Foodie Thread

[Underseer]

For any non-Americans unfamiliar with chili con carne:

Chili con carne freezes really well, so if you make it in a big batch, you can freeze whatever you don't eat and save it for a rainy day when you don't feel like cooking. The more times you re-heat it, the better it will taste.

It is sometimes served over rice (donburi) or even pasta. If you don't serve with rice or pasta, serve with slices of bread, tortilla chips, or saltine crackers.

You can take a small portion of leftover chili, stick it in a small saucepan with heaping amounts of brown sugar (result should be salty-sweet), optionally, you can add small amounts of ketchup and/or mustard. Serve on hamburger buns (or whatever kind of large rolls you have lying around) for a dish called "sloppy joes." When you eat it, the name will make sense.

Optional: you can add cubed tofu to chili to make it cheaper and healthier without changing the flavor. Cook the tofu long enough for the tofu to absorb the chili flavor.

 

[Angry Floof]

I had a sizable amount of leftover slices of fresh garlic from making bulgogi for my brother's family. Decided to make chili con carne, which I haven't done in a long time.

• Ground beef (around 2.5 lbs)
• tomato paste (12 oz can)
• tomato sauce (15 oz can)
• mirepoix (diced onions, sliced carrots, sliced celery proportion 2:1:1) (slightly more than one onion, one carrot, two stalks of celery, remainder of other onion saved for garnish)
• fresh diced tomatoes (4 hefty ones)
• fresh garlic (sliced, handfull)
• fresh jalepenos (4, somewhere between diced and puree in the food processor)
• Chinese eggplant (1, sliced)
• sliced mushrooms (small box)
• beans (3 cans, any will do, but I used black, pinto, and kidney beans)
• zest and juice from 1 lime
• Chinese spicy fermented bean paste (big spoonfull)
• Chili powder
• Cumin powder
• dried oregano
• salt
• Unsweetened baking chocolate (4oz bar)

Garnish

• Fresh diced onion
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Add salt to beef when browning. Remove beef. Cook sliced garlic in oil until you get a strong smell. Add onions and more salt and cook until soft. Add beef back. Add tomatoes, eggplant, and jalapeno. Cook until softened. Add cans of beans (juice and all), and remaining ingredients except chocolate. Not sure how much of the spices. A lot. (More chili powder than cumin, much less oregano than either.)

Simmer 2 hours. Add chocolate. Stir and let it melt in. From this point, the chili will be more prone to form a crust at the bottom of the pot, so stir more frequently until the chocolate is all melted and stirred in.

View attachment 12740

That looks and sounds amazing. I make it the easy way with just a few ingredients: meat, onion, beans, tomatoes, and chili seasoning mix. If I want it soupier, I add tomato juice or V-8 to the pot.

 

[Underseer]

I had a sizable amount of leftover slices of fresh garlic from making bulgogi for my brother's family. Decided to make chili con carne, which I haven't done in a long time.

• Ground beef (around 2.5 lbs)
• tomato paste (12 oz can)
• tomato sauce (15 oz can)
• mirepoix (diced onions, sliced carrots, sliced celery proportion 2:1:1) (slightly more than one onion, one carrot, two stalks of celery, remainder of other onion saved for garnish)
• fresh diced tomatoes (4 hefty ones)
• fresh garlic (sliced, handfull)
• fresh jalepenos (4, somewhere between diced and puree in the food processor)
• Chinese eggplant (1, sliced)
• sliced mushrooms (small box)
• beans (3 cans, any will do, but I used black, pinto, and kidney beans)
• zest and juice from 1 lime
• Chinese spicy fermented bean paste (big spoonfull)
• Chili powder
• Cumin powder
• dried oregano
• salt
• Unsweetened baking chocolate (4oz bar)

Garnish

• Fresh diced onion
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Add salt to beef when browning. Remove beef. Cook sliced garlic in oil until you get a strong smell. Add onions and more salt and cook until soft. Add beef back. Add tomatoes, eggplant, and jalapeno. Cook until softened. Add cans of beans (juice and all), and remaining ingredients except chocolate. Not sure how much of the spices. A lot. (More chili powder than cumin, much less oregano than either.)

Simmer 2 hours. Add chocolate. Stir and let it melt in. From this point, the chili will be more prone to form a crust at the bottom of the pot, so stir more frequently until the chocolate is all melted and stirred in.

View attachment 12740

That looks and sounds amazing. I make it the easy way with just a few ingredients: meat, onion, beans, tomatoes, and chili seasoning mix. If I want it soupier, I add tomato juice or V-8 to the pot.

Try beer next time. Beer is good in chili.

 

[Underseer]

The fermented bean paste is a staple I keep around because I love making mapotofu (cheap and healthy). I think I already posted a recipe for that.

Not only is the bean paste good in chili, but it's also a good way to jazz up a can of baked beans.

 

[Underseer]

Why not. Vinegar tastes nice.

Why people feel the need to claim that things they like are also cures for a wide range of ailments I shall never understand.

Just enjoy it, and leave curing cancer to the oncologists. (The same goes for cannabis too).

I wasn't trying to claim anything. I was curious as to whether there were any benefits. Why people need to fill in their own assumptions as others' motivations I'll never understand.

I myself can get touchy.

Because I'm a liberal, I get subjected to a lot of specious health claims from other liberals, and I'm more than a little suspicious of health claims as a result.

In the case of apple cider vinegar, there are scientific studies claiming that it helps people with type 2 diabetes and what are called "pre diabetic" people (almost diabetic). I have no idea how good or bad these particular studies are because I'm simply not qualified to evaluate medical research, but there are studies supporting the claim.

If you take apple cider vinegar, you should tell your doctor because it can affect what your diabetes medication does.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/18/health/apple-cider-vinegar-uses/index.html

Bottom line: if you're curious, you should probably ask your doctor.

 

[Angry Floof]

I'm in homemade hummus heaven.

Did I mention that peanut satay paste is a great replacement for tahini in hummus? You just have to use a bit less because it's a stronger flavor, but so tasty.

Oh, and I made tahini cookies last week and they are addictive. I plan to make them again but with splenda instead of sugar. If I'm going to eat a thousand of them, I should probably reduce or eliminate the sugar content.

 

[Underseer]

I'm never this elaborate or fancy with mixed drinks. This might change my mind.



On a related note, I have been known to put jalapeno slices in wheat ale.

 

[Underseer]

Just did the sloppy joe thing (brown sugar added to leftover chili and made sandwiches), which may be my favorite thing about homemade chili.

 

[Angry Floof]

Here's the hummus recipe I use, with some modifications: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/hummus-237832

I don't use parsley or paprika

Lately, I've used tahini, but a few times I replaced it with about 1/4 to 1/3 c of peanut satay sauce for this recipe.

I use minced garlic from a jar. I usually make double batches of hummus so that's about 4-5 tsps of minced garlic. (Probably more because I add more bit by bit as I taste test. I like hummus with tons of garlic flavor.) I occasionally use fresh garlic but the jar kind is so convenient and has that same fresh taste.

 

[Underseer]

Here's the hummus recipe I use, with some modifications: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/hummus-237832

I don't use parsley or paprika

Lately, I've used tahini, but a few times I replaced it with about 1/4 to 1/3 c of peanut satay sauce for this recipe.

I use minced garlic from a jar. I usually make double batches of hummus so that's about 4-5 tsps of minced garlic. (Probably more because I add more bit by bit as I taste test. I like hummus with tons of garlic flavor.) I occasionally use fresh garlic but the jar kind is so convenient and has that same fresh taste.

I wonder if you could substitute regular peanut butter there.

 

[beero1000]

Here's the hummus recipe I use, with some modifications: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/hummus-237832

I don't use parsley or paprika

Lately, I've used tahini, but a few times I replaced it with about 1/4 to 1/3 c of peanut satay sauce for this recipe.

I use minced garlic from a jar. I usually make double batches of hummus so that's about 4-5 tsps of minced garlic. (Probably more because I add more bit by bit as I taste test. I like hummus with tons of garlic flavor.) I occasionally use fresh garlic but the jar kind is so convenient and has that same fresh taste.

I wonder if you could substitute regular peanut butter there.

Peanut butter hummus is 100% a thing. You just might need a little extra liquid to counteract the thicker consistency.

 

[beero1000]

Going to my sister for Thanksgiving, and I've been informed that I'm in charge of cooking the turkey. Been doing fried turkey for a while now, thinking I might spatchcock, dry brine, and grill it this year. Haven't done that before, so I have a month to practice on some chickens first. Poor me.

Will post updates...

 

[Angry Floof]

I wonder if you could substitute regular peanut butter there.

Peanut butter hummus is 100% a thing. You just might need a little extra liquid to counteract the thicker consistency.

Indeed it is, and yes, I've added peanut butter when I had no tahini or satay paste. I live with someone who has diabetes so I had this natural unsweetened brand that I used but it doesn't taste any different from regular peanut butter to me. Just use less, at least to start and taste before adding more. I'd start with maybe half of what the recipe calls for with tahini and add just a little at a time if you think it needs it.

I'm always looking for an excuse to add a little more of the juice from the canned chickpeas anyway. An extra tsp or two of lemon juice doesn't hurt, either. The minced garlic that I usually use also has liquid in the jar and I include some when I spoon it in.

 

[Underseer]

Peanut butter hummus is 100% a thing. You just might need a little extra liquid to counteract the thicker consistency.

Indeed it is, and yes, I've added peanut butter when I had no tahini or satay paste. I live with someone who has diabetes so I had this natural unsweetened brand that I used but it doesn't taste any different from regular peanut butter to me. Just use less, at least to start and taste before adding more. I'd start with maybe half of what the recipe calls for with tahini and add just a little at a time if you think it needs it.

I'm always looking for an excuse to add a little more of the juice from the canned chickpeas anyway. An extra tsp or two of lemon juice doesn't hurt, either. The minced garlic that I usually use also has liquid in the jar and I include some when I spoon it in.

There's little in this world as underseasoned hummus*. It sounds like you've experienced that.

*Underseasoned guacamole would be another.

Anyhow, new discovery for me.

I saw something about Atlanta-style lemon pepper wings on YouTube, got all excited about it, and tried it at a couple different buffalo wing joints. I quickly decided that dry lemon pepper wings suck big sweaty donkey balls and my favorite lemon pepper wings are basically regular buffalo wings with a healthy dusting of lemon pepper coating it.

The other day I bought frozen buffalo wings from Costco with the intention of doing a quick and dirty lemon pepper wing, but they didn't sell any lemon pepper at Costco, so I intended to buy it at a grocery store on the way home, which of course I forgot to do. So when I got home I decided "fuck it" and added shichimi togarashi to the wings instead of lemon pepper, mostly because I actually have shichimi togarashi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shichimi

As you can see from the Wikipedia article, it's basically hot pepper with citrus, ginger, seaweed, and a couple different kinds of seeds.

Anyway, I liked it enough that I'm going to have to buy another big bag of shichimi togarashi from an Asian supermarket soon. If you can't find it in big bags (non-Japanese Asian supermarkets will only have it in tiny bottles), you can buy it on Amazon. I usually get the S&B brand 11 oz bags:

https://www.amazon.com/Pepper-Spice-Nanami-Schichimi-Togarashi/dp/B004Y18GJ8/

So if you were making it from scratch, deep fry or broil the wings, toss 'em in a large bowl with buffalo wing sauce (vineagar-based hot sauce mixed with melted butter [the garlic and Worchestershire sauce is completely optional in my book]), then add a coating of the shichimi togarashi (I just used a small shaker).

 

[Underseer]

So because of a Facebook post, I've been making margaritas with jalapenos in them. Yum. As a result of this, I have fresh jalapenos and a lime I had to get rid of.

I still have the better part of a jar of peeled garlic cloves I need to get through (from making bulgogi a while back).

So tonight's experiment:

• 4 large keilbasa sausages
• 1 small onion diced
• salt
• 1 medium sized carrot
• half a fresh jalapeno, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 small cabbage cut into 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide strips
• fresh ground black pepper

Sear both sides of 4 large keilbasa sausages in a pot.
Remove from pot and add one small diced onion and salt.
While onion is cooking, cut keilbasa into disks.
Once onions are brown from deglazing the pot and translucent, add a sliced carrot and fresh garlic.
Return keilbasa to the pot.
Add slices of fresh jalapeno.
Add one small cabbage sliced into thick strips (hey, I'm on a cabbage kick lately).
Add juice from one lime, black pepper, and more salt to taste.
Simmer 20 minutes.



The clear juice at the bottom of the pot may have been the best part. Wish I had good quality bread to go with it.

 

[Angry Floof]

That looks and sounds fantastic, too! You are quite the foodie, Underseer.

 

[beero1000]

First attempt at spatchcock and dry brine. I forgot to get a picture, but laid out upside down it looked exactly like a facehugger from Alien. Weird.

After 24 hours brining in the fridge:

Roasted

Ridiculously juicy chicken with crispy skin


Looking good for turkey...

 

[Potoooooooo]

Chicago chef invents clear pumpkin pie
more info here
http://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a56300/clear-pumpkin-pie/

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[Angry Floof]

After the last two failures at trying a different tahini cookie recipe, I returned to Martha Stewart's with a few minor adjustments. So good. I ate way too many.

My minor adjustments were to replace some of the brown sugar with honey, and I spoon-mix the flour mixture into the creamed butter/sugar instead of using the mixer for that step. There's just no need to beat it to death, and doing so makes for a harder cookie. I wanted the lightest, crispiest tahini cookie and that's what I got.

There is a reason Martha Stewart is a world renowned domestic goddess, bitches. She knows her shit about cookies!