|
The SARS Volta posted:I have 2 lbs of 80/20 ground beef left over from Saturday evening, and I don't want to grill hamburgers because it's like 100 F outside. Check out the "Much Ragu About Nothing" thread. 80/20 is a little fatty for meatloaf, but it will do fine for bolognese.
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 03:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 20:23 |
|
|
The SARS Volta posted:I have 2 lbs of 80/20 ground beef left over from Saturday evening, and I don't want to grill hamburgers because it's like 100 F outside. Tacos, meatloaf, chili, meatballs, mabo dofu, hamburger pie (croissant crust, sloppy joe, lace croissant strips over it, top with cheese when done), sloppy joes...
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 04:03
|
|
|
RazorBunny posted:I've seen recipes for pineapple kimchi and pear and apple kimchi, so I guess so. Haven't tried it myself. Just use your favorite kimchi recipe (the only one I really know is the momofuku recipe that I dumb down for white people) minus the veggies, and then use that paste for whatever. Kimchi chicken wings are good. e: clearly, kimchi meatloaf
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 04:08
|
|
|
Does anyone have any recipes for making buffalo wing sauce? I'd like to try making some from scratch - ideally it would be tangy and very hot. Mike's Red Hot and butter isn't cutting it.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 04:24
|
|
|
Hot sauce, butter, cider vinegar, and a little dollop of honey is how we do it at my house. (You can get more heat if you add cayenne.)
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 05:02
|
|
|
So I'm making a dinner for a few of my friends before I move out, and I want it to be super awesome, but I can't decide what to make. I've settled on a sweet corn risotto, but I dunno what else. I think I'll make a good loaf of bread too. And some sort of summery dessert. Maybe a nice salad? ugh this is hard edit: OK, so I'm gonna have a strawberry and spinach salad to start, finish with a maple funnel cake with candied bacon and maple syrup, and have the sweet corn risotto as a side, but I don't know what would be a good protein for the main course. And maybe a second side? I'm getting it narrowed down, though. Yoshifan823 fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Jul 31, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 06:41
|
|
|
The SARS Volta posted:I have 2 lbs of 80/20 ground beef left over from Saturday evening, and I don't want to grill hamburgers because it's like 100 F outside. Meat, a couple eggs, salt, pepper, italian spices if you like. Mush all of the above together, add breadcrumbs or crushed crackers until you get a consistency you like. I like to add chopped onion and green pepper and a little mustard or bbq sauce. Slap it in a baking dish of whatever size fits. Bake at 350 until the meat thermometer says it's safe to eat, turning at some point and probably pouring off some grease if it's 80/20. Basting the top with bbq sauce 10 minutes or so before it's done is nice. You can change that however you want, the main thing is meat, eggs, breadcrumb.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 14:25
|
|
|
Beep Street posted:Beef and cauliflower is a pretty tasty stew. I usually throw in some chick peas as well. Is there a reason the recipe calls for water and boullion instead of beef stock?? That set off my spider senses but I did it anyway. Definitely lacking flavor if you're following the recipe to the T. I jacked up the spices for a bit and let it simmer some more and stuck it in the fridge and it is a lot better now though.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 14:48
|
|
|
I followed a random beef stroganoff recipe that called for bouillon as well. It was pretty... weird.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 14:53
|
|
|
How do you get the wrinkly, chewy tofu like in Chinese restaurants? I have tried freezing, deep-frying, and dredging. Does it depend on the quality or firmness of the tofu? I usually go for firm to extra-firm. Should I slice and then freeze? Drain?
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 17:36
|
|
|
Tig Ol Bitties posted:How do you get the wrinkly, chewy tofu like in Chinese restaurants? I have tried freezing, deep-frying, and dredging. Does it depend on the quality or firmness of the tofu? I usually go for firm to extra-firm. Should I slice and then freeze? Drain? I do silken, cubed, deep fried > 350F. Works fine for me.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 17:40
|
|
|
THE MACHO MAN posted:Is there a reason the recipe calls for water and boullion instead of beef stock?? That set off my spider senses but I did it anyway. Definitely lacking flavor if you're following the recipe to the T. I jacked up the spices for a bit and let it simmer some more and stuck it in the fridge and it is a lot better now though.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 18:16
|
|
|
Yoshifan823 posted:So I'm making a dinner for a few of my friends before I move out, and I want it to be super awesome, but I can't decide what to make. I've settled on a sweet corn risotto, but I dunno what else. I think I'll make a good loaf of bread too. And some sort of summery dessert. Maybe a nice salad? Serve grilled shrimp or piece of fish on top of the risotto. Cut corn off the cob and saute it, make a "corn stock" with the cobs and some onions -- use this to make the risotto. Mix the corn into the risotto when it's done, maybe some scallions, call it a day. Also, if you want summery dessert I would be think melons or peaches.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 18:46
|
|
|
Any tips on remembering recipes? Is it just a matter of repetition? I've recently been ramping up my cooking efforts, and I enjoy finding new things to cook on a daily basis. Do you all typically make some of the same dishes each week? When I do repeat a recipe, it's usually been a while so I have to refer to the recipe. Maybe there's nothing wrong with that in the first place? I just feel like I should know one or two by now.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 19:03
|
|
|
For a Summery dessert, you can't really get much better than Summer Pudding. The hint's in the name.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 19:03
|
|
|
I have a nice big container of red lentils. What should I make?
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 19:17
|
|
|
Doh004 posted:I have a nice big container of red lentils. What should I make? Chili. I had a red lentil chili recipe bookmarked at Wegman's and the page is gone. This says it's the same: http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-red-lentil-chili-247381 I think it is, but I always used chicken stock and I put spicy sausage like chorizo in it too. It obviously needs more heat than that recipe too. Double the chili powders and cook a couple whole chilis in there too. And a couple bay leaves. Very Strange Things fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Jul 31, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 19:23
|
|
|
me your dad posted:Any tips on remembering recipes? Is it just a matter of repetition? I've recently been ramping up my cooking efforts, and I enjoy finding new things to cook on a daily basis. The real disadvantage to following recipes is that it encourages you to just do the exact same thing every time. This sounds like it ought to be a good thing, and consistency is certainly something that you should strive for, but you should almost always be fiddling around and tweaking. Both to learn/grow/improve and also because ingredients aren't all the same. So you should always be tasting and adjusting rather than always adding exactly the same amounts of everything. In terms of getting everything to stay in your head, I think the most important part of that is to get past looking at recipes as a list of ingredients and start thinking of them in terms of their moving parts. So instead of memorising a bunch of individual ingredients and steps, start thinking of what the things are doing in a recipe and the general techniques that you're applying. As a ferinstance, you'll notice that there are a lot of things that occur together---onion, celery, and carrot (or onion, celery, and bell pepper in creole cooking). This actually has a name: mirepoix. So when I look at a recipe that contains something like this---a stew, a pasta sauce, or crawdad étouffée I'm not thinking about three ingredients---I'm thinking mirepoix. Same with something like deglazing---instead of a bunch of individual steps---searing some protein, removing and reserving, possibly adding some aromatics and sweating them, then hitting the pan with some liquid (usually a wine appropriate for the protein) then reducing, usually adding either some starch as a thickener and/or some tomato paste for a little thickness, colour, and flavour. All of this isn't necessarily part of deglazing a pan, and other things often are, but when I see a recipe I'm not memorising any of that stuff because in my head it's all more or less stored under `deglazing' so that's all I have to remember. I hope that makes sense. Really this is something that just develops as you go. You can pay attention to that kind of thing, and maybe reading/studying basic technique will help (so you learn to identify those common `moving parts' more easily). It's something that I'd hope a good recipe to call out for you.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 19:29
|
|
|
That's very helpful, thanks!
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 19:41
|
|
|
I'm going to be making a nice dinner on Friday night, and the menu has been left up to me, with the only stipulation being that there will be a gin and tonic right at the start. With that in mind, I'd like to make a meal that would pair well with gin from a starter course, to a main dish, to a light dessert. However, the only thing I can think of is cucumber sandwiches and I don't see that going over well. I'd appreciate any suggestions you might have 
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 21:01
|
|
|
If you're starting your meal with a drink I'd also start with something that is somewhat crunchy and salty, maybe some gougeres with herbs and a finish of fleur de sel for extra crunch. I don't actually like gin very much so I don't have a ton of experience drinking/pairing it but I know that it is pretty flfor avorful so you will want to either use things that gently support the flavor of the gin or things that trumpet their acceptance of a shitload of juniper and pine and whatever else is in your gin of choice. Juniper tends to pair well with pork and game and I've been thinking about making one lately so I suggest a porchetta! here is a recipe that I found online and fiddled with a little: 1 bunch parsley 4 fresh thyme sprigs, stems removed 2 sprigs rosemary, stems removed 6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoon fennel seeds, slightly toasted 1 tablespoon red chile flake 1 1/2 teaspoons medium-coarse sea salt 1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper 1/2 tsp very finely chopped lemon peel (peel it with a potato peeler, try to get as much yellow with as little white as possible.) ~4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, skin on 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup dry white or red wine. score the skin deeply and salt it heavily mix in mortar and pestle or cuisinart everything but the pork and the wine. it should be a thick paste. smear this all over the hole where the bone came out* and then use string to tie the shoulder into a shape that looks like it would roast evenly, and smear all the rest of your paste on it. roast in a metal roasting pan in a 350 oven for an hour, then pour the wine into the bottom and continue roasting until internal is 140. rest 10-15 mins and slice to eat warm. OR do this a day before, leave it tied off and cool and chill, then slice and crisp the slices in a pan of hot fat to serve *If your piece doesn't have a natural cavity in it you can stab it a bunch with a paring knife, or be super fancy and cut it into a roulade (which is the most awesome for presentation especially if doing the chill-slice-crisp method) Protocol7 posted:That's very true. Pork that's cooked correctly should be juuuuust barely pink in the center, right? yes but it should also be rested (let to sit after being done cooking but before slicing) so cutting it open while cooking to see what color it is inside is contraindicated pile of brown fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Jul 31, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 21:26
|
|
|
Doh004 posted:I have a nice big container of red lentils. What should I make? Daal. Do I need to repost the exact explanation, or can you just post-stalk me to a few posts back in this thread, where I said more or less the same thing? @Tig Ol': If you want a healthier version, toss your extra firm tofu cubes in a bit of oil, and bake them on parchment lined baking sheet at 350F for 15 minutes, rotate your pans, and bake another 10 minutes. It won't be exactly like the restaurant's version, in that it'll be a fair bit less greasy, and a bit less wrinkly. However, it will take on a tougher skin, which means that you can go ahead and use it in your stir-fries and other such things.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 21:41
|
|
|
dino. posted:Daal. Do I need to repost the exact explanation, or can you just post-stalk me to a few posts back in this thread, where I said more or less the same thing? Excellent. I just have to pick up some tomato paste, cardamom and some flat bread! Thanks.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2012 23:04
|
|
|
Tig Ol Bitties posted:How do you get the wrinkly, chewy tofu like in Chinese restaurants? I have tried freezing, deep-frying, and dredging. Does it depend on the quality or firmness of the tofu? I usually go for firm to extra-firm. Should I slice and then freeze? Drain? Do you mean: 1.  2.  3. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 00:54
|
|
|
tarepanda posted:Do you mean:
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 02:21
|
|
|
tarepanda posted:Do you mean: What are the names/how do I make all 3 of these. I wanna do fun things with tofu.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 02:31
|
|
|
1. Agedofu Chunk the tofu, press each side of each chunk in potato starch, fry until it's a rich golden color. This is usually served with mentsuyu on the side as a dipping sauce. goes well with grated daikon in soy sauce, too. 2. Atsuage Same as 1, less starch. 3. Aburaage I don't actually know how to mak ethis -- it's one of the weird basics that you can buy in a store anywhere here and I've never had it homemade. You could try slicing tofu thin and frying it as-is. Sorry if all of this is less helpful than you hoped. :x
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 02:57
|
|
|
We usually steam vegetables every night due to its ease and retaining of nutrients. However the texture and blandness of steamed veg is starting to drive me nuts. Normally I'd probably steam and fry in something but the lady is on a calorie restricted diet for the next while. Suggestions for keeping things tasty without resorting to duck fat?
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 03:05
|
|
|
Salt, spices, some kind of sauce?
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 03:08
|
|
|
dino. posted:Daal. Do I need to repost the exact explanation, or can you just post-stalk me to a few posts back in this thread, where I said more or less the same thing? Doh004 posted:Excellent. I just have to pick up some tomato paste, cardamom and some flat bread! Thanks. Daaaaaaallllll  Thanks for the advice dino.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 03:27
|
|
|
ahmeni posted:We usually steam vegetables every night due to its ease and retaining of nutrients. However the texture and blandness of steamed veg is starting to drive me nuts. Normally I'd probably steam and fry in something but the lady is on a calorie restricted diet for the next while. Suggestions for keeping things tasty without resorting to duck fat? If texture is a problem, you're most likely overcooking the veg. If it's not a starchy vegetable, steam them until their color seems really vibrant, then serve or shock in ice water immediately. Properly steamed veg should be just tender to feel cooked, but still toothsome. I personally like my steamed veg to be on the slightly undercooked, crunchy side. As for flavor, if you're not on any sort of sodium restriction, there are a bevy of fun sauces and flavors you can toss onto steamed veg to make it exciting. Fish sauce or soy sauce, sesame oil and seeds, vinegar of all sorts, pepper flakes, minced ginger, minced garlic, thinly sliced scallions all can be combined in different ways to perk up steamed food. One basic thing you can do is something like 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, a teaspoon of cider vinegar, a teaspoon of sesame oil, and a scallion thinly sliced. Mix them all together, let it sit for a bit to let the scallion and garlic flavor permeate, then dip or spoon onto your veg. (It's a Korean sauce for pan fried tofu, but it works really well with steamed fish and veg of all sorts as well.) If you don't mind a strong garlic flavor, you can toss in half to a full teaspoon of minced raw garlic in there as well.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 03:30
|
|
|
ahmeni posted:We usually steam vegetables every night due to its ease and retaining of nutrients. However the texture and blandness of steamed veg is starting to drive me nuts. Normally I'd probably steam and fry in something but the lady is on a calorie restricted diet for the next while. Suggestions for keeping things tasty without resorting to duck fat? Chinese Oyster Sauce is a great for dark green veggies that are very vegetal in flavor.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 05:21
|
|
|
pile of brown posted:porchetta recipe I think I will halve that (it's two people) and will give it a go--thank you so much, pile of brown! I've never made gougeres before, so that could end badly, but I'll still try. I'll finish with strawberries and cream, I think. Thanks again!
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 06:41
|
|
|
ahmeni posted:We usually steam vegetables every night due to its ease and retaining of nutrients. However the texture and blandness of steamed veg is starting to drive me nuts. Normally I'd probably steam and fry in something but the lady is on a calorie restricted diet for the next while. Suggestions for keeping things tasty without resorting to duck fat? Dunno what kind of restricted diet your lady is on but I thought I'd throw out there that 1) many veggie vitamins only absorb properly accompanied by some fats and 2) it really takes very little fat to make veggies extra tasty. If you are using up fat calories on cooking your protein, consider using the pan you seared whatever in to cook up your veggies a bit. I do this all the time, especially when I've just seared a pork chop. Mmmm.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 09:23
|
|
|
This is a GWS/general cooking question, but here goes. I've just started reading GWS the last couple weeks or so. I've only recently started cooking for myself in the past couple years, mostly simple college stuff blah blah and been inspired to make better, more diverse food especially after reading the threads here. I guess my question is did a lot of the posters here go to culinary school? Although I'm sure it's unlikely some do/went, it just surprises me the level of detail that goes into a lot of the meals here. I don't consider myself anywhere near the level of what I see a lot of people posting here I'm curious how did you guys get to that level of cooking, understanding what tastes will go together, etc?
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 13:24
|
|
|
Just practice. Make new things all the time, get all the basic techniques down. I would bet the majority of people here didn't go to culinary school. Learning to be a good cook is not that difficult really. There are people here who have a serious talent above and beyond the rest of us but anyone can learn to cook well. Cooking's one of those things that looks like voodoo to people who don't know how to do it but isn't actually that hard. I'm a big believer in respecting the ingredient, so learning how to pick out what you cook with is a valuable skill. You can make amazing panty-droppin' meals with five ingredients that takes ten minutes to prepare if you pick the right stuff and use it properly. And don't be afraid to gently caress up. I guarantee even the super posters here gently caress up meals still, they just don't post about it. It's part of practicing. Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 13:37 on Aug 1, 2012 |
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 13:34
|
|
|
Any recommendations for good resources on knife skills and techniques rather than me just searching the internet? Also, I am assuming amazon is a good place to order nice knife sets?
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 16:02
|
|
|
THE MACHO MAN posted:Any recommendations for good resources on knife skills and techniques rather than me just searching the internet? I'm not a big knife guy but no. If you are buying a "nice" knife (which I take to mean over $50), then you want to feel it in your hand first. And you don't want a nice set, just start with the chef's knife and an OK set that you can use while you shop around for what you like. You can practice this handy maneuver with a lovely chef's knife from the set; it's a technique I picked up from unrenowned chef Eight-fingers Jaques: Pretend you are working with it at the counter and drop it on the floor. Step quickly away from the falling knife and let it hit the floor. Repeat until you no longer have the instinctual response to try to catch it. ------- Q: I thawed and opened a sealed chicken from my butcher and it smelled of sulfur. I re-froze it already, for later disposal, so the moment is gone but was that chicken bad? It didn't smell like rotten chicken, just a-little-more-than-faintly of sulfur. Very Strange Things fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Aug 1, 2012 |
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 16:10
|
|
|
Very Strange Things posted:Repeat until you no longer have the instinctual response to try to catch it. As someone who has instinctually caught a falling knife and as a result, has fewer tendons attached to his pinky finger, never try to catch a knife.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 16:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 20:23 |
|
|
Very Strange Things posted:Q: I thawed and opened a sealed chicken from my butcher and it smelled of sulfur. I re-froze it already, for later disposal, so the moment is gone but was that chicken bad? It didn't smell like rotten chicken, just a-little-more-than-faintly of sulfur. Vacuum sealed meats usually smell pretty bad when you first open them. Rinse it off with some water and it would have probably been bad. When meat is bad there will be no question about how badly it smells.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2012 16:38
|
|
