What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

  • Thread starter Thread starter arunbg
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Evo Food Thread
AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around a vibrant exchange of food-related topics, with participants sharing favorite recipes, culinary experiences, and kitchen mishaps. A notable focus is on lentil recipes, with suggestions for dishes like chocolate lentil cake and lentil lasagna, as well as creative uses of lentils in various cuisines. Participants also share recipes for pasta with pesto, grilled shrimp marinades, and Indian dishes like dahl and gulab jamun. There’s a strong emphasis on improvisation in cooking, with many contributors discussing how they cook "by feel" rather than following strict measurements. The conversation also touches on cultural influences, such as the appreciation for Lebanese and South Indian cuisine, and the importance of traditional meals like the Indian sadya. Additionally, humorous anecdotes about kitchen disasters and the challenges of cooking techniques, like frying mozzarella sticks, add a lighthearted tone to the thread. Overall, the thread celebrates the joy of cooking and the communal sharing of food experiences.
  • #951
When things were getting lean, my mother would send me down into the cellar to bring up a jar of salted leeks and some canned tomatoes. She would combine these with potatoes, rice, and onions to make "French Soup" that was to die for. A nice hot bowl of that soup with a stack of Saltines and some butter was a killer meal.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #952
turbo-1 said:
Darn! The deer that got hauled into the weighing stations were fat and healthy, but they were few and far between.

That's too bad. I've seen plenty of road kill, so they're definitely out around here. Haven't heard from anyone if they've actually shot any yet. Mostly, I've been getting deer jerky as they've been cleaning out the freezers of whatever was leftover from last year making room for this year's deer.
 
  • #953
Moonbear said:
That's too bad. I've seen plenty of road kill, so they're definitely out around here. Haven't heard from anyone if they've actually shot any yet. Mostly, I've been getting deer jerky as they've been cleaning out the freezers of whatever was leftover from last year making room for this year's deer.
I had fresh deer tenderloin today. :approve: My deer killer is on the ball.

Also, I couldn't find any decent calve's liver, so I bought some chicken livers and am going to have my Jewish step mother-in-law's world famous chopped chicken liver. Got to have schmaltz.
 
  • #954
Evo said:
I had fresh deer tenderloin today. :approve: My deer killer is on the ball.

Ooh...yum! That is the BEST meat. My friend is away bird hunting this week, so I'm really hoping he's hunting chukars (if I spelled that right this time) while out.
 
  • #955
the "cooking as art" crowd don't usually like alton brown very much, but the "cooking as science" crowd, like people here, seem to like him though. if you like alton brown you'll probably like this site also:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/
 
  • #956
fourier jr said:
the "cooking as art" crowd don't usually like alton brown very much, but the "cooking as science" crowd, like people here, seem to like him though. if you like alton brown you'll probably like this site also:
http://www.cookingforengineers.com/
I don't mind Alton Brown's shows, except when he is absolutely wrong,

like his show on knife-sharpening in which he dictated that aside from honing on a steel, all cooks should let their knives be sharpened on belt grinders by itinerant knife-sharpeners "like the pros do". That show is so far from right that it turns my stomach. The suggestion that people like butchers (who rely on nice, sharp knives every day) cannot keep their own knives sharp is stupid. Worse, the suggestion that you ought to turn over your knives to some yahoo with a belt-grinder is short-sighted, unless you are unable to learn how to maintain a steady sharpening angle with your knives on a water-lubricated diamond stone and sharpen your own knives. There are plenty of jigs and other fixtures that will help you do this, so you do not have to let somebody with a belt-grinder take lots of material off your blades, or ruin the temper by over-heating the edges.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #957
I had myself a Stilton and mixed mushroom steak.

Steak fried 2mins a side, put mushrooms on top then the Stilton ,grill for a minute or two.
served with roasted baby beets, roasted honey glazed parsnips , new potatoes and onion gravy.
 
  • #958
wow, a copious meal.

I had "hutspot". Mashed potatoes, cubed carots and oignons mixed together with a smoked sausage.

One of the oldest traditional recipes in Holland. The "Water Geuzen" (Dutch freedom fighters during the 80 year war) broke the Spanish siege in the night of 3 October 1574. In the morning a small orphan discovered that the Spanish camp was empty and he found a big pot with "Hutspot". Later, the water geuzen gave the starving populating herring and white bread. Of course traditionally, the Leideners still eat herring and white bread and "hutspot" on 3 October. Nowadays my Dutch residence is exactly in the area where the Water geuzen assembled before the battle.

"Leidens ontzet"
http://quotidiana.punt.nl/upload/Leidens_ontzet.jpg

Distribution of herring and white bread at the Relief of Leiden, in the background, smoke from the burning Spanish camp

Painting Otto van Veen in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #959
Should there be a link? I like hutspot, although my recipe calls for beef brisket.
 
  • #960
Yes that's true http://www.ethnicrecipes.org/index.php?search=&category=dutch However the meat is mentioned seperately Hutspot with "klapstuk". The personal touch for more flavor is to replace the beef brisket with "rookworst".

rookworst.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #961
some food looks better in person/ on the plate

---------------------------

This just happened:

an older guy (hard to tell as he looked beyond his years) asked if he could shovel the drive and walk for some cash, as he was out of money and needed food---I may have done it, but he smelled of beer---
 
Last edited:
  • #962
Which is you favorite gravy? mine is onion and mushroom, i fry the onions with a little brown sugar until they are caramelized, chop the mushroom into very small pieces, place in water with a beef stock cube and any meat juices and thicken with mashed potato.
 
  • #963
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #964
wolram said:
Which is you favorite gravy? mine is onion and mushroom, i fry the onions with a little brown sugar until they are caramelized, chop the mushroom into very small pieces, place in water with a beef stock cube and any meat juices and thicken with mashed potato.
My favorite gravy is made from the juices of a New England boiled dinner. It's a really easy meal to prepare.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showpost.php?p=1194466&postcount=15
 
  • #965
My favorite gravy is my turkey giblet gravy.

A guy I dated once said that his mother always added chopped hard boiled eggs to it. I thought he was crazy, but wanted to make him happy so I added a chopped egg. It's the only way I'll make it now, it was so good.
 
  • #966
So I'm at home and being treated to good old Mum's cooking. But now I am having an attack of vegetarianism!
The university mess serves only vegetarian food, which is what I have 9 months a year. Probably the diet rubbed off on me or something, but right now I feel it an absolute effort to eat meat at home. Just today, I refused meat dishes on two separate meals :Eek:
My love for animals, is I guess another reason, though all these years I have been thinking it was okay and part of the biological chain. I had quit eating eggs for many years now (don't ask why). I don't know if this is just temporary or permanent, but I admit I have been contemplating vegetarianism for some time now.

Any vegetarians on the board for some advice? Non-vegan advice is also welcome :smile:
 
  • #967
Pan boiled fox

http://www.wildmanwildfood.com/pages/recipes.htm#fox

Pan Boiled Fox (serves 6-8)

This recipe is inspired by my Greek friend's father who cooked wild
mountain goat using this (Ikarian) method. The flavour is extremely
similar to fox. So, as you can see, very occasionally - and in the
interest of research - I have tasted non-roadkill meat!

INGREDIENTS (all approximate measurements)
2 large onions roughly chopped
Boned or still-on-the-bone legs of one medium to large fox (cut into 8
pieces if still on the bone)
6 medium sized carrots (cut into thick inch long batons)
6 medium sized courgettes (cut into thick inch and a half long batons)
(with flowers if available)
1 tea cup olive oil
2 bay leaves
4-6 whole pepper corns
2-3 pieces of allspice
2-3 lemons
2 large eggs
Sea salt (fairly liberal amounts) and ground black pepper
Water

METHOD

In a large saucepan gently brown the onions in olive oil. Add the meat and cook in the onion/oil mix for a few minutes. Add the bay leaves, allspice, pepper corns, salt, ground pepper,juice of one lemon, carrots and a few cups of water to the pan. Cover with a lid and simmer for half an hour stirring occasionally. Add the courgettes. Add more water if necessary. Cook for about another half-hour at a slow but steady boil.

Beat the eggs and mix with remaining lemon juice. Gradually ladle off all the hot cooking liquor from the pan and carefully beat it in with the eggs.

Return to pan. Serve with hunks of good rustic bread to soak up the juices.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #968
The best bread and tomato pie you will ever have. From Marchiano's in Philly and rated best of the city. I've been calling for 3 days straight and can not get through to make an order. They have pictures on the wall of people who have been there to get some bread like the Pope, a ton of professional sports players, and presidential candidates. They are a little bit soup-nazish when you go there but they can be as big of jerks as they want because their bread is so freaking good.http://www.marchianosbakery.com/menu.htm
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #969
Flaming hedgehogs

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/recipes/detail~RecipeID~16.asp
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #970
wolram said:
Flaming hedgehogs

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/recipes/detail~RecipeID~16.asp
Thank God they're mushrooms, I was afraid to look, thinking they were actually using hedgehogs. :frown:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #971
Ok, I bought a turkey for Christmas. I think I'm going to cook it tomorrow though. Going to do the Alton Brown brining thing. No turkey derrick.

Anyone have turkey leftovers recipes? I've got the usual turkey fricasee and a la king recipes. Damn I wish I could get my hands on some wild garlic, slices of turkey sauteed in butter with wild garlic shoots, placed on a bed of couscous would be heavenly. I can't think of anything else that really tastes like wild garlic. I guess maybe a sautee of leeks, shallots and garlic might do.
 
  • #972
We always make turkey soup. After reserving some meat for sandwiches, stir-frys, etc, we boil down the carcas, skin, scrap meat, etc to make a rich turkey stock. Using a colander we strain out the solids and put the stock in the 'fridge to solidify the fat so that most of it can be removed. In the meantime, we clean all the meat off the bones and save that to return to the soup. We add carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, parsley, and whatever else comes to mind. Substitute rice for potatoes, or maybe include a can of black beans for a little twist.

Turkey often finds its way into a curry-spiced stir fry with lots of green pepper and onion, served over a bed of rice. There are no recipes for stuff like this - we just "wing it" and remember what worked best, for the next time.
 
  • #974
I always do soup with the carcass once all of the meat is gone.
 
  • #975
Evo said:
I always do soup with the carcass once all of the meat is gone.
We don't strip all the meat from the carcass - especially the dark meat around the spine and flanks. A lot of the richness of the stock comes from that.

My wife got a commercially-processed turkey from her employers, and it is currently soaking in a water cooler full of brine. She'll roast that tomorrow for my father. I can't eat any of it because it is self-basting (injected with a broth loaded with MSG), so I'll be suffering tomorrow, smelling roasting turkey, soup stock being boiled down, etc, and not being able to sample it. I'll probably compensate with a couple of hot dogs and rolls fried in butter with onions, loaded with chili relish and mustard. It won't cut my turkey cravings much, but it'll help.
 
  • #976
I always throw extra meat into the soup when I start it.

That's to bad that you can't eat the turkey. My boss gave me a $20 gift certificate and I bought the turkey with it, it was on sale for 68 cents a pound! I bought a 15 pounder and have money left.
 
  • #977
How about turkey fajitas?!

http://www.thatsmyhome.com/texmex/main/turfaj.htm
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #978
Evo said:
I always throw extra meat into the soup when I start it.

That's to bad that you can't eat the turkey. My boss gave me a $20 gift certificate and I bought the turkey with it, it was on sale for 68 cents a pound! I bought a 15 pounder and have money left.
My wife promised to make me a batch of black-bean dip as a way of cutting the pain. Black beans, lemon juice, crushed garlic, onion, seasonings, and some hot chili relish. It's great on corn chips or crackers. It has the consistency of hummus, but with a really lively flavor and a nice burn.

Pretty much all chicken and turkey sold in supermarkets is loaded with water laced with "natural flavoring", especially the breast meat that can be so dry and bland if the cook is not careful. There is nothing "natural" about boiling corn solids (from which the oils and starches have been extracted) in acid to make glutamates and neutralizing the product with caustic, but maybe that's just me. Nowadays, I have to avoid pork and other meats with "water added" because of the same reason. Luckily, there are farms and butchers in the area that offer minimally-processed meats, but we have to limit our consumption because of the costs. It can be expensive to avoid foods from ADM, Con-Agra, etc, because they dominate the market and our government's subsidies to them penalize the little farms.
 
  • #979
Ah, yes! I am in the midst of food-torture. The turkey has been roasted and stripped of meat and the skin, bones, and scraps are boiling down to make soup stock. The cabin smells like Thanksgiving all over again, and I can't wander out to the kitchen area and taste. No turkey meat, no neck meat, no heart or gizzard...there is no justice!
 
  • #980
I have some braising steak, 2 big field mushrooms, carrots and peas, can i make a spicy hot dish with lot? i have birds eye and finger chillis, hot chilli powder, stem ginger, fresh corriander, garlic and other spices.
 
  • #981
wolram said:
I have some braising steak, 2 big field mushrooms, carrots and peas, can i make a spicy hot dish with lot? i have birds eye and finger chillis, hot chilli powder, stem ginger, fresh corriander, garlic and other spices.
You sure can! Just improvise with your wok. I would slice the carrots about as thick as the slices of steak and put them in the wok at about the same time with garlic and grated ginger. Peas later, mushrooms last.

You already know what's going to happen when you put chopped chili peppers in a hot wok, so use discretion. Don't try to put too much stuff in anyone dish - especially spices. Keep it simple and make up your meals in small batches, so you'll get more chances to experiment.
 
  • #982
Tubo, how do i get a sauce to sort of blend the flavors, i have soy, rice wine, beef stock cubes etc.
I am thinking of flouring the meat so i have a thickener.
 
  • #983
I would leave out the beef stock cubes, and go with the soy sauce and wine. Brown the carrots and meat first in hot oil, then add some soy, wine and chopped chilies and the peas. Add the thin-sliced mushrooms a couple of minutes before the other ingredients are about done. Remove the solid ingredients from the wok and thicken the liquid with flour and water. Put a little cold water in a bowl and whisk in some flour, stirring continuously. Once you have a thick mixture of flour and water whisk it into the liquid in the wok while heating the liquid, and stop adding when you've gotten the desired consistency. Spoon the solid ingredients over a bed of hot rice and top with the thickened juice.
 
  • #984
Sounds Tasty i can not wait to get cooking.
 
  • #985
turbo-1 said:
I would leave out the beef stock cubes, and go with the soy sauce and wine. Brown the carrots and meat first in hot oil, then add some soy, wine and chopped chilies and the peas. Add the thin-sliced mushrooms a couple of minutes before the other ingredients are about done. Remove the solid ingredients from the wok and thicken the liquid with flour and water. Put a little cold water in a bowl and whisk in some flour, stirring continuously. Once you have a thick mixture of flour and water whisk it into the liquid in the wok while heating the liquid, and stop adding when you've gotten the desired consistency. Spoon the solid ingredients over a bed of hot rice and top with the thickened juice.

I usually add the liquids last, that way everything else is stir-fried and not boiled. I like it better that way. I've seen other people do it the way turbo describes, adding the liquids earlier in cooking, so I think it's just a matter of personal preference. You could try it one way this time and the other next time to see which you like better.
 
  • #986
wolram said:
Sounds Tasty i can not wait to get cooking.
Just keep it simple at first, and when you get the hang of it, you'll be able to look in your refrigerator, and come up with a recipe right off the top of your head. With stir-frying, you've got to think your recipe through a bit before starting, because things move very quickly once you start adding foods to a hot wok. It's a good idea to taste stuff before it is done, so you can judge whether or not to add something to perk up the flavor. For this reason, we keep basic spices in sealed shakers near the stove. Need a bit of rich flavor to complement the garlic? There's onion powder at hand. Need a bit of complex heat? There's curry powder and cayenne. You don't have to plan these spices from the beginning, as long as there is time to add them before the end, because they can be added very quickly.
 
  • #987
Moonbear said:
I usually add the liquids last, that way everything else is stir-fried and not boiled. I like it better that way. I've seen other people do it the way turbo describes, adding the liquids earlier in cooking, so I think it's just a matter of personal preference. You could try it one way this time and the other next time to see which you like better.
That's a good point, Moonie. Some times, I don't add liquids at all, and keep everything fried, and sometimes (especially when I'm going to add broccoli/mushrooms) I add liquid once the meat and the harder vegetables are browned, and cover the wok to steam these softer vegetables lightly. When you add liquids like wine, it recovers flavors from the initial browning, and the sauce is a perfect candidate for thickening. There are no rules, but I do tend to change the way I cook stuff based on what's on-hand.
 
  • #988
Here are some ideas - http://www.pillsbury.com/bakeoff/

The judges have selected the 100 finalists in the 43rd Pillsbury® Bake-Off® Contest. These finalists will head to Dallas, Texas in April, 2008 to compete for the $1 million grand prize!
So get busy with those ideas.
 
  • #989
First there was Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Electrodynamics, Quantum Chromodynamics and Quantum Field Theory.

Now we have Quantum Computing.


Now introducing Quantum Cooking. The fundamental units are dash and pinch. :biggrin:

Now it's a matter of defining a smidgeon, and the uncertainty principle as in a "dash here, pinch there" and whether or not it is commutative with "pinch here, dash there".
 
Last edited:
  • #990
Since I discovered Applegate Farm's All Natural Organic hot dogs, I have been doing a lot of independent research on quantum hot dogs. Through diligent and careful experimentation, I have discovered the fundamental units of this field. The frank length, the frank mass, and the frank time. The elementary units of the frank appear in multiples of 8, though the elementary units of the complementary bread seem to arise in multiples of 6 - an inequality that is inexplicable, and does not adequately resolve until one has fabricated 24 units of the basic compound.

Through the liberal application of habanero relish, I have been able to test these fundamental food compounds at higher and higher energies, though as yet I have been unable to find traces of the theoretical Hot Diggity Dog-zon from which the frank mass originates. I am approaching the energy-limitations of my testing apparatus, and judging from the looks of the larder, I may have to ration energy and either test less frequently or forgo testing at the highest energy levels until the inventory is replenished. 9 months/3 half-pint energy cannisters = almost certain curtailment.
 
Last edited:
  • #991
We hosted dinner for my father today, with a large pork rib roast, baked potatoes, home-grown buttercup squash from our cold-cellar, frozen home-grown Swiss chard, and other goodies. We brined the roast overnight with the same brine that Alton Brown recommends in "Romancing the Bird" rinsed it thoroughly, and dredged it in a coating of flour with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and turkey seasonings (Sage is SO good with pork). We roasted the pork in a shallow pan with a little water in the bottom, lightly covered with aluminum foil. When the pork was done, I made up a flour-water mix and whisked that into the juices that were boiling on the stove-top. The roast and the gravy were to die for! Moonie, even your inept brother-in-law (he of the dry pork roasts) cannot screw this up. When you brine the roast, it drives in juices, and the coating keeps in the juices while it's cooking. You've got to use very little water in the pan, so the juices from the pork get a chance to caramelize in the pan so you can make a nice DARK rich gravy! Since we tried brining roasts, we keep a super-sharp eye out for sales on pork - it has turned into our favorite meal.

My father's 82nd birthday is Wednesday, and we sent him home with a ton of food, as always.
 
  • #992
turbo-1 said:
Since I discovered Applegate Farm's All Natural Organic hot dogs, I have been doing a lot of independent research on quantum hot dogs. Through diligent and careful experimentation, I have discovered the fundamental units of this field. The frank length, the frank mass, and the frank time. The elementary units of the frank appear in multiples of 8, though the elementary units of the complementary bread seem to arise in multiples of 6 - an inequality that is inexplicable, and does not adequately resolve until one has fabricated 24 units of the basic compound.

Through the liberal application of habanero relish, I have been able to test these fundamental food compounds at higher and higher energies, though as yet I have been unable to find traces of the theoretical Hot Diggity Dog-zon from which the frank mass originates. I am approaching the energy-limitations of my testing apparatus, and judging from the looks of the larder, I may have to ration energy and either test less frequently or forgo testing at the highest energy levels until the inventory is replenished. 9 months/3 half-pint energy cannisters = almost certain curtailment.

LOL, you should be the funniest member.
 
  • #993
wolram said:
LOL, you should be the funniest member.
Hey! I'm serious about this field of research!
 
  • #994
Turbo, may be you are the one to ask about corned beef, not the stuff you get in a tin, this is joints of meat preserved in some way, the only place i have eaten it is Ireland and it is very good, i have searched all over for the method used without result.
 
  • #995
Corned beef is beef that has been picked in brine. It is generally available in supermarkets year-round here, though some stores run special sales ahead of St Patrick's day. I've never had tinned corned beef, so I wouldn't know how they compare. Corned beef makes a nice boiled dinner, cooked in the same pot with cabbage, potatoes, onions, carrots, etc.
 
  • #996
Is there a prefer ed brine? it is annoying you guys seem to have every thing, why the heck is England is so food poor.
 
  • #998
Thanks Turbo, i printed off a copy for my file.
 
  • #999
Hot chili

I found this in a mag and it is good.

1/4 cup vegetable oil
3-4 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut in pieces
2 onions chopped
2 green bell peppers
1 can 4 ounces chopped jalapenos
1/3 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup beer

Heat 2 table spoons oil in a skilllet over medium heat, add the beef and brown,
transfer to slow cooker, add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skilllet and saute the
onions and green peppers until soft, transfer to slow cooker, stir in jalapenos, chili powdwer, oregano, cumin , salt and beer, cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 houres.

I had to half the measures.
 
  • #1,000
BLUEBERRY BUCKLE

Mix together
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, room temp
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk

Mix in
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp any spice you like{I use cinnamon}

Fold in 1 quart of berries

spread into a 8x8 buttered pan

In a small bowl mix until crumbly.
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter
spread on the top

Bake in preheated 375 oven about 45 minutes.

This stuff rocks! heheh eating some now!
 

Similar threads

Meet Evo: Biweekly Series on Mentors & Regenerative Medicine Advances
2
Replies
64
Views
17K
Can You Stomach These Extreme Global Delicacies?
2
Replies
78
Views
12K
Challenge Math Challenge - December 2018
2
Replies
67
Views
14K
  • Poll Poll
What Kind of Humor Can You Find in a My Favorite Jokes Thread?
2
Replies
71
Views
10K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top