What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[rewebster]

I can not cook for now my cooker is in bits, i decided to clean it and boy what a job, you have to take the doors apart and i am using that foaming oven cleaner, well i have used three cans so far and it still needs more, this must be the worst job ever :grumpy next time i will buy a new cooker.

When I do use that stuff, I let it set on there for about 1/2 hour--when the oven gets really coated with something---I'll get a putty knife on the worst part of the gunk

 

[offtheleft]

im having some beef stew concoction my father made. it started out as regular beef stew but now there is rice instead of broth. pretty good.

 

[LowlyPion]

How many people here know how to cook bitter gourd/melon? I cooked one up today after salting it to get rid of some of the bitterness, but it was still quite bitter (and salty) after cooking it (for a first try it dit taste quite good). Any tips?

I've had it in dishes eating out and I can't say that it was unpleasant, but then again I can't say that I would add it to my larder either. Not exactly my taste.

But here is a link that tells you more than you may want to know and it's from where else but Wikipedia.

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

I would steer clear of the seeds. That causing nausea part might be seen as a negative by guests.

 

[Evo]

Just to make Evo jealous again, I'm enjoying a very tasty Chinese take-out tonight of orange beef. A bowl of wanton soup too, with some of the BEST wantons I've had in ages

I hate you Moonbear!

That's ok, I have potatoes.

 

[Moonbear]

I hate you Moonbear!

That's ok, I have potatoes.

Last night, after having a lot of take-out and other not-so-healthy food over the weekend, I decided to cook in. A filet of salmon, prepared very minimally with a little salt and pepper and sauteed in butter and garlic, then cut up a fresh tomato onto it to finish the meal. I'd be HUGE if I lived in NY all the time...granted, I do a LOT more walking, but the food is SOOO good. For fish bought at a grocery store (I need to get more familiar with where things are locally...bakeries, fish mongers, etc...I still get a bit lost here since we're down in the financial district area where it's off the "grid") it was wonderful. Very fresh, and just the right amount of fattiness to the meat to make it melt-in-your-mouth. It was a very simple meal but incredibly tasty too because the foods are fresh.

I think my quest this afternoon is to find a Chinese grocery to get some dried mushrooms (they usually sell them bulk in the Chinese groceries much cheaper than you could get them anywhere else) so I can make a wild mushroom risotto for my boyfriend one night this week. He usually cooks for me when I visit, so I'm going to make something nice for him this time since I have a longer visit.

Though, today we're off to have pizza for lunch (I HAVE to have pizza when in NYC) and then going out to dinner, probably sushi since we both love sushi.

 

[turbo]

...and then going out to dinner, probably sushi since we both love sushi.

Now I'M jealous! The nearest sushi bar is over 100 miles away from here, and since I have to avoid public places, I haven't eaten there in at least 15 years.

 

[Evo]

Last night, after having a lot of take-out and other not-so-healthy food over the weekend, I decided to cook in. A filet of salmon, prepared very minimally with a little salt and pepper and sauteed in butter and garlic, then cut up a fresh tomato onto it to finish the meal. I'd be HUGE if I lived in NY all the time...granted, I do a LOT more walking, but the food is SOOO good. For fish bought at a grocery store (I need to get more familiar with where things are locally...bakeries, fish mongers, etc...I still get a bit lost here since we're down in the financial district area where it's off the "grid") it was wonderful. Very fresh, and just the right amount of fattiness to the meat to make it melt-in-your-mouth. It was a very simple meal but incredibly tasty too because the foods are fresh.

I think my quest this afternoon is to find a Chinese grocery to get some dried mushrooms (they usually sell them bulk in the Chinese groceries much cheaper than you could get them anywhere else) so I can make a wild mushroom risotto for my boyfriend one night this week. He usually cooks for me when I visit, so I'm going to make something nice for him this time since I have a longer visit.

Though, today we're off to have pizza for lunch (I HAVE to have pizza when in NYC) and then going out to dinner, probably sushi since we both love sushi.

Oh, that sounds so wonderful. Glad to hear (send Evo food) that you're having such a good time. (send Evo food)

Luckily I have sushi available 1.2 miles from my house. Nothing fancy, it's made fresh at the overpriced grocery store by a Japanese guy in the Japanese section, unfortunately their other location has the Chinese deli that serves fresh green beans stir fried with garlic in sesame oil just until they are slightly wilted. I could eat those in vast quantities.

 

[wolram]

How to cook root vegetables, like swede and turnips, swede can be used as a substitute for potato, but i am lost as to how to make some thing out of turnips.

 

[turbo]

You can do a lot of stuff with turnips, and in fact I used them a lot when I was in college because they were the cheapest toot vegetables around. If I had enough money to buy a cheap beef roast, I would brown and simmer the meat, then throw in potatoes, turnip, carrots, onions for a nice boiled dinner.

If you like turnips, you can also use them instead of potatoes in casserole-style dishes. Cube a large turnip, and steam it until tender. Transfer to a flat-bottomed bowl and mash it up with a potato masher, mixing in a bit of butter, salt and pepper as you go. You can add in a little milk while mashing, too if you want a creamier texture. Saute some hamburg with chopped onion and pressed garlic and season to taste. Spread that out in the bottom of a baking pan and pour a can of tomato sauce over the meat mix, add a layer of sharp cheddar cheese and top with the turnip. Bake in a 400 deg oven until the juices are bubbling and the turnip starts to brown. Basically a shepherd's pie with turnip instead of mashed potatoes. I've done stuff like this because there were times when I ran out of some staples like potatoes and I knew that I wasn't going to have more money for food until after I got paid for a weekend gig. Usually in the fall, yellow turnips coated in paraffin wax would go on sale prior to the holidays, and I'd stock up a bit. I like plain mashed turnip OK, but when I cooked for myself in college, I'd try to make large cheap meals so there would be leftovers for a few days. The hamburg and cheese were the pricey parts of a shepherd's pie, but I'd ration those somewhat and stretch it out with cheap bulky root vegetables.

Fried turnip is pretty good too. Just treat it like home-fried potatoes made from pre-cooked potatoes. Cube and steam the turnip until it's still just a bit firm, then fry it in butter in a skillet with chopped onion and pressed garlic, salt and pepper. Cook the turnip until it's browned and serve as a side-dish with fried eggs and salsa.

 

[scorpa]

For supper tonight I bought some ground turkey, I am going to mix some onions, an egg, and a red pepper in and make turkey burgers out it it and throw them on the BBQ. I am also going to have some baked potatoes made on the BBQ as well and some corn on the cob. Yummy. I think I am going to throw a roast in my slow cooker tomorrow so I have some good meat for sandwiches next week to, and when the roast is almost done I will throw some carrots, onions and pototoes into cook with it for the last half hour or so...soooo good.

 

[turbo]

Our neighbor (the one who got me growing all the garlic) stopped in this afternoon with a large bag of fresh peaches. The branches on his peach trees are starting to split from the weight of all the fruit and he wants us to wander down and pick all of the peaches we want, to relieve the load. We may have to make a big batch of peach cobbler and maybe can some peach preserves. Home-made peach preserves and peanut butter on Rye toast makes for a killer breakfast sandwich. Mmmm...

 

[turbo]

For supper tonight I bought some ground turkey, I am going to mix some onions, an egg, and a red pepper in and make turkey burgers out it it and throw them on the BBQ. I am also going to have some baked potatoes made on the BBQ as well and some corn on the cob. Yummy. I think I am going to throw a roast in my slow cooker tomorrow so I have some good meat for sandwiches next week to, and when the roast is almost done I will throw some carrots, onions and pototoes into cook with it for the last half hour or so...soooo good.

Those slow-cookers are pretty good for making boiled dinners - they can tenderize a cheap chuck roast so that it falls apart. For better taste, though, you might want to first brown that roast in a pan with a little peanut oil, salt and pepper. Brown the roast on all sides and make sure that you get a nice brown glaze on the bottom of the pan. After you put the roast in the slow-cooker, add some cheap red wine (and maybe a touch of cider vinegar) and some water to the pan and boil it to lift that glaze off the pan. Pour that into the slow-cooker and add some onion powder and garlic powder or crushed garlic. I sometimes used one of the original Crock-Pots to make New England boiled dinners, if I couldn't be home to monitor the cooking process, but I had to brown the roast separately and reserve the juices for the slow-cooker. That's what puts the nice brown stain and flavor into the potatoes, cabbage, etc. The result was too bland if the roast wasn't browned before slow-cooking. My apologies if you already do this, scorpa - I'm probably preaching to the choir.

 

[Evo]

I picked two gypsy peppers and they smell like banana peppers, but aren't supposed to be hot. Can't wait to try them tonight.

I also find that I can't get enough jalapenos to satisfy my craving. They have all of the flavor with very little heat because I thoroughly seed and devein them then rinse them well with water to remove any residue. Each bush currently has close to 40 peppers each, but I am eating 3-4 a day. Next year, more bushes. I am now up to 4 large jalapenos in my potato salad. :!)

 

[turbo]

My wife and I are going to make up a HUGE batch of dill-pickled chopped jalapeno peppers with garlic. We'll process a bunch of the Hungarian peppers that way too. The garden is pretty much crap except for the garlic, carrots and peppers, so we'll make the best of it and process and can whatever we're able.

For the past 10-15 years, I have tried to cook most of our fresh turkeys by hickory-smoking them and they are wonderful, tasty and moist. Recently, the turkeys we have cooked have been brined using Alton Brown's brine recipe and then oven roasted. Those turkeys have been flavorful and the brining does a good job of keeping them moist, even in an oven. This weekend, we're going to brine a turkey AND hickory-smoke it. It will probably be more addictive than crack. The smoker is a Brinkman, and I have a water-pan that I put directly under the smoking rack so that the turkey smokes in moist heat for the best flavor.

Note: Always cook turkeys and chickens breast-down, so that all the natural fats don't pool up in the dark meat. Slow-cooking poultry breast-down allows natural fats to migrate down to the drier white meat, keeping it moist and making it tastier. Never have dry turkey breast again.

 

[scorpa]

Those slow-cookers are pretty good for making boiled dinners - they can tenderize a cheap chuck roast so that it falls apart. For better taste, though, you might want to first brown that roast in a pan with a little peanut oil, salt and pepper. Brown the roast on all sides and make sure that you get a nice brown glaze on the bottom of the pan. After you put the roast in the slow-cooker, add some cheap red wine (and maybe a touch of cider vinegar) and some water to the pan and boil it to lift that glaze off the pan. Pour that into the slow-cooker and add some onion powder and garlic powder or crushed garlic. I sometimes used one of the original Crock-Pots to make New England boiled dinners, if I couldn't be home to monitor the cooking process, but I had to brown the roast separately and reserve the juices for the slow-cooker. That's what puts the nice brown stain and flavor into the potatoes, cabbage, etc. The result was too bland if the roast wasn't browned before slow-cooking. My apologies if you already do this, scorpa - I'm probably preaching to the choir.

Thanks for the advice Turbo, I never thought of browning it in peanut oil, I will have to pick some up, and some red wine to. I'll bet that will taste great.

EDIT: And of course your your advice is always more than welcome! My cooking equipment is pretty poor right now, it is all very old and not of great quality and I really left home without the best cooking skills so I am always learning and looking for good tips. I think I do ok though, better than a lot of people anyway.

 

[wolram]

I picked two gypsy peppers and they smell like banana peppers, but aren't supposed to be hot. Can't wait to try them tonight.

I also find that I can't get enough jalapenos to satisfy my craving. They have all of the flavor with very little heat because I thoroughly seed and devein them then rinse them well with water to remove any residue. Each bush currently has close to 40 peppers each, but I am eating 3-4 a day. Next year, more bushes. I am now up to 4 large jalapenos in my potato salad. :!)

Chicken, how can you love jalapenos without the heat?

 

[Evo]

Chicken, how can you love jalapenos without the heat?

When you start vomiting blood in your sleep, you will learn to cut back on the hot stuff.

I always thought that if I couldn't have my jalapenos , they might as well shoot me, but like our all knowing and wise hypatia said

there is life after heat

I have found that as long as I have the flavor, I actually prefer it to the burn.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I have been wanting to try my hand at making some thai style red curry, probably with chicken. Does anyone have any good advice and tips?

I've been looking up recipes and found some tips already.

Apparently Mae Ploy is likely to be the best brand I will find around here for curry paste and coconut milk. Goldenboy is supposed to be the best fish sauce brand. So far I have found neither in my usual markets so I may have to find an asian market. Or maybe Pavillions will have them.

The only other tip I can think of off the top of my head was to not put the entirety of the coconut milk in right away. Apparently bringing coconut milk to a boil somehow damages the quality. So what I understand you are supposed to do is use the 'coconut butter' (apparently a thick creamy substance that rises to the top in the can). You put it in the pan and cook it down as if you were clarifying butter and mix your curry paste with this and use it to cook your meat and veggies before finally adding the rest of the milk.

 

[turbo]

And of course your your advice is always more than welcome! My cooking equipment is pretty poor right now, it is all very old and not of great quality and I really left home without the best cooking skills so I am always learning and looking for good tips. I think I do ok though, better than a lot of people anyway.

When I went away to college, I had a couple of skillets, a couple of pots and pans with cracked or missing handles, a medium-sized bean-pot with no cover (had to use foil) and a tiny one-person bean pot with its original cover (cute, but impractical!) and entirely mis-matched silverware and plates. This was all hand-me-down stuff from relatives, but it got me by. My wife recently picked up a 6" Griswold frying pan at a yard sale for less than a buck (IIR) and it is a sweet little skillet. I'd love to have more of them. My favorite hand-me-down frying pan for college was a well-used 10" Griswold - I baked the crap out of it with oven-cleaner, washed and de-greased it several times and then seasoned it at high temperatures with lard and salt. I still have that pan, almost 40 years later.

 

[turbo]

My father, my younger brother, and his daughter are coming here this afternoon for a lunch on the back deck. There is a brined turkey in the smoker right now slow-cooking in moist hickory smoke. There is a large potato salad chilling in the fridge with lots of boiled eggs in it - my father's favorite. We're also having corn on the cob, picked fresh yesterday, tortilla chips with fresh home-made salsa, home-made mustard pickles and dill pickles, and for desert, there's peach cobbler with oatmeal crust. I picked the peaches yesterday from our neighbor's wind-damaged tree, and though they are not as juicy as some Georgia peaches I've had, they are very flavorful. I'll probably miss most or all of chat today. Time to get out a cooler and ice down some beer... Bon appetit.

 

[Evo]

People were asking why you weren't on chat. Sounds like a great time turbo!

 

[scorpa]

MMM my roast is smelling really really good. Soon it is time to put the potatoes, onions and carrots in. YUM. I hope it tastes as nice as it smells.

 

[Quincy]

Brownies, Pizza, Chicken, Oreo cookies w/ milk, Go-Gurt = best foods ever

 

[turbo]

We had a great time and a great meal, and I'm still stuffed!

Here's my 21 years-younger twin brother and his 7 month old daughter. Like me, he developed a passion for playing electric guitars, making fly-rods, tying fishing flies, camping, etc, etc. Hayley will have a fishing rod in her hands by the time she is 2, I'm sure.

There has been a literary inquiry as to "who got Einstein's office", but I'm pretty sure who got Einstein's tongue.

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/images/einstein_tongue.jpg

 

[turbo]

Note on the turkey: When you smoke a fresh turkey in heavy, moist hickory smoke, the meat near the skin becomes a nice rose color, penetrating nearly 1/4" into the meat. When you smoke a brined turkey, the smoke does not penetrate as well. Rule> roast brined turkey, smoke fresh un-brined turkey. The turkey is very good, but does not quite meet our high marks for either roasted brined turkey or smoked fresh turkey. Sometimes, simple = better.

 

[turbo]

MMM my roast is smelling really really good. Soon it is time to put the potatoes, onions and carrots in. YUM. I hope it tastes as nice as it smells.

Good luck, scorpa! I love slow-cooked roasts with cabbage, onions, and lots of root vegetables.

 

[wolram]

Hayley will be catching uncle Turbos dinner .

 

[turbo]

Hayley will be catching uncle Turbos dinner .

I'll put her on a quota system.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I just put some pickled peppadews into the spaghetti sauce I am making. I hope that was not a mistake.

 

[Evo]

I just put some pickled peppadews into the spaghetti sauce I am making. I hope that was not a mistake.

Oooh, that sounds interesting, let me know how it turns out.

I just made a plate of nachos.