Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

 Nevelon wrote:
For a normal brisket (not corned beef) I braise it. Toss some beef stock, carrots, onions and potatoes into a sturdy pan. Maybe a splash of red wine. Lay the meat in there and slap the lit on. Cook it on the low end for a while. I’d have to look up the recipe for specifics.

I generally do this with a good roast, minus the wine, add a Guinness and a green bell pepper, maybe some mushrooms if I am feeling it. Let it go for 6-8 hours. Oh man, enjoy.

Tonight we had a regular pasta night, but I decided to do a twist and I made the tomato sauce (or Gravy like we call it here in Philly) out of fresh tomatoes. So, I had about 1.5 pounds of plum tomatoes, cut them in smaller bits and tossed em in the blender and blended till they were sauced. Chopped up around 7 cloves of garlic and sauteed that in some olive oil till it just starts to get brown on the edges, then you dump in the sauce and some salt & pepper and bring to a light boil, then lower the heat and cover it and let it simmer on low for 3-4 hours, give it a good stir every 10 or 15 minutes. Last 5 minutes or so, roll up some fresh basil, slice it all up into little strips and toss that in too.

I also like to add mostly cooked sausage or meatballs about half way through and let em finish cooking in the pot. And add in all of their drippings too of course.

That makes enough for around 2 pounds of pasta. We went with ricotta gnocchi tonight.

It's actually cheaper to use fresh tomatoes than it would have been if I bought jars of finished sauce, and tastes better than if you make it with canned sauce.

I used to have mutton all the time growing up but it's just not something that you can easily find in England. However I discovered a halal butcher near me who sells it so I treated myself to a leg of mutton for the first time in years
.
It doesn't taste much like lamb, its a darker meat and much closer to beef although with a more 'gamey' flavour. Its also comparatively cheap.

We had a roast last night and used the left overs for Jalfrazi today.
This is far and away the best thing to make with leftover cooked meat.

Fry some 'curry seeds'(mustard, onion, fenugreek, fennel etc, it doesn't really matter which ones but they are important) in hot oil for a few seconds.
When they start to spit add in a finely sliced onion and turn the heat down to medium. When the onion has softened add a sliced chili and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic, season and cook for another couple of minutes. Then add some pre cooked boiled potatoes that have been cut into small cubes.
Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the potato is thoroughly heated through and then add the cooked meat that has also been cut into small cubes. When the whole thing is hot serve topped with a fried egg.

Its really excellent and easy.

Regarding tomato pasta sauce:
I like to start with a bit of rather flavourless oil (like sunflower oil) that can withstand heat (if needed). When it's hot enough add carrots (they add sweetness, flavour, and you get something with a bit of bite in it) and a bit later onions (sweetness, flavour), then the garlic (so it doesn't burn). You can also add other root vegetables with the carrots depending on your taste (like celery or parsley root, anything you like). Just cut it up a bit bigger than the onions. Overall the heat needs to be medium high for this. If it's too high then your stuff heats too quickly and starts burning and if it's too low then it will all absorb the heat too quickly and you need to wait for the heat to return while your vegetables are sitting in the oil. You can lower the heat once you have added the garlic, by then everything else should be okay with the existing heat.

Before you add the tomatoes you can add some tomato paste (make space in the middle and give it some time in the heat) and then a bit of flour (it helps with binding the oil/fats with the vegetable juices and water making everything a bit creamier).

Canned tomatoes can have a nice flavour but you need to buy the more expensive ones. Cheap ones are often filled with water (it's just the tomatoes and "tomato flavoured water" in the can) while more expensive ones have all the actual tomato juice (tend to be thicker in consistency). Remove the green stem and skin when cutting them up, then put them in, once the carrots/onions/garlic are ready and you have added the tomato paste and flour. Give it some time then mash bigger bits until they fall apart. If you want to use fresh tomatoes but want to remove the skin you can cut a X in the bottom and drop them in hot water for about two minutes and when you remove them it should be easy to remove (wait a moment for the tomatoes to cool down before peeling them).

After you have added the tomatoes but before the sauce is finished it's time to tune up the flavour to your preference. You can use cayenne pepper instead of regular (or use both) to increases the flavour of the tomatoes. Add a bit sugar (less if you include carrots/onions) and lemon juice (less than half a lemon for one can of tomatoes). The salt and a tiny bit sugar and acid complement each other and result in needing less of each while adding flavour. Don't forget a bay leaf or two and herbs to taste (fresh or the dried stuff, whatever works for you).

If you use root vegetables then the tomato sauce can easily work without additional meats but all the small chunks make it better for short pasta and not ideal spaghetti or other long pasta. Even without the roots vegetables it can work alone but is mainly about the tomato flavour.

As you move towards the end of making your sauce you should have started your pasta but cook it one/two minutes less than the box says. Take the pasta out of the pot and strain most of the water (but don't quench in cold water) then put that in the sauce to finish cooking a minute or two on low heat and absorb the sauce (and the pasta won't stick). That gives you a bit of time to clean up the rest of the of your mess. When finished you can add a bit of olive oil before serving if you want (for the flavour).

That's what's so awesome about tomato sauce. So many great ways to make it, and all of the ways are yummy.

I use cans in the winter, I usually just do fresh tomatoes when they're in season, but I just felt like it this time. I could tell the sauce came out all little less "tomatoey", the tomatoes were more oragney than red. Tastes so much better in the summer when they're big and red.

I've been thinking about growing my own, but I'm scared I won't take care of them. Maybe I'd be better off with a little pot to grow some herbs like basil and cilantro.. those are both my favorites.. one makes food italian and the other makes it mexican!

 Nevelon wrote:
For a normal brisket (not corned beef) I braise it. Toss some beef stock, carrots, onions and potatoes into a sturdy pan. Maybe a splash of red wine. Lay the meat in there and slap the lit on. Cook it on the low end for a while. I’d have to look up the recipe for specifics.

Yeah I realized it was corned beef brisket, not an ordinary brisket. So it ended up being fairly salty, but not to an unbearable point. Next time i'll have to sit it in water for a day or two or do something to tone down the saltiness. But I browned it in a pan with canadian steak seasonings and brown sugar real quick, then put it in the crock pot/slow cooker for about 10 hours with beef broth (which may have worsened the salt issue), a can of beer, red potatoes, celery, white onion. It stayed moist and was falling apart in a good way, I know some people who have tried this end up having it be rubbery or chewy like a tire. I guess its more or less a matter of waiting it out until its done. After 6 hours on low it wasn't getting anywhere so I put it on high until it seemed done. I bought two so this weekend I might try a different method.

Made a big pot of tortilla soup last night. I'm not a 'from scratch' type of guy, so used a Bear Creek brand soup mix as a base. Added some left over pulled pork from a butt I smoked last week, a can of black beans, a can of mexicorn, and a can of Rotel diced tomatoes with habanero.

Served topped with tortilla strips and shredded pepper jack cheese.

Muy delicioso!

One of my favorite not from scratch recipes is cheesy potatoes.

2 regular sized 8 oz bags of shredded cheese, I usually get 1 cheddar and 1 pepper jack.
1 bag of frozen hash browns (the diced kind, I think it's 2 pounds or so)
2 cans of cream of chicken soup (chicken is the only neutral flavor, cream of celery or mushroom will just make it taste like celery or mushrooms)

Mix it all up, put it in a big casserole dish or pan and pop it in the oven for 1 hour at 400 F degrees and enjoy the cheesy goodness. I usually cook it in a disposable aluminum pan, and spray it with cooking spray first so it doesn't all stick to the bottom.

I keep telling myself I'll try and make real au gratten potatoes some day, but this is so easy and so good, why bother.

 Necros wrote:
That's what's so awesome about tomato sauce. So many great ways to make it, and all of the ways are yummy.

I use cans in the winter, I usually just do fresh tomatoes when they're in season, but I just felt like it this time. I could tell the sauce came out all little less "tomatoey", the tomatoes were more oragney than red. Tastes so much better in the summer when they're big and red.

I've been thinking about growing my own, but I'm scared I won't take care of them. Maybe I'd be better off with a little pot to grow some herbs like basil and cilantro.. those are both my favorites.. one makes food italian and the other makes it mexican!

If you have the space then growing your own tomatoes is a really good idea. Fresh store bought tomatoes are usually optimised for size and perfect skin. All the breeding created a lot of variants that are watery (so they feel plump and juicy) but lack favour. Here in Germany "Datteltomaten" (apparently "plum tomatoes") tend to taste better because they are less bred for looking nice.

So, got snowed in by the Nor-Easter, governor closed roads, blah blah. Roommate got quesadilla shells and we had freezer meat; but we lacked salsa. But I had apple, onion, garlic, corn, lime and some dried herbs. Apple and corn salsa, coming to town to go on top of the quesadillas!! Screw you, storm! I don't need tomatoes to make salsa!!

Yeah, my grandmother always said to use plum tomatoes, and that's what you see people using on youtube videos .. guess that's why. That's probably what I'll grow if I grow them. I'm kind of afraid they won't grow good though, this summer I'll be moving and the back yard of the house has lots of shade.. afraid there won't be enough sun for growing things.

We had a wonderful ice blizzard yesterday, we were right in the middle between snow and rain. Made lasagna with the last of my tomato sauce from Sunday

Plum tomatoes for homemade salsa? Oh yeah. It's the ONLY kind to use! But plenty of other fruits and vegetables can be used to make salsa in place of tomato; mango, melon, apple, corn, bean, etc. Be creative. Salsa, like pizza, can be made with just about anything!!

Anyone have anything interesting to do with crabs? Beyond boiling or BBQing?

This is a thread about cooking. Not STDs.

Uh.

Alrighty then.

Anyone know how any creative uses for instant noodles to make something slightly better than out of the package? As always, I'm just asking for a friend
I-- I mean, they typically have both instant ramen and instant yakisoba available. Good for budget meals, but something to spice things up might be nice for me-- I mean my friend

 Farseer Anath'lan wrote:
Anyone have anything interesting to do with crabs? Beyond boiling or BBQing?

Crab cakes are a classic.

 KommissarKiln wrote:
Uh.

Alrighty then.

Anyone know how any creative uses for instant noodles to make something slightly better than out of the package? As always, I'm just asking for a friend
I-- I mean, they typically have both instant ramen and instant yakisoba available. Good for budget meals, but something to spice things up might be nice for me-- I mean my friend

I've never eaten that type of stuff (we have local variants of instant soups so I never bought that stuff) and I don't know how much work you want to put into this. But you could get vegetable for a basic vegetable stock (onions, celery, carrots) cut them into eatable pieces and then put that into an bit pot with some sunflower oil (it's okay with most heat levels you abuse it with). You can also add any other root vegetables (also cut up potatoes if you want, and parsley root, parsnip, any hard vegetable really) Let it all sweat a bit until it gets colour and becomes softer. Add salt and pepper, then you can add a tiny bit flour to bind the now flavoured oil with the upcoming water, add cold water (more than just covering the vegetable this won't be stock exactly so a bit thinner consistency is okay) after that into the pot, an stir. It's not exactly vegetable stock but a light but flavoured vegetable soup that you can mix with the instant noodles. They include some dried power, don't they?

That would give you more vegetable in your soup, you can also add softer vegetable before you add the water (but after the hard, root vegetable have softened a bit), stuff like mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, leek, whatever you like. Once you added the water you can add vegetables that don't need that long, like cauliflower, broccoli, parsley leaves (any herbs you like and that fit). And maybe drop a bayleaf in there.

Basically you add oil, then add vegetables from the ones that take the longest to the one that don't need that long. Somewhere in the middle you add flour and fill the pot with water (to which degree you thin it depends on your taste) before adding all the easily cooked vegetable into the soup. Then you have a really simple vegetable soup that you can adjust so it tastes when mixed with the instant noodles dried powder flavour stuff (and noodles). Or you can leave out the instant noodles/powder and just eat your soup. It should have enough vegetables that you won't need the extra stuff.

If you have tons of instant noodle pack and just want variety then you can try using a subsection, like carrots one day, broccoli another day, and so on. The process is the same. All the harder vegetable go into a skillet with some oil until they are softer (then transferred to the soup) and the other stuff you can drop directly into the instant soup while it's heating up (according to desired consistency). Broccoli, for example, I would wash, cut into florets, then half/third as needed so they have a similar biteable size, and just drop them into the instant soup so they have some time to soften (but not too much). Cauliflower is a bit harder so you would drop that a minute or two earlier, leeks (cut into pieces), white side early, green side later, and so on.

Tonight I grilled up some thick cut pork chops I had marinating overnight in some Jamaican Jerk marinade.

Grilled them with some apple and hickory wood for smoke flavor. Once halfway done and flipped, brushed on some more Jerk sauce and sprinkled on some spices.

Delicious!

Nonstick Pan, Salt and Pepper mills, Oregeno and Cumin.

I have made people beg me to gnaw on the leftover bones with just those and a slab of meat.

 KommissarKiln wrote:

Anyone know how any creative uses for instant noodles to make something slightly better than out of the package? As always, I'm just asking for a friend
I-- I mean, they typically have both instant ramen and instant yakisoba available. Good for budget meals, but something to spice things up might be nice for me-- I mean my friend

I usually toss in some shredded Nappa Cabbage, canned or smoked meats (Ham, Spam or Hotdogs, depending what's on hand) and drop in an egg to poach.

You can also throw in some shrimp (shell optional, preferably uncooked), crab legs (real or fake, both work), Lobster tail, Bay scallops (the small kind), or generic brand seafood mixes (which is usually mussle, clam meat, squid and sometimes scallops). For Garnishes, Deep Fried Onions can add some crunch if you serve it just after adding it. Green Onions and Bean sprouts can also give you some more of a natural "crunch" and can be added just before serving (they actually do cook in the broth if it's still hot). If you got wontons, you can ditch the soup mix entirely and just throw the noodle in the wonton broth.

Also I'd like to mention some cooking methods for the noodles themselves; I like to cook the broth separately then steep the noodles in the broth just before serving. This gives them a small bit of a bite to the noodles (Al dente I think it's called?) but my dad prefers them soft, so he boils the noodles in the broth as it's cooking. My method gives firmer noodles but the noodles don't absorb as much flavour, while my dad's method gives very "squishy" noodled that are basically concentrated broth. It all depends on the cook time and how you like your noodles.

Finally, Sesame Oil, chinese chili paste, tobasco, and Asian Fish Sauce can all help improve the flavour (I've tried them all). Just add according to taste. Just be warned that more than two spoonfuls of Sesame oil in your soup can result in extremely loosened stool (I gave this as a remedy for constipation to a friend and accidentally told him the wrong dosage. He ended up spending a whole day sitting on the toilet, quite literally). Incidentally I've tried soysauce in it and, despite being chinese myself, I hated it.

Note that all of this works with the fresh kind too. Generally anything that can flavour the broth more is more important than the noodles themselves. It's more of a soup with noodles than noodles with soup.

Today's work has been eight half loaves of Ale and Worcester Sauce bread.

The smell it out of this world, but sadly I can't sample any, as it's for a bake sale.

Last night for me was sausage and fennel risotto. It takes time to do a good risotto, but I find it to be very soothing and comforting to make, as well as eat!

We had a simple but great meal tonight. Grilled up some decent quality bun length beef franks and made chili dogs with those on Hawaiian Hot Dog Buns with Hormel spicy beanless chili and shredded pepper jack cheese.

Easy to make, tasted great, not very healthy.

But I did have a big spinach salad too...

Monday was cavatelli with broccoli rabe and sausage, last night was burgers with brussel sprouts, and tonight is homemade meat sauce in the slow cooker. The sausage is so tender I could cut it with a rubber spatula; and I did.

I soaked some uncooked brats in beer and another set in sake to see how they'd turn out.

The beer brats were of course amazing, the sake ones a waste of the sake, sadly. They weren't bad, just not really flavorfull.

Maybe some sort of noodle dish with the sausage and a sauce based from the sake....

 curran12 wrote:
Last night for me was sausage and fennel risotto. It takes time to do a good risotto, but I find it to be very soothing and comforting to make, as well as eat!

I do like a good risotto. Not a fan of the slowly stirring for half an hour part, but all the alternative recipes just seem heretical. Food tastes better if you work for it anyway. Last time I made one it was bacon and mushroom. Froze a cup of the “filling” so I just need to break out the rice if I want to do it again.

Dinner tonight was chicken in waffles. Last time I made waffles I froze a few just for this purpose. Nice break from the leftover potato salad I’ve been eating all week. Made too much for an office party, and hate to waste food.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Hoitash wrote:
I soaked some uncooked brats in beer and another set in sake to see how they'd turn out.

The beer brats were of course amazing, the sake ones a waste of the sake, sadly. They weren't bad, just not really flavorfull.

Maybe some sort of noodle dish with the sausage and a sauce based from the sake....

Last time I was boiling brats in beer, I got into a discussion about alternative things to use. Gin was suggested. Never tried it; couldn’t bring myself to use that much fine beverage.

One fun thing to do with brats (and hot dogs for that mater) is to bake them into soft pretzels. Out of buns? No problem!

Totally considering buying a food dryer.

So I can make Biltong and/or Jerky. And possibly dehydrated Mango. All for when I'm off LARPing.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Totally considering buying a food dryer.

So I can make Biltong and/or Jerky. And possibly dehydrated Mango. All for when I'm off LARPing.

Box fan, some furnace filters, and a few bungy cords. Or so I hear. No need to get a specific appliance.

That would require some kind of technical aptitude. I'm most definitely a thinker rather than a doer!

Spotted one for about £130.00 which has good reviews, so that ought to do the trick nicely. And I can use the dehydrator for various other culinary experiments.

Arise, ye thread of old!

So LARP season is upon us, and this year I’m looking to invest in IC cooking equipment. It’s safer and probably cheaper than risking the path at night, looking for a burger.

One thing I definitely want to try is campfire chilli. I’ve had a loose browse on Google, but none seem quite right. So I’m hoping to steal recipes from you guys - and yes, I’ve got Frazz in mind!

I’d rather one that doesn’t rely on Mince, but chuck steak or similar for a chunkier texture.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Arise, ye thread of old!

So LARP season is upon us, and this year I’m looking to invest in IC cooking equipment. It’s safer and probably cheaper than risking the path at night, looking for a burger.

One thing I definitely want to try is campfire chilli. I’ve had a loose browse on Google, but none seem quite right. So I’m hoping to steal recipes from you guys - and yes, I’ve got Frazz in mind!

I’d rather one that doesn’t rely on Mince, but chuck steak or similar for a chunkier texture.

I do my chili in a crock pot, but it could be adapted to any low-ish heat I guess.

I start out with a chuck roast, cook it until it starts falling apart with some tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, onion and some of your spice mix, depending on how you want to do it. When that is ready I shred it and add my second meat - this is the texture meat - either more chuck cut into pieces and browned or ground beef or both. Put that in with the balance of your spice mix, and if you want beans, the beans - I do a mix of pinto, black and red beans, with about 40% of them pureed to give the chili some thickness. This is also when you add your diced tomatoes or more crushed tomatoes and some tomato paste, again depending on the texture you want, as well as whatever mix of peppers you want to use. I usually go for a handful of diced jalapenos, and/or a ghost pepper. Then cook that until it is a uniform red-brown color and the flavors have blended. If it's too watery - it probably won't be - I add more tomato paste. Water for the reverse, but I like my chili pretty thick.

For a spice mix I use mainly dark chili powder, cayenne, and cumin. Add about 1/3 the amount of any of those of coriander and garlic.

My ethos is if your face isn't sweating after a bowl, I have failed. But adjust the seasoning to your audience I guess.