# Whatcha cookin' today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266 "2012-01-31T03:39:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/21 "2012-01-31T22:31:36Z")
That sounds good! I’ve probably made more variations of this soup than any other recipe…it really lends itself well to various vegetables. I want to try it with hominy but I always eat it before I get a chance to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/22 "2012-02-01T00:58:15Z")
I made Vegetable Beef Soup tonight. I browned off marrow bones yesterday afternoon and made stock that simmered all evening. I strained it off and put it out on the counter to cool and hubby stuck it in the fridge for me when he got up for work. Tonight I browned off some sirloin chunks, added my stock then put in 2 cubed potatoes, 2 carrots sliced into discs, 2 stalks of chopped celery, 1/2 of a large onion chunked up, 2 baby bok choy that had been hanging out in the fridge for a few days, a cup of leftover lima beans, a can of diced tomatoes with juice, a can of drained green beans, and a cup of frozen corn. I simmered it all up for about 20 minutes and adjusted for salt, then we chowed. It was much better than canned soup and so good for you. Plus there are leftovers! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/23 "2012-02-01T23:11:15Z")
Meatloaf just went into the oven. Tomorrow: biscuits and gravy. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/24 "2012-02-06T21:42:48Z")
Sorry, sorry! It took me a while to get around to making it - last week I had to work late a couple of nights (so we went out) and I was out of town this weekend. But I ended up making it for SuperBowl sunday, so it wasn’t a total loss. It’s another Cooking Light recipe, found here –\> [Bacon and Butternut Pasta](http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/bacon-butternut-pasta-50400000118579/) First off, it’s futsy. It involved (I think) three pans, and most of the mixing bowls I own. Plus, it’s a plan-ahead type recipe as it involves creme fraiche. You can buy creme fraiche (maybe - I couldn’t find it in my grocery stores, but I didn’t hit up the specialty ones then either), or you can make a reasonable facsimile by adding 2 tbsp buttermilk to 1 c whipping cream and letting it sit on the counter until it’s as thick as you like. Then the actual cooking begins: you roast the squash, cook up the bacon and then saute the onion and garlic in the bacon grease (pan 1), boil some chicken stock to slightly thicken and then add the creme fraiche (pan 2) after removing it from the heat, and boil the pasta (adding the kale in the last 2 minutes, pan 3). Then you assemble everything in a casserole and bake it. That said, it was pretty delicious. I’m still not sure whether the squash is a little too much sweetness, and I think I’d up the bacon, but it was good. I’d make it again, with the caveat that it’s not really a weeknight dish as it takes a bunch of prep and a bunch more individual steps before you get to the final dish. I thought my sauce would be too soupy, but it thickened up really nicely (and reheated pretty well, too - it didn’t break as much as other cream sauces; way less oil left in the dish). As a sub for the creme fraiche, you could use sour cream or plain yogurt, or perhaps Mexican crema if your grocery store has it. (Some people mentioned using that new Philadelphia cooking cream stuff too, so that might work as well.) I knew I wouldn’t be making the recipe for a bit, so I went ahead and whipped up the homemade version. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/25 "2012-02-06T23:48:57Z")
> [@papergirl](#): > > Either would work, I think. I usually use boneless skinless thighs…they don’t shred the way breasts seem to. But ooooh. It’s good! If you like sweet potatoes, they’re really good in there too. And chickpeas! > I made it exactly like the recipe the first time, though–I’ve just expanded since then. 🙂 I think some other folks have posted similar recipes, too–I believe some recipes call for tomatoes too. > LMK what you think! It was good! Mr. Horseshoe thinks I put in too much curry, though. Still, it’s a nice starting point, and I’d probably like it even without any chicken at all, jut as a thick veggie soup. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/26 "2012-02-06T23:57:16Z")
Ooh - I am saving that chicken stew recipe. I did soup in the crockpot yesterday: 14-bean soup mix (dried) with carrots. a parsnip, celery, Jamaican seasoning, garlic, chopped kale, an onion and diced smoked sausage. Better reheated on the second day. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/27 "2012-02-07T00:16:48Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > It was good! Mr. Horseshoe thinks I put in too much curry, though. Still, it’s a nice starting point, and I’d probably like it even without any chicken at all, jut as a thick veggie soup. Yeah, I’ve done a vegetarian version–I think that’s when I began adding chickpeas. I made it last week and today my son asked me to make it again. 🙂 Too much curry? Pshaw! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/28 "2012-02-07T14:28:00Z")
Last night was [Shrimp-Stuffed Shells](http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/shrimp-stuffed-shells-50400000118581/) (yes, from Cooking Light). I love stuffed shells, but I forget how much of a pain they can be to stuff. Anyway, this was good, but shrimpier than I’d anticipated. (And I only used 12 oz of shrimp instead of a full pound, as that was the size of the package in the store.) I love shrimp, but my husband doesn’t, so there is that. There was something a bit off in the stuffing - maybe it was too creamy? I think I was expecting more of a cheesy, ricotta like stuffing (not sure why; there’s no ricotta at all in the recipe!). And it has a bunch of garlic, but that didn’t really come through. And maybe it coulda used mozzarella on top instead of just grated parm. But it was worth making. I subbed corn starch for the potato starch called for in the recipe (I couldn’t find potato starch anywhere, and none of us have allergies or such, so it was a simple sub to use the corn starch), and I used full-fat cream cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266/29 "2012-02-07T21:49:48Z")
It’s pot roast night tonight. Just a browned chuck roast, with onions and celery and carrots and potatoes. Simple, but oh so good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-cookin-today/611266.md?page=1)