[March Discussion]: Mmmmmm....Yummy!

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Thai curry paste? I have no idea. Maybe... :D

 

That sound both tasty and simple. Do you use fresh or frozen broccoli?

 

i use fresh, because it's always in the stores now, but you can use frozen.  you;re only pleasing yourself.

 

i do the same thing with chick peas, or green peas, it's really good, and higher protein content.

 

in the summer i use whatever there's too much of in the garden, and in the off season, whatever's looking good in the store.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

and hey, hi Nikon, and thanks for participating, and... thanks everybody, i know i haven't been able to respond to every post like i wanted to but... really appreciate everything y'all take the time to say.

 

this is definitely my favorite subject to read or type about. 

[Niniel]

 

Thai curry paste? I have no idea. Maybe... :D

 

That sound both tasty and simple. Do you use fresh or frozen broccoli?

 

i use fresh, because it's always in the stores now, but you can use frozen.  you;re only pleasing yourself.

 

i do the same thing with chick peas, or green peas, it's really good, and higher protein content.

 

in the summer i use whatever there's too much of in the garden, and in the off season, whatever's looking good in the store.

 

I should try this. Don´t like peas but love broccoli.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

I'm playing hooky tomorrow, and I'll do almost nothing but type and cook.

 

fair warning.

[Songstress]

How, and when, and why did you learn to cook?

I pretty much absorbed cooking by osmosis watching my mom, who stayed at home most of my childhood and is a pretty great cook. 

 

Do you like any particular cooking shows?  Hate any?

Alton Brown is always awesome.  I haven't had cable in a few years, but when I did I used to love to watch Emeril, Iron Chef (yes, my husband was a big fan of the original Japanese version and we watched it regularly), and Rachel Ray.  Couldn't stand to watch Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. 
 

Do you have a favorite cookbook?

I have a couple of cookbooks that I reference from time to time - 365 Ways to Cook Chicken, Recipes to Lower Your Fat Thermostat (was good when I was on a very strict diet several years back), and a Campbell's Soup cookbook that my mom gave me when I moved out.  Most of my recipes I get from the Internet, though - Food.com, Allrecipes,com, Foodnetwork.com, or from Pinterest.
 

Do you keep a family recipe book?

When I moved out my mom gave me a half-sized 3 ring binder with recipe cards that had a bunch of my favorites of what she used to make.  My brother and his first wife got a little recipe book with his favorites when they got married also.  We really don't have a lot of traditional family recipes, though, passed down through the generations.  My grandmother wasn't really much of a cook to be honest, and the food tradition was pretty limited in our family before my mom started experimenting.
 

Do you like to cook alone, or with company?

 

I have a very small kitchen as well, so having additional people in the kitchen can be a little... nerve-wracking.  I do enjoy cooking with other people when there's space for it, like at my sister-in-law's house, in a well-designed kitchen.  And I very rarely do much cooking when it's just going to be me eating it.
 

What memories do specific foods, or cooking certain recipes invoke? Does food make you think of any special times, or people?

Oh, always, too many to name. 
 

Do you follow recipes to the letter or work on whim and whimsy?

 

The first time I make something, I follow the recipe pretty strictly - maybe a few substitutions.  After that, I'm a bit more free with experimentation, but I have a hard time just throwing together ingredients to make something amazing without a framework to build from at least.
 

Do you try to make food healthy, or good, or… is it possible to do both? 

 

Both wherever possible.  If not possible, I prefer good.
 

Do you have any favorite recipes to share?

Oh, I'm sure I will! 

 

For now, here's the last thing I made - dinner tonight, and... quite yummy:

 

http://www.laaloosh.com/2012/12/12/crock-pot-indonesian-chicken-recipe/
 

Do you want any recipes?  I love to share.  Recipes.

 

Absolutely.  Will check out the Ogier cookbook for sure.

 

Kaylee is getting ready to move into my spare bedroom, and has been spending most weekends at my house lately, so I've been working on collecting good recipes that use no dairy ingredients as she is allergic to dairy (not just lactose intolerant, unfortunately).

 

How, and what and... why do you all like to cook? or.. why don't you, if you don’t?

 

I love to cook for other people.  I couldn't tell you all the reasons why, maybe it's just to make them happy when I give them something yummy. 

 

Lately I've been on a crock pot cooking spree, because it's easy to throw everything in there and turn it on low before I go to work, and come home to a fully cooked meal... or put it on high and let it cook while I'm at church.  I love opening the front door to the scent of something delicious that's ready to eat.  Otherwise, by the time I get home, I'm too hungry to want to wait to cook anything that doesn't involve less than 15 minutes and a microwave.

[Niniel]

That chicken sounds delicious. I´m not very fond of ginger. A little in tea or chocolate is okay but I don´t like when it takes over.

[Ithillian Turambar]

What memories do specific foods, or cooking certain recipes invoke? Does food make you think of any special times, or people?

 

I like cooking big Sunday roasts with roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings and gravy and mash with real butter mmmmmmmm. Is nice to be able to all sit round the table and eat. I like doing big family dinners like this and serving far too much food so everyone is totally stuffed, and then I serve pudding I also like making up a whole load of curries and the stuffs that go with them for epic poker nights.

 

 

Do you follow recipes to the letter or work on whim and whimsy?

 

I do like following recipes, but I don't often have the time hopefully as things settle down a bit I will have more time to try new things. With new things I do follow the recipe but with more familiar things I tend to just knock them together lol

 

 

Do you try to make food healthy, or good, or… is it possible to do both?

 

It's ALL about the flavour. I use whatever is needed to make it taste good.

 

 

Do you have any favorite recipes to share?

 

I have a totally evil chocolate cake recipe and a nice Lamb Couscous Tagine recipe from Tunisia ... but I need to try and find them. We are still in a bit of a higgle piggle.

 

 

Do you want any recipes? I love to share. Recipes.

 

Do you have any recipes for simple and easy meals that can me made for a semi picky eating small boy who says he doesn't like anything he hasn't tried before lol.

 

 

How, and what and... why do you all like to cook? or.. why don't you, if you don’t? I do like to cook. I haven't been able to for so long, as I was not well and our little house had reached critical mass. Now I am cooking again and I'm enjoying it. I may even start to bake again. It is very nice to have the space and time.

 

Oooooh and we have a proper freezer now, so I can spend the time cooking and make enough for 2 lots and then freeze 1. It is very nice to be able to do that.

[Ithillian Turambar]

How, and when, and why did you learn to cook?

 

I learned to cook at school, and then by trial and error by myself and a bit more when I was a student and then even more when I started living solo.

 

The first thing I cooked was cheese on toast and a cup of tea in Home Economics at school. My mum was completely disinterested in teaching anything. The second meal I made was cheese and tomato quiche, which my family refused to try. They fed it to the dog ... and then the dog was sick.

 

I have improved no end since then though

[Ithillian Turambar]

Do you like any particular cooking shows? Hate any?

 

I used to find Jamie Oliver really annoying, but I think that may have been because of an innate prejudice against smug sounding cockney accents lol But my bro in law really rates him, and I did like his 30 Minute Meals series. I do like making his puff pastry chicken pie His food tastes nice.

 

I don't like Nigella Lawson. She is really annoying.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Hmmm well Pad See Ew (AKA Phat Si Io) is my favorite dish. It's flat noodles cooked in a sweet fish sauce usually with broccoli, egg, and a meat. I prefer it with chicken.

 

 

Broccoli Cream/Cheese Soup is a close second though. 

Unlike Pad See Ew I've made broccoli soup a few times but either through bad recipes or my own failings I've yet to make a really delicious batch.

 

Other than that I mostly stick with baking for things I make. I've made several different kinds of cookies (usually around the holidays) and a couple different pies and other random things. I'm not really much of a cook, I'd die without a microwave.

 

 

i totally misread your post the first time through, thought you meant broccoli cream cheese soup but you mean cream and cheese...  not that cream cheese wouldn't be awesome in that...

 

i do basically like this, unless i make the cheese beer base.

 

 

cook 1/2 onion, or 1 cup of chopped scallions or leeks in 1/2 stick of butter until softened. add a minced or pressed clove of garlic, cook a minute more. stir in 1/4 cup flour and cook, stirring, another minute.

 

whisk in 2 cups whole milk, 2 cups stock, and 1/2 to 1 cup heavy cream.  season with a pinch of thyme, a very tiny bit of nutmeg,  a dash of worcestershire sauce, and a very small dash of tabasco.  or a big one if you like that. 

 

cook, stirring, until simmering, and add 2 or 3 cups finely chopped broccoli.  cook over a low heat, stirring often, until the broccoli is tender (3 - 5 minutes, more if you like it very well cooked).

 

remove from the heat and stir in, until melted, about 8 ounces (or more, i don't think there can be too much) of shredded cheese... i would use mostly very sharp cheddar, maybe a little american, or jack, and a good grating of parmesan or romano or both.  tbh... evil though it may sound... velveeta would not be bad in this. cream cheese would be very nice.

 

season to taste with black pepper and salt. 

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

@ nolder - how does this look for a pad see ew recipe?

 

how would you change it?

 

http://www.thaitable.com/thai/recipe/pad-see-ew

[Songstress]

That chicken sounds delicious. I´m not very fond of ginger. A little in tea or chocolate is okay but I don´t like when it takes over.

I'm actually a fan of ginger - I'll eat bits of candied ginger as a snack sometimes. But the recipe I linked goes pretty light on the ginger. None of the spices are particularly overpowering and it all makes a very tasty blend.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

Nolder, I would probably not die without the microwave because there is still sandwiches.    I´m really happy that my daughter has a dad that can cook because it´s not really my thing. Sure, I can do some basic things but nothing complicated. 

 

I liked baking and cooking when I was a kid. I had a "Donald Duck cookbook" that I used some recipies from, like the seven dwarf´s muffins.   I was too lazy to keep that up. My mother is a great cook and my sister learned from her but I prefered them cooking for me. 

 

I like cooking sometimes when I do it with others. Due to my illness I can´t do many things at the same time. I can´t mix the sallad while I roast the meat. So if I want to do a real dinner it takes me forever since I only do one thing at the time. 

 

I have always been better at baking but nowdays it´s mostly before Christmas. I´m really good at cheesecake and tiramisu. 

 

 

 

Hm... it´s getting late so I will write more another day. I would love if some of you could share some easy recipies with me. Food that is easy to make and that doesn´t involve too many ingredients. 

 

 

if you have an oven. there's not much simpler a thing you can do for supper than a roast chicken with roast veggies.

 

it doesn't even matter what temperature you're cooking at, i'll do this anywhere from 275 to 450 degrees, lower temp for bigger birds and longer cooking time (if i start dinner early), higher temps for smaller birds, or fast cooking time (if, as usual, i put it off too late).

 

wash the chicken in cold water, dry with paper towels or clean cloth napkins (i say clean because in my home all cloth collects cat hair, and never loses it, so... if you have cats... use paper). 

 

season inside with salt and pepper, then rub the skin with a little oil, and lemon juice if you like, and season the skin with salt and pepper.   

 

you'll see all kinds of seasoning used for roasting chickens, and you can make anything work with a meat that bland... but  not much is getting through the skin, and... you might not even eat the skin.  so no need to get fancy.

 

you can work some herbs, butter, garlic down under the skin if you like.  a few slices of lemon are always good... a halved onion, a few cloves of garlic inside the cavity aren't bad... but not necessary.

 

you can either roast the chicken by itself, or you can make it a one pan meal by arranging some sliced potatoes, tossed with a little oil, salt and pepper, around the chicken (and/or sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, turnips, beets, whatever you like).

 

you can cook the chicken and veg on a rack to raise them out of the fat that will render from the roast.... but it will taste better if you let them cook in the fat and pan juices... and the veggies will cook faster.

 

i use the pan juices to pour over the chicken when i serve it instead of gravy.  it really doesn't need thickening.

 

to tell if it's done you can rely on a pop up thermometer (no, they're not as bad as people say... you'll get a slightly more well done bird because they pop around 170, but... that's not necessarily a bad thing).

 

or you can use a probe thermometer, inserted in the meatiest part of the thigh (don't hit a bone, it'll throw your reading off).  you're looking for about 165 degrees F.

 

i usually just watch for the skin to start looking good, the juices to start running clear instead of pink, and then i try to wiggle the chicken's leg.  if it moves easily in the socket (wiggle it before you cook it so you'll learn the difference in feel), it's done.

 

the bird may finish before the potatoes, etc., are done and that's a good thing.

 

it's always best to take any cooked meat out of the oven, cover it very loosely with foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes to two hours before you cut into it.  you can eat it right away if you have to, but the juices will all run out as soon as you cut it if it isn't rested, and the temperature won't have stabilized throughout the meat... that's the carry-over cooking time, and it makes for a better bird.

 

stir the potatoes etc. once you've removed the chicken to get them nicely coated with the pan drippings, and to make sure they cook evenly.

 

you can also add quicker cooking veggies to the pan once you take the chicken out, like mushrooms, or broccoli, or green beans, or... anything.

 

just let them cook till the potatoes and carrots are tender.  you can let them go past tender to well browned, if that's how you like them.

 

and that's it, the simplest thing to cook and one of the most satisfying on a cold day.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

 

How, and when, and why did you learn to cook?

I never learned to cook <.< Give me a recepie and I can follow it and it'll turn out good so long as it's accurate, but I can't actually do any sort of cooking :P

 

Do you like any particular cooking shows?  Hate any?

My mom always found interesting cooking shows though I never bothered to ask the names. Dont watch any now.

 

Do you have a favorite cookbook?

Dont have any >.>

 

Do you keep a family recipe book?

Nope <.<

 

Do you like to cook alone, or with company?

I will not cook for myself. Will only cook with other people :P

 

What memories do specific foods, or cooking certain recipes invoke? Does food make you think of any special times, or people?

 Good cheese makes me think of Christmas :) Was our tradition to eat cheese (and wine for parents) and fresh bread for Christmas dinner. And of course turkey and cranberries and pumpkin pie and pecan pie <3 remind me of thanksgiving. Crepes with spinach mushroom sauce remind me of when I was little....

 

Do you follow recipes to the letter or work on whim and whimsy?

Tooo the letter. Never turns out good otherwise. My stepmum hardly ever useses a recepie and I have nooo idea how she makes such awesome stuff!

 

Do you try to make food healthy, or good, or… is it possible to do both? 

Definately possible. All the food we have is healthy and neaaarly all of it is nommy (not so fond of eggplant).

 

 

Do you have any favorite recipes to share?

Hmmm I will snag from stepmum laters.

 

Do you want any recipes?  I love to share.  Recipes.

Have any recepies for nommies without butter?

 

How, and what and... why do you all like to cook? or.. why don't you, if you don’t?

 Dont like to cook cuz I'm lazy. Baking is fun but I dont like doing it alone. Eating the batter is the best part :)

 

 

another nommie without butter, without anything even remotely wicked.  a girl at work brought these in.  she's allergic to most everything, so these are gluten free, grain free, soy free, dairy free, and have almost no sugar.  they're very tasty, and just sweet enough to satisfy a nommy craving.

 

they're one of many... insanely healthy recipes... at nourishingmeals.com.

 

she substituted almond flour for the hazelnut flour in the original recipe, and so would i.   much less expensive and... meh for haszelnuts. 

 

you can use Bob's Red Mill nut meal/flour, or you can make your own by placing whole raw nuts into a food processor and grinding to a fine meal. sift out the larger chunks and just use the fine meal. 

 

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups almond flour

½ cup coconut flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

 

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin puree

½ cup maple syrup

6 large  eggs

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. 

 

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a blender, or with a whisk, mix the wet ingredients until smooth. 

 

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Spoon into muffin cups. 

 

Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

I'm not much of a hand at cooking food, but I love to eat it. Hamburgers and pizza are the highest form of sustenance available to mankind. Especially a good burger. Mcdonalds and its ilk are okay if you're in a hurry, but a place like Red Robin serves nectar and ambrosia. Char-broiled until the meat is just this side of rareness... Topped with ketchup, mustard, pickles, cheest, onions, lettuce, tomato... A lightly toasted bun... Complete with crispy fries and an ice-cold soda and... Damn, i'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

 

Pizza i'm less picky about, although frozen pizzas are in the same line as mcdonalds. I dislike thin-crust and stuffed pizzas, for whatever reason. My favorite pizza place is in all honesty Dominos, which all my friends think i am extremely wierd for.

 

Also Asian cuisine is exceptional. Panda Express in particular, although I am not averse to less americanized places either.

 

And my mom can make a killer alfredo pasta.

you can like whatever kind of food you like. nothing wrong with it if it tastes good to you.

 

you can make pizza very easily at home, even if you not want to bother making the dough (which is very easy, and in the ogier thread if you're into it)

 

 

but you can buy good dough at your supermarket (there should be some in the refrigerated aisle, near the cheese, and also in the freezer section... should e with the white bread dough, which you can also use... but I usually find it near the frozen cakes, by the bakery, cause this where they make it). if you ave a decent Italian bakery, you'll get the best pizza dough there.

 

wherever you get it, let it warm to room temperature, and stretch it or roll it out, or for pan pizza use your knuckles to spread it to fill the pan. use a big cake pan or tart pan, or cookie sheet with sides, for pan pizza, or any baking sheet for standard pizza, oil it lightly, and you can sprinkle it with a bit of cornmeal if you like raunch... or not.

 

for pan pizza, or for a thick, lacy crust, let it rise a little after you shape it. not much more than 15-30 minutes.

 

for standard pizza, no rise necessary.

 

oh, and noone cares it it's round, so don't worry about that.

 

drizzle the dough with a little olive oil, sprinkle it with Parmesan or Romano, season with black pepper, bail, oregano... parsley if you have it.

 

unless you have a super hot oven, you're going to want to pre-bake the crust.

 

bake it in a 400 degree oven about ten minutes, until the dough is cooked but not crisp.

 

and... what you have made is a product you can also buy at the supermarket, right near the dough... pre-baked pizza dough. most common brand is boboli, but your store has less expensive, and better ones.

 

whichever way you go,it's real easy from here on.

 

do or do not add slivered or chopped garlic.

 

do add shredded or sliced mozzarella, provolone, American, or whatever cheese you like. not very much, a handful or two unless you like super cheesey pizza.

 

do or do not add a few tablespoons of any kind of tomato sauce you like (I like contadina straight from the can. the crust is or easy seasoned, you don't need a fancy sauce) and/or diced or sliced fresh tomatoes (go light with those, they give up a lot of water), and whatever toppings you like, pepperoni, mushrooms, eh, you know what you like on pizza.

 

if I'm using a pre-baked crust, I will often pre-cook the veggies, and always precook the meat, before I put it on the pizza.

 

top with a few more strands of cheese... you want the cheese mainly on the bottom because it acts as a kind o glue, and it's fatty, so the sauce will mostly end up where it belongs. took me a long time o figure that out, but it works best this way.

 

bake for another ten, fifteen minutes, till the cheese is melted and the crust is the way you like it.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

How, and when, and why did you learn to cook?

 

I pretty much absorbed cooking by osmosis watching my mom, who stayed at home most of my childhood and is a pretty great cook. 

 

Do you like any particular cooking shows?  Hate any?

 

Alton Brown is always awesome.  I haven't had cable in a few years, but when I did I used to love to watch Emeril, Iron Chef (yes, my husband was a big fan of the original Japanese version and we watched it regularly), and Rachel Ray.  Couldn't stand to watch Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. 

 

Do you have a favorite cookbook?

 

I have a couple of cookbooks that I reference from time to time - 365 Ways to Cook Chicken, Recipes to Lower Your Fat Thermostat (was good when I was on a very strict diet several years back), and a Campbell's Soup cookbook that my mom gave me when I moved out.  Most of my recipes I get from the Internet, though - Food.com, Allrecipes,com, Foodnetwork.com, or from Pinterest.

 

Do you keep a family recipe book?

 

When I moved out my mom gave me a half-sized 3 ring binder with recipe cards that had a bunch of my favorites of what she used to make.  My brother and his first wife got a little recipe book with his favorites when they got married also.  We really don't have a lot of traditional family recipes, though, passed down through the generations.  My grandmother wasn't really much of a cook to be honest, and the food tradition was pretty limited in our family before my mom started experimenting.

 

Do you like to cook alone, or with company?

 

I have a very small kitchen as well, so having additional people in the kitchen can be a little... nerve-wracking.  I do enjoy cooking with other people when there's space for it, like at my sister-in-law's house, in a well-designed kitchen.  And I very rarely do much cooking when it's just going to be me eating it.

 

What memories do specific foods, or cooking certain recipes invoke? Does food make you think of any special times, or people?

 

Oh, always, too many to name. 

 

Do you follow recipes to the letter or work on whim and whimsy?

 

The first time I make something, I follow the recipe pretty strictly - maybe a few substitutions.  After that, I'm a bit more free with experimentation, but I have a hard time just throwing together ingredients to make something amazing without a framework to build from at least.

 

Do you try to make food healthy, or good, or… is it possible to do both? 

 

Both wherever possible.  If not possible, I prefer good.

 

Do you have any favorite recipes to share?

 

Oh, I'm sure I will! 

 

For now, here's the last thing I made - dinner tonight, and... quite yummy:

 

http://www.laaloosh.com/2012/12/12/crock-pot-indonesian-chicken-recipe/

 

Do you want any recipes?  I love to share.  Recipes.

 

Absolutely.  Will check out the Ogier cookbook for sure.

 

Kaylee is getting ready to move into my spare bedroom, and has been spending most weekends at my house lately, so I've been working on collecting good recipes that use no dairy ingredients as she is allergic to dairy (not just lactose intolerant, unfortunately).

 

How, and what and... why do you all like to cook? or.. why don't you, if you don’t?

 

I love to cook for other people.  I couldn't tell you all the reasons why, maybe it's just to make them happy when I give them something yummy. 

 

Lately I've been on a crock pot cooking spree, because it's easy to throw everything in there and turn it on low before I go to work, and come home to a fully cooked meal... or put it on high and let it cook while I'm at church.  I love opening the front door to the scent of something delicious that's ready to eat.  Otherwise, by the time I get home, I'm too hungry to want to wait to cook anything that doesn't involve less than 15 minutes and a microwave.

check out nourishingmeals.com for great allergy friendly recipes.

 

in general, you can use olive oil or coconut oil to replace most butter in recipes.

 

almond or soy milk work for milk.

 

coconut milk works for cream, and if you skim the fat from the top, you can whip it like cream, too.

 

look for the word "parve" on labels, next to the kosher symbol, no milk allowed. I believe smart balance light may be the only really milk free margarine widely available.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

How, and when, and why did you learn to cook?

I learned to cook at school, and then by trial and error by myself and a bit more when I was a student and then even more when I started living solo.

The first thing I cooked was cheese on toast and a cup of tea in Home Economics at school. My mum was completely disinterested in teaching anything. The second meal I made was cheese and tomato quiche, which my family refused to try. They fed it to the dog ... and then the dog was sick.

I have improved no end since then though

I still remember making grilled cheese wrapped in foil right on the burner so I wouldn't get stuck washing the pan...

 

I still do sometimes, and I still like it.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

What memories do specific foods, or cooking certain recipes invoke? Does food make you think of any special times, or people?

I like cooking big Sunday roasts with roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings and gravy and mash with real butter mmmmmmmm. Is nice to be able to all sit round the table and eat. I like doing big family dinners like this and serving far too much food so everyone is totally stuffed, and then I serve pudding I also like making up a whole load of curries and the stuffs that go with them for epic poker nights.Do you follow recipes to the letter or work on whim and whimsy?

I do like following recipes, but I don't often have the time hopefully as things settle down a bit I will have more time to try new things. With new things I do follow the recipe but with more familiar things I tend to just knock them together lolDo you try to make food healthy, or good, or… is it possible to do both?

It's ALL about the flavour. I use whatever is needed to make it taste good. Do you have any favorite recipes to share?

I have a totally evil chocolate cake recipe and a nice Lamb Couscous Tagine recipe from Tunisia ... but I need to try and find them. We are still in a bit of a higgle piggle. Do you want any recipes? I love to share. Recipes.

Do you have any recipes for simple and easy meals that can me made for a semi picky eating small boy who says he doesn't like anything he hasn't tried before lol. How, and what and... why do you all like to cook? or.. why don't you, if you don’t? I do like to cook. I haven't been able to for so long, as I was not well and our little house had reached critical mass. Now I am cooking again and I'm enjoying it. I may even start to bake again. It is very nice to have the space and time.

Oooooh and we have a proper freezer now, so I can spend the time cooking and make enough for 2 lots and then freeze 1. It is very nice to be able to do that.

the best way to get kids to want something is to tell them they can't have it, I think.

 

I used to be very finicky, so mom would try to make the food look cool, like making a man in the moon face out of ketchup on a fried egg (I still like ketchup and eggs, I'm a weirdo, lol), or using food coloring to make a face in cream of wheat. she once made a little paper top hat for a banana...

 

it worked... I'm not finicky anymore.

 

my sister was even finickier, so I got her to eat by playing games. the airplane one of course. but she'd also love being fed lo mein or spaghetti from a height, and telling her she was a baby bird and eating wormies... yum, but she loved that.

 

I've read that experts sa just put something on the table all the time, and some day they'll try it.

 

I think that's likely.

 

nothing would make me try something new as a kid until I wanted to. food tasted different, picked up a lot more bitterness... kids have very sensitive palates.

 

most any kid I've ever fed will eat spaghetti and meatballs, mashed potatoes which you can sometimes sneak hamburger next to (cottage pie if you're lucky), chicken cutlets, breaded and fried... and fish sticks if you lie and say its chicken..

 

peanut butter noodles will get a few interested, mix PB and hot water in equal amounts to make a creamy sauce, season with a little soy sauce and toss with rice noodles or spaghetti. the grown up version gets sesame oil and hot sauce, sesame seeds or chopped peanuts, and sliced scallions.

 

if you're asking any kind of meatloaf or meat balls, or rice or pasta dish or... anything... you'll usually be best off pursing the vegetables in It past recognition.

 

but they can, and usually do, survive well enough on the two things they'll agree to eat for the first 8 or 9 years before you have to start buying them their own lobsters.

 

one reason I like cooking with kids is they'll usually eat what they cook. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and a few others put out excellent kids cookbooks.

 

hobo anything is popular, when you cu up potatoes, add butter or oil, salt, pepper if they'll have it... a little meat loaf patty or a piece of chicken if they'll have it, seal it up and cook it over fire or in the oven. anything from foil is fun, not sure why, but it is so.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i just remembered what i ate almost every day until i was 7...

 

cooked white rice, warm milk, sugar, cinnamon, and a pat of butter.

 

when i wouldn't eat anything else, i'd eat that.  couldn't stand the texture of rice pudding until i was much older.

 

there were a couple years i would only eat peanut butter and jelly.. sometimes i would only eat tuna... processed smooth, with a few saltine crackers and a little tiny bit of mayo. another couple years only bologna sandwiches...

 

i haven't met a kid yet who doesn't like take out Chinese fried rice or lo mein, though most won't touch the home made stuff.

 

the first actual meal i cooked for my family was.. everything we always had in the house cooked together. if we had something special, i'd throw it in there, too.  i don't know if i'd have eaten this if someone else made it... but i ate it up yum when i did.

 

 

brown ground beef in a pan, add a diced onion, some chopped green pepper, a bit of garlic.  cook together a few minutes, add a can of tomatoes.  season with salt, pepper, chili powder.  cook about ten minutes.

 

i'd usually stretch it by adding cooked rice.

 

it wasn't anything special, but it worked, and the grownups were happy to have it when they got home from work. 

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

chicken soup was the next thing i made, and i made it every week.  

 

great grandma insisted the best stock was made form the feet... and... though she was right... i couldn't stand looking at them.  or listening to them scritching in the pot... so i just use the rest of the chicken.

 

take a whole, big old stewing chicken, and all the parts except the liver (freeze it and when you have enough you cna make chopped liver.... yummmmmm.......).

 

place in a big stock pot with enough water to cover, and a decent amount of salt.

 

bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, skim the scum till it stops rising.  we ate this when i was a kid. you probably won't.

 

add a halved onion, a couple of carrots, parsnips, and stalks of celery, the stems from all the fresh dill you can find tied together, a dozen or more black peppercorns, and a head of garlic, halved.

 

simmer for an hour and a half, maybe two hours.

 

scoop out the chicken, strain the broth and put it back in the pan.

 

you can de-fat the stock with a fat separating measuring cup, or use a spoon to skim it off the top, or chill the stock (and the chicken) and finish it tomorrow, cause the fat will all be at the top and easy to get rid of.

 

but it's a better soup if you leave enough fat to make golden circles of shiny deliciousness on the top.

 

the veggies you've used for the stock, which is what you've just made, have given their all and you can nibble them in the kitchen if you want, but i would not put them back in the soup.  you can but.. kinda soft and yucky now.

 

slice a couple of carrots and stalks of celery thin and pretty, and cook those in the stock while you take the chicken apart, discarding bones and skin.  taste the stock now and add more salt if it needs it.

 

dice the chicken up, and when the veggies are cooked, add the chicken, a big handfull of finely chopped dill and parsley, and heat through.

 

cook noodles separately, put the noodles in the bowl and pour hot soup over them.

 

don't put the noodles in the pot with the soup, they get mushy in minutes.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

another easy, fast, and adaptable dish.

 

basically, braising.

 

you can change the chicken to pork, you can change the apples to vegetables  mushrooms, anything, nothing, you can change the liquid to stock, tomato sauce, any kind of wine, any kind of juice, any kind of seasoning... anything anything anything.

 

it's fastest with boneless, skinless chicken.

 

i like this one a very lot, either on its own, or on a sandwich or over pasta, rice, or... whatever you got.   and very nice with a slice of swiss melted over it. 

 

chicken and apples

 

brown boneless, skinless chicken lightly in butter, oil, or margarine.  salt and pepper.  if you want a thick sauce, flour the chickn lightly before browning.  

 

set aside.

 

in the same pan, cook until softened 1/4 cup finely diced onions.

 

add a couple of thinly sliced (peeled, cored) granny smith or other tart cooking apples.

 

sautee a moment, then add about 1/4 cup of chicken stock, 1/2 cup of apple juice, 1/4 cup of apple jack, or apple brandy (*if you don't cook with alcohol, use more juice).  add a little white pepper, and a little cinnamon if desired.

 

bring to a boil, return the chicken to the pan, cook uncovered on medium heat about 5 minutes, turn the chicken and cook another 5 minutes.

 

you can thicken it now with a cornstarch slurry if you want, but i like it without thickening.

 

 

this is a very nice way to do pork chops, or you could braise pork chops... or now that i think of it chicken... in the onion and garlic dish tina shared up top of the thread.

 

 

for chicken marsala, you'd probably want the chicken floured, you'd do it the same way but i'd add a little garlic, and i'd most likely use mushrooms.  the liquids would be chicken stock and ... marsala.

 

 

i braise beef like this sometimes, with tomato sauce and water or beef stock, but i'd cook it much longer, and over a much lower heat.  any veg you like with beef.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

What memories do specific foods, or cooking certain recipes invoke? Does food make you think of any special times, or people?

 

 

I remember my great grandma Helena when I bake. feel like I'm sitting in her lap.

 

when I make the bird feast... the traditional thanksgiving meal, but I make it all winter... I remember thanksgiving at my aunt blanches apartment... she'd always make that meal.. it was always cold and raining, and we'd visit the green point cemetery while she was cooking...then we'd walk through the security doors to her place... that always scared me, not sure why... but as soon as we'd walk through her apartment door everything smelled good, and it was all better. the kitchen was too small to eat in except for the oldest grown ups, so me and mom and any cousins who came would eat on TV trays, watching King Kong and mighty joe young. afterwards ain't Blanche would give us kids a big jar of coins shed saved the whole year, and bank rollers, and we'd sit on the floor counting and stacking and rolling them, and we'd split the take. it was strange to be normal for a day, do what everyone else did.

 

now when I cook that meal, I'm back in that place, in that time.

 

when I make the things I learned fro my aunty Luz, Cuban, Puerto Rican, southern, and.. just plain awesome foods... I remember a cascade of years in her kitchen, her patience and humor... the nights I got to sleep over instead of having to go back home... playing with her kids, walking her dog, Cindy, around the block... Tia Luz taught me so much, not just about food.

 

food always triggers memories for me. happy and sad at the same time.

 

Do you follow recipes to the letter or work on whim and whimsy?

 

I never follow instructions, not even the first time. I can sort of tell how something will work, like a thought experiment, so if I spot a way to make it more to suit me and the people I cook for, I will. and I rarely have everything in a recipe on hand, so I substitute freely. always whim if not whimsy... or maybe practical necessity. and inattention.

 

Do you try to make food healthy, or good, or… is it possible to do both?

 

I try to do both nowadays, most of the time. there's no point cooking for others if you don make it good. I'll take healthy over good for my own meals, not least of all because I'm lazy and it's much easier not to take the extra steps to make something wonderfully naughty... when I cook for others I've mostly stopped fattening them up but... they kind of miss it, so sometimes I do bad things for good people.

 

Do you have any favorite recipes to share?

 

apparently, I can't stop.

 

Do you want any recipes? I love to share. Recipes.

 

yes, MOAR recipes, please. anything. everything.

 

 

How, and what and... why do you all like to cook? or.. why don't you, if you don’t?

 

I love to cook almost everything I like to eat, and most everything my friends like to eat. I'm not crazy about making fussy things, or making things very pretty. I like it to taste good and be, if not very easy, at least not very demanding of precision.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

would anyone like to post a few questions or focus on one topic, or... we can just keep swapping recipes.

 

I had thought of a question after I wrote the chicken soup recipe... and then went to the wicked place of greasy hamburgers last night...

 

food as medicine and food as... medication.

 

are there foods you feel are healing? what are they, what do hey heal... how? why?

 

are there foods you go to when you're feeling bad or stressed or... just need a quick fix of shameful joy? same questions as for healing foods.

 

I think nothing's more healing than chicken soup. too many reasons and too much history to need repeating... and it was what gramma gave me when I was sick. she put sweet corn in it, too... only thing she made really well and... it made me feel better.

 

when I'm looking for a mood elevator, I hit the cholesterol. there have been a couple of studies linking depression with low blood cholesterol. all I know is cheese and burgers and egg yolks make me happy.

 

and then guilty, but.... soooo happy

 

so, nu, do any of you find anything besides nutrition in food?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

and of course...

 

what foods, and traditions, do you keep for St. Patrick's Day, Passover, Easter, Purim (little late but I love me some hamantashen and I have a great recipe somewhere...), and any other spring festivals and holy days?

 

today i'm making boiled dinner with ham and sweet potatoes and all the other regular stuff.

 

for easter i'll be stuffing plastic eggs full of chocolate, candy, and coins, and hiding them on the lawn in the slim space of time between dogs roaming free and children scrambling outdoors.

 

for passover... i may or may not go to the seder to which i get invited... but i will surely make haroseth at the very least. 

 

my friends will... in their complete innocence.. make the one dish we traditionally avoid for this holiday... tender baby lambikins.... but it's yummy, though... i can't quite get used to it.

 

we always had an awful roast bird filled with a horrifyingly bad matzoh stuffing, along with the standard seder plate courses...  but with at least 4 glasses of wine in you, you don't much care what the food is. 

 

still, i'll stick with haroseth, perhaps have some in a "hillel sandwich," on matzoh with some horseradish..... yummmmmmmm....

 

so... yall have any plans or family demands you can't get out of coming up?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

ok, computers are down again... second full day this week... and this is how bored I am.

 

5 points from my personal pool in April to the next two people who post something delicious, delightful, or ... amusing to my personal sense of strangeness.

 

or, you know, just food related.