What's Cookin, Folks?

[Greg Davis]

Greetings all!

I don't recall seeing this topic before, and it's something that interests me, both as a way to discuss a hobby of mine, as well as to gain another insight into our little community here at TrekRPG.

So, with that out of the way, here's my query: Who here likes to cook? If you like to cook, what do you like to cook (favorite dishes, favorite types of cuisine, favorite styles of cooking, etc).

For me, I tend to vary a lot, but mainly I like doing holiday-type meals (this way the two sides of my family fight over who gets me for the holidays, and who gets my spiced apple and pear ham, my sweet and sour turkey, stuffing and all the rest), though I really just do this for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Incidentally, it was during the planning of my Thanksgiving menu that I thought of this, so I guess there's a bit of reasoning, if you're curious...

For myself, I'm mainly a chicken eater (though I don't know why, to be honest). I like to experiment, and try things that I haven't before, and I also like to cook for my friends. The latter mainly stems from my gaming, and my groups get-togethers, where we'll have an all-day game, and bring food to eat (sort of like a pot-luck). This isn't so much the case nowadays, as my group has shrunk rather dramatically, so now, when the mood strikes me, I'll fix something to bring for the game. For instance, this week I'm fixing roasted lemon herbed chicken and dumplings and pumpkin cheesecake, since this will probably be my groups holiday meal, as we all go home for the holidays, and final papers are starting to hit, so get-togethers (at least until the end of the semester) are going to be fairly rare.

As someone who likes cooking (and food, curse its goodness! ), I like to watch the Food Network, and I get a lot of recipes and recipe ideas from there, in particular from Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay and Alton Brown. I've managed to pick up a few pointers from line cooks and other restauranters that I've worked with (while working my way through college), but those TV personalities that I've mentioned have helped teach me a lot, and I enjoy their programs (despite the ribbing that I take from friends and family for my preferred TV programming).

I guess I've kind of rambled a bit here, but I thought that it would be interesting to sort of delve into this particular aspect of life. So, please feel free to toss up a response, and, maybe, a favorite recipe...heck, who knows, maybe we'll get a TrekRPG cookbook started?

Anyway, thanks for tolerating my rambling...



Greg

[Capt.Hunter]

Oh, I like to cook. And, as I've just moved into my own flat and can now stock the fridge with what I want (was renting a room in a shared house before and had a laughable amount of fridge space), I can indulge myself.

As for what I cook, my tastes vary. Generally I prefer wok cooking, but that's only because of the speed factor and the fact I didn't have access to an oven before (this may change now...). I've gotten into Creole food recently, chicken & sausage gumbo and jambalaya being my specialities. I also do a fairly good chilli and have a chicken korma recipe to die for.

My piece de resistance so far is a Carribean dish, so here goes:

Chicken breasts (appropriate for how many you need to cook for - can't be asked to faff about with quantities) - cut into strips.

One of each colour bell peppers, roughly chopped.

Garlic butter

Sweet Chilli Sauce

Grated block coconut

Lime Juice

Standard potatoes and Sweet Potatoes (again, amount as desired but mix must be 50/50)

Single Cream

Cumin powder (or grind your own)

Method: Dice the potatoes into bite-size chunks and boil until cooked. While this is going on, fry the peppers in the garlic butter until soft, then stir-fry the chicken. Once it is cooked, add two tablespoons sweet chilli sauce, one tablespoon lime juice and 1oz grated coconut (if you need to increase the amount of sauce, maintain these ratios). Simmer until the sweet chilli sauce changes colour (it's normally quite red, but goes orangey as it blends with the other ingredients). Reduce heat to keep warm. Drain the potatoes and add a knob of butter, a splash of cream as desired and a shake of salt and pepper, plus a good pinch of the cumin. Mash the potatoes. Serve the chicken and peppers over a bed of the mashed potatoes.

Trust me, your taste buds will love you for it...

[Greg Davis]

Thanks, Capt. Hunter...that looks pretty good, and I love sweet potatoes, so I'll give this one a shot, I think!



Greg

[REG]

Well, I ain't no fancy cook. I can make a decent shoyu chicken or chicken adobo (filipino-style).

[Karg]

I'm a pretty decent Cook (It's an Italian thing)

Barbaque (Start doing best Tim Allen Grunt )

Pasta & Sauce

Basic meat items and roasts

I make a mean Chili and Fajitas

Karg

[Liz Not Beth]

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[Liz Not Beth]

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[Greg Davis]

Ah, maccaroni casserole and beef jerky, both have been staples of mine in years past...particularly the jerkey, which is a favorite snack of our roleplaying group, though we use a dehydrator, as opposed to an oven.

Oh, and thanks for the colon warning, Liz, but I don't have one of those anymore, so it's safe for me!



Greg

[Cybrludite]

My chilli recipie is an evolving thing, growing stronger with each iteration. At some point, I fully expect to see UNMOVIC pointing a geiger counter at my heirloom cast-iron frying pan... I posted the most recent version of it in here back around the 4th of July. Since then, I've discovered that they sell the real bacon-bits (soft & shredded) in large bags at the grocery. Next time I make it, I may add a quarter pound of those as well as the half pound of bulk hot sausage and pound and a half of ground beef. Should add a little smoke flavor to go with the fire of the chilli & curry powder, hot salsa & Rotels... So, my provisional Smoke & Fire chilli recipe is,

1.5 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 lb hot bulk sausage
1/4 lb bacon bits (Soft, shredded kind)
Half a bottle of hot Chilli powder
a little under a teaspoon of hot Curry powder
One can of Rotel brand chopped tomatoes & peppers (Hot or Mexican style)
16oz jar of salsa (With the bacon bits included, either chilpote or roasted garlic style salsa would be best)
Cajun seasoning & hot sauce to taste.

Brown the ground beef in bacon grease saved from cooking breakfast. Cook the bulk sausage in a seperate frying pan to keep its grease out of the chilli. Combine & mix all three meats in a large cast-iron frying pan or skillet. (Like what angry wives use on drunk husbands...) Add spices, Rotels, and salsa, along with water to make either a thick soup or meaty gruel. Let simmer until it looks like chilli instead of a thick soup. If you overdo the water, adding some cornmeal will help thicken it up.

I'm not responsible if the doctors find your colon three states away...

[Robbert Raets]

Pancakes & Pizza's.

Don't know how to do anything else. 'Corse, these remind me of my father the most.

[Owen E Oulton]

"1/2 pound american cheese

Okay, just what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is "American cheese?" I keep hearing the term, but have never been able to find out just what it is. Is it a variety of cheddar?

A few years back, I was a member of a cooking club which got together and did "Speculative Cooking." We'd take a culture from SF and create food for that culture - no cheating using Gummi Worms for qagh or anything like that, all food had to be the closest approximation of real ingredients.

One dish I created was for a planet where they liked brightly coloured, spicy food.

You'll need equal amounts of:

Beef, cut into finger-length strips
Snow peas
Fresh white mushrooms, whole (about 25mm in diametre)
Cherry tomatoes, whole

You will also need:
Soy sauce
Jalapeno peppers (sliced, bottled in brine)
Salt & pepper, to taste

Optional:
White onion, sliced and separated into rings
Hot sauce

In a heated wok or frying pan, brown the meat in soy sauce and add jalapenos, salt and pepper. Lower heat and allow to simmer a few minutes to let the meat absorb the flavour of the peppers, stirring constantly. Add the snow peas, mushrooms and tomatoes. Stir slowly until the skins begin to split on the tomatoes, then serve immediately. Onions may be added as a garnish. Hot sauce may be added when cooking the meat, or at the table (or both).

[IronLance]

Originally posted by Owen E Oulton
"1/2 pound american cheese

Okay, just what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is "American cheese?" I keep hearing the term, but have never been able to find out just what it is. Is it a variety of cheddar

American cheese is cheese that's been made with pastuerized cheese milk. It's has a more bland flavor than any other cheese, but it preserves for longer periods.

Legislation was passed in America that all cheese was to be made using Pastuerized milk, unless the cheese was to be aged for 60 days under specific conditions.

Many European cheeses are legislated requiring the cheese to be made with un-Pastuerized milk.

HTH

[StyroFoam Man]

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poster

[Liz Not Beth]

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[qerlin]

Damn, that Defcon 5 chili sounds good....