Cooking thread, anyone?

[DuaeGuttae]

Thanks for the details on the bread pudding. I have two nice Dutch ovens that I use all the time for cooking, never on a campfire, however. One is five quarts, I think, the other six. They are great for a variety of tasks, especially when feeding four hungry kids.

I often use recipes just for inspiration, too, though I use recipes for some things like breads or pastry quite faithfully, even to the point of measuring my ingredients with a gram scale. In part that’s because we use a lot of einkorn flour because of some non-celiac gluten intolerance in the family, and it can be much more difficult to handle than modern wheat.

We had our leftovers from yesterday for our supper tonight. That gave me a little extra time to prepare food for the freezer. Today’s cooking project was empanadas with a calzone-type filling: onion, hot pepper, spinach, tomato, garlic, oregano, goat cheese, and a a little Pecorino Romano (in part because I had some fresh tomatoes to use). I made thirteen empanadas and have some filling left over. The empanadas are cooling now and will be put away to be used for lunches in the future. I’ll spread the leftover filling on focaccia dough tomorrow for an easy lunch.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

The leftover empanada filling actually worked quite well as stromboli filling instead of being focaccia topping today. Normally I wouldn’t use an egg simply to add sheen to the top (though I admit it’s beautiful), but I wanted to make sure that the dough stayed well sealed, and I therefore used an egg wash as part of the rolling up process. Since I already had an egg beaten and a brush dirty, there was no reason not to coat the top. I got some “oohs“ and “aahs” over thsee when they came out of the oven. My nine year old helped cut the slits and was very proud of her role in creating a scrumptious lunch.

 

[fbelec]

they do look great

 

[EbS-P]

Seafood paella! So I don’t recommend a paella pan that doesn’t fit in your oven…. Unless your family is as hungry as mine!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

That looks really, really good! I love seafood, especially shrimp, but I don’t get to eat it these days. Two of my children appear to have a shellfish allergy, so it’s no longer part of the menu. Sad.

How large is that pan? Is it just the handles that prevent it from fitting in the oven? I imagine that four growing boys can put away a lot of food!

 

[EbS-P]

That looks really, really good! I love seafood, especially shrimp, but I don’t get to eat it these days. Two of my children appear to have a shellfish allergy, so it’s no longer part of the menu. Sad.

How large is that pan? Is it just the handles that prevent it from fitting in the oven? I imagine that four growing boys can put away a lot of food!

I think I ordered the 22” enameled pan, oven is 16” deep (I really like the convection function and would not trade it for a larger oven) . 3 cups rice, 2# shrimp and 4# of muscles. It could hold one more cup of rice.

I tried it on the stove top and it didn’t go very well. Burned in the center under cooked rice on the edge. Tried it on a wok burner, same results. This was by far the best way for a pan that size.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I’ve been doing crock pot cooking this week. Wednesday night was tamale pie, a mixture of seasoned ground beef topped with cornbread mixed with corn kernels, tomatoes, and peppers. It was a great way to use some cherry tomatoes and peppers from the garden. I don’t have a photo of the finished product, but I took a shot of the hot pepper, garlic, and oregano seasoning that I made in the food processor. It was a great combination.

Yesterday I harvested a bunch of shishito peppers from two container grown plants on our back deck. They’re little peppers, and it took a long time for me to halve and deseed them for a crock pot pepper steak, but as my nine-year-old daughter said, it was worth the effort. They provided a great flavor with just a bit of heat. I’m just about to go eat the leftovers, and I expect that the pepper steak, like the tamale pie, will be even better the second day.

 

[begreen]

Sounds good. When you say cornbread, was this cornbread dough cooked up in the crockpot on top of the other ingredients or prebaked cornbread?

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Sounds good. When you say cornbread, was this cornbread dough cooked up in the crockpot on top of the other ingredients or prebaked cornbread?

Cornbread batter (eggs, milk, cornmeal and masa) cooked in the crockpot on top of the seasoned ground beef. The chopped tomatoes and peppers were mixed into the batter, though.

I should also mention that about ten minutes before serving, I sprinkled the top with shredded cheddar. The heat remaining in the crockpot melted that on top.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Easy roast chicken and vegetables. 4 1/2-lb. roaster chicken. 2-lb. small red potatoes, carrot, celery, onion. Melted butter, lemon juice, minced garlic, garlic powder/sea salt/freshly ground pepper. Griswold 12/719 cast iron skillet.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Making buckeyes this week. Chocolate-dipped peanut butter balls. Haven't made them in a while.

https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/buckeyes.2606579/#post-29138199

 

[DuaeGuttae]

We had a fajita dinner last night with homemade tortillas. They tasted great, but I need to improve on my rolling technique. I just can’t manage good circles.

Our peppers were little shishitos from our garden. I picked just over three quarters of a pound and set up an assembly line on our table. My nine year old cut the tops, passed them to the fourteen year old who sliced them in half, then I took them and scraped out the seeds with a little baby spoon. It’s definitely more labor intensive that chopping a bell pepper, but my bell peppers haven’t grown well this year, and the shishitos have done great. Now I have some sliced peppers in the freezer, too.

 

[kennyp2339]

Penne with Mushrooms and Spicy Sausage | Pasquale Sciarappa Recipes

This penne with mushrooms and spicy sausage dish can also be made using your favorite pasta. Now that tomatoes are in season, they are more full of flavor and elevate the dishes they are used in. Using fresh plum tomatoes in this dish and fresh hot pepper makes this pasta recipe deliciously...

orsararecipes.net

 

[EbS-P]

How about a birthday cake (it’s chocolate!). My wife and I team up. Can you guess the theme?

 

[DuaeGuttae]

How about a birthday cake (it’s chocolate!). My wife and I team up. Can you guess the theme?

View attachment 282334

Does Vinny identify himself as a Ravenclaw, or is that just where the name looked best? I am a Ravenclaw in our household as is my third child.

I’ve got four kids, and the oldest divided them into houses a couple of years ago. We have little glass vases and fake gems in red, yellow, blue, and green where they can get gems added or taken away for excellent or particularly bad behavior. It’s not in use at the moment, but they enjoyed it when we did it.

You and your wife are pretty impressive as cake decorators. I have one child (the Gryffindor) who breaks out in hives because of food dyes, so that gives me a great excuse not to go to all that trouble. Phew.

 

[begreen]

Got a new Ooni pizza oven for my birthday. This was the first run. Not perfect, it's a different style of baking from the home oven and fast. The second pizza was done in about a 75 seconds! We were also trying out a new flour which was not pleasing. It was too soft. Will go back to 00 flour for the next try. The toppings were delicious regardless. Homemade sauce, garden onions, peppers, good quality mozzerella, olives and artichoke hearts.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Happy birthday!

 

[clancey]

Food looks really good and may I ask what a ravanclaw is? clancey

 

[fbelec]

Happy Birthday that pizza sounds like a good combo

 

[MrCool1]

How awesome, and Happy Birthday!
J and I have been talking about a woodfired oven/grill combo for outside - but I have to show her this when she gets up!
and you can never go wrong with artichoke hearts!
33 outside just south of Eugene and I just put another load in the stove......

 

[MrCool1]

Food looks really good and may I ask what a ravanclaw is? clancey

sounds like a Harry Potter "houses" reference to me!

 

[clancey]

I am so ignorant on that stuff but "you might be right"..lol clancey

 

[ispinwool]

Got a new Ooni pizza oven for my birthday. This was the first run. Not perfect, it's a different style of baking from the home oven and fast. The second pizza was done in about a 75 seconds! We were also trying out a new flour which was not pleasing. It was too soft. Will go back to 00 flour for the next try. The toppings were delicious regardless. Homemade sauce, garden onions, peppers, good quality mozzerella, olives and artichoke hearts.

Looks WONDERFUL! Where is this oven located? kitchen/patio? ...I'm thinking we really need a video!

 

[MrCool1]

I skipped the slow cooker yesterday - threw 3 (HUGE) chicken breast halves in, covered with swiss cheese, a can of cream of chicken soup mixed with a quarter cup of milk, and the some stuffing mix on "my" side. then drizzle a 1/4 cup of melted butter over - if you don't do the stuffing, probably want to skip that butter part!
350 degrees for an hour.
J had to work late so I tried to time it for when she was supposed to get home. missed by 20 minutes. I got this off the internet years ago, apparently it can be made up ahead of time and frozen - sometimes I make a couple and freeze one to cook later. seems to turn out just as well.
J hates stuffing, so I figure its best if I try to accommodate! and the stuffing sneaks over while cooking - so I still hear about it!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Got a new Ooni pizza oven for my birthday. This was the first run. Not perfect, it's a different style of baking from the home oven and fast. The second pizza was done in about a 75 seconds! We were also trying out a new flour which was not pleasing. It was too soft. Will go back to 00 flour for the next try. The toppings were delicious regardless. Homemade sauce, garden onions, peppers, good quality mozzerella, olives and artichoke hearts.

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Happy Birthday, Begreen. You have my taste in pizza toppings. Yum!