garlic to taste (crushed or sliced)
2 tablespoons of sour cream

Dead simple to make. Slice the zucchini into thin strips, so that it looks like spaghetti. Throw it into a frying pan with some olive oil and a healthy squeeze of lemon juice. Slice the mushrooms, and add them in too. Keep gradually adding more lemon juice. Whilst you're doing this, put the pasta of your choice on to boil (I chose bowties this time).
Once the mushrooms and zucchini are nice and soft, add in the garlic. I put it in last because it really ruins the flavour if it burns. I usually put in two cloves or so.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add the sour cream, and mix it til there are no chunks. Add the zucchini/mushroom mix. Serve with parmesan cheese. Voila!

Easily made vegan without the sour cream, it's just as tasty without.

So a dear friend of mine wants to plant a paw paw in his yard here in upstate NY. Go Paul! I love adventurous gardening/food choices. His boyfriend is a little more hesitant and is not willing to commit the garden space to something he's never tasted, so the hunt is on.

Luckily for him I will be down in NYC this weekend and I promised to bring one back if I can find one. So dear food_pornsters, where might one find a paw-paw in NYC in January? Over the weekend I will be in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and maybe Queens. When in doubt I would try Chinatown, but I would love to know a specific vendor or store that has them so that I don't have to spend way too much time on a wild goose chase.

Thanks

EDIT: I probably should have put in some more info about it.

The paw-paw that we're thinking about is the temperate N.American version. Not a papaya (which we couldn't ever dream of growing in upstate NY). It has a creamy yellow flesh that has been compared to bananna custard.

Here's the link form the nursery near us that grows them: http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=4