Cooking Thread

i really like this guy's channel

How essential is a meat thermometer:

-for cooking a turkey?
-for cooking (broiling) steak?

Extremely for both!

In between making that post and making this one, I drove to bed bath and beyond and bought one for $6.

Take it to the Crushing It thread.

2017 resolution is to do a better job of keeping track of all the shit i cook, so i can more regularly revisit dishes and keep making stuff i know we like. gonna get a notebook!

i've become a little obsessed with this woman and her food cart. i went last week and decided to try my hand at her recipe yesterday:


http://khaomangai.com/?portfolio=how-to-make-khao-man-gai

pretty successful. the aromatics in the chicken and rice cooking processes are subtle, but clear and beautiful. this is great simple food. her sauce has the one-two-three-four punch of fermented yellow soybeans, garlic (pickled and unpickled), tons of fresh ginger, and a couple complex soy sauces for amazing flavor on everything. i decided to save my time and buy a bottle rather than attempt to make my own.

the squash soup i made as the accompaniment was surprisingly good. i used a delicata instead of a Chinese winter melon because i already had it in the pantry.

https://medium.com/@jasperness/i-made-thai-red-curry-yesterday-and-it-is-easier-than-you-think-30df8ebe43a1#.d6gfklwuy

i made a Thai red curry and wrote about how to make Thai red curry

Jasper, or others, what are some easy dishes to help get the feel for cooking? I usually end up throwing together some pasta dish that I'm only ever half pleased with. I want to expand my horizons a lot but first I feel like I should master some basic dishes.

I think it is really cool that you like cooking and seem to be really good at it. Other than fluency in multiple languages this is the only skill that makes me envious of other people. That and being able to dunk a basketball.

I guess I can cook pretty okay, though, so at least my life has a sliver of meaning.

Ҩ wrote:Jasper, or others, what are some easy dishes to help get the feel for cooking?

Chicken soup. Chili. Stir fry. Fried chicken. Fried rice. Oven-roasted vegetables. These all popped into my head, but I'm not sure they're better than anything else at helping you "get the feel". It's really all about understanding how cooking "works". What does marinating do? What does salt do? What does oil do? What are the different types of oils? What is the difference between an oven, a broiler, a skillet, and a pot? How does slow cooking differ from high heat cooking? It's something you should watch a lot of and then do trial-and-error.

Any recipe where the final product is all combined into a single dish would be the things I would start with. That's why soup is a good starting point, though many people find it boring to eat. A chicken and rice recipe made in a casserole dish would be good. Get a bunch of chicken thighs and marinate them overnight. Cook some rice in a pot with chicken stock for a few minutes, but leave it al dente. Combine the rice and chicken in the dish with some chopped veggies. Add cream or cheese if you like. Bake that shit until the chicken is done. Top with herbs if you get down like that. Squeeze some lemon on it. Dinner is served.

https://www.youtube.com/user/foodwishes 

This post could blow up in my face but I watch this channel on a regular basis.

Thanks Jasper!! Someday maybe I'll have something worth posting to this thread.

Undo, that's only blowing up in your face because when I clicked on the link it is telling me the channel doesn't exist. What sort of covert food programming are you watching?!

If you search "Food wishes" on YouTube it pops up.

WP, make this bacon kimchi fried rice: https://medium.com/@jasperness/wake-up-your-rice-with-kimchi-and-bacon-e5264963ef16#.r1qfeno3f

What're some of your guys' favorite rice preparations? I'm fascinated by rice these days.

this is a go-to rice recipe in our household. i make it every other week or so. a+
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/105691/indian-style-rice-with-cashews-raisins-and-turmeric/

Risotto is one of my favorite things to make. It's a giant pain in the ass that requires 45 minutes of constant stirring but it's super delicious.

If I just need some rice to go with my tacos I throw some salt, pepper, green onions, tomatoes, and butter into some brown rice.

i made pesto last night and didn't have any pine nuts, so i substituted pumpkin and sesame seeds instead. it takes the exact fucking same! nuts don't do shit. i think we all implicitly knew this, but it's good to be liberated from pine nut slavery.

using real parmigiano-reggiano is essential though. no cutting corners on this expensive hunk of cheese.

I forget what my pine nut substitution was, but if I can find pine nuts at Aldi I use em.

My pesto comes out just fine without real parm but I have little doubt it would be way better with it.

chrondog wrote:i made pesto last night and didn't have any pine nuts, so i substituted pumpkin and sesame seeds instead. it takes the exact fucking same! nuts don't do shit.

i refuse to believe in your evidence. impossible. pine nuts are the shit. have i been blinded to the truth by Big Pine Nut?

maybe it's using the expensive parm that gives the pesto the essential nuttiness without the actual meaty nuts? but maybe you're right. pine nuts never blow me away regardless. i've eaten them raw, i've eaten them toasted, i've eaten them in salads or other dishes. they're fine, but i don't need that flavor at all.

and yes Duff, you can sub out the parm-reg for grana padrano or even horrible Kraft parm garbage, but it will not have that "this is the best pesto" taste.

i had two platters of fresh mozz, pesto, lightly roasted grape tomatoes, olive oil & white wine vinegar yesterday. i'm a food dork.

This is really good

few things make me feel as physically good as controlling my eating. i feel so vital on 1500-1800 calories a day. i've been eating nothing but granola and almond milk for breakfast, a plate from a Mediterranean or Asian food cart for lunch, and a pureed vegetable soup with some hummus and crackers for dinner. i'll have a burger or sandwich occasionally as well. i like a bagel with cream cheese, red onion, and tomato on a Saturday morning with my cappuccino.

i've been searching for some control in my life recently and i found it in restricting my eating to these weird things i like.

I am the same way, Jasper. I've been on the Keto diet for several months now and love it. The challenge of avoiding carbs & sugars while controlling everything from my morning coffee to snacks is something I enjoy each day.