The Cooking Thread
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I'm rather liking Chinese, myself, at the moment. Broccoli beef last week. Sweet and sour chicken tonight. I used about half of the 3-pound package of chicken, so I have enough for some kung pao in a couple of days, after the rest of the ingredients appear in the next batch of groceries. And I have everything I need for shrimp with honey walnuts some time real soon. All made with tamari, rather than regular soy sauce, so they're gluten free and I can eat them.
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Saw these at the store today and I could not resist. Plan to try them this weekend.
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@boomzilla said in The Cooking Thread:
Saw these at the store today and I could not resist. Plan to try them this weekend.
They were not too bad, but certainly no replacement for bacon. An amusing novelty.
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@boomzilla you're looking at it all wrong. It's not a replacement for bacon, it's an accompaniment for bacon ;-)
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Dinner: Prawns with honeyed walnuts.
Not as good as my favorite Chinese restaurant, but it's 1800 miles away and cooks with gluten, so I'll make do with homemade.
The name is a bit of a misnomer. The walnuts are candied in a simple sugar-water syrup, not honey. The honey is in the sauce.
Lessons learned:
- Use shrimp without tails. The fried coating isn't really conducive to removing the tails when eating them.
- When using 2 12-ounce packages of shrimp, increase the amount of sauce proportionately (1.5x). The nominal recipe isn't quite enough for that much shrimp.
- I'm not quite sure what the takeaway is on this. The recipe says to fry the shrimp in small batches. When I fried the first batch, then prepped the second batch, the oil burned while prepping it. When I prepped the shrimp ahead, ready to start frying the next batch as soon as the previous one was done, the egg/cornstarch got all gloppy and the shrimp stuck together. Neither technique is ideal.
Also, cooking them in small batches, the earlier batches are cold by the time the meal is done. Next time, I might try the deep fryer to cook them in not-so-small batches, rather than the wok.
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@HardwareGeek said in The Cooking Thread:
Also, cooking them in small batches, the earlier batches are cold by the time the meal is done.
That's what an oven (on low) can help a lot with.
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@dkf Of course. Too bad I didn't think of that last night.
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@dkf said in The Cooking Thread:
@HardwareGeek said in The Cooking Thread:
Also, cooking them in small batches, the earlier batches are cold by the time the meal is done.
That's what an oven (on low) can help a lot with.
Depends on how low your oven goes, and whether it gets s has or electric.
Our oven has a low of 170F, which will overcook lots of stuff and especially seafood.
If you have a gas oven it gets even worse because burning natural gas or propane creates water vapor, which kills any sort of breading or browning.
I get around the 170F limitation by starting it on low and then shutting it off as soon as it beeps for preheat and then open the door for a moment. Preheated doesn't usually mean preheated. It means the first time that the temp sensor has measured the desired temperature, but the metal interior is still a bit lower. If you "preheat" to 170F, shit it off and let some of the hot (170F air) out, it seems to settle around 130-140F, which won't overcook seafood and just keeps things warm.
YMMV
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@Polygeekery said in The Cooking Thread:
shit it off
Remind me never to eat anything you've cooked in your oven.
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@HardwareGeek those are the kinds of autocorrections you get when you curse a lot.
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@Polygeekery said in The Cooking Thread:
Our oven has a low of 170F, which will overcook lots of stuff and especially seafood.
Seafood is tricky unless you're stewing it. Mostly we'll try to bring it to the table immediately.
If you have a gas oven it gets even worse because burning natural gas or propane creates water vapor, which kills any sort of breading or browning.
The cognoscenti seem to believe that the best combination in general is a gas hob and an electric oven. (I have electric for both, and an additional coal-fired double-oven where one of them is just right for keeping food warm.)
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@dkf said in The Cooking Thread:
(I have electric for both, and an additional coal-fired double-oven where one of them is just right for keeping food warm.)
I've always found it weird that a range is somehow the quintessential feature of a British country kitchen.
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Hobo packets for dinner tonight. Chicken, smoked sausage, potatoes, carrots, onion and bell peppers.
Campfire pies for dessert. This is probably how @boomzilla eats every night.
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@Polygeekery said in The Cooking Thread:
Hobo packets for dinner tonight. Chicken, smoked sausage, potatoes, carrots, onion and bell peppers.
Campfire pies for dessert. This is probably how @boomzilla eats every night.
Every night on a Cub Scout camp out. Haven't done that for several years now. I was always the fire guy. We just called them foil dinners.
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@boomzilla said in The Cooking Thread:
We just called them foil dinners.
You're entirely too PC for my tastes.
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My grocery store had rib roasts on sale for Easter so I made one. This time I used my big cast iron pan and added some cut up potatoes.
.Before...
.Came out great. Forgot to get the picture until I'd had it out and resting (uncovered for the picture) and started on the sauce.
.On the table...
.On my plate...
That was an excellent meal.
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The cake is not a lie. Or it won't be in about 45 minutes.
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Verdict: success
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@Karla said in The Cooking Thread:
@boomzilla said in The Cooking Thread:
Some people don't?
Our former architect would proudly proclaim the height of his culinary skills: Having bought a nuke-ready meal, he was capable of converting the included instructions which assumed a 700W microwave to work in his 1000W microwave.
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@dkf I've long said (usually in the context of cooking and manliness) that cooking is just applied chemistry.
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I've recently realized that some dishes I make just haven't been spicy enough. So I got me some ghost pepper powder:
I considered Carolina Reaper but that has twice the maximum Scoville rating so I should save that for when I really need it.
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@boomzilla said in The Cooking Thread:
I should save that for when I really need it.
Like when some relative has overstayed their welcome?
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@HardwareGeek more like when I'm on the verge of capsaicin immunity.
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@boomzilla said in The Cooking Thread:
I considered Carolina Reaper
Just opened a bottle of Carolina Reaper hot sauce. Its reputation is well-earned…
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@dkf just used my ghost pepper powder. Just a few sprinkles and it was marvelous. Could have gone a bit heavier but was very pleasant. Since it was my first time using it I didn't want to go overboard. I sampled a bit while cooking and the heat level seemed good.
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We're so grateful for the incredible response to our new pasta shape! Due to overwhelming demand, orders placed now for Cascatelli will ship in approximately 12 weeks. We really appreciate your patience. We promise it'll be worth the wait!
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How it started:
Margaritas and home made "Doritos"
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@boomzilla the depressing one is supposed to be the second picture.
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@Gąska that'll be the tequila hangover in the morning.
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@boomzilla No powder in a jar deserves to be labeled "cheddar".
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@boomzilla I'm assuming it'll look like your new avatar.
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@HardwareGeek said in The Cooking Thread:
@boomzilla No powder in a jar deserves to be labeled "cheddar".
Nothing labeled "cheddar" deserves anything. Worst cheese ever, second only to American cheese.
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@Gąska If your only exposure to cheddar is the "mild" cheddar that is ubiquitous in the US, I can see how you might come to have that opinion. But an extra-sharp cheddar that's been aged for 2+ years is one of the best cheeses ever.
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@HardwareGeek said in The Cooking Thread:
@Gąska If your only exposure to cheddar is the "mild" cheddar that is ubiquitous in the US, I can see how you might come to have that opinion. But an extra-sharp cheddar that's been aged for 2+ years is one of the best cheeses ever.
Yeah, Velveeta is not cheese.
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@HardwareGeek how much does the "cheddar" part matter compared to "extra-sharp that's been aged for 2+ years"? And as far as aged cheeses go, I much prefer brie.
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@dcon Agreed. (Pasteurized processed American orange plastic slime) But I'm not even talking about that. The blocks of orange stuff you find in every grocery store in the country is cheese, but not good cheese.
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@Gąska said in The Cooking Thread:
@HardwareGeek how much does the "cheddar" part matter compared to "extra-sharp that's been aged for 2+ years"? And as far as aged cheeses go, I much prefer brie.
I'm not knowledgeable about cheese-making, and to research the topic at the moment, but I know cheddaring is a particular step in the process. I don't know how much of the flavor of cheddar cheese is due to the cheddaring process vs. the influence of the particular culture, aging, etc. I do know that the combination of all the steps makes a cheese I really like. (I also know that, IMHO, it is possible to over-age cheddar. 2 years is just about perfect; premium cheddar that's aged 5 years gets a little too sharp for my palate, at least to just eat straight.)
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@HardwareGeek said in The Cooking Thread:
extra-sharp cheddar
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Note: if you want to melt cheese properly for something like a cheese sauce, American cheese is actually just about as good as you can do for a base. Those fancy cheeses? They break and don't melt right at all unless you doctor them with sodium citrate. You can add them in small quantities to a properly-melting base, but you can't use them alone.
Edit: And I don't have a dog in this cheesy business, because I'm allergic to milk. So no cheese at all for me.
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@HardwareGeek said in The Cooking Thread:
2 years is just about perfect;
So you were not sad to miss this one: https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/10/08/the-oldest-edible-cheese-in-the-world?
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@Dragoon Well, I wasn't sad, because I didn't know about it. I'd certainly try it; according to the article, the flavor wasn't significantly more intense that some much younger cheddars, but $160/pound is a bit pricey, so I'd probably only try it if somebody else was paying.