Food you cook

[willx]

Haha.. see, that's great that you have confidence in your cooking. I do not. I do have confidence in my palate though! I think I would like to put more effort into learning to cook better.. although spending most of my time at work typically goes against any of those wishes.. In fact, I usually end up eating at restaurants or take-out like.. 5-6 days of the week..

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by willx

Haha.. see, that's great that you have confidence in your cooking. I do not. I do have confidence in my palate though! I think I would like to put more effort into learning to cook better.. although spending most of my time at work typically goes against any of those wishes.. In fact, I usually end up eating at restaurants or take-out like.. 5-6 days of the week..

Getting a good book helps a lot. For instance, I've had great success learning to cook chinese from this book.

It also is a bit more enjoyable if you can do it with someone else. For one, you can split the work, for another you can share the pleasure of the fruits of your labour with someone else.

And I do have to say, that food you cook yourself can definitely be a lot better then food you get in a restaurant. For one thing, you don't have to skimp the way restaurants often have to, and you can also cook it the exact way you want.

I get tired of restaurants if I eat at them too often.

[willx]

^ Yeah, I'm aware of most of that. If you go back one page you can see that I cooked my fiance dinner for her birthday and she loved it and thought I did well.. That being said, it was slow going and prep took forever cause I'm not used to it.

It's just about having enough experience to make some of the tasks mindless and/or effortless.. As for restaurants, I've grown accustomed to living off them, once you go to places enough and become a regular they become pretty flexible. One of my favourite local restaurants will actually cook me whatever I wish regardless of the menu as long as they have the ingredients so that solves some of the tedium!

[ChainLegacy]

I made some lamb chops today with the bone in. Put some pasture butter on the pan, seared the top and bottom of the meat on medium-high heat for about 2-3 min, added fresh spices (rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram) then reduced the heat to low and covered for 10-15 minutes. Turned off the heat and let the meat stand for a few minutes, still covered, added salt and pepper... oh baby, hehe. I also made myself a salad but that required no cooking and is thus rather irrelevant to this discussion .

Originally Posted by willx

Hey! So I took a leap of faith anyways.. things turned out pretty good? I'm generally very good at following directions. I'll try to get a few pictures up:

1) Seared Scallops on wilted watercress with panchetta
2) Broiled lobster, seared ribeye and steamed asparagus

Nice job - that meal looks both delicious and extremely healthy.

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by willx

It's just about having enough experience to make some of the tasks mindless and/or effortless.. As for restaurants, I've grown accustomed to living off them, once you go to places enough and become a regular they become pretty flexible. One of my favourite local restaurants will actually cook me whatever I wish regardless of the menu as long as they have the ingredients so that solves some of the tedium!

That probably helps all right, and if you get that kind of arrangement, the quality of your food will probably also go up.

That said, it's an expensive way to eat! (though you seem to have the money to afford it).

[willx]

^ Heh, actually it doesn't cost any extra over normal food costs! That's the beauty of it..! Social capital is so damn important. I went for lunch the other day with some co-workers, and we got a bunch of free extras because we were made to wait for 20mins.. because the host recognized me.

@ChainLegacy - Thanks! I worked really hard on it and it was really scary considering I really don't cook .. like .. at all. "Leap of faith" as it were. I'm generally a quick learner and can follow instructions pretty easily. I also took some liberties with the recipes and just did certain things how I recalled tasting them at restaurants, which actually ended up working (thankfully!)

[Urzu 7]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

I made some lamb chops today with the bone in. Put some pasture butter on the pan, seared the top and bottom of the meat on medium-high heat for about 2-3 min, added fresh spices (rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram) then reduced the heat to low and covered for 10-15 minutes. Turned off the heat and let the meat stand for a few minutes, still covered, added salt and pepper... oh baby, hehe.

Sounds good. Lamb is good for many Americans because it has a unique flavor and Americans don't usually eat it, so basically, it is a treat when they eat it, for the most part. The flavor is good and I've never been sick of it because I don't eat it often. That must be how it is for many Americans.

I really like lamb like how I've eaten it growing up - with mint flavors. Lamb with mint is a popular way to eat it. More specifically, my family would eat lamb with mint jelly. Just combine some forkfuls of lamb meat with some mint jelly. Very tasty. I should have some lamb with mint jelly sometime this fall. It has been a few years since I've had lamb with any sort of mint condiment. The last time was 2009 where I went to a restaurant and had lamb served with mint oil (or was it a mint aioli?); used to dip the meat into.

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

I also made myself a salad but that required no cooking and is thus rather irrelevant to this discussion .

This thread is basically "food you prepare at home/eat at home".

[Xefi]

i cook some shrimp with fish sauce yesterday. i pack them up for lunch today
with some steam rice and cucumber to work.

the Vietnamese culture loves their fish sauce. i grew up with soy sauce more though.
so this is the seldom time i actually use fish sauce to cook with shrimp. of course, it
tastes good. i dont cook much, but this meal is quite easy to make.

it's almost lunch time here...nya ha! *time to dig in*

[calorie]

This was my second go at okonomiyaki, with the help of my girlfriend. Did quite well, although one can tell it was lacking all those special japanese ingredients to be even better. Posting the Instagram picture seeing as how I am too lazy to locate and transfer the photo from my phone.

[Urzu 7]

That looks like it might be good. Gotta know what is in it. What is that food made off? Is it pan fried? What is the white sauce?

[NoemiChan]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

That looks like it might be good. Gotta know what is in it. What is that food made off? Is it pan fried? What is the white sauce?

Think its mayo..

[calorie]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

That looks like it might be good. Gotta know what is in it. What is that food made off? Is it pan fried? What is the white sauce?

Here is the recipe I used. The ingredients I used were cabbage, flour, eggs, green onions and bacon. Yes, it's pan fried.

Originally Posted by GenjiChan

Think its mayo..

It is mayonnaise indeed.

[ChainLegacy]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

Sounds good. Lamb is good for many Americans because it has a unique flavor and Americans don't usually eat it, so basically, it is a treat when they eat it, for the most part. The flavor is good and I've never been sick of it because I don't eat it often. That must be how it is for many Americans.

I really like lamb like how I've eaten it growing up - with mint flavors. Lamb with mint is a popular way to eat it. More specifically, my family would eat lamb with mint jelly. Just combine some forkfuls of lamb meat with some mint jelly. Very tasty. I should have some lamb with mint jelly sometime this fall. It has been a few years since I've had lamb with any sort of mint condiment. The last time was 2009 where I went to a restaurant and had lamb served with mint oil (or was it a mint aioli?); used to dip the meat into.



This thread is basically "food you prepare at home/eat at home".

Ah yes, I too have experienced that flavor combination. I used fresh mint with rosemary once with lamb and it was fantastic.

[Urzu 7]

Speaking of lamb again, I'm thinking of making a stew with stewing cuts of meat, 50/50 mixture of lamb and beef, with beef stock, some red wine, yellow potatoes and carrots, and loads of vidalia onion. Throw in some salt and pepper, fresh thyme and fresh parsley, and some ground cinnamon when pan frying the onion and carrot (I'll pan fry them first). A bit of flour. Not much. This stew will not be thick. It will have a broth, not a thick base like you see with some beef stews.

[willx]

Folks! Canadian Thanksgiving is coming! So this year, like last Christmas, I've ordered a fresh, never-been-frozen turkey! We're not going to do gravy from scratch this time cause it's so much work, but I'll try to get some pictures up!

[Urzu 7]

Originally Posted by willx

Folks! Canadian Thanksgiving is coming! So this year, like last Christmas, I've ordered a fresh, never-been-frozen turkey! We're not going to do gravy from scratch this time cause it's so much work, but I'll try to get some pictures up!

What sides will you have to go with it?

[Ak3mi]

Originally Posted by willx

Folks! Canadian Thanksgiving is coming! So this year, like last Christmas, I've ordered a fresh, never-been-frozen turkey! We're not going to do gravy from scratch this time cause it's so much work, but I'll try to get some pictures up!

Omomomom I want to see this

[willx]

I'll get pictures up when I can, I made it last christmas, but my fiance is going to take the reins this time. We got cooking instructions directly from the butcher last time, no basting or brine required!

As for sides.. we'll probably do just basics, stuffing with the turkey, mashed potatoes .. I'm pondering doing a mac & cheese though..

[Urzu 7]

Originally Posted by willx

I'll get pictures up when I can, I made it last christmas, but my fiance is going to take the reins this time. We got cooking instructions directly from the butcher last time, no basting or brine required!

As for sides.. we'll probably do just basics, stuffing with the turkey, mashed potatoes .. I'm pondering doing a mac & cheese though..

A homemade baked mac and cheese? I haven't made that in quite a while. It came out pretty good. I should make some again this fall.

[Sagi]

All I know how to cook is scramble eggs and white rice, Lol.