Author Topic: What's Cooking (Read 107635 times)

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #900 on:** December 10, 2020, 05:49 PM »

I had been interested in a product called the Wok Mon several years ago, but I think there were delivery issues and it might have been out of stock at the time. I recently remembered the product, looked it up online, and saw that it was in stock so I ordered. We've had a wok since 2016, but it never really performed all that well on a traditional gas burner stove. I had also looked into getting an outdoor wok burner, but that never came to fruition. The Wok Mon is kind of expensive considering it's just a ring of thin metal that concentrates the heat.

The Wok Mon definitely improves the indoor wok cooking experience by funneling the flame to the center of the wok versus the perimeter (it obviously can't increase the burner's BTUs).

We used the Wok Mon to make some sweet and sour fried fish and some bok choy with king oyster mushrooms.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #901 on:** December 10, 2020, 05:54 PM »

We made some country style ribs and collard greens with smoked turkey necks in the Instant Pot. I really enjoyed the collard greens, but the ribs could have been better. The recipe I found used Stubb's BBQ sauce, but I used my favorite BBQ sauce, Sweet Baby Ray's. We're gonna make this again using Stubb's and also add black eyed peas for our New Year's meal.

We made a cavatelli pasta with mushroom sauce. It was a little too dry for our liking. I don't think we'll be making that again.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #902 on:** December 10, 2020, 06:01 PM »

My wife made a soy sauce chicken and pan fried soup dumplings and also traditional steamed xiao long bao. The dough came out a little too thick, but it was almost as good as the soup dumplings you'd buy at a restaurant.

Made a Spanish chorizo and potato stew. The chorizo I found said "Spanish Style," but it didn't quite look as authentic as a real chorizo from Spain. The real thing appears to be like a hard cured sausage. The stew tasted good and was pretty easy to make. It was great to dip bread in to.

My wife is still big into bread making. She's moved on to sourdough. It was her first time making sourdough bread, but it came out great.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #903 on:** December 10, 2020, 06:04 PM »

This meal might as well have been sponsored by Trader Joe's as that's where most of the ingredients came from. We made gyros and homemade falafel. This was the first time making falafel, but I thought they turned out very well. We put in a jalapeno and some cayenne pepper to give it a little kick. The second day I deep fried the gyro meat and I thought it turned out much better than just microwaving the slices.

Last year we made silver fish patties using tiny silver fish. This time we got some larger silver fish so we fried them individually. They turned out great - they were like little fish french fries.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #904 on:** December 11, 2020, 09:25 AM »

Last night we made cumin lamb with a side of Asian vegetables from Trader Joe's.

hdv · « **Reply #905 on:** December 11, 2020, 10:53 AM »

Looking good! Especially that sourdough bread. And those dumpling look delicious as well. Sadly, I still haven't found the time to try out your Banh Mi recipe. As a matter of fact I haven't been spending much time in the kitchen lately at all. I have been hoping to make Flemish Stew (Vlaamse stoof) with stewed pears (stoofpeertjes) and home-made fries (Vlaamse frieten) for some time now, but I am afraid it won't happen again this weekend.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #906 on:** December 11, 2020, 11:00 AM »

Thanks! The sourdough was good, especially with butter and I'm not even a fan of sourdough bread. I had been wondering if you ever tried to make the Banh Mi.

Flemish stew sounds good. I've never tried to make that before.

Hopefully you'll be able to get back into the kitchen before the end of the year so you can share some yummy pictures of what you whip up.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #907 on:** December 14, 2020, 11:45 AM »

I had been on the fence about trying these Kosmos Q Wing Dusts. I had seen them used in some YouTube videos and they were highly praised. I noticed on the ingredients that most of them contain some kind of milk/cheese powder - either buttermilk powder or bleu cheese powder. I thought that was kinda odd, but figured I probably wouldn't even be able to taste the cheese anyway (I don't like bleu cheese). You cook the wings first and then sprinkle/toss the wing dust on the wings.

I tried all 4 flavors and sadly I didn't really like any of them that much. The Nashville Hot Chicken was probably the best followed by the Kick Cajun. I didn't like the Buffalo as I could definitely taste the bleu cheese and the Lemon Pepper had some herbs in there that I didn't care for. I much prefer the air fried wings I made with just regular lemon pepper shaken on the wings prior to cooking in the air fryer.

I found this beef bacon at Costco.

It's not bad. It doesn't get as crispy as real bacon. It's also rather salty by itself - I think it would make a pretty good BLT or a bacon butty.

I got some "fancy" eggs to pair with the beef bacon.

One of the yolks had a really nice orange color, but it didn't taste any different than the cheap store brand large eggs that I always buy.

I also picked up 2 new hot sauces. The Frank's Xtra Hot wasn't all that spicy. I was surprised how thick the sauce was. The El Yucateco hot sauce was spicier and a little smokey tasting.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #908 on:** December 14, 2020, 11:53 AM »

Yesterday I made a chicken and sausage gumbo. We normally make shrimp and crab gumbo with okra, but that's a little more complicated to make so I wanted to try making something a little simpler. I found this brand of Andouille sausage at the grocery store.

The gumbo was a little bitter (I think I burned the roux a little bit after I added the trinity). We also missed the sweetness from the shrimp and shrimp stock that's in the seafood gumbo.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #909 on:** December 14, 2020, 04:58 PM »

I tossed some deep fried wings with the Frank's Xtra Hot sauce for lunch. I really liked how they turned out.

Peter Halle · « **Reply #910 on:** December 14, 2020, 07:46 PM »

@GoingMyWay and others, I love seeing your posts. Uber amazing! But, after looking at your images and reading your descriptions, I am full. You each eat more in one meal than I do in half a week. How do you do it?

Peter

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #911 on:** December 15, 2020, 03:14 PM »

We have been eating bigger and more elaborate lunches since my wife started working from home in March. Prior to that I would eat a very small lunch or skip lunch altogether. I guess I still have a relatively fast metabolism (but not as fast as it used to be when I was in college and weighed 115lbs and ate anything and everything without gaining any weight).

How do you get by eating so little?? Don't you feel hungry?

Last night we had a Vietnamese hot pot.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #912 on:** December 21, 2020, 10:47 AM »

Wife made Mien Ga (Vietnamese Glass Noodle Soup) over the weekend.

She also made Banh Tieu, which is like a Vietnamese sesame donut.

We used the beef bacon to make a BLT for lunch yesterday. I liked the beef bacon much more on a sandwich. I couldn't even tell that it wasn't just regular pork bacon.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #913 on:** January 12, 2021, 05:31 PM »

We've always bought pre-made blinis, but because it was New Year's Eve they were all sold out. We made our own and it's pretty easy to make and taste just as good. I don't think we'll ever buy the pre-made ones again.

I ordered Malt Barley Syrup from Amazon and made homemade bagels again. I put some of the syrup in the dough and also in the water that I boiled the bagels in. The bagels came out darker, but the color seemed a little off.

We made the collard greens with smoked turkey necks, black eyed peas, and a couple of potatoes for New Year's Day dinner. I made the country style pork ribs with Stubb's BBQ sauce this time, but I think Sweet Baby Ray's is still the best BBQ sauce.

Made some shanghai style noodles and salt and pepper pork and a clone of the spicy cucumber salad from Din Tai Fung. This is the second time making this salad. We really like it.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #914 on:** January 12, 2021, 05:36 PM »

Last night we made Maqlubeh. It's a 1 pot chicken and rice dish that also has cauliflower and eggplant and a lot of spices - turmeric, all spice, cumin, and nutmeg. We got the recipe from Christopher Kimball's Milk Street.

I think we'll be making this one again as we both liked it. I think it's also a little easier to make than the chicken kabsa. The hardest part was tracing and cutting out the 2 circles of parchment paper.

A while back we ordered Ethiopian food and it came with a little container of a red spice powder. I didn't know what it was at the time, but it was a really tasty and hot spice blend. I learned that it's called Berbere so I bought a shaker from Amazon.

This particular brand isn't nearly as good as the one from the restaurant. I don't know if I just picked a bad brand or if the restaurant makes their own in house, which makes it extra special.

The Maqlubeh was even better with a sprinkling of Berbere on top.

rvieceli · « **Reply #915 on:** January 15, 2021, 05:37 PM »

I was going through my bookmarks today and saw this one that I had forgotten about.

https://greatchefs.com/

This was a culinary show based out of New Orleans that showcased great chefs

As I recall it was on PBS stations and lasted about 30 minutes. The website has all the episodes and recipes available. It was a wonderful show. As I recall it originally focused on the USA then went all over the world.

the website is a little clunky but the content is priceless.

Check it out when you have some time to spare.

Love the narator's accent.

Ron

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #916 on:** January 18, 2021, 10:07 AM »

Saturday we made American Goulash in the Instant Pot. I think some people call this dish American Chop Suey. It's a super simple one pot meal that only required browning the beef and then cooking at high pressure for 7 minutes. This was very close to the version my grandmother made. She always boiled the elbow macaroni separately and added the cooked pasta to the beef and tomato sauce.

As a child, we always ate the goulash with a slice of white sandwich bread covered with margarine. This time I used Wonderbread and the Kerrygold Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter.

hdv · « **Reply #917 on:** January 18, 2021, 02:14 PM »

Would you be interested in the recipe for "real" Hungarian Gulyash? My family's roots are from there (Transylvania

), although I have no first-hand knowledge of that. But I do try to find out more about the culture and the food over there. Someone I know who lives in Hungary has given me an "authentic" recipe. It tastes real good, especially with tarhonya, but I cannot guarantee it really is authentic. I suspect it is though.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #918 on:** January 18, 2021, 04:27 PM »

I'd love to see your recipe.

I've used the New York Time's Hungarian Goulash recipe 2 or 3 times in the past.

SRSemenza · « **Reply #919 on:** January 19, 2021, 12:03 AM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on January 18, 2021, 10:07 AM

As a child, we always ate the goulash with a slice of white sandwich bread covered with margarine. This time I used Wonderbread and the Kerrygold Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter.

I don't know man, opposite ends of the spectrum you're putting together there.

Seth

Cheese · « **Reply #920 on:** January 19, 2021, 12:46 AM »

Quote from: SRSemenza on January 19, 2021, 12:03 AM

I don't know man, opposite ends of the spectrum you're putting together there.

Ya I agree...seems like the Wonderbread needs a more symbiotic brethren...something more like margarine with the yellow dot of color that you worked into the lard so that it looked like butter.

hdv · « **Reply #921 on:** January 19, 2021, 08:18 AM »

= Hungarian Goulash =

This is what the Hungarians call pörkölt, which is the stew we are used to. What they call gulyash is more like a soup.

== Ingredients ==

- 500 gr beef
- 80 gr flower
- 1 tbs ground paprika [1]
- 3 tbs oil
- 25 gr butter
- 3 onions
- 3 sweet red peppers/paprika's [2]
- 4 tomatoes
- 2 potatoes
- 2 large carrots
- 1 tbs paprika cream [3]
- 2 tbs goulash cream [4]
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ½ tbs kümmel (caraway)
- 200 ml beef stock
- 1 ts hot pepper sauce [5]
- 1 tbs crème fraîche
- 4 tbs parsley
- Freshly ground black pepper

[1] Preferably made of Hungarian paprika's of course, because their paprika's are a matter of serious pride to the Hungarians!
[2] The pointed ones, not bell peppers!
[3] One potential source for this is https://hungarianfood.shop/products/food-cupboard/flavors/univer-hungarian-flavors-piros-arany-paprika-cream-160-g-mild/
[4] One potential source for this is https://hungarianfood.shop/products/food-cupboard/flavors/univer-goulash-cream-70-g-mild/
[5] One potential source for this is https://hungarianfood.shop/products/food-cupboard/flavors/univer-hungarian-flavors-edes-anna-ground-red-pepper-200-g-mild/

There are hot versions of [3], [4], and [5] available for those who like their food more spicy.

== Preparation ==

- Mix the flower, black pepper, ground paprika, and caraway in a bowl
- Cut the meat in dices
- Put the meat in the bowl and mix it with the flower and spices
- Peel and cut the onions in slices (not too thin)
- Cut the peppers in medium-sized chunks
- Cut the tomatoes in large chunks
- Peel and cut the carrots in slices (not too thin)
- Peel and cut the potatoes in medium-sized chunks
- Heat the butter and oil in a heavy (cast-iron) pan
- Fry the onions until they are transparent
- Add the paprika and goulash cream, and the garlic
- Under continuous stirring fry this mixture for about 3 minutes over medium heat
- Add the meat and cook it over medium heat, until it is browned all over
- Add the fresh peppers and tomatoes
- Cook for a couple of minutes, so that the tomatoes are sweetened a little bit
- Add the stock
- Add enough water to cover all ingredients
- Let cook over low heat for 3 hours (I prefer to do this in the slow cooker, but that takes longer)
- Check once in while to make sure the sauce does not get too thick and burns
- Add the potatoes and carrots
- Add the hot pepper sauce
- Cook over medium heat for about 25 minutes (the potatoes should retain some bite)
- Take of the stove
- Garnish with the crème fraîche and parsley

Best served with good freshly baked bread, or traditional Hungarian tarhonya (egg barley)

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #922 on:** January 19, 2021, 10:22 AM »

Quote from: SRSemenza on January 19, 2021, 12:03 AM

Quote from: GoingMyWay on January 18, 2021, 10:07 AM

As a child, we always ate the goulash with a slice of white sandwich bread covered with margarine. This time I used Wonderbread and the Kerrygold Naturally Softer Pure Irish Butter.

I don't know man, opposite ends of the spectrum you're putting together there.

Seth

Quote from: Cheese on January 19, 2021, 12:46 AM

Quote from: SRSemenza on January 19, 2021, 12:03 AM
I don't know man, opposite ends of the spectrum you're putting together there.

Ya I agree...seems like the Wonderbread needs a more symbiotic brethren...something more like margarine with the yellow dot of color that you worked into the lard so that it looked like butter.

It was quite the dichotomy

. I did kind of miss the taste of margarine. My grandparents used to buy Promise brand margarine. I just looked it up and discovered that Promise margarine has been discontinued!

Quote from: hdv on January 19, 2021, 08:18 AM

= Hungarian Goulash =

This is what the Hungarians call pörkölt, which is the stew we are used to. What they call gulyash is more like a soup.

== Ingredients ==

- 500 gr beef
- 80 gr flower
- 1 tbs ground paprika [1]
- 3 tbs oil
- 25 gr butter
- 3 onions
- 3 sweet red peppers/paprika's [2]
- 4 tomatoes
- 2 potatoes
- 2 large carrots
- 1 tbs paprika cream [3]
- 2 tbs goulash cream [4]
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ½ tbs kümmel (caraway)
- 200 ml beef stock
- 1 ts hot pepper sauce [5]
- 1 tbs crème fraîche
- 4 tbs parsley
- Freshly ground black pepper

[1] Preferably made of Hungarian paprika's of course, because their paprika's are a matter of serious pride to the Hungarians!
[2] The pointed ones, not bell peppers!
[3] One potential source for this is https://hungarianfood.shop/products/food-cupboard/flavors/univer-hungarian-flavors-piros-arany-paprika-cream-160-g-mild/
[4] One potential source for this is https://hungarianfood.shop/products/food-cupboard/flavors/univer-goulash-cream-70-g-mild/
[5] One potential source for this is https://hungarianfood.shop/products/food-cupboard/flavors/univer-hungarian-flavors-edes-anna-ground-red-pepper-200-g-mild/

There are hot versions of [3], [4], and [5] available for those who like their food more spicy.

== Preparation ==

- Mix the flower, black pepper, ground paprika, and caraway in a bowl
- Cut the meat in dices
- Put the meat in the bowl and mix it with the flower and spices
- Peel and cut the onions in slices (not too thin)
- Cut the peppers in medium-sized chunks
- Cut the tomatoes in large chunks
- Peel and cut the carrots in slices (not too thin)
- Peel and cut the potatoes in medium-sized chunks
- Heat the butter and oil in a heavy (cast-iron) pan
- Fry the onions until they are transparent
- Add the paprika and goulash cream, and the garlic
- Under continuous stirring fry this mixture for about 3 minutes over medium heat
- Add the meat and cook it over medium heat, until it is browned all over
- Add the fresh peppers and tomatoes
- Cook for a couple of minutes, so that the tomatoes are sweetened a little bit
- Add the stock
- Add enough water to cover all ingredients
- Let cook over low heat for 3 hours (I prefer to do this in the slow cooker, but that takes longer)
- Check once in while to make sure the sauce does not get too thick and burns
- Add the potatoes and carrots
- Add the hot pepper sauce
- Cook over medium heat for about 25 minutes (the potatoes should retain some bite)
- Take of the stove
- Garnish with the crème fraîche and parsley

Best served with good freshly baked bread, or traditional Hungarian tarhonya (egg barley)

Thank you for sharing the recipe and the footnotes! I had never heard of or seen any of those creams or sauces before. I always thought goulash was served with spaetzle. I don't think I have heard of tarhonya before.

hdv · « **Reply #923 on:** January 19, 2021, 11:25 AM »

Spätzle can be served with gulyash just fine, but I don't think it is something you'll see very often in Hungary. That's more of an Austrian thing. Personally I prefer to eat it with freshly baked whole-grain bread, cheese, and a green salad.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #924 on:** February 12, 2021, 03:28 PM »

I made 2 cornish hens in the air fryer. I seasoned the hens with a Japanese style seasoning that was made with salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, ginger powder, dried oregano, paprika, shichimi togarashi, and msg.

We really liked this seasoning mix. The first hen just dusted with the seasoning and then cooked.

The second one I seasoned (including adding a little seasoning under the skin) the night before so it had a little more flavor.

These were also some pretty big cornish hens, I remember they used to be a lot smaller. I'm really liking the air fryer, which is really surprising because I was so against getting an air fryer for the longest time.

I had an Instant Pot fail the other day. I was trying to make an "easy" one pot meal with chicken breasts, rice, cream of mushroom soup, and broccoli. The Instant Pot kept turning off because it was detecting that the food was burning on the bottom. Sure enough, the rice really did burn on the bottom. I had to take the lid off and stir 3 or 4 times before adding more water and then transferring to the non stick liner. Then some of the rice wasn't fully cooked so I had to cook for an additional 10 minutes. After all that fussing the dish was pretty tasteless and mushy. The oven baked chicken with cream of mushroom casserole is much better. I definitely won't be making this Instant Pot meal again.

Wife made a Japanese Mille Feuille Nabe hot pot.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #925 on:** February 12, 2021, 03:32 PM »

I bought a pasta roller attachment for the KitchenAid stand mixer.

I tried making some "pasta roller crackers" last night. I used Everything Bagel Seasoning, Tony Cachere's Creole Seasoning, salt and pepper, and plain sesame seeds. I applied a little bit too much seasoning so they were too salty and a little too brown, but overall it was pretty good.

We also used the roller to make some noodles. that we tossed with a little soy sauce, chili oil, and vinegar. They turned out really nicely.

hdv · « **Reply #926 on:** February 17, 2021, 05:43 AM »

Not really cooking, more of a new ingredient for cooking. I recently bought Japanese Sanshō pepper. Delicious! I can really recommend it. It is related to Szechuan pepper and comes from a citrus plant. You really do taste the citrus in it. Be careful to not use too much, because just like Szechuan pepper it has a tendency to overwhelm.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #927 on:** February 17, 2021, 08:52 AM »

Interesting - I've seen that bottle next to the Shichimi Togarashi and Togarashi, but never tried it. I'll have to pick up a bottle.

Do you mostly sprinkle it directly on food or mix it in with other seasonings that goes into a dish?

hdv · « **Reply #928 on:** February 17, 2021, 11:16 AM »

You basically use it as you would Szechuan pepper. It can be used in dishes, but I found I prefer to use it on top of dishes. That way the special citrus taste is more pronounced. A new favourite of mine: bread with freshly made roast beef and sanshō pepper.

BTW: this brand has yuzu granulate in the same jar, but with a yellow cap. If you do get the pepper I'd recommend you try the yuzu as well. Both yuzu and kafir are on the top of my list of favourite seasonings.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #929 on:** February 17, 2021, 11:49 AM »

I'll keep an eye out for the yuzu powder too. Thanks for the suggestion.

We have a bottle of yuzu ponzu sauce that we dipped the nabe hot pot in. We also dip baked hamachi collars in the the yuzu ponzu. The citrus note is very appealing.

I had always heard an yuzu was kinda like a lemon. It became clearer to me after I watched this Eater video about yuzu last month: