I don't cook every night because I try to leave leftovers, but I will drop by to post what I cooked and an overview of the recipe each time. >What's for dinner Beef Stew with a side of Mashed Potatoes. >How did you make it Bought a ton of stew meat last time I hit a store and froze a lot of it. Put about 3.5 pounds of it into a crockpot with a mirepoix, along with some bay leave. Coated the meat in flour with some seasoning. Last time I tried cornstarch and it didn't thicken at all until it cooled. This also barely thickened while warm but I liked the texture better. Didn't bother browning the meat this time. Left it on high for about 12 hours. Probably a bad idea for modern crockpots but mine is older than I am and it needs the extra time. Added corn and peas at the end just to warm them up. Ditched frozen for canned some time ago to save freezer space for meats. Mashed potatoes are standard. Yukon Holds boiled for a bit. I like to take them off just before the skins start to peel (yes, I leave the skins on), about the texture you'd want for potato salad. This leads to the mashed potatoes being a bit "chunky" if you don't overmash them. My grandmother used to make them like this and I got used to it. Tons of butter and a bit of milk. I've been playing with ratios lately to see if I can get it to reheat better. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Biscuits are just Grands that come in those pop tubes. I let them overcook a bit to brown and they came out nicely. Maybe my oven is also quite old, because I find baking instructions on premade stuff usually is under what I need to get a good result. How about you guys? What have you been cooking lately?

>>128 I make brussel sprouts at least 3 times a week. Usually just bake them with olive oil and salt, but every so often I'll saute diced onion and garlic with butter and mix in the sprouts. I pretty much always eat chicken as well. Mostly baked, but sometimes pan fried.

>>133 I like to bake mine (coated in olive oil) until the outsides get crispy. Then I toss them with balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and a bit of red pepper flakes. Will consider onions next time. Love them. Mainly just want to avoid using another pan. Wonder how they would turn out if baked alongside the brussel sprouts? Seems like they've gotten less bitter over the years, though. I kinda miss that. How are you seasoning your chicken?

>>134 I usually just season my chicken with salt and pepper, but pic related has become a guilty pleasure.

hey, quick question. say i theoretically ate 8 REALLY old and questionable eggs, how fucked am i if they were all old enough to give me food poisoning?

>>137 Did you cook them?

>>128 >what Haven't had more than a couple cookies for days. >how Does not apply. I don't cook often. Normally I'll just have a sandwich and milk or juice, cereal, or reheat pre-cooked stuff. One thing I make on occasion is grilled ham & cheese +1. Apply mayonnaise (thinly spread) to one side of each of two pieces of bread, and fry those sides in a pan. Remove from the pan to a plate. Add cheese to the fried side of one piece of bread, then minced ham, and then more cheese. Place the other slice of bread on it, fried side onto the cheese. Now you apply mayonnaise to the un-fried top of the sandwich, and place it mayo-side down in the pan, and apply mayonnaise to the other un-fried side of the other slice of bread. Cover and fry. To flip it, insert the spatula under the sandwich, remove it from the pan, then place the pan, inverted, atop the sandwich, then invert both, and return to heat. This keeps everything from falling apart while flipping, as the minced ham hasn't yet been held together by the cheese. You can use butter instead of mayonnaise, but I find it too oily for my liking. Goes without saying that this is not health food, so don't be eating it all the time. When I legitimately cook, I usually make baked macaroni & cheese, baked ham, salisbury steak, all sorts of rice, chicken, pork, and beef dishes with various seasonings, and whatever else springs to mind. I just don't cook often because I often feel like shit, and don't want to spend 90 minutes preparing a meal I will finish in 10 minutes. >>137 You'll know if you wake up in the hospital sans kidneys and hooked up to a dialysis machine. Eggs are one thing you NEVER gamble with, since they're like a dollar a dozen. If you aren't sure if they're safe, THROW THEM OUT!

>>139 yea there cooked, and i did the egg test and everything but they tasted kinda....off....

>>142 i just didnt wanna throw out 8 eggs...

>>142 >>143 You should be fine then.

>>144 i thought so, i usually eat eggs as fresh as possible, I've never really tried eggs that old before because i usually never let them get that old. definitely a lesson, they taste SIGNIFICANTLY shittier once old.

>>145 I've heard you can leave eggs out for weeks as long as they don't see a fridge beforehand. They'll last for months in the fridge. If I find I have an unusual surplus, I'll hard-boil a dozen at a time in an instant pot.

>>146 yea i think the problem is i fried them, and old eggs fried apparently taste really fucking off compared to not old fried eggs.

I knew a fucking idiot who was too cheap to throw out a single egg, and died from renal failure after eating it. If eggs were $7 each or some shit, you could argue about not pitching a carton in the trash, but seriously, to cheap to toss out a dollar's worth of potentially poisonous vittles? What the hell.

>>154 >died from renal failure How old was this guy?

No pics because I was too lazy to do so after. Made a crockpot tacos with stew beef marinated in a habanero and anaheim pepper salsa. The salsa was pretty damn good, but it lost a lot of heat and flavor in the time it took for the meat to become tender. I see why it's usually skirt steak used for carne asada.

Does anyone have a Vegetable Soup Instant Pot recipe? One where I can just dump cans into the pot instead of measuring shit out (don't want leftovers because I would never use them). I find some online but then they just get more than I feel is necessary like "2T tomato paste". I don't want to buy a thing of paste and only use 2 tablespoons each time I open it. Would one use vegetable or beef broth? I'm thinking of just dumping in some cans of green beans, limas, some carrots, diced potatos, an onion, uhhh broccoli?, and just fill it with enough broth to almost cover everything. Does that sound about right? It sounds kind of bland tasting so maybe there's a seasoning packet I can get too

>>180 If you're not making your own stock from scratch then I would recommend chicken or beef stock. Add whatever vegetables sound good. You may need to adjust the size based on which ones take longer to cook. Corn and peas always go in at the end. I keep tomato paste around in a tube for various uses. It's not a bad investment if you make a lot of pasta or brown a lot of meat. Not sure on the broccoli. Seems like that would be an odd mix. Honestly, you don't need to overthink a stew. I have no idea how instant pots work since I use a regular crock pot. If you add enough salt, pepper, and some other seasonings like bay leaf, marjoram, and thyme then you should have plenty of flavor. But if you want something that's really flavorful then some onion soup seasoning packets are common recommendations. I personally just go for the fresh stuff because I keep all of that stocked.

>>181 I just like broccoli but I guess it would be a weird mix. I'll keep on the lookout for onion soup seasoning packets then. Never heard of marjoram but apparently it's the same as oregano.

>>182 fuck i always thought the food in that movie looked really good, even that weird bug dish.

Tuna salad. Tried tonkatsu and sushi.

Finally was able to hit the store and restock. Had to get rid of my leftover cheese, but didn't have any pasta. >What did you make Macaroni & Cheese. Even had elbows for once! >How did you make it This is a take on J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's Mac & Cheese recipe. I tries to scale it up for 1 lb of pasta. I used just shy of 1 lb of cheddar and then threw in some extra mozzarella and some parmesan to supplement. Main limitation was that I only had 12 oz of evaporated milk, but it turned out okay regardless; in fact, the ratio might be even better than recommended. It came together with a nice shine and a texture like velveeta, with a far less artificial flavor. Also added some dijon mustard (a little too much, though) and some paprika and red pepper flakes. Plus the usual salt and pepper. Ate a whole plate and almost went back for seconds. Some of the better mac I've had in my life and I think there's room for improvement.

>>188 shell pasta is better for mac & cheese.

Quinoa with baby bella mushrooms, butter, garlic, cilantro, oil cured black olives, and Jarlsberg cheese.

Did you know you can make a quick sauce by shredding a tomato on a grater? I saw it on a TV show on that Create channel. Put some garlic, herbs, EVOO, and thicken it with a bit of AP flour. The sauce, gnocchi, and sourdough boule are mine - I didn't make the cheese (parm).

>>194 >>195 Looks good. How is it?

>>195 i did not, looks good.

>>195 Sauce in this way is excellent, and if you do this on the pasta while it's still hot the sauce will end up at just the right temperature. An old-world Italian I work with showed it to me and while I prefer my Greek-style tomato sauce that requires more traditional preparation this will do in a pinch if you're pressed for time and just want to eat now.

>>198 ill keep that in mind, seems like a neat trick.

>>198 Actually it was a Greek show. On Create TV. Might have been 'My Greek Table' but don't quote me on that. Heat a pot with EVOO, and then dump in the tomato slush. It'll spit, but die down. Add the rest of the stuff and simmer. I'm not a fan of red sauce with paste but I wanted to try it because I didn't know you could make sauce like that. Most of my sauces are more work. My go-to sauce is EVOO, mushrooms, black olives, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, ksalt, and black pepper. Red sauce buries the true taste of pasta. If it's store-bought stuff, then OK you want to. But not with fresh.

I have been making homemade yogurt from a heirloom starter my friends grandma gave me. I cannot get it to come out well when I follow her instructions, but I have been told that she tends to cheat and add coconut cream to it to improve the texture. Pretty sure I ended up with cheese the first attempt. Main issues are that my oven is cold a fuck; like its colder then the rest of the house for some fucking reason and doesn't have a working oven light switch so I have been using the microwave as a warm place for it to grow, but I can't fit any of my pots or pans in the microwave. I've also been inconstant in how long I heat it for because the casserole dish I have been heating it in in my microwave is too smooth for it to boil and it just super heats unless I leave a spoon in it and even then it doesn't seem to boil correctly. Also have been trying to make home made jams and preserves to make the yogurt not taste like plain yogurt. Have had far more success with that, though I need to get some pectin for attempts with things that don't have it on its own like Mango.

My phones camera is really bad and the colors are wrong.

>>203 Also my foot was in frame. Colors are more like this.

Did some hummus, tasted good but shoulda gotten some olives too. >>204 If you're just boiling it why not on the stovetop? Maybe you ended up with cheese cuz of them yeasty boys on your toes

>>206 Pots don't fit in my microwave and I don't want to have to wash more dishes then I have to. The kitchen sink is small and faucet is low hanging so its a nightmare to hand wash large dishes in it and my dishwasher isn't that great either for fitting large dishes into.

>>206 I forget what hummus is made from. Is it chickpeas?

Tonight's Last Night's dinner >What did you make Pasta with a bechamel sauce. There used to be a small grocery chain near me that sold pre-packaged kits. You'd get a bunch of farfalle and some seasoning in a packet. You'd then pour in a cup of milk and the seasoning and bring it to a boil. I've spent a lot of time trying to reproduce/improve on this recipe, since the chain went out of business. >How did you make it Not quite as easy as dumping in seasoning and a cup of milk, but I'm unsure if there was any emulsifying agents in the seasoning packet. Start by filling a pot with your pasta and just barely cover it with water. Put the burner on full blast. I used penne this time because finding bowties is impossible for some reason. Start your bechamel. For a pound of pasta, I go with about 1/3rd a cup of butter, melt it and then whisk in equal parts flour. You can go for a blonde roux or a dark one; latter tastes nuttier but looks less appealing. Start mixing in milk. You can do it bit-by-bit but expect it to thicken and possibly burn. You can also whisk in a lot at once, but it won't thicken until it heats. I just eyeball this part and try to bring it to the right consistency. For seasoning, salt and paper of course, followed by fresh nutmeg (the stuff lasts forever, you should have some) as well as basil and oregano. After this, I usually throw some frozen premade meatballs in to cook through. Not as good as fresh, but it gets the job done and it's way less work. This was never a part of the original recipe, I just felt it needed some meat. Pasta should soak up most of the water and boil off what's left. When there's just a bit left, it's done. Turn off the heat and dump the sauce (and meatballs, if you included those) into the pot. Mix until well-coated. The bechamel takes practice, but you'll get better at it. The results are worth it. Picture looks a little rough. Old, bad lighting, cheap camera, and the fact that it's reheated is not doing it any justice. >>208 Yes.

>>207 Sounds like a weekend project to me anon Why are the nice faucets fuckhuge expensive shiiiiiit

Grilled today. Chicken skewers and bread. That's my sourdough boule with fresh mozz and tomatoes from one of my gardens. I have a shit-load of tomatoes now. Sauce making time tomorrow.

>>213 Looks damn good. Can't wait for my first sourdough. Did you make the mozzarella yourself, too? I got some tomatoes from a friend's garden, but they're only cherry tomatoes. What variety do you have? Are they heirloom?

>>213 I wish I could grill right now but it's too damn hot and humid to even think about it where I'm at. I've got some garlic and shallots ready to cook just as soon as the temperature drops a bit.

>>214 No, mozz is bought. I've not gotten into cheese making (yet?). I wish they were heirloom. A family member picked up those plants. The garden is at her house. I have another garden in back of mine. >>215 Sheeeiiiit! This time of year it's usually 85-95F in my kitchen in the evening. I still bake. Tonight it was probably lower 80's out when I did those.

Made American chopsuey last night, only instead of ground beef, I used breaded chicken patties cut into squares. I got 2 10lb boxes of chicken patties from a food share and have been trying to use them in ways that are more interesting then just on a bun, as is, or as fake chicken parmesan. I don't think it came out well though. I think there was something wrong with the cheddar cheese I used. I thought the cheese smelled off, but I wasn't sure if it was the smell of the "lemon" hand soap in my kitchen that smells like fucking mustard for some reason. When I ate it however, the cheese had a odd texture, like it didn't melt properly. It had almost a powdery texture for lack of a better description.

>>217 Was the cheese pre-shredded?

>>218 Yup

>>220 I take it I should avoid pre-shredded cheese then?

>>221 If you want to melt it into something smooth, yes. There's anti-caking chemicals they dust pre-shredded cheese with to make it not stick together in the bag. Great for sprinkling on stuff, but terrible for melting, unless you just want a coating. Invest in a decent cheese grater/grinder and shred your own cheese. You'll get something fresher, funkier, and that melts properly. You'll also want something to help it emulsify, depending on the type of cheese. Cheddar tends to separate when heated, which makes it pretty bad unless you add something for it to bind to. Common recommendations are sodium citrate and milk. You can also do evaporated milk straight. Or make a roux with equal parts flour and butter and then add milk and the cheese. That will have less of a "cheese soup" texture and more of a billowy pillow of cheese. All three are good, but in different ways.

>>223 >Invest in a decent cheese grater/grinder and shred your own cheese Probably the best option, assuming I can find one thats dishwasher safe >You'll also want something to help it emulsify My pantry already has way too many things I bought for one or two meals that I don't ever have a need to use again >Or make a roux I hate making roux

Gnocchi again with red sauce. I have so many tomatoes now that they are ripening in the garden. Again I have about 7 waiting to be used.

OK, this isn't technically from today but rather a few days ago. That's part sourdough & commercial yeast + some rye pizza dough. It's wetter than most at around 70%

>What did you make Pasta Carbonara >How did you make it? Mostly according to Kenji's recipe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Np28NnP40 Used bacon for the pork, due to availability. Came out quite good, although it persistently smelled a bit like almond milk, which put me off some. I think I should have used more egg, or just made more sauce for a serving of this size in general. Or maybe I was too light on the pasta water. Ah well, I didn't make scrambled eggs, so I'm happy. It was good. Garlic bread turned out nice, too. >>228 Nice pizza. I need to start a sourdough so I can make some; have all the ingredients but no yeast. I've been making do with just baking powder, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

>What's for dinner Two biscuits and some gravy (sausage, chicken) >How did you make it Intuition, boiled down to a pseudo-recipe. Here's cheapass chicken gravy: Two chicken bullion cubes dissolved in two cups of boiling water. One chicken breast (cooked and minced or diced) Two tablespoons of butter, or substitute with preferred fat (bacon, chicken, whatever) One half cup of flour Pepper and salt to taste, milk to preferred thickness Cook your flour a bit to take the rawness out of it, and do your usual thing for making a roux. Once you have a smoothness that you want, add your cooked chicken. Assload of bisuits: (halve for one person, but it's still a lot) 2 C flour 1 T baking powder 2 T sugar 1/4 t salt 1/2 C butter (note: add it cold and diced, not as a liquid or paste) 1 C milk Preheat oven to 450º Fahrenheit Mix your dry ingredients and your butter, and add milk until you get the preferred consistency that you like for biscuits. Place biscuits on parchment paper, on a cookie sheet or baking pan, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes per batch. For sausage gravy, I just fry up a bunch of sausage, leave everything but the meat itself in the pan, and use that for the gravy. I mince up the sausage, and add it back to the gravy. Typically, I'll just have two biscuits and some gravy on each, and that keeps me going for the better part of a day.

I made some easy rice, vegetables, beans, and corn. Colors are again off.

>>231 Beans were white beans. Corn was sweet corn. Frozen veggies were a "california blend" that had no carrots in them and the second worst frozen broccoli I have ever had and some pepper strips.

>What did you make? Pork Schnitzel with Pasta Salad. >How did you make it Started the pasta salad first. Used some olive oil I got at a farmer's market that has hatch peppers infused for a little extra spice. Lots of onions because I like them, and the remainder of my celery stalks. Out of tomatoes and some people cannot have cheese so I skipped that. Schnitzel was made from a pork loin, cut thin. Did more small pieces instead of a few big ones, which is easier to have leftovers. Had to use up my clarified butter before it goes bad so I fried it in that. Had some issues in the middle with some getting overcooked/burnt while I was finishing breading the next batch. Mostly my fault, although the dwindling butter in the pan might have adversely affected the last few. For once, the first items in the pan came out the best, in my opinion. Had to make breadcrumbs fresh. Thankfully, I had a loaf from a couple days ago. Great timing. Came out really good. Much better use of my pork loin than just making pork chops out of both ends. Would make again for sure.

Made some "South Rhodesean" banana pudding from the 1940s. Was OK, would have been better if I had fresher coconut or left it out.

>>234 I'm intrigued. Got a recipe?

>>234 Yeah I'd like the recipe too.

I made Banana Pudding but since I don't know how to cook it was just the basic bitch Jello instant mix for the banana cream. That stuff smells like ants, formic acid. It ended up tasting alright but it isn't homemade unless I make the cream myself.

Figures I'd find this board a little too late. Popcorn dusted with cayenne pepper, salt, and hot paprika. Spooned with peanut oil. Spooned because I don't have a spray bottle or those oil drizzle things. Tasted just about every spice except for the salt. Might've been too thick. Later today I'll give roasted sweet potatoes a shot, probably with the same spices plus onion powder. Which begs the question. Do I have to peel the sweet potatoes?

Going to make breakfast burritos the day after tomorrow. Suggestions aside from bell pepper, onion, hashbrown (yukon gold because that's what I have handy), sausage, and eggs? Was going to use the following ratios 2 onions (sauteed) two peppers (sauteed) 3+ potato 12 eggs 1 pound of breakfast sausage 30 grams of butter into the egg in addition to what I use for frying stuff 2 teaspoon MSG (1 for eggs, 1 split between the vegetables) >>235 >>236 It was from a WW2 British rationing history book. I'll have to pull the book out later for the ration and temp, but it was putting banna, brown sugar, orange juice (it said the juice of an orange, but I just used my carton) and grated coconut (dried explicitly being OK in the book) into a dish and baking it. It didn't specify, but in retrospect I'd have covered it instead of leaving it uncovered. I mashed it with a potato masher afterwards, but it didn't specify.

>>241 >12 eggs ????!!!!!

>>248 It was for multiple people. In retrospect I should have reduced the sausage.

>>248 >Freaking out about the 12 eggs but not freaking out about the added MSG

>>250 >not liking glutamine san natrium

Much better this time. Though, I used pre shreaded cheese, a Mexican blend instead. They tend to melt better.

>>250 I've heard mixed things about MSG. I was told to avoid it, but then I see it pops up alot in Asian cooking. I read someplace the studies that demonized it were about rats having it injected directly into their brains in large amounts. That's something that clearly doesn't happen in cooking. When I go into the Asian store near me, there's bags of it. Looks like a white power. I always feel funny in that place because Asian people are real short and thin. At 6 foot, I'm a giant to them. The men only come up to my shoulder, and the women I could put under my armpit. I'm the only White guy in there, and really stand out. I saw this one guy buying an eel in a plastic bag of water. It was just swimming around in there. At least I thought it was an ee. I would have made a pet out of it. Mister chinaman do not eat eel, please!

>>253 MSG is only dangerous in enormous quantities. And by enormous, I mean "if you ate the equivalent in salt it would kill you too". MSG is way misunderstood.

What is it? I don't know! I had a craving for rice and lentils. There's Calrose rice, and brown lentils. I fried baby bellas in butter with green onions, Fresno chile, garlic, orange bell pepper, chorizo and lentils. Then I put that over the rice. It was very flavourful (mostly from the chorizo). I added black pepper, ksalt (during cooking), and seseme seeds (after).

>What did you make Tuscan-style pork roast. The whole pork loin at my store is tiny and expensive now. Total bullshit. Thanks for blowing my budget over a virus, China. Also made corn & peas. That's it. Corn and peas. It's good, though. >How did you make it Butterfly a pork loin and fill it with some herbs, garlic, and preferably more meat. If I don't feel like cleaning the food processor then I will just put in the herbs and seasoning and then add bacon. Roll it up, stick it in a roast pan, and into the oven it goes. I roast it for 12 hours at 170 which is enough to hit 135 F. If you want it done a bit faster, anything between 175 and 225 is good. But I think it cooks too fast and hard at 225 and gets too dry. Corn and peas is great, though. It's my own recipe and not to be underestimated. I like a 2:1 ratio of corn to peas, because cans of corn seem to have half as much of the product as cans of peas and don't want my side dish to be mostly peas. If it's canned, drain them as well as you can. If frozen, you'll just have to drop them into a pot. Cook on medium; you should get some steam. You want to boil off most of the juice left. Once everything is steamed and heated through, toss in a big chunk of butter. Add salt, pepper, and thyme to taste. The thyme is the secret ingredient. Lots of thyme. Seriously, try the peas and corn. It's addicting. I could probably eat a big bowl of that alone every night and be fine for a couple weeks. No pics because I forgot when I made it and now all the leftovers are gone. I'll post pics next time I make corn and peas for sure.

>>254 What exactly can it be used for, assuming it's applicable outside Asian cuisine?

>>264 Personally I mostly use it as seasoning after a dish is cooked, if I know that dish is going to be kinda bland. For example, I like to bake pork chops, and like to do so with only a bit of pepper and oregano on the chop itself, then season with a small sprinkle of MSG to taste once it's served. It can help spice up plain rice or mashed potatoes for when you're broke and don't have any good sauces or gravies at hand. It's also very good on plain chicken wings. It's very strong though, and adds more of the salty sensation to a dish than plain old salt, so care must be taken when using it to cook not to overdo it. As an example, my own fried chicken recipe has one part MSG to eight parts paprika or thyme in the spice mixture.

>>253 >>254 One of my teachers in high school moved to China to teach English for a year after he got out of college and the place he was staying at had 2 salt shakers, one with what was clearly salt and another that had no labeling on but the shaker itself was red. He had no idea what it was but it tasted amazing and he put it on everything and ended up getting really fat and really sick as a result. He eventually asked the place he was staying at what was in it and they told him it was MSG. Took him YEARS to lose the fat he gained in under a year from adding MSG to his food.

>>228 that is unironically the most beautiful pizza i have ever seen.

>>267 >it took him YEARS Anon, this is going to sound like a lying knee-jerk response, but I lived in China for six months in 2004 and also ate a shitload of MSG. I got fat as well, but unlike your teacher, I am man enough to admit that it was because I was also shoveling an enormous amount of delicious food into my gut (I wanted to try one of everything, and by God I came close) and spending my time doing fuck all but eating and drinking. I'm 6'0" and was 220lbs when I got home. It took me less than three months to work those extra 40lbs off, but I actually applied myself and spent six days a week riding my bike at least three hours a day, lifting weights, doing cardio and all that stuff. MSG, like everything, is bad in excess but is fine in moderation. Just be mindful of what and how much you're eating, like you should with anything else.

>>269 Whats your occupation? How many hours a day do you work and what kind of work is it? His occupation is a teacher. While they only spend about 7 hours on site at the schools, they end up spending about 11 hours a day doing all the other shit they have to do like grading, planning, and going to endless meetings. All of these activities unfortunately don't work well with being active. Quite the contrary, they require sitting in the same place for extended periods of time.

>>270 >>269 Also how long is your commute? For some reason most the teachers in my state both from highschool and college live out of state and drive over 2 from the state above us to work here. Its likely due to the high cost of living, but I feel like there has to be some kind of social welfare program for teachers up there as well.

>>270 I sit at a desk all day and the last few months I haven't even been doing my irregular exercise. "Abs are made in the kitchen" is a dumb saying which is entirely accurate. I've lost 30 pounds in a month just be restricting calories down to 800 a day. I don't usually go that hard anymore, but it's possible with some self control. I put MSG in everything I make now for that extra flavor, alongside normal salt, and I'm fine. I'm not the healthiest person, but that's because I'm a lazy asshole who sits at my computer shitposting all day. When I feel fat and decide to lose weight, I just cut out soda and desserts and have big, hearty, meaty meals with vegetable sides. And with MSG, they taste great and have no additional calories.

>>271 >>270 In those days I was managing a hotel, and lived two blocks from it. Outside of the exercise I forced myself to do, walking to and from work then sitting at a desk for ten hours trying to un-fuck the horrifying state of the hotel's financial records was the only exercise I got. I understand your argument, which is "my teacher didn't have time to work out as hard as you", and you're not exactly wrong. I'm just saying that if the guy was crying the blues that the MSG weight he gained - which is false, he gained that weight from overeating and lack of exercise - was taking longer than normal to shed, he was simply making excuses for not wanting to put the work in on his body.

>>265 Rice too? I season that by seasoning the boiling water itself with a garlic clove and onion powder. I can just add a small amount of MSG to that? Considered replacing much of the water with chicken stock instead to see how that turns out. Anyone tried that?

>>283 Rice cooked with chicken stock instead of water is delicious but is too salty for my taste. I found that 60% stock to 40% water is the ideal ratio for me, but I know plenty of people who use exclusively stock. Either way it's really good. >seasoning rice while cooking with MSG It can't hurt to try. Personally I don't really like seasoning rice while it's cooking (unless it's with oregano, which I put on nearly everything) and instead like adding spices immediately after the rice is cooked, but I mean, if you like the finished result then cook your rice however you want.

What's it called if I make up some mushrooms, onions, bell pepper and seasoned ground beef, then cover it in swiss cheese sauce (made with milk, swiss, and sodium citrate) and serve it on a bun? I've made this a few times, but I've got no idea what to call it. Also: Is there booze that doesn't go to shit when exposed to atmosphere and compliments general euro/american seasoning (thyme, rosemary ect.)?

Crab (Imitation) Salad with loads of celery, onion, parsley, some mayo, salt and pepper on Tostadas. Louisiana Hot Sauce / Sriracha hot sauce to taste Pic related essentially.

>>307 I'd find a red wine you don't hate for that sort of meal and seasonings anon.

>>309 It's for a marrinade. Wine will sour before the dish gets cooked.

Been away for a bit but I've got some real homeruns for you guys. >What did you make Pot Roast >How did you make it Got a chuck roast, seasoned with salt, pepper, and MGS, then seared the shit out of it on the top and bottom and a bit around the edges. Deglazed pan with apple cider vinegar. Added some chicken stock to it. Seasoned with rosemary, basil, and thyme. And some Worcestershire Sauce. Might also consider some mustard powder, bay leaf, and marjoram if any are on-hand. Put a bed of carrots and celery, thick cut, at the bottom of the crock pot. Laid the roast on top, dumped the vinegar and chicken stock in. Threw in some onion quarters around the side and top, wherever they could fit. Set to low and it stewed for about 12 hours. My crock pot is older than I am and is slow as can be, so I find I need to put things in for longer than modern recipes call for. >What's the side Country-style Potatoes. >How did you make those? Chopped some yukon golds into tiny pieces. Tossed in olive oil, rosemary, garlic, and thyme. Stuck them in a ripping hot over (about 400F) for half an hour or so. It's hard to get them done in the middle and also crispy, but it's doable. These are also good when done in a pan with some onions. Also made a gravy out of the juice in the crock pot. Moved it over to a saucepan, added a tablespoon or so of beef bullion, and then whisked in some flour. Came out a bit lumpy but delicious and it paired perfectly with the roast beef.

>>317 Have you considered substituting red wine vinegar? The acidity will tenderize meat and you'll get the same kind of body as red wine.

Introducing... SUPER SMASH BURGERS MELEE >What did you make? Hamburgers and waffle fries >How did you make it Slather buns with mayonnaise, margarine, butter, or whatever fat is on-hand. Make some thousand island. I like to go heavy on the mayo for a thick consistency, but I've seen recipes go 50/50 for a runnier texture. I use mayonnaise, ketchup, a bit of dijon mustard, some paprika, salt, and fresh black pepper. Plus a dash of pickle juice. Not too much or it'll water the whole thing down. Maybe a tablespoon 4 burger's worth of thousand island. I like to mix mine in a coffee mug and filling it 2/3rds of the way is about right for my needs. This is extra-tangy, just how I like it. For pickles, I unfortunately have not had time to pickle my own. But I like to buy spicy pickle chips. As a rule, for the crunch, don't buy pre-chipped, but my market has limited options and I am lazy with small things. My only other topping is onion. I like them raw. you can toast them in the pan after you're done with the buns if you want them caramelized some. I layer pickles on the bottom bun, onion on the top bun. Roll out a 2 oz ball per-patty. You'll need a spatula you can smash with, obviously. Get a cast iron ripping hot and then drop in your patties. Smash them down as flat as you can get them. While they fry, season with salt, pepper, a dash of MSG, and this is key: sprinkle on some mustard. Once they've cooked about 80% of the way through, they're about ready to flip. Give them a good scrape and flip. Let them fry on the underside. The mustard can inhibit crust development some, but the flavor infused is well worth it. Add cheese if desired. Once it's about melted, you can call it done. Stack 'em up and lay 'em on top of the pickles. For fries, I've just been using pre-cut lately. They come par-fried and shoestring and waffle cuts crisp well in the oven. I've found using a pot of oil too wasteful and, in my kitchen configuration, dangerous. To get crispy oven fries, I crank the oven up to 450F or so. Let the baking sheet preheat. Take it out, spray on a coat of non-stick spray. Dump your preferred spuds on the baking sheet, ideally just one layer without too much crowding, but you can get away with some. Now, spray the tops of these 'taters with non-stick spray. It will help to fry them in the oven. Stick them in and just let them cook. If you start them when you begin prepping your burgers, they should finish around the time the burgers do. You'll know they're done with some of them, the ones around your oven's hot spots, are starting to blacken a tad. The rest should be golden brown and crispy without being too dry or mushy. This technique walks a fine line and is hard to control but you can get good results some of the time and it's low-effort, especially if using pre-cut frozen fries. This technique also works with tater tots, and arguably is easier to control because they're regularly-sized and designed for this sort of baking method. Overall I find the recommended temperature on the packages too low, at least for the baking time prescribed. These burgers are a favorite treat among friends and family. Try one and you won't be disappointed!

>>330 Vinegar would be part of it, but I want to disolve stuff in alchool as much as flavor the stuff.

>>332 You're probably out of luck, anon. People add alcohol in when braising or frying and not in the marinades for a reason.

>>331 Smash burgers are a nice and easy way to make good burger patties, and are excellent vehicles for sauces etc since you can make several thin patties and stack them up to look impressive (while technically containing the same quantity of meat). My own recipe is: >0.5 lb ground chuck >0.5 lb ground beef >1 egg yolk (or just fire the entire egg in there if you're lazy) >2 tbsp very sharp Dijon mustard >salt/pepper to whatever quantity you prefer (i like very peppery burgers, but not everyone does) >1 tsp MSG >1 tsp Worcestershire >1 drop (yes, one drop) of liquid smoke Blend with your hands until it's all mixed up then follow your exact instructions. Adding the dijon to the meat itself means that it blends really nicely, and I like to make cheddar crisps (grate cheddar onto a Silpat in a very thin, circular shape, then bake until crispy) so the burger already has the crisp texture - even moreso if you add lettuce, which you should. Fuckin 10/10 burgers.

>>352 Mixing stuff into the ground beef before forming balls/patties is going to ruin the texture. As a rule I base my techniques entirely on Burger Lab test results: https://aht.seriouseats.com/the-burger-lab I do think lettuce on a burger is a sin, though. Can't stand the stuff. Raw onion gives me plenty of crunch with a much better flavor. Plus, I think 2 "toppings" is optimal, and pickle and onion are a far better combo. Letture is slick and wet and cold. Tomato tends to cause slippage and the texture is usually disappointing. So I stick to pickle and onion.

>>356 I find that as long as you use grainy, sharp dijon as opposed to just goopy old mustard you retain the good ground beef texture. You're not wrong that a solid, beef-and-only-beef burger feels better on the tongue, but the flavors, man. >lettuce is slick Use a salad spinner, nerd. Rinse it and spin that bitch until it's about to puke. I agree that slippery lettuce is worse than ass cancer. >onions Onions are not welcome in my home. Pickles are definitely more than welcome.

>>357 If you like lettuce but don't like onion then I don't know what to tell you. Onions pair perfectly with beef and I use them for everything. It's hard to think of a dish that is made worse with onion. Lettuce just tastes bad and has too much water. I don't even stock the stuff; I replaced salads with baked brussle sprouts last year and rarely look back. Only thing a salad wins on is convenience. Reminds me, I need to do a write-up for brussel sprouts, but my local wholesaler doesn't carry them and I'm avoiding the regular supermarket for obvious reasons. >but the flavors, man Smashburgers are so thin that it doesn't matter if the seasoning is on the inside or the outside. Just sprinkle some MSG, mustard, and Worcestershire on top before you flip and let it fry in it. Same shit either way.

>What did you make Carbonara again. Twice, actually. Been playing with the ratios of cheese to egg. One of them came out really well; rich and creamy. Got specs, though, so I am worried I slightly scrambled the eggs, but I could hardly tell. Pic related came out a little worse overall. I tried to fry some garlic at the end with the bacon and they burned a bit. This one and the first one came out a bit too nutty. I need to get a scale so I can measure proportions. A big part of my issue is eyeballing shredded cheese and hoping the eggs I use are about the right amount. That and using irregular amounts of pasta to pair it with. Overall I'd rate the 2nd (non-pictured) experiment the best. Either way it's a cheap and fast meal and I still enjoyed it. It's my favorite use for spaghetti. I'm not fond of noodles but the rich cream makes it tolerable. I'm pretty sick of tomato-based sauces with spaghetti.

>>137 >>145 In future for you or any other retard put the eggs in a bowl of water. If they float end on they're edible but going off, if they float fully they're done for.

>>363 >I tried to fry some garlic at the end with the bacon and they burned a bit. I'm probably overly cautious because I absolutely hate the taste of even slightly burnt garlic but I generally won't fry it directly alongside something I want to get properly crispy. Either add it after it's already crisped up and you can turn the head down or fry the garlic gently in the oil/fat first and remove it then readd it after. Alternatively cut your garlic a bit larger and definitely don't crush it, crushed garlic burns very easily in my experience. You shouldn't be putting garlic in Carbonara anyway. >>307 >Also: Is there booze that doesn't go to shit when exposed to atmosphere and compliments general euro/american seasoning (thyme, rosemary ect.)? Fortified wines maybe? That's basically the reason they exist and if you use a quality one you should be ok with taste.

>>365 >Fortified wines maybe? That's basically the reason they exist and if you use a quality one you should be ok with taste. That should work. Thanks.

>>365 >you shouldn't be putting garlic in carbonara anyways I know, but I wanted to play with it. The bacon lacks the fat and the parmesan lacks the funk, so it's not like I was going hard on tradition. Will definitely skip it next time.

>>369 Use a fuckton of black pepper. It's traditional for Carbonara and it really elevates it. Obviously use freshly ground black pepper which you should do universally since it's barely more expensive and if you buy a mill no more work.

>>370 I'll crank out some more next time. I already use quite a bit; I've been told by others I use too much in everything, but I find I need it. My main issue seems to be getting the ratio of cheese to egg correct and balancing it with the amount of pasta. I have no scale and my cheese grater is handheld and pretty terrible, so trying to eyeball it has been difficult.

>>371 >I'll crank out some more next time. I already use quite a bit; I've been told by others I use too much in everything, but I find I need it. This dish specifically is supposed to be fairly heavy on it but I have the same problem. White pepper is an even larger obsession >My main issue seems to be getting the ratio of cheese to egg correct and balancing it with the amount of pasta. I have no scale and my cheese grater is handheld and pretty terrible, so trying to eyeball it has been difficult. I eyeball everything except baking so I'm not the person to ask there. If you're in the market for a new grater the sort of flat box type where the box underneath forms a container too is the best in my opinion. You can get them with interchangeable grids on the top for different sizes of grating. The handheld one like you're describing is I think the one that's more suitable for garnishing a dish with cheese rather than grating a bunch to cook with.

Made breakfast burritos again ( >>241 ), since I had sliced ham that was getting old (not bad yet) and plenty of eggs. Pretty much the same except no potatos and no sausage since I used the ham. Sliced the ham into small strips, fried it a bit, set it aside then made rest as normal. Turned out pretty good. >>236 >>235 Sorry I forgot about this. >Peel 4 large bananas and put them into a buttered dish. >top with the jusice of 1 large orange and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. >cover with 20z (50g) freshly grated coconut and bake ina preheated oven, set to 190 degrees C (375f), Gas Mark 5 for 15-20 minutes. >Variation:Desiccated coconut could be used instead of the freshly grated nut (The bit on gas mark 5 is just instructions for older ovens that weren't set by temp. It's detailed at the start of the book.)

>What did you make? Beef Pot Pie >How did you make it Seared stew beef in my cast iron and then sweated some onions before braising for an hour and a half with stock and vinegar. Added a bit of bullion for that extra beefy flavor. Threw in some carrots and celery and let it simmer for another hour or so. Had some premade pie dough someone else bought ages ago, so I just used that up instead of making my own. Saved me the trouble. Added some peas near the end. Popped it into the oven for a bit and let it bake. Overall, not bad. Little too heavy on the vinegar; I expected it to burn off but it stayed quite strong. Would love to try again, probably with fresh dough. I think it could do with being a bit thicker, and I used clarified butter (had it on hand and needed to finish it off) instead of an egg wash and I think it ruined the texture a bit. Overall, crust was shit and couldn't hold together. Too think, hardly flaky, couldn't really complement the beef. Beef itself was good aside from the heavy vinegar flavor. Should have used a beer but I don't have any. As usual, sorry for the bad camera. I also made some barbecue beef with the stew meat, and some mac & cheese again. I'll post pictures of both if the leftovers aren't gone by tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll just do a write-up. Been a little backlogged and I've been trying to avoid repeat recipe posts unless I learned something or got a substantially different result. >>382 Nice. Thanks! I will give this a try next time I have bananas. I assume you mash the bananas to make a sort of custard? And mix them with the orange juices and brown sugar? I'm also curious about the cook book. Is it available as a PDF? Would you be willing to scan it if not? You can often submit these things to archival sites.

>>389 That's literally all the recipe part of it. I mashed the bannnas after cooking, but I have no idea how it was supposed to be done. I have no idea of the book (Victory Cookbook by Marguerite Patten) has a PDF version out there. I'm in no position to scan it, especially since it's several hundred pages long (it's a history book first with some period recipes illustrating the bizarre foods rationing created, like margarine based ice cream, rather than a cookbook first).

Made some pork. Pressure cooking+finishing off in the broiler works and produces great texture. Pressure cooking was done by putting it on a tray that folds in like a stargate iris and unfolds like a flower (unsure if it even came with the pressure cooker and have no idea what it's called), put water, apple cider vinegar and liquid smoke in the bottom, and put the seasoned pork over it then cooked for 30 mins. After that and a quick release, I put sauce on it and placed it in the oven on broil of for 4 mins. Knowing what I know now 1: I'd put some various vegetables trimmings at the bottom with the liquid. It wouldn't add flavor to the dish itself, but it would make a stock I can use later. 2: I never have luck with sauces that thicken purely by adding sugar/honey and reducing. My sauce stayed liquid even when the leftovers were left in the fridge overnight. Cornstarch slurry is a must.

Made Zefir, a sorta Russian jam marshmallow. It worked sorta, but I fucked up way too much. First off, I misunderstood my recipe and didn't buy jam, but instead bought apple sauce. After dumping most of my sugar into that due to a math error, I had no choice but to make triple the initial recipe. Then I cooked a sirup with a gelling agent, but I didn't notice my "gelling agent" was actually a "gelling aid" consisting mostly of citric acid with only a minor amount of pectin. After dumping tons of that into the syrup without result, I gave up and added gelatin, which saved the whole thing, but had the end result taste of citric acid rather than apple. Anyway, I've got the technique down now and my next attempt is going to be a orange marmalade-flavored one covered in bitter chocolate. Recipe: about 200g jam, fridge-cold 1 egg white, fridge-cold pinch of salt 200g sugar 100ml water 2tsp gelling agent (pectin, agar agar, gelatine, in that order of suitability) juice of about a quarter of a lemon Some powdered sugar Take jam, egg whites, salt, beat together until very stiff, take sugar, water, gelling agent, boil together until a drop doesn't run when flicked on a vertical surface, beat syrup into egg mixture alongside lemon juice. Put tablespoonfuls (or form with a piping bag) of the mixture on parchment paper, let sit out for 24 hours or until it is barely sticky when you touch it, then cover with powdered sugar, stick two parts with the underside together to form something you can actually hold, let sit out for another 24 hours to firm up some more, then enjoy. All in a all, a very, very quick recipe with things you can have at home at all times, with a wide variety of possibilities due to the size of supermarket jam selections. It's delicious too.

>Watch all of Ramsey's Hotel Hell and UK Kitchen Nightmares >Try cooking something >It's average at best and took like 2 hours >Would rather just toss a frozen pizza in the oven and call it a day >Buying vegetables feels like a waste because I'll only end up using like two sprigs of celery and the rest get withered and shitty by the time I get to them How do I into effort?

>>399 Why not go for longer-lasting vegetables? Cabbage, squash, carrots... You can throw squash in the oven, roast it, puree it, and put it in your freezer. Carrots can be parboiled and then thrown in the freezer. Cabbage lasts me a good long while, so unless you plan on only eating it five months later, ferment it. As for aspiring to make dishes from Gordon Ramsey, I would focus on stuff that can either one, be done quickly (quick pasta sauce with canned tomatoes); two, you can make a huge batch and freeze it (some type of ragu); or three, you can do in steps on multiple days instead of spending five hours one day (salt chicken one day, make marinade the next, cook on another). That third step really helps me when I decide to make dumplings. I wait for the day I have patience to make pelmeni again, which takes forever. As for the highlight of my day, I made pork kidneys. I'm no stranger to organ meat, though I've stuck to liver and heart so far. I read that pork kidneys have a "funky smell", but take out the fat membrane inside where the urine actually was and put it in a water-salt solution and it will be so much better! I smelled it after rinsed it and it smelled slightly like urine... But when I cooked it, the odour came back with a vengeance. Opened up all the windows and dosed it in some teriyaki-type sauce I made last week. Taste-wise? Like liver, but without that strange texture. I'd eat it again, but damn, that smell is horrible.

>>399 Some vegetables you can keep for longer. Celery and peppers burgers call these bell peppers, for example, can simply be cut up and stored frozen as is and in most dishes you can just cook them straight from the freezer as long as their texture isn't important. You can also freeze whole bulbs of garlic and take individual cloves out then prep them frozen (even crush them easily enough), whole fresh chillies (again prep while frozen) and freeze ginger peeled or unpeeled as well. Onions keep long enough out of the freezer not to be a worry but you can freeze chopped onions too, if you do seal them in a plastic bag and then in a plastic tub because they'll stink out the freezer otherwise. Potatoes will keep a long time if you buy the dirt-on never refrigerated ones. If you buy the ones stored already weighed in plastic bags and/or in the light of the centre of the shop they'll go off because that breaks the two golden rules of keeping them dry and dark. Even if they start sprouting a little bit you can just cut those out and eat the potatoes anyway. Frozen peas, frozen green beans, tinned chopped/whole tomatoes and tinned sweetcorn are all perfectly fine compared to fresh well tomatoes not for all uses but for most uses. For the other vegetables that need to be blanched/parboiled before freezing like carrots if you can't be arsed you can probably find them chopped and frozen already available for purchase in huge bags in any decent sized supermarket's freezer section. The quality won't be as good but it's better than just throwing ready meals in the microwave or oven and you can use them as a crutch early on while you learn. >>401 >two, you can make a huge batch and freeze it (some type of ragu) This is the best advice if you're a single man and you can only buy in bulk for whatever reason or you find you're only motivated to cook maybe once a week. Defrosting is generally as easy as planning a day or even half a day in advance and sticking it on a plate in your fridge though you can also mess with defrosting in the microwave. Even if you don't freeze it you can make a big pot of something and eat it for 2-3 days changing up what you eat it with (rice, pasta, bread, mashed or boiled potatoes) for variety. Bolognase/ragu, Chilli, Casseroles etc arguably actually taste better after a day or two's resting in the fridge as well just remember to never reheat it more than once (i.e. take a portion out of the pot and heat it separately from what's left don't keep reheating the main pot of food, if freezing freeze in single portions only). Eventually you can branch out to more complicated foods but start simple with stuff that's ~10 minutes of prep and however long of cooking when you don't have to do more than stir it every now and then. If you buy a decent enamelled (coating inside, you won't have to fuck with seasoning it just wash it once and go) cast iron casserole the pot you cook them in is called the same thing which I think are called Dutch Ovens in burger speak it'll last you a lifetime and means you'll only dirty the one pot making them since it goes from hob to oven. I'd also use the same thing for tomato-heavy sauces that aren't going in the oven. Later on you'll also want to buy a classic non-coated cast iron pan for other uses. Both types can be a bit heavy when full but if you're not a woman/soy-eating faggot you'll be fine.

>>404 You do realize there are 30,000 different kinds of peppers, right, Britbong?

>>405 In >>404's defense, I've seen that any pepper can be thrown in the frozen without any initial prep. I've done it with some scotch bonnets, cherry bombs, jalapeños, and sweet mad hatters.

How do you "just know" what herbs to put together in a recipe? For example, you put thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano or whatever and suddenly it's an Italian dish. You do a different two or three together and it completely changes the flavor profile and intent of the dish. What pairs with what, and why? What rules are followed to combine them?

>>410 Taste each herb or spice you're interested in using, and compare that to the flavor or flavor profile of the dish you're using. I cannot stress enough the importance of tasting literally everything you could put into food. Then, consider what you want that dish to do; do you want a very savory dish to be even more savory, or do you want to offset the savory with something light or sharp? Don't just think about how the food tastes - although that should definitely be your #1 concern while putting a dish together - but also think about how it feels when you eat it. Not necessarily physical texture, but how those flavors weave together. When you understand which spice is responsible for each flavor and sensation, you can start to build on that fundamental knowledge with experimentation.

>>411 >do you want a very savory dish to be even more savory, or do you want to offset the savory with something light or sharp I think that's the other part of it, can I literally just pick any two flavor combinations and call it a day? Sour and savory, sweet and bitter, etc. Are there certain pairs that work better than others, or does that depend on the dish? Obviously each spice will probably fill 1-2 of those roles, depending

>>410 There's no great guide that I know of. Some flavors and smells evoke certain memories and styles. Oregano is key to Italian because we associate it with Italian and we grow up being trained that Italian tastes like Oregano, especially when paired with pasta, garlic, tomato, etc. It's by association. That's not to say it can't pair with anything else, or that Italian requires it to be good, but to some degree these flavors are "what's to be expected" and not following any hard and fast rules. In many cases, these are just whatever herbs the region had available at some point in the last couple centuries, after which said community either immigrated or exported these dishes. These flavor profiles are an echo from the turn of the 20th century in many cases. Ignoring salt and pepper, as they are fairly universal to the point where they don't need to be mentioned in some cookbooks, you're really just trying to find flavors that pair well with other flavors, not necessarily with the main ingredient. You can season beef with rosemary, sage, and thyme. A classic. You can do the same with chicken, though. How about Poultry Seasoning? It's a common spice mix. But it goes great on beef. Or pork. and probably other things. And it contains a lot of the same ingredients. Garlic pairs well with any type of meat. There's also other ways to add flavors. A mirepoix brings its own flavors to a dish, and is common with anything beefy. Bay leaf can be used in stews and soups, but is useless unless you can soak the flavor out of it. Point is, there is no rule. There's a set of flavor profiles which are well known. "These things are Italian", "These are Mexican", "This is Thai". If you want to evoke those flavors then use those herbs. If you want to make your own spice blends, go ahead, but it will probably be some combination of the common herbs. This is basically the core of "fusion" cuisine; taking flavors and spices from one style and using them on a dish from another. The results are not always great. But if you feel that all your food has become the same, you should consider trying a different profile.

>>412 In my opinion, it depends on the dish, but some dishes are especially delicious and fun because they go against the grain. For example, most chili I've ever had have leaned full into spicy/savory. I came across a recipe to add some bitterness to the mix with a full cup of coffee into the mix before setting it to simmer and it adds a delightful note of bitterness underneath the comforting savory sensation, which rounds out every bite. Usually however, these dishes that go all over the profile map are novelties and are fun to eat once, but not much fun after you know the "trick".

>>414 >>413 Thanks for your input. I'll have to experiment a bit when I have time.

>>414 That's a good point as well. Personally, I'm a very "meat and potatoes" person (often literally) and so a few essentials with classic herbs is core comfort food, not a gimmick. I make a lot of beef and it's rarely without a mirepoix and the usual herbs. But there is plenty of room to experiment. Similarly to your coffee example, I've found adding some acidity to thick, savory sauces has a mellowing effect. I've since learned adding hot sauce, vinegar, or lemon juice to mac & cheese or other pasta dishes is incredibly common for this exact reason. But I wouldn't have discovered that it was universal had I not been experimenting. It's always a bit hard to know what will succeed, and I've wrecked a few meals for myself, but I actually think it's hard to go wrong. Even flavors that "downgrade" a dish will usually pair better with some other side as a result, and others eating the meal usually don't even notice. I actually just made chili today. I think I'll try adding coffee next time. Does the blend matter at all, or is even the cheap stuff okay?

>>416 I used a cup of fairly strong, plain old Folger's (leftover from that morning) and it was just fine.

>>405 I provided the burgerspeak translation for a reason: in bongland pepper without qualification always means what you'd call a bell pepper or literal pepper as in salt and pepper, I suppose so there's no ambiguity. I cover actual chillies later on as well which unless they're dried all freeze just fine whole though I'm sure they probably work fine chopped too.

>>410 There are classic combinations you tend to learn over time (basil and tomato, rosemary/mint and lamb, thyme and beef, sage and pork, parsley and fucking anything) but you should probably find a guide based on whatever your region expects because that can vary even with things like Italian food it can be regional: burgers expect more use of oregano than some other countries or northern Italians because there's an overwhelming southern Italian/Sicilian influence on American-Italian food and that region favours oregano more than other parts of Italy. The only real thing to do is learn what herbs should be used lightly and only when necessary in case they overpower the rest of the flavours (e.g. sage, and one time I overused bay leaf and swore I could smell it sweating out of me for the rest of the day) and what you can be pretty liberal with within reason without too much worry (e.g. parsley). Others like thyme and rosemary it depends how much you want to emphasise their taste in any given dish. >>416 >>414 >>417 I've heard of using ground coffee but never actual coffee as in the drink. Interested to hear how it works. I've tried dark chocolate and higher end stout and both work quite well if you can find some stout that isn't overpriced hipster shit that's trying too hard anyway.

>>420 Bell peppers ARE chilis though, so that's completely stupid. It's the fruit of Capsicum annuum just like cayenne, paprika, jalapenos, etc.

Just made some grilled cheese. I just use generic cheese slices and whatever white bread, but what I like to do is add some meat slices as well, and when cooking keep the heat at low or med-low and cover the pan. This sorta bakes or steams it slightly, allowing the meat to warm up, and seems to give the buttered outsides a slightly better texture. Next time, I'm going to experiment and do a grilled cheese / garlic bread fusion in the oven. I think what I'll do is put butter or oil on the outside so that it can crisp up, then do a compound butter or garlic butter whatever on the top, with small bits of meat (maybe shredded or crumbled), and bake open face in the oven. Then I'll just combine them into a sandwich. It's probably more effort than it's worth but I'll give it a go when the mood strikes

>>425 Culinary terminology is based on culture and region not science anon (e.g. fruits vs vegetables) which is why I made sure to cover what burgers call it.

>>416 Speaking of meat and potatoes, I made like a typical American and turned some left meat, potatoes and cheese into a burger.

>>437 Missed pic.

>>437 Potatoes and meat are a match-made in heaven. Did you fry everything? I made some fresh egg pasta yesterday to attempt making ravioli. The pasta dough turned out well and I cooked the pork with some onion, garlic, and sage, added in some wine. However, what a pain to make the ravioli itself - I should have ground up the filling more because the nuggets just did not stay together. I gave up with the ravioli idea after using half the dough. Ended up will mostly air-filled ravioli which tasted good, but damn. Is it typical to cook the ravioli filling? Can I just leave it raw next time for the sake of my sanity? The rest of the pasta dough became linguine of sorts. I roasted some tomatoes this morning, threw them in with some leftover soup I made with pork cheeks, and added in some of the ground meat from yesterday. The sauce was just a touch tomato-y, but mostly meaty. The pasta, well, was delicious.

>>441 Would trying tortellini/tortelloni instead maybe help with the filling issue? They tend to be a little more tightly bound.

>>443 I ended up actually going with more of a tortellini shape. It worked better because there was less air in general, but those meat chunks seemed ready to pierce through the dough. Still, I guess I'd like to get that square shape down a bit better.

I thought I might try giving eggs benedict a go. Is it worth the effort for an amateur,or should I just aim for a shitty egg mcmuffin? I heard that I should clarify the butter for the hollandaise sauce and that the sauce might "break" if I'm not careful. It seems like it uses a lot of butter and egg but I guess thats typical of french cuisine. Will any bacon do or should I use back bacon? I've never poached an egg before but I will do the vortex method so that will be interesting

>>476 The only thing I can comment on is the hollandaise sauce since that's the only aspect of eggs benedict that I've ever made. It definitely can break but you can "repair" it Even if it does it'll still taste good so I wouldn't worry about it for your first try. It won't be like my first time making genoise where I didn't know how to fold cake batter and I knocked every scrap of leavening out of it. >clarified butter I just used regular butter but I don't see how clarified butter would hurt.

>>477 >>476 Alright I got a little impatient. I already ate two eggs today, and I ran out of bread and have no bacon or english muffins, so I had to improvise. The hollandaise sauce was the part I wanted to practice anyways, so I did that instead of eggs benedict proper. Didn't have lemon juice, used lime juice. Couldn't make my clarified butter super clear, and just ran it through a fine strainer, since coffee filters didn't work at all (no cheesecloth). >Poulet cutlets breaded and roasted, served in the NEET tradition avec sauce hollandaise, garnished with paprika, parsley, and bay leaf

>>486 I HAVE MADE A MISTAKE The recipe called for 3 egg yolks and 3/4 cups of butter, which was for like 6 eggs benedict. I scaled it back for one portion, which would have been 1 yolk and 1/4 cup of butter... except I didn't scale back the butter at all. I just fucking ate half a cup of butter

Got some chicken breasts. Thinking of making slow cooker teriyaki chicken. Suggestions? Current plan: >make teriyaki sauce >remove silver skin and cut chicken into smaller pieces (but not exceptionally small) >cut green onions, matchstick carrots, bell peppers and normal onion >add everything to slow cooker Suggestions for elevating it?

>>486 The photo you took is awful, but even a small amount of editing in post could have made it a lot better.

>>495 It's all my phone would do, and color levels in photoshop didn't look that nice

Yesterday, I made some tacos with an old el paso kit, and we ran out of hothouse tomatoes at the supermarket, so I bought a roma tomato instead. I am pleased with its fewer seeds, but found it harder to digest, but I also managed to dice it fairly competently for once, so I'll take it as a win

Made some pork borscht a few days ago. Placed a pork roast in the oven for three hours with a homemade meat (turkey, lamb, and pork) stock and some wine, along with celery and onions. Separated the meat from the bone and pork skin and kept the stock in the fridge overnight to skim the fat more easily. Then roasted beets, stir-fried some carrots and onions, and added everything together along with some sauerkraut in a massive stockpot. Been feasting on it for days with bread every time. >>491 I'm coming in late, but definitely worth it to get some browning in there. It adds an extra pan to wash, but definitely brown your (regular) onions and carrots for ten or so minutes at medium-high heat and then brown the chicken separately. I would add the green onions after the dish is cooked to give it some freshness. I also would throw in the bell peppers closer to when the meal is done because they don't handle long cooking times as well as the onions and carrots. But for the sake of convenience, that part isn't a necessary.

so i got a vintage ice cream maker from goodwill for 7 bucks and inside was a handwritten recipie for ice cream, so i decided to make some, its pretty damn good!

>>513 forgot the damn recipie.

>>513 I made ice cream myself, but without the machine. It turned out okay, but a really annoying process. To be sure, by vintage, do you mean one where you fill the outside of the vessel with ice? Picture related. As for the recipe, never heard of adding instant pudding before, but sounds pretty good!

>>515 it was a model 71, did a really good job of keeping the ice cream consistent throughout. also, the ice cream melts at like 1/3 the speed as expected, probably because of all the egg and pudding.

I once saw Alton Brown make olive oil ice cream and it looked pretty good but I don't have the recipe.

>>516 It looks in pretty good shape. Good find! Living in a small place, but once I have the room, I think I will keep an eye out for an ice cream machine at my local thrift store. >>517 Was it this? https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/fruity-oil-ice-cream-recipe-1940674

>>512 Yeah, you were late. I didn't brown the chicken, the onions+peppers were added at the start (they provided most of my moisture), my green onions had gone bad since I made the plans, and I didn't add the carrots since I forgot. Still turned out well. Would make again.

I've got some basmati rice (which I've stopped using since getting superior Nipponese rice), canned tomatoes, canned salsa, broth and some other stuff I'd like to use up. I thought bean+rice taco would be good and got some dried black beans, but all the recipes I can find for such use canned black beans. Any suggestions?

>>522 As long as it turned out good! >>523 I don't see why you couldn't just cook the dried black beans and go ahead with your taco idea. If you soak them, you can cook them in the broth you have. If you have a slow cooker, you can try making a black bean stew. Brown onions, garlic, and hardy vegetables in another pan and add them to the slow cooker. Add in a pound/454 g (or whatever quantity you'd like) of dried (not soaked) black beans with eight cups of your broth. If broth isn't salted, add salt. Don't add any acidic ingredients at this point (that means no canned tomatoes!) because it will slowdown the cooking of the beans. Leave your crockpot to cook the beans for twelve hours. Once the timer is up, add in canned tomatoes and cook for another fifteen minutes or so. Then take an immersion blender and puree it up. It'll be liquidy, but still have some creaminess to it. Taste for salt. You can add avocado on top (if you have some) and salsa. I'd serve it with the rice to make it more filling. If you have a pressure cooker, you can follow the steps I just mentioned for the stew, but instead, pressure cook for around 45 minutes.

>>524 I was looking for one pot slow cooker if possible.

>>520 >fruity oil ice cream That's probably it. It looks about right. I'm going to have to get my ice cream maker out finally and try it.

>>527 In that case, go with the stew, skip the browning, and just follow the cooking for twelve hours. You can add the rice into the stew, but I've never slowcooked rice myself. From I see, it looks like you cook it for one and a half to two and a half hours. In which case, just add it in at ten hours to be sure it's cooked through. You don't need to worry about adding liquid - I always have plenty of extra liquid leftover from the beans. Skip pureeing. >>528 Let us know how it goes!

>>523 >and got some dried black beans, but all the recipes I can find for such use canned black beans. Any suggestions? Soak them overnight and you're good. I'd drain them, some people go further and rinse them, others swear by not wasting the soaking water, pobably it'll just make you a bit gassier. I usually err on the side of caution and make sure to bring them up to the boil for a few minutes before simmering when cooking anything that was dried but I can't tell you for sure if that's needed for black beans and I never bother with slow or pressure cookers.

>>534 >others swear by not wasting the soaking water, pobably it'll just make you a bit gassier Never really understood why it was a thing - use the water to water your plants if you don't want to waste it. Otherwise, use fresh water. I made some pumpkin gnocchi the other day because I was gifted a bunch of pureed pumpkin. Decided to use just pumpkin, flour, and salt. Because of the absolute watery state of the pumpkin, I had to add a lot of flour and knead it like crazy, thus resulting in gnocchi that were akin to pasta rather than gnocchi. At least it put a dent in my pumpkin reserves.

>Diet is shit >Found that I can make a tasty and fairly energizing omelette with 3 eggs and 3 slices of turkey luncheon meat, diced, with a bunch of cheese and a side of toast My problem is that with fried eggs, my copper(?) cooking pan always comes up clean. Since moving to scrambled/omelette, cleaning it up has been a bitch, the egg tends to cook into the pan and you get that fluffy yellow egg crisp going on. Is my heat too high, or do I need more butter or what?

>>536 >Never really understood why it was a thing - use the water to water your plants if you don't want to waste it. Otherwise, use fresh water. I think it's just an inbuilt dislike of wasting any sort of water that looks like it might have taste.

>>541 Possibly you need a higher heat you can use a butter/oil mix to avoid pure butter burning if you're not perfect on your timing here or need to let the eggs come up to room temperature before frying if you store them in the fridge. It's odd that fried eggs aren't a problem for you though. Perhaps you're adding more ingredients at once possibly also from the fridge and this is dropping the temperature much further much faster?

>>543 Ah yes, I'm just dumping it all in, all from the fridge. I'll let the eggs firm up a bit on medium then add more stuff. Thanks.

I decided to buy endives on a whim having never tried them. I only bought two and wasn't sure what to do with them. I came across a recipe where you panfry them on low heat for forty minutes in salted butter with apples and grapes and decided to try it. Endives are bitter, so the point was to compliment them with sweetness from the grapes and some acidity from the apples. I mixed in sage rather than rosemary that was called for because that's what I had. Normally you use green or white grapes, but I decided to use some Concord grapes I had in the freezer. Everything caramelized super well and was actually not bad. I think my grapes were maybe too sweet. However, the browned grapes with the endives were like having a glass of wine in a dish. I didn't really understand the apples apart from them giving some sweetness, but maybe if was because my grapes were so sweet already. All that to say, slightly weird, but not bad either.

>>545 If you happen to have them again, I recommend trying this recipe: lean, wash, boil chicory/endives in simmering salt water(this is also how you can prepare them for a standard salad with a vinaigrette, it leaches some bitterness) until they're tender. Then put it in cold water to cool down, press the water out well, chop it finely, and put it in a casserole. Stir some flour in some warm butter, add it to the chopped chicory, add salt and either beefstock or cream or butter-sauce (80g butter, 80g flour, mix, slowly add 0.5l beefstock while stirring, heat until boiling) and let it simmer for a few minutes to cook out the flour and let it thicken. Eat as an accompaniment to meats. Excuse the inaccurate recipe, it's from a book from the 19th century. Extremely addictive taste though, with an adult bitterness comparable to black coffee.

>>546 On my next grocery run, I may just buy some more in order to try this out. I actually had a lot of difficulty finding appealing endive recipes, but this sounds nice. >an adult bitterness comparable to black coffee. That pretty much sold it for me.

>>544 Interested to hear how it goes, because I reliably manage to fuck up and weld eggs to my pan too.

I've got some ground turkey and dry black beans. Recommend me a chili recipe.

anybody got any good tips for BBQ? I wanna make some tasty meats.

>>551 Wish I made chili, but unfortunately, just isn't something I tend to make around my house. >>554 Don't have a grill or barbeque myself, but I've made a glaze to go on oven-roasted meats (chicken and pork) that was originally meant for the barbeque. Essentially it was a mix of soy sauce (1 tbsp), mustard (1 tbsp), sesame seeds (~1-2 tsp), two garlic cloves mashed, and oil (1/2 cup). The recipe makes a huge batch, so scale it as you wish. But it's absolutely delicious. Of course only using plain oil works too, but the soy sauce adds sweetness to the meat and helps with browning. The mustard helps bind the soy sauce and oil together. And sesame seeds and garlic can never steer you wrong.

>>549 Seemed a little bit better. Will report again when I throw down globs of butter instead. I wonder if the egg yolk is fucking it up. Usually I have my fried eggs done over easy, so it's the whites that touch the pan most of the time. When I make scrambled or omelette, that's when misery happens.

>>557 sounds delicious, ill have to try that.

I haven't really been in the mood for massive cooking adventures lately, so I bought some dried green lentils and barley today and made a mix in my Instant Pot. Flavored it with cumin, smoked paprika, and dried oregano, used some vegetable broth I made the other day, and then cooked for fifteen minutes on high pressure. Put some avocado on top that was in dire need of being used. Always seem to fall back on a mixes like this whenever I need something fast. Anyone have any comfy dishes you tend to make when you're feeling lazy?

Made Xocolatl today, an Aztec drink that's quite delicious both hot and cold, doesn't contain caffeine, and basically 0 calories: >5.5 cups water >a pinch or two of dried chili flakes Boil together for 5 minutes, ideally with the flakes in a teabag so you don't have to bother straining. >2 tsp vanilla extract >0.25 cup cocoa powder (the good stuff) Add to water, boil for 5-10 minutes while stirring to make the taste stick to the tongue and taste comfier. >a glug or two of slivovitz (not aztec, but improves aroma, flavor, and alcohol content) Let cool a bit and add this, or skip. Stir again before serving, because the powder will sink to the bottom over time.

I made some pizza over the weekend. Simply stirfried some onions, garlic, and ginger for a bit. I added in ground pork, soy sauce, a bit of mirin, and some molasses for seasoning. Mixed everything together and used it as my topping. Otherwise, I made some pitas last night and enjoyed two pitas with leftover meat and some tahini lentils I made on Friday. Gotta love leftovers.

Made some basic-ass quesadillas with cheese and slices of turkey breast. Decided to be fancy and sprinkle some italian seasoning in it, too.

Made Roman Fried fish today: - 1 Whole Fish or Filet - Salt for seasoning - ½ teaspoon ground Black Pepper - ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds - ½ teaspoon Coriander Seed - ½ teaspoon optional Asafoetida powder - 1 teaspoon Fresh Oregano; cut that it half if you want to use dried. - ½ teaspoon Dried Rue OR 1 teaspoon Fresh Rue. - 3 Tablespoons Red or White Wine Vinegar - 3 Minced Dates - 2 Tablespoons Honey - 1 Tablespoon Mosto Cotto or reduced grape juice 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil plus more for frying 1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce such as Colatura di Alici METHOD 1. Clean and gut the fish, then make several diagonal slices on each side and season with salt. 2. Add 1/2 inch oil to a frying pan and heat it over medium high heat. Then set the fish in and fry on one side, undisturbed. Then flip and fry the other side. Then place on a wire rack to drain. 3. For the sauce, grind and mix the herbs, then add the remaining ingredients. Transfer to a small saucepan and heat over medium low heat until boiling. Serve hot. Delicious and perfect for teaching you how to eat whole fish with chopsticks.

>>585 I wish I could buy fresh fish, but it's just too expensive where I live. Also, I had never heard of Mosto Cotto before... But it sounds delicious.

I made lentil soup for supper, which is nothing new, but I made dough dumplings to accompany it. Normally you'd expect these with chicken, but I'm always looking to experiment. I'd say it was successful. I boiled the dumplings first for ten minutes in the stock. Then I strained them, catching the stock in a bowl underneath. I browned some leeks, carrot, and celery in the pot, added in some cumin, smoked paprika, and dried oregano, mixed it around, added in lentils, and put back the stock. Boiled for twelve minutes. Added some dumplings into a bowl, topped with soup, and enjoyed.

I made pizza again this weekend. The dough was a dud because it was a last-minute plan to make it, so it turned out more like a flatbread, but the toppings were good. I put some homemade, freezer basil pesto as my "sauce" and some rehydrated self-dried tomatoes for sweetness and acidity. Baked for fifteen minutes and then added a raw egg on top and baked another five. With a more substantial dough, I could see this being a nice way to add protein to my pizzas since I rarely have cured meats.

>>575 I'm a pork chop man when it's time to be lazy. A simple baked chop, a simple green salad of lettuce, carrots and a vinaigrette, and maybe a baked potato if I'm feeling really ambitious. The hardest part is waiting for the chop to finish baking. HOT PORK CHOP TIP I exclusively bake pork and chicken in glass bakeware. Pork because it seals the juices in better, chicken because that's my secret to a shatteringly crisp skin and dangerously juicy meat on bone-in thighs (my favorite). Give it a try. HOT BAKED POTATO TIP Don't wrap in foil. Coat your hands in your favorite cooking oil and massage the tater until it's covered in a thin layer. Roll in kosher salt. Dock and bake. Super crisp outer crust, super fluffy interior. HOT LAZY VINAIGRETTE TIP My absolute favorite salad dressing of all time is a simple mix of olive oil, white vinegar, a tiny dash of sugar and some black pepper. Experiment with varying amounts of each ingredient, since you might like it sweeter/more sour than I do.

Found an open package of pot barley that's almost 2 years past its expiration date. It's been stored in a cool, dry place outside of direct sunlight and doesn't smell off. Is it still usable, or is it one of those things you still err on the side of caution with?

>>604 If it's still dry I'd probably use it. You'll maybe need to increase the amount of time you cook it for though as often dried things past their date will stay harder for longer.

Second Roman Recipe, this time with less unusual ingredients. If you like sweet and sour pork, you're going to love this: Pork and Apricot minutal -500g pork shoulder -300ml sweet white wine -300ml stock -40ml olive oil -2tbsp fish sauce (Vietnamese is good) -2 medium onions -1tsp cumin -0.5 tsp black or long pepper -1tsp dill -1tsp honey -1tbsp Mosto Cotto or reduced grape juice -2 tbsp wine vinegar -80g soft dried apricots >about 3 tbsp cornflour to thicken Rub pork with olive oil and salt and score the skin finely. Roast in oven until well done, then dice small-ish. Put wine, stock, olive oil, fish sauce and chopped onion into a pot and simmer until the onion is soft. Add diced pork and meat juices and simmer together a couple of minutes. Roast cumin, pound together with pepper, and add along with dill, honey, mosto cotto, vinegar, and finely chopped apricots. Cook together for a couple minutes, then mix cornflour with equal amount cold water, mix well, and pour in. Let simmer while you stir until thickened, then take off the heat. The romans would've eaten it with flatbread, I recommend over Japanese-style sticky rice.

>>619 I had some ground pork in the fridge and decided to try this out. The following substitutions were used because of things I lacked: I used oyster sauce rather than fish sauce, some crushed and cut-up Concord grapes instead of Mosto Cotto, balsamic vinegar instead of wine vinegar, and raisins instead of dried apricots. I also used half the sauce components because I decided to top pizza dough with the meat. The meat actually turned out really nice. I would probably use apple cider vinegar next time and use more of it, but otherwise, nice taste. Thanks for sharing!

>Specific brand of instant noodles, but may contain crustaceans, so it's probably in the seasoning, so I use some generic chicken stock dry powder >Cooked in a pot and drained >Tried to fry it in oil at 1 am without making noise >Decided to just kinda put it back into my bowl and re-boil some water We're all gonna make it

Made some corn tortillas and topped them with smashed avocado, fermented jalapeños, red lentils, and fermented corn relish. Simple supper, but tasted great.

>>634 >Tried to fry it in oil at 1 am without making noise For what purpose?

>>647 I'm actually not sure it counts as frying if there's no sizzle.

Just made some burgers, it was okay >1 lb medium ground beef >1 tsp salt >1 tsp pepper >1 tsp onion powder >1/2 tsp minced garlic from one of those jars Turned it into 8 almost sliders, because I suck at cooking. I only had a shallow nonstick copper(?) pan and I cooked them on a med-low heat, two at a time with a little oil. I waited until the edges at the top started to turn color before flipping them. It seemed like it took 5 minutes or more to fully cook away the pink, even though it was like 1 cm thick at worst. I did 4 rounds of cooking them off, and by the end, it seemed to take longer to cook because of all the black crap that always accumulates in the pan when I cook burgers. Little fragments break off and cook completely black, gunking up the pan, screwing up the heat displacement so it takes longer and is uneven, not to mention I always get little grease splatters within 2 feet of the burner every time, unless I put it on low and wait like 10 minutes per side. I hate it

>>654 Try omitting the onion powder and instead adding a dash of Worcestershire and a tablespoon of dijon mustard (the grainier the better). Also, if you're having a hard time cooking them, try making smash burgers: drop a ball of ground meat onto your ripping hot cooking surface, smash it down until it's your desired thickness with a spatula (use a bottle or a rolling pin to help push it down), flip after a minute or so. Way easier to properly cook a patty that way than trying to roll out a patty with your hands and inevitably ending up with a Goddamned softball.

>>654 >because of all the black crap that always accumulates in the pan when I cook burgers. Little fragments break off and cook completely black, gunking up the pan, screwing up the heat displacement so it takes longer and is uneven Try a griddle pan if this is really a huge issue.

>>654 I'm going to suggest, for the sake of texture, that you don't mix seasoning into the beef before forming patties. Season afterwards. Especially for thin patties like sliders and smashburgers you really just need to coat the outside. Adding seasoning, especially salt, to your ground beef provides more of a "meatball" consistency which isn't what you want in a burger. Makes a big difference. As for your pan, I think it's time you invest in a cast iron griddle. Or pan, if you can't swing the griddle due to space constraints. Copper pans have a lot of uses, but this isn't one of them. >>655 >tablespoon of dijon mustard I will definitely recommend mustard grilling. When I do smashburgers, I season after the smash most times, followed by a smattering of mustard, and then flip. Adds a nice tang to the meat you can't get otherwise. If he's doing sliders, he could also do ultra-thin patties and make them white castle style with some chopped onion in there as well. I think the onion powder is fine, though. Especially if not using fresh onions on the burger in some way. I'd recommend switching from pickled minced garlic to garlic powder, though. It's very strong so you don't need much, but it withstands high heat better. "Fresh" garlic chunks will tend to burn.

Made myself some schweinshaxe (aka pork hock) the other day. I discovered the cut sometime in the spring, but following some random recipe, the meal turned out way too fatty for me so this time around, I went ahead with my classic roasting method: >Place Dutch oven over highish heat with a tablespoon or so of oil. While heating up, dry the meat thoroughly to ensure it browns well and doesn't stick so much. Salt and pepper it, but don't go too heavy on salt. >Place meat, skin-side down, in pot and brown until wonderful. Continue browning on all sides. At some point I add some carrots in the empty spaces because the oil gets intense. I rotate them around. >Take meat out and place on plate. Add rest of the carrots, onions, and celery to the pan. Add a bit of salt. Turn down heat to medium and stir quite often until everything is soft and slightly browned. >Add in some minced garlic and cook for thirty seconds. Stir everything and add the meat in the pan. Add in some wine (I used homemade white-ish wine, but you can do anything you want I imagine. Even go with beer, but don't go with anything too bitter. If no wine/beer available, use stock) and let cook for around five minutes. Finally, add in homemade stock for an absolutely rich broth, store-bought stock, or water. Nearly cover the roast with the liquid, being sure to have mostly skin exposed to the air. Add a bit more salt. Bring liquid to a simmer. >Place in 300 deg F (150 deg C) oven for three to four hours, checking if tongs or fork can easily shred the meat apart. If it resists, put it for longer (thirty minutes to an hour more) >Once done, take out and let cool for a while (we're talking three hours here). Once cool, place the meat in one container and the broth with vegetables in another. Refrigerate overnight. >The next day, degrease the broth (the fat will have accumulated at the top) and meat, removing bones and cutting everything up so it's ready to be eaten. I highly recommend keeping the skin because fried up, it is heavenly, but if that isn't your thing, keep bones and skin for stock. >Finally, to eat, place pork in non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Brown well and once you're happy, add broth to pan, turn down the heat a bit, and enjoy warm. I've enjoyed this over grains and potatoes and with sauerkraut or pickled beets, it is great.

>>657 >>655 I usually do use just salt prior to cooking, though I'd give it a little difference this time. Amusingly, I went to my parents house for dinner the other day and we had burgers. But they did salt+pepper with egg, dijon, and breadcrumbs and cooked it in the oven. It was basically a meatloaf on a bun, but hey, it was good.

>Bagel >Cream cheese >Whatever prosciutto slices from walmart It was actually pretty good. I can see myself eating this regularly

Cream cheese and smoked salmon is my favourite topping for bagels, apart from strict butter. Otherwise, roasted a spatchcocked chicken during the week and finally finished it off today. Not sure what I'll be making this week - either making some burgers with 60% organ + 40% ground beef mix that I have, or making a roast of sorts. We'll see.

I just made an egg pan sandwich very early in the morning at 6:00 AM in the morning with some coffee. I accidently added too much pepper but overall it tasted great for a breakfast sandwich. I'm rather glad how it turned out despite my first attempt at making something like it since I'm not much of a cook. The inside are filled with two slices of bacon and American cheese.

>>722 Looks delicious. I often make something similar using Pillsbury Grands (the oven kind is a nice buttermilk biscuit, but the pop-can kind are alright in a pinch) and it comes out a lot like a fast food breakfast sandwich. How squiggly do you make your bacon? I've worried it has to be well done to work in a sandwich.

>Bought ground beef (exp 17th) and chicken thighs (exp 14th) >Cooked beef first >Got expiration dates mixed up and go to cook chicken last night >Looks pristine >Smells fine >Uncurl them from the pack >Very mildly sour smelling >Brother in laws mother (who does way more cooking than I do) says if it's not too bad, I can just rinse them off and smell them again >They smell just fine afterwards Neat. Keep in mind I tried to cook them on the 17th, instead of the 14th, so they were 3 days overdue

>>725 If you ever got worse in future, just cut off anything that's extra funky (fat tends to go first) and make something strongly spiced with the rest, like a hot curry. It covers the taste well enough as long as you don't eat something outright rotten. Just make sure you cut up the meat, rotten bits can hide on the inside.

I made a celery and celeriac soup yesterday. Basically just that with some onion and broth added. You puree it and then add in some cream. Served it with some crushed, salted peanuts and pickled grapes. Better than I expected and would make again. >>726 >make something strongly spiced with the rest, like a hot curry I believe Persians add cinnamon and spices to their meats for this exact reason. Curry is certainly a good idea.

So I got a couple of NY steak cuts in the freezer and want to do a standard flavor rub of salt, pepper, & crushed garlic with virgin olive oil, any other seasonings blend you guys recommed I can try?

>>698 https://www.yewtu.be/watch?v=8Wm-rPBkW2o I made the organ meat mix today. Decided to try doing Oklahoma smashed burgers because liver and onions go well together. I thought they came out well, but my room mate hated them because of how organ-y they tasted. Guess the 20% organ + 80% ground beef is the way to go if you don't want to be reminded that you're chowing down on liver and kidney. >>739 I'm not big on steak, but my parents really like putting Montreal steak spice. So basically what you have already plus paprika, ground coriander, ground mustard seed, onion powder, and ground dill.

Yesterday I made sardine croquettes because I always have canned sardines around. >1 can (106 g) sardines in oil (saving oil) >1 cup mashed potatoes >2 tablespoons breadcrumbs >1 egg >Salt and pepper to taste Essentially, peel and boil/steam some potatoes until tender. Mash them (I used a strainer and pushed the potatoes through). Measure out one cup. Add sardines to a bowl and mash with a fork. Begin incorporating the potatoes. Add one egg, two tablespoons of bread crumbs, the oil of the sardine tin (or 1 tablespoon of olive oil), and some salt and pepper. Mash everything up well. This will make two dozen small croquettes, weighing around sixteen to seventeen grams each. I doubled the recipe for leftovers. Normally they are fried, but I decided to panfry them in a tablespoon or so of oil. I actually salted and peppered the top rather than the mixture itself. Wasn't overly fishy like typical sardines, so definitely give it a shot if you're looking for a cheap meal. Otherwise, today was leftover turkey, stuffing, and potatoes from Christmas.

>>133 My friend likes to bake it with bacon, salt, and pepper. I'll definitely try it with onions and garlic next time. (Now I'm disappointed he doesn't add them. I like onions and garlic with just about anything if it's reasonable.) >>269 People don't understand weight gain or dieting that much. A lot of people still believe genetics plays a huge role when it actually affects your weight by a little or not at all. It's all about matching your diet to your level of exercise. My family insists I'm skinny because of good genetics, when it's really because I don't gorge myself for all meals every day of the week. If I eat a large meal, I either had little to eat that day, or will eat very little the next day. Similarly, if I don't exercise for a while or don't feel hungry, I eat less.

Made pork dumplings for the first time the other day. My dough needs serious work, but they were sealed and it came out wonderful. Very savory, had to substitute spicy stuff for the sauce with sriracha. What I found cool was that since the pork was sealed, it boiled in its own juices, so when you bite into it, you just get hit by savory flavor, then cabbage and onion give some crunch and texture, followed by sesame and soy flavors. I used this recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pork-dumplings-106237

>>745 >A lot of people still believe genetics plays a huge role when it actually affects your weight by a little or not at all. It's all about matching your diet to your level of exercise. The law of conservation of energy/mass is bottom line when it comes to weight loss (or weight gain). However, genetics does play a role in fat distribution in your body. Consequently, you might reach a healthy body weight and still not look as skinny as someone else. Or you may be able to gain muscle mass very easily compared to someone else who exercises. Is it purely genetic? No. But genetics does play a factor in how your weight loss or gain shows (even if it is often overstated). >>746 Pork dumplings are delicious and something I love storing in the freezer for later.

I made carne asada fries. It's a southwestern dish in vein of something like poutine, but inspired by Mexican-American cuisine. From top to bottom they are: >french fries >melted cheese >optionally: some leafy greens, usually shredded lettuce. I include romaine for some extra nutrition and crunch >beef chopped in bit-sized pieces >pico de gallo >guacamore or sour cream Some people skip ingredients, and ultimately fries beef and guacamole/sour cream are considered the core ingredients. It sounds like something a kindergartener would think of, but all of this works surprisingly well together. Both when it comes to textures and flavors. Yesterday I tried to experiment with it. Besides potatoes, other starchy root vegetables can be made into fries too. I decided to try some daikon and parsnip. I did not know that parsnip absorbs oil much faster than potatoes, so my fries ended up mushy and soggy. It still tasted alright, since all other ingredients were able to disguise fries' subpar texture. I will need to try less oil, or perhaps bake fries on my wire baking rack.

>>724 I'm not sure how to make squiggly bacon. All I did was heat up bacon in an microwave oven for over 10 minutes.

Made dumplings again but this time it only took 1:40h instead of a full 2 hours. Like I mentioned in a different thread the dough needs work and I'll try doing it first next time. This was two days ago? I had some leftover filling today and I cooked it off with the intention to use it as a nacho topper. I had the bright idea to keep the juices and add it to a dipping sauce for my fries I had tonight. Very clever for someone like me, very savory.

>>769 What kind of dumplings?

>>770 See >>746

>>750 I had some leftover pork and I attempted something in spirit

>>782 That actually doesn't look half bad. I've had last minute half-assed attempts turn out way worse.

I ended up making octopus yesterday. First time working with this cephalopod so I read around a bit. Apparently it normally needs to boil between one to three hours in order to render it tender due to its high amount of collagen. Since I have an instant pot, I tried following recipes that said it should take fifteen minutes. I ended up pressure cooking it for forty minutes and, while some parts turned out very soft, one part of the octopus never got tender. I probably should have gone longer on the pressure cooking, but I didn't want to eat supper at midnight either. I let it rest in the liquid for ten minutes, took it out, and broiled it while I boiled some potatoes in the octopus broth. In the end, the octopus probably wasn't great to begin with and was the reason I had so many problems. However, those potatoes (which I tossed with olive oil, cream, and some smoked paprika) were amazing. I kept the rest of the broth to use for other things. Maybe gonna try making a fishy ramen of sorts, assuming the stock can keep its strength over the next few days. >>594 Making butterfly pork chops tonight. Unfortunately, I have no glass backware, but I'm probably gonna do a nice salad to go with it as per your recommendation.

Dumpling attempt 5 or 6. Took me 95m to prep them all and another 25m for cooking and cleanup. Much better times using a rolling pin a can of iced tea. Dough was so easy to work with if I rested it after rolling it out. I found I kept ending up with square shaped pieces, but found it pretty easy to pleat for the most part. Might try to cook them as pot stickers next time, get that oily crunch going on. I'm actually surprised you can get these nice hearty and savory flavors without butter or cheese. The napa cabbage I bought for like 2$ lasted me this entire time, great value

>>792 Your dumplings look great, congratulations! >I kept ending up with square shaped pieces, but found it pretty easy to pleat for the most part. I'm glad the square shape worked out fine for you. In the end, it's whatever works for you to get the job done. >Might try to cook them as pot stickers next time, get that oily crunch going on. The way I do it every time. I really like that contrast. >The napa cabbage I bought for like 2$ lasted me this entire time, great value This is my thought process with cabbage in general, or even less-liked vegetables like parsnips and beets. They give you great flavours for a cheaper cost.

>>793 Suppose I wanted to make a sweet and sour dish - I could use sweet potatoes and beets (which I assume are naturally sweet), but what sort of thing would compliment it for sour? Sour cream?

>>795 Beets are naturally sweet and if you make borscht, which uses beets, it certainly goes well with sour cream. Therefore, I could see some roasted beets being enjoyed with some sour cream no problem. I would try and get caramelisation on the beets to contrast with the creamy texture. This could also work for the sweet potatoes - roast them and enjoy with some sour cream. Or do it baked potato-style with some meat and sour cream on top. You could also try some quick pickles for the beets. Pickled beets are really nice - you get some sweetness and some sourness, though I would call it more of a side dish rather than a dish itself.

I thought my kidney adventures were over, but today I decided to render some leaf lard (fat from around the kidney) I had in the freezer. I've read that it doesn't taste like normal pig fat and can be used for sweet pie doughs. Taking it out of the package, it had the subtle piss-smell of kidney. I cut it up and put it in my Instant Pot. I rendered it for a good eight hours on the slow cooker function, taking off the lid and mixing it around every hour or so. It smelled more gamey than pissy, so I thought maybe the smell had gone away. The final time I took off the lid, I realised that, in fact, the lid had taken on the piss smell. Absolutely horrible. At this point, I think the house has a slight smell of urine, but my nose has become desensitised. My neighbours must think I have taken a liking to golden showers. Otherwise, made some cookies with bacon fat which turned out great.

Made some green split pea soup in my Instant Pot the other day. Been on a soup kick lately, probably because of the weather outside. I would have loved to use ham, but settled for bacon instead. Gonna eat that tonight.

>>826 >kidney fat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X34YriXy-DM

Tortilla de patatas, or Spanish omelette, is a great dish to make if you one, can't afford exotic ingredients, and two, love delicious food. Whenever I have a bunch of potatoes around, I make it. The typical recipe calls for a lot of olive oil since you are essentially deep-frying the potatoes, but I've used the less-oil version from Helen Rennie and it works out super well. I added some hot peppers and used some bacon fat last time for crisping it up instead of olive oil. Might try replacing it full next time. Leftovers can be cut up and fried up in a pan. >>858 Thank you for sharing! I've already decided to use the kidney fat for soap - along with fat I save from stews or stocks - but I'm rendering some other pig fat and will certainly look into the resources they provide since pie crust and sauteing is good, but might have to extend it elsewhere.

As I mentioned, I rendered some regular pork fat after my journey with the kidney fat. I decided to try making an all-lard pie crust to use for savoury purposes since the fat has a bit of a pig smell to it. Is it because I rendered for too long at too high a temperature, or is it just the nature of the fat? I don't know I ended up making a quiche with the crust. Shit went down and the whole thing leaked everywhere it would have been nice if I had a half-sheet pan that could hold the tart pan, but alas, at the moment, I only have a single quarter-sheet pan that holds barely anything, though I salvaged a lot of the egg mixture. The end result is some omelette-looking thing on the top with the onions, carrot greens, and bacon at the bottom, but whatever. Taste-wise, the crust is better than I expected. I've had lard crusts before, but with the smell, I was worried it would come out weird. But with the quiche, it was very nice. My preference is still with all-butter crusts, but this is great if you plan to render your own lard.

My ground beef didn't thaw out in time, so I just made some frozen perogies and a salad for tonight. I don't usually have salad, but I had a bag of shreds, so I tossed some salt, pepper, vinegar, and olive oil in that shit, and added some butter to the perogies, was tasty but simple.

My second time making biscuits n' gravy. First time i doubled the amount of flour the recipe called for because there was about double the grease from my sausage and I didn't want to drain it. It was pretty much a pancake batter that couldn't harden Still tasty but weird. This came out absolutely perfect. I'm not much of a cook I just follow recipes and they usually turn out great as long as I don't stray hugely. I'm very proud of this. Recipe I followed Sausage gravy 1 lb sausage 3 tbsp flour 2 cups milk slowly add 1 more cup stir and 1 more cup Couple splashes of Worcestershire sauce I used 1 7oz package of maple farmer Johns sausage and 1 7oz regular sausage so a little less then the 1 lb and for the couple splashes of Worcestershire I probably used about 1 Tablespoon but could have been less I just shook it in there. I'd measure it next time and use 2 teaspoons. I used a 1/4th of teaspoon of MSG and fuckton of freshly cracked pepper and a couple shakes of salt. Biscuits were a tube of store bought. I finished eating like 40 minutes ago and my mouth is still watering really want to eat the rest of it but I'd also like leftovers for breakfast tomorrow and its huge calories.

>>859 >I added some hot peppers and used some bacon fat last time for crisping it up instead of olive oil. Might try replacing it full next time. I did end up making an only-lard version of tortilla de patatas and I found it came out drier. I ended up cooking it in the pan longer than anticipated, so it could be because of that. However, I'd have to do some more runs to see.

I guess I'll post what I've cooke dover the past few months. I made a rib roast for the first time and I think it turned out okay. I should have been patient and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes longer because it was slighty more rare than I would have liked. I just didn't want to over cook it. I cook a lot of chicken mainly because it's cheap and good. Mostly thighs with some sort of veggie. Here I have my thighs and fried cabbage. I always cook cabbage with onion because it adds good flavor and a nice consistency. And lastly what I am making to night is because I had some things laying around that needed to be used, so I cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot. After it was done I tore off the breast meat and put it in the dish with some frozen spinach, cream of mushroom, the broth from the chicken, and some half and half I had laying around. Gonna eat on that for a while. It'll be good rewarmed and served over rice. Saved the leg quarters for other meals and the carcass for stock. >>903 That gravy makes my hillbilly-ass proud. Good job.

Nagoya(ish) style okonoiyaki: >0.5 cup flour >3/8 cup dashi >1/8 cup mirin Mix to make dough. >120g cabbage, somewhat thinly sliced >0.5 spring onion, thinly cut Mix together. >3 tbsp ketchup >1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce >1 tsp soy sauce Mix together for quick okonomiyaki sauce. Gets better if it's given an hour or two of resting time for flavors to mingle. >1 egg >some bacon strips Pour a bit more than half the dough onto a preheated greased grill/pan and spread thin. Put cabbage and onions on top, and make a little pool in the middle and crack an egg into it. Cut the egg and mix carefully with the middle and upper layer of the cabbage mix. Sprinkle a little bit of salt on top and lay bacon strips on top. Pour the rest of the dough on top. Cook for 5 minutes or until the lower pancake seems browned. Then flip in a quick motion and pat the back a bit to compress. Cook for five minutes or until bottom is nicely browned. Flip again, slather the top with a thin film of okonomiyaki sauce and, if available, apply katsuobushi shavings. Enjoy. The reason it's Nagoya-ish is that I can't find a recipe for the Nagoya okonomiyaki dough, so I use Hiroshima dough since that's used for a separate pancake as well. They are very, very easy to cook once you know your grill and very quick and delicious and cheap and filling, especially if eaten with a side of rice and miso soup. Can recommend. Osaka okonomiyaki are the more popular variant, but are much more demanding on your knife skills since they'll fall apart if you don't cut the cabbage very thinly. These are much more forgiving on that point since the separate pancake keeps them together.

>>911 What did it taste like? Doesn't the fishy dashi collide with the bacon?

>>912 Not at all, both are smoky, and the dashi is subtle.

Inspired by the anon in the bread thread who started comparing variations in a bread recipe, I decided to test out the claim that "00" flour is the way to make pasta. I read that, it doesn't make-or-break your recipe, but it is noticeable and superior to using all-purpose flour. I picked myself up some pizza-pasta flour from a store to try it out, only to realise that it had about the same protein content as my all-purpose flour. Generally you want "00" flour that is higher in protein. Still, I went ahead and made the following recipe for the two: >300 g flour >185 g consisting of eggs (2), egg yolks (3), and water (enough to get to 185 g) >Salt I kneaded the dough for ten minutes. After letting the dough rest for something like five hours, I rolled it out the dough and cut it out with my pasta machine. Boiled both separately and tasted it. Much to my dismay, the two tasted nearly identical. The "00" one was smoother in texture and the all-purpose one had that all-purpose taste (when you make enough desserts and pasta, you recognise the flavour quite easily), but it was near enough impossible to tell a difference, even trying one and then the other. I ended up roasting some cabbage and tossed each of them with it and it was impossible to remark a difference. Rather than be deterred, I decided to try making pasta with bread flour to see if it was the protein content rather than the texture of the flour that made a difference. So the next day, I made a third batch and rolled it out. As seen in the picture, I had all-purpose-flour pasta on the left, "00"-flour pasta in the middle, and bread-flour pasta on the right. Once again, boiled each of them and tasted them separately. And, once again, near-enough no difference. This time, it seemed like the all-purpose taste was more prevalent, but maybe that was from sitting in the fridge for a day at this point. But was the bread-flour pasta chewier? No. I even had my friend try it and he couldn't tell which flour was used when he did a blind taste test. Could it be that the bread-flour pasta needs to sit for a day or two to gain the chew? Maybe, but if I make fresh pasta, I usually eat all of it within twenty-four hours, so that isn't something that concerns me. Another potential fault could come from the fact that I dusted each pasta dough with all-purpose flour. However, I didn't taste the all-purpose flour in the "00"-flour or bread-flour batch, so I can't imagine it made much of a difference. TL;DR "00"-flour pasta is near-enough identical to all-purpose-flour and bread-flour pasta. Maybe if you live in Italy, it makes a difference, but with what I found readily available in North America, I saw no change. >>911 >no mayonnaise That's the one thing I really dislike about okonomiyaki (maybe it's only the Osaka version?). Looks very nice, will have to try.

I'm planning on making something with leeks and carrots in a couple of days. I was just going to bake them together with some olive oil but does anyone have any recipe recommendations instead?

>>915 >Could it be that the bread-flour pasta needs to sit for a day or two to gain the chew? Tried the final bits of bread pasta flour today and, even though they were thicker than the others, it was no more chewier. At least I got to enjoy fresh pasta for days on end.

Not the best picture so not sure if I wanted to share it but it tastes damn good so why not. Its a Gimbap sandwich I saw the thumbnail in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWdneaQNR70 and thought, damn i have all those things gotta at least try it. The video will give a much better look at it than just my picture does. Would have to layer it intentionally so it looks good for a picture and that's too much effort. There isn't enough nori in sushi to really taste it but I love the flavor of it especially in this sandwich. Also bonus quesadilla.

If you remember me bitching about burgers and eggs fucking up my pan, I think I made a small realization the other day. It turns out the (I assume copper - it's orange colored) frying pan has a small convex center, so the juices flow outward to the edges. This meant when I was trying to cook two burgers, they'd heat somewhat unevenly (half of each would be in grease, half would be on the middle where the heat is). In addition, I found that fucking drowning it in butter resulted in much better flippage for my eggs, so I wasn't using enough lubricant

>>937 >It turns out the (I assume copper - it's orange colored) frying pan has a small convex center, so the juices flow outward to the edges. That can happen either if the material is thin or if you've developed a habit of putting it on an excessively high heat because of impatience. Also the materials that are better at retaining heat are often far worse at conducting it initially which is why you can get impatient.

>>922 http://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=qMxuLGmJzz0 http://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=NbfEBOPmKDk

>>911 I tried this again, but germanified the whole thing. 350g Sauerkraut, well-squeezed, instead of the fresh cabbage, beef broth instead of dashi (mirin stays, the sweetness is nice and more complex than sugar), a line of thinly sliced onions right on top of the first pancake (before the Sauerkraut goes on) instead of spring onion, a line of thinly sliced potatoes on top of the sauerkraut, on top of the egg but under the bacon. Change that and you get a German version. This is even better and faster because the Sauerkraut comes premade. Just pat down a bit before applying the pancake batter on top, to help the sauerkraut bond with the lower layer.

>>929 I thought the spam was cured salmon and got really excited. Might have to try such a rendition. >>943 >has sauerkraut >has bacon >has potatoes This is happening.

Horrible pictures, but delicious food. Made myself some dumplings in the spirit of >>792. I made the dumpling wrappers the day before and set about wrapping forty gyoza the day of (if you can have two people doing this, it's infinitely better). I froze most of them, but got to enjoy some last night for supper. To supplement, I made some baked potatoes to go along with it. Doesn't win any contests for prettiness, but it definitely tasted good.

I made hollandaise sauce. It almost didn't break this time.

>>964 Have you tried the blender method?

>>965 I think my problem was that I added some additional lemon juice after it was all done to give it more taste and that broke it. I also might have left it on the stove a little longer than I should have. It actually tasted really good. >blender method How's that work?

>>964 https://yewtu.be/watch?v=FV71d622a8Q Here's a video that you (or anyone really) might find interesting for making hollandaise if don't wish to use a blender. Although I must say, if the additional lemon juice is what broke it, then you probably have the method done well. As for the blender method, I'm chiming in though I wasn't the person to bring it up... In the version I've seen, an immersion blender is used. Essentially you combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, water, and salt in a cup that just barely fits the head of the immersion blender (so taller than it is wide). Melt the butter over high heat in a sauce pan until foaming subsides. Place immersion blender in the cup with the egg mixture, turn it on, and slowly pour in the butter until you've poured it all. Season with extra salt and pepper.

Apologies for the potato quality, but I made dumplings again. This time, I let the dough rest several times, and it was much more pliant. 2 cups of flour and 3/4 cups of water was almost enough to get all the filling shoved into dumplings. I put the rest in the pan and added it as a side dish. I'm pretty stoked about the dipping sauce. It's mostly soy sauce with some sesame oil, sriracha, and a little bit of vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. It goes from savory to slightly sweet, to spicy. The cheesy bread and butter dipped in it is really nice.

>>978 >It's mostly soy sauce with some sesame oil, sriracha, and a little bit of vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Yours sounds great. I usually do soy sauce, vinegar, and some homemade chili garlic sauce. Technically the chili garlic sauce has sugar, but it's mostly there for the spice. Will have to try your rendition next time I make dumplings.

>had 1 lb of ground beef that was going to go so cooked it off and saved the fat >maybe ill try gravy? >the fat is yellowish not sure how to get dat browning >add like 3/4 cup cold water and some flour to it >now its yellow with cloudy white >add some spices and simmer until its a bit thicker, the edges arent runny anymore >its gravy?? I feel like i didn't do it right but then i wasn't really following a recipe. I guess all I did was dilute the fat and cook it off a bit

>>995 If you mix flour and water together before adding them, it's much easier in general. If you want a gravy though, you make a roux instead. Mix roughly equal volumes of fat(beef fat, lard, butter, anything that's more or less solid goes) and flour by melting the fat in a pan, sprinkling over the flour, then continuing to stir and cook until it's somewhat browned (can be white, just enough to get rid of the floury taste, for use in bechamel and other milk-based sauces, light brown with a medium amount of roast flavor, all the way to dark-ish brown for a lot of roast flavor and color). After this, add a cold liquid (milk, broth, water) to the pan and whisk until saucy consistency has been achieved. If you wish to be extra fancy, start with a little bit more fat at the start and fry an onion or sausage bits in the fat before dumping in the flour, just to a light color since it'll still get the whole flour-roasting time to brown.

Attempted biscotti with a caramel drizzle/glaze. Didn't come out quite as nice as I'd hoped, but there's nothing wrong with it. I don't have the recipe handy but I think it was something like (it was in oz): >1 1/8 cup flour >3/4 cup sugar >1 1/2 tsp salt >2 eggs >1/2 tsp vanilla extract <450F for 20 minutes (?) then 300F for 15 minutes The caramel was: >1 cup sugar >1/2 cup water >1 cup heavy cream The recipe (or at least, Wikipedia) warned that a traditional recipe is "very dry". However, I found the dough to have that yellow egg-like color and it fucking stuck to everything. Even after adding more flour and to my surface, it still stuck if it sat for any amount of time. The recipe also called for dividing it into 4 loaves. The dough was almost wet and unworkable, so I just had one large loaf in the middle and it actually shaped out very nicely. Even at the suggested temperature, the edges on the bottom were burnt. I suppose I could just cook it longer at long 400F next time. The loaf was very easy to cut into pieces, though next time I would probably do 1/2" slices instead of 1" slices. Caramel sauce was it's own fuckery. First time doing any kind of stovetop sugar/candy stuff. I had it on med-high heat until I could just see the smallest hints of color, then dropped it to med-low. It started to brown nicely, so I let it, then all of a sugar it basically flipped to dark brown, so I cut the heat. I didn't have heavy cream so I just used regular 2% milk, which I suspect would have different baking characteristics. I added a bit at a time, since I read it will bubble aggressively (and it did), but I don't think I stirred it rapidly enough. After I added the last half of it, it seemed to curdle. It wasn't as liquid as I had hoped, and even without the lumps, I couldn't drizzle it gracefully over the biscotti. Everything tastes fine, but the textures and presentation need a bit of work. I was actually hoping that the biscotti would be more like a crisp, sweetened breadstick, though it's more like a cookie. If I reduced the sugar, would I just add flour to replace it as a solid? Not sure what to do.

>>997 >First time doing any kind of stovetop sugar/candy stuff Get a candy thermometer or an infrared thermometer. It makes outcomes far more precise and consistent unless you have a lot of experience.

Made roasted potatoes >took 2.5 pounds of potatoes >cut in half (they were small potatoes) >whisked together 4 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1.5 teaspoons msg, ground white pper and ground black pepper >took two sprigs of fresh rosemary (have a plant), and a whole head's worth of garlic then minced the two and added to the oil >put potatoes in a bag, added seasoning and shuffled it around >put on baking sheet >put in oven for 450f on convection for 13 mins Came out pretty good. Wonder what else I can add I've got some leftover cubed ham and was going to make mac and cheese. Is just throwing the ham into the finished mac and cheese a sane idea? Tips for meat sauce? I normally >take 2 pounds ground beef and 1 pound hot italian sausage >take pound of carrots and mince finely >saute it for a while >saute onions, rosemary, garlic, thyme and pepper >bloom with some rum (no preference to rum, just what I currently have open that keeps and high enough proof) >add meat and salt+msg >cook the beef and sausage till dry >add several bottles of pasta sauce <I've made my own sauce in the past and its definitely better but its even more work >add a small bottle of dry white wine >simmer for a while >add some grated parmesan >put in container I normally make this for lasagna. Typically do it when I'm making something simple due to how long it takes (but mostly inactive).

>>1011 >Came out pretty good. Wonder what else I can add You could try parboiling them and see if that makes a difference.

Wanted to do a sunday roast for the first time... I was going to buy some things on my way home from work, in about 2 hours so hopefully someone responds. I saw some cheap two-person chunk of pork for like 7$ that I could cook up, was thinking of carrots, potatoes, celery, onion to roast in the juices with it. Not sure what spices. Ive seen some gravy or sauce (?) cook a roux or reduction of like milk, bayleaf, peppercorn in a pot to use with something else and that intrigued me. Was considering a lemon and rosemary and sage? Not sure what combos well but I guess some kind of Mediterranean shit

Made some poutine. Used beef gravy instead of turkey like i did last time. I always forget to use the convection setting for fries to get em nice and crispy but i remembered this time. Once I'm out of cheese curds I'm just gonna use shredded cheddar in the future. It tastes the same, is much cheaper and melts easier and more evenly. Couldn't decide on which picture I like more so here's both. I think the second one is the "food" picture setting on my phone but since I forgot to take a picture in the kitchen where i get natural light it came out a little washed out. The first one with just standard no frills settings looks a bit over saturated, mostly the orange of the plate.

>>1017 Sorry this is a few hours too late, but for next time or in case anyone else is looking to make a roast. If you want to let veggies roast in the juices, do a mirepoix (carrots, onion, celery). I'd do potatoes separate. You want potatoes to form a crispy layer and a soft layer, and the juice will make them soggy. Soggy potatoes are fine in a stew but with a roast you'll want another texture. I like to oil my potatoes up and roast them for a bit. You can boil first to make this easier, but that's an extra step and clean-up, and you can get perfectly fine potatoes with just the oven. A little garlic, rosemary, and thyme will really make them sing. >spices Salt and pepper. Ideally you will salt it and leave it to dry for a bit. You can let it dry in the fridge, uncovered, or you can just pat off moisture. Or accept your sear will be imperfect. You don't need anything else, especially with a sauce. Avoid putting green, leafy spices on it before a sear. Those belong either inside (if you stuff/roll it) or need to go on afterwards. The oven will probably kill them and searing definitely will. Your instincts for rosemary and sage are good. You can sear garlic powder and onion powder, but not the fresh stuff. Marjoram is quite good on red meat. Ground Mustard isn't bad. Honestly, if you have salt and pepper you're probably fine. Don't sweat it too much. The sauce will have most of the flavor, and that's okay. >Sauce I've never done a milk sauce for pork. I usually go vinegar based. I'm not sure how viable lemon + milk is. It might curdle? Not sure with sauces, but you will get a tangy buttermilk flavor at minimum. My go-to would be to deglaze with vinegar, add butter, rosemary, garlic (powdered or fresh) and some onions (chopped shallots or powder). Let that simmer for a bit. Add a splash of lemon juice. I did that just this week and got a sauce much like A1, but porkier and tastier. Of course, this all assumes you're going for low & slow + a sear, which I'd also recommend. Be careful timing the vegetables, especially if you're pulling based on temperature (which you should if you have a thermometer). >>1020 Looks good. I've never had poutine but heard all about it. What type of cheese did you use in place of curds?

>>1021 I did use cheese curds in this one. Specifically pic related. In the future I'm probably just gonna use a medium or mild cheddar, maybe some mozzarella thrown in too. Colby sounds good aswell. Pepper jack is one of my favorite cheeses and I'll try it out with poutine eventually, but I'm not sure how that one will go.

>>1017 >>1021 Don't worry, I didn't have enough time to grab my shit after work after all, so it'll have to wait until another time.

It's time to make some salted cod Pending the requisite soaking time of course

>>1021 >>1017 Alright then. So I ended up buying a boneless pork shoulder, then looked for some recipes at home. I did call and ask my parents (semi retired chefs) how I should handle it, and looked up a few recipes and approaches as well. Some recipes say do a dry roast, or a wet roast, covered versus uncovered, same temperature versus high then simmer, sear versus don't bother. So technically, instead of being a proper roast, it was a braise. I took off the butcher's twine it came in, segmented it, and somewhat seared each side, before tossing it into the bakeware. I put one lemon, whole peppercorns, and a fresh piece of thyme in the pan. I somewhat marinated the pork for about 45 minutes with a salt+pepper+sunflower oil+garlic clove wet rub as well. I got lazy and put the veggies in after turning the heat down and putting foil in (didn't want to bother taking it out again). I added white onion, carrot, celery to the mess. They ended up rather soft and quite flavorful, but unfortunately the strength of the lemon prevailed and the veggies were kind of a loss. The pork came out crispy and tender, falling apart with a fork, and had a slight tart sourness to it. Even though lemon peppercorn pork is a legitimate recipe, I just kinda freeballed it and got something was maybe 6, 6.5 / 10. I'm keeping the pork, I can make sandwiches and shit this week, but next time I think I will stick to traditional mediterranean flavors. Oh, and I still have the leftover juices from it, though it's got that strong lemon taste. I'm going to let it cool overnight and see how it tastes tomorrow and see if it's worth salvaging into a gravy or not

>>1027 Sorry and just so everyone is clear, this is a photo when I finished searing it, before popping it in the oven for the first 450F roast, and before adding the veggies. I didn't have a chance to take a photo at the end, but yes, I did cook it thoroughly

Make some balsamic salmon. Roommates failed to wash saucepan so I had to reduce via microwave. No recommended. Glaze is mostly balsamic vinegar and honey, with a bit of mustard and garlic for flavor. Ran a little short because I did an entire side of fish, about four pounds, at once. Turned out very well. Salad is my usual recipe. I just throw lettuce on the plate and dress it. >>1027 >>1028 You're not getting any browning or a crust, which is the entire point of a sear. It should look cooked on the outside before you pop it in. Although at 450, your oven is hotter than the blazes of Hell and you might develop a bark anyways. I'd recommend reverse searing. Set the oven low, like 170-250, and then pull it when the inside is 135. Then, crank up the heat on the stove and let it go until it browns and releases from the pan. Hit each side. The sooner the better. Oven will evaporate moisture, and then the pan is nice and hot with tons of fond if you want to make a sauce. I do my beef shoulder roasts this way and they come out well. Have to imagine pork is the same, especially with a good sauce.

Made some English breakfast today. Was going to make it last night but I fucking fell asleep at 8 like an old person. >Toast >Egg (made in a mini egg pan) >Breakfast sausage >Potatoes >Bay leaf for presentation I wasn't too sure how to do the potatoes, like I wanted to slice them up and cook them in oil in a pan, but I kept fucking with the temperature and moving them around. Even on medium, I yet again ended up with a lot of overcooked brown shit in my pan and barely cooked potatoes. Anyways, they turned out alright (salt, pepper, chopped garlic, olive oil, and a tiny pinch of italian seasoning) Sausages went pretty well for me. Basically I had a 12-pack and I seared both sides on medium heat, 6 at a time, then removed them all to a plate. Added less than 1/2 cup of water to my pan, added all the sausages, and steam cooked them for a few minutes. Came out nicely.

>>1040 >Bay leaf for presentation Wait, am I not supposed to eat the leaf?

>>1041 Not usually. They're not dangerous to eat or anything though.

>>1042 >not true; bay leaves may be eaten without toxic effect. However, they remain unpleasantly stiff even after thorough cooking, and if swallowed whole or in large pieces they may pose a risk of harming the digestive tract or causing choking.[13] Thus most recipes that use bay leaves will recommend their removal after the cooking process has finished.[14]

>>1044 The trick to that is to use fresh bay leaves instead of dried ones. Roman recipes uses it in placenta (think a type of cheesecake, with honey and bay leaves pressed into the dough)

Doing another pork roast today, but being less retarded about it. I didn't gently brown the meat this time, but let some golden crispiness form (maybe I can let it sear longer?). One issue I had was that with little oil, it would stick to the pan, but with more oil and higher heat, it would spatter everywhere. I also had to keep stuff in the raised middle or else the oil (sunflower) would be aggressive. Otherwise I just popped it in the oven, salt and pepper, minced garlic, peppercorn, fresh rosemary and fresh thyme. I didnt really season or marinate prior, everything is going to be from the braise

>>1046 Is that after it's done anon? Pork is the only meat where I have an irrational fear of redness (far-off relative got trichinosis some 30 years back. he didn't die but he did become slightly crazy)

>>1047 >>1047 >Otherwise I just popped it in the oven No, it comes out in an hour.

>>1048 It was good

Wait hold on. I just realized that pulled pork is made by braising pork shoulder. This means I can make pulled pork next time and I can have it any time I want. In addition, I can have it as pulled pork sliders. And shredded beef is essentially the same thing, so I can replace shitty ground beef in tacos/wraps/quesadillas with 10/10 roast

>>1046 If you're insistent on braising, I recommend getting a dutch oven and browning it in there first so you get fond in the gravy. >>1050 Fastest and easiest way to braise for pulled pork/beef is to get some stew meat (or cube whatever cut) and then brown it quickly in a cast iron. Fill with liquids. For pulled you'll need to add barbecue sauce. Let it simmer, covered, for a couple hours and it'll be nice and tender. You can get some damn fine taco meat out of it, but be prepared to throw a lot of spices at it for good flavor.

>>1051 >If you're insistent on braising, I recommend getting a dutch oven and browning it in there first so you get fond in the gravy. The high sides will also help avoiding the spattering.

>Leftover roast pork and marble cheese, with a small amount of chives and garlic >Coated the tortillas in lard both sides >Sauce is sour cream, sriracha, and lime Shit that was tasty

I saw that Epicurious had a recent chef ingredient swap episode where the level 3 chef prepared pork-stuffed chicken wings. I thought I'd attempt something similar on a smaller and simpler scale. The pork filling is actually pretty much the same as the one I used for dumplings (but they added a few extra ingredients), so that was quite simple. I never butterflied or flattened chicken fillets before, so that was new to me. I didn't want to stuff wings, so I ended up making a poor attempt at like chicken kiev, but instead of butter, pork filling. Actually it's pretty similar to schnitzel too. It came out alright. I cooked it at 375F for 35 minutes, because you don't want to undercook chicken or pork, and secondly, you should apparently never mix meats with chicken (if the temperature didn't hit right, then the pork could look done but still risk salmonella contamination, potentially). I need to work on my breading ability too, or at least giving it a little more punch. The chicken is pretty bland and there's no real texture to the surface, but then you hit a bunch of pork and it's the tastiest part of the dish. Possibly I need to flatten the chicken more, the chicken:pork ratio is pretty high as a result. Before I added it to the breading mixture, I had 1/2 tsp each of salt, pepper, and cayenne, with 1 tbsp of paprika. This was a pretty tasty mix, and I'll probably use it again on something.

>>1078 Addendum: today I have the shits

>>1080 >he didn't listen to Alton Brown on stuffing

>>1087 I was aware of the risks before I did it. I just thought 35m instead of 20m would have been enough, but then I'm not experienced enough as a cook to make estimated on meat and cooking methods. Alternatively it was suggested that the dish might have been "too rich" for me by two separate people

>>1080 >>1087 >>1088 Before you blame a specific meal you should always remember that food poisoning can occur even up to a week after you've eaten something dodgy. Usually it's easy to work out if you've eaten something risky or from somewhere new and otherwise have been sticking to stuff that's normally fine but it can matter occasionally. Obviously in this case you're almost certainly right though. >I was aware of the risks before I did it. I just thought 35m instead of 20m would have been enough, but then I'm not experienced enough as a cook to make estimated on meat and cooking methods. Perhaps a meat thermometer would have helped to be sure in this case. You can get decent ones fairly cheaply and it will in general help with not over or undercooking thicker cuts of meat.

Tried making some homemade egg noodles with mornay sauce for the first time. I sorta followed a recipe and sorta winged it. The sauce was quite good, basic flour+butter roux with some cayenne, and then you add milk infused with bayleaf, garlic, thyme(?), and peppercorn. I don't think I cooked my roux enough, there's a vague flour taste, and there's a very faint powdery feeling on my tongue (though the sauce ended up being fairly thick, despite adding water 2 or 3 times). The noodles didn't come out quite how I wanted. Standard egg+flour+salt noodles, chill, then roll out. I thought they were thin enough, but even after rolling liberally, they ended up like a millimeter thick, and seems to be undercooked as well. They're rather tough despite being in water that was at a rolling boil for 5 minutes. I did give it a little punch by laminating some oregano into them, which would have been good if everything came together properly. I think I had the general concept down, I just need to execute it a little more carefully this time (took about 80 minutes start to finish including cleanup and teardown)

>>1099 Work on your asthetics.

>>1099 Those noodles kinda look like a crêpe that you'd have cut into strips. Maybe that could be the start of a dessert mimicking a plate of noodles

>>1099 Get one of those crank-operated pasta rollers. They make rolling out noodles far more pleasurable and easy.

>>1106 Aesthetics comes after I have the recipe be edible and functional

>>1109 Maybe he could hand pull the noodles in the meantime.

Bought some yellow potatoes and Ive been enjoying them. I know its super easy to prep potatoes but I always found it (even pasta) to be a hassle. Anyways, ita pretty easy to just cut and boil them so I made some soft home fries. It was easy on my guts and was very filling, without causing me issues, felt nutritious and good the next day too. Made an omelette to go with it, but like usual, the yolky part baked itself to the pan despite generous oil. Had some potato pancakes the other day but I didnt feel confident to pan fry them in deep oil so I just baked them in the oven. Salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and some dill. Very tasty.

>>1119 Bulkin' up on carbs eh? Remember: you can grill those sausages until their crispy as fug (or maybe it's just me who has a hangup about non crisp sosig)

>>1120 Usually I put a little oil down and crisp an edge up a bit, then put some water down and steam/boil them. Maybe I'll do a dry fry next time

>>1119 Couscous is the easiest carbs I've ever come across: Just put 1 part couscous and 1 part boiling water into a pan, stir once, lid on, wait for 10 minutes, fluff with fork. Done. Polenta (and grits, which is just more nutritional polenta) is a bit harder because you actually need to keep it boiling, but you only need to stir it seldomly. Plus, more variety because you can stick some butter and cheese in the hot polenta and bake it too.

>>1122 Seconding couscous. I used to make it all the time when I was a student because it was so easy. I used to put tuna or (anything canned, really) at the bottom of a bowl, cover with couscous and boiling water, and let sit until a nice layer of dense couscous formed to hide the surprise tuna below.

>>1123 >tfw no hellish demon waifu to be your caretaker and condemn you into being your best

Didn't want to make a thread, so I'll ask here: Anyone got a picture of the post that has Hitler's favorite cake recipe? I know it's out there but I've completely forgot any details about it

>>1124 sadface.png

>>1128 I don't have the specific image, but from what I remembered it's a German apple cake with nuts and raisins, absolutely delicious.

>>1128 I can give you a recipe for his favorite meal, Eiernockerln mit Salat. Get a large pot of salted water boiling >3 eggs >60g butter >300g flour, bread flour if available >175ml milk >salt, pepper, nutmeg Beat eggs together, melt butter, mix with the rest to make a dough. If you can use it and have one, press the dough through a Spaetzle-sieve right into the water. Alternatively, take a teaspoon and with it take bits of dough and drop them into the water. Dip spoon into the water occasionally so the dough doesn't stick. Once the thingies are cooked, put them under cold water briefly so they don't stick. >1 handful parsley >2tbsp butterfat >4 eggs >salt, pepper Chop parsley, heat butterfat in a pan and put in the things (technically noodles) you made above and stir occasionally until they're heated through. Meanwhile, beat together the eggs with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the pan and quickly stir, the eggs should be cooked through but not get dry, the trick being to remove the pan from the heat while the eggs are still slightly under-cooked. Put parsley on top and serve with a lettuce salad. It's the traditional meal to celebrate Adolf's birthday, you'll find it offered as the meal of the day in many restaurants all over Austria and Germany.

>>1132 That sounds really nice, like lighter and fluffier Spaetzles

How do you deal with the heat? It's starting to get hot outside but I still want to bake cakes and cookies. Do you just stop baking altogether in Summer?

>>1130 >>1132 Thanks >>1134 No AC? Or even a floor fan?

>>1134 An electric fan is good, a ceiling fan is better, AC is best. If the fan doesn't cut it, put a bucket of water or, better, ice somewhere the fan disturbs the air, so in front of an electric fan or towards the walls with a ceiling fan.

Some risotto recipes seem to call for white wine. What purpose does that serve? I feel like I might be able to substitute it with vinegar, since in this case it's used to cut through the fat?

>>1141 Acid + deglacing. Replacing with vinegar mixed with water seems better to maintain liquid balance and not overflavor it. A tablespoon of vinegar on a cup of water seems sensible, as you're be able to drink that just like wine

An Egg and Barbecue chicken sandwich I made just recently. It tasted pretty well though the yolk was a bit under cooked. I'm not much of cook but it was alright for the most part.

Today I made potato and leek soup. This was my first time using leeks. I think it turned out pretty well. Just a basic recipe, as usual >fry the leeks in butter >add leeks to potatoes and broth >simmer for 30 minutes >season

>>1146 Nice plating yo

I almost never buy milk or cream, so after I made my leek soup, I tried to use up more of it. I don't think I took a picture, but I made a basic cheese sauce with it and added some leftover pork roast bits and just kinda poured it over some nachos. Really good, but really heavy, I was basically done for the night after I ate that shit. Still had a bit of cream left over, some garlic and scallions, and some cheese, so I decided to make some friend potatoes. Little bit soggy and not quite done because I'm an impatient person. But! I did make this all from scratch without a recipe and I sorta know what I'm doing now. >3 cloves garlic, minced >2 scallions, chopped >Dash of olive oil in a hot pan, add a tablespoon of butter, cook off the scallions >Add garlic, salt and butter, cook the garlic, set aside >Maybe like a cup or two cups of half and half cream >Good handful of peppercorns >4 bay leaves >About a tablespoon of dill and half a teaspoon of parsley >Bring to almost boil, then simmer for about 20 or 30 minutes I guess, stirring occasionally >Add half a cup of grated cheese near the end >Slice 2 white potatoes into thin cuts >Fry potatoes in butter and olive oil >Really crisp those fuckers up better than I did >Add back to the onion and garlic mix, combine >Plate it up, add sauce and garnish (olive oil and chive rings)

More slop on a plate. I feel like I need to experiment more since my ingredients and dishes seem to be repeating a bit. At least this time, I fried scallions and garlic in butter with the sausages, then put the juices onto the perogies (store bought). I was surprised how soft and sweet the scallions ended up; that was probably my first time successfully caramelizing an aromatic

What was this Italian dish called again? Anyways, I made it. Wanted to drizzle balsamic vinegar, but my Walmart didn't have any, so I opted with a light amount of olive oil and vinegar, with a garnish of pepper. Roma tomatoes

>>1152 Caprese salad I think. Toast some bread and it's bretty gud, I add salt to tomatoes.

>>1152 And then on the other hand, this is why I don't fry my meat (including burgers). >Basic flour-egg-panko breading station >Cook on low-medium heat >Crisps up nicely, perfect golden brown >Hard pink in the middle >Cook on medium heat >Fucking burns the outside, at least the meat gets cooked

>>1154 Paper towels on your chicken until it's bone dry. Only liquid should be your egg

>>1155 It's pork

>>1156 Still applies. You could also try ye olde pound method to flatten it out. You can also get paranoid about moving it: you touch it more than twice you lose.

>>1154 With other meats a little bit of pink is probably better than overcooked it'll cook a bit more after coming off the heat too but with pork >>1157 is right that you flatten it to cook it more quickly.

Because reasons, I'm in the unwitting possession of an air popper. To those who own similar appliances, how does one season popcorn without oil?

>>1160 Spices, salt

>>1160 You make the circumstances sound dubious. Is it story time?

>>1162 >>1163 A well meaning birthday gift to me despite being able to pop in a pot just fine. Gave the air popper a try and the only good thing I can say about it is its ease of melting butter. Popcorn (kernels included) flew a few places and the texture of the popcorn itself, not appealing. Feels like packing material. I'll let him know there's no hard feelings and that the thought counts. In other news, how far ahead can I prepare baked chicken nuggets?

Anyone got tips for spaghetti? Making the sauce from crushed tomatoes, but I want to know if anyone has a way to take it up another notch. It's good, but not amazing.

>>1165 I hate that video.

>>1165 Get a proper wedge of Parmeggiano to shave on top of it. Pumps any 5/10 spaghetti to 9/10. Also, This takes "hating doing the dishes" to a whole new level.

>>1165 Add carrots in your tomatoes.

>>1167 I'll see if I can grab one in time. I've heard of this before but never tried it. >>1168 I'll shred some in. Do you sweat and brown them with your onions?

>>1169 Yes; but just softened works also, even without the browning. The sweetness of the carrots will counter-balance the acidity of the tomatoes nicely.

>Have basically a full bag of flour sitting around, set to expire in about 2 months >Decide to look up cookie recipes >Grab the few ingredients I don't at least have substitutions for >Start mixing ingredients >Don't have enough butter thawed, so I try to speed-thaw the butter I have in the freezer by having it sit in warm water for a bit >Warms the outside, but not the inside >Also, it's salted when the recipe calls for unsalted >Speaking of, I use smooth instead of crunchy peanut butter, because fuck getting something I'd only ever use for this recipe specifically >Mix in white/brown sugar and eggs without issue outside of needing to move everything to a bigger bowl >Butter is still in a state where it doesn't cleanly mix with everything else, so I basically have small chunks of it throughout the dough >Meanwhile, in the other bowl of stuff I mix >I read the recipe as needing a tablespoon of baking powder and a half tablespoon of salt >"Tablespoon" was actually "Teaspoon", which I didn't realize until adding in the baking soda, which I correctly measured out >Mix it into the other half of the dough, chuck it in fridge per the recipe >Start putting flattened dough balls on baking sheet >Start out with a dozen >Throw em in the oven >Check them midway through cooking >They're basically squares squished against each other >Take them out, put them on rack >Try second batch, put six on instead >They come out as basically browned wafers >Lesson learned, cook for one less minute >Third batch comes out okay, only real problem is getting them off the baking sheet too soon, because I don't own a second one >Eventually make 6 or 7 sheets worth >Almost every single one has some sort of unique fuckup to it Thankfully I wasn't making them for anyone, because holy fuck, am I retarded. On the flip side, next time should be much better.

>>1171 When you're baking you need to follow the recipe exactly. What you've done is fuck up every single step of the way. How

>>1171 But were they tasty?

>>1171 I think the lesson here (aside from checking measurements/using weight for baking) is to beware cooking in bulk. You had two months, and not enough butter. You could have waited and used something else. Made some bread or something. Also, pics of your wafers or it didn't happen. >>1170 Shredded a carrot in. Started to worry about halfway through simmering because it still tasted strongly of carrot and it was drowning out the tomatoes. I probably used too big of a carrot. Some more time, salt, and vinegar managed to mellow that out and bring the tomato back. My sauce ended up looking like a bolognese despite having no meat in it. Was worried, but it was so strong I was able to spread it across nearly twice the number of noodles I normally would. Not that I'd recommend those proportions, but I was cooking for a large audience and doubling the sauce wasn't gonna happen. Forgot to take a pic so I guess I'll be back tomorrow.

>>1174 >>1170 I was trying to convert a can of tomato paste into a sauce (since I didn't want to use canned sauce and didn't have any tomatoes handy). One recipe I saw called for vinegar. I see you also used vinegar here; what purpose does that serve?

>>1176 >>1175 >Sauce Tomato paste with a bit of water, vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, fresh basil, and crushed garlic. The dipping sauce was garnished with parmesan and parsley >Meat Didn't want to pay $6 for a baggie of pepperonis, spent $4 and tried to fry up turkey kolbassa in olive oil and paprika. It might work better if I had let them dehydrate longer, but it approximates the flavor (in terms of spice) >Bread It was easy enough to work with, but I still have a problem getting it thin enough. I know the "knuckle over knuckle" technique for expanding it after rolling, but it doesn't seem to do much. And what I thought was thin enough ended up being rather thick. It also didn't seal properly, which was unfortunate. >Filling Used sauce and turkey above, added some chunkier fresh basil, and used mozzarella and ricotta. I notice the cooked sauce ended up nice and orange and a bit runny, while the raw sauce was still red. Overall, it was pretty tasty. A bit greasy, pretty heavy, definitely needed to eat a half at a time. The assembly and a few other minor stuff put it at about 6.5/10, enjoyable but needs a bit of tweaking. I think the ingredients are fine but the process needs work

>>1165 I use crushed tomatoes for a really nice Greek style sauce. >crushed tomaters >about a tablespoon of black pepper >pinch of sugar (no more than a teaspoon) >a fuckton of oregano (I'd say maybe a tablespoon, but I love oregano so I load it right up) >pinch of rosemary and thyme >teaspoon of marjoram (extremely important) >The tiniest little splash of apple cider vinegar you can manage (failing that, about a tablespoon of white wine can accomplish the same effect) <The vinegar isn't important for its taste but for the sour mouthfeel it adds to the sauce. It's hard to explain but if you've had plain old red Greek sauce at a proper Greek restaurant you know what I am talking about >pinch of cinnamon >slightly larger pinch of ground nutmeg >Teaspoon or so of tomato paste >1 clove crushed garlic (2 if you don't need to worry about your breath for a day or so) >pinch of chili pepper flakes >1 bay leaf (remove before serving) I set up the sauce and get it to just simmering at the same time I start boiling water for the pasta. As long as it's had around 10 minutes or so to bubble and thicken it's good to go, but of course the longer you let it simmer the more defined the flavors get. As always, finish your pasta in the sauce, and add a spoon or two of pasta water if the sauce is too thick (it won't be). This goes really, really well with especially savory meats - pork sausage or 50/50 sausage/beef meatballs take this sauce really nicely. It's got a really nice flavor map that it's all over on - it's kinda sweet, but also tart. It has a cinnamon bite but the nutmeg rounds that out and plays really well with the extreme savory flavors of the spices. It's excellent and it's my #1 most requested dish by my friends. >>1167 Also this. Those thin little wisps of real parmesan add a ton to plain old spaghetti.

>>1174 >I probably used too big of a carrot Depending where you buy from I find things like carrots, onions and garlic to have very variable taste an intensity. In some places enough garlic is 3x too strong and in others one onion can serve for two.

>>1177 >One recipe I saw called for vinegar. I see you also used vinegar here; what purpose does that serve? Adding vinegar or a vinegar-like taste is a quiet of good cooking, at least in my experience. Every time you cook with wine or citrus like lemon and lime for example. It helps bring out distinct tastes in a dish

Still have a fuckton of ricotta and had some medium ground beef that was going to go today, so I cooked off some burgers. I got 8 slider-sized patties out of it, cooked low and slow and this time I didn't have to worry about burnt shit. The burgers themselves were a simple spice mix of salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and parsley. I believe salt and onion were 1/2 the quantity of everything else. The ricotta was actually an attempt at some garlic butter / cheese sauce. Pretty much what it says on the tin - melted butter with minced garlic, plus some ricotta. It wasn't too bad. Finally, it was topped with basil and roma tomatoes. Mostly I'm happy the meat turned out, but I suppose I can portion or shape it more consistently next time. The buns were a little too crispy, and I feel like I need to do something to make the tops more exciting, even if it's a piece of lettuce or something.

>>1172 Because it's literally the first time I've baked, well, anything. >>1173 At worst, they were edible. At best, they were better than they had any right to be. Depended on the batch, really. >>1174 I didn't even know how many cookies it would make when I did it originally. But the recipe is super easy to halve, since the original called for 2 eggs and 2 sticks of butter, and everything else is just a basic measurement. >You had two months, and not enough butter. I had plenty of butter, that wasn't the issue. The issue is that I generally keep whatever I'm not using frozen for future use, and I didn't think ahead enough to thaw it well prior. >Also, pics of your wafers or it didn't happen. The wafery ones I already went through, this is what I have left. The one on the left (and pretty much all the ones below) were from batch 1, as indicated by their rectangular shapes. The big cookie to the right of that I want to say was Batch 3, while the other 2 were from later batches.

>>1183 Less is more, I like the slider size with just what you got. Maybe some mayo on the bun or mustard or hot sauce. Or if you're going for butter, just grab basil, chop it up extra fine and blend it with butter, pic sorta related.

>>1185 I don't actually know if we have a blender, and I don't feel like buying one just for 1-2 dishes (also on lockdown so I can't buy shit like that) >>1184 Okay I take back what I said, those look pretty tasty

>>1188 I recently purchased an immersion blender, and I'm pretty pleased with it. Less of a hassle to blend sauces, and you can make milkshakes, mayonnaise, etc with it like you would in a normal blender. Costs a fraction of the price of a good blender and doesn't take up the same amount of countertop space. For so long, I delayed, saying "how useful can it be?", and then I realized how many things I just never made because I didn't have one handy. A lot of new recipes assume you have one for some reason.

>>1128 I actually found it on the booru. I think that's the post you were referring to.

>Planned to make pork dumplings >Assemble the dough and let it stand out all day >It's still really moist >Work more flour into it >Work even more flour into it >Seems okay >Keeps sticking to the rolling pin and I have to wash it twice >Only made like 3 >Fuck >Roll everything back together and make the worst fat log of bread, it's probably still a little raw in some places Had to use up my ground pork because it was expiring today, ended up just using the marinade on it and cooking it off as taco/wrap filling. I'm disappointed and angry

I'll ask now and hope to get a response before the weekend. How far ahead can you do prep work for baked chicken nuggets? To be precise, how long can I say, leave the breaded pieces on a baking sheet (wrapped, of course) in the fridge?

>>1195 You can freeze them months in advance. Just add a couple minutes to cooking time or defrost them in the fridge for 24 hours beforehand.

>>1196 Thank you, but I was thinking more of a day, or perhaps half day. Also occurred to me that you can toast panko in the (toaster) oven. Is it wise to use that as breading or should I keep using it as untoasted?

>>1197 Not sure if there's any benefit to toasting the panko. It's probably not strictly necessary, but if it gets you extra flavor or crispiness then it can't hurt. Maybe do half and half and see which you like better? >>1192 At least you made the most of it. You might have been able to save it with some careful flouring.

Decided to make cabbage rolls for the first time. They're ready within the hour >1 lb of pork >1 egg >4 tbsp soy sauce >1 tbsp sesame oil >salt and pepper >1 shallot because housemate was running the dishwasher and all we had left was one fucking steak knife holy fuck dicing this was impossible <mixed and let sit for about 20 minutes >1/2 cup of rice >1 cup of water <undercooked by about 5 minutes, soft but still has a crunch to the middle of it Combined all that shit and formed into palm-sized balls for the cabbage. Cabbage was boiled for about 2 minutes each leaf, and I used a can of tomato soup with 1/2 can of water for the bottom. Got about 8 decent wraps and covered it all in foil and popped it in the oven at 350F for 45 minutes.

>>1199 I'm hoping those are herbs and not hairs anon.

>>1200 It's dill

Oh shit you know what, I just realized that cabbage rolls are a sort of improvised sausage. >stuffed with ground meat, spices, filling >wrapped in an edible thin shell >cooked See I just unwrapped one from the fridge and cut it open and I realized that without the cabbage afterwards, it's still quite firm and has roughly the same texture as a sausage might.

>>1199 Gołąbki is the shit.

>Frozen and breaded haddock >Boiled broccoli with caramelized butter and lemon juice >Potatoes with garlic, dill, paprika, salt and pepper Came out pretty nice

>>1202 You can also use thinly pounded meat or fat as skin, and I remember there being a recipe that uses actual pork skin as sausage skin, but can't find it atm. Alternatively, roll tightly into aluminium foil or heat-resistant plastic wrap, like a bonbon, and poach it until it starts floating. Unwrap and you've got a sausage.

Made some risotto today. Didn't have the wine so I substituted with 2 teaspoons of vinegar, and I used some premium olive oil instead of the shitty vegetable oil. We also ran out of parmesan cheese, so I used up the rest of some fancy smoked cheddar I had laying around. It was very good, first you'd have the flavor of chicken (via the broth), followed by some creamy smoky cheddar flavor, followed by a spicy tease of black pepper. Very few of the grains tasted undercooked; occasionally it was like biting a small grain of sand, and I think the wine would have accounted for a little more liquid, and thus cooking time. Overall though, it was delicious, and I think it would be a very easy dish to experiment with (eg different broth flavors or textures instead of the shallots) https://www.thespruceeats.com/risotto-recipe-for-beginners-996008

I have an ambitious but simple idea for an italian pasta >egg and flour dough with paprika (or beet juice) to make it red >egg and flour dough with basil puree (or spinach) to make it green >roll each sheet super flat, then layer on top of each other >roll this into a log, then chill, before slicing into thin discs From here, you have a swirly fresh pasta of two colors. Keeping the italian theme, you could do red and white with a green sauce, or some permutation of colors and flavors. But you have discs - not sure whether to flatten and make ravioli, or flatten and cookie cutter into a ridged shape to scoop up sauce

>>1211 So unfortunately, the spiral dough idea didn't quite work, between poor binding and being unable to flatten it, so I ended up splitting it back apart and then filling just 6 ravioli pockets. >Filling is spinach with mozzarella, double smoked cheddar, and parmesan >Pasta is egg+flour (white) and paprika (brown) >Topping is fresh curly parsley and olive oil, salt, and pepper

>Japanese market opened up recently >decided to buy an orange sake >made myself teriyaki chicken, rice, and steamed vegetables to go with it >food came out good >sake was excellent >drank the whole bottle and passed out drunk on my couch >no hangover today 10/10 would do again. I might try tempura next time.

>>1212 Today was English Breakfast again >cooked the sausages, and tried to make it crispy and done in a dry heat (used a little bit of olive oil and butter) >Used the leftover liquid in the pan to flavor the yorkshire pudding >Used the leftover dry shit in the pan to fry up shallots in olive oil, salt, pepper, and more butter >Boiled and shocked the potatoes, added them to this mixture, along with fresh dill, parsley, and basil >Cheese is some fancy $9 double smoked cheddar Bretty gud, took about an 1h 15m including prep, cooking, and cleaning

>fry bacon >make egg in ring >toast muffin >place bacon on egg and top with cheese >place mixture on muffin I've heard you can do it without a specialized ring by buttering a small bowl and starting the egg's cooking in a microwave, but that's pure degeneracy

>>1216 Bought some weird lychee drink from a euro market. Saving it for tomorrow see what I can mix it with.

>>1219 If you're going for muffins I don't see the microwave as terrible for the egg part. Just make sure it's seasoned I guess.

>>1221 Get a specialized smol pan for eggs. And its egg hollandaise, not an egg mcmuffin

>Asian chicken marinade with risotto Risotto was made the way I did it above, although this time I used a little less rice, more vinegar, and had parmesan and smoked cheddar on hand. It was cooked just enough to be al dente or more. The marinade was a standard asian-style sauce (soy sauce, sesame oil, a bit of vinegar (no rice wine), ketchup, sriracha, sugar) and did it for about an hour or more. Popped that shit in the oven on a foiled tray for 350F for 25 mins. Very moist. I think I would prefer a drier cooking method next time. But it has that sweet+sticky character that asian meats have. The broccoli was fantastic too. By boiling it, you remove a lot of nutrients, but by roasting it, you retain them and it gives you the opportunity to bake in more flavors. In this case, soy sauce, salt pepper, and olive oil. I garnished it with sesame seeds and crushed chili flakes, so it has a subtle spiciness too. It's rather lovely and still firm, and actually the first time I ate veggies ahead of the meat

>>1223 I suck at making chicken, how do you prepare it?

>>1224 Poorly. I hate working with it and the clean up. I just use recipes where I throw it on a foiled pan and dont have to worry so much about shit. Shake and bake is easy enough. I don't like boiling it.

Sosig n' veg today.

Fried some shallots, then cooked some "chorizo-style sausage" from Walmart in it, then after they were cooked, reheated my risotto from the other day. It's spicy but pretty good

>1 am, fuck I need dinner >boil up some water for instant noodles >dont actually have any, fuck >what can i make that's simple, quiet, and easy >oh okay I have some potatoes and I have some cream I need to use up So I ended up making some white sauce (roux and cream) with some cheese, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic, and dill. I didn't bother grating anything, so I had a mixed texture of flat ginger things and chunks of smoked cheddar. The flavors mostly agreed, though the ginger was a little strong. Dill and cream is a good base for something delicious I reckon. I think this would have been amazing if I took the time to prepare and develop it right. But otherwise, it's tasty and not bad.

Saw cans of tuna were on for a $1, so I thought I'd try them in a recipe. Also had some russets I had to use up. The first thing that came to mind were twice-baked potatoes. >Baked for an hour >Scooped out with salt, pepper, dill, parsley, cream, olive oil, tuna, and potatoes, topped with smoked cheddar and garnished with sour cream and chives >Brats and fried shallots >Homemade bread

>>1230 Chorizo and eggs is the breakfast of champions. >>1233 Haven't had canned tuna in a while. The dill makes it sound good.

4th breakfast burgers. Sausage gravy, fried egg and American cheese on one of em. Pretty damn good. I would have put eggs on both and held the cheese. It wasn't bad but I'd rather the purity of cheese-less. >>1233 > cans of tuna were on for a $1 They were on sale for a dollar? What size can? 5oz or 12oz? Because the standard 5oz costs only 60-70 cents in most every store I've ever seen. If it was a 12oz that would make sense. That one is like 3-4 dollars usually.

>>1235 Probably the 5 oz can. The smaller ones. Normally $1.87 cdn, and it was $1 off, so that lines up with it

>>1236 Jesus Christ, you poor bastards. Thats absurd.

>>1237 Sounds better than what I usually have to pay in bongland.

>>1238 Countries other than the US were a mistake.

>>1237 Separately, look at this overpriced "health food" I saw today. Guess how much it costs. $14.97

>>1240 Specialty diet crap like that is pretty expensive in the states too. Taking a quick look at amazon they are $7-14 most being about 8 or 9 bucks. I've only noticed them in the stores once and they were like $10 compared to a normal box that was like $2 or 3$.

>>1240 That's just retard tax. Keto pancakes are mostly almond flour, which sells for about 15 bucks per kg (aka 1/5 of the premade stuff). The rest is stevia and maybe some seed or other, the amount of which would be minor enough to be irrelevant. Or just make Sirniki for very little money: >250g cottage cheese/quark >0.5 cup coconut/almond flour >1 egg >pinch of salt, stevia Try crushing the cottage cheese up a bit if the grains are too big. Mix everything. Make 6 pancakes.

I didn't really 'cook it but I just made a nice snack. I crushed some mixed nuts in a morter and pestle (almonds, walnuts, cashews and others iirc) and added lemon juice and sugar. Was pretty good once I got the ratio of lemon to sugar right.

Does anyone have a redpill on those pressure cookers that seem to be all the rage? Are they worth it or is it just a fast crock pot? I want proper beans dammit and they take forever

>>1254 >Are they worth it or is it just a fast crock pot? They are more versatile than crock pots and other slow cookers, and some electric pressure cookers have slow cooking settings. As to whether they are worth it, it depends on whether you are gonna use often enough. Most often pressure cookers are used for beans, pulses, and tough cuts of meat. However, they can cook a lot of other things, speed up cooking process quite a bit, and that allows food to retain more of its original texture. Rice, grains, meats, stocks, soups, and stews cook in them very well. You can use it to turn condensed milk into dulce de leche, for steam canning, to disinfect things, to defrost very quickly, or as a steam cooker. You can go either with an electric or stove top one. Each has its pros and cons. Stove top: >higher pressure than electric, so it will cook quicker. About 25% faster on average. <takes time to master <each one is a bit different so you will need to try recipes a few times to find out how to adjust the water amount to get desired result >can double as a normal pot or pan when you take off the lid <you still need to stand next to the stove and keep an eye on it <less safety features than electric ones <less safety features and retard proofing might end up in explosion and serious burns if you overfill it, it does not lock fully, or something else goes wrong >smaller than electric version >cleaning is as easy as a regular pot >you save some counter space >will probably last longer than electric one Electric: <slower bu about 25% to 30% than stove top version >as retard proof as it gets with cooking appliances <cables <silicone seals tend to pick up smells and will need to be aired out from time to time <It is slightly more of a hassle to clean it compared to the stovetop pressure cooker <a little less versatile >...but some models make up for it with extra pre programmed functions, like slow cooker mode, rice cooker mode, grain cooker mode, yogurt mode, sous-vide, and so on <takes more space than stove top models >can be used to keep food warm >requires very minimal attention >will warn you if it is not sealed properly, overfilled, overheated, etc. so risk of explosion is lower >you get to save one stove top burner <requires electricity to operate, and that can be inconvenient in a place with a shitty power grid or if civilization collapses <more parts mean that there are more things that can break in it I have an electric instantpot, since I prefer to save some stove space and not worry about the pressure cooker as I do something else. For me it is worth it for cooking ribs alone. It lets you get extremely tender, fall of the bone ribs in an hour. Rice is on par with what you get out of expensive Japanese rice cookers. It's also very convenient for cooking grains and reducing stocks in it. Ricotta I make in mine has flavor and texture on par with what you find in high end specialty cheese brands, but at a fraction of price.

>>1257 >ribs Tell me your steps o wise one because I'm getting one of those things now for sure.

>>1254 The other anon has a pretty good right up. I love my instant pot its one of the best purchases I've ever made. Not including the 10ish minutes it takes to heat up to seal it takes 55 minutes to cook pinto beans. No soaking required. Press play walk away. Rice takes 4 minutes once again not including warm up time and comes out perfect every time. Throw in a bag of frozen meatballs and and jar of spaghetti sauce and cook the noodles on the stove. Go jack off and by the time your done dinners ready. I've made meatloaf, Japanese and Indian curry, chicken and dumplings, pulled pork and pulled chicken and many other things its so incredibly easy. I wouldn't bother with a stove top one the few points they have going to them isn't worth it at all. I also disagree that its a hassle to clean at all, its extremely easy just as easy as cleaning a pot and its lid because well thats what it is. The smell of the silicon ring I think is a non issue whatever the dish you last cooked in it is what the ring will smell like. Doesn't really matter and has no bearing on its use or effectiveness.

>>1258 I use a basic ribs recipe adapted from oven or slow cooker to an electric pressure cooker. I dislike ribs being too sweet but I really like that smoky flavor and caramelized crust. Spare or St Louis style ribs are best for caramelization because they are flatter than baby back ribs. Extra fat and bone means more flavor if you cook them properly, and they are less expensive than baby back ones too. One thing to watch out for before you start is how long and wide ribs you are buying are. You want to be sure that they will fit into your pot. They can go above "MAX" marker in the pot as long as you can close the lid without any resistance and there is still decent amount of free space in the pot. If you buy pork ribs, you won't have to worry about this much. 6 quart pot will easily fit the standard st louis or baby back pork ribs that are 1.25 to 2 feet long and 6 to 10 inches wide. Special tools and accessories needed: >Trivet It comes with most electric pressure cookers as a standard accessory. It will let you cook ribs without submerging them in liquid. Deep steaming basket could work too if ribs will fit into it. >Brush - very convenient for coating ribs in bbq sauce Use whatever dry rub you like. I make one by mixing ingredients below. >1 teaspoon of garlic powder >1 teaspoon of chilli powder >1 teaspoon of cayenne or ground up smoked chipotle pepper (hotter but also smokier) >1 teaspoon of onion powder >1 teaspoon of salt >1 teaspoon of oregano, fresh or dried >2 tablespoons of smoked paprika >Black pepper to taste >optional: pinch of celery salt You do not need to use it all in one go. Just make sure ribs are well coated and save rest for the next time. Ribs ingredients: >Rack of pork ribs, spare or st. louis style >Sauce of your choice - I go with Baby Ray's Hickory sugar free version since I am cutting down on carbs. It caramelizes just fine. >1/2 cup apple cider vinegar. Can be substituted or split with apple juice >3/4 cups of water >Optional: 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke for even more smoky flavor >Optional: Fresh oregano, chives, parsley, or chopped green onions to top the ribs 1. Prep ribs. Wipe any excess moisture and remove membrane from the inner part. 2. Apply dry rub to both side of the ribs. Let ribs rest at least 15 minutes, but couple hours would be optimal. I would avoid going over 12 hours. If you have to, cut down on salt in the rub. 3. Put trivet in your pot 4. Add apple cider vinegar, water, and liquid smoke. Watch liquid level when you pour water in. You do not want ribs to be submerged, so stop before liquid level becomes equal with the trivet rack. It should not be an issue in a medium size or bigger pressure cooker. 5. Put ribs in. You want them to be vertical and wrapped up along perimeter of the pot, in a circle or a spiral. Pic related. Alternatively, you can cut them up and arrange vertically to maximize the space and make cooking most efficient. 6. Close the lid, cook on high pressure for 30 to 35 minutes. Once that's done let them sit for 15 minutes, and release pressure manually after that. You can cook or let pressure release for longer to get more tender ribs, but be careful. Too long and meat will fall of the bone into the liquid and it will be tough to get ribs out of pot without rack completely falling apart. Meat will be extremely delicate though. 6.a. you might need to up the time if you live in a place like Colorado or elsewhere at high elevation. You want to drop the cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes if you are using baby back ribs. 7. Lay ribs on a baking sheet, and coat each side with an even layer of bbq sauce. Leave them with outer part facing up. 8. Broil them in oven until sauce caramelizes. Higher sections of the oven will work best. 9. Serve with whatever you like. Potatoes and coleslaw are classic sides. Tomato or cabbage based salads work very well too, as do any leafy green combos. You can top ribs with some fresh oregano, chives, parsley, or chopped green onions.

I used my instant pot to cook some frozen ground turkey for tacos it cooked fine, so incredibly easy fast and convenient. 20 mins on high with 1 cup of water poured in and two one pound rolls on the trivet. I'm not sure if the water or trivet is necessary. Gonna try no water or maybe 1/4th cup next time with no trivet. Gonna do that from now on for ground turkey and beef. Beware "Festive Ground Turkey Roll" brand. I got it from Walmart it was like $1.50 a pound and had great reviews when I bought it(currently $1.98) so I bought five rolls. This shit is vile. The texture is disgusting and the flavor is about what you would expect from some mystery meat you buy at the 99 cent store. One of the worst things I have ever put in my mouth. But i hate wasting food so I drown it in taco seasoning and cheese and hot sauce. I have no idea how the people in the reviews say this is good. I feel like maybe I got bad ones but I've eaten 3 rolls now none of them good, extremely unlikely. Gonna stick to Jennie-O or Butterball those are both delicious and worth the extra dollar.

>>1268 >I'm not sure if the water or trivet is necessary. Gonna try no water or maybe 1/4th cup next time with no trivet How exactly do you expect a pressure cooker to work without water?

>>1269 The moisture in the frozen meat. Might take a bit longer for it to come to pressure as it would need to defrost a little but it would get there. Probably 1/4th to 1/2 a cup is best but its possible without it. The shitty meat excreted some disgusting bits of what I hope was just scum and that made me have to toss out the water because there was a bit of it, stringy gray slimey things. The amount of water is a bit of a non-issue but for taco meat about 1/2 a cup is perfect as long as i don't need to discard it. I'm hoping when I use quality meat I can just put the taco seasoning in the water straight away rather than after the fact.

>>1260 Just checking in to say, I did buy an instant pot and I did make ribs and they did come out real fucking good. Broiling not needed if you're doing some kinda dish with the meat, but otherwise it's a definite step.

>>1260 >>1273 Is it true that instant pots don't get the same flavor and texture as a crock pot? I have a crock pot but it takes twelve hours to get anywhere with it, but I've heard instant pots sacrifice on the final quality. Since you two own one, I was hoping fro your thoughts.

>>1274 Nothing sacrificed yet. A little annoying for some things so far since you gotta get the times for each type of thing you're cooking. I think there's bound to be a difference between the 12hr cooking and faster cooking, but the pot I bought can do the 12 hour cooking if I don't want pressure.

>>1274 Ribs and other cuts I made in instant pot came out better than they did in slow cooker. Flavor is the same but getting juicy and moist meats is easier in pressure cookers. That's most likely because they are sealed very well during cooking process. That's not a case with slow cookers, and you have to open them up to stir things once in a while, losing moisture in process. You can add more liquid to compensate, but I was never able to get optimal results consistently. I never tried cooking stews, chilli, and other dishes like that in an instant pot.

>usual breakfast of muesli with various dried berries <add some crushed hazelnuts and poppy <add a square of dark chocolate <add a bit of cream <heat in microwave, dissolve the chocolate Damn this is good

>>1268 >>1271 Using quality frozen ground turkey with no trivet, 1 cup of water, and a few TBSP of taco seasoning produced a delicious and effortless taco meat. 20 minutes on high. Not using a trivet made the meat much more tender it took maybe 30 seconds to fully break it all down to crumbles, the shit meat this took about an hour and a half of extra cooking and evaporating to break it down. I think this is mostly because of the better quality meat but I'm sure it also made an impact in the next few days I'll use the last of my shitty ground turkey to test. 1 cup of water was too much as I thought before. I had to evaporate the extra liquid for about an hour and their is still quite a bit remaining. The amount of water/juice released by the meat combined with the 1 cup is too much. Gonna do half a cup next time. The grey sludge was almost nonexistent. There was maybe 1/8th of a TBSP compared to the shit ground turkey which was probably about a full TBSP if not more.

I made a good copycat spaghetti factory mizithra pasta

I haven't done much cooking lately but the last few weeks I've gotten better at making grilled cheese. Just had to grill it at a lower temperature for that greasy golden-brown goodness.

Thinking of making sausage patties for a breakfast sandwich. Apparently ground pork with a few common spices (salt, pepper, thyme, sage, brown sugar, chili flakes) is really good and accounts for the "classic" flavor you get on them. >>1286 Make sure you don't crowd the pan. My frying pan is big enough for 1.5 at a time, so if it goes up on the sides, you get uneven shit cooking. Consider other solid fats besides butter. Lard, for example, might be worth trying once or twice. Another trick I like to do is to put a lid over it and simmer it at a fairly low temperature. This works especially well if you have sliced meat in the sandwich, and crisps it up wonderfully. Make sure you butter right to the edges, too.

Carrot cake. I put pineapple in mine.

>>1288 You made a pineapple supreme carrot cake?

I very rarely had Salmon but whenever I do I really enjoy it. It's very tasty and I often find it having a "rich creamy" taste compared to other fish meat, unfortunately I live in a third world country with not that much in the way of seafood so I cannot get it fresh and it's often expensive too since it's imported. Is there a decent, cheap alternative to salmon?

>>1295 I was going to say local, but guess that's not an option. You can learn to love other types maybe? Canned, salted, etc. Love broths, pastas, tacos, instead of fish-as-the-main-part dishes.

>>1296 Depends, I'd have to know some other fish types to know if any of them are local. >instead of fish-as-the-main-part dishes Well I do them with either rice, couscous or pasta. I grill the fish and then have it with that and some veggies.

I made some "homemade" ice cream yesterday. Took some whipping cream, ground some coffee beans and coco beans I had lying around, mixed the two in a bowl and left it for half a day in the freezer. My experience with ice-cream has mostly been the occasional once a month going down to the store and buying some pre-packaged shit but the 20 minutes or so I spent making this batch was infinitely better mainly because I despise how much sugar(both from a health and taste standpoint) most storebought shit has, but I think I could do better. I've got no machines or anything but I do get fresh milk from a farm every couple of days and after boiling it I skim the cream from the top and keep it frozen for other use. Could I do anything with that over using whipping cream powder?

>>1305 Take frozen berries (or other frozen stuff that's about the same size). Take milk from a fridge set to cold (3C or so). Pour some milk over the berries and mix. The berries will slowly disintegrate, the milk will mix with them and get colder and you get ready-to-eat unsugared ice cream.

>>1313 Not the same as >>1305 but.. 1. Does it have to be whole millk? Will 2% milk do? I suspect due to the whole fat thing the answer will be no but second opinions don't hurt. 2. Do you absolutely need a Vitamix to make these smoothies or ice creams?

>>1318 I've only ever tried it with whole milk. Not sure. And I just use a bowl and a spoon to mix it around. No machines. You'll have to stab it in first, and then just stir.

With winter coming up, any "hot fruit beverage" recipes I can do to keep myself warm and comfy instead of just having chocolate milk? I usually have a lot of apples, pears, grapes, orange(s?) and pomegranates lying around so I've got those to work with.

We made fried apple pies today at my house. It's been a long time since I had one. They turned out pretty good. I just need to experiment with them a bit more to perfect them.

What herbs and veggies work fine when pressure cooking meat? I wonder if there's anything I can do to improve the flavor/texture through the act of actually cooking the meat since I just dump it in the pressure cooker post seasoning and not do much else.

>>1326 Pressure cook first, then brown under highest heat possible for texture and flavor. Browning first would give you the flavor, but not the texture.

Haven't posted in a while. Made some more biscotti for work a few weeks ago, basic recipe with chocolate dip. Had some leftover celery from a stew I made, so I made a celery stew. Also just made this red sauce breakfast dish today. What I learned about the chocolate dip is that you use a fat like coconut oil that is solid at room temperature, so that when it cools, it becomes solid again. For the breakfast, I would fry the peppers separately, keep it thinner, and then poach the eggs by themselves. The sauce was quite runny, even after reducing it. Maybe I should use less olive oil and let it reduce longer. It was roma tomatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil, fried garlic, oregano, fresh basil, and a little chili flakes. Very good

I'm making canoli tonight. I'm doing them a little different than I have before. I coated the inside of the shells with chocolate and I used pumpkin pie spice in the filling instead of just cinnamon or nutmeg.

>>1332 They turned out really well. Even several hours later the chocolate has prevented the canoli from getting soggy.

Today I made French onion soup. Onions needed more caramelization and I didnt have french bread just rye, and I overtoasted it. Also no Gruyere so I used Jarlsberg instead

Try this at some point: Cracker-rye sandwich. Take 2 crackers. Put a piece of good rye bread in the middle. Eat. It's genius.

>>1335 That's somehow more jewish than the thread dedicated to the holocaust.

tasty

tasty

tasty

I came up with a great drink today: 1 part sloe gin 5 part Cockta, a slovenian rosehip flavored soda It's amazing how well these fit together.

>>1352 Fuggg I've had this like once before and forgotten about it until this post. I kinda wanna try it but not sure if the one polish store I know of would have it

Is beef wellington really that good for the amount of effort it seems to require? I love savory pastry but I mostly do it with diced chicken or minced meat, never an entire cut of meat like that since it never really crossed my mind.

>>1354 >Is beef wellington really that good for the amount of effort it seems to require? I think it would be worth it to try and make it once at least. Make it for a special night some time, not for anything too high pressure like a holiday dinner or church dinner or anything. That way you can test and experiment and even fail a little bit and it not turn into a disaster.

>>1354 It's pretty great. The important part is moisture management - you want your duxelle to be as dry as possible, and under no circumstances skip the crepe (and throw some herbs into it for flavor), soggy pastry ruins the experience. Also, don't skip the pate, replace with normal bird or veal liver pate if unwilling or unable to afford foe gras. The technique itself is interesting too, I remember making a version with sausage and exceedingly well-pressed sauerkraut once. Or a twist on an ancient Greek recipe, packing mackerel, smoked makerel livers with asafoetida and ground up and grated parmesan into a strongly cumin-flavored olive oil pastry box for one.

I made some delicious mini pretzels. Between kosher salt & sea salt, I went with the latter. The dough cooked fine with the eggwash, but it was not fun to remove the foam from the pan from the baking soda added. The cheese dip to go with it was not too bad either. It is has become my favorite christmas snack. I hope I can make a good pretzel.

Yesterday I've made chicken burgers for family that visited. I minced some chicken breasts, added in spices(paprika, thyme, salt and pepper) and mixed in a boiled potato puree in order to provide some "glue" to the patties. I then grilled them and also had some mushrooms done in a pan with a small amount of butter, and finally a homemade cheese sauce from halloumi cheese, mozzerella, milk and some herbs. They really loved it and so did I, I want to go make myself some now on a regular basis and I wonder if any more experienced cooks could suggest any changes to the recipe, different herbs, sauces, etc. Would marinating the chicken in something pre/post mincing be a good idea? Also the best part is how cheap it was. I don't know what the prices are for you anons but for the equivalent of around 10 dollars I made 11 wonderful, filling buns when I'd have to pay at least 8 times that for the same number of burgers if I were ordering from somewhere. Also any suggestions for crunchier, tastier fries? At this point I simply soak them in water with some salt and pepper and paprika, and then stick them in an air fryer with a tiny, almost negligible amount of oil. I like that(and it's an easy and relatively healthy side dish I find to make) but I remember some burger chains have this really nice "layer" of crunchy spices that taste really good, almost like a shell that holds the actual potato. Unless of course it's either too much effort or involves unhealthy shit like I don't know covering the fries in tons of butter before frying them or something.

I got a pasta machine for Christmas! I made some tester dough today to clean the machine since you can't use water, and it comes with the ability to make sheet pasta, fettucine noodles, and spaghetti noodles. I always thought they were extruded, didn't realize they used a shaped roller. What's a good recipe with AP flour? The included manual suggests 2 1/8 cup 00 flour with 2 eggs - but even 1 cup AP + 1 egg was far too dry.

>>1364 Same, years ago. I use mine quite alot. Make sure you dry the pasta totally if you are going to store it out at room temperature. I have a rack. Better, semolina a board and place individual portions (usually a sheet's worth) of fresh pasta on it for freezing in the freezer. Once frozen, place them all together in a bag. 2 cups AP flour 1 tea ksalt black pepper (a dusting) garlic powder (a dusting) oregano (a dusting) 1 cup semolina flour 3 eggs + 3 additional yolks 2 Tbsp EVOO 1/2 cup water (use as needed, maybe 1/4 or a bit more) Mix the dry with a wisk to combine. Combine all the wet, then mix with the dry into a ball. Nead. Make a ball, let it rest 30 minutes, then roll out. You can cut the sheet pasta into ravioli or run it through the cutter for something else.

>>1363 > I remember some burger chains have this really nice "layer" of crunchy spices that taste really good, almost like a shell that holds the actual potato. Unless of course it's either too much effort or involves unhealthy shit like I don't know covering the fries in tons of butter before frying them or something. You need some kind of binder but it doesn't have to be butter. Putting an eggwash on your fries first and then rolling them in some spice or space-panko blend should do the trick.

>>1364 So I found that 2 eggs plus 1 cup of flour is a pretty decent ratio, the dough was moist but not sticky, and adding a dusting of flour as I rolled it got things to a good level. I made carbonara! Bought some pancetta and parmigiano ($13) and made two portions of pic related. Still half of the ingredients left over, so the cost is about $4-5 a plate. Pretty tasty >>1366 So it's basically the classic egg+flour dough, but with some extra flavoring. Does the OO do anything aside from providing flavor and moisture?

>>1369 That looks hella bomb anon, I'm gonna use my ham leftovers with some pasta now...

>>1369 That pasta looks delicious, nice work anon. >>1368 I'll try it with eggwash next time I make some fries, cheers.

My oven broke and I'm dying without it. I can only make so many crockpot meals. Anyone got some suggestions for all-stovetop meals? Preferably low carb.

>>1372 Anything you can make in an oven you can make anything in a pan with a lid. Cakes, pies, casseroles, pizza, etc. There's recipes for this stuff out there, just look em up. It's mainly about careful heat management, go low and slow because you can't check your progress cause once you open the lid there's no going back. Much easier solution that's somewhat more limited: Steaming. You can steam many things with some creativity.

I've recently found a great recipe for some sweet stuff: Durstiger Bauer >4 egg yolks >140g sugar, brown cane preferred >10g vanilla sugar (or some vanilla extract) >50g breadcrumbs >1tbsp rum, Stroh 80 preferred >4 eggwhites >140g nuts, fine (mixed almond, hazelnut, walnut...) >some backing powder >some spiced mulled wine, cooled Cream yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar. Wet breadcrumbs with rum. Beat whites until stiff, fold in everything but the wine. Bake at 180C for 30minutes, let it cool. Pour wine over it, let it soak in, and serve. Alternatively, same thing but no nuts, 70g sugar, 70g breadcrumbs, 40g grated chocolate, some spices and lemon zest. That's a Bsoffener Kapuziner.

Just made some asian chicken marinade tonight. >Didn't have honey or ginger >Recipe says to use just 6 tbsp on the marinade, put the rest aside (to later be reduced and cooked with chili paste and garlic and ginger) >Somehow misinterpret this to mean "put the leftover marinade into the fucking cornstarch mix" instead of breading it like a normal person would Thought that carrots and broccoli in rice would be a good side (chicken broth). Didn't cook the carrots enough, but this was a good use of the egg yolks since the recipe called for the whites in the breading stations. Despite being retarded with my textures, the actual meal came out pretty good. The chicken in particular, rather than being deep fried (used an oven instead of oil) ended up with a sort of dry matte texture on the outside while still being moist inside. I'm assuming the cornstarch did the trick. Would also want to do fried rice next time as well, instead of simple 2 cup + 1 cup rice sorta deal https://damndelicious.net/2013/03/15/sesame-chicken/ Also last night I made some homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Nothing fancy, just used the standard egg+flour noodle mixture (if you remember that I got a pasta machine for Christmas), and some lean ground beef + salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, shallots mix (and egg) for the meatballs. I have made red sauce before, but I couldn't be bothered to this time. Garnished with parsley and pepper. Next time, I would probably do pork+beef mix for the meatballs, as well as an amount of breadcrumbs.

>>1375 Do you feel a difference between regular store-bought pasta and homemade pasta? Your noodles look ridiculously delicious to me and I wonder if it's just because I haven't eaten anything non-boiled over the past week.

>>1378 Sure. I find it's pretty easy to cook too. I know it's literally boiling them in water, but I feel like I don't even have to time it, just pop it in and wait 3-5 mins and that's it. I dunno, the texture just seems nicer

What's a good fruit/vegetable that can be eaten as a snack and also is good for your digestive tract/colon health?

I bought bacon on my way home today and made a BLT. Really I made two, and had some bacon left over for a little salad. Turned out really well. It's taken me a long time to get good at not burning bacon and nail that crispy brown that melts in your mouth.

Made some salmon about a week ago with a honey garlic glaze and some salmon today with an Old Bay/dill/onion/garlic seasoning. The honey garlic glaze was the way to go, something sweet definitely goes better with salmon and fresh garlic gives it a really nice zest.

Fry a slice of spam, set aside. Fry an egg, set aside. Make grilled cheese, add egg and spam when done. Eat breakfast sandwhich. Is tasty.

>>1457 I was seeing something about fried span just the other day.

>>1458 Its surprisingly really good.

Cooked up some really good buttered noodles because that's an easy and filling recipe. Turned out way better than the last time I tried because this time I used egg noodles instead of shitty bowties. >Boil water, add egg noodles (I usually do 6-8oz in a small pot) >Drain once done >Add about a quarter stick of butter >Add in spices (1tsp garlic powder, 1tsp salt, 1tsp pepper, as much parsley as you're comfortable with) >Mix together over very low heat until all the noodles get evenly coated, adding a bit more butter if needed >(Optionally) Add some shaved/shredded parmesan in, mixing until you can see strands sticking between noodles >Transfer to dish >Garnish with a bit more spice and parmesan Really easy, really quick, and you can make it with ingredients that you'll basically always have and all last a long time.

Since it's Lent I found a huge bag of frozen catfish on sale for like 5 bucks at the store. At least once a week (including last night) I've been making breaded catfish nuggets with some oven roasted veggies. Still looking out for some cheap catfish fillets, I've been wanting to pan fry some again for a long time now.

Made some chicken tenders today with ranch and barbecue sauce. Nothing special but man it's been a while since I've had bbq sauce and it took me right back to camping as a kid.

I had a ton of left over apples, so instead of tossing them out I tried drying them out in the oven. Really easy and you get a lot of apple slices from just one, takes about two hours at 225F and you only need to flip them halfway once. Sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on some of them, but I sort of want to try nutmeg and some other things too.

i can only cook things in a microwave or air fryer

Is brie gay? Today we find out when we bake a bunch inside bread and then serve it to our bf. Lets see people. I gotta feeling its gay as shit.

>>1504 >then serve it to our bf. >bf Yeah, sounds pretty gay.

I made a rhubarb pie with my parents' rhubarbs. 'tis the season

>>1123 here, Not sure this is the right thread for it (destroy me if not pls BO) but I've actually finished making a recipe book out of these illustrations I've been doing of the demon lady who cooks human food; pdf related. It includes many ingredients such as sugar, salt, and lemon juice. Everything was tested by yours truly. Enjoy!

>>1507 Hey, that's awesome! Your comics got me to stock semolina for convenience food. Definitely checking it out.