THE SDN RECIPE THREAD!

[Dark Flame]

Super simple, to the point of being too obvious, but utterly amazing... Makes store bought taste like air.

Real Whipped Cream

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
4 heaping Tablespoons sugar

Put beaters and mixing bowl in freezer until chilled.
Beat all ingredients on medium-high until fluffy.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Soy Sauced <enter food name>

Soysauce : Water = 1:3 Chinese bowls
1/2 Onion, sliced
2 teaspoons of sugar (optional)
Chili Pepper or Jalepeno (optional)

Put in your food (meat chunks, diced ribs, tofu, bok choi, drumsticks, chicken wings, boiled eggs, carrots, turnips...etc), high power to boil, switch to low power, wait for ~1hr or so, depending on how much flavor you want.

ps. The soy sauce mixture, though not a soup, can be reused.


Beer Chicken Soup
Chicken Meat
Ginger (amount depending on taste)
Shittake Mushroom
Salt (amount depending on taste)
Can of beer

Put everything in the pot, pour all the beer inside, then fill can with water, pour it in the pot, boil, then turn to low power. 1/2 hr ~1 hr and there's your soup.

[J]

My fiancé learned the basics for this recipe from his dad, and then we improved upon it.

Really Amazing Salmon Recipe

Ingredients:

Salmon filets or salmon steaks
Bread crumbs
Salt
Mixed peppercorns in a pepper grinder
Dried basil or oregano
Half a lime
A bit of canola oil
Some toothpicks

Procedure:

Place the salmon on a large plate and dry with a paper towel, then squeeze lime juice onto it and spread it out evenly, do both sides if using steaks, flesh side only with filets. Then place half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of canola oil on each side and spread it out with your fingers. If you're using steaks, pin the stomach sides together with a toothpick or two so they don't flop around and fall apart in the frying pan.

From here down, do both sides with steaks, flesh side only with filets.

Sprinkle salt on the salmon, then pepper from the pepper mill grinder thingy. Then crush the dried oregano or basil with your hands and sprinkle it on until you have about 70-90% coverage. Sprinkle on bread crumbs to help keep everything from sticking to the pan, and to give extra crispness & juicyness to the salmon.

Get a non-stick teflon frying pan and put a couple tablespoons of oil in it. Get it up to medium to medium-high heat and drop the salmon in there. If you're cooking filets, cook the flesh side first, it makes life a lot easier. Flip it after 5-7 minutes depending on thickness, cook another 5-7 minutes and you're done.

Don't forget to remove the toothpicks!

It also works great for barbecues in the summer, though you'll want to watch out for flareups. Salmon can be rather fatty sometimes.



Which leads to...

Salmon & Bacon Caesar Wraps

Ingredients:

Leftover Salmon from above
Romaine lettuce
Couple strips of bacon (cooked, probably leftovers)
Caesar dressing
Large tortilla wraps

Procedure:

Wash and rip up a few large leaves of Romaine lettuce, add Caesar dressing and make a nice Caesar salad in a large bowl.

Cut or break up the salmon into 1-2cm pieces, cut the bacon strips into small bits, then add both to the Caesar salad in the bowl. Mix everything together nicely.

Get a large plate and put a big tortilla wrap in it. Scoop up a couple handfuls of the salmon Caesar salad and place it in the wrap, then roll up the whole thing into a nice big wrap. Make wraps till you're out of salad.

[Edi]

Edi's chicken curry

Ingredients

• 1 pound / 450 grams of sliced chicken fillet, not spiced or prepared
• 1 onion, medium or large size
• 2 dl of cream (1 tin)
• 2 dl of coconut cream
• curry
• garam masala
• ground, dried coriander
• curcuma (or whatever it's called if not that)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic (or more, if you prefer)
• 1 cube of broth concentrate (beef, vegetable or chicken)
• enough rice for 4 people
• 1 wide and deep pan
• 1 pot for rice

Procedure

• Chop onion and garlic cloves, toss them into pan to fry and add the chicken fillet strips
• After the chicken has browned, add enough powdered curcuma and mix it to turn it all a nice yellow color
• Add 2-3 teaspoons of curry (whatever variety, though mixing different types yields better results, imo)
• Add ground coriander
• Add cream and coconut cream and stir
• Dice/crush broth concentrate and stir it into the mix
• Add garam masala
• Optionally add fresh green herbs such as persil (or is that parsnip in English?) for added flavor
• Boil slowly until it is to a consistency of your liking (won't take long)

The whole shebang shouldn't take more than 20 minutes, 25 if you're slow, so make sure you have prepared the rice so that it's ready a little before or at the same time as the curry. That'll obviously depend on whether you use instant rice or some other variety.

That should be enough for four people for one sitting (or three very large portions). Quick, easy and tasty. If it's too rich for your taste, reduce amount of cream and coconut cream and substitute water.

[Turin]

Winter Feast: Coq au Vin & Root Vegetables

This is a pretty simple recipe that looks really damn impressive and tastes incredible. This is French "peasant food," so it's a good recipe even if you're a total schmuck in the kitchen and want to impress a girlfriend or a girlfriend's parents or something. My version isn't terribly authentic, but it takes less time -- maybe an hour and a half from start to finish. There are a million variants on coq au vin, so as long as you don't have any ingredients when you're done, you've probably made something edible. You almost can't screw this up. Just take your time and relax and it'll be fine. It's a "winter feast" because of when the vegetables are in season, but also because it's a warm and hearty meal perfect for cold winter nights. Serve a bottle of red with it. This recipe will feed 6 people with reasonable portion sizes (one piece of chicken and a big helping of veggies), or maybe 4 portions for fatass Americans. Or make it for your girlfriend and then have leftovers for half the week.

The Ingredients
1 young whole chicken (preferably free range & organic; check your farmer's market)
1 bottle of red wine (750ml)
2 big handfuls of pearl onions
1 large yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
Big bunch of carrots (skin-on)
Big bunch of parsnips
Big bunch of turnips
Big handful of mushrooms (creminis or button are plenty good)
3 or 4 strips of bacon (this must be fatty pig bacon, that lean turkey shit won't work!)
A couple of sprigs of thyme and sage
Olive Oil
Butter
Lots of chicken stock (maybe a quart? enough to cover the vegetables when they go in the pot)

The Gear
Dutch oven or other very heavy large pot (enameled cast iron is the best)
Another large heavy pot (enough to hold most of the vegetables)
A smaller pot (enough to hold your stock)
A frying pan or skillet (this can be small, or you can reuse the small pot above if its non-stick)
Big ol' chef's knife
Tongs
Stirring implements

The Procedure

1. Vin: Pour a small glass of the wine. If you're cooking with wine, you never want to use something you wouldn't drink yourself. In this case, the wine will influence the flavor heavily, so pick a wine you like but is reasonably cheap. Traditionally this dish is made with Burgundy, but you can really use anything (I used an Italian Bardolino last time I made it). Take a sip to make sure it isn't funky or anything. Set the bottle and the glass aside.

2. Prep your vegetables: Trim and skin your pearl onions (you can probably get away with canned pearl onions, in which case just rinse and drain). Cut your big yellow onion into big chunks -- quarter it and cut the quarters in half. Smash the cloves of garlic with the flat of your knife, take away all the skin and root, and then roughly chop up what's left. Wash and trim (don't peel! just take the "hair" off) your carrots, turnips, and parsnips and cut them into big fat chunks, maybe 2" long. Wipe the mushrooms down with a damp paper towel and slice about 1/4" wide. Smile at your big ol' pile of beautiful veggies and take a sip of the wine you've reserved in the glass. Set all the vegetables to one side.

3. Butcher your chicken: Put the bird on a clean cutting board, away from your veggies. Put your fist up the bird's ass and pull out the packet of yukkos. With your biggest sharpest knife, cut off the wings and the legs at the thigh. Cut off the breasts. Leave on the skin! Put the carcass and the yukko packet in a tight plastic bag in the freezer to make stock with some other day. Or feed it to the dog, whatever. Wash up (see Note #2 below) and take sip of wine.

• Note #1: You don't have to use a whole bird if you want to get chicken parts at the grocer. But they really should be bone-on, and you need the skin. Otherwise you get dried and nasty bird, and who wants that? (PRO-TIP: skin and bones = flavor!)
• Note #2: Important safety item -- once you have finished butchering the bird, you must clean everything that so much as looked at the chicken, thoroughly, in order to avoid salmonella contamination. Of course, you can be slightly less paranoid about this if you have a free-range organic chicken... one more reason why you should try to get one!

4. Sear the bird: put the fire under a Dutch oven or other deep and heavy cookware. Once it's good and hot, drop a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil into the pan (PRO-TIP: the butter gives flavor and the oil conducts temperature better, preventing the butter from scorching). Once the butter foams and subsides, drop your bird pieces into the pot. Use tongs to move them around a bit until they are seared all over and have a bit of brown color to them. (While the bird is cooking, heat up your chicken stock.) Take a sip of the reserved wine.

5. Drop the Veggies: drop the pearl onions, a couple pieces of carrot, and about half your garlic in the pot with the chicken. In the other big pot (the one without a chicken in it), drop a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil. Wait until the butter foams and subsides, and then drop your big onion, your turnips and parsnips, the rest of your carrots, and the rest of your garlic (not the mushrooms!). Toss the veggies in the oil/butter. Give the onions and garlic in the chicken pot a couple good stirs too. Take a sip of the reserved wine.

6. Pour it on: Once the onions and garlic in the chicken pot have a little color, take the bottle of wine and pour the entire thing in the chicken pot. It should just barely cover everything. Drop your sage and thyme in there. Give it a good stir. Put on the lid, but leave it slightly cocked off to let the steam out. Bring it up to a boil and then lower the heat so that it's simmering just a bit. Meanwhile, stir your vegetables in the other pot and make sure they have a bit of color. Take your hot stock and pour it over the vegetables -- you need enough to cover everything. Bring this up to a boil and then lower the heat so that it's simmering just a bit. You're going to leave everything to sit for about 40 min. You're waiting for the wine to reduce down a bit so that it has just a bit of thickness and for the vegetables to turn into soft warm mouthfuls of goodness. The chicken will be done by then. Smile because you're practically done, and take a sip of the reserved wine.

7. Intermission Clean Up [Optional]: Because you have a little time, clean up your workspace. It will look more impressive for your girlfriend's mom when she shows up to a feast and you've got a clean kitchen! (And sure, finish off that glass of reserved wine -- you're an awesome cook, you deserve it!)

8. Bacon & Mushrooms: About 10 minutes before you're done, heat up a small frying pan until it's really hot. Drop in your bacon and fry it up until the fat renders off (i.e. turns into liquid). Pull the bacon out and shake it dry in the pan -- you want to get every bit of fat you can off it. Set the bacon aside and drop your sliced mushrooms into the bacon fat in the pan, frying them up good.

9. The Big Finish: Test the liquid in both dishes and season with salt & pepper to taste. Put a piece of chicken and a spoonful of the cooking liquid & pearl onions onto each plate. Top this off with a little bit of the mushrooms and prop up a couple half-pieces of the bacon. Use a big slotted ladle to put a whole bunch of the root vegetables onto each plate. You'll still get plenty of liquid but don't worry about shaking it off, this is supposed to be a little rustic. Open another bottle of wine, break up a baguette, serve, and enjoy.

[Turin]

Mom's Cheesecake

Actually, this is my great-grandmother's cheesecake, but my laminated photocopy of a typewriter-written recipe says "Mom's" so that's what I call it. Show up with this at a holiday dinner and it'll all be gone by the time folks are finishing their after-dinner coffee.

The Ingredients
1 lb cream cheese
1 lb creamed cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten lightly
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 lb melted butter
1 pint sour cream

The Gear
Large bowl
Electric mixer -or- sturdy spoon + strong arms
9" Springform pan
Cookie sheet or other flat oven-safe pan

The Procedure
Preheat your oven to 325F.

Beat the cream cheese in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the cottage cheese a little at a time and continue to beat. Beat in the sugar gradually, then the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour and corn starch. Add the butter and finally the sour cream, beat well. If you're doing this by hand, you're going to get a hell of a workout.

Fill the cookiesheet with about a centimeter of water and put in the oven on the lowest rack. Grease the springform pan with butter, and pour the mix in that pan. Put the springform pan w/ mix on the middle shelf of the oven.

Bake for 1 hour, then turn oven off. Leave in the oven for another 2 hours. Don't open the door! Once the resting time is done, remove from the oven and put in the fridge to chill for an hour or two before removing the pan.

[J]

A picture of the above salmon recipe. We experimented with baking it in our toaster oven this time instead of pan frying it. Different, but still really good. It's really tender and juicy when done right. We baked it for around 16 minutes at 400°F.

[The Jester]

[*]curcuma (or whatever it's called if not that)

kurkuma = tumeric powder

[*]Optionally add fresh green herbs such as persil (or is that parsnip in English?) for added flavor

persilja=parsley

I tried the recipe the other day, and I must admit it's pretty good (though all that cream makes it quite fatty).

This is an awfully good chicken recipe, though I would substitute the scallion with capsicum (green/red) and adding Chinese cabbage yields good results.

[Frank Hipper]

Turin:

That's an awfully tasty sounding Coq au Vin recipe, but I have to admit I'm addicted to Julia Child's version from her
The French Chef Cookbook of the 60's.

The biggest differences to overall flavor would be that she has you blanche some of the smoke flavor in the bacon out with simmering water first, then render the bacon fat, and then brown the chicken parts in the fat for about ten minutes 'til they're very crisp.
She then has you de-glaze the pan with a brandy flambe. She would have you add the cooked bacon at the point you add the wine, too.

She omits the turnips, yellow onion, and carrots, and recommends beef broth instead of chicken, and frys the mushrooms in butter instead of the bacon fat...

I've read elsewhere that a so-called "true" Coq au Vin cannot be made with young chicken, but that you need a tough, old, stewing hen, and to let the thing simmer all day, but only to the point where the meat is still a bit chewy.
Personally, I haven't seen a stewing hen available in a store since the 70's, though.

Coq au Vin is viewed in France, I imagine, like Cassoulet; there's only one correct version, and that correct version is different depending on which cook you talk to, and which day of the week you talk to them.

[Braedley]

I don't have the actual recipe in front of me, although to most, it should be fairly obvious.

You need:

• 3 cans of beer (most kinds will be fine, but you have to like them)
• whole chicken, prepped for roasting
• BBQ sauce as needed

Preheat oven. Open one can of beer, take one, small drink. Shove chicken over the open end of the beer. Apply BBQ sauce to exterior of chicken. Place in centre of oven, leave until cooked through (times will vary with temperature and size of chicken). Open another beer. Drink until oven timer goes off. Open last beer. Enjoy with your chicken.

==================

Okay, so this thread really should be stickied for those poor students among use who have to cook for themselves (ie me).

[Mr. Coffee]

I've got a similiar recipe, Braedley, but mine calls for at least a 12 pack and the use of a good charcoal grill w/smoker.

Edit:

A nice trick I use for cooking a whole bird is to get some of the sauce or rub I'm using for the bird under the skin. Just putting it on the skin and you end up with really flavorful skin, but not so much flavorful meat unless you're taking a long time to cook the bird. Take a knife and slit the slit the skin open around the drumsticks and wings, coat your fingers in butter or olive oil, and gently work the skin loose from the meat. be careful not to tear the skin, because you're going to need it for locking in the juices and flavor as it cooks. Then take some of your rub or sauce and work that into the meat under the skin. Then go ahead with sticking a can of beer about 2/3rd full up it's ass, set it upright, and let 'er smoke for a few hours.

[Broomstick]

While cooking my own version of pepper steak tonight, I recalled a strident conversation/argument with some people in the past I'm particularly hoping some of the Asian members of this board, or those who have lived in Asia, can answer some of my questions.

First, here's my recipe (measurements aren't exact, because I improvise when I cook, but consider them close to reality. Also, converted from Imperial to metric measurements which may result in unintentional hilarity)

170 gm lean beef, sliced into thin strips
2 bell peppers, also sliced thin
1 large onion, sliced into thin pieces
100 gm mushrooms, sliced thin
15 ml oil (do metric cooks usually measure oil in ml?)
15 ml (maybe a bit more) lower-salt soy sauce
a few dashes of ground black pepper

200 gm of brown rice.
250 ml of water

Cook rice in water. Start well in advance of the rest of it, because the rice will take a while to cook.

In a wok (or frying pan) add oil, soy sauce, and ground black pepper. Heat until sizzling. Add onion and stir until sizzling again. Add meat and stir until the outer surface of meat changes to "cooked" color. Add sliced peppers and mushrooms for a few more minutes of cooking.

Divide the rice into two bowls, divide what's in the wok and put it on top of the rice. Mmmmm... serves two.

Now, first argument is that I've had some people react with horror that this is a high-fat, high sodium meal. Certainly, typical restaurant stir fry/Chinese food can be that way, and it's fried, so it has to be bad, but really, split between two people that's less than an official serving of lean red meat, a small amount of oil and Kikkoman's "lite" or "lower sodium" soy sauce has slightly over half the sodium of regular soy sauce. No other salts or oils added. Is this really so terrible, when spread over 250 gm of cooked brown rice, 1 bell pepper, 1/2 a large onion, and 100 gm of mushrooms for each person? I personally think it's pretty healthy.

Anyhow,the second debate - I'm told that my cooking is horribly non-authentic. Whatever that means. When I'm done I have real food that I eat for a real dinner. I'm not from Asia. I happen to cook this in a wok, but that's in part because it's a convenient shape for this sort of cooking. On a certain level I don't care because it's my food, my house, and I like it. There are times when I strive to exactly follow an ethnic recipe but this isn't one of them. Mostly, I'm just curious as to how someone from another culture would view this "Chinese inspired" or "Chinese influenced" (cooking method, soy sauce) meal.

First of all, it would not surprise me if your average Chinese (or other representative Asian person) has never seen or eaten "pepper steak". Bell peppers, after all, are native to the Americas, not Asia. Then again, Chinese (and other Asian peoples) are just as capable as anyone else of adopting food from elsewhere so maybe this IS known in Asia - is it? Or would this be seen as something foreign?

Also, according to some people I'm a bad person because I don't add cornstarch to make a thick sauce. Well, cornstarch, in the sense of starch refined from maize, would be a relatively recent introduction to Asia, and certainly not known before 1500. It wouldn't surprise me if folks over there use a different plant starch. However, I don't particularly care for thick, gloppy sauces and much prefer the thin, tasty juice resulting from the above. My kitchen, my rules. But that got me thinking - in Chinese cooking in China, is the typical sauce/juice thick and gloppy or thin and runny? I realize this will, of course, vary with the dish, the cook, and so forth but I'm curious as to which is something you are more likely to encounter in China (or other stir-frying place).

And, of course, there's the cultural value of white vs. brown rice. I would never object to someone serving me white rice (I don't usually get a choice in restaurants, anyhow) and for some things, like sushi, it appears essential (yes, I know sushi is Japanese not Chinese and typically involves no cooking). However, for cooking at home I prefer brown rice (although sometimes I'll go crazy, use white, mix half and half, whatever). I realize to some people this makes me look all low-brow and peasant, but hey, I am of peasant background (Russian, not Chinese). Anyhow, my home, my kitchen, my rules. Still - is there a role for brown rice in modern Chinese cooking? Or is it viewed as, say, eating raw potatoes would be in the US (a little weird)?

Apparently, also, I'm not adding enough spices or seasoning. Not just quantities - not enough different ones. Well, I don't really enjoy recipes that require 14 different spices, 12 herbs, and a partridge in a pear tree. Those recipes can be good, of course, but keeping a large stock of a large variety of such things, properly rotated before they go stale, is not something I want to be bothered with. I'd rather spend my time picking succulent vegetables and excellent meat and enjoy their flavors.

I also have my doubts as to just how elaborate the daily cooking of the average Asian housewife is. I'm not talking about celebrations or special occasions, I'm talking about ordinary daily food. My impression is that typical daily fare is rice and lots of it, with some cooked vegetables and maybe some meat on top. I had a Phillapino lady sternly correct me on this, insisting her relatives back in the old country visited the market daily, used elaborate sauces and spice combinations, and so forth. Well, yes, if you don' t (or didn't) have much in the way of refrigeration you'd go shopping fairly often for perishables. But I'm thinking that, between seasonal variations in food and income limitations, not to mention the time required for household and childcare duties, that a lot of pretty plain food got and still gets cooked and eaten.

So... I'm not planning on changing my cooking, and I personally don't care if it's "authentic" or not, but I am curious as to how far away from authentic I am.

For additional reference, here is another one of my recipes:

170 gm chicken, cubed
1/4 kilo of greens - basically, a mix of whatever I have which may include any or all of the following: bok choy, spinach, turnip, parsley, radish tops, dandelions, mustard greens, collard greens. Lately, it's been half and half bok choy and spinach. I've also been know to throw in dulse, kombu, or nori if I have some, but it's minor component of the greens.
200 gm mushrooms, sliced thin
1 can of sliced water chestnuts
15 ml oil
15 ml lower salt soy sauce
4 gm teaspoon ground ginger

200 gm of brown rice.
250 ml of water

Cook rice in water.

In a wok add oil, soy sauce, and ginger. Heat until sizzling. Add meat and stir until the outer surface of meat changes to "cooked" color. Add water chestnuts, mushrooms, and greens.

Divide the rice into two bowls, divide what's in the wok and put it on top of the rice.

[Frank Hipper]

There's really only one rule for the true gourmet, and any classically educated chef will support it:

Eat what you enjoy, and fuck anybody who doesn't like it!

If you want white wine with beef, then drink what you like and shove it up the ass of any bourgoisie motherfucker that has the ill-bred poor manners to berate you for it!


As to Pepper Steak; yeah, your recipe is awfully American, very Chop Suey.

But, honestly; so what?

[Phantasee]

Repost this in the SDN Recipes thread started by Mr. Coffee!

[Frank Hipper]

I came, I saw, and I made this sticky.

(EDIT) And, I also merged Broomstick's thread, "Somewhat Rambling: Peppersteak, Authenticity, Ethnic Cooking" thread to this.

[The_Saint]

15 ml oil (do metric cooks usually measure oil in ml?)

More likely to use either tablespoon or teaspoon or "a dash of". Having only just found this thread I'll stick some recipes up when I get home..

[Broomstick]

My metric converter translated 1 tablespoon as 15 ml.

If you're metric, why do you still use tablespoons? Isn't that... reactionary?

[aerius]

I'd say it's because tablespoons are more common than graduated measuring cylinders in a typical kitchen.

[seblawlor]

Scrambled eggs

6 eggs, 2 bacon rashers, milk, butter, salt, cinnamon and toast if desired

Cook the bacon and while that's cooking mix the eggs, milk, salt and cinnamon together. Just add enough milk until the mix is the same colour as the butter. After the bacon is cooked drain most of the grease and fat out and drop some butter (a tablespoon is good) into the pan and melt it put the eggs in the pan on medium heat, stir as needed chop the bacon up and when the eggs are nearly done add the bacon. Take off the heat and put in a plate and add toast to the plate. Add more salt and cinnamon to taste. Enjoy.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Chewie's Beanless Bean Dip

3 Cans Dennison's beanless chilli
2 Packs cream cheese (plain)
1 can minced olives.
4 ground chiltepin peppers.

Combine in a saucepan over heat, stir until uniform texture. Garnish w/ jalepenos to taste. Serve w/ chips.

[Joker]

Here's one of my fav's. I don't make it that often but when I do it's great. I also just buy the tahini sauce.

1 cup dried peeled fava beans (7 ounces), soaked overnight
3/4 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup minced flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch of crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons water
Pure olive oil or canola oil, for frying
Tahini Sauce

Drain and rinse the favas and chickpeas and put them in a food processor. Add the onion, parsley, cilantro, garlic, baking powder, salt, cumin and crushed red pepper. Pulse, scraping down the side of the bowl, to form a coarse paste. Add the water and process until the mixture is gritty but fine and brilliant green. Scrape the paste into a bowl.

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees F. Scoop rounded tablespoons of the falafel mixture into the hot oil and fry in small batches until browned and crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels set over a wire rack and serve hot, with Tahini Sauce.

[Mad]

Slap Yo' momma ultra Artery-clogging death dip

I do something similar, except it's 2 1-pound rolls of country sausage, 2 8oz packs of cream cheese, and 2 cans of Ro-Tel tomatoes. Brown the ground sausage, drain, then throw everything into the crock pot. Guaranteed to reduce your lifespan, and worth it.

[Turin]

Oh!

Turin:

That's an awfully tasty sounding Coq au Vin recipe, but I have to admit I'm addicted to Julia Child's version from her The French Chef Cookbook of the 60's
<snip>
Coq au Vin is viewed in France, I imagine, like Cassoulet; there's only one correct version, and that correct version is different depending on which cook you talk to, and which day of the week you talk to them.

Somehow I lost this thread and didn't notice it'd been stickied and that you'd replied to it, Frank, but thanks! You've reminded me of a bit from Tony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, where he talks about cassoulet and tells you to ask a bunch of French chefs how to make it. There will be savage drinking, arguments, and quite possibly fisticuffs.

Broomstick: I think people get a little too wrapped up in "high fat" or "low sodium" or "30% more antioxidants!" or whatever. I was at a book signing by Michael Pollan recently and he has an interesting term for it: "Nutritionism". He has a rather simple dietary proscription: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." That and "If your grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, don't eat it." Keep to that and you'll generally have a healthy diet. (Obviously this might not hold if you have some kind of disease that has to be diet-controlled.) The food industry makes its money by fucking around with our food. Kellog's Brand Coca-Crispy-Nut-Flakes, "Now With More Vitamin C" costs a lot more money than a bag of plain oatmeal and a little bit of molasses or honey. If you're going to spend the time cooking, cook things that taste good and keep an eye on your portions. You'll end up happier and healthier!

Okay, I guess I should get off my soapbox and post a recipe, eh?

My girlfriend is a foodie like me and recently acquired The Silver Spoon, which is essentially the Italian Joy of Cooking, which has finally been translated into English. She slightly modified a recipe last night for us that was incredible. The recipe with her mods is below. It's very easy and pretty quick. I opened an Argentine Malbec with it -- it was slightly heavy for this dish but needed some aeration to soften the tannins.

The key to this recipe is the rosemary; you have to use fresh. You can substitute the fresh chile for dried, but using the amount of dried chile flakes I have below will result in a capriciously spicy dish. I like that, but fair warning!

Rosemary Spaghetti

The Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary needles, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
half a fresh chile or half a teaspoon of dried chile flakes
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes
1 Tablespoon all-purpose (or 00) flour
1 Tablespoon milk
12oz dry spaghetti
Big handful of freshly grated parmesean

The Procedure

1. Smash the garlic clove and then finely chop it. Also finely chop the rosemary needles. Heat the oil in a shallow pan. Add the rosemary, garlic, and chile and cook under medium-high heat for 2 min.
2. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 30min.
3. While the sauce is cooking, boil a big ol' pot of water and throw in the pasta.
4. Stir the flour into 1-2 tablespoons of warm water.
5. Season the rosemary sauce with salt, stir in the flour mixture and the milk.
6. Cook 5 minutes more.
7. Wait until the pasta is al dente, drain, and toss with the sauce.
8. Grate the parmesean over the finished pasta.

(edited because I read something wrong in my notes)

[J]

Bacon & Cheese Bagel


1 bagel
2 strips of cooked leftover bacon
some grated cheese

- Cut a bagel in half and spread some grated cheese on top of both halves
- Bake in a toaster oven until the cheese just begins to melt
- Remove from oven, and put the bacon on top of the cheese
- Bake for another minute or so, then turn off the toaster oven and let it sit for about another minute



Enjoy your artery clogging snack.

[Isolder74]

Dan's Beef Noodle Soup

1 Bone in Steak(any kind)
1 Soup Bone(if you can't find one one short rib will do)
1 20 ounce Sunkist soda
3 Carrots.
1 Medium Onion
I package egg noodles(or make your own, see My Mom's Turkey Soup)
(1 stalk celery, Not for me though )
2 Green peppers
1 Tbsp Italian blend seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder or one clove diced.
1 tbps Minced onions
1 tbsp Emeril's Essence
1/3 cup cider vineger
1 can Chicken or Beef Broth
Salt and pepper to taste.

Before hand prep a 2 liter bottle with frozen water inside it.

Dice the steak into 1/2 inch pieces and save the bone. You will need either a large crock pot or a large stock pot. In the pot put the Soda, Vinegar, Broth, Garlic, and all the seasoning into the pot and put in the meat to marinate. Put in the frig and marinate at least overnight. In the crock pot or on the stove(if using a stock pot) and add a few pinches of baking soda to kill the acid(add until the mixture stops fizzing) in the vinegar and bring to a boil. While it is coming to a boils finely dice the onions, and peppers. Slice the carrots(and celery) into 1/4 inch medallions and set aside. When the pot is boiling add the onions, peppers and Carrots(and celery) and turn the pot down to a simmer(Basically start the soup with the crock pot on high then turn it down to low). Stir occasionally if using a stock pot. A crock pot will pretty much cook itself at this point. Cook for at least 5 hours and then fish out the bones. Remove as much meat from the bones as you can discarding any gristle and return to the pot. Cook and hour more or keep on low until time to serve. Add the noodle about 15 mins before you plan to serve and bring back to a boil the turn back to a simmer.

The 2 liter bottle is for putting in the leftovers after serving the soup. Place the bottle inside the pot and the pot into the frig. This is to cool it quickly so the next time you use it you won't get sick off it.

Let me put it bluntly, a gallon of left over soup will take 3 days to completely cool otherwise.