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Post by Kasman on Jun 6, 2008 9:13:50 GMT -5
I am an all or nothing girl in myheart and I like to cook gourmet meals that people take photos of and drool over and talk about years. Now before you go thinking I have a huge head, this is what I like , not what always happens. My family has had to endure soime pretty yukky failures.  Luckily my hubby is a rough and ready off the cuff basic cook who manages to save my more imaginative endeavours. Every year at Christmas we have a turkey bake off, he does one baby turkey and I do another. After the third year he decided to chuck in his attempts and copy my now famous leek and mushroom stuffing. The next year I did goose. It was two hours late and awful - thank goodness there was so much other food! Our last foray into the world of fun cooking was a five course meal of lime and pepper calamari, artichokes with white truffle sauce, red thair chicken curry and beef wellington followed by cprepes with mascapone cheese and carmelised berries with drambui and creme. I'm ready to design a meal around your favourites if anyone wants to visit. ;D Oh the thing that chucks me out of a recipe? Mmm, I'm with MLM, recipe within a recipe if I'd known how to make it I wouldn't be needing a book woud I?  N PS What's your favourite food? I can vouch for Dreamfire's cooking - she cooked a wonderful dinner for my friend and I last year. Personally, I only cooks coz I eats, although I have a few things I do really well. I tend to stick to basics. Favourites? Depends on the mood. I love yum cha, and in particular chicken feet and taro and fried rice noodles. I love a well-cooked roast lamb (and I mean well done - can't handle bleeding meat) or turkey or chicken. I also love ox tail stew and vege soup in winter... And it's a funny thing but my picky-eater daughter will not eat her father's weird mishmash stews (she thinks they look like road kill and I totally agree with her - I won't eat 'em either, not that I have to...), but just give her a plate of ox tail, strange as that may be... ;D |
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Post by hoosier on Jun 6, 2008 17:44:00 GMT -5
A deal breaker for me is anything that takes an inordinate amount of time to prepare, for example something that has to set once you've put it together for 2-3 hours (or more) before you can do anything with it. If I want it I want it now, not next week! I also will not fix anything that involves veal or lamb. I know, I know but all I can think of are their cute innocent faces and I just can not do it.  Favorite food? Pizza anytime, anywhere. Lo Mein noodles. In the winter it has to be chili. And right now, strawberries!!!!! |
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Post by Colorado girl on Jun 6, 2008 18:42:45 GMT -5
My latest dish is chicken Enchiladas using the roasted whole chicken at the grocery store. I can't make them very often as I can't stop eating them!!! Can you share the recipe? Please? My "deal-breaker" is the "recipe-within-a-recipe." For example, I've read three fourths of a recipe and and the next instruction is something like "Prepare Incredibly Complicated Sauce, p. 236." I don't even bother turning to page 236, I just look for another recipe!  I would love to share the recipe with anyone. However the deal breaker on this would be that with some of my cooking, especially with Mexican cooking, I don't measure the ingredients. I will fix this dish and see if I can get the measurements down to share real soon. |
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Post by inuvik on Jun 7, 2008 11:37:19 GMT -5
Can you share the recipe? Please? My "deal-breaker" is the "recipe-within-a-recipe." For example, I've read three fourths of a recipe and and the next instruction is something like "Prepare Incredibly Complicated Sauce, p. 236." I don't even bother turning to page 236, I just look for another recipe! I would love to share the recipe with anyone. However the deal breaker on this would be that with some of my cooking, especially with Mexican cooking, I don't measure the ingredients. I will fix this dish and see if I can get the measurements down to share real soon. Thanks for your sacrifice Lindy. |
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Post by Colorado girl on Jun 17, 2008 12:27:10 GMT -5
Are you a Martha or Maxine?   *Martha's Way* Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of an ice cream cone to prevent ice cream drips. *Maxine's Way * Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake! You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it, anyway! Martha -To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes. Maxine -Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix. Keeps in the pantry for up to a year. Martha -When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake. Maxine -Go to the bakery! They'll even decorate it for you. Martha -If you accidentally over salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant 'fix-me-up.' Maxine - If you over salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too bad. Please recite with me the real woman's motto: 'I made it, you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes!' Martha -Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks. Maxine - Celery? Never heard of it! Martha - Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish. Maxine - The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust, so I don't. Martha - Cure for headaches: take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away. Maxine - Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink! 'All' your pains go away. Martha - If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jar s easy. Maxine - Go ask that very cute neighbor if he can open it for you. Martha - Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces. Maxine - Leftover wine? ? HELLO !!!!!!! |
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Post by Chris on Jun 18, 2008 17:41:50 GMT -5
KARMA, LINDY!!!!
- Maxine!!!!! ;D
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Post by hoosier on Jun 18, 2008 18:59:54 GMT -5
Lindy, add my karma to your total! That was hilarious! I guess I am more Maxine than Martha. My belief is if I spend an inordinate amount of time making anything I think that it should be admired, and me praised, for at least one minute (preferably more but hey, you take what you can get!) before it is devoured.
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Post by Colorado girl on Jun 19, 2008 17:53:04 GMT -5
Lindy, add my karma to your total! That was hilarious! I guess I am more Maxine than Martha. My belief is if I spend an inordinate amount of time making anything I think that it should be admired, and me praised, for at least one minute (preferably more but hey, you take what you can get!) before it is devoured. Thanks for the karma! As much as I wish I were Martha, I have to admit, I too, am more like Maxine.  |
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Post by Kasman on Jun 20, 2008 7:10:12 GMT -5
Definitely a Maxine here. ;D
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Post by carl1951 on Jun 26, 2008 0:32:14 GMT -5
I'm neither Maxine or Martha. (I just had to say it.)
Karma to you.
Later, Carl
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Post by mlm828 on Jun 28, 2008 19:52:46 GMT -5
This week my local paper ran an article pointing out that with skyrocketing food prices, we may actually have to start cooking from scratch (gasp!) instead of relying on takeout and prepared foods from the supermarket. They helpfully published some recipes to get us started, including one for spaghetti and meatballs, which is something I haven't prepared in ages.
When trying a new recipe, I usually follow it pretty closely the first time. I only made one change in this one. It said to put the meatballs in the sauce to cook them. I was afraid they would fall apart if I did this, so I browned them first. (A similar recipe in The Joy of Cooking said to brown the meatballs before putting them in the sauce). Most of them fell apart anyway, so I have spaghetti and meatballs and meat sauce. It tastes fine, but I want to know what I did wrong and how to keep the meatballs from falling apart next time.
Any advice?
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Post by rducasey on Jun 30, 2008 6:52:05 GMT -5
This week my local paper ran an article pointing out that with skyrocketing food prices, we may actually have to start cooking from scratch (gasp!) instead of relying on takeout and prepared foods from the supermarket. They helpfully published some recipes to get us started, including one for spaghetti and meatballs, which is something I haven't prepared in ages. When trying a new recipe, I usually follow it pretty closely the first time. I only made one change in this one. It said to put the meatballs in the sauce to cook them. I was afraid they would fall apart if I did this, so I browned them first. (A similar recipe in The Joy of Cooking said to brown the meatballs before putting them in the sauce). Most of them fell apart anyway, so I have spaghetti and meatballs and meat sauce. It tastes fine, but I want to know what I did wrong and how to keep the meatballs from falling apart next time. Any advice? Let me start by saying, I will never win any culinary awards. My family will attest to this. Now that said, I have always made my meatballs (adding egg to hold them together) rolled them to about golf ball size and dropped them right into the bubbling sauce. They never fall apart and cook with a great firmness. One time i tried browning them first and found they did fall apart as the cooked part tended to fall right off when dropped in the sauce. I then went back to doing them the other way. (hint: once you have dropped them in, turn the heat back so it is not banging them around and cover and simmer for quite a while.) |
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Post by mlm828 on Jun 30, 2008 12:35:52 GMT -5
Thanks for the advice! It still seems counter-intuitive, but I'll follow the recipe next time around. |
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Post by hoosier on Jun 30, 2008 19:00:34 GMT -5
My grandmother had a recipe we call "old-fashioned spaghetti" (why old-fashioned I don't know) which uses ground beef not made into meatballs. You brown the beef with some onion, then add tomatoes and beans (red or kidney whichever you prefer) and simmer. I usually add some tomato sauce or paste. When finished, we put in the cooked spag or you could ladle it over your spag if you like it that way. It gets thick. I like to add a dollop of horseradish to mine.
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