Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!

[SuperPopTart]

Danke. I didn't know if they'd come out tasting good or not so I forced unknown entities to be test eaters, I wish I could make you some and send them your way! I've also been toying with the idea of making a recipe exchange website for we geeks/foodies.

BTW VL, how did your Food Network thing go?

[voodoolily]

It didn't - no call back. It's cool, I srsly just went for lulz. I think a blogger buddy of mine might be in, though.

[Signe]

Thought this was a good one for some of y'ins  (weird word from Pittsburgh) recipe books:

Legal Vice Brownies

1/2 lb bacon
8 oz butter
10 oz baking chocolate*
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
5 large eggs
Freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp smoked salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Bourbon**

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cook the bacon until it is very crisp, drain off the grease and set aside. Pat the bacon dry with paper towels, crumble into tiny pieces, chopping in food processor if possible. Set aside.

Place the pecans in a bowl and just cover with bourbon. When roughly half of the bourbon has been absorbed, scoop out the pecans with a slotted spoon, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until nearly toasted. Reserve one teaspoon of the bourbon, pour the remainder over the pecans, and let them finish toasting. Remove them from the oven and set aside.

In a double boiler, over simmering water, combine the butter and chocolate. When the mixture is nearly melted, remove it from the heat and stir together until blended. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized bowl and let it cool to room temperature.

Once the chocolate mixture is cool, add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, several grinds of black pepper, smoked salt, eggs and reserved bourbon and whisk well to combine.

Add the cocoa powder and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Then stir in the flour 1/2 cup at a time, making sure it is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next portion. Stir in the bacon and pecans.

Use the reserved bacon grease to lightly coat an 8x8 baking pan, and pour in the batter. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the edge comes out dry, but inserted near the center, comes out lightly coated in batter. Let the brownies cool, and cut into squares to serve.

*I used a haphazard mix of 2 oz of a Dagobah organic unsweetened 100% cacao baking chocolate, 6 oz of Dagobah organic semisweetened 59% cacao baking chocolate, and 2 oz of Callebaut dark baking chocolate.

**Jim Beam in this case, but it's not set in stone.

Source

[SuperPopTart]

Do you know how many levels of wrong that is, Meeessssus Signe? Hmmmmm?

[Signe]

Oh I do and I couldn't eat even just one without instantly dying but I know that around here bacon, brownies and bourbon are manna from heaven.

[nurtsi]

I made my first tomato soup yesterday:

 

1 litre water
2 vegetable broth cubes
6 tomatos
Onion
Two cloves of garlic
Basil
Sugar
Black pepper
Cream

It was damn good, though a bit runny and yellowish. Maybe I need to add more tomatoes next time.

[Signe]

I've had yellow tomato soup before but it was made with yellow tomatoes.  If it was damn good, though, who cares?  It does look pretty even if it's the wrong colour!  I bet it would be great with a side of bacon, too.

[voodoolily]

Or a grilled cheese sammich. With bacon.

[lamaros]

so the other night i had a bbq, i made some foods, nothing special, which was:

lamb (rosemary, olive oil and some white wine vinegar) sweet potato and zucchini skewers
lamb (honey, soy and mint) onion mushroom and capscium skewers
polenta with garlic and chickpeas, topped with roast capscium
fried squid with dusting of flour and chili in salad with rocket, lemon juice, olive oil and pepper
couple other salads (both delicious!)
some steaks
roast potatoes

i think that was the lot. I've never spent so much time (or money - spent over $300 when drinks come into it) perparing food before and I did the whole lot myself. everyone said the food was really good and I was most delighted. though my house is a mess and i can't afford to eat for the next month i feel really happy about the whole thing; it's lots of fun to cook food you and other enjoy.

no pictures i'm afraid :(

[voodoolily]

I wholeheartedly concur with your bbq choices, sir.

[Signe]

He also made hazelnut gelati and mango sorbet!  Yum Yum Yum!  Who knew you were such a yummy boy, Lamby. 

Yes, I just nicknamed you Lamby.

PS  I'd like your polenta recipe, if you wouldn't mind.  It has all my sister's favourite stuff in it and she's a pretend vegetarian with a birthday coming up.

[lamaros]

Ah I wish I could say I made that, however I bought it. It was just part of the experience!

The hazelnut gelati is the most delicious thing on earth. Goes well with a bit of rum.

The polenta is just really simply:

Cook polenta (1 cup to 1L) as per normal in a large pot and when it starts to thicken up add some finely chopped garlic and chickpeas (soaked overnight and cooked till a little soft would be best, I just added canned organic ones this time because there was other stuff to do and I'm a novice). Then once it's cooked put in a large plate/serving dish thing to set overnight - about 2-3cm high, spread out on the dish. I think I used about 1.5 cups of polenta and 750g chickpeas, and a couple of cloves of garlic.

Then the next day I cut it up into squares and very quickly fried it to soften it a little and crisp up the edges.

The capsicum (i used red and yellow, but the yellow didn't peel as well as the red) I cut in half and stuck in the oven on foil until the skin was blistered and a bit burnt. Then take it out and peel off the skin, cut up into strips.

Then add the capsicum on top of the polenta and bake in the oven for a little make everything warm and delicious. Then a little feta to it.

However much of this wasn't planned and the like. Originally I wanted to copy a recipe I made a few years which was baked eggplant and capsicum but i couldn't find it again and stuffed things up a little doing the eggplant and had to skip it (plus I don't really like eggplant anyway). It was also a bit redundant frying the polenta and then backing it and the capsicum again, but because I was doing it for the first time and doing other stuff at the same time it had gotten a little cold by the time the capsicum was ready and we were eating so that's how I did it in the end.

So it was something like that.

[voodoolily]

I was wondering how that came to $300... You can pick up a boneless leg of lamb for ~$15.

[lamaros]

I spent a lot on drinks. And I prefer to get organic things when the option is available.

[voodoolily]

Posting this here because I think you all need to eat this, the sooner the better.



Swedish meatballs with buttered noodles and nutmeg gravy

Mix together some ground chuck and ground pork (about 3:1, respectively, for about a pound total), an egg, a half-handful of plain bread crumbs, a quarter of an onion (minced), more nutmeg than you think you should (at least ten scratches across your microplane zester), four or five good cracks of pepper, and a few pinches of crunchy salt. Mix only until combined, and use a little ice cream scoop to perfectly portion out meatballs onto a silpat. Roast these at 400 for about 20 or 30 minutes, until they're browned and lovely.

Whilst the meatballs are roasting, get a roux going. When it's nutty, whisk in milk until the lumps are all gone, and it is creamy and gravylike. Add some cracks of pepper (white is nice, if you have it), salt and 10 or 15 scratches of nutmeg. After it's bubbled for a spell (and the floury taste is gone), add some minced fresh thyme and a generous spoonful of creme frâiche, and taste. Whilst the gravy is simmering, boil some egg noodles. When they're done, toss in a knob of butter to coat. Toss a squonch of chopped parsley at it artfully.

[MrHat]

...

 

[apocrypha]

Sounds gorgeous. Chuck is beef yeah? Edit: looked it up. Going to cook this tonight (well my gf is, I still can't cook).

[Bunk]

It does sound good. Are there regional differences in the precise amount involved in a knob and a squonch?

[Signe]

A knob is someone who you catch in the act of squonching your car.  You can call him a wanker or a an asshole, too, but just remember to phone the police.  Srsly.  Years ago someone tried to steal my car from outside a club and I was so busy calling him names that I didn't call the cops in time to catch him.  He didn't get the car, though.  Thinking about, I should have let him take it.  It was rubbish.

I'll try the Swedish meatballs at some point.  Righ loves them.  He's been having some dental work done lately so I'm looking for recipes that are not too crunchy or tough.  And that he'll still eat!

[Sky]

I've been dabbling in mixed minced meat merriment lately. Meatballs, meat sauce, meat loaf. Messing around with the formula a bit, different meat mixes and dairy. I think for ease and value I'm sticking to the pre-packaged meatball mix from the market, it tastes good and has a good texture. With the dairy, I'm trending back toward a recipe from a light cookbook that uses milk (I use 2%) and yogurt to mimic the effect of buttermilk. I've been using buttermilk lately and I can't tell the difference enough to bother buying the extra (fatty) ingredient. Main problem is that it's apparently hard to find plain yogurt in anything less than keg form.

Speaking of chuck, they had a bunch of chucks on sale at my local market, so I did a pot roast. It came out of the pot in four pieces, simply amazing texture. I love simple, tasty dishes, especially something like pot roast that is mostly hands-off.

[nurtsi]

I made french onion soup on Saturday. It was pretty good and you don't really need teeth to enjoy it!

[Nebu]

I decided on Saturday that my next ambitions were to be pasta and bread and bought THIS WONDERFUL BOOK to help me get started.  So far, I've only tried one recipe with several different bread flours and it has been an education.  I recommend this book to anyone interested in making their own breads.  It has not only great instruction, but soem fine recipes to dabble with.

[schild]

I decided on Saturday that my next ambitions were to be pasta and bread and bought THIS WONDERFUL BOOK to help me get started.  So far, I've only tried one recipe with several different bread flours and it has been an education.  I recommend this book to anyone interested in making their own breads.  It has not only great instruction, but soem fine recipes to dabble with.

Yea, I think Ookii has recommended it before.

It also makes a great paperweight...during a hurricane.

[Nebu]

Yea, I think Ookii has recommended it before.

It also makes a great paperweight...during a hurricane.

You're right and I forgot to credit him.  Thanks Ookii!!!

[Nebu]

HELP! 

I need a good scone recipe.  I made three batches of scones this weekend and they were heavier than I really liked.  Anyone know of a decent scone recipe that gives them a more biscuit-like and less cakey texture? 

Typical recipes were of the ilk (from memory)

3/4 stick butter, 1 cup milk (or heavy cream), 2 eggs, 4 cups bread flour, 1.5 Tblsp baking powder, 1/3 cup sugar.  Add dried fruit/nuts of choice. 

Any recommendations welcome... the bread bible and my 100 breads books didn't do it for me.  Neither did my random interweb searching.  Also, can you overwork this dough?  I like to mix by hand and knead rather than use a machine, but fear all the kneading is creating the doughy texture I'm trying to avoid. 

[Signe]

Yes yes yes, you can absolutely over-work the dough.  Scone dough should be worked as little as possible.  It's especially easy to over-work it if you're using butter that's too warm.  Use it right out of the fridge.  When I want my pastry dough to be very very flaky, for instance, I freeze the butter before I use it and work it as little and gently as I can. 

[Nebu]

Thanks.  I figured I may be overworking things... they taste nice, but the texture is off. 

Question: How the hell can I work in cold butter with a spoon?  Is it time to buy a Mixmaster?

[Signe]

That would be good.  And a pastry blender!  Get KitchenAid and spend all your money!  Get a pink one and some of the money goes to breast cancer!     OR - you can use a big fork.  One of those meat stabbing forks is good.  Also a couple of knives are okay to blend for this sort of dough.  And beat the egg a little bit so you don't over work the dough due to that.  Cut your butter into pieces, too. 

[Nebu]

I'll give it a shot. 

I made a batch of cranberry and almond that turned out ok, but still felt quite doughy.  I'll use your tips when I make another batch this week.  I really love scones.  They are the perfect amount of sweet (just a hint) for that gap between a biscuit and a pastry. 

[Signe]

I agree.  You don't need a lot of sugar for this sort of biscuit, especially if you throw in a handful of raisins, berries, figs or something. I find the fruit to be more than enough sweet, actually. The hardest part is trying to overcome your instinct to make sure everything is thoroughly blended - over and over and over again.  It's a good lunch food, too.  You can make them all sorts of ways.  Leave out sugar all together and use a bit of marmalade instead, or throw in some nice cheddar and maybe some left over ham bits.   

[voodoolily]

I keep my butter in the freezer and use the food processor to pulse it into crumbs in the flour. And mix until just combined - leave it lumpy. Impossibly gossamer biscuits/scones are yielded in this way.

[Nebu]

I keep my butter in the freezer and use the food processor to pulse it into crumbs in the flour. And mix until just combined - leave it lumpy. Impossibly gossamer biscuits/scones are yielded in this way.

That's a beautiful tip.  Thanks to both of you!  I'm still on the learning curve, but it all is starting to make sense from a chemical standpoint. 

[MrHat]

I keep my butter in the freezer and use the food processor to pulse it into crumbs in the flour. And mix until just combined - leave it lumpy. Impossibly gossamer biscuits/scones are yielded in this way.

This is what I did when I was on a biscuit kick.

So delicious.

[Signe]

I keep all but one stick in the freezer, too.  If I need warm or room temp butter quickly, (which strangely takes a long time to soften!), I've learned to get it the way I want it using the microwave.  I don't make many cake-like recipes, though, and I only need one stick for a batch of cookie type biscuits, which Righ never eats so I don't usually make them often.  He does like scones, however.

[Sky]

I was going to make pizza Sunday, but rolled the dough out too thin. So rather than re-rolling the whole thing in front of company, I just pretended I had meant to roll it thin and rolled it into a nice stromboli. The think dough worked perfectly there and everyone was pleased. I love stromboli, just some evoo, Dinosaur rub, italian herb mix, pepperoni and mozz.

I definitely need a bigger oven stone.