A summer built around Indian flavours: butter paneer masala worked well with cashews instead of cream, and a vindaloo wing sauce got drafted from memory. Veggie burger research turned up a black bean smash burger that needed more binding, and this year’s cold-brew iced tea recipe (evolving in the house for two decades) got locked in.
Undated. The original notes called this “IT’S FUCKING SUMMER AGAIN.”
New ideas
- Biryani
- Pangrattato (breadcrumbs and shit) and cauli pasta
- Recipe
- Mushrooms + some whole cauli
- Some browning
- Recipe
- Cauliflower miso mac and cheese (from The Savvy Cook)
- Clam pasta - canned
Quick curry
- Somewhere between butter chicken and chana masala
- Ended up making
- BB chana masala (a bit tomato-y, needed more time on the onions)
- Butter paneer masala (no cream, cashews only, worked well)
- Too much ginger in both, but that was fine
Vindaloo wings
Sauce (from memory, needs testing):
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons vindaloo spice blend
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons mild chilis (korean worked well)
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced or grated
- 2 teaspoons onion minced or grated
- 2 teaspoons ginger minced or grated
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
- ½ teaspoon MSG
- Salt
- Water (for consistency)
Combine ingredients with a whisk. Cook over medium heat until thickened, the oil will bubble along the edges. Add water to thin to a good consistency. Adjust with salt (and other ingredients) until balanced.
Salad time
- California roll salad (Chef John, cut down the carbs)
- Chicken Pho
Cooking challenges
- Vindaloo
- Pizza replacements
- Pastas
- Spinach/garlic/parm sauce
- Add mushrooms, maybe bean patty chunks
- Spinach/garlic/parm sauce
- Salads
- Mains
- Sauces
- Chimichurri
- New veggie sides
- Meats
- Chicken parm
- Steak
- Roast chicken
- Sauces
Veggie burgers 2022
- A few things I would like to try:
- Research
- Black bean smash burgers
- Planta burgers (and here, and here)
- Nutrition/costing
- Tomato paste (try)
- Worked well, but not enough structure (needed egg, mixing, and possibly more structure ingredients)
- Gluten burger
- My recipe of it
- Yeung Man’s
- Kenji’s
- Cow cafe burger
- Oven roasted vegetables, black bean, toasted walnut, baby
- arugula, tomato, roasted garlic aioli, feta, brioche bun.
Sweet cold brew tea
→ Bruce’s cold-brewed iced tea
This recipe has evolved over the past 20+ years in our house. This is the one I’m using in 2022:
- 1L of strong cold brew black tea
- 6 bags of Ceylon tea
- 1L H2O
- 6-12 hours in a cool place (or in the fridge)
- 90g white sugar
- 65ml lime juice (fresh is best, but I usually have preserved stuff on hand)
- Combine, shake, shake some more
- Serve over ice