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food list – Eggplant & Cauliflower Curry

food I have
Produce
2 tomatoes
~~1 broccoli stem~~
cauliflower
collard greens
wee baby eggplants
cilantro
scallions

meat
~~chicken stock~~
~~leftover rotisserie chicken~~
~~leftover roast pork~~

dairy
milk
cheddar cheese
gorgonzola
cream cheese

scheduling food
Wednesday, April 4
dinner:~~risotto with chicken, broccoli, and stock~~

Thursday, April 5
~~Asian grocer: oyster sauce, sesame oil~~
start: ~~pork leftovers, diced onion, oyster sauce – long cooking until the pork completely shreds~~
breakfast: ~~collard greens w/ tomato over bagel with cream cheese~~
dinner: eggplant and cauliflower curry

Friday, April 6
~~produce truck: scallions~~
grocery: buy cream cheese and chicken leg quarters
breakfast: collard greens w/ tomato and egg in tortillas
dinner: make sticky rice balls with pork and scallions

Saturday, April 7
now that the large pot is empty of pork, make stock with chicken and duck carcasses.

recipe? for eggplant & cauliflower curry
Well, here’s the plan of approach for the eggplant & cauliflower curry

Char eggplant skin under broiler and then scrape out the goody once the eggplants have cooled enough to be handled.

Set to making basmati rice with turmeric.

Melt a chunk of ghee. Grill down onions. Add minced garlic and ginger. Add diced cilantro stems and jalepeno pepper meat. Add spices… I think I’ll crack open the garum masala mix from Penzey’s and see how that does.

Once the spices have grilled a bit, add the eggplant and a can of tomatoes.

Cut off just the cauliflower heads, in rather small pieces. Mix the cauliflower into the pan.

Taste and fiddle. And cilantro leaves?

Problem: I cut the cauliflower finely because nothing else had much texture, but that leaves me with cauliflower stems to figure out what to do with.

from a list of grumpy things + salad

4. And I have food I need to cook before it goes bad, and meals I am aching to try, but I keep getting home around midnight and needing to wake up in the morning and I just don’t have time for food. I ate ramen on Tuesday. Okay, so it was really tasty ramen, but I have eggplant and a spicy stir fry sauce all going to waste. I have chilled chicken and salad mix going to waste. I have baby spinach. I have a cauliflower. I want to make spanikopita and pumpkin bread. Whah!

ETA: Oh, man – I just had a great salad. I used the salad mix I had from the farmers’ market (picking out the frisee (because how is that food?) and the largest chunks of bitter cabbage and adding spinach, YAY!). I had enough to need a BIG bowl. Then I microwaved the grilled chicken, cut it up, and added that. I sliced a purple onion, shredded some cumin gouda, and crumbled bacon on top. Then I dropped some mustard and garlic into the bacon fat, dropped in a pinch of brown sugar, and swirled in some balsamic vinegar and some red wine… and called it salad dressing. So good!

ETAA: All food successfully eaten.

farmers’ market bounty

I went to the farmers’ market this weekend, and ended up buying a bit much, so I’ll try to work it into recipes

***DONE
Bought:
5 very ripe tomatoes
4 small zucchini

Meal 1: Pasta primavera
the tomatoes, zucchini, fresh garlic, and fresh basil
with white wine and olive oil

***
Bought:
Cauliflower
Mushrooms

Meal 2:
I want to make cauliflower and peas in a curry sauce… but I think I want an English curry instead of an Indian one… and recipe recommendations?

***
Bought:
large purple eggplant

Meal 3: Eggplant curry
with an Indian recipe… tomatoes and stuff. I’ll need to buy cilantro for it because I’ve already used up all I have been growing.

***
Bought:
4 white potatoes

Leftovers from dinner out for my father’s birthday:
roast prime rib

Meal 4: Hash
Cut into cubes and cook with onions and a bit of gravy

***
Bought:
1 small purple and white striped eggplant
2 bell peppers

Meal 5: No idea… how about some Stir Fry? I have pork, beef, and chicken… or I could get some fresh tofu around the block.

***
So… guessing by how ripe things are and by how long they’ll last, I think the meals need to go –
1, 3, 2, 5, 4

And, luckily, I only have an option for 5-10 hours of overtime this week, so I should have time and energy to cook.

Anyone want to opt in on a meal?

I think I bought too many vegetables

It has been cold, and I have been getting home kinda late, so I haven’t been doing as much cooking lately… but I was finally home for a weekend and went to the produce stand… and now I am not sure I will get around to cooking all my food before it goes bad.

So here’s the thing — I am listing a bunch of ingredients, and you and I will think of fun way to put them together.

Ingredients
Vegetables/Green matter:
Cauliflower (1 head)
Broccoli (1 stalk)
Red bell peppers (2)
Potatoes (3 lbs)
Cilantro (1 bunch)
Romaine Lettuce (the inside half of 1 head)
Roma tomatoes (20?)

Unfrozen Meat:
Turkey andouille (1 1/2 left)

Frozen Meat:
“rabbit”
random beef (ground and in steaks)

And I have a good selection of legumes.

Ideas
Dish 1: Aloo Gobi — nope. This was a new dish for me, but now I’ve made it several times and it is no longer as exciting… might still make is as a good use for lots of potatoes and cauliflower.

Dish 2: Red beans & Rice w/ andouille — maybe. I cringe a little because my momma always made red beans and rice with a piece of pork or some ham hock… but it’s a possibility.

Dish 3: Creole Chicken or Shrimp — I’d have to buy the meat product, but it would use up all those lovely tomatoes in one go.

On my stove right now I have a pot of chili cooking. That was to use up a collection of miscellaneous beef leftovers. I used the same mix I have always used (and strongly recommend because all the spices come in individual packets instead of all mixed together)… but it seemed like a lot of salt as it went in… apparently I have stopped cooking with as much salt as I used to. This is odd. So I have already used two potatoes to soak up the saltiness — yesterday’s dinner was potatoes boiled in chili. 🙂

In other food news — I have only one bagel left in my freezer — Woe!

ETA:Okay, the “rabbit” is strange and exciting, but it’s frozen and will keep. What about the pretty, sexy veggies?