Cooking- Post your recipes and thoughts here!

[Giant Tope]

Wow you guys, we haven't had a cooking thread yet. (Or if we have, it's died) There has to be people here who either cook or want to cook. So have at it.

Anything related to food can be put here. If anyone wants to ask for cooking advice or questions, they are welcome here too. I could probably answer a good bunch of questions. I'm only here on the weekends though, so keep that in mind.

Basic Knife Cut terms:
Slice- Vertical cuts. Leaves product in long shape. Cuts include julienne, batonette, and paysanne, which is essentially slicing veg without squaring it off. This wastes far less and is usually what you'd typically do when a recipe calls for a slice.
Dice- Squared off from a slice. Little squares. Not rocket science.
Chop- Like a dice except it's irregular and inconsistent. Basically cut down the thing to size.
Mince- Like a smaller chop. Get it as small as possible so it's almost like a paste
Tourne- Cutting the thing like a football. Super fancy, but no one but steakhouses use it anymore because it wastes so much of the product. Don't worry about this one because you need a special knife for it anyways.
Chiffonade- Cutting herbs like a ribbon. Take a bunch of leaves, line them up, roll them up like a cigarrette, then cut them as thin as possible, making pretty ribbon slices. This keeps the herbs from bruising and losing flavor.

There's a certain joy in making your own staple products yourself and can USUALLY save money, so here's some recipes off the top of my head that most people can usually do. I'm too lazy to convert them to metric, so just deal with my American-ness.


Applesauce____

3 pounds of fuji or gala apples, 1-inch dice or so
1/2 cup water, or more if evaporates too fast
1/2 cup sugar, unless you don't want sugar. That's cool too.

Put all the ingredients in a pot. Bring to a simmer on medium heat for, like 2 hours until the apples break apart. Remember to stir because you don't want it to burn and that's just sad. If it starts to, however, add a bit more water. If it's too far gone, DON'T SCRAPE THE BOTTOM. Transfer it to another pot and continue cooking.

This stuff is good with cubed bread sauteed with a bit of butter and sugar. It's the best apple dessert ever. Seriously. Put whipped cream on that and call it good.

SPEAKING OF WHICH

Whipped Cream_____

Heavy Cream, however much you want. Keep in mind it will expand.

Whip it with a mixer on high, or with your hands if you're feeling up for a challenge, until it gets stiff. Done. You can flavor it in many different ways. Add sugar or cocoa powder before you mix, fold preserves or custards in afterwards. Remember not to whip it too hard otherwise you will get...


Butter____

Heavy Cream

Basically keep going. The whipping will eventually separate the whey from the solids. Use a cheese cloth to catch the solids and smoosh it together to make a solid mass. You can add chopped herbs or whatever else you want into the finished thing. Pretty nifty.

Tomato sauce___

1 medium onion, diced preferably sweet if it's in season
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of Red Chili Flakes
2 cans of crushed tomatoes
1 can of diced tomatoes
Bunch of Basil, chiffonade
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
sugar if necessary

Get a sauce pot and coat the bottom with oil. You can use, like, canola oil with a bit of extra virgin. Too much extra virgin will burn when it gets remotely hot. When you move the pot around and see ripples, add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion gets transparent, then add the oregano and chili. Cook until it gets nice and aromatic. Add the tomatoes here and simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the raw tomato taste comes out. Add the rest along with salt and pepper to taste.

That's all I can really think of right now. If you guys want me to post more, I can. It'd make me feel special.

Oh yeah, and the minimum internal cooking temperature for human is 145 degrees. Don't wanna eat anything under-cooked. Could get sick.

[divisionten]

I gotta say, Alton Brown's gyoza kick some serious hindquarters. Check it.

[Remolay]

I'm afraid I can't tell the one recipe that I have under my belt, but I'm going to start following this thread.

[GuruGuru214]

I'm trying to get ready to leave on a week-long hunting trip tomorrow morning, but I'll totally post some of my cheesecake recipes when I have time after I get back.

[PecanBlue]

I make this figgy pudding a lot around Christmas time or generally late autumn time. It's very delicious and easy to make. (note that the soy milk doesn't have to be organic, or vanilla, or even soy milk, but I prefer it from the original recipe)

[Lennie Melvin]

Anyone got a foolproof lemon meringue recipe? Mine always go soggy in the middle

[Vainamoinen]

Originally Posted by Giant Tope

Anything related to food can be put here.

I can only add Jewel Staite's food & drink blog here (Jewel's an actress known as "Kaylee" from the short-lived cult series "Firefly"):

http://happyopu.net/

[GuruGuru214]

That's pretty awesome. I never watched Firefly, but I really liked her on Supernatural (until Dean killed her).

Of course, now we have to link to Dominic Armato's food blog.

http://www.skilletdoux.com/

[Giant Tope]

Originally Posted by GuruGuru214

I'm trying to get ready to leave on a week-long hunting trip tomorrow morning, but I'll totally post some of my cheesecake recipes when I have time after I get back.

Oh man please do. I've been wanting to get after your cheesecake recipes for a while now.

Originally Posted by Lennie Melvin

Anyone got a foolproof lemon meringue recipe? Mine always go soggy in the middle

Well what do you usually do when you make such a pie? I could probably troubleshoot if I get an idea of what you do.

Mac and Cheese___

4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of milk
1/5 cup of heavy cream
3/4 cup cheddar, grated
3 cups of macaroni or penne cooked to under al dente (so keep it slightly hard still), drained but not rinsed
Chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)
Panko crumbs
Parmesean cheese (optional)
More Cheddar for topping

If you wanna bake it, turn on the oven to 350 F

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, but do not overheat. Whisk in the flour until mixed. If too soupy, add more flour. If too pastey, add more butter. This is called a roux. Add your milk and cream to this mix until you get a nice and thick sauce. Be sure to not have the temperature too high. This is your basic Bechamel Sauce. It's one of the mother sauces, so remember it. Now add in the cheese gradually. By adding the cheese, the sauce turns into a Bechamel derivative: Mornay. It's basically a cheese sauce.

Mix your pasta into the pot and turn off the heat. Salt and pepper to flavor

If you're baking it, pour it into a casserole pan and cover with the cheeses, the bread crumbs, and the herbs. Cook it until the top browns.

See, if you cook it too soft earlier, the pasta cooks to shit here, so remember not to do that.

[Remolay]

Realization, I have like three things under my belt, two of them desserts. Here's the one thing I feel I can share.

Peanut Butter Cake (Any similarities to a recipe found in a Betty Crocker cook book is purely intentional)
Grease and flour 2 9" layer pans or 1 13x9 oblong pan.

Sift together 2 1/8 cups sifted flower
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. salt

add 1/3 cup soft shortening
1/3 cup Peanut Butter (Not Oily)
1 cup milk

beat for 2 minutes, add one egg, beat for 2 more minutes

Pour into prepares pans. Bake at 350. Layers for 25 to 30 minutes, square or oblong for 35 to 40 minutes.
Let it cool and the page says to finish it with Peanut Butter Broiled Icing, probably somewhere in the same cookbook, I don't know. I only have this one page because I liked the cake. When I made it I used vanilla icing.

I recommend trying this cold. It is really good cold.

[WarpSpeed]

Something I've mentioned in the past - Take any recipe that uses corn meal, and substitute blue corn meal instead. Blue corn has a stronger flavor than yellow or white, so it really brings out the corniness. If you can't find this in your supermarket, try asking in a health food store, or buy online.

Of course, the end result looks bluer as well. Be prepared for that.

[Alcoremortis]

I really want to contribute to this thread, but all my good recipes, I do more or less by feel and measure things in such units as "glops", "pinches", "dashes", and "splashes".

Maybe someday I'll regularize them

[GuruGuru214]

Well, since I have to bake two cheesecakes in the next week, it seems like a good time to share my recipes here. Apparently I'm doing something right with this, since I've had people tell me that my cheesecake is now the standard by which they judge other cheesecakes.

Guru's Fruit Layered Cheesecake



Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 7 crackers)
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar

Plain Filling:
2 8-ounce packages Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Fruit Filling:
2 8-ounce packages Philadelphia flavored cream cheese, softened (usually Blueberry or Strawberry)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Take cream cheese and eggs out of refrigerator at least half an hour before preparation to allow ingredients to reach room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pan (preferably springform) with parchment paper. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter, and press into bottom of pan and about 2/3 up the sides. Bake crust for 10 minutes and allow to cool completely.

Combine plain cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Repeat in another mixing bowl with fruit ingredients. Pour fruit filling into cooled crust and layer plain filling on top. If desired, run a knife through the batter to swirl it. Bake in a water bath for 60 to 70 minutes. Allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.

Pumpkin Cheesecake



Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 7 crackers)
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar

Filling:
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pan (preferably springform) with parchment paper. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter, and press into bottom of pan and about 2/3 up the sides. Bake crust for 10 minutes and allow to cool completely.

Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Add pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice and continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Pour filling into cooled crust and bake in a water bath for 60 to 70 minutes. Allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.


For both of these, I would recommend setting your pan inside of an oven bag to keep the water out of the bottom.

I'll be doing the pumpkin one for Thanksgiving, and then next weekend or early the next week, I'm going to try and combine my own recipe with a mascarpone cheesecake recipe to make a tiramisu cheesecake for my sister's birthday.

[bobber56]

I am a pie person.

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients
2 cups peeled, cooked sweet potatoes
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 stick melted butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup milk
9-inch unbaked pie crust
3 egg whites
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the filling, using an electric hand mixer, combine the potatoes, 1 cup of the sugar, the butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix thoroughly. Add the milk and continue to mix. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the pie on a rack and cool to room temperature before covering with meringue.

For the meringue, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue beating until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is glossy and stiff, but not dry. With a rubber spatula, spoon the meringue onto the pie, forming peaks. Make sure the meringue touches the crust all around. Sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until delicately browned. Cool and serve.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.
Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)

Apple Pie

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
7 cups thinly sliced pared apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 egg white
Additional sugar

Directions
In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour and spices; set aside. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss well to coat. Line a 9-in. pie pan with half the pastry. Place apple filling into crust; dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie. Cut a few slits in top. beat egg white until foamy; brush over pastry. Sprinkle sugar on top. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes. Increase temperature to 400 degrees F and bake 10-15 minutes more or until golden.

[GuruGuru214]

Well, it's out of the oven, and I think it'll be okay, so here's my recipe.

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup lady finger crumbs (one 3 oz package)
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 2 crackers)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons Kalhua

Filling:
3 8-ounce packages Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1 8-ounce package mascarpone
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons Kalhua
4 eggs

Take cold ingredients out of refrigerator at least half an hour before preparation to allow ingredients to reach room temperature.

If using crispy lady fingers, skip to next paragraph. Otherwise, crumble lady fingers and place on a sheet pan under broiler just long enough to dry them out a bit without darkening them.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch pan (preferably springform) with parchment paper. Combine graham cracker crumbs, lady finger crumbs, Kalhua, and butter, and press into bottom of pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes and allow to cool completely. Crust mixture will be very moist but will firm up upon cooling

Combine cream cheese, mascarpone, sugar, vanilla, and Kalhua in a large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and continue to beat until smooth and creamy. Pour filling into cooled crust. Bake in a water bath for 50 to 60 minutes. Cheesecake will be done when edges start to firm up and lightly crack (cracks will seal as it cools) and center remains slightly jiggly (cheesecake will firm when cold). Allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight. Lightly dust with cocoa powder prior to serving.

[GuruGuru214]

Truly, this is my masterpiece:

Cheesecake Dip

1 8-ounce package Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

Combine ingredients. Serve with Teddy Grahams.

[Icedhope]

Originally Posted by GuruGuru214

Truly, this is my masterpiece:

Cheesecake Dip

1 8-ounce package Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

Combine ingredients. Serve with Teddy Grahams.

I'm jealous...

[GuruGuru214]

Oh god, I'm so tired.



Plus taco soup and a pumpkin cheesecake.

[Giant Tope]

Is that nougat in the middle?

[Noname215]

Gingerbread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup light molasses

Grease a 9x1 1/2-inch round baking pan; set pan aside. In a bowl combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg and molasses; beat 1 minute. Add dry mixture, beating on low speed after each addition till combined. pour batter into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Serve warm.

I also have a secret recipe of my own for homemade milk chocolate. If someone asks for it, they shall have it.