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August 13 - National Filet Mignon Day
August 14 - National Creamsicle Day
August 15 - National Lemon Meringue Pie Day
August 16 - National Rum Day
August 17 - National Vanilla Custard Day- Cup Cake Day
August 18 - National Ice Cream Pie Day
August 19 - National Soft Ice Cream Day
In before the ping!
~~FR Weekly Cooking Thread Ping List~~
(to be added/deleted - please post here or PM me)
Recap of last week’s recipes (Aug 6th thread)
Appetizer* 7 pimento cheese
Appetizer* 10 Pimento Cheese
Bread* 26 Casatiello bread
Dessert* 38 Pina Colada Frozen Yogurt
Meal* 14 Spicy Asian Beef or Chicken Salad
Meal* 17 Joes Special (eggs, spinach, beef)
Meal* 20 Spinach Souffle
Meal* 28 Greek style Chicken Gyros
Meal* 39 Dianas Enchiladas
Meal* 5 RACK OF SPAM
Side* 11 Jalapeno Squash
Side* 12 Spinach & Bacon prisoner6 potpourri
Aug 6th link:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2759558/posts?page=44#44
Does anybody have a good recipe for salmon cakes?
I like this for breakfast:
Mix 2 TBSP peanut butter with 1 TBSP milk and stir till its thinned down. Add a half cup of thawed Kool-Whip and mix together.
Use it as a dip for apples or pears. Delicious and the peanut butter gives you the protein you need.
Go fat free on the milk and use the lite Kool-Whip if you are calorie conscious.
This makes a great desert for guests...
MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKE (6 servings)
These cakes are slightly underbaked so that the chocolate center oozes when cut into.
5 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Vanilla ice cream
Preheat oven to 450°F. Butter six 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups. Stir chocolate and butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted. Cool slightly. Whisk eggs and egg yolks in large bowl to blend. Whisk in sugar, then chocolate mixture and flour. Pour batter into dishes, dividing equally. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)
Bake cakes until sides are set but center remains soft and runny, about 11 minutes or up to 14 minutes for batter that was refrigerated. Run small knife around cakes to loosen. Immediately turn cakes out onto plates. Spoon sauce around cakes. Serve with ice cream.
To continue my “they’re cheating us on tuna these days” rant, coffee has gone waaaay up, too. I bought coffee this week and noticed the containers of Folgers looked odd at the grocery store. The big containers were on the bottom shelf and they were all the same but something was different. It wasn’t until I got home and sat the new coffee package next to the old package on the counter. Guess what? Yep, you guessed it. The new one is smaller and costs a dollar more.
Old Folger’s big container (the “big” one at my store, ymmv) of coffee: 38.4 oz - makes 305 6 oz cups - $7.99
New Folger’s big container: 27.8 oz - makes 240 6 oz cups - $8.99.
That’s a 37% increase in price. Did your paycheck go up 37% this summer? Mine didn’t. And I’m still not seeing any decrease in beef prices despite the ranchers selling their herds off for rock bottom prices due to the drought. Someone is getting rich and it’s not the consumer.
We’ve been grilling all kinds of veggies now that the garden is coming in. I dug some early potatoes last week and used them a couple of ways...
New potatoes, cut to even sized pieces
Onion, large wedges
New Carrots, whole if small enough, sliced as needed
Red Bell Pepper, large strips
Baby Yellow/Green Zuccini, cut into even pieces
Drizzle the prepped veggies with Olive Oil, then drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar. Kosher Salt and fresh-cracked sharp black pepper to taste.
Let them marinate for an hour or so, covered on the counter, right before dinner. I use a stainless steel grilling basket on the grill, and start the veggies in it well before I start the meat. Cook the veggies, turning regularly and let them get nice and brown. Serve hot....
Enjoy!
Update - a cashier from Walmart says the new smaller coffee package is $12 at Walmart. YIKES!
Bump for the quiche and other great ideas!
In honor of National Filet Mignon Day:
We had a recipe similar to the at Roche Harbor Resort in Washington State. This is a close as I can come to making it at home.
Morel Crusted Filet
Dried Morel mushrooms (or porcini) can make a savory addition to the spice cupboard. Simply grind them into a powder in a clean coffee grinder or blender, and then use them in delicious concoctions like this.
Morel Grilling Paste
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon freshly ground
Black pepper
3/4 cup dried morel mushrooms, ground to a powder in a coffee grinder
1/4 cup canola oil
4 (1 inch thick) filets
Method
For the grilling paste, mix the sugar, salt, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, morel powder, and oil together in a small bowl until it forms a paste. Slather the steaks with the paste and let marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare a medium-hot fire in your grill.
Grill the steaks for 3 minutes per side, turning once, for medium-rare.
Serves: 4
LUMPIA
(pronounced loompia)
2C minced carrots
2C minced celery
1 big onion chopped up fine
1/4lb (or more) browned ground beef
soy sauce to taste
2tbsp brown sugar
1tsp salt
wonton wrappers
saute ingredients a couple of minutes
Wrap in wonton and deep fry
SWEET & SOUR SAUCE
1 20oz can crushed pineapple (w/juice)
1/2 cup minced carrots
1 small onion chopped fine
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp corn starch
1 med-lge cayenne pepper
1/2C rice vinegar
1/4C brown sugar
1/2tsp salt
Combine all except corn starch
saute' on med until pineapple is softened (about 5 min)
slowly stir in corn starch until sauce coats metal spoon (about 5min)
cool to room temp
Better if left in fridge a day, but who can wait?
Dip Lumpia in sauce and enjoy
Catnipman’s Beef Bourguignon
August 13, 2011
Ingredients
10 lbs fresh (not frozen) center-cut bone-in chuck, cut into bite size pieces
1.5 liters of cheap, astringent red wine like Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon
5 Very large white onions, finely diced
3 cups finely diced shallots
2 whole heads of garlic, finely diced
Olive oil for browning
5-1 Pepper/Salt Mix (fresh ground Tellicherry peppercorns and unrefined gray Normandy sea salt) for seasoning
Note, I cook this dish in a single large stainless steel tri-clad stock pot with a tight cover, which I first use for the browning on the stove top (without cover), and then later use as a covered Dutch oven in the oven for the actual braise.
Cut chuck into bite-sized pieces, say 7/8 cubes. Theyll shrink when browned so need to be cut a bit bigger than bite-sized to start with. In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle meat with Pepper/salt mixture, tossing meat as you sprinkle to evenly distribute seasoning. This will be the primary seasoning, but dont get carried away as you can always add more at the end, but cant remove any excess. Id say about two tablespoons is what you want to use here.
Now, brown bones in olive oil and set aside. Then brown seasoned meat in olive oil in small batches and set aside. You want to deeply brown the meat. It will be relatively hard and dry if youve browned it enough. Then brown shallots and garlic together in olive oil and set aside. Finally, brown onions and set aside. Now pour part of the red wine into the stock pot to loosen the fond stuck to the bottom of the pot. You may have to scrape a bit with a plastic or steel spatula.
Add all ingredients previously set aside as well as the rest of the wine, and then bring covered pot to a boil. As soon as the pot boils, place covered pot in oven preheated to 280 degrees. A convection oven works best. Braise for three hours, checking once an hour that liquid is sufficient, which it should be, but if not, you can add additional wine or purified water. Just bring the new liquid to a boil before adding. Note that the suggested braising time is what I use at a mile high altitude, so braising time should probably be a bit less at sea level since water will get much hotter before it boils at sea level.
Remove pot from oven when done and remove all bones. Taste if additional seasoning is needed. If so, mix the new seasoning in very gently by folding instead of stirring so you dont break up the tender chunks of beef.
Cool pot in cold water in your sink, and when cooled enough, refrigerate overnight so that the meat will soak up the remaining juice.
To server, heat in microwave and serve over jasmine rice cooked with butter and salt. A large dollop of sour cream can be used as a garnish.
Bon Appétit!
Coconut Ice Cream
Makes about 6 cups
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup half-and-half
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk (1 can)
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake 5 to 7 minutes until golden brown. (Note: Mine was burned at at 5 minutes, try 2-3 minutes instead.) Remove from oven and allow to cool.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the cornstarch and salt. Set aside.
Combine half-and-half with the coconut milk in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and slowly beat the hot liquid into the eggs and sugar. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, then stir in the toasted coconut, cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight.
Stir the chilled custard then freeze in 1 or two batches in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. When finished the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat. For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze at least 2 hours.