Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!

[Sky]

Or a nice grilled tri-tip steak. Mooo!

Wish I could bring the old lady around to my love of asparagus...

[Nebu]

Or a nice grilled tri-tip steak. Mooo!

Wish I could bring the old lady around to my love of asparagus...

Tell her that it adds fragrance to her urine.  That should do it.   

[RhyssaFireheart]

Wish I could bring the old lady around to my love of asparagus...

She doesn't love asparagus?  Are you sure you need that kind of negativity in your life? 

[apocrypha]

Or a nice grilled tri-tip steak. Mooo!

I got bought a box of 'alternative meats' for my birthday this year, had things like kangeroo burgers, goat leg, pheasant sausages, etc. But also two large Welsh Wagyu tritips, which isn't a cut you normally get in the UK. The first one was glorious, 2nd one is in the freezer awaiting a suitable occasion (and weather) to cook outside.

[Sky]

Tritip and flat iron is about all we do for steak these days.

[Khaldun]

I still really love flank, skirt and hanger. Though hanger steak is hard to find a lot of the time, and flank takes cutting it very thin against the grain. Skirt picks up rubs and marinades so wonderfully--it's my favorite for tacos in particular.

[apocrypha]

I use a lot of skirt, such tasty meat and so cheap! Great for slow cooking with sauces too. Did marrow stuffed with Lebanese spiced skirt last week after finding nice marrows on a market stall. Food is so great.

[Sky]

People who can't cook are not a thing I understand.

Fiancee can't cook, she's all cereal or fast food. Like...what? I like to eat good food, and I cook better than what I can get in most restaurants. I almost lost my mind when my foot was in a cast and she was in charge of dinner.

[Khaldun]

I've gotten to a point where I rarely work with recipes any longer. I just grab a protein I like to work with or something that looks really good or is on special, some vegetables that I like, I keep rice and other grains around, keep some stuff in my pantry like yogurt and tahini and canned tomatoes and broth, etc., and keep a good range of spices. Then I just put stuff together with a loose sense of flavor profiles--am I going pan-Asian, if I am, is it more Korean or Thai or Japanese? am I going southwestern/Mexican? am I going Mediterranean? Southern? Am I braising, roasting, grilling, frying? Soup/stew or meat/vege? Etc. Every once in a while it doesn't really work that well but most of the time it's all great. It's only on the rare occasion that I'm trying something I don't know well that's kind of precise in how you make it that I look it up, or if I'm working in a cuisine I don't know that well (that's basically just Indian at this point).

I don't ever find it to be drudgery to cook.

[Sky]

Yep. It's an extension of how to shop, too. I just go to the market and see what looks good. Then I snag a few veg to go with it and I'm pretty much done. Most thought I usually put into it is if I want to buy something that I can turn into multiple meals so I don't have to shop the next evening. I usually stop by the market every other day, sometimes every day, depending. Adds about a half hour to my commute, but always have fresh food and it's a nice break between work and home (since my 'commute' would otherwise by 3 minutes). And it's a social thing, a lot of us shop that way and it's how I see a lot of people I normally don't get a chance to see otherwise.

[Bunk]

Local market had one Prime Rib Roast left at $7 a pound off, couldn't resist. It inspired me to try something I'd never made myself before. I was very happy with the results:



Ended up eating a few little slices of roast, and a plate full of Yorkies smothered in gravy.

[Paelos]

Ah Yorkshire pudding. Something I've never tried either. Those are a good first attempt and much better than I'd do.

[apocrypha]

Nicely done! Love good Yorkshires, so dependant on getting the oven temp right.

Used up left over roast pork today by frying cubes of it in tempura batter, with an impromptu sweet & sour sauce and chilli & bean sprout salad. Superb. One £6 leg joint did two of us for four meals in the end, ridiculous value for money.

[Khaldun]

Pork is still amazing in that way. My family doesn't like it as much as I do, but it's hard to overlook that a pork shoulder that I roast or slow-grill all day on a Sunday can be the protein of three to four meals for the rest of the week--I can make tacos, a stir-fry, some spring rolls, pork-and-black-beans over rice, meatballs, etc., and it's insanely cheap. I can get a half a pork shoulder boneless at Wegman's for $12-14 bucks and that's pounds and pounds of flavorful meat. The same amount of meat from anything else is two, three, five or maybe even ten times more, depending.

[Polysorbate80]

Sky, if you want her to like asparagus, have you tried wrapping it in bacon with some olive oil and parmesan and roasting it?

(Really, isn't bacon the solution to almost any food problem...?)

[Bunk]

For whatever reason, the stronger flavoured veggies like asparagus just disagree with some people (not me). Never quite understood why my mom always smothered asparagus, broccoli, or cauliflower in some sort of strong sauce. Probably so my sister would eat them.

Favorite asparagus approach for me: Olive oil, pepper, salt. Straight on the grill, just enough to get a few grill lines - should still have a snap.
We used to pick the stuff wild when I was a kid, and come home with half a garbage bag full. No idea how we ever ate all of it.

My veggie infatuation lately has be Brussels Sprouts. Halved and fried with bacon, a little lemon juice, zested lemon rind and Parmesan at the end.

[apocrypha]

Have to say that Brussel's sprouts are still one that I tolerate, rather than love, bacon or no.

Wedding anniversary today. Steaks seem to have become the tradition with us. Rib eye for me, fillet for her. Fillet just seems really overpriced and not very flavoursome to me, but hey, each to their own.

[Polysorbate80]

My wife hated sprouts too, but she tried them roasted with olive oil/salt/pepper and changed her opinion.

The kids haven't, though 

[Sky]

She doesn't like veg. I love veg. It's a point of contention.

[Teleku]

Or a nice grilled tri-tip steak. Mooo!

I got bought a box of 'alternative meats' for my birthday this year, had things like kangeroo burgers, goat leg, pheasant sausages, etc. But also two large Welsh Wagyu tritips, which isn't a cut you normally get in the UK. The first one was glorious, 2nd one is in the freezer awaiting a suitable occasion (and weather) to cook outside.

Tri-tip has always been one of my most favorite things, and I miss it dearly when living outside of California.  Nice to see it gaining popularity though!

There is a British ex-pat dude here who owns a farm where he actually makes real cheese (instead of the terrible shit produced in Russia), as well as other farm goods.  For a price, he'll have his son (a butcher) carve up a cow any way you like.  Used him to secure flank steak when I was on a kick trying to make my own Carne Asada burritos (the thing I miss most about home when living abroad).  May have to use him again to secure Tri-tip (then figure out the best way to cook it without an actual BBQ).

[Khaldun]

The thing that really, really made me like brussel sprouts was having them be dropped in frying oil for maybe two minutes, so the outside gets crunchy but also a bit soft, inside still not far off raw but enough not to give you horrible gas, and then take the lot of them and put them in a bit of sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, nam pla. Fucking amazing.

[hal1]

On the Brussels sprouts. Everyone remembers then from elementary school. And they were horrible, they were overcooked. If they're picked fresh and cooked lightly they have a nutty taste. Well I am not gonna say every once gonna like them but many do. For a Cole crop it is a win and how mush of our food is Cole crop? Why can't I spell mush?

[Rendakor]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but it seems like the closest...

Anyone know of a good rice cooker for under $100? It's really just for me, as the wife and kids don't fancy rice much, so serving size isn't important. I was looking at this one, but don't really know much about them.

[Hawkbit]

We use a Sanyo that doesn't appear to be sold anymore. We spent about that price range and it is perfect for our use.

Best tip I can give is to use a bit less water than it calls for, but let the rice sit on the warm setting for an hour after cooking. That extra time to steam through makes the best restaurant-quality rice.

I would really suggest doing a trial batch when you get it. Getting the rice to not be soggy takes a try or two.

[Trippy]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but it seems like the closest...

Anyone know of a good rice cooker for under $100? It's really just for me, as the wife and kids don't fancy rice much, so serving size isn't important. I was looking at this one, but don't really know much about them.

My recommendation is to find a "fuzzy logic"/"computerized" cooker with ~3 cup capacity and presets for the type of rice you want to cook. It helps to have a smaller sized cooker as they can usually more easily make a 1/2 cup portion of rice which translates into a "side portion" of rice for one person. 1 cup will make a large portion for one person like if you wanted to make a big bowl of fried rice or Bibimbap just for yourself or 2 side portions.

That Tiger you linked looks okay except that it only has white and brown rice settings and 5.5 cups is bigger than you need for cooking rice for one or two people.

Mine is this 3.5 cup Sanyo (except in white) that's no longer made.

This 3 cup Zojirushi is the right size (and under your budget by $0.01) but doesn't have a specific brown rice setting, which is kind of weird.

This Zojirushi does have a brown rice setting but it's 5.5 cups.

[Mandella]

Totally serious question here. Why would I want a rice cooker?

I mean, just putting two and a quarter cups of water in a boiler with a cup of rice some salt and butter, boil, simmer and set a timer for twenty minutes seems pretty easy to me. Is there some change of quality in the rice that makes a rice cooker a good idea, or is it all just convenience?

I do have a general purpose steamer which I think can be used for rice too, but I've never actually used it for that...

[Trippy]

If you are not going to leave the stove unattended and you don't mind tying up a burner and you have a good pot for it (a tight fitting lid is crucial) it's perfectly fine to cook rice on the stovetop.

[Bunk]

Convenience really. I've been using a cheap little rice cooker I bought when I left home 20 some years ago.

1.5 cups rice, 1.5 cups water, put lid on, push button, walk away. Nice fluffy rice sitting there waiting for me 15 minutes from now, or 45 minutes from now if I get distracted. 45 minutes in a pot on the stove would be a bad thing.

Plus I have a small apartment stove, and I'm not using up one of my two large burners doing the rice.

[Mandella]

That's what I thought.

Still, lots to be said for convenience, and I've scorched my share of rice. Might have to drop some hints to family that one might be a fine future birthday gift...

[ynotgolf]

I own a slightly fancier version of that Zojirushi listed above and love it.  The rice warmer functionality is great, I have eaten rice left in my cooker the next morning for breakfast on more occasions than I should admit. 

[Hawkbit]

Same. I've definitely had rice 12 hours later and it's just as good, if not better because the steam has fully penetrated the grain.

For me, it's very helpful to have the rice off the stove while I'm making stir fry, which might be using two burners itself depending how fancy I feel.

Also, major props to Archer for Stir-friday, which is damn near a weekly holiday in the house. ;)

[Rendakor]

Thanks for the suggestion Trippy.

I mainly want one so I don't have to commit a burner to rice that noone else in the family is going to eat.

[Count Nerfedalot]

We have a really old 3-cup (2-cup max really) Zojirushi and love it to death. I think the seals in it are going/gone as we have to add a good deal more than the recommended water these days, but taking that into account it still cooks far better than our new 6(?)-cup monster, and the difference between properly steamed rice and the boiled stuff I grew up on is indescribable.  We also use Japanese rice, wash/rinse it thoroughly before cooking - water should run clear, and fluff/aerate it well before serving. As trained by Japanese mother-in-law :)  But it really does come out so much tastier!

Another trick is to pop any leftovers into the freezer (in portion-sized chunks, it turns into rock when frozen!). Reheat in the microwave a couple minutes with a spoon of water and ideally a lid to steam it and it's almost, but not quite, as good as fresh made, and still far better than boiled.

[Hawkbit]

We also use Japanese rice, wash/rinse it thoroughly before cooking - water should run clear, and fluff/aerate it well before serving. As trained by Japanese mother-in-law :)  But it really does come out so much tastier!

What defines Japanese rice? Is it simply sourced from Japan, or is there something about the preparation?

We only brown rice and have to wash it to get the extra bran out of the water prior to cooking. When the cooker clicks from cook to warm, I open it and fluff the rice, then close it back up for ~20min. I think it's letting the steam penetrate down into the aerated rice and just finishes it so each grain has an individual bite to it. If I don't fluff it then some pieces stay somewhat mushy, guessing because they end up just laden with water.

I fucking love rice, without question my favorite grain.

[Khaldun]

Short-grained rice, first off. Second, you have got to wash the starch off before cooking generally to prepare rice in the Japanese style, as Count Neredalot says. That's crucial--long-grained rice in some European cookery it's the opposite, you want the starch from the rice to cook into what you're making (say, paella or jambalaya). Third, I'd often throw in a piece of kombu (dried seaweed) in the cooking water. If you're stove cooking it, you generally follow a pattern of: after covering pan, high heat for a bit (don't lift the lid!), low heat, and then a burst of medium-high heat at the end (gives you a layer of slightly crunchy rice at the bottom that's coveted). That's how you get it steamed rather than boiled, if you're not making it in a dedicated cooker.

If you're making sushi rice, same thing but then you add a mixture of vinegar, sugar, salt as it dries, in small amounts, mixing it as you go. You end up with steamed and sticky rice with that distinctive vinegar flavor that is crucial to sushi.