What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[tribdog]

Hey! I thought you were making nothing but chili from now until the contest! Check out tribdog's thread, he found an orange chicken recipe for you that actually has orange in it! Who knew tribdog would be the one to find a recipe?! (Then again, unless he disappeared off to cooking school while he was away, I doubt he'd get close enough to the stove to actually try preparing it. )

it may have orange in it, but is it even noticible? 2 tablespoons of orange juice seems like it isn't even enough to make a dent in the taste. but you are right, I'll never get close enought to the stove to make it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I'm on the road right now. Earlier I went to a fairly nice restaurant for a good lunch. The waitress was taking my order and asked if I wanted soup or salad [just to confuse them I used to say "sure, I'll take the supersalad"], to which I replied "salad with blue cheese". She looked at me rather oddly but went off to place the order.

She brought back a salad with bleu cheese; not dressing, just bleu cheese!

 

[tribdog]

I'm on the road right now. Earlier I went to a fairly nice restaurant for a good lunch. The waitress was taking my order and asked if I wanted soup or salad [just to confuse them I used to say "sure, I'll take the supersalad"], to which I replied "salad with blue cheese". She looked at me rather oddly but went off to place the order.

She brought back a salad with bleu cheese; not dressing, just bleu cheese!

What made you stop asking for a supersalad? let me guess either Tsu told you to quit embarassing her or you got a grumpy waitress who said supersalad-good one, never heard that one before.
Personally I think its a good line, but it's always risky making a joke like that someone who is in that same situation thousands of times and has heard every possible joke. I know because I've had to say "Ha ha, don't squeeze the charmin, that's funny. " at least 9325 times.

 

[Moonbear]

it may have orange in it, but is it even noticible? 2 tablespoons of orange juice seems like it isn't even enough to make a dent in the taste. but you are right, I'll never get close enought to the stove to make it.

It's better than the last recipe someone posted for orange chicken that had no orange at all. But, even though Evo disagrees with me on this, I don't think you can taste any orange in the actual Panda Express orange chicken either, so 2 tablespoons might be overkill for their recipe.

Supersalad!

 

[Evo]

It's better than the last recipe someone posted for orange chicken that had no orange at all. But, even though Evo disagrees with me on this, I don't think you can taste any orange in the actual Panda Express orange chicken either, so 2 tablespoons might be overkill for their recipe.

Supersalad!

It doesn't have any obvious orange flavor, it's just yummy. :!)

 

[tribdog]

I like a slight orangey flavor. That's why I always squeeze half an orange into my chili.

 

[Moonbear]

I like a slight orangey flavor. That's why I always squeeze half an orange into my chili.

I think Evo's still around...you better duck if she gets close with that big spoon she's using to stir the chili.

 

[turbo]

I like a slight orangey flavor. That's why I always squeeze half an orange into my chili.

My wife sometimes juices a lime and adds it to chili when cooking, but given the price of limes up here and the fact that I can't always taste the difference (in our very lively chilis), I save limes for marinades, and to squeeze on tacos, etc. When I marinade shrimp for grilling, I always include lime or lemon juice in the marinade, though.

There is no hard-and-fast division of labor in our kitchen, but in the past decade or so I am by default the saucier (which would make my wife the head chef). I write down lists of ingredients that work well together, but I never measure stuff, so I don't end up with recipies - only "reminder" lists for favorite ingredients. If I am out of one or more of the ingredients, I improvise, and sometimes that results in a better "reminder" list for that particular dish.

 

[tribdog]

i improvise a lot too, but it's mostly a matter of me not being able to leave stuff alone. So I usually make something that is eventually inedible. I also have a tendency to toss in spices from that shelf on the spice rack that has stuff you've never heard of. That never turns out the way I hope.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

...let me guess either Tsu told you to quit embarassing her

that would be the time I tried to negotiate the price of a lobster dinner.

To tell you the truth, I don't remember one waitress who had heard the supersalad response.

 

[tribdog]

To tell you the truth, I don't remember one waitress who had heard the supersalad response.

of course not. And I think I really had a chance with that stripper the other night. She was into me I could tell.

 

[turbo]

i improvise a lot too, but it's mostly a matter of me not being able to leave stuff alone. So I usually make something that is eventually inedible. I also have a tendency to toss in spices from that shelf on the spice rack that has stuff you've never heard of. That never turns out the way I hope.

With spices, it's BABY STEPS. You can take a spare, simple dish from divine to abysmal by throwing spices at it. For example, some herbs impart a very different character to your dishes fresh than they do in a dried form, and you've got to gain a feel for that. You can't shake in a bunch of parsley flakes, for instance, and expect to get the same flavor that you would get from adding a handful of fresh minced parsley into the dish. Real cooking schools will teach you the basics of this stuff, but in the end you can only learn by doing and tasting the result. If you have a good sense of what people want, and can cook food that YOU can't wait to make again, you've gotten beyond the "cook to stay alive" bridge to the "cook for enjoyment" stage, and that can sustain you for all of your life.

Try more subtle things and keep your dishes simple. If you're going to simmer a strongly-flavored meat that needs competition in the flavor department or perhaps a bland vegetable that needs a kick in the pants, consider simmering it in beer or wine instead of water. Butter or sour cream are the "secret ingredients" in much of French cuisine, and they are very potent tools in your arsenal, if you don't overwhelm them with other flavors. If you want to create a "hot" dish, use little portions of LOTS of different hot stuff to create a complex burn with a rich flavor. I cannot make chili with just jalapenos (even fresh ones) nor do I like the taste of Texas-style chili powder. I use fresh black pepper, cayenne, crushed red pepper, jalapenos and habaneros for a wider range of flavors. You're going to sweat if you eat my chili, but I'll bet that you'd go back for seconds and never consider that it was "too hot".

 

[tribdog]

baby steps, subtle, lol. yeah, I'll do that.
let me describe how I use spices to ruin food. here's me cooking:
la la la, I'm stirring, stirring nice and slow, take a taste, mmmm needs something. Let's see what's in the spice rack. oregano? nah. parsley? nah Alum? hmm what the heck is alum? 1 teaspoon alum coming up. I'm stirring I'm stirring la la take a taste. AAAccckKKK! shoot I ruined it. maybe I can cover up that horrible taste. Let's see what's in the spice rack...

 

[turbo]

baby steps, subtle, lol. yeah, I'll do that.
let me describe how I use spices to ruin food. here's me cooking:
la la la, I'm stirring, stirring nice and slow, take a taste, mmmm needs something. Let's see what's in the spice rack. oregano? nah. parsley? nah Alum? hmm what the heck is alum? 1 teaspoon alum coming up. I'm stirring I'm stirring la la take a taste. AAAccckKKK! shoot I ruined it. maybe I can cover up that horrible taste. Let's see what's in the spice rack...

Ooooh! tribdog's cooking supper for us tonight. Where will we go to eat when he's done? Back over 30 years ago, I was working at a failing veneer mill and sharing a 2 Bm apartment with another guy from the mill. One late saturday night (after the bars had closed), he brought back a couple of guys that were guitar players (like me), and rousted me out of bed to sing and play guitar with them. We jammed for a while and then the guy that I shared the apartment with said "I'm hungry - do we have anything in the refigerator?" I said that I would whip up something, and surveyed the available food, then got butter going in my big skillet, threw in some minced onions, mushrooms, and garlic and hamburg. When that was browned, I mixed in the last of my home-made baked beans and the last of my eggs from the refrigerator and turned them until the whole mass was done. There was a huge skillet of food there and my apartment-mate said "I'm not eating that mess", but after the other two guys ate like that was the last food on the planet, he tried it, and tucked in like he might never eat again. You can take simple stuff and create great meals if you don't over-think it and drive them into the ground.

 

[Moonbear]

that would be the time I tried to negotiate the price of a lobster dinner.

Let me guess, it said "market price" and you tried suggesting the price you saw it for in the fish market.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

No, I realize that they have to make a profit, but this was price gouging, so I offered to purchase the dinner for a reasonable price. I knew very well what the price of a lobster dinner would be in a comparable restaurant.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I went to Ninfa's in Houston this week. Evo, I had some chips and green sauce in your honor and a Ninfa-rita as well.

 

[alias25]

man i can eat or drink till about 7pm hmmm, fasting, although i appreciate food sooo much more now.

 

[Evo]

I went to Ninfa's in Houston this week. Evo, I had some chips and green sauce in your honor and a Ninfa-rita as well.

Oh how I envy you!

 

[larkspur]

I went to Ninfa's in Houston this week. Evo, I had some chips and green sauce in your honor and a Ninfa-rita as well.

I used to love Ninfa's when I lived in Houston. I also loved a greek restaurant called The Great Greek on Westheimer and Antones that little deli in the train car.

 

[Astronuc]

Antone's . . . that little deli in the train car.

You mean the one near Main Street and OST? I used to get the original Po-Boy there. Now they are located on Kirby.

 

[Andre]

Many exiled Dutch are homesick for one specific food item. The kroket:

http://www.ad.nl/multimedia/archive/00036/kroketten_36222a.jpg

Very common in Holland, extremely rare elsewhere. We avoid that by making them ourselfs. My sister who is exiled (volentarely) to Southern France, Chateau Montcru, told me that I made the best krokets that she ever tasted. Well perhaps partly to be polite and partly because she hadn't had them for many years. Care for my recipe?

 

[Yonoz]

Many exiled Dutch are homesick for one specific food item. The kroket:

http://www.ad.nl/multimedia/archive/00036/kroketten_36222a.jpg

Very common in Holland, extremely rare elsewhere. We avoid that by making them ourselfs. My sister who is exiled (volentarely) to Southern France, Chateau Montcru, told me that I made the best krokets that she ever tasted. Well perhaps partly to be polite and partly because she hadn't had them for many years. Care for my recipe?

Yes please! Those look great

 

[Andre]

Okay then, my skills to produce a useful recipe are severely hampered by being unfamiliar with English cooking jargon and being metric. But we can try. The filling of the kroket is basically a soft creamy ragout made from some variation of stew. Veal stew is the most popular. For a lbs of veal meat cubed, also chop two onions, one clove (toe) garlic, chrunched, and what is called “bouquet garni”, a double dose at least. As well a little salt and pepper. Boil and simmer the mass in for 45 minutes in 700 cc (~23 fl ounce?) bouillon. But you could also use artificially some of these:

http://www.corazza.it/images/bouilloncubes/1.jpg :[/URL]

Don’t close the lid totally, we need to have about half of the moisture to evaporate. After simmering let it cool a bit and separate the moisture from the solid parts. Remove the leafs of the bouquet garni and cut the boiled meat in very small pieces.

Then melt 60 gram (2 ounces) butter slowly (don’t color it) and then add 2 ounces of flour, stir vigorously until it’s a creamy sticky mass. Slowly add the remaining fluid (should be some 300-350 ml (10-11 fl on) under continuing stirring and slow heating. When it starts bubbling add the crunched meat mass and should end up with a thick creamy mass. Finally add some 5-10 finely cut fresh parsley leafs and let it cool down in the fridge to get it almost solid.

Shake the mass into some 8-10 krokets of about 4 inches long see the picture. Alternately you can roll them to balls of about one inches (then it’s called “bitterbal”). Minimize touching. Warm hands make them sticky.

Then scramble an egg, cover the kroket with egg and roll it in bread crumbs. Deep fry them in plenty of oil at 180 degrees C (365F) until a nice deep brown like in the picture. That would be about 4-5 minutes.

Don’t bite in them immediately; mouth burning is a common problem in Holland.

 

[Yonoz]

Hey I'm metric too! Last time I checked anyway.
It sounds very rich, is mouth burning the only common problem there?
I have all the ingredients already, which is surprising. Will make some as soon as I'm done going through mom's lasagna.

 

[larkspur]

You mean the one near Main Street and OST? I used to get the original Po-Boy there. Now they are located on Kirby.

It was on Kirby when I was there. I loved the turkey with smoked cheese and sweet pickles. mmmmmmm!

 

[Evo]

Okay then, my skills to produce a useful recipe are severely hampered by being unfamiliar with English cooking jargon and being metric. But we can try. The filling of the kroket is basically a soft creamy ragout made from some variation of stew. Veal stew is the most popular. For a lbs of veal meat cubed, also chop two onions, one clove (toe) garlic, chrunched, and what is called “bouquet garni”, a double dose at least. As well a little salt and pepper. Boil and simmer the mass in for 45 minutes in 700 cc (~23 fl ounce?) bouillon. But you could also use artificially some of these:

http://www.corazza.it/images/bouilloncubes/1.jpg :[/URL]

Don’t close the lid totally, we need to have about half of the moisture to evaporate. After simmering let it cool a bit and separate the moisture from the solid parts. Remove the leafs of the bouquet garni and cut the boiled meat in very small pieces.

Then melt 60 gram (2 ounces) butter slowly (don’t color it) and then add 2 ounces of flour, stir vigorously until it’s a creamy sticky mass. Slowly add the remaining fluid (should be some 300-350 ml (10-11 fl on) under continuing stirring and slow heating. When it starts bubbling add the crunched meat mass and should end up with a thick creamy mass. Finally add some 5-10 finely cut fresh parsley leafs and let it cool down in the fridge to get it almost solid.

Shake the mass into some 8-10 krokets of about 4 inches long see the picture. Alternately you can roll them to balls of about one inches (then it’s called “bitterbal”). Minimize touching. Warm hands make them sticky.

Then scramble an egg, cover the kroket with egg and roll it in bread crumbs. Deep fry them in plenty of oil at 180 degrees C (365F) until a nice deep brown like in the picture. That would be about 4-5 minutes.

Don’t bite in them immediately; mouth burning is a common problem in Holland.

Mmmmmm, sounds yummy! Andre, please send me a dozen. :!)

 

[Math Is Hard]

I used to love Ninfa's when I lived in Houston. I also loved a greek restaurant called The Great Greek on Westheimer and Antones that little deli in the train car.

I think I have been to that one. I remember smashing a lot of plates!

 

[Math Is Hard]

I found a recipe for the Ninfa's green sauce but I don't know where to get green tomatoes this time of year:
http://www.recipezaar.com/34965

 

[tribdog]

green tomatoes or tomitillos?
I finally had fried green tomatoes the other day for the first time and all I can say is: yuck. let them ripen

La Victoria's Green Taco sauce
Recipe By : Bill Wight via chile-heads
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Mexican Sauces
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 lbs. Anaheim or New Mex. chiles -- Roast -- peel, deseed
1 lb. Yellow Hungarian Wax chiles -- seeded and chopped
1 Serranos and jalapeno -- seeded and chopped
2 1/2 lbs. Tomatillos -- slice 1/8" thick
7 lbs. Green tomatoes -- slice 1/4" thick
1/2 bunch Cilantro -- rough chop
4 cloves Garlic
1 med. White onion -- chopped
1/4 cup Lime juice
1/4 cup Apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs. Salt
4 Tbs. Corn Starch
Heat a large cast iron skillet to hot and toast the tomatoes and tomatillos
without any oil. Do just one layer at a time and give each slice a nice
dark brown color on both sides without burning. Remove when toasted to a
glass bowl. Do not deglaze the pan.
In a blender, combine the onion, cilantro, chiles, tomatoes, garlic and
tomatillos in batch sizes to half-fill the blender jar. Pur|e. If any
dark brown liquid collects in the bottom of the toasted tomato and
tomatillo bowl, add this to the last blender load.
Mix the cornstarch in the lime juice/vinegar. In a large stewing pot,
combine the blender loads, add the cornstarch mixture and heat until the
sauce comes to a low boil, mixing constantly. Be careful here, if you
don't mix constantly the thick sauce will tend to erupt in hot little
geysers of taco sauce that could burn you. Allow sauce to cool and add
salt to taste. Transfer to clean jars, filling them 3/4 full and freeze
what you can't use in a few weeks. Be careful not to fill the jars too
full or they'll break when you freeze them.
I made a batch of sauce last year and it tastes just fine after a year in
the freezer. The sauce keeps OK in my refrigerator for at least a month.
* Adjust heat level to your personal taste. The La Victoria sauce is mild.
3 to 4 quarts