What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[turbo]

Sounds delicious! I love chocolate, hazelnuts and raspberries.

What's not to love?

 

[alexg]

I've been making a lot of guac lately, and using it where ever I would use mayo.

 

[Borek]

Sounds delicious! I love chocolate, hazelnuts and raspberries.

I would add raisins.

 

[turbo]

I would add raisins.

Evo will ban you!

 

[Evo]

I would add raisins.

AAARRRGGH!

Evo will ban you!

That *is* a banable offense.

 

[rollcast]

AAARRRGGH!

That *is* a banable offense.

What's wrong with raisins they make a lot of things better.

Take an apple tart for example, raisins in there takes what was just an ordinary pie to a new extra ordinary level, also a bit of lemon juice, cinammon and orange zest helps as well.

 

[lisab]

If you soak them in rum first (or a spirit of your choice), raisins become something even an anti-raisin person could love :!).

 

[Evo]

What's wrong with raisins they make a lot of things better.

Take an apple tart for example, raisins in there takes what was just an ordinary pie to a new extra ordinary level, also a bit of lemon juice, cinammon and orange zest helps as well.

It's a joke about my intense dislike for chocolate covered raisin candy. They're an abomination.

 

[Monique]

Oohh, I like chocolate covered raisins, but I don't want raisins in my chocolate cake!

And I made the cake and it was DELICIOUS! actually the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted: the middle was still a gooey chocolate paste and the outside was crisp. It was best without the raspberry coulis, I thought it distracted from the intense chocolate flavor. We managed to eat half of the cake, which was quite a feat. It was actually quite nauseating melting almost equal amounts of chocolate and butter, but that feeling disappeared when a silken chocolate mixture appeared out of that :)

As a starter I made pea soup and as a main herb crumbled roast tomatoes with spinach and ricotta cannelloni. My guests rated me above a 4.5/5 star (TripAdvisor rating) restaurant that they visited the day before, so I can end the day on a good note

 

[Evo]

Oohh, I like chocolate covered raisins,

NOOOO! Et tu Monique?

And I made the cake and it was DELICIOUS! actually the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted: the middle was still a gooey chocolate paste and the outside was crisp. It was best without the raspberry coulis, I thought it distracted from the intense chocolate flavor. We managed to eat half of the cake, which was quite a feat. It was actually quite nauseating melting almost equal amounts of chocolate and butter, but that feeling disappeared when a silken chocolate mixture appeared out of that :)

As a starter I made pea soup and as a main herb crumbled roast tomatoes with spinach and ricotta cannelloni. My guests rated me above a 4.5/5 star (TripAdvisor rating) restaurant that they visited the day before, so I can end the day on a good note

YUM!

 

[Borek]

Oohh, I like chocolate covered raisins

 

[Evo]

It's...it's...it's just so wrong...

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Crock of baloney stew

My father told this joke on more than one occasion and it certainly was funny the first time. He said that he crossed an abalone with a crocodile in hopes of getting an abadile, but all he got was a crock of baloney. And since this is the primary electioneering season, I thought it would be appropriate to cook up a big batch of the stuff.

1.17 lbs of stew meat, as marbled as you can get.
4 carrots.
3 potatoes. Potatoes come in different sizes so you can substitute 4 potatoes as long as the total volume comes to the same as 3 potatoes.
Mushrooms.
1 Bell pepper. Cause I can't eat onions.
1 can of sweet corn kernels.
Some water.
Some wine. The less water you use, the more wine you will need. I tend to use a drop of water, but not too large a drop.
Curry powder. Not too much, and not too little, but just right for your own taste.

Sear the meat, cut the veggies, put all the ingredients in the crock pot. Set it and forget it. Oops, is that considered plagiarism? Republicans and Democrats alike will be relieved to hear that no baloneys were harmed in the production of this stew.

I've never actually tasted this stew. I just got it started. I'll find out tonight how it tastes. My wife is sure to say it tasted good though. She'll just be relieved she didn't have to cook tonight and will be reluctant to throttle my budding efforts at cooking.

 

[Evo]

Crock of baloney stew

My father told this joke on more than one occasion and it certainly was funny the first time. He said that he crossed an abalone with a crocodile in hopes of getting an abadile, but all he got was a crock of baloney. And since this is the primary electioneering season, I thought it would be appropriate to cook up a big batch of the stuff.

1.17 lbs of stew meat, as marbled as you can get.
4 carrots.
3 potatoes. Potatoes come in different sizes so you can substitute 4 potatoes as long as the total volume comes to the same as 3 potatoes.
Mushrooms.
1 Bell pepper. Cause I can't eat onions.
1 can of sweet corn kernels.
Some water.
Some wine. The less water you use, the more wine you will need. I tend to use a drop of water, but not too large a drop.
Curry powder. Not too much, and not too little, but just right for your own taste.

Sear the meat, cut the veggies, put all the ingredients in the crock pot. Set it and forget it. Oops, is that considered plagiarism? Republicans and Democrats alike will be relieved to hear that no baloneys were harmed in the production of this stew.

I've never actually tasted this stew. I just got it started. I'll find out tonight how it tastes. My wife is sure to say it tasted good though. She'll just be relieved she didn't have to cook tonight and will be reluctant to throttle my budding efforts at cooking.

You can't go wrong with beef and red wine. Are you using red curry? I *love* red curry with beef.

 

[Evo]

So, how was the stew? It sounded like a twist on the classic boeuf bourgignon.

 

[netgypsy]

Cooked raisins are disgusting!

In any recipe that calls for heating chocolate and butter over hot water you can instead heat them in the microwave until the butter is liquid and some of the chocolate is still solid. At that point remove from the microwave and stir the mixture until the remaining solid chocolate also melts. This mixture should be cooled to room temperature before adding to eggs or it can actually cook the eggs and make the end product tough. And when it says unsalted butter, it does make a difference even if you add salt later in the recipe. Another trick is to bring the eggs to room temperature before using them. We used to put them in our pockets to warm them faster. The cake recipe sounds wonderful - have to try it.

 

[Monique]

The cake recipe sounds wonderful - have to try it.

And I'm still enjoying it. I froze the left over cake and slowly defrost slices every other day. For the finishing touch I heat it in a low oven, to melt the interior slightly and regain a crispy crust. I had made up my mind to next time half the recipe and bake it in a smaller pan, now I'm reconsidering that thought

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

So, how was the stew? It sounded like a twist on the classic boeuf bourgignon.

It didn't go over well. Perhaps I should have used red curry.

 

[Borek]

1.17 lbs of

Why not 1.10 lbs? That would at least made a twisted sense to me.

 

[Evo]

It didn't go over well. Perhaps I should have used red curry.

I was going to give you some tips to consider but didn't want to come across wrong.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I was going to give you some tips to consider but didn't want to come across wrong.

Don't be shy, I'll listen to any advise no matter how wrong it is. Just look at Borek's ridiculous and highly insulting suggestion above.

 

[Evo]

Don't be shy, I'll listen to any advise no matter how wrong it is. Just look at Borek's ridiculous and highly insulting suggestion above.

Alrighty then!

 

[netgypsy]

Your stew sounds fine - probably just needs aging and a few additives.

Never fail beef stew
1 large can Dinty Moore Beef stew
1 large tomato chopped
3 spring onions chopped
garlic to taste
frozen peas thawed in microwave
frozen corn thawed in microwave
left over red wine that's been in the frig for ever if you have any
frozen green beans thawed in microwave if you wish ( I do three minutes on frozen vegs)
any leftover beef, spaghetti sauce (NOT the sweet kind), hamburger
dried shriveled up hot peppers from the back of the frig
any other leftovers that seem like they would meld well
spinach goes well too - leftover, canned or frozen
leftover sausage, either link or patty go well also
fresh carrot nuked until soft and then sliced

Dump all the ingredients into a large pan. Heat until it starts to simmer at least. Season to taste. Eat with homemade biscuits or cornbread. Save leftovers as they get better each day.

Things that from experience don't go well in it - black beans, red beans, lentils, etc., pasta, things with lemon, capers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage is iffy - not much is probably OK, basil, hot dogs, chicken, collard greens, cheese.

 

[Evo]

Don't be shy, I'll listen to any advise no matter how wrong it is. Just look at Borek's ridiculous and highly insulting suggestion above.

I was going to suggest reading these recipes to get some ideas.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/beef-stew-in-red-wine-sauce

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beef-bourguignon-recipe/index.html

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Clinton-Kelly-Beef-Bourguignon

 

[netgypsy]

I don't particularly like corn in beef stew. It's great in Brunswick stew with lima beans. Especially when cut fresh from the cot. It is interesting that the recipe from the Chew did leave out the peas and something else I think.

 

[netgypsy]

In honor of St. Paddy's day, as some of our family are indeed Irish, I wanted to share the fact that Irish Potatoes come from South America and that they have a huge number of different types. Now you can find probably six or seven varieties of potato but as a kid there were the regular russet, what is called "new potato" which is a young russet, a the redskin used for potato salad. Now they have the golds and the purples and several white varieties. When we lived in Colombia we asked Colombian friends what they found to be the most fascinating thing the US when they visited. All agreed that it was our grocery stores. They were enthralled by them. No wonder so many of us are horizontally enhanced - so many great things to eat now. My Colombian students told me that each time they spent the summer in the US they gained 15 pounds. Higher calories and more food and less walking

 

[turbo]

As a kid (about 50 years ago) we had varietal potatoes in Maine. One of the best was Katahdins. They were pretty resistant to rot, and kept well. There were more varieties, but we couldn't afford to plant 1/4 acre of each to try them out...

 

[netgypsy]

Forgot, in the quick and easy and amazingly good beef stew, be sure the red wine is DRY. This is a great recipe to use up wine you forgot to drink as it doesn't matter if it's gotten a bit vinegary.

 

[Astronuc]

If you soak them in rum first (or a spirit of your choice), raisins become something even an anti-raisin person could love :!).

I think it has to be rum. And then perhaps baked into a rum cake.

 

[lisab]

Curry is good.



OK that was half random thought. Maybe we need a random food thought thread?

 

[alexg]

I just had a pizza delivered, and I think it would have been tastier if I'd eaten the cardboard box.

I'm just too damn lazy to make my own.

 

[netgypsy]

cooked raisins, rum or not - gaaaggg

Green curry with real Thai eggplant - amazing!

made eggplant salad tonight and it turned out quite good. I ate the whole thing.
1 medium eggplant nuked until soft
1 medium tomato
parsley
cilantro if you like it
greek olives
three spring onions
extra virgin olive oil
1 cap of fish sauce
lemon juice to taste

scrape the inside of the eggplant into a bowl and use scissors to cut it up into small pieces
slice spring onions
chop tomato
chop parsley and cilantro
combine and add fish sauce and olives and olive oil
add lemon juice last and stir.
Good as a dip also but I like it plain
Just use salt if you don't have fish sauce DON'T use soy sauce. You can use some anchovy paste in maybe half teaspoon of water instead of fish sauce.

I served this with Indian chicken in a yoghurt sauce with some tomato in it also. I'm sooo stuffed.
Dessert - 1/2 cup heavy cream, unsweetened cocoa, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to taste. Whip until stiff - instant mousse.

 

[Monique]

A full-grain sandwich with goat cheese and raisins, yumm.

 

[turbo]

My wife bought me some Applegate Farms uncured ham (no preservatives or additives) and last night she made me a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with mustard. (I was not feeling well, after dealing with the guy that tuned up our furnace, since his clothing smelled like perfume, Bounce and other crap.) This morning I chopped ham, fried it in butter with a bit of onion, and dumped in some scrambled eggs to make a quick-and-dirty ham omelet. I usually like to cook, but tossing stuff together works when you're feeling crappy. My sinuses are stuffed up and my arthritis is flared up, so I hope today is another "summer" day that I can spend on the back deck with Duke.

 

[netgypsy]

Sounds yummy Turbo. And you could do the chopping in larger quantities to have ready when you're too tired to do anything more challenging.

For those of you who love a good pasta sauce but don't have time to make it Gia Russa makes a Cherry Tomato sauce that is really great. I like Serrafina a little better but can't seem to find it any more. Both are a bit pricey - about $6 for about a 24 ounce jar - but it's made with fresh cherry and San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil, fresh garlilc and fresh basil. And NO SUGAR in it. One of the few that doesn't have added sugar. I use them as a base, added chopped tomatoes, more garlic, more basil, peppers and whatever else I happen to have that goes well. It makes a great base for pasta, pizza, chili, vegetable soup, eggplant Parmesan, and I've even used it for gumbo and jambalaya. Walmart has one bottled sauce that is not bad and cheaper - about $4 - but I can't remember the brand. Out of all their varieties I found only one worth eating.

Forgot to mention I'm doing home made potato chips. I got a cheap mandoline from Kmart (thank you Martha Stewart), slice them right over the oil and they're done in no time. You can also do them in the microwave if you lightly oil your clean microwave glass dish and nuke until they start turning brown. Just watch the first batch to see how long your oven takes. If you use small potatoes you can get a carb fix with no oil this way and if you eat the meat, veggies and fats first you don't spike your blood sugar.