I’m kind of set on squash tonight… but if you have a good ratatouille recipe, I’ll take that too!
This one looks good (though I haven’t tried it):
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That does look good… bookmarked for later!
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Mysterious hash browns
You will need…
-
Hot cast iron skillet with a good tight-ish lid
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Fat (cheaper olive oil—no need for EVOO, coconut oil, ghee, bacon grease, whatever)
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Grater with larger holes (at least 5mm / one-quarter inch diameter)
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Sea salt, fresh ground pepper, fresh chopped green herbs on the side (parsley, oregano, chervil, basil, whatever is handy as long as it’s not rosemary, which is too strong)
Maybe some cheese (we use goat cheese; a sharp Cheddar probably is fine, or Monterey Jack, whatever floats yer boat)
Grate any or all of these into a bowl, these veggies should be washed but with skin still on, please:
- potato (skin on!)
- yellow squash
- zucchini
- winter squash with very thin skin, like pumpkin or kabocha
- carrot
- broccoli stems that have been peeled of the hard skin, with the tough ends trimmed off
- cabbage cores, toughest/most fibrous parts cut off
- and it not too objectionable, grate in a bit of celery and white or yellow onion
Toss gratings pile with a few pinches of salt and a quick dash from a peppermill.
When you are done grating and tossing, make sure you have at least 1 cup packed raw gratings per person. At our house, I can feed one teenager 3-4 cups (uncooked, packed raw) plus an egg or two on the side, and that’s a filling meal.
Assembly…
Heat fat in pan to well below smoking point, pour in gratings to a depth of two fingers (maybe less than 2"). Pack firmly and flatten. Put lid on, cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes, turn heat down to cook slower until the hash browns are lightly browned on the bottom (check by lifting an edge and looking underneath). Flip over like a pancake, turn heat off for last few minutes, add grated cheese soft cheese like Jack, or spread the goat cheese, put lid on with the stove turned off.
Put the green herbs on after you plate it up. You can shortcut this by using pesto if you like.
Should be a bit crunchy. Guaranteed not “slimy,” which some kids/people object to re squashes. And guarantee to hold its own against ketchup (some people live off of ketchup… I graduated to sriracha sauce).
Not diet food.
ETA: typos corrected, cooking time sorted a bit because cooking times vary with moisture content of the veggies.
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I have found it to be the perfect mix of ketchup/hot sauce for scrambled eggs. So why not on hash browns!
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I tried making a roux based soup today. The roux didn’t take right (that’s what I get for following instructions too closely … equal weight fat and flour my ass) so I had to do some pretty intense work to fix it.
As a bonus, here’s my kitchen before I cleaned it. 
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Be right over! That looks delicious! 
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I should not have clicked on this thread today, as I’m not allowed until after my colonoscopy tomorrow. Sigh, ah well.
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Prep sucks, but the first thing you get to eat afterward will be wonderful.
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That I am looking forward to, even though it will probably be a sandwich at the hospital. They like to see you eat before you leave.
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cribbing from a James Beard cookbook this evening… to get something together in 30 minutes or so there were changes.
The actual recipe calls for mushrooms but @JemmieDuffs doesn’t like them so you can add those if you want.
the fast dirty version.
3 cloves of garlic smashed.
1/4 cup olive oil
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tuna.
and I used roughly 8oz of spaghetti.
cook the garlic a bit in the oil till it is soft, lower the heat add in the tomatoes add whatever spices you like, I dumped on some italian seasoning and black pepper add the tuna break it up well and simmer for 10 minutes or so.
put it over the top of the pasta and enjoy.
it was quite tasty.
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I once tried something similar attempting a white clam sauce but with tuna.
Tonight was slime out dinner, least possible effort and still cooking for the kids. Chicken breast grilled after pounded flat and marinated in bottled lemon grass BBQ, steamed green beans from the garden and bow ties with non-dairy pesto we made last week with garden basil and Nutritional Yeast instead of cheese.
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Making tomato ketchup. It’s kooking (thickening) for ours now. I found out that nutmeg is an important ingredient, same like a bit more sugar than a not (mutch) sugar using person would think.
Apart from that, a bit vinegar (apple, haha), ginger, a klove, red pepper powder, a bit piment and coriander. (salt, pepper).
But still missing something…
Any idea?
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ground mustard seeds? little bit ginger? teaspoon honey?
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Mustard, maybe… Thanks. Ginger is in it and it doesn’t need more sweet. But I would have liked to think about honey earlier.
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oops, should have read more carefully
okay. what about lorel or (unsweetened : )) cinnamon?
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Mustard, yes, and onion 
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Oh, indeed forgot to say onion and a fresh red pepper is in it.
Mustard… Aha… Again. Thanks, probably that’s the ingredient missing.
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The best and simplest tempeh ‘bacon’.
Great on sandwiches or alone.
6oz tempeh
3T tamari
- 5T maple syrup
1T liquid smoke
1t lemon juice
pinch of black pepper
Mix the marinade and place tempeh in it. Marinade for at least 30 minutes, overnight if you really want a strong flavor. The thinner you slice the tempeh, the crispier it will be (you want a sharp knife to slice tempeh). I keep a big bowl of tempeh strips and triangles (for sandwiches) marinading throughout the week. To cook, I put 2T of coconut or canola in a cast iron skillet and broil it on the top rack at 375F, about 6-7 minutes on each side.
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Sounds like something I’m going to make in our nearly (I’m a/the sinner for good wild meat) vegetarian household. How /where do you get the ‘liquid smoke’?
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