I've been searching the internet for chickpea soup recipes and found a really simple one in the New York Times - but it has yellow onions and I'm not sure what they are. We have roundish brown skinned onions and spring onions (the ones that look a bit like mini leeks - I think they are known in other countries as green onions).
Brown, yellow and white onions are, I believe, essentially the samething. Red onions simply differ in being red. Shallots are small and (allegedly) milder onions. As an ingredient in soup, I'd consider them interchangeable.
Green, Spring or scallions are, as you say, the thin green and white ones and do function differently as an ingredient (usually as a late addition to give a soupçon of onioniness).
Not sure if I'm imagining the problem accurately, but when we had a slow cooker whose plastic dial turny-thing would not stay attached to the metal bit that stuck out of the pot, we just kept a pair of pliers handy to turn the metal bit.
Not quite - it's the whole assembly round the dial that's loose.
Wish I had the sparky skills to build a better version!
IMHO there are three kinds of the big round onions, the kinds the size of a fist: There are the red ones, which I don't use much as they taste weird to me and make my stomach upset. There are the white/yellow/brown ones, which are basically the same thing. And then there are the sweet/Vidalia onions, which are the same as the white/yellow/brown onions, except they don't make you cry near as much when you chop them up--and may taste a little milder.
There's also a smaller thing called a cipolline onion, which is sort of disk shaped and a bit less strong--but it will do all the same things a regular onion does (at much greater expense, at least here).
I sometimes think that recipes should include some sort of Linnean system for naming ingredients. I remember being very confused by a cooking programme with Kylie Kwong, Australian food personality, who used to refer to green onions/scallions/spring onions as "shallots", which to my mind are something very different.
Back to knowing one's onions... Brown/yellow/white onions here (Canada) are not completely interchangeable. Brown/yellow are, pretty much, but I find the white ones milder and somewhat sweeter. Red onions are to my palate quite different - not as pungent, a little sweeter, more palatable raw than the other varieties.
A favorite onion in my house is the Walla Walla Sweet Onion which is grown in the Walla Walla area in Washington. Great for sandwiches. Does not store very well, though.
I got out the Instant Pot over the weekend. I did a Sirloin Roast. . Came out very well.
I sometimes think that recipes should include some sort of Linnean system for naming ingredients. I remember being very confused by a cooking programme with Kylie Kwong, Australian food personality, who used to refer to green onions/scallions/spring onions as "shallots", which to my mind are something very different.
Back to knowing one's onions... Brown/yellow/white onions here (Canada) are not completely interchangeable. Brown/yellow are, pretty much, but I find the white ones milder and somewhat sweeter. Red onions are to my palate quite different - not as pungent, a little sweeter, more palatable raw than the other varieties.
“Shallots” = spring onions in most of Oz
“Eshallots”= onionoid little bulbs which are usually brown. The Asian variety are smaller & purple in colour, and mostly available in Thai grocers
I sometimes think that recipes should include some sort of Linnean system for naming ingredients. I remember being very confused by a cooking programme with Kylie Kwong, Australian food personality, who used to refer to green onions/scallions/spring onions as "shallots", which to my mind are something very different.
That was certainly the case for many, many years. Then proper shallots started to become readily available. Over the last 15 years or so, usage has largely changed to that in the UK etc. At least around here.
This is based on a Madhur Jaffrey recipe. I usually do this version with cabbage, greens, cauliflower etc, but you can just make a tarka with spices in hot oil, if you want a plain dhal. Serves 2-3.
Rinse 100g red lentils and drain. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. When boiling, skim off the foam and add a slice of ginger root and 1/2 tsp turmeric. Stir and leave to cook for 20 minutes or so on low.
Meanwhile, slice half an onion, 2 cloves garlic, a green chilli, and some cabbage or similar. Also chop a tomato into small chunks.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds and sizzle for a minute, then the garlic for a minute. Tip in the onion, cabbage and chilli, and stir and fry for 5-10 minutes. Add 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp garam masala.
When the lentils are cooked, stir in the chopped tomato and salt to taste, and cook for a few more minutes. Add the cabbage mixture, heat through and serve.
Either of those would be fine, though they might need some extra cooking. Or you could just fry the onion and spices, then stir some spinach in to wilt.
The Madhur Jaffrey version I use is just the lentils as cooked above, with some fried up spices at the end (including asafoetida). The suggestions include fine onion rings fried with the spices to add on top. But I'd make the lentil dahl to serve with other things, like a spinach bhaji or cauliflower curry.
Spinach bhaji - sweat some finely chopped onion in butter until transparent, add a tsp of garam masala and a ½tsp salt and cook with the onion then add spinach and sweat down.
I use frozen or fresh spinach, a couple of lumps of frozen, fill the pan with fresh.
I don't know what you are supposed to do with dried seaweed, but seeing it in the sale bin the other day, and thinking that it looks green and healthy like spinach, so it ought to make a quite decent curry. Which it did. Pretty much a normal saag curry with the usual spices, but with the seaweed instead of spinach, and it was rather good, if I say so myself.
She: Thanks for the nice dinner.
Me: You liked it?
She: Hey, I did not have to cook it. It could have been a hot dog and it would have been a nice dinner.
Me: You mean I could have fixed hotdogs instead of lamb, and you would have been satisfied?
She: Yes.
Me: (Crushed).
Tonight I made Lamb Rogan Josh following this recipe and it was at least forty times tastier than anything that easy has a right to be.
Looks good.
Yes, it looks really good. I think I might experiment with some meat other than lamb. We love lamb, but it can be a bit hard to find at a family friendly price around here.
@questioning If you're using a meat other than lamb, I would make sure you get a fairly fatty cut. That way the fat melts during the slow cooking and enriches the sauce.
@questioning If you're using a meat other than lamb, I would make sure you get a fairly fatty cut. That way the fat melts during the slow cooking and enriches the sauce.
That does look like a nice recipe, La Vie, but why, O why do all these food bloggers have to rabbit on for ten pages about how this is their husband/ mother/grandma's favourite recipe and they first tasted it on their honeymoon/in the cradle/visiting Grandma in the summer holidays?
Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 2 hours
Reading the preamble to the recipe and getting rid of the adverts: endless.
/rant
ETA: I wonder if it would work in a slow-cooker, after the initial browning?
@Piglet - copyright - if the blogger has a huge percentage of their blog that's their personal experience and chat, then a recipe that's partly copied from somewhere else is harder to challenge on copyright grounds, because the blog is the blogger's own work.
Yes, that annoys me too! Some of them have a helpful "jump to recipe" button so you can skip all the blah. Even worse is when the site insists on jumping up and playing a video at you, when all you want is a list of ingredients.
I do a lot of putting in ingredients and seeing what comes up - and there is frequently a lot of similarity in the results. I tend to click on the ones published by the big supermarkets, who don't feel the need to Share.
That does look like a nice recipe, La Vie, but why, O why do all these food bloggers have to rabbit on for ten pages about how this is their husband/ mother/grandma's favourite recipe and they first tasted it on their honeymoon/in the cradle/visiting Grandma in the summer holidays?
Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 2 hours
Reading the preamble to the recipe and getting rid of the adverts: endless.
/rant
ETA: I wonder if it would work in a slow-cooker, after the initial browning?
@Piglet: as far as the curry in the slow cooker is concerned - absolutely. IMHO they're fantastic for anything of that sort - curry, tagines, etc etc - though you might want to cut down the amount of liquid added as it doesn't evaporate in quite the same way...
Personally, I wished I had read through the rabbitting a bit because I would have realized it was important to keep the onions and spices on the bottom instead of the top. Still, it did come out good.
One thing about lamb sank is it is pretty tough meat raw. Slow cooking helps tenderize it. Consider this, if you substitute the lamb shank.
@Piglet: as far as the curry in the slow cooker is concerned - absolutely. IMHO they're fantastic for anything of that sort - curry, tagines, etc etc - though you might want to cut down the amount of liquid added as it doesn't evaporate in quite the same way...
And also increase your curry spices - our experience is that they tend to vanish in slow cooking.
On the British thread @Piglet was asking for the recipe for a lazy and quick salmon and rice dish I cooked last night because Mr Nen and I were late home and hungry.
It was all a bit thrown together but it tasted nice so here's how I did it. This fed two of us.
Two salmon steaks cooked in milk for about three minutes in the microwave.
Fry some chopped mushrooms in a low fat cooking spray and add about a teaspoon of paprika, a good pinch of saffron and a teaspoon of mild curry powder.
Add some frozen peas, the contents of a sachet of ready-cooked brown rice and a couple of good sloshes of white wine (I guess some vegetable stock would work - around 200ml or so) and cook until the liquid has mostly gone. Then add the salmon in fairly big chunks (skin removed, unless you like the skin) and stir carefully to heat through but without breaking it up too much.
quick because I could make it with breakfast was a couscous and chick pea mix. Pour boiling water over some couscous in a bowl and leave while eat breakfast, tip into a box with some chick peas, and chopped veg - any and all of radishes, cucumber, spring onions, peas, beans, diced carrots, peppers or tomatoes, cauliflower florets, broccoli sliced finely - add a slosh of oil and a capful of wine vinegar*, plus salt and pepper and herbs, leave to meld, add green leaves on top. Eat at lunch time;
left over rice with vegetables as above - that one you can add a soy dressing and peanuts as protein;
left over pasta - I used to cook extra so I had leftovers for lunch - what got added depended on what I had available - nice with pasta is tomato, black olives, basil and crumbled goat's cheese, or pesto and peas or leftover roast vegetables - e.g. courgettes, peppers, butternut squash, beetroot;
Incredibly low calorie - half a can of haricot or cannellini beans, half a can of teriyaki mackerel plus green leaves†;
a pack of oat cakes with cubes of cheese, with a selection from celery, carrot, pepper, spring onion and cucumber sticks, florets of cauliflower and broccoli, radishes, cherry tomatoes, peas in pods, green leaves on top
Left over stir fry with noodles (again, make too much and have leftovers).
Make homemade pizza, half for supper and half for lunch (well, quarter if I'm on my own)
Same for a quiche
I used to make a meal on say Monday night, and eat the leftovers on Wednesday lunch if I wanted to spread things out a bit.
* if I don't have any pre-made vinaigrette around
† lettuce, watercress, salad pack leaves, baby spinach - whatever is available
Ready-cooked rice? Doesn't sound nice. Don't think I've ever seen this in my part of Canada. Can't see the need either.
I'm the only person in my household who likes brown rice, so ready-cooked brown rice cups are very useful to me. Often I make a fast soup for lunch, consisting of: boxed stock, a bit of sliced leftover meat from dinner, some veg, and a cup of ready-cooked brown rice. (it's about a half cup per container). Seasoning depends on how I feel - sometimes Asian-ish, sometimes herbal.
If it's in my part of Canada, it's in your part of Canada. I find it useful and nutritious and helpful.
One of my favourite lunch salads is a simple Mediterranean-style marinated salad (cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, vinaigrette) with canned black beans which have been drained and rinsed. Colourful, cheap, tasty, nutritious, keeps for a few days. Easy to make, or if you don't want to make it, buy the prepared version of the salad and add the beans. Tart it up with fresh herbs and croutons if you like.
A good way of getting salad ideas is to look at, or order, different salads from restaurants. Check out the salad menu from a place you like. You can make a home version for 1/10 of the price, and it's a good way of discovering new ingredients.
Ready-cooked rice? Doesn't sound nice. Don't think I've ever seen this in my part of Canada. Can't see the need either.
No, I only use ready rice packs hostelling or camping because it comes as a sachet for two rather than a bag of dried rice that I can't use in a night or two, and cooking facilities are variable. I make extra rice when I cook rice for the evening meal and use the leftovers for lunch salads, or as a quick savoury rice base.
Comments
Could I use brown onions instead?
Green, Spring or scallions are, as you say, the thin green and white ones and do function differently as an ingredient (usually as a late addition to give a soupçon of onioniness).
Not quite - it's the whole assembly round the dial that's loose.
Wish I had the sparky skills to build a better version!
IMHO there are three kinds of the big round onions, the kinds the size of a fist: There are the red ones, which I don't use much as they taste weird to me and make my stomach upset. There are the white/yellow/brown ones, which are basically the same thing. And then there are the sweet/Vidalia onions, which are the same as the white/yellow/brown onions, except they don't make you cry near as much when you chop them up--and may taste a little milder.
There's also a smaller thing called a cipolline onion, which is sort of disk shaped and a bit less strong--but it will do all the same things a regular onion does (at much greater expense, at least here).
Back to knowing one's onions... Brown/yellow/white onions here (Canada) are not completely interchangeable. Brown/yellow are, pretty much, but I find the white ones milder and somewhat sweeter. Red onions are to my palate quite different - not as pungent, a little sweeter, more palatable raw than the other varieties.
I got out the Instant Pot over the weekend. I did a Sirloin Roast. . Came out very well.
“Shallots” = spring onions in most of Oz
“Eshallots”= onionoid little bulbs which are usually brown. The Asian variety are smaller & purple in colour, and mostly available in Thai grocers
That was certainly the case for many, many years. Then proper shallots started to become readily available. Over the last 15 years or so, usage has largely changed to that in the UK etc. At least around here.
UK supermarkets
This confirms that I pay No attention to labelling in supermarkets. I must just go on what it looks like!
Or syboes at my local greengrocer....
This is based on a Madhur Jaffrey recipe. I usually do this version with cabbage, greens, cauliflower etc, but you can just make a tarka with spices in hot oil, if you want a plain dhal. Serves 2-3.
Rinse 100g red lentils and drain. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. When boiling, skim off the foam and add a slice of ginger root and 1/2 tsp turmeric. Stir and leave to cook for 20 minutes or so on low.
Meanwhile, slice half an onion, 2 cloves garlic, a green chilli, and some cabbage or similar. Also chop a tomato into small chunks.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a frying pan. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds and sizzle for a minute, then the garlic for a minute. Tip in the onion, cabbage and chilli, and stir and fry for 5-10 minutes. Add 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp garam masala.
When the lentils are cooked, stir in the chopped tomato and salt to taste, and cook for a few more minutes. Add the cabbage mixture, heat through and serve.
Could there be substitutes for the cabbage, as I'm not all that keen? Broccoli or cauliflower?
Spinach bhaji - sweat some finely chopped onion in butter until transparent, add a tsp of garam masala and a ½tsp salt and cook with the onion then add spinach and sweat down.
I use frozen or fresh spinach, a couple of lumps of frozen, fill the pan with fresh.
Did I say Leg of Lamb? I meant Lamk Shank. Turned out very good. Recipe here.
She: Thanks for the nice dinner.
Me: You liked it?
She: Hey, I did not have to cook it. It could have been a hot dog and it would have been a nice dinner.
Me: You mean I could have fixed hotdogs instead of lamb, and you would have been satisfied?
She: Yes.
Me: (Crushed).
Tonight I made Lamb Rogan Josh following this recipe and it was at least forty times tastier than anything that easy has a right to be.
Looks good.
Yes, it looks really good. I think I might experiment with some meat other than lamb. We love lamb, but it can be a bit hard to find at a family friendly price around here.
Thank you, @la vie en rouge.
Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 2 hours
Reading the preamble to the recipe and getting rid of the adverts: endless.
/rant
ETA: I wonder if it would work in a slow-cooker, after the initial browning?
@Piglet: as far as the curry in the slow cooker is concerned - absolutely. IMHO they're fantastic for anything of that sort - curry, tagines, etc etc - though you might want to cut down the amount of liquid added as it doesn't evaporate in quite the same way...
One thing about lamb sank is it is pretty tough meat raw. Slow cooking helps tenderize it. Consider this, if you substitute the lamb shank.
And also increase your curry spices - our experience is that they tend to vanish in slow cooking.
It was all a bit thrown together but it tasted nice so here's how I did it. This fed two of us.
Two salmon steaks cooked in milk for about three minutes in the microwave.
Fry some chopped mushrooms in a low fat cooking spray and add about a teaspoon of paprika, a good pinch of saffron and a teaspoon of mild curry powder.
Add some frozen peas, the contents of a sachet of ready-cooked brown rice and a couple of good sloshes of white wine (I guess some vegetable stock would work - around 200ml or so) and cook until the liquid has mostly gone. Then add the salmon in fairly big chunks (skin removed, unless you like the skin) and stir carefully to heat through but without breaking it up too much.
Make homemade pizza, half for supper and half for lunch (well, quarter if I'm on my own)
Same for a quiche
I used to make a meal on say Monday night, and eat the leftovers on Wednesday lunch if I wanted to spread things out a bit.
* if I don't have any pre-made vinaigrette around
† lettuce, watercress, salad pack leaves, baby spinach - whatever is available
I'm the only person in my household who likes brown rice, so ready-cooked brown rice cups are very useful to me. Often I make a fast soup for lunch, consisting of: boxed stock, a bit of sliced leftover meat from dinner, some veg, and a cup of ready-cooked brown rice. (it's about a half cup per container). Seasoning depends on how I feel - sometimes Asian-ish, sometimes herbal.
If it's in my part of Canada, it's in your part of Canada. I find it useful and nutritious and helpful.
A good way of getting salad ideas is to look at, or order, different salads from restaurants. Check out the salad menu from a place you like. You can make a home version for 1/10 of the price, and it's a good way of discovering new ingredients.
No, I only use ready rice packs hostelling or camping because it comes as a sachet for two rather than a bag of dried rice that I can't use in a night or two, and cooking facilities are variable. I make extra rice when I cook rice for the evening meal and use the leftovers for lunch salads, or as a quick savoury rice base.