What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Evo]

OK, time to put Chicken Soup in a single post (with details) so that people can try it out. first off, my wife and I prefer dark meat, so she usually looks for deals on thighs or legs, but this will work well for whole chickens, too. Rub your chicken/chicken parts with powdered sage, smoked paprika, ground black pepper, and salt. Place the chicken in a metal pan coated with olive oil, cover the pan with aluminum foil, and put that pan into a preheated oven at about 350 deg. When the chicken is nearly done (use a meat thermometer) take off the foil and cook for a while longer (this is when I activate the convection feature on our oven) to brown the skin.

After enjoying your supper of roast chicken, it's time to make soup. Put a bit of water in your roasting pan and heat it on the range to lift the juices, fats, bits of skin, etc, and dump the contents into your stock pot. Strip off all the skin from the remaining chicken and throw that in the stock pot. Strip all the meat from the bones and reserve the meat. Clip the large bones with poultry shears and put all the bones in the stock pot. Now is a good time to look ahead to vegetables and use those, too. Chop off the bases and tops of celery stalks, the tips and tops of carrots, etc, and throw those into the stock pot. Bring to a boil and simmer all of that for a few hours. Your house should smell really good, especially if it's winter and you've had to shovel snow or some other onerous chore.

After a couple of hours, it's time to get ready to make soup. Take the reserved chicken meat and chop it up and put it into a large bowl. Get out at least a couple of cloves of fresh garlic and crush that into the bowl. Get out some fresh onions (I prefer yellow onions) and chop those and add them to the bowl. Grab the celery and carrots that you trimmed earlier, chop them, and add those to the bowl. Time to chop a a potato or two (depending on the potential size of the soup) and add that to the bowl, too.

Put a colander into a large pot in your sink and pour the contents of the stock pot into it. This let's you separate the skin, bones, and vegetable scraps from the tasty stock quickly. Take the large pot (with the stock) out of the sink, and put it on the range and heat it gently and immediately add all the contents of the bowl (diced chicken, vegetables, etc) cover and simmer. In a couple of hours, you'll have the best chicken soup you have ever tasted. There is some time involved, but the time is mostly in roasting, simmering, and simmering the final product, so it's not like you are tied up all day.

Wow, that puts my chicken soup to shame, I've got to try your recipe, sounds much more savory than what I've been making. I think you've nailed it. If it's as good as it sounds, I'm stealing your recipe and entering a cooking contest. I'm all for savory. Hopefully I can make that tomorrow during chat. I agree on the dark meat. I've noticed that after all of these years of cooks touting boneless, skinless chicken breasts, that they switched to touting dark meat for flavor and moisture.

 

[turbo]

Yep (about the breast meat). When my wife gets a deal on whole chickens, I always roast them breast-down so that some of the fats and oils from the dark meat will migrate down to the white meat and keep the breasts from drying out and getting tough. We prefer legs and thighs, though. That's where all the flavor is, and that makes the best soup.

When Campbells or Progresso touts the breast-meat in their chicken soups, I have to wonder what geniuses are behind their ad-campaigns. Don't people actually cook chickens and taste them?

 

[Evo]

When Campbells or Progresso touts the breast-meat in their chicken soups, I have to wonder what geniuses are behind their ad-campaigns. Don't people actually cook chickens and taste them?

The pieces of white meat are like chunks of cardboard, I give them to the Fruit Bat, they're just dry and tasteless.

Disclaimer: I'm not suggesting that people can't prefer white meat or that people shouldn't eat it. (lest I get condemned for stating my personal preferences)

 

[rhody]

Here we go, from the America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook, 2001 - 2012, page 387,

Stir Fried Chicken and Zucchini with Ginger Sauce

(to make slicing chicken easier, freeze for 15 minutes, serve with basic white rice)

Sauce:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons minced or grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Chicken and Vegetables:

• 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed sliced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tavlespoon dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• 3 mediun garlic cloves, minced or pressed, about 1 tablespoon
• 2 scallions, white parts only minced
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch long matchsticks
• 1 red pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2 inch thick

Sauce:

Combine all sauce ingredients in bowl, set aside.

Chicken and Vegetables:

Toss the chicken with soy sauce, sherry in a bowl and let marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to an hour. In a large bowl, whisk sesame oil, cornstarch, flour. In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of peanut oil, ginger, garlic, and scallions.

Stir the marinated into the sesame oil-cornstarch mixture. Heat 2 teaspoons more peanut oil in non-stick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add chicken, break up clumps, cook without stirring until meat is browned at the edges, about 1 minute (it took longer for me). Stir the chicken until cooked through, about 1 minute (again, it took longer, I should have made it crisper). Transfer chicken to bowl, cover with foil.

Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil to skillet, turn to high heat until just smoking. Add carrots, cook until they begin to soften. Add bell pepper and cook until spotty brown, add zucchini and cook until tender.

Clear center of skillet, add ginger mixture, mashing it into the pan, until fragrant. Sitr ginger mixture into the vegetables.

Stir in the chicken with juices. Whisk sauce to combine, toss constantly until sauce is thickened. Serve and enjoy.

Hope you like it. Report back if you do.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/528/dinner1s.jpg

http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/325/dinner2.jpg

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Has anyone tried or is planning to try the recipe I posted above ?

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

Has anyone tried or is planning to try the recipe I posted above ?

Rhody...

I will probably try it, sounds yummy.

I've been watching Cook's Country & America's Test Kitchen for a long time (same people). I also watch episodes I've missed online. They are the best. I love their equipment comparisons.

 

[Monique]

What do you guys think of garlic that has started to sprout? I heard in a television show that the sprout is responsible for the bad smell of garlic and that it should be removed. Is there any truth in that?

 

[turbo]

I grow and store a lot of garlic, and after a long winter, some of the garlic will start to sprout. Generally, I will slice each clove in half and discard the sprouts, then process the garlic as usual. Frankly, I don't know why I remove sprouts, since in the late spring when the growing garlic develops curly scapes, I harvest those and use them in stir-fries. The scapes are a bit more pungent than the cloves - with a taste similar to green onions.

Come to think of it, when white or yellow onions start to sprout, I'll slice them in half and discard those sprouts, too.

 

[Evo]

I grow and store a lot of garlic, and after a long winter, some of the garlic will start to sprout. Generally, I will slice each clove in half and discard the sprouts, then process the garlic as usual. Frankly, I don't know why I remove sprouts, since in the late spring when the growing garlic develops curly scapes, I harvest those and use them in stir-fries. The scapes are a bit more pungent than the cloves - with a taste similar to green onions.

Come to think of it, when white or yellow onions start to sprout, I'll slice them in half and discard those sprouts, too.

I like the sprouts and include them. Of course, I'm cheap. Potato sprouts I remove though.

 

[Evo]

So, Evo Child bought me a small box of instant rice.

What do I do with instant rice?

 

[lisab]

So, Evo Child bought me a small box of instant rice.

What do I do with instant rice?

Feed the squirrels?

 

[turbo]

Feed the squirrels?

Not good. Uncooked instant rice can kill birds and small animals when it absorbs water from their bodies and blocks their GI tract.

 

[alexg]

Return it?

 

[MarcoD]

Rice art? Though I guess your daughters are too old for that.

 

[drizzle]

Not good. Uncooked instant rice can kill birds and small animals when it absorbs water from their bodies and blocks their GI tract.

I didn't know that! Thanks turbo.

 

[Evo]

Bury it?

I do have an old recipe for creole porkchops that uses instant rice and it's really delicious, but I have no pork chops.

 

[turbo]

I didn't know that! Thanks turbo.

Instant rice absorbs water much more easily than conventional rice, and can quickly kill small critters.

 

[alexg]

Cook it with chicken broth instead of water.

Then, once it's cooked, it should be safe for critters.

 

[Evo]

Instant rice absorbs water much more easily than conventional rice, and can quickly kill small critters.

But squirrels love corn flakes and rice krispies.

 

[turbo]

But squirrels love corn flakes and rice krispies.

Yep, but those are low-density grain products. Feed those same critters high-density foods with a high affinity to water, and you'll kill some critters.

 

[gmax137]

... We just use Kraft Parmesan cheese for pasta...

My buddy calls it "shake cheese." For some reason that cracks me up.

 

[lisab]

Not good. Uncooked instant rice can kill birds and small animals when it absorbs water from their bodies and blocks their GI tract.

I've recently heard that's an urban legend.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/birdrice.asp

 

[turbo]

There is a big difference between uncooked rice and uncooked instant rice that has been milled and processed to absorb water as rapidly as possible. I am quite willing to be proven wrong, but I really don't want to hurt birds and small animals.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

It's not really pertinent, but I remember once when I ate too much spaghetti, followed by too much watermelon. It stretched out my belly somewhat painfully.

 

[Evo]

It's not really pertinent, but I remember once when I ate too much spaghetti, followed by too much watermelon. It stretched out my belly somewhat painfully.

Ouch.

 

[netgypsy]

I'll check on the rice thing further. There is a similar idea that beet pulp which is the remains of sugar beets after the sugar is removed, will do the same thing to horses. It does expand hugely when you add water to it but the vet sites tell you that it can be fed dry with no problems. Some horses are very very stupid about eating though and will choke on almost anything because they inhale huge quantities so one doesn't feed anything in large quantities to a strange horse. There is also the suggestion that you put large rocks in the food dish of a gulping type horse to slow them down. Obviously large enough so they don't eat them or break their teeth.

Alkaselzer will kill if eaten dry. My college roommate was in a hurry to get to class and had a headache and just swallowed an alkaselzer tablet, then drank some water. She said it was terrible - she could hardly breathe she was burping up so much gas. her doctor told her she could have ruptured her stomach. So this one is no joke or myth.

 

[alexg]

Alkaselzer will kill if eaten dry. My college roommate was in a hurry to get to class and had a headache and just swallowed an alkaselzer tablet, then drank some water. She said it was terrible - she could hardly breathe she was burping up so much gas. her doctor told her she could have ruptured her stomach. So this one is no joke or myth.

I did that once when very, very drunk. I popped two in my mouth and tried to swallow them using a water fountain. They fizzed in my throat for a long, long time.

 

[Borek]

How to make guacamole:

 

[Monique]

I'll be trying the following chocolate cake tomorrow, which is basically chocolate with butter sin :) http://www.masterchef.com.au/bitter-chocolate-and-hazelnut-cake-with-raspberry-coulis.htm I can't wait!

 

[Evo]

I'll be trying the following chocolate cake tomorrow, which is basically chocolate with butter sin :) http://www.masterchef.com.au/bitter-chocolate-and-hazelnut-cake-with-raspberry-coulis.htm I can't wait!

Sounds delicious! I love chocolate, hazelnuts and raspberries.

 

[turbo]

Sounds delicious! I love chocolate, hazelnuts and raspberries.

What's not to love?

 

[alexg]

I've been making a lot of guac lately, and using it where ever I would use mayo.

 

[Borek]

Sounds delicious! I love chocolate, hazelnuts and raspberries.

I would add raisins.

 

[turbo]

I would add raisins.

Evo will ban you!

 

[Evo]

I would add raisins.

AAARRRGGH!

Evo will ban you!

That *is* a banable offense.

 

[rollcast]

AAARRRGGH!

That *is* a banable offense.

What's wrong with raisins they make a lot of things better.

Take an apple tart for example, raisins in there takes what was just an ordinary pie to a new extra ordinary level, also a bit of lemon juice, cinammon and orange zest helps as well.

 

[lisab]

If you soak them in rum first (or a spirit of your choice), raisins become something even an anti-raisin person could love :!).

 

[Evo]

What's wrong with raisins they make a lot of things better.

Take an apple tart for example, raisins in there takes what was just an ordinary pie to a new extra ordinary level, also a bit of lemon juice, cinammon and orange zest helps as well.

It's a joke about my intense dislike for chocolate covered raisin candy. They're an abomination.

 

[Monique]

Oohh, I like chocolate covered raisins, but I don't want raisins in my chocolate cake!

And I made the cake and it was DELICIOUS! actually the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted: the middle was still a gooey chocolate paste and the outside was crisp. It was best without the raspberry coulis, I thought it distracted from the intense chocolate flavor. We managed to eat half of the cake, which was quite a feat. It was actually quite nauseating melting almost equal amounts of chocolate and butter, but that feeling disappeared when a silken chocolate mixture appeared out of that :)

As a starter I made pea soup and as a main herb crumbled roast tomatoes with spinach and ricotta cannelloni. My guests rated me above a 4.5/5 star (TripAdvisor rating) restaurant that they visited the day before, so I can end the day on a good note

 

[Evo]

Oohh, I like chocolate covered raisins,

NOOOO! Et tu Monique?

And I made the cake and it was DELICIOUS! actually the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted: the middle was still a gooey chocolate paste and the outside was crisp. It was best without the raspberry coulis, I thought it distracted from the intense chocolate flavor. We managed to eat half of the cake, which was quite a feat. It was actually quite nauseating melting almost equal amounts of chocolate and butter, but that feeling disappeared when a silken chocolate mixture appeared out of that :)

As a starter I made pea soup and as a main herb crumbled roast tomatoes with spinach and ricotta cannelloni. My guests rated me above a 4.5/5 star (TripAdvisor rating) restaurant that they visited the day before, so I can end the day on a good note

YUM!

 

[Borek]

Oohh, I like chocolate covered raisins

 

[Evo]

It's...it's...it's just so wrong...

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Crock of baloney stew

My father told this joke on more than one occasion and it certainly was funny the first time. He said that he crossed an abalone with a crocodile in hopes of getting an abadile, but all he got was a crock of baloney. And since this is the primary electioneering season, I thought it would be appropriate to cook up a big batch of the stuff.

1.17 lbs of stew meat, as marbled as you can get.
4 carrots.
3 potatoes. Potatoes come in different sizes so you can substitute 4 potatoes as long as the total volume comes to the same as 3 potatoes.
Mushrooms.
1 Bell pepper. Cause I can't eat onions.
1 can of sweet corn kernels.
Some water.
Some wine. The less water you use, the more wine you will need. I tend to use a drop of water, but not too large a drop.
Curry powder. Not too much, and not too little, but just right for your own taste.

Sear the meat, cut the veggies, put all the ingredients in the crock pot. Set it and forget it. Oops, is that considered plagiarism? Republicans and Democrats alike will be relieved to hear that no baloneys were harmed in the production of this stew.

I've never actually tasted this stew. I just got it started. I'll find out tonight how it tastes. My wife is sure to say it tasted good though. She'll just be relieved she didn't have to cook tonight and will be reluctant to throttle my budding efforts at cooking.

 

[Evo]

Crock of baloney stew

My father told this joke on more than one occasion and it certainly was funny the first time. He said that he crossed an abalone with a crocodile in hopes of getting an abadile, but all he got was a crock of baloney. And since this is the primary electioneering season, I thought it would be appropriate to cook up a big batch of the stuff.

1.17 lbs of stew meat, as marbled as you can get.
4 carrots.
3 potatoes. Potatoes come in different sizes so you can substitute 4 potatoes as long as the total volume comes to the same as 3 potatoes.
Mushrooms.
1 Bell pepper. Cause I can't eat onions.
1 can of sweet corn kernels.
Some water.
Some wine. The less water you use, the more wine you will need. I tend to use a drop of water, but not too large a drop.
Curry powder. Not too much, and not too little, but just right for your own taste.

Sear the meat, cut the veggies, put all the ingredients in the crock pot. Set it and forget it. Oops, is that considered plagiarism? Republicans and Democrats alike will be relieved to hear that no baloneys were harmed in the production of this stew.

I've never actually tasted this stew. I just got it started. I'll find out tonight how it tastes. My wife is sure to say it tasted good though. She'll just be relieved she didn't have to cook tonight and will be reluctant to throttle my budding efforts at cooking.

You can't go wrong with beef and red wine. Are you using red curry? I *love* red curry with beef.

 

[Evo]

So, how was the stew? It sounded like a twist on the classic boeuf bourgignon.

 

[netgypsy]

Cooked raisins are disgusting!

In any recipe that calls for heating chocolate and butter over hot water you can instead heat them in the microwave until the butter is liquid and some of the chocolate is still solid. At that point remove from the microwave and stir the mixture until the remaining solid chocolate also melts. This mixture should be cooled to room temperature before adding to eggs or it can actually cook the eggs and make the end product tough. And when it says unsalted butter, it does make a difference even if you add salt later in the recipe. Another trick is to bring the eggs to room temperature before using them. We used to put them in our pockets to warm them faster. The cake recipe sounds wonderful - have to try it.

 

[Monique]

The cake recipe sounds wonderful - have to try it.

And I'm still enjoying it. I froze the left over cake and slowly defrost slices every other day. For the finishing touch I heat it in a low oven, to melt the interior slightly and regain a crispy crust. I had made up my mind to next time half the recipe and bake it in a smaller pan, now I'm reconsidering that thought

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

So, how was the stew? It sounded like a twist on the classic boeuf bourgignon.

It didn't go over well. Perhaps I should have used red curry.

 

[Borek]

1.17 lbs of

Why not 1.10 lbs? That would at least made a twisted sense to me.

 

[Evo]

It didn't go over well. Perhaps I should have used red curry.

I was going to give you some tips to consider but didn't want to come across wrong.