Cooking with the Kittens!

[kisstheviolets]

Sorry if there's a similar thread out there mods, feel free to repost this elsewhere if so...

I was in the What Are You Eating/Drinking thread about to post a reply that included a request for help on a recipe for something. Then I realized that with the diverse population here to draw from we could really use a cooking/recipe thread (someone probably already had this genius idea, I just couldn't find the thread).

My request is actually nothing special or impressive but hopefully yours will be.


Here we go...

I was at a school-related cocktail party a while back and they had these yummy little puffs of brie and raspberry goodness (and other of apple too, I think) wrapped in filo dough (or phyllo dough for you purists). Now, my roommate and I want to make some of these little guys and I've tried to find a recipe online, but they all say to use raspberry preserves and for some reason I seem to recall there being a whole raspberry in this thing. Was I imagining that (due to the many 7&7s?) or is this possible? Anyone have a recipe or think it would work with using a whole small raspberry along with the brie?

[Candleshoe]

Well, yeah, sure it would work. Try it...stick your bit of brie in the filo square, pop a raspberry on top (although I usually prefer a cranberry, but there you go) and wrap it all up.

[Boschi]

Yes, yes - just as Ms Shoe sez. Oh dear that made me hungry.

How about this one:

Anyone have tips on how to make truly good homemade hash browns?

By hash browns I mean fried grated potatoes by the way, but I'm specifically looking for tips on keeping them together as they fry and having them be all nice and crispy, with all parts cooked, and no mushy bits. Are starchy potatoes better? Does soaking the grated potatoes help? If so, how long?

- Boschi

[dynigirl]

Anyone have tips on how to make truly good homemade hash browns?

Was on a totally differnt wave length for a mo

[Boschi]

Heh. Well, I suppose those recipes would be fun too.... but then I would just end up wanting the potatoey goodness more.

[dynigirl]

Therefore I suggest you crack the hash brown reciepe first, although I have never made hash browns. At a guess squeeze out the excess water and bind together with egg.

[kisstheviolets]

Yes, yes - just as Ms Shoe sez. Oh dear that made me hungry.

How about this one:

Anyone have tips on how to make truly good homemade hash browns?

i'll make you brie and raspberry puffs if you make me some hash browny breakfast in the morning

i have this same problem when making hashbrowns. maybe try looking up a recipe for latkes to see how they stick together? if you figure it out, less us know. my favorite homemade hangover breakfast is eggs with cheddar, hash browns, a tortillas. mmm mmm good.

[db]

ah. the potato binding mystery.

I do not make hash browns in the way you have described - but I do make latkes and grated hash browns equals latke logic (to me).

if it helps:

grate potatoes.

soak potatoes

lightly squeeze out potatoes

combine with grated onion and egg.

plop into preheated oil (remember to use a mesh cover over the cooking - it'll splash and burn you).

cook until extra crispy.

yum.

[FineyMcFine]

I agree with db - the only success I've ever had in getting potatoes to fry up crispy is to grate them, soak them for about 20-30 minutes to get some starch out, dry between paper towels with some pressure, and then fry 'em up in oil. Mmmm. Of course it's also acceptable to buy the frozen kind - a lot less work than grating taters if you ask me.

In other news, the verdict is in on the Rock Cornish game hens I made for dinner last night. I made my sister's recipe, which is an oil/butter/rosemary/salt and pepper rub under the skin, stuffed with wild rice/onions/carrots and baked in an oven bag with a little chicken broth.

Serving an entire bird to each person certainly makes for an impressive presentation, but the amount of breast and leg meat is roughly the same as a chicken breast, plus there's the whole carcass to deal with afterward. And the rice stuffed inside seemed a little greasy. For Thanksgiving when I make a turkey I usually stuff it with oranges, celery, onions, and something else for flavor, but not for eating. The meat tasted pretty much exactly like chicken.

Anyway, I'm glad I made the recipe but in the future I think I'll just stick to chicken breasts - a lot less mess to clean up.

We're having a BBQ this weekend for Mrs. McFine's birthday; I'll post some of the recipes for the various things I'm making later this week. I have a license to grill, and I'm not afraid to use it!

[watty]

there's the whole carcass to deal with afterward

Chicken stock!

A tip I found on the internet is to freeze not only the carcasses but any vegetable bits, including carrot skins, the tough chewy part of celery, half an onion here and there. And only when you have sufficient, or in a stock making mood, then throw everything in a pot together, and you have your stock.
[br]

[JustSkipIt]

My wife put in a small garden this year. Tomatoes (4 kinds) and peppers (3 kinds) and Strawberries (one bush) and I was really excited at the idea. Only a few of the tomatoes (the cherry) ones have ripened and they've been great. Unfortunately what I was really looking forward to, the peppers were apparently also something that the rabbits and mice wanted. Now, I'm all for feeding the rabbits and mice and actually take composty type cuttings out and place them about for the visitors but they ate ALL of the peppers. That seems kind of unfair to me. I mean I wanted to share but they wanted all the peppers. First off who knew rabbits liked spicy food and second off, MINE!!!! We're on an eternal quest for powdered pepper that is hot enough.

[Candleshoe]

My garden has a rabbit problem too, and I've ended up with foot-and-a-half fencing round all my precious plants. There is a way of planting things they don't like round the edges to ward them off, I'll see if I can find anything...

[FineyMcFine]

You can also grow peppers in large pots on the deck, one plant to a pot. That can work with herbs too, then you can bring the herbs inside during the winter so they keep growing and don't die. Fresh basil, yum.

[FineyMcFine]

I'm going to double post. Netiquette be damned!

Today's the big birthday BBQ for Mrs. McFine. Our grill is going to get a workout. We have vegetarians and non-vegetarians coming, so here is the menu:

veggie burgers
hot dogs
sweet Italian sausages
chicken breasts marinated in sesame/ginger marinade (from Costco, it's called Marinade Island and it's fabulous)

Grilled vegetables and tofu - extra firm tofu, orange bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, red onion, grape tomatoes, mushrooms with a marinade of olive oil, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, salt & pepper, and lemon juice. I used to make kabobs but now I'm just putting it all in the grill baskets for convenience's sake.

Hamburgers - here's the recipe that I've spent a couple of years perfecting:

80/20 beef - I used to use leaner beef, but the burgers always fell apart, so 80/20 it is. A lot of the fat cooks off while grilling, and hey - it's not like we eat these burgers every day.

Per pound of beef - one egg, beaten, one clove of garlic, minced, and 1/4 yellow onion, diced. Also add salt and pepper and a healthy dose of Worcestershire sauce. Mix all, form patties, and grill. Yum. I usually make quarter pound burgers.

[hr]

I'm editing this post so I do not have a triple post!
7/2/06

kisstheviolets posted about making steamed rice and trying not to burn it. I have to say, I love my rice cooker, ktv - I won't cook rice on the stovetop anymore because it ALWAYS burns. Another way I used to make it was by bringing it to a boil on the stovetop and putting the saucepan covered into a 200-250 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. A biology professor from India taught me that.

But the rice cooker is one of those appliances that I use all the time for rice, vegetables, you name it - you can even make steamed fish in it if you want to. I even make the boxed flavored rice from Uncle Ben's in it. And if you add some toasted pine nuts to the rice it adds a nice mild nutty flavor.

[Boschi]

I must save the world from the threat of a McFine triple post!! Ahem. Actually, I just rediscovered this thread and was horrified that I failed to thank all the folks who chimed in with hash brown advice. I humbly thank you each and every one. All hail the fried potato goodness.

On other notes, I recently discovered the joys of bitter melon. The rounded bumpy white ones are a little less bitter than the more pointy green ones. A friend and I took out the pithy/seedy core, cut it in to small pieces, and used it in a stir fry. It needs another distinct flavor in it to counterbalance the bitter - preferably something mildly sweet. We used lemongrass seasoned pork meatballs, a slew of other veggies, and a miso/soy sauce blend. Honestly, I don't know much about the sauce - I'm sauce phobic and left that up to the other person.

At anyrate - point being this - try bitter melons! The first few bites are odd and almost unpleasant, but then you find yourself compulsively eating more and more. Just talking about it is making me crave it.

Hmmm... bitter. Which is reminding me of tonic water, which is reminding me of gin and tonics.... mmmmm.

But I digress - happy eating all.

- Boschi

[FineyMcFine]

Tonight I made Irish soda bread using the recipe below:

[blockquote] INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.[/blockquote]

I've made soda bread before using a recipe that was pretty similar to this one although I don't remember the butter and egg, and I used wheat flour instead of white/all-purpose. Tonight I used white/all-purpose because it's what we had. Another recipe suggested combining half and half and then using more buttermilk; I think that's a good idea since the all-wheat flour bread was a little dry.

This batter seemed a LOT more runny than the previous loaf; I put it in a loaf pan and before I had been able to shape a big round loaf and bake it on a cookie sheet.

Now, speaking of cooking, the Mrs. and I have gotten into a bit of a rut with our groceries - we keep buying the same things and hence eating the same things. We just signed up for Washington's Green Grocer and that's going to give us a LOT of vegetables and fruits to eat. Variety being the spice of life and all, I'm very very glad about it.

Here's the list of what they're delivering tomorrow, just think of the variety of things we're going to have to eat. I can hardly stand it, hoorah!

Portabello Mushrooms
Spinach
Broccoli
Cucumbers
Zucchini
Butternut Squash
Carrots

Gala Apples
Bartlett Pears
Navel Oranges
Ruby Red Grapefruit
Bananas

Avocados
Garlic
Yellow Onions
Basil
Oregano (both are fresh)

7 Stars, low-fat plain yogurt -- 32oz
Eggs -- Free range, organic 2 dozen

[JustSkipIt]

Sally - I'm so jealous. We have one of those organic fruit *& vegie services but they don't deliver outside the city limits. We've even considered having our share delivered to a friend's doorstep but didn't want to have to mess with taking the container over there early in the morning and then going back for the delievery. They even deliver soy milk and stuff.

I have a friend who has 2 kids: 7 and 12. When she goes to the store one kid is in charge of fruit and one vegies. Each has to pick three different things (at least) of 3 different colors (at least) and they can't be the same things from the week before. I'd be stumped by that I think. I mean I want apples and bananas and brocolu every week.

[kisstheviolets]

Wow Sally, that sounds great - both the bread and the produce! I have to say, you are single-handedly keeping this thread alive. I haven't been doing much cooking of note lately (being at home with a mom who insists on doing all the cooking kind of removes most of the need) but I did make this on Thanksgiving:

Herbed Bleu Cheese Spread with Crostini

1-1/3 cups low-fat (1%) cottage cheese
1-1/4 cups (5 ounces) crumbled bleu (you can use gorgonzola, feta or goat cheese too)
1 large clove garlic
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 green onions with tops, sliced (about 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or oregano or 1 teaspoon dried basil or oregano leaves
2 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds

1. Combine cottage cheese, blue cheese, garlic and lemon juice in food processor. Cover; process until smooth. Add green onions, basil and almonds; pulse until well blended but still chunky.

2. Spoon cheese spread into small serving bowl; cover. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

As for the crostini, just slice up some baguette or other kind of bread, brush with some olive oil mixes with fresh pressed garlic and sprinkle some kosher salt and bake for a few minutes to make them golden and crispy.

It's a super easy recipe and great if you like bleu cheese (it's super strong, I added a bit more cottage cheese). Happy cooking kittens!

[FineyMcFine]

I do love cooking, and talking about cooking, and swapping recipes and such. Here are some pictures of the soda bread - it turned out looking nice and it tastes good too:

[Boschi]

Oh, pretty, pretty bread!

Bit of a relief to see the photos actually. At Thanksgiving dinner this year someone made Yorkshire pudding for the first time and we were all gathered 'round, bemoaning that fact that we didn't have a camera to take a picture of how good it looked. Nice to know other folks have the same urges.

As for the vegetable delivery service: hey, that's awesome. If anyone out there is interested: this, and similar services, exist almost everywhere. Washington Green Grocer is a middleman service, which works great. You can also often buy directly from a farm or coop of farms through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). It's a great way to understand where your food comes from - kinda puts you in touch with the farm(s).
Different CSAs work differently, so if one doesn't seem right, keep looking.

You can search for organic/sustainable ag farms near you, many with CSAs, at:

http://www.wilson.edu/wilson/asp/content.asp?id=1567

If eating fresh, local food appeals then you may also want to check out a series called the 100 mile diet.

http://thetyee.ca/Series/2005/06/28/100Mile/

No, it's not a diet diet, its the story of two people who pledged to spend one year eating only food grown within 100 miles of where they live. (On a side note, most food consumed by Americans travels more than 1,500 miles before it hits your table). I havent read the whole thing, but the idea is worth considering at least.

I live in Kansas City, Missouri, and there is a growing local food movement here. What is the status of this elsewhere, oh foodie-Kittens?

So now I'll step off the soap box and offer up a cooking thought, however simple.

Spinach tends to be a winter/fall green that people snap up. With the e. coli scare a lot of folks, including restaurants, scrambled for alternatives. It was nice to see people giving swiss chard a fair try. It's beautiful and tasty. Similar to spinach, but not as slimy. Try simply sauteed with a little garlic and oil. Use the stems too - they are tasty and too pretty to waste. Just chop them up and maybe add them to the pan a moment before the leaves so they cook a little longer.

Check out how wild these colors are:

http://www.scnla.com/Article%20of%20the%20Month_08_05.html

Happy Eating,

Boschi

[JustSkipIt]

Yesterday I made a very small batch of chocolate-covered popcorn. The wife has been getting popcorn for Asher to eat lately and I commented how good chocolate-covered is but she didn't believe me. So yesterday since he was eating it anyway, I made a little. She thought it was pretty good. Unfortunately, I got up today and ate the last 2 lumps of it while I was making breakfast--not what I needed.

Sometime this week, I'll start making the chocolate-covered pretzles for the holidays. I used to make fudge for everyone but it was a major production and cost a lot in supplies and shipping. Last year I did the chocolate-covered pretzles and nearly everyone was like, "this is so much better and less guilt-inducing" so I was happy. Well my wife's family was like, "what? No fudge? There must be fudge!" so last year I made fudge just for them while I was there. Ok. Then my wife the other day was like, "but you're going to make fudge and mail it to my out-of town family right?" Uh. No. I'm not making pretzles which I want to make for some people and then fudge for everyone else. I'm making what I'm making.

Wow, this seems to have turned into a rant and I appologize for that. My point: chocolate covered = yay!

[JustSkipIt]

I did some cooking on Christmas that included some experimenting. I've been making quiche pretty regularly for a while and I once had a recipie but I've lost that. We went to a party in October and they had brought in quiche that was really fabulous. Very fluffy and creamy. So I wanted to make some changes to mine.

I made two quiche: spinich and brocoli. To prep:

Two crusts. Put tin foil on the edges, poked holes and baked at 350 for 10 minutes (empty).

Meanwhile, cut and steamed the brocoli and defrosted the spinich (I could only find frozen). Then put those in the shell along with about 1/2 pound grated montery jack each.

Then I used a blender (which I've never done before) and added (all approximately):

1 cup cottage cheese
12 large whole eggs
6 large egg whites
salt & pepper
little soy milk

Blended very well. Then added to quiche shells and cooked about 50 minutes at 350, pulled off tin foil (next time I will spray the tin foil with pam or some other non-stick spray first) and then another 10 minutes. They were very good but still not as creamy. I think next time I'll add a little baking powder and possibly some cream.

[Sn0wflak3]

Hey

I was wondering if anyone knows any vegan burger/sausage recipes? most of the veggie ones i've seen have cheese in :\

[JustSkipIt]

Sno - Here is the page I found when I searched for vegan burger recipies. It seems to be a list of recipies and I'm not sure that all are vegan but you can try them. Good luck.

[tybee317]

I am so excited about this thread. This is fantastic, I love to cook and take the pictures! BBQ and seafood are my thing and I have an affinity for the grill. Tonight, I made shrimp quesadillas for my best friend''s birthday.
Fortunately, I live down the street from a huge International Market. It is always an adventure going in there.

Happy cooking!
Teri

[Boschi]

Culinary question: Last night I ate a Salvadoran restaurant, and really enjoyed the pupusas (I hope I spelled that right).

My spanish is not so great, and the waitress's english was not so great, but we managed to establish that the pupusas had, in their filling, some sort of flower. Or perhaps she was explaining that they were made with flour, but I think not.

Once the food arrived and I dug in I could see what looked like small green flower buds, kinda reminiscent of pointy capers. The flavor was pleasant and mild, without the tanginess I associate with capers.

So what were these? And does anyone out their have a pupusa recipe? Doesn't seem like it would be that complicated, but darn were they good.

- Boschi

[MochaVamp]

Boschi,

Pupusas are so yummy! The filling you had would have been the classic cheese and loroco. Loroco is a flower that is eaten in El Salvador and Guatemala. Hmm, I think you have tempted me to head out into my neighborhood and get dinner.

MochaVamp

[singgirl]

soooo.... I love perogies, I think it's an atrocity to buy them pre-made. If you didn't take 2 days preparing them, then they aren't real perogies. Having a Polish grandmother has spoiled me. Now, I have a great recipe already, but the cheese, potato, and onion filling is a bit too starchy to repeat too many times. My family uses kraut, but I think it's gross. I was wondering if anyone had any filling suggestions? I like meat, but my girlfriend is a vegitarian, so I usually don't bother making anything with meat when I cook for both of us.

[Boschi]

Ah, the wonder of pierogies. Just a guess, but I'd say that you could cut the starch assault a bit by using mushrooms and spinach (or chard, or other greens), just make sure to cook and press some of the moisture out of both before using. I still think a little potato is necessary, but I am a potato lovin' freak.

Oh dear god, I just envisioned morel pierogies.... wow. hmmm... I wonder if any are still about here???

ETA: Thank you MochaVamp! You opened the door to Googledom for me, and I'm now trying to figure out if anyone carries lorocos in my area.

[singgirl]

mmm good idea!