Jul 29, 2023·edited Jul 29, 2023Liked by Michael Marshall Smith
I tend to grate my cuke, & also add olive oil & lemon juice, which pushes it more towards tzatziki than cacik, but whichever way you dice it (see what I did there? ;) I can absolutely eat this stuff forever. For anyone who has never made it before - you'll never buy the stuff supermarkets sell once you've made your own.
My personal 'make too much' is curry - any kind of curry, from BIR to authentic Goan or Bangladeshi. This week I made & froze enough BIR curry base to make about 60 portions, along with a keema base that will make another 20, and just enough 'finished' keema palak, tarka dal & coconut rice to give the chef a day off next week. Took me three days in all, & every pan in the house, but it will be worth it.
The thing I do with raw garlic (dressings & salsa) is to fine grate it, then mash it into a pulp with a big pinch of Maldon (the salt absorbs the garlic juice). That gets a nice dispersion of garlic flavour without any surprises chunks.
Make too much - salsa! Chopped tomatoes & red (sometimes roasted) red (or green) peppers; then maybe sweetcorn, or avocado, or fine chopped red onion. Fresh coriander. Lime or lemon juice maybe. And sometimes mash a red chilli with the garlic. This also gets better over a day or so in the fridge (though you have to watch the avocado!).
This sounds great. I make a raita that is Greek yogurt, grated cucumber and a teaspoon of Coleman's mint sauce (other mint sauces are available). Goes great with spicy currys or on kebabs and pairs well with sriracha for the cooling and hot things together vibe
My go to dish is in the instapot. Any pressure cooker will do, or a slow cook in a regular pot on the stove.
1. Pound of Italian sausage. Sweet or spicy.
2. A couple handfulls of kale.
3. Diced celery.
4. Diced onion.
5. Diced carrots.
6. Can of white beans.
7. Some chicken stock.
8. Anything else you want to throw in. Any leftover veggies? Or not. Doesn't matter.
9. Cook for 30 under pressure or a few hours on the stove.
You can't mess this up. Any quantity of any ingredient is fine. This is an imprecise situation. No two are ever the same and they're always good on the day and even better the day after. It takes 20 minutes to assemble and a few days to eat. I had it last night. Yum!
Yummy… It's the same as tzatziki… I love it. Here I buy it ready. And it's true that I eat it with everything.
Another dish that lends itself very well to re-proposing it the next day is very banal roast chicken with lots of spices. Staying in the refrigerator it is more flavored with the spices rosemary, garlic, bay leaf, black pepper. It’s superb!!! In summer it is also an excellent cold dish.
I often make the tzatziki version and I love that you can leave it in the fridge for several days and it just keeps getting better. A couple of warm flatbreads, some nice veggies and I'm in heaven. Perfect summer side.
Just looking at the way you do it, have you tried doing it with chopped tarragon? And perhaps try it with shaved cucumber, rather than diced.
We don't tend to fresh cook any more as we live in a caravan and just don't have the space to keep fresh stuff. My go to, however, is my gravy. Start with a strong stock base of vegetables, simmer over night, cook meat next day and clean roasting pan with red wine and add juices to stock, still low simmering. Leave to cool over night, remove concealed goop away next day and put back to medium simmer then add gravy granules, mixing beef and chicken, no matter what the dish, add tomato puree and Worcester sauce. Leave for a few hours and it should come out like soup! Wonderful as a winter warmer.
I'd never heard of cacik (and, annoyingly, can't stop reading it as cack). I think, perhaps, I've never eaten Turkish food, just Greek and Lebanese, though that doesn't seem right. I shall experiment. But I shan't be spoiling whatever results by putting it in soup!
In answer to your question: aside from the tzatziki, chilli is the main one. Whether I make it with beef, or pork, or minced mushrooms and carrots plus red lentils (once spiced up and cooked for an hour the texture works so well I hardly notice it's not minced meat), I make a vat of it that I assume I will end up freezing most of ... but then it always disappears over the next 2-3 days, being eaten as main or side dish for lunch and dinner, and sometimes even for breakfast.
Your recipes ought to come with a warning label.. after finishing off the Bean Goo I wasn’t just “too full to live” but also too full to die, too full to sit and too full to lie.. as well as too full walk and too full to ride.. so I blame it on Michael the scribe.
I tend to grate my cuke, & also add olive oil & lemon juice, which pushes it more towards tzatziki than cacik, but whichever way you dice it (see what I did there? ;) I can absolutely eat this stuff forever. For anyone who has never made it before - you'll never buy the stuff supermarkets sell once you've made your own.
My personal 'make too much' is curry - any kind of curry, from BIR to authentic Goan or Bangladeshi. This week I made & froze enough BIR curry base to make about 60 portions, along with a keema base that will make another 20, and just enough 'finished' keema palak, tarka dal & coconut rice to give the chef a day off next week. Took me three days in all, & every pan in the house, but it will be worth it.
The thing I do with raw garlic (dressings & salsa) is to fine grate it, then mash it into a pulp with a big pinch of Maldon (the salt absorbs the garlic juice). That gets a nice dispersion of garlic flavour without any surprises chunks.
Make too much - salsa! Chopped tomatoes & red (sometimes roasted) red (or green) peppers; then maybe sweetcorn, or avocado, or fine chopped red onion. Fresh coriander. Lime or lemon juice maybe. And sometimes mash a red chilli with the garlic. This also gets better over a day or so in the fridge (though you have to watch the avocado!).
Tahini dressing: 2 tbsp tahini, juice of a lemon, 2 tsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp olive oil. Add a little water if needed. Scale proportionally.
This sounds great. I make a raita that is Greek yogurt, grated cucumber and a teaspoon of Coleman's mint sauce (other mint sauces are available). Goes great with spicy currys or on kebabs and pairs well with sriracha for the cooling and hot things together vibe
Looks great, I'll make some!
My go to dish is in the instapot. Any pressure cooker will do, or a slow cook in a regular pot on the stove.
1. Pound of Italian sausage. Sweet or spicy.
2. A couple handfulls of kale.
3. Diced celery.
4. Diced onion.
5. Diced carrots.
6. Can of white beans.
7. Some chicken stock.
8. Anything else you want to throw in. Any leftover veggies? Or not. Doesn't matter.
9. Cook for 30 under pressure or a few hours on the stove.
You can't mess this up. Any quantity of any ingredient is fine. This is an imprecise situation. No two are ever the same and they're always good on the day and even better the day after. It takes 20 minutes to assemble and a few days to eat. I had it last night. Yum!
Yummy… It's the same as tzatziki… I love it. Here I buy it ready. And it's true that I eat it with everything.
Another dish that lends itself very well to re-proposing it the next day is very banal roast chicken with lots of spices. Staying in the refrigerator it is more flavored with the spices rosemary, garlic, bay leaf, black pepper. It’s superb!!! In summer it is also an excellent cold dish.
I often make the tzatziki version and I love that you can leave it in the fridge for several days and it just keeps getting better. A couple of warm flatbreads, some nice veggies and I'm in heaven. Perfect summer side.
When it comes to its Greek cousin, tzatziki - you serve with fried zucchini or just fries and it’s the place where I want to die
Yeah, give me another excuse to make that 30 minute drive to Trader Joe’s! (Damnit, where’d I put my pants?)
Yum 😋
Just looking at the way you do it, have you tried doing it with chopped tarragon? And perhaps try it with shaved cucumber, rather than diced.
We don't tend to fresh cook any more as we live in a caravan and just don't have the space to keep fresh stuff. My go to, however, is my gravy. Start with a strong stock base of vegetables, simmer over night, cook meat next day and clean roasting pan with red wine and add juices to stock, still low simmering. Leave to cool over night, remove concealed goop away next day and put back to medium simmer then add gravy granules, mixing beef and chicken, no matter what the dish, add tomato puree and Worcester sauce. Leave for a few hours and it should come out like soup! Wonderful as a winter warmer.
Yes, I have left some details out...
I'd never heard of cacik (and, annoyingly, can't stop reading it as cack). I think, perhaps, I've never eaten Turkish food, just Greek and Lebanese, though that doesn't seem right. I shall experiment. But I shan't be spoiling whatever results by putting it in soup!
In answer to your question: aside from the tzatziki, chilli is the main one. Whether I make it with beef, or pork, or minced mushrooms and carrots plus red lentils (once spiced up and cooked for an hour the texture works so well I hardly notice it's not minced meat), I make a vat of it that I assume I will end up freezing most of ... but then it always disappears over the next 2-3 days, being eaten as main or side dish for lunch and dinner, and sometimes even for breakfast.
Your recipes ought to come with a warning label.. after finishing off the Bean Goo I wasn’t just “too full to live” but also too full to die, too full to sit and too full to lie.. as well as too full walk and too full to ride.. so I blame it on Michael the scribe.
My “go to” snack is chocolate. 😉
Finally made this tonight. I used it as a salad dressing with diced chicken breast. Delicious. Tomorrow I’ll smear it on baked salmon.