cooking group?

[coraa]

I've been having so much fun doing recipes from the Washoku cookbook 'correctly' (ie, without making substitutions or changes the first time through) -- and it's taught me so much more about Japanese food that I wouldn't have learned with my usual catch-as-catch-can cooking process -- that I'm thinking of trying the same thing with Indian cooking. Specifically, I've had Madhur Jaffrey's Indian cookbooks recommended to me, so I just ordered the new addition of her book Indian Cooking.

Would anyone like to join me?

We'd do one or two meals a month (probably with one to three dishes per meal -- a one-dish meal, a main dish and a side, or main dish, a side and a carbohydrate, or whatever), and, like the Washoku Warriors group, share our impressions of the dish, how easy or hard it was, how it came out, what it tasted like. I'd be doing it (as much as possible) without substitutions or skipped steps, in order to learn a bit more about the cuisine, but nobody else would have to do that, obviously. I'd post a roundup post, and people could comment or link to their commentary of the dishes. Sort of like a cooking club, but remotely. ;)

Since there are so many vegetarians, pescatarians, and meat-light people on my flist, we could alternately -- or in addition! -- do recipes from another of Jaffrey's books, Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking, which I already own. (Not that I'd pick only meatful dishes from Indian Cooking, but I probably would pick meatful dishes some of the time.)

[Poll #1436357]

(If you're not interested, just skip the poll. :) )

Feel free to link this post to anyone else you think might be interested.

Comments

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

But my interest probably exceeds my time available. But I do have a Barnes and Noble gift certificate. And if you picked the item, and all I had to do was make it and chatter/tap about it, I might be able to manage that.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I'll definitely be picking the dishes, since I think too much democracy can be a bad thing. ;) And of course it would be on an as-you-can basis -- I expect that some people might do every month, some might skip months, etc.

[avani.livejournal.com]

Chris and I would be interested, though I am very likely to make some modifications. I think he already has the vegetarian book.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I'd expect you to make modifications, since you're familiar with the cuisine. In fact, I'd be particularly interested to hear what changes you made!

[linley.livejournal.com]

I would probably not be able to start until September, as I am moving in August and it promises to be a crazy month in general. And I'm vegetarian. But I really like the concept.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Makes sense. I certainly am not going to track people down if they skip months or start late, since I reserve the right to skip a month if it's too busy. ;)

Given the way the poll is shaking out, I'm leaning toward doing two meals a month -- one from the vegetarian cookbook and one from the non-vegetarian cookbook -- so that should work out fine.

[linley.livejournal.com]

I happened across World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking in the used bookstore today, so I picked it up. (Never mind that I was supposed to be selling books, not buying them.) It looks delicious! I'm looking forward to the cooking group.

[geekjul.livejournal.com]

I think this would be a great idea. I need some time to locate and purchase the book, though.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely. I'm thinking of picking out recipes on or before August 15 and having the first roundup be on September 1, so people have basically a full month to buy the cookbook(s), borrow them from the library or from a friend, or whatever.

[geekjul.livejournal.com]

Excellent. Count me in. My husband will be thrilled, he loves Indian food :)

[ceph.livejournal.com]

I'm sort of tempted to sign up, insofar as I love Indian food. But I'm not sure if, what with the sharing a kitchen and all, it might not be...redundant? Then again, could be interesting: given the same ingredients, recipes, and equipment, what will a vegetarian novice and an omnivorous foodie create?

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I do think that each of us doing it (and maybe even comparing our results!) would be very interesting, although, yeah, a little repetitive. ;)

[madduckdes.livejournal.com]

This seems like the sort of thing Mark would really enjoy. He might not comment for a bit because he's behind on LJ right now.

[rowr.livejournal.com]

I'd be more likely to want to do the veggie cooking. But, I am up for either! Sorry for the late reply ;)