When was the last time you used a new ingredient?

When was the last time you used a new ingredient?

  • A few days ago

    Votes: 4 36.4%

  • A few weeks ago

    Votes: 5 45.5%

  • A few months ago

    Votes: 1 9.1%

  • A year ago

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I can't remember

    Votes: 1 9.1%

  • I don't use new ingredients

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    11
Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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Spinning off from How adventurous are you with food and cooking?, here is a new poll. When did you last use a new ingredient in your cooking/ For me it happens to be yesterday. I used beetroot powder in an attempt to make tandoori style chicken look red! It didn't work but the chicken tasted good. When did you last experiment with a new ingredient? How did it turn out? And if you rarely do so, then why not? Please vote and tell us what the ingredient was and how it worked out.
 
A good question. I bought some black rice a few weeks ago which I had never used before. Ir wasn't the black wild but Venere black rice. It was really good and looked attractive on the plate as it splits and looks black and white. As for the question, I do try to experiment with new things but also I like to try new ways to use the ingredients I have.
 
A few weeks ago I tried freekah (a grain) for the first time. I didn't do anything very clever with it because I thought I'd try it plain first of all. We had it in place of rice with a stir-fry. Next time I will do something more adventurous.
 
With our recent forays into Korean and Japanese cooking, I try new ingredients almost every week. Sometimes the packages only have Korean or Japanese writing (except for nutritional value), so I'm really taking a guess with exactly how to use it. I recently made a dish of kimchi and extruded rice cakes in a souo based on gochujang and ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste). It was good, but missing something.

I'm also starting to get an interest in making Indian food at home, so I've been trying out a few new things. My lastest new thing was warm milk flavored with cardamom and honey.
 
buckytom said:
With our recent forays into Korean and Japanese cooking, I try new ingredients almost every week. Sometimes the packages only have Korean or Japanese writing (except for nutritional value), so I'm really taking a guess with exactly how to use it. I recently made a dish of kimchi and extruded rice cakes in a souo based on gochujang and ssamjang (seasoned soybean paste). It was good, but missing something.

I'm also starting to get an interest in making Indian food at home, so I've been trying out a few new things. My lastest new thing was warm milk flavored with cardamom and honey.
Click to expand...
Google translate.
 
buckytom said:
warm milk flavored with cardamom and honey.
Click to expand...

I cook Indian food a lot (I'm assuming you mean Indian as in India the country rather than American Indian). But sweet things aren't really their forte methinks. Curry is the way to go! @Yorky and I have lots of recipes. Have you cooked a curry?
 
Yes, a few times, but only using either store bought curry powders or jarred sauces.

I'm intimidated by the number and balance of spices if I tried it from scratch.
 
Yorky said:
I use this recipe quite a bit. It's based on one by David Smith.

Quite a bit of work but you end up with a lot and it's ideal for freezing.

https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/bratfud-bangla-chicken-curry.8164/.
Click to expand...

That seems straight forward enough. Thanks, Yorky.

morning glory, I probably have enough of an array of spices, but it's just not something I've thought to tackle from scratch considering the ease and convenience of the pre-mixed powders and jarred sauces. A Bengali coworker told me a story about how happy his mother was when she first moved to America because of the fact that everything didn't have to be made from scratch, and that the store bought stuff was pretty good.
 
I have recently bought gram flour/besan (pulverised chick peas). It makes a tasty batter e.g. onion (without using egg or milk!) - so would be suitable for vegans (not that I am one!). You all probably know that it is used in such things as onion bhaji, pakoras (both deep fried so I don't make those) and in those snack packets of sesame sticks.

I am experimenting with it and have made water biscuits (like crispbread) .... a little tough but good flavour. I made toad in the hole with it also with mixed results. Might try half flour and half gram next time. Just seen a paratha recipe using them so that is next!
 
Last edited:
Poking around in an African food shop in Edinburgh the other day, I spied some hot pepper powder. This looked worthy of further consideration, so I purchased a small pack of said powder. I can say with absolute certainty that "hot" is in no way understating the case.

The other thing I bought there does not count as an ingredient, but it was something new to me. Coconut peanuts. A small jar was liberated for a reasonable sum of money and the offering turned out to go very nicely with a few glasses of pleasing ale.
 
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