Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!

[voodoolily]

Right.  Those hard cake decorations in the baking section that your mom would not buy for you. 

Exactly! But we always had those horrible BBs that are supposedly safe to eat. 

[Yegolev]

Right.  Those hard cake decorations in the baking section that your mom would not buy for you. 

Exactly! But we always had those horrible BBs that are supposedly safe to eat. 

Ah, I didn't get those, either.  I felt honored when my mom used food dye to make blue icing for me!

My wife wanted to go full-retard and set it up like a real Japanese one, but she only had this idea like the day before I made it and so we just went with what we had in the house that was the most tacky.

[Ingmar]

Right.  Those hard cake decorations in the baking section that your mom would not buy for you. 

Exactly! But we always had those horrible BBs that are supposedly safe to eat. 

There was a little mini-QQ-revolt by bakeries here when they made those stupid things illegal.

[Nebu]

The magazine thread prompted me to come here and ask the cooks among us: Can you recommend a good cooking magazine?  I'm interested more in techniques and product reviews than in recipes. 

Thanks!

[Sky]

Cook's Illustrated. Lots of recipes, but they discuss a lot of theory in the article before the recipe. They'll run through several time-honored techinques until they find the one that works the best. Their equipment and ingredient reviews have yet to lead me astray, and they're subscription supported without ads, like Consumer Reports. VDL and the foodoblogosphere apparently has something against them.

Cook's Country is the less chef-y magazine from the same people (America's Test Kitchen).

I had to drop both this year because I'm broke and I'm already missing them.

[Khaldun]

See the magazine thread for my full comments on Cook's. But yes, it's a good magazine for someone who wants to learn. And the product reviews are my favorite part (though this is partly why I'm annoyed: they're starting to break up some of the full reviews and put part of them behind the online paywall).

[Slayerik]

Since I'll been single about a year, I am slowly becoming a decent cook. Here is my favorite creation so far:


Venison Fried Rice


Chop a whole green pepper into long slices. Chop 1/2 to 3/4 of yellow onion into long and small slices. Chop 1/3 red pepper into inch-long pieces. Add butter to large skillet, start frying (heat 4 of 10). Add about a tbsp of Teriyaki and splash some soy. Add tsp Salt, pepper, ginger, and a bit of minced garlic.

Take venison steak or tenderloin and thin cut into stir fry sized strips. After veggies have cooked for about 10 minutes, add meat right on top (sort of steams the meat). Add a touch more ginger, soy, and teriyaki. Add more pepper. After 5 minutes, stir. Begin chopping some peanuts. Add when done.

Scramble two eggs in separate frying pan. Add pepper.

Make four servings of white rice. Once meat is fully cooked, add rice, egg, and stir every couple minutes until rice is fried. Serve offering soy and salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy.

[Sky]

That's an interesting way of adding the egg. One the one hand, scrambling it separately can control the done-ness, but adding it with the rice would seem to overcook the hell out of it, yeah? (I'm an egg snob and hate an overcooked egg)

Now I'm in the mood for fly lice.

[Yegolev]

My wife is a "scramble separately" person in the context of fried rice.  Almost violently so.

[Signe]

I also scramble separately.   

[Nebu]

Me too. Cook Eggs first. Fry rice second. Mix.

[Sky]

I beat the eggs and fluff with a little cream, then dump that into the wok for a couple seconds. It cooks almost instantly, and I like it to be really moist and barely cooked.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I want to try separating the egg, fry the whites separately, and add the yolks to the finished dish in the wok, just enough to gel it slightly and have it be a nice runny yolky sauce.

I've been playing with more yolky dishes since I had an amazing burger with a runny egg on it, the yolk gooed all into the bun and toppings and just made it amazing. Maybe I'll have yolky burritos tonight. Perhaps I'll make some rice instead and use the tortillas and cheese tomorrow with the leftovers!

[Khaldun]

I've been doing a lamb pizza with fried eggs cooked in, it's really great. Takes some care in terms of cooking the egg just a little and then adding it to the top after the pizza has cooked some so you doesn't cook too much.

[Signe]

I've been doing a lamb pizza with fried eggs cooked in, it's really great. Takes some care in terms of cooking the egg just a little and then adding it to the top after the pizza has cooked some so you doesn't cook too much.

You could post that recipe, you know.   

[Khaldun]

I kind of make it up on the spot. Basically on top of my standard pizza dough, I put:

grated fontina cheese
chopped parsley
roasted garlic

I take cooked butterfly leg of lamb, medium rare, sliced thin (I often do this with leftover lamb the next day) and put that on top of the grated fontina/parsley/garlic.

I saute some spinach or arugula in olive oil and scatter that around the lamb.

Sprinkle smoked paprika on top.

Then a dusting of asiago or parmesan cheese on top of that. Leave a few spaces clear where the eggs will go.

Once pizza is cooking, start but do not finish frying three or four eggs. Just enough so they'll hold together when you're ready to move them to the pizza. When the pizza has about four or five minutes to go in a very hot oven, take it out quickly, put the eggs in the spaces you left cleared for them, sprinkle a bit of cheese on top of them, back in the oven. Ideally the crust on top will still be a bit soft when you do it and the eggs still a bit runny--if you do it right, the egg bakes right into the crust.

[nurtsi]

Saving the thread from page two with some paella and chocolate-raspberry cake:

[Khaldun]

Cake is very beautifully done.
 
Made pork meatballs with savory tomato sauce, wilted greens and polenta today. A favorite.

[Yegolev]

I might have photographed my meatloaf but I eated it.

Altered the standard "Meatloaf 1" recipe in Joy of Cooking to use A1 instead of ketchup, minus parsley since I did not have any, and larger-than-diced onion, plus celery salt, and only used beef.  Turned out pretty well.  Even my wife liked it, and she doesn't like either ketchup or onions.

Next try, I'll see about using oatmeal instead of bread.  Also cut down to 1/3 cup of A1 and add some tomatoes.  Maybe.

[Signe]

One thing I do, regardless of what I put in my meatloaf, is bake it on a regular cookie sheet instead of a loaf pan.  You get the yummy caramelised drippings for gravy and if you wrap it in bacon, it gets crispier all the way around.  I'm thinking of making an herb garden on my deck this year.  I hate running out of parsley and basil.  The difference in taste between fresh and dried is huge.

[Sky]

I really need an herb garden, too. Buying in the fresh stuff gets expensive. Like to start at least a small veg garden, have to figure out fencing for it. Tons of varmints.

Getting on a fish kick lately. Never been much of a fish eater, the fiancee loves it. Starting with fairly easy recipes and bland fish like cod. Couple weeks ago I did a roast over red potatoes, last week it was pan fry with panko breading, this weekend I did a nice fish chowder.

[Nebu]

I really need an herb garden, too. Buying in the fresh stuff gets expensive.

I'm going to do this as well.  Even if I grew nothing but basil and cilantro, I'd save a ton and get higher quality. 

Thanks for the reminder now that the weather is getting warmer.

[Signe]

I'll have to make it on our top deck because we're just surrounded by bunnies and they're used to being close to the house because I feed them.  I know, I know.  Shuddup!  They're cute.  My aunt had a HUGE window herb garden.  Maybe someday!  I've seen some pretty decent herb and veggie gardens on decks or in windows.  One of my sister's vegetable gardens is on her deck and it's worked out very well.

[Khaldun]

Cilantro is a surprisingly annoying thing to grow because it has a tendency to go to seed very quickly. Basil, though, just keeps on going all summer long. No matter how much I use, I don't use it up if I plant 4 or 5 of them.

[voodoolily]

Cilantro is a surprisingly annoying thing to grow because it has a tendency to go to seed very quickly. Basil, though, just keeps on going all summer long. No matter how much I use, I don't use it up if I plant 4 or 5 of them.

This is true, though the flowers and fresh, green seeds are delightful on salads or in tacos.

You can make mini cages to protect herbs by bending chicken wire into a little dome. Works great for catnip especially, cuz then the kitties can nibble anything that grows put of the cage without annhiliating the entire plant. 

[Yegolev]

One thing I do, regardless of what I put in my meatloaf, is bake it on a regular cookie sheet instead of a loaf pan.

I considered this but I am afeared of a dry loaf.  Due, of course, to the ketchup prohibition leaving me with no glaze.  The alternative, I think, is to make stew.

[Signe]

I don't use ketchup or tomato sauce in my meatloaf, either, and I don't glaze it.  I do use about a quarter cup of milk and a large egg.  I also use dry, seasoned breadcrumbs instead of bread and make sure everything is a bit smushy.  I cook it for exactly 1 1/4 hr and make it the same size every time.  I tried oatmeal meatloaf once but I didn't like it.  Wrapping it in peppered bacon is really nice, too. 

[voodoolily]

One thing I do, regardless of what I put in my meatloaf, is bake it on a regular cookie sheet instead of a loaf pan.

I considered this but I am afeared of a dry loaf. 

i've never had this problem. The opposite, in fact - if I use a loaf pan, I end up with meatloaf boiled in its own juices, and it falls apart.

[Engels]

So I 'made' corned beef this weekend. By made I mean cooked. The brining etc was courtesy of Trader Joe's St. Paddy's Day brisket sale.

I did something different this time, based on a recipe found somewhere on the internets ( I don't recall where). I simmered it in water for about 1.5 hours first, then baked it wrapped in foil at 300 for the next 2.5 hours, with brown sugar on the top to make the fat glaze. Normally folks do it one way or the other, not both. Came out pretty good! Oh, and another thing I did was ditch the briny water it was packed it and let it soak in plain cold water for about half an hour, simply because those brine packs can make the meat too salty.

[Yegolev]

One thing I do, regardless of what I put in my meatloaf, is bake it on a regular cookie sheet instead of a loaf pan.

I considered this but I am afeared of a dry loaf. 

i've never had this problem. The opposite, in fact - if I use a loaf pan, I end up with meatloaf boiled in its own juices, and it falls apart.

How many eggs?  I did pour off some of the juice at the 60-minute mark, and the slices did fracture, but not like it was ground beef or anything.  Used three eggs.

[Signe]

I only use one extra large egg or two large eggs and I use about 1/3 cup of milk per 1 1/2 lb of meat, a little.  Maybe the 1/3 pork and 1/3 veal help keep it moist, too.  I don't know that I've ever made an all beef meatloaf.  I use the same mix of meat for meatballs, mostly because that's the way my mother made stuff.  I can only dream about being as good a cook as my mother, though.    

[Yegolev]

Using three kinds of meat seems to defeat the purpose.  Besides, I'd have to separate it out and measure it and stuff.

Last night I made wiener schnitzel but used pork chops instead of veal.  Went over well.

[Signe]

Ahh.  My secret to the meatloaf mix is buying it from a butcher or from Wegman's which already has it mixed the way I like.  Not really much of a secret, sorry.  I wish it was more exciting.

[Mrbloodworth]

Perhaps its the fat content? Maybe a more lean would make it less brittle/runny?

[Sky]

Yeah, meatloaf mix ftw. I also substitute bread soaked in buttermilk (or a milk/greek yogurt mix) for plain bread crumbs I used when I was younger.  I'm also of the sheet loaf variety, though I've been trying to use a pan lately. Used to make them on a sheet of stiff aluminum foil when I was in college, because I only had a toaster oven.

Don't forget the cheese chunks and jalapeno slices!

[voodoolily]

I use only one egg, panko crumbs (not soaked) and usually ground chuck (20% fat) or a combo of ground buffalo and ground pork. Minced onion provides a bit of extra moisture. I do also add ketchup and gochujang, but forgo the shmear of ketchup on top because I usually make it to go with gravy. But I like ketchup if I'm making it to go with mac n chee.

I used to make it with ground turkey and it was always dry and icky or boiled (loaf pan).