The cooking thread

[fluffy]

I thought "skirt steak" was the common euphemism for the delicious, tasty respiratory diaphragm.

[Märk]

'skirt steak' sounds dirtier than it should.

[Billy's Little Trip]

I thought "skirt steak" was the common euphemism for the delicious, tasty respiratory diaphragm.

I used to think the same thing. I'm still not 100% of the difference, but I have noticed flavor differences with different names, even though they look damn near the same. I asked a butcher about this once. Butchers ever contradict each other about it.

Ok, to the best of my knowledge. Flap and skirt are both the diaphragm. The diaphragm is obviously a muscle. Maybe the multiple stomach thing has something to do with it, I don't know, I just thought of that on my own, so don't quote me on it. BUT, the biggest reason for their different flavor is that the skirt meat is between the abdomen and chest and the flap meat is from the loin just like the hanger. I was also told that the flap is closer to the kidneys, so it is more flavorful. Maybe the flap and hanger are the same.

edit: Alton Brown usually knows this stuff. But couldn't find it from a search. But he did have this cool meat map.

I also did a google search. Holy crap, no two people seem to have the same answer.
I'm done!

...if only Alton were here.

[fluffy]

Sounds like they are different cuts of the same muscle. It makes sense that they'd have different flavors.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Todays topic. Bisquick
A versatile and convenient product

I personally love the stuff. You will always see a box of Bisquick in my cupboard. My best dumplings come from it as well as biscuits, coffee cake, waffles, pancakes, oven fried chicken that is almost as good as fried, but healthier AND my favorite and easy to make, muffins.

The biscuit recipe is so simple and can be used for so many things.
2 cups of Bisquick
2/3 cup milk or buttermilk

That's it! No rolling, no flouring. Just drop it by the spoon full on a cookie sheet, or in a muffin tin. Most of the time I grab a little and roll it into a wet sticky ball, drop the balls on the sheet and press it down semi flat if I want a more uniform shape.
Mix in what you want. Grated cheese, herbs, sautéed vegetables, garlic, pepper, spices, or and combo of the above.

My fav biscuits I've created:
Southwestern - Chedder cheese, jalapenos, cilantro and a dash of cumin. I'll spinkle a little grated cheese on top before baking for the visual.

Pepper and herb - Black pepper and I use fresh oregano, basil, rosemary and thyme from my garden.

Tomato Herb - Tomatoes finely chopped and squeeze out most of the liquid, then add dry Italian herb or fresh herbs. You can use the tomato liquid then add milk to get your 2/3 cup of milk.

My fav muffins:
Cinnamon Pecan - I use buttermilk for this when on hand, mix into the batter, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar. In the metal muffin/cupcake pan I butter each cup, add about a tablespoon of pecans and about a half tablespoon of brown sugar. Pour the batter over the pecans to fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake at a hot 450 on a middle rack until golden, around 10 minutes. Let cool some in pan. Finish with powder sugar and milk icing.

Apple Cinnamon - The same as above but use very finely chopped apples instead of pecans. Nothing wrong with using both, or walnuts.

Banana Nut - The same as above, but mash the banana and mix in the batter, then use walnuts on the bottom of the tins.

Fruit Filled - The same as above but I omit the cinnamon and nuts. After I pour the batter in the tins, I scoop about a tablespoon of preserves on top and kind of push it in a little. Use something with chunks of fruit, not just jelly. My orange marmalade muffins are awesome!

A full batch makes 12, so I put half in a zip lock freezer bag and refrigerate. They will stay great tasting for about a week. 20 seconds in the micro, and bam, fresh pastries.

[fluffy]

It's also pretty easy to make your own "Bisquick" mix which is just as convenient but costs less and doesn't have all sorts of crappy preservatives in it. For example.

Personally I don't see what's the big deal about just measuring out those individual ingredients when making something quick and easy though.

[Billy's Little Trip]

I've never gotten the same results when making my own. I have several of these cookbooks by this guy, can't think of his name right now, that gets a hold of secret recipes. I try them all the time for fun. One of them is the Bisquick formula. I believe that Bisquick uses a solid shortening, corn starch and cream of tarter with the baking soda as a leveling agent, by the way. Maybe it's the preservatives that makes it perfect every time. Besides, it really is convenient to open a box, in the process of cooking dinner. I have no problem with boxes, as long as they are as good as they are from scratch.
But feel free to make your own, Fluf. You can save a whopping nickel .

[Lord of Oats]

Seriously, fluffy. Amen to that.

Bisquick can kiss my dick.

I can't remember the last time I could be bothered to mix two ingredients, but five would have killed me.

If you're going to be a lazy assmuffin, at least buy self-rising flour...for almost the same price as regular flour, instead of whatever exorbitant price Bisquick is charging these days.

Aren't wheat prices already high enough without paying someone to stir in some subpar ingredients and put it in a box? But damn it, the trans fats and the aluminum-based baking powder are making me hungry already. Shit, you've convinced me. Bisquick is awesome. All hail Bisquick, king of the kitchen-handicapped!

[Billy's Little Trip]

Calm down Bisquick

[fluffy]

Shortening is crap. Use real butter. If you prepare it in a food processor with a proper technique then you'll get the nice fine crumb. Proper technique: Put the dry ingredients into the food processor, turn the food processor on, then drop cubes of butter in through the feed tube, one cube at a time. End result: a nice powdery mix.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Ooo, that's sounds like the ticket right there, Fluf! I'm sure it can be made in large batches and refrigerated.

Now I'm curious about the actual ingredients in Bisquick that makes it so much better than my dough. I was just looking for the famous formula book to no avail. I think that powdered buttermilk was used for the acidity to react with the baking soda. I just remember it has a few things that I'd never have on hand. I wish I could remember what they are. Riboflavin? I know that is just B2, but I wonder if it adds to the greatness of the Bisquick?

[fluffy]

They probably use cream of tartar, not buttermilk solids. Baking powder = baking soda + cream of tartar. When it gets wet, the two agents react with each other to provide leavening.

[Lord of Oats]

I think my biscuits are quite tasty. Here is what happens.

I mix baking powder, salt, and sugar into some flour. I mash in some butter with a fork or pastry mash thing. Then I put milk in it and stir it until it comes together. I take it out and knead it for a brief period of time, then I roll it out, cut it, and bake it.

If you have to cheat to make biscuits, you're probably going to hell.

Baking soda is basically optional. Baking soda reacts with acids to produce CO2. Baking powder is baking soda plus a powdered acid. When water hits that shit, weeeeeeeee. Milk is acidic, so like...some baking soda would add to the leavening power...but you'd still need baking powder to make them rise sufficiently. Buttermilk is like...more acidic than milk, so you can derive more of your CO2 from that, but I wouldn't ever eschew baking powder completely. And of course use Rumford; it's aluminum-free.

And yeah, fuck shortening. If rock stars die of heart disease, it's supposed to be from all the cocaine they did back in the day, not all the trans-fatty acids they consumed.

[opportunity to edit: bypassed]

[Lord of Oats]

And uh, riboflavin is already added to white flour, which is like, enriched as per federal law.

[Billy's Little Trip]

That's true, baking powder is self reacting because of the acidity of cream of tarter.
Bisquick REALLY reacts, though. That's one of the reasons that you have to mix it and get it right on the cookie sheet or in the tins. Otherwise it reacts in the mixing bowl and you don't get the best rise. When I use buttermilk, you can see it start growing in the bowl in less than a minute. BUT, the end result is awesome. Fluffy and moist, never doughy tasting or dry.

[fluffy]

Fluffy and moist

Cheeky!

[Billy's Little Trip]

Superhero and his nemesis.
Did you see Dr. Horrible?

[fluffy]

Of course. It was excellent.

[Billy's Little Trip]

It really was good. I hope Moist gets a spin off.

[Märk]

Chicken, Bacon, and Mushroom Fettucine Alfredo

Yeah, fry some chopped-up bacon, add chunks of chicken breast and mushrooms, some minced garlic, black pepper, continue frying till the chicken is cooked and the mushrooms are tender. Cover, and remove from heat.
Make alfredo sauce (butter, cream, garlic, parmesan)
Boil some fettucine noodles al dente, drain, toss with the sauce, put a large portion on a plate, a scoop of the chicken/musroom/bacon mixture on top, squeeze a 1/4 lemon on it, a bunch more parmesan, and salt and pepper. If you want to look all fancy-ass, put a pinch of parsley on it. Serve with garlic toast and beer. This is freakin' delicious.

"I'm turning you into poo!"

[fluffy]

You are going to kick yourself for not thinking about this when you read this suggestion:

Add some beer to the sauce before it reduces. Preferably the same beer you are drinking along with it.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Sounds really good. Mind if I add a little onion when frying up the chicken and shrooms? I have to over do stuff or I can't sleep at night. It's a sickness, really.