Cooking thread, anyone?

[begreen]

Fresh pie cherries are ripening and the birds left some for us this year. That means cherry pie and oh my how I have missed you.

 

[SpaceBus]

Begreen, we finally cooked with electrons last night, NC style pulled pork in the oven. It was in the 60's outside so it only raised the house temp a few degrees, but it was pleasant anyway. I'll probably make a bread loaf soon.

 

[EODMSgt]

Hard to believe bear season is just a couple months away. I need to make some room in the freezer so I'll be cooking this recipe again in a couple days. Doesn't get much simpler for a recipe and it's great ladled over egg noodles or rice.

Crock Pot Bear Roast:
1 bear roast
1 stick of butter
3 bacon slices (chopped up)
Yellow pepperoncini (amount depends on personal taste)
I pack dry Au Jus mix
1 pack dry ranch seasoning
Throw it in a crockpot on low all day and enjoy.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Cherry pie is my favorite fruit pie.

Making the following today. Will cook diced chicken in a skillet for the recipe. Have wraps instead of pita.

Easy Greek Tzatziki Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 15 mins
Ingredients

• 3/4 cup reduced fat greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium cucumber, chopped
• 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 6 pitas, for serving

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the pitas and mix well. Chill until ready to serve, at least 30 minutes.
2. Serve on pita bread.

Easy Greek Tzatziki Chicken Salad - Host The Toast

Easy Greek Tzatziki Chicken Salad. Delicious? Check. Easy? Check. Healthy? Check. Find out how to make the no-cook quick summer salad!

hostthetoast.com

 

[thewoodlands]

I just had kidney beans (drained) in stewed tomatoes with garlic,red pepper flakes,pepper, warmed up with some pecorino romano cheese sprinkled on top before you eat it. I also had a hot tomato salad, sliced up a tomato, add salt,red pepper flakes, oregano with some olive oil.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

So many delicious-looking and -sounding foods on this page alone.

@begreen, that pie looked beautiful.

@PaulOinMA, I’ve had tzatziki on the brain since last week when I made a fresh batch (about a gallon) of yogurt. I have three slicing cucumbers almost ready to pick in the garden, and I’ll use at least one for that. I’m not sure if I’ll make it into a chicken salad or not, but it sounds yummy. I’ve also made BLT chicken salad before, and that was a big hit with my kids.

My daughter made a request yesterday for butternut squash soup. I had squash in the freezer and six cups of homemade broth in the fridge that needed to be used or frozen, and it was sweltering today, so it seemed a good opportunity. My kids loved it, as it’s usually part of our Thanksgiving dinner, so it seemed like a feast to them.

I used this recipe for the most part with some necessary changes for our sensitivities. Sensitivities aside, I also recommend not using the “2 tsps hot sauce” step, as “hot sauce” seems to be quite a variable term, and I did once ruin a batch using too hot a sauce. I use a little sprinkle of ground red pepper instead. The soup itself is tasty, but the relish definitely takes it up a notch.

https://www.rachaelray.com/recipes/pumpkin-soup-with-chili-cran-apple-relish/

I first had this soup at a dinner party years ago that was put on by some students at the school where I taught. The whole meal was amazing, but this soup stood out to everyone, and they ended up printing up and handing out recipes to all the teachers who were there.

Inspired by @SpaceBus, I also cooked some pulled pork in the crock pot today. (The pork cooked in a vinegar sauce, and once I shredded it I put it back in the crock pot with loquat barbecue sauce I made a couple of months ago.) I baked hamburger buns on our gas grill to keep the heat out of the kitchen, and served up the meal with cole slaw.



The good news about all this cooking is that now I also have a couple of meals of leftovers in the fridge.

 

[SpaceBus]

Pulled pork and butternut squash soup sound sublime. We ordered a crock pot, finally. Turns out I don't like making broth in the summer, should be a good job for the crock pot. It also can pressure cook and has a rice setting.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Butternut squash soup. Yum.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Pulled pork and butternut squash soup sound sublime. We ordered a crock pot, finally. Turns out I don't like making broth in the summer, should be a good job for the crock pot. It also can pressure cook and has a rice setting.

I make a lot of bone broths and have found that I prefer the pressure cooker over the crock pot for them. My pressure cooker is a simple stove-top one, not integrated with the crock pot. I’ve never used one of those multi-function machines, though I have a friend who swears by hers. It might be worth investigating the pressure cooking feature for making broth.

(Also, I meant to say that the weather wasn’t sweltering yesterday, which made it a good day for soup, and I just noticed that I said it was sweltering. Oops.)

 

[PaulOinMA]

Nan was out of shortcake. She asked if I could help her with the next batch. She cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender. I use my hands for scones unless there is a lot of butter to cut in. They come out better.

She was out of strawberries, and I said that we have ripe peaches. I peeled and diced half a peach. She really liked peach shortcake.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

We had green spaghetti sauce tonight—lots of zucchini and basil and oregano. It does have some tomatoes, but half of those were a green variety I grow. There is a bit of red and orange from a handful of red tomatoes and some sweet peppers. It was definitely a hit, and now the kids think I need to add zucchini to the fall garden rotation.



The sauce was meatless because I knew folks would be eating a goat cheesecake made with lots of eggs for dessert afterwards. I actually cooked this one on our grill, too, and it worked but not without problems. I never really thought about how out of level our grill is, but it became apparent only after I started cooking the cheesecake. The batter rolled from back to front, but thankfully remained in the pan. We ended up with one crispy thin side (where the blueberries are) and one thick gooey side. (It was 98 degrees today at dinner time, which was why I really didn’t want to turn on the oven.)



I thought of you, @begreen, as I was pitting all those cherries. My fingers are still a bit stained.

 

[Country Living in VA]

I make a lot of bone broths and have found that I prefer the pressure cooker over the crock pot for them. My pressure cooker is a simple stove-top one, not integrated with the crock pot. I’ve never used one of those multi-function machines, though I have a friend who swears by hers. It might be worth investigating the pressure cooking feature for making broth.

(Also, I meant to say that the weather wasn’t sweltering yesterday, which made it a good day for soup, and I just noticed that I said it was sweltering. Oops.)

I have one of the "Insta Pots" and really really like it. I use it regularly and it save a lot of time. It works well for me since I don't usually get home from work until after 5:00 PM. Don't get me wrong, I love a crockpot as well, but I can use the instapot and get as good and in some cases better quality and taste in a much quicker timeframe. For instance, I can take a pound of dried pinto beans, rinse, add a 3-4 cups of water, I use a ham hock and cook it for an hour in the instapot, let the steam feed off on its own and I swear you would have thought I cooked it all day long.

 

[Country Living in VA]

We had green spaghetti sauce tonight—lots of zucchini and basil and oregano. It does have some tomatoes, but half of those were a green variety I grow. There is a bit of red and orange from a handful of red tomatoes and some sweet peppers. It was definitely a hit, and now the kids think I need to add zucchini to the fall garden rotation.

View attachment 261438

The sauce was meatless because I knew folks would be eating a goat cheesecake made with lots of eggs for dessert afterwards. I actually cooked this one on our grill, too, and it worked but not without problems. I never really thought about how out of level our grill is, but it became apparent only after I started cooking the cheesecake. The batter rolled from back to front, but thankfully remained in the pan. We ended up with one crispy thin side (where the blueberries are) and one thick gooey side. (It was 98 degrees today at dinner time, which was why I really didn’t want to turn on the oven.)

View attachment 261437

I thought of you, @begreen, as I was pitting all those cherries. My fingers are still a bit stained.

Boy that looks good! I have been cooking a lot on my grill lately as well-helps keep the house from getting so hot & less time washing pots and pans.

 

[SpaceBus]

I used my "Multi-Cooker" as a pressure cooker to make broth a few days ago and that turned out well. I'm using the broth to make beef stew, but using it as a slow cooker on high for the stew.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

It has been very hot here for the past several days, and so I have been making lots of use of the crock pot and the grill. The oven just stays off for the summer, but it has been so hot in the evenings that I haven’t even wanted to grill. (We cooked our egg-pancake dish on the grill this morning when it was still cool.) The other day I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot without using added water, and it did crisp up a bit (I did the last hour with the lid ajar). Last night I also did something I’ve never done before; I used the breadmaker bake setting to cook a meatloaf. It worked well and gave us enough leftovers for lunch today. Tonight the leftover chicken will go into fried rice.

 

[Country Living in VA]

I am a glutton for punishment is guess. I am going to can some green beans this weekend on an open fire outside. I will of course do most of the prep work inside and just use the fire to process the beans after they are loaded in the jars. I have canned some quarts of bread and butter pickles inside, but boiling water for sterilizing jars and then processing them makes the house very humid as to be expected. Pickles only take about 15 minutes of processing time, but the green beans will probably take about an hour. Thought I would try to get it done early in the morning while it is cool.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Excellent and easy caramel sauce recipe.

Caramel Sauce

Thick, rich, homemade caramel sauce, perfect for topping ice cream and/or cake.

www.kingarthurflour.com

Third caramel sauce recipe my wife made. Joy of Cooking recipe was o.k. Recipe from

Kiene, Julia. The Betty Furness Westinghouse Cook Book. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954

was o.k., too. But, not what Nan was looking for. Said it would be good in flavored drinks.

The KAF recipe is much more like a caramel candy made into a sauce.

 

[SpaceBus]

I am a glutton for punishment is guess. I am going to can some green beans this weekend on an open fire outside. I will of course do most of the prep work inside and just use the fire to process the beans after they are loaded in the jars. I have canned some quarts of bread and butter pickles inside, but boiling water for sterilizing jars and then processing them makes the house very humid as to be expected. Pickles only take about 15 minutes of processing time, but the green beans will probably take about an hour. Thought I would try to get it done early in the morning while it is cool.

I look forward to reading about your results.

 

[SpaceBus]

It has been very hot here for the past several days, and so I have been making lots of use of the crock pot and the grill. The oven just stays off for the summer, but it has been so hot in the evenings that I haven’t even wanted to grill. (We cooked our egg-pancake dish on the grill this morning when it was still cool.) The other day I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot without using added water, and it did crisp up a bit (I did the last hour with the lid ajar). Last night I also did something I’ve never done before; I used the breadmaker bake setting to cook a meatloaf. It worked well and gave us enough leftovers for lunch today. Tonight the leftover chicken will go into fried rice.

I can't believe we didn't get our multi-pot sooner. Last night we made carnitas in a little over an hour including prep time by using the pressure function. Usually it takes me all day slow cooking the pork.

 

[Country Living in VA]

I can't believe we didn't get our multi-pot sooner. Last night we made carnitas in a little over an hour including prep time by using the pressure function. Usually it takes me all day slow cooking the pork.

Everyone I talk to says the same thing about the pressure function and how well it works. This isn't like your grandmothers pressure cooker at all, it is very simple. It does take some time getting used to how long to cook things. There are buttons for meats, beans, ect, but the presets usually aren't long enough and I just adjust the minutes accordingly. You mention cooking the pork for carnitas, I recently cooked up a batch of skinless chicken breasts with taco seasoning for tacos and the chicken was about as tender as I have every had cooking it for 35 minutes.

 

[SpaceBus]

Everyone I talk to says the same thing about the pressure function and how well it works. This isn't like your grandmothers pressure cooker at all, it is very simple. It does take some time getting used to how long to cook things. There are buttons for meats, beans, ect, but the presets usually aren't long enough and I just adjust the minutes accordingly. You mention cooking the pork for carnitas, I recently cooked up a batch of skinless chicken breasts with taco seasoning for tacos and the chicken was about as tender as I have every had cooking it for 35 minutes.

My wife was at first very intimidated by the pressure cooking function and didn't trust it because of her grandmother's pressure cooker.

 

[Country Living in VA]

My wife was at first very intimidated by the pressure cooking function and didn't trust it because of her grandmother's pressure cooker.

It is really pretty easy compared the old pressure cookers. I generally just close the lid, set the release valve to closed, set the temperature and once it is cooked, turn it off and let the pressure release on its own-then just open the lid.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I just wanted to put in a plug for using the pressure cooker to cook hard-boiled eggs. In mine it takes about 5 minutes at high pressure, then I release the pressure and move the eggs to ice water. Using the pressure cooker seems to make the eggs peel more easily. They were so easy today, in fact, that my ten-year-old son peeled them for me while I cooked the bacon on the grill and made the mayonnaise (using bacon fat as part of the oil). It made for a nice lunch with leftovers for tomorrow’s breakfast.

 

[SpaceBus]

I just wanted to put in a plug for using the pressure cooker to cook hard-boiled eggs. In mine it takes about 5 minutes at high pressure, then I release the pressure and move the eggs to ice water. Using the pressure cooker seems to make the eggs peel more easily. They were so easy today, in fact, that my ten-year-old son peeled them for me while I cooked the bacon on the grill and made the mayonnaise (using bacon fat as part of the oil). It made for a nice lunch with leftovers for tomorrow’s breakfast.


View attachment 261599

I will have to try next time we have boiled eggs.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Temperatures forecast in the 90s the next four days starting tomorrow. Making a large batch of gazpacho this afternoon. Won't cook for a few days.