RealMenJulienne's Profile
Why should I buy tilapia?
Because it is cheap, prolific, easy to farm, and as a waste recycling meat source it is highly sustainable. You can eat as much tilapia as you want without affecting our overtaxed fisheries. It also takes strong flavors well. I usually dredge in cornstarch, pan fry, and then make a pan sauce of shaoxing wine, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, chopped garlic, and cilantro.
I agree with tommy that the distaste for tilapia based on their diet is pretty ridiculous, for the reasons he has already laid out. Pigs are probably humanity's most important meat source just because they recycle the stuff we won't eat.
Staring at a pile of shredded cabbage, what salad should I make?
I would stir-fry it. Heat up vegetable oil in a skillet, then briefly cook lots of smashed garlic until fragrant. Add cabbage and stir fry over high heat until it begins to brown, then add red pepper flakes to taste. At this point there will be a bit of crust forming on the pan so add 1/4 cup of water or stock to deglaze, then turn heat to medium, cover and steam until tender. Finish it with salt and a dash of mild vinegar to taste. Four cups should make enough for a side dish.
What 20 dishes should I know how to make without a recipe?
I didn't learn cooking in any kind of systematic way so my list is probably not very helpful. Anyway here are the things I do not need a recipe to make:
Hot and sour soup
Sweet and sour fish
Ants climbing tree (rice vermicelli in spicy pork sauce)
Ma Po Tofu
Greens stir-fried with garlic
Pork dumplings
Fried rice
Chili
Gumbo
Beef stew
Chicken stock
Tomato vegetable soup
Basic tomato sauce
Fried/mashed/roast/hashed potatoes
A loaf of bread
Fried chicken
Roast pork shoulder
What's growing in my pickle jar?
No, but it's only been two days. I intend to eat these within the week.
"Least Favorite Vegetable" Poll
I love vegetables. They just about all taste great in a simple stir-fry with garlic. The only one I can't stand is bitter melon. Bitter greens like gai lan and watercress are great but bitter melon is just too much for me.
What's growing in my pickle jar?
Decided to try my hand at pickling cucumbers a couple days ago. Made a very strong brine of rice vinegar, salt, crushed garlic, dill, and just a splash of water. This was just for short-term consumption so I didn't do any canning food safety procedures other than making sure the jar was clean. After just a couple days in the fridge the cucumbers looked and tasted great, but I've noticed filmy white deposits near the bottom of the jar. It looks like egg white or spider webs floating in the liquid. It's hard to believe that bacteria could be growing in such a salty acid environment, but could that be it? Maybe it's the vinegar "mother" I've heard about? Please tell me if you know what this is.
Boston Butt / Pork Roast , Roasted Low and Slow @ 200* for 8.5 Hours ( Pictures )
That's a classic, thanks for the sauce tip.
what would you do.....BBQ chicken?
Well, they won't have boneless drumsticks at the store; you'd have to debone them at home. First cut a horizontal ring around the skinny part of the leg close to where the foot would attach, making sure to cut completely through skin and tendon. Then make a vertical slice through the thickest part of the muscle, down to the bone. Finally, use the knife point to scrape flesh free, working all the way around the bone. Trim out fat and tendons as you go.
It's not hard to do and you end up with a clean bone for stock making. No waste!
what would you do.....BBQ chicken?
Yes it's a good plan. I would use a dry-rub with salt instead of of a brine because I think the chicken skin ends up crispier that way. I think the best chicken parts for this are deboned drumsticks and thighs with the skin on because they lay flat on the grill, cook evenly and are hard to dry out.
MSG after the fact?
Agree. I tried that with scrambled eggs once and crunching into those crystals was like eating sand. MSG absolutely must be dissolved.
After school snack memories
Tina's frozen chicken burritos. After microwaving, the tortilla would dry out and the filling would get mouth-scorching hot except for a little ice cube surprise waiting in the middle. The only reason I still buy the damn things is because they remind me of after school snacking.
I wasn't allowed to play video games on weekdays, so naturally every day from 3:30 when I got home to 5:00 when Mom got home was covert Super Nintendo time. I became very good at switching off the console and sprinting to the homework desk with half-eaten Tina's in hand at the first sound of the garage door opening. Well one day the garage door opened at 4:30. SHIT! I tried to do my usual switch-n-sprint but my right leg had fallen asleep, causing me to do a pinwheel maneuver and face plant right into the living room wall. The Tina's in my hand left a nice starburst pattern of chicken gravy on the wall which is probably still there to this day.
Boston Butt / Pork Roast , Roasted Low and Slow @ 200* for 8.5 Hours ( Pictures )
Great looking roast fourunder. Pork shoulder really is the tasiest part of the tastiest animal, and somehow it's also the cheapest. Can you give out the details on what looks like a green chile sauce in your last photo?
Your Perfect Sandwich
Another Indiana boy here. I would give the cheese-beef at least one try if given the chance. If you are ever in Indianapolis, Big City Grill and Lemonade at 38th and Meridian has an OK Italian Beef, the best I have found in the city anyway.
Your Perfect Sandwich
I like Johnnie's, they are a 10 out of 10 when they are on their game. Unfortunately they sometimes produce a mediocre Beef, which is a risk I can't take when I'm in Chicago so seldom these days. I kind of hate to say this but Portillo's is my go-to Beef place. They turn out a solid 9 out of 10 every time.
please join my I HATE MAYO CLUB..LOL.. anyone welcome..even if you like it rop
To those who hate mayo I have a question. What about mayo-based sauces? Ranch dressing was mentioned, and there are a lot of sauces that are just one or two ingredients away from mayo. Thousand island, tartar sauce, remoulade, tzatziki (sometimes, at crappy greek places), halal chicken sauce, that pink stuff squirted over a spicy tuna roll, the list goes on and on.
In N Out Burger question for a newbie
I've only had it once, in Vegas, and it was worth the hype. Close to the top of the regional burger chains, in my opinion. Their strength is in their simplicity; every ingredient tastes like something you can buy at the grocery to make your own simple burger at home. No weird-tasting, over-salted, or over-processed flavors. They are also very good at balanced assembly. The burger actually looks like the one in the advertisement and every bite gets you a little cheese, sauce, beef, onion. I would say just order the original double cheeseburger (whatever it's called) to appreciate the fresh ingredients.
Under no circumstances order the fries.
What did you have for breakfast today?
Sorry, the label only has Korean writing on it so I don't know what it is. Compared to SPAM it's half the size and twice as salty.
Does anybody remember when Pizza Hut used to be good?
Whoa whoa what do you mean, "used to be"? I'm a grown man and I love Pizza Hut. No one wants to admit to liking that oily pan pizza crust but come on guys, it's fried dough! Next you'll be telling me you turn down the sugar-covered fried biscuits at the Chinese buffet, or deep-fried waffle cakes at the state fair, yeah right.
It all started when the evil geniuses at Pizza Hut marketing thought up the Book-It program, by which impressionable little kids could earn free pan pizzas by reading books. As a fat kid addicted to shitty Star Wars novels this was win-win for me! That Book-It scheme made a huge contribution to American childhood literacy and obesity, while imprinting my pizza taste buds for life.
So to answer the question, yes. I remember when Pizza Hut used to be good, and it still is.
Your Perfect Sandwich
Cheese on a Beef? Yikes. Where have you had something like that?
So what would be your last meal? If it came to that :)
I would eat something that gives me a chance at revenge from beyond the grave. A mess of beans, greens, cabbage, and eggs. Think high-fiber and high-sulfur. I would stuff myself to bursting. When they flip the lever to fry me, it's my hope that everything "down there" would let go, creating a gigantic disgusting mess for them to clean up.
If eating for pleasure and not spite, I'd eat a bowl of rou jiang mian: Chinese noodles in a sauce of ground pork, shallots, and sesame paste, with gongwan, scallions, and bok choy.
What are your favourite taco fillings?
Eh? Do you mean what I described is not the real al pastor?
When do you tip low (10% or less)
God I hate American restaurant culture. I hate that this is even a question we have to ask ourselves, every time we go out. Here is my very simple tipping scale:
15% for medicore to excellent service
0% for poor service (rampant inattention, aggression, bigotry, or physical altercation with the server)
Don't pretend to be my friend, don't fake flirt with me, because your tip will NOT CHANGE. Keep that shit to yourself and just do your job.
Can one grinder do it all?
Hello, I'm looking for an ideal grinder which may or may not exist. I'm picturing something which can grind anything from sausage to spices to coffee to wheat flour, just by swapping out a set of interchangeable blades. I also want it to be a hand-powered device so I can still use it if the power goes out, but would prefer something a little more advanced than mortar and pestle.
Does anyone have experience with a grinder like this?
Thanks
What did you have for breakfast today?
Wanted to make a SPAM sandwich, but was foiled by lack of both bread and SPAM. Had to settle for Korean knock-off SPAM, fried up with some yellow mustard and eaten with knife and fork.
How Do You Make Popcorn?
The wok is a good idea. I make stovetop popcorn in a stainless steel washbasin for the same reason; the small flat bottom area causes popping kernels to jump up out of the oil and avoid getting soggy. The fat is a mixture of butter and corn oil and the finished corn gets tossed with garlic powder and table salt - the fine grains stick better than kosher salt.
Emile Henri pizza stone - opinions?
Serious Eats did a very comprehensive test of about 12 different pizza baking surfaces, including the Emile Henry: http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/04/pizza-protips-baking-surfaces-part-6-emile-henry-pizza-stone-review.html
The other tests are very good reading as well. I'm leaning toward a cast-iron pizza pan myself: http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/05/the-best-surface-for-baking-pizza-part-11-lodge-cast-iron-pizza-pan.html
Cheeseburger All the Way - give me your best!
I'll just post what I always do on these best burger threads:
I think it was in a John Steinbeck novel, maybe the Grapes of Wrath but I don't remember, that I read an eloquent description of my ideal burger. A cheap chuck patty griddled to a dark crust on both sides, then fry an onion slice in the burger grease with the patty resting on top of the slice. Press the patty into the onion and stack white-bread buns on the patty and cover to steam the whole thing in onion juice. Assemble with dill pickles and optional ketchup and mustard.
Guess what my DH put on his McDonald's hash browns this morning
Frying your own egg with Mcdonald's breakfast is definitely worth your time. That steam pressed disk they give you is NOT an egg. Actually when you do this I think the sausage Mcmuffin is almost the prefect breakfast sandwich.
When the Mcrib is out of season, I'll take a bottle of Stubb's BBQ sauce to Mcdonald's to make a BBQ sandwich out of their Mcdouble. It might be better than the actual Mcrib.
If your FF fries get a stale on the way home, the best way to reheat them is in a dry skillet over medium heat. They exude plenty of grease so no additional oil is needed. A little added salt usually helps though. Keep moving them around in the pan until they crisp up and they will be almost as good as fresh-fried.
One more... around here all leftover Chinese take-out dishes get mixed together and made into fried rice.
