Lunacy We all gotta eat, right? (Food Porn)

[momofthegoons]

Omg @phattpiggie .... I'm not usually a 'savory' person in the morning but those pics had my mouth watering. Looks like you ate well on your trip.

Now I want risotto......

 

[Mr Mellish]

So, does anyone have a go-to recipe that is a serious crowd pleaser?

 

[momofthegoons]

Whatcha looking for? Are we talking 'typical' food or vegan gluten free kind of stuff?

I have some pretty serious Greek recipes.... or Tex Mex..... Or are we talking football fare?

 

[Kellya86]

Iv been havin much fun experimenting with my new diet...
Paleo food can be more interesting than i first realised....

Here is last nights dinner...

So thats venison burgers with hemp oil fried eggs, bacon, and a paleo (home made by me) bun.. served with sweet potatoes wedges and a honey and lemon dip... all made by me....

I still eat just fish and salad 5 times a week...
This feels like a treat.....

 

[Mr Mellish]

Whatcha looking for? Are we talking 'typical' food or vegan gluten free kind of stuff?

I have some pretty serious Greek recipes.... or Tex Mex..... Or are we talking football fare?

Who am I to put parameters on people's success??

 

[momofthegoons]

Who am I to put parameters on people's success??

Lmfao...... okay then. Give me a direction to go in......... finger food or knife and fork? Breakfast, lunch or dinner?

@Kellya86 your dinner looks amazing. And again... not usually a savory person in the morning but that got my mouth watering.

 

[Mr Mellish]

Lmfao...... okay then. Give me a direction to go in......... finger food or knife and fork? Breakfast, lunch or dinner?

@Kellya86 your dinner looks amazing. And again... not usually a savory person in the morning but that got my mouth watering.

Sigh... knife and fork and dinner?

@momofthegoons , I don’t know if you ever get to Fenton but the Fenton Fire Hall has excellent food. I usually go for the bbq but recently had the best pork chop of my life there. It was probably a bit red for many people but it was exquisite.

 

[momofthegoons]

, I don’t know if you ever get to Fenton but the Fenton Fire Hall has excellent food.

Fenton isn't that far from me... a bit of a hike but doable. I've never been to the Fire Hall and I'll have to check it out. Always looking for a new spot to try.

I have several 'crowd pleasers' that I've made. But it really depends on the crowd and how much I feel like cooking. And whether or not I have to transport the meal.

One is a mixed grill. And I'm thinking, with your sous vide, that this might work for you.... Basically I grilled chicken kabobs (with my own marinade to follow), steak, and sausage with a ton of veggies and piled them on a board. Then I add some home made Pico de Gallo and Chimmichurri in dollops around the board.

The marinade for the chicken (can also be used for lamb and I would imagine beef) is fresh parsely, dill and mint with fresh ground pepper. I put those in a blender with a clove of garlic or two and pulse while adding EVO until it's the consistency I want. Then I throw my meat and the marinade into a baggie for several hours.

Serve it up with some grilled bread slices and maybe some potatoes......

Unless you were thinking a casserole?

 

[Hogni]

yummy, Mom!

You seem to like dill very much? The only herb I dislike

Regarding marinades. If you have a vacuum pump vacuumize your meat with the marinade. One hour of marinating in this way is like 9 hours of the common way.

One of my best buys for cooking the last years is a marinade injector. I do all my grilled chicken, ducks and other poultry this way. When I make a marinade I use the liquid with the MI. The solids I take to side. I loose carefully the skin from the meat and stuff all solids under the skin. Main reason is the direct contact to the meat and the solids don't burn while roasting or grilling cause the solids are protected under the skin. After that I'm injecting all liquid - often mixed with some melted butter - with the MI deep into the meat. So every bit of meat is marinated and the liquid hold the meat succulently. Very usefully when processing low fat meat.

If you should be interested in recipes for special German dishes just tell me what you want to get. Perhaps some kraut?

 

[momofthegoons]

You seem to like dill very much? The only herb I dislike

I do. But in moderation for a marinade. Most Greek food has dill in it. And this was a Greek inspired marinade.

I need to pick up a vacuum sealer. I've been meaning to for some time now. Christmas is around the corner so perhaps that will be on my wish list this year. Lmao... funny how the list changes as we age...

And I've used your method of keeping herbs and other solids under the skin for poultry. Makes a very aromatic meat and is just delicious! But I haven't tried the injection method.

Hey.. .any recipes you are willing to share I'd love to have. Well.... maybe not the kraut. I'm not a huge lover of that I'm afraid. Only in small doses. And I have a feeling your recipe would be enough kraut to last me a year.

 

[Mr Mellish]

I make kraut regularly. The homemade stuff is so much better than the typical grocery store variety. I was disappointed to find that the Alsacian kraut I had in France was closer to canned kraut than it was to the freshly made kraut I have around the house.

Although I have several injectors, I've never grown to appreciate them; I prefer a nice overnight brine for my chicken (even if it's just going into soup).

A vaccuum sealer is definitely on my list, to go with the sous vide, but space just doesn't permit right now.

Some nice crusty bread made with wild yeast:

 

[Hogni]

Give the marinade injection a try. It's really worth it especially if you want to make a crispy beer can chicken.

Are you speaking about kraut just as cabbge or as "Sauerkraut"?
You won't find nearly no restaurant in Germany which is using homemade "Sauerkraut" or "Choucroute" in Alsacia - you won't even find anymore Sauerkraut offered at the most German restaurants. It's really not our national dish as you may guess. Sauerkraut will be offered in some old-style-kitchen restaurants in Berlin and south-west Germany. Taste depends mostly on used recipe and spices. In northern Germany you can find "Grünkohl" (kale/borecole) in autumn and winter. South of the Main people don't know/eat it and nearly all of them are hating it and call it hogwash. I think you have to be grown up with this dish to like it's special taste.

 

[Kellya86]

Made some paleo apple crumble...

It's amazing how many different tasting things I can make using the same ingredients...
I mean since going paleo, I use so much coconut product...
Be it coconut sugar, flour, butter or oil.....
It makes pancakes, bread, cake, cookies, crumble....
How can a coconut do all that... And taste amazing... And why do I still not like actual coconuts..????

 

[Mr Mellish]

Give the marinade injection a try. It's really worth it especially if you want to make a crispy beer can chicken.

Are you speaking about kraut just as cabbge or as "Sauerkraut"?
You won't find nearly no restaurant in Germany which is using homemade "Sauerkraut" or "Choucroute" in Alsacia - you won't even find anymore Sauerkraut offered at the most German restaurants. It's really not our national dish as you may guess. Sauerkraut will be offered in some old-style-kitchen restaurants in Berlin and south-west Germany. Taste depends mostly on used recipe and spices. In northern Germany you can find "Grünkohl" (kale/borecole) in autumn and winter. South of the Main people don't know/eat it and nearly all of them are hating it and call it hogwash. I think you have to be grown up with this dish to like it's special taste.

Yes, sorry, I meant sauerkraut/choucroute. Too bad it’s going away. When made fresh it’s tasty and (hopefully) packed with some nice probiotics.

 

[Hogni]

Depends on the bacterias - wild ones - which are working. Have already ate homemade Sauerkraut which tasted terrible.
The best Sauerrkraut I ate wasn't made out of white cabbage but out of hispi cabbage
Sauerkraut it's not just going away. It never was so common in Germany as you may believe.

 

[Mr Mellish]

yummy, Mom!

You seem to like dill very much? The only herb I dislike

I’m not a huge dill fan but it goes well with some fish and is, in my opinion, essential for pickles. The herb I have issues with is cilantro. As a “brightener”, it’s just fine. However, I’ve had too many salsas and sauces where it was a primary ingredient. No thanks.

 

[momofthegoons]

I’m not a huge dill fan but it goes well with some fish and is, in my opinion, essential for pickles. The herb I have issues with is cilantro. As a “brightener”, it’s just fine. However, I’ve had too many salsas and sauces where it was a primary ingredient. No thanks.

I mostly like fresh dill (in small amounts) as a garnish for fish based things. The above pic that had dill was a salmon mousse on baguettes. A sprig of dill really adds a fresh note.

Cilantro, on the other hand, can ruin a dish even in small quantities if it's not the right spice. I don't mind a hint of it but find it overpowering and hate when it's over used. So I'm right with you there. Sort of tastes like soap.

One spice I never seem to get enough of (not an herb) is cinnamon. I adore it and always put more in than the recipe calls for; especially in apple pie. And love recipes with meat that call for it; like mousakka or pastitsio.

 

[Mr Mellish]

I mostly like fresh dill (in small amounts) as a garnish for fish based things. The above pic that had dill was a salmon mousse on baguettes. A sprig of dill really adds a fresh note.

Cilantro, on the other hand, can ruin a dish even in small quantities if it's not the right spice. I don't mind a hint of it but find it overpowering and hate when it's over used. So I'm right with you there. Sort of tastes like soap.

One spice I never seem to get enough of (not an herb) is cinnamon. I adore it and always put more in than the recipe calls for; especially in apple pie. And love recipes with meat that call for it; like mousakka or pastitsio.

I love cinnamon but, for some reason, the smell gets to me (figure that one out). I enjoy it in food but can get overwhelmed if the smell is too strong.

Forgot, the other one that gets to me is cumin. I hated things like chili growing up. It was not until I was an adult that I realized that my issue was with the cumin they sold as "chili powder." Once I found real chii powder, I began to love TexMex foods.

 

[Kellya86]

Last night I had some duck legs for dinner, very good protein, possibly better than chicken...

Anyway I saved the duck fat and used it to cook the left over potatoe skins from the kids dinner...
And they are fucking amazing.....

Snacking is one thing that's a bit tricky while eating paleo, so this is a nice addition, although I do try to avoid potatoes most of the time..
I go for sweet potatoes instead....
I'm gonna make sweet potatoe duck skins next....

 

[momofthegoons]

I enjoy it in food but can get overwhelmed if the smell is too strong.

Interesting.. I don't know that I've actually smelled it when cooked in food. I do hate the 'fake' cinnamon scent you find in a lot of home sprays, etc., however.

And cumin... that's another one of those spices, that when overdone, can completely overwhelm a dish and make it bitter.

Anyway I saved the duck fat and used it to cook the left over potatoe skins from the kids dinner...
And they are fucking amazing.....

This reminded me of my grandfather who used to always save duck fat and would actually spread it on bread instead of butter. Never appealed to me much but I can see where cooking in it would impart a nice flavor.

Shit now I'm hungry... and for more than a bowl of cereal lol...