What Have You Cooked Recently?

[Equivocal_Iki]

I made chicken nuggets. They didn't come out so good. Flour came out chewy instead of crispy. Chicken was fully cooked though so I'll call it a success.

Chicken cut in pieces, tossed in beaten eggs then flour (mixed with pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne), fried in peanut oil. A recipe says to use buttermilk so I'll try that instead of eggs next time and maybe go harder on the spices.

 

[Cloaca Rimjob]

Breakfast of champions

 

[ColtWalker1847]

I made chicken nuggets. They didn't come out so good. Flour came out chewy instead of crispy. Chicken was fully cooked though so I'll call it a success.

Chicken cut in pieces, tossed in beaten eggs then flour (mixed with pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne), fried in peanut oil. A recipe says to use buttermilk so I'll try that instead of eggs next time and maybe go harder on the spices.

Add baking powder to the flour. 1/2 teaspoon per cup. It makes little air pockets in your coating when frying.

 

[AnOminous]

Add baking powder to the flour. 1/2 teaspoon per cup. It makes little air pockets in your coating when frying.

Also if you're making batter, use ICE WATER, as cold as you can get it, and if you're doing the dip in flour, then in liquid, then in flour again method, which you should, again use ice water. If you use some other liquid, get it as cold as possible. There's some theory behind this I forget but it works.

The baking powder thing works as well. Probably doing both would be fine too.

 

[Goyslop Muncher]

Flour came out chewy instead of crispy. .

It's possible your oil wasn't hot enough when you dropped in the nuggets.

 

[Crunchy Oats]

I used a mason jar lid to make toasted coconut rice cakes.

 

[Bassomatic]

I was trying to make this "taco truck" "dirty" burrito rice I don't really have a name for the dish. Med grain white (rick bayless says so and while I wasn't going fancy cooking he's quite educated on real (poor/street) food) very very lightly toasted, threw few glugs of a cheap ass beer in that was sitting around, like a bud lite or something pad or 3 of butter water and cooked.

Some Asada that came out killer real easy marinade and just basic "fixings" because my buddy was over and she loves white people fucking tex mex, so it's kinda a fun challenge to keep in their comfort zone but evaluate it.

The rice, I need to make a name because I was happy with the rest but this was really stood out. She had no idea I did anything aside basic rice.

 

[Joshuan Moon]

I'm gonna cook some shaslik. I'm not much for bbq myself but the marinade smells great. Fingers crossed for good results. The marinade called for red wine which I didn't notice so I didn't get any wine. I'm hoping some shaoxing with less of added salt will work well enough as a substitute. I'm betting its hard to mess up meat on a stick so it'll probably end up great.

Results were great. The recipe made nowhere near enough despite my buying extra meat that I ended up freezing instead of using. That's my mistake. I won't make it again next time. In the marinade I ended up using some fancy organic sunflower oil I grabbed from the clearance rack a while ago. I don't go through oil very fast so I have no clue what else to use sunflower oil for. There probably aren't many recipes where sunflower oil would be more appropriate than this one just because that's the genuine slav cooking oil. Regardless I should probably make an effort to use it up now that it's open.

 

[Jaded Optimist]

View attachment 2756901

Breakfast of champions

My people! At least open a can of beans or fry an egg though.

Roasted a small chicken last night (about grouse sized) served with Greek potatoes and roasted broccoli.

 

[Asdfgunman81]

Grilled a NY strip steak with some veggies. It was nicely done.

 

[Equivocal_Iki]

Add baking powder to the flour. 1/2 teaspoon per cup. It makes little air pockets in your coating when frying.

I thought I had some but I only have baking soda.

Since it appears I've woken up the fried chicken connoisseurs, what's your opinion on cornstarch? Before that attempt I used a recipe on a bottle that called for it. Liked it as it tasted just like chinese food. Somewhat regret putting the orange sauce on it though. @AnOminous @Haram Exercise

Spoiler: the failnuggets I made in my previous post (they're fully cooked I swear)

I don't have a good thermometer to safely measure the oil without putting my hand in harms way. Does oil catch fire? I think I misread something right before cooking that caused me go too low on the heat. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions! Next time, they'll be good!

 

[comfysocks]

I made a bone broth with leftover Thanksgiving chicken bones. I added some peas and potatoes. Didn't know if I wanted it with dumplings or spatzle so I made both. I made a dutch baby with strawberries and kiwis for dessert.

I don't have a good thermometer to safely measure the oil without putting my hand in harms way. Does oil catch fire? I think I misread something right before cooking that caused me go too low on the heat. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions! Next time, they'll be good!

Oil doesn't catch fire but if you have any leftover bits from what you previously fried, it can catch on fire.

 

[Kosher Salt]

Oil doesn't catch fire but if you have any leftover bits from what you previously fried, it can catch on fire.

Oil absolutely does catch fire but it has to be pretty fucking hot to do so. It'll start smoking long before it flames up, though, and that makes everything taste and smell disgusting, so that's your signal to back off the heat.

Primarily just make sure your oil doesn't overflow (that WILL cause a gigantic fucking fire) and the food you're frying doesn't have excessive moisture which will spatter oil everywhere. As long as the oil stays inside the vessel, shutting off the heat and plopping on an appropriately sized lid will solve the issue if there's a fire.

 

[AnOminous]

Since it appears I've woken up the fried chicken connoisseurs, what's your opinion on cornstarch?

It's fine for uses like that. As a thickening agent for sauces, it's for when you fucked up and need to fix it fast and shouldn't be your first resort.

 

[Equivocal_Iki]

It's fine for uses like that. As a thickening agent for sauces, it's for when you fucked up and need to fix it fast and shouldn't be your first resort.

I've tried using it for egg drop soup but I can never get it as thick as the chinese places. What are other thickeners?

 

[AnOminous]

I've tried using it for egg drop soup but I can never get it as thick as the chinese places. What are other thickeners?

I'm pretty sure they just use cornstarch. You mix the cornstarch with cold water until it is a paste first, so it doesn't lump up, then add that. I can't really get the same results either.

Anyone know if there's some ancient Chinese secret?

The only other thickener I use is either special flour for the purpose, like Wondra, or just normal flour or, much better, just make a roux first.

 

[Goyslop Muncher]

Of all the Chinese cooking I've learned, cornstarch slurry is king for thickening soups and sauces. Mix a tbs. of cornstarch with a couple tbs. of cold water, slowly add it to your soup or sauce, stir continuously until it thickens up. Never add cornstarch directly to your hot food or it will clump up and be gross and not work. If you want it thicker, use another cornstarch slurry. For egg drop soup, create a vortex with the soup by stirring quickly (but safely) then slowly pour in your beaten egg. Add the cornstarch slurry as the last step.

 

[Sprocket]

Potluck. Onions, boneless lamb chunks, potatoes, butternut, peas, diced broccoli, mutton stock, a butt load of corn starch, Taj mahal curry powder with a side of rice.

 

[Lichen Bark]

Of all the Chinese cooking I've learned, cornstarch slurry is king for thickening soups and sauces. Mix a tbs. of cornstarch with a couple tbs. of cold water, slowly add it to your soup or sauce, stir continuously until it thickens up. Never add cornstarch directly to your hot food or it will clump up and be gross and not work. If you want it thicker, use another cornstarch slurry. For egg drop soup, create a vortex with the soup by stirring quickly (but safely) then slowly pour in your beaten egg. Add the cornstarch slurry as the last step.

Agree mostly, although thickening a roast gravy with cornstarch is not as nice as making the roux, either with roasted fat drippings or butter, but I use cornstarch and water for everything else. If you really want to blow your mind with cornstarch and water add it to a scrambled egg, or any kind of beaten egg, and it will come out more soft/tender. For two eggs I put just a nib off the end of a teaspoon, (so maybe an 8th teaspoon), and stir well into a couple teaspoons of water, then put that into your beaten egg, and beat again. Cook it like you normally would.

Apparently its a Chinese secret for egg foo young, and that's why, even under high temperatures of a wok (where eggs normally tighten up) its still a nice soft dish. The starch gets in the way of the egg proteins, and doesn't let them bind together as easily. Try it before you say I'm crazy.

 

[comfysocks]

The only other thickener I use is either special flour for the purpose, like Wondra, or just normal flour or, much better, just make a roux first.

There's a French technique that I can't spell. You mash cold butter with flour for a long time. You can store it in the freezer and just pinch some off when you need it.

Today I made bratwurst. I boiled it in larger then grilled it. Had it with caramelized onions.