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[OnkelC]

bovo, thank you very much for the pics. The bratwurst (as the other stalls) look quite authentic, only the cookies/pastry is not displayed so supermarket-like on our Christmas markets. The bun for the sausage seems to be of local breed, too, they use crispy bread rolls over here. But I think that is as close as it can get.

Tonights dish will be fast food. Stay tuned.

 

[bovo]

the cookies/pastry is not displayed so supermarket-like on our Christmas markets.

They probably aren't as expensive either - mrs bovo bought some biscuits which i'm sure cost 5 times what they would cost in a German supermarket!

The bun for the sausage seems to be of local breed, too, they use crispy bread rolls over here. But I think that is as close as it can get.

As I said, last year the bread rolls were (I think) more authentic. They were crispy and fit round the bratwurst better. Maybe they just ran out (I did go on a Sunday lunchtime) - maybe I should visit the bratwurst stall again before Christmas to investigate! (although seeing as I made the (vegetarian) mrs bovo visit the city centre just so I could have bratwurst, it may not be appreciated!)

 

[PedYup]

This thread invariably makes me hungry.
OnkelC, would you be so kind to put online the chocolate cake recipe?(with photos please, they are very helpful) I tasked my parents before with the marble cake and it was awesome!!.
I hope to contribute to this fantastic thread in the future, work/time and weather constraints permitting, something Spanish cuisine related like Paella.
Thank you so much for so many tasteful recipes!!

 

[ChryZ]

So this thread isn't dead, eh?

Allrighty then, I might as well post last weekends' excursion into mexican cuisine:

Mole Poblano De Pollo (chicken with chocolate/chile sauce),
Arroz Rojo (red rice), Frijoles Refritos (refried beans)

ingredients #1 (chicken with chocolate/chile sauce)

6 TBSP ground mulato chile (seeds and veins removed)
5 TBSP ground ancho chile (seeds and veins removed)
6 TBSP ground pasilla chile (seeds and veins removed)
30 G plain chocolate (high % of cocoa, 1 OZ)
12 X chicken drumsticks
1 X tortilla (old and dry is okay)
1 X slice of white bread
4 X garlic clove
4 X clove
1 CUP whole-canned tomatoes in juice
1/2 CUP lard
1/3 CUP pumpkin seed
6 CUP chicken stock
6 TBSP chopped almonds
4 TBSP sesame seed
1 TBSP honey
1/4 TSP aniseed
1/4 TSP coriander seed
1 TSP black pepper corns
1 TSP salt (to taste)
1.25 CM cinnamon stick (1/2")

ingredients #2 (red rice)

1 X white onion
1 X chile
2-4 X veg oil
1 X leek (chopped in rings)
2 CUP tomato puree
1 CUP chicken stock (veg stock is fine too)
1 CUP uncooked long grain rice
1 TBSP ground cumin
1 TBSP ground celery seeds
1 TSP salt
1 TSP black pepper

ingredients #3 (refried beans)

400 G cooked pinto beans (14 OZ)
2 X white onion
1 X red onion (minced)
1 CUP plain yogurt
2-3 TBSP lard
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP black pepper

preheat oven (150C/300F), pet-dry the chicken with some paper towel, season with S&P on a
tin-foiled and lighly oiled baking tray, place in oven, set timer to 45-60 min

roast cinnamon stick, pepper corns, sesame seeds and cloves until fragrant,

ground to a somewhat fine powder, mortar or spice grinder will do the job

heat a pot, melt half of the ingredients #1 lard, fry almonds and pumkin seeds,
remove from the pot as soon as the pumkin seeds start popping, place on some paper towel

melt the rest of the lard and brown the tortilla and white bread (shred them),
place them also on the paper towel to drain excessive fat

prep and measure the chile

bring 2 cups of chicken stock to a simmer, add chile powder, garlic, bread/tortilla shreds,
pumkin seeds and almonds

keep stiring and scrapping the pots' bottom

keep stiring until the sauce reduced to a thick paste

add the tomatoes+juice and keep stir-roasting, then add the rest of the chicken stock,
reduce the heat, let simmer, stir and scrap from time to time

place the ingredients #2 in a blender (except rice, oil and leek rings)

blend to a smooth puree

heat a pan or pot with lots of surface, heat oil, sir-fry the rice until lightly browned

add the ingredients #2 puree from the blender, bring to boil, stir well and lower the heat,
keep an eye on the bottom of the pan, the rice/sauce mix shouldn't be sticking nor burning
to the bottom, adjust heat accordingly, the rice should be done in around 20 min

check the drumsticks, roasting slowly but surely

always keep an eye on the mole, stir and scrap from time to time

add the choco and the ground cinnamon/pepper/sesame/clove powder mix

blend mole until smooth, let simmer on low heat

taste the rice to check its doneness, lower the heat and cover when done

warm up the cooked pinto beans, add the chopped onions, lard and seasoning

bend until smooth, adjust seasoning to taste

quick overview, everything is ready to go

the drumsticks are done, switch from baking to broiling to finsh them off, 5 min is plenty

top the chicken with mole and some sesame seeds, top the rice with a few leek rings,
top the refried beans with yogurt and minced red onion, ready to serve

¡Buen apetito!



before

after

some mole for the freezer, "replay" ensured

 

[holliberry]

I made this last night, no pretty pictures, sorry. (I hope to get a digital camera soon, but all I have right now is my cell phone and that doesn't work most of the time. Plus, I don't have a lot of cooking equipment so my improvisation is pretty embarrassing )

It's even better the next day heated up, although next time I make it I'm going to leave out the soy sauce - it was a bit too overpowering of the other flavors. I also used olive oil instead of vegetable oil.

INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/4 cup soy sauce

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the mushrooms, cook 1 minute, and set aside. Melt margarine in the saucepan. Mix in flour, garlic, and basil. Gradually mix in milk until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheese until melted. Remove saucepan from heat, and mix in cooked pasta, mushrooms, spinach, and soy sauce. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, and top with remaining cheese.

Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly brown.

 

[elostyle]

ChryyyyyyyZ, I'm making your Budak

 

[Cornballer]

ChryZ that looks amazing - thanks for posting it. My sister and I might take a crack at it sometime. The ingredient list is a little bit tricky, but it's doable.

I'll probably make the Budak this week, too.

 

[OnkelC]

Thank you all for the feedback. I always wanted to try the chicken with a chocolate sauce, but chickened out of it yet...

This thread invariably makes me hungry.
OnkelC, would you be so kind to put online the chocolate cake recipe(with photos please, they very helpful)? I tasked my parents, yes, I´m a lazy bastard, before with the marble cake and it was awesome!!.
I hope to contribute to this fantastic thread in the future, work/time and weather constraints permitting, something Spanish cuisine related like Paella or so.
Thank you so much for so many tasteful recipes!!

Thanks PedYup and welcome to the thread.

The ingredients for the chocolate cake (suitable for a 12 inch loaf pan or a 12 inch round pan):

8 1/4oz (230g) butter or margarine,
9 1/4oz (260g) sugar,
1 packet of vanilla sugar,
a hint of salt,
4 medium to large eggs,
1,10lb (500g) wheat flour,
1 packet of baking powder,
1 cup and change milk,
some drops of rum arome or 2 tablespoons of dark rum,
10 tablespoons of cocoa powder,
butter/margarine for the pan,
chocolate glaze (I used only dark chocolate this time).

The preparation is same as the marble cake, I used a round pan out of sheer curiosity this time.

Some pics from the preparation:

IT'S ALIIIVE!

Glazing:

Ta-dah!

Enjoy.

 

[Jacobi]

You know about the coupons on burgerking.de OnkelC ? If you get your fast-food there...

 

[PedYup]

Oh, thanks for the speedy response. The choco cake is now in the to-do list. E.T.A. (I hope) for the Paella is around Friday, so I should have something ready by the weekend. I´m sure it won´t dissapoint you.
A little teaser for now:

Little update: It seems that weather conditions will be nice enough and we´ll be able to do the paella on the barbacue, so please look forward to it.

 

[OnkelC]

PedYup, I am looking forward to the paella. It's a dish I only cook occasionally (once a year at best), because it tastes best when cooked in large quantities.

You know about the coupons on burgerking.de OnkelC ? If you get your fast-food there...

The next BK is across the town, so I went for a McD fix around the corner tonight. Nothing spectacular, really.:lol

 

[ChryZ]

Excellent! I would love to hear about how you guys liked Buldak or Mole ... any feedback is most welcome.

That chocolate cake is pure decadence btw

 

[OnkelC]

Tonights dish will be spaghetti with a quick tomato sauce and maybe fried mozzarella again. Stay tuned.

 

[OnkelC]

And that about sums it up for me, I'll take a small break from posting recipes for the rest of the month, going to try out some new stuff.

Thanks to all contributors and posters, it was a fun time.

See you all in 2007, in a new and fresh thread.

 

[bovo]

And that about sums it up for me, I'll take a small break from posting recipes for the rest of the month, going to try out some new stuff.

Thanks to all contributors and posters, it was a fun time.

See you all in 2007, in a new and fresh thread.

Thanks for the thread (I think it's probably the only one I've really posted to in months). Shame I kind ran out of new things to post - might have something new to add in the future, if you decide to start something similar - maybe I'll save up some recipes for then!

 

[GeneralIroh]

I found some appealing Japanese recipes. If anyone is willing to translate, ill post the scans.

 

[OnkelC]

Thanks for the thread (I think it's probably the only one I've really posted to in months). Shame I kind ran out of new things to post - might have something new to add in the future, if you decide to start something similar - maybe I'll save up some recipes for then!

I also thought of collecting some recipes (especially cookies and the christmas marathon) for the time being. It would be nice to see you and the other contributors back in '07!

 

[ChryZ]

I've just bought a few new toys recently (crock pot, spice grinder, some books), I'm going to read up on Indian food and I've neglected gaming lately. So a break is most welcome. Thanks for the recipes, inspiration and feedback. It was a good run, cheers!

 

[Cornballer]

To OnkelC, ChryZ and everyone else that posted on the thread - thanks for all of the good recipes and food pr0n. It helped spark my reinterest in cooking, and I'm looking forward to the new thread next year.

 

[hiryu]

I'm hoping I can get some help here. I have a holiday office party next week where we need to bring some kind of dish. Any suggestions for recipes of something I can make for the party? Please keep in mind that I'm not a very experienced cook but I don't mind experimenting and a good portion of the people there are vegetarians but it doesn't absolutely need to be a vegetarian dish as there will be plenty of meat eaters too.

 

[OnkelC]

I'm hoping I can get some help here. I have a holiday office party next week where we need to bring some kind of dish. Any suggestions for recipes of something I can make for the party? Please keep in mind that I'm not a very experienced cook but I don't mind experimenting and a good portion of the people there are vegetarians but it doesn't absolutely need to be a vegetarian dish as there will be plenty of meat eaters too.

for how many people should it be?

 

[hiryu]

for how many people should it be?

There will be a lot of people there but enough for 10-12 should be good. Something that normal "covered dish" would hold.

 

[OnkelC]

Preparing food 10-12 people in one session is hard to pull off in a normal kitchen, but you could make two to three Quiches. You can prepare them the night before, they taste great when eaten cold. The ham that we used can be substituted with some grated parmesan cheese for a hearty taste and a completely meatless dish:
Ingredients for 4 persons (1lb of wheat flour):
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4201738&postcount=459
Preparation:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4203416&postcount=463
pleas keep us posted of the results!

 

[heavy liquid]

Your mole looks amazing, ChryZ! I will definitely try making that sometime. And the cake looks delicious, OnkelC! Wow!

We recently ate at Pizza Rustica in Chicago. It's a great little Italian restaurant that's very near the red line Sheridan El stop. They have authentic Venetian-style pizza with a thin, flaky, buttery crust. Very good. We ordered the Quattro Stagioni which had tomatoes, artichoke, mushrooms and ham. It's BYOB so I brought along a pint of Anchor Steam beer to have with my meal.

I'll be cooking more next week and trying out some new recipes. A couple of the things I'll be trying is a mexican style pork stew and beer braised short ribs, both of which I'm looking forward to.

 

[OnkelC]

yummy! For how many people was this pizza meant?

 

[ChryZ]

Your mole looks amazing, ChryZ! I will definitely try making that sometime.

Thanks, I would love to hear how you liked it. I really missed you in this thread lately.

This weekend I'm going to mooch off on Vol1 and make bovo's Spicy Lentil Soup and break in my new crock pot (slow cooker) with Cornballer's Carnitas.

 

[BeEatNU]

this is a dope thread, nice foods here, when i make some Gumbo i'll put sum info up

 

[heavy liquid]

yummy! For how many people was this pizza meant?

There were four of us. It was just enough food for all of us. It's also a little less filling than traditional pizza or the usual Chicago deep-dish pizza as it's a thin crust pizza.

Thanks, I would love to hear how you liked it. I really missed you in this thread lately.

Thanks, I've been meaning to post more, but I haven't been cooking much at home lately. This will finally change next week and I'll have some more stuff. Hopefully good.

 

[Cornballer]

ChryZ - I made the Korean Fire Chicken last night at it was a great success! I don't have any pictures because my roommates and I were too busy scarfing it down. The recipe worked pretty well, and the only minor problem was that the dish came out a little bit wet and didn't brown quite enough. I don't think I had my pan hot enough before adding the chicken initially, so that can be remedied easily. Otherwise, I was very happy with the recipe - my friends loved it, too. The red cabbage and sprouts were a good addition. I printed out the recipe and put it in my cookbook. Thanks.

I'm doing the mole on Saturday with my sis, so I'll report back next week and let you know how it went. Good luck with the carnitas!

 

[PedYup]

Today´s paella was a success. A couple of photos:

Recipe and remaining photos for tomorrow.

 

[Cornballer]

PedYup- That looks great. Definitely post more pics and the recipe when you get a chance. I usually take the Julia Child version (Paella 'a l'Americaine) and tweak it a bit, so I'm curious how close that is to what you did. Yum.

 

[Kuran]

Can't you just end it at this stage? Looks fine to me...

 

[heavy liquid]

Here's a quick and easy recipe that I made a few weeks ago.

Shepherd's Pie

Someone made this dish in Vol. 1 of "Home-style cooking", but here's another take on it anyway. Shepherd's pie is a traditional British dish that consists of a bottom layer of minced (ground) lamb in gravy covered with mashed potato and optionally a layer of cheese. The mince is traditionally lamb (hence "shepherd") although many people prefer to make it with minced (ground) beef. A shepherd's pie made with beef is properly called a cottage pie. A similar dish made with fish instead of meat is called a fisherman's pie.

First you make mashed potatoes. Chop your potatoes and boil them. Add milk, salt and pepper to taste. I added a bit of sour cream in mine which I think gives it a nice flavor. I also mixed in some of the chedder cheese into my potatoes.

Saute some onions and add your ground beef (or lamb) and some chopped mushrooms. Season to taste. A bit of worcestershire sauce will add to the flavor of the beef IMO.

I grated my own cheese. I used a good aged chedder cheese.

Evenly spread the beef, mushroom and onions in an even layer on the bottom of a baking dish.

Add a layer of veggies on top of the meat. It can really be any veggies that you like, there are no set rules. I used a bag of mixed frozen vegetables (dethawed).

Add a layer of your mashed potatoes on the vegetables.

And finally add the cheese on top.

Bake in the oven at about 350 for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Done!

 

[heavy liquid]

This weekend I'm going to mooch off on Vol1 and make bovo's Spicy Lentil Soup and break in my new crock pot (slow cooker) with Cornballer's Carnitas.

My wife subscribes to Cook's Country magazine which I highly recommend. You may want to check out their slow cooker recipes. They have a 14-Day trial for the site. I used their beef burgundy slow cooker recipe for the recipe I posted a couple of pages ago, and they're part of America's Test Kitchen which airs on PBS on Sunday's (great show). I recently subscribed to their website (it's separate from their magazine sub, unfortunately). I've had great success with their recipes and I like their "Discovery Notes" and comments for the recipes. I'll be using their Mexican style pork stew and beer braised short ribs slow cooker recipes next week.

 

[PedYup]

Ok, let´s do it.
Paella is one of the pinnacles of Spanish gastronomy and one of my favourite dishes. It´s a very flexible recipe and there are almost so many paella variants as people doing it, so don´t be afraid to experiment with it.
Morning began auspicious enough:
Almost clear sky

Nice temperature to work outside

So we got got some firewood and lit it

But due to copious raining of late, the wood was very green and we could smoke the paella and ruin the meal. So Plan B into action:

+

Outside it was windy enough that the burner couldn´t work properly and finally we got all the stuff inside the house.

Phew!!, let´s start cooking:

Ingredients for ten people.-

(Please note that we usually over-dimension the amount of ingredients, so ten people ingredients for eight actual people eating, as we usually got asked for second servings)

1 Kg of rice
1/2 kg of chicken breast fillets
400 g of rabbit meat
300 g of raw shrimps
250 g of fresh clams
10 raw Norway lobsters
500 g of fresh mussels
2 squids
1 middle size onion
1 middle size green Italian (long) pepper
5 middle size red tomatoes
250 ml of olive oil
2 garlic cloves
100 g of oil-flavoured red pepper
A little parsley
A little saffron
Food colourant for paella (optional)
Salt

Preliminary actions:

The day before, put the clams into salty water and keep them in the fridge

Peel off the raw shrimps, reserving the bodies,

and put the shells into 2.250 litres of water with some salt. Heat the water at max fire, wait until it rises and cut off the fire.
Sieve the shrimps´ shells and keep the stock. You could use stock from crabs or angler fish too.

Clean the outer shell of the mussels as much as possible. Scratching them with a Scotch-Brite works good enough.

Wash and peel off the squids. Cut them into strips the size of pinky finger for example.
Cut (or ask your butcher) the chicken and rabbit meat into bite sized portions.
By now you should have something along this:

Pour the olive oil into the paella pan and heat it at middle fire

Cut the onion and green pepper into small pieces

When the oil is hot (but not smoking) drop the onion and green pepper

Let it stir-fry at minimum fire until the onion is glazed.
Meanwhile put the tomatoes trough a grater

and add it with the thinly sliced garlic gloves and parsley into the paella pan

Stir-fry it for around five minutes
Now it´s time to add the chicken and rabbit pieces and the squids strips

and the clams

Add the mussels one by one removing the barbs with the fingers before putting it into the paella pan

Let it stir-fry for around 15 to 20 minutes. Please note the progressive change in colour of the meat and the gradual opening of clams and mussels

Keep retiring the open mussels, discarding the empty half-shells and reserving apart the full half-shells (be careful, as they will be pretty hot)

WARNING:
After finishing cooking the paella, ALL remaining CLOSED clams and mussels are to be removed and thrown into the trash. DO NOT try to open them and DO NOT EAT them
END WARNING.
Meanwhile preheat the reserved shrimp and crab/angler stocks almost to boiling point and keep them ready for use

Now add the rice

Stir-fry it for around five minutes while the rice absorbs the remaining liquid (and flavours) in the pan

It´s time to add the reserved stocks, keeping the fire to the max until boiling point, then low the fire so it keeps boiling nice and steady

Immediately after pouring the stocks, add the saffron and food colourant for paella, taste it and season it to taste. Optionally some people add paprika to the paella, be careful with the amount so it doesn´t overwhelm the rest of ingredients, the tip of a teaspoon should be enough.
Now add the peeled shrimps

the Norway lobsters

and the mussels and the red pepper cut into strips

We´re almost done now.
Keep it boiling for around 15 minutes until the liquid evaporates

Then cut off the fire and cover the paella with a clean kitchen cloth

Let it cool down for around ten minutes.
Congratulations!!. The paella is done

Please note that if you want the rice harder shorten the boiling time upping the fire, or by the contrary, soften the rice lengthening the boiling time lowering the fire or adding additional stock, don´t be afraid to experiment.

OnkelC is absolutely right, the effort of doing a paella for two is almost the same than doing a paella for ten and it tastes much better. It´s a great dish to share with family and friends and I really encourage you to try it. Questions and feedback are gladly welcome.

A big thanks to OnkelC, ChryZ and the rest of people that kindly shares so many great recipes in this thread. I hope to become a more consistent contributor in the 2007 thread.

Finally a big thanks to my family, specially my parents, for their kind collaboration and help with the recipe and while taking the pictures.

 

[smirkrevenge]

Slow-cooked baby-back pork ribs...for those without a grill:

Dry Rub:
2 parts paprika
2 parts brown sugar
1 part salt
1 part black pepper
1 part ground cumin
1 part chili powder

Be liberal in covering the ribs with the dry rub. Place in slow-cooker (meat side against the sides of the slow cooker) on high for 4 hours. When finished, grill on stovetop grill-pan while brushing on BBQ sauce. I like to add some honey to any bottled sauce to add some sweetness. The last step of grilling adds a nice crunchiness to the fall-off tenderness of the ribs.

Tasty! I'm curious what sorts of sauces/marinades other GAFchefs have used with great success...

 

[OnkelC]

When I thought the thread was running out, new contributors enter. NICE!
Thanks for your contributions, PedYup and smirkrevenge, I appreciate it.
And the shepherds pie looks ace, heavy liquid.

Can't you just end it at this stage? Looks fine to me...

...what?

 

[heavy liquid]

...what?

:lol

Looks like you DID end it at that stage, at least momentarily. Thanks for the kind words, OnkelC.

Your paella looks great, PedYup. Seems like it would be a great and fun thing to cook for a large party or family gathering. I will have to try making it sometime!




Tonight I made a Fisherman's Stew

Spanish and Portuguese cooking frequently blend the flavors of spicy pork sausage and fish in soups and stews. The combination sounds odd at first, but the fish and meat balance each other well.

Here's what you need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound chorizo sausage , cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 leeks , sliced thin
1 red bell pepper , seeded and cut into thin strips
4 cloves garlic , minced
1/2 cup white wine
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice
1 (14-ounce) can cannellini beans , drained, rinsed, and lightly mashed with fork
1 1/2 pounds firm, thick boneless cod fish fillets , cut into 2-inch chunks
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
Table salt and ground black pepper

Cod is the best fish in this stew, but halibut and swordfish are also good. The spicy, garlicky Mexican chorizo sausage lends a richness to the soup. If you can’t find chorizo, you can use hot Italian sausage.

Mince your garlic.

Use only the white and light green parts of the leeks. Slice leeks in half lengthwise, wash well, and then cut crosswise into thin slices.

Seed and cut the red pepper into thin strips.

Take your fish, and cut into about 2-inch chunks.

Drain, rinse, and lightly mash the cannellini beans with fork. I forgot to mash them, and ended up doing it in the pot. Oops. It still turned out the same.

Take off the skin of the chorizo sausage, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. The sausage is very crumbly and will break apart easily, but don't let this worry you.

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven (or large pot with a lid) over medium-high heat until just shimmering. Add the sausage and cook until it's browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add leeks, red pepper, and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add wine and simmer until it's reduced by half, about 1 minute.

Add tomatoes, clam juice, and beans. Bring to boil, reduce heat to maintain gentle simmer, and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes to blend flavors. Season with salt and pepper.

Gently stir in fish and parsley, cover, and simmer until fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Serve. The end result was very tasty, and not as "fishy" as you would expect, thanks in large part to the chorizo sausage. The stew is very good when served with thick slices of a crusty bread. Bon apetit!

 

[ChryZ]

My wife subscribes to Cook's Country magazine which I highly recommend. You may want to check out their slow cooker recipes. They have a 14-Day trial for the site. I used their beef burgundy slow cooker recipe for the recipe I posted a couple of pages ago, and they're part of America's Test Kitchen which airs on PBS on Sunday's (great show). I recently subscribed to their website (it's separate from their magazine sub, unfortunately). I've had great success with their recipes and I like their "Discovery Notes" and comments for the recipes. I'll be using their Mexican style pork stew and beer braised short ribs slow cooker recipes next week.

Sweet, thanks for the hint! "Mexican style pork stew and beer braised short ribs", eh? Please take a few pics

Your Shepherd's Pie and Fisherman's Stew are looking great!

Paella

Woah, that's like the posterchild of paella making ... mouthwatering stuff!

Slow-cooked baby-back pork ribs [...] Place in slow-cooker (meat side against the sides of the slow cooker) on high for 4 hours.

Sounds great. Which setting ... high or low? No liquid?

ChryZ - I made the Korean Fire Chicken last night at it was a great success! I don't have any pictures because my roommates and I were too busy scarfing it down. The recipe worked pretty well, and the only minor problem was that the dish came out a little bit wet and didn't brown quite enough. I don't think I had my pan hot enough before adding the chicken initially, so that can be remedied easily. Otherwise, I was very happy with the recipe - my friends loved it, too. The red cabbage and sprouts were a good addition. I printed out the recipe and put it in my cookbook. Thanks.

You're welcome. I'm glad you guys liked it. Regarding the wetness: the first marinade is pretty much just for sealing the chicken, high heat and swift stir frying. With the second marinade, well it's more a sauce, add not all of it in one go, just as much to coat the chunks. The deglazing of the pan shouldn't add to much liquid and with a bit of heat it should be gone within seconds.

Good luck with the carnitas!

Your carnitas got raving reviews, a few snapshots:

Taco De Carnitas, Guacamole, Pico De Gallo (and some mild spanish cheese)

Thanks for the great recipe. My first slow cooker worked like a charm.

Bovo's Spicy Lentil Soup was amazing too. I hope, he'll forgive me ... I tweaked it a little and thickened the soup with sweet potato, added ground coriander seeds, a splash of wine and chili flakes.

Some chocolate chip banana bread muffins for desert:

I've posted a pic of my standard banana bread in the previous thread and someone suggested to add chocolate chips. So I added some unsweetened, chopped chocolate (the slightly bitter kind) and it nicely balanced the sweetness of the banana/sugar. The chocolate is really a perfect match for the already awesome banana/walnut combo! Many thanks and props to the person who made the suggestion!

 

[smirkrevenge]

I set the slow cooker to HIGH, no liquid required. I was scared the first time I tried this out because I didn't add any liquid...but they turn out just fine.

 

[Cornballer]

Wow! This thread is undergoing something of a revival. Good to see all the tasty recipes and hear the tales of cookery.

PedYup - your paella looks amazing! It puts my meager version to shame. I think I'm going to do another batch sometime soon as it's been a while since I've had paella.

ChryZ - Thanks for the tips on the Fire Chicken. I'll give that a shot next time. I'm glad the carnitas tacos worked out for you. It's one of my favorite recipes. Oh, I did the mole last night w/ my sister and her husband. It turned out really well, so it looks like another winner. I have a few pics and I'll try to post those tonight if I remember. There's a bit of leftover sauce, so I'm going to try and make some mole enchiladas with it this week. Stay tuned.

heavy liquid - The Fisherman's Stew looks tasty, so I think I'll take a crack at it sometime soon. The ingredients and preparation don't look too difficult, and stew's just the thing for the rainy weather we're getting right now.

 

[OnkelC]

I can only second what Cornballer said. Impressive stuff altogther, thank you all for the fine dishes posted! Go on.

 

[PedYup]

Thanks for the kind compliments!!. Doing a paella is great way to spend a lazy Sunday morning :lol

Heavy liquid: your comment about the Fisherman's Stew really surprised me as we have never mixed chorizo with fish. Nevertheless the recipe looks great and I´ll try it as soon a I can.

ChryZ: the chocolate chip banana bread muffins look too tempting to let them pass, so they are going next as desserts.

These threads are really a treasure trove of great cooking recipes!!

 

[ChryZ]

I'm going to try and make some mole enchiladas with it this week. Stay tuned.

Great idea! I also got some leftover Mole in the freezer, I'm going to try that too.

ChryZ: the chocolate chip banana bread muffins look too tempting to let them pass, so they are going next as desserts.

These threads are really a treasure trove of great cooking recipes!!

I've just finshed to write down the recipe for my own notes, so here it is:

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins

ingredients

2 X eggs
3 X very ripe banana (mashed)
1 CUP sugar
1/2 CUP shortening
2 CUP flour
1/2 CUP walnuts (chopped)
1/2 CUP unsweetened chocolate (chipped)
1 TBSP baking soda

directions

-first combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, mix well
-melt shortening (microwave for 20 sec)
-add melted shortening to bowl, mix well
-add mashed banana, mix well until homogeneous
-pour into none sticking baking pan
-bake for 20-30 min at 160C/320C (loaf form can take up to 40-60 min)
-check doneness with a toothpick, stick it into the middle of a muffins' core, pull it out, when there is not dough on the pick then they're done

warning: this recipe might cause additional weight gains

 

[PedYup]

Oh, thank you so much!!. I´ll try them for sure.

warning: this recipe might cause additional weight gains

Yeah, for sure. It goes without saying with so many tasteful temptations around :lol
Here in Spain we say "Lo que no mata, engorda" that roughly translates as "Whatever it doesn´t kill you, it will fatten you"
Cheers.

 

[heavy liquid]

Heavy liquid: your comment about the Fisherman's Stew really surprised me as we have never mixed chorizo with fish. Nevertheless the recipe looks great and I´ll try it as soon a I can.

Hmm, that's odd. I quoted that directly from the recipe that I used:

http://www.cookscountry.com/pwlogin.asp?did=2695&area=recipe

I'm more inclined to believe you rather that the website, of course, but I'm surprised that they would get something like that wrong. Maybe it's something that is only done is certain regions? Or maybe they're just wrong.

Tonight I'll be preparing the Mexican-style pork stew, and it will be cooking all day in the slow cooker tomorrow. I'm hoping to have the recipe up around this time tomorrow.

 

[ChryZ]

I'm more inclined to believe you rather that the website, of course, but I'm surprised that they would get something like that wrong. Maybe it's something that is only done is certain regions? Or maybe they're just wrong.

Hmmmm, all this sausage/seafood talk gave me a mighty Jambalaya flashback. Dibs on it! I'm going to make some Jambalaya next weekend.

 

[heavy liquid]

Hmmmm, all this sausage/seafood talk gave me a mighty Jambalaya flashback. Dips on it! I'm going to make some Jambalaya next weekend.

Mmm, sounds good! I love jambalaya and haven't had it in a long time. I'm looking forward to your recipe.

Here's a preview of tonight's dinner. I prepared most of it last night, and put it all in the slow cooker before I left for work. I'll have the full recipe up in about 10 hours or so (after I eat it. ).

 

[ChryZ]

I prepared most of it last night, and put it all in the slow cooker before I left for work.

I'm still paranoid about leaving a hot cooking device unattended. Is it really safe? Aren't you worrying that it will burn down your flat/house/building while you're gone?

 

[heavy liquid]

I'm still paranoid about leaving a hot cooking device unattended. Is it really safe? Aren't you worrying that it will burn down your flat/house/building while you're gone?

I'm not really worried about it. The heating element is encased by the outside shell, so it doesn't really gets too hot, except maybe the lid. I just make sure that it sits on my counter with plenty of room around it. I really think the worst that could happen is that it could short out and ruin my dinner. A fire from an electrical problem could happen just as easily from my alarm clock.

From wikipedia:

Because these cookers are hot, easily moved, contain large quantities of hot food and water, and are left unattended during long cooking times, they are dangerous to small children and exploratory pets, who must be kept away by reliable means. Electrical failures can cause problems, including fires. Although slow cookers have few parts that can fail in a dangerous way, and failures are rare, unattended slow cookers must be treated with respect and caution. For instance, they are best used in a kitchen placed on a tile or similarly reduced flammability surface, and not near flammable materials such as papers or flammable fluids since the outside of the slow cooker becomes hot during operation. Fire risk is minimized by keeping the appliance away from surrounding flammables.