What Have You Cooked Recently?

*heavy breathing* this is the third cheesecake post I’ve seen around the forum, I think God is trying to tell me something (also what the fuck, air fryer cheesecake?!)
I'm not kidding. It is ridiculously good. Imagine being even better than that bain-marie shit but without having to do that nonsense.
 
Oh god it’s been so long since I’ve made a cheesecake I forgot how much of a pain in the ass it was.
I wouldn't say it's actually easy but the air fryer method is relatively easy. It's the sort of thing I'll do for a family Thanksgiving.

In short, DO IT. You KNOW you WANT to.
 
Finally got around to making some coddle. Bacon & sausage soup/stew is good shit.

  • Thick cut bacon. Used half a pack and cut up the slices into small pieces
  • Sausage. Since it's an Irish recipe it calls for Irish bangers, but bratwurst, which I used, or a basic pork sausage works fine. I used 6 sausages total, but could've used 8
  • Leeks. Used two leeks for the portion I made for my parents & myself. Discard the ends and the dark green parts, then dice up the leeks. Rinse once done dicing since leeks retain a lot of dirt from growing.
  • Onions. Used a small onion and two mid-sized ones, but if I could have found two large onions it would've been fine. Recipe called for the onions be julienned, but with how weird I am with the texture of onions, I just threw them into a hand processor and made them into tiny pieces.
  • Garlic. I used three cloves. Won't need a lot since the bacon is the star here this time around. Dice them up or use a garlic press.
  • Carrots. Used two large ones for my portion. Cut them into quartered bites
  • White or yellow potatoes. Used three, but could've gotten away with using four. I used my mom's mandolin, but you can dice them up into bite sized pieces. Leave sitting in a bowl of water until ready to use.
  • 8 cups of chicken stock
  • 2 Tbsp of melted butter (won't need this until the end)
  • Salt & pepper. Won't need a lot
Fry the bacon into a large pot on medium until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pot and then throw the sausage in and just brown them. Once browned, remove the sausage from the pot and then throw in the onions and leeks. Stir them up to let them absorb the bacon grease until the onions are translucent (don't forget to scrape out any fond built up on the bottom of the pot if any with a wooden spoon). Throw in the garlic and cook for minute, then throw in the carrots and a teaspoon of black pepper. Once the carrots start to cook, taste one and see if you need a pinch of salt in the mix (the bacon grease cuts down how much salt we'll need to add to the overall recipe). Once the carrots start to soften, layer the bacon on top of the veggies, then the sausages (if there's any sausage juice on the plate, drop it into the mix), then the potatoes. Once you're done layering, dump the chicken stock and sprinkle another teaspoon of pepper into the mix (potatoes should be poking out over the stock depending on the size of your pot) and then lower the heat to low. Throw a lid onto the pot and let it simmer for 45-60 minutes. Taste test about 15-20 minutes into the cooking to see if you need to sprinkle in a little some more salt. Once you're nearing the end of the stove-top portion of the cooking, get the oven up to 450°F and melt the butter. Once the oven is ready, remove the lid, pour the butter on top of the mix and then throw the pot into the oven for 20-30 minutes. Take out the oven and serve hot.

Few things of note. It's supposed to be more like a stew, so if you want it to turn out more like a stew and not a soup like mine did, cut back on the stock until the potatoes are just sitting on top of the stock. You can probably add a small dash of corn starch slurry too if you want it to thicken up a bit like a stew. Since my coddle turned into a delicious soup, the sausages started floating on top of soup while it was on the stovetop, so I cut them into quarters with cooking shears so they can both release more of their flavor into the mix and take in more of the stock's flavor into itself. If I didn't have so many Muslims on my team at work, I would absolutely love to cook this up for a b'ys.
 
I can't remember what days I made what meal, but it should all be there.
I made a salted caramel cheesecake on Monday, it's already all gone. Everyone was chimping out about it.
I made NY strips one day with steamed broccoli and the kids really wanted rice, so I made some even though I tend to prefer potatoes with red meat if I'm making a starch.
Used the last steak to make quesadillas the next day.
We ordered pizza one of the days, my husband's sucked apparently so he was annoyed with himself for suggesting it instead of having me cook, but ours was great. I like thin crust for homemade and regular for carryout because an inexperienced employee can really fuck up thin crust in a way that makes it unenjoyable to me, and that's just what happened.
Quiche lorraine. My pastry wasn't quite as nice as usual, but it was still very serviceable. Just not quite sure what went wrong because I've made pastry hundreds of times and it's rarely been so mid.
I made pork chops with sautéed mushrooms and onions today. Homemade applesauce for everyone else to go with them, but I prefer them plain or with a savory pan sauce.
 
I made a salted caramel cheesecake on Monday, it's already all gone. Everyone was chimping out about it.
That sounds great. It reminded me of an idea I had that apparently exists, so I'm probably going to try it some point soon: dulce de leche cheesecake with the dulce de leche made sous vide (which is not terribly different from my usual stovetop method), then the cheesecake itself in the air fryer.
 
Perch fillet with herbs and lemon sauce, grilled onions and zucchini fritters with parmesan cheems.
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I happened upon these quarter-pound cheese dogs, similar to Better Cheddars, at Sam's Club. They are really delicious, and in my opinion, They surpass the taste of Better Cheddars. I prepared them using an air fryer toaster oven, which gave the skin a wonderful crunch. I would definitely recommend giving them a try.
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Chocolate cake from Ann Reardon's cookbook.
Fresh out the oven:
cake1.jpg
Cooled, flipped, sunken :'(:
cake2.jpg
There, pretty as a picture:
cake3.jpg
The truth laid bare:
cake4.jpg
Very tasty, but obviously I my oven messed up a bit. When I tested it it was fine, and sure enough, not every slice was this gooey. I actually liked the undercooked part best but next time I'll give it bit more time to have it looking more presentable and avoid the Pit of Frosting.
cake5.jpg
THE BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE
Have you ever been disappointed by a gorgeous looking chocolate cake that turned out to be dry and tasteless? Well then, this is the recipe for you. This is my all-time favorite chocolate cake recipe. It makes a rich moist cake that tastes like chocolate every time.

Makes 24 cupcakes or two 8-inch (20.5 cm) round cakes.

WHIPPED GANACHE FROSTING
21.2 oz (600 g) milk chocolate
¾ cup (200 mL / 6.8 fl oz) heavy cream (35 percent fat)

RICH CHOCOLATE CAKE
7.1 oz (200 g) dark chocolate with 70 percent cocoa
1 ⅓ cups (315 g / 11.1 oz) margarine or butter
8 large eggs (360 g / 12.7 oz)
2 ¼ cups (485 g / 17.1 oz) caster sugar or superfine sugar
1 ¼ cups (200 g / 7 oz) plain or
all-purpose flour
¼ cup (30 g / 1.1 oz) cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

ASSEMBLY
3.5 oz (100 g) milk or dark chocolate

WHIPPED GANACHE FROSTING
- Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a bowl. Bring the cream to a boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Leave it to sit for a couple of minutes and then whisk until smooth. Cover your ganache with plastic wrap and put it into the fridge for at least 3 hours to firm up.
- Using an electric mixer, whip the firm ganache until it is fluffy and lighter in color. If the ganache is too thick to whip, heat half a cup in the microwave for 10 seconds, then add this warmed ganache back into the bowl.

RICH CHOCOLATE CAKE
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Place chocolate and margarine into a bowl and melt in the microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir the mixture, then microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again. Repeat in 30-second bursts, stirring in between each time, until melted. Mix in the sugar. Then add the eggs and whisk well. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder together and mix into the cake mixture until just combined.
- Pour into two lined 20.5 cm (8 inch) round cake pans. Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. If your cake is looking done on top but is not yet cooked in the middle, place an empty baking sheet on the oven shelf just above it to protect the top from burning.
- Cool on a wire rack.

ASSEMBLY
- Level the top of both cakes and place one on a plate or cake stand. Place the whipped ganache into a piping bag fitted with an open star-shaped tip. Pipe dollops of ganache neatly around the edge, then continue piping until the center is covered. Add the second cake on top and repeat the piping pattern.
- Using a peeler, shave curls of chocolate onto some baking paper. Pile them on top of the cake in the center. If it is a cold day and your chocolate is hard to shave, just microwave the block for 5 seconds and try again.
 
I made clam chowder yesterday because the weather was shit and raining. I've made it 100 times before but somehow I fucked it up and my milk split.

No one else noticed but it I did and it was still really good but damn...rookie mistake.

If you never made clam chowder I urge you to try, it's not hard and damn fine eats on a cold wet day.
 
Since I recently moved out I have been trying to cook.
Now I have tried MULTIPLE times to make a goddamn meatball but it ends up either breaking apart or taking too damned long to cook.
I believe I might be a nigger.
 
Burritos, started the day before yesterday.

I started out with some cheap stew meat. Then I rubbed it with street taco seasoning and sous-vided it for 48 hours at 132F.

I also sous-vided some basmati rice afterwards while letting the meat rest, and chopping potatos and bell peppers finely, sauteeing each separately in the leftover grease from a ribeye steak last week. This worked really well. I also chopped onions, fresh, and put a sear on the stew meat at high temperature for a little over a minute.

I then warmed up the burrito wraps (flour tortilla) and melted a variety of cheese on them from a discount bin bag of assorted cheese ends from the butcher/deli I go to (although the meat itself was quite simply grocery store stew meat).

Now, the meat was ridiculously tender for what it was, but still hot pink in the center.

I then combined all this, topped with salsa verde, sour cream, refried black beans and a splash of scorpion pepper sauce, into a monstrous burrito which was doomed to fall apart and in fact did so. Actually two, one for someone else, without some of the ingredients.
 
Saturday, we had a friend over who is going through a really rough time, so we spared no expense and made way too much meat on the grill, mexican-style corn, and some vegetable skewers. Guy must not have been taking good care of himself, because he ate about 2 sausages, 4 chicken thighs, 1 ear of corn, and one steak. I was really happy we could take his mind off things and provide a nice meal for him and ngl I always hate it when we have a ton of grilling leftovers, it ties me into too much of a schedule as far as the coming meals go if I want to avoid food waste.
Sunday, I made homemade pizza and greek salad.
Monday, I made the remaining steaks with stir-fried green beans and garlic bread.
Tonight, I'm making massaman curry.
 
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King of curries.
100% is, even the kids go crazy over it and they're generally not super into curries other than the Japanese kind. I made a double batch hoping to save some for tomorrow, and it's all gone. As always, I take it as a compliment but damn, that would have made a great lunch tomorrow.
 
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