What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[turbo]

One of my favorite cooking tools is my Black and Decker steamer. My wife called after work and asked me to fix some rice. Get out the steamer, load the base with water, put a cup of Basmati rice in the bowl along with 1-3/4 cup of water, and set the timer for an hour. No problemo. It only takes a few seconds to set it up. The steamer is wonderful for green beans, broccoli, etc, too.

 

[turbo]

Having supper. Stir-fry made with fresh green beans, broccoli and peppers from the garden, red onion and egg, mixed with the steamed Basmati rice. Egg? Yep! While stir-frying the vegetables, crack an egg in there. Learned that from the aunt of a friend. She owned a restaurant and used egg instead of soy sauce in her stir-frys.

 

[turbo]

Got another addition to the Thiers Issard stable. This time, it's a 3" paring knife.

My wife is always on the lookout for yet another paring knife, because the ones that she bought have been unsatisfactory for one reason or another. When she came home last night she grabbed this one and said "If you ever want to buy me a present, get another knife!" We both love cooking, and it's a whole lot more fun when you have decent tools.

These knives will last a lifetime, and your heirs will thank you when you pass them down. I hope my little brother's daughter likes cooking as much as he does - she might be the beneficiary.

 

[turbo]

My wife has a very young fan of her baking. She took a fresh-baked loaf of French bread to our next-door neighbors. Their grandson (6 yo) met her at the door and asked "Is that bread?!" He had a brownie in his hand, and he asked his grandmother if he could have a piece of bread instead. It is good bread, but it seems a little out-of-character for a little tyke to give up a brownie for a slice of bread.

 

[Astronuc]

I sauteed some beef cubes in onion, garlic and leeks, then added some carrots, waited a bit, the added mushrooms, waited some more, then finished it with red wine for a nice red wine sauce.

In the oven, I baked some potatoes, carrots and acorn squash.

Now I need to do some greens. We have something similar to collards, but I can't remember the name.

Update: I steamed the greens with some radicchio. I put the meat and mushrooms with the potato, carrot and squash, and put that over the greens.

One could also grill the radicchio - http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grilled_radicchio_salad/

 

[trollcast]

Beef pot roast just hit the oven for about 8 hours cooking.

 

[ChiralWaltz]

We both love cooking, and it's a whole lot more fun when you have decent tools.

Solid instruments with wine and classical music, this is a nice slice of heaven. Debussy orchestrates great meals.

Breaded pork chops on an elevated wire rack in the oven helps them crisp to a uniform golden brown. This method works great for any recipe that suggests turning 1/2 way through (especially tater tots).

 

[Evo]

Beef pot roast just hit the oven for about 8 hours cooking.

I love good pot roast.

Breaded pork chops on an elevated wire rack in the oven helps them crisp to a uniform golden brown. This method works great for any recipe that suggests turning 1/2 way through (especially tater tots).

Nice tip, thanks!

 

[trollcast]

The pot roast beef made an excellent sandwich for lunchtime today with a drop of HP sauce and some chopped onion.

 

[turbo]

The pot roast beef made an excellent sandwich for lunchtime today with a drop of HP sauce and some chopped onion.

Pot roast makes for great sandwiches. Very tender and flavorful meat, and lots of assorted vegetable to add to the mix (as long as somebody didn't hog them).

 

[turbo]

The new paring knife got a workout yesterday. With frost warnings in the forecast, we brought in most of the sweet peppers. My wife took control of the prep-work, coring peppers, peeling onions, etc prior to chopping and freezing them. I don't know how many times she said "'I LOVE this knife!"

If you want to choose from at least a dozen sub-par paring knives, come to our next lawn-sale. They will be cheap. Now, she has her sights set on a 4" Thiers-Issard paring knife. I won't be stuck for birthday/Christmas present ideas for a very long time.

 

[trollcast]

Pot roast makes for great sandwiches. Very tender and flavorful meat, and lots of assorted vegetable to add to the mix (as long as somebody didn't hog them).

There was no veggies left as I only put 3 onions in with the meat :( [I was partly restricted by the size of the roasting pot]

Do you reckon it would be possible to cook a pot roast in a big stock pot on the stove top?

I'd probably need to give the meat a good browning around the outsides in a frying pan first to stop it being grey?

 

[Evo]

There was no veggies left as I only put 3 onions in with the meat :( [I was partly restricted by the size of the roasting pot]

Do you reckon it would be possible to cook a pot roast in a big stock pot on the stove top?

I'd probably need to give the meat a good browning around the outsides in a frying pan first to stop it being grey?

I make a delicious pot roast on the stove top. You must brown all sides of the meat first, remove the meat, then add your liquid, etc...to the pan you browned in, then place the roast back into the same panm to get up all of the browned bits for added flavor. P

 

[turbo]

When cooking a pot roast, I always use a large pot on the stove-top. I brown the roast in peanut oil with some salt and pepper. Then, I lift the juices off the bottom of the pan by simmering with some cheap red wine. The roast goes back in with some onions, carrots, potatoes, and turnip - then simmer on the stove-top until you can't stand it anymore.

A good New England pot roast makes your house smell so good... We had them a lot when I was a kid, because it was a way to make cheap chuck roasts go a long way in a family of 6.

 

[trollcast]

I make a delicious pot roast on the stove top. You must brown all sides of the meat first, remove the meat, then add your liquid, etc...to the pan you browned in, then place the roast back into the same panm to get up all of the browned bits for added flavor. P

I normally use a drop of white wine vinegar and some boiling water to get the good stuff off the bottom, I think the acid in the vinegar helps get it off or something like that?

 

[Evo]

I normally use a drop of white wine vinegar and some boiling water to get the good stuff off the bottom, I think the acid in the vinegar helps get it off or something like that?

Yes, I use wine in mine also.

 

[trollcast]

Yes, I use wine in mine also.

We don't have any wine in our house, well there's stuff my dad uses as a feed for dundee cakes sometimes but its like 10% alcohol.

My aunt showed me it with wine before but I didn't think it was any better than a slug of the nearest bottle of vinegar, it even works with white / malted vinegar as long as you don't add too much and let it evaporate the acid out.

The only vinegar it hasn't worked with that I've tried is balsamic vinegar although I think it was more to do with the fact it reduces too quickly on a very hot pan and not the qualities of the vinegar.

 

[Evo]

We don't have any wine in our house, well there's stuff my dad uses as a feed for dundee cakes sometimes but its like 10% alcohol.

My aunt showed me it with wine before but I didn't think it was any better than a slug of the nearest bottle of vinegar, it even works with white / malted vinegar as long as you don't add too much and let it evaporate the acid out.

The only vinegar it hasn't worked with that I've tried is balsamic vinegar although I think it was more to do with the fact it reduces too quickly on a very hot pan and not the qualities of the vinegar.

Vinegar should work well.

 

[turbo]

If you can get cider vinegar instead of white vinegar, that could help.

 

[Astronuc]

I cooked up a pot of leek, potatoes and sausage yesterday.

We often do leek and potato soup, or some variant.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/potato_leek_soup/

The recipe is similar to one cited, but I didn't puree any portion of the soup. I did leeks and garlic cloves in olive oil. Then added Italian sausage to brown it, but not the leeks or garlic. I cut the sausage once cooked, then added some bok choi. After the bok choi cooked, I added water, brought it to near boiling, then turned it down to simmer.

After a while, I transferred the leek, bok choi and sausage to a pot, added some broth and water, brought it to near boil and added diced potato. One could do a number of variations, such as adding carrot to increase the sweetness.

Other variants could include adding parsnip (parsnip and carrot go well together), turnip and/or rutabaga.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/parsnip_soup_with_leeks_and_parsley/

 

[turbo]

Had a great lunch today. Home-made French bread and butter with a wonderful soup: Spicy chicken sausage, fingerling potatoes, onions, carrots, tomatoes, kale, etc. When cooler weather comes around, we have soups and casseroles.

Edit: there was barley and lentils in there, too. Most of our soups feature these.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I have always loved a good hot dog - the old fashioned kind made by Germans in the midwest. Ball Park brand has some Angus dogs that are pretty decent. So I've been buying those from time to time. but then they came out with Angus Beef Hot Links. Mmmmmm, that sounded good so I bought some and we were both hooked. Very tasty!

http://www.ballparkbrand.com/assets/media/franks/franks-angus-hotlinks.png

Now the bad news. Last night I finally made myself look at the nutritional information. 200 calories per link with 150 of those being due to fat! Egad! No trans fats and less than half is saturated fat, but still, 75% fat?! That is crazy.

 

[Evo]

I have always loved a good hot dog - the old fashioned kind made by Germans in the midwest. Ball Park brand has some Angus dogs that are pretty decent. So I've been buying those from time to time. but then they came out with Angus Beef Hot Links. Mmmmmm, that sounded good so I bought some and we were both hooked. Very tasty!

http://www.ballparkbrand.com/assets/media/franks/franks-angus-hotlinks.png

Now the bad news. Last night I finally made myself look at the nutritional information. 200 calories per link with 150 of those being due to fat! Egad! No trans fats and less than half is saturated fat, but still, 75% fat?! That is crazy.

Sounds about right. I think it's better to eat something tasty in smaller amounts than to eat tasteless garbage in larger quantities.

When I stopped eating low fat, low this and low that and ate the real stuff, not only was I more satisfied, I lost the weight I'd gained eating the fake stuff. Usually the tasteless "low" stuff has a difference of 10-20 calories and none of the flavor.

Now I need to try those!

 

[Evo]

Beef short ribs were on sale, so I plan to make my Jewish step mother-in-law's pea soup. Instead of ham, she used beef short ribs. To die for! It's now my favorite way to make split pea soup.

 

[Evo]

Ulimate chicken stock recipe from Ina Garten.

Chicken Stock

Ingredients

3 5-pound roasting chickens
3 large yellow onions, unpeeled, quartered
6 carrots, unpeeled, halved
4 celery stalks with leaves, cut in thirds
4 parsnips, unpeeled, cut in half (optional)
20 sprigs fresh parsley
15 sprigs fresh thyme
20 sprigs fresh dill
1 head garlic, unpeeled, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

Directions

Place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, and seasonings in a 16- to 20-quart stockpot. Add 7 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 4 hours. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander and discard the solids. Chill the stock overnight. The next day, remove the surface fat. Use immediately or pack in containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stock-recipe2/index.html

I wouldn't discard *all* of the solids. The chicken meat will have lost it's flavor to the broth, but will make great cat or dog food. The veggies should be flavorful, I'd eat them. Maybe let them drain and dry a bit, then slice and sautee or roast in some butter or olive oil. Or mash the carrots and parsnips with a bit of cream and serve with butter, salt, and pepper.

 

[Borek]

I like the idea of using them unpeeled, I love the lazy recipes. They fit my character.

 

[turbo]

I like the idea of using them unpeeled, I love the lazy recipes. They fit my character.

That's why I love New England boiled dinners. Easy to make, and flavorful.

 

[Ms Music]

That's why I love New England boiled dinners. Easy to make, and flavorful.

The thought of boiled makes me cringe, but I know you well enough to trust you so I know it MUST be delicious. But I think I need to prove it to myself. Post your favorite recipe? Please?

I am all for easy.

 

[turbo]

I am a free-style cook, Here's how it goes, though. Rub a cheap chuck roast with salt and pepper and sear the living hell out of it in peanut oil until every surface is browned. Remove the roast and simmer the juices out of the pot in cheap wine until the browned stuff is lifted. Put the roast back in along with potatoes, onions, turnip, carrots, cabbage, etc, and simmer for hours.

It's hard to get better food than this.

 

[Astronuc]

When It Comes To Falafel, The Flavors Of Home Can Vary
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...comes-to-falafel-the-flavors-of-home-can-vary

Falafel — those crispy, filling fried balls of mashed beans, herbs and spices — is found in cafes and homes all over the Middle East and parts of Africa. It's like a common language shared among sometimes fractious nations.

There are many ways to make falafel.

Tonight I made home fries. I sliced the potatoes and sauteed the chips (fries) in olive oil with garlic, leeks and some other seasonings. I set them aside for cooking later.

I then put diced some turnips added them to the sautee. I then added some sausage, which I cooked, then sliced. I added carrots and let them cook with the turnips and sausage. I added some water, and then through in some Swiss chard and kale. I added the kale first since it take a bit longer than chard to get tender. While that was slowly cooking, I cooked the fries in the oven at 400 F, for about 40 minutes. They probably could have gone another 5 minutes.

 

[Monique]

I love falafel in pita bread filled with pickled vegetables salad and garlic or coriander sauce. Do you know Moaz take-away restaurant? http://www.maozusa.com/about/our-story Really delicious!

Yesterday I made sushi: hosomaki, uramaki, nigiri, inarizushi, tamagoyaki, what a work! Rice was sticking everwhere and the nigiri was quite fragile, the inarizushi was a bit dodgy, but the uramaki was delicious: a new specialty

 

[Monique]

I did it: made my own Maoz salad bar! It made for a wonderful evening of stuffing and lots of spilling

We took pita breads, inserted a leaf of romaine lettuce, feta cheese slices, falafel balls, then filled the bread up with freshly made toppings and sauces:

Sauces:
* Coriander salsa (whizz up coriander, garlic, jalapeno pepper, olive oil, water, lime juice)
* Tomato salsa (heat olive oil, red onion, garlic, tomato, jalapeno pepper for 15 min, cool)

Toppings
* olives (green, black)
* carrots (boiled slices, dressed with olive oil and parsley)
* beet (steamed cubes, with parsley)
* tomato salad (cubed tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley)
* cucumber pickle (slices in brine)

All salted to taste of course.

Inspiration: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/02/...l-everything-in-the-salad-bar-slideshow.html# (slideshow)

On the side were some oven-baked french fries, but we never touched them.

 

[drizzle]

I did it: made my own Maoz salad bar! It made for a wonderful evening of stuffing and lots of spilling

We took pita breads, inserted a leaf of romaine lettuce, feta cheese slices, falafel balls, then filled the bread up with freshly made toppings and sauces:

Sauces:
* Coriander salsa (whizz up coriander, garlic, olive oil, water, lime juice)
* Tomato salsa (heat olive oil, red onion, garlic, tomato for 15 min, cool)

Toppings
* olives (green, black)
* carrots (boiled slices, dressed with olive oil and parsley)
* beet (steamed cubes, with parsley)
* tomato salad (cubed tomato, cucumber, red onion)
* cucumber pickle (slices in brine)

Inspiration: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/02/...l-everything-in-the-salad-bar-slideshow.html# (slideshow)

On the side were some oven-baked french fries, but we never touched them.

That sounds delicious.

 

[Andre]

I did it: made my own Maoz salad bar! ...

Personally I would also have added rucola with sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and pine nuts.

 

[Evo]

Monique, that sounds wonderful!

I also wanted to ask you about your suhsi bar, but I've been so busy.