#culinary experimentation

[forgottenbones]

You can only get this in Japan...

[artfulusername]

One of the most challenging things about making watermelon gazpacho (aside from all of the cutting and chopping) is waiting a few hours/overnight to see if it turned out just the way we wanted it to. We did fantastic the last time, but the bar is higher now. There’s company involved.

Pray for my gazpacho.

[apoptomon]

On toast

Butter: ✓

Peanut butter: ✓

Butter + Vegemite: ✓

Butter + jam: ✓

Peanut butter + jam: ✗

Peanut butter + Vegemite: ✘

[devilryrevelry]

{{Okay whole lot of shenannigans at work here, but this post belongs to electronicforest. I typed it up for her, that's all. It's in her POV, I basically just organized her thoughts.}}

Pantry-Made Zesty Tomato Soup

http://theplantstrongvegan.com/2013/10/26/lets-eat-creamy-tomato-basil-soup-revamped/

Alright so you guys know that I'm trying out the whole vegitarian thing, or at least looking into it. We're also pretty much broke at the moment, but I've managed to make some fucking AWESOME soup off of this base recipe and a bunch of substitutions. I'm calling it Pantry-Made Zesty Tomato Soup. The person I got the original recipe from has been a great help while I've been planning this stuff out, if anyone's interested.

Conversions Okay, first off, I didn't actually have any tomatoes. Makes so much sense to try tomato soup, right? I did have a lot of canned tomatoes, though, and I found the conversions and everything, but I read them wrong. So instead of the 14.5 ounces of diced tomatoes I actually needed I put in... 42.5. So... yeah. Don't do that. Just do the 14.5 oz can.

I liked the broth idea a lot, but I only had chicken broth. Not exactly vegetarian, but what ever. You can use water just as easy. It's a cup to cup ratio either way. I used broth.

I didn't have any onions either. So I went here http://www.tasteofhome.com/cooking-tips/onions/chopped-onion-substitute And it said for every medium onion, yes a tbsp of onion powder. The recipe called for large onions, so I did 1 tbsp and 1/4 tsp.

Now we need carrots. Huge shock, I don't have carrots. What I had was a can of peas, so. Drained the peas, had them ready.

I just left out the red pepper. The cyanne was more important and it would have only been like a half a pinch anyways so I just ignored it

I used regular milk instead of non-dairy.

I'm really proud of this one. It's super sneaky. You need non-dairy cream cheese or nuts or something and I don't have either of those SO I turned my reddiwhip upside down and used half a cup of the heavy cream that came out.

http://www.foodsubs.com/Garlic.html Garlic cloves became 1/4 a tsp of garlic powder

Then I had to figure out fuckin smoked paprika. http://www.ehow.com/info_8155877_substitutes-smoked-paprika.html Option three is where I started, but I still don't have any fucking paprika, so we go HERE http://www.buzzle.com/articles/paprika-substitute.html and end up with 2 tsp Black pepper and 1 tsp cumin all mixed up. Then you just take the 1/4 tsp out of that.

I had the red flakes, olive oil, sugar and salt.

So the recipe you end up with is...

14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes 1/2 c basil (might want to use less but it wasn't bad.) 1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken broth (or water) 1 tbsp + 1/4 tsp onion powder 1 can of drained peas 1/8 c milk 1/2 cup heavy cream (drained out of reddiwhip if you need) 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tbsp sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp of a 2 part black pepper and 1 part cumin mix 1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes 1-2 tbsp Olive Oil Optional: can of condensed tomato soup or tomato sauce

Instructions Put all your tomatoes, peas, basil, sugar, salt, chicken broth, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, "paprika", and olive oil (everything but the cream and milk) into a large pot. Put it on medium high heat and let it cook until it hits a boil, then turn the heat down and let it simmer for 20-40 mintues (I spaced out and it was closer to 40) The tomatoes should smoosh very easily. For the love of god, remove from heat. Then add your cream and milk and stir the hell out of it. Now get a big ass bowl and a food processor and ladel that shit into the food processor (you'll probably have to do it in batches) Process it Keep going until it's all been turned into tomato soup Now, TASTE IT, and if you need to and you have it on hand, add a jar of tomato sauce or condenced tomato soup, because it might be spicy. I did, mostly for my mum, but it's up to you.

It's fucking great, and if you make some, let me know if you like it.

[nerdiosity]

Okay...

So....

Mixing the leftover cranberry sauce with orange marmalade and condensed sweetened milk was not a strike of culinary genius.

In my defense I would have used sour cream instead of the condensed sweetened milk if we had it. Then, I think it might have worked out alright.

[serenityeryx]

Seriously though, recipes are more like... Guidelines.

Of course in my family we use measurements like Grammy's handful and just enough to make you sneeze.