What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[turbo]

Tonight was chicken thighs. I had spent a lot of time clearing snow today, and my wife cooked after she got home from work. For college students (LISTEN UP!) it's so easy to cook a great meal if you have an oven. Just beat an egg in a bowl. Dip the chicken parts (we prefer drumsticks and thighs) in the egg, then roll them in a mix of Panko bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and whatever spices you might have a craving for. Put the chicken parts in a greased pan and bake them.

Keep a bag of panko crumbs around, and buy small quantities of chicken parts if you don't have a freezer. It is possible to have fantastic home-cooked meals very fast and on a budget if you plan for it.

 

[Borek]

Scrambled eggs? Best with bacon, onion and yesterdays leftower boiled potatos.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

Considering that most people's error with scrambled eggs is that they end up watery, it seems silly to add water to them.

I think the main thing to be aware of is that eggs (and anything else) continue to cook after you remove them from the heat, so you should remove them from the heat a few seconds before you think they're done. Also, be sure to cook them in a thin layer; don't overload the pan. The cooking time is then very short.

Watery scrambled eggs are usually the result of overcooking the eggs, as it forces additional moisture out.

 

[Evo]

Considering that most people's error with scrambled eggs is that they end up watery, it seems silly to add water to them.

Adding a liquid like milk or water makes them fluffier.

 

[turbo]

Adding a liquid like milk or water makes them fluffier.

Yes. Adding liquid and whisking vigorously just before cooking entrains air into the mix, so the eggs cook up nice and light and fluffy with more volume than you could get by whisking eggs alone. No magic or chemistry here - just mechanical air entrainment.

 

[physics girl phd]

Adding a liquid like milk or water makes them fluffier.

I always do milk. It's good to know water works too though... I didn't know that, and sometimes my guys go through water so much that we don't have milk on hand. (This is if my DH does the grocery shopping. I was raised in a large Catholic family, so I know how to fill the cart with enough to last a week! He only shops for about two days worth.. if I'm even that lucky when he does the shopping.)

And YEA! -- Turbo is making me glad I already decided on baked chicken as one of our meals this week!

 

[turbo]

And YEA! -- Turbo is making me glad I already decided on baked chicken as one of our meals this week!

Make sure to get Roland Panko bread crumbs - crispy chicken without frying!

 

[dlgoff]

All this talk about eggs make me a little...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504083,00.html"

 

[turbo]

A little tip about cooking tools. Good cast-iron frying pans and skillets are essential. Never wash them with soap and water, and keep them well-seasoned with baked-in oil and sea-salt. High-quality pans from years past are treasured, and the big name is Griswold, made in Erie, PA. We have several, but my very favorite is a Griswold #5 that my wife picked up at a lawn sale for a buck or two last summer. It is big enough to hold a couple of hot-dogs and rolls, and it is small enough that my scrambled eggs don't get spread out and dried out, so they end up fluffy and moist. You can often recognize a Griswold by the quality of the finish - the bottom of the interior of the pan will be very smooth and sleek-looking - non-stick technology from decades ago. If you ever hit lawn sales, junk shops, etc, and see a really nice-looking cast-iron frying pan, flip it over. If the price is right and you see "Griswold" cast into a double-cross inside a double-circle, buy that pan. You won't be sorry.

 

[physics girl phd]

A little tip about cooking tools. Good cast-iron frying pans and skillets are essential. Never wash them with soap and water, and keep them well-seasoned with baked-in oil and sea-salt.

Try telling that to my husband. I've tried a million times and handed him literature on the care of cast iron . He ALWAYS sticks the things in the sink to soak, and then puts them in the dish-washer. RUST city. Scrubbing the rust off with steel wool, re-seasoning. etc. just wears me out. He doesn't get it. (Honestly... how easy could it get... just wipe the things down well with a paper towel and put them away!) I've given up. Thank goodness our pans were cheap in the first place (my garage-sale thrift-store finds that i had before we were married... and you'd be glad to know none of them were Griswold... so he hasn't ruined any of those!).

 

[turbo]

Thank goodness our pans were cheap in the first place (my garage-sale thrift-store finds that i had before we were married... and you'd be glad to know none of them were Griswold... so he hasn't ruined any of those!).

Thank God! I'd be devastated to find any of my Griswolds soaking in a sink! I've had my 10" and 12" pans since college - almost 40 years ago, and I'll bet they were 40 years old when I got them handed down to me. Luckily, I had pretty good cooks on both sides of my family (grandmother, mother, aunts) and when they gave me pots and pans and skillets for my kitchen at college, it was good quality. Old and often mis-matched, but good stuff.

I do the same thing you do - wipe out excess oil/fat with paper towels (I use them to start fires in the wood-stove). If there is any food residue stuck on the frying pans, I scour it off with sea-salt. It only takes minutes to care for good cast-iron, but if someone mistreats a good pan, rehabilitation and re-seasoning can take a lot of effort and care.

 

[LowlyPion]

http://antiques.about.com/cs/miscellaneous/a/aa013000.htm

More than anyone likely wants to know about Griswold in particular and seasoning and cleaning iron pans in general.

All of which reminds me of my faithful skillet that I used for years, observing exquisite pan etiquette. Then I had some guests from Spain over to cook paiea. Of course the paiea was a tremendous treat, but when I was cleaning up I was nearly as disappointed as I had been treated, in discovering that they had used a metal spatula and scraped the bottom of my favorite skillet, scarring my years of careful finish. They had violated my pan causing me to start over from scratch so to speak to build another satisfactory surface.

My skillet no longer dates strangers any more.

 

[turbo]

http://antiques.about.com/cs/miscellaneous/a/aa013000.htm

More than anyone likely wants to know about Griswold in particular and seasoning and cleaning iron pans in general.

All of which reminds me of my faithful skillet that I used for years, observing exquisite pan etiquette. Then I had some guests from Spain over to cook paiea. Of course the paiea was a tremendous treat, but when I was cleaning up I was nearly as disappointed as I had been treated, in discovering that they had used a metal spatula and scraped the bottom of my favorite skillet, scarring my years of careful finish. They had violated my pan causing me to start over from scratch so to speak to build another satisfactory surface.

My skillet no longer dates strangers any more.

Grrrr! What a pain! My #5 Griswold is so smooth and well-seasoned inside that it shines. If somebody abused that pan, I'd hit them with it! My larger Griswolds had seen many decades of use before I got them, and their surfaces are not as pristine, but I keep them well-seasoned so fried food releases cleanly. When you can make scrambled or fried eggs and slip them cleanly out of the pan with no residue, that's a great pan.

 

[turbo]

Here is a quick shot of my precious #5 Griswold. Just to the rear is an old bowl housing a ball of no-knead bread bread that I will bake off tomorrow. When you've got an old pilot-light range and the dough needs to rise in a warm place for 12-20 hours, that's a great place to rise the bread. It can get cool here during the night-times (wood-heat) and the range top is a nice source of gentle heat.

 

[turbo]

I baked off the no-knead bread today while my wife made a batch of soup with lots of vegetables, Italian sausages, and black beans. They were a great combo. The bread is very light and fluffy with a crunchy crust.

Edit: the bread was great warm with butter. I has cooled off now, and it has lost some of its charm and flavor. Unsurprising, since there is only 1/4 tsp of yeast and 3/4 tsp Kosher salt. I may have to dig up my mother's old yeast-bread recipe. That stuff was great hot or cold!

 

[LowlyPion]

Edit: the bread was great warm with butter. I has cooled off now, and it has lost some of its charm and flavor. Unsurprising, since there is only 1/4 tsp of yeast and 3/4 tsp Kosher salt. I may have to dig up my mother's old yeast-bread recipe. That stuff was great hot or cold!

I've made this James Beard recipe for years with good results. Just half a click, if that, sour from neutral.:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/6310/james-beard039s-sour-cream-bread

The author of this link adds onion/dill - bump that - but the scant 2 teaspoons on the salt is a good suggestion. I like it white, no whole wheat. It's convenient in that it uses a whole standard pint of sour cream. It kneads nicely and makes a good loaf or 2.

 

[turbo]

Thanks for the link, LP. I may try that one out, though I may have to dig up my mother's old recipes for her yeast-bread recipe and try that first. That's what's missing from the no-knead - a yeasty flavor.

 

[turbo]

I know what's for supper tonight. The lobster man who bought the little house next to my father often brings him fresh seafood to thank him for keeping an eye on the place. Today, it was a 5-gallon bucket of fresh Maine shrimp. My father gave me half of them, and I just finished spending 2 hours de-heading and peeling them. My fingers are frozen and prune-y from fishing them out of the bucket of ice-water, but my wife will be thrilled.

I'll get a batch of Basmati rice going in the steamer later this afternoon. I just checked, and we have peppers, mushrooms, and celery in the 'fridge (in addition to the ever-present garlic and onion) - sounds like it's time for a shrimp-based stir-fry on a bed of rice.

 

[turbo]

Supper was sublime! Instead of using celery and green peppers (which are strong enough to overpower the flavor of the shrimp), we sauteed crushed garlic, chopped onions, mushrooms, and snow peas in butter, reserved the vegetables, sauteed the shrimp and stirred the vegetables back in before serving over Basmati rice.

I have spoken to my father's new neighbor a few times, and though I don't really know him, I LOVE that guy. When he and his buddies come up to fish or go snowmobiling, they stock up on food, and when they head back to the coast, they give my father all the perishables. Plus, the guy brings my father one-clawed lobsters that he catches, and fresh Atlantic scallops and shrimp that he barters for on the docks. What a great connection!

 

[Evo]

Supper was sublime! Instead of using celery and green peppers (which are strong enough to overpower the flavor of the shrimp), we sauteed crushed garlic, chopped onions, mushrooms, and snow peas in butter, reserved the vegetables, sauteed the shrimp and stirred the vegetables back in before serving over Basmati rice.

I have spoken to my father's new neighbor a few times, and though I don't really know him, I LOVE that guy. When he and his buddies come up to fish or go snowmobiling, they stock up on food, and when they head back to the coast, they give my father all the perishables. Plus, the guy brings my father one-clawed lobsters that he catches, and fresh Atlantic scallops and shrimp that he barters for on the docks. What a great connection!

I hate you turbo!

Not really, but I do envy you.

 

[turbo]

I hate you turbo!

Not really, but I do envy you.

You hate me for my seafood connections. I am sad.

I hope the local Atlantic salmon-farm hatchery needs to cull brood-stock again next year, and I get another 100 pounds or more of fresh salmon. I will ruthlessly post images of the fish, the fillets and steaks, and the smoked salmon that I make for my father and my wife and me. You will be sorry that you have been so cruel.

 

[Evo]

You hate me for my seafood connections. I am sad.

I hope the local Atlantic salmon-farm hatchery needs to cull brood-stock again next year, and I get another 100 pounds or more of fresh salmon. I will ruthlessly post images of the fish, the fillets and steaks, and the smoked salmon that I make for my father and my wife and me. You will be sorry that you have been so cruel.

Me crueL? You're a beast!

You can, however, make up for you're cruelty by sending me half of your ill gotten booty.

 

[turbo]

Me crueL? You're a beast!

You can, however, make up for you're cruelty by sending me half of your ill gotten booty.

I merely post what benefits that we frugal Mainers can derive from living in a "help-your-neighbor" society. It's not my look-out that you live as far as possible from the East and West coasts and have no access to seafood. I guess you could move to North Dakota and make things worse by removing any possibility that you could get reasonably fresh Gulf seafood!

 

[Ben Niehoff]

Last night I made Bratwursts Braised in Beer. It's fairly easy (it looks like a lot of steps, but I just separated it out, because I find it annoying when recipes mention several tasks within a single paragraph):

4 Bratwursts
1 large onion
6 new potatoes (the small ones)
1/3 to 1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter
1 bottle beer (something flavorful, dark amber to black)
Sauerkraut

1. Chop onion into thin-ish slices. Half moons are easiest.

2. Wash potatoes to your liking. Do not peel. Chop into 1-inch pieces (usually, this amounts to chopping into 8ths). Toss potatoes with salt to coat, and pepper.

3. Pierce bratwursts with a fork a few times. Or not. I didn't, but it caused them to burst and steam a bit.

4. In saute pan, heat butter to med-high (7). I used clarified butter. If using stick butter, watch it to make sure it doesn't burn (when it starts to get frothy, that's when you need to throw something on it, quick!).

5. Saute bratwursts quickly, browning on both sides. 1 min. Remove.

6. Saute onions quickly until translucent, stirring often to prevent burns. 1-2 min. Remove.

7. Saute potatoes until golden, making sure to get all sides evenly. 5-10 min.

8. Reduce heat. Return bratwursts, onions to pan, and arrange everything so it's more or less in one layer.

9. Pour in beer. It should come up more or less halfway on the ingredients. Heat it to bubbling, and then simmer med-low (2-3) for 40 minutes or so, uncovered. Note: if you taste it at this point it will probably taste a little watery. Don't touch it! You can adjust the salt toward the end if needed.

10. With a slotted spoon and/or tongs, remove bratwursts and potatoes to serving platter. Try to leave the liquid in the pan.

11. If the liquid looks a bit low, add a little bit of water. Then raise heat to high (9-10), scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan, and reduce the liquid until it darkens in color and becomes syrupy. Turn off heat and quickly pour this sauce over the potatoes.

12. Serve with buns and sauerkraut, and of course, beer.

The beer flavor will permeate the bratwursts and potatoes and make them yummy. But the "concentrated beer sauce" is arguably the best part.

 

[Evo]

Sounds absolutely wonderful Ben! I love that kind of thing.

 

[turbo]

Sounds absolutely wonderful Ben! I love that kind of thing.

I visited the UP in winter and was treated to just such a feast out on the ice. I wasn't about to buy a fishing license for one day on a short consulting trip, but I was happy to have the great food and beer.

 

[Evo]

My first job when I was 14 was as a short order cook and soda jerk at a pharmacy lunch counter. These were the first "diners" going waaaaay back. Coca cola was invented by a pharmacist to be sold at his pharmacy counter.

I flipped burgers, made milkshakes and ice cream sodas, some of my customers were born in the late 1800's and they *knew* how things were made when they were invented and taught me. It's still the best job I ever had. I have many fond memories of the cooking and the people. A time gone by and lost forever.

 

[LowlyPion]

That means you know how to make a cherry phosphate.

 

[Evo]

That means you know how to make a cherry phosphate.

Yes, I do. I want to go back and be a soda jerk again.

Funny, I would have customers insist that I use "simple syrup" instead of sugar for their iced teas because it tasted better than sugar. All I did was once or twice a week I would boil plain sugar in water and make "simple syrup" and pour it into the jugs, then put it into the syrup containers. These had pumps that you would pump different syrups into glasses and mix with carbonated water.

 

[turbo]

That means you know how to make a cherry phosphate.

and real malted milk and milk-shakes as opposed to frappes.

 

[Evo]

I brought left over kentucky Fried chicken to work for lunch, but I didn't feel like eating it so I walked down to the nearest eatery and was talked into the cheese tortellini special. Yummy.

I was in a daring mood, I had them throw chicken, red pepper, pesto, garlic, red and white wine and two types of sauces, alfredo & tomato in and then two types of hard grated cheeses. Mmmmm. <chomp> <snorf>

Oh, and garlic bread and raspberry iced tea.

 

[lisab]

I brought left over kentucky Fried chicken to work for lunch, but I didn't feel like eating it so I walked down to the nearest eatery and was talked into the cheese tortellini special. Yummy.

I was in a daring mood, I had them throw chicken, red pepper, pesto, garlic, red and white wine and two types of sauces, alfredo & tomato in and then two types of hard grated cheeses. Mmmmm. <chomp> <snorf>

Oh, and garlic bread and raspberry iced tea.

Don't blame you not wanting to eat KFC. My daugher became vegan for a year after a particularly disgusting KFC meal (seriously...but she did recover eventually).

 

[Evo]

Oh, the KFC was scrumptious, but I had it last night (it's the Fruit Bat and Dr Foofer's favorite meal). It's not something I can do too often though. I just call it a big ol' bucket of extra crispy grease. Sometimes you just need grease.

I actually had a doctor tell me, when I was younger, that I wasn't getting enough oil in my diet. I have fixed that problem.

 

[turbo]

I have a venison roast stewing in Burgundy and water with garlic and onion powder. In a couple of hours, I'll add hunks of potato, carrots, cabbage, onions, etc, and simmer them long enough to not only cook them, but to get the juice from the roast incorporated. New England boiled dinner is one of my favorite meals to make with cheap cuts of beef - venison just makes it that much better.

My wife and I are getting some cabinets built for the kitchen, and we're looking at counter-tops made of recycled slate blackboards laminated to plywood. We're going to get an Electrolux all-gas range to replace our 30+ year old Glenwood. Electrolux has moved into the the US appliance market in a big way, and the quality of their ranges is head-and-shoulders above Whirlpool, GE, Kitchenaid, etc. It's not until you get to the pro-quality ranges at over twice the price (Bosch/Thermidore, etc) that you start getting
build-quality and features equivalent to that of the Electrolux line. Food is our main extravagance/expense, and I figure that as much as we both love cooking and canning, it's not out-of-line to invest a couple of grand in a great range.

 

[physics girl phd]

Oh, the KFC was scrumptious, but I had it last night (it's the Fruit Bat and Dr Foofer's favorite meal).

I befriended Cha-Cha when I had knee-surgery and friends brought over KFC for me. Nothing like greasy chicken to get a frightened stray cat friendly (and subsequently adopted). So I'll agree KFC has it's advantages on rare occasions.