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Hiram McDaniels
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Post by Hiram McDaniels »

Avoraciopoctules wrote:I made apple strudel today. The filling turned out perfect, but the pastry shell broke on the bottom when I tried to take it off the baking sheet. Any tips for avoiding that next time?
Next time line the sheet with parchment paper.

Anyway, I don't really use recipes personally; I just cook by feel. My favorite thing to cook during the winter holidays is green bean casserole. Yes, LIKE the shitty Campbell's soup recipe, no not literally the shitty Campbell's soup recipe.

So I take about a 1/2 lb. (~1/4 kg) of bacon and cut it into lardons, then cook them crisp in a large skillet and render the fat. Remove lardons and drain on a paper towel.

I add chopped crimini or portabello mushrooms to the fat and sautee, seasoning with salt, pepper, paprika, cumin and thyme, then reduce heat and add fortified wine (marsala, madeira or sherry), cover and simmer.

While the mushrooms are simmering in the cooking liquid and absorbing deliciousness, I add the beans to a pot of salted water and blanch for about 7 minutes then shock in ice water to stop the cooking process. This will keep them green and al dente. Drain them and line a glass baking dish with them. Preheat oven to about 350F degrees (~175C).

To the mushrooms and wine, add some heavy cream then crank up the heat and reduce by 1/2. Pour it over the green beans and mix together with tongs until they are coated.

Top with bacon lardons and crisp fried onions (I use the canned ones for expedience, but you can slice, dredge and fry a fresh onion if you want). Bake covered for 30 minutes, and uncovered for 15.
Last edited by Hiram McDaniels on Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Avoraciopoctules
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Post by Avoraciopoctules »

Parchment might make a difference, I'll try that next time.

Casserole recipe sounds nice too, thanks.
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Hiram McDaniels
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Post by Hiram McDaniels »

So I'm trying to make dinner for my dad, since he's in town for Christmas. Because of his health issues, he has a few dietary restrictions. He can't really do too much red meat or carbs.

I decide that I'm going to make goulash, a dish that originated in Hungary, but has since been appropriated and bastardized for American tastes. I am an unabashed lover of the American version, as well as the traditional version. Mine was made with chicken instead of ground beef or stew meat, and I served it over roasted cauliflower instead of egg noodles or macaroni. It was mostly an experiment to see if roasted cauliflower could be a good stand in for pasta in some dishes, and it worked really well, since it soaked up the sauce and had a nice al dente texture. It could stand in for rice in a lot of dishes, as well as potato.
Last edited by Hiram McDaniels on Wed Dec 23, 2015 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Maj
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Post by Maj »

We make fried rice exclusively with cauliflower instead of rice. I actually prefer it. We've tried making one of those cauliflower pizza crusts... It was really good, but too labor intensive to do regularly. When we want pizza, we make a sort of frittata and put sauce and cheese on top of it. It takes time to bake, but it's less laborious. And we make a delicious minestrone-like soup using carrot and zucchini noodles.

We don't do many carbs in my family either, so for Christmas dinner we're having ham, a stuffed pumpkin, and sauteed chard. My son made the pumpkin last month in his cooking class, and I liked it so much I made it for Thanksgiving. And my mom liked it so much at Thanksgiving, she asked for it again for Christmas. I would have had a salad and some fruit maybe for dinner, but my mom will eat half the pumpkin by herself, so she told me not to bother. :lmao:
Last edited by Maj on Thu Dec 24, 2015 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Hiram McDaniels
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Post by Hiram McDaniels »

Maj wrote:We make fried rice exclusively with cauliflower instead of rice. I actually prefer it. We've tried making one of those cauliflower pizza crusts... It was really good, but too labor intensive to do regularly. When we want pizza, we make a sort of frittata and put sauce and cheese on top of it. It takes time to bake, but it's less laborious. And we make a delicious minestrone-like soup using carrot and zucchini noodles.

We don't do many carbs in my family either, so for Christmas dinner we're having ham, a stuffed pumpkin, and sauteed chard. My son made the pumpkin last month in his cooking class, and I liked it so much I made it for Thanksgiving. And my mom liked it so much at Thanksgiving, she asked for it again for Christmas. I would have had a salad and some fruit maybe for dinner, but my mom will eat half the pumpkin by herself, so she told me not to bother. :lmao:
It's just for the holiday. My dad is diabetic so we're trying to keep things as carb/sugar free as possible this week. We're not usually actively low carb, but we do have a lot of starch free meals. I've tried cauliflower as a substitute for rice in a stir fry and it worked really well.

When I'm by myself I like to saute spaghetti squash in a little bit of olive oil, with chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Top it on the plate with fresh grated parm and chopped parsley. I used to do this with pasta, but it's looking more and more like I won't keel over at 55 with a cigar in my teeth, a scotch in my hand, and a steak on my plate like I planned, so it's time to start taking care of myself.
The most dangerous game is man. The most entertaining game is Broadway Puppy Ball. The most weird game is Esoteric Bear.
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