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IronGAF Cookoff (hosted by OnkelC)
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Mackenzie 92
Member
dragonlife
Member
Chocolate and mint are the best combo for me. This looks so delicious ;_;My parents were coming over today so I prepared a cake:
Chocolate Butterflies with Fluffy Mint Frosting
I see u did thar.
So I got a hold of an entire Jidori chicken (a type of chicken raised on a Japanese free range method). They generally taste much better but of course are smaller too since they aren't pumped full of growth hormones but best of all they actually do taste like chicken.
Decided to poach it ala Hainan style, I know non-Asians may not be into that soft chicken skin but I love it and grew up with it over crispy chicken skin (not that I don't enjoy it).
Poached it in a liquid infused with leeks, scallions, ginger, konbu, and tiny bit of black peppercorns, salt, and powdered dashi. Yes not traditional but I do whatever I can to up the umami factor. It came out slightly undercooked but that's fine, generally jidori chickens are very safe to eat compared to factory farmed ones.
Made a ginger scallion sauce to go with it too which is traditional but I added a little bit of rice vinegar and black pepper to it to add a little complexity. I don't normally use a mortar and pestle but all my power tools are at work. In the end I rather liked the texture a mortar and pestle gave me, might start using it more often. It's just finely minced ginger, thinly sliced scallions (white + greens), salt, black pepper, dash of vinegar, neutral tasting oil. No recipe just do it to taste but let it sit for an hour for the flavors to fully develop. You have to cut the ginger fine or work it until it's smooth, you don't want fibrous ginger bits in your mouth.
Also the neighbor was nice enough to give me a piece of yellowtail and I thought the quality was good enough to eat raw so I sliced the good parts for sashimi and the rest went into a stir fried application.
Decided to poach it ala Hainan style, I know non-Asians may not be into that soft chicken skin but I love it and grew up with it over crispy chicken skin (not that I don't enjoy it).
Poached it in a liquid infused with leeks, scallions, ginger, konbu, and tiny bit of black peppercorns, salt, and powdered dashi. Yes not traditional but I do whatever I can to up the umami factor. It came out slightly undercooked but that's fine, generally jidori chickens are very safe to eat compared to factory farmed ones.
Made a ginger scallion sauce to go with it too which is traditional but I added a little bit of rice vinegar and black pepper to it to add a little complexity. I don't normally use a mortar and pestle but all my power tools are at work. In the end I rather liked the texture a mortar and pestle gave me, might start using it more often. It's just finely minced ginger, thinly sliced scallions (white + greens), salt, black pepper, dash of vinegar, neutral tasting oil. No recipe just do it to taste but let it sit for an hour for the flavors to fully develop. You have to cut the ginger fine or work it until it's smooth, you don't want fibrous ginger bits in your mouth.
Also the neighbor was nice enough to give me a piece of yellowtail and I thought the quality was good enough to eat raw so I sliced the good parts for sashimi and the rest went into a stir fried application.
Metroid Killer
Member
Zyzyxxz you magnificent bastard!
nakedsushi
Member
Made a ginger scallion sauce to go with it too which is traditional but I added a little bit of rice vinegar and black pepper to it to add a little complexity. I don't normally use a mortar and pestle but all my power tools are at work. In the end I rather liked the texture a mortar and pestle gave me, might start using it more often. It's just finely minced ginger, thinly sliced scallions (white + greens), salt, black pepper, dash of vinegar, neutral tasting oil. No recipe just do it to taste but let it sit for an hour for the flavors to fully develop. You have to cut the ginger fine or work it until it's smooth, you don't want fibrous ginger bits in your mouth.
I have to admit to be one of those Asians who doesn't enjoy the steam/boiled chicken, but man, I love that ginger, scallion, oil sauce! This may sounds totally unhealthy, but I like making the sauce with the oil that comes from the rendered chicken fat when you make it. SO chicken-flavored. I just use the chicken flesh as a vessel for the sauce. Or spoon the sauce over rice and just eat that and skip the chicken flesh altogether. Using the mortar pestle is a good idea because I hate chewing on giant pieces of ginger.
Oh you!
Oh wow that is such a good idea I am going to steal it. Funny enough I keep all my rendered chicken fat unfortunately it's all at work. I think the best thing about using a mortar and pestle over a food processor is that the scallions don't get worked into oblivion whereas the ginger would get fully blended in a processor but it would become a homogeneous paste with it.
Auron_Kale
Member
Made some pumpkin pie spice s'mores bars. Safeway had their marshmallows on sale and I happened to pick up some of the pumpkin pie spice versions. Tossed in some pumpkin pie spice powder for additional seasoning, which seemed to enhance both the Golden Grahams and the chocolate really.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Auron_Kale
Member
Thanks! It was fun making them!
Truth be told, it's dead simple. Kinda like making rice Krispy treats really. （＾ω＾）
(1) Box of Golden Grahams (12 oz.)
(1) Bag of Pumpkin Pie Spice Marshmallows (12 oz.)
4 Tbs. of unsalted butter
1 Tsp. of pumpkin pie spice
11 oz. (or less) of semi-sweet chocolate chips - I used mini chocolate chips for this.
Spray a cookie sheet or baking dish (I had a dish on hand) with cooking spray. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a big pot on low and then empty the bag of marshmallows & 1 tsp. of the pumpkin pie spice into the pot to melt slowly before emptying the box of Golden Grahams into the pot. Take off the heat and start mixing before adding the chocolate to taste.
Once coated to your liking, pour the mix into the coated sheet/dish and use either parchment (which I used) or wax paper to press the mixture together tightly. Keep the sheet over the mix and let it cool.
Cut and serve to your liking.
But do play with the ratio of chocolate and marshmallows. I found that the flavored marshmallows themselves had a really mild taste and weren't overly sweet so I added the whole bag (it comes out to about 4 cups of marshmallows overall). The mini chips melted a bit better than regular sized ones but do use what's on hand and be mindful of how sweet they can be. And for the cereal, it comes out to roughly 4 cups for the entire box.
I'll say this though - my boss & coworkers loved it and didn't find it too sweet, despite that they don't like overly-sweet things.
nakedsushi
Member
Was perusing the usual food blogs and guess what I saw? A write up about our very own ZyZyxxz!
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2012/10/spirit_house_johnny_lee.php
Congrats, man!
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2012/10/spirit_house_johnny_lee.php
Congrats, man!
That all sounds too good. And it's only 5000 miles away!
bucknuticus
Member
So im finally getting a place where ill need my own kitchen stuff. I always told myself when I did I would buy a good chefs knife since the one ive been using is garbage.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a good knife or possibly knife set? I dont really want to break the bank though.
Does anyone have any recommendations for a good knife or possibly knife set? I dont really want to break the bank though.
LOL, wasn't planning on pimping myself out here but thanks anyway.
nakedsushi
Member
Don't get a knife set because those are cheesy and you won't need all those knives anyway. Get a good chef's knife or cleaver, two pairing knives, and a bread knife (serrated knife) if you slice your own bread. If you search this thread, you'll find many good suggestions on brands. Wusthof or Shun seem to be popular brands.
bucknuticus
Member
Yeah, always what I had heard on knife sets, but left the door open incase someone had a good suggestion. Will give a look through this thread, thanks.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
I'm a sucker for italian food. I wish pasta was more healthy! Those meatballs look great Jay.
Technosteve
Banned
Buy cheap kitchen supply knives I like the ones where the metal extends to the tang. Also get a sharpening rod, as the cheaper knives won't hold an edge as long but since is cheap you can abuse it.
BriareosGAF
Member
I eat a modestly high protein diet as a lacto-ovo vegetarian, which I've been for... 17 years now (so old). I don't usually use substitute/faux meat products (very rarely eat soy, don't think it's particularly good for you) but yesterday turned out to be one of them.
Usual weekday:
Breakfast: sauteed potatoes & onion omelette with cotija cheese
Lunch: decaf latte
Dinner: sauteed rapini (broccoli rabe) with orecchiette and soy-based Italian sausage (normally we omit the sausage but it was laying around so wife used it)
Snacks: Trail mix of cashews, pecans, almonds, dried fruit
Usual weekend:
Breakfast: fried eggs on toast, hash browns, grits
Lunch: sliced mozzarella di buffalo, pesto, tapenade, herbed/peppered chevre, crackers, mixed olives
Dinner: potato leek soup with cream, side salad daikon and carrot in a miso tahini dressing
Snacks: Dark chocolate with almonds
nakedsushi
Member
Congrats! I try to eat pescetarian but fall off the bandwagon frequently. Not a big deal though, since most of the time, my meals are vegetarian. I think it's good to be bad sometimes
My number one tip is to like vegetables. If you like vegetables, vegetarianism is easy. I also think if you're eating whole foods and have a balanced diet, you don't need to really worry about eating high-protein. A lot of vegetables and grains already have a good amount of protein in them, so it's not like you need a substitute chunk of meat in there.
My main problem with eating vegetarian is if I don't eat grains or some sort of carbs with my meal, I get hungry really fast afterward.
Some things I have for breakfast:
- savory steel cut oatmeal with green onions and chinese pickled vegetables
- sweet steel cut oatmeal with bananas, honey, and a teaspoon of nut butter stirred in
- fried egg on toast and some salad greens
- boiled egg with soy sauce
- granola with soy milk
- granola with yogurt
Some things I have for lunch (when it's not leftovers from dinner):
- salad with boiled egg
- mashed avocado sandwich
- caprese sandwich
- vegetarian ham banh mi with a fried egg
- grilled veggie panino
Some things I have for dinner:
- pasta with broccoli rabe
- pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce
- stir fried vegetables and rice
- fried rice
- mushroom risotto
- baked potato and baked cauliflower
- vegetarian noodle soup
So, had a sudden need to bake a quick dessert last night, and decided it was a perfect occasion to try a Slutty Brownie.
Here's the result ( don't mind the shape, that's all I had at that time ) :
Just a bit overcooked I thought, and the bottom cookie part could have been better, but it's pretty satisfying for a quick-made calorie-dripping dessert
Here's the result ( don't mind the shape, that's all I had at that time
) : Just a bit overcooked I thought, and the bottom cookie part could have been better, but it's pretty satisfying for a quick-made calorie-dripping dessert
SquiddyCracker
Banned
Don't stress it man.
I don't believe in the "hard" types of diet change. Just slowly phase out meat, and introduce new vegetarian meals into your weekly mealplan.
Couple of weeks from now, you'll have made a smooth transition to a vegetarian diet. Stick to it for some time to properly adjust your metabolism to it, and then judge.
Metroid Killer
Member
Made a batch of French Nougat(not sure what it's called in english though), with self roasted peanuts and pistachios and dried cranberries.
Came out really nice
Came out really nice
In case you don't mind sharing, how did you go about making the mint frosting? Some leaves and cream? Some kind of mint extract?
It is also called nougat in english.
Looks great!
Do you have a good recipe for the solid french-style flan. Used to eat that a lot when I lived in paris. The kind you could buy a slice for fairly cheap in the bakeries and was firm enough to hold in your hand?
nakedsushi
Member
No big deal! As I said, it's fine to be "bad" sometimes. As long as you eat vegetarian most of the time like when you're eating alone or cooking for yourself, don't feel too guilty about it.
nakedsushi
Member
Made a batch of French Nougat(not sure what it's called in english though), with self roasted peanuts and pistachios and dried cranberries.
Came out really nice
What's the black thing on top? Looks great! But now I'm craving nougat, but my dentist warned me against eating sticky things while I have my temporary filling in place. Noooooo.
Metroid Killer
Member
I used a mint extract. Dr Oetker to be precise.
Here's the recipe I used:
Fluffy White Frosting
Yield: Suitable for a 2-layer 20 cm cake
Ingredients
- 200 g sugar
- 80 ml of water
- 2 pasteurized egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or extract of choice)
- 1-3 teaspoons of food color of choice (Green goes great with mint...)
Progress
Heat the sugar and water in small saucepan until sugar is broken down and the sugermass bubbles slightly.
In a large bowl beat the egg whites and vanilla until it becomes a rigid meringue.
Pour the sugar mixture into the meringue in a thin stream while whipping. Whisk in about 10 minutes - to the mass gets a cool and airy texture.
I'm planning to write a in-depth guide on the various frosting one of these days actually.
Thanks for the comment, but nope, I'm not from France and got no knowledge of any good flan recipes.
Dark melted choclate sprinkled with chopped pistachios. And actually I'm very anal about my nougat not getting sticky, nor too hardened. In the progress I boil the sugary mass to exactly 152 degree celsius, which means that the perfect amount of water has vaporized for the end result to be firm in texture, but soft to chew and most importantly not sticky.
Now if the weather is very humid I throw the towel in the ring as it's near impossible to get the nougat right.
Hey guys, anyone familiar with making udon and soba (just the soup)? I found a few recipes and they seem rather simple, but I haven't tried yet: http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2009/10/udon-noodle-soup-dashi-recipe.html, I just have a few questions
- What could I make using niban dashi? I probably want to use the ingredients twice but I can't really find recipes on what to use it for.
- For the soup part, it seems like I just need to add soy sauce, mirin, sugar and salt, I've noticed dipping sauce for cold soba has similar ingredients, are the two pretty much the same thing?
- How long could I keep the dashi for, say if I want to make it into dipping sauce, is it possible to keep them around for later?
- What could I do with the kombu after making dashi?
Thanks!
- What could I make using niban dashi? I probably want to use the ingredients twice but I can't really find recipes on what to use it for.
- For the soup part, it seems like I just need to add soy sauce, mirin, sugar and salt, I've noticed dipping sauce for cold soba has similar ingredients, are the two pretty much the same thing?
- How long could I keep the dashi for, say if I want to make it into dipping sauce, is it possible to keep them around for later?
- What could I do with the kombu after making dashi?
Thanks!
nakedsushi
Member
You can use the dashi for any other type of light/clear broth recipe. Chicken soup, miso soup, ramen, probably would be good in steamed mussels too.
I find that the dipping sauce for cold soba is less diluted, but yes, roughly similar. I also like to put a splash of the soba cooking water into the sauce because the starchy water helps give the sauce more body.
I would boil the dashi down to 1/4 the volume so it's more concentrated, and maybe freeze it into ice cubes (easy serving size) if you want to keep it for later?
If the kombu is pretty soft after making dashi, you can slice it up into thin pieces, tossing with a little ponzu and toasted sesame oil, top with sesame seeds and sliced green onion, and you have a quick seaweed salad.
Maklershed
Member
I like using a mixture of ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and a touch of worcestershire.
MK, you have one incredible
camera
Metroid Killer
Member
Thanks. It's an EOS 500D with the canon 15-85mm lens. It honestly does most of the work, but you still have to be creative in how you want to present the food. But it's a lot of fun, and having them end up in my recipe book and here at IronGaf feels good
I too like BBQ sauce, Mak.
Thanks for the answers!
How good is the exhibition? Wusste vor deinem Post nichts davonEnt to Binn yesterday, Pixar exhibition and the Greek place of choice:
ElectricThunder
Member
Onkel's posse is unstoppable!
In far less grand happenings though:
Sigh...one of these days...
Crumble: Marilyn's Red Chili Tortilla Chips Nice rebound to prior weeks---definitely restaurant style with a good mix of sweet, salt, and heat in the mix.
Cheese: German Triple Cream Cambozola/Combozola It smelled fine, melted great into a delightfully messy series of puddles----but damn it all if, yet again with another blue, I'm just not feeling the taste at all.
Maybe one of these days I'll find one that lights me up on them as apparently most other folks are easily able to experience with the common ones..but man~
In far less grand happenings though:
Sigh...one of these days...
Crumble: Marilyn's Red Chili Tortilla Chips Nice rebound to prior weeks---definitely restaurant style with a good mix of sweet, salt, and heat in the mix.
Cheese: German Triple Cream Cambozola/Combozola It smelled fine, melted great into a delightfully messy series of puddles----but damn it all if, yet again with another blue, I'm just not feeling the taste at all.
Maybe one of these days I'll find one that lights me up on them as apparently most other folks are easily able to experience with the common ones..but man~
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