|
In medieval villages, people would traditionally leave bunches of cilantro on the doorstep to protect the home. In the legend, forums poster The Midniter would be compelled to strip the leaves by hand and thus be caught by the rising sun at dawn. If you haven't got the patience to hand-strip herbs, you can use the serrated nutcracker thing between the handles of most kitchen shears. Just feed the stalks through, twist your hand a little to engage the stalks in both sets of teeth and apply a little friction, and pull. I'm not sure exactly what those nutcracker things are actually for, but they work fine for stripping cilantro or parsley or whatever.
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 16:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 00:25 |
|
|
Cilantro is cheap as poo poo. I don't bother to pluck. I grab the bunch and use a knife to strip off whatever enough leaves I need then I save the stems to throw into stock.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 16:42
|
|
|
hogmartin posted:I'm not sure exactly what those nutcracker things are actually for 
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 17:38
|
|
|
I must be ultimate lazy. I take the cilantro still in its bundle and its plastic bag, unwrap the head part and just rinse the part I'm going to use under the sink. Slap it on my board, and mince whatever I need straight out of the bag. Throw the rest with the plastic bag back into the fridge. But I use a shitton of cilantro in just about everything so.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 17:59
|
|
|
I always thought it was for opening stuck bottle caps, but I guess they work for both... 
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 18:26
|
|
|
I use them on lobster/crab
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 18:27
|
|
|
I hold a bundle upside-down over whatever I want cilantro on and go to town with the shears, Edward Scissorhands-style 
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 18:33
|
|
|
Can you guys help me improve my chicken fajita marinade recipe so the chicken doesn't taste like bland poo poo? • 2 cups beer (Shiner Bock) • 3 limes, juiced • 6 garlic cloves, peeled, smashed & then chopped • 3-4 serrano peppers, halved & then sliced • 1/4 cup soy sauce • 2 Tbsp brown sugar • 1 Tbsp pepper • 1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional) • 2 tsp cumin • 1 tsp salt • 1/2 tsp chili powder • 1/2 tsp garlic powder • 1/2 tsp onion powder
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 19:41
|
|
Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:Can you guys help me improve my chicken fajita marinade recipe so the chicken doesn't taste like bland poo poo? Try less beer, it might be thinning everything else out.
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 19:52
|
|
|
I feel like the stems have more flavor... they just don't look as pretty when they're mixed with chopped leaves. Sometimes I'll make a little salsa of minced cilantro stems, toasted sesame seeds and pickled ginger in olive oil, it's pretty and tasty
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:11
|
|
|
pile of brown posted:I feel like the stems have more flavor... they just don't look as pretty when they're mixed with chopped leaves. Sometimes I'll make a little salsa of minced cilantro stems, toasted sesame seeds and pickled ginger in olive oil, it's pretty and tasty Maybe they do have more flavor, and it's just the thin tubule of plant matter against my tongue versus a broad leaf of cilantro making contact with many more taste buds which could lead me to interpreting the leaves as having more. Regardless, I prefer the consistency of the leaves (but have been known to be lazy and chop all that poo poo up together).
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:19
|
|
|
Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:Can you guys help me improve my chicken fajita marinade recipe so the chicken doesn't taste like bland poo poo? Try home roasting/grinding your own chili powder. It is really easy to do and makes a huge difference. I'd roast your own cumin alongside it too.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:29
|
|
|
MORE CUMIN
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:45
|
|
|
Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:Can you guys help me improve my chicken fajita marinade recipe so the chicken doesn't taste like bland poo poo? Drink the beer, then add more cumin and chili powder, as well as lots of paprika and some mexican oregano if you can get it (a little european oregano will work too).
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:47
|
|
|
I don't think you need any beer in that marinade.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:48
|
|
|
Yeah the soy sauce and lime juice should provide all the liquid needed.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 20:54
|
|
|
yup, just look up alton brown's fajita marinade. you've got most of the same stuff as it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 21:15
|
|
|
The beer is a staple ingredient. I can't remove it altogether. I'm trying to emulate a restaurant recipe here. I should point out that the last time I made this marinade, I left out the soy sauce, and the chicken was bland as gently caress. Not sure how much leaving out the soy sauce contributed to the lack of flavor, but there you go.
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 22:19
|
|
|
well A don't leave out a high-flavor ingredient like that B, maybe pump up your spice quantities. if you want a good flavor in your cooked meat, the marinade needs to be pretty drat strong; imo it's hard to go over, as long as you don't let the meat sit overly long
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 22:21
|
|
|
Soy sauce has a bunch of salt and MSG, so it makes things taste better.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 00:07
|
|
|
One recipe for pan fried chicken nuggets called for heating up olive oil in a saucepan and (deep?) frying pieces of chicken breast. I tossed in about 1.5 to 2 cups of olive oil, enough to cover about halfway up the nuggets. It splattered a whole bunch and made a mess, but it was working well enough. The smoke detectors almost immediately shat their pants. I had to open the windows and turn on the vent hood to get them to shut up  It wasn't the first time I've set off smoke detectors, it happens regularly whenever I use the oven (gently caress if I know why), but this time was particularly annoying.I did some research and apparently what happened is that the olive oil reached its smoke point and started, well, smoking. That's what set off the smoke detectors. I know the recipe called for semi-deep frying in olive oil, but am I actually supposed to use it for frying stuff? Should I be using some other kind of oil instead? Also, how do you fry things anyway? I was always taught to put no more than a tablespoon of oil in a pan, even if you're making something like chicken cutlets or anything breaded. I assume it's healthy to do so, but my milanesa always comes out undercooked on the sides when I do. Was I taught incorrectly?
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 00:12
|
|
|
Yeah you shouldn't fry in olive oil as it has a low smoke point. Also you can use more than a tablespoon the amount of oil you use doesn't really cause it to be unhealthy by itself.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 00:22
|
|
|
Lower grades of olive oil can give you maybe 100ºF more before they reach their smoke point than extra virgin will. Maybe your oil was too good? Olive oil isn't cheap anyway, and I find a lot of the flavor is too subtle to do much in frying. A cheaper grade of olive oil might help. I probably would have ignored the instructions and just used peanut or canola since I don't really have cabinet space to keep frying (canola or peanut) and lower-grade olive oils on hand.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 00:27
|
|
|
I made some boneless skinless chicken thighs yesterday. I treated them like breasts, but they are a lot different. How should I cook them?
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 00:52
|
|
|
Diced and stir-fried is nice, they cook basically the same as diced breast that way. If you want them whole, they do well with a sugar/honey, soy, ginger, and sesame marinade under a broiler since they're already butterflied. e: try: 1/2c soy sauce 2 tbsp brown sugar 2-3 cloves minced garlic grated fresh (or frozen) ginger root to taste toasted sesame oil Mix everything but the oil, put it in a ziplock bag or marinade tray with the chicken. Leave it in the refrigerator for 1 hour, shaking and rotating twice. Drain the marinade, rub the chicken with some sesame oil, and put it on foil on a sheet tray (more moist) or on a rack inverted over a foil-lined sheet tray (more dry/grilled). Put it under the broiler (maybe 6" under the element on the oven) for about 5 minutes per side. If they're butterflied and laid flat, that should be fine. I use the toaster oven for this so if you only have an oven, use your intuition and senses and a thermometer. hogmartin fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Apr 15, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 01:14
|
|
|
22 Eargesplitten posted:I made some boneless skinless chicken thighs yesterday. I treated them like breasts, but they are a lot different. How should I cook them? Chicken stew. You should be able to scrounge up the Cook's Illustrated recipe for it somewhere online.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 01:37
|
|
|
Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Drink the beer, then add more cumin and chili powder, as well as lots of paprika and some mexican oregano if you can get it (a little european oregano will work too). About how much cumin, chili powder, and paprika would you recommend for that amount of liquid? I'm thinking at least 1-2 Tbsp of each? EDIT: I may need to cut about half a cup of the beer for space-saving purposes.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 02:23
|
|
|
22 Eargesplitten posted:I made some boneless skinless chicken thighs yesterday. I treated them like breasts, but they are a lot different. How should I cook them? Cook them using whatever method you want; just use a thermometer. I cook breasts to 150 and dark meat such as thighs to 165. Luckily, they are MUCH more forgiving than white meat and won't dry out nearly as quickly or as noticeably thanks to the higher fat content.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 15:17
|
|
|
I'm trying to recreate a dish I used to order from Szechuan West in Ann Arbor, the ta chien chicken. I found a recipe at http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2011/06/sichuan-chicken-dish-fit-for-artist.html that gets the flavor almost right, but Szechuan West had much more of a glaze on the chicken, not just a dusting of starch. Does anyone know how to get that glazed effect?
Zorak of Michigan fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Apr 15, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 20:49
|
|
|
Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Mix your corn starch into an ounce or two (that's it!) of liquid. Soy, stock, whatever. ⅛ or ¼ tsp of corn starch won't do much though. Go for a tablespoon or two. Get your sauce boiling in the wok, then give your slurry (that's what it's called) a good stir to get everything in suspension. Then, while stirring the sauce in your wok, pour in your slurry. Keep stirring until the sauce comes to a boil. Maybe this will help? It looks like the recipe you linked gets the starch involved before the sauce is even put together.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 21:16
|
|
|
Zorak of Michigan posted:I'm trying to recreate a dish I used to order from Szechuan West in Ann Arbor, the ta chien chiken. I found a recipe at http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2011/06/sichuan-chicken-dish-fit-for-artist.html that gets the flavor almost right, but Szechuan West had much more of a glaze on the chicken, not just a dusting of starch. Does anyone know how to get that glazed effect?
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 21:27
|
|
|
High heat imo. Not sure you'll be able to replicate a restaurant wok using medium as the recipe auggests
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 21:31
|
|
|
The Midniter posted:Cook them using whatever method you want; just use a thermometer. I cook breasts to 150 and dark meat such as thighs to 165. Luckily, they are MUCH more forgiving than white meat and won't dry out nearly as quickly or as noticeably thanks to the higher fat content. I understand if you've never cooked chicken before, but surely once you have an idea of how long things take and what cooked looks like, you can forgo the thermometer? I've never used one, and I sort of think they're for people who worry too much...
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 21:46
|
|
|
How long can I leave raw chicken breasts in the freezer before they go bad?
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 22:02
|
|
|
Years
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 22:04
|
|
|
Scientastic posted:Years Unless they are packed improperly and end up with too much freezer burn. Although they are of course still safe to eat.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 22:13
|
|
|
Thanks guys!
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 23:21
|
|
|
DekeThornton posted:Unless they are packed improperly and end up with too much freezer burn. Although they are of course still safe to eat. And even then, just shred the gently caress out of them and cover in BBQ sauce.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 23:42
|
|
|
baquerd posted:And even then, just shred the gently caress out of them and cover in BBQ sauce. The truth. Or a stew. Vacuum sealers are a pretty good tool for preventing freezer burn, that's how hunters can keep game frozen for months after they've taken it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 23:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 00:25 |
|
|
Scientastic posted:I understand if you've never cooked chicken before, but surely once you have an idea of how long things take and what cooked looks like, you can forgo the thermometer? I've never used one, and I sort of think they're for people who worry too much... If you own a food thermometer, and you should, even if by your rule you only use it the first few times to figure out how to cook something to temp, then there's no reason not to do the easy step of using it every time and protect yourself and your guests from getting sick. And your food will taste better. You can hit medium rare every time!
|
|
#
?
Apr 16, 2016 00:38
|
|