Blue Gartr Meal Time: Bacon optional? Bacon required.

[TsingTao]

Looks fantastic!

Yet another thing to do with Costco chickens. Greatest thing or greatest thing ever? Hard to tell.

[dasva]

Damn Astylla make me some!

Costco Rotisserie chicken is fucking legit though.

[Astylla]

I've been cooking and trying new things a lot this week to keep my mind off things and this is probably one of my best successes.

Today I found Mission brand Carb Balance spinach and herb tortillas and was curious how they may bake up as chips - the answer was amazing!

Each Tortilla is only 3g net carbs and I sliced mine in half then triangles. Place on a nonstick cookie sheet and lightly brush with avocado oil and sprinkle with salt.
Bake for five minutes at 400 degrees or until browned and crisp. Flip over once and cook an additional two minutes. These are crunchy like real chips too.

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[mallister]

ok guys, had my daughter and grand daughter over for lunch today. had smoked shark dip, smoked swordfish steaks, and brussel sprouts, dates, and apricots seared with diced bacon and tossed in basalmic vinegar and honey, topped with pepperjack crumbles. the swordfish and the shark were both done basically the same way: washed in lime juice, cured over night, washed and dried under a fan for a couple of hours, then 2 hours on the smoker. the shark i did a dry salt + sugar cure, the swordfish i did a wet salt/sugar/pepper brine. it was fucktarded amazing. the fish i was hesitant over because i've screwed it up before; i'll never just straight grill it again. they're both too good when smoked. the brussel sprouts are a replication of a local bar's dish, this is my second attempt at it and i nailed it this time.

[Tokitoki]

Blurry photo, just deal with it. I'll take another later when I make it for dinner again tonight if I remember.

Homemade Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Ravioli in a Walnut and Sage Brown Butter

Pasta itself was 2 cups semolina flour and about 1/2 cup all purpose flour. Mixed with a little less than a cup of a mix of water and a small bit of olive oil until it forms a dough. Dust a work surface with more semolina flour and knead for 3-4 minutes until dough is elastic. Let that sit, wrapped, for about 45 minutes.

Filling is roasted butternut squash and sweet potato. One whole squash and half a sweet potato just for a little extra sweetness. Salt to taste, a tbsp or so brown sugar, and a tsp of cinnamon added to squash mixture. Chill in the fridge.

Split dough in half and roll out until it's paper thin, or as close as you can without tearing. Cut into 1.5 inch strips. Dot a tsp or so of filling on alternating strips of dough, about 1/2 inch apart from each edge. Put clean strips of dough over the top and pinch around edges and between fillings. Cut between each to form individual ravioli. Let dry for 15 mins or so before boiling. Will only take 3-4 mins to boil fresh ravioli.

After ravioli is cooked, heat butter in a pan evenly, stirring so it doesn't burn, until browned, but not smoking. Add a tablespoon each of roughly chopped sage and roughly chopped walnuts. Stir to coat and let the sage cook a bit, about a minute. Add ravioli to the pan so that they are not overlapping. I cooked about 6-7 at a time in the pan. You want to give the ravioli a quick sear, about 2 minutes per side.

Pour off ravioli, butter, sage, and walnuts onto plate/bowl and grate a little cheese over the top. Serve immediately and make another batch. They're best hot off the pan rather than waiting for them all to be done.

[Astylla]

Made random noms for our thankagiving potluck at work since we are stuck working.
All my food was half to mostly devoured by the time I got to it , lol.

Grape jelly meatballs
Homemade cherry pie
Rainbow chip cookies
Mississippi Pot Roast

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[mallister]

...grape jelly meatballs. tell me more about this sorcery.

[Astylla]

...grape jelly meatballs. tell me more about this sorcery.

Haha so many people at work asked me the exact same, even my Sergeant was hesitant until she had them.

There's several similar variations but this is what I do :

3 packages frozen meatballs
1 30 oz jar grape jelly
2 bottles Chili Sauce
Few dashes of cayenne pepper

Broil meatballs for 5-7 minutes from frozen to warm up. Meanwhile while on medium heat mix jelly, chili sauce and cayenne pepper in a large pot. Once jelly is melted add meatballs and mix to coat well.

Cook and simmer on low heat for 1- 2 hours.
The sauce will thicken and reduce the longer longer it cooks.

Alternatively put everything in the crockpot for 4 hours on low.

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[Tokitoki]

One of my old co-workers used to eat fried salami and grape jelly sandwiches. I'm not keen on the combination of grape jelly and meats. Also not a huge fan of swedish meatballs.

Not to knock you. If it was mostly gone by the time you go there it was obviously good.

[mallister]

Yeah I'm all over this. Thank you!

[Gadritan]

Haven't browsed this thread in a while, but it definitely reminds me how lucky I am to have married a high end chef.

This thread would give Gordon Ramsay an aneurysm.

Sorry. But it would.

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[dasva]

Well good thing this is a thread in a gaming forum just for people who do some cooking for themselves and not Haute cuisine made by master chefs so I don't think we have to fear Gordon coming in

[Kirin]

We don't use cocktail sticks.

Just ignore him. He's fussy about Super Troopers being a masterpiece.

The jelly BBQ meatballs are legit. You don't taste the grape at all, and it adds sweetness to the sauce. You can use them on cocktail sausages to great effect as well.

Cooked my first whole turkey this thanksgiving for my inlaws. Only ~10 lbs, but it didn't dry out and I have plenty on the carcass left to make soup with.

Herb Butter rubbed on the skin
Quartered onion, halved lemon, whole garlic, rosemary, and thyme stuffed inside.
Carrots, celery, and onion diced and sat underneath (great base for the soup)
350 degrees and 15 mins per pound. Broiled for 15 minutes at the end for a touch of color.

[Tokitoki]

Wife and I decided to stay home for Thanksgiving rather than go up to her mom's (3.5 hours away) or my step-mom's family's (like an hour and change away). Thought if we were going to stay home I may as well try my hand at frying a turkey.

Started with a 15 lb turkey from one of the local farms.

While the turkey was in the bag, I put it in my big steel pot to mark the oil level I'd need. I believe the pot is 36 quarts. It ended up with the turkey sticking out a bit, but the turkey was also larger than I wanted (I asked for a 12-13 lb turkey).



Brined for about 20 hours in:
1 lb kosher salt
1lb brown sugar
6 bay leaves
a small handful of whole peppercorns
24 cups hot water to dissolve the salt and brown sugar
a 7 lb bag of ice to cool the mixture down and give enough volume to cover the turkey.



The next day I took the turkey out, dried it with paper towels, then set it on a cutting board to come closer to room temp and continue to dry a little. Gave it another wipe down with paper towels before putting it on the stand.



At that point I was sitting outside watching a pot of oil heat up. Had a couple beers while fiddling with the burner to get a steady flame. Unfortunately it was a very windy day so it took a little while, about 45 mins to an hour, just to heat up the oil. Had my chair, side table, and a fire extinguisher next to me.



Once the oil was heated to 350F, I lowered the bird in SLOWLY with the gas off. Not spills or anything, but just being cautious. Looked like it was going to bubble over a few times so I backed off until it settled and continued to lower.



They say 3.5 minutes per pound to fry the turkey. That came out to about 52 minutes for my bird, but I checked after about 45 and it was already reading 167 at the thigh and breast. I wish I had checked it a little sooner as I had read a few people, including Alton Brown, take the bird out around 155 and let it come to temperature as it rests. I covered it with foil for a bit while we finished up sides, then put it on the board to section.



And sectioned into wings, thighs/legs, and breasts. Everything came off the carcass CLEAN. I should have saved the carcass for soup or something, but wasn't sure how it'd do as it wasn't roasted with herbs and things.



I meant to take a picture of the table, but got distracted with dogs and baby so you'll have to deal with my wife's picture. Lighting not the best.

We had mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes with parsnip and carrot, roasted delicata squash with sage and apple, my wife's great grandma's cranberry relish, stuffing (or I guess dressing?), gravy, and crescent rolls. Also got a good local dry cider to go with dinner.



Was all really delicious and honestly wasn't that bad as far as prep and cooking went. Hardest part was being stuck outside for an hour 45 watching a pot of oil, or maybe dealing with the baby getting fussy as we tried to get stuff together.

[Kirin]

Finally got around to making soup with my leftover turkey. Spoilered for large.

Spoiler: show

Turkey carcass + wings
Whole quartered Red Onion
3-4 gloves of garlic, quartered
2 large rosemary sprigs
2 large carrots roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
3-4 leafy celery heads
Carrot/Celery/Onion Trinity leftover from original turkey roasting
Leftover "juice" from roasting the turkey
Half a box of chicken stock
Pepper and poultry seasoning to taste

Just topped the turkey off with water in a large pot. Added everything, gave it a good stir, and set it on high until boil. Turned the heat down to a simmer for 3 hours. Used a slotted spoon to clear the bones out and pick out cartilage/unedible bits. Those bones from the spine are so hard to find.

I did not put the noodles in, because theyll just get soggy. Add them in as you make the meals.

[Astylla]

Got an air fryer for Christmas so decided to test it out. I think this going to be one of my new go to appliances.

I picked up some frozen wings at the store as my first test and holy fuck they came out amazing. 15 minutes at 400 degrees and crispy on the outside and tender and juicy inside and perfectly cooked.
I can't wait to try more this week.

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[Kaslo]

Got an air fryer for Christmas so decided to test it out. I think this going to be one of my new go to appliances.

I picked up some frozen wings at the store as my first test and holy fuck they came out amazing. 15 minutes at 400 degrees and crispy on the outside and tender and juicy inside and perfectly cooked.
I can't wait to try more this week.

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The Trader Joes Orange Chicken is great in the air fryer btw

[Astylla]

The Trader Joes Orange Chicken is great in the air fryer btw

I've never cared much for Orange chicken though a good General Tso's is my favorite lol. Unfortunately it's pretty carb heavy and most days I'm fairly strict on that.

I am discovering my love of this thing though. Made some balsamic glazed brussel sprouts with apple wood smoked bacon and even tossed in some frozen meatballs I had leftover today.

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[Astylla]

Made my first low carb cheesecake the other day from a FB friend's page.
I chose to make no crust because I don't like most crust anyway.

It came out ridiculously good. I ended up making my own topping from one cup frozen berries , smashed with 1/2 cup swerve ( sugar alcohol substitute) and a tsp of vanilla. Once it reduced it spread nicely on the cheesecake.

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[Moridam]

after not cooking for like a year because of a mostly-busted stove i decided to grab an instapot so i could do some simple meal prep stuff, very much enjoying it so far. tonight i made a chili verde stew that came out super nice

-fresh tomatillos, quartered
-poblano, jalapeno, cubanelle & white onion, chopped
-2-2.5lbs pork butt roast, cubed
-cumin & kosher salt

just dump everything in the pot, mix it up and pressure cook for 30mins. fish the pork out after it's done, blend the resulting veggies & broth left over and mix it all back together with a bit of fresh cilantro. alarmingly good for such a low-effort recipe!