Dojo Cooking Thread

Not much on a cooking theme today, more of just eating. I went to Rosa's Cafe and Tortilla Factory on Christmas Eve. I figured there would of been a long line and even a rather long wait for their great tamales. I was right about both... long line and a long wait... as in days later... Apparently they ran out of tamales... at 3pm and they do not close until 10pm... :oops: I am sure they had a LOT of upset customers. :ROFLMAO:

There were at least two when I was there. On the one hand I blame the customers for not preordering a head of time, although getting bits and pieces of the conversations (as I said it was a long line) I think they may have. But also the restaurant knew very well the demand that would be made and to be out completely and not just "they need to make more" does not make any sense. Sure they probably have a set amount of space, but out of ingredients? You need to be going back to the store then.


Regardless I left there and ate nothing. Then went when Furr's just opened and had a decent Christmas meal... a lundin or a lunper? I think "lundin" sounds better. (Lunch and Dinner). Even with the pandemic they have quite a spread. They put all the meal counters together like a wagon train and have servers behind them giving the food out. Sounds good in practice as only one or two people with gloves are handling the serving spoons, but many times you still have to reach under the glass to get to the plate or to hold the plate out to them to get the food onto it. But ehhh... :sneaky: All in all decent food at a decent price and no line that early, like 11am. Had I went at 2pm it may of been out to the curb and around the building and the line does not move unless people are finished eating and leave. And half the tables are not used due to social distancing.

And saying all that, Taco Bueno's pork or brisket tamales are not good. Even though they are 12 for $12... No... just no... Rosa's 12 for $15 is much better. And now I need to start eating healthier like I was. ^^!
 
I don't have many pics (now; I need to transfer them), but I made fried Calamari and Shrimp for Christmas Eve (as we are Italian Catholic; no meat) and while the shrimp were awesome, the squid turned out well... just the taste of the squid was awful; not fresh in the slightest. I also used the same oil and flour for the shrimp (and cooked the shrimp last), so it was definitely the mollusk that was to blame... too bad.

Also did a tiny-bit of fresh pasta to start and pan-fried (already blanched) Swiss Chard from the garden (still have 4 bags in the freezer) as our vegetable.

My dad made Rabbit for Christmas and... I made Panettone,.. from scratch... with sourdough starter and everything. It came out so well, but I screwed up on the final leavening and it only rose about half of what it needed to. It still rose during baking (not as much as it should have) and tasted phenomenal; this is a classic recipe from (at least) 1939 or earlier, so it's the real deal and it tasted better than anything you buy in the store. Because it didn't rise enough though, it was more dense and not as light as store-bought panettone (which is ok).

I'll be tackling a few more Lombardy dishes for the next little while, so I will have pics and lots to tell :)
 
This past weekend, I made 2 dishes from Lombardy; one from the Valtellina area (northern Lombardy, near the border with Switzerland/Austria) and from Milano; Tarozzi and Cassouela/Botaggio

Tarozzi is a starter that can be eaten as a main, that's basically mashed potato/green beans/Borlotti beans, with a bit of Casera cheese melted within (finding this cheese in Canada is fairly tricky lol). Next time I make it, I need to boil the green beans more (another minute or two would've made them perfect), but otherwise it was absolutely delicious.

Cassouela is a main that, apparently, has been eaten in central/southern Lombardy for hundreds of years. it's literally the only classic Milanese dish that my father or grandmothers, never prepared once since I've been alive. It's a ton of pork parts (foot, cheek, ribs, small sausages, shoulder/blade pieces and rind, cut into pieces) with a ton of Savoy Cabbage and the "trinity," of vegetables. I did a good job with it overall, but I can brown the meat even more than I did this time, next time, to get an even better flavour to come out. I HATE cabbage, but blanching it for about 5-7 minutes before tossing it in with the meat, got rid of that nasty flavour that I can't stand.

Tarozzi:

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Cassouela:

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Tried another local pizza place this past week. Not bad but kinda really particularly doughey

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Woke up feeling pretty sick this morning, hoping it’s just a cold and not covid again. Though making a toasty peanut butter and apple jelly sandwich or two would make me feel better.
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Made dish #3 in my tour of Lombardy, my 4th (formerly 3rd) favourite dish ever; Cotolette/Costolette all Milanese.

I prefer chicken and usually make the quicker, healthier version with chicken and my own stylings of egg, "batter," and breadcrumbs, but the classic dish is just a touch different and truly special (when you hear, "Chicken Parmesan," or, "Veal Parmesan," it is the version of this dish from Southern italy, which is a newer recipe, originally done with Eggplant, NOT meat and not as good ;)).

Also, its size is not conducive to eating regularly, as that is A LOT of meat, breadcrumbs and melted butter.

Served with a side of pan-roasted yellow potatoes and Swiss Chard from the garden:

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You don't eat the bone, of course, but you indeed keep the bone in, while you cook it (you typically cover it in tinfoil or similar covering, but since my veal wasn't frenched, the bone was still attached to the meat so I cooked it with everything).
 
Could've sworn I posted dish #4, but whatever; I'll do dishes 4 and 5 in this post! :D

So 2 Sundays ago, I made a dish that hunters in Lombardy (and elsewhere in Italy, but mine is the Lombardian version) would make as a backup, in case their hunt was fruitless; Uccellini Scappati ("Escaped Birds)."

Basically, you take thinly-sliced veal, put a slice of pancetta in in and roll it up, so it resembles a little bird-like... thing lol. Then you skewer it and split up the meat with pieces of bread, that I cooked in a teaspoon of lard. You them cook the skewers in butter and keep flipping until the meat is browned beautifully. Just delicious!


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Running out of Swiss Chard, so this was the penultimate bag :(

And on Saturday, I made a classic dish from Valtellina; Pizzoccheri. It is a pasta made from buckwheat flour, thus I had to make it from scratch, which wasn't a problem. Mixed with cabbage and potatoes, you layer it in a pan and then toss in Casera cheese, that gets all melty and delicious:

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It looks like meat, but it's pasta!
 

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This weekend, I decided to (with my wife) flex my baking muscles and we made dish (dessert, in this case) #6: Torta Elvezia, which is a traditional recipe from Mantova.

Basically, it is meringues and almond flour (not, it's not a macaron!), piped into coils and then layered with Zabaglione (a type of Italian dessert that is like spiked Eggnog) and Italian-style Chocolate Buttercream, with crushed (in this case, almost pureed lol) hazelnuts on the side:

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It was so bloody delicious, we ate it up in 2 days (also game 4 pieces away to neighbours and my parents) and given that it is almond flour, it is so light, it isn't filling at all.

Dish #7 and #8, were two appetizers, combined to make 1 meal: Bresaola alla Valetllina con Grana Padano e Ruccola (basically a type of beef cold cut, sliced razor thin, toped with a cheese similar to parmesan and ruccola, not, "arugula:" that is an incorrect term). Accompanying it was a traditional (and boring) Milanese dish, Fried Eggs over Asparagus lol:

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A nice, light dinner, that is actually fairly-healthy.

Pancake tonight for dinner, as it is Shrove Tuesday! :D
 

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I miss eating grapefruits! I should buy one this weekend :)

I've always seen many people put white sugar on them; we always used to put Brown Sugar on our grapefruits; have you ever tried it with brown, Tsukuyo?
 
I miss eating grapefruits! I should buy one this weekend :)

I've always seen many people put white sugar on them; we always used to put Brown Sugar on our grapefruits; have you ever tried it with brown, Tsukuyo?
No. The white sugar I am using is Stevia and Erythritol which are zero-calorie sweeteners. This way I can eat grapefruit and avoid it's bitter taste.
 
Ah, makes sense.

Stevia isn't appetizing to me lol, sadly :( (it's so much healthier!)

I love the bitterness of the grapefruit; I'm not a fan of bitter things in the slightest, but grapefruit, bitter melon (Goya) and chinotto are the only three bitter tastes that I can stomach. Everything else makes my body cringe lol.
 
Looks great!

But I'm not a huge offal guy... yet I love blood pudding/sausage and Haggis. I can eat Haggis every day and never get sick of it, so damn good.
 
Looks great!

But I'm not a huge offal guy... yet I love blood pudding/sausage and Haggis. I can eat Haggis every day and never get sick of it, so damn good.
To be honest, I am not a huge offal eater either. I only eat cow liver because of its health benefits and I enjoy the taste.
 
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