What Have You Cooked Recently?

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bulgogi with seasame salt and green onions
 
Two cheesecakes in the Dutch oven. I experimented and stacked them on top of each other with a small separator.

One interesting result is the crust ended up very crispy and therefore difficult to slice. Another is that the result is silky and rich, actually too rich to eat more than a bit of.

Twenty four hours after the initial tasting, the crust is still very crispy, but not as unmanageable.
 
Last weekend, my brother's family and I finally got a chance to meet with our father after having to push the date back since about August. So, once we coordinated a time I realized I had just enough of a window to get off of work and head to my brother's to start cooking a pot roast and could have it done at a reasonable hour while everyone was there. The fact that there was only a couple of plates' worth of leftovers (one that went back with our dad as a care package for our stepmother who couldn't attend) means that I've gotten the general idea down well enough that I'm not worried I'll make anyone violently ill with it now.

Made a pinto bean soup, came out pretty damn good with a few tortilla chips and avocado slices to top it off. First new recipe of 2022 and I'm happy with it.

Family member loaned me an immersion blender over the holidays until probably Easter, and I'm really digging it. I didn't expect I would. Not sure what to make next, maybe a tomato soup?
If you've only ever had canned tomato soup, you absolutely need to make a batch by hand. I've gotten family members turned around on the stuff who'd never had a proper tomato soup before.
 
More present than past tense, but a pot roast in the Dutch oven, with no particularly distinguishing characteristics other than substituting a half-cup of merlot for some of the beef broth.

I got it mainly to make bread, but so far, I've also done cheesecake, a curry, and now pot roast, because I saw a really nice one and had to get it, and it would have been too big for my multicooker or slow cooker or traditional Boston marathon bomber old-style pressure cooker.

Does anyone use Dutch ovens and have some particularly fun use for them? This isn't that fancy, it's the Lodge 7 quart red enameled cast iron one with the lid that flips over and turns into a grill. I couldn't justify going completely insane and buying some La Creuset thing of the same sort, as drool-inducing as they are.
 
I like doing chili in dutch ovens, something about it just fools me into thinking it tastes better.

If you've only ever had canned tomato soup, you absolutely need to make a batch by hand. I've gotten family members turned around on the stuff who'd never had a proper tomato soup before.
Definitely, it takes me forever but the payoff is always worth it. Hoping the immersion blender would cut the prep work which is where I stall out.
 
More present than past tense, but a pot roast in the Dutch oven, with no particularly distinguishing characteristics other than substituting a half-cup of merlot for some of the beef broth.

I got it mainly to make bread, but so far, I've also done cheesecake, a curry, and now pot roast, because I saw a really nice one and had to get it, and it would have been too big for my multicooker or slow cooker or traditional Boston marathon bomber old-style pressure cooker.

Does anyone use Dutch ovens and have some particularly fun use for them? This isn't that fancy, it's the Lodge 7 quart red enameled cast iron one with the lid that flips over and turns into a grill. I couldn't justify going completely insane and buying some La Creuset thing of the same sort, as drool-inducing as they are.
Those Lodge ones work just fine. I got one of the 5-6 quart ones without the grill lid for myself a year ago, then one of the same 7 quart with the gill lid as a gift for my brother after we got to talking about them shortly afterwards. It's pretty much become my culinary safety blanket whenever I'm trying something I'm not confident with, since it'll do the job for fuck near anything I've run into so far.

I like doing chili in dutch ovens, something about it just fools me into thinking it tastes better.


Definitely, it takes me forever but the payoff is always worth it. Hoping the immersion blender would cut the prep work which is where I stall out.
I've only done it with an immersion blender, using a stand blender seems like it would be a titanic pain in the ass. So long as you're not using a pot with a non-stick coating (like, y'know, a dutch oven, lol), you're good. Nobody likes eating teflon.
 
I'm giving pork carnitas a try tonight.

I try to avoid fatty pork cuts and this is pretty much fried in fat too boot. But Cowboy Kent has never "steered" (get it!) me wrong before so I'm a try it out.

Plus with Canukistan going back into panic lockdowns because we're a joke of a country, I can't go to my normal Mexican restaurant to get my fix.
 
Cooked myself a nice fried chicken sandwich today, with sweet pickle relish, provolone cheese and fried garlic. The relish balanced the spices in the chicken with the taste of the garlic, leaving a sweet undertone on top. Tasted amazing!

The trick with provolone is slicing it thin and not overdoing it, the taste is very rich and can overwhelm the dish if you go too far with it. If you slice too much you can always fry it before frying the chicken fillets, as a tasty side snack!
 
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Reactions: Clovis
Made Italian roast beef and improvised stir-fry carrots/bell peppers/onions/cremini mushrooms with garlic bread on the side yesterday. Served with homemade pickles, toasted brioche buns and provolone. Then today I pan fried some bacon to eat with the leftovers. Sadly no pictures on either occasion because hunger waits for no one, but will definitely be reprising the recipe.
 
Breakfast for dinner. buttermilk pancakes with strawberries and maple syrup, chicken sausage patties, and mimosas

Huh. I usually add a spoon or so of sour cream if I have it, but I've never heard of adding mayo.
Mayo is dairy free which means the potatoes can be served alongside meat and still be kosher.
More present than past tense, but a pot roast in the Dutch oven, with no particularly distinguishing characteristics other than substituting a half-cup of merlot for some of the beef broth.

I got it mainly to make bread, but so far, I've also done cheesecake, a curry, and now pot roast, because I saw a really nice one and had to get it, and it would have been too big for my multicooker or slow cooker or traditional Boston marathon bomber old-style pressure cooker.

Does anyone use Dutch ovens and have some particularly fun use for them? This isn't that fancy, it's the Lodge 7 quart red enameled cast iron one with the lid that flips over and turns into a grill. I couldn't justify going completely insane and buying some La Creuset thing of the same sort, as drool-inducing as they are.
Dutch ovens are great for making shakshuka in my experience, they trap enough heat to set the tops of the eggs without having to put the pan in the actual oven.
 
Home made chilli mac for my neighbors kids. They are nice and never camped so I set tents in yard heated em and we had a nice bon fire etc.

I took basic macaroni left over home made chili (home made chilli beef peppers spices etc) cheddar and some hot sauce we heated it over fire, they felt like rambo and man just warmed my heart to see em.

Also it got really cold so they ran home to stay inside (to be fair they never drank to keep warm lol)
 
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