What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[turbo]

Oh god that sounds absolutely amazing. That said, when I die from cardiac failure my estate is suing this thread.

I hope Greg can withstand the damages.

One of my favorite potato applications is: boil in salted water, sweat some onions, then add smashed garlic and sautee... finish with freshly grated horseradish. Mash it all together with the potatoes and enough cream and butter to stun a rhino at a dozen paces. I recommend this with lamb or steak.

Whenever my wife or I make mashed potatoes, we boil them with the skins on, along with onions and peeled garlic cloves. Drain, mash everything, add salt, pepper, and butter and serve. Mmmm! My grandmother would have insisted on adding heavy cream before mashing, but she was a product of Depression-Era farm culture. I ate more butter and cream when I stayed with them (a week or two each summer) than I ever got at home. My grandfather was a heavy-equipment mechanic, tall and strong as an ox, and he burned it off. He had cream and berries on his cereal every morning before he got his fried eggs, bacon, buttered toast etc, ate a heavy lunch and supper, and polished off a big bowl of French vanilla ice cream every night.

He was lean and hard as a rock all his life.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Sounds like a woman with fine taste and excellent taco skills. You sir, are a lucky man.

Heh, well, yes, but I'm the cook around here, and that ain't saying much! I do, however, make a very fine taco. I thought I should learn how to cook at least one of the major food groups.

Toast and cereal are about the extent of my wife's cooking. She used to cook, but I'm lucky if I can get her near a stove once a year now.

 

[Evo]

One of my favorite potato applications is: boil in salted water, sweat some onions, then add smashed garlic and sautee... finish with freshly grated horseradish. Mash it all together with the potatoes and enough cream and butter to stun a rhino at a dozen paces. I recommend this with lamb or steak.

That sounds delicious! You're my kind of man!

Heh, well, yes, but I'm the cook around here, and that ain't saying much! I do, however, make a very fine taco. I thought I should learn how to cook at least one of the major food groups.

Toast and cereal are about the extent of my wife's cooking. She used to cook, but I'm lucky if I can get her near a stove once a year now.

I know you cook an awesome steak too!

My girls favorite potato dish are my "care free" potatoes. Potatoes looking like they "don't care". This was a dish their father's mother made that my ex "taught" to me. It's a bit labor intensive, instead of just chopping or slicing up the potato, you have to keep turning it and slicing off odd shaped pieces in approximately the same size. Knowing his mother, it was her lack of cooking skills, she probably just randomly hacked the potatoes apart.

Anyway, you should have randomly shaped pieces of potatoes no larger than a quarter in size. Melt a stick or more of butter in a large skillet, throw in some thinly sliced onions, the potatoes, salt and pepper, and toss and cook until the onions are caramelized and the potatoes are evenly browned. I like to get them a bit crispy before serving. Oddly the bizare shapes do seem to create different textures and flavors that you won't get with traditional chopped/sliced potatoes.

 

[Astronuc]

My daughter made a leek, potato, sausage, carrot and kale soup this evening. It really good, especially given how cool it has become. She added some chicken broth and some half-and-half to make it creamy. The sausage is a sweet Italian type, mildly spiced.

 

[Evo]

My daughter made a leek, potato, sausage, carrot and kale soup this evening. It really good, especially given how cool it has become. She added some chicken broth and some half-and-half to make it creamy. The sausage is a sweet Italian type, mildly spiced.

YUM! Do you have a recipe?

 

[Astronuc]

YUM! Do you have a recipe?

It was bascially scratch, but I'll see if I can reconstruct the process including quantities of ingredients and the order in which they were added.

I've made sausage and potatoes with peppers and onions (one could use leek with or instead of onions), but without adding as much water or broth as for soup. One could add celery too.

We've done kale and potato soup before.

Here's an example - POTATO AND KALE SOUP (CALDO VERDE)
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1648,151172-226199,00.html

another variation - http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1648,151172-227199,00.html

yet another - NEW BEDFORD PORTUGUESE KALE SOUP
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1848,128185-241194,00.html

I usually brown the sausage separately, then add onion (leek), and sliced or chopped potato (irregular shapes about the size of quarters or half dollars - like mother-in-law). Adding carrots is optional. If making soup, one can add sausage and ingredients to a pot, add kale, and then add water/broth.

 

[Phrak]

I've recently rediscoved Hummus. It's the pasty stuff they put in peta bread sandwiches. I spread it on Boogotti or toast. Sabra brand is what I found wonderful. Then I bought Tribe brand which is much too tart with much too much added citric acid in my taste.

For me it's all about the garlic. The hummus is the perfect medium for the garlic. The boogotti is for the hummus so you have something to chew on.

 

[nismaratwork]

I've recently rediscoved Hummus. It's the pasty stuff they put in peta bread sandwiches. I spread it on Boogotti or toast. Sabra brand is what I found wonderful. Then I bought Tribe brand which is much too tart with much too much added citric acid in my taste.

For me it's all about the garlic. The hummus is the perfect medium for the garlic. The boogotti is for the hummus so you have something to chew on.

Just snag some chick-peas, tahini, fresh lemon, garlic, and you can make your own in about 2 minutes. You can then make it exactly as you like it!

Edit: I recommend the use of cooked garlic (cut bulb in half, olive oil, bake until soft) as the base garlic flavor, then smashed fresh garlic for zing. Go easy on the tahini and taste often. I also find that a little parsley can add some mellow flavors to it. For an awesome sandwich, snag some feta or halumi cheese, pan fry it (tiny amount of olive oil) in 1/2 inch slices until well browned, then slice it like steak, tomato, onion, homemade hummus on pita.Oh yeah, my Kuwaiti pals usually eat some pickled radish and beets along with some cornichons... really REALLY good. If you like hummus, have you tried tzatziki? It's a Greek yogurt sauce... yogurt, cucumber, garlic, dill, lemon juice.

 

[Astronuc]

I've recently rediscoved Hummus. It's the pasty stuff they put in peta bread sandwiches. I spread it on Boogotti or toast. Sabra brand is what I found wonderful. Then I bought Tribe brand which is much too tart with much too much added citric acid in my taste.

For me it's all about the garlic. The hummus is the perfect medium for the garlic. The boogotti is for the hummus so you have something to chew on.

I love Sabra products. Here are some recipes - http://www.sabra.com/recipes

 

[nismaratwork]

I love Sabra products. Here are some recipes - http://www.sabra.com/recipes

Sabra is the crack of the store-brand hummus world... their garlic with the sprinkle of garlic on top?... oh god.

 

[turbo]

I opened a bottle of Melinda's Jalapeno Ketchup this morning to dress up my fried potatoes. That is the best ketchup I have ever tasted. Nice and thick with chunks of chilies...

 

[Monique]

Sabra has a hummus topped with spicy pepper sauce... only the sauce isn't spicy I always add my own.

Today I baked up some more fruit. I had some hand pears that weren't too juicy lying around. I decided to caramelize them in butter and sugar with some cinnamon, yumm! It feels like christmas

 

[Je m'appelle]

Breakfast:

- 2 glasses of milk
- 1 glass of orange juice
- 1 cup of coffee
- 1 whole wheat bread ham sandwich
- 5 bananas with 80g of granola
- 2 eggs + sliced ham

pre-lunch:

- 1 protein shake
- 3 protein bars
- fruit salad (optional)

lunch:

- 350-500g of meat
- vegetables, legumes, salads, fruits
- 2-4 glasses of milk
- 4 eggs

pre-dinner:

- 1 protein shake
- 3 protein bars
- fruit salad (optional)

dinner:

similar to lunch, but recipes may vary.

post-dinner:

- 1 protein shake
- 1 maltodextrin shake
- 3 protein bars (optional)
- fruit salad (optional)

 

[Borek]

Looks like a recipe for

 

[Phrak]

Yah, guys, Sabra has all kinds of cool humus variants. They also have tahini without the humus. I tried it though like the humus better. They also make an egg plant spread I haven't tried.I baked my first cake today---well, yesterday, from scratch: Yellow cake with cream frosting. Since my 8 yr old has show some interest, since 3 or 4, mixing-up mysterious concoctions in the kitchen, we gave it a shot. It was a fine disaster. The dough didn't rise enough and the frosting had a double dose of salt. We stuck three candles in it and sang happy-birthday to my wife. I think she appreciated the effort.

 

[nismaratwork]

Looks like a recipe for

Hey, how did you get a pic of my friend Gustav?!

 

[mugaliens]

Breakfast:

- 2 glasses of milk
- 1 glass of orange juice
- 1 cup of coffee
- 1 whole wheat bread ham sandwich
- 5 bananas with 80g of granola
- 2 eggs + sliced ham

pre-lunch:

- 1 protein shake
- 3 protein bars
- fruit salad (optional)

lunch:

- 350-500g of meat
- vegetables, legumes, salads, fruits
- 2-4 glasses of milk
- 4 eggs

pre-dinner:

- 1 protein shake
- 3 protein bars
- fruit salad (optional)

dinner:

similar to lunch, but recipes may vary.

post-dinner:

- 1 protein shake
- 1 maltodextrin shake
- 3 protein bars (optional)
- fruit salad (optional)

And what's this regime for? An Olympic weight-lifter? Even when I was running all over the place in college, playing intermurals, running 5 miles every other day, and walking about 2 miles a day all over campus, I NEVER ate this much food.

I never ate even half this much food.

 

[Je m'appelle]

And what's this regime for? An Olympic weight-lifter? Even when I was running all over the place in college, playing intermurals, running 5 miles every other day, and walking about 2 miles a day all over campus, I NEVER ate this much food.

I never ate even half this much food.

I'm currently on a weightlifting program, with muscle hypertrophy as a goal, though I don't intend to become a professional bodybuilder or even get that much muscle mass, the diet must be pretty rough in order to achieve considerable results. I'm currently in a "bulking" phase, which means I'm gaining mass, so I have to eat like a monster.

 

[Evo]

I'm currently on a weightlifting program, with muscle hypertrophy as a goal, though I don't intend to become a professional bodybuilder or even get that much muscle mass, the diet must be pretty rough in order to achieve considerable results. I'm currently in a "bulking" phase, which means I'm gaining mass, so I have to eat like a monster.

You're posting in the wrong thread, this thread is about recipes, cooking methods, cooking untensils, books and tv shows about cooking.

I hope you realize that what you are eating is potentially harmful to your internal organs and you should only do this under constant supervision of a real doctor.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

How to select fruits and vegetables

Do we have any hints? I know how to pick a good watermelon but that's about it - thump and listen for the hollow sound. In particular I would like to know any tricks to picking red and green bell peppers, onions, and garlic. Also, apples, oranges, pears.

 

[Monique]

How can you go wrong with bell peppers? The onions and the garlic need to be firm and I always look out that the onions are not moldy.

I have no clue about apples, oranges and pears. I'm never too lucky with those (that's why they get baked into deserts). For some reason grapefruits are always juicy and full of flavor, so I always go with those instead of the oranges.

 

[DaveC426913]

How can you go wrong with bell peppers?

My wife has a (mild) anaphylactic reaction to bell peppers.

Bell peppers are the "filler" of modern meals. They are in EVerything.

Eating anywhere other than home is a Herculean task of communicating with waitpersons and cafeteria staff.


Oh, and what doesn't have peppers in it has eggs in it. Guess what else she has an allergy to?

 

[G037H3]

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...opnav=bdoff#ProductInfoTabs_ProductDetailsTab

I eat like 2 of these a day, in different flavours...1 has 500 calories >_>

 

[Monique]

My wife has a (mild) anaphylactic reaction to bell peppers.

Bell peppers are the "filler" of modern meals. They are in EVerything.

Eating anywhere other than home is a Herculean task of communicating with waitpersons and cafeteria staff.


Oh, and what doesn't have peppers in it has eggs in it. Guess what else she has an allergy to?

That's too bad, it's really puzzling why the human body can have such an exaggerated reaction to products that are completely harmless. I've found myself reacting badly to certain food items this past week, I'm not sure what happened

The good thing this week was that I made a vegetarian meal for a notoriously critical person and he said "I would become a vegetarian, if I could get food like this every day". Can't get a better compliment [URL]http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/happy/veryhappy.gif[/URL]

 

[turbo]

I share food with a vegetarian. I made a huge batch of stuff out of peppers and garlic when cleaning out the garden, with every kind of peppers from roaring-hot habaneros all the way to ripe bell peppers, and LOTS of fresh Russian garlic. I put in all kinds of our fresh basil, dill, and scallions, too, and processed the stuff until it was just short of a "sauce", but not as chunky as my regular chili relish. It is killer on hot-dogs, and as a source of spice, richness, and heat for pizza sauce, so my neighbor can use it to dress up the faux-meats that he will eat. Tonight, my wife is making a big batch of spaghetti sauce using my home-made marinara as the base, and the chili-garlic sauce for "piquant"ness. I LOVE my garden and kitchen.

Edit: If I could stand (medically) being in the presence of people wearing fragranced products, I wouldn't mind starting a mini "nom nom" truck serving bowls of chili, soup, sandwiches, burgers, dogs, etc (with my home-made condiments, of course). I'd hit a large town nearby around lunch-time and take orders on my cell-phone so people could dash in for quick pick-ups. There is just such a truck for sale locally, but it is more heavily geared toward deep-frying and grilling (State Fair food). I'd have to have about 1/2 grill and 1/2 range to make it work.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

How can you go wrong with bell peppers? The onions and the garlic need to be firm and I always look out that the onions are not moldy.

I have no clue about apples, oranges and pears. I'm never too lucky with those (that's why they get baked into deserts). For some reason grapefruits are always juicy and full of flavor, so I always go with those instead of the oranges.

With oranges, I wonder if one could compare the relative density. I don't know if the difference in water content is large enough to detect by feel, or not, but I'm guessing that more water is better? Still, this says nothing about the sweetness. As for apples and pears, I don't even have a guess. Some of the seemingly best looking apples can be woody and dry.

 

[Monique]

I share food with a vegetarian. I made a huge batch of stuff out of peppers and garlic when cleaning out the garden, with every kind of peppers from roaring-hot habaneros all the way to ripe bell peppers, and LOTS of fresh Russian garlic. I put in all kinds of our fresh basil, dill, and scallions, too, and processed the stuff until it was just short of a "sauce", but not as chunky as my regular chili relish. It is killer on hot-dogs, and as a source of spice, richness, and heat for pizza sauce, so my neighbor can use it to dress up the faux-meats that he will eat. Tonight, my wife is making a big batch of spaghetti sauce using my home-made marinara as the base, and the chili-garlic sauce for "piquant"ness. I LOVE my garden and kitchen.

I'm jealous, the closest that I have come to a garden was some stalks of mint standing in the kitchen. Slowly all the leaves started to disappear and after a few days I noticed a caterpillar that was having a feast. I tried to save the plant, but then my boyfriend threw it out thinking that it was trash.

The descriptions of your sauces always make my mouth water. I'm not good at making those at all, but my mother-in-law is. Once in a while I get a batch of fiery hot pepper sauce, which always makes my day.

 

[turbo]

Monique, if you can find an end-of season sale on hot peppers, here is what you should do. Buy some of the chilies, and get some fresh garlic (probably at least 1/4 the weight of the peppers). Puree them in a blender with some sweet peppers, fresh basil, dill, onion, scallion, salt and a bit of good olive oil and simmer the mix until it is thick enough to stick onto a spoon. Jar that, cover it (no heat-processing or canning) and refrigerate it. You'll find ways to use it, and that will give you ideas on how to improve the recipe next time. Some of these sauces are great "neat" on some foods, and some are killer in casseroles, pasta sauces, etc, that can benefit from a little "kick". My wife and I both love garlic and chili heat, and the fresh herbs add so much. Basil in particular is a wonderful herb, because it imparts a mild "sweet" flavor to sauces and cuts sourness without any added sugars.

 

[Evo]

Ack, I'll be having more tests for post-operative problems. One problem I might have means I have to go on a strict diet.

No spices (which means no peppers), no tomato products, no citrus fruits, no sugar like products as in honey, corn syrup, glucose, fructose, dextrose, no fats.

I need high protein and low carbohydrates, yet high fiber, and lay on my side for an hour every time I eat eat, which should be 6 times a day.

Oh, and I can't drink anything during meals. I can drink only between meals.

No alcohol.

 

[lisab]

Ack, I'll be having more tests for post-operative problems. One problem I might have means I have to go on a strict diet.

No spices (which means no peppers), no tomato products, no citrus fruits, no sugar like products as in honey, corn syrup, glucose, fructose, dextrose, no fats.

I need high protein and low carbohydrates, yet high fiber, and lay on my side for an hour every time I eat eat, which should be 6 times a day.

Oh, and I can't drink anything during meals. I can drink only between meals.

No alcohol.

That sounds horrible ...how long would you have to do all this?