What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Evo]

I normally use a drop of white wine vinegar and some boiling water to get the good stuff off the bottom, I think the acid in the vinegar helps get it off or something like that?

Yes, I use wine in mine also.

 

[trollcast]

Yes, I use wine in mine also.

We don't have any wine in our house, well there's stuff my dad uses as a feed for dundee cakes sometimes but its like 10% alcohol.

My aunt showed me it with wine before but I didn't think it was any better than a slug of the nearest bottle of vinegar, it even works with white / malted vinegar as long as you don't add too much and let it evaporate the acid out.

The only vinegar it hasn't worked with that I've tried is balsamic vinegar although I think it was more to do with the fact it reduces too quickly on a very hot pan and not the qualities of the vinegar.

 

[Evo]

We don't have any wine in our house, well there's stuff my dad uses as a feed for dundee cakes sometimes but its like 10% alcohol.

My aunt showed me it with wine before but I didn't think it was any better than a slug of the nearest bottle of vinegar, it even works with white / malted vinegar as long as you don't add too much and let it evaporate the acid out.

The only vinegar it hasn't worked with that I've tried is balsamic vinegar although I think it was more to do with the fact it reduces too quickly on a very hot pan and not the qualities of the vinegar.

Vinegar should work well.

 

[turbo]

If you can get cider vinegar instead of white vinegar, that could help.

 

[Astronuc]

I cooked up a pot of leek, potatoes and sausage yesterday.

We often do leek and potato soup, or some variant.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/potato_leek_soup/

The recipe is similar to one cited, but I didn't puree any portion of the soup. I did leeks and garlic cloves in olive oil. Then added Italian sausage to brown it, but not the leeks or garlic. I cut the sausage once cooked, then added some bok choi. After the bok choi cooked, I added water, brought it to near boiling, then turned it down to simmer.

After a while, I transferred the leek, bok choi and sausage to a pot, added some broth and water, brought it to near boil and added diced potato. One could do a number of variations, such as adding carrot to increase the sweetness.

Other variants could include adding parsnip (parsnip and carrot go well together), turnip and/or rutabaga.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/parsnip_soup_with_leeks_and_parsley/

 

[turbo]

Had a great lunch today. Home-made French bread and butter with a wonderful soup: Spicy chicken sausage, fingerling potatoes, onions, carrots, tomatoes, kale, etc. When cooler weather comes around, we have soups and casseroles.

Edit: there was barley and lentils in there, too. Most of our soups feature these.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I have always loved a good hot dog - the old fashioned kind made by Germans in the midwest. Ball Park brand has some Angus dogs that are pretty decent. So I've been buying those from time to time. but then they came out with Angus Beef Hot Links. Mmmmmm, that sounded good so I bought some and we were both hooked. Very tasty!

http://www.ballparkbrand.com/assets/media/franks/franks-angus-hotlinks.png

Now the bad news. Last night I finally made myself look at the nutritional information. 200 calories per link with 150 of those being due to fat! Egad! No trans fats and less than half is saturated fat, but still, 75% fat?! That is crazy.

 

[Evo]

I have always loved a good hot dog - the old fashioned kind made by Germans in the midwest. Ball Park brand has some Angus dogs that are pretty decent. So I've been buying those from time to time. but then they came out with Angus Beef Hot Links. Mmmmmm, that sounded good so I bought some and we were both hooked. Very tasty!

http://www.ballparkbrand.com/assets/media/franks/franks-angus-hotlinks.png

Now the bad news. Last night I finally made myself look at the nutritional information. 200 calories per link with 150 of those being due to fat! Egad! No trans fats and less than half is saturated fat, but still, 75% fat?! That is crazy.

Sounds about right. I think it's better to eat something tasty in smaller amounts than to eat tasteless garbage in larger quantities.

When I stopped eating low fat, low this and low that and ate the real stuff, not only was I more satisfied, I lost the weight I'd gained eating the fake stuff. Usually the tasteless "low" stuff has a difference of 10-20 calories and none of the flavor.

Now I need to try those!

 

[Evo]

Beef short ribs were on sale, so I plan to make my Jewish step mother-in-law's pea soup. Instead of ham, she used beef short ribs. To die for! It's now my favorite way to make split pea soup.

 

[Evo]

Ulimate chicken stock recipe from Ina Garten.

Chicken Stock

Ingredients

3 5-pound roasting chickens
3 large yellow onions, unpeeled, quartered
6 carrots, unpeeled, halved
4 celery stalks with leaves, cut in thirds
4 parsnips, unpeeled, cut in half (optional)
20 sprigs fresh parsley
15 sprigs fresh thyme
20 sprigs fresh dill
1 head garlic, unpeeled, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

Directions

Place the chickens, onions, carrots, celery, parsnips, parsley, thyme, dill, garlic, and seasonings in a 16- to 20-quart stockpot. Add 7 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for 4 hours. Strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander and discard the solids. Chill the stock overnight. The next day, remove the surface fat. Use immediately or pack in containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stock-recipe2/index.html

I wouldn't discard *all* of the solids. The chicken meat will have lost it's flavor to the broth, but will make great cat or dog food. The veggies should be flavorful, I'd eat them. Maybe let them drain and dry a bit, then slice and sautee or roast in some butter or olive oil. Or mash the carrots and parsnips with a bit of cream and serve with butter, salt, and pepper.

 

[Borek]

I like the idea of using them unpeeled, I love the lazy recipes. They fit my character.

 

[turbo]

I like the idea of using them unpeeled, I love the lazy recipes. They fit my character.

That's why I love New England boiled dinners. Easy to make, and flavorful.

 

[Ms Music]

That's why I love New England boiled dinners. Easy to make, and flavorful.

The thought of boiled makes me cringe, but I know you well enough to trust you so I know it MUST be delicious. But I think I need to prove it to myself. Post your favorite recipe? Please?

I am all for easy.

 

[turbo]

I am a free-style cook, Here's how it goes, though. Rub a cheap chuck roast with salt and pepper and sear the living hell out of it in peanut oil until every surface is browned. Remove the roast and simmer the juices out of the pot in cheap wine until the browned stuff is lifted. Put the roast back in along with potatoes, onions, turnip, carrots, cabbage, etc, and simmer for hours.

It's hard to get better food than this.

 

[Astronuc]

When It Comes To Falafel, The Flavors Of Home Can Vary
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...comes-to-falafel-the-flavors-of-home-can-vary

Falafel — those crispy, filling fried balls of mashed beans, herbs and spices — is found in cafes and homes all over the Middle East and parts of Africa. It's like a common language shared among sometimes fractious nations.

There are many ways to make falafel.

Tonight I made home fries. I sliced the potatoes and sauteed the chips (fries) in olive oil with garlic, leeks and some other seasonings. I set them aside for cooking later.

I then put diced some turnips added them to the sautee. I then added some sausage, which I cooked, then sliced. I added carrots and let them cook with the turnips and sausage. I added some water, and then through in some Swiss chard and kale. I added the kale first since it take a bit longer than chard to get tender. While that was slowly cooking, I cooked the fries in the oven at 400 F, for about 40 minutes. They probably could have gone another 5 minutes.

 

[Monique]

I love falafel in pita bread filled with pickled vegetables salad and garlic or coriander sauce. Do you know Moaz take-away restaurant? http://www.maozusa.com/about/our-story Really delicious!

Yesterday I made sushi: hosomaki, uramaki, nigiri, inarizushi, tamagoyaki, what a work! Rice was sticking everwhere and the nigiri was quite fragile, the inarizushi was a bit dodgy, but the uramaki was delicious: a new specialty

 

[Monique]

I did it: made my own Maoz salad bar! It made for a wonderful evening of stuffing and lots of spilling

We took pita breads, inserted a leaf of romaine lettuce, feta cheese slices, falafel balls, then filled the bread up with freshly made toppings and sauces:

Sauces:
* Coriander salsa (whizz up coriander, garlic, jalapeno pepper, olive oil, water, lime juice)
* Tomato salsa (heat olive oil, red onion, garlic, tomato, jalapeno pepper for 15 min, cool)

Toppings
* olives (green, black)
* carrots (boiled slices, dressed with olive oil and parsley)
* beet (steamed cubes, with parsley)
* tomato salad (cubed tomato, cucumber, red onion, parsley)
* cucumber pickle (slices in brine)

All salted to taste of course.

Inspiration: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/02/...l-everything-in-the-salad-bar-slideshow.html# (slideshow)

On the side were some oven-baked french fries, but we never touched them.

 

[drizzle]

I did it: made my own Maoz salad bar! It made for a wonderful evening of stuffing and lots of spilling

We took pita breads, inserted a leaf of romaine lettuce, feta cheese slices, falafel balls, then filled the bread up with freshly made toppings and sauces:

Sauces:
* Coriander salsa (whizz up coriander, garlic, olive oil, water, lime juice)
* Tomato salsa (heat olive oil, red onion, garlic, tomato for 15 min, cool)

Toppings
* olives (green, black)
* carrots (boiled slices, dressed with olive oil and parsley)
* beet (steamed cubes, with parsley)
* tomato salad (cubed tomato, cucumber, red onion)
* cucumber pickle (slices in brine)

Inspiration: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/02/...l-everything-in-the-salad-bar-slideshow.html# (slideshow)

On the side were some oven-baked french fries, but we never touched them.

That sounds delicious.

 

[Andre]

I did it: made my own Maoz salad bar! ...

Personally I would also have added rucola with sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and pine nuts.

 

[Evo]

Monique, that sounds wonderful!

I also wanted to ask you about your suhsi bar, but I've been so busy.

 

[Monique]

That sounds delicious.

It was! And there was enough left over for a breakfast feast

Personally I would also have added rucola with sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and pine nuts.

Then it wouldn't be a Maoz bread, but of course anything can be added. I wouldn't add it though. I did miss the Israeli pickled red baby eggplant, but I couldn't find a recipe for it.

Monique, that sounds wonderful!

I also wanted to ask you about your suhsi bar, but I've been so busy.

What did you want to ask?

 

[Monique]

Nobody's cooking? After the kale "superfood" discussion in the biology forum I decided to try out a different recipe from the traditional hotchpot.

I made a thick pancake batter with kale, 'bacon' and a shallot. The batter was cooked into small thick pancakes, which were topped with chili beans, yoghurt and shredded cheese upon serving.

Inspiration:

Tonight I'll be trying out spinach-carrot cake:

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Porterhouse steak.

Today the supermarket was selling porterhouse steaks at $5.99 a pound instead of the usual $10.99 so I bought one. It was cut more than an inch thick, and the tenderloin portion was generous. The total weight was 1.5 lbs and was just right for our family of 4. I never cooked such a thick one before so I looked up on the web how to do it. Unfortunately, the information I got was wrong. They told me that for medium rare, I should wait until the internal temperature was 130F, and so I did. However, it was too rare.

1 porterhouse steak.
2 large baking potatoes.
1 yam
1 bunch of asparagus

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Wrap the potatoes and yam in plastic wrap and nuke for 2 minutes. Then remove the plastic wrap and wrap with foil and place in the oven.

Rub the steak with salt and pepper and vegetable oil on both sides or use your favorite rub. I used olive oil because my wife told me to, but the website said don't use olive oil because it tends to burn at high temps.

A half hour after the potatoes went into the oven, put the steak in the oven. When the internal temp of the steak is 130F for rare Add 5 degrees for each category medium rare, medium, medium well, and well. Note that these temps are 5 degrees warmer than what I read on the web site, not the result of experience. You will need to do some trial and error and perhaps ruin a steak or two before you find your favorite temp.

Rub salt, pepper and oil onto the asparagus.

When the steak is ready, take it out to rest for 10 minutes at room temp. Put the asparagus into the oven for 12 minutes.

Take out the potatoes, the asparagus and serve with the steak. I had a glass of Burgundy, very red and rich.

 

[Astronuc]

Creamed Spinach with Spiced Bread Crumbs
http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/creamed-spinach-spiced-bread-crumbs-230200772.html

Some sides for Thanksgiving
http://www.saveur.com/gallery/Super-Simple-Thanksgiving-Sides/1

 

[Evo]

I've been watching Thanksgiving turkey shows every day since Nov 1st. What I don't get is that out of probably over 200 shows, not one made giblet gravy. I've always made giblet gravy. Instead, they talk about how difficult it is to make gravy because it has to be made at the last minute after the turkey has finished cooking and you have the grease from the pan. My gravy has no grease.

I'm wondering, how many members do giblet gravy and how many make regular drippings gravy for Thanksgiving?

I don't really have a "recipe" for giblet gravy. I save the neck, heart and gizzard from the turkey and as soon as the turkey goes in the oven, I throw them into a small saucepan covered with ~2 inches of water, and a 2-3 chicken boullion cubes or use chicken stock, I add half a finely chopped onion, bring to a boil, then simmer until the meat is falling off the neck bone. Remove the meat to a plate to cool, then take meat off neck and dice the giblets. In a small cup, make a slurry of ~1 tbs of cornstarch and 2 tbs cold water, whisk into broth bringing to boil, adjust thickness by adding more slurry or water until the gravy is the thickness you like. Add the diced meat to gravy. A boyfriend's mother had a weird but delicious addition, she adds a chopped hardboiled egg to the gravy, that's now how I make it.

 

[turbo]

Mmmm! Gravy. We reserve the drippings and re-heat them in a sauce-pot, then stir in flour/water mixture slowly until the mix thickens up. To make the flour/water mixture, start with cool water, and gradually add flour, whisking it in until it's fairly thick. Whisk again, when adding that mix to the drippings.

Everything in the paper bag goes into into the gravy. Liver, heart, and gizzard - all finely chopped. The neck is eaten separately, a little at a time. Gravy is a must, especially if you're going to have mashed potatoes or squash.

 

[Evo]

Mmmm! Gravy. We reserve the drippings and re-heat them in a sauce-pot, then stir in flour/water mixture slowly until the mix thickens up. To make the flour/water mixture, start with cool water, and gradually add flour, whisking it in until it's fairly thick. Whisk again, when adding that mix to the drippings.

Everything in the paper bag goes into into the gravy. Liver, heart, and gizzard - all finely chopped. The neck is eaten separately, a little at a time. Gravy is a must, especially if you're going to have mashed potatoes or squash.

I stopped adding the liver because some people don't like the taste & texture, so it has become a thanksgiving dog treat.

So you do giblet gravy with drippings, sounds good.

 

[turbo]

I stopped adding the liver because some people don't like the taste & texture, so it has become a thanksgiving dog treat.

So you do giblet gravy with drippings, sounds good.

Must have gravy from drippings! If the liver is finely chopped, I don't think anybody will notice it, much less be turned off by the texture. Liver adds an essential tang to the gravy, IMO. I loved being allowed to make the gravy when I was a kid - it was one of the first "cooking" skills that I got, apart from grilling fish and corn and steaming vegetables. I was pretty proud when sitting around with the extended family for Thanksgiving and my mother got compliments on the gravy. She always deflected the compliments to me, and some of my aunts, etc, were shocked.

 

[turbo]

Considering how essential good gravy was to our Thanksgiving meals, it might seem a bit crazy to trust its preparation to a 10-year-old boy, but my mother was always right there for guidance/questions. After a couple of times (T-day, Xmas) there was no question that I could do a decent job. Then she could tend to other stuff.

 

[Evo]

So starts the 20 days of turkey leftovers. I already know most of the breast is going into turkey salad for sandwiches.