Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!

[Signe]

[Murgos]

Look!  Signe is going to eat this undead threads braaaiiinnnnns.

See what happens when you resurrect dead threads?  The zombies start salivating.

[Sky]

I made some great kebabs this weekend, cooked out for my mother. Although I can't stop calling them ke-bAAbs since watching an episode of the Conchords.

I forget the actual recipe, I grabbed it from my girlfriend's Weight Watchers cookbook, which has some great stuff. It was a Korean recipe, and I had to make a ton of changes because the only place I could get groceries was stupid walmart. So...chipotle + adobo for chipotle paste, skirt for flank (tenderer but hard to skewer), etc. Ginger, scallions, garlic, honey, sugar, soy sauce, cider vinegar, chipotle paste for the marinade. Marinade two hours, skewer, grill. Boil and reduce the remaining marinade and pour over finished kebabs.

Also made something out of Batali's nascar cookbook, pork scallopini skewers. Pound out pork loins (scaring the hell out of mom's kitties!), salt and pepper. Fill with a pat of butter, capers, parsley, parmesan/reggiano, maybe something else I'm forgetting, roll up and skewer, grill.

Grilled some red bell peppers, remove skin, serve plain. Nice balance to the spicy meats (I got heavy-handed with the pepper on the pork, but I like it that way). Also served some brocolli with chipotle/cumin butter to complete the smoky flavored meal.\

Good times.

[Yegolev]

Fuh.  I'm rather minimalist these days.

Tilapia.  Kosher salt.  Black pepper (grind it yourself, slacker).  Heat pan, mediumish.  Add olive oil.  Add fish.
Another pan.  Heat not as mediumish.  Tiny bit of oil.  Tortilla.  Fold it in half when you take it out.
Combine both when done.

[Sky]

I was on vacation :) I'm much more minimalist for everyday cooking. A bit less than you, though, Yeg.

[Yegolev]

I do that partly because I have to fight my wife's rigorous adherance to the recipe as if it was federal law code, also I can't keep every spice ever made in my cabinets.  Also I want to hurry up with the cooking.  I made something she picked out once and just left out some stuff I did not have, like dill and mustard seed, and she was perturbed.  She did admit that it was tasty.

I am fairly encouraged by my recent salt+pepper run (the salt+pepper steaks were a huge hit with Killjoy), but something else I did that turned out pretty nice was cedar-plank salmon.  I had, fortunately, slathered on a protective coating of (forgotten) sauce since my grill turned the plank to ash except for directly underneath the fish.  The sauce carbonized but the fish was fine.  I might give that a try with just salt+pepper if I can figure out how to do it without incinerating the fish.

[Sky]

I'd be screwed if I had to follow recipes rigidly. I'm always substituting things (aka forgetting to buy them). Or I take one recipe and then see how many ways I can bend it around in a week, alter a white wine sauce to red wine, make a pork dish with chicken, etc.

[MisterNoisy]

I am fairly encouraged by my recent salt+pepper run (the salt+pepper steaks were a huge hit with Killjoy), but something else I did that turned out pretty nice was cedar-plank salmon.  I had, fortunately, slathered on a protective coating of (forgotten) sauce since my grill turned the plank to ash except for directly underneath the fish.  The sauce carbonized but the fish was fine.  I might give that a try with just salt+pepper if I can figure out how to do it without incinerating the fish.

Did you soak the plank in water for a couple of hours first?  Also, don't put the plank directly over the fire/coals.

[Yegolev]

Soaked for at least one hour, but my grill is rather overpowered.  Where would I be putting the plank?

[Furiously]

Soaked for at least one hour, but my grill is rather overpowered.  Where would I be putting the plank?

Somewhere constant.

[voodoolily]

Where would I be putting the plank?

Seriously? It takes the strength of every fibre of my being not to tell you where you should put the plank.  :-D

[MisterNoisy]

Soaked for at least one hour, but my grill is rather overpowered.  Where would I be putting the plank?

If this is a gas grill, fire up one side/set of burners only and put the fish-laden wood over the part that's not lit and/or tone down the gas control if it's still burning the plank to ash.  For charcoal ones, just move the charcoal to one side and put the food on the other.  You may need to rotate the planks during cooking in this scenario since one side will be closer to direct radiated heat, but you'll be able to avoid turning the plank to cinders.  Vary the proximity to the coals/fire if it's not cooking fast enough or too fast.

[Yegolev]

Genius in its simplicity.

Also: Har har.  And VDL was funnier.

[voodoolily]

I WIN.

[Pococurante]

Chipotle recipe you like?  We're getting hammered by global warming in Texas - last time I saw this much rainfall in the Lower Continental Bison Drainoff was the Isla Del Sol Lake Titicaca failure of 0981 CE.  My garden is growing like Seattle in July - I can't compost peppers fast enough.

[Lantyssa]

I almost wouldn't mind a hurricane right now.  The rain would slow down as the bands pass over.

[voodoolily]

Chipotle recipe you like?  We're getting hammered by global warming in Texas - last time I saw this much rainfall in the Lower Continental Bison Drainoff was the Isla Del Sol Lake Titicaca failure of 0981 CE.  My garden is growing like Seattle in July - I can't compost peppers fast enough.

If I had a surplus of peppers (I wish!!) I would prolly just roast and freeze them in ziplocks. If you roast then stick them in a bowl with a lid for a few minutes, the steam helps the plastic-y skins just slide off, and then you can pull the stem and seeds out and you have lovely roasted peppers ready for any soup or sauce!

[Bunk]

VDL's reference to her Wellington recipie on page two in another thread made me go back and reread this whole thing. I'm suddenly oddly intrigued by Jimbo's slow cooker brat/kraut/apple/bacon monstrosity on page four. Thing is, I can't figure out how you are meant to cook it exactly. Slowcooker style over several hours, or on high for a shorter stretch? I have a fear of cooking brats wrong and having them explode over my kitchen.

[Sky]

That's what lids are for!

[Lantyssa]

You shouldn't be cooking kids anyways, no matter how unruly they get.

[Murgos]

You shouldn't be cooking kids anyways, no matter how unruly they get.

Well, there goes my mental image of you as the wicked witch of the west. 

[Bunk]

You shouldn't be cooking kids anyways, no matter how unruly they get.

One does not have to be under a predetermined age to be considered a brat. 

[Signe]

Who wants to eat an old brat?  They are tough and have no juice.

[hal]

Porchetta or dago pork roast

1 can black olives
garlic ( i like a lot)
rosemary

Toss in blender until it is a paste and coat 1 pork roast. Bake as usual and enjoy the most juicy piece of pork ever.

Will spin your head around if you do a skinned chicken. But skinning a whole chicken is a bother and a half. Oh well...Who said good food was easy... Double extra bonus points if you stuff the chicken with fennel root ( well it ain't a root but you know what I mean... not the seed)

If you are ever temped to roast lamb please remember this recipe.

/thread

[schild]

Ugh. Olives. Black. Olives. Ugh.

[hal]

I am betting you do not tan worth a shit.

[Signe]

You don't need the olives if you don't want them.  We never did.  My mother would make porchetta as a special dish for family gatherings now and then.  She always used a boned suckling pig, which a lot of Italians insist on, and she would roll it so the herbs cook inside the pig.  It really does make a big difference.  She used a bit of fennel, peperoncino, rosemary, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and corriander and rubbed olive oil into the skin to make it crunchy.  If you have an outdoor kitchen (my grandmother did) you can spit roast which is lovely.  It's so tender it literally melts in your mouth.  You serve it between bread like a sandwich. 

Unfortunately, most people don't have ovens that'll hold a suckling pig so Hal's version... or something in between... is a good alternative.  Stuffing the roast with the herbs, however, really does make it taste incredibly wonderlicious.

[Yegolev]

Black olives are good.  Kalamata olives are awesome.

[voodoolily]

I am betting you do not tan worth a shit.

He is an Italian Jew. As far as he's concerned, olive is the color of his skin, not a food. 

[voodoolily]

I have been jonesing for bibimbop (Korean rice bowl) a lot lately, and have cooked it twice this week already. Since I am lucky enough to live near a Korean grocery w/deli case, I can cheat a little and buy kimchee and pickled bellflower root already prepared, so the rest is incredibly easy.

Bibimbop (instructional only)

Cook some sticky rice. Saute some veg - I use zucchini because my garden is asploding with it, bean sprouts, and a combo of onion/green onion. Mushrooms are also nice. Saute each veg separately to maintain the integrity of each flavor. Season each with some combination of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil/seeds, rice vinegar and mirin (sweet cooking wine). Grill or saute some bulgogi (thinly sliced steak marinated in ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil - Korean store and/or Trader Joe's sells this beef already seasoned. You can also use pork).

Put sticky rice in a good-sized bowl. Top with kimchee, bellflower (sometimes labeled by its Latin name Platycodon), sauteed veg, bulgogi and a blob of gochu jang (it's like chili sesame miso paste and is amazingly tasty). Then top it all with an egg fried over easy. The yolk will run into the hot rice and make yummy little nuggets of golden goo.

You can make this vegetarian by simply omitting the bulgogi. Koreans typically make bibimbop as a way to use up leftovers.

[Sky]

The word bellflower still makes me quake at times.

I was going to say that that dish sounds a lot like a generic leftover dish I'd make :) I'm no chef, but I can make some ....good eats!

[caladein]

The word bellflower still makes me quake at times.

Not to derail, but...

Hey! At least there you were bordered by Downey and Cerritos instead of Lynwood and Huntington Park :(.

[CmdrSlack]

I tried out something on a whim tonight that turned out rather kickass.

Fried apple wontons.

Take two of your favorite apple (med. to large size), I prefer granny smith or Fiji, I used the Fijis this time. Anyway, take the apples, cut out the core or use a handy core-er. Then slice them super thin. Take those slices and chop them down into bits. In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tbsp of butter, then add in about a handfull (two TBSP? no idea) of brown sugar. Blend that well, then add in your apple pieces. Over medium heat, stir it all to coat the apples, then add a splash of apple juice,also sprinkle in some ground cinnamon. Cook that until the apples are medium soft (not pie filling soft, but not hard), then let it cool a bit. Break out some wonton wrappers, use a spoon to fill them, and fold them per the instructions on the package. Drop the wontons into hot oil and fry them. This shouldn't take more than two minutes at most, so be careful, burning them == teh suck.

I did not use confectioner's sugar/powdered sugar to top them, but that would have ruled.

[voodoolily]

Did you get that recipe from the Pocket Pie episode of Good Eats?

[voodoolily]

btw, I just ate some stellar crab cake burgers which I made from scratch!!

Crab Cake Burgers with Remoulade (serves 2 hungry mofos)

Make the remoulade first.

Remoulade:

3 egg yolks
2 tbsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar (but you'll need the lemon anyway for the zest, so pony up)
1 tsp lemon zest
fat pinch kosher salt
crack pepper
1 tsp dijon mustard
~1 1/2 c olive oil


Whisk together all but the olive oil. Then, while whisking, slowly drizzle in the oil. Whisk these ingredients in a stainless steel, glass or ceramic bowl (NOT aluminum or copper). Also, you can totally use a whisk, but after 5 minutes your arms will hurt and you'll bust out the electric mixer. You want it pretty creamy and emulsified, but it will not resemble store-bought mayo yet, more like salad dressing. STOP when it is pretty creamy and silky-looking with a nice golden sheen. Now nestle the bowl over a pot of boiling water and whisk constantly until it reaches the nice mayo-ey thickness. You have just made a classic Zabaione. This is one of the great French sauces and can be easily turned into a number of sauces. To turn it into Remoulade, add the following ingredients:

1 tbsp capers, drained, rinsed and chopped
2 tbsp minced parsley
1 tbsp minced cornichons or dill pickle
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch sweet chili flake
pinch sugar
what the hell, a little more lemon zest if you think it needs it
S&P to taste
 
Stir it together and this is god on your crab cake burger. It is also amazing dip for french fries, fried calamari, or instead of mayo in tuna salad. Fuck, you can eat it with a spoon if you're not watching your cholesterol.

If you are an ig'nunt, lazy sonnofabitch then just use mayo with the lemon juice, herbs and other chunky bits.

Crab Cakes:

2 cups lump dungeness crab meat (which I picked clean MYSELF!!)
1 egg
2 tbsp minced shallot
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp minced parsely
2 tbsp + 1/2 c cracker crumbs (just take some leftover crackers and blitz them in the Magimix)
pinch kosher salt
cracks o' pepper
pinch of chili flake (I use Korean sweet chili flake)
1/3 c veg oil (or some other mild oil that can withstand high temps like peanut or canola)

Mix all ingredients (except the 1/2 c of cracker crumbs) gently in a bowl with a fork, breaking up the larger lumps of crab into flakes. Divide into two. Form into nice fat patties ~1 inch thick and ~4 inches in diameter. Coat in the 1/2 c of crackers crumbs and fry in a medium saucier, 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.  I use a lid to partially cover the pan, minimizing oil spatter and ensuring the patties are thoroughly heated in the middle.

Place patty on toased wheat bun that has been generously slathered with remoulade, and top with nice baby greens. You got served, motherfucker.


btw, the remoulade is only good for two days, kept fridged. Eat it up!