Share or Learn New Recipes / Cooking Tips

[Dan-O from Five-O]

Hoblit, are you a cook? I've been wanting to start a thread on this topic. Does anybody care to share some good recipes?

Yes, I'm a cook. One could argue I've always been one too. I loved cooking even as a child. Not just because I can flip burgers at Gameworks but because I can make Hollandaise. (not from a can either) I mean to say that I do know how to make a great deal of food. I don't want to be confused with someone who can only flip burgers and make salads to spec.

But what I want to really say is that I TOO HAD THE SAME IDEA (although, a long time ago) and it would simply be awesome to have a thread for this very thing.

(also, could we get the strike code back?)

So by the demand of at least 2 people, here we go. I made this last night and it rocked. If you like spicy food, you'll love this. Some tips not mentioned in the recipe:

1) When making the roux, be patient. It's better to melt the butter slowly and increase the heat incrementally when you add the flour. If it looks like you just made a peanut butter colored glob, you did but wait because it gets better as the rest of the ingredients go in.

2) Watch your clock on cooking the vegetables. You can undercook those and still be alright at the end by letting them simmer longer. Overcooking can't be undone.

3) Same thing with the seasonings. Better to under season now, and add a little more later. You can't undo what you've already added. To that end as well, if you have the ingredients to make Emeril's "Essence" it's actually a little better. If you're just starting out or on a limited budget, you can buy the stuff pre-made in the store.

4) I also like to add some sort of sausage like Kielbasa even though this brings it a little closer to being a Jumbalaya, I like the extra substance. If you're more of a veggie fan, delete both. It's kind of like music; add and take away what you like.

5) Pull out the Bay Leaves before serving. This may be obvious to some, but just to be on the safe side I thought I would mention it.

6) Women love musicians. Women really love musicians who can cook. It's a double whammy so to speak. (Let the sophmoric humor follow)

Oh and Hollandaise from a can sounds gross.

[bz£]

SEVEN SEAS VIVA ITALIAN salad dressing is my #1 secret tech. Use in place of olive oil when stir-frying, making sauces, marinades; pretty much anywhere. Perhaps in a day or two when I sober up I will add more useful stuff, but that stuff is the awesome.

[jack]

SEVEN SEAS VIVA ITALIAN salad dressing is my #1 secret tech. Use in place of olive oil when stir-frying, making sauces, marinades; pretty much anywhere. Perhaps in a day or two when I sober up I will add more useful stuff, but that stuff is the awesome.

i agree. use it with swirly pasta, add sun dried tomatos, fresh basil and mozzarella, or maybe some french feta, black olives......

instant meal. a variation on mac and cheese.

[Caravan Ray]

Last night I made larb gai (Thai chicken salad) an old favourite of mine.

1. Cook some minced chicken
2. Mix 2 tbls each on nam pla (fish sauce) and lime juice - add some finely sliced red birds-eye chillies (seeds removed), kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass - add to chicken.
3. Mix the whole lot up with diced red onions, fresh coriander leaves, fresh mint, crushed peanuts, shallots, grated fresh ginger.
4. Serve in cups of baby cos lettuce leaves - and eat. More nam pla with hot chillies floating in it may be added to taste.

IMPORTANT - mint, coriander, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves mush be fresh!!..And fresh means they must be growing just outside your kitchen door and you cut them just seconds before you need them and you RUN, don't walk, RUN back to the kitchen to add them.

[Freddielove]

Very cool, thanks.

We just had larb gai the other night at a place down the steet, we had never seen it before. Seen larb na a lot, but usually don't get that bc I don't eat beef.

EDIT

Actually, I was thinking of yum neua, which is beef, so we had yum gai then, not larb gai, whatever.

[Hoblit]

A very simple raspberry vinegarette.

-1 1/2 parts red wine vinegar
-1 part extra virgin olive oil (evoo, I love you Rachel, oh why did you marry)
-3 or 4 large basil leafs (if assuming 3 cups of oil/vinegar)
-1 or 2 shallots (or half a white onion)(if assuming 2 1/2 cups of oil/vinegar)
-salt and pepper to taste.
1/2 part sweetened raspberry juice (you may juice raspberries and sweeten it yourself-if you do this make sure to strain the seeds)

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chiffinade the basil, (place the leaves on top of each other, roll them, and then cut them against the roll) and mince the onion.

If you have a food processor, this is where you'd mix all the ingredients together and emulsify them. (sp?) If using fresh raspberries, you still want to strain the juice first otherwise you'll end up with annoying seeds or if you strain later you will lose the basil and onion.

If you don't, no worries, just beat them all together with a whip. Perhaps adding the salt and pepper last to taste. Let sit. Overnight perferably but at least a couple of hours. You may have to stir before serving.

Notes: This recipe is for a very subtle raspberry flavor. Some people get a little weird about raspberries in their salad or marinades. Personally I'd add a bit more raspberry flavor to this...try it you may like it. Also, a particularly good substitute for raspbery juice can be any canned frozen juice. You can turn this raspberry vinigerette into pinapple orange vinigarette or mango or...you see where you can go with this. Obviously the more you make the more basil and onion you'll want as well.

[Hoblit]

I've also wanted to write a cook book for college kids.

So, you may see me write a few recipes here for items that can be made out of the crap that most people keep in their refridgerator and wouldn't think to use in a 'fancy' recipe.

good example:

Adding oil and small amounts of sugar and vinegar to peanut butter. If you have nutmeg or ginger (left over from christmas cookies?) use small amounts of this to. Mix them together delicately, cook under very low heat, and constantly tasting to make sure you get a good flavor and consistancy. You'll need to add just a little bit of water but be sure not to over do that. My friends, Thai Penut Sauce.

so what, I can make peanut sauce...big deal

YES, but I KNOW YOU HAVE RAMEN NOODLES IN YOUR CUPBOARD! (any noodle will do. Spaghetti, or Linguini are most perferable.)

cook off some ramen noodles, run them under cold water and completely drain. Toss noodles in your peanut sauce. You can eat them right away or you can chill them.

You have a thai noodle salad. Eat with soy sauce if you have it. Also, back at the rinse and chill part, check if you got some peas (canned or frozen) or any vegetable that would go well in this type of dish. Just make sure to rinse and drain those too. You don't want no nasty water in this.

also, do not fret if sauce breaks a little in chilling process, just toss again thorougly.

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I've a million of these.

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Of course, this isn't the BEST peanut sauce and there is a bit more to peanut sauce than these particular ingredients But this is a quick, probably what you got at the house already, type of recipe. Quick! impress your girlfriend!

[bz£]

I've also wanted to write a cook book for college kids.

Hah, I even used to imagine myself doing a tv show along those lines whilst making dinner. As though I was Rachael Ray except not annoying.

Things worth investing in:

1. A good knife. One is probably enough. You don't have to chop shit up like Martin Yan but almost everything you cut should be effortless. It's actually safer to use a razor-sharp knife because you won't be pushing too hard on it, which is when it would slip and lop off a few fingers. I mean, you still have to be careful, but, after all, fingers grow back eventually, right?

Okay, you'll actually want multiple knives, for all sorts of special circumstances, but one good general-purpose cleaver-type thing is worth it.

2. A good, hand-held can opener! Because a crappy one isn't worth the effort. And an electric one is the nastiest thing ever-- they're too hard to clean, so nobody does. The contents of whatever can you're opening do get into the sharp, turny parts, and then into whatever can you open next. It's a vicious cycle of yuck.

3. A pepper mill. There is an absolute world of difference between freshly ground pepper and what you normally get out of a pepper shaker. And it is totally classy.

[mkilly]

I picked up this book and I think very highly of it. If I were to give any tips they're just verbatim from that, so ... I won't, but I do recommend it. It doesn't have everything (pretzels and doughnuts are two omissions I've noticed), but it is a huge book with a great many recipes anyway. A lot of the recipes are based around a food processor, though, but after having made bread by hand several times and then making it with that a few times I'm very much a convert.

[roymond]

I will contribute some recipes soon, but in the meantime I thought I'd put this out there:

1 - there is a difference between olive oils. Learn this and love it.

2 - sea salt is different than table salt. Use this where the salt is more exposed (salads, pan-fried fish, etc.). Use table salt in regions that are iodine deficient

3 - fresh herbs trump ground herbs in most, but not all, cases

4 - listen to those who recommend at least one good-quality chopping knife

5 - Thai food is a great way to get into fun flavors. Visit your local chinatown for fresh or hard-to-find items. Then move on to Indian...Hunan...

6 - fresh turmeric root stains even stainless steel. Never mind your hands, which will take a week or so to clear up. But it's worth it

[Caravan Ray]

1 - there is a difference between olive oils. Learn this and love it.

Amen.

Buy a bottle of the very best cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil you can afford. In fact - get a better job, deal drugs, prostitute yourself or steal your neighbours DVD - just so you can afford better olive oil. Then all you ever need for a gourmet meal is a loaf of bread.

DO NOT use it to fry your chips (or freedom fries) in.

[HeuristicsInc]

easy two-step way to make your stir-fry taste better/more asian:
1. instead of spraying the pan, or using vegetable oil, use sesame oil
2. add a bit of rice wine while cooking
tastiness ensues!
-bill

[Hoblit]

totally cool @ all of the asian references. Nice. Didn't know that many of ya'll had any tastes.

Thai food is the best stuff on earth.

Also, don't be afraid of fruit.

and you are always just jelly/jam and honey away from a great glaze.

[blue]

awesome quick home-made BBQ sauce:

ketchup
chili powder
honey

[Leaf]

Ah yes... I go with ketchup, a dab of mustard, brown sugar and maple syrup.

Gonna add the chili powder next time. Nice.

[HeuristicsInc]

back in the dark ages or something blue posted a recipe for fish tacos. do you still have that?
-bill

[roymond]

Also, don't be afraid of fruit.

I have a mean mango-swordfish thing going on...

Some favorite fruit:
tomato, cucumber, eggplant, peppers...fruit rock!

[Caravan Ray]

Also, don't be afraid of fruit.

I have a mean mango-swordfish thing going on...

Mango season starts soon!!! HUZZAH!!

Sadly - the house I live in now doesn't have a mango tree in the backyard. I had one last year - it was great - as long as you got the mangos before the flying foxes got to them

The mango is definitely the King of the Fruits

[Hoblit]

yes, mango is my favorite fruit.

[deshead]

1. A good knife.

4 - listen to those who recommend at least one good-quality chopping knife

Great advice. And just as important, learn how to use it ...

[Dan-O from Five-O]

Here's a great recipe for pulled pork. It takes a long time to do, so I recommend it as a weekend project, but it so worth the effort. Oh and you'll need a good smoker for this as well.

Ingredients:

6 to 8 pound Boston butt (Pork Shoulder) Don't ask me why they call a shoulder a butt.

Brine:
8 ounces or 3/4 cup molasses
12 ounces pickling salt (Kosher or table salt will work)
2 quarts bottled water (Unless you have really good tasting water where you live. I don't.)

Rub:
1 teaspoon whole cumin seed
1 teaspoon whole fennel seed
1 teaspoon whole coriander
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon paprika

Combine the molasses, salt, and water in a medium sized cooler, taller than wider at the base. (The one I use will hold 8 cans on the bottom and 16 total when double stacked if that's a better reference) Add Boston butt to the brine after you're sure the brine is mixed well and the salt is disolved. Cover the pork with about a half to 3/4 bag of ice still in the bag, and let sit for a minimum of 8 hours. 12 hours is ideal. The ice will keep the meat and brine refrigerated and the meat submerged.

Place cumin seed, fennel seed, and coriander in food grinder and grind fine. (I have a small coffee grinder I use for this only) Transfer to a small mixing bowl and stir in chili powder, onion powder, and paprika.

Remove the Boston butt from the brine and pat dry. Sift the rub evenly over the shoulder and then pat onto the meat making sure as much of the rub as possible adheres. Using rubber gloves while you this might help a little..

Preheat smoker to 210 degrees F. Place Boston butt in smoker and cook for 10 to 12 hours, maintaining a temperature of 210 degrees F. Begin checking meat for doneness after 10 hours of cooking time. Use fork to check for doneness. Meat is done when it falls apart easily when pulling with a fork. Once done, remove from pot and set aside to rest for at least 1 hour. Pull meat apart with 2 forks and serve as sandwich with coleslaw and dressing as desired. Maybe try Blue's or Leaf's quick BBQ sauce with it.

[WeaselSlayer]

Does anyone here not eat meat? Or am I just a big hippy.