Cooking Tips

[Jedi2155]

The food here in the Philippines is quite...interesting. I'm definitely in the 3rd world with very very educational experiences. Regarding the smell....how long did you rub it for?

[Jedi2155]

 

Airline Food

[Turvy]

I fail at cooking.

 

Especially at cooking fish. Oversalted king snapper was disgusting. sigh.

[Jedi2155]

I fail at cooking.

 

Especially at cooking fish. Oversalted king snapper was disgusting. sigh.

Did ren make an emergency bathroom call?

[Turvy]

No. I tossed most of it.

[Turvy]

Grilling Faux pas. (More so for my future reference since most of you guys are grill masters...)

 

1. COOKING WITHOUT HEATING THE GRILL Just like you'd heat a saut? pan before you put food in it, it's very important to preheat the grill to cook any foods properly. Preheating also sterilizes the grill by burning off any residue.

 

2. LEAVING THE LID OPEN You would never bake a cake with the oven door open, right? Just like preheating is essential to proper cooking, so is temperature control while grilling.

 

3. IGNORING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIRECT AND INDIRECT HEAT I've got a couple of good rules of thumb: If something takes 20 minutes or less to cook, use direct heat. If it takes more than 20 minutes, use indirect. And if you don't know how long something takes to cook: The bigger it is, the denser it is, the heavier it is, the longer it takes.

 

4. INCINERATING YOUR FOOD The hotter the fire does not mean the better you'll cook your food. Most food is delicate and needs a gentle heat after you sear it. You're going to get a better result and coax the love out of the food by treating it gently and with respect.

 

5. SLATHERING FOOD EARLY AND OFTEN WITH SAUCE A lot of people marinate raw food in barbecue sauce, because they're thinking, "Oh, I want barbecued chicken." Sugar burns quickly. You want to make sure that the inside of your food is done and juicy at the same time that the outside is browned. It takes 45 to 60 minutes to grill bone-in chicken pieces and only 5 to 10 minutes for sweet barbecue sauce to set and caramelize. So brush your food with sauce at the end of the cooking time.

 

6. OILING THE GRILL GRATES This is one of my mottos: "Oil the food, not the grates." A thin layer of oil on the food holds in moisture. Many grilling authors tell people to take a rag or a paper towel, dip it in oil and coat the cooking grates of your lit grill with it. Number one, that is literally a torch waiting to be lit; that's a big fire hazard. Number two, oil has a very low smoking point; you only have to oil the grates once to know that the oil will burn instantly.

 

7. USING SUPER LONG TONGS People think the longer the tongs are the better, but the truth is the longer the tongs, the less control you have. Our wrists aren't that strong. If the tongs splay open too much (and a lot of them open to 12 inches or more), you can get a cramp from having to hold them closed. I use tongs like an extension of my hand. The best are 12-inch locking chef's tongs that don't open more than six inches.

 

8. PLACING FISH DIRECTLY ON THE GRILL When fish skin scorches on the grill it can give the fish that awful fishy flavor (just think if you opened a capsule of cod liver oil and burned it). One my favorite ways to make salmon is to take a deboned, skin-on side of salmon and cook it at 325?F indirectly on a wet, water-soaked cedar plank. I like that temperature because it's really important to me to get a nice crispiness-- good color on the outside, still juicy and perfectly cooked on the inside. Because it's sitting on the wood, you can very easily slide your spatula between the flesh and the skin, and it'll easily come off, leaving the skin on the board.

 

9. COOKING RIBS UNTIL THEY FALL APART Pick up the ribs and give it a bend: If it's nice and flexible but not springy or rubbery, then it's generally done. If it falls apart immediately, then it's probably overcooked.

 

10. BUYING THE WRONG CUT FOR BRISKET A lot of people cook only the flat or the lean part of brisket, which often comes out tough and dry. You always want to cook the whole muscle. A cross-section of a brisket would reveal three parts: Two pieces of muscle (one called the flat or lean, and one called the deckle or point) and a fat cap. People should go to their butcher or their grocery store and say, "I want a whole, untrimmed brisket." The butcher will say, "Oh, no you don't! Here, you want this nice trimmed brisket." You tell the butcher you know what you're talking about, and that you want the whole fat cap on it, because that will keep the meat moist and protected during the long, slow cooking time.

[kuhla]

I don't consider myself a grill master but I'm willing to pan or stir fry just about anything with some confidence that the outcome will at least be edible.

[Turvy]

I can't say the same for myself.

 

For some reason my imagination pans out better than what pours out of a skillet. It's not a matter of lack of self-confidence it's more like depression from constant culinary failure. Never mind that-- let's go back on topic of cooking tips.

[Turvy]

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/dads_...d_bell_peppers/

 

Delicious. Made 4-- 2.5 too many.

[Jedi2155]

That looks really good...and something I would want to try cooking once I'm fully moved in. I'd say no to the Worcester & Tabasco and only put ketchup though. Who else ate it?

[Turvy]

Ren did.

 

It's not a lot of worcester and tabasco. It's actually really tasty with it and the kick of heat is pretty nice. I used an actual tomato and saved the tops of the bell peppers-- diced them all and tossed it in with the rice, ground turkey, and onion mix.

 

It's pretty good. Baked bread too. I was so excited when I set it aside to rise. I was tempted to look at it. It came out okay-- next time I'm going to add more flavoring. Or I'll try my hand at strawberry jam.

[Turvy]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa...cipe/index.html

 

Really good. I added a yellow onion and more than four slices of bacon. I removed all the fat on the bacon.

[Turvy]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa...cipe/index.html

 

Really good. I added a yellow onion and more than four slices of bacon. I removed all the fat on the bacon.

... can't edit my old post but that's okay--

 

So in detail, I diced up a yellow onion and sweated it with minced garlic without any oil. I should have only used 1 baked potato because I had so much leftover when I only used 2. Instead of Gyuver cheese (which I could not find) I used generous slices of mozzarella. Didn't add too much salt and pepper each layer because the bacon has a lot of flavor in itself. I used a whole package of bacon and removed the excess fat.

 

Instead of buying heavy cream next time, I think I'll use some of the bacon fat along with milk to make a fatty concoction to drizzle over the filling. May taste just as good if not better.

 

I am not going to eat this again anytime soon-- Ren and I should eat more healthy.

[Turvy]

Baking this sometime this week.

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/old-fashioned-b...cream-pie-14979

 

9 inches pie shells, baked

3 cups whole milk

3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 bananas

 

 

 

Directions:

 

1

Have baked 9-inch pie shell ready.

2

In a large saucepan, scald the milk.

3

In another saucepan, combine the sugar, flour and salt; gradually stir in the scalded milk.

4

Over medium heat, stirring constantly, cook until thickened.

5

Cover and, stirring occasionally, cook for two minutes longer.

6

In a small bowl, have the 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten, ready; stir a small amount of the hot mixture into beaten yolks; when thoroughly combined, stir yolks into hot mixture.

7

Cook for one minute longer, stirring constantly.

8

Remove from heat and blend in the butter and vanilla.

9

Let sit until lukewarm.

10

When ready to pour, slice bananas and scatter in pie shell; pour warm mixture over bananas.

11

If desired, make a meringue (you'll have 3 leftover egg whites) to top the pie, or just let the pie cool until serving.

 

Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/old-fashioned-b...979?oc=linkback

[Jedi2155]

My first homemade meal:

 

 

Chia Pockets from Costco

Fresh Spinach from Costco

Mini Sweet Bell Peppers from Ralphs

Left over pastrami from The Hat.

 

Mmmm...

[Turvy]

The pie didn't come out that great. I prefer making it with coolwhip. Faster and easier to boot.

[Turvy]

... I begrudgingly admit that Ren is a better cook.

[kuhla]

*twiddles thumbs waiting for the story*

[Turvy]

Ren and I cook together around once a week. So the last couple of times, while i'm cutting stuff, he's in the back stirring the sauce and adding stuff without me knowing.

 

Then when it tasets good I'm all giddy that it came out right and then he sheepishly tells me, "honey, I added some more ingredients while you weren't looking."

 

:T

 

Then his fried rice tastes better than my fried rice! T^T

 

When my pies come out all funky looking, he always comforts me telling me it looks fine and takes a huge piece of it.

 

Aside:

We wear chemistry goggles when cutting onions. It really helps!

[Jedi2155]

Cooking is almost more of a science than art....

[Turvy]

I would agree with that statement.

[kuhla]

Cooking is almost more of a science than art....

 

I'm assuming you mean in the sense that a vast majority of it follows a fairly formulaic rule set?

[Jedi2155]

Indeed, if you follow mostly formula's then its pretty easy, and also follow the rules of adding a sufficient amount of flavor, thats most of it. The art is figuring out which flavor matches best with which.

[kuhla]

Indeed, if you follow mostly formula's then its pretty easy, and also follow the rules of adding a sufficient amount of flavor, thats most of it. The art is figuring out which flavor matches best with which.

 

I agree.

[Turvy]

Going to attempt making onigiri and sushi.

 

Hard part is, it shouldn't be placed in the fridge because that hardens the rice but I would have to since I am not waking up at 4am in the morning to make onigiri-- I guess a tight wrap would have to do it. The rice will be flavored with sushi-su (rice vinegar, mirin, salt, and sugar).

 

Sushi fillings are going to be fusion - smelt eggs, cucumber, and pork shreds

Onigiri filling is probably going to be eel or some type of meat. Not really in to the whole ume (plum) thing. It's meant for a meal therefore meat is required.