mandycat's Profile
What do you make in your pressure cooker?
Here's the cookbook that is my go-to reference for pressure cooking: "Pressure Perfect" by Lorna Sass. You can read the reviews here.
http://www.amazon.com/Pressure-Perfect-Twenty-Minutes-Cooker/dp/0060505346/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319724115&sr=1-1
Lots of good recipes, many of them with alternative seasonings and accompaniments, and useful tips on making the best use from your cooker.
The only recipe I've tried from this book and disliked was one for cheesecake. But then I should have known better than that in the first place.
What homemade edible thing do you most commonly gift?
I'm gearing up to make jars of Apricot Chutney, page 240 of Ball's "Complete Book of Home Preserving." Everyone loves this stuff. When I gave it to a friend for the first time, I suggested that she serve it with chicken, pork or any kind of curry. I asked her later what she ate it with and her reply was "A spoon." It's also something you can make year round since the main ingredients are dried apricots and Granny Smith apples.
If I have time, I'll make the Cranberry Mustard from the same book.
home made food for babies/toddlers?
Only likes freshly made food, eats garlic and pesto, scorns store bought carbs: it sounds as though you're raising what another poster called a "Chow Pup". Congratulations.
What's for Dinner # 112 [old]
Even though I've been cooking since shortly after fire was discovered, it's only been since we moved back to Florida five months ago that I've learned the correct way to clean shrimp without reducing them to crustacean mush. So I can buy them the way you're supposed to: in the shell and heads on.
I still can't look them in their beady little black eyes.
Ugh, why did I order that? Do you ever know better but do it anyway?
Ditto on onion rings, which are even more difficult to make well than fries. Those previously frozen batter jackets with an onion worm inside are really depressing, especially for those of us who love good rings.
Ugh, why did I order that? Do you ever know better but do it anyway?
I almost always regret ordering a burger, especially one of those cheddar cheese-grilled onion-mushroom-bacon-pickle-lettuce-tomato-coleslaw concoctions. If the meat is good, all the other stuff disguises the fact. If the meat is mediocre, then why bother in the first place. And about half way through I remember that the typical restaurant hamburger bun has all the substance and flavor of wet tissue paper.
What's for Dinner # 112 [old]
The word went out yesterday afternoon: 'Pssst, The Shrimp Lady will be on her regular corner Saturday. Keep it to yourself." She always has freshly caught shrimp about the size of dolphins, very sweet and meaty. So it's shrimp wrapped in bacon and grilled, served over Spanish rice. Maybe I'll grill some romaine hearts while I'm at it.
Help with Asian inspired barbecue menu
Are oysters available on your small island? A Hawaiian born friend of ours frequently cooks oysters on the half shell on the grill, drizzled with a teriyaki sauce. You cook over high heat just until the sauce begins to bubble and they're ready.
What food find still haunts you - that you had once and haven't found since?
There was a restaurant in Tampa in the early 1970's whose specialty was what looked like a turkey leg. In reality it was three or four very large shrimp, tail on, packed around a crab meat stuffing, dipped in a light batter and quick-fried. You paired it with a Caesar salad made at your table and a pitcher of sangria. Except that I'm a klutz at frying, I'd try it myself. It's probably better just to savor the memory.
Praise for hashbrowns. What are your memories?
No need to search my memory -- the best hash browns in my experience were those served at the restaurant in Centennial Airport , a small regional airport on the south side of the Denver metro area used by private and corporate planes . In fact, all the breakfast dishes we ate there were the best. Heuvos rancheros and hash browns -- yum.
If you're in the area, it's the Perfect Landing. http://www.theperfectlanding.com/
Edited to read: "the best breakfast potatoes not necessarily considered by purists to be actual hash browns ......"
Best and Worst Cooking Shows
I can envision Sandra's lasagna recipe as something incorporating Campbell's tomato soup and a box of mac-and-cheese. Am I right?
hey home cooks,the holidays will be here soon!
We're in the process of doing a lot of cosmetic updates to the house we bought in May. We should be finished with everything except the kitchen by November. I've informed Mr. Mandycat that we are taking a three month sabbatical before starting that daunting task. You can live without the second bathroom or the TV room or the guest room. But taking your kitchen apart is the equivalent of a heart transplant. Good luck!
Cilantro Haters, it's not your fault!
I used to work with a woman who loved Mexican food but hated cilantro. After a while the rest of the team avoided going out to lunch with her if a Mexican restaurant was on tap. She would order something that contained cilantro and then meticulously fish out every little scrap of green. It was tedious watching her and we were always late getting back to the office.
You'd have thought she'd just pick out as her favorite some other cuisine, one that doesn't involve cilantro, Greek food, maybe?
What are you baking these days? September 2011, part 2 [old]
Here in Northwest Florida it feels like Indian Summer -- New Delhi, India that is. Today's high will be 88 and very muggy. Cooler and drier weather is promised by Friday.
I have brunch guests coming Friday so, muggy or no, I'm baking the Granola Bread recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes. It's something I can start Thursday afternoon and finish in plenty of time the next morning. (And something a two year old might just possibly enjoy but who knows.) I'll also be baking a batch of honey-nutmeg muffins, which I can start the night before to the extent of getting all the dry ingredients whisked together.
I'm scared of...
I'm encouraged to try the stuffed steak again. I have a recipe for matambre, flank steak that you stuff with vegetables and boiled eggs then braise in red wine and beef broth. It sounds delicious, especially served with chimichurri sauce. Maybe I'll be a big brave girl and try again. Nothing about the process was particularly daunting besides the rolling part.
Too Many Eggs - What to bake or cook to freeze?
Maida Heatter's Santa Fe Brownies (the one with cream cheese) uses eight eggs per batch. These freeze well.
Salting water - A poll - why or why not?
I see no mention of grits here, you Darn Yankees. Cooking grits in heavily salted water is your last chance to get those little rascals salted. After they're fully cooked you can dump salt on by the bucket to no avail.
I'm scared of...
Any recipe that that includes the words "roll up jellyroll fashion." From yule logs to stuffed flank steaks, nothing rolls up successfully for me. Either the stuff in the middle squirts out the ends or the outside stubbornly reverts to its original shape (except, of course, for the holes that have somehow appeared.)
What kind of bread for a Cajun menu?
The Cajun French Bread looks really good. I'll try it the next time I make gumbo. Given that my gumbo recipe already has about as much heat as we like, I'll probably omit the jalapeno and go light on the creole seasoning. But otherwise it looks like a treat.
What's your favorite no-salt or extremely low-salt flavoring?
"Processed foods must be owned by the salt companies!!!"
I looked in horror one day at the nutritional information on a teensy little envelope of chicken broth mix, enough to make one cup of broth. It had approximately one-half the recommended sodium intake for an adult. It was more like chicken flavored salt than salty chicken broth. So I can understand how careful you have to be.
Favorite apple recipes
On the "generally scorned products that are sometimes delicious" thread, I heroically stood up for Good Ole Bisquick so your comment caught my eye. I looked on the Betty Crocker site; is your basic coffee cake recipe the "Streusel Coffee Cake"? That looked like the best candidate for what you describe here.
Fage yogurt price drop: Any reason?
Also, by the time the Mega-Mighty-Kroger-Piggly-Wiggly-Publix-Food-World-Safeway grocery chain puts out its own store brand version of something, it has already begun to lose its coolness factor.
No-Chop Meals
I feel your pain. I broke my arm last winter and for months had to avert my eyes when my husband began wielding a knife. How can you reach the age of 62 and not know how to peel an orange?
Here's a tip for when you get the urge for fresh herbs. I recently needed basil. I haven't planted a garden in our new home yet and what they had at the grocery store looked terrible. Next to the fresh herbs were a couple of varieties packed in oil in plastic tubes. The basil certainly wasn't up to real fresh but it was a hundred times better than dried or none at all.
Upcoming Brunch Help
I think we have a winnah!!! I never thought about muffin tins. I could do 12-18 eggs all at once. I see that eggs en cocette are usually cooked in a water bath so I'll experiment with that first.
In general my poached eggs only have about a 50% survival rate so I'll go with the muffin tin idea now. I'll practice my poaching skills so that I can take advantage of the other ideas at a later date.
Thanks to everyone who responded.
Upcoming Brunch Help
I have a brunch planned for the last Friday of this month for six adults and a toddler. I'd like to make corned beef hash but the thought of poaching 12 eggs to come out all at the same time is daunting.
I've looked without success here and on Food TV for a hint about how I might finish the hash in the oven, with the eggs baked on top. Any thoughts?
P.S. I'm not crazy about most breakfast casseroles -- usually too bready and dry for me -- but if you have a recipe that has been a big success I'll be happy to try that out instead of the hash. The Little Prince gets fruit, scrambled eggs and a gingerbread muffin so the casserole could be a grownup type of dish.
What's your favorite no-salt or extremely low-salt flavoring?
I bought Tone's Rosemary Garlic Seasoning at Sams Club a few weeks ago and it's been going into all sort of things. Does 65 MG of sodium per one-quarter teaspoon count as low-sodium? It doesn't taste salty to me but I'm fairly profligate with the salt shaker. The seasoning has a lot of punch so you don't use very much at a time. I like the combination of the two flavors and the rosemary in this mix doesn't have that woody texture that dried rosemary alone can have.
Board Game Party - What to Serve?
How about some sort of wrap sandwiche? You can get a lot of taste and crunch into a nice neat package that doesn't drip or leave a mess. I make mine with spinach tortillas, sliced turkey, cheddar cheese, lettuce and finely chopped tomatoes with a ranch dressing. I'm still working on getting everything together in a tidy package but if they're made in advance and left to chill they seem to keep their shape better. Also a quick warm-up in the microwave before wrapping makes them less likely to tear.
Its getting cool outside, and my crock pot
My so-called "recipe" has to be described by method and ingredients only. The measuring is done by guesstimating, since it varies according to how much okra I have on hand. You’ll have to experiment with the amount of roux versus the amount of chicken stock to get the consistency you want but everything else is pretty free-form.
Poach chicken thighs in water seasoned with salt and dried thyme. Chop and set cooked chicken aside, skimming and saving the cooking water.
Cut okra into coins after removing the top of the pods. Chop white onion, celery (including leaves) and a combination of green and not-green bell peppers medium fine. Set aside while making roux. Roux: In a large pot, whisk one part all purpose flour and one part canola oil over medium high heat, stirring constantly until the color of a penny. Don’t walk away; it can burn in a heartbeat. Add vegetables, Creole seasoning (I use Emeril’s) and a couple of bay leaves; toss till completely combined. Lower heat and cook vegetables for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. If you use a Creole seasoning that doesn’t have sufficient garlic flavor for you, throw in some minced fresh garlic at the last minute so it doesn’t burn.
Add chicken cooking water and as much chicken broth as needed. (See what I meant about measurements?) Stir to combine and thicken. Season with a couple of glugs of Worcestershire sauce and tomato catsup. If you have two or three good ripe tomatoes, blanch, peel, chop and add. I never used tomatoes until recently when I had some super good gumbo at the Gumbo Shack in Fairhope AL. Add andouille sausage chopped into fairly fine pieces.
Cook on the stovetop on very low heat for 3-4 hours stirring from time to time. Or pour into your slow cooker and set it on low, 6-8 hours. Season to taste with more Creole seasoning and/or salt. Serve with rice, cooked separately.
I hope this at least gives you some ideas, if not a scientifically accurate recipe.
Its getting cool outside, and my crock pot
If you still have access to fresh okra, as we do here in Northwest Florida, any good gumbo recipe is timely. We had the last of some chicken/Andouille sausage gumbo today and it was too delicious.
salsa canning
I'm going with the folks who discouraged you from experimentation with canning recipes. Stick with recognized sources like Ball and the USDA and follow their recommendations to the letter.
When I first start canning I decided that, while I could be innovative in just about all of my cooking ventures (with the exception of most baking recipes), home preservation is an entirely different line of endeavor. The difference between your dinner guests politely declining a second helping and your guests being taken off the emergency room is huge.
There are no extra points for creativity in home canning.
