The flask was actually a remnant of a previous bender, it was set on the gaming table so the standing to the left of the picture wouldn't forget to take it home. We didn't combine whiskey and pudding. My D&D group will do some nasty culinary shit but we wouldn't sink that low.
So, anyone wanna throw out a suggestion for cooking with Brie? I think my mom's goal in taking me shopping on weekends when I'm home is preventing me from having to shop before about Valentine's Day. :P
Also, Tortilla, whiskey and pudding sounds like an interesting combination, if you tried flavoring vanilla pudding with the whiskey...
Hah. Just today I baked up some brie topped with apricot preserves and wrapped in puff pastry. Great stuff.
So, speaking of calorie counts... ;)Originally Posted by Mightynute
I made bagels, of the rosemary olive oil variety. Tasty, if a bit whole-grainy (the flour was a mix of all-purpose and whole wheat).
So I wanted to get better at cooking Asian, so I figured I'd refine my basics. First off was rice. Started off cooking 150 grams the way I'd normally do it; rice, water and salt in a pot. Cook until al dente.
Next I tried http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/20...he-essenc.html where you do a few more steps which actually make a pretty big difference. The end result is a lot less gloopy, perfectly cooked, and overall more fun to eat.
That's interesting. I've been cooking rice in a very similar fashion that I learned a few years ago when I was learning Indian food. I didn't realize that it was also basically the Japanese method for preparing rice.
Brown rice tends to be even more sticky than white, anyone know if this method gives similar results for brown rice and if there are any nutritional side effects (less fiber or whatever) as a result?
Oh I definitely think it'll help. You're washing away the starch, which is essentially sugar.
Chicken and dumplings. I won't even attempt to feign modesty because mine are fucking epic.
On the other hand, they're three hours of constant work, so I only make the dish a couple of times a year.
Nice. :D Banana bread in a tart pan. The whole apartment smells like it, which also helps to clear out the smell of last night's dill-garlic focaccia.
Beef stock.
We got a beef quarter a while back. We're getting down to the last few steaks and roasts, so I figured I'd better do something with the soup bones before we order another quarter.
I took the bones, tossed them (still frozen) into roasting pans, and stuck them in the oven at 400 degrees for a couple hours. They turned a beautiful, dark mahogany color, and let out a rather amazing amount of tallow. I chucked the tallow in the trash, which is probably a waste, but I don't really have a use for the stuff.
The next day, the bones went into our two largest pots with a lot of water. When I got home, they'd been simmering for about 12 hours, and the house smelled indescribably beefy.
The resulting stock is gorgeous. It's deep, deep brown, thick, and swirls around gelatinously when you stir it. It's got the same relation to storebought boxed stuff that fresh-squeezed orange juice does to Tang.
Tonight, I'm going to turn some of it into onion soup. I can't wait.
I've never made beef stock before, so I'm just tickled at how beautifully it turned out.
Nice, try adding vegetables too. Onions, carrots, leeks, bouquet garni etc. Add these when you have something like 40 minutes left of the oven time. You can also coat the bones in tomato puree using a pastry brush or something. This intensifies flavor.
So the past three days I've been trying to learn how to do Chinese hand-pulled noodles. You can take a look here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUIv3-p28uQ for a demonstration. I've been going by this recipe http://www.scientificpsychic.com/mind/noodles.html
On the first day I used my standard kneading technique, which I kept going at for a good 30-40 minutes. The dough didn't change as much consistency as I'd have liked, but I let it rest for a few hours, which was essential back when I made strudels. I rolled it out and did the whole twirling around thing, which I suppose improves elasticity. I definitely got it thinner, but it was still resisting quite a lot. Eventually it snapped and I just tossed the whole thing in the oven.
Day two and I watch a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ26q...eature=related) that explains that I have to knead it differently. I do this for a while until it seems clay-like, as described in the video. I then roll and twirl it around like they do in the other videos, but eventually it got all tough and wouldn't stretch much at all. It eventually snapped, and once again went into the oven. This time I got it to a finger thickness or so.
Day three and I knead longer. I'd say 3 x 15 minutes with a bit of resting in between. It didn't feel elastic enough to do the quick pulls they do in the videos, but after a lot of tugging I got it pretty damn thin.
Anyone tried this molecular cruisine starter kit yet?
No but I really should pick up one of those. I would've liked it to include Ultratex 3 or 8, which is a thickening agent used a lot at places like Alinea. You can probably save a few bucks by buying the ingredients and stuff individually at places like http://www.willpowder.net/ but the DVD looks pretty neat too.
Baked a nice basil-tomato pie based on tomatoes and three kinds of basil from my balcony (from the freezer... it's kind of chilly right now).
Took a picture before adding eggs and cream, because it looked nicer:
There's a homemade prebaked dough with herbs in it (oregano, thyme and rosemary), a pesto with added dried tomatoes, 4 kinds of cherry tomatoes a genovese basil and a lemon basil and then a ordinary mix of eggs, cream salt and pepper.
It was kinda runny underneath, so next time I'll cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze some of the juice out - on the other hand the tomatoes were wonderfully sweet to bite into and I don't want to lose that.
Last edited by Hans Lauring; 01-24-2011 at 03:22 AM.
I've never heard of that Hans, but it definitely sounds good! Tomato/basil pie, hmm...
Shortbread (bottom) / frangipane (almond filling) / raspberry cake. Pretty easy and fast to make.
Based on what was at hand, I ended up making a quick sauerkraut with sausages and potatoes. It was pretty much all we had left in the fridge as ingredients for dinner.
I cut up the potatoes and steamed them. I would have preferred a waxy potato but we had russets, so russets it was. I sliced a big onion, and half a head of cabbage. I cut up the sausage and browned it in a pot. After some good browning, I removed the sausage and softened in the onions in the same pot in the sausagey oil. (mmmm... sausagey...). I then poured in some cider vinegar to deglaze the pot. The cabbage was then dumped in along with salt, pepper, and caraway seeds. This cooked on a simmer for about 30 minutes with occasional stirring. At some point, I ended up adding water to dilute the vingary taste and because the pot was starting to get dry. Towards the end, I decided to add some chicken stock as well.
I stirred back in the sausage, and added the potatoes, and let it cook for another 10 minutes or so. Served up glopped on a plate, it didn't look pretty but it was yummy.
Based on what was at hand, I ended up making a quick sauerkraut with sausages and potatoes. It was pretty much all we had left in the fridge as ingredients for dinner.
I cut up the potatoes and steamed them. I would have preferred a waxy potato but we had russets, so russets it was. I sliced a big onion, and half a head of cabbage. I cut up the sausage and browned it in a pot. After some good browning, I removed the sausage and softened in the onions in the same pot in the sausagey oil. (mmmm... sausagey...). I then poured in some cider vinegar to deglaze the pot. The cabbage was then dumped in along with salt, pepper, and caraway seeds. This cooked on a simmer for about 30 minutes with occasional stirring. At some point, I ended up adding water to dilute the vingary taste and because the pot was starting to get dry. Towards the end, I decided to add some chicken stock as well.
I stirred back in the sausage, and added the potatoes, and let it cook for another 10 minutes or so. Served up glopped on a plate, it didn't look pretty but it was yummy.
My wife is really into dessert pies right now. I'm going to share this with her because it looks so yummy, almost like dessert.Baked a nice basil-tomato pie based on tomatoes and three kinds of basil from my balcony (from the freezer... it's kind of chilly right now).
Took a picture before adding eggs and cream, because it looked nicer:
There's a homemade prebaked dough with herbs in it (oregano, thyme and rosemary), a pesto with added dried tomatoes, 4 kinds of cherry tomatoes a genovese basil and a lemon basil and then a ordinary mix of eggs, cream salt and pepper.
It was kinda runny underneath, so next time I'll cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze some of the juice out - on the other hand the tomatoes were wonderfully sweet to bite into and I don't want to lose that.
I was trying to make pineapple preserves...left the kitchen for a bathroom break, and came back to find them just about burned. But what's left in the pot smells and tastes almost like pineapple-ginger molasses. Think it's salvageable as that? And if so, do I go about the regular canning procedures, or should molasses be handled differently?
Short ribs.
I had never cooked short ribs before, but I had two packages of them in the freezer and it was time to figure them out.
The traditional method of preparation in the west appears to be a braise, but I didn't feel like that so I tried grilling them instead. I cut the meat into thinnish slices, pounded them a bit to make them flatter than my mediocre knife skills had produced, salted, and charcoal grilled them for about two minutes per side. Served with a little bit of sauce made from parsley, olive oil, and vinegar.
Amazingly tasty. Short ribs might just be heading up to sit next to tri-tip as one of my favorite cuts of meat.
Anything that tastes good is salvageable, and pineapple-ginger molasses sounds good to me! I'll bet there's something involving cookies that you could do with that.
Real molasses is shelf-stable, so no canning needed. What you have probably isn't, though, so I'd say go with the usual canning process.
Short ribs make for amazing hamburgers, too.
Anything that has a high enough water activity and low enough pH to be shelf-stable is cannable in basically the same way, IE without a pressure canner. I would use smaller jars though, since you're likely to use less at a time. If the preserves were going to be safe, though, the reduction will be just as safe.
Also, if you can find a butcher who'll bone them out for you, they make the world's best pastrami.
Mmmmmm.
Interesting. I may need to try this.
So I read about something that sounds amazing last night - caramelized white chocolate.
You basically put it in a pot, put that in the oven at about 130c for 45 minutes, removing it to stir occasionally. I have to do this, and I think I'll make a ganache and use it in macarons, maybe using pistachio instead of almonds. Hmm!
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