What have you been cooking?

[Sandy Bridge]

Now that the Hobbies thread has informed me I'm not the only one who enjoys cooking, what have you been cooking?

Yesterday I made paneer jalfrezi.  Often I order chicken jalfrezi at Indian restaurants, but I wanted to try cooking with paneer.  My Indian cooking isn't quite up to restaurant quality yet, but it still turned out pretty good.  Living close to an Indian grocery store has been clutch to procuring the proper ingredients, and you get way more bang for your buck in spices than at mainstream American grocery stores.

Tonight it was time to make a dessert, in this case chocolate-chocolate chip cookies.  Tried a new recipe with rye and walnuts, turned out great.

[cucubits]

Great idea with this topic.

I enjoy cooking a lot as well. If I am to choose a few examples, lately I've been improving my pizza, bread and crepes.

• For the pizza I keep experimenting with higher and higher hydration dough but I haven't reached a point where I can settle at one recipe. I keep changing all the time. I wish I had a hotter oven.
• The bread is a very simple but very effective ciabatta recipe. Takes a long time but it's extremely consistent and always turns out great.
• Crepes are awesome, I've been making these since way before we moved to the US. I love to spread nutella on half, strawberry jam on the other half and roll them.

I'll think of some more and keep posting here. If we build a repository of cool recipes/ideas here, it may even help when someone just wants to browse and get inspired 🙂

 

 

    

 

[duskw4lker]

6 hours ago, cucubits said:

Great idea with this topic.

I enjoy cooking a lot as well. If I am to choose a few examples, lately I've been improving my pizza, bread and crepes.

• For the pizza I keep experimenting with higher and higher hydration dough but I haven't reached a point where I can settle at one recipe. I keep changing all the time. I wish I had a hotter oven.
• The bread is a very simple but very effective ciabatta recipe. Takes a long time but it's extremely consistent and always turns out great.
• Crepes are awesome, I've been making these since way before we moved to the US. I love to spread nutella on half, strawberry jam on the other half and roll them.

I'll think of some more and keep posting here. If we build a repository of cool recipes/ideas here, it may even help when someone just wants to browse and get inspired 🙂

 

Damn @cucubits everything there looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few weeks ago I tried making some Spaghetti Carbonara, but with smoked sausage instead of smoked pork cheek (don't know the name Italian name, sorry) my parents loved it and asked for more 😄 I myself was very proud of it, it is such a simple recipe but really really tasty

[Sandy Bridge]

I'm probably the only person in America who didn't bake bread in 2020, unless you count banana bread.  Haven't made pizza either, but that does look good, especially with the red onions.  I have made crepes, one of the first perceived "fancier" dishes I learned to make, but it's been quite awhile.  I ought to make those again.  Looks like my orange liqueur is strong enough that I could try crêpes suzette again... hmmm... *makes note to do that on the counter without wooden cabinets above it*

1 hour ago, duskw4lker said:

Damn @cucubits everything there looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few weeks ago I tried making some Spaghetti Carbonara, but with smoked sausage instead of smoked pork cheek (don't know the name Italian name, sorry) my parents loved it and asked for more 😄 I myself was very proud of it, it is such a simple recipe but really really tasty

Guanciale is the Italian term!  My understanding is that it is typically not smoked in Italy, although pork cheek is typically smoked in the U.S. south.  I've used smoked pork cheek or jowl in Italian recipes and it's turned out just fine, though; until recently I didn't know of a local source for the Italian-style, non-smoked version.  I've also substituted pancetta when that was more readily available.

Carbonara!  I love the dish when eating out, but it's the one of the four Roman quadrifecta I haven't made at home yet.  I really ought to, it's an obvious omission.  The others of the quadrifecta being Gricia, Amatriciana, and Cacio e Pepe.  Cacio e Pepe = pecorino cheese, with olive oil and black pepper.  Subtract some pepper, add guanciale, you have Gricia.  Add some tomatoes, you wind up at Amatriciana.  Go back to the Gricia and add eggs instead of tomatoes, there's the Carbonara.

Add all of those ingredients, save most of the black pepper, and also add sausage, and you wind up with Zozzona, which you've reminded me about with the smoked sausage.  I usually make it with a medium-spiciness Italian sausage from the local Italian market.  You'd probably like it as well; you're already a good part of the way towards having made it!

(And yes, that Italian blog I linked for all those recipes is great.  Just tried one of her pesto recipes as well, and turns out that's pretty easy to make at home, too.  Who knew?  Not the author when she moved to Italy, either!)

[serpro69]

16 hours ago, duskw4lker said:

A few weeks ago I tried making some Spaghetti Carbonara, but with smoked sausage instead of smoked pork cheek (don't know the name Italian name, sorry) my parents loved it and asked for more 😄 I myself was very proud of it, it is such a simple recipe but really really tasty

Carbonara is what my wife calls "the first reason she fell for me" 

22 hours ago, cucubits said:

I enjoy cooking a lot as well. If I am to choose a few examples, lately I've been improving my pizza, bread and crepes.

• For the pizza I keep experimenting with higher and higher hydration dough but I haven't reached a point where I can settle at one recipe. I keep changing all the time. I wish I had a hotter oven.
• The bread is a very simple but very effective ciabatta recipe. Takes a long time but it's extremely consistent and always turns out great.
• Crepes are awesome, I've been making these since way before we moved to the US. I love to spread nutella on half, strawberry jam on the other half and roll them.

That bread looks amazing! Would love a recipe, unless it's a "state secret" of course 

[cucubits]

23 minutes ago, serpro69 said:

That bread looks amazing! Would love a recipe, unless it's a "state secret" of course 

🙂 No secret, all started from a seemingly random youtube video. I'm following almost exactly the steps from here:

 

[Katja]

My girlfriend makes us burgers a couple of times a week, and despite how simple it is, it's one of my favorite foods to eat. Genuinely my favorite burgers to have, I'll take pictures the next time she makes them!

[Jarhead]

Used the grill for the first time this year to cook up some chicken thighs with a rub using brown sugar, paprika, salt/pepper, and garlic powder. Simple but really nice.

[Katja]

On 3/16/2022 at 7:21 AM, Katja said:

My girlfriend makes us burgers a couple of times a week, and despite how simple it is, it's one of my favorite foods to eat. Genuinely my favorite burgers to have, I'll take pictures the next time she makes them!

We tried chicken burgers a few days ago and it happened to be really, REALLY good. I'll never get sick of her cooking, it's so freakin' good.

[Sandy Bridge]

Most recent fancy-ish recipe was penne alla vodka, made with vodka distilled so close to home that I walked to the distillery to buy it.

 

Next will either be a simple made-from-scratch pomodoro sauce with fresh roma tomatoes and basil will be next, or pork chops with apple cider and rosemary.  I usually make pork chops dredged in a variety of spices and cooked with apples and onions, which works great, but an old French cookbook I was browsing suggested this combination, and who am I to turn down a reason to buy cider?

[ratchetnclank]

Recently i've been enjoying making homemade pittas to have as a gyros. Don't have any photo's of that to share.

 

Made a carbonara a few days ago which came out well.

 

 

A pizza i made recently. (Yes i like pineapple on pizza... come at me!)

 

 

Pasteis de nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)

 

Been looking at getting into more bread baking too. Really want to start making some sourdough loaves.

[ratchetnclank]

I've taken up baking sourdough now.  Took a couple of attempts to start getting the ratios down and working with the high hydration doughs but made this loaf last weekend.

[ryan]

yummy looks good

 

ive been making/eating alot of garlic toast....no vampire hate

[jaybee83]

On 7/8/2022 at 3:21 PM, ratchetnclank said:

I've taken up baking sourdough now.  Took a couple of attempts to start getting the ratios down and working with the high hydration doughs but made this loaf last weekend.

damn, piece of art! congratz on that 🙂 i hope it tastes as good as it looks hahaha

 

me and my lady have decided to go "green", so to say, thus cooking way more veggies and preparing salads as main meals, etc. trying to dial down on sweet stuff and fatty carbs (we used to love those readymade noodle salads with heavy cream sauces 😅 no more of that!)

[Jarhead]

Pulled pork. Picked up a picnic cut (couldn't find shoulder for the price I wanted) and slow cooked it for 9-10hr along with various spices and some onions for good measure.

[kojack]

Got a kick arse pot of chilli in the crock pot now and homemade nachos in the oven for an appitizer.  Can't wait!  Yummy!

[Sandy Bridge]

Tonight I continued my journey towards determining which rapper has the best cookbook.  So far the contenders have been Coolio and Snoop Dogg, and right now Snoop Dogg is winning, with his Yardie Yardbird recipe being tonight's dish:

The jerk marinade is from scratch, following Snoop's recipe.  Pretty tasty!  I'd rate it a solid 4 or 4.5 out of 5, and I marinated for the minimum amount of time (1 hour).  I was expecting more heat than it had; maybe the habaneros I picked up were unusually mild habaneros?  With slightly spicier habaneros and a longer marinade, it would probably be kicked up another half star.

 

Next up is going to be the Doggfather's Tha Next Level Salmon, competing more directly with Coolio's Tricked Out Westside Tilapia, which was about a 3.5/5 when I made it a few years ago.  Snoop also has an advantage in sweets, with his Bow Wow Brownies (4/5, would be improved with dark chocolate chips) besting Coolio's Strawberry Hills Banana Muffins (2.5/5).

 

Also on my to-cook list are Dirty South Gumbo and Spaghetti de la Hood.  Maybe Cinnamon Rollin' too, and perhaps Orange (but really kinda burgundy) Chicken.  Though I didn't need no cookbook to figure out how to make The OG Gin and Juice.  Take some gin.  Take some juice.  Mix it up.  That's it.

 

Now if you want to be followin' along, ya need to head to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of From Crook to Cook, ya dig?

 

 

[Sandy Bridge]

For the second time in three days, I broke out Uncle Snoop's cookbook, this time whipping up his Tha Next Level Salmon.  He ain't frontin', those flakey fillets really be next level!

 

Five stars easy, it's right up there with what I'd be looking for at a nice restaurant, and is the best salmon I've ever made at home.  Pair it with Snoop's suggested greens (nah, not his usual green "herbs"), and you've got yourself a right healthy and tasty dinner.

 

Sorry Coolio, I broke your first Cool-mandment ("Thou Shalt Have No Other Chefs Before Me"), but I ain't regrettin' it.

[Jarhead]

Recent meal: 

 

[ryan]

steak and chilli..was amazing. think im going to have le cordon chicken in hasbinki sauce

[Sandy Bridge]

Is "le cordon chicken" similar to chicken cordon bleu?  One of my favorites if so.

 

----------

 

Tonight's dinner was mostaccioli, an Italian-Ohioan dish that may or may not exist elsewhere.  It's essentially baked ziti but with way more flavor and protein.  Baked ziti ain't really that special, y'know?  Pasta, tomato sauce, lots of cheese, baked in an oven.

 

Mostaccioli, besides using the titular pasta shape if available (it's penne without the ridges), adds ground beef (or substitute veggie crumbles, I prefer the vegetarian version as it's less greasy, even better Italian sausage veggie crumbles), lots of oregano and basil, and an onion.

 

Another Italian-Ohioan variant of baked ziti that we had growing up was Johnny Marzetti.  It lacks the spices (which is why I prefer mostaccioli nowadays), but adds more meat and mushrooms.

 

Next up is probably chili, they had a great sale on bell peppers the last time I was at the store.

[Hertzian56]

I wouldn't call it cooking but since I need to lose some weight, cut off the potato salad and went back to cabbage salad with avocado and italian dressing. Mix it all up in a bowl yummy stuff, sometimes stick some cold or warm chick pieces in there almost a complete meal.

[kojack]

Meth...but I don't have any photos...ha ha.  In all seriousness, We are having boston lettuce taco wraps. taco seasoned ground beef, tomato, avocado, sour cream, salsa and other yumminess!

[kojack]

On 2/15/2023 at 11:21 PM, Sandy Bridge said:

For the second time in three days, I broke out Uncle Snoop's cookbook, this time whipping up his Tha Next Level Salmon.  He ain't frontin', those flakey fillets really be next level!

 

Five stars easy, it's right up there with what I'd be looking for at a nice restaurant, and is the best salmon I've ever made at home.  Pair it with Snoop's suggested greens (nah, not his usual green "herbs"), and you've got yourself a right healthy and tasty dinner.

 

Sorry Coolio, I broke your first Cool-mandment ("Thou Shalt Have No Other Chefs Before Me"), but I ain't regrettin' it.

I love snoop's other cookbook,

 

[ratchetnclank]

 

Sourdough pizza, yes i enjoy pineapple on pizza 😄