What Have You Cooked Recently?

With meat prices skyrocketing while meat quality taking a nose dive at the same time around here i'm forced to cook more and more like the poor peasant stock that my not-too-far ancestors were.

Sweated garlic and scallion greens in sunflower oil, added a dollop of concentrated tomato puree and a chopped peperoncino after that. Added some leftover rice and a can of black beans in chili sauce. Let it simmer for a bit, added cumin, salt and a splash of soy sauce. Mixed in two beaten eggs (not pictured) at the end to get some more B¹² out of the meal.

Looks like slop but was quite good. Sorry for the fuckhuge pic size, phonecam shenanigans.

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Red Lentil and Chorizo soup, pretty good, didn't come out too thick and had a good texture, was kinda wondering if it might have been a bit too spicy, but with greek Yoghurt it made the heat die down a bit.

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Looks really good, i'm a big fan of red lentil soup and the consistency of yours is how i prefer mine, not too watered down.

What a shock, I made another fucking chili

  • Two packs of ground bison meat (I think it was around 2lbs or closer to a 1kg. I didn't pay attention)
  • Two beef steaks (I used a striploin and a ribeye. The grocer I went to can be hit or miss, but their striploins tend to be surprisingly marbled)
  • One pack of thick cut bacon (yes, the full pack this time. Need the fat for the bison with how lean it is. Slice & dice it up)
  • Two white onions (Dice it up)
  • Two bell peppers (Diced)
  • Five red fresno peppers (Craps)
  • Two poblano peppers (Yatzhee)
  • Six jalapenos (Dungeon Dice Monsters)
  • A bulb of garlic (run it through the garlic press)
  • Mid-sized can of crushed tomatoes
  • Large can of diced tomatoes. Wish I could get big cans of Rotel, but Alymer's can of tomatoes with chili peppers works just as well
  • One tube of tomato paste
  • Stubb's beef rub (coat the steaks in it before grilling)
  • Ancho chili powder
  • Cumin
  • Crushed red peppers
  • Black pepper (coarse or fine, your choice)
  • Salt to taste (since there's salt in the Stubb's rub, you don't need to add a lot. Add about a teaspoon or two, and add more as you cook while taste testing)
  • A can of light beer (I used a pilsner. Cerveza or a lager would work too)
  • Beef stock
  • Corn meal
  • Tequila
Once all the prep work is done, grill the seasoned steaks between the ranges of blue to rare. Dump the bacon in the pot and turn the heat on medium. Let it heat up a bit to help separate the bacon and then dump in a fair bit of the Stubb's beef rub and some of the crushed red peppers (outside of the salt, don't ask how much of the spices I used overall. I just threw it in). Once the bacon has let out a fair bit of fat in the cooking, throw in bison & black pepper and stir it to absorb the fat & spices. Once the bison is showing signs of browning, cut up the steaks into bite-sized strips and chuck them in (don't waste the juices either). Once the bison is starting to give off heat from the pot, dump in the peppers, onions, garlic & tomato products in and stir it up. Once the pot is starting to give off the mixed scents of the meat and peppers, throw in the beer and then fill to the top of the mix with beef stock. Once you stir it around for a couple of minutes, throw in the ancho chili powder and the salt. I pretty much babysat the chili to ensure it didn't cook to the pot and just stuck around to stir up frequently. After an hour or so of cooking, throw in the corn meal to thicken the chili up (I threw in two batches, so... maybe two cups?). After another 45 minutes, bless thy pot with tequila (I like Wabo Cabo) and let it blend into the chili. Cook & stir for another 30 minutes, then prepare yourself for one killer chili. It's not the hottest chili, but goddamn, is it delicious.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that once you have the beer & stock mixed in, wait for it to heat up and once it does, turn the heat down to mid-low to low. Also forgot to mention that I add cumin as well when I throw the Stubb's & red peppers into the bacon.
Sounds fucking amazing. Wish i could get all these different chili peppers around here but can only get Jalapenos and Scotch Bonnets somewhat reliably, canned Chipotle in Adobo if i pay out the ass for it.
 
Keeping the chili vibes going...

Texas Chili - I usually eyeball recipes so I tried to remember as much as possible.

2 to 3 lbs of meat - cubed and/or ground. Usually I use chuck roast or ground beef
1 or 2 vidalia onions - diced
Spoonful of minced garlic - I just use jar garlic
Cumin - usually do about 2-3 tsp
About 1/2 to 3/4 of a 32 oz container of beef/chicken stock (or mix beer in) - I prefer low sodium
1 cinnamon stick
Salt/pepper to taste
Masa or corn meal to thicken - probably spoonful or two
Accoutrements - cilantro, fritos/crackers, cheese, chopped white onions, tamales if you're feeling decadent
Pearl snap shirt - optional

Chilies (adjust/replace to your spice preference):
4 or 5 serrano chilies - seeds removed
4 or 5 red chilies - seeds removed
5-6 guajillo chilies - seeds removed
7 oz container of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce - depending on your spice preference use all or only some

Toast cumin medium to medium-high on a hot pan to a golden color constantly moving the powder around.
Toast chilies medium to medium high, just make sure they don't burn.
Butter or oil - cook onions, add in garlic after a few minutes.
Medium-high to high - sear the meat (lard or bacon grease optional). Drain oils/fats.
Blend cumin, chiles, chipotle, some or all of the adobo with stock.
Put everything in a slow cooker for anywhere from 8-10 hours at low. Or cook on stovetop, adding more stock as needed. Thicken with masa. Salt/pepper and accoutrements.

No beans ever. What are you making? A stew?

I also don't make it with chili powder as I've found it to be too gritty, especially with ground meat. If you do I would recommend toasting it similar to the cumin step. Dried chilies are also better but I haven't explored some of the Mexican grocery stores where I'm at. You can substitute in pasilla, ancho, etc. There's some other stuff you can add - tomato paste, crushed tomatos, oregano but I usually just go with the above.
 
4. Big Firewald Cake
The 5 cups of flour sounds like a huge cake so I reduced the recipe to try it.

1 and 3/4 cups of cake flour
1 and 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp allspice
3/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp water
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 tsp vanilla extract


I lined a 8x8 Pyrex pan with parchment paper and filled it with 1/2 inch of cake batter.
Baked at 350 for 25 minutes
Let it cool to room temp before serving, its flavor is better when 100% cooled.
I like to flip my cake upside down to cool it so the crusty top layer softens under its own heat.

I didn't have allspice, so I used 2 tsp pumpkin spice to cover all of the spices.
Also, instead of all purpose flour, I used cake flour.
I like that it uses no butter, it was very fluffy and delicious.

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It feels weird hearing popcorners is a treat worth importing. You ever wanted some really good burgers a half beef/half pork mixture is fantastic. Taste of the beef is there but pork retains a lot of juiciness. Even better is if you have some ground lamb on hand, you can throw some of that into the mix for that special greasiness.

Might be due to supply chain issues, but I do hope they're here to stay. On my neck of the woods, there aren't many flavours of snacks, you're usually stuck with the regular plus two other flavours. Doritos is the one exception to the rule, and some other snacks also carry more flavours, and I'm frankly tired of this horseshit and just want this concept to stick lol!

Today I had some german veal sausages plus some mac and cheese for lunch, the sausages were good but the mac was better, so I still have some left. They are too rich so you've got to eat them slowly, but they're pretty neat by themselves, pan fried until golden brown with some seasonings is the way to go!
 
I made this because I grew thai basil (well some other breed but it has the thai profile of being kinda anise-y) and had some habaneros and thai peppers, it turned out pretty good.
idk its one of those dishes where you can use basically pretty much anything and there are a million recipes, I was a bit skeptical because the fish sauce I used was 'high end' and very fishy, and I dont really like the flavor of fish but I love 'Asian' food, but when I added the thai basil it ended up being just like getting it from a place.
 
You ever wanted some really good burgers a half beef/half pork mixture is fantastic. Taste of the beef is there but pork retains a lot of juiciness. Even better is if you have some ground lamb on hand, you can throw some of that into the mix for that special greasiness.
The pork with all the fat is good if you want that crispy caramelized beef, that's the little thing that really makes it happen, while using a regular pan.


I made one of my favorite dishes ever. Salmon, with vegetables. All restaurants I've ever been to fucks up that fish.
Wild salmon is what I had and always will have so the cuts are fucking huge, not like the frozen tail pieces they sell in the store or the anemic sides in the fish dish.

Simple recipe, can be done in a hundred different ways but you want the mild flavors to really get it going.

1. In a deep cast iron pan I cut fresh potatoes in half, add plenty of olive oil and frie them on the stove to give them and the skin some texture while the oven is heating up. Cracked a couple of cloves of garlic cloves and tossed them in there to give them some aroma just before step 2.
2. When both pan and oven was hot I combined the two items, cast iron in oven.
3A. *look out the window for 38 minutes*
-while-
3B. Small sauce pan, add salt, water and stock, let it boil.
4. 35 minutes later: Add broccoli to boiling sauce pan.
5. Potatoes are roasted, plate them and put the cast iron back on the stove. Broccoli is cooked, drain it.
6. Use the already hot cast iron pan filled with oil and the now roasted garlic cloves to cook the salmon(you have to turn on the stove of course). Meat down first for 30-45 seconds, so it looks nice(rub soy or paprika for color if you want), flip and let it cook sitting on the skin. Tilt and baste the top of the fish with the hot oil using a spoon(45-90 seconds of activity), put a lid on it. Wait a minute or two. Don't go too hot! It's done.
(7) baked or pan fried tomatoes goes really well with all of this but that's optional. A sauce is in my opinion too much, too much unnecessary flavor.
8. Serve wonderfully simple flavorful greens, baked or boiled potatoes, a root mash is also fantastic with fish, maybe the grilled/baked/fried tomatoes to add some acidity and the best part of it all: the fish that is now perfect.

That's my recipe, depending on the stove/oven/fish the times and temperatures might differ. The point is that hot cooked salmon(unless it is hot smoked) shouldn't be even close to flakey like low-fat whitefish(cod, others, still love 'em). If a fatty fish flakes, you fucked up. Enjoy.
 
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A few tips from me, a person who keeps an ear to the ground about the going ons of the agricultural world.
Shellfish and fisheries are doing real well right now, especially fish farms. If you're able to buy from a fish market instead of a grocery store you'll be able to score a ton for a fraction of the supermarket price even inland. Better quality too, because fish markets tend to have restaurant quality.

Farmers markets that are promoted by the community are hit and miss because the hippie fuckers have invaded quite a few urban farmers markets, but if local farmers are advertising their sales online, great way to get deals. Looking up what's nearby can save you a ton, there's likely someone even in your neighborhood looking to offload some goods that will post online about it.

Coupons are always good but you can also predict what's gonna drop lower by looking at the weekly ads for your local grocery stores. I got a shit ton of meat directly after July 4th for a fraction of the price and froze most of the shit I didn't intend on using right away.

Anyway, I've been eating pretty good lately. Made Buffalo wings from scratch and had them with some potato salad and a side salad, shit was fire. Had some spare ribs too that I just threw in the pressure cooker and finished in the oven. Planning on doing a chicken and rice bake tomorrow, fish fry with sweet potato fries and slaw on Friday, and meatball subs with salad on Saturday.

Sunday is dependent on what deals I score over the next few days, but hopefully it'll be something light. Might end up doing a Chinese dumpling soup to keep things low-key if nothing else speaks to me.
 
Made my chili. Don't do it too often because it's so involved and takes 3 days.

Soak and wash dried beans for a day. Then throw them into some chicken stock with uncut garlic cloves and dried whole chili's and cook for another day. After that fry the onions, salt, black pepper and chili powder together with ground beef and spicy Italian sausage. Combine that with beef stock, tomatoes and tomato past and some more dried chili's. Season with Chipotle tobasco, cinnamon and a healthy dollop of Mollases. Salt too taste. Add the beans back in and cook for another day until the liquid reduces.

The highest level my stoves heat ever gets too the entire time is level 2. Yes, it is as good as it sounds and yes it is a pain in the ass to make.

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Getting over a minor case of the coof, so I haven't been cooking as much as I've wanted. Today was the first day in a few days that I actually felt like I could cook, but I just made a boxed mac and cheese with hot dogs. I added a ton of aromatics like garlic powder, mustard powder, and onion powder, and some extra cheese. Wife lost her sense of taste and smell from her coof, so hopefully she'll be able to taste this and it'll help rehabilitate her senses.
 
Not really any real cooking involved, but I made peanut butter coconut oat clusters. Nice toasted oats, chopped walnuts, toasted sesame seeds, coconut flakes, peanut butter, honey, molasses, a touch of cinnamon and vanilla, all rolled into little balls and coated in powdered sugar. They're pretty damn good. Very simple.
 
If you're able to buy from a fish market instead of a grocery store you'll be able to score a ton for a fraction of the supermarket price even inland. Better quality too, because fish markets tend to have restaurant quality.
Even then you are getting gypped. Fish markets are like whores that swears they're clean, they might think so but they're fucked over by local and "local" fishermen who swears the government tested them.

My advice is to find your local fishermen, approach them like a friend saying you bought their thing then punch them in the face and scream "you liars!". They will not remember who they cheated last and automatically assume you know something you shouldn't so now you can buy at least grey stock from them directly at bargain bin prices.
 
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