What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Jimmy Snyder]

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

Don't be shy, I'll listen to any advise no matter how wrong it is. Just look at Borek's ridiculous and highly insulting suggestion above.

 

[Evo]

Don't be shy, I'll listen to any advise no matter how wrong it is. Just look at Borek's ridiculous and highly insulting suggestion above.

Alrighty then!

 

[netgypsy]

Your stew sounds fine - probably just needs aging and a few additives.

Never fail beef stew
1 large can Dinty Moore Beef stew
1 large tomato chopped
3 spring onions chopped
garlic to taste
frozen peas thawed in microwave
frozen corn thawed in microwave
left over red wine that's been in the frig for ever if you have any
frozen green beans thawed in microwave if you wish ( I do three minutes on frozen vegs)
any leftover beef, spaghetti sauce (NOT the sweet kind), hamburger
dried shriveled up hot peppers from the back of the frig
any other leftovers that seem like they would meld well
spinach goes well too - leftover, canned or frozen
leftover sausage, either link or patty go well also
fresh carrot nuked until soft and then sliced

Dump all the ingredients into a large pan. Heat until it starts to simmer at least. Season to taste. Eat with homemade biscuits or cornbread. Save leftovers as they get better each day.

Things that from experience don't go well in it - black beans, red beans, lentils, etc., pasta, things with lemon, capers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage is iffy - not much is probably OK, basil, hot dogs, chicken, collard greens, cheese.

 

[Evo]

Don't be shy, I'll listen to any advise no matter how wrong it is. Just look at Borek's ridiculous and highly insulting suggestion above.

I was going to suggest reading these recipes to get some ideas.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/beef-stew-in-red-wine-sauce

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beef-bourguignon-recipe/index.html

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Clinton-Kelly-Beef-Bourguignon

 

[netgypsy]

I don't particularly like corn in beef stew. It's great in Brunswick stew with lima beans. Especially when cut fresh from the cot. It is interesting that the recipe from the Chew did leave out the peas and something else I think.

 

[netgypsy]

In honor of St. Paddy's day, as some of our family are indeed Irish, I wanted to share the fact that Irish Potatoes come from South America and that they have a huge number of different types. Now you can find probably six or seven varieties of potato but as a kid there were the regular russet, what is called "new potato" which is a young russet, a the redskin used for potato salad. Now they have the golds and the purples and several white varieties. When we lived in Colombia we asked Colombian friends what they found to be the most fascinating thing the US when they visited. All agreed that it was our grocery stores. They were enthralled by them. No wonder so many of us are horizontally enhanced - so many great things to eat now. My Colombian students told me that each time they spent the summer in the US they gained 15 pounds. Higher calories and more food and less walking

 

[turbo]

As a kid (about 50 years ago) we had varietal potatoes in Maine. One of the best was Katahdins. They were pretty resistant to rot, and kept well. There were more varieties, but we couldn't afford to plant 1/4 acre of each to try them out...

 

[netgypsy]

Forgot, in the quick and easy and amazingly good beef stew, be sure the red wine is DRY. This is a great recipe to use up wine you forgot to drink as it doesn't matter if it's gotten a bit vinegary.

 

[Astronuc]

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

I think it has to be rum. And then perhaps baked into a rum cake.

 

[lisab]

Curry is good.



OK that was half random thought. Maybe we need a random food thought thread?

 

[alexg]

I just had a pizza delivered, and I think it would have been tastier if I'd eaten the cardboard box.

I'm just too damn lazy to make my own.

 

[netgypsy]

cooked raisins, rum or not - gaaaggg

Green curry with real Thai eggplant - amazing!

made eggplant salad tonight and it turned out quite good. I ate the whole thing.
1 medium eggplant nuked until soft
1 medium tomato
parsley
cilantro if you like it
greek olives
three spring onions
extra virgin olive oil
1 cap of fish sauce
lemon juice to taste

scrape the inside of the eggplant into a bowl and use scissors to cut it up into small pieces
slice spring onions
chop tomato
chop parsley and cilantro
combine and add fish sauce and olives and olive oil
add lemon juice last and stir.
Good as a dip also but I like it plain
Just use salt if you don't have fish sauce DON'T use soy sauce. You can use some anchovy paste in maybe half teaspoon of water instead of fish sauce.

I served this with Indian chicken in a yoghurt sauce with some tomato in it also. I'm sooo stuffed.
Dessert - 1/2 cup heavy cream, unsweetened cocoa, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to taste. Whip until stiff - instant mousse.

 

[Monique]

A full-grain sandwich with goat cheese and raisins, yumm.

 

[turbo]

My wife bought me some Applegate Farms uncured ham (no preservatives or additives) and last night she made me a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with mustard. (I was not feeling well, after dealing with the guy that tuned up our furnace, since his clothing smelled like perfume, Bounce and other crap.) This morning I chopped ham, fried it in butter with a bit of onion, and dumped in some scrambled eggs to make a quick-and-dirty ham omelet. I usually like to cook, but tossing stuff together works when you're feeling crappy. My sinuses are stuffed up and my arthritis is flared up, so I hope today is another "summer" day that I can spend on the back deck with Duke.

 

[netgypsy]

Sounds yummy Turbo. And you could do the chopping in larger quantities to have ready when you're too tired to do anything more challenging.

For those of you who love a good pasta sauce but don't have time to make it Gia Russa makes a Cherry Tomato sauce that is really great. I like Serrafina a little better but can't seem to find it any more. Both are a bit pricey - about $6 for about a 24 ounce jar - but it's made with fresh cherry and San Marzano tomatoes, olive oil, fresh garlilc and fresh basil. And NO SUGAR in it. One of the few that doesn't have added sugar. I use them as a base, added chopped tomatoes, more garlic, more basil, peppers and whatever else I happen to have that goes well. It makes a great base for pasta, pizza, chili, vegetable soup, eggplant Parmesan, and I've even used it for gumbo and jambalaya. Walmart has one bottled sauce that is not bad and cheaper - about $4 - but I can't remember the brand. Out of all their varieties I found only one worth eating.

Forgot to mention I'm doing home made potato chips. I got a cheap mandoline from Kmart (thank you Martha Stewart), slice them right over the oil and they're done in no time. You can also do them in the microwave if you lightly oil your clean microwave glass dish and nuke until they start turning brown. Just watch the first batch to see how long your oven takes. If you use small potatoes you can get a carb fix with no oil this way and if you eat the meat, veggies and fats first you don't spike your blood sugar.

 

[Astronuc]

Curry is good.


OK that was half random thought. Maybe we need a random food thought thread?

Curry spices: cumin, coriander, fenugreek, tumeric, etc are all very good for one's health.
http://www.mccormickgourmet.com/Products/Blends/Curry-Powder-Hot-Madras.aspx

I usually add some habanero hot sauce to my curry dishes.

 

[turbo]

There is no need for added sugar in tomato sauce. Want to add "sweetness"? Add basil and simmer. No extra calories, and the smell and taste is to die for.

My wife bought a mandoline a while back, and it is quite handy for processing small batches of raw vegetables. I prefer the old ways, and reach for my Sabbatier knives whenever I'm slicing or chopping. If I could justify the cost, I'd buy an entire set of Thiers-Issard cutlery from the little tiny paring knives at least through the 9" chef's knifes. Their knives are killer.

 

[Evo]

I grew up with a mandoline, my mother had a professional one that you could adjust to accommodate to do anything. All I have is a cheapo plastic japanese mandoline, but when you're cutting a lot, or uniformity is important and you want to go fast, that thing blazes though vegetables. No need to get a cuisinart dirty just to slice something. Small jobs, I use a knife.

I agree on the no sugar in tomato sauce.

 

[lisab]

There is no need for added sugar in tomato sauce. Want to add "sweetness"? Add basil and simmer. No extra calories, and the smell and taste is to die for.

Or a carrot.

 

[Evo]

Or a carrot.

I found out that is actually a common trick with italian cooks, just discovered it a few months ago. If you grate it up fine, no one will even know it's in there. Never too late to learn new tricks.

 

[turbo]

Shredded carrots can do wonders. I prefer basil, but you can do a lot with carrots. Plus, they tend to add bulk as a sauce is thickening.

 

[dlgoff]

I grew up with a mandoline, my mother had a professional one that you could adjust to accommodate to do anything.

Dang. At first I thought I was going to hear music to dine by.

But learned what it really is.

http://canfieldcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/mandoline-300x230.jpg

 

[rollcast]

My parents were working late tonight so I was left in charge of dinner.

I started to make burgers and couldn't find any onion to put in them, so I chopped up some smoked bacon, some dried chilli and tomato and then I added some maple syrup to the mix to add a bit of stickiness.

Delicious.

 

[Astronuc]

I like a double or triple meat (patty) bacon cheeseburger (real cheese, e.g., monterrey jack) with avocado and jalapeños (or better habaneros) with hot sauce - on a toasted multigrain bun.

 

[dlgoff]

I like a double or triple meat (patty) bacon cheeseburger (real cheese, e.g., monterrey jack) with avocado and jalapenos (or better habaneros) with hot sauce - on a toasted multigrain bun.

Me too, minus the avocado.

 

[Astronuc]

My usual breakfast sandwich is sausage, bacon, egg and cheese with jalapeños on a roll.

It's my minimum daily requirement of red meat, cholesterol, saturated fat and salt.

 

[netgypsy]

On the chew a few weeks ago they made a burger and topped it with barbecued pulled pork and I think slaw and who knows what else. Hard to find a good burger today. The steak houses have pretty good ones and steak and shake isn't bad. They have one with guacamole that was interesting. I never buy raw burger - always buy the whole cut and get it ground or grind it myself. I do wonder why frozen beef doesn't hold together in a burger like the unfrozen. Where are our resident tissue experts? Have to ask Google.

 

[turbo]

Supermarket frozen beef is almost guaranteed to contain pink slime. My wife buys ground buffalo meat (locally-grown animals) from the local artisan butcher, and it holds together beautifully in a skillet and out on the grill. Tastes great, too. Some supermarket chains have vowed to stop selling ground beef containing pink slime, but it should be noted that many of them get their beef from huge processors and they might not actually have the control that they claim to have.

 

[netgypsy]

Still haven't found out why freezing beef before grinding or after for that matter keeps it from sticking together. Freezing does rupture cell membranes but why would that cause the ground beef to be less sticky??

 

[turbo]

Please refer to the previous post (4532). Frozen beef from a supermarket has often contained quite a bit of "pink slime" (you should Google that). If you buy decent cuts and grind it yourself, it will hold together lots better during cooking.

 

[netgypsy]

Nope this is beef you grind yourself. I never buy supermarket ground beef. Can't remember where I read it but I have noticed it's true that it doesn't stick together well after it's frozen.

 

[turbo]

Nope this is beef you grind yourself. I never buy supermarket ground beef. Can't remember where I read it but I have noticed it's true that it doesn't stick together well after it's frozen.

My wife and I don't get ground beef from supermarkets, but from a local butcher-shop. When ground beef is on sale, she'll buy a lot and we'll repackage it and put in in our chest freezers. These are very cold freezers, not self-defrosting compartments in a refrigerator/freezer combo, so that might make a difference. We don't have any problems with burger-patties falling apart during cooking.

Before the local butcher shop opened up, we did have problems with frozen or re-frozen, re-packaged beef falling apart and sometimes even had to resort to using eggs as a binder when making patties. I like my patties thick (and rare in the center) and that is very hard to achieve when your patties crack or break.

 

[Evo]

My grocery store has a new "Manager's Special" section where they put all of the half price or less meat, poultry etc... I loaded up on 56 cent chicken & 99 cent smoked ham hocks. I felt like I won the lottery, finally no more hunting and guessing when something might get marked down. For non-perishable items, they fill shopping carts labeled 50% off along the front of the store. Brilliant.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

A couple of days ago when we were in the grocery, my wife picked up a package of corned beef and asked me if I wanted it. I said no, not especially. Last night she informed me that she bought it anyway and that I should cook it tonight. I asked her how to do it and she said she didn't know, I should look it up on the net. I found a recipe and it looks pretty easy. The recipe said use the packet of spices that came with the corned beef. Well how did they know there would be one there? Anyway here it is:

2.16 lbs of corned beef, with a packet of spices.
6 small red potatoes skin on
4 carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces.
A cabbage cut into wedges.

Put the corned beef in a pot and cover it with water. Add the spices from the packet.
Bring to a boil and then simmer.
Simmer 50 minutes per pound i.e. 1 hr and 48 minutes. or until tender.
Then put in the potatoes and keep simmering until they're almost but not quite soft enough to eat.
Add the cabbage and simmer for 15 more minutes.
Remove the meat and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Put the veggies in a bowl and add as much broth as you please.
Chew 15 times before swallowing.
Eat it all up, remember there are children starving in Africa.
Brush your teeth after each meal.
Wait one hour before swimming.

 

[turbo]

Corned beef with vegetables is fun and easy, Jimmy, and it sounds like you've got a fool-proof recipe. Don't add any salt to the broth or to the vegetables. "Corned" means "salted", so there will be plenty of salt in the broth already. I like to add some quartered yellow onions and some chunks of turnip, too, but that's me. Whenever I cook a big hunk of meat, I start trending toward the more traditional New England boiled dinner. Trim the fat off that hunk of brined brisket before you get started - the fat gets slippery and unappetizing when simmered for a long time and you don't need all that grease in your broth. If you have lots of vegetables and meat left over after your meal, coarsely grind it in a meat grinder, feeding in enough vegetables to look "balanced". Pan fry that hash in butter and serve with sunnyside-up eggs. Good luck.

 

[Evo]

A couple of days ago when we were in the grocery, my wife picked up a package of corned beef and asked me if I wanted it. I said no, not especially. Last night she informed me that she bought it anyway and that I should cook it tonight. I asked her how to do it and she said she didn't know, I should look it up on the net. I found a recipe and it looks pretty easy. The recipe said use the packet of spices that came with the corned beef. Well how did they know there would be one there? Anyway here it is:

2.16 lbs of corned beef, with a packet of spices.
6 small red potatoes skin on
4 carrots peeled and cut into 3 inch pieces.
A cabbage cut into wedges.

Put the corned beef in a pot and cover it with water. Add the spices from the packet.
Bring to a boil and then simmer.
Simmer 50 minutes per pound i.e. 1 hr and 48 minutes. or until tender.
Then put in the potatoes and keep simmering until they're almost but not quite soft enough to eat.
Add the cabbage and simmer for 15 more minutes.
Remove the meat and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Put the veggies in a bowl and add as much broth as you please.

Yep, you can't go wrong with corned beef, did you get a point or flat cut? Dont forget to cut it across the grain when you serve it.

Chew 15 times before swallowing.
Eat it all up, remember there are children starving in Africa.
Brush your teeth after each meal.
Wait one hour before swimming.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Because when you eat salt, you sprinkle some corn on the cob on it?

 

[turbo]

Because when you eat salt, you sprinkle some corn on the cob on it?

Fun with old words.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Flat cut.

 

[Evo]

Flat cut.

Good cut, less fat than the point.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

3 inch pieces, are you kidding? That would choke a horse. I choked a horse with a 3 inch piece just to be sure. I changed it to 1 inch pieces. If you already cooked this and your horse choked on the carrot pieces, you have my apologies.

 

[turbo]

By the time you have simmered the 3" pieces of carrots, you could feed them to babies safely. Mush!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Need help. URGENT!. Oh yeah, you guys hate it when people say that. I'll start again. Need help. YOU CAN TAKE YOUR SWEET TIME ABOUT IT TOO!. I trimmed the fat like turbo said. What a rip. We'll be having corn beef canapes tonight. I figured 1 hr 48 minutes based on 2.16 lbs. Now the weight has changed significantly and I don't know what it is. Maybe that's OK. The recipe said "or until tender". So what do I do, tell it a sad story and see if it cries? Anyway I put the meat in the pot and covered it with water like the recipe says. There's just enough water there to boil the potatoes and carrots but not the cabbage. What do I do, put the cabbage on top and let the steam cook it?

 

[turbo]

You started the brisket first, right? You need to get that part done first. Hard vegetables like potato, carrot, turnip need some more time in the broth than the softer ones like onions and cabbage. And yes, keep the pot covered and DON'T PEEK so that the vegetables will steam. Steam actually cooks the vegetables better than simmering water.

Sorry about the fat thing. You have to choose lean cuts of corned beef, or you'll lose a lot just trimming off most of the fat. Those vacuum-sealed bags of corned beef in the supermarket are not always a good deal. If you have a good kosher butcher shop nearby, you can do a LOT better. Our local butcher is not kosher, but typically the kosher shops have a higher level of quality, IMO.

 

[turbo]

PF, the on-line recipe source. Food Network for geeks.

 

[Evo]

I don't ever trim the fat off corned beef. It gives needed flavor. I skim the fat off after cooking is finished. The cabbage will wilt down to a fraction of it's beginning size. Add just a handful at a time if your pot isn't big enough. The corned beef should have also become smaller. I like my cabbage boiled until soft, it also absorbs more flavor. But that is just my preference, which is ALWAYS RIGHT.

 

[turbo]

But that is just my preference, which is ALWAYS RIGHT.

Food Nazi! I always trim excess fat (leave a little) to avoid turning the broth into a greasy soup. Not so much of a problem with chuck roasts (New England boiled dinner), but it can become problematic IMO in the case of poorly-trimmed brisket. Even the flat cuts can have more fat than I want, and I'm ALWAYS RIGHT.

 

[Evo]

Food Nazi! I always trim excess fat (leave a little) to avoid turning the broth into a greasy soup. Not so much of a problem with chuck roasts (New England boiled dinner), but it can become problematic IMO in the case of poorly-trimmed brisket. Even the flat cuts can have more fat than I want, and I'm ALWAYS RIGHT.

Ok, we're both always right!

But we are the ONLY right ones. Of course there will always be those that prefer to be wrong, what can we do?

 

[turbo]

But we are the ONLY right ones. Of course there will always be those that prefer to be wrong, what can we do?

Get them a show on the Food Network?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

OK. My wife's back. She said that without the fat it won't taste as good. I said, in my best turbo voice, but then it will become slippery and unappetizing and we don't want all that grease in the broth. She said ok and told me to put the fat in the freezer so she can cook collards with it. Suits me. Collards are already slippery and unappetizing, what harm could a little more do? Then she said quarter the potatoes. I would have told her that the recipe said whole potatoes, but the recipe was not within striking distance. The potatoes have been quartered. She's cutting me some slack though. She said this is an experiment and if it doesn't work out it's ok.