What''s cooking...?

[PoodlesAgain]

Early-pandemic days, we had a flurry of cooking projects.

Did y'all carry on?

I did not, but today, right now, actually, I am making Irish soda bread!

In the coming week, it will be slow cooker new-to-me stuff: honey pork chops, and a choucroute look-alike, keilbasa+sauerkraut+potatoes+cardamon seeds.

[mickey]

How does cooked poodle taste?
How do you cook poodles?

[PoodlesAgain]

How does cooked poodle taste?
How do you cook poodles?

All bones (did you ever pet a standard poodle?), not worth it.

Pugs, OTOH...

[Gear_Junky]

keilbasa+sauerkraut+potatoes+cardamon seeds.

Great topic! I definitely love cooking and baking (mainly because I like eating and you can't buy them like you make them).

I don't use a slow cooker usually, no need while the oven works, but I've grown to like sauerkraut with kielbasa, even though the versions you typically see at large gatherings (back when that was a thing) tend to be murky, sour and dull. I put the slices of kielbasa on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven a bit to get some nice color. Then I sautee a good amount of onions until caramelized and then I combine it all and let it slow cook for a while until integrated with the kraut. I found I like sauerkraut in jars from ALDI, natural but cheap. Canned stuff is not for me. I also add a bit of maple syrup to this - to cut through the acidity. I never liked potatoes cooked in this - acidity kind of ruins the cooking process of potatoes (it's not my guess, it's a chemistry fact). If I wanted to add potatoes, I would maybe just boil or bake them half way prior to adding in.

Slow cookers cook well but another reason I find slow cookers more hassle than is worth is that for best flavors things need to be browned first, onions - caramelized or sauteed, meat items - roasted or pan fried to brown, so I end up dirtying more than one pot. So I just use a nice heavy stainless soup pot or an enameled cast iron dutch oven. One pot meals. I.e. I love classic stews like pot roast, or the french versions of beef/chicken stews or even Italian bolognese. Everything gets done in one pot, added in layers, then covered with lid and tossed in the oven for the slow cooking step. It's the same exact thing. Slow cookers are awesome to keep food hot for serving. Or to make oatmeal and other porridge overnight.

I have an electric oven, I guess I could see someone who uses gas not wanting to leave it on and leave house, so in that case - totally

[Gear_Junky]

P.S. I also bake bread at home, have been since the casedemic started. Most times it's just a basic white loaf based on my breadmaker's "french" recipe, so I let the machine knead and rise the dough but then I take it out and bake in the oven, it tastes better this way. I do use my sourdough leaven in it for flavor, though.

[PoodlesAgain]

P.S. I also bake bread at home, have been since the casedemic started. Most times it's just a basic white loaf based on my breadmaker's "french" recipe, so I let the machine knead and rise the dough but then I take it out and bake in the oven, it tastes better this way. I do use my sourdough leaven in it for flavor, though.

I was thinking of using the breadmaker + oven bake, but it turns out my overnight no-knead works pretty good. Always a whole and regular flour halves.

Nice tips on sauerkraut ^^. silly how both ingredients are already cooked but you need to have them blend in with the other additions. Potatoes?

[mickey]

Nice tips on sauerkraut ^^. silly how both ingredients are already cooked but you need to have them blend in with the other additions. Potatoes?

Are you meaning that sauerkraut is cooked? If you are, be aware it is NOT unless you cook it.
I prefer Korean sauerkraut to the European kind, it is called kimchee. And it isn't cooked either.
Sauerkraut = fermented cabbage.

[PoodlesAgain]

@mickey I am thinking of the store-bought stuff, which, i believe, only need reheating?
@Gear_Junky can confirm?

Have not used the stuff much as it lacks spicing, but the recipe I mentioned above insists on adding the cardamom, giving it the kick I miss.

[fatjack]

Store bought sauerkraut or kim chee is likely pasteurized. However glass jar vs can is pure science , you want glass as kraut reacts with metal giving it a metallic off taste. Unfortunatly I haven't been cooking since Feb. and it's getting cool enough again for roasts , stews and soups.

[Gear_Junky]

Cabbage is safe to eat whether fresh/raw, fermented or cooked. Proper kraut is not cooked as Mickey stated. Canned stuff is cooked due to the way canning works (and non-reactive can lining exists). Jars are probably pasteurized, otherwise they'd need to be refrigerated (and could bulge). You can always get "live" uncooked kraut but that only matters for fresh eating (very healthy), not for cooking with. Even easier to make your own. For fresh eating I like the Russian-style kraut that includes carrots for sweetness and also cranberries. It comes out sweet and sour and is delicious. Requires "winter" cabbage. Recipes are online but it's basically involves shredding and then adding salt and waiting.

P.S. And yes, kimchee is awesome, too. There's also a version of fermented cabbage from transcaucasian region where it's not shredded but in chunks (like flat segments of a cabbage head, I don't know how else to describe it), colored with beets, garlicky and spicy. That stuff is awesome.

[Gear_Junky]

... it's getting cool enough again for roasts , stews and soups.

Yes, I would say THOSE are my favorite things to make. I always chuckle when friends praise me for a roast and I always tell them that it was the oven that made it. There's nothing to it.

What is your favorite stew and soup? Ok, that's not fair, name several favorites. Mine are picnic ham or shoulder pork roast, prime rib and leg of lamb.
For soups I love almost all of them but particularly pureed creamy soups like baked potato chowder.

Right now we're eating through a pot of borscht and last night I added just a thimble of peated scotch into my bowl. That was awesome! It's not for the booze, it's for the peaty aroma, even a few drops of Laphroaig, Lagavulin or Ardbeg will do or even a peaty blend. I can see this working in hearty meaty soups like Italian wedding soup, maybe beef barley.

[fatjack]

2 favorite soups would be a chicken vegetable loaded with green beans, limas corn, okra and tomatoes cooked with leg quarters or breasts and shredding the chicken just before dinner this in cooked in broth. Or the beef version which would be top round cubed in broth with the veggies and maybe barley. Roasts tend to be pot roast with chuck or roast pork either shoulder or loin with roast veggies taters, onion, carrots, mushrooms and the like. Haven't done chicken and dumpling in ages.

[dearlpitts]

I v cook in over 30 restaurants, Ben a saus chef and a chef at very nice hilton. Love cookin

[uwmcscott]

We are pretty much back in full on quarantine/lockdown (albeit not mandated ) here in WI so will likely be staying home for the holidays and doing lots of cooking. I enjoy soups/stews this time of the year and have multiple crock pots/dutch ovens that will likely see plenty of use. I also enjoy outdoor cooking ( grilling, smoking ) and we do a fair amount with our scout troop. We have an equipment trailer filled with cast iron ovens/pots and some heavy duty camp-chef propane stoves. I enjoy experimenting with alternative cooking methods too - oddball stoves, pit cooking, etc.

One thing I've always wanted to try is building my own wood-fired oven to make pizza and bread. GEtting a little cold out to do any mortar work this year, but I have seen some creative makeshift versions on youtube built with some bricks and slabs of tile.

[Partscaster]

Just ate a big pan of homegrown potatoes, boiled a bit and then fried in a huge pan. Added it to onions already cooked down, some garlic, homegrown cherry tomatoes..a good amount of bacon..then cheesed it out with a lot of cheddar, jack, and parmesan.
Also stirred in horseradish before the final cheese spread and melt. Had a horseradish hankering. Man, it was perfect. Shoulda had a beer..but can not remember the last booze I bought...some months ago. I'm getting ready for a blowout 12 pack. I can feel it.

[ID10t]

Just ate a big pan of homegrown potatoes, boiled a bit and then fried in a huge pan. Added it to onions already cooked down, some garlic, homegrown cherry tomatoes..a good amount of bacon..then cheesed it out with a lot of cheddar, jack, and parmesan.
Also stirred in horseradish before the final cheese spread and melt. Had a horseradish hankering. Man, it was perfect. Shoulda had a beer..but can not remember the last booze I bought...some months ago. I'm getting ready for a blowout 12 pack. I can feel it.

If you grind your own horseradish it will change the way you look at store bought stuff. It freezes well, which is good because it loses its punch quickly when you don't add all the chemicals. I can generally only get a root in January/February. I suppose I could look on the Google box.

[Gear_Junky]

Just ate a big pan of homegrown potatoes, boiled a bit and then fried in a huge pan. Added it to onions already cooked down, some garlic, homegrown cherry tomatoes..a good amount of bacon..then cheesed it out with a lot of cheddar, jack, and parmesan.
Also stirred in horseradish before the final cheese spread and melt. Had a horseradish hankering. Man, it was perfect. Shoulda had a beer..but can not remember the last booze I bought...some months ago. I'm getting ready for a blowout 12 pack. I can feel it.

If you grind your own horseradish it will change the way you look at store bought stuff. It freezes well, which is good because it loses its punch quickly when you don't add all the chemicals. I can generally only get a root in January/February. I suppose I could look on the Google box.

Agreed, horseradish is awesome. But if you DO grind your own, wearing a diaper on your face won't be enough. Wear some real PPE. That stuff is serious.

[Gear_Junky]

Just ate a big pan of homegrown potatoes, boiled a bit and then fried in a huge pan. Added it to onions already cooked down, some garlic, homegrown cherry tomatoes..a good amount of bacon..then cheesed it out with a lot of cheddar, jack, and parmesan.
Also stirred in horseradish before the final cheese spread and melt. Had a horseradish hankering. Man, it was perfect. Shoulda had a beer..but can not remember the last booze I bought...some months ago. I'm getting ready for a blowout 12 pack. I can feel it.

Parboiled and then fried potatoes are AWESOME - it's a method similar to french fries (which are fried twice, 1st to cook the center, 2nd to crisp up and brown the exterior).

Speaking of potatoes, an awesome dish is the Spanish "tortilla" (which has NOTHING to do with corn chips). It's made of sliced potatoes, onions and eggs with some paprika. Recipe is not very important, it's more of a method. One of the tapas dishes. I can't recommend it enough. It's a bit laborious but not truly difficult. Make a large skillet or even two. Eats awesome hot, warm or even cold.

[ID10t]

Just ate a big pan of homegrown potatoes, boiled a bit and then fried in a huge pan. Added it to onions already cooked down, some garlic, homegrown cherry tomatoes..a good amount of bacon..then cheesed it out with a lot of cheddar, jack, and parmesan.
Also stirred in horseradish before the final cheese spread and melt. Had a horseradish hankering. Man, it was perfect. Shoulda had a beer..but can not remember the last booze I bought...some months ago. I'm getting ready for a blowout 12 pack. I can feel it.

If you grind your own horseradish it will change the way you look at store bought stuff. It freezes well, which is good because it loses its punch quickly when you don't add all the chemicals. I can generally only get a root in January/February. I suppose I could look on the Google box.

Agreed, horseradish is awesome. But if you DO grind your own, wearing a diaper on your face won't be enough. Wear some real PPE. That stuff is serious.

Outside on a breeze day helps

[uwmcscott]

Agreed, horseradish is awesome. But if you DO grind your own, wearing a diaper on your face won't be enough. Wear some real PPE. That stuff is serious.

Outside on a breeze day helps
[/quote]

My father grew up as an everyday helper on my great-uncles farm, and it was still a working farm when I was very young so I got to help out at times. One of my favorite memories was the first time I helped out grinding horseradish. They had a huge patch of it, it is almost like a weed once it gets established. My aunt would not allow it to be done in the kitchen due to the smell, so we'd clamp one of those old hand-crank meat grinders on the end of a picnic table in the yard and grind away. My job was usually cleaning/peeling the root and cutting it into pieces that would fit in the grinder.

And yea,that smell is pretty serious even outside - but it's one of my favorite condiments, and nothing matches the burn of freshly ground. You feel it on the back of the roof of your mouth and then it continues up your nose....clears out the sinuses very quickly!

[ID10t]

Agreed, horseradish is awesome. But if you DO grind your own, wearing a diaper on your face won't be enough. Wear some real PPE. That stuff is serious.

Outside on a breeze day helps

My father grew up as an everyday helper on my great-uncles farm, and it was still a working farm when I was very young so I got to help out at times. One of my favorite memories was the first time I helped out grinding horseradish. They had a huge patch of it, it is almost like a weed once it gets established. My aunt would not allow it to be done in the kitchen due to the smell, so we'd clamp one of those old hand-crank meat grinders on the end of a picnic table in the yard and grind away. My job was usually cleaning/peeling the root and cutting it into pieces that would fit in the grinder.

And yea,that smell is pretty serious even outside - but it's one of my favorite condiments, and nothing matches the burn of freshly ground. You feel it on the back of the roof of your mouth and then it continues up your nose....clears out the sinuses very quickly!

That sounds similar to a family story about Grandma allowing Grandpa to make horseradish in the house ONE time, because she didn't know better. It will cure just about anything though. That is Kentucky (where my people came up) mountain medicine.
I am trying to grow a root with a graft from last years purchase. I'll dig up the side garden patch around January and see how it did.

[bleys21]

Well, while its not *technically* cooking, I am brewing an Okotberfest beer right now. Takes about 6 to 7 hours(with cleanup) to complete 5 gallons, I'm about 3 hours in right now.

[ID10t]

Well, while its not *technically* cooking, I am brewing an Okotberfest beer right now. Takes about 6 to 7 hours(with cleanup) to complete 5 gallons, I'm about 3 hours in right now.

I believe that *technically* it is cooking because at some point, heat is involved.
Then again, does salsa, guacamole, or ceviche qualify as cooking?
I move the change the thread to "preparing for consumption."

[PoodlesAgain]

Ah, brewing.

I have a complete all-grain setup sitting in the basement, and there is a new brew shop with ingredients near me.
What am I waiting for? Brew a simple, light pale ale first?

[Tonray's Ghost]

I recently bought an electric pressure cooker "Instant Pot" knockoff....used it a few times (winter squash, mushroom barley risotto, Red beans and rice, Chicken stew) this week going to make a wintertime classic Beef Barley soup. Post pics when I do. It frees up the watching it on the stove task..great device