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Has anyone tried infusing beetroot and horseradish into vodka? I could see it making excellent bloody marys.
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Sep 24, 2011 10:12
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I'm cooking for a party of about ~30 people and I was thinking about smoking some pork ribs, but there's a burn ban in effect for the party site. My plan is to smoke them ~3 hours at home, chill them, and finish them in the oven the next day at the party. Is there any reason this wouldn't work? I'd hate to show up with mediocre ribs.
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Sep 24, 2011 16:58
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What are the best cuts for a med-rare steak?
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Sep 24, 2011 17:10
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JGdmn posted:What are the best cuts for a med-rare steak? Totally subjective. With beef, there is a bit of a trade off: you can have either buttery soft, or a lot of flavor. GoWithChrist ruined my only decent sauce pot (my pots and pans are a motley collection). There are mountains of black carbon all over the bottom, and they are as hard as concrete. My usual trick is to soak overnight in a concentrated solution of dish washer detergent, but that did nothing. Anything other then a wire wheel I could try?
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Sep 24, 2011 17:46
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Squashy Nipples posted:My usual trick is to soak overnight in a concentrated solution of dish washer detergent, but that did nothing. Anything other then a wire wheel I could try? We had a pot that my wife was reducing maple syrup in that turned into carbon. I think we soaked it for 3 or 4 days. Each day, I would try to remove a little bit. By the 4th day it all came off in huge chunks.
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Sep 24, 2011 18:16
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I just grabbed a nice little 3 pound pork shoulder on a whim as I passed by the local butcher. I just made a batch of pulled pork recently, and didn't really want to do that again. Is there any way to cook pork shoulder so that it's carvable, rather than pullable, but not incredibly tough? Would a brine work? I've never brined anything before, but I'd be willing to give it a go.
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Sep 24, 2011 18:49
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Squashy Nipples posted:GoWithChrist ruined my only decent sauce pot (my pots and pans are a motley collection). There are mountains of black carbon all over the bottom, and they are as hard as concrete. In my defense, his burners are confusing. The substance was white rice, if that helps any. Also, the internet suggests emptying a bottle of ammonia into it, covering it, and leaving it outside for a few days. Preferably somewhere Pookie won't find it.
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Sep 24, 2011 18:59
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Go with Christ posted:In my defense, his burners are confusing. The substance was white rice, if that helps any. Ammonia sounds like a bad idea based on my dimly recalled chemistry classes. Hydrogen peroxide is recommended by another place and that seems like it would make a nicer reaction all around. Another option is to hose the pot down with oven cleaner and leave it for a couple hours before attacking it with a scrubbie pad. Finally, this site uses an acid reaction that may work pretty well: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/cleaning/how-to-clean-burnton-stains-from-stainless-steel-cookware-home-hacks-107750 Good luck!
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Sep 24, 2011 19:14
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JGdmn posted:What are the best cuts for a med-rare steak? Filet Mignon Ribeye New York Strip Those are the big three. For rare/midrare steaks to be tender you'll spend a lot of money. I'm not a big filet guy, I prefer a bone in ribeye. The filet is very tender but not as flavorful as either the strip or the ribeye.
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Sep 24, 2011 19:26
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Does anyone have a good recipe for Pho? I'd even settle for just the magical broth. I've tried some of the recipes I've found on google but they didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. I'm thinking about getting a part time gig at my local Pho place just to steal the recipe.
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Sep 24, 2011 22:00
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All right, gonna give this another shot: So, I'm still struggling with adding vegetables to my diet. The closest I've gotten is the Green Monster smoothie, but 1) it doesn't nearly meet the daily requirements, and 2) it's too tedious. I can also manage a raw carrot, but it's similarly tedious and not particularly satisfying. Vegetables I can tolerate* Spinach (but only in a smoothie) Carrots Tomatoes (but only if it's liquefied--I loathe the texture) Mushrooms Sugar Snap Peas Onions (granted, my main exposure has been fried) Vegetables I do not like at all Celery Bean Sprouts Asparagus Broccoli I've also tried roasting parsnips, turnips, and zucchini, but they all end up tasting the same: not good. Meanwhile, salads do nothing for me (and I hate dressing). I've gotten advice before to try cooking vegetables in different ways, but I know next to nothing about cooking--and absolutely nothing about cooking vegetables (aside from the aforementioned roasting, but again, it's not any good). Furthermore, I have difficulty working up the motivation to prepare something that I'm not fairly sure will taste good. Basically, what advice do you guys have for a newbie chef with a reluctance against vegetables? *These are not comprehensive lists; I might be forgetting some things.
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Sep 24, 2011 23:16
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Squashy Nipples posted:Totally subjective. With beef, there is a bit of a trade off: you can have either buttery soft, or a lot of flavor. Scrub and continue until black disappears. I've cleaned a lot of burnt-to-poo poo pots at work this way, it might take a few tries and some elbow grease though.
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Sep 25, 2011 00:04
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CoolZidane posted:Basically, what advice do you guys have for a newbie chef with a reluctance against vegetables? Got any friends that are good cooks? Go to their houses and eat. Eat everything that they prepare even if you "know" you don't like it. Just shut your noise hole for a bit and eat what's in front of you. Repeat this with different friends and make some notes as you go. What did they make that you enjoyed? What was seriously awful? I've got a suspicion that many of the veggies you don't like are because you haven't had them prepared in ways that make them shine. Or, you'll find out that when they are in a dish it's fine but not so good raw. Me, I don't care much for eggplant. I don't like the texture or the taste particularly. If it's being cooked by really brilliant folks then I can eat it but it is a veggie I won't buy or prepare for myself. I only know this because I've had it in dishes, by itself and prepared by several different cooks. I just don't care for eggplant. I hope that if you are put in a position where it would be rude to refuse what's put in front of you then it will help expand your culinary horizons a bit. And if not, well at least you ate some veggies.
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Sep 25, 2011 00:18
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CoolZidane posted:Vegetables I can tolerate* Mushrooms are fungi, and while they taste great, don't contribute much in terms of nutrition. Have you considered the squashes? Butternut tastes like pumpkin, acorn can be prepared either sweet or savory depending on your mood (butter and brown sugar vs. olive oil and parmesan), and spaghetti squash can be used as a good pasta replacement. Chayote is lightly sweet and crisp and kind of like an apple. If you can deal with onions, try shallots and leeks for flavoring soups, sauces, and other dishes. Try rhubarb! Fennel if you like licorice! Roasted beets (I'm seriously drooling now)! Personally I'm a big fan of the bitter veggies like endive and radicchio, though I don't think I've ever encountered a vegetable I don't like. I even dig through all the weird stuff at the Asian markets looking for new flavors. Wait a minute, I'm not a big fan of chickpeas, but I'll eat them if put in front of me.
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Sep 25, 2011 00:26
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CoolZidane posted:Basically, what advice do you guys have for a newbie chef with a reluctance against vegetables? A few years ago, I came to the realization that if people have eaten certain foods (that I didn't like for whatever reason) on a regular basis throughout history, it had to be because they are actually good, and that my taste was what was wrong and broken. After I came to this realization, it was all about acquiring tastes for me. My worldview changed from "That's not good, I don't like it," to "I'm sure it's good, why don't I like it?" and made it a habit to try things that I thought I didn't like, over and over again, until I did. Prime examples that I am glad I am over my hatred of: Eggplant, Beets, Sauerkraut, Tripe, Tendon, Fennel, Cilantro, bitter greens, and the list goes on. The short answer, and I mean this in the nicest way possible: Life's too short and there are too many delicious things in the world for someone to waste their time being picky. Get over it...
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Sep 25, 2011 01:55
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I don't understand how someone doesn't like bean sprouts. They don't taste like anything. They're crunchy. Same with celery.
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Sep 25, 2011 02:45
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CoolZidane posted:Basically, what advice do you guys have for a newbie chef with a reluctance against vegetables?
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Sep 25, 2011 03:05
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A tasty way to enjoy a bunch of veggies at once... Via Argentina, I made this carbonada criolla: Small pumpkin stuffed with corn, shallots, fire roasted tomatoes, nectarines, and assorted spices. 
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Sep 25, 2011 03:16
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Is there a smoothie thread? Or does anyone have recommendations for smoothie ideas? I just made one with a banana, greek yogurt, vanilla whey powder, milk and kombucha squash with a lil ginger/cinnamon/allspice sprinkled in there. Pretty good, prettttay good.
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Sep 25, 2011 03:32
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JGdmn posted:What are the best cuts for a med-rare steak? I did a sirloin last night. Not marbled like some of those in the steak thread, had the butcher cut it about 1-1.5 inches thick. It was thickest at the streak of fat on one side. I made oven wedges, stuck the cast iron pan in the oven for maybe 30 minutes total before it went on the (electric) hob. A little bit of beef dripping then just on the side of fat until it was going crunchy and there was a lot of rended fat. 3 minutes per side, onto a plate into the 200^C oven for 3 minutes then 5 minutes rested. Absolutely perfect in terms of medium rare. Only issue I'd say is while there was a very nice crust, it looked a bit burned in places? Maybe this was because I peppered the steak before frying but it didn't really affect the flavour. Was the best steak I've ever eaten though. I salted it about 2 hours before cooking
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Sep 25, 2011 03:58
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Squashy Nipples posted:Totally subjective. With beef, there is a bit of a trade off: you can have either buttery soft, or a lot of flavor. Soaking, as dem said, is probably the best method. A good strength hydrogen peroxide solution would work well, too. If it's high temp safe, toss it in the oven and turn it on a clean cycle. Most of the carbon will flake out after that.
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Sep 25, 2011 04:32
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MrZodiac posted:Does anyone have a good recipe for Pho? I'd even settle for just the magical broth. I've tried some of the recipes I've found on google but they didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. I'm thinking about getting a part time gig at my local Pho place just to steal the recipe. The thing with pho is that it's not very cost effective to make at home because of how cheap giant bowls of it are in restaurants. On top of it, it's just never quite as good as restaurants, no matter what you do. Sure, it's very tasty to make at home, but given those two factors I rarely make it myself. Of course, it you live 30 miles from your nearest Viet restaurant, then go for it. It's fun and tasty regardless. Here's the recipe I've used: http://worthhersalt.com/archives/94 The spices in the broth are very important, use star anise, cinnamon and cloves for sure. Some recipes add others. Also key is to char the onions. Use plenty of beef soup bones, and simmer the stock all day. If it doesn't really taste right when you're almost ready to eat, try adding more fish sauce.
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Sep 25, 2011 05:36
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Jose posted:I did a sirloin last night. Not marbled like some of those in the steak thread, had the butcher cut it about 1-1.5 inches thick. It was thickest at the streak of fat on one side. I made oven wedges, stuck the cast iron pan in the oven for maybe 30 minutes total before it went on the (electric) hob. A little bit of beef dripping then just on the side of fat until it was going crunchy and there was a lot of rended fat. 3 minutes per side, onto a plate into the 200^C oven for 3 minutes then 5 minutes rested. Absolutely perfect in terms of medium rare. Only issue I'd say is while there was a very nice crust, it looked a bit burned in places? Maybe this was because I peppered the steak before frying but it didn't really affect the flavour. Was the best steak I've ever eaten though. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3225278 72 pages of people arguing about steak + a lesson in how not to attempt Ducasse. Congrats on discovering the simple secret to amazing steaks every time! Hot cast iron pan sear and oven finish is really the only way I eat them anymore unless I happen to be at a bbq or whatnot. Your exact timing will depend on how hot your stove gets and how thick you like your steaks, but once you've got it down your cardiologist will curse you. Cast Iron: It may outlive you, but that doesn't mean it won't try to kill you faster regardless.
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Sep 25, 2011 05:48
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Go with Christ posted:In my defense, his burners are confusing. The substance was white rice, if that helps any. You need some vinegar in there too..
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Sep 25, 2011 06:36
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Crusty Nutsack posted:The thing with pho is that it's not very cost effective to make at home because of how cheap giant bowls of it are in restaurants. On top of it, it's just never quite as good as restaurants, no matter what you do. Sure, it's very tasty to make at home, but given those two factors I rarely make it myself. Of course, it you live 30 miles from your nearest Viet restaurant, then go for it. It's fun and tasty regardless. Also black cardamom & corriander seeds. You can buy packs of 'beef soup herbs' in most asian markets. It's not cinnamon either btw, it's vietnamese (or saigon) cassia.
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Sep 25, 2011 09:17
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benito posted:Mushrooms are fungi, and while they taste great, don't contribute much in terms of nutrition. Are you insane? Mushrooms are really nutritious. Don't disparage my beloved fungus with your mealy-mouthed criticisms! Even the humble button mushroom is astonishingly good for you. It is high in protein and B vitamins, counting as one of your five a day. It's a source of iron, potassium and selenium, and contains as much antioxidant power (if you believe in that sort of thing) as spinach! Even if you ignore the fact that mushrooms are really good for you, they are also very high in fibre and promote a healthy bowel. It is irritating when people call them vegetables, though.
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Sep 25, 2011 12:09
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zerox147o posted:http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3225278 Yeah, posted it in here since that thread is dead and the guy wasn't sure. Cuts of meat in the UK are different so I'm not entirely sure what sirloin is for the US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirloin_steak Has a helpful picture guide of where the meat comes from.
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Sep 25, 2011 14:01
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Today is Sunday and I'm making a white chicken chili for company on Tuesday. Due to a crazy schedule, I need to do my cooking today. Will it be ok to store the chili in the fridge for two days or should I freeze it? Will it make a difference?
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Sep 25, 2011 15:18
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CrystalRose posted:Today is Sunday and I'm making a white chicken chili for company on Tuesday. Due to a crazy schedule, I need to do my cooking today. Will it be ok to store the chili in the fridge for two days or should I freeze it? Will it make a difference? Yes it will make a difference, it will give time for the flavours to come together and make it taste better. Go for it, no need to freeze.
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Sep 25, 2011 15:35
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I like to exercise before my classes, which means I don't eat breakfast before I head out. I also live far enough from campus that it's too much of a hassle to get back from the gym, eat breakfast, and head back. This means bringing a lot of easily transportable food that's good at room temperature. Breakfast sandwiches, fruit, etc. Yesterday a friend dumped a shitload of quick oats on me. Probably 3-4 pounds. The reason was "so you can make cookies", but there's no way in hell I'll be able to burn through all of them. So I was thinking of trying to make some kind of oatmeal biscuit or cake or something that I can easily store and eat for breakfast. Where would be a good place to start? My plan was to just mix some with water and salt and spices and bake, but something tells me I'm missing something really important here.
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Sep 25, 2011 17:41
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My mushroom box did jack poo poo all year, and now after I'd given up and ignored it for three weeks I find it's given me this:   They certainly look like winecaps, which is what the box was seeded with. However, these are my first ever mushrooms, so I'd appreciate some confirmation that they're not some deadly look-alike before I poison myself with them. I'm in Wisconsin if it matters.
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Sep 25, 2011 18:16
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I've just started Uni recently - and I really need some help in learning how to cook/plan shopping on the cheap. This might be really basic for a thread like this, but what do you really ensure that you have in your fridge for every week? (besides like milk, eggs, butter and bread) I've found that I only really have enough to make just pasta and a basic tomato sauce for evening meals, but doing that every single day with no vegetables is likely to gently caress me up in the long run. and any good cookbooks that you all can recommend?
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Sep 25, 2011 19:52
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Averrences posted:and any good cookbooks that you all can recommend? Ratio and How to Cook Everything are great places to start. If you want something a bit more time consuming but absolutely amazing (and not substantially more difficult) then Anything by Thomas Keller would be awesome. Ad Hoc at Home is a fantastic cookbook for very, very good home-style food.
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Sep 25, 2011 20:01
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Just an update, the Root Beer cake was a big hit! The cake was a lot denser than I thought it would be, the icing didn't taste ice creamy enough for me but other than that it was good. The MIL loved it!
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Sep 25, 2011 20:07
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alucinor posted:My mushroom box did jack poo poo all year, and now after I'd given up and ignored it for three weeks I find it's given me this: Google how to take a sporeprint. And acquire,via library or whatever, a mycology field guide. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Sep 25, 2011 |
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Sep 25, 2011 20:13
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Averrences posted:This might be really basic for a thread like this, but what do you really ensure that you have in your fridge for every week? (besides like milk, eggs, butter and bread) I've found that I only really have enough to make just pasta and a basic tomato sauce for evening meals, but doing that every single day with no vegetables is likely to gently caress me up in the long run. Onions, garlic, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. All are very, very useful in a wide variety of dishes and last a long time. You don't have to refrigerate any of them, either, which saves on space. Broccoli and spinach are also really nice things to have if they're cheap where you live. I also like having zucchini and yellow squash, but don't buy either very often. One of the cheapest ways to eat a lot of healthy, delicious food is soups. Carrots and celery work really well in them, so make sure you have some of each. Also stock up on lentils and beans, which are both good soup bases and have a lot of other uses. In the end the question boils down to this: what vegetables do you like? Buy those and learn to cook them. Most of them are actually really easy; pretty much any vegetable can be cooked by putting it above a little boiling water, dropping it in a lot of boiling water, dumping it on a skillet, or shoving it in the oven. As you get better at putting/dropping/dumping/shoving you'll learn how to best cook each vegetable and what works well for you. As for cookbooks, I'd second How to Cook Everything. That's how I learned how to cook. It emphasizes simplicity and flexibility and actively encourages messing with the recipes. It's a lot of fun. Not The Wendigo fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Sep 25, 2011 |
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Sep 25, 2011 21:11
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Can I use freezer-burned meat to make jerky? I figure since I'm going to be marinating it for a couple of days then drying it out, it shouldn't matter too much that it's freezer burned. Confirm/deny?
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Sep 25, 2011 22:54
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razz posted:Can I use freezer-burned meat to make jerky? I figure since I'm going to be marinating it for a couple of days then drying it out, it shouldn't matter too much that it's freezer burned. you can if you want to, but it will taste less like meat and more like your freezer does. Averrences posted:This might be really basic for a thread like this, but what do you really ensure that you have in your fridge for every week? (besides like milk, eggs, butter and bread) I've found that I only really have enough to make just pasta and a basic tomato sauce for evening meals, but doing that every single day with no vegetables is likely to gently caress me up in the long run. I think this thread will go as basic as anyone wants to go, so don't worry about it. As far as pantry/fridge stocking, it depends on the cuisine you tend to cook more often. For instance, I usually have a large quantity of things like ginger in mine, which to some people, would be more of a buy-as-needed item. If you're just starting in cooking, pick a cuisine that you would like to learn, and build a pantry around it, then you can branch out to closely related foods, for instance italian -> spanish. As far as veggies are concerned. If you live close enough to the grocery store, you might want to consider just buying less, but more often. Certain veggies just last longer in the fridge than others, too. Kale/Collards last for a very long time, cilantro is on the way out the door practically the day you buy it. Others, honestly, don't need to be refrigerated at all, squash, potatoes and other root veg, peppers, tomatoes, all should stay on the counter and consumed as quickly as possible. Also, certain vegetables are actually better froze, more often than not. Peas are a prime example of this. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Sep 25, 2011 |
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Sep 25, 2011 23:11
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I want to make pasta with standard red meat sauce. I have some zucchini and crookneck squash I'd like to use. Can I work them into a tomato based meat sauce somehow? Grate them? Worried about waterlogging the sauce, I suppose I could grate them, salt them to suck out moisture then add to the sauce for some additional bulk?
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Sep 25, 2011 23:39
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I like turtles posted:I want to make pasta with standard red meat sauce. I have some zucchini and crookneck squash I'd like to use. Can I work them into a tomato based meat sauce somehow? Grate them? Worried about waterlogging the sauce, I suppose I could grate them, salt them to suck out moisture then add to the sauce for some additional bulk? Grate the zucchini, add a tsp or two of salt, let it sit for ~10 minutes. Wring it out with paper towels or a colander or by hand or whatever. Throw it in a frying pan over medium heat to crisp it up a little bit further and then toss it in your sauce. Would probably work if you just chopped it into quartered slices as well depending on your texture preferences. There is a lot of water in zucchini, but you can manage to get it out if you're patient.
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Sep 26, 2011 00:41
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