Well I was hoping some of you food porn addicts might have some sort of veggie/spice combination that could take the rather blandness off eggs and really punch it up. I normally just use a bunch of garlic, spicy peppers, and onions in mine, but it is nothing amazing. But yeah Im looking out for my diet and don't want to add a cup of sour cream and 2 tbls of butter like a yahoo front page story suggested.
A liberal dose of Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning, and/or a couple of tablespoons of your favorite salsa. Also, at the start of the week, chop up onion and bell peppers and store them in a ziplock, then just drop a handful in the pan prior to adding the eggs. You can do the same with a ham steak if you want to add a little bit of fat. You can also saute sliced mushrooms ahead of time and store in a tight container.
You just gotta have friends in the right places. This is one case where being friends with someone in southern Louisiana is a good thing. Some of the Boudain places will ship on dry ice, but for the really good stuff you just have to go there and get it. Last time I met up with a bunch of my shooting buddies, the cajun brought over about 20 lbs of it with him, and it was gone in about 5 minutes. Goes really well with crawfish etoufee as well.
Boudin, people. Not boudain. Boudin. And he's right- fried eggs and boudin are hard to beat. Here is one place that ships: http://www.cajungrocer.com/fresh-fo...ource=google&gclid=CLz_jJ7ZtqMCFQpknAod_CcTdA Try the fried boudin balls as well. And if you want to go all out since yall are ordering stuff anyway, get some tasso too. Diced tasso makes everything better. EDIT: Huh- here is something cool I just found: http://www.boudinlink.com/ Its a comprehensive rating system of pretty much every single purveyor of boudin in south Louisiana. And from the ratings of the places I see from where I've eaten, I pretty much agree 100%. A neat little tool to get an accurate rating before you pay to have stuff shipped up there. (FYI- the best boudin I've ever had in my life came from T-Boys in Ville Platte/Mamou. They are rated A+ on the site above. If you can ever get some from there, do not hesitate.)
Speaking of sausage, has anyone made their own before? My great grandmother used to, and I'd like to get a kit for my dad if it's not overly complicated. Plus. I'm a little worried about food bourne illnesses.
I made it for the first time last hunting season. We did both cajun and Italian sausage with venison and pork. All we really used were one of those electric meat grinders with the sausage stuffing apparatuses that they sell at Bass Pro or Cabelas (can't remember which one), some sausage skins that we picked up from the local butcher, and some pre-packaged seasoning mixes that we got at a corner market here (do a google seach, they sell this stuff online too). We ground the deer and pork meat separately, and then mixed them together with the seasoning packets at about a 60/40 pork/venison ratio. We let that mixture sit in the fridge overnight, and then used the sausage stuffer. It was pretty easy, actually. We don't have a smoke house (yet), so we just grilled it up as it was. The seasoning packets were a little salty, but it wasn't bad for the first time. Next year we are going to toy with our own seasoning mixes. The electric grinder can be pretty expensive I think, but look around. No need to worry about illnesses if you clean your equipment correctly and you cook the meat all the way through. EDIT: I remember now- we used an electric grinder that we have always had, and then used this to stuff:: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...parentType=index&indexId=cat604613&hasJS=true
If you already have a KitchenAid stand mixer, you can buy a meat grinding attachment that hooks into the front of the mixer head. Then, buy one of these if you don't already have one: Nesco Jerky Gun (most WalMarts should have them, along with extra jerky spices) The larger round "beef stick" nozzle from the jerky gun fits right into the KitchenAid grinder attachment, and works great for stuffing the sausage. It works best if you have two people, one to feed meat into the machine, and one to handle the links. The trickiest part of the whole process is finding a butcher/meat market that sells sausage casings. Around here the Mexican grocery stores seem to be the only places that have them. The casings come packed in salt, so make sure you thoroughly rinse the portion you plan to use in cool running water, soak in a large container of water in the fridge overnight, and rinse thoroughly again right before use. You want to make sure you get all of that salt out of there, or it will make the salty spice mixes even worse. If you don't want to go the casing/stuffing route, you can always just make loose ground sausage, and form it into meatballs or sausage patties.
Try adding some smoked salmon and tarragon right at the end, that has always worked for me. Other than that, just throw in what you've got lying around - ham, sausage, various vegetables, mushrooms - that kind of thing. My favourite, though, is very simple: salt, freshly ground black pepper, a little bit of low-fat sourcream and a herb or two (depending on what I have).
I'm gonna mention this because I use mine all the time. Get a digital meat thermometer, even better if it comes with a remote pager. If you're not good at judging the doneness of meat, or if you're just lazy like me these are essential. I use mine on thick cut steaks, pork roast, chicken, turkey, tri-tip - pretty much anything. It takes the guess work out of telling when meat is done to your likeness and also keeps you from opening the oven/grill all the time to check. They're pretty much idiot-proof; you can set the meat you're cooking and choose the desired doneness. Couple of tips: - Sear the meat first before you insert the probe, it's a pain in the ass otherwise - Take the meat off BEFORE it reaches the final temp you're shooting for, it will carry over 5 or more degrees depending on what you're cooking - DON'T remove the probe until AFTER your meat has completely rested, otherwise all the juice will just run out the hole (ha!) -If using on the grill, try to keep the probe wire off the direct flame, I've gone through several probes this way
Copycat recipe for OG's alfredo sauce. It's just about spot on. Ingredients: 1 pint heavy cream 1 stick butter 2 tablespoons cream cheese 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, (1/2 to 3/4) 1 teaspoon garlic powder salt and pepper, to taste Directions: In a saucepan combine butter, heavy cream, and cream cheese. Simmer this until all is melted, and mixed well. Add the parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Simmer this for 15 - 20 minutes on low. Serve over hot pasta noodles.
I usually add some fresh parsley at the end for a nice finish and bit of color. If you like Olive Garden stuff, they have a section on their website that gives recipes to their more popular dishes. I make the Capellini Pomodoro fairly often, simple and tasty.
This recipe makes a rather large batch so one piece of advice, do not reheat it in the micro, the butter seperates and that's just no good. I add sliced black olives to my plate after serving because I'm a fiend for them. Here's where I got mine. I didn't know OG was handing the info out though. Thanks for the tip!
I have the same jerky set, the gun broke a while ago making jerky but I just used a cookie press my mom had laying around. I too dabbled for the first time this year making sausage with the deer I killed. I got the casings at a local Trader Joe's style market, except three times as big and much better variety. They even had pig fat packaged specifically for making sausage. Unless you have a real meat grinder I wouldn't recommend this and would suggest a similar ratio with pre-ground pork like BlueDog suggested. I tried using a food processor and a blender to no avail, some of it turned to mush while most of it was lumpy and stringy, while I think I stressed the blender pretty bad. With deer and added pork I still needed to watch the grill carefully. It would dry out fast. I just used some recipe I found online. I'd like to invest in one of those KitchenAid deals, they aren't cheap. Like Blue Dog said Bass Pro has a lot of the equipment. I remember seeing meat grinders and the old school cast iron stuffers there. I think they also had synthetic hog casings if the real ones are hard to come by or just aren't your thing.
I just tried pan-searing a marinated steak for the first time. (I'm in an apartment so outdoor grilling is not an option.) I've cooked non-marinated steaks with seasonings and they've turned out great, but these marinated steaks have the texture and consistency of rubber—totally inedible. I think the added moisture prevented them from searing properly. As they cooked, they ended up sitting in a puddle of juices. I drained the pan but the damage was already done. What can I do to adjust the way I cook marinated steaks v. un-marinated steaks? Do I just need to turn the heat way higher to counteract the moisture? I have 2 more steaks marinating right now that I'd like to cook tomorrow, hopefully with more success. And a different but related question: What kinds of beers make for good steak marinades? The marinade I used today was: Sierra Nevada pale ale, olive oil, black pepper. It wasn't bad, but it tasted a little bland, like it was missing a key ingredient.
There might be better methods, but have you tried broiling? Pick up a cheap broiling pan at the store, you should be able to find one for $5ish. I've cooked marinated skirt steak and the like under the broiler without searing or anything and it always turns out well. People say it's like an upside down grill, which is almost true. Obviously the grill is better, but when your asshole neighbors break your grill and put half of it in the dumpster you have to make do, right? Also, what are you using as a marinade? That might be the problem.
Hey guys. I desperately need help with cooking from scratch. As in, basic recipes. I never learned (bothered to learn, whatever) how to cook and now it's a serious pain in the ass, especially when I manage to fuck up scrambled eggs. I'm literally worse than this: Help me out, please.