What Have You Cooked Recently?

[Crex Crex]

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Octopus and potato salad, with octopi I caught myself the other day.

@Chongqing asked me the recipe for this so I'll post it:

-Select and clean your octopus. A fresh octopus has it's skin grey, stretchy and intact, and has a blue sheen (particularly visible in the webbing between the tentacles). If it's not fresh, it's skin will have mostly fallen off and the muscle underneath will look white and waxy. If the octopus is already gutted, go ahead with making your salad. If it hasn't been cleaned, remove the internal organs from the mantle (the sac behind the eyes) then cut out the beak and the eyes. You just need to pull away the mantle from the siphon and turn it inside out like a sock, then you rip out the entrails. This recipe works best with very large octopi at or above 450 grams.
-Wash your octopus(es) and boil them. The larger the octopus, the longer you need to boil it. Dip the tentacle tips several times to make them curl nicely before chucking the octopus in the pot. Don't overcook it or it'll become hard. An octopus weighing half a kilo should boil for about an hour. You can tell it's done if it's firm but you can easily plunge a for into it. Take it out of the pot and set it aside (you can then also roast it if you want).
-Skin some potatoes and boil them. Cut them into cubes once they're done.
-Cut up the octopus and mix it with the potatoes
-Add oil, lemon juice, a very finely cut slice of onion, salt, parsley or celery and olives.
-Rest for an hour or two in the fridge (optional but recommended)

 

[newport100s]

Shrimp Fajitas!

 

[John Andrews Stan]

I’ve been craving fish pie like you get in the UK. It’s chunks of white fish in a creamy parsley sauce, topped with cheesy mashed potato (à la shepherd’s pie) and baked until golden.

Do any of the UK stalker children have a recipe for something like this? (Anyone can Google for a recipe but I’m looking for tried and true.) I even enjoyed the ones my mum would buy frozen at the supermarket. There’s just nothing like this in America.

 

[Bassomatic]

I have lived in the Philippines the last 10 months. Going back to the states soon.

One thing I can tell you is living here you dont need to cook much because people just casually invite you over for dinner. I dont know How common this is beyond Cebu and Bohol because thats where I have mostly stayed.

Also theres an island called Negros which always makes me laugh.

Even back in the States I had a taste for very Crispy Spam and eggs smothered in hot sauce over Rice (Yes I know My sodium is probably off the charts). To me this is a really simple breakfast, but I was eating it out on the porch as is My Custom if I have nobody to eat breakfast with. My dog was just wandering around, dogs here do that. My neighbor came up and asked me for some so I went inside and some from the Pan. He ate it and asked what I did to make it so good. I mean its a common dish here. I just said I add some seasonings.

I do have a recipe dear friends. I just dont normally share it.

Really depends on Who all you want to serve for portions.

Spam: canned. Dice it up and get it very Crispy. I mean burnt in some places even.
Jasmine Rice: If you cant get Jasmine Rice any other Rice Will do. Hell I am thinking of trying to make a Spam Carbonara someday. So pasta might work.
Eggs: I prefer poached but scrambled Or Fried over easy is fine. I kind of suck at poaching eggs. If you want the secret to good scrambled eggs its to add milk to them while you scramble. Just a little Black pepper too
Hot Sauce: look we can debate which is the Best all day. I like tabasco best for anything in a bottle but give me a good Salsa Verde and that wins.

Now we get to what makes it pop. Its actually not even complex.

White Pepper, Celery Salt, and a dash of Red wine. Yep let that simmer with it for a bit. Remember not to overdue it. You want the yolk to still be kinda runny.

I ate this before becoming a Sea Mexican.

Happy you made it over there broseph.

Red wine or red wine vinegar? I want to do this soon. Just wanted to check before I get to cracking.

 

[WonderWino]

As its thanksgiving tomorrow up here in canada I baked a large ham with garlic mashed potatoes, yellow beans, mashed turnips and carrots. Sliced off the top layer of skin before putting it in the oven, left a nice layer of fat on the bottom of it and baked it into a homemade crunchy, fatty pork rind for the dog. Since the weather is starting to cool down quite a bit i'll be using the bone and leftover meat to make a big pot of pea soup later this week. Also prepped for tomorrows roast turkey with stuffing, potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, leftover ham and fresh homemade bread. Also used a couple beef livers I had in the freezer to make a nice thick liver pate for the bread

 

[Aiōn]

I’ve been craving fish pie like you get in the UK. It’s chunks of white fish in a creamy parsley sauce, topped with cheesy mashed potato (à la shepherd’s pie) and baked until golden.

Do any of the UK stalker children have a recipe for something like this? (Anyone can Google for a recipe but I’m looking for tried and true.) I even enjoyed the ones my mum would buy frozen at the supermarket. There’s just nothing like this in America.

BBC GoodFood is a good resource for recipes, I have never made anything from there that hasn’t been nice. This one has been rated the highest by far, I've not made it before but I probably will now.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

BBC GoodFood is a good resource for recipes, I have never made anything from there that hasn’t been nice. This one has been rated the highest by far, I've not made it before but I probably will now.

Let me know how you find it. I’d make mine white fish only and omit the sweetcorn. Reading the recipe made me nostalgic for Maris Pipers and being able to choose from a wide mix of different potato varieties in most supermarkets. We don’t enjoy such potato DEI in American grocery stores.

 

[Alex Krycek]

@Bassomatic it isnt letting me hit reply for some reason.

Red Wine, not the Vinegar. I usually have a Greek Or Corsican Wine handy even though I dont really drink wine. Eastern Orthodox and all that.

I don’t even really buy it. I donate to some Church Or cause and get a bottle for free. Usually it involves rebuilding Orthodox Churches in Lebanon. I have no side in the conflict besides supporting the Church.

 

[エボラちゃん]

Pineapple chicken stir fry.

 

[ibeatmywife]

Pineapple chicken stir fry.
View attachment 6529416

Post recipe pls

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

I’ve been looking to make some tomato sauce recently, but the only product I have in the house is passatta. Does anyone know what the coversion between a bottle of that and a can of san marzanos is, or if they’re even interchangable. I usually do the Marcella Hazan recipe.

 

[CallmeCicada]

I’ve been looking to make some tomato sauce recently, but the only product I have in the house is passatta. Does anyone know what the coversion between a bottle of that and a can of san marzanos is, or if they’re even interchangable. I usually do the Marcella Hazan recipe.

Passata is a fine base to use alone for a tomato sauce, if you want to add something though, adding some fresh cherry/grape tomatoes will enhance it.

Dunno the Hazan recipe, but you can almost never mess up by just going by taste and adjusting.

 

[ibeatmywife]

I’ve been looking to make some tomato sauce recently, but the only product I have in the house is passatta. Does anyone know what the coversion between a bottle of that and a can of san marzanos is, or if they’re even interchangable. I usually do the Marcella Hazan recipe.

I pretty sure that's just a tomato paste or puree likely used as a thickening agent. I'd imagine you could add water simmer it with a few other minor spices and ingredients and make something similar to a marinara not a real pasta sauce but will still be good

 

[CallmeCicada]

I pretty sure that's just a tomato paste or puree likely used as a thickening agent. I'd imagine you could add water simmer it with a few other minor spices and ingredients and make something similar to a marinara not a real pasta sauce but will still be good

You would not want to add water to passata. It's not the same as puree. Passata is made from raw tomatoes that are ground and strained to remove seeds and pulp. Puree is often cooked before canning or bottling to reduce water content and sweeten the tomatoes.

You would smother out your sauces flavor if add water to it.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

Passata is a fine base to use alone for a tomato sauce, if you want to add something though, adding some fresh cherry/grape tomatoes will enhance it.

Dunno the Hazan recipe, but you can almost never mess up by just going by taste and adjusting.

It’s basically a hyper-simplified recipe that uses a shit-tonne of butter instead of olive oil. You basically take a 28-oz can of whole peeled tomatoes, cut a yellow onion in half and peel, half a stick of butter, and salt thrown in a pot and simmered for about 45 minutes. Mash up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon as they’re cooking and you have enough sauce for a pound of pasta. It’s far better than it sounds.

 

[CallmeCicada]

It’s basically a hyper-simplified recipe that uses a shit-tonne of butter instead of olive oil. You basically take a 28-oz can of whole peeled tomatoes, cut a yellow onion in half and peel, half a stick of butter, and salt thrown in a pot and simmered for about 45 minutes. Mash up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon as they’re cooking and you have enough sauce for a pound of pasta. It’s far better than it sounds.

Okay, usually I just use olive oil onions garlic and some dry seasonings (oregano, thyme etc) with some fresh basil. I've never seen a recipe that uses butter, interesting.

 

[Takayuki Yagami]

Okay, usually I just use olive oil onions garlic and some dry seasonings (oregano, thyme etc) with some fresh basil. I've never seen a recipe that uses butter, interesting.

It really helps the mouthfeel, and you can keep the onion in and puree it if you want a stronger flavor. I like it at least and it freezes decently enough.

 

[Bassomatic]

@Bassomatic it isnt letting me hit reply for some reason.

Red Wine, not the Vinegar. I usually have a Greek Or Corsican Wine handy even though I dont really drink wine. Eastern Orthodox and all that.

I don’t even really buy it. I donate to some Church Or cause and get a bottle for free. Usually it involves rebuilding Orthodox Churches in Lebanon. I have no side in the conflict besides supporting the Church.

Awesome you're out doing that! I'll definitely give the recipe a try in a bit.

Definitely stay safe as well.

 

[PositiveMonk]

Another attempt at stock making. Learned a bunch. Got a lot more stock this time around and per-portioned then froze it for 3 different dishes plus cubes for chicken sauce. One of these days I'm going to make both coffee ice cubes and stock cubes and have a really shitty morning.

Rice pilaf came out really nice with the stock. Made it twice so far. Very easy.

Ginger glazed carrots - these are my new favorite vegetable. I used a "ginger brew" I found, I bought both it and 'normal' ginger ale but when I tried it I loved the flavors so I knew that's what was going into my carrots. The sweetness of the carrots with the ginger and the chili powder is so good. I'd like to reduce the butter a bit more, or maybe try olive oil? I don't love when my dinner consists of 3 dishes that all use 2 tablespoons of butter, it just feels excessive at that point.

Been having a lot of fun cutting up whole chickens so that I have bones for stock as well as meat for the week. The last two came with giblets, after the first one caught me off guard I wanted to learn how to use them. I've come to the conclusion that I should take out the livers and toss everything else into my bone bag for stock. While I can live with tossing the livers, I'm wondering if anyone has any input on saving them/cooking them.

Looking to the future, after the next chicken I'll have enough wings/drumettes to try making buffalo wings for the first time, excited for that. I think I'm going to try vegetable soup instead of lentil soup. I really like having a soup around for lunch. The store I went to didn't have bread flour, didn't expect that to be hard to find. I really want to try baking bread soon.

 

[CallmeCicada]

Ginger glazed carrots

Try Parsnips with Chili & Honey Thyme Glaze, it's the upgrade. Also congratz on your stock turning out well. Just in time for soup season.