Does anyone have a recipe for a pastry crust that does not use vegetable shortening? Alternatively, does someone want to mail me a can of Crisco?
Made a good batch of spicy chili this weekend: 2.5 pounds hamburger 2 packets Williams chili seasoning (enough for four pounds of meat) 2 large cans of Brooks hot chili beans 2 cans Rotel (I used one regular and one extra hot), both drained 2 cans tomato sauce 1 jar of jalapeno slices, drained Brown the hamburger. Put everything else, including the chili seasoning, into a pot. Add the hamburger once it is browned. Let it simmer for a little while, maybe 30 minutes, and then eat.
Buy one of the food saver type vacuum sealers if possible. Yes the bag rolls can be somewhat expensive but there is no better way to freeze single serving meals. You can make a weeks worth of food when you have the time and split it into single serving packets. It is very convenient as almost every dorm/breakroom/office has a microwave now. The food lasts so much longer than conventional Ziploc bags or Tupperware. Oh, and just a personal tip on reheating said meals.....I've found that putting the frozen bag in hot/boiling water helps to maintain the original flavor of the dish as opposed to microwaving. I might just be weird but reheated meat in the nuke is disgusting to me.
Agree totally with the food saver. I also tend to undercook some stuff I know I'm going to freeze, as the reheating will cook it a bit. As to stir fry, it takes so little time to just fry it at the time you want it, I'll just keep the meat frozen raw and use frozen veggies. Take the meat out before you go to work, put it on the kichen counter, or in the fridge the night before, and it'll take 2 minutes to slice up and throw in a pan. If you preslice the meat, you can even just put it in the pan frozen with a bit of water to thaw it out. I prefer to freeze things like chili, or home made baked beans, or stew, or scalloped potatoes, or lasagna. The kind of stuff that is easily made in big quantities and is more apt to taste the same after having been frozen and thawed. I also jar my own soups. Tomato, beef and barley, etc. An in the cold weather, I usually have a big pot on the stove 24x7 that has soup simmering. Added bonus is you can make dumplings in it and the house always smells great.
I grow a small garden, ( 6 12x4 raised redwood beds) and during the summer me and my boys can a lot of heirloom tomato sauce and tomatillo Verde sauce. We also freeze the hot peppers and cilantro. There is nothing better than busting out fresh summer sauces for chili Verde and spaghetti when there is frost on the ground.
The only thing I have a garden for is tomatoes. I hate the new breed of thick-skinned, coarse tomato. They've all been genetically engineered to be tougher so that they ship better with less damage and longer shelf-life, but that sucks for a nice bacon and tomato sandwich, you know? I occasionally find some "good" tomatoes at the local farmer's market, but not that often. I've got a small 5x5 little greenhouse in the back yard that I use to grow tomatoes (normal and cherry), and nothing else. I might expand that a bit this year, but it's tough... so much wildlife around here that it'd be a full-time job trying to get stuff to grow. Unless, of course, I used it as bait. After all, veggies are what food eats, no?
Limited in space, so I just grow herbs. But when I have more land I plan on having an organic garden Using fresh ingredients is the only way to cook.
One thing I've been meaning to get is one of the Chia Pet herb gardens. Had one in my old place (Christmas gift) but they didn't survive the move. Cheap ass and easy, but it worked. And using fresh, non-dried herbs makes such a huge difference.
Not only that, they are picked still relatively green then put in a room that is flooded with ethylene (sp?) gas which turns them red. Yes even the "vine ripened kind. They only have to be a certain percent red at harvest to call them that. They are red but still not ripe so they bruise less, ship better, shelve longer, and taste like fucking oatmeal. A few years back my mom got some seeds from a friend and planted a single row of "heirloom tomatos" After they had grown the fruit they put on was to be polite...ugly as original sin. I had long given up hope on the tomato, and convinced myself that it was just about growing older. Nothing ever tastes as good as you remember it from your youth. Cue my mom convincing me to try a slice of this ugly ass tomato. Hoolleeyyy shhiiittt. It is exactly what my brain tells me a tomato SHOULD taste like. She did some research and there are literally hundreds of heirloom varities that are still being grown and preserved. The only drawbacks are that they are ugly as hell, they don't keep worth a shit, and you have to get the knack for telling when they are ripe. But fuck me running it is so worth it. Perfect for the home garden. (even a large flower pot on an apt. balcony) Do yourselves a favor and check this out. After 1 season you'll be glad you did. http://rareseeds.com/
The single best tomato I've ever had in my life was a yellow color on the skin, inside the flesh was marbled dark red and yellow. If I had been growing it, I would never have known it was perfectly ripe. I grow basil, mint, thyme, rosemary at home. Should definitely try tomatoes this year, though.
I'm on board with everyone with regards to the FoodSaver. But don't even bother with stir-fry and the like. When we freeze something, the water inside whatever we're freezing turns to ice crystals, with lots of jagged edges. As these crystals grow and freeze solid, they slice the shit out of cell walls and basically turn veggies/fruits/anything with texture to mush. Commercial food makers use blast freezers that chill the food so fast that the ice crystals don't get as large and do as much damage. Things like stews, soups, chili, sauces all freeze very well. Chicken & mashed potatoes would do just fine, but if those were crispy rosemary potatoes just skip it.
Last nights dinner: Rolled chicken stuffed with provolone and a garlic, spinach, and parsley mixture coated in Italian bread crumbs served over angel hair pasta with a Marsala reduction sauce. Also a champagne vinaigrette green salad with garlic cheese bread. Not the healthiest thing in the world but the hell with it, its Friday. Tasty as all get out too. I'm a construction guy not a pro chef, so all of those on the board that are, critique is welcome. Sorry about the shitty camera phone pic.
I saw the cleavagey Laura Calder make this omelette on the food network, gave it a try, and quite enjoyed it. In fact, I'm making another one right now. Take a strip or two of bacon, slice width-wise into little strips. Fry them in a small frying pan (the small part becomes key) and set aside, leaving the grease in the pan. Then, chop up a quarter to a half of an onion (depending on how large the final product will be, and how much onion you like). Throw in a clove of finely chopped garlic into the onion for the last minute or two, and set the onion and garlic aside with the bacon. Then cut a potato into small cubes about the size of your typical home-fry. Fry them in the pan until soft inside. Throw all the ingredients back into the pan and add 2-3 beaten eggs, stirring for a short time to coat everything in egg. Then throw a cover on the pan and let the egg cook through. Eat. It's hearty enough to last you for two meals. If you're cooking for just one or two, use as small a pan as possible so the omelette still has some depth to it. If you're cooking for more, add in more bacon and another potato, and use alarger pan. Even after brushing your teeth, there will be a wonderful hint of bacony, potato-ey, oniony goodness permeating your soul all morning.
Does anyone have any good recipes for wings? I'm open to any recipes, but my preference is wings that are cooked or grilled to the point where the fat from from skin is fully done. I don't like wings slimy. (if that makes sense) So I usually bake or grill the fuck outta them. I'm open to making breaded chicken wings, but I'd rather remain somewhat healthy as I throw a dozen of these things down my gullet when watching sports on the tele. I've read some recipe's online, but I'd rather let you good people poison me.
I've tried baking/frying/grilling them, and honestly, the best results I've gotten for the least amount of effort is the recipe on the Frank's bottle: bake unseasoned wings in a foil-lined pan for 20-25 minutes in a 500 degree oven, then toss them in whatever sauce you want to use (I usually go with hot sauce mixed with melted butter). They come out crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside every time.
I've done the above with good results as well as grilling them out and then tossing. Honestly, I haven't managed to make a better hot sauce than the pre-made Frank's stuff. I have mixed it up with honey bbq and spicy bbq before with good effect.
Freeze everything individually. Meaning that if you freeze pasta with sauce, make sure they aren't frozen together or else everything gets soggy.
I've got some Boudin on the way, and I'm looking for some ideas for dishes to use it in. My girlfriend spent some time in n'awlins a few years back and mentioned she loved the boudin balls, so to surprise her for valentines day dinner I ordered up 3lbs of boudin along with some boudin balls. I'd like to use some to make our own boudin balls and the rest (1-2lbs) is up in the air. Any of y'all care to chime in?
Get a pork roast, cut a decent size pocket in it and stuff it with the boudin (or you could do the same with some thick-cut chops). Also makes a great breakfast scrambled with eggs, green pepper, onion and cheese.
So I just acquired a rather nice, small stainless steel frying pan. I've read some things online about "seasoning" it by using oil and salt. And after trying to cook some bacon in it which resulted in a thick layer of brown fond which turned into black char, I think it might be worth trying. Anyone ever tried this, or have any other tips for cooking with stainless steel?