Botch's Profile
I’m finally done with my family cookbook! (lessons learned + a recipe)
Nice! I'm working on a family cookbook this year and appricate the notes! I like the 'From the recipe box of:' annotation a lot, mind if I steal it? :D
I've got a pretty cool system worked out to solicit family recipes right now, I can post it if people are interested. It's using Google docs, which allows you to set up a web-page in the format of a recipe (instructions/ingredients/type of dish/number of servings..etc) Then I e-mailed the link to the page to everyone. They type in a recipe, hit submit, and it goes into a spreadsheet I have access to. I'm sharing read-only access to the spreadsheet with everyone, so if people make new contributions, I (or anyone with access) can print it out again every year. I'm pretty hyped about it!
Cooking with Gin
Also other creamy-seafood sauces. Like clam sauce for linguine, or any seafood sauce for that matter as a sub for white wine.
New cook in the House-- need tips/books
used college textbook store > a professional cookbook
La Varenne Pratique by Anne Willan
Joy of Cooking
Culinary Artistry
Sauces by James Peterson
Pineapple jalapeno jelly - ideas?
To flavor plain yogurt! IMO it's better than any flavor for yogurt, just throw a tablespoon into a bowl of yogurt, divine.
Habanero Fritters like served at Salvador Molly's in Portland, OR
Hell, I'd go for the indian pakoras as a base, since those are often made with peppers, and are crispy as can be
-garbanzo bean flour (Gram flour, besan, other names)
-beer or sparkiling water, enough to make the flour into the consistancy of pancake batter
-habaneros to taste, seeded, roasted and minced.
-salt
-cheese? I'd skip the cheese, but use mozzarella if I was going to use some for the texture/mild flavor. Or smoked mozzarella.
mix up, get oil to 350F, tablespoons of batter dropped in, eat fast or double-fry for extra crispness. To double fry, remove and drain, then fry again right before serving at the same temperature for extra crispness.
Serve on dry shredded lettuce or cabbage
And then you need a dipping sauce, hmm, mayo/cilantro/lime juice/sugar comes to mind, and maybe some bbq sauce next to that.
lasagna emergency
Yes patrick, you are a great sister (lol)
Do a test run, a nice thing about lasagana is that after it's done, you can freeze it and reheat it later, it's almost as good. I'd not do that for the main event, but you can play around and not waste food.
no recipe but tips:
-if the lasagana noodles say cook for 10 minutes, cook them for 6-7. You want them undercooked but soft, almost but not quite aldente. Otherwise you risk them turning to mush while you bake em. Dont trust a recipe that calls for fully cooking them first.
-Extra cheese on top, get them fully cooked (if you can) about 10 minutes before serving time. Then, 5 minutes before serving, broil them on low to get the cheese brown and bubbly and dripping down the sides of the individual servings. Do not get distracted at this step, watch them like a hawk. Dark brown is great, black is right out!
-garnish should be fresh-grated parmisian. Not pre-grated store bought stuff, grate it yourself. Pregrated has fillers in it and is often lower quality. A sprig of fresh oregano on each one would also be pretty.
-for the meat, using a combination of italian sausage (caseless) and ground lamb is my personal favorite.
-if your recipe calls for dried herbs, and you decide to go with fresh you need more, double the quanity.
-If you are making the sauce (and you should) canned tomatoes are vastly better than unripe store bought tomatoes. Fire roasted canned tomatoes are really good, mmm!Ripe storebought (or better yet, garden) tomatoes are great if you can find them, but for lasagana I'd really use canned-whole-peeled tomatoes.
Whatever container you use, make sure you have a plate to hold each one, don't want burnt fingers. Also, remember the rule of eating that says smaller portions taste better. So smaller containers are better than bigger ones, and then you make some extra and let people have another one or 2 if they like. Absense makes the heart fonder and whatnot :)
Caesar salad is the perfect salad to go with it, and pretty quick/easy. Storebought garlic croutons, fresh parmisian cheese and roasted garlic cloves are my favorite toppings. Make sure the dressing has enough anchovies :)
Need suggestions for Bok Choy--*Non-Asian* Preps
This is sooo good! I do the same, but with a little balsimic vinegar in addition to the olive oil, and grill the hell out of them to get some blackening lines before it gets cooked much, then just serve them in the quarters that I cut them into for grilling, with salt and pepper.
Also, I've made some really really good cream of bokchoi soup. Just standard cream-of soup, and the flavor comes through well.
better name for crustless quiche?
I think of it as a savory custard myself, and cook it the same way I cook custards (to 170F in a water bath) I don't use frittata or stratta because of the way those are cooked (more browned, texture difference) but that may just be my quiche cooking method.
More recently, I got sick of calling it crustless, and just throw a handfull of nuts at the bottom of the pan, there's the nut-crust :) It's a good idea to really shake the nuts well and/or use them whole though, if there are little nut particles they are odd (I don't think nut-meal works as well)
Onions and peppers: OK to chop and freeze?
too mushy for me for many things. For making mirepoix or stew or anything where you are going to cook them until they are soft anyway, they are just fine.
When freezing them, spread them out on a cookie sheet and stick them into the freezer for an hour, then bag them up. So they don't weld into a solid ball, easier to use just a few then.
Almost-no-cooking dinners during morning sickness?
For my wife, I would make or have the ingredients around for:
Salads (bags of pre-chopped lettuce if you feel like it)
tuperwares in the fridge of diced fruit
Deli meats
those store-roasted chickens to have in the fridge
cheeses you enjoy
you can microwave squashs really easy (covered, a little water in the dish)
egg salad
Not sure what kind of food you like
Any Chile Experts? I made my first batch this weekend and have some questions
Hmm, I wonder how beef tendon would work in there, speaking of mouthfeel. Maybe 1 part diced tendon to 4 parts diced chuck. If only tendon were easier to dice :)
Favorite Cabbage ideas
Since no one ever says it in cabbage threads:
Raw, sliced, with fancy (or kosher) salt.
Ideas for Pickled Herring!?
I think it's a habit, since my parents always had red wine with them. Hmm, vodka, brings to mind chilled sake too
Ideas for Pickled Herring!?
Right outta the jar, with a glass of red wine in the other hand!
I mean, if it's really good pickled herring, does it need anything? mmm
Best beef stir fry recipe with clear step by step instructions?
Dryness is very important to cooking beef (or any meat) in a wok at home. Without the BTUs of a super-wok-burner, you throw that wet meat in from the marinade and it's going to sit there and boil. So, you can squeeze it dry after marinating, or just use dry spices or just salt. And super small batchs, when you toss it in the hot oil you want it to burn right away if you are not stiring it around, if it just sits there it was too much.
I don't add it back to the liquid and simmer after, the beef goes on the side and gets mixed into the final sauce after you are done cooking. Again, home stoves are just not responsive enough and again you get boiled meat.
Baking soda can be added to your marinade, about 2 teaspoons/pound of meat, and don't let it sit in that more than an hour (or mushy) as a tenderizer for cheaper cuts of meat. Won't work too well if there's something acidic like vinegar in your marinade though. You can also use premium steak which is pretty forgiving (no need to tenderize)
Looking for Killer Spicy Indian Recipe
Here's my favorite vindaloo recipe:
Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking
Servings 4
1.5 tbsps grainy mustard
1.5 tsp cumin
3/4 tsps ground turmeric
4 tsps cayenne or more
2 tsps salt
2 tsps red wine vinegar
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 sm onion -- cut into half rings
8 cloves garlic -- crushed or grated
1 1/4 lbs boned shoulder of pork or lamb -- cut into 1" cubes
2/3 cup canned coconut milk -- well stirred
Combine mustard, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, salt and vinegar in cup. Mix well. Put oil in large nonstick frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, put in onion. Stir-fry until it is medium brown. Put in the garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Put in spice paste. Stir-fry for a minute. Put in meat. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Add coconut milk and 2/3 cups water if you are going to cook in pressure cooker or 1 cup if conventionally cook. Cover and either bring up to pressure or bring to boil. Lower heat to simmer for 20 minutes in pressure cooker or 60-70 in conventional pan.
*****************
My notes:
I've made this with chicken, goat, lamb and pork shoulder. All worked well, my favorite so far has been the pork.
I used 4 tsp cayenne pepper and it was pretty spicy. I'd suggest 4-5 for spicy, 1-3 for just a little heat. Korean ground chili peppers make a good substitute but is not as hot so you might need a bit more.
I cook it covered, then uncovered for about 10 minutes after it's done to reduce the sauce a bit and thicken it.
This recipe calls for an hour of cooking or so, but that's for beef/pork/lamb. With chicken, I'd go 30 minutes and just use thigh meat. Also, cut the water down a bit, maybe 1/2 to 2/3s a cup since you don't want to simmer it too long to reduce the sauce.
I've made this 4 times in the last week and a half if you can believe that, it was great every time!
Guacamole -- What's in yours??
I know it's good because I did guac-deviled eggs, which were really good. 'course, they had a little bacon on top...
Guacamole -- What's in yours??
This is how I do it too. After onion/citrus/jalapeno every flavor makes it harder for me to taste the avacado.
Thai Red Curry help please.
Salt and sugar do it for me. Just using fish sauce for the salt can get a bit potent, and I've found that when I adjust for salt with just salt, I can get a darn-near perfect curry. Everything else in moderation, and don't cook it much because the flavors are pretty bright and suffer from stewing for too long. Overseasoning is all too easy to do.
Substitute for Queso Chihuahua
This site suggestes munster or medium cheddar.
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/mexicancheeses.htm
Alfredo Sauce Help
I 'll second this, butter and good parmesan cheese are all you really need. Though I'm not opposed to adding other things to it, from a small amount of nutmeg to a bit of thyme, black or white pepper. But the most basic is really an eyeopener, and a good one to start with.
Cooking w/Lettuce!????
I think a blended lettuce soup would be great, maybe finished with a little butter and cream. Also, unblended is great in light chinese soups, like wonton or scallop soups. Just put it (chopped roughly) at the bottom of the serving bowl and ladle the hot soup over.
Got some ramps. Now what?
I just made them sauteed in a simple brown butter, salt and pepper the other day, they were great! I'm thinking as a raw sandwich addition they would rock too, the greens are so tender. And maybe in a caesar salad too, mmm
Gluten free recipes for a crowd
The best gluten-free dessert (IMO) is cheesecake. Made with a nut crust (I just toss a handfull of chopped pecans in a pan, pour the cheesecake mix over it and bake. The cheese/eggs hold it togeather, it's simple and easy to make in advance.
Tips: bake to 170 internal temp in the middle
You could make quite a variety of them.
I use TJ's yogurt cheese as one of the cheese in it for a delightful sour tang. If you don't have access to that, you can drain some yogurt through a fine cheesecloth overnight and it will be yogurt cheese.
Flourless chocolate cake is also usually a big hit, google for recipe.
Then there's all the chocolate-dipped things, from frozen bannanas to strawberries to candied orange peel.
favorite pot roast
Well, I was going to post, but this is my favorite too, word for word, except if I'm feeling like it I might poke the garlic cloves into the roast all over. I usually spend a day making my own beef stock before I get started. But just beef/garlic/bay leaf flavor/pepper seems better than so many fancier preperations.
Though pot au feu is a close second favorite, but a lot more work.
Oh, just read that the op was looking for variations :)
One of my favorites was a guiness braise. I reduced a bottle of guiness (or any stout or porter) down until it was getting pretty thick, then added that to beef stock, pepper, sauteed onions. I probably put some thyme or sage in there, maybe both, then seared and braised the roast at 225. It was very nice, the stout's flavor really came through, and I'd make it again.
Great 'science of cooking' cookbooks for gift?
On Food and Cooking by Harold Mcgee, a 2004 or later edition. It's pretty much the standard.
prawn tempura tails
mmm, the tails are the best, unless they are undercooked. One of the reasons I like a really light batter on shrimp (so they get cooked-crunchy)
When cutting a nice piece of beef into slices, I'll snack on a raw slice or 2, mmm!
worchestershire sauce replacement
Tonkatsu sauce is pretty similar if you don't mind the sweetness and have a bottle around. I'm kind of fond of A1 sauce too, though I have not had it for years (wife's allergic to tomatoes)
Question about mango chutney in curry
I'd try it, probably rub the chicken with the chutney and nothing else (except some salt if the chutney is not salty) and then grill it or stick it in the oven on a rack at 350 until it's done. The spices I'd use for rice, just make regular rice with a stick of cinnamon, a couple cardomom pods or some seeds, a couple cloves, and a bit of turmeric (or yellow curry powder). I like putting canned tomatoes in rice while it's steaming too, I count it as about 1/2 it's volume as cups of water.
You will want a salad to go with it probably :)
Best cookbook for amateurs?
I'm kinda fond of some of the america's test kitchen cookbooks. They encourage you to think about what you are doing with a detailed analysis of the recipes and discussion of what happens when you change things in a recipe. It seems to me they encourage you to think a bit more than simply cooking something the one right way.
