What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Astronuc]

How to make red curry.
http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/red-curry.php

Great site hypatia, especially

http://www.templeofthai.com/cooking/about_thai_curry.php

 

[Astronuc]

I don't think red curry is just added red pepper. It never seemed all that spicy, but a flavor entirely different from yellow curry. Adding red pepper just gives me a spicy yellow curry, which I like, but isn't red curry.

If one looks at the site that hypatia posted, they have a recipe for 'red curry' powder.

http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/red-curry.php (actually a paste).

The key is ground red chili peppers - http://www.templeofthai.com/food/spices/redchilipeppers-3111107210.php and tumeric.

Otherwise the taste is determined by the proportions and types of ingredients.

 

[hypatia]

Moonbear, you can get the shrimp paste from the same site in the link, they have a store. Thats how I found the site, I've bought a few things from them, all very good.

 

[turbo]

I may try making up red curry paste and canning it next summer. My wife and I do lots of stir-fries using pork, chicken, etc, and it would be nice to have some red curry to accent the dishes. Now, we make do with a commercial curry powder, and add chili oil, powdered chilies and/or my chili relishes. I'm betting that habanero curry past would be really exciting!

 

[Math Jeans]

I may try making up red curry paste and canning it next summer. My wife and I do lots of stir-fries using pork, chicken, etc, and it would be nice to have some red curry to accent the dishes. Now, we make do with a commercial curry powder, and add chili oil, powdered chilies and/or my chili relishes. I'm betting that habanero curry past would be really exciting!

See my earlier recipe .

 

[~christina~]

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/920/547901bs4.jpg http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7038/aaaaakuproyaaaaaafzpbgse8.jpg
wow

Those are GIANT sprinkles oh and yeah, the cupcake is supersized as well

 

[msamelia]

http://www.photogiga.com/out.php/t10256_hamburger202.jpg

 

[GeorginaS]

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/920/547901bs4.jpg http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7038/aaaaakuproyaaaaaafzpbgse8.jpg
wow

Those are GIANT sprinkles oh and yeah, the cupcake is supersized as well

I love that baking pan! Where is that from, christina?

 

[Moonbear]

I agree...that's an adorable baking pan!

Oh, and I'm thrilled that the grocery store expanded some of the international foods selection recently, and I was able to find red curry paste (they had green curry paste too, and a few other things I'd never seen before that I'd been wanting...yummy!)

 

[Moonbear]

Today I got a nice treat at work. They got in a bunch of laying hens on the farm and they've happily started laying. They were trying to give away about 15 dozen eggs today! I took a dozen fresh eggs off their hands. Yum. Had fried eggs and toast when I got home. Maybe I should get more and bake up a storm this weekend. The only catch is they're all medium-sized eggs (at least the flats they brought down to the building I was in)...I usually use large eggs in my recipes, and I'm not sure how to adapt the recipes for medium eggs.

 

[wolram]

I now have a brand new 3.5ltr slow cooker, so i expect my chili cooking to improve, do you have to do any thing different cooking this way?

 

[turbo]

I tried using a slow-cooker (crock-pot) years ago to make chili, and it came out like mush. I even tried browning my onions, peppers, and meat in a skillet before adding them to the slow-cooker. Slight improvement, but still it didn't come out as good as my chili cooked on a stove-top. I have a large, lidded SS Revereware pot with a very thick bottom, and that's really the only pot I can use to make chili. I don't like the idea of leaving my house with a cheap electrical appliance running, anyway. All I can think of is that "made in China" POS is going to crap out and burn my house down.

 

[lisab]

I use my slow cooker for stews, pulled pork, corned beef...really, any dish that requires a long moist simmer. My stove runs on gas, not electricity. It makes it hard to maintain a low simmer on the stovetop, but the slow cooker is perfect for that.

 

[NateTG]

I usually use large eggs in my recipes, and I'm not sure how to adapt the recipes for medium eggs.

One medium egg=7/8 One Large Egg.

http://www.georgiaeggs.org/pages/sizeequivalents.html

 

[Moonbear]

One medium egg=7/8 One Large Egg.

http://www.georgiaeggs.org/pages/sizeequivalents.html

That's helpful. So, I can only use these eggs if the recipe calls for 7 large eggs so I can use 8 mediums? I don't think I'm that ambitious. I think I'll stick with omelets with these.

 

[wolram]

I tried using a slow-cooker (crock-pot) years ago to make chili, and it came out like mush. I even tried browning my onions, peppers, and meat in a skillet before adding them to the slow-cooker. Slight improvement, but still it didn't come out as good as my chili cooked on a stove-top. I have a large, lidded SS Revereware pot with a very thick bottom, and that's really the only pot I can use to make chili. I don't like the idea of leaving my house with a cheap electrical appliance running, anyway. All I can think of is that "made in China" POS is going to crap out and burn my house down.

My stove will some times allow a slow simmer on the small ring set at 1, other times it is to cold or to hot, depends on the supply i guess, and with all these micro power cuts we keep having my cooker reverts to auto and shuts down.
I guess most tvs are made in China and people leave those on stand by, not my favorite situation but beggars can not be to choosy.

 

[turbo]

Moonie, I rarely use recipes, and almost always cook "by feel". It should be easy for you to adjust. When baking, extra eggs can result in better binding of the final product, and perhaps a little more moistness, too. I'd probably use the same number of eggs when cooking recipes with only one or two eggs, and add an extra egg when going over that number. If you are concerned about losing moisture in baking recipes with just one or two eggs, I'd suggest maybe adding a teaspoon of Cain's Mayonnaise to the batter.

 

[undrcvrbro]

Anything Italian for me. Nothing like a good canole!

 

[Moonbear]

Ooh, cannolis are good! If anyone has a really good recipe for those, please share! I've tried making them homemade before, and they were okay, but not as good as the ones I used to get from the Italian bakery in my hometown.

I'm so disappointed tonight. I made homemade andouille sausage...my first ever attempt at making homemade sausage of any kind. The recipe I followed is WAY over-seasoned. TOO MUCH SALT! And, I never thought it was possible, but too much garlic too...though if it wasn't so over salty, I might not mind the garlic as much. Darn...I should have just made a half recipe to test it. I'm hoping I can still use it if I add it in small amounts to other dishes and don't add any more salt so the salt will dissolve out into the rest of the dish. At least I know what to adjust for the next time I make it.

 

[Evo]

I'm so disappointed tonight. I made homemade andouille sausage...my first ever attempt at making homemade sausage of any kind. The recipe I followed is WAY over-seasoned. TOO MUCH SALT! And, I never thought it was possible, but too much garlic too...though if it wasn't so over salty, I might not mind the garlic as much. Darn...I should have just made a half recipe to test it. I'm hoping I can still use it if I add it in small amounts to other dishes and don't add any more salt so the salt will dissolve out into the rest of the dish. At least I know what to adjust for the next time I make it.

Wow, you are brave! That's too bad about the seasoning. I accidently oversalted some meat recently and did just what you suggested, I left the salt out of what I mixed it with and the salt leached into the rest of the food and it came out just right.

 

[turbo]

Salt is an EASY over-do! You can never recover from that, either...

 

[Moonbear]

Yeah, without having ever made it before, I had no sense of what was right or wrong in the recipe. Fortunately, I make andouille sausage to put in things like gumbo, so I hope I can rescue it by just not adding any more salt to the rest of the dishes I add it to. But, now I know how I want to change the recipe for next time. I decided to try this one because andouille sausage is hard to find in stores around here (I'd probably have to special order it from the butcher except for the once in a blue moon they make a batch and sell in the butcher case at the grocery store). You have to start somewhere, and I'll start tweaking the recipe for next time based on what I know didn't work this time.

 

[chaoseverlasting]

Ive heard a lot about chilli, but what is it exactly?

 

[lisab]

Ive heard a lot about chilli, but what is it exactly?

There are many ways to make chili. Usually, there's meat, such as beef, pork, or even chicken. The sauce is tomato-based. For seasoning, ground chilis are essential, and I like cumin in mine. Chili can be made quite spicy-hot, but it can be mild if you want.

Chili usually has lots of onions, and garlic. Most people add beans, normally pinto beans.

I feel like I'm forgetting something...

There are hundreds of variations, so this is just a basic description.

 

[undrcvrbro]

Ooh, cannolis are good! If anyone has a really good recipe for those, please share! I've tried making them homemade before, and they were okay, but not as good as the ones I used to get from the Italian bakery in my hometown.

As far as good cannolis go, I wouldn't know how to begin making one. Theres a place called Mama Santa's in the Little Italy district of Cleveland. WOW! Can't get enough. I'm assuming you don't live near Cleveland and driving 5 hours for some cannoli may be out of the question, so I guess I'm useless.

 

[Evo]

Ive heard a lot about chilli, but what is it exactly?

To add to lisab's description, it's a thick soup or stew traditionally made with meat, chiles and oregano. But now there are so many variations, some chili isn't even recognizable as chili.

According to research, the first chili made in the US was in San Antonio, TX and this is the recipe, or a close fascimile.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4108397

 

[turbo]

My chili has evolved over the years. I brown hamburg and ground pork, add chopped onions, minced garlic, green peppers, and chilies, and brown them a bit, too. Then a large can of ground tomatoes, a couple of cans of black beans (undrained), salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, cayenne, oregano, and whatever else strikes my fancy. Lately, I've also been adding a couple of varieties of my chili relishes, for a richer chili taste and more complex heat. The chili relishes include pure habanero (red or green), a blend of super chilies and jalapeno chilies, and the "clean-up" batch that contains all three varieties, that I made after I picked all the remaining peppers in advance of a predicted frost.

Like Evo said, there are many variations. Purists might not care for my variation, but there's nothing like a big bowl of it with some fresh-baked biscuits, especially after spending time outside on a cold winter day.

 

[wolram]

Biscuits with chili?

 

[Evo]

Biscuits with chili?

American biscuits, not cookies. You British are so confused.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1673191

 

[turbo]

Biscuits with chili?

New England biscuits are flaky layered pastry-type quick-breads that are to die for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit

A favorite Maine recipe uses Bakewell cream.

http://www.yankeegrocery.com/bakewell_cream.html

 

[wolram]

American biscuits, not cookies. You British are so confused.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1673191

Hey ,it is you Americans that are cockeyed calling bread a biscuit.

 

[turbo]

You Brits call cookies biscuits - how messed up is that? Of course when you got stuck in your boot, you could have been locked in the trunk of your car.

 

[wolram]

And Americans smack ladies on the F---Y, wiked people.

 

[lisab]

And Americans smack ladies on the F---Y, wiked people.

Can't get yourself to type it!

Funny thing is, it's a woman's first name in the US. Not common, though.

 

[turbo]

When I was a kid, one of my early babysitters was a teenager nick-named kitty. Her real name was Priscilla, and she was very pretty. Times change.

 

[wolram]

To attempt to steer you sex mad Americans back on topic, Turbo do you prefer black beans to chili beans?

 

[lisab]

To attempt to steer you sex mad Americans back on topic, Turbo do you prefer black beans to chili beans?

 

[Evo]

Beans are illegal in Texas Chili.

Chili cookoffs are BIG in Texas with the World Championship cookoff is inTerlingua, TX each year. For you Yankees and British people, here are rules on attending said cookouts.

Pointers and suggestions to aid in optimizing the total chili cookoff experience.

1. Arrive in pickup truck, the bigger the better. If you don't have one borrow one. You may substitute an SUV if it is the size of a small house, gets 3-7 miles to the gallon and made in the USofA. What ever you drive, it must have a tailgate.

2. Ice chests. The more and the bigger the better. These should be filled with beer and ice and no more than 4-5 soft drinks and these should be Dr Peppers preferably bottled in Dublin, Texas.

3. Beer and how much. Preferably Lone Star and/or Shiner. No imported beer unless it's from Mexico. Best rule of thumb is two cases per cookoff day. In case of a beer emergency, you'll want to be able to share with a fellow in need.

4. Food. White bread, baloney, American cheese and mustard and a half dozen onions should do if you're planning full serious meals; a couple of bags of pigskins (the hot kind) if you're just going to snack. You'll also need coffee and a pint of Wild Turkey or bottle of tequila to cut the dust out of your mouth in the morning.

5. Camping gear. You'll want to stay for the whole cookoff so plan to stay at least one, possibly two nights. Gear should include a sleeping bag, a gas stove, flashlight and a coffee pot. Tents are too much trouble. Typically you'll throw your sleeping bag into the bed of the truck and crash there. And don't worry about rain. It almost never rains.

6. Lawn chairs. At least two, any style.

7. Tables are optional. That's what a tailgate's for.

8. A Texas flag or two.

It's aso important to know what to wear. Dress for comfort. Blue jeans are always acceptable and, in warm weather, shorts. Sandals, sneakers or hiking boots work for footwear. Or you can go barefoot. A ball cap with some sort of logo is also acceptable. The logo should be for a beer brand, a tractor brand or a football team (high school or professional). T shirts of any type with any logo or picture on front works. All shirts should have sleeves of some sort or someone might mistake you for a redneck and they won't share their beer and pig skins (the hot kind) which could be hazardous in case of a beer or food emergency. And that's how fights get started.

For women it's the same as above but tighter and shorter. (Note: if you are going to go "western' with the a cowboy hat, jeans, pearl snap shirt, boots and a dinner plate-size belt buckle then you'd better be ready to defend your cowboyness. Failing to do so is how fights get started. Most Texans don't dress like that anyways.)

Don't worry about your Yankee accent. At cookoffs everyone's welcome and everybody's equal. And please don't try to talk Texan. You won't fool anyone and that's how fights get started.

Dropping names is a good way to make friends and influence folks at a cookoff. Willie Nelson, George Jones and Bob Wills are good names to throw down. Don't ever mention Nashville. That's how fights get started.

And don't discuss politics. You might get a hold of a Yeller Dog Democrat and they're kinda touchy these days.

Most importantly eat as much chili as you are able and have as much fun as possible.

http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART_II/southern_cooking/texas_chili_cookoff.html

 

[wolram]

Sounds like heaven to me.

 

[turbo]

To attempt to steer you sex mad Americans back on topic, Turbo do you prefer black beans to chili beans?

Black beans are 'WAY better than most other canned beans when you want to make some chili. I use not only the beans, but all the juice in each can.

 

[wolram]

Is there a quick method for chili, under 1 hr?

Yippee i bought black beans.

 

[turbo]

Sear chopped onions, garlic, and chilies and brown some ground beef and ground pork. Then start playing around with other ingredients if you haven't done this before. I would suggest a big can of ground Italian tomatoes, a couple of cans of black beans, and some curry, crushed red pepper, black pepper, cayenne, salt, oregano, and whatever else strikes your fancy. The more (varieties) of hot stuff, the more complex the burn, and the better the chili, IMO. You've got to experiment a bit to get good at this, but I'll bet you'll get pretty good pretty fast.

 

[lisab]

Sear chopped onions, garlic, and chilies and brown some ground beef and ground pork. Then start playing around with other ingredients if you haven't done this before. I would suggest a big can of ground Italian tomatoes, a couple of cans of black beans, and some curry, crushed red pepper, black pepper, cayenne, salt, oregano, and whatever else strikes your fancy. The more (varieties) of hot stuff, the more complex the burn, and the better the chili, IMO. You've got to experiment a bit to get good at this, but I'll bet you'll get pretty good pretty fast.

My sister-in-law makes a pretty good quick-chili that's much like this, but she uses tomato sauce instead of canned tomatoes. That way, they're already cooked down.

Also, if the meat is very lean, the spices won't dissolve quickly enough in water-based sauce. Add a bit of corn oil, or some other oil, and the spices will dissolve in the oil. (This usually isn't a problem with chili that's cooked a long time.)

 

[Evo]

Evo<-----Chili purist

Born and raised in Texas.

Chili has no beans. You dang heritical varmints.

The official chili sanctioning body in Texas is the Chili Appreciation Society International, CASI. CASI makes the rules. They award points to the best ten cookers and these points can qualify a team for the World Chili Championship held the first Saturday of November in the dusty ghost town of Terlingua. It's important to note that CASI is a not-for-profit organization and all proceeds from one of their sanctioned event go to local charities.

I've won two chili cookoffs (at work).

There is only one kind of chili recognized by CASI: Texas red. No fillers are allowed, or as the rules state: "NO FILLERS IN CHILI - Beans, macaroni, rice, hominy, or other similar ingredients are not permitted." (In Texas putting beans in chili has replaced horse thievery as the number one hanging offense.)

I use what is called "chili grind" of my beef, a rougher grind than hamburger. Hunt's petite diced tomatoes, cumin, onions, garlic, oregano, red chile peppers, a nice green jalapeno, chopped, is tasty, masa harina at the end for thickening, HOT Paprika (worth finding), no sweet paprika, a bottle of good beer, and a bay leaf. Served over hot, buttered rice.

 

[wolram]

Evo<-----Chili purist

Born and raised in Texas.

Chili has no beans. You dang heritical varmints.



I use what is called "chili grind" of my beef, a rougher grind than hamburger. Hunt's petite diced tomatoes, cumin, onions, garlic, oregano, red chile peppers, a nice green jalapeno, chopped, is tasty, masa harina at the end for thickening, HOT Paprika (worth finding), no sweet paprika, a bottle of good beer, and a bay leaf. Served over hot, buttered rice.

I have every thing for this dish, apart from the meat and tomatoes, oh and masa harina, i will look that up, this sounds nice, apart from the rice.

 

[wolram]

My sister-in-law makes a pretty good quick-chili that's much like this, but she uses tomato sauce instead of canned tomatoes. That way, they're already cooked down.

Also, if the meat is very lean, the spices won't dissolve quickly enough in water-based sauce. Add a bit of corn oil, or some other oil, and the spices will dissolve in the oil. (This usually isn't a problem with chili that's cooked a long time.)

Good tip, i will remeber that one.

 

[chaoseverlasting]

Wow! Sound like I definitely have to try chilli. Seems to be a lot like bolognaise sauce. Or is that completely off?

 

[NateTG]

Wow! Sound like I definitely have to try chilli. Seems to be a lot like bolognaise sauce. Or is that completely off?

They're very similar. Of course, people generally don't put cream in chili (even if it would be quite tasty).

 

[turbo]

I have stuffed potato skins with hot chili and topped with sour cream. It's very good.

 

[scorpa]

I had the best lunch the other day, stuffed red peppers and some sort of amazing salad!

I am kind of hoping someone has had this salad before and knows a recipe. All I know it is had some sort of lettuce in it and was topped with a mixture of black beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and maybe some other things I don't remember. So far it is easy enough and doesn't need a recipe of course but I have no idea what kind of dressing was used in it, so if anyone thinks this salad sounds familar and knows what they put in that dressing that would be awesome!