Pork?
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Pork?
Yep. Made 5 lbs worth (and mac & cheese and a can of shoepeg corn). Have plenty for leftovers.
Turned out pretty good for a first attempt; I'd give it a solid "B". My only real hiccup was the wet BBQ sauce. I made about ~22 oz of BBQ sauce, and it tasted fresh and flavorful and not at all hot. But I used all of it up lacquering up layers on the ribs, and as it cooked down, the spiciness concentrated more than I expected. The finished riblets were a bit too spicy for Dad, but he still went back for a second helping. They ended up about as spicy as a Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich, especially as the heat builds on the back-end. I also wish I had found some Wright's liquid smoke locally to add a smidgen for smokiness; I could find Colgin's, but it has a bunch of other stuff added that Wright's doesn't.
And I got the pork riblets on sale for only 99¢/lb., so it was pretty cheap too.
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Nice!
Smoked paprika also adds a nice smokey flavor and doesn't have a chemical aftertaste that some liquid smoke does (though it can depend also on what flavor you're going for, as obviously smoked paprika has its own flavor as well).
Yep, I used some smoked paprika in the rub, but as you said, it does have a distinctive flavor. I picked up some Colgin's liquid smoke grocery shopping Saturday morning, so I'm thinking of ways to try it.
Shoepeg corn was new and different. It has a distinctive citrus-y something and the kernels are tiny. Not bad, but a little unusual. The 14.5 oz can was only 69¢ on special though.
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Tomorrow's dinner looks like pulled pork ("Memphis pit BBQ" style) in the slow cooker. I need to pick up some cabbage though for coleslaw.
Mom wants to use up her butternut squash in soup, so I'm looking into recipes for butternut squash bisque (probably with coconut milk & turmeric), but butternut squash, coconut milk, and turmeric flavorings are completely new to me. It's not too difficult to Fronkensteen together recipes for something I've had before, but this is something completely new and unknown for which I have no palette palate reference.
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I remember having dinner, before the snow.
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W/ coconut milk and turmeric, sounds like a curried squash soup. Which can be tasty, if you like curry. It could get sweet, because coconut milk and squash are slightly sweet.
I've made "stone soup" (i.e., with whatever I've got) with butternut squash. Personally, as much as I have a sweet tooth, I find butternut squash soup preferable when more savory, i.e., the squash itself has a mild sweetness, and balance it with savory flavors. The general gist was... saute onions, garlic in olive oil (or whatever fat), add chopped hardy veg (e.g., carrots, celery), and chopped/peeled chunks of butternut squash. Season with poultry seasoning (or any of its constituent components--sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram) and bay. And indeed if you wanted a dash of turmeric for color. And salt and pepper. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked, take off heat. Then use an immersion blender to partially puree the veggies. (You can also put half of the soup in a regular blender and puree, then add back.)
Then add a bit of light cream to make it creamy and delicious. This part is not strictly necessary, but tastes yuuuuummmmy. (I discovered this because I made this when it was snowing, and all the people panicked and bought all the milk before I got to the store, so I bought cream instead. I was FORCED. FORCED, I tell you.) And come to think of it, for a non-dairy version, coconut milk would be fine. But I'd rather the cream.
I.e., just vegetable soup, but with butternut squash and pureed for the squash soup texture.
You can also roast the butternut squash (which may be easier than peeling and cutting it) while the rest of the soup cooks, then scoop in the soft-roasted squash and again, slightly puree and add cream. Roasting=cut in half, remove seeds, brush lightly with oil, place face down on baking sheet, bake at 400ish for at least a half hour, maybe longer for older/larger squash, until soft.
You can also roast the seeds, which makes for a yummy garnish for the soup (or, not that I would know at all, a snack you completely devour while waiting for the squash to cook). Salt and spread out on parchment paper on baking sheet and roast at 350 ish for 5-7 minutes.
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I remember having dinner, before the snow.
Be quiet and eat your snow burger.
Bwahaahaaahaa!
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You can also roast the seeds, which makes for a yummy garnish for the soup (or, not that I would know at all, a snack you...
What!? Those thing are edible? I always throw them out and I love squash and pumpkin / curry soups! Now I have to save the seeds and try that next time...
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W/ coconut milk and turmeric, sounds like a curried squash soup. Which can be tasty, if you like curry. It could get sweet, because coconut milk and squash are slightly sweet.
I've made "stone soup" (i.e., with whatever I've got) with butternut squash. Personally, as much as I have a sweet tooth, I find butternut squash soup preferable when more savory, i.e., the squash itself has a mild sweetness, and balance it with savory flavors. The general gist was... saute onions, garlic in olive oil (or whatever fat), add chopped hardy veg (e.g., carrots, celery), and chopped/peeled chunks of butternut squash. Season with poultry seasoning (or any of its constituent components--sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram) and bay. And indeed if you wanted a dash of turmeric for color. And salt and pepper. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked, take off heat. Then use an immersion blender to partially puree the veggies. (You can also put half of the soup in a regular blender and puree, then add back.)
Then add a bit of light cream to make it creamy and delicious. This part is not strictly necessary, but tastes yuuuuummmmy. (I discovered this because I made this when it was snowing, and all the people panicked and bought all the milk before I got to the store, so I bought cream instead. I was FORCED. FORCED, I tell you.) And come to think of it, for a non-dairy version, coconut milk would be fine. But I'd rather the cream.
I.e., just vegetable soup, but with butternut squash and pureed for the squash soup texture.
You can also roast the butternut squash (which may be easier than peeling and cutting it) while the rest of the soup cooks, then scoop in the soft-roasted squash and again, slightly puree and add cream. Roasting=cut in half, remove seeds, brush lightly with oil, place face down on baking sheet, bake at 400ish for at least a half hour, maybe longer for older/larger squash, until soft.
You can also roast the seeds, which makes for a yummy garnish for the soup (or, not that I would know at all, a snack you completely devour while waiting for the squash to cook). Salt and spread out on parchment paper on baking sheet and roast at 350 ish for 5-7 minutes.
I think I've read about three dozen butternut squash soup/bisque recipes in the last couple days, and here you've pretty much laid out everything I can think of that I've gleaned from them all (and some stuff I'd forgotten too). You are a font of much wisdom, DQ.
Yep, I'm pretty much approaching it like a vegetable soup with the squash as the lead. I'll be roasting the vertically-split butternut for an hour, then scooping it out onto a cookie sheet to stick back in and brown/caramelize some more. With it, I'll also add a couple carrots, a red bell pepper, an onion, a couple celery stalks, (all chunked), and a couple unpeeled cloves of garlic. When they're done, I'll blend them all up in batches and strain into the big soup pot. I picked up some coconut milk and evaporated milk today too, so they'll be in there too. Spices will probably be turmeric, black pepper, cumin, ground ginger, and coriander (and salt of course). I'll let that simmer a bit, then adjust the spices to taste.
Several recipes mentioned cinnamon (Ceylon/verum, not cassia), cloves, and nutmeg too, but I'll have to see how it goes. I was going to roast some slivered almonds or some pumpkin seeds as garnish, but roasting the squash seeds is a great idea, maybe dusting them with some spices first.
You can also roast the seeds, which makes for a yummy garnish for the soup (or, not that I would know at all, a snack you...What!? Those thing are edible? I always throw them out and I love squash and pumpkin / curry soups! Now I have to save the seeds and try that next time...
That reminds me I've still got a four cans of chickpeas, and I've got recipes for roasted chickpeas and smoky fried chickpeas that I still need to try.
What do you call it when you just throw money at someone else to make food for you.
Darned convenient. That's what I call it.
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It's more conceding defeat to winter.
If it's not going to stop snowing I'm not spending my precious between snow storm time making food.
I just realized I forgot in describing the soup, to add broth or water after the vegetables, but hopefully that was implied. It's like a medieval recipe I read that was something like "roast fowl with green vegetables" and it doesn't actually mention the vegetables. Anyway, I'm glad it is helpful. :)
You can also roast the seeds, which makes for a yummy garnish for the soup (or, not that I would know at all, a snack you...What!? Those thing are edible? I always throw them out and I love squash and pumpkin / curry soups! Now I have to save the seeds and try that next time...
All winter squash/pumpkins are basically the same plant sub-hybridized into different shapes and textures. So yep, just as you can roast pumpkin seeds, you can do the exact same with any squash. It's easy and very yummy.
That reminds me I've still got a four cans of chickpeas, and I've got recipes for roasted chickpeas and smoky fried chickpeas that I still need to try.
I just tried making roasted chickpeas and they didn't turn out well. The recipe called for drying them out a bit in the microwave first (rather than starting at super high heat in the oven, which I approved of for not setting off my smoke detector) before putting them in the oven. I think I overcooked them in the microwave. I hope yours turn out better! I'd still try it again sometime.
What do you call it when you just throw money at someone else to make food for you.
Take out?
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What do you call it when you just throw money at someone else to make food for you.Take out?
Last night we called it pizza.
That reminds me I've still got a four cans of chickpeas, and I've got recipes for roasted chickpeas and smoky fried chickpeas that I still need to try.I just tried making roasted chickpeas and they didn't turn out well.
No, I didn't get to chickpeas today. When I wasn't working on the soup, I was making a new meatball recipe.
The butternut soup/bisque verdict: Eh. Mom said it was noticeably better than the brand name version she tried a month or so ago, and she finished a good-sized bowl's worth. I was underwhelmed. I thought it was ok, but I wouldn't bother attempting it again for so little reward. I didn't end up using any cream or condensed milk, so I guess it was technically vegan.
The ricotta garlic meatballs, on the other hand, turned out stellar. I made just over three dozen out of 2 lb. of ground chuck and 15 oz of ricotta cheese. I fried up a little bit to test the seasoning, and it was bang on. I shaped them up and laid them out on cookie sheets to firm up in the freezer, then bagged them for easy use later.
(Edit: If anyone is interested in either recipe, let me know and I'll post it.)
I made pork chops over the weekend, but I messed up and doubled the amount of pepper for the rub. I'm the only one who liked them. Admittedly, they weren't as good, and I was hardly an objective reviewer.
Sorry the soup didn't turn out. :(
Those meatballs sound good. I wonder how they'd be with turkey.
Andostre, I made pork stir fry the other night, and I put a *tad* too much cayenne in the sauce. My sinuses needed the clear-out anyway.
Andostre, I made pork stir fry the other night, and I put a *tad* too much cayenne in the sauce. My sinuses needed the clear-out anyway.
"Allergy season?! Time to make some chili!"
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This is a great slow-cooker pulled pork recipe.
Also, if you want to improve your BBQ game, that website is amazing. It taught me how to make ribs well enough that a lot of times people don't even bother to put sauce on them. Their articles are really good about explaining WHY you want to do something a certain way.
Healthy pizza? Sure. Remove the cheese. Remove processed meats. Lower the fat in the dough. Make smaller pizzas. Easy peasy.
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I am interpreting "healthier" as "nutritious with reasonable calorie intake." Use a thinner, whole-grain dough (the complex carbs are better for your body to process and the fiber will make you feel more full). Part-skim mozzarella in a reasonable amount (1/3 of a cup is one serving; pay attention to the saturated fat content and make sure the day you're eating it you're not eating buckets of other saturated fat content). But you want a little fat because it'll help your body process any fat soluble vitamins in the crust, sauce, and toppings. Top with fresh vegetables of choice (delicious, low calorie, lots of vitamins, more fiber). Obviously, use red sauce (which is all vegetable with maybe a tiny bit of oil) than white (which is all fat). Your little bit of oil on the pan is fine; use one like olive that is full of MUFAs. Watch your portion intake and eat other stuff with it to feel full (e.g., eat a smaller amount of pizza but add a salad, instead of, say, eat huge serving of just pizza).
Pizza in moderation can be great in terms of a variety of nutrient sources, and it's baked. Where it gets unhealthy is the amount we eat at the time or what we put on top.
Warning: DeathQuaker seldom follows her own advice.
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Yeah I was about to embark on making a canned tuna, sauce-less(red sauce can get extra sugar + I'm lazy to mix it up), topped with red bell pepper and mozarella cheese pizza this weekend.
I guess the sodium in the canned tuna might be a bit of an issue but otherwise should be good? If blasphemy to pizza fans?
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I am interpreting "healthier" as "nutritious with reasonable calorie intake." Use a thinner, whole-grain dough (the complex carbs are better for your body to process and the fiber will make you feel more full). Part-skim mozzarella in a reasonable amount (1/3 of a cup is one serving; pay attention to the saturated fat content and make sure the day you're eating it you're not eating buckets of other saturated fat content). But you want a little fat because it'll help your body process any fat soluble vitamins in the crust, sauce, and toppings. Top with fresh vegetables of choice (delicious, low calorie, lots of vitamins, more fiber). Obviously, use red sauce (which is all vegetable with maybe a tiny bit of oil) than white (which is all fat). Your little bit of oil on the pan is fine; use one like olive that is full of MUFAs. Watch your portion intake and eat other stuff with it to feel full (e.g., eat a smaller amount of pizza but add a salad, instead of, say, eat huge serving of just pizza).
Pizza in moderation can be great in terms of a variety of nutrient sources, and it's baked. Where it gets unhealthy is the amount we eat at the time or what we put on top.
Warning: DeathQuaker seldom follows her own advice.
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Those meatballs sound good. I wonder how they'd be with turkey.
1 tsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1/2 head* of garlic, minced
1 1 oz packet of unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup of reduced-sodium chicken stock or broth
15 oz of ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tbsp Italian seasoning blend
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp coarse kosher salt flakes (or, a little more than 2-1/3 tsp table salt**)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Colgin or Wright's liquid smoke
2 oz parmesan, freshly grated (bit more than 1/2 cup)
2 lb. ground chuck (73%-75% lean ideal, but not more than 80% lean)
3 slices of fresh white bread crumbs (about 2 unpacked cups)
In a medium skillet/pan, heat the olive oil. Add onion, cook down until starting to brown but not burn. Add in garlic, stir, and saute 1-1/2 to 2 minutes to take off some of the rawness. Do NOT burn the garlic. Dump onion-garlic mixture into large (3-4 quart) heat-safe mixing bowl. Refrigerate until coolish/slightly warm to touch.
Warm chicken stock in microwave for 45-55 seconds until almost hot, mix in gelatin, and allow to sit 5 min to dissolve. Refrigerate to chill a bit and allow it to start setting up.
In a medium (2 quart) mixing bowl, combine the ricotta and eggs. Then add in Italian seasoning, soy sauce, salt, black pepper, red pepper, liquid smoke, and parmesan. Mix well. Stir in gelatin mixture, then onion-garlic mixture, and then the bread crumbs.
Crumble up the ground chuck in the large mixing bowl. Dump in the ricotta "panade" mixture and combine well with hands (or spatula). Mold into golf ball-sized meatballs and arrange on foil-lined cookie sheets. Place cookie sheets in freezer for at least one hour to partially-freeze meatballs. Transfer meatballs into large freezer bags and keep frozen until ready to use.
When ready to use, preheat oven to 375°F. Drizzle 1-1/2 tsp of olive oil onto a foil-lined cookie sheet, use fingers to smear out to ensure coating. Arrange 9-12 frozen meatballs onto sheet and bake for 17-18 minutes until browned exterior. Slice open one to ensure it is cooked through. Add cooked meatballs into pot of hot marinara/spaghetti sauce and allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes, then serve over pasta or in sub/hoagie rolls.
* Yes, really. I really like garlic.
** 1 tsp of table salt = 1.25 tsp of coarse ground kosher salt
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Ground turkey would probably work well with it, but the amount of garlic I normally use would overwhelm the more subtle flavor of turkey. If it was me, I'd mix in some well-ground then sauteed mushrooms, maybe some anchovy paste, and even 3-4 Kalamata olives ground into paste. That'd boost the umami in the meatballs, and the mushrooms would absorb any excess moisture from the ground turkey and ricotta.
If you try it, let us know how it worked out for you.
Thanks! I'll let you know. They sound really good. I expect the ricotta would keep the turkey moist, and I like the idea of adding olives (maybe tapenade, which is pre "ground"? Adjusting for oil content).
Yeah I was about to embark on making a canned tuna, sauce-less(red sauce can get extra sugar + I'm lazy to mix it up), topped with red bell pepper and mozarella cheese pizza this weekend.
I guess the sodium in the canned tuna might be a bit of an issue but otherwise should be good? If blasphemy to pizza fans?
Reaaally depends on the kind of tuna you use. Pouch tuna might be lower sodium?
You could roast peppers + tomatoes together on a sheet pan for a quick sweet but no-sugar-added sauce. But that's still extra work if you just want a quick easy-assemble.
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The last time I opened up a few cans of tomato puree (still extra sugar) and tried to make my own sauce, people complained how sour it was. So I think this time I will skip sauce since the tomatoes here are not ripe enough to be sweet and adding sugar is meh. When you're on a diet and trying to lose weight.
Lol. Though the idea of pizza and weight loss might be opposite, I was trying to get an easy to fix up breakfast that has decent amount of proteins in it. At the end of the day I should be able to work off the excess calories.
I actually really like Turkey meatballs. Pork meatballs too.
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And here's the red bell pepper tuna pizza!
Taste testing: The red bellpepper turned out slightly sweetish, surprisingly, but I couldn’t taste the tuna very much. Probably too much cheese. The bread layer was also rather flat, more akin to a biscuit when it was supposed to be a deep dish pizza type, but I put it on the instant yeast being a little too old and losing its potency. I may have overbaked the pizza abit. But at the end of the day, I don’t really care what the crust is like overly much, so a crispy, biscuit type pizza doesn’t bother me anyway.
My chili secrets:
1. Experiment with different peppers. My personal favorite are poblanos. Find a heat and flavor that you like. For me jalapenos have good heat, but I'm not wild about the flavor. Poblanos are milder heat, but more interesting flavor (to me).
2. If you have the time (and ventilation), roast your fresh peppers. A gas stove or grill works well, but you need direct heat. Put the peppers over an open flame (no pan) and char the outside. It has to be completely black, not just spotty black. Scrap off the char and give it a rinse, then deseed, chop, and add to your chili. It'll add more flavor. I have a small apartment with poor ventilation. Normally when I cook the dog is right in the kitchen trying to get some food, but when I do this he hides in the opposite end of the apartment. It can be a bit like chemical warfare, and the spicier the chili, the worse it will be.
3. My two secret ingredients are fish sauce and liquid smoke. In a batch with 1 lb of ground beef and 2 cans of beans, 1 tbsp of each is enough to add flavor. The "fishy" flavor gets lost and all you end up with is a deeper level of flavor that makes the whole thing taste better.
Mmm. I love ancho chilis, which I believe are smoked poblanos. I like to put a bit of unsweetened cocoa in chili, especially if it's vegetarian chili. Adds some depth of flavor. Coffee works too.
ETA: Paizo community chili cookoff anyone?
Oh, I'll be a judge! I've seen the chilli cook-off episode of The Simpsons at least twenty times.
I made this beef stew, last night. It turned out pretty very well, except for the "reduce to a slow simmer" part. I would do that, then cover, and whenever I would open to give it a quick stir, it was boiling and the broth was boiling away. I kept turning the heat down, but it kept happening. I had to make up more broth and add it twice to make up for it. But it was delicious.
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oh sweet mercy why did I just find this thread? (Because you don't peruse the off-topic boards; that's why)
For squash soup, try adding some ginger (fresh grated, powder, or candied all work) and maple syrup. Both work very well just about any squash's flavor profile.
For chili, try reconstituting whole dried chilis in a bit of chicken or vegetable broth and then use a food processor to turn that into a paste. Add this when sweating the onions and garlic. The flavor just envelopes the entire dish and you get pretty awesome deliciousness in every spoonful.
I'll post more tips/ideas later.
I tried reconstituting a few months ago. I ended up with the dry, flaky skin in my mixture.
I toasted them dry, then soaked them, then used the food processor. Is there a trick, or did I do something wrong?
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I tried reconstituting a few months ago. I ended up with the dry, flaky skin in my mixture.
I toasted them dry, then soaked them, then used the food processor. Is there a trick, or did I do something wrong?
For the dry chilis, bring yer stock to a boil and then simmer the chilis for a good five minutes or so. You'll have a feel for when the chilis are soft as you stir them around a bit. If you are getting bits of skin, add a bit more liquid (D'oh! Just realized maybe my last post was not clear! You process the chilis with the braising/constituting liquid).
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I'm doing krazy stuff on my pizza now. The last black pepper chicken pizza turned out like a doner kebab kind of filling. Thinking of experimenting with Thai sweet chili sauce, grated carrots, cucumbers and tau kwa.
There's a local pizza joint that does a kimchi pizza. I don't eat the stuff but friends who do say it's delicious. I used to live four blocks from there.... sweet mercy do I miss Lola.
HA! I like that place as well.
Have you been to the wings place out in Oakdale? Not the same proprietor, but it's one of my favorite places ever. My Saturday gaming group is not far from there, so I grab my pre-game dinner at the D-spot occasionally. Service is mediocre, but their wings are amazing.
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HA! I like that place as well.
Have you been to the wings place out in Oakdale? Not the same proprietor, but it's one of my favorite places ever. My Saturday gaming group is not far from there, so I grab my pre-game dinner at the D-spot occasionally. Service is mediocre, but their wings are amazing.
No; I am a Dazzling Urbanite that rarely gets out to the "Here Be Dragons" portion of the metro. Also not having a car makes it kinda difficult.
Made a scaled-down (portion-wise) of Julia Child's coq au vin (technically it was poule au vin) with mashed potatoes and buttered rolls. It was... good?, I guess, but I think it's overhyped.