The Cooking Thread

[RotationSlimWang]

Oh yeah that's why I can't remember what you looked like.

[sonnyboy11]

Ketchup is a condiment that is used to cover up the taste of whatever food you're putting it on. If you made something that tastes good, you should never allow ketchup to touch it.

This is incorrect. There are some very good recipes that call for ketchup. One I regularly make is an Andrew Zimmern recipe Sweet and Sour Bangkok Style chicken

http://andrewzimmern.com/2012/10/22/...n-with-chiles/

I have made this at least 6 times after seeing him do it live at a cooking event. It's easy and outta this world great. The ketchup adds a sweetness and offsets the lemon grass and chiles while complementing the mint leaves. I highly recommend some of you try this one. Make sure to use thigh meat and cook it long and slow (gives a nice brownish color).

This past weekend I had lamb shanks and used the following recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...ipe/index.html

Anne Burrell is kind of annoying but props to her for this one. Easy to do and taste was great. The recipe had some flexibility to it too which I liked (beefed up the garlic and used herbs de provence). Sorry no pics this time out. But it's a great recipe for you guys thinking about trying out lamb in a dish. Loooong, slow cooking is the answer for lamb shanks.

[RotationSlimWang]

Okay, well 1. Thai food is fucking gross, and 2. Lamb is also gross, but ignoring that for a second that recipe does not mention ketchup once.

[mountmccabe]

There is a reason Jersey is the Garden State and it doesn't have anything to do with greasy diners.

I never had a fist sized tomato that I would just eat straight until I got them from NJ.

[RotationSlimWang]

Damn skippy. God I miss the food back there. You should also try the sweet corn if you're ever down there again, John. It's literally the thing I miss most about living there. Buy like six ears per person, everyone will go fucking house on them.

[the walrus]

Okay, well 1. Thai food is fucking gross, and 2. Lamb is also gross, but ignoring that for a second that recipe does not mention ketchup once.

you just lost all credibility as a human being who regularly feeds himself.

the thai have blended flavors in such an intelligent and amazing way it is undeniably delectable.

in other words eat a bag of dicks, you deserve no thai anyhow!

[mountmccabe]

Damn skippy. God I miss the food back there. You should also try the sweet corn if you're ever down there again, John. It's literally the thing I miss most about living there. Buy like six ears per person, everyone will go fucking house on them.

For the summer we are doing a CSA and they get their food from a farm that has locations in upstate NY and north central Jersey. I am excited.

[Neighborhood Creep]

I don't know how anyone could hate lamb or gyros. Too good

[unit300021]

Okay, well 1. Thai food is fucking gross, and 2. Lamb is also gross, but ignoring that for a second that recipe does not mention ketchup once.

I don't think he was posting the lamb recipe as an example with ketchup, I think he was just sharing he made this past weekend.

[unit300021]

I don't know how anyone could hate lamb or gyros. Too good

Agreed. Gyros are my favorite festival food.

[insbordnat]

^ Agreed, but only good gyros. Most places put out that shitty Kronos frozen gyros block that isn't much better than a giant rotating chicken nugget on a vertical spit.

[canexplain]

I bought a T bone, cost almost $20. Ok, so it's not Prime, Wagu, grass feed or anything special, but at $20 it should turn out ok. Should I grill it or broil it? cr****

[jackstraw94086]

Damn skippy. God I miss the food back there. You should also try the sweet corn if you're ever down there again, John. It's literally the thing I miss most about living there. Buy like six ears per person, everyone will go fucking house on them.

I also miss that fucking corn. Growing up we used to spend 2 weeks each year in cape may with my great aunt and would eat myself sick on that shit.

[insbordnat]

I bought a T bone, cost almost $20. Ok, so it's not Prime, Wagu, grass feed or anything special, but at $20 it should turn out ok. Should I grill it or broil it? cr****

Grill it. Just don't overcook it. Both sides of the T are relatively lean, so they won't handle much above medium. A little kosher salt, pepper, a rub of minced garlic, sprinkle of thyme and paprika, and a little olive oil will get that steak tastin' delish. If you use Montreal Steak seasoning I will hunt you down and cut your hair when I see you on the fields

[canexplain]

Montreal Steak

Yea I actually have some of that. I suppose most people that shop at Costco have it ,no no, I agree but I just went with S & P and broil. Turned out good. It could have used more sear but I don't have a fancy oven that goes to 800. cr****

[mountmccabe]

We were stuck in NYC because of the storm so we have done a weekend of cooking.

Yesterday I made Lentil and Onion Stew, based on this recipe, topping it with the last of the caramelized onions we made three weeks ago. This was really great; I even liked it with sour cream (substitute for crème fraiche).

caramelized onion

And since that slow cooker of onions only lasted three weeks we are making more today.

I also soaked and slow cooked some red beans for more

Creole-style Jambalaya

using about a pound of shrimp in place of chicken and adding in some chopped scallions and fresh (curly) parsley. The rice turned out perfect and while I don't love shrimp it tastes good in here.

[Courtney]

For the summer we are doing a CSA and they get their food from a farm that has locations in upstate NY and north central Jersey. I am excited.

High five to that. I have been subscribing to my CSA since September, and it's absolutely spectacular how having fresh, locally-grown produce straight from the farm has influenced the way that I cook. I feel very fortunate that it's something I get to experience, and wish that was affordable enough that everybody could do it.

[CuervoPH]

I also soaked and slow cooked some red beans for more



using about a pound of shrimp in place of chicken and adding in some chopped scallions and fresh (curly) parsley. The rice turned out perfect and while I don't love shrimp it tastes good in here.

That looks wonderful! Normally I force my co-workers into a Mardi Gras potluck luncheon and I make massive amounts of jambalaya for that. I typically use both shrimp and andouille sausage, because everybody seems to like that combination (or they're too kind to tell me the don't), but I do need to start experimenting with other ingredients.

[Courtney]

I've perfected my pizza dough and baking technique, but I need to work on the sauce. Anyone have a good pizza sauce recipe? (including your ideal fresh tomatoes or favorite quality canned sauce or paste)

PSST Jackstraw and/or anyone else:

I have just learned I will be competing in a pizza-baking contest. Hints? Suggestions? Recipes?

[TomAz]

pre heat your stone

let the dough sit for a day or two in the fridge

eschew mozzarella.

[koryp]

Keep the sauce simple. If you can't do it in 5 ingredients, its too complicated and it'll taste funky
If you find a good recipe, simply step it up a level by using fresh ingredients instead of dried, flaked or powdered
If it's ever been frozen, it does not belong on your pizza.
Don't overwork the dough.

*former owner of a small pizza chain in my youth

[koryp]

eschew mozzarella.

What do you prefer? a provolone/muenster blend.

[Hannahrain]

pre heat your stone

let the dough sit for a day or two in the fridge

eschew mozzarella.

[bmack86]

eschew mozzarella.

What? Where do you go instead? I prefer buffalo mozza, but I can't imagine making a mozzarella-less pizza and having it taste like a pizza.

[jackstraw94086]

Are you making your own sauce? If so I recommend this one (although I'd cut it in half, this is a ton of pizza sauce considering how much you use, but San Marzano tomatoes generally come in 28oz cans which is why he makes so much here)
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/...ttle-fish.html

As far as the dough.

Enough pizza dough for one large pie:
2 Cups flour ("00" milled pizza dough flour if you can find it)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp honey

CRITICAL: the yeast needs to proof at 105F
Mix the honey with about 1/4 cup hot water so that it settles at about 110F. You might want to microwave the honey to make this step easier. Adding the yeast will make this settle somewhere between 100-105F. You can't let it go lower. If you don't see this foam up good within a couple minutes the water was probably too cold. Let it proof about 5 minutes.

Mix flour and salt together well. Then pour in olive oil. Then pour in yeast mixture and begin mixing. Add warm water until dough comes together, just barely pulling away from sides of bowl. Better to be slightly wet than too dry.

Cover with HOT damp towel and place in oven that was warmed a bit then turned off, leave light on. When at least doubled, take out and roll out crust.

Use of pizza stone is very helpful. Oven preheated to about 450. Make sure stone is fully hot before putting rolled out dough on it. I like to bake the crust for a few minutes until it just begins to rise, then pull it out and put the sauce and toppings on it, then bake for another 10 minutes.


A traditional pizza alternative that I've done well with is Flammenkuchen. There are various versions of this but this is roughly the version I do below. Traditional flammenkuchen is done on very very thin crust, tart-like crust, but I think it does well on a bit thicker crust too

~1/2 cup creme fraiche (it's far easier to buy but you can make it if you start a day in advance)
~1/2 yellow onion sliced, about 1/4" slices quartered
3-4 strips of bacon.
~1/2 cup grated Gruyere

cook the bacon until just crisp. Remove and cut into small matchstick-like slices
in the bacon grease, cook the onion until just soft (do not overcook), drain off and dispose of grease (or whatever else you want to do with it)

After pre-cooking the pizza crust for a few moments, remove and spread creme fraiche on it. The dough will make the creme melt so be prepared for that. you may not need the whole amount of creme, just make there's about the same amount of creme as there would be pizza sauce.

Spread the onions evenly, then the bacon, then top with gruyere.

Bake 450 for about 10 min or until the cheese is fully melted, before it browns.

[koryp]

What? Where do you go instead? I prefer buffalo mozza, but I can't imagine making a mozzarella-less pizza and having it taste like a pizza.

now now, lets not rush to judgment here. Tom may have a palate more refined by Western European journeys, and developed a fine replacement for our simplistic, stetchy, sauce topping.

[Shaxspear]

Made a short rib beef bourguignon today. Served it on some simple mashed potatoes with stewed carrots. Then topped it with some balsamic caramelized onions.

[Courtney]

pre heat your stone

let the dough sit for a day or two in the fridge

eschew mozzarella.

Keep the sauce simple. If you can't do it in 5 ingredients, its too complicated and it'll taste funky
If you find a good recipe, simply step it up a level by using fresh ingredients instead of dried, flaked or powdered
If it's ever been frozen, it does not belong on your pizza.
Don't overwork the dough.

*former owner of a small pizza chain in my youth

Are you making your own sauce? If so I recommend this one (although I'd cut it in half, this is a ton of pizza sauce considering how much you use, but San Marzano tomatoes generally come in 28oz cans which is why he makes so much here)
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/...ttle-fish.html

As far as the dough.

Enough pizza dough for one large pie:
2 Cups flour ("00" milled pizza dough flour if you can find it)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp honey

CRITICAL: the yeast needs to proof at 105F
Mix the honey with about 1/4 cup hot water so that it settles at about 110F. You might want to microwave the honey to make this step easier. Adding the yeast will make this settle somewhere between 100-105F. You can't let it go lower. If you don't see this foam up good within a couple minutes the water was probably too cold. Let it proof about 5 minutes.

Mix flour and salt together well. Then pour in olive oil. Then pour in yeast mixture and begin mixing. Add warm water until dough comes together, just barely pulling away from sides of bowl. Better to be slightly wet than too dry.

Cover with HOT damp towel and place in oven that was warmed a bit then turned off, leave light on. When at least doubled, take out and roll out crust.

Use of pizza stone is very helpful. Oven preheated to about 450. Make sure stone is fully hot before putting rolled out dough on it. I like to bake the crust for a few minutes until it just begins to rise, then pull it out and put the sauce and toppings on it, then bake for another 10 minutes.


A traditional pizza alternative that I've done well with is Flammenkuchen. There are various versions of this but this is roughly the version I do below. Traditional flammenkuchen is done on very very thin crust, tart-like crust, but I think it does well on a bit thicker crust too

~1/2 cup creme fraiche (it's far easier to buy but you can make it if you start a day in advance)
~1/2 yellow onion sliced, about 1/4" slices quartered
3-4 strips of bacon.
~1/2 cup grated Gruyere

cook the bacon until just crisp. Remove and cut into small matchstick-like slices
in the bacon grease, cook the onion until just soft (do not overcook), drain off and dispose of grease (or whatever else you want to do with it)

After pre-cooking the pizza crust for a few moments, remove and spread creme fraiche on it. The dough will make the creme melt so be prepared for that. you may not need the whole amount of creme, just make there's about the same amount of creme as there would be pizza sauce.

Spread the onions evenly, then the bacon, then top with gruyere.

Bake 450 for about 10 min or until the cheese is fully melted, before it browns.

BOOM. You guys are fantastic. I am excited to do some trial runs this week.

[frozen pilgrim]

last night I got hammered and deconstructed shepherd's pie

[marooko]

Mmmmmm.