Cooking thread, anyone?

[ispinwool]

@DuaeGuttae ...that cake is a thing of BEAUTY!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I’ll pass along the kind compliments to her. Thank you both. I was very impressed myself. She is quite an artist and wanted to practice cutting strawberry roses. What was really nice was that she also spent time teaching her younger sister (also an artist) how to do it.

 

[clancey]

She takes after her mom...clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Thankfully she did not inherit my lack of artistic ability. I tried to draw a frog the other day for my kindergartener. It was pretty awful. My grandmother was an artist as was my husband’s grandfather, so the genes are there. They just didn’t manifest in me. My kids all seem to have a good ability to draw and paint and the like. I stick to photography.

 

[clancey]

You were at that age wanted something different and you just plain liked plants and pictures.,
and you are good at these things too...When I get my tomato plant I"ll take a picture of it for you..clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I have some sick kiddos at home now, so I’ve been making broth and soup this week. Tomato soup is popular, and I made a good-tasting one on Sunday night that I repeated today. I’m going to type out my recipe here because I want to remember it myself, and I thought others might enjoy it, too.

4 tbsp butter
1 cup mirepoix (1/4 cup diced celery, 1/4 cup diced carrot, 1/2 cup diced onion)
3 tablespoons flour (or 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed in a little water)
4 teaspoons salt (my broth and tomatoes are both unsalted)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
dash fish pepper powder (or cayenne)
1 quart broth (I used chicken and turkey)
6 cups tomato sauce/puree/diced tomatoes

I sautée the mirepoix in the butter till it softens well. I then mix in the spices and flour and cook another minute or so. I add the broth and tomatoes and puree it all with an immersion blender right in the pot. I like to let it come to a boil and then turn down the heat so that it can simmer gently for at least 10 minutes. We eat our tomato soup sometimes with grilled cheese sandwiches, sometimes with popcorn.

 

[clancey]

What a wonderful recipe but my cooking is more down to basic's like tomato's and water and seasoning but your's is just wonderful...clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

It has been too warm here recently for the woodstove, but the house sometimes feels chilly in the mornings, so it’s been a great time to do lots of dehydrating. We got some good apples on sale as well as finding more organic strawberries for an excellent price. (We try to stock up when seasonal foods are readily available and do a little preserving if we can.) I’ve been making my kids some fun snacks: dried apple rings and strawberry fruit leather.



My younger daughter cut up that one sheet of fruit leather into twelve rolls, pictured here on top of the remainder of the apple rings. I had some bananas that were getting overripe, so my next batch of fruit leather is a combination of banana, rhubarb, yogurt, and orange. It’s dehydrating now.

 

[clancey]

You take after your mom one with a lot of energy--good for you and God bless...Never ever knew about any of these fruit leathers but they do sound interesting especially for the younger ones..I think I like just "whole fruit" where I can see all the pieces--lol..thanks for sharing..clancey

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I made a yummy and relatively easy Chicken Biryani recipe last night.

Instant Pot Chicken Biryani Recipe | Easiest Pressure Cooker Biryani

Once you make Instant Pot Chicken Biryani, you will never make it any other way! This is by far the easiest way to make a chicken biryani recipe.

twosleevers.com

I doubled the recipe because I don’t own an Instant Pot and my stovetop pressure cooker is large. I need to make sure it has enough food in it to hold pressure, and I even then I did have to turn the heat back on because it lost pressure before ten minutes of natural release. I used store-bought garam masala for convenience and substituted green onions and wood sorrel for the cilantro because I don’t have cilantro in my garden right now. Other than that I followed the recipe and instructions. It was really good and not too laborious.

I sautéed cauliflower on the stove top and mixed that in at serving.

She has a lamb biryani recipe I’ll be looking at making some time.

 

[kennyp2339]

Quick gourmet grilled burgers (perfect lunch)
(2) burgers - 1/2lb ground beef, I prefer 90 / 10 mix
1/2 onion - chopped length wise - thin
onion powder, worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper, muenster cheese
In a frying pan - 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, keep pan on low heat - cook and caramelize onion, towards end of cooking if onion is going to fast dump a little water to slow things down in the pan
In a bowl, mix 1/2 pound ground beef, tsp onion powder, salt and pepper, add 1/2 tbl spoon of worcestertshire sauce, mix with hands
Make to patty's - I prefer thinner and larger cause they shrink a bit on the grill, cook burgers 3 or 4 min on medium, flip, take onions and spread on top, cover w/ cheese, cook another 3 min
Simple and very tasty, the caramelized onions that are under the cheese really compliment the ground beef, its a quick in a pinch lunch / dinner, best with fresh garden red lettuce and tomatoes, I also use regular ketchup w/ deijon mustard

 

[begreen]

I have some sick kiddos at home now, so I’ve been making broth and soup this week. Tomato soup is popular, and I made a good-tasting one on Sunday night that I repeated today. I’m going to type out my recipe here because I want to remember it myself, and I thought others might enjoy it, too.

4 tbsp butter
1 cup mirepoix (1/4 cup diced celery, 1/4 cup diced carrot, 1/2 cup diced onion)
3 tablespoons flour (or 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed in a little water)
4 teaspoons salt (my broth and tomatoes are both unsalted)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
dash fish pepper powder (or cayenne)
1 quart broth (I used chicken and turkey)
6 cups tomato sauce/puree/diced tomatoes

I sautée the mirepoix in the butter till it softens well. I then mix in the spices and flour and cook another minute or so. I add the broth and tomatoes and puree it all with an immersion blender right in the pot. I like to let it come to a boil and then turn down the heat so that it can simmer gently for at least 10 minutes. We eat our tomato soup sometimes with grilled cheese sandwiches, sometimes with popcorn.

Thanks for posting the recipe. That used to be my go-to comfort food. Oddly my wife does not like tomato soup due to old childhood memories so the only time I have it is from the stuff in aseptic packaging. Fortunately, it's good quality so I still get it occasionally.

 

[begreen]

I made a yummy and relatively easy Chicken Biryani recipe last night.

Instant Pot Chicken Biryani Recipe | Easiest Pressure Cooker Biryani

Once you make Instant Pot Chicken Biryani, you will never make it any other way! This is by far the easiest way to make a chicken biryani recipe.

twosleevers.com

I doubled the recipe because I don’t own an Instant Pot and my stovetop pressure cooker is large. I need to make sure it has enough food in it to hold pressure, and I even then I did have to turn the heat back on because it lost pressure before ten minutes of natural release. I used store-bought garam masala for convenience and substituted green onions and wood sorrel for the cilantro because I don’t have cilantro in my garden right now. Other than that I followed the recipe and instructions. It was really good and not too laborious.

I sautéed cauliflower on the stove top and mixed that in at serving.

She has a lamb biryani recipe I’ll be looking at making some time.

Don't worry about substituting. This dish varies a lot in India depending on what part of the country it is served (and who is making it). As one gets over to the west toward Gujarat they added dried fruit and sliced almonds for a sweeter taste that my kids loved.

 

[PaulOinMA]

French bread yesterday.

Country French Bread

www.fleischmannsyeast.com

French onion soup today. Bought Comte on Friday for my wife's soup.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Don't worry about substituting. This dish varies a lot in India depending on what part of the country it is served (and who is making it). As one gets over to the west toward Gujarat they added dried fruit and sliced almonds for a sweeter taste that my kids loved.

I have a Chicken Biryani recipe in a Julie Sahni cookbook that calls for making a mango chutney first and using that in the Biryani. I love the mango chutney itself. I’ve made it for Christmas gifts for folks in the past, it’s so good.

I made the Lamb Biryani recipe on the twosleevers.com site last night. I again substituted what herbs I have growing for the cilantro and cut down a bit on the spice. It was good, but I think I cut down a bit too much this time. I do like having some good pressure cooker meals, though.



Tonight we had Chinese Orange Chicken that I’ve posted here before. That’s a favorite with my kids.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

We had a yummy creamy lemon chicken for dinner tonight. I wanted a crock pot dinner for today (I try to shift away from the oven in the warmer months here), but I wanted something different from my standards. I decided to give a new recipe a try, and it turned out well. I used chicken tenders rather than whole breasts, so I reduced the cooking time, but other than that I tried to stick pretty closely to the recipe. (I also didn’t use the optional broth base). I served it with sautéed cauliflower and sweet potatoes that were cooked in my other crock pot. The lemon sauce went very well with both of those.

https://dinnerthendessert.com/slow-cooker-creamy-lemon-chicken/

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I got a new cookbook this week. There’s a little used bookstore beside a library not too far from here, and I occasionally pop by if I’m in the area when they’re open. I check their children’s books, of course, but I also make a habit of visiting the cooking and gardening sections. Usually there isn’t anything there that suits my fancy, but this week there was a cookbook that appealed to me. I’ve checked a different Cooks Illustrated cookbook out of the library and have been on the lookout for it. This one is in the same vein, and I can use good recipes that are reasonably quick. (I’m a slow cook, even with “quick” recipes.)

https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/Quick-Recipe-9780936184661

They have a recipe for Pan-Seared Salmon with Lentils and Swiss Chard that I used tonight. I had trout in the freezer as well as some Swiss Chard from our last summer’s garden and a bag of lentils in the pantry. I increased the recipe for our family, and it turned out very well.

The America’s Test Kitchen website requires a membership, which I don’t have, but I’ll link here a recipe that’s not the one I made but is very similar.

Pan-Seared Salmon with Lentils and Swiss Chard — InsideOut Yoga

A classic French dish adapted from Cook’s Illustrated . I like to serve everything over white or brown rice. So good! INGREDIENTS 3 Tablespoons butter, divided 12 oz Swiss chard, stems and leaves separated, stems chopped and leaves cut into 1-inch pieces (To make it easier, subs

www.insideoutyoga.org

 

[begreen]

That sounds delicious.

 

[EbS-P]

Never under estimate the joy of using a really sharp knife!

I have the usual assortment of handheld knife sharpeners in my drawer. None are great. And after using them to my edges get thin and in pretty bad shape. Every once in a while I will get out my sharpening stones and attempt to fix a couple.

I’m a novice sharpener. I get the basics of sharpening by hand. I don’t have any nice knives (they all go in the dishwasher). But after 10 minutes of work they are back into good shape and sharp enough to make using them much more enjoyable.

A nice sharp knife brings a smile to me face! Cook on!

Evan

 

[EbS-P]

It’s birthday season. I do most of the sculpting and my wove does the decorating. The poundage of butter and sugar is obscene Narwhal with vegan soy free cupcakes. And a character from a favorite AppStore game.

Evan

 

[EbS-P]

First time smoking ribs…. They were great!

 

[fbelec]

curious, what did you do with the elbows? the ribs look great. now i want to do some!

 

[EbS-P]

curious, what did you do with the elbows? the ribs look great. now i want to do some!

Mac and cheese warmed up on the grill for 10-15 min. I think some smoked Mac and cheese would be really good I’m thinking a crock pot recipe???? But something that can warm up while the meat rests is good too.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

In the summer I try to shift away from using the oven, but I had planned to make some loaded mashed potatoes for tonight’s dinner, which would have involved using the grill instead of the oven to cook bacon and to melt cheese on top of potatoes. It was 98 degrees when I needed to start, and I decided that was too hot to think about grilling, and who wants to eat warm food in those temperatures?

After a quick assessment of the tomatoes on my counter, I decided to make up a southwestern salad. I pressured cooked some small red beans, then mixed them with frozen corn to thaw the corn and cool the beans. I put that on lettuce and topped it with sliced tomato and onions. There was shredded cheddar on the side and some cold chicken for those that wanted it.

The dressing I made using this recipe as a guide.

https://www.jaroflemons.com/southwest-salad-dressing/

I didn’t have the ancho chili powder that she specified, so I used a New Mexico style chile powder. The smoked paprika was definitely a good addition.



It ended up being a hit with the kids and a nice dinner for a hot day.

 

[begreen]

That's quick thinking, looks delicious. It sounds like you could use a solar oven.