Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!

[Sky]

Ok, I've hit perfection with a dish. Melancholy, it can only get worse from here :) Using a recipe from Cook's Country magazine (yes, a cooksillustrated mag, if you're a hater).

Oven-fried shrimp. Zomg, best breading ever. VL, can't believe I waited so long to use panko. Mix panko, some pre-cooked polenta, chiptole, paprika, s&p with some veg oil, mix it up to coat everything. Nuke for a couple minutes, mix it up more and then nuke for a couple more minutes. You basically want to brown the crumbs. Then mix in some crushed Lay's kettle chips.

Shell & pat dry shrimp. Then bread as usual, flour > egg > breading mix. Put on a wire rack in a sheet pan, refrig for a half-hour to two hours, which is supposed to help with adherence. Then spritz with oil and bake 'em up.

I also made some herb-lemon dip (lemon, mayo, thyme, parsley, scallion, s&p), which was also very good, but my fiancee never uses the dip sauce.

Shrimp were done to perfection, and the breading was flavorful, crisp and browned. Nuking the crumb was a nice enhancer, allowing you to not overcook the shrimp to brown the breading. Served over some brown rice with lemon wedges.

Dessert was my new triple-chocolate brownie recipe topped with some Ben & Jerry's (Cherry Garcia yog for her, Dublin Mudslide fur mich).

[Trippy]

Check the ingredients on that Panko. I know it's the latest food fad on cooking shows and all that but the dirty little secret is that most of them are loaded with trans fat. Of course they've become so trendy now that brands are popping up without it. Also don't look at the nutritional quantity breakdown, you actually have to read the ingredients list. Thanks to our lovely folks at the FDA if there's less than a half a gram of a particular fat per "serving" they are allowed to list the quantity as 0.0 grams.

[voodoolily]

I usually get a Japanese brand, not the American "oriental foods"-type shit. I never look at the ingredients, just the calorie content.

[Signe]

I don't really do Thanksgiving but my grocery store gave me a free turkey so what the hell.  Anyway, I'm thinking of making fried Brussel sprouts as a side.  You just dip them in egg and roll them around in flour and grated cheese (I'm using Locatelli) and fry them in butter until they're tender.  (how decadent is that?)  Should I give it go with Panko?  Or does that just sound daft?

[voodoolily]

You can mix the panko with the grated cheese for extra crispety goodness. I mean, if you're already going to the trouble of frying, you may as well.

[NowhereMan]

I had a go at making Soda bread, never baked any sort of bread before but I like it and it seemed like a relatively easy start. I have a strong suspicion I didn't have enough flower in it or too much buttermilk since the dough was pretty wet and ridiculously sticky. Being a sensible man I bunged it onto the baking tray and tried to cut a cross in the top then stuck it in the oven. Letting it cool now, not sure how it tastes yet but at least my kitchen smells awesome.

[Ookii]

It'll taste great, the dough for soda bread just happens to be ridiculously sticky.  You pretty much just form it into a mass and bake it, and then watch while schild mysteriously appears and eats the whole thing in two bites.   

[NowhereMan]

Taste test is in. Not quite cooled yet and a tiny bit damp/undercooked inside but definitely delicious. I have found a great new use for my oven.

[Grimwell]

While out on an errand yesterday the Splendid Table did a feature on close-roasted pork. Guess what we had out for our dinner meat for the day? Yup. Pork.

I had to modify the basic recipe for the rub based on what I had on hand for chili powder, and added more brown sugar by a factor of 2 to make sure the sweet won over with my kids. I also topped it with crushed pineapple. After a few hours in the oven it was indeed fine to smell, tender in form, and delicious to eat.

Good radio show BTW. :)

[voodoolily]

Good radio show BTW. :)

It is great, and you can download the podcasts of the show on iTunes for free. I listen to it at work sometimes.

[Paelos]

New question. Post your favorite potato recipe. Which one do you like best?

I like:

1 Large sweet potato, peeled and put into 1/4" rounds
Olive Oil
Red pepper flake
Garlic Powder
Salt

Coat the sweet potato rounds in oil and toss with all the spices to your own tastes. Bake at 450 for about 30-40 minutes or until they have the roasted color you like. I prefer slightly blackend edges.

[Sky]

I made some mashed sweet potatoes. Made pretty much like normal mashed taters, but I added maple sugar.

[nurtsi]

I made some tasty meat-o-balls & spaghetti.

For the balls: an egg, minced beef, some cream crackers, rosemary and oregano. Smash the crackers into crumbs and mix everything together. Roll the balls.

For sauce, chopped tomato, basil, chili & garlic.

Fry the balls on a pan, once they're done, put them aside for a bit. Fry the garlic and chili in a bit of oil, then dump the rest of the sauce ingredients in. Finally add the balls and cooked spaghetti in the pan, mix a bit. Add some fresh basil & parmesan on top.

Simple, takes about 30min and is good. I'm gonna be making these again.

[apocrypha]

I really like simple mashed potato with some other vegetable mixed in - swede, carrot, turnip, sweet potato, pretty much any good winter root crop. Plus butter & salt'n'pepper of course.

Bit more involved though is chicken thighs with new potatoes and tomatoes - boneless chicken thighs cut into strips, seasoned and fried, then mixed with par-boiled baby new potatoes, cherry tomatoes with their skins pricked, olive oil, red wine vinegar and oregano then the whole lot roasted hot for 30-60 minutes. Gorgeous with hot, crusty bread.

[Bunk]

For sweetpotatoes/yams: in a slow cooker with orange juice and pecans - I forget what the rest of the ingredients are

Potatos: latkes, seasoned with seasoned salt.

[Signe]

I hate sweet potatoes.

Just sayin'....

[Paelos]

I hate sweet potatoes.

Just sayin'....

My grandmother would pinch you.

[Signe]

I could out-pinch your grandmother.  I can out-pinch everyone.  It doesn't matter how young and fit you might be, either.  I could bitch-pinch you and make you cry like a little girl.

So there you have it.

[apocrypha]

Backing slowly away from scary pinchySigne....

Sometimes the simplest meals are the best. My gf cooked a chicken casserole with herb dumplings last night that was just awesome. Nothing complicated, chicken thighs fried with the skin on then put in a casserole with carrots, turnips and one red, one green and one yellow pepper. Cheap red wine for a sauce, lots of herbs and seasoning and suet dumplings with fresh thyme. Gorgeous.

Best thing about it? There's enough left for tonight too! 

[voodoolily]

New question. Post your favorite potato recipe. Which one do you like best?

My favorite way of a potato is to parboil baby potatoes (or fingerlings) until tender, then pan-fry them in a little butter until browned and crispy. Toss with chopped fresh thyme and parsley and a spoonful of horseradish (optional), a pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper. Perfect accompaniment to a steak, pork chops or roast chicken.

[Nebu]

For Thanksgiving I boiled then pan fried a mixture cubed sweet and red potatos in butter. The contrast of sweet and starch was wonderful with the fat.  I left the skin on for texture.   

[voodoolily]

I always leave the skins on, too (for nutrition).

[Nebu]

I wanted to garnish the potatos (like a chopped green for color and contrast) when I served them but wasn't sure what to use... any suggestions?  I was thinking either chive, cilantro, or parsley at first... for color. 

[voodoolily]

Chopped parsley and thyme is my stand-by, since I grow them. Rosemary is also classic, but keep it on the DL, so it doesn't end up tasting like a fucking Christmas tree. Chive is also great. If you do cilantro I'd be tempted to go full bore and have a little cumin seed and chili flake.

[Nebu]

Chopped parsley and thyme is my stand-by, since I grow them. Rosemary is also classic, but keep it on the DL, so it doesn't end up tasting like a fucking Christmas tree. Chive is also great. If you do cilantro I'd be tempted to go full bore and have a little cumin seed and chili flake.

Awesome.  Thanks!  I may give a couple of those a go.  I'm loving this as a breakfast potato with some egg whites.

[Grimwell]

I made this morning. It was actually good considering the effort involved. Better than a Hostess cake.

Can you believe it?! This is a recipe for homemade, from scratch, chocolate cake that is made in 3 minutes in the microwave! It will be amazing and I'd suggest tweaking it to make it your own, unique recipe :)

3 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

1 Coffee Mug
4 tablespoons flour(that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts...might put on a plate just in case. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed, it will settle down!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to share!)

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

[Nerf]

We need to get a waffle iron so we can have delicious tasty waffles on mornings I wake up before 11, anyone have any recommendations/warnings for me?
Also, preferably under $40.

[voodoolily]

I think ours is a Cuisinart. It has a lot of features I like, like being nonstick, having a light to tell you when they're ready, a dial to adjust the toastiness, etc. The only problem is that the waffles either come out lacy like a cookie (not enough batter) or ooze batter out of the iron, all over your counter if you want complete coverage/full waffle action. 

We had chicken and waffles for dinner last night, ironically. You don't need to be up before 11 to eat waffles.

[Sky]

Speaking of gadgets, I think I'm finally getting to the point of needing a food proc and a mixer. Run across too many recipes that use them, though I'm pretty good mixing by hand. Wish I had qualified for that ridiculous deal on amazon last month (something like $140 for the kitchenaid mixer).

[Trippy]

Speaking of gadgets, I think I'm finally getting to the point of needing a food proc and a mixer. Run across too many recipes that use them, though I'm pretty good mixing by hand. Wish I had qualified for that ridiculous deal on amazon last month (something like $140 for the kitchenaid mixer).

Avoid Cuisinart food processors. They stopped having their blades made by Sabatier, a French knife maker similar to a Henkels or Wusthof (my knives are mostly Sabatier cause they fit my hand and a better balanced to me than the German knives). Oddly enough, KitchenAid now uses Sabatier blades in their food processors. Also if you want to puree soup or other mostly liquid ingredients avoid the processors that have the little "mini-choppers" that you can insert inside. Because of the design the middle "spindle hole" is a lot shorter in the main work bowl in those processors so liquids will leak out unless you only have a small amount in there.

[Bunk]

So here I am, hard at work, with a slowcooker on the corner of my desk full of pork roast heavily doused in VDL's secret rub.

I think I'm going to cook things at my desk more often, the smell is oustanding.

[lamaros]

I made this pudding for christmas:

http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au/2007/11/christmas-pudding-recipe.html

Going to be eating it soon! so hopefully it tstes as nice as it smells and looks. A couple of variations to the recipie above, but that's pretty much it.

Never made a pudding before, will try put a photo of it up here sometime after the christmas feasting has abated.

Picture!


Everyone thought it was rather good. Yum.

[Signe]

It's a lovely pudding.  Congrats!  We go to my sister's annual do today so no Christmas pudding for us!  No meat, either.  They're vegetarians who only eat fish except when my sister comes to my house and cheats with salami.  So - it's a Christmas Cheese Lasagna for us.  We're spending the New Year at home (definitely going to in-laws next time for Hogmanay though!) so I'll make a nice roast something or other and a pear mincemeat pie. 

[SuperPopTart]

I made Sweet Potato, Carmelized Onion and Spiced Pork Crostini as one of the brunch amuse bouches for the Christmas Brunch we had. They were delightful, though the crostini got a tad bit soggy on the way over. (Making them upon arrival would have caused far too much delay.)

[voodoolily]

I made Sweet Potato, Carmelized Onion and Spiced Pork Crostini as one of the brunch amuse bouches for the Christmas Brunch we had. They were delightful, though the crostini got a tad bit soggy on the way over. (Making them upon arrival would have caused far too much delay.)

This is the tragedy of crostini. Yours sounds divine, though, and I'd eat the shit out of them, soggy or not.