What Have You Cooked Recently?

[General Disarray]

I was going through all my Cook's Country/Cook's Illustrated magazines, tearing out their 30 minute meal recipe cards and arranging them so the SO and I can go through them and toss ones we know we'll never eat. I also went through other magazines and tore out the recipe index so we can go through those too.

I get tired of cooking the same old thing and we're expanding our available foods with the addition of the chest freezer. Also I love the tips and reviews that the aforementioned magazines give. I'd highly recommend them.

Alfredo is super easy. The recipe I use:

- Melt 2tbsp butter in saucepan
- Add cream once melted. I eyeball this, maybe half a cup
- Once mixture is heated, dump in fresh grated parmesan reggiano, about a cup
- Remove heat and stir until just fully melted and smooth

You gotta use PR for this, it makes a huge difference.

I used to use cream in my Alfredo, then I switched to just butter and whisking in pasta water to emulsify, then add the fresh grated cheese. You use less water in the pasta for the recipe to concentrate the starches. I was skeptical at first but it turned out delicious.

 

[Troonos]

I made a gallon of palak paneer including 2.5 pounds of paneer.

Been doing some low carb baking the past couple months. Sweeteners are tricky until you realize Lankato Monkfruit bullshit is the only one worth buying. Anyway, some results:

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^^prior to using the scale for portioning

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So, the burger buns are tip fucking top. The sub rolls are based on the same recipe and are a game changer. And the loaf was 2200g of ingredients in a 1500g pan - live and learn.

Lakanto sucks. It's only about 1% monkfruit extract, 99% erythritol, and has that distinct erythritol cooling sensation.

Allulose is the only good sweetener. It tastes like sugar, and it behaves like sugar in cooking. You can even boil it into a perfect caramel sauce with no carbs.

to use cream in my Alfredo, then I switched to just butter and whisking in pasta water to emulsify, then add the fresh grated cheese. You use less water in the pasta for the recipe to concentrate the starches. I was skeptical at first but it turned out delicious.

The best emulsifier for any kind of cheese sauce is a pinch of citric acid. It makes the sauce perfectly smooth with zero effort.

 

[Damien Thorne]

Homemade butter chicken where I tried to make the sauce from scratch. It turned out OK, not as great as getting it from my favorite restaurant, but it was a decent experiment.

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

Made a Sausage and Lentil Stew, turned out pretty good, can't go wrong with fresh spinach instead of using frozen, although yes spinach can wilt quickly if it's not stored properly.

In general use, does it work fine to treat lentils the way one would treat split peas? I keep seeing other kiwis posting lentil soups and they look really tempting. Do you think I should try a sweeter or a zestier pork sausage for my first lentil soup, and would just a handful of split peas enhance the end product's taste and texture?

we're expanding our available foods with the addition of the chest freezer.

Sincerely, congratulations. In the coming year with the way food prices have been, it should pay for itself with what you'll save if you use it to stock up on sale-priced meat, especially beef. You can now store lots of homecooked foods like stew in those quart freezer bags, so you can make more of those cost-effective, large-batch style comfort foods without having to eat the same thing for three days straight to keep it from going to waste. They're also unmatched for keeping your frozen goods pristine rather than freezer burned or covered with/full of those awful ice crystals. Keep that sucker at the coldest setting, add your food in small batches, and you'll be happy as a clam with your investment.

 

[Wuornos]

Spirit cooking, mainly.

 

[Merried Senior Comic]

I don't cook. My boiwife does.

 

[Flavius Anthemius]

In general use, does it work fine to treat lentils the way one would treat split peas?

You can yes, some small things might be a little different. The cooking time between various lentils can vary, for instance I used brown lentils in this soup which are some of the smallest lentils and didn't need that long to cook through, whereas something like red lentils which are a little bigger will need a bit more time, much like split peas.

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

You can yes, some small things might be a little different. The cooking time between various lentils can vary, for instance I used brown lentils in this soup which are some of the smallest lentils and didn't need that long to cook through, whereas something like red lentils which are a little bigger will need a bit more time, much like split peas.

Is it okay to let them keep cooking after they're "done"? I'm fine with the situation if this causes them to disintegrate like the peas.

thread tax:
I finally made a bastardized batch of kotlet this evening, and it was fantastic with whole yukon potatoes, a pickle and some steamed peas. Roughly ground pork, ground beef, black pepper, seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder, a near-offensive amount of dill and some flour all got worked together and made into patties. I coated them in egg and then breadcrumbs; this was a good decision. Dippings on the side were Chick-fil-A sauce as well as some mayo mixed with even more dill. This one's going into my regular meal options for sure.

 

[Flavius Anthemius]

Is it okay to let them keep cooking after they're "done"? I'm fine with the situation if this causes them to disintegrate like the peas.

Yeah most of them probably will, and have a similar mushy texture similar to split peas, you can even just pulse or blend them when the soup is done and you wouldn't even know they're there if you didn't know you used lentils. (but obviously each variety can have a different texture/flavour).

 

[AnOminous]

Chicken and black bean tacos. The beans were soaking since yesterday. The chicken had been thawing out. When the chicken thawed, ground that in the food processor and marinated it in some cumin and chili powder and a splash of soy and prepared it like stewed ground beef.

The beans had been going for several hours and were mushy but still distinctly separate. Maybe I should have taken those longer. Onions and lots and lots of garlic plus olive oil for fat.

I just put cheese, meat, beans, sauces (taco and hot sauces), chopped onions, and a teaspoon of sour cream. Chicken prepared that way turns out looking and tasting almost exactly like ground beef but much more lean.

I also bet you could turn this processed chicken into some kind of nuggets with breadcrumbs or some kind of filler.

Yeah most of them probably will, and have a similar mushy texture similar to split peas, you can even just pulse or blend them when the soup is done and you wouldn't even know they're there if you didn't know you used lentils. (but obviously each variety can have a different texture/flavour).

That's one of my "secrets" with pulses like lentils ("secret" meaning I found it in someone else's recipe online). Take out a portion of the final product, just process it for a few seconds and add it right back. Works fantastically well with split peas too.

 

[DaBigBopper]

I tried making a red lentil and carrot soup. Came out too soupy, not enough body in the actual soup. Might try boiling a cup of rice and then using my hand blender for that. Probably will do a mirepoix and use chicken stock rather than a veggie stock. Odds are if I bring any to my dad or siblings they'll want meat in it.
Any ideas?

 

[Flavius Anthemius]

I tried making a red lentil and carrot soup. Came out too soupy, not enough body in the actual soup. Might try boiling a cup of rice and then using my hand blender for that. Probably will do a mirepoix and use chicken stock rather than a veggie stock. Odds are if I bring any to my dad or siblings they'll want meat in it.
Any ideas?

You could chop a little Spanish Chorizo (not Mexican) on top to give it a nice spicy flavour, they can add as much as they want on top. Or instead you can add a little fried bacon, along with some of the fatty oil that would give it a nice flavour as well.

Edit: Made Roasted Sweet Potatoes with a turkey chili on top, came out very nice, not pictured is the sour cream, salsa and guacamole. My current oven is not a particularly strong one, so I had to wait double the time for the sweet potatoes to cook compared to what the recipe said, but thankfully I had time to spare so no dramas.

 

[deerPropaganda]

Made some brownies n cookies

 

[Syikeblade]

Made some breakfast sandwiches with sourdough English muffins, pork sausage, cheese and cooked the egg in a bell pepper ring.

 

[EnemyStand]

Some people say biscuits and gravy are to warm and heavy to eat when it's 90 degrees out. Those people are right. Yet, when eating them you just. Don't. Care.

 

[ExsanguinateHorizon]

I tried making a red lentil and carrot soup. Came out too soupy, not enough body in the actual soup. Might try boiling a cup of rice and then using my hand blender for that. Probably will do a mirepoix and use chicken stock rather than a veggie stock. Odds are if I bring any to my dad or siblings they'll want meat in it.
Any ideas?

Smoked ham or polish sausage? If you need thiccer slowly stir in a little flour until it's the consistency you'd like. It sounds like it'd be good with barley too.

 

[DuckSucker]

I made these green chili biscuits: https://taoofspice.com/green-chile-biscuits/

Of course I did what I always do and changed it because fuck 'baking is a science'. I added 2/3c of shredded cheddar and a few slices of crumbled bacon. Theyre pretty good but I would have used more chilis, or at least not mild but thats what I had--the richness of the biscuit itself kind of overtakes the chili flavor. I thought about dicing and sauteing a jalapeno too to add to it but I was like eh Ill try it without.

 

[Nonconsentual Pronouns]

slowly stir in a little flour

I'd definitely cook it as a simple roux first with just a bit of water, wine or broth.

 

[Archeops]

I’ve been lazy and making spicy chicken sandwiches for dinner for the past couple of days.

I cook one of these motherfuckers in my toaster oven as the packaging dictates, melt some margarine in a saucepan and mix some cajun seasoning into it while the fillets cook, toss the fully cooked fillet in said sauce, dress up a brioche burger bun with some Chick-Fil-A sauce, place the fillet between those bun halves, and serve with a side of fries.

 

[NyQuilninja]

Homemade freezer burritos
Package of garnde tortillas
4lbs of Chuck roast
2 cans of black beans
2 cans of rotel tomatoes and chilies
2 cups cooked rice
Half a bottle of black habanero sauce
1 habanero pepper
1 cup of tones taco seasonings
1 package of Shelly's texas chili seasonings
One tablespoon of chyanne pepper
Jar of homemade pickled jalapeños
Pepperjack cheese slices
Made 24 burritos
Just from a crockpot and a rice pot