I really liked Good Eats. It was always so quirky. The only problem with Alton is that he can sometimes get on the “one true way” sort of bandwagon.
I’m no chef. Like most people here I love to eat. Part of what drove me to finally get a smoker is that good barbecue is almost non-existent in the PNW.
Good Eats got me hooked on cooking, but America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Illustrated keeps me going.
Good Eats taught me a ton of very useful things… Interestingly enough, another source of interesting info? Iron Chef. Learned a lot from watching those guys.
In terms of why I started cooking, I always kind of liked it even from when I was a kid, but ended up kind of NEEDING to do it back in College… because cooking was way, way cheaper than buying prepackaged food or going out. And cooking for other folks was fun.
I think as a kid, I originally learned stuff from folks like Martin Yan. My mother, of course, taught me stuff… but at this point, my culinary skills have gone past hers, which were more traditional American fare. Where my mom’s skills lied, where I never really bothered with, was baking. I don’t like baking, because I don’t like the precision required. Baking is chemistry, and if you get the proportions wrong, it’s all fucked up… and can’t really be fixed.
The skills that I think picked up from Alton Brown and Iron Chef, was important info about how various flavors and stuff combine to benefit each other, or cancel each other out. That second part is actually really key, for when something tastes wrong… knowing what spices and herbs can “fix” a certain state of flavor is something that lets you always end up with something that tastes good, without needing to have recipes.
So I like cooking… don’t like baking, because I’m constantly tasting and changing stuff as I cook it. I rarely use recipies, and instead just go to the store and get whatever looks good, and then put it all together.
These days, Serious Eats is a key source for new info… Similar to Good Eats. Not sure if they are related? But the scientific nature of the approach appeals to me.
Also this thread has been a great inspiration. On the indian front, Armando’s guidance improved my skills there in a fairly dramatic fashion. Originally, Indian food was really hard for me to get right. On my own, I progressed to something which tasted good, but didn’t taste “correct” as far as authenticity. Some of the basic stuff Armando posted here helped fill in some blanks for me, led to further research, and I think I’ve gotten at least close at this point. Good enough that an indian girl I knew (who, hilariously, always got stuff served to her which was an order of magnitude hotter than what I got, no matter what I asked for) thought it was good. And this is good, because there is no Indian food in the town I live. And it’s easily one of my favorite cuines.
That makes me really happy to hear, dude. I haven’t done as much Indian here lately, but I got some idly platters for Christmas I’ve been meaning to break in. Here’s to hoping I can make the time for it soon :-D
When learning brewing, I’ve heard that called, “driving the beer,” and I’m assuming similar principles for food. What the term was described to me was, “if you don’t like where the taste is going, drive it to where it needs to be.” So each thing you do can either correct it, or lead to it being different or worse. With practice, you learn to drive the car, just like brewing (or cooking.)
A lot of what I like about the shows and videos over just recipes have been things like techniques, layering flavors, flavor balance, etc. I mean you can read on a recipe, “check for seasoning.” It’s really hard to know what that means until you taste something well balanced or seasoned, and know what you need to do to correct things. And that’s driven home when you watch something like Iron Chef and see them tasting each and every small addition to a dish.
I’m still very much a newb cook, but I like learning.
So, this was a kinda-experimental cauliflower casserole I tried because I needed to use up some cauliflower. I came up with a sour cream and horseradish dip/dressing recently I’ve been using in various things lately and this has that mixed into it. Not bad.
Just had bite cold, and it was really good. Think it might make a nice quiche with some eggs thrown in.
A round up of some recent eats:
Homemade Chicken Ramen
with attendant eggs
from How to Cook Everything Fast
Basically, you marinate some chopped chicken thighs in ginger, sesame oil, red chile flakes and soy sauce. Then you set a pot of 6 cups of chicken stock with some soy sauce to boil. Once it does you add the chicken with marinade and some garlic, and cook for 3-5 minutes to cook the chicken through. Meanwhile you heat up a skillet. Then you add four packages of ramen (or real ramen noodles if you can get them), minus seasoning packets, break them apart, and then simmer for 5 minutes or so. While that’s happening, you put vegetable oil into the skillet and crack four eggs into it, then turn the heat to low and cover, cooking for 3-4 minutes and then turning the heat off. Finally, you add the eggs to the ramen. It’s not amazing, but it’s definitely a cut above straight out of the package and it’s quite easy. (You can also beat the eggs in a bowl and pour them in at the end as you stir, if you’d prefer.)
Spanish Tortilla
from How to Cook Everything Fast
This is supposed to come out as kind of an egg cake or pie or something, I believe, and I unquestionably fucked something up. I think probably the big thing was I must have used too much potato - I didn’t actually weigh them and the amount was given by weight, so I clearly misjudged how much there was. It crowded the pan and meant it couldn’t really be slid onto a plate and flipped even if the egg had come together like that (which it did not). However, the end result was basically kind of a scramble of egg with fried potato and onion (and kalamata olives, which were an optional add-in), and that’s a combination that’s still pretty delicious. So oh well.
Part 2, to make sure all the links load inline:
Tomato-Braised Lentils and Potatoes
From How to Cook Everything Fast
You sautee a chopped onion in a pot with garlic and red chile flakes, then add a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes (w/ juice), 5 cups of water (or a combination of water and stock), and a cup and a half of lentils. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer, and cook for 20-40 minutes. Once you’ve started the lentils simmering, you chop up 2-3 potatoes (and in my case, a ham steak) and add them as they’re chopped. When it’s done simmering, you add oregano, sprinkle with more salt and pepper, and serve. Super delicious and hearty and it made like five servings.
Pasta with Chicken Cacciatore Sauce
from Pasta Revolution
In a pot, you boil water for pasta and then cook some penne. In the meantime, you build the sauce in a skillet. First you brown some thin-sliced boneless chicken breast, then transfer to a dish and set aside. Then you sautee a chopped onion, white mushrooms, a half ounce of minced dried porcini mushrooms (I forgot to mince them but it was fine), and a bit of salt - covered for the first five minutes, then uncovered for the next five. Then you add garlic and herbes de Provence and cook until fragrant, followed by a couple of teaspoons of flour and cook for another minute. Then a half cup of dry red wine and a cup of low sodium chicken broth, whisked in until smooth, and finally a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add the chicken back in and simmer for a minute, then add the mixture plus parmesan and fresh parsley to the pasta and toss to combine. This was solid enough but not as delicious as the pasta with chicken, mushrooms and red wine that I made out of How to Cook Everything Fast and it seems like a fairly similar recipe, except the How to Cook Everything Fast recipe didn’t have tomatoes and used butter.
and finally
Fusilli with Giardiniera and Sausage
from Pasta Revolution
Like the preceding recipe, this is a two dish affair, one large pot where you cook the fusilli, and then a skillet for the sauce. The sauce is built by browning a pound of mild Italian sausage (I used bulk but you can de-skin link sausage also, which is easier to find), adding two onions chopped fine and cooking those until they’re softened and browned (10-12 minutes), and then mixing in 3 cups of giardiniera, a 15 oz can of tomato sauce, and 4 tbsps of the brine from the giardiniera (if yours was packed in brine), then simmering until thickened (10 min). Once both sides are done you add the sausage mixture and a half cup of chopped fresh basil plus 1-2 more tbsps brine to the pasta and toss to combine.
This was delicious as hell. My main hiccup was that while I felt sure my grocery (which has a variety of jarred, pickled things including various kinds of pepper and so forth) would have giardiniera, it didn’t. So I looked online and while I could get many brands shipped to me, most were like $14-16 for a 16 oz jar (which was about one recipe’s worth). I am pretty damned sure that’s way too much. So I finally found Roland’s, which sells a 4 lb or so oil-packed plastic bag of either mild or hot giardiniera. Mild was like $17 and would ship in time. Hot, despite being sold by Amazon also and also being in stock, was $20 and would not. Go figure. So I got mild. And it turns out that they’re really yummy and tart and flavorful and I have enough for another batch or two. So that’s awesome. But oil is not brine, so I didn’t have that. The recipe worked anyhow.
As someone who has only discovered the joys of giardiniera in the last year or two, I’m always open to new ways to use it. That pasta dish looks pretty darn good :)
Giardinera on pizza with Italian beef. It is heavenly.
Heh, yeah, kind of. A tortilla Espanola is supposed to be a layered thing… like a quiche, but with layers of potatoes.
I actually have a super easy way of making this, using potato chips. You can find various examples of this online, but basically it comes down to mixing up a bunch of eggs, then dumping them on top of a bag of potato chips in a bowl, and gently mixing them. Then put into a hot frying pan, cook for a bit, then finish in the oven.
Ah, here we go.
It’s basically way easier than normal, because the chips are already cooked and sliced, which is what makes the normal version of this a pain in the ass.
Let’s try a picture.
I made fried chicken. Also, buttermilk biscuits. Not bad for a chinese / yankee, if you ask me.
The chicken was Alton Brown’s old Good Eats buttermilk fried chicken recipe, which was OK, but I could have used more spice. I’ve done this recipe before, bit not in a while, and don’t do much frying that isn’t fish. This was really just a test run, at some point in the future I’m planning on making Thomas Keller’s Ad-Hoc at Home chicken recipe, but I want to try a couple other variants first to get the feel of it.
The biscuits are likewise a very basic buttermilk biscuit, which I make from time to time, when I get a craving. This is the first time my (3 year old) daughter helped, so it took twice as long as usual, but, you know, that was barely the point.
My wife is trying to cut down on her sugar intake so we want to bulk up on eggs and vegetables. The quiche ideas posted - I have GOT to remember those as they look awesome and I bet will be good replacement for those cereals.
You know, I love Alton but I find this true with several things I’ve made from his recipes. Just last weekend that was his Texas style chili and to be honest, it was missing a lot. It was pretty one-sided, with a little heat and nothing else shining through.
A key for me is putting some spices in the buttermilk and letting the chicken sit it for a bit prior to the rest. The same for breading. Ensure it’s got spices blended in, not spices, then flour. And a huge key is after doing that, let it sit on a wire rack or sheet for a bit prior to frying. Not long, but at least 5 minutes. This sets it so that you don’t each chicken that loses it’s breaded skin as you eat it.
Not really sure if salads and re-heating gyros out of a box count as cooking, but that was dinner tonight ;)
Been craving a nice Greek salad for a week and finally got around to picking up the stuff for it. First try at making my own homemade Greek dressing, based off a basic recipe I found online. It turned out good but could be improved, so I have something to strive for next time! If anyone has a Greek dressing recipe to share I’m all ears!
So then I thought of gyros because I was making a Greek salad, but then I realized there’s really no way to make them at home is there? :( Best I could figure out was one of these kits from the frozen section at the grocery store. Not great but not bad. Not as good as the giant greasy ones you get from the local gyro place next to the bar that’s open til 4am :) Alton Brown seems to have a recipe for some weird meatloaf thing that you slice into the bits you are used to seeing on a gyro but that just seems wrong somehow. Any suggestions? Look at these things. I’m desperate! :P
I also would like a good recipe for Greek dressing if anyone’s got one.
Follow-up: I’ve heard that only in the Tampa Bay area do Greek restaurants put a dollop of potato salad in the Greek salad. Anyone else’s home towns do that?
I’d mix a tunic with a cloak, I think.
-xtien
I am so confused right now
… wait, no.
