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[GiJoccin]

My experience with putting minimal effort into kneading is that crust always ends up being too droopy to eat without a knife and fork or that it's so brittle it falls apart. This Reinhart recipe and process is where I started out with making my own doughs and it was still quite enjoyable, but still required kneading

Hmm. I made the dough last weekend actually, hadn't made pizza in forever. Used that recipe as close as possible, didn't have any difficulties with the dough! Also, I've done the no knead bread a LOT, and never had any consistency problems. i try to abuse auto-lyse whenever possible

are you sure the consistency issue wasn't more with what you're baking on? or the oven temperature?

*edit* it would make sense for percent hydration to make auto-lyse more viable, makes it more liquid like, and allows the salt/yeast to redistribute and the gluten to develop

 

[MrBig]

When I was messing with that it was my first steps into dough making, so I easily could have just been messing it up. I don't remember if I was even using a stone at that point :lol

 

[meow]

This is hands-down my favorite thread on gaf.

http://www.infinite-monkeys.org/michael/misc/biscotti-1.jpg

These look great! Do you have a recipe you can point me to? I've only tried making biscotti once years ago and I don't think they came out very well -- dry but not crunchy, not the right color either if I'm remembering correctly.

I just googled a bunch of recipes but not really sure what to go with. ~_~

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Could you share your recipe for this?

Stole this from the Pok Pok cookbook:

5 oz of ground meat (chicken, pork or beef) the fattier the better
1 oz long beans cut
1 1/2 oz yellow onion sliced
6 g Holy basil leaves (I know you prob can't find these easily so use thai purple basil, not the same but it's the only widespread alternative)
11 g crushed garlic
2 teaspoons Thai black soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
4 thai chilis, adjust for your own spice preference
3 dried thai chilis crushed

Just throw all this together in a wok and stir fry it, top it with a fried egg if you want for extra awesome!

 

[BriareosGAF]

These look great! Do you have a recipe you can point me to? I've only tried making biscotti once years ago and I don't think they came out very well -- dry but not crunchy, not the right color either if I'm remembering correctly.

Like much of our cooking it's based on the Cook's Illustrated recipe, which can be hard to find, but 9 times out of 10 if you search for a specific CI recipe and scroll down a bit in the search results someone somewhere has blogged about it and transcribed the recipe.

http://recipetools.gotdns.com/mags/CI/119/CI-119.html

 

[ElectricThunder]

Cheese: Swiss Finlandia Been a long, long time since I've stumbled across a tasty stretchy-melt cheese that doesn't go so far as to become rubbery and become a pain in the ass the eat properly. Melts pretty quickly too!

 

[Yes Boss!]

Here you go Metroid!

Hope it is not too many photos. Using dried fenugreek was an absolute success. In fact, after doing some research Ghormeh Sabzi can be made entirely with dried herbs.

Finished dish:

Ingredients (ignore the wine...that was just for me to drink while cooking):

Chopped bunches of Parsley and Scallions:

Soaked and reconstituted dried fenugreek added:

Frying the herbs in a bit of oil:

Completely fried:

Now to make the beef-onion-curry base. Onions fried till golden with turmeric then beef cubs added:

Lightly spiced with chili powder. This is not a hot dish so just enough for flavor:

Completed beef-onion-curry reserved:

All four groups reserved and ready for the next step. Cooked kidneys (soaked a few hours then pressure-cooked for thirty minutes), beef-onion curry base, fried herbs, dried lemons and a couple more dried lemons that have been crushed:

Into the pot at once:

Water and pierced dried lemons added:

Crushed dried lemons added:

I also added a small handfull of these dried round indian chilis to help buff up the veggie quotient:

Then I slow cook it for a couple hours till the meat is tender and the dried lemons have swollen. Finish with a little fresh lemon juice squeezed in! It is an amazing dish that just gets better with a few days of age in the fridge.

 

[nakedsushi]

^-- That looks so good, but so labor intensive.

Are those round Indian chiles spicy? I don't think I've seen them dried like that before.

 

[Milchjon]

What's the best way to get rid of frying oil? I only know that you're not supposed to put it down the drain...

 

[MakeshiftChef]

What's the best way to get rid of frying oil? I only know that you're not supposed to put it down the drain...

Will your city recycle it? In mine all I need to do is take it over to a local drop off location.

 

[bucknuticus]

What's the best way to get rid of frying oil? I only know that you're not supposed to put it down the drain...

I collect all mine in pickle jars then once its full toss it out. Not sure if thats the correct way, but the way my mom/grandmother always did it so I just continued it.

 

[CRS]

Risotto with seared scallops

 

[DJ_Lae]

I picked one of the simplest recipes I could find in the book that came with my pressure cooker - pulao. I ended up halving it too, as there's no way in hell I needed three cups of uncooked rice.

Paired it with chana masala, which I've never made before and the two probably aren't a great fit. Tasted good, though. And my naan I did in the oven for the sake of simplicity, though they lacked any decent browning because I figured if I left them in there they would get crispy and that wasn't really what I wanted.

Would make all of them again, but probably just fry the naan in a pan instead.

I will say it was kind of amusing to prepare a rice dish in three minutes of full pressure cooking followed by five minutes of rest. Including the initial frying I'm guessing it was less than fifteen minutes until it was edible. In contrast, the chana took far longer.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

Took some leftover bones from a smattering of Peking duck my friends didn't finish, and made a nice stock over the past four hours. Wasn't able to reduce it as much as I wanted, but it should make for a good deglazer at least.

 

[Yes Boss!]

Paired it with chana masala, which I've never made before and the two probably aren't a great fit. Tasted good, though. And my naan I did in the oven for the sake of simplicity, though they lacked any decent browning because I figured if I left them in there they would get crispy and that wasn't really what I wanted.

Man, Chana masala and rice is usually my go-to quick lunch. I almost always have both on hand in the fridge. Chickpeas being my favorite bean. I do realize it is an unorthodox pair but I love it...especially with some of my fresh mint/coriander chutney. Like, this was my lunch today:

 

[Milchjon]

Felt the need for pulled pork.

Didn't want to wait for the meat to marinate overnight. Don't have a slow cooker or a smoker.

This is gonna be struggle pulled pork.

 

[DJ_Lae]

Man, Chana masala and rice is usually my go-to quick lunch. I almost always have both on hand in the fridge. Chickpeas being my favorite bean. I do realize it is an unorthodox pair but I love it...especially with some of my fresh mint/coriander chutney. Like, this was my lunch today:

That chutney sounds really good - I'd love to make something like it but the selection of herbs here (Edmonton) is pretty spotty, and those that are present are expensive as hell. I managed through the summer by growing my own but nowhere in the house gets enough direct sunlight to grow them indoors. I guess I should probably try, I'm not paying $3 for one package of slightly wilted herbs.

So far my only real experience with indian cooking is butter chicken, and the pressure cooker was an attempt to try more as I've loved pretty much everything I taste at restaurants and friends' houses.

I love chickpeas too. I have a bag of chana flour in my pantry I have to figure out what to do with (it was going to be for making wheat-free wraps).

 

[Yes Boss!]

That chutney sounds really good - I'd love to make something like it but the selection of herbs here (Edmonton) is pretty spotty, and those that are present are expensive as hell. I managed through the summer by growing my own but nowhere in the house gets enough direct sunlight to grow them indoors. I guess I should probably try, I'm not paying $3 for one package of slightly wilted herbs.

Thankfully cilantro/coriander is fairly cheap here. Generally a bunch is at $1.50. Mint is the killer, though. I only put one package of mint in since it was pricey at $3.00. It is probably about 20% mint. But it is enough to mint it up. I also take a quarter cup of dried unsweetened coconut and rehydrate it and add that. Then the few green chilis and fresh lemon juice along with the cumin seed, salt and oil and blended all together it yields a good two cups. About double the cost of buying it in a jar but fresher is always better.

You can also make it with just coriander if that is cheaper.

 

[Kenka]

Here you go Metroid!

Hope it is not too many photos. Using dried fenugreek was an absolute success. In fact, after doing some research Ghormeh Sabzi can be made entirely with dried herbs.

Finished dish:

...

Spoiler

Why don't have such goodness for dinner, snif

 

[thespot84]

Just made this: http://nprfreshair.tumblr.com/post/66289262914/recipe-ketchup-fried-rice-by-chef-roy-choi

The basic lesson is you can put anything in fried rice and it's awesome. This was awesome. I subbed some onions/bacon for the kimchi/scallions since that's what i had but it worked like a charm:

Finished Product with some sriracha

 

[CRS]

Baked mac and cheese.

Delicious.

 

[Milchjon]

I can't cook healthy for shit.

It always goes something like this:

"Hmm, maybe go a little less fatty and more green today.

let's see, some chicken breast, peppers, onions, carrots, mushrooms, herbs, garlic. In a pan with some olive oil, spices.

...ah fuck it, I'll throw a pot of cream in there. Now let it cook until I can be sure the chicken's done - and all the vitamins are gone."

 

[Rookje]

What are some of your guys favorite Thanksgiving recipes? I'm supposed to bring dessert, and I don't want to bring something predictable. Was thinking maybe Momofuku's Crack Pie.

 

[Cosmic Bus]

Crack pie

I brought a butterscotch-almond-cranberry tart to a get-together a few Thanksgivings ago that people still rave about, so obviously something went right during that baking session.

 

[Silkworm]

What are some of your guys favorite Thanksgiving recipes? I'm supposed to bring dessert, and I don't want to bring something predictable. Was thinking maybe Momofuku's Crack Pie.

Yeah, I made the Crack Pie once and I still remember it... it was soooo good. However it was really hard to get slices out the pie pan. Not sure whether cutting out a piece of parchment paper and laying it on the bottom would help prior to assembling the pie.

Let's see... I tried this dessert recipe about a month ago and really liked how it turned out:

Sweet and Salty Cake
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/sweet-and-salty-cake.html

However I'm not sure how unpredictable such a dessert would be considered. *shrug* I do have my eye on trying that CI recipe for Rich Chocolate Tart in their most recent issue. I bought some nice tart pans a while ago but haven't used them yet so this recipe would give me a chance to test them out.

I was browsing Bon Appetit's website yesterday and came across this recipe for Gâteau Breton aux Pommes.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/gateau-breton-aux-pommes

The recipe is not too complicated and looks tasty to me, though again I'm not sure how unpredictable you might find such a dessert.

 

[Dartastic]

Stole this from the Pok Pok cookbook:

5 oz of ground meat (chicken, pork or beef) the fattier the better
1 oz long beans cut
1 1/2 oz yellow onion sliced
6 g Holy basil leaves (I know you prob can't find these easily so use thai purple basil, not the same but it's the only widespread alternative)
11 g crushed garlic
2 teaspoons Thai black soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
4 thai chilis, adjust for your own spice preference
3 dried thai chilis crushed

Just throw all this together in a wok and stir fry it, top it with a fried egg if you want for extra awesome!

I just bought that cookbook the other day, it's awesome. Just like Pok Pok.

 

[Metroid Killer]

Haven't had time to contribute lately, even though I've been baking a ton of stuff.

Here you go Metroid!

! Thanks so much! I'll defintely make this on the next rainy day. Looks amazing!

Here's what I made last week:

Pear Bundt Cake with Pear Syrup

I love these simple, delicious spice cakes that remind me very much of fall. While the weather is cold and harsh outside, there's nothing better than eating a warm slice of spice cake. It ended up being more complicated than I had planned, as it took me three attempts to make the cake. I had some leftover pear syrup that I wanted to use for a cake, naturally it had to be a cake involving pear. I first tried to adapt a recipe using a spongecake batter, but it just didn't work for what I wanted, and furthermore I didn't bake it long enough. Then I found this recipe and did everything by the book. When I inserted the wooden stick after 60 minutes of baking it came out fine. But the stick had deceived me as it was too short. What the stick failed to report was a huge gooey cave of unbaked batter which came out like a tsunami when I removed the pan. For the third attampt I ended up baking the cake for 80 minutes before it was ready. I should have known this as my oven always tends to underbake spice cakes, but now I got a healthy reminder.
The many attemps were worth it as it's one of the best spice cakes I've had, and I'm absolutely in love with the pear syrup.

~Recipe~
Yields: 25cm cake, ~15 servings

Ingredients

390 g flour
1 tsp gound cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
225 g butter, room temp.
400 g sugar
4 eggs, room temp.
1 tsp vanilla extract
230 g sour cream/creme fraiche
2 pears
200 ml pear syrup​

Directions

- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and lightly flour the inside of a 25cm bundt pan or similar tube pan.
- Mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, and set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar light and fluffy at high speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides after each addition. Add vanilla extract.
- Beating at low speed, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream in 2 additions in between.
- Peel and core the pears, then chop into fine pieces. Fold into batter. Scoop into pan.
- Bake at 180°C for 60 minutes or until a wooden stick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, before inverting it onto a cooling rack over parchment paper. Pour syrup evenly over the cake and serve warm together with the remaining syrup.

​

Recipe adapted from here

 

[Metroid Killer]

^That pear cake was made because I had guests over last weekend. They happened to come over on the day of my dog's birthday, and while I find the thought of celebrating your pets birthdays sorta ridiculous, suddenly I was trapped in a web of cakes and dogfood...

Dog Cake

One reminder when baking cakes to be consumed by pets. They are not for the pets, well of course, the pets are gonna eat them, but they don't really care how sharp the frosting stands or that the cake is multilayered. When baking cakes for pets you do it for the humans. But you want to make sure the cake is healthy for dogs, so avoid sugar and salt, and trim down on fat. I still felt I needed to decorate the cake, probably because it's meant for human eyes as stated above, so I did a light decorative touch made out of pâté frosting and some dog treat. In some way it was a relief for once to just let any blemishes be as the receiver was gonna swallow it whole anyway.
Shikko was pretty crazy about the cake, and for the following two days, which the cake lasted, he memorised the sound of the plate and came rushing everytime I took it out of the fridge.

~Recipe~
Yield: 16cm cake, 8 dog servings

Ingredients

125 g whole-wheat flour (bleached flour is not healthy for dogs)
1 tsp of baking soda
60 ml of vegetable oil
1 egg
2 carrots, thinly shredded
3 tablespoons of chicken stock
Pâté spread for frosting​

Directions

- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease bottom and sides on a 16cm springform.
- In a large bowl beat together all ingredients. Pour into form and bake for 30-40 minutes. Take cake out of the form and cool on a rack.
- Once cooled, cut the cake into two layers with a serrated knife. Place one layer on the serving plate, and spread out pâté on top of the layer. Place the other layer and frosting the top and sides of the cake with the remaining pâté.
- Decorate with dog treats and carrots.​

 

[CRS]

D'awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

 

[nakedsushi]

Awww too cute. Your dog is one lucky guy! Looks like he loved the cake. Now I feel like a very neglectful dog owner for not baking my dog a cake.

 

[Yes Boss!]

That dog is rad.

 

[Haly]

In Shanghai for vacation. I thought some of you might enjoy this:

 

[CrystalGemini]

Food from this weekend:

Soon tofu (soft tofu soup)

Grilled pork belly

Galbi (grilled beef short ribs) and various banchan (got those from a korean market)

And the after Halloween pumpkin-butchering extravaganza:

 

[CrystalGemini]

^That pear cake was made because I had guests over last weekend. They happened to come over on the day of my dog's birthday, and while I find the thought of celebrating your pets birthdays sorta ridiculous, suddenly I was trapped in a web of cakes and dogfood...

Dog Cake

One reminder when baking cakes to be consumed by pets. They are not for the pets, well of course, the pets are gonna eat them, but they don't really care how sharp the frosting stands or that the cake is multilayered. When baking cakes for pets you do it for the humans. But you want to make sure the cake is healthy for dogs, so avoid sugar and salt, and trim down on fat. I still felt I needed to decorate the cake, probably because it's meant for human eyes as stated above, so I did a light decorative touch made out of pâté frosting and some dog treat. In some way it was a relief for once to just let any blemishes be as the receiver was gonna swallow it whole anyway.
Shikko was pretty crazy about the cake, and for the following two days, which the cake lasted, he memorised the sound of the plate and came rushing everytime I took it out of the fridge.

~Recipe~
Yield: 16cm cake, 8 dog servings

Ingredients

125 g whole-wheat flour (bleached flour is not healthy for dogs)
1 tsp of baking soda
60 ml of vegetable oil
1 egg
2 carrots, thinly shredded
3 tablespoons of chicken stock
Pâté spread for frosting​

Directions

- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease bottom and sides on a 16cm springform.
- In a large bowl beat together all ingredients. Pour into form and bake for 30-40 minutes. Take cake out of the form and cool on a rack.
- Once cooled, cut the cake into two layers with a serrated knife. Place one layer on the serving plate, and spread out pâté on top of the layer. Place the other layer and frosting the top and sides of the cake with the remaining pâté.
- Decorate with dog treats and carrots.​

WHHHAAAAA...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHIKKO! Gotta remember that one for our Fred's birthday...

 

[Dom Brunt]

Shikko <3 <3 <3

I'm saving that recipe for my sister's dog I should find a doggie cookie recipe and buy a bone shaped cookie cutter so I could bake something for the doge as a christmas present heh.

 

[Metroid Killer]

----~ Season's Sweet ~---- (November)

Chinese Persimmon Pancakes

I love discovering new foods, and a good starting point is always using a certain ingredient and then do research on what you can do with it. Suddenly you run into Chinese street food which you have never heard about before. These pancakes, called Shi Zi Bing in Chinese, are a speciality in Xi'an, and can be found all over the city. They can be bought for almost no money and comes in a great variety of sweet fillings. In this case I chose to fill them with anko, which is an asian sweet bean paste made from the azuki beans. When fried the center will be all gooey while the outside layer is still crisp, which is why you want to serve them right after they have been fried to keep the great contrast intact. The taste of persimmon doesn't exactly pop up when eating the pancakes, but the subtle flavour is defintely to be found. While the pancakes are extremely simple to make, be sure to close them good enough after placing anko in each pancake as you don't want to have any anko leakage while frying them on the frying pan.

~Recipe~
Yields: 10 pancakes

Ingredients

500 g persimmon pulp (from 4-6 persimmons, depending on size)
100 g sugar
500 g flour
200 g anko​

Directions

- Blend the persimmon pulp and sugar into a purée and transfer to a large bowl.
- Add flour in small doses at a time while stirring it into a thick dough. Depending on how much juice there are in the persimmons you may need more or less flour. It shouldn't be sticky once all flour is incorporated. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
- Cut dough into ~10 even pieces, roll them into balls and flatten them. Place some anko in the center of each pancake and close them by pinching the edges together. Flatten the pancakes again.
- Fry on frying pan on medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side or until the pancakes are golden. Serve hot.​

 

[Metroid Killer]

----~ Season's Sweet ~---- (November)

Persimmon Fritters

I'm usually not big on deep fried desserts as they tend to be too greasy for my taste. But deep frying fruit sounds right up my alley! Persimmons are the perfect fruit for deep frying since it already has a gelatinous consistency when ripe, and it just works wonders as the sweet and warm tender center of a deep fried desserts. The fritters are relatively quick and easy to make as well, defintely possible to be ready to serve in under 45 minutes with all ingredients on hand. Oh and just one advice from experience, leave that last fritter on the plate, even though your eyes tell that you can easily eat one more, just let it be. Both your body and that fritter will feel much better the day after...

~Recipe~
Yields: 12-15 fritters

Ingredients

115 g sugar + 2 tbsp
1 tsp ground cinnamon
250 g flour
1 tbsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
500 ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp vegetable oil + 500 ml
2 eggs
4-6 ripe persimmons​

Directions

- Peel skin of persimmons and slice into 1cm pieces.
- In a small bowl mix together 115 g sugar and cinnamon, set aside.
- Whisk together flour, 2 tbsp sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and 4 tsp oil in another bowl. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stir to combine.
- Heat up 500 ml oil on a frying pan over medium-high heat till it reaches 180°C on a deep-fry/candy thermometer.
- Set up an assembly line of persimmon slices -> Batter -> Frying pan -> Cooling rack/paper towels -> Cinnamon sugar coat -> Serving plate
- Dip each persimmon slice in batter and fry 2 minutes on each side or until dark golden brown. Drain for some minutes on the cooling rack before coating them in sugar. Best served warm.​

Recipe adapted from Marthastewart.com

 

[Metroid Killer]

----~ Season's Sweet ~---- (November)

Persimmon Spice Cake

This is my favorite spice cake. Everytime persimmon season draws near I get excited, not only because the fruits are some of my favorite fruits, but this amazing cake which has become a fall stable, synonymous with the yellow and brown leaves in my garden which again happen to compliment the cake. I love how the persimmon turn the cake brown, and I love the thin layer of lemon glaze which brings a great contrasting tart taste to the sweet cake. I prefer the cake to be somewhat dry and usually bake it for 65 minutes, but remember that if you need to store the cake for the day after it will turn even more dry. I recommend adding some drops of lemon oil to enhance the glaze, lemon oil can be bought in speciality shops and will give the glaze a very concentrated taste of lemon.

~Recipe~
Yields: 25cm cake, 12-15 servings

Ingredients

230 g butter, room temperature
350 g sugar
2 eggs
240 ml persimmon purée (from 4-6 persimmons, depending on size)
1 tsp vanilla extract
360 g flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
~3 tbsp lemon juice (2 drops of lemon oil in addition is recommended)
~200 g powdered sugar
Zest from half a lemon​

Directions

- Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and lightly flour the inside of a 25cm bundt pan or similar tube pan.
- Sift flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda into a bowl and set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar light and fluffy at high speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides after each addition. Add the persimmon purée and vanilla extract and mix for a few seconds.
- Beating at low speed, add flour mixture in 2 additions, making sure to incorporate the flour into a uniform batter.
- Bake at 170°C for 60-75 minutes, but check every 5 minutes after 1 hour has passed. Done when a wooden stick inserted in the middle comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. Remove from oven and cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, before inverting it onto a cooling rack.
- When the cake has cooled down, but is still warm, whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until you get a smooth glaze. Pour over cake, decorate with lemon zests and serve when cooled completely.
​

Recipe adapted from Andreasrecipes.com

 

[MakeshiftChef]

Awesome looking stuff, Metroid Killer!

 

[Metroid Killer]

Awesome looking stuff, Metroid Killer!

Thanks. Commercially, persimmons are a fairly recent addition in the Danish market, so I have to look to other countries for inspiration. But so far everything I make with that fruit turns out great or amazing, and the fruit itself has quickly risen to my top 5 fruits. I eat like 2-3 of them everyday at the moment.

 

[Gr1mLock]

Shikko!!

 

[Funky Papa]

Persimmons are so, so good. I'm eating about two per day ATM. Delicious fruit, although a bit messy to peel out. I'm surprised they are new to the Danish market.

And Shikko looks overenjoyed with his dog cake. Gorgeous as always.

 

[nakedsushi]

Great persimmon dishes, Metroid Killer!

We're inundated with fuyu persimmons b/c of my parents' tree. I'm lazy so I just peel and eat them straight. But one savory recipe for persimmons that I love is this cumin and lime dressing salad with persimmon: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-encore110907,0,1404922.story

 

[Necromanti]

I've just been going through this entire thread for at least an hour now, looking at all the delicious food and salivating... I can almost taste it.

Being a fatigued and lazy college student, I could only dream of finding the energy to reproduce some of the food produced here. Be that as it may, I made something super simple a few days ago that made me appreciate the simplicity of a few flavorful ingredients.

It was...a cheese sandwich. Buttered on both sides of two slices of toasted bread, with a generous slice of triple-cream brie in the middle which was gently sprinkled with some black truffle olive oil. The outer buttered layers of toast were sprinkled with parmesan. Pop it into the oven for a few minutes, and a crispy, succulent, and drippingly cheesy heaven awaited. I had never tried triple-cream brie before then, and my goodness. Its consistency is that of butter. And that sublime flavor...but anyway.

 

[BriareosGAF]

It was...a cheese sandwich. Buttered on both sides of two slices of toasted bread, with a generous slice of triple-cream brie in the middle which was gently sprinkled with some black truffle olive oil. The outer buttered layers of toast were sprinkled with parmesan. Pop it into the oven for a few minutes, and a crispy, succulent, and drippingly cheesy heaven awaited. I had never tried triple-cream brie before then, and my goodness. Its consistency is that of butter. And that sublime flavor...but anyway.

Sounds delicious. Triple creme brie is... very good. My daughters can polish off a wedge of St. Andre in no time flat. My eldest especially likes goat cheese bries, too.

Re: college, I found that by being a vegan in college I ended up cooking every single day, and that put me in good stead for developing technique that I use when putting dishes together now--with much better ingredients now that I'm not penniless . Went through a lot of Moosewood cookbooks. Every now and then the wife and I toy with the idea of opening a book shop/coffee shop/bakery but then I look at the statistics on those markets and decide we'll just keep it a hobby...

 

[Nezumi]

Hey Iron-GAF. I got a question.

I want to make Cupcakes inspired by the carrot cake from Starbucks. What is a good method to make the cream cheese icing so that it doesn't become runny. Can I just put some gelatine or agar agar in it so that it becomes more firm?

 

[Metroid Killer]

Persimmons are so, so good. I'm eating about two per day ATM. Delicious fruit, although a bit messy to peel out. I'm surprised they are new to the Danish market.

And Shikko looks overenjoyed with his dog cake. Gorgeous as always.

Great persimmon dishes, Metroid Killer!

We're inundated with fuyu persimmons b/c of my parents' tree. I'm lazy so I just peel and eat them straight. But one savory recipe for persimmons that I love is this cumin and lime dressing salad with persimmon: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-encore110907,0,1404922.story

Wut? I never peel persimmons as it gets messy as you say. I cut them into quarters and hold on the skin side while eating the flesh, basically like eating a slice of melon. Will look into that recipe naked, thanks!

Tonight me and the girl made a very traditional Danish dish. Flæskesteg with sugar-browned potatoes and red currant jelly and brown sauce... When I view this from the outside it sounds insane to me, but this is food for the gods! Flæskesteg = Pork roast w/ cracklings.

 

[WonkyPanda]

Special Mac and Cheese.

Blog Post and More pics.

Ingredients

1 box (I used 13.25 oz) whole wheat elbows
6 tablespoons butter
3 1/2 tablespoons flour
3/4 tsp dry mustard
salt and pepper, to taste
2 1/4 cups milk
5 cups cheddar cheese
1 cup cheez-its, crushed
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large saucepan, cool the pasta for 6-8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Using the same pan over medium-low heat, completely melt your butter. Add in the flour, dry mustard, salt, and pepper and mix well.
Slowly stir in the milk and bring the temperature up to medium high until it begins to bubble. Bring the temperature back down and let simmer together for about a minute.
Remove from heat and stir in 4 cups of cheddar cheese until it is completely melted. Stir in the cooked pasta until it is evenly coated in the cheese mixture. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 pan.
Now, make the topping by mixing together the cheez-its and bread crumbs. Pour evenly over the pan.
Top the pan off by sprinkling paprika and cayenne pepper on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Is it possible to cook raw homemade corn tortillas in an oven as opposed to on a griddle/frying pan?

EDIT: It turns out that you can! It takes a little bit longer than using a griddle, but the effect remains the same. Awesome.

 

[nakedsushi]

Wut? I never peel persimmons as it gets messy as you say. I cut them into quarters and hold on the skin side while eating the flesh, basically like eating a slice of melon. Will look into that recipe naked, thanks!

WHAT. Why didn't I think of that? My mind is blown. Eating more persimmons NOW.