Food Pron: Recipes and Techniques.

[Que]

There's a really interesting recipe in the How to make cinnamon rolls thread.

By interesting I mean incredibly fattening!

I have seen potato flour recipes but this one with an actual potatoe in it looks fun to try.

 

[Que]

Indeed.

But thanks for the compliment in any case.

I'm happy to find a food-related thread that's actually about... Food.

Any special Easter recipes someone wants to share?

Here's my contribution.

BaltimoreBlues' Easter Apple Crisp:
Ingredients: 4 large apples (peeled, cored and slices thin), 1 cup brown sugar (divided), 1 cup oats, 1/3 cup flour, 1 stick of butter, 1 tbsp nutmeg (divided), 1 tbsp cinnamon (divided).

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat an 8 x 8 baking dish with cookie spray or butter
2. Toss the sliced apples with 1/2 tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 tbsp nutmeg and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place into baking dish. Taste an apple before placing it into the dish. If it's a tart variety (Granny Smith, for example) you may want to dust the apples with white sugar to add extra sweetness.
3. For the topping, mix the remaining ingredients. Knead by hand or mix with a fork until the topping is moist and crumbly. Spread evenly across the top of the apples.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edge of the topping begins to caramelize slightly (turning darker brown).
5. Serve warm. I think vanilla ice cream makes a nice addition.
6. Watch your significant other take a spoonful then remove their underwear and throw them in your face. This will be a subtle hint they enjoyed your dessert and would like to reward you.

Note: This dish is best served after a romantic dinner for two. It is not recommended for pot-luck dinners at church, family reunions, or post-funeral refreshments. The author takes no responsibility for accidental couplings with your second-cousin twice removed. You have been warned.

That seems like a LOT of nutmeg...but I'll try it that way and adjust if needed. I probably like nutmeg better than I think I do.

I am definitely going to make this. No one else around at present and I dont want to think how many road miles that is to work off the entire thing...

I settled for just apples in a bowl with a pat of butter, fresh-grated cinnamon and some brown sugar...nuked it till it was pie filling...about 3.5 minutes I think.

Gotta go run some hills now.

 

[Que]

10 minute enchiladas:

Step 1: 1 Tb oil on first tortilla; rotate back to back until rubbed well on both sides of all four. Microwave for a minute to soften.

Step 2: Microwave any kind of enchilada sauce and lay down a line with cheese and onions. Here- using my left over Chili Verde. Minced the remaining pork.

Step 3: Spoon Enchilada Sauce on the plate. Roll each enchilada; place on bed of sauce.

Step 4: Spoon remainder over the top; microwave for two minutes.I drizzled some tomatillo salsa on top for a little extra tangy flavor.

Step 5: Top with a generous handful of cheese and broil. Added jalapenos for heat.

 

[Que]

Red-hot oak coals. Potato Wedges would have burned before cooking through.

What I did here was microwave some potatoes, cut them in wedges, butter them, season them, then just lightly char on the grill.

 

[GooodGurrl]

In honour of it being the week after Easter and some us are just about fed up with chocolate by now (wait, no, don't burn me at the stake!), I bring this recipe that has become a favourite post-Easter way to use up leftover chocolate eggs...


CHEESECAKE BROWNIES.

6Tb Melted butter
150g Chocolate
2/3 C sugar
2 Large eggs
1/2C Flour
1Tb Cocoa
1/8 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla
(1/2 C choc chips - optional)
200g Cream Cheese
1 large egg yolk
5Tb sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla.

1. Melt butter and chocolate.
2. Beat in the sugar, then the eggs.
3. Mix in the flour, cocoa, salt and vanilla.
4. Spread in pan.
5. Beat last four ingredients in bowl, dollop onto brownie mix and loosely swirl.
6. Bake for 35-40 mins.
7. Salivate.

** Sometimes I like to add peppermint essence and green food colouring to the cream cheese mixture before swirling, then it makes it ChocMint Cheesecake Brownies. Delicious. But you can make it any variant you like.

**** Obviously preheat the oven to 180.c and line your pan.

 

[baltimoreblues]

That seems like a LOT of nutmeg...but I'll try it that way and adjust if needed. I probably like nutmeg better than I think I do.

I am definitely going to make this. No one else around at present and I dont want to think how many road miles that is to work off the entire thing...

I settled for just apples in a bowl with a pat of butter, fresh-grated cinnamon and some brown sugar...nuked it till it was pie filling...about 3.5 minutes I think.

Gotta go run some hills now.

It IS quite a bit of nutmeg, LOL. It depends on how strong you like the "spice" aspect of the dish. It's a bit like hot cider with a cinnamon stick. Some folks like the spicy aspect, some hate it.

If you prefer a more moderate version, cut the nutmeg back to 1 tsp instead (still divided 1/2 into the apple coating, the rest into the topping.)

 

[Que]

Why is it that all of our favorite recipes are bad for us?

I was trying to think of something HEALTHY to post up, and I all I could think of was maybe a stir-fry...and that is more technique than recipe.

Take some lean meat, marinate it in a quality soy sauce with your choice of Thai chilies, crushed garlic, thin sliced ginger, shallots, a bit of brown sugar, Sirachi chilli-garlic sauce is a nice shortcut.

Get your wok as hot as you can...sear the meat in maybe a teaspoon of peanut oil, put it and any pan drippings aside. Add any an all veggies you have on hand, sliced thin to the pan...as they begin to change to a brilliant color, add the meat back.

Optionally add some broth, and dust the whole thing with flour and as you stir you get a lovely brown sauce.

Serve on a bed of steamed, Asian rice. Since I am pretending to cook healthy, make it brown rice. I do sometimes get a five rice blend with a nice nutty flavor to it.

 

[Que]

Good intentions above aside.....

I opted for the deliciously unimaginative Steak with Rosemary -n- Nuked Potato with Butter.

Ordinarily, I would consider this Steer Cruelty....but this was a nostalgic homage to a delightful little girl, a half a lifetime ago. Her Birthday is tomorrow, and I had a yearning for her pan-fried, Worcestershire-marinated steak. usually a flank steak. She was going to school and lived with her parents of humble means. I knew what that steak meant to them, so it was delicious. Repaying their gracious kindness was always a challenge.

The Rosemary I picked on a walk home the other night. The variety was more landscape than herb, but it added some nice fragrance and was another homage to an historical steakhouse that has bittersweet memories from a different lifetime.

Once I had a nice sear on it, I doused it again in Worcestershire, tented it with Owl-yew-Min'-E-um foil and let it rest about 10 minutes in that hot pan.

 

[baltimoreblues]

BaltimoreBlues Apple Crisp 2.0

Query's spice comment got me thinking about a milder, more crunchy version of my Apple Crisp. So off to my test kitchen and a few batches later, here is an alternate version. This has a better ratio of apples to topping, so each bite will have a good amount of crumbly goodness.

In addition, this version is much quicker to whip up when you need something easy.

BaltimoreBlues' Crispy Apple Crisp:
Ingredients: 4 large apples (peeled, cored and slices thin), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 cup oats, 1/2 stick of butter, and either:1 tsp apple pie spice OR 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp allspice

1. Preheat oven to 400. Coat an 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray or butter
2. Place sliced apples in dish and sprinkle spice mix evenly on top
3. Add 1/4 water to dish
4. For the topping, mix butter and sugars until creamy then stir in oats. Knead by hand or mix with a fork until the topping is moist and crumbly. Spread evenly across the top of the apples.
5. Bake for 30 minutes until the edge of the topping begins to caramelize slightly (turning darker brown).

Serve warm.

Query - thanks again for starting this thread. Try this version and let me know what you think.

-BB

 

[Que]

This looks equally good...I am resistant because I am TRYING to at least maintain my current level of plumptitude. Having been a distance runner I was always too skinny, then suddenly I had a gut without ever hitting "just right."

Why is it that chicks go agog for male model's six pack abs, then grab my gut and tell me I'm looking good. I think they mean they feel skinnier next to the latest version of me.

I hang out at a local greasy spoon, primarily to chat up the waitresses and have some background noise for my meal..

I have gotten all the ingredients for the first version and even grated the whole nutmeg. I was considering prepping it, and taking it there an hour before close as an impromptu pot-luck. Have them throw it in the oven and divvy it up amongst the staff. That way I get a taste, and if all goes as advertised, someone to help me work the calories off.

 

[Que]

Continuing my accidentalvegatarianism theme...I was in the mood for corn-cheese crisps with the last of my home made hot sauce...

So as an experiment I tried cucumber slices instead. My reasoning was: "Cuke goes well in gazpacho, right?"

Not bad.

I still want a cheese crisp, though.

Hot sauce was just 1 can tomato sauce, 3 cloves garlic crushed and then ground to paste with course salt with the back of my knife, 2 heaping tablespoons chilli powder, vinegar till I got the (thin) viscosity I wanted.

 

[Que]

I know my stir fry is never even close to authentic, but finding out that broccoli has never Chinese has completely ruined my Beef and Broccoli. This time I added fresh grated nutmeg because my waistline won't accommodate BaltimoreBlues Apple Crisp yet. I didn't want to overdo it so I took it easy. Going to try more next time.

My tip for today. When making Fajitas, a Stir Fry, or Jerky where you need to slice thin it's better if the meat is partially frozen like you would on a microtome. Either take a fresh steak and pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes, or what I usually do is take a steak out of the freezer and pull it out of the microwave 1/2 way through the defrost cycle.

 

[Que]

Since I can't make the Apple Crisp, and obviously home made caramel dipping sauce is out....

I looked at the envelopes of fresh grated Cinnamon and Nutmeg. I sliced up a Golden Delicious into thin chips and sprinkled them with the spice...I thought without some sugar and with sort of tart apples it would overwhelm. It was delicious!

I'm thinking maybe I will try dehydrating some. Need to build some racks.

 

[bailadora]

Your post about what to put on apples made me think of this:

Easily done with either apples or pears, and if you use a very light smear of the goat cheese, it's still relatively healthy. Add a glass of red wine (antioxidants for heart health, doncha know) and you're golden.

Recipe link.

 

[bailadora]

That sounds delicious, ed. We should have a Literotica Chili Festival!

Not my recipe, but one that my Dad got a hold of from somewhere. This is your typical bowl of Texas Red, meaning no beans, corn, macaroni or other "foreign objects" allowed!

Recipe tweaks: Since it makes a ton of chili, I cut the recipe in half and still end up freezing some for later use. I leave out the MSG, 'cause I don't think it's necessary. For the beer, I use Shiner Bock, and for the hot sauce, I use Cholula. I tend to make mine pretty mild, because my daughters can't handle the heat.

 

[Que]

Four ingredients. Approaching Nirvana.

I have tried poaching pears In Balsamic Vinegar. Never was quite right.

Bumped into this technique:

Cut Pears into wedges; remove seeds and stem.

For each 2 Pears:

1 Tablespoon Butter

1 Tablespoon Sugar

Saute first three ingredients together in the pan. Supposed to lightly brown..I pulled it off the heat when I could smell the sugar ready to flash. Next time I think I will add the sugar 1/2 way through.

Drizzle with: Balsamic Vinegar.

Next time I may make a reduction of Balsamic and Honey in advance and cool. It tasted good but I had to chase the balsamic down the plate. It slides right off the semi-candied pears.

Update from the test kitchen:

Next batch- less butter; I got better browning. Also I thought to de-glaze the pan with the balsamic...that worked really well, made a nice thick reduction quickly to top the pears with.

I tried a third batch with a peach, but it was quite ripe...I think I need either a firmer peach, or maybe a nectarine.

Second update from the test kitchen:

Tried it with a banana. I think if I de-glazed with brandy I would have Bananas Foster. The bananas caramelized nicely. They hinted at the best part of Banana Bread. The Balsamic balanced the sweet nicely.

Easily done with either apples or pears, and if you use a very light smear of the goat cheese, it's still relatively healthy. Add a glass of red wine (antioxidants for heart health, doncha know) and you're golden.

I have a couple of pears left. I think I might hunt down some cranberries and pistachios tomorrow.

 

[mwmnpa]

I know my stir fry is never even close to authentic, but finding out that broccoli has never Chinese has completely ruined my Beef and Broccoli. This time I added fresh grated nutmeg because my waistline won't accommodate BaltimoreBlues Apple Crisp yet. I didn't want to overdo it so I took it easy. Going to try more next time.

My tip for today. When making Fajitas, a Stir Fry, or Jerky where you need to slice thin it's better if the meat is partially frozen like you would on a microtome. Either take a fresh steak and pop it in the freezer for 20 minutes, or what I usually do is take a steak out of the freezer and pull it out of the microwave 1/2 way through the defrost cycle.

A good way to make an Asian stir fry "authentic" is use ginger, which I'm assuming you do, and adding a few drops of sesame oil at the very end of cooking. It's strictly for flavor, so don't use it for actual cooking. And be careful, a little goes a long way.

Partially freezing meat for slicing is the only way to go.

 

[Que]

A good way to make an Asian stir fry "authentic" is use ginger, which I'm assuming you do, and adding a few drops of sesame oil at the very end of cooking. It's strictly for flavor, so don't use it for actual cooking. And be careful, a little goes a long way.

Partially freezing meat for slicing is the only way to go.

Yes sesame has a very low flash point and tastes burned quick. I used to have a small bottle of chili infused sesame oil that was nice.

I sometimes toast some sesame seeds then add for a similar effect.

You know, I keep "re-discovering" ginger. Then, when I use up the last node, I forget again. It is like Cilantro in Mexican Cuisine...not right without it.

The last ginger I bought was when I realized that was what was missing from my terryaki glaze. I used the last of that batch in these grated ginger/lemonade concoction I experimented with.

-adds to my non-existent shopping list. Not sure why I think I am going to remember things...because I never do.

___________________________________________________

I am on an experimental kick. Tonights Offering:

Same as the first verse but with a Nectarine this time. This one was firm and sauteed well. The tartness of the fruit didn't contrast with the Balsamic. I think drizzling something sweeter would have been better. De-glaze with blackberry wine, maybe.

 

[mwmnpa]

Sounds like your stirfries are very authentic!

I buy a big stalk of ginger and store it in the freezer. keeps forever, and when I need it I just cut some off and microplane it into the wok.

I'm brining chicken to go on the grill tonight.

 

[Que]

Sounds like your stirfries are very authentic!

I buy a big stalk of ginger and store it in the freezer. keeps forever, and when I need it I just cut some off and microplane it into the wok.

I'm brining chicken to go on the grill tonight.

Do you peel your ginger before freezing?

For that matter, do you peel it before use?...I do, and I am not sure one needs to.

I hadn't considered freezing. Does it seem to change much from the experience?

A micro-plane is on my long list of things I haven't acquired for the second half of my life. I use a fine cheese grater with mixed results. By not pressing it all the way firmly against the grate i can get slightly finer results.

 

[Aquagal]

I saw this yesterday on the FB, and will be my next selection for BBQ time. Because, onions, and because bacon! And spice. I like the additional Sriracha idea too.

http://www.grilling24x7.com/oring.shtml

 

[Iceprincess12]

Those pictures of the steak are making me hungry! Good thing hubby is going to bbq this weekend. Rib eye or t-bone? Hard choice!

 

[Que]

Those pictures of the steak are making me hungry! Good thing hubby is going to bbq this weekend. Rib eye or t-bone? Hard choice!

Go with T-bone...gives you the Ribeye AND a NY Strip.

I saw this yesterday on the FB, and will be my next selection for BBQ time. Because, onions, and because bacon! And spice. I like the additional Sriracha idea too.

http://www.grilling24x7.com/oring.shtml

Wow, that looks good.

I have some Filet Mignons in the freezer I was thinking of wrapping them with bacon around the edge, maybe I could fit them in a thick ring or two of onion THEN bacon-o-fy them....

hungry.

 

[Iceprincess12]

True and bone for the dog, everyone is happy!

 

[bailadora]

True and bone for the dog, everyone is happy!

Please don't give your dog bones that have been cooked in any type of manner. Splinters and such can cause a whole host of health problems, and in dire cases, even death. Click here to read more.