To Serve Man - It's a Cookbook!

[SciFlyBoy]

Also apparently using a cast iron pan causes cheap store-made burger patties to distend with fluids, as not draining it was a painful mistake.

Made my own burger patties yesterday, 3/4 lb sirloin and 1/4 lb chuck. Trying to find the best pan, I have a cast iron skillet but tried the long griddle this time. Tasted good, but didn't have the char I'd like, guess it needs to be a lot hotter.

[TheodoricFriede]

In honor of Persona 5 I have decided to make Japanese style Curry and Rice.

Its currently cooking so we will see how i did.

Either way curry is FUCKING complicated.

[TheodoricFriede]

Turned out pretty well!

[SciFlyBoy]

Turned out pretty well!

What was in it?

[TheodoricFriede]

Japanese Curry Recipe

Ingredients
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 pound stewing beef
1 large onion peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger peeled and minced
1 apple peeled, cored and minced, like honeycrisp
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large carrots peeled and roughly chopped on the bias (rengiri style)
1 large potato peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon garam masala
4 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups red wine
1 1//2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cups water


Directions
1.) In a large pot over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and stewing beef. Cook for 5 minutes or until meat is cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

2.) Lower heat to medium low and in the same pot, add remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil with onions and cook for about 10 minutes, until onions are translucent and slightly caramelized.

3.) Add garlic, ginger and apple and cook for 2 minutes.

4.) Add flour and stir for 1 minute.

5.) Add carrots, potatoes, garam masala and curry powder and stir well.

6.) Add tomato paste, stir well and slowly add red wine and bring to a boil.

7.) Add sugar, soy sauce and water, stir and bring to a boil again.

8.) Add beef and lower heat to a simmering boil. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

9.) Take the lid off and cook for another 30 minutes or until curry soup has reduced by a third.

10.) Season with salt and pepper and serve with rice.

[TheodoricFriede]

I was bored yesterday and decided to make Onigiri.

Onigiri, for those that dont know, are those little rice balls you see in anime. Generally they are stuffed with something like fish, vegetables, or pickled plumb.

I ended up just opening a can of albacore tuna, frying that in peanut oil with some Japanese red pepper spice and soy sauce still it was heated through and soft. Add some mayonnaise, mix well.

Then you just form your rice around it. Make sure its Japanese rice, nothing else will give you that stickiness you need.

(Note: To keep it from sticking to your hands, dip you hands in warm salt water.)

[SciFlyBoy]

@ Theo, I'd love to try that.

Anyone do anything special with Sardines? Bought a can to try them out.

[TheodoricFriede]

Marinading hamburger patties in red wine for about a half an hour before cooking them provides you with a more robust flavor.

[SciFlyBoy]

Marinading hamburger patties in red wine for about a half an hour before cooking them provides you with a more robust flavor.

When you take a bite, do you swish it a little in your mouth before you spit it out?

[Vol]

Does vinegar "cook off" like alcohol? I was at a party, and there were some delicious hot wings (marinated in Tabasco, cooked with red pepper flakes) and I was able to eat them fine, when normally Tabasco would be like arsenic to me.

[SciFlyBoy]

Does vinegar "cook off" like alcohol? I was at a party, and there were some delicious hot wings (marinated in Tabasco, cooked with red pepper flakes) and I was able to eat them fine, when normally Tabasco would be like arsenic to me.

It's an acid, I don't think it changes state unless paired with an alkaline. Where alcohol has a low evaporation temp which is why it can be cooked off. Maybe they added something else to it, or used a Tabasco like product made without vinegar. Maybe the wings were coated in baking power first?

[Raga]

I used to make this a lot and then kind of forgot about it and then finally made it again the other day. Thought I'd post it.

Super, duper hippy (but actually way better than it has any right to be and also very easy to make):

Chia seed pudding:

1 cup of some hippy, dippy milk substitute of your choice (I use vanilla soy milk but you can use almond milk or coconut milk or whatever)
1-1 1/2 cups of Greek yogurt (this is mostly just a personal taste thing. I recommend starting with 1 cup and mixing in more yogurt later if you want it to be thicker or have a higher pudding to seed ratio)
1/2 cup of Chia seeds
1/4 cup of maple syrup or honey)
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
If you use vanilla soy milk, you don't need it, but otherwise I would also add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Mix all that in a mixing bowl
2. Stick it in the fridge and leave it for about 4 hours. It naturally turns form a liquid to pudding/gelatinous form.
3. Take it out and add more honey/maple syrup or yogurt as you want. Also delicious to mix in various fruits (blue berries, raspberries, and blackberries in particular)

And I swear it tastes much better than it looks.

[SciFlyBoy]

I've never cooked with Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia seeds before. I'll look for them next time I'm out.

[Raga]

They are tiny but when you put them in the pudding they naturally swell up like tapioca. I actually have never used them for anything but pudding. They are so small, I don't know what else they are good for. I'd have to research.

[Mazder]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgtpaBOkvrA

[Mazder]

Look out Mofos!
It's Baking time!

So, I acquired some cooking apples and Blackberries.
Guess it's time to make an apple and blackberry pie!

Boom, pre-baking!


Boom, post-baking!


OMNOMNOM!


I gotta say, not bad for my first pie.
I'm going back for seconds!

[SciFlyBoy]

Man, Maz. That looks good. Never thought of combining apples and blackberries. You deserve that second piece.

[Mazder]

Man, Maz. That looks good. Never thought of combining apples and blackberries. You deserve that second piece.

It is sooo good!
Apple and blackberry is an old staple where I am from.
I still remember going down and picking wild blackberries in Felixstowe when visiting an aunt of mine. We'd have apple and blackberry crumble.
I still remember all the sights and smells. The crisp late summer morning air, the sea breeze, the musty smell of the conservatory lifted by the aroma of sweet apples, tart blackberries and cinnamon.
It brings a tear to the eye to remember such days as a kid.

It's not a crumble, but this is a damned good pie.

[Raga]

Crumble? Is that a cousin of a cobbler?

We used to make cobblers of wild dewberries, which are a lot like blackberries but a bit smaller and they grow on more of a vine than a bush. They have permanently spoiled me for store bought berries, which are always mushy and flavorless in comparison.

[SciFlyBoy]

Yeah, I visited a friend who lived in Washington state and wild blackberries grew by the road and we would walk to get pizza and pick them on the way home. I've heard of both crumbles and Cobblers, but have a similar dish called a blackberry Grunt. I guess they're all related.

[Mazder]

Crumble? Is that a cousin of a cobbler?

We used to make cobblers of wild dewberries, which are a lot like blackberries but a bit smaller and they grow on more of a vine than a bush. They have permanently spoiled me for store bought berries, which are always mushy and flavorless in comparison.

It's close.
While a cobbler has a more batter-like, or dough-y topping, crumbles are made with a flour-fat-sugar mixture, like breadcrumbs-ish. Crumbles also usually have oats in them, but are optional. The oats give things a nice granola-y texture.

You take your flour, sugar and any spice you want to add, like cinnamon for example, or mixed-spice (cinnamon, coriander seed and nutmeg, sometimes having cloves and ginger in there too). Add your butter and just mix with your fingers until you get a breadcrumb-like mix, not too chunky, not too fine. When it cooks the fats expand and melt and the flour absorbs it and you're left with a crumbly, golden brown, delicious topping for your crumble.

[Vol]

General food chat, but to any of you UK folks, are Fray Bentos pies any good? After watching a video review of some, they look delicious, but $6.50-$12 just for one is really pricey.

[Mazder]

General food chat, but to any of you UK folks, are Fray Bentos pies any good? After watching a video review of some, they look delicious, but $6.50-$12 just for one is really pricey.

I am soooo late on replying to this but "Frey" Fray Bentos pies are kinda okay.
Over here they're about £3 at their most expensive for a single pie, so $12 is you getting shafted for one as they're honestly not worth $12.

[Mazder]

Okay, so it is time for me to learn how to cook meat.
So let's start off easy. Minced beef.
The meal, Spaghetti Bolognese.

And like a twat I forgot to take pictures during so here is the end result;





All in all the meat was good, the peppers were slightly overcooked so that's a good thing to know for my timing next time.
If I had more planning and gave more of a shit I'd have made the sauce myself but for now out of a jar is fine.
I really thought I'd burn the beef in this first time of cooking or undercook it but the mince is an easy-time thing to do.
Once I have to start learning how to do chicken, then I'll be scared of undercooking.

[DarkStorm]

Might actually make that, it looks really good.

[Mazder]

Might actually make that, it looks really good.

Thanks.

If you can get your hands on some parsley toss it through the pasta. I forgot to do that to mine, it adds a nice flavour to the rather dull pasta.

[Alienmorph]

Hmmm... pretty good for a first try, looks abit pale tho. I thing there should be more tomato sauce. But maybe it's just my impression. How did you make it exactly?

[SciFlyBoy]

I think it's the American in me, but that doesn't look like enough sauce in that serving, for my taste. About the peppers, I can't decide against the sweetness of long cooked peppers, or the crispness of short cooked. You like them a little more crisp?

[Mazder]

Hmmm... pretty good for a first try, looks abit pale tho. I thing there should be more tomato sauce. But maybe it's just my impression. How did you make it exactly?

Yeah there was more sauce but I gave most of it to my dad (because of my grandad being in hospital I thought he should have the more sauce as it'd help the meal come back to life as he had to have his much later. More liquid means it kept a bit fresher and warm for a little longer, needing less reheating.)

In a decent sized saucepan I browned off my meat, drained the fat, threw in my onions and peppers, let them wilt down, threw in my mushrooms and let that get to know itself, then the sauce a tiny bit of garlic paste to boost the sauce, some parsley in the sauce.
Meanwhile water was boiling for pasta, was slightly salted, then once boiling the pasta was added, boiled until cooked, drained and plated while sauce was cooking down.
Also with seasoning as needed.

Assembled, plated, enjoyed.

I think it's the American in me, but that doesn't look like enough sauce in that serving, for my taste. About the peppers, I can't decide against the sweetness of long cooked peppers, or the crispness of short cooked. You like them a little more crisp?

I like them with a little bit of bite, but not crunchy/too crisp.
You should be able to tell that it was wilted down a it and their flavour added to the sauce as much as possible. They shouldn't be too mushy.

[SciFlyBoy]

I like them with a little bit of bite, but not crunchy/too crisp.
You should be able to tell that it was wilted down a it and their flavour added to the sauce as much as possible. They shouldn't be too mushy.

I think I just have a life time of over cooking my bell peppers, which is confusing since I add them when I add my onions and they come out fine. I think. I often find that cooking times in recipes don't match their description of when the item being cooked appears ready for the next step. Does that make sense? Maybe I'm always overcooking my aromatics.

[SciFlyBoy]

In a decent sized saucepan I browned off my meat, drained the fat, threw in my onions and peppers, let them wilt down, threw in my mushrooms and let that get to know itself, then the sauce a tiny bit of garlic paste to boost the sauce, some parsley in the sauce.
Meanwhile water was boiling for pasta, was slightly salted, then once boiling the pasta was added, boiled until cooked, drained and plated while sauce was cooking down.
Also with seasoning as needed.

Assembled, plated, enjoyed.

That's exactly my method, too. Except for two cans of tomato paste for me since I love it extra thick and fennel seed to the meat. I'm hungry now. Spaghetti for dinner!!! Thanks Maz!

[Mazder]

That's exactly my method, too. Except for two cans of tomato paste for me since I love it extra thick and fennel seed to the meat. I'm hungry now. Spaghetti for dinner!!! Thanks Maz!

You're welcome.

[Vol]

I am soooo late on replying to this but "Frey" Fray Bentos pies are kinda okay.
Over here they're about £3 at their most expensive for a single pie, so $12 is you getting shafted for one as they're honestly not worth $12.

Yeah, that's what I discovered. Really liked the crust, crispy then soggy, and the filling was decent. At the price you get them, I'd probably pick up a couple now and again. With the import cost, it's way too much. The best price I found for importing was if I buy 30 kg at a clip, and I'd pay something like 76 dollarydoos in shipping, plus the cost of the pies themselves. Alas!

[Mazder]

I am soooo late on replying to this but "Frey" Fray Bentos pies are kinda okay.
Over here they're about £3 at their most expensive for a single pie, so $12 is you getting shafted for one as they're honestly not worth $12.

Yeah, that's what I discovered. Really liked the crust, crispy then soggy, and the filling was decent. At the price you get them, I'd probably pick up a couple now and again. With the import cost, it's way too much. The best price I found for importing was if I buy 30 kg at a clip, and I'd pay something like 76 dollarydoos in shipping, plus the cost of the pies themselves. Alas!

Oh, yeah, fuck that!

If I'm ever in/going to your neck of the woods I'll bring ya some varieties.

[Vol]

I'll hold you to that!

Tried my hand at making pasta from scratch. Moral of the story: _Thin_ and _flat_, because ooph. Edible at least.

[DarkStorm]

Actually made some BBQ sauce and turned out pretty well.

Pepper, Vinegar, ketchup, honey or brown sugar, red pepper flakes, paprika, but I had none so I used chili powder.

Turned out well but it could have used more spice, but it was sweet and tangy which worked great on ribs.

[SciFlyBoy]

Is macaroni and cheese a thing in Europe/England?

[Alienmorph]

I do eat pasta with cheese, yes. Tho I don't think I'm following the american recipes by any stretch of the imagination.

[Mazder]

Is macaroni and cheese a thing in Europe/England?

We know of it.
Personally I have not had it since about....4?
Just after/before the time my mum left my dad.

It's popular enough I guess.

I do eat pasta with cheese, yes. Tho I don't think I'm following the american recipes by any stretch of the imagination.

Yeah, yours is the (obviously) more Italian varieties where it's a little bit of cheese as an addition to a pasta dish, I'd be willing to wager.

Personally I've never had cheese and pasta together.
Mind you I've also never had Parmesan cheese too, which is apparently the type to use with pasta.

[DarkStorm]

Basically you make a cheese sauce thick and cheesy, or you can make it a bit more creamy. Then pour it on your noodles and stir that bitch up.

Usually cheddar cheese but you could probably use whatever cheese is your favorite.

[Alienmorph]

Oh no, I do eat it just with cheese now and then, not just the parmeasan on top on other pasta dishes. We also do a 4-cheese sauce that is very yummy, I posted a recipe for it one or two pages ago.

[Vol]

Hm. Made beer-battered chicken breast. Nailed the cooking process, albeit one piece was overcooked and I tossed it. Bit bland tho. There's some magic sweet spot in seasoning I seem to elude. Oddly enough, eyeballing it turns out better than measuring most of the time.

[Alienmorph]

Alright... since I just had some for lunch, here's a very easy and very versatile recipe: polenta.



The name Polenta is a contraption of the phrase "un po' lenta" ("a bit slow") because the recipe itself is disguistingly easy to make, but it takes a while to get done, because you have to keep mixing and mixing for quite awhile.

The ingredients:

- corn flour (can use legume flour too, but corn flour is preferable);
- water (about 2 liters for every 500g of flour);
- salt;
- olive oil;

What you do is, like I said... uber-easy. Put the water to boinl, in tin or steel pot, when it's nearly boiling you add the salt (about a spoon every 2 liters of water), and then gradually pour in the flour, mixing while you do with a wooden spoon. Add a smidge of olive oil too, it'll help preventing the flour to form lumps, and keep mixing until the compound doesn't boil. Once that happens put the stove's fire to the lower setting and keep mixing for about 40-50 minutes. Then you can pour it on the dishes, or on a wooden chopping board, if you want to serve it as one thing. Polenta is another of those dishes that was born as part of poor peasants' tradition and it can be eaten on its own, or be combined with pretty much every kind of sour ingredient or sauce:


With sausages and tomato sauce;


With mushrooms;

A very popular variation is the Polenta Taragna, which involves mixing in the polenta itself butter and cheese, and to use two different kinds of flour mixed togheter instead of one, usually corn flour and buckwheat flour. The procedure to make it is pretty much the same, and the result is of course a more cheesy and slightly stronger-tasted variation.



Also, you can make also make sticks/chips of polenta to serve as snacks or finger-food: all you need to do is prepare the polenta like already explained, then take a large backing tin, pour some olive oil on it, so that the compound won't stick to it, and smear the polenta all over it with a spatula, making sure is not ticker than 1 centimeter or so. Then flatten the top with a rolling pin or a similar tool, and put the tin in the fridge for a couple hours to coagulate. Once that time is passed, cut the polenta with a knife into sticks, fry them in oil until they look crunchy and browned, let them rest on some cooking paper to get rid of the excess of oil, and add a smidge of salt and spice, would recomment rosemary. And you're done:



Overally, it takes some patience because you need to spend alot of time mixing, but it's super-easy to do, and you can serve it with pretty much everything. It's a recipe extremely popular in the norther regions of Italy, and there's also readymade variations, much like with purees, that have additives that let it congeal and shape up much faster, but I don't know if thei're avaiable outside of my country, so I gave you the original recipe.

[SciFlyBoy]

Holy shit, that sausage and polenta looks good. Always been on the fence about polenta, but I think I'll give it a shot. Corn flour and corm meal are the same thing, correct?

[Alienmorph]

Yes, as far as I know. Good luck!

[DarkStorm]

Holy shit, that sausage and polenta looks good. Always been on the fence about polenta, but I think I'll give it a shot. Corn flour and corm meal are the same thing, correct?

No, corn meal is very small solid pieces usually used if you want to add texture to something fried or bread.

[DarkStorm]

Just mad some interesting turkey salad. Turkey cut fairly small, stuffing, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, virgin olive oil, mayo, and some mustard.

Could add some sunflower seed or pine nuts for an extra crunch. Or Jalapenos for some heat.

[Vol]

Making meatloaf and gravy for the first time. Seems super simple, though I wish I'd blended the onions instead of just chopping them up. Gravy I kinda guessed at. Melted a stick of butter, stirred in half a cup of flour, some milk, water, beef bullion, salt, pepper, parsley. Tastes pretty good, so I suppose it worked. Moment of truth is when I try the loaf of meat.

Basics, baby, gotta learn them.

[Vol]

Tried making roasted potatoes. 3 spuds, a whole red onion, cut into chunks, mix into a bowl with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of salt, half a teaspoon of black pepper, 3 shakes of red pepper, and some tarragon as I had no rosemary, stick into oven @ 450 for 40 minutes.

It actually tasted alright, though I probably should've left the onion in bigger chunks than I did, and for some reason, it was way spicier than you'd think from the amount of spice used. Not sure why. Probably the red pepper, but 3 shakes is nothing, I do 8 shakes on half a pizza, and it registers less heat.

[Mazder]

Tried making roasted potatoes. 3 spuds, a whole red onion, cut into chunks, mix into a bowl with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons of salt, half a teaspoon of black pepper, 3 shakes of red pepper, and some tarragon as I had no rosemary, stick into oven @ 450 for 40 minutes.

It actually tasted alright, though I probably should've left the onion in bigger chunks than I did, and for some reason, it was way spicier than you'd think from the amount of spice used. Not sure why. Probably the red pepper, but 3 shakes is nothing, I do 8 shakes on half a pizza, and it registers less heat.

You want to roast the onion whole mate.
Once done the core will be pushing up and the whole thing will be sweet as fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
Obviously skin it but the outermost layer will become a nice crisp skin (if you baste it, also do that for your taters!) and the center will be velvety and sweet!