^ It's interesting to see how many people have not cooked or prepared food for themselves until more recently. In Iraqi culture, we cook for ourselves as much as possible. We rarely eat outside. So I've been cooking for most of my life! Here's a quick salad idea I accidentally discovered some time ago: get some fresh mint and strawberries. Cut only the leaves of the mint, leaving the stems. Chop strawberries to a similar size as the leaves. Mix together and enjoy instantly.

I came up with this idea and posted it up on Food 52:

Kake Ava Inferi

Serves 8-10

The Portuguese Wine Reduction
750milliliters Portuguese red wine (such as Fado Red)
1cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut in half and scored
1teaspoon cinnamon
1/8teaspoon ground cumin
1/8teaspoon ground ginger
1/8teaspoon ground clove
1/8teaspoon ground allspice
1/8teaspoon ground nutmeg
10 white peppercorns
3 seckel or forelle pears (or small pears)
6-8 black mission figs (or another kind of fig)
10 Bing cherries

Sjokoladekake
3 egg whites
1 & 3/4cup sugar
1/2cup unsalted butter, softened
1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2cup cocoa powder
1/3cup hot water
1cup cold water
2 & 1/2cups all purpose flour
1 & 1/3teaspoon baking soda
1/4cup warm water
8.8ounces marscarpone cheese (for cheese filling)
zest and juice of 1 lime (for chese filling)
1pint heavy cream (for whipped cream)
2teaspoons pure vanilla extract (for whipped cream)
5tablespoons confectioner's sugar
1. Cake first: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat egg whites and ¾ cup sugar until fluffy and set aside.
3. Cream butter, salt, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla. Set aside.
4. Make a paste of cocoa and hot water and add to creamed mixture. Stir lightly until blended.
5. Add cold water and flour to creamed mixture alternately. Fold in egg white mixture.
6. Dissolve baking soda into water and then add to mixture. Fold in gently with a wire whisk.
7. Lightly grease or butter two 9” x 1-1/2” round cake pans and pour mixture into the pans.
8. Bake 30-40 minutes. Check with butter knife or toothpick for doneness. Let cool and remove from pans to a rack.
9. Wine reduction: Pour wine and add sugar and spices to sauce pot and bring to boil. Lower to rolling boil for at least a half an hour or until liquid reduces to about half. Stir occasionally.
10. Cut pears in quarters and figs in half. Pit and cut up cherries. Grill on indoor clam shell grill (or on indoor grill or grill pan) until you get grill marks. Cut each fruit down to smaller pieces no bigger than a ¼ inch, preferably smaller. Add fruit to wine reduction to poach and continue to reduce to a third of the original amount of wine. Put aside once it reaches this point and remove vanilla bean.
11. Cheese filling: Mix marscarpone cheese, lime and lime zest together.
12. Put aside. It needs to be softened enough to spread onto the cake.
13. Whipped cream: Using a wire whisk attachment, whip heavy cream, starting slow and gradually increasing speed, until it is thick and aerated enough to hold shape.
14. Fold in vanilla and confectioner’s sugar.
15. Assembling: Put one round of cooled sjokoladekake on a cake plate or tray. The cakes should be firm enough to move without break or crumbling.
16. Spread the marscarpone cheese filling on the round on the plate, going all the way to the edge.
17. Carefully pour the wine and fruit reduction over the marscarpone, spreading it around carefully. Do not use all of the wine and fruit, as the rest will be poured on top-just use roughly a half to a third. Allow wine to go down the sides of the cake round a little, but do not flood out the dish, as it will make the cake too soggy.
18. Carefully place the second round so it is lined up and sitting evenly on the lower half and fillings.
19. Pour rest of wine and fruit on the top, carefully spreading across the top and allowing the wine to run down the sides a little. Do not it flood out the plate. There may be leftover wine reduction. Save it for use on another dessert or to add to a slice of the cake later.
20. Spread whipped cream over the top of the cake. There might be some color from the wine reduction streaked in-it is nothing to fret over. There will be leftover whipped cream. Save for another dessert or to add to a slice of the cake later. The whipped cream will retain its texture for about two days in a bowl.
21. Optional-decorate using sifted cocoa powder and possibly a stencil. (I used the band's "AI" logo).

http://food52.com/recipes/24155-kake-ava-inferi

I made a very good and simple salad today.
-Feta
-Broccoli
-Cucumbers
-Shallot
-Olive oil
-Salt and pepper

Let me share my recipe for gravy with you. This is a thin, sweet gravy, so if you like thick, meaty gravies, this is not the recipe for you.

4 tablespoons of your favourite mustard (wholegrain, dijon, whatever)
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
4 tablespoons of tomato puree
50 grams of brown sugar
1/2 cup of beef stock
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

This gravy works well with meatloaf or roast lamb.

Now, let me ask you for a recipe for chilli con carne. I can make an acceptable chilli con carne, but in my day I have tasted some delicious chilli con carnes which I would like to replicate. So if anyone has a recipe, please let me know.

So here's what we're having for dinner at my place tonight:


Some pork loin medalions (served with a pinot noir, black cherry & mushroom jus), blanched asparagus & button squash and steamed potatoes with parsley & butter sauce. What are you all havin'?

Ah, thanks Tony!

Damn, these mushrooms are looking good!

Tzatziki sauce is fucking awesome with French fries, this is all for today. We made marinated chicken skewers with a greek salad (feta is the shit) to go with these fries

I'm going to take it down a notch into "impoverished yet delicious" territory:

West Carolina Pulled Pork, Ghetto Slowcooker style

1 bone-in pork shoulder (mine was around 7.5 lbs)
Salt (some)
Shitloads of freshly ground black pepper (roughly 3 or 4 shitloads)
Cayenne pepper (a heaping tablespoon maybe? who knows)
Red pepper flakes (several furlongs)
Brown sugar (as much as I felt like chipping off this ludicrously strong brick)
About a pint of apple cider vinegar
A generous squirt of ketchup (left enough in the bottle so that I'll have some for hot dogs later)
A tablespoon or so of liquid smoke

Easy as pie - salt and liberally black pepper the bejeezus out of the pork shoulder, stick it in the slow cooker. Pour the cider vinegar and a good squirt of liquid smoke over it. Cook on low for...I dunno, 10 hours? Did mine on high for four. Yank the bone out and rip the rest apart with two forks. Add all that other junk in and stir. Cook on high for another hour or so, then slop it on some buns with a slotted spoon.

Pork shoulder is like $1.50/lb, y'all.

I think I just created the best veggie patty sandwich.

For 2 sandwiches:

1/4 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 piri piri pepper
1/2 green tomato
tomato catsup
2 pieces of pita bread
salad rocket
gouda cheese
guacamole (ideally home made and undiluted by dairy products)
2 veggie patties (I used organic 5-grain patties from the store)

Slice the tomato, wash a handful of salad and put both aside. Mince onion, garlic & piri piri (o.g.p.), then sauté them in olive oil until crisp. Then put them on a dish while keeping as much oil as possible in the pan. Use that oil to fry the patties (also season them with some black pepper) while toasting the pita bread. Carefully slice each pita in half & apply the ingredients in the following order:

o.g.p.
patty
cheese
catsup
salad
tomato
guacamole (apply to top pita slice)

Devour.

That sounds tasty, though I'd likely swap out the veggie patties for lamb.

No harm in it, though the ones I bought turned out legitimately delicious.

While not top end cuisine, this is typically what you can expect for breakfast at my place if you've been drinking the night before.



Bacon, poached eggs (or scrambled, depends how I feel) on toast, mushrooms and some cherry tomato/wilted baby spinach. Served with as much coffee and or juice that you can handle.

I'm currently drunk and it's almost 2 am, this made me very fucking hungry!

OBVIOUS BUMP POST!
Bad pic but it's to prove that I put Sriracha everywhere! Tuna (mayo, sriracha, black pepper, parsley) + romain lettuce and fresh tomatoes in a baguette with norwegian cheese.

Whaaaaat. I never knew there was a cooking thread here. Otherwise I would have been checking this out for awhile. Plus I could have taken some pictures of these fresh out of the oven like three days ago...


Red bell peppers stuffed with a quinoa/rice blend, kale, onions, roasted pine nuts, and diced bell pepper. Slathered in some soy sauce of course.

Not a vegan but that looks and sounds amazing. I fucking LOVE quinoa.

Green onions & cheddar scones! I think I've accidentally put too much salt but they're awesome anyway. Prepared while listening to Kyuss' Welcome to Sky Valley, no there's no weed in them!

Recipe: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/06/ched ... on-scones/

Hahahah I thought you made the driest pizza ever dude! Those look scrumptious for real.

Savory scones are hella better than sweet.

Frog speaks the truth! And those scones do look pretty good.

I recently discovered the craft of making a good green onion cake. It’s really not all that hard, it’s just labour intensive and requires patience.

I made curry the other night, but curry is rarely pretty enough to take a picture of it - its taste is superior to its looks.

I'll never understand why Americans don't eat more lamb. Made some chops last night and I will continue to say it is the tastiest meat on the planet, even without any sort of seasoning. The Kiwis know what's up.

I think a curry can look good if it's presented well, anything can look good! I'm trying to keep this thread active so don't be shy to post whatever, guys!

I've only had lamb in the context of Mediterranean food and it sort of got lost for me in the midst of everything else.

There's an incredible hole in the wall restaurant here called Game which specializes in, you guessed it, exotic meats. I recently had a wild boar burger there medium rare and it was probably the best burger I've ever had in my entire life. I ate it slow and sensual, really made love to that thing. I also had kangaroo meatballs (delicious, my god), bone marrow, foie grau (couldn't handle the texture), and a few other oddities. Their fries are made with duck fat. It's become a favorite lately.

Their menu:
http://www.louisvillehammerheads.com/gameeem.html

ultra evil uncheese breadsticks

1 tablespoon instant active yeast
1 tablespoon cane sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil (plus a little extra)
1 1/2 cup wheat flour (I use 0 type)
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

mix yeast and sugar in a small bowl, add the warm water and whisk until all of the yeast is dissolved. let the bowl in a warm place for 10-15 minutes, the mixture will expand greatly and become frothy.
in a saucepan, sauté the onion and garlic with the olive oil until the onion becomes translucent. remove the saucepan from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. after cool, add the yeast mixture to the garlic and onion, along with the rest of the ingredients. mix the dough with a spoon or hands until soft and perfectly combined. divide dough into 12 or more pieces. with floured hands, roll or mold dough pieces into sticks and place on an oiled baking sheet. brush extra olive oil over the dough and let them sit in a warm place until they have doubled in size.

preheat oven to 400°F. bake breadsticks for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Yes! Wild boar is a close second to lamb in my book. A restaurant down the street from me makes a wild boar sloppy joe, complete with a duck egg on top. It is possibly my favorite dish on the planet.

WOW that sounds incredible. I'm counting down the minutes until I'm out of work and can stuff something in my face.

I have a sandwich I enjoy making that tastes excellent:

A table spoon of olive oil on each slice of bread(usually continental for myself, but it doesn't matter), slap them together several times so it spreads. Spread tomato paste on each slice. Several shakes of pepper, one shake of salt. Get a can of tuna and fork it to death so its not in chunks. Layer the tuna on one slice evenly, then cut an onion up in ring slices( generally I use a whole one but it depends on your tolerance and taste), layer the onion over the tuna in the quantity you desire then put the other slice on top and slice in half for devouring. It may sound weird, but its fucking delicious.

I agree with this post 1000%. Lamb is fucking brilliant. I do tend to use it mainly in the context of fake Mediterranean dishes - I buy the ground stuff and marinate it with olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, oregano and most importantly thyme (chunks of chicken or beef works too but of course lamb is divine), cook it up in a pan and toss it in a pita with feta cheese, red onion, lettuce, pepperoncini, kalamata olives, tomato and a sauce made from putting the same herbs and spices from the marinade in some greek yogurt. Also good to use similar ingredients to make fake Greek lamb burgers.

Outside of that context chunks of lamb are great in stews and Indian type dishes. Lamb chili might also be wonderful and is on my "to make" list.

Ahhhh, pitas like that are so good, tzatziki sauce is the shit!

I did some scones again today since my dad wanted some, I've added real bacon bits and a lot of sriracha (but it's not spicy at all)

like biryani.

After watching a few episodes of the first season of The Mind of a Chef, we've started making ramen at home. It's a surprisingly subtle and difficult dish to do well for how simplistic it is. And when good, it is satisfying on a deep and personal level. Going into school, this is a really good thing to know how to do.

Miso broth is the most delicious, but because of the sodium content I can't eat that all the time. So the other day I made a low sodium broth stock with the bones of some smoked turkey legs I'd bought to fry for ramen topping (which were awesome in garlic powder and pepper). Pretty typical stock ingredients: cut off vegetable ends, lots of celery and dying carrots, but luckily I had some kim chi that was on its way out, which was a satisfying combination with the smoked turkey.

Vegetable stocks are completely awesome, and I have a major taste for celery as it is. Reduced all that for a couple hours and then used it for ramen broth. Added some dashi, served with eggplant and zucchini spears sauteed in sesame oil and salt. I didn't know what a process ramen noodles were. That's a whole separate skill factor. Added soy sauce and sriracha, had green tea, commenced shoveling. This is going to be a good semester.

I'll post a picture next time I can take one that's actually appetizing.

Alllright, I've done a bit of adventurous cooking the past few days so I thought I'd share recipes here.

First: I made a big huge batch of apple butter since I was given a big gift box of beautiful apples and Asian pears (which are very apple-like compared to western pears) which I sadly could not really comfortably eat due to an allergy to raw apples and apple-esques. I also have no oven so that ruled out baked apples, apple strudel, apple pie, etc. I love me some apple butter though, and you can't get that at all here, so I decided to wing it and give it a shot.

6 large apples (no idea what variety these are - huge, pink-skinned, crisp and fairly tart)
3 Asian pears
apple juice*
cinnamon
brown sugar
nutmeg**
allspice**
ground cloves**

*Apple cider would be superior but seems nonexistent in Korea.
**I sadly couldn't find any of these so made due without.

Simple dice up the apples into 1-inch pieces, exclude the cores but keep the peels unless you're a wimp or poseur, toss in a big pot and pour in enough apple juice/cider to cover them or nearly so. Boil for about ten minutes, then reduce the heat. Once the fruit is suitably soft, I mashed it down with a potato masher. Stir frequently from the bottom and be careful not to burn it, which is easy with all of the sugar. Once you've smooshed everything down a bit and have stirring room in the pot, add the spices to taste and about a cup and a half of brown sugar. Keep cooking it down until it looks nearly like apple butter (it will look more like it once it has cooled). You can also strain stuff and blend things (with an immersion or regular blender) if you like yours smoother, but I don't have a blender and the chunks of apple sound nice. Eat on toast, sandwiches, breakfast foods of all types, ice cream, in milkshakes or mixed together with muesli for breakfast (this last one is my plan).

Next up, I tried my hand at Korean barbecue.

Samgyeopsal (thick-sliced pork belly)
Kimchi of your choice (I just used boring store-bought mat kimchi)
Sesame oil
White pepper
Ssamjang (a thick sauce made from soybean paste, garlic, green onions, Korean red pepper paste, loads of salt, and sesame oil)
Lemon vinegar
Brown sugar
Lettuce of your choice (red leaf is common)
Any other side dishes you'd like, maybe marinated bean sprouts

If you have access to a grill, grill the pork over that (unseasoned is typical). I lightly seasoned mine with salt and pepper and pan-fried it since I don't have a grill. Slice it into bite-sized pieces. I find the store-bought ssamjang sauce to be too thick and, importantly, too damn salty so I cut it with some brown sugar, sesame oil and lemon vinegar to thin out both the texture and salty flavor. Dip your meat in this, then put it in a lettuce leaf. Add kimchi and bean sprouts, then fold it up, dip it in a bowl of sesame oil with white pepper, and snack away!

Those are probably Pink Lady, Cripps Pink or some other market brand/cultivar derived from the same source. Sounds very much like them anyway. Usually imported from Australia and very delicious. Among the best along with Granny Smith and Honey Crisp/Crunch.

As for apple cider, I take it you mean the American kind of cider i.e. non-alcoholic and not what the rest of the world means with cider i.e. the alcoholic variety? As for substitutes for apple cider/juice, I'd replace some/all of the juice with (a smaller amount) of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, give it more of that nice crispness. Or that's how I've made my apple and pear butters though I don't often flavor or sweeten them much, though should really make some with some cinnamon and a little nutmeg. The other day I made some plum butter out of these Hungarian purple/blue plums, Lepoticas. Pretty tart stuff unsweetened so flavored a bit with vanilla.

Yeah, the apples had a very dry, tart flavor to them and the pears had a nice texture and were really juicy but were far from being loaded with flavor, so I probably went a little heavy on the brown sugar. And yes, by "cider" I meant American cider - i.e. very thick, rich, unfiltered brown-colored apple juice that's often spiced a bit (as opposed to the clear golden filtered/pasteurized stuff). I haven't eaten any of the stuff yet other than a couple of tastes since I've been on break from work so have been too lazy to wake up for breakfast time, but tomorrow I'll rectify that.

The egg discussion in the FFA reminded me...I've been meaning to try making beef tartare sometime soon. Any advice on the preparation? I'm obviously planning to use high-quality beef/eggs, etc.

Well, not much other than unless you have a meat grinder yourself, have your butcher grind it at least a few times to get it really fine.

Good alternative to a beef burger, turkey meat!!! With bacon, fruit ketchup, pickles and fried white onion. Nom!!!

Holy shit that looks great, Tony.

I'm gearing up to break in my birthday mini-grill from Lodge. Full cast iron body. Will picture.

Amazing looking stuff here. Yummy.

Any tips on spinach? I've been loving throwing spinach leaves in just about everything thesedays.

Baby spinach leaves and scrambled eggs are awesome. Plus they're great in salads. That's all I got right now.

Just made some corned beef for dinner tonight, and man it makes the whole house smell delicious. Basically I get a portion of corned beef, usually around the 1.2-5kg (2.6 - 3.30lbs) range, then cover it with cold water in a large coverable pot. Then I will add mustard seeds, carraway seeds, two cloves, peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, a tablespoon of brown sugar and malt vinegar.

Once all that is combined and the water starts to boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 4 hours. The result is beef that will melt in your mouth and almost fall apart when trying to carve it. Served with roasted, smashed baby potatoes with sage, and any blanched veggies of your choice and voilà! Delicious.

The leftover beef is great for sandwiches too.