Official food thread v. Jingle.star

[axeman90210]

Thanks gents! I've been bad about sharing the results here, but I do like it when I can take a bit of time to cook something more involved on a weekend or holiday. I normally don't cook pasta for just me because lord knows I don't need the carbs but it's become something of a New Year's Eve tradition for me. And yes, the Italian food scene down here in FL is dire, if I want to good stuff I have to make it myself.

[lonestar]

Made a batch of Gumbo yesterday, spent about 6 hours developing flavors and man, it might be the best batch I've ever made. Just perfect. The roux I worked on for nearly 2 hours while the shrimp/chicken stock rolled, and got it dark as night. Then, once I got the initial batch of gumbo made, I simmered it for 3 hours so all the ingredients kind of turned to mush, then added more chopped prawns at the end and let those cook to give it texture and pop. Just amazing.

[Podaar]

[lonestar]

Yup...definitely revisiting it for lunch today.

[orcus116]

Hell yeah. I only do an hour for the roux when I make gumbo but I always feel so accomplished when I get it to that chocolate color. I'm not one for shrimp so I just do chicken and sausage.

[lonestar]

Hell yeah. I only do an hour for the roux when I make gumbo but I always feel so accomplished when I get it to that chocolate color. I'm not one for shrimp so I just do chicken and sausage.

Here's the final roux...just perfect color on it.

[TAC]

Made a batch of Gumbo yesterday, spent about 6 hours developing flavors and man, it might be the best batch I've ever made. Just perfect. The roux I worked on for nearly 2 hours while the shrimp/chicken stock rolled, and got it dark as night. Then, once I got the initial batch of gumbo made, I simmered it for 3 hours so all the ingredients kind of turned to mush, then added more chopped prawns at the end and let those cook to give it texture and pop. Just amazing.

That looks awesome!

I mean, if you like shrimp and prawns. 

Seriously though, it looks great!

[axeman90210]

Been meaning to share some recent cooking, just such a hassle to remember to upload things to imgur

First up, I made meatloaf, mac and cheese, and some green beans. The meatloaf is a favorite recipe from a restaurant my uncle opened in Atlanta, pretty standard aside from using Italian sausage as 50% of the meat. It also comes with a red wine gravy that is a pain in the ass to make, but so worth it in the end. Thankfully, the recipe for the gravy makes a double batch, so I can freeze half and get off light on prep the next time I make it. The mac and cheese is a Martha Stewart recipe that I really like, and the green beans were par boiled and then just before they was done they came out of the boiling water to finish in a pan with some olive oil and sauteing garlic. They got tossed with red pepper as they cooked and dusted with pecorino romano after coming out of the pan.

[lonestar]

Solid techniques across the board... Perfect color in the beans, great crust on the Mac, nice glace on the gravy. Seeing stuff like that makes Chef happy.

[Adami]

Send some of the Mac and Cheese this way!

[lonestar]

Is your gravy from beef stock and reduced, or thickened?

[axeman90210]

Solid techniques across the board... Perfect color in the beans, great crust on the Mac, nice glace on the gravy. Seeing stuff like that makes Chef happy.

Thank you chef!

Send some of the Mac and Cheese this way!

If you're feeling enterprising, it's just this recipe. I always go with pecorino for cheese #2 and I'm extra generous with the paprika.

https://www.marthastewart.com/957243/macaroni-and-cheese

Is your gravy from beef stock and reduced, or thickened?

A little bit of both I guess. I start with a traditional mirepoix + garlic and cook that until it's well caramelized, then I add in tomato paste and cook that until it's dark brown. Next is to add in a bottle of red wine and reduce until thick. After that the beef stock goes in and it's reduced by half. It is thickened a little bit with a water/flour slurry at the end as well.

[King Postwhore]

Hot damn Bill. That's some skills.

[faizoff]

axeman, these are fantastic, I think I have the same wooden cutting board, is that the Teakhaus board? Food looks amazing.

[lonestar]

Is your gravy from beef stock and reduced, or thickened?

A little bit of both I guess. I start with a traditional mirepoix + garlic and cook that until it's well caramelized, then I add in tomato paste and cook that until it's dark brown. Next is to add in a bottle of red wine and reduce until thick. After that the beef stock goes in and it's reduced by half. It is thickened a little bit with a water/flour slurry at the end as well.

Gotcha...it looked a little too shiny to be a straight roux thickened sauce.

[King Postwhore]

Reading RJ's response makes me feel like such a noob.

[axeman90210]

You and me both Joe

axeman, these are fantastic, I think I have the same wooden cutting board, is that the Teakhaus board? Food looks amazing.

Thanks. It is a teakwood cutting board, but the manufacturer is Sonder

[lonestar]

There's a visual aspect to sauces that can tell you how it's thickened. If it has a clear, shiny dark sheen to it, it's either reduced stock that let's the gelatin do the work, or it's tightened with a cornstarch slurry. If it's cloudy and lighter in color, like a brown gravy, it probably was tightened with a flour roux.

[cramx3]

So for Christmas, my gf asked me to get her a Kitchen Aide.  I didn't even know what that was, basically a huge mixer thing.  Pretty damn expensive too, but it was on sale and she got it for Christmas.  Since then, she's been making all sorts of breads and desserts.  I joked with her last week, I don't even remember how it came up, about carrot cake and not having had it in forever.  Well, next thing you know, that was what we made last night.  I grated 4lbs of carrots which is not something I've done before.  The cake came out really fucking good and I don't even really like cakes that much. 





we also did a Sunday sauce and meatballs last night, all made from scratch:



even the butter on the bread was made from scratch with the kitchen aide.

Also, on Saturday we went a bit wild, I'll have to share that later, but it was not only delicious but incrediby stupid 

[axeman90210]

Oh man, that cake icing

[lonestar]

Kitchen Aides are fucking bomb. Start looking into the attachments, they got fucking everything.

[cramx3]

Kitchen Aides are fucking bomb. Start looking into the attachments, they got fucking everything.

Yeah, I wouldn't have had to grate those carrots if we had the right attachment.  It's on the radar.

Oh man, that cake icing

I'm such a sucker for cream cheese icing too, so fucking good.  I made it well known the cake needed a solid layer of the icing, or two.

[axeman90210]

My other recent cooking adventure was breaking in the wok I got for Christmas



Chicken thighs, shallots, garlic, shredded carrots, snow peas, and peppers. Got those all going and then we ordered some dumplings from a local Chinese place along with a side of their garlic sauce and then we tossed the garlic sauce in the wok. Plated with some jasmine rice from the rice cooker.

[cramx3]

Yes, the rice cooker! Love mine.  Had this huge debate with my friends about making rice and they all seemed to think a rice cooker was complicated and that boiling water was easier.  oh you foolish old men

But otherwise that meal looks good, basically looks like an asian dish I would love and enjoy making (we also just got a new wok).

[lonestar]

Who the fuck has difficulty with the rice cooker? Doesn't everyone know the finger trick?

[cramx3]

Who the fuck has difficulty with the rice cooker? Doesn't everyone know the finger trick?

My friends don't know shit about cooking it seems 

I don't know the finger trick though.  I mean a rice cooker is so fucking simple and it works perfectly too.  Also good for steaming veggies.  I must say though, I never thought to get one.  It was a gift, but a very useful gift since I eat enough rice.

[lonestar]

Who the fuck has difficulty with the rice cooker? Doesn't everyone know the finger trick?

My friends don't know shit about cooking it seems 

I don't know the finger trick though.  I mean a rice cooker is so fucking simple and it works perfectly too.  Also good for steaming veggies.  I must say though, I never thought to get one.  It was a gift, but a very useful gift since I eat enough rice.

After rinsing your rice add it to the rice cooker and level it out. Then add water measuring it so that it reaches the level of your first index finger knuckle above the rice. Perfect rice every time.

[cramx3]

interesting, just looking at my finger that seems about right for the amount I normally make.

[lonestar]

interesting, just looking at my finger that seems about right for the amount I normally make.

Its a centuries old trick.

[bosk1]

When my wife and I first got married, she was disappointed that we didn't get a rice cooker as a wedding gift.  We were broke, so she didn't want to spend money on a good one yet, but she also didn't want a cheap one, so we made our rice over the stove.  Basically the same finger trick as with a rice cooker.  Rinse the rice 3 times, add water to the first joint line, bring to a boil, then cover and turn down to lowest heat, and get perfect rice every time.  But, yeah, a good rice cooker is even better.  For both of our boys in college, that was a "must have" item on both of their lists. 

For the wok, if you intend to make Asian-inspired dishes with any sort of regularity, I would advise getting 4 ingredients:  Soy sauce (which you probably already have, but if you find you are using it a lot, find an Asian market, and you can find a bigger plastic bottle or jug than what is sold in the "Asian" aisle of most American supermarkets), a bottle of Hoisin sauce, a bottle of oyster sauce, and a jar of minced garlic (fresh garlic is better, obviously, but if you lack the time to mince it and want to have this on hand, it's a great substitute that lasts a LONG time in the fridge).  Various combinations of some or all of those ingredients, and sometimes with addition of other more common ingredients you probably have on hand, will make the vast majority of sauces you will want to make.  Adding red pepper flakes is a good way to spice it up without changing the flavor profile or having to shop for fresh peppers if your store doesn't have hot peppers that you would normally associate with Asian cooking. 

[King Postwhore]

[TAC]

That looks awesome Joe!

[axeman90210]

For the wok, if you intend to make Asian-inspired dishes with any sort of regularity, I would advise getting 4 ingredients:  Soy sauce (which you probably already have, but if you find you are using it a lot, find an Asian market, and you can find a bigger plastic bottle or jug than what is sold in the "Asian" aisle of most American supermarkets), a bottle of Hoisin sauce, a bottle of oyster sauce, and a jar of minced garlic (fresh garlic is better, obviously, but if you lack the time to mince it and want to have this on hand, it's a great substitute that lasts a LONG time in the fridge).  Various combinations of some or all of those ingredients, and sometimes with addition of other more common ingredients you probably have on hand, will make the vast majority of sauces you will want to make.  Adding red pepper flakes is a good way to spice it up without changing the flavor profile or having to shop for fresh peppers if your store doesn't have hot peppers that you would normally associate with Asian cooking. 

Thanks bosk

[axeman90210]

Tonight I made what I've just taken to calling Turkey Taco Skillet. I start with ground turkey, diced onion, and minced garlic in my cast iron, and then I add in a bunch of different diced peppers and some tomatoes. Once it's all going I add in some taco seasoning and some hot sauce, and then shortly before it's time to serve I add in some shredded cheese. Served over rice and with some guac. I normally make cilantro lime rice in the rice cooker, but I was feeling a little bit lazy today and so just dosed the rice with a little olive oil and some garlic powder.


Everything in the skillet pre-cheese


The cheese added and all melty.


Plated up.

[El Barto]

Tom kha? Looks great.