What Have You Cooked Recently?

Another trick that denatures the acidity and spice of a chili is to cook it longer, but yeah, in my experience a sweet onion does the trick just as well when you sautee them a bit to soften and blonde them.

As for what I made recently? Grilled cheese using bacon grease as its chosen butter. You have to be very careful with it due to its desire to burn if you don't pay attention, but it's made the best damn sandwich I've had of its type. It evenly crisps the bread, and provides an added flavor to the cheese. Best version uses a bit of a spicier cheese in between your emulsifier choice to add a bit more body. Or just have it as is with a cream of tomato if that's your thing. Slaps hard regardless.
 
Another trick that denatures the acidity and spice of a chili is to cook it longer, but yeah, in my experience a sweet onion does the trick just as well when you sautee them a bit to soften and blonde them.

As for what I made recently? Grilled cheese using bacon grease as its chosen butter. You have to be very careful with it due to its desire to burn if you don't pay attention, but it's made the best damn sandwich I've had of its type. It evenly crisps the bread, and provides an added flavor to the cheese. Best version uses a bit of a spicier cheese in between your emulsifier choice to add a bit more body. Or just have it as is with a cream of tomato if that's your thing. Slaps hard regardless.
It is a testament to the value of thrift that you can grill a sandwich using grease. I love that. I'm going to do that tomorrow because I believe that on Easter, I am going to celebrate the resurrection of Elvis with an Elvis sandwich of Texas toast, bacon, bananas, and peanut butter.
 
Gluten free pizza cooked in a cast iron, layered like a Detroit style.

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It was fantastic.
 
Nothing fancy this Easter, already feasted on Good Friday. Had some corn-fed chicken thighs marinating in buttermilk, grated ginger, some hot sauce and a spice mix (garlic powder, smoked paprika, white pepper, black pepper and a bit of oregano), later on i will make some pasta with tomato sauce and pancetta. Cousin already send me pictures from his feast, suckling pig is in the oven, cursing myself for not making my usual Easter visit over to his this year.

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Quite underwhelming. Only tasted the ginger, and i put African American amounts of spice mix in the marinade. Got four pieces left, gonna keep them in the marinade until tomorrow.

Bonus pic of Tiramisu my GF made for Good Friday
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The store had phyllo dough on crazy sale and chicken tenders on mad discount so I bought them with no plan in mind and decided I would just wing something with them later.

I wound up thawing the last of my homemade cream of mushroom soup, thickened it with a roux, chunked and browned the chicken, matchsticked my last carrot, tossed a handful of frozen peas in then used the phyllo to crust the glorious sloppa to make something akin to a chicken pot pie. Paired it with a nice salad.

Considering I used no reference or recipe and chose to instead vibe my way to dinner it turned out fantastic. The only thing I'll do different next time (because I am absolutely making this again once I get my freezer restocked with my cream of mushroom soup) is add a touch more carrot and a sprig off my lemon thyme plant.
 
Tonight I'm going to make burgers out of buffalo. An insanely underrated and tasty animal. Moose is the same way, if you haven't tried them I recommend both.
 
Happy Easter !
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I baked a cake, it's a vanilla sponge covered and filled with white chocolate ganache and decorated with fondant. I started making the flowers a few days ago so they would keep their shape but should have allocated time for the colors to develop too, I made lavender roses and they turned a morbid shade of gray so I had to fix them with my airbrush.
 
Tonight I'm going to make burgers out of buffalo. An insanely underrated and tasty animal. Moose is the same way, if you haven't tried them I recommend both.
I've been keeping my eye out for moose but have had no luck. Have you had elk, and if so, how would you say the flavor profile compares to moose? I know a guy who occasionally bags elk who I could get some from and that might be as close to moose as I'll ever get aside from good ol' venison.
 
I've been keeping my eye out for moose but have had no luck. Have you had elk, and if so, how would you say the flavor profile compares to moose? I know a guy who occasionally bags elk who I could get some from and that might be as close to moose as I'll ever get aside from good ol' venison.
Elk is outstanding. As far as moose goes, if you've had elk you've pretty much already had it. You can't find it because if you live in the US or Canada people aren't allowed to sell moose here, so you have to buy it from places like Sweden where it costs around $900 all in for about 3 pounds, and FUCK THAT.
Your best bet is to make friends with someone who hunts them or get a permit yourself, but it's about a 2 month window per year where it's legal to hunt them. I think places on the edge of Quebec like New Hampshire and Vermont you're allowed to hunt there, but Alaska is the best place to bag moose meat. That being said it's a very small number of people who get the licenses every year, and that doesn't even guarantee you'll get a moose, all for something that tastes the same as elk.
I would say unless you have a friend that you can go visit in Alaska who will cook you up some, stick with elk. To me it tastes exactly the same. Just like caribou though, which also tastes like elk, for me it was just the ooh la la experience of "I got to try this animal that not a lot of people have eaten" that's cool about moose.
EDIT: speaking of an ooh la la animal that everyone should try that's extremely easy to get it's on sale for $15 dollars for a pound at fossil farms online is kangaroo meat. That shit is FIRE.
 
No pics but chicken drumsticks in the air fryer. I tend to chug em in the oven and they always come out dry and I suppose I didn't do it right for a long time so I just stopped eating chicken. Now I've been putting them in my air fryer with lots of herbs and marinade and veggies and garlic, and they come out super juicy and really good.

I feel like I unlocked the secret to the theory of happiness.
 
if you've had elk you've pretty much already had it.
Fantastic to hear, next time my buddy bags an elk I'll get some off of him and feel good knowing I had the moose-lite experience minus the insane cost!

I have seen roo for sale but didn't pick any up and now you've left me regretful for not impulsively buying weird game meat. Womp womp.*sigh*
 
Fantastic to hear, next time my buddy bags an elk I'll get some off of him and feel good knowing I had the moose-lite experience minus the insane cost!

I have seen roo for sale but didn't pick any up and now you've left me regretful for not impulsively buying weird game meat. Womp womp.*sigh*
Moose is just one of those things where if you're visiting someone in Alaska and they happen to have it or know someone who has it then you definitely partake. You just eat it for the story.
I would highly recommend kangaroo, though. That is an experience all its own I don't think I've ever tasted anything as unique as kangaroo before. It tastes pretty good too, kind of like a gamey version of an expensive beef.
I would say treat yourself and buy a little bit from fossil farms.
They have everything from the meat to burgers to sausages. It's a little pricey and they're going to rape you on the shipping which will be around $20, unless you live closer to New Jersey where they're located.
I know it seems like a lot but it's a really cool life experience that ends up costing less than a bottle of Glenfiddich.
 
Chili has been a difficult nut for me to crack... First I made it way too spicy and it turns out adding brown sugar just ruins it entirely. Second I realized after ingredients were out of cans and beef was browned I didn't have chili seasoning. Taco seasoning and my best crack with the spice rack was better than my first try but still not great. This time though, oh boy did it turn out great:
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Just the plain McCormick Chili packet, beef, small can of corn, red kidney beans, and "small white beans" because I grabbed the wrong thing instead of white northern beans. The reason I didn't start with the spicy mix is because I got the Goya chipotles in adobo sauce to add to reach the right spice level. Turns out for this gringo that is all the adobo steeped in chipotle and none of the actual peppers themselves. Big shoutout to whoever here recommended the silicone cube trays for freezing. That's about half of the chili in the second pic. Threw a bit over some leftover rice and it was fantastic.
The ultimate redpill for chili is to get some milder dried Mexican chili varieties like ancho, guajillo, etc. and toast, soak and puree a couple of them to add to the pot
 
A fried banana, bacon, and peanut butter sandwich on Texas toast (grilled in the bacon grease) for an Elvis sandwich.

What better way to break the Lenten fast!
 
Happy Easter !
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I baked a cake, it's a vanilla sponge covered and filled with white chocolate ganache and decorated with fondant. I started making the flowers a few days ago so they would keep their shape but should have allocated time for the colors to develop too, I made lavender roses and they turned a morbid shade of gray so I had to fix them with my airbrush.
Wonderful cake!

Tax: i made yesterday some caramelized bananas with cream, and i'm feeding my levain for tomorrow so i can make honey brioches
 
Happy Easter !
View attachment 8811100
I baked a cake, it's a vanilla sponge covered and filled with white chocolate ganache and decorated with fondant. I started making the flowers a few days ago so they would keep their shape but should have allocated time for the colors to develop too, I made lavender roses and they turned a morbid shade of gray so I had to fix them with my airbrush.
The flower decoration is beautiful.
 
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