What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

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    Evo Food Thread
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The discussion revolves around a vibrant exchange of food-related topics, with participants sharing favorite recipes, culinary experiences, and kitchen mishaps. A notable focus is on lentil recipes, with suggestions for dishes like chocolate lentil cake and lentil lasagna, as well as creative uses of lentils in various cuisines. Participants also share recipes for pasta with pesto, grilled shrimp marinades, and Indian dishes like dahl and gulab jamun. There’s a strong emphasis on improvisation in cooking, with many contributors discussing how they cook "by feel" rather than following strict measurements. The conversation also touches on cultural influences, such as the appreciation for Lebanese and South Indian cuisine, and the importance of traditional meals like the Indian sadya. Additionally, humorous anecdotes about kitchen disasters and the challenges of cooking techniques, like frying mozzarella sticks, add a lighthearted tone to the thread. Overall, the thread celebrates the joy of cooking and the communal sharing of food experiences.
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  • #852
I like black bread with a piece of cheese :smile:
 
  • #853
We had left-over baked beans for supper tonight, and as a conservation effort, I refrained from putting habanero relish on my hot dog roll. Instead I loaded it with "clean-up" chili relish and mustard, and with the volume of fried onions involved, the roll split and was hard to eat neatly. The burn is very different from habanero relish (more up-front and less delayed), but the "clean-up" relish has a very nice flavor. I made it from the green jalapenos, the green super chilies, and the remaining habaneros that were present when I pulled my pepper plants at the end of the season. This fall, my wife and I have been concentrating on eating the various chili relishes, and we may cut back on the production of tomato-based hot salsas next season to concentrate on the chilies.
 
  • #854
Does anyone have any really special, super-fantastic venison recipes? Not just the usual substitute venison for beef in a stew type recipes, but something that will really highlight the venison? It's bow season (I think...or very close) and soon will be regular hunting season for deer here (the Monday before Thanksgiving), and I want some way to tempt some of my friends who hunt to part ways with a bit of venison (i.e., if they provide the venison, I'll cook up something really superb for US with it :wink:). :biggrin:
 
  • #856
  • #857
Rats, my deer killer here at the office is off for a week on a deer killing spree. He has recipes to die for.
 
  • #858
Moonbear said:
Thanks. Mmm...venison vindaloo sounds good...none of those recipes looked like they'd convince someone to part with tenderloin, but look like they'd be good with some of the tougher cuts that need to cook longer. Yummy!
Tenderloin?! :eek: There's only one way to prepare that. Patted with crushed black pepper and salt and seared in butter in a pre-heated cast-iron frying pan. If I gave somebody venison tenderloin and they served it in a dish with cheese or cream sauces, that's the last piece of tenderloin they'd get - neck roasts only in the future.
 
  • #859
Mmmm, tenderloin in a cheesey cream sauce. :!)
 
  • #860
Evo said:
Mmmm, tenderloin in a cheesey cream sauce. :!)
You are hereby forbidden to possesses venison in any form. Not even a neck roast.
 
  • #861
Not even if I include some morel mushrooms in the sauce? :cry:
 
  • #862
Evo said:
Not even if I include some morel mushrooms in the sauce? :cry:
ESPECIALLY if you put morels in the sauce. Venison tenderloin is to be savored in pan-fried purity, not covered up with frou-frou sauces.
 
  • #863
Well, my deer are free spirits, they want to go down in style.

I can't wait to get more of that jalapeno cheddar cheese deer sausage. YUM!
 
  • #864
:frown:

He uses a great butcher that processes the sausage.
 
  • #865
turbo-1 said:
Tenderloin?! :eek: There's only one way to prepare that. Patted with crushed black pepper and salt and seared in butter in a pre-heated cast-iron frying pan. If I gave somebody venison tenderloin and they served it in a dish with cheese or cream sauces, that's the last piece of tenderloin they'd get - neck roasts only in the future.

I had an absolutely DELICIOUS tenderloin in a madeira wine and mushroom cream sauce. Don't knock it until you've tried it. But, that recipe is already claimed.
 
  • #866
Moonbear said:
I had an absolutely DELICIOUS tenderloin in a madeira wine and mushroom cream sauce. Don't knock it until you've tried it. But, that recipe is already claimed.
My point is that rump roast, neck roast, shoulder, etc can be tenderized and coddled to the point where they are very nice in composite dishes. They are actually tastier cuts of venison, too and can stand up well to frou-frou sauce abuse better than tenderloins. Venison tenderloin is the Food of the Gods, very tender, with a sweet delicate flavor that deserves to stand on its own. The deer should be hung and aged properly, and the aged tenderloins should be shared fresh with friends and family. They will tolerate freezing OK, but the flavor is just not the same, so spread the joy. Serve it up pan-fried with a side of home-fried potatoes, leftover baked beans and pan-fried leftover pastry biscuits (use REAL butter). :-p I'm not a venison purist, and will gladly use various cuts for stews, chilies, hamburg dishes, sausages - just about anything you can think of. Just keep your paws off the T-loins!
 
  • #867
turbo-1 said:
My point is that rump roast, neck roast, shoulder, etc can be tenderized and coddled to the point where they are very nice in composite dishes. They are actually tastier cuts of venison, too and can stand up well to frou-frou sauce abuse better than tenderloins. Venison tenderloin is the Food of the Gods, very tender, with a sweet delicate flavor that deserves to stand on its own. The deer should be hung and aged properly, and the aged tenderloins should be shared fresh with friends and family. They will tolerate freezing OK, but the flavor is just not the same, so spread the joy. Serve it up pan-fried with a side of home-fried potatoes, leftover baked beans and pan-fried leftover pastry biscuits (use REAL butter). :-p I'm not a venison purist, and will gladly use various cuts for stews, chilies, hamburg dishes, sausages - just about anything you can think of. Just keep your paws off the T-loins!

There's no "abuse" of a sauce. They're not being boiled in the sauce, the sauce is just added at the very last stage of cooking and relies on the meat being tender already. A good sauce isn't meant to drown the meat, even if that's the mistake a lot of people make.
 
  • #868
Now that the holiday season is here, perhaps some of the more sweets-oriented members could make some hand-dipped chocolates for the Sisters. Some suggestions:

 
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  • #869
I think turbo is maybe saying that, (maybe from a different perspective)--like having the finest chocolate ever made --covered with Smucker's jelly
 
  • #870
rewebster said:
I think turbo is maybe saying that, (maybe from a different perspective)--like having the finest chocolate ever made --covered with Smucker's jelly
That would'nt be too bad. You just lick off the jelly.

What is gross and unacceptable is putting fruit or sweet stuff on meat. <shudder>

Meat + sweet = not good to eat

The one exception is The Panda Express' Orange sesame chicken, it doesn't taste sweet.
 
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  • #871
Evo said:
That would'nt be too bad. You just lick off the jelly.

What is gross and unacceptable is putting fruit or sweet stuff on meat. <shudder>

Meat + sweet = not good to eat

The one exception is The Panda Express' Orange sesame chicken, it doesn't taste sweet.

And don't forget to add orange to your BBQ sauce.
 
  • #872
Evo said:
What is gross and unacceptable is putting fruit or sweet stuff on meat. <shudder>

Meat + sweet = not good to eat
What?! No pineapple slices on glazed roast ham?

I'm glad my grandmother is not around to hear of this travesty! Mmm! She would score the outside of the ham in a cris-cross manner with a knife sink a whole clove into each square before applying the glaze. Yum.
 
  • #873
turbo-1 said:
What?! No pineapple slices on glazed roast ham?

I'm glad my grandmother is not around to hear of this travesty! Mmm! She would score the outside of the ham in a cris-cross manner with a knife sink a whole clove into each square before applying the glaze. Yum.
AAAARGGGHH! CLOVES! Those are tooth medicine from the dark ages!

I won't even let cloves into my house.

When I was teething, my mother would rub clove oil on my gums and it would burn and gag me. Ever since, the slighest hint of clove makes me want to puke.

This reminds me of foods twisting_edge and I can't agree on.

Eggplant
Me- manna from heaven
twisting_edge - cardboard beer coasters

Blue Cheese
me- yummy
twisting _edge - vomit in solid form

cloves
me- work of the devil
twisting_edge - delightful spice
 
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  • #874
Evo said:
That would'nt be too bad. You just lick off the jelly.

What is gross and unacceptable is putting fruit or sweet stuff on meat. <shudder>

Meat + sweet = not good to eat

Moose in cloudberry sauce, or duck in raspberry and/or blackberry sauce is simply excellent. It's certainly better if the berries are a little tart.

How about turkey and cranberry sauce?

Ham and chicken with a nice citrus glass is good. Lemon or orange chicken - but not too sweet.

Now some folks do make fruit/berry based sauces too sweet, and I would agree sweet sauces and most meats just don't belong on the same plate.

Evo said:
When I was teething, my mother would rub clove oil on my gums and it would burn and gag me. Ever since, the slighest hint of clove makes me want to puke.
Well - that's an unfortunate association based on an unpleasant experience.
 
  • #875
I'm with T_E on eggplant and cloves. I do like bleu cheese with apples, though, and my wife's bleu cheese salad dressing is wonderful on a fresh garden salad.
 
  • #876
Excuse me, Dr Foofer is vomiting. He made sure that he ran off of the tile floor and onto my expensive Persian rug to vomit. The cat has class.
 
  • #877
Evo said:
Excuse me, Dr Foofer is vomiting. He made sure that he ran off of the tile floor and onto my expensive Persian rug to vomit. The cat has class.
Quit feeding him eggplant and he'll be OK.
 
  • #878
turbo-1 said:
Quit feeding him eggplant and he'll be OK.
 
  • #879
Evo said:
AAAARGGGHH! CLOVES! Those are tooth medicine from the dark ages!
:smile: That's how I used to think of them. Have a toothache, and mom would make me chew on a clove until I could get to the dentist.

But, I've learned to like cloves, but only a TEENY TINY bit when added to recipes with lots of other spices...if a recipe calls for cloves, I start out cutting the amount it says to add in half.

Eggplant
Me- manna from heaven
twisting_edge - cardboard beer coasters

Blue Cheese
me- yummy
twisting _edge - vomit in solid form

cloves
me- work of the devil
twisting_edge - delightful spice

I'm with you on this list. :biggrin: I'm also with you on the no sweet stuff on ham issue. :biggrin: You can have Christmas ham at my place (of course I'm still figuring out if I'll be at my place for Christmas, but I'm sure Ember would let you in :biggrin:).
 
  • #880
How about the classic Duck a l'Orange
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_25993,00.html

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/233535


Sweet and sour pork is a rather common dish!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_and_sour_pork
Then - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_and_sour_chicken


or Ham steak with applesauce?


And what's wrong with eggplant? Is the taste or texture? If it's texture, what about okra? If it's taste, one has to be careful that the eggplant is fresh.

There are great recipes for eggplant - EGGPLANT MOUSSAKA
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,166,143186-240198,00.html

http://www.sheepscreek.com/recipes/eggplant_moussaka.html
 
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  • #881
Eggplant is just one of those "placeholder" vegetables that you throw into provide filler while the sauces and seasonings and real vegetables like onions, tomatoes, and garlic do all the heavy lifting flavor-wise. I'll eat eggplant parmesan, but really, the eggplant could easily be tossed out in favor of summer squashes, zucchini, or perhaps cardboard beer coasters. :smile: Once you've got a flavorful tomato-based sauce with peppers, onions, garlic, and herbs, and some rich-tasting cheeses, the "placeholder" is just along for the ride. If you're going to bread and fry some slices of eggplant in order for it to have any flavor to contribute to the dish, that's a pretty good argument for converting the placeholder to pasta or some other filler that is cheaper and fat-free.
 
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  • #882
My wife and I just had our supper, and since we both had stuff to do this afternoon, we kept it simple. Hot Dogs! These Applegate Farms organic hot dogs are great, and we have settled into our routines with them. We both like them with fried onions, bread-and-butter pickles, and Annie's Naturals organic yellow mustard. We both like chili relish on them, too. Mine is the ripe habanero relish with the impressive burn and hers is the "clean-up" relish made from green jalapenos, super chilies, and habaneros that were left when it was time to pull out the plants at the end of the season. I've tried the "clean-up" relish on hot dogs, and the complex burn and flavor is very good, but I can't give up the big kick of the ripe habanero relish. I hope that I can nurse this stuff through until next season. I don't want to run out.:cry:
 
  • #883
turbo-1 said:
My wife and I just had our supper, and since we both had stuff to do this afternoon, we kept it simple. Hot Dogs! These Applegate Farms organic hot dogs are great, and we have settled into our routines with them. We both like them with fried onions, bread-and-butter pickles, and Annie's Naturals organic yellow mustard. We both like chili relish on them, too. Mine is the ripe habanero relish with the impressive burn and hers is the "clean-up" relish made from green jalapenos, super chilies, and habaneros that were left when it was time to pull out the plants at the end of the season. I've tried the "clean-up" relish on hot dogs, and the complex burn and flavor is very good, but I can't give up the big kick of the ripe habanero relish. I hope that I can nurse this stuff through until next season. I don't want to run out.:cry:

My favorite way to eat hot dogs with Turbo's habanero relish is to cut a hole in the center of the hot dog (in the long direction), but not cut all of the way through. Then I stuff the relish through the center of the hole. It makes it nice and even. I love it.
 
  • #884
OK, when my wife brings home a nice steak, I usually fire up the grill. Even in the dead of winter turbo the eskimo is grilling. After watching Alton Brown's video segment on steaks, we decided to try his method, so when she showed up after work with a nice 1" thick strip steak we gave it a go. I think my grill is going to see a lot of down-time this winter - the steak was THAT good. The method:

Preheat your oven to 500 deg and put a heavy cast-iron skillet on a burner turned to High to preheat for at least a few minutes. Dust the steak with Kosher salt and cracked peppercorns on both sides and pat that in with a couple of dashes of high-temperature oil (peanut oil is my favorite so we used that). Put the steak in the super-hot skillet for 30 seconds on each side and don't touch it in the meantime, so a nice crust can develop on the seared surfaces, then transfer the skillet and steak into the oven. We let ours cook for 1min,15sec/side in the oven because we both prefer steak rare - Brown suggested 2 minutes per side. When the oven time is up, put the steak on an inverted dish in a larger platter, so any grease/juices will run off, and lightly cover the hot steak with aluminum foil for 3 minutes to allow the steak to "relax" before serving. The steak was perfectly done, juicy, and tender.:-p

NOTE: Just like when grilling, never handle your steaks with a fork - always use a large pair of tongs to avoid penetrating the meat and letting the juices out. That steak and a nice green salad made for a perfect supper.
 
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  • #885
turbo-1 said:
OK, when my wife brings home a nice steak, I usually fire up the grill. Even in the dead of winter turbo the eskimo is grilling. After watching Alton Brown's video segment on steaks, we decided to try his method, so when she showed up after work with a nice 1" thick strip steak we gave it a go. I think my grill is going to see a lot of down-time this winter - the steak was THAT good. The method:

Preheat your oven to 500 deg and put a heavy cast-iron skillet on a burner turned to High to preheat for at least a few minutes. Dust the steak with Kosher salt and cracked peppercorns on both sides and pat that in with a couple of dashes of high-temperature oil (peanut oil is my favorite so we used that). Put the steak in the super-hot skillet for 30 seconds on each side and don't touch it in the meantime, so a nice crust can develop on the seared surfaces, then transfer the skillet and steak into the oven. We let ours cook for 1min,15sec/side in the oven because we both prefer steak rare - Brown suggested 2 minutes per side. When the oven time is up, put the steak on an inverted dish in a larger platter, so any grease/juices will run off, and lightly cover the hot steak with aluminum foil for 3 minutes to allow the steak to "relax" before serving. The steak was perfectly done, juicy, and tender.:-p

NOTE: Just like when grilling, never handle your steaks with a fork - always use a large pair of tongs to avoid penetrating the meat and letting the juices out. That steak and a nice green salad made for a perfect supper.

Hmm...sounds a little overdone for me. I think the 30 sec per side on the hot pan was long enough. :biggrin: (Just kidding, sounds pretty perfect actually.)

Something I've done a few times that I really like is to take a nice, thick steak...but not very big, so that it's about as thick as it is wide (like the size of a thick fillet mignon, but it doesn't need to be that good of a quality of meat, maybe 2" in all directions), coat it in sea salt and black pepper, no other seasoning, and sear it in sesame oil brought almost to the smoke point (I keep a pot lid nearby just in case, but haven't started any fires yet). Just turn the steak searing all 6 sides until crispy, and it's done. Let rest, then slice very thin. I like to eat it with just a drizzling of horseradish sauce (though, would skip that if it was a really great cut like fillet). It'll still be a cool center, and I love the salt and sesame flavor together.
 
  • #886
Due to the success of the Alton Brown steak method, we are going to brine our turkey tonight (using his recipe) and roast it tomorrow morning. Kinda scary - this will be the first Thanksgiving in at least 20 years that I haven't hickory-smoked the turkey on my charcoal-fired smoker. (fingers crossed!)
 
  • #887
I had to perform a emergency thigh reduction on the turkey this morning. It was to big to fit in my roasting pan, and I didnt want to spoil the looks of a whole bird delivered to the table. So working from the inside{Nurse..LIGHTS darn it!} I removed the bones, and was able to smoosh the thighs into the chest cavity, and stich in a brace of chop sticks. As a result, the turkey looks slighty bow legged, but is resting comforty in the post op fridge.

I think I need a beer now.:-p
 
  • #888
Congratulations on the successful bone-ectomy. :wink:

The size of our turkeys is usually limited by the size of my Brinkman smoker, so we go to the guy who raises turkeys and request birds that are 12-14#. That's usually at the low end of the size range for him, but he always manages to save a few runts for us - one we cook fresh for T-day and the others go into the freezer.
 
  • #889
hypatia said:
I had to perform a emergency thigh reduction on the turkey this morning. It was to big to fit in my roasting pan, and I didnt want to spoil the looks of a whole bird delivered to the table. So working from the inside{Nurse..LIGHTS darn it!} I removed the bones, and was able to smoosh the thighs into the chest cavity, and stich in a brace of chop sticks. As a result, the turkey looks slighty bow legged, but is resting comforty in the post op fridge.

I think I need a beer now.:-p

:smile: :smile: :smile: I would have never thought of something like that! How clever!

So, I'm going to head to a friend's place for T-day, which absolves me of most of the cooking responsibility. I've been put in charge of supplying green beans (no, I'm NOT making a green bean casserole). Of all the things I can cook for Thanksgiving, I get asked to do green beans (everything else is already covered, though I'm tempted to bring some pumpkin cookies as a dessert backup...her other friend making the pumpkin pie sounds like too much of a health nut to be properly trusted with a dessert). I think I'll just do something like green beans almondine, but with a bit of garlic added.
 
  • #890
Moonbear said:
her other friend making the pumpkin pie sounds like too much of a health nut to be properly trusted with a dessert).
Pumpkin tofu pie?
 
  • #891
Evo said:
Pumpkin tofu pie?

Nothing quite that bad, but apparently she's phobic of sugar or something, but has been instructed repeatedly that she MUST have sugar in a pumpkin pie (I'm just worried she won't put in enough). She should be the one making green beans while I make the dessert! :rolleyes:
 
  • #892
Mmm! My wife makes the best pumpkin pie ever - the hapless pumpkin is down in the dark, cold cellar on a table with all the buttercup squash from our garden.:-p Tomorrow morning we'll head down there are pick out our victims.
 
  • #893
Moonbear said:
Nothing quite that bad, but apparently she's phobic of sugar or something, but has been instructed repeatedly that she MUST have sugar in a pumpkin pie (I'm just worried she won't put in enough). She should be the one making green beans while I make the dessert! :rolleyes:

Oh dear god I remember having dinner with a sugarphobe once...it was awful...dessert was sugarless cheesecake. I have never tasted anything so bad in my life.
 
  • #894
scorpa said:
Oh dear god I remember having dinner with a sugarphobe once...it was awful...dessert was sugarless cheesecake. I have never tasted anything so bad in my life.

That settles it, I'm going to make my pumpkin cookies as backup. Dessert has to have sugar, and Thanksgiving is no time to worry about one's weight!
 
  • #895
I have always made my pumpkin pies with maple sugar, and I believe I am the first member of my family to put it in a crust. Its always been a custard type dish for me. My husband was ..shall we say, horrified with the no crust aspect. Hah, what love can do to a woman.
 
  • #896
hypatia said:
I have always made my pumpkin pies with maple sugar, and I believe I am the first member of my family to put it in a crust. Its always been a custard type dish for me. My husband was ..shall we say, horrified with the no crust aspect. Hah, what love can do to a woman.

No crust? Don't you need a crust to even call it pie? :confused:
 
  • #897
I can deal with a 1/2 crust pot-pie-type approximation, but if it is all filling and no crust, it's not a pie. I have dealt with custard-dish servings of "pie fillings" but they are not good substitutes for pies, either.
 
  • #898
turbo-1 said:
Due to the success of the Alton Brown steak method, we are going to brine our turkey tonight (using his recipe) and roast it tomorrow morning. Kinda scary - this will be the first Thanksgiving in at least 20 years that I haven't hickory-smoked the turkey on my charcoal-fired smoker. (fingers crossed!)
So, how did it turn out? You can't smoke a brined turkey?
 
  • #899
Evo said:
So, how did it turn out? You can't smoke a brined turkey?
My father said that he likes it better than my smoked turkey. I miss the smoked flavor, and I'm afraid that the lack of smoked flavor will make the turkey soup and turkey pie a little less wonderful than they usually are. I might try smoking a brined turkey next year for the best of both worlds - the breast meat turned out very tender and moist. The breast meat in my smoked turkeys is usually very moist because I smoke them breast-down so that the fat from the dark meat bastes the white meat. Brining may make the turkey retain moisture and flavors even better. We'll see.
 
  • #900
The brined turkey is a success. Normally, I gravitate to the dark meat when I make turkey sandwiches, and avoid the drier white meat, but this turkey breast is wonderful and moist. Turkey breast on rye with Cain's mayo and my home-made chili relish to dress things up a bit. Mmmmm! Normally, left-over turkey is a bit daunting, but we're plowing through this bird at a pretty good clip. Unfortunately, my wife has developed a fondness for the hotter chili relish (as opposed to the hot tomato-based salsas that I made), so I'm keeping my finders crossed that we don't run out before next year's crop of chilis - the store bought ones are wimpy.
 

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