I’m freaking out slightly about the lard in Jiffy
There are a lot of copycat recipes online - this is the one I use, but it’s not as sweet as the boxed stuff. This is just the mix - you’ll need to add oil, milk, and an egg before baking, as listed in the notes.
Or look for the Jiffy box with the green banner as it doesn’t contain lard.
Jiffy seems like the one commercial thing that’s kept the lard (albeit now also offering a lard-free version). Remember when Nabisco cookies like Oreos and Nilla wafers were made with lard? They dropped the lard in the 1990s so they could trumpet “cholesterol free,” as was the fashion.
Sounds like Grandma Utz kettle chips. An acquired taste.
Definitely weren’t Utz, I don’t think I’ve seen them since.
FYI
I had a chance to try the Tolerant red lentil pasta and really liked the texture. Thanks again for this recommendation!
BEETS AND GREENS PHYLLO PIE (P. 96)
I am terrible at phyllo, but this worked well enough. I had no feta so just used the recommended brie. I also omitted the scallion and subbed spinach for the chard. I had a slice of halloumi leftover too, so I chopped that up and added it to the mix of beets, garlic, dill, and greens. This was good, but if you are a fan of beets, really go for it with the beet galette in Falastin, which requires some pastry work but is quite a showstopper.
The Falastin beet galette is fabulous, and the sour cream pastry with the herbs has great texture and flavor.
New COTM thread.
KIMCHI PORK SOUP p. 186
Doing a bit of cooking today for lunches, as I have to return to work tomorrow. This was actually really tasty, and will make excellent, though fragrant lunches in the staff room microwave.
I did an online grocery order and the kimchi had a lot of daikon in it, which I don’t love, but I just chopped it pretty finely. Other change was that I used regular green cabbage and simmered a lot longer than 10 minutes. Love the silken tofu here.
Photo won’t upload but it’s not the most photogenic soup ever. Picture brick red soup with cabbage and tofu and you’ve got it.
Ooh, yeah 
February nominations are here:
Vote for our February COTM here:
SAVORY BREAD PUDDING w/ ASPARAGUS, PESTO, and GRUYERE (p. 170)
Bread, cheese, and asparagus - I’m in! Even with lots of eggs (6) I was happy with this. Cube a baguette (I did it the day before, so it had a bit of bite to it) and toss this with milk, eggs, and seasoning. Stir and let sit while you deal with the rest of it. Butter a casserole dish (I sprayed with olive oil), cut asparagus into about inch long portions and roast these for 10 minutes. Take half of them out and toss with half the soaking breadcubes. Cover this with grated gruyere and dollops of pesto. Make another layer except leave off the pesto (you’ll add more dollops at the end). Roast covered for 30 minutes, then take the cover off and roast another 15. This was a hit here, served with a salad with very acidic dressing to play against the richness. Yum.
That sounds delicious except for the pesto which I really don’t like (I know, I must be the only person on the planet who doesn’t). I am wondering if I could make it with zhoug instead - it has that same vegetal, herbaceous hit to it but with herbs I prefer. Only one way to find out, I guess.
I think the spiciness of zhoug would work well against the richness of the dish. Different effect than using pesto, but not wrong.
Absolutely worth a try. I think tapenade would be a great substitute too.
Tapenade is a great idea, thanks!
