What, no exotic animal fugitive thread (that’s interesting)?
Juste
2782
So the wife and kids are away for a few days visiting the inlaws and I am using the opportunity to make some stuff that don’t normally end up on the table when they are home.
Behold, The Heartattack Burger!
One large burger patty with various spices (cumin, mustard seeds, coriander, black pepper), 6 strips of bacon, two slices of cheese.
Homemade burger bun, lettuce, tomatoes and caramelized onions.
Topped with spicy barbecue sauce.
I may not be able to move for the next couple of hours.
Made double tomato bruschetta, beef bourguignon and panna cotta with a wild berry / red wine and balsamic reduction.
For 25 people.
I’m gonna go sleep now.
I made skillet apple crisp the other day, it was excellent and very appley but a little too sweet for my tastes and maybe not firm enough in the centre compared to what I’m used to. I think next time I’ll add more cinnamon and less sugar. Maybe mix some flour in with the apples as well.
Ingredients
Topping
3/4cup (3 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4cup pecans , chopped fine
3/4cup old-fashioned rolled oats (see note)
1/2cup (3 1/2 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1/4cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2teaspoon table salt
8tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted
Filling
3pounds Golden Delicious apples (about 7 medium), peeled, cored, halved, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (see note)
1/4cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1/4teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1cup apple cider
2teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
2tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
1. FOR THE TOPPING: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine flour, pecans, oats, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Stir in butter until mixture is thoroughly moistened and crumbly. Set aside while preparing fruit filling.
2. FOR THE FILLING: Toss apples, granulated sugar, and cinnamon (if using) together in large bowl; set aside. Bring cider to simmer in 12-inch ovensafe skillet over medium heat; cook until reduced to ½ cup, about 5 minutes. Transfer reduced cider to bowl or liquid measuring cup; stir in lemon juice and set aside.
3. Heat butter in now-empty skillet over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add apple mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until apples begin to soften and become translucent, 12 to 14 minutes. (Do not fully cook apples.) Remove pan from heat and gently stir in cider mixture until apples are coated.
4. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks. Place skillet on baking sheet and bake until fruit is tender and topping is deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 minutes, and serve.
Bacon, spinach, and jalapeno frittata. Decided to bake it in a muffin tin instead of like a quiche - came out in the perfect serving portions. Now to bathe it in sriracha.
XPav
2786
I summon the hive mind!
I’ve got my “yay we all survived the first year of our child’s life!” party. Yes, a birthday party. It’s going on at lunch time, and we’ve got a possibility of 38 people, which includes little kids and adults. That many people (and kids) make a lunch time grillathon inadvisable in my way of thinking.
What’s are good options for make-ahead lunch food that appeals to a range of people. I will happily spend the time to do something above going to the supermarket and buying a sandwich tray. We’ll make cupcakes the day-of in the morning, so most of the other prep should be done the day before?
Any suggestions for quality cold/reheat quickly lunch food?
Baked macaroni and cheese?
You can really class it up with some high-quality cheese and fancy pasta.
nKoan
2788
Taco bar? You can prepare most everything before hand. Reheat the meat before serving and if you have a chaffing dish, it’ll keep stay nice for a good long while.
You can class it up with… well… okay, you can’t class up a taco bar. But it should work with most age groups.
For the love of God don’t give people too much/not enough/just the right amount of cake.
RichVR
2790
I created and partook of the only true hiccup remedy. A wedge of fresh lemon, Cover the lemon wedge with sugar. The douse the sugared lemon wedge with Angostura bitters,
Then take the lemon wedge a suck on it like your life depended on it,
Moments later, no hiccups. It works every damn time. You can pay me for it. Or not.
Tomato / caramelised onion / parsley / parmesan tart. Slow cooked tomatoes and sun dried tomatoes in red wine, balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Really nice.
Roasting a chicken isn’t that interesting, but I love doing it and I’ve tried a method that’s new to me and I’m really digging it.
Take a bird of about 4lbs. Rinse and pat dry then rub with olive oil. Mix salt and pepper in a bowl and rub those on the bird next. Preheat your oven to 450 with a skillet in it (I use my 12" cast iron skillet). Once the oven/skillet are up to heat, put the bird in the skillet, breast side up. This gives the thighs a head start.
Roast until the breasts are at 120 degrees, which should take about 30 minutes. Turn off the oven, leaving the chicken in the oven (do not open oven at this point, obviously). Another 30 minutes or so later the breasts should be at 160. When they are, take the chicken out and move it to a plate and let it rest uncovered for 20 min.
I’ve tried this a couple of times recently and it turns out perfect every time. I’ve had back-to-back weeks of house-guests these past two weeks and they were nuts about it (and the resulting sandwiches). Also, using a skillet makes turning out a pan sauce a snap.
-xtien
gatsby
2793
I cooked a pretty easy 3-course set menu titled ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Grape’.
First course (Childhood): Grape, Arugula, Goats Cheese, Red Wine/Cumin/Black Pepper dressing
Entree (Prime): Red Wine Risotto (A Chianti from local pretentious supermarket), fairly standard but I’ve never tried enriching a risotto with about an entire bottle of Red (less Chef’s allowance). It was pretty phenomenal, wish I’d had something to balance it with. Very rich.
Dessert (Old Age): Rum and Raisin and Apple Pie. Pretty basic, but sweet. I’m building a sense of how much nutmeg is just enough nutmeg and not too much nutmeg.
Can’t wait to try all the various items in this thread.
Moved into my new apartment this morning, and made cinnamon pancakes for my labor force. But the true breaking-in of the new kitchen was the slow-cooker brisket I put in around 7 in the morning and pulled out at about 5:30pm. Nothing to it but an onion (quartered), a 3.5 pound brisket rubbed with some Jack Stack barbecue seasoning, and then coated with some minced garlic.
Came out nicely.
I love the way the slow cooking renders the fat down and draws it through the meat. Stuff came out fork-tender.
With the onion bits and reserved au jus, it made for really good tacos.
There’s still a ton of meat in the fridge, too. I should try a more traditional KC-style barbecue sauce/marinade next time.
Oooooohhhh.
Had my first serious foray into Indian cooking yesterday. The paneer was a rather dramatic failure (in retrospect, temperature wasn’t high enough) and the naan fell victim to my freezing kitchen and NEVER FREAKING ROSE. However, the only remaining evidence of the chana masala and chana dal is the couple of packets I hid in the freezer, and I’m being begged to make the lamb biryani again within the week.
All of it was missing turmeric, since for some reason the Middle Eastern grocery on the corner didn’t carry any, and the biryani would’ve been better with nuts if ours weren’t rancid. Still, not bad for an afternoon’s work.
Next step: biryani again, [meat that’s on sale] saag, and rajmah. :)
Just tossed a couple pork shoulders on the Weber Smokey Mountain Bullet Smoker :)
It’s my first time using injection so I’m curious how they’ll turn out.
Fresh and Easy is selling turkeys @ .59/lb so I’ll be smoking two or three test turkeys leading up to Thanksgiving. Going to try straight brine versus apple/fruit brines.
XPav
2798
Made these maple syrup dumplings this morning.
Something was odd, I had to add a lot more buttermilk than recommend (put weights on flour, damn it!), but it was mighty tasty. Pot was a little hot though, I’ve got a nice scorched syrupy mess to clean off the bottom.
Made a belated Halloween dinner.
Chicken pot pie spiders and Maple Syrup spiderwebs for dessert.
I’m inviting myself over for a BBQ when I hit Vegas in January…
I really want to start out and try some more smoking. Smoked a chicken in my Weber (just a regular grill) and it was the best chicken ever.
