Good recipes that use fresh ingredients. (Cooking)

[Daydreamer]

I've noticed quite a few threads here about cooking, but I think it's time we bust out the big guns and make a real cooking thread. One that involves mostly fresh ingredients and not things like velveta and canned chili and such.

Let's start off with a yummy little curry I made last night. NOTE: First ever attempt at a curry with no real knowledge of it, but it seems to have turned out pretty good.

Kevin's Improv Curry:

1 pack 'stir fry' beef, or a nice steak cut into stir fry like strips.
Rice, as much or as little as you want - Cooked before you begin
Fresh ginger - to taste - grate using the 'small star' side of a grater or use a ginger grater thingy if you got one. Ginger can be tricky to grate, but alton brown has a good method for it if you look it up.
Garlic - again, to taste, I used 5 cloves, which I really think should be the min because the flavor is masked a lot in this recipe - mince
1 small yellow onion or 2 shallots - small dize
Fresh mint - about 10-15 nice size leaves - chiffonade
Coriander - 2 tbs - if you really wanna take the time, get whole seeds, roast them, and grind them in a coffee grinder
Cinnamon - 1 Tbs, to taste
Kosher Salt - more on this later
Freshly ground black pepper - a few grinds should do it, more if you like it
A few dashes of cayenne pepper
Unsalted butter - for sweating veggies and such
Sesame Oil -used for cooking the meat on hi heat so the butter won't burn.
1 tin coconut milk. I would do this fresh but I think they purify it or something when they can it, so it's probably better than getting an actual coconut.
1/2 a lime, optional.

Start out by putting about 2 tbs of butter and a few swirls of the oil in the pan on very high heat and sear the hell out of the meat. You're looking for a nice yummy brown crust. After this is done, take meat out and set aside.
Let the pan rest a bit on no heat to cool it down some, and reset heat to about medium/medium low
Drain out the pan if it looks like there is too much liquid, then add more butter as needed to sweat the Onion.
After about 5 - 10 minutes the onion should be nice and soft, add the garlic and ginger
Wait about 30 secs to 1 min. DO NOT LET THE GARLIC BROWN. You will know it's good when you can smell a really strong garlic smell near the pot.
Add coconut milk + all the herbs and spices. and let it simmer on low heat for a while. I didn't simmer it that long, but I think it would have been immensely better had I let it go on very low heat for like 30 minutes.
Squeeze the lime over the mix (Optional).

Add the meat back to the mix and heat through, and serve over or mixed in with the rice.

I made this last night just throwing around things that "would make it taste thai" and it turned out pretty good. After I just sat down and ate a bite of the leftovers the flavors got SOOOO much better just sitting in the fridge overnight. So if you have the time I would recommend doing the whole thing a day in advance and just letting it sit in the fridge overnight before you eat. Or do it in the morning and eat at night, whatever.

Also I really do think the cinnamon and fresh mint make this dish. It sounds like an odd thing for a savory dish but it blends well with the coconut milk and makes it quite tasty.

[Shuemue]

If you switched the beef for lamb, and left out the coconut milk and lime, and replaced those with a tin of chopped tomatoes and some chopped fresh green chillies, you'd be well on the way to a really good Indian curry too.

edit: could throw in a few cardamom seeds, and some gurum masala, saffron, bits like that and experiment.

[Daydreamer]

I actually tried an indian style curry last night, but it didn't turn out to good and I need more experimentation. Lamb is really hard to come by here though =\ You can either get a good deal on a whole shank, or retardedly expensive cuts of bone with no real meat on them, it blows.

I also need some better saffron, the stuff I have isn't that great. I should buy some off of amazon because it's rather cheap there, just like everything else.

Any idea how to make fresh masala? I'm all about fresh roasted spices ground up in my own grinder.

[Kiro]

Fuck, I love curry. Now I'm hungry.

Green or yellow curry with vegetables or chicken. GAWD FEED ME.

[Norelco]

Easy one for you...

Sushi grade tuna steak
Black and white toasted sesame seeds
Oil
Fresh Ginger
Soy sauce

Coat steak lightly in oil, sprinkle on sesame seeds.

Ground up the ginger and put it in the soy sauce to make a ginger soy sauce.

Heat pan to medium high / high, cook 3-4 mins on each side so it's slightly rare in the center and crusted over on the outside.

Done. Enjoy. Dip the fish in the sauce if you want.

[Norelco]

Made this for my mom one day, she flipped out and loved it.

Mayonaise
Fresh basil pesto
Cibatta bread
Hard or Genoa salami
Cappacola
Ham or hot ham
Provolone (get the good aged/smoked kind if you can)
Romaine lettuce
Tomato
Banana Pepper or roasted red peppers
Red Onion

Take bread and make sandwich slices out of it.

Take mayo and pesto. Mix up 1 tablespoon of the pesto and make 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of the mayo, mix it up. Spread over the inside of the bread slices.

Put on about 2 slices of each of the meats mentioned up above.

Put on a slice of the provolone.

Put on the lettuce, then the tomatoes, then the onion, then the peppers.

Enjoy that shit.


Altnerative method (hot version): before putting on the veggies, bake it in the oven on 350 or 375 until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Then add veggies, put bread slices together.

[wyrmtung]

My go to meal is something I got from the hottest babe on TV, Giada De Laurentiis
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/reci..._28425,00.html

I TiVo her show to stare at her cleavage...err, I mean, to learn some really good Italian recipes.

Anyway, the recipe in the link is really easy to make but it takes a good four hours to do (due to 3 hours in the oven.) It's totally worth it though. And the nice thing is that it's pretty cheap to make. You use a pot roast which is a cheap cut of meat. Just don't use an expensive wine and you should be under $25 for a meal that makes a lot of servings.

1 (4-pound) boneless beef chuck roast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, sliced
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 cup dry red wine
1 3/4 cups canned beef broth
1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 large sprig fresh rosemary, plus extra for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the beef generously with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy 6-quart roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes total cooking time. Transfer the beef to a bowl. Add remaining tablespoon oil to the pan, add the onions and saute until tender, scraping up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot (my note: I prefer to scrape after adding in the wine. It's easier to de-glaze the pan with the help of an acid like wine.), about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute. Add the wine and boil 1 minute. Stir in the broth and mushrooms. Return the beef to the pan. Bring the liquids to a boil. Cover and transfer to the oven. Braise until the beef is fork-tender, turning the beef over halfway through cooking, about 3 hours.

Transfer the beef to a cutting board. Tent the beef with foil and let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile, spoon any excess fat off the top of the pan juices. Transfer the pan juices and vegetables to a blender and puree until smooth. Combine the sauce and rosemary sprig in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Cut the beef across the grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange the sliced beef on a platter and garnish with rosemary. Spoon the sauce over and serve, passing the remaining sauce in a sauce boat.

One thing I learned is go easy on the salt that you rub on all sides of the meat before you cook it. The salt is essential to draw out the fat but don't go too heavy, especially if you follow the recipe and salt the onions to sweat them. My first try was way too salty at the end. I went very easy on the salt, just barely enough to cover, and it came out fine.

Also be very careful when you blend to make the sauce. I would use a hand towel to cover the blender instead of the regular cover. Otherwise, you will have hot liquids shooting out all over the place.

[Norelco]

Otherwise, you will have hot liquids shooting out all over the place.

I need to stop reading posts backwards.

[Mizango]

Otherwise, you will have hot liquids shooting out all over the place.

I need to stop reading posts backwards.

I think he was referring to what happens when he sees Giada on TV.

[Norelco]

Sorry to derail, but I gotta say that Rachael Ray and Giada are two of the most annoying people I've ever seen on television.

Rachael Ray's little pig laugh and her bubbly personality make me physically ill, and Giada with her pretentious pronuncitations of Italian words is sickening. The next time you watch an episode of Everyday Italian make note of how many times she uses the word "perfect". Everything is perfect according to her. The pefect bite. The perfect portion. She thinks everything she does it perfect.

Yeah, I'm mentally deranged.

[Mizango]

More annoying than Bill O'Reilly and Rosie O'Donnell?


Re-reail.....



I like cake.

[wyrmtung]

Sorry to derail, but I gotta say that Rachael Ray and Giada are two of the most annoying people I've ever seen on television.

Rachael Ray's little pig laugh and her bubbly personality make me physically ill, and Giada with her pretentious pronuncitations of Italian words is sickening. The next time you watch an episode of Everyday Italian make note of how many times she uses the word "perfect". Everything is perfect according to her. The pefect bite. The perfect portion. She thinks everything she does it perfect.

Yeah, I'm mentally deranged.

All is forgiven when you're hot. I find Rachael Ray annoying too but give her a heavenly rack like Giada's and it's a different story. 8)

[Norelco]

More annoying than Bill O'Reilly and Rosie O'Donnell? .

News-wise I think Nancy Grace is the most annoying.

[Mizango]

More annoying than Bill O'Reilly and Rosie O'Donnell? .

News-wise I think Nancy Grace is the most annoying.

Ugh... Seconded'ed'ed.

[Azkarin]

The thing about Giada is I don't really trust a bone-thin cook. I swear she never eats half her food (she never swallows on TV so I assume she is either bulemic or spits it out once they cut to commercials). Yeah her tits are nice but for goodness sake try some of your delicious food.

[Raiko]

Chicken Basque (4)
Category: Chicken
Country: Spain
Abbreviations & Conversions
Ingredients...

* 1 * 3½ lb chicken, jointed into 8 pieces
* 2 large red peppers
* 1 very large onion
* 2 oz sun dried tomatoes in oil
* 2-3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
* 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
* 5 oz chorizo sausage skinned & cut in ½" slices
* 8 oz brown basmati rice
* 10 fl oz chicken stock
* 6 fl oz dry white wine
* 1 tbsp tomato puree
* ½ tsp hot paprika
* 1 tsp chopped fresh herbs
* 2 oz pitted black olives, halved
* ½ large orange, peeled & cut in wedges
* salt & pepper

Instructions...

1. Season chicken joints well. Slice peppers in half and remove seeds, then slice each half into 6 strips. Slice onion into similar sized strips.

2. Drain sun dried tomatoes and cut into ½" pieces.

3. Heat 2 tbsps olive oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and when it is fairly hot add the chicken and brown until nutty golden on both sides. Remove to a plate linned with kitchen paper.

4. Add garlic, chorizo and tomatoes and toss for 1-2 mins. Stir in the rice and when the grains are well coated add stock, wine, tomato puree and paprika. Bring to a simmer.

5. Reduce heat and place chicken gently on top of everything. Sprinkle over herbs, olives, and onions. Cover and cook over a very low heat for 50 mins - 1 hour, until rice is cooked, (or cook in oven 180 C gas 4 for 1 hour).

Best dish to cook for a female ever. simply. its so easy yet looks so complex, and tastes so good. so cook it for your girl this valentines day and watch the reaction!

[Daydreamer]

What Anthony Bourdain thinks of rachael ray

"Complain all you want. It's like railing against the pounding surf. She only grows stronger and more powerful. Her ear-shattering tones louder and louder. We KNOW she can't cook. She shrewdly tells us so. So...what is she selling us? Really? She's selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough. She's a friendly, familiar face who appears regularly on our screens to tell us that "Even your dumb, lazy ass can cook this!" Wallowing in your own crapulence on your Cheeto-littered couch you watch her and think, "Hell...I could do that. I ain't gonna...but I could--if I wanted! Now where's my damn jug a Diet Pepsi?" Where the saintly Julia Child sought to raise expectations, to enlighten us, make us better--teach us--and in fact, did, Rachael uses her strange and terrible powers to narcotize her public with her hypnotic mantra of Yummo and Evoo and Sammys. "You're doing just fine. You don't even have to chop an onion--you can buy it already chopped. Aspire to nothing...Just sit there. Have another Triscuit..Sleep...sleep...""

So true. I couldn't agree more. Also Giada is hot, but her nose RUINS it for me.

And Raiko WTF why did you post it soooo tiny?

[Metah]

Hollow out out a pita shell (I mean cut it horizontally like a sandwich, although leave a little bit held together) and butter one side lightly.

Cut some slices of your favourite cheese (I use Canadian Harvati) and put it into a whole, hollowed out Pita shell. Sprinkle some garlic powder on the butter after and microwave for like 30 seconds. This shit is totally awesome, fast and easy to make.






And yet, I'm still too lazy to do it.

[Quixotic]

Stir Fry (in general):

A proper stir fry mainly requires a good heat source, and a proper wok (usually these are made of steel). I don't have any exact amounts in this, just go by what you feel/think looks right and you can just adjust from that point on. Two ingredients that you do need though are:

-Peanut oil (this is the best choice for stir frying.) DO NOT USE OLIVE OIL. Peanut oil is the best because it allows you to use a hotter flame compared to other oils.
-Oyster sauce (I guess you can use a different sauce, but oyster sauce is pretty much a staple sauce for stir frying.)

Here's just the stuff that I generally use in a stirfry:
-Beef or chicken (cut into cubes or chunks that are maybe 1/2in to 1in thick), if you want you can marinade the meat before hand in a mixture of soy sauce and rice wine (don't use too much wine).
-Red pepper chopped into semi large chunks
-White Onion chopped into semi large chunks
-Green Onions - finely sliced
-FRESH chopped garlic
-The smaller asian chili peppers, whole (optional, I only use a few, but some people throw in a shit-ton and eat them whole too)

Cooking:
- Burner should be at the highest setting possible, throw in the peanut oil (enough to cover the wok), and once it thins out enough you can throw in your meat. Cook for about a minute (until one side browns pretty much), then flip/toss till both sides are browned enough and the meat should be almost fully cooked. At this point take the meat out.
- Turn down the heat to about medium or so, make sure your wok has enough oil still (not too much) and throw in your veggies, but not the garlic (the garlic will burn and it won't taste too great). Crack some salt and pepper over the top while its frying, and keep tossing the veggies around until they're cooked. If you leave the veggies sitting in the oil, they'll just get mushy. In the last minute or so, you can throw in the garlic to add some flavor to it.
- When the veggies are done, toss the meat back in, turn the flame back up to high, add the oyster sauce, and give it another good toss for about 30 seconds to make sure the meat is fully cooked through.
- Plate and serve.
- ???
- Profit!

[Tomiko]

Made this for my mom one day, she flipped out and loved it.

Mayonaise
Fresh basil pesto
Cibatta bread
Hard or Genoa salami
Cappacola
Ham or hot ham
Provolone (get the good aged/smoked kind if you can)
Romaine lettuce
Tomato
Banana Pepper or roasted red peppers
Red Onion

Take bread and make sandwich slices out of it.

Take mayo and pesto. Mix up 1 tablespoon of the pesto and make 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of the mayo, mix it up. Spread over the inside of the bread slices.

Put on about 2 slices of each of the meats mentioned up above.

Put on a slice of the provolone.

Put on the lettuce, then the tomatoes, then the onion, then the peppers.

Enjoy that shit.


Altnerative method (hot version): before putting on the veggies, bake it in the oven on 350 or 375 until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Then add veggies, put bread slices together.

That sounds like it'd be real good. :nikkei:

Although I'd leave out the tomatoes.