What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[wolram]

So, i am going to experiment with my stock of oily fish, i have 15 tins all together so they should keep me fed one way or tother.
How about with rice, or in an omelet, or with mixed beans.

 

[NateTG]

So, i am going to experiment with my stock of oily fish, i have 15 tins all together so they should keep me fed one way or tother.
How about with rice, or in an omelet, or with mixed beans.

Sardines on pasta is traditional:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_24899,00.html
I'm sure you can make that with other tinned fish.

Aside from fat (olive oil, hard cheeses, sour cream, cream cheese are all going to be good), you can also try acids (vinaigrette, lemon juice, pickles, roma tomatoes, hot peppers), or onion flavors (onion, chive, shallot, fennel) with your anchovies. (Combinations of these are found in all sorts of common condiments like tartar sauce, relish, ketchup, pickles, or salad dressing.)

 

[wolram]

That sounds good Nate, it will be number 2 on my list.

 

[Evo]

Tonight I'm making a stew of beef, chickpeas, onions, carrots and potatoes. It was a toss up whether to pour it over couscous or rice. I decided on rice. It's still cooking and the fragrance is killing me, I'm starving.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Tonight I'm making a stew of beef, chickpeas, onions, carrots and potatoes. It was a toss up whether to pour it over couscous or rice. I decided on rice. It's still cooking and the fragrance is killing me, I'm starving.

Can I come over? I'll bring some pecan pie.

Oh, that reminds me - when I was in Houston I got book full of nothing but prize-winning recipes from Texas cook-off competitions. They all look incredible. Lots of recipes for biscuits, BBQ, chili, pies, cobblers... mmmmmm...

 

[hypatia]

Lol must be beef and rice time! I did a flank with pearl onions and roasted red peppers, served over rice. I just love my slow cooker, gone all day then come home this wonderful smell. 20 minutes to make the rice, and I was eating dinner, life don't get much better.

 

[Evo]

Can I come over? I'll bring some pecan pie.

:!) I'll light up the fireplace.

Oh, that reminds me - when I was in Houston I got book full of nothing but prize-winning recipes from Texas cook-off competitions. They all look incredible. Lots of recipes for biscuits, BBQ, chili, pies, cobblers... mmmmmm...

Mmmmmmmm, bring it woman, we will eat ourselves into a stupor.

Lol must be beef and rice time! I did a flank with pearl onions and roasted red peppers, served over rice. I just love my slow cooker, gone all day then come home this wonderful smell. 20 minutes to make the rice, and I was eating dinner, life don't get much better.

Oh my, hypatia, you're invited too!

 

[Ben Niehoff]

So I'm a bit of a foodie, too. Tonight I made chicken and veggies with a spicy Thai peanut sauce, served over Jasmine rice. I just made it up without a recipe...peanut sauce is actually very simple (peanut butter + coconut milk + soy sauce + sri racha). It turned out delicious!

After learning just a few basic cooking principles, I'm starting to realize how much of a sham most restaurants are...

 

[turbo]

After learning just a few basic cooking principles, I'm starting to realize how much of a sham most restaurants are...

Yep!

 

[Andre]

...peanut sauce is actually very simple (peanut butter + coconut milk + soy sauce + sri racha). ...

sri racha? Chili sauce? Peanut sauce would enhance greatly in taste adding "ketoembar", "laos" and "djahe".

 

[Ben Niehoff]

Like I said, I made it up. I'll look at some actual recipes and see what could be improved...

 

[ZapperZ]

So I'm a bit of a foodie, too. Tonight I made chicken and veggies with a spicy Thai peanut sauce, served over Jasmine rice. I just made it up without a recipe...peanut sauce is actually very simple (peanut butter + coconut milk + soy sauce + sri racha). It turned out delicious!

Of course, there are different type of peanut sauce. A Malaysian peanut sauce that is popular served with their more flavorful version of satay, is a lot more involved. Some of the ingredients for this includes lemon grass, galanga root, and tamarind. Whenever we go to a Thai restaurant, I kept telling my friends of how different the usual Thai satay with Malaysian satay, and the peanut sauces. Of course, they complained that they can't actually verify this. So I ended up making some one time, and everyone finally got the point.

Now, luckily, we have a Malaysia restaurant here in Chicago's Chinatown. They do make a decent satay and peanut sauce. But I still think mine is a lot better. :)

Unfortunately, since it is rather involved, I only make 'em on very, very, special occasions.

Zz.

 

[Moonbear]

Now, luckily, we have a Malaysia restaurant here in Chicago's Chinatown. They do make a decent satay and peanut sauce. But I still think mine is a lot better. :)

Unfortunately, since it is rather involved, I only make 'em on very, very, special occasions.

Zz.

Well then, I think we'll need to evaluate this for ourselves at the next PF gathering.

 

[ZapperZ]

Well then, I think we'll need to evaluate this for ourselves at the next PF gathering.

But I thought our next PF Gathering is going to be at WDW in December? :)

Zz.

 

[Moonbear]

But I thought our next PF Gathering is going to be at WDW in December? :)

Zz.

Oh, right! Do those villas come with little kitchenettes?

 

[ZapperZ]

Oh, right! Do those villas come with little kitchenettes?

Yes, but do you think I can cook in something that small? I'm not renting a 2-bedroom villa. Besides, I will need all of my tools. :)

Zz.

 

[Andre]

Todays chat quiche for Evo as promised,

No complains from the family about it's quality.

 

[Moonbear]

Ooh, a very fancy quiche! For next week's chat, everyone needs to bring a dish to pass or chip into the beer fund!

 

[Evo]

Sounds very tasty Andre!

 

[turbo]

Here's some green habanero relish for next week's chat.

 

[Evo]

Mmmmmm, I can feel the heat already.

 

[Moonbear]

Ooh, that sounds delicious! What should we serve it with? Tortilla chips, or on some other dish?

BTW, turbo, thanks for mentioning a NE boiled dinner in chat...that's what I decided to make for dinner tonight too (and to have plenty of leftovers for a busy week). Of course, I should have started it when you did so it'd be all ready by now, but I ate a late lunch, so I guess a late dinner works too.

 

[wolram]

Mini Meatloaf

1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground beef
2/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard



DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine the egg, milk, cheese, oats and salt. Add the ground beef, mixing well, and form this mixture into eight miniature meatloaves. Place these in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
In a separate small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Stir thoroughly and spread over each meatloaf.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.

Tasty just served with mash and peas.

 

[turbo]

Ooh, that sounds delicious! What should we serve it with? Tortilla chips, or on some other dish?

BTW, turbo, thanks for mentioning a NE boiled dinner in chat...that's what I decided to make for dinner tonight too (and to have plenty of leftovers for a busy week). Of course, I should have started it when you did so it'd be all ready by now, but I ate a late lunch, so I guess a late dinner works too.

Yep! I've got a week's worth of leftovers from that meal. Meat potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, and gravy. It's almost impossible to screw up a meal like that.

 

[Evo]

1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground beef
2/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard



DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine the egg, milk, cheese, oats and salt. Add the ground beef, mixing well, and form this mixture into eight miniature meatloaves. Place these in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
In a separate small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Stir thoroughly and spread over each meatloaf.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.

Tasty just served with mash and peas.

Your cheesy meatloaf sounds good Wolram.

 

[ZapperZ]

It's the Chinese Lunar New Year. What better occasion than to list all the food we have here in the US that passes as "chinese food", but did not originate out of the far east.

1. Chow Mein
2. Egg Foo Yong
3. Fortune Cookies
4. General Tso's Chicken
5. Sweet and Sour anything
6. Orange Chicken (still good, but an invention of Panda Express)
7. ...

Zz.

 

[Evo]

mmmmm, Panda Express orange chicken. :!)

 

[Moonbear]

I
6. Orange Chicken (still good, but an invention of Panda Express)

Is it really an invention of Panda Express? I've had much better versions from other Chinese restaurants, and assumed Panda Express is the one bastardizing the recipe from other places rather than the other way around. I realize none of it is actually Chinese.

I love wontons. When my former neighbor would make them, they never made it into soup before they were gobbled up.

Everyone I worked with today enjoyed the chicken soup I made (the grad student was sick yesterday, so I made it mostly for him since he was toughing out his illness and showing up for a really labor-intensive experiment today in spite of his illness). I always roast the chicken first, seasoned with kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, and oregano.

Once it's roasted, I sautee some onion and garlic in olive oil, add celery (use the leaves as well as stalk for soup) and carrots, then the chicken followed by all the pan drippings (I always put some water in the bottom of the roasting pan), and fill up the rest of the pot with water. Add some more salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for a few hours. Remove the chicken from the bones (it should just fall off easily at that point), make some pasta on the side (I never add the pasta/noodles to the chicken soup until serving so it doesn't end up mushy).

I'm glad I kept a small container at home, because everyone gobbled up the soup so there wasn't even a drop left by the end of the day (it was cold out at the farm too, so hot soup was just the thing).

 

[turbo]

Moonie, that sounds great! When winter rolls around, my wife and I start doing combo-meals in earnest. Every roast (poultry, beef, pork) becomes a possible platform for a great soup. We've been backing off on pasta in winter soups lately, instead concentrating on potatoes, Basmati rice, black beans, etc. We get really inventive with the food when cabin-fever hits.

 

[scorpa]

I think my program is out to get me...they make us take each others blood today...and they had to be fasting samples so we couldn't have breakfast, then they give us time to go to the hospital cafeteria and grab a nice big breakfast and we come back and find out its gross specimens in the histo lab today...so I had to spend the lab poking and prodding at intestines and stomachs...not something I enjoy doing when I am feeling a bit icky myself from greasy cafeteria food.

I think I am going to make a pot of chili this weekend...anyone have any tips or tricks they would like to share? The kind I make is good it just isn't very exciting.

 

[Moonbear]

I think I am going to make a pot of chili this weekend...anyone have any tips or tricks they would like to share?

Just don't eat it before any long road trips.

 

[Moonbear]

Moonie, that sounds great! When winter rolls around, my wife and I start doing combo-meals in earnest. Every roast (poultry, beef, pork) becomes a possible platform for a great soup. We've been backing off on pasta in winter soups lately, instead concentrating on potatoes, Basmati rice, black beans, etc. We get really inventive with the food when cabin-fever hits.

Yep, usually that's what I do. I roast a chicken for a dinner, and since it's just me, I keep some as leftover for the next day, and the rest goes into the soup pot. This time, I just decided to make the soup (okay, I ate a leg once it was done baking because it just smelled to good not to). Roasting it first makes it much tastier than if you just boil the chicken. I'm sure the same applies to other meats/soups (I always brown beef before making soup with it, for example).

 

[Evo]

Yep, usually that's what I do. I roast a chicken for a dinner, and since it's just me, I keep some as leftover for the next day, and the rest goes into the soup pot. This time, I just decided to make the soup (okay, I ate a leg once it was done baking because it just smelled to good not to). Roasting it first makes it much tastier than if you just boil the chicken. I'm sure the same applies to other meats/soups (I always brown beef before making soup with it, for example).

It's referred to as the Maillard Reaction.

I just finished browning the other half of that pork roast I cut up last Sunday and am now making pulled pork.

 

[turbo]

This morning, we had pan-fried hash made from our left-overs of the New England boiled dinner. Mmm.

 

[turbo]

It's referred to as the Maillard Reaction.

I just finished browning the other half of that pork roast I cut up last Sunday and am now making pulled pork.

Yeah! I always forget the name and call it carmelization instead. The net result is the same - some great complex flavors are created in the browning process that can make a wonderful stock for soup or a base for gravies. When I got my first apartment, I got a craving for some chicken soup and I figured I'd get ahead of the curve and just throw cut-up raw chicken in the pot with water, seasonings, and vegetables. Yech! It was edible, but not too tasty. After that, I browned and/or roasted every piece of meat before turning it into soup.