Food & Recipes thread

[starcaptain]

Who here cooks? What do you like do cook? What do you find challenging about cooking or baking? Do you have any recipes to share, or recent triumphs to post in the culinary arts?

I don't think of myself as a gastronome, but I do enjoy taking on a challenge every once and a while. Earlier this year I tried making souffles. 

How about you?

Edited November 14, 2020 by starcaptain

[Spacescifi]

On 11/8/2020 at 8:42 AM, starcaptain said:

Who here cooks? What do you like do cook? What do you find challenging about cooking or baking? Do you have any recipes to share, or recent triumphs to post in the culinary arts?

I don't think of myself as a gastronome, but I do enjoy taking on a challenge every once and a while. Earlier this year I tried makikng souffles. 

How about you?

 

I am not a cook per se...I just experiment when hungry and SOMETIMES what results actually tastes good.

I forget the actually ratios but:

A can of pumpkin.

A single small box of cornbread mix.

2 eggs.

2 fourths a cup of wheat flour to mix in,

Mix it altogether well

Bake in the oven until it it looks done.

Result: I forget the exact ratios, but if you manage them just right (which I did by accident), it will taste not unlike pumpkin pie! Just more crumbly.

 

Spaghetti: No recipes but I hate premade spaghetti sauce.

Chop up some onions, add olives, garlic, and heat up in a pan with canned tomato sauce, add some chopped tomatoes to it and after preparing the pasta and meat, add that fresh sauce of your own. You cannot go wrong. Less sodium than totally premade sauces too.

Fresh is the best!

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Spacescifi

[cubinator]

Mealworms today! Late instars fresh from the bin of high quality grain.

Freeze them for a while to kill them in the most painless way possible

Cook in a pan with a little olive oil at a low temperature until crispy. High temperature makes them 'pop', which is not much fun. 

It's hard to tell when they're crispy (I don't think there's really a dedicated 'bug-grabbing' utensil? I'll have to invent one...) but they start to look translucent as the fat bodies shrink and the exoskeleton becomes hollow. At that point they're pretty much good. You can mix them with anything you would put nuts on and it will most likely taste great.

[tater]

Gotta figure out what I'm making for dinner tonight with 2 friends coming over.

[starcaptain]

5 hours ago, tater said:

Gotta figure out what I'm making for dinner tonight with 2 friends coming over.

Try making a rice pilaf.

Pilaf is basically making rice vanilla, but with soup stock instead of water. For added goodness, fry up some veggies first, integrate well with the broth, then take an appropriate amount of the veggie/broth mix to use for the liquid to make the rice. Or meat too if you're into it. 

Here's a recipe from Canadian Living Magazine:

•  2 tablespoons butter
•  2 tablespoons vegetable oil
•  1 cup chopped carrots
•  1/2 onion chopped
•  1 clove garlic minced
•  1/2 teaspoon ground cumin optional
•  1/4 teaspoon pepper
•  1 cup long grain rice (such as basmati)
•  2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
•  1 cup frozen peas
•  1 cup thinly sliced broccoli floret
•  1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. In large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; cook carrots, onion, garlic, cumin and pepper until onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Add rice; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
2. Stir in stock and bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes. (If using brown rice, leave heat on low and simmer for 40-60 minutes).
3. Add peas, broccoli and parsley; toss with fork. Cover; let stand for 5 minutes.

Makes 4 servings.

Optional options: carrots, celery (cook at the same time as onions); spinach (cook around the same time as the broccoli, until wilted).

[tater]

I've done a few rice dishes in the past. Biryani, and paella. I ended up deciding on picking simpler protein (fast cooking), and some roasted veggies tonight, as I don't have a lot of time. My stupid governor is shutting down the state again (because doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is sane), so my wife and I drove up to Santa Fe and had lunch at The Compound (old school fancy restaurant up there) before restaurants are shut down again for 2 weeks (wonder if any will survive).

My only limitation for dinner tonight was that it go with red wine, lol. Literally just got home and it's almost 4.

I have been cooking a lot this week with my wife's friend here, made steak au poivre (and frites) one night (mushroom soup as a starter), and a New Mexico classic, green chile stew—beef or pork, onions, garlic, a lot of roasted green chile (~equal to protein in weight) and some spices (cumin, oregano, etc).

Edited November 15, 2020 by tater

[tater]

So my farther in law turns 90 next week, and my wife asked what he wanted to eat for his birthday if he could have anything. He said Beef Wellington.

As I made it before a few times at Christmas, I was volunteered.

Since it’s been a while, and I don’t like being surprised, I made it tonight so I’d have it fresh in my mind when I have to make it for 8-9 people.

Worked pretty well, was delicious. For the real event I will go to the butcher, not the grocery store and get a better trimmed center cut than I got this time (actually, I suppose I need 2).

[TheSaint]

Late entry: For Christmas this year we made a standing rib roast with Alton Brown's recipe here. Honest to God, that was the most delicious thing I have ever cooked within the four walls of my house. The next day we sliced the leftovers thin and heated them in jus and made French dip sandwiches. Those were the second most delicious things I have ever cooked within the four walls of my house. It was seriously unreal. Instant new holiday tradition.

Edited February 10, 2021 by TheSaint

[tater]

^^^that looks pretty delicious.

Mmmmm, Yorkshire pudding.

[razark]

On 2/9/2021 at 9:48 PM, TheSaint said:

Late entry: For Christmas this year we made a standing rib roast with Alton Brown's recipe here.

My father has made a roast beef every Christmas as long as I can remember.

This year, I found one at the store for half off, so shortly after New Year's, I made my first attempt.  I got my instructions from AB, but from his youtube video.  It turned out very good.  However, I've decided that I need a popover pan to make individual Yorkshire puddings.

[Gargamel]

Just picked up a crock pot cookbook and another one by that angry chef guy, the cool one.   Anyways, I realized how much I missed real books, and I’ll post up any of the recipes that are really good. 

[Starhelperdude]

The only thing I can ''cook'' is an omelett, but I'm like the best ''spicer of omeletts'' and other food in a 20 KM radius

 

[kerbiloid]

4 hours ago, Starhelperdude said:

The only thing I can ''cook'' is an omelett, but I'm like the best ''spicer of omeletts'' and other food in a 20 KM radius

 

Don't worry.
All you need on Mars is boiled potatoes.

And you still will be the best potato boiler in 0.5 .. 2.5 AU radius.

Edited February 11, 2021 by kerbiloid

[StrandedonEarth]

Egg bites: just mix up an omelette and pour it in a muffin pan or any other bite-size pan and bake. Store in the fridge (let cool first and not in a sealed container  or they sweat) for breakfast on the go, just needs a few seconds in the nuker. 

My wife has become a Pampered Chef consultant, so we have the deluxe air fryer which makes fantastic (if small, <4lbs) roasts on the rotisserie, among other things. Then there’s the quick cooker (pressure cooker) and the cooking blender, plus a zillion other dooodads. Can’t wait until their new griddle arrives (sample for the consultants); it’s basically an evolved George Foreman grill on steroids. 

[Hannah Schubert]

When it comes to cooking, one of the biggest challenges can be getting the timing right, especially when it comes to dishes that require multiple steps or components. Baking can also be challenging, as it often requires precise measurements and timing to achieve the desired results.  However, these challenges can also be what makes cooking and baking so rewarding, as it allows you to learn and improve your skills in the kitchen.

[kerbiloid]

8 minutes ago, Hannah Schubert said:

Baking can also be challenging, as it often requires precise measurements and timing to achieve the desired results.

Spit on the pan and see when it gets dry.

[Spacescifi]

12 hours ago, Hannah Schubert said:

When it comes to cooking, one of the biggest challenges can be getting the timing right, especially when it comes to dishes that require multiple steps or components. Baking can also be challenging, as it often requires precise measurements and timing to achieve the desired results.  However, these challenges can also be what makes cooking and baking so rewarding, as it allows you to learn and improve your skills in the kitchen.

 

Or if you have time and obsess over it you can literally watch the cooking and adjust it accordingly.

 

Of course... I mainly cooked breakfast and spaghetti and burgers... all of which cook so fast you really can just eyeball it... except the noodles anyway.

[Stelari]

I love cooking and baking.  Recently, I've discovered Magnolia Bakery which is particularly known for its classic American-style cupcakes in a variety of flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet. The bakery also offers cakes, pies, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies, and other baked goods, as well as coffee and other beverages.

 

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Stelari

[StrandedonEarth]

On 2/13/2023 at 4:27 AM, Hannah Schubert said:

precise measurements

My wife has started making bread and cinnamon buns (and also making me fat(ter)) with her new stand mixer, and she quickly learned that the best weigh way to measure stuff (especially flour!) is to weigh it. There are some good websites out there for volume <-> weight conversions of every cooking/baking ingredient.

[18Watt]

1 hour ago, StrandedonEarth said:

the best weigh way to measure stuff (especially flour!) is to weigh it.

Best kitchen purchase I ever made was a kitchen scale.  In addition to flour, I find measuring salt for fermenting vegetables by weight much more accurate and consistent. 

[TheSaint]

So, I made Eggs Benedict for breakfast this morning. First time making Hollandaise sauce, first time poaching eggs. It was...hectic. The sauce broke. Twice. (Great tip: if you whisk in some cold water you can recover the sauce after it breaks, it just ends up a little runny.) The eggs turned out okay after I realized that we live at 5,000 feet so they need to cook a little longer than everyone tells you to cook them. On the whole, it did not totally suck. I might do it again. Someday.

[StrandedonEarth]

Adventures in food time:

So Wednesday morning my wife got up before I left for work to try her hand at sourdough bread (she was given a starter by a friend), so I asked her to make yogurt since she had time before she went to work. She declined, but when I got home from work the yogurt cycle was running, yay! But when I actually opened it to strain the whey, I found that it was just warm, bubbly milk. She was puzzled, so I asked her what she used for culture, and she got quiet. Oops! That's what happens when one is up early and the coffee hasn't circulated yet; she forgot to add last weeks whey to start the culture (I saw the container, untouched, in the back of the fridge before asking her).

Okay, can I save half a gallon of milk, sugar, and Mexican vanilla? I threw in some whey and restarted the timer....

The next morning, it was.... unusual. Normally it's jelled together with not much visible whey. This time, there was a layer of whey on top of what was basically yogurt emulsion: it was kind of like a thin (runny) mud instead of a blob. So I put the lid back on and went to work. I may have discovered how they make drinkable yogurts like Yop.

When I came home, it was basically the same, so I shrugged and set it to strain overnight, as usual. Usually when that is done it's the consistency of Greek yogurt; this was more like paste, or, uh, thick mud. it's more tangy than usual due to the extended culturing, but it hasn't made me sick, so I guess I saved it. I'll blend in some frozen berries and it's good to go.

Oh, and the sourdough turned out pretty good, despite being a tad overcooked. Practice makes perfect, and the starter is growing like mad...

 

[TheSaint]

The Sunday dinner menu tonight is smoked turkey (which has been in the fridge dry-brining since Wednesday night), baked potatoes, salad, and homemade cherry pie.

[tater]

super useful.

[Aerodynamic Kerbal]

Recipe thread, huh?

Hmm... Not really a recipe, but still food

If you want something fast and delicious to make, you can make a sandwich with cream cheese and tomatoes. For 1 you need:

• 1 bread slice
• Cream cheese (I use Philadelphia, but it doesn't matter)
• 2 tomato slices (depends on bread and tomato size)

First you put some cream cheese on the bread. Then the tomato slices. Eat. Make some more. Eat it. More. Eat it. Eat it. Eat it.

You could put some pesto on it if you want