At 4/21/20 10:01 AM, Kiwi wrote:followed by blue velvet cupcakes ❤️
Thought the sparkle was in my mind for a moment there. :P
Looking good...
All the time at home has definitely made space for cooking when bored. I'd also been wanting to experiment with the kitchen for a while but never got the chance due to work. Got to try out a few things:
- One of the first things someone else made as a test that I ended up trying was this weird cream sauce. It was blended avocado with cream, stewed with langoustines. I will say it was pretty gross. The avocado coated your tongue with the seafood-y flavor of the langoustines which were not deveined and... yeah.
- I made some quesadillas! I had leftover mooshoo wrappers from peking duck and used those instead of tortillas. Bought mozz and cheddar and made around a 50% mozz, 25% cheddar, 25% bacon filling. I personally prefer stovetop over oven, but that meant I ended up burning a few wrappers. Made some homemade guac (avocado, tomato, onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper) to go with them but I forgot the citrus and the whole thing ended up a bit bland.
- Tried making scalloped potato rings using pork stock and ended up just making pork-flavored sliced potato medallions.
- Trying to make latkes ate up nearly all my canola oil reserves...
Words are just sometimes better with pictures
At 4/22/20 09:32 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:At 4/22/20 09:14 PM, Riveet099 wrote:All the time at home has definitely made space for cooking when bored. I'd also been wanting to experiment with the kitchen for a while but never got the chance due to work. Got to try out a few things:
Wild ideas. Sometimes experiments go wrong. But at the end of the day, if it's edible it's still worth it.
::
::Hehe, yep! Well, edible and pleasant to eat anyway.
Words are just sometimes better with pictures
At 4/23/20 10:41 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:Smoked Gouda grilled cheese with apples and caramelized onion
Oooh that looks good! Symmetrical form and all too...
At 4/24/20 05:09 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:It was not very good. The apples got warm but we're still crunchy and didn't taste that great. It was fine once I picked them out. The bread was bomb though. Something called country bread, whatever that means.
Man I totally missed the apples in the description earlier. XD Not sure what I read that as, but gouda and onions and something other than a fruit not typically tried on bread sounds just perfect...
Is this a known combo by any chance though? Trying random things?
At 4/24/20 10:13 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:Like, wine poached pears is something you might see here. Cheese and fruit preserves on bread or crackers has always been a combo people like. Think like brie with figs or peach jam.
With bread too though? I'd never heard of those going together before, though wine poached pears with whipped cream or similar is delicious. Very true with fruits together with crackers and cheese, I just haven't ever seen it done with soft bread. Not fruits as they are, only in their sweetened and more mauled down form. Intriguing new ground...
Apples don't seem like a huge stretch, though maybe I should have cooked them down in some brown sugar and cinnamon first. Or star anise and cardamom and red wine. They should have been sweeter and brighter to really make them fit well in this dish.
A bit like apple pie then. :) Does sound much better.
At 4/25/20 02:42 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:Maybe more like on a cracker or crostini. You'd have all these components on a cheese board at any upscale establishment.
Yes, can relate to crackers/crostini.
Edit: I've definitely used toasted sourdough in restaurants instead of crostini. So soft bread does work here too. Provided it's toasted.
Good to know.
Yeah definitely like a pie filling.
Apple pie sandwiches are apparently a thing too btw: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/breakfast/fruit-breakfast/apple-pie-sandwich.html
At 4/26/20 01:45 AM, Peaceblossom wrote:Been having a good run of cooking at home, now that literally the only thing open is the grocery store.
Could've been the perfect times for passionate cooking people to be opening some small-scale restaurants too hmm, alas...
Greek spiced chicken thighs with lime dressing, blistered peppers, and potato wedges. Cilantro because I fucking love it.
Looking good.
At 4/27/20 01:06 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:Greek spiced radiatore "pastitsio". Gooped it up with some tzatziki to finish. Pretty damn good for how simple it was.
Might not have ever tried this particular pasta pattern before either... nice.
No picture and a super simple meal, but it really hit the spot tonight.
Made spaghetti with shrimp and Italian sausage in the sauce. Melted cheese on top and sprinkled on some red crushed pepper.
I've been eating so clean and healthy that this meal felt like a cheat meal of junk food.
At 5/3/20 11:36 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:Spiced chicken over herbed orzo with roasted veggies and feta 😍😍
Optimal color combo too! Looks good.
went to a food truck tonight and got poutine, so delicious! 😍
At 5/8/20 08:32 AM, Peaceblossom wrote:I'd suggest everyone who likes cooking or baking invest in a silicone cooking mat.
Doesn't work as well with cast iron, steel, clay, ceramics or glass? The one thing that worries me a bit about modern cooking is how widespread these artificial surface materials are starting to get. Silicon's definitely better than Teflon, but still... you eat everything you cook too. Most of these materials are bound to leach into the food a bit.
I ate these bad boys with some BBQ chicken and cucumber salad but I forgot to take pics.
Looks amazing though.
Speaking of preferred cooking surfaces, what is everyone's favorite? Anyone cook with plain old steel pots and pans anymore?
I had a cheap Lagostina ceramic coated cookware set. It all worked find and food slid off, but my most used pan got noticeably worn down after a year. I'd love to get a Le Creuset enamel coated cast iron skillet.
At 5/8/20 09:37 PM, Prinzy2 wrote:Speaking of preferred cooking surfaces, what is everyone's favorite? Anyone cook with plain old steel pots and pans anymore?
Traditional non-coated cast iron here. :) As long as you don't wash out the fat completely it works great, exceptions for certain mysterious ingredients like mushrooms that seem to stick no matter what. Surplus oil and stirring required. But that makes it a bit of an artform too IMO, to master true cast iron cooking with any ingredient.
Apart from frying: a lot of stainless steel and heat-resistant glass and ceramics. Been meaning to get into clay pots too but just haven't bought any new cookingware in... ever really. The benefit of basic materials seems to be they last pretty much forever. As long as you take care of 'em. Environmental/financial benefits all over.
I had a cheap Lagostina ceramic coated cookware set. It all worked find and food slid off, but my most used pan got noticeably worn down after a year. I'd love to get a Le Creuset enamel coated cast iron skillet.
Actually won a few Le Creuset stoneware forms in a recipe contest recently. Seems like good quality stuff.
At 5/9/20 02:46 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:I'm also a huge fan of anodized aluminum at home for searing and frying. It's a great non-stick surface without the fear of eating Teflon.
Interesting, don't think I've seen that at all with cookware. Does seem way better than Teflon, and only issues with acidic foods even if it's scratched.
At 5/9/20 09:47 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:Another nice thing is that it doesn't scratch as easy as Teflon so you don't have to worry about using metal utensils with it. I like these pans for basting meats with a spoon. It's very satisfying.
Nice. If I ever need to stray from the wholesome cast iron path maybe I'll give it a try too.
I don't know what this is called, but we baked this bread with blueberries and cream cheese and a bunch of sugar.
It was fucking delicious.
At 5/10/20 07:46 PM, Fro wrote:I don't know what this is called, but we baked this bread with blueberries and cream cheese and a bunch of sugar.
It was fucking delicious.
Looks amazing!
Also seems like that might be a real authentic cast iron pan?
At 5/11/20 05:42 AM, Cyberdevil wrote:At 5/10/20 07:46 PM, Fro wrote:I don't know what this is called, but we baked this bread with blueberries and cream cheese and a bunch of sugar.
It was fucking delicious.
Looks amazing!
Also seems like that might be a real authentic cast iron pan?
Yeah. We picked up two super old cast irons for like $5 total about 8 years ago. They were super rusty and beat up.
We gave them a finger bath, derusted them, and seasoned them again. They have held up really nice over the years with only occasional seasoning.
At 5/12/20 12:36 AM, Peaceblossom wrote:At 5/10/20 07:46 PM, Fro wrote:I don't know what this is called, but we baked this bread with blueberries and cream cheese and a bunch of sugar.
It was fucking delicious.
Holy fuck I need this in my life
We will absolutely be making this again. It was super delicious. Like I would prefer it over a good cake or pie any day. I'm assuming it matches well with ice cream as well.
At 5/12/20 12:38 AM, Fro wrote:Yeah. We picked up two super old cast irons for like $5 total about 8 years ago. They were super rusty and beat up.
We gave them a finger bath, derusted them, and seasoned them again. They have held up really nice over the years with only occasional seasoning.
That's awesome. The one material that easily spans generations as long as it's taken care of properly... doesn't rust easily if it's kept oiled in either. Cool to hear there are some other peeps out there on the cast iron path.
At 5/12/20 04:50 AM, Cyberdevil wrote:At 5/12/20 12:38 AM, Fro wrote:Yeah. We picked up two super old cast irons for like $5 total about 8 years ago. They were super rusty and beat up.
We gave them a finger bath, derusted them, and seasoned them again. They have held up really nice over the years with only occasional seasoning.
That's awesome. The one material that easily spans generations as long as it's taken care of properly... doesn't rust easily if it's kept oiled in either. Cool to hear there are some other peeps out there on the cast iron path.
Lol vinegar bath not finger bath*
At 5/12/20 09:19 AM, Fro wrote:Lol vinegar bath not finger bath*
Ah. XD Assumed my common cleaning method terminology was just a bit lacking.
At 5/27/20 01:03 AM, Peaceblossom wrote:Back in the swing of things. Asian inspired filet mignon; togarashi spiced red quinoa, sesame oil edamame and baby Bok Choy, wasabi butter.
That's a looot of wasabi butter...
I slaved for minutes to make this crowning jewel of the culinary arts.
Why would you ruin it this way?
dinner was gud tonight At 6/25/20 01:14 AM, Peaceblossom wrote:Meatballs and spiced roasted potatoes with toasted almonds and pesto vinaigrette. Was gonna have green beans too but they went bad :(
Suppose someone might be commenting on the choice of greens again soon. :)
Looks delicious though + all these great gratin/etc glimpses lately.
At 6/25/20 12:04 PM, Peaceblossom wrote:At 6/25/20 11:13 AM, Cyberdevil wrote:At 6/25/20 01:14 AM, Peaceblossom wrote:Meatballs and spiced roasted potatoes with toasted almonds and pesto vinaigrette. Was gonna have green beans too but they went bad :(
Suppose someone might be commenting on the choice of greens again soon. :)
Looks delicious though + all these great gratin/etc glimpses lately.
Why does @Prinzy2 hate parsley though?
He's probably made too many Parsley Gin Juleps!
