We got a stew going

[Jesus' Follower]

Thank you, but I just muddle along. I can follow instructions, many people can't. And once I cook something, or even if I have cooked something similar, I am not afraid to change the recipe a bit.

Experimenting is the best policy in the kitchen; so I hear.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Admin Hat...

Hi everyone and welcome! I have just stuck this tread on the top, as it is the foundation thread of this forum.

I want to extend many thanks to @crjmurray
He deserves all of the credit for this forum; he brought the idea forward, and we all ran with it!

Thanks Mr. Murray!

Mark
CF Admin

 

[crjmurray]

Admin Hat...

Hi everyone and welcome! I have just stuck this tread on the top, as it is the foundation thread of this forum.

I want to extend many thanks to @crjmurray
He deserves all of the credit for this forum; he brought the idea forward, and we all ran with it!

Thanks Mr. Murray!

Mark
CF Admin

Hats off to ya Mark.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Not at all; just doing my job!

CF is nothing without our members!

It's true!

 

[Subduction Zone]

Alright, here is a long time favorite of mine. It is not particularly healthy, so crjmurray should especially like it. I had a college roommate that taught me this recipe. He was from Venezuela, but it is a traditional Italian dish.

Spaghetti Carbonara:

This recipe is a bit Americanized since it has far more meat than a traditional carbonara:

Ingredients: One Pound of Bacon. Leaner is better. At least 5 cloves of garlic. A pound of dry spaghetti. A can of evaporated (definitely not condensed) milk. Two eggs. Lots of fresh ground black pepper. And fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

I used to have the timing perfect on my old oven with old fashioned burners. I would put a large pot full of water on a small burner turned to high. In my large cast iron frying pan I would put the bacon, which I had sliced finely. Then I would chop the garlic finely and add it after the bacon had been cooking for a little while and the finely chopped stems of the parsley. Meanwhile I would chop the rest of the parsley finely while the bacon was cooking and set it aside. Stir the bacon occasionally. It should be on medium low heat. Add fresh ground black pepper to the bacon. Meanwhile beat together the eggs and the milk and set aside. Add fresh ground black pepper to the milk mixture. Meanwhile the bacon continues to cook and reduce and the water is getting hot. Ideally the bacon is done, getting crispy and irresistible when the water just hits boiling. Drain the bacon thoroughly, bacon grease should be saved for other purposes. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water. Add the finely chopped parsley to the bacon. Grow two arms and keep both pot and pan stirred as needed. When the spaghetti is barely al dente drain and return to pot. Put on low heat mix in bacon and milk and eggs mixture. Keep stirring gently until the milk is reduced. Add fresh ground black pepper to the spaghetti.

Now you are done. Plate and top with fresh Parm. A Caesar Salad and Sour Dough bread make this a meal fit for a king.

Actually I found it to be a very good date night recipe. Left over spaghetti can be zapped in the microwave, or for a super breakfast put a fair amount of the spaghetti in a frying pan, Fry it a bit, no grease should be needed if you use a well seasoned cast iron pan, after it has heated up a bit poor a mixture of mostly egg and a little milk over it. Even richer and with more fresh Parm you can hear your arteries hardening! And of course, more fresh ground black pepper.

 

[mmksparbud]

Cast iron cooking is the way to go.

Any recipes you can come up with is fine here.

So far--it's not that special recipes are needed for cast iron. I have found I cook the same things, it's more a matter of method. If it's rapid fire temperature changes that are required, caste iron is not a good choice. Extreme temperature changes can crack iron. If crisp vegetables are needed, then you have to remove them from the cookware, it retains heat for a long time and the vegetables will not remain crisp. I love my 15 in. skillet as I can start in the center, then put things to the outside and continue adding new stuff in the center. My largest burner (I have electric, wish it were gas) fits my 15 in. perfectly, it also has a small, med. and large burner settings so I just change the burner size, not the temperature to control my heat. Works great that way. It takes 15-20 min longer to cook bread in my new cast iron pans. Supposedly high acid foods shouldn't be cooked in cast iron, but I have had no problem. If they are well seasoned, they work well --done spaghetti sauces without any off iron taste. If it is a large pot, I do not use the cast iron, too heavy to empty! I can barely handle my 15 inch---I had tried a 17 inch first, but it was domed in the middle, very rough, the bottom was not flat and therefore would not sit flat on my cooktop, and there was some sort of coating on it that would not come off--it was made in China--I returned it and now I just buy Lodge. I do not worry about lead in Chinese cast iron--iron is made at many temperatures higher than lead so it burns off. It was all the other problems. The 17 inch was just a little too large, it hit my burner knobs and those extra 2 inches made it just too heavy.
Hard to state recipes exactly as I am one of those--"hmmmm--that looks about right"--type of cooks, and then I taste. Baking is one area that I do use more accurate measures.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I was cooking some ribs in the oven today. Nothing to special there. I wanted a good side dish. I have bought "The world's best Mac and Cheese" and it is extremely good:

http://store.beechershandmadecheese.com/p-186-worlds-best-mac-and-cheese.aspx

At about 10 bucks a box that will serve two it is not exactly cheap.

So instead I made this:

http://www.chowhound.com/recipes/homerooms-classic-macaroni-and-cheese-30436

I still spent at least ten bucks, but I made more than twice as much and it was amazing. Much much better than a box of Kraft. I would cut down on the salt to at the most half of what they tell you to use, otherwise follow it to a T.

 

[MWood]

I would like to have a good moist, gooyeee fruit cake recipe. I like a good fruit cake in the late fall and early winter. I just don't have a recipe, and I have to rely on the grocery store for the little fruit cake squares. I'd like one that is not baked, they are usually dry. Thanks.

 

[BukiRob]

sounds good.
Do you have a large family to feed?
I made turkey chili this weekend, it was fine but no culinary masterpiece. Homemade cornbread was a hit.

Honestly I have found that I really cant tell much difference in Chili between ground beef and turkey. Problem is that right now, ground turkey and ground beef are about the same price!

 

[mmksparbud]

Made some rice that I love but test my husband has not been able to eat before because it is too hot. But ever since he had his throat lazered, he can eat much hotter food, and now loves it. He, however, does not like the tuna in it--I love the tuna.

TUNA RICE


4 jalapenos, seeds and all
1 can chipotle peppers with seeds and all the sauce chopped
1 small onion
4 large garlic cloves
1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp oregano
salt
3 Tb butter
1/2 bunch of chopped cilantro
1/2 c diced carrots
1/2 c peas
4 c water (or broth or broth)
salt to taste
2-3 Tb butter--or oil of choice
1 12 oz can of tuna--with the liquid
2 C rice

If you want to sauté the onion and garlic and the rice first-- fine--most of the time I just bring everything but the tice to a rolling boil and then put in the rice, stir, when it starts boiling again, lower to simmer and cook, covered for 20 min. Fluff and cover again, off the heat, and let sit another 5-10 min.
Sounds like a lot of heat, but hubby loves to put chees on top and sour cream--that tones it down--tones it down too much for me. I use the heat of chilies to help me with my pain levels. It releases your natural endorphins. This with a salad is all that's needed, esp with avocados in it.

I love tuna and rice for some reason. I used to make stuffed Jalapenos. Canned, whole and stuffed them with tuna salad (like you make for sandwiches, but with mayo and cilantro). I had some left over from a party and I took those and stuck them , whole, into some rice after I had brought it to boiling, then covered it and finished cooking it--that's when I found I loved the combination.

 

[DaisyDay]

I would like to have a good moist, gooyeee fruit cake recipe. I like a good fruit cake in the late fall and early winter. I just don't have a recipe, and I have to rely on the grocery store for the little fruit cake squares. I'd like one that is not baked, they are usually dry. Thanks.

What you need is boiled fruitcake - it's boiled first, then baked. It's not dry at all. In my family, we mostly use dried fruit instead of candied fruit except for the cherries.

This is from All Recipes.com:
Ingredients

• 12 ounces candied mixed fruit
• 5 ounces glace cherries, roughly chopped
• 2 ounces candied mixed citrus peel
• 2 ounces chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• 12 ounces sifted self-rising flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Line one 8 inch deep sided cake tin with parchment paper.
2. Place the fruit cherries, peel, walnuts, sugar, butter or margarine, mixed spice, baking soda and milk in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let mixture cool to body temperature.
3. Stir in the flour and the eggs. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Wrap outside of pan with brown paper or newspaper.
4. Bake at 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) for 40 minutes then reduce temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and continue to baking cake for 1-1/2 hours. Remove cake from oven and allow it to cool in tin for 5 minutes then turn it out onto a cooling rack, remove greaseproof paper and leave until cool. Cake can be stored for up to 6 months wrapped in foil and in an air tight tin.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2015 Allrecipes.com
Printed From Allrecipes.com 10/16/2015


I don't use candied fruit or citrus peel, just dried fruit - mainly cherries and apricots and a few prunes. I use mini silicon loaf pans so they remove easily. I like to decorate the tops with pecans and red and green glace cherries.

 

[MWood]

What you need is boiled fruitcake - it's boiled first, then baked. It's not dry at all. In my family, we mostly use dried fruit instead of candied fruit except for the cherries.

This is from All Recipes.com:
Ingredients

• 12 ounces candied mixed fruit
• 5 ounces glace cherries, roughly chopped
• 2 ounces candied mixed citrus peel
• 2 ounces chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup milk
• 12 ounces sifted self-rising flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Line one 8 inch deep sided cake tin with parchment paper.
2. Place the fruit cherries, peel, walnuts, sugar, butter or margarine, mixed spice, baking soda and milk in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let mixture cool to body temperature.
3. Stir in the flour and the eggs. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Wrap outside of pan with brown paper or newspaper.
4. Bake at 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) for 40 minutes then reduce temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and continue to baking cake for 1-1/2 hours. Remove cake from oven and allow it to cool in tin for 5 minutes then turn it out onto a cooling rack, remove greaseproof paper and leave until cool. Cake can be stored for up to 6 months wrapped in foil and in an air tight tin.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2015 Allrecipes.com
Printed From Allrecipes.com 10/16/2015


I don't use candied fruit or citrus peel, just dried fruit - mainly cherries and apricots and a few prunes. I use mini silicon loaf pans so they remove easily. I like to decorate the tops with pecans and red and green glace cherries.

Thanks. It sounds good. I'll give it a try.

 

[johndoo]

I made bread last night and used bread flour.
It wasn't quite as crusty but overall one of my best attempts.
It is slow fermentation method, no-knead, that you put in the fridge for a few days.

 

[mmksparbud]

The flour you use does make a difference, depends on what you want. I add a little semolina when I make a French type loaf. My husband likes a softer crust and a soft crumb. What I found is that if you add mayonnaise, the crumb is very soft. I bake 3 loaves at a time and freeze. For 3 loaves I use 1/2 C mayo. The semolina makes the crust crustier when you toast it, but the crumb is very soft still. Perfect for him. The first time I added mayo to bread, the bread was too soft. Had a hard time holding a sandwich. 2-3 Tb per loaf is good.
I made 5 loaves of fruitcake yesterday. Got them wrapped in a liquor soaked muslin. I do not drink myself, but who they're for do, including my husband so for fruitcake, I do add it. This is a blend of Bristol Cream sherry, apricot brandy and Myers dark plantation rum, equal parts each. Now I brush it once a week for 6 weeks, then once a month, though this time, it will be only fir the 6 weeks. 4 are going to friends who have helped us out without accepting money. This is one where I boil the candied fruit in the liquor, with orange juice concentrate, cream, butter, and sugar and simmer for 5 minutes. Then you have to let it cool. I'd have written down the recipe, but I didn't realize what "gooyee" fruitcake meant! Never herd that terminology before. If interested I'll write it down. But it will be for the 5 loaf (4 loaves for most loaf pans, 2 of my loaf pans are caste iron and they are a little smaller than most)----I don't want to stress my brain with cutting down the recipe right now---it's in a fragile condition right now, I just got up!

 

[johndoo]

Some new recipes this weekend:
Potato encrusted fish ( potato flake coating on cod and tilapia) Foodnetwork.com
Baked apples (hollow out an apple and place "filling" of apple ,honey, raisins, oatmeal and cinnamon)
Roasted cauliflower with thyme, garlic, olive oil

They all turned out OK.

 

[Mazvita]

How can i bake a nice fruit cake for christmas

 

[fantascey]

Now that I am looking at 65 in a few weeks, I am amazed that it took me this long to find out how great it is to cook with cast iron. Now that I can barely lift the things! I've owned a couple of restaurants and worked in several and always shied away from them as I found them too heavy and everything stuck to them. Now I find out it's because I didn't know anything about them. In fact, I has 2 small skillets (5-6 in.) and a 9 in square I picked up at a swap meet. The 9 in I would get out and scrub heck out of it once in a while for over 9 years--it was in horrible condition, burned. The little ones I hung on the wall above my stove as decoration. After I had to quite work and go on disability I started to learn about them and finished scrubbing up the 9 in. and then I started to use these. I found how to season them and take care f them and --wow---I got hooked. I have 2 5 qt dutch, and a 15 in. skillet that just stays on the stove due to it's weight. I just got 2 bread pans. There is nit one single thing that I have cooked that does not taste better! Why is that? Even the bread bakes more even and I get a much higher rise. My husband refused to try it for meat loaf, didn't think it would be any good--wrong! Now we wouldn't think of using anything else. 'roasts are so much better even than a crockpot. He is a little upset at the amount of money we've spent over the years on all those other pans. I am deathly afraid of dropping one, esp if it lands on my ceramic glass cooktop--it would shatter it.
Corn bread is also better.
I just finished making caramel, pecan cinnamon buns for hubby--but I had to use my old aluminum pan for that. I made 2 loaves of raisin cinnamon bread from the same dough and used my new bread pans and they rose very high and look just stunning.

What kind of recipes we looking for--any? I do a lot of baking, anyone interested in breads and such? Just experimented with carrot cake cookies that everybody went ape for. Worked on browned butter chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks. (3 different kinds, not all the chips in one---hmmm---I wonder?)--My husband loves cookies and we have friends that do us a lot of good deeds and we give them cookies and other baked goods in thanks as they know we have no money. Work for goodies!

I am interested in breads. I bake a lot too but its usually stuff like pies and cakes. Do you have a normal bread recipe? like pizza dough maybe or breadsticks... I tried making zucchini bread a bit ago, which everyone loved! However, as my grandmother did say, as much as she loved it, it still wasnt really bread. It was more like cake. so i really made zucchini cake and just didnt put icing on it apparently. I am wanting to make some pizza calzones next week, and would love to make the dough myself.
thank you!

 

[mmksparbud]

p

I am interested in breads. I bake a lot too but its usually stuff like pies and cakes. Do you have a normal bread recipe? like pizza dough maybe or breadsticks... I tried making zucchini bread a bit ago, which everyone loved! However, as my grandmother did say, as much as she loved it, it still wasnt really bread. It was more like cake. so i really made zucchini cake and just didnt put icing on it apparently. I am wanting to make some pizza calzones next week, and would love to make the dough myself.
thank you!

Hawaiian Bread
2 loaves
6 cups all-purpose flour,
⦁ 2 Tb potato flour
⦁ 1/2 c powdered milk
⦁ 3 eggs
⦁ 2 cups pineapple juice
⦁ 1/2 c sugar
⦁ 1/4 c brown sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon ginger
⦁ 2 teaspoon vanilla
⦁ 2 (1/4 ounce) envelopes yeast
⦁ 1⁄2 cup oil (or coconut oil) and 2 tsp butter flavor
⦁ 2 1/2 tsp salt

1. Beat the eggs. Add the pineapple juice, sugar, ginger, vanilla, and butter.
2. Place 3 cups of flour in a large bowl. Stir in the egg mixture until well-combined. Sprinkle in the yeast, one packet at a time, and mix.
3. Add the remaining 3-cups of flour and mix in . Knead for at least 5 min, Cover the bowl with a cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
4. Place in greased and floured loaf pans or shape into rolls. Cover and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or golden brown.


Sicilian Pizza
Dough:
2 1/4 c a.p. flour (11 1/4 oz)
2 C semolina (12 oz)
2 1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 c ice water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast
2 Tb olive oil
Stir together the flours, sugar and yeast. Add the oil to the ice water and slowly drizzle into the flour while kneading till no dry patches appear. Cover and let sit 10 mi9n. And salt and knead for 6-8 min. Turn out unto floured counter and knead into a smooth ball.
Place in well oiled bowl, turning to cover with oil, cover with wrap and refrigerate 24-48 hours.

Sauce:
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Process in blender until smooth. In a pan, heat:
2 Tb olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
until garlic ALMOST browned over med. heat. Add:
1 Tb tomato paste
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed and patted dry (does not taste fishy when done)
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
Mix well stirring fir about 30 seconds, Add the processed tomato puree. Simmer 25-30 min, until thick. Let cool and refrigerate until ready to use.

Spray a half sheet pan with cooking spray. Add 3 Tb olive oil and spread evenly. Lightly flour counter top and the top of the dough and with fingers, pat out to 9X12 in. rectangle. Roll out gently into 18X13 in. rectangle and transfer to sheet pan. Work into corners. Spray top of dough with cooking spray, place plastic wrap right on top of the dough and place another sheet oan on top of it. Let rest 1 hour. Preheat oven to 500. Remove top pan and plastic wrap, Spread dough back into corners if needed. Spread sauce evenly over dough, sprinkle with
2 oz fresh grated Parmesan
12 oz whole milk grated mozzarella
Place pan in oven , turn down to 450 and bake for 25 min., until crust is browned, rotating 1/2 way through. Remove from oven, let cool. Run knife around edges and remove from pan unto cutting board to cut.

 

[mmksparbud]

What kind of bread recipes you interested in? Do you want sourdough--whole wheat--?

 

[mmksparbud]

PIZZA DOUGH--(can be used for Calzone)
1 pkg yeast (I only use the fast rising)
1 tsp sugar
1 C water
2 tsp salt
2 Tb olive oil
1 1/2 c bread flour
1 1/2 c AP flour
Mix all together. mix thoroughly and knead X 10 min. Dough should be soft, not sticky. Add more flour or water as needed for right consistency. Form dough into a round ball and place in lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled--about one hour. Preheat oven to 500. Turn out into a lightly floured counter. Roll and stretch the dough into a cylinder and divide into 3 equal pieces. Cover and let rest for 10 min.
Roll or pat each piece into a 12 inch circle, about 1/8 in. thick. Dust pizza paddle with flour and slide it under the dough. Brush the crust with a thin layer of olive oil, Top with favorite toppings. Slide the pizza unto hot pizza stone or pan and bake for about 10 min until crust is golden brown and crisp.
Sauce:
1 can 6 oz tomato paste
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 c water
2 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp sugar
Bring all to boil and simmer 2-3 hours till thick. 1 c of sauce will do 3 pizzas, using 1/4 c for each.
Sautee until soft: (this is hubbies favorite)
2 bell peppers, sliced thin
1 onion sliced thin
1 can black olives, sliced
I garlic clove, minced
Divide into 3rds and sprinkle over the pizza sauce
Cheese:
24oz (Mix of Mozzarella, Provolone, colby/jack-- shredded (or whatever you want)--Sprinkle over the veggies (6-7 oz per pizza)
Top with 12 oz turkey peperone (about 4 oz each pizza)