Today I Made:

[Sungura]

Chocolate Chip Cookies , and Chocolate Mint Chip cookies with corn flour. Same base just different chips and mint one i addedcocoa into dough.

I did not get soft cakey cookies but i did get a very short crumbly cookie that was a hit at SAR training tonight. Usualy i like soft cookies but these do work well.

With the texture I kept thinking “hmm. I made a biscuit and Paul and Prue would like these since they hate cakey soft “american cookies”. Ha!

[Sungura]

Okay so today I am trying a stew, thanks to dooglys help. Sadly the grocery does not carry celeriac.
Beef, carrot, parsnip (new to me!), different kind of sweet pepper that ive never used too, is bubbling away in veggie broth, paprika, white pepper, and majarom.

No clue if i have made a huge mistake or if it will taste good.

Edit: well im never trying new recipes again.
“Tastes too much like veggies”
“Why isnt it beef broth”
“Did you really use all the beef?”
“You didnt cook it long enough it should be more tender beef”
“What are parsnips? I think i dont like them ive never has them before but something tastes weird and it muat be them”
“Why disnt you put in potatoes? Stew ALWAYS has potatoa i want potatos”

Im just gonna go cry now.

[sardia]

Some tips,
1. Sear the meat, carrots, and onions before before putting in stock.
1.a If seared/browned stuff, then deglaze with wine for added flavor.
2. Use chicken stock instead of prepackaged broth or beef/veggie stocks. (Assumes you don't have homemade stock, which is best. Storebrand Beef or veggie stock is statistically worse, with less protein/gelatin then chicken stock. Not sure why.) Add unsweetened gelatin into the stock to enhance mouthfeel.
3. What flavor enhancers did you use? Soy sauce? Fish sauce? Anchovies?
4. When cooking vegetables, cook half of them for the full cook time, and then toss those. Then cook the other half of veggies in the last hour. Get the optimal mix of developed flavor and crispness instead of mushy veggies.
5. What herbs do you use?

How did the sweet pepper hold up to your stewing time? I remember that my sweet peppers for my italian beef falls apart if i cook it too long.

[Moo]

Im just gonna go cry now.

Hey, well done for trying new stuff, and I'm sorry that your efforts were wasted on such ungrateful recipients.

[Sungura]

Some tips,
1. Sear the meat, carrots, and onions before before putting in stock. that means another dirty pan ughhhhhh why cant cooking be simple also ps i cannot eat onion
1.a If seared/browned stuff, then deglaze with wine for added flavor.i dont know what this means, not a fan of wine and cannot afford it anyway
2. Use chicken stock instead of prepackaged broth or beef/veggie stocks. (Assumes you don't have homemade stock, which is best. Storebrand Beef or veggie stock is statistically worse, with less protein/gelatin then chicken stock. Not sure why.) Add unsweetened gelatin into the stock to enhance mouthfeel.the whole issue is our beef bullion cubes are apparently what my so LOVES about stew so nothanks on the chicken. Apparently is HAS to be THOSE cubes used to be good stew
3. What flavor enhancers did you use? Soy sauce? Fish sauce? Anchovies?gross gross gross nopenopenope
4. When cooking vegetables, cook half of them for the full cook time, and then toss those. Then cook the other half of veggies in the last hour. Get the optimal mix of developed flavor and crispness instead of mushy veggies.no mush, why would I waste food like that? This meal was expensive as fuck anyway
5. What herbs do you use?i posted all my ingredients

How did the sweet pepper hold up to your stewing time? I remember that my sweet peppers for my italian beef falls apart if i cook it too long.just fine, no fallsaparty here.

Im just gonna go cry now.

Hey, well done for trying new stuff, and I'm sorry that your efforts were wasted on such ungrateful recipients.

thanks. I liked it a lot. My friend ended up liked it so much she went back for seconds and was drinking the broth. So i guess 2/3 people. I think my so was just shocked the flavors I made were not what he makes in stew hence the highly negative reaction. The flavour difference shock meant i got all negative crap rather than just a pure “meh not my fav”. Still sux.


Veg is really fucking expensive here. Three parsnips was $5, four peppers was $6, carrots I had at home, beef was $8. I have a brit friend who wenr veggie cause he can eat for $2/day. Wtf. I dont think people realise how fucking expensive fresh prodice is. Its why ive never played with it much. Meat is way cheaper than veg and goes a lot farther in making me not hungry. So mostly im bumed at the wasted money too. Least my friend is happy to have leftovers for work today.

[doogly]

Some tips,
1. Sear the meat, carrots, and onions before before putting in stock.
1.a If seared/browned stuff, then deglaze with wine for added flavor.

That can be quite delightful.

2. Use chicken stock instead of prepackaged broth or beef/veggie stocks. (Assumes you don't have homemade stock, which is best. Storebrand Beef or veggie stock is statistically worse, with less protein/gelatin then chicken stock. Not sure why.) Add unsweetened gelatin into the stock to enhance mouthfeel.

I don't get stock. I just use water. The stew has all the things I want it to taste like right in there. I'm basically making stock simultaneously. I have never understood this.

3. What flavor enhancers did you use? Soy sauce? Fish sauce? Anchovies?

Madness.

4. When cooking vegetables, cook half of them for the full cook time, and then toss those. Then cook the other half of veggies in the last hour. Get the optimal mix of developed flavor and crispness instead of mushy veggies.

Madness.


Oh and one thing that can go a long way to explain someone's reaction like you've hinted at is if you're preparing a meal they already "know" but "the wrong way." If you go for something entirely new they might be able to appreciate better, but something they know that is too different can be like rubbing a cat backwards. Peoples are weird. But not as weird as anchovies in a beef stew or throwing out half your vegetables.

[PAstrychef]

Sounds like the so had one expectation of what this ought to be and behaved badly when it was different. You are learning new things. If the food gets eaten, the money wasn’t wasted. Did you like the result? There are books on flavors and how they work together and how to combine them for certain results, otherwise you have to figure it out by cooking and tasting a lot of different foods.
this is a book you might like because it’s very low salt recipes.

[Sungura]

Thanks for the book idea.
Yes i liked it so did my friend. We both liked it better than his stew >_> well. I like both. But his is a bit salty cause of the cubes lol.
Guess youre right it isnt wasted since its eaten.

I do struggle with combining flavours as a lot i dont like. I never realised how picky i am until i realised the list of flavours i dont like is rather long:
Anything seafood, mushrooms (actually flavor is fine but texture is not, iceland makes a great puree spread in cream cheese kind of thing that is amazing), salt, soysauce, cherry, grape, orange, lemon (the fruits are fine the flavor in baking / sweets, nope). I usually just skip if recipe calls for one those.
But it seems most recipes call for at least one!

Making curries is easier. I can work with a palate i like. But it takes a while and i get tired of it too.

[PAstrychef]

Tonight was cottage pie-think shepherds pie, but with beef instead of lamb. Last night was stuffed baked shrimp, the stuffing was mushrooms, onion, celery, crab meat and crushed ritz crackers. Pretty good, but next time there will be far fewer mushrooms in the mix.

[Moo]

Made lamb shanks "braised" in red wine and tomatoes yesterday, with mashed potatoes and some steamed veggies (I say "braised" because I don't think the pressure cooker is technically braising). Hadn't made it in the pressure cooker in ages (usually I use the slow-cooker), and I didn't think it would make such a big difference but it really is nicer in the pressure cooker.

[sardia]

Made lamb shanks "braised" in red wine and tomatoes yesterday, with mashed potatoes and some steamed veggies (I say "braised" because I don't think the pressure cooker is technically braising). Hadn't made it in the pressure cooker in ages (usually I use the slow-cooker), and I didn't think it would make such a big difference but it really is nicer in the pressure cooker.

Old school braising is very rare and strange. Iirc, it describes food that has a heat source above it and below it(aka a metal pot with roast meat sitting in a fire with hot coals on the lid) In addition, the meat is partially submerged in liquid. So you have this three phase cooking where the top of the meat browns, the majority Simmers , and the bottom browns. The liquid reduces and browns as well. https://www.marthastewart.com/267599/how-to-braise
If You believe wiki, then pressure cooker counts as a Braise, but I think that's BS.
Edit: after reading, it's just moist heat and dry heat, but in the method I described. You can probably replicate it with a combination of searing, pressure cooker, and finishing in the oven.

Tldr not a Braise, but definitely delicious.

[Sandry]

I've made oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, stir fry, a sort of weird fusion lasagne/burrito type thing, and a tofu and veggie curry. I have also given large portions of this away to a coworker who is sort of going through some stuff. It's been a weird and busy week.

I'm also currently planning to go home tonight and make yet more cookies.

At least I'm using up everything in my fridge in a timely manner?

[Sandry]

In the same week I also made ginger snaps and chocolate chocolate mint chip cookies.

Oh me yarm, so many cookies. Death by cookies. I ended up with a total that was like 7 dozen or more. I have been giving them away to coworkers and classmates like my life depends on it, which I am beginning to think it's possible it does.

[Sungura]

Yesterday I made a cake for Oppy. Complete with mars bars inside it. I overdid the amount of cocoa so it was more chocolate than red velvet and it lost the red due to cocoa making it too dark to show the red much, but that's what happens when you make shit up i guess. Still tastes good.

[Moo]

Made a chicken pie with what I had in the house for someone in my street who had a loss in the family. I forgot how much frigging work making chicken pie from scratch is. Not as much work as tidying my kitchen's going to be, though.

[sardia]

Made a chicken pie with what I had in the house for someone in my street who had a loss in the family. I forgot how much frigging work making chicken pie from scratch is. Not as much work as tidying my kitchen's going to be, though.

Isn't most of the work just the pie dough? The rest is a lot of waiting. That's very sweet of you to make it from scratch.

[Moo]

Made a chicken pie with what I had in the house for someone in my street who had a loss in the family. I forgot how much frigging work making chicken pie from scratch is. Not as much work as tidying my kitchen's going to be, though.

Isn't most of the work just the pie dough? The rest is a lot of waiting. That's very sweet of you to make it from scratch.

Nah you're right. Defrosting, poaching, skinning, deboning and dicing the chicken thighs was quick, as was dicing and steaming the veg and making the gravy.

[Sandry]

My mom recently acquired the Ottolenghi book Plenty and then decided she didn't actually want it, so I have it now, yay!

Somewhat relatedly, I made the recipe from that book that's I think called "Very full vegetable tart" or similar? I think I could do better if I were making it again in my own kitchen, not my mom's. Also made a spinach and onion quiche.

I'm psyched to make more stuff from Plenty, though!

[Zohar]

Ottolenghi has really great recipes, very unique flavor combinations that end up being surprisingly good.

[freezeblade]

I have the self-titled Ottolenghi book, I love it! I use it for flavor inspiration, as it's quite different than my usual flavor pallet.

[dubsola]

My mom recently acquired the Ottolenghi book Plenty and then decided she didn't actually want it, so I have it now, yay!

We have that one. It's absolutely fantastic. Should break it out again soon, haven't made anything from it in a while.

[PAstrychef]

Peanut butter banana cookies with chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips, pecans and roasted peanuts.

[freezeblade]

Today I'm making (when I get home from work): Bergmont shortbread!

It's bergmont season, and I need to make all the things before the short season is over. So far I've just made my favorite, early grey sticky buns, with assam tea in the dough, and bergmont zest rolled in, simple citrus glaze.

[Sungura]

Peanut butter banana cookies with chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips, pecans and roasted peanuts.

uhm i want that recipe >_> care to share it?

[PAstrychef]

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick)unsalted butter, softened
2 medium ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup peanut butter like skippy or jif
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips-I used milk choc. chunks, any kind will work
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup chopped pecans-could be any nut you like or have around
1 cup roasted salted peanuts-unsalted are ok

Mix flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt, set aside.
Cream butter and sugars until fluffy, add peanut butter and banana mix until smooth.
Add eggs and mix until combined.
Add flour mix, chips and nuts and mix until combined.
Scoop onto lined baking trays and bake at 350F for about 10-12 minutes, depending on the size you scoop them.

[Sungura]

Attempting now.
No peanuts i actually dsilike peanuts in baking
I totally read wrong and added eggs early.
Crisco instead of butter cause i bake for lactose intolerant
Half almound flour half pillsbury gf flour 1:1

Seems ok so far in oven. Will know in 10 min.

Why line trays instead of grease? I guessed it was line with parchment paper.

Edit: first tray with a dozen out of the oven. There is one left. I only ate two cause i have more self control than the other folk here lol. Gonna double the pecans next time to make up for no peanuts.

[PAstrychef]

I like to line trays when cooking because:
You can remove all of the cookies at once
The trays stay clean
You can lay out extra parchment, scoop the cookies and have them ready to go when the first batch comes out of the oven
I will reuse parchment sheets for several runs of cookies

I like the way this recipe is changing-I added the eggs and roasted peanuts and peanut butter to the recipe I started with, then adjusted the flour. You’ve changed the flours and the fat. I think cookies are better with textures, so more nuts made sense to me. Pretzel bits would be good, some folks might add bacon (cooked and crumbled), banana chips could work too. I’d bet that you could add oil and another banana instead of the crisco.

[Sungura]

might add bacon (cooked and crumbled),

they did remind me of my breakfast cookies I made up.
the sugar is a bit of brown sugar but mostly maple syrup
cheddar cheese (shredded)
bacon bits (real not the fake bity stuff)
Took out an egg to account for the moisture of the maple syrup but otherwise it works with any basic chocolate chip cookie recipe (and yeah i left in the chocolate, because chocolate + bacon is a great combo)

[Zohar]

I made Bon Appetit's cauliflower bolognese. It turned out pretty good, but I did add carrots and parsnips to the mix. Not sure I'd make it again though, it was a bit of a hassle.

[freezeblade]

Bergmont shortbreads turned out alright. Great with tea or coffee, but not that great on their own. There's this bitter up front taste, that I'm sure is from the pith of the bergmont, but I haven't figured out how to get rid of.

I use a microplane to zest, getting as little of the pith as possible. Maybe next time I'll steep the zest in the warm butter, and use zest-infused sugar, leaving out the actual vegetable matter of the zest.

The juice was used for amazing chicken maranade.

[sardia]

I made Bon Appetit's cauliflower bolognese. It turned out pretty good, but I did add carrots and parsnips to the mix. Not sure I'd make it again though, it was a bit of a hassle.

Looking over the recipe, I'm disappointed in bon appetit. They should have included carrots and celery. If you use fresh pasta, you can cut cook time by several minutes. Use a small pasta pot with less water saves even more time. Does require stirring the pot though. Assuming they sell that near you.

[Zohar]

I made coffee-chocolate chip blondies on Saturday. They are going fast.

[Sandry]

Made samosa pie (because I can't be arsed to make individual ones), palak paneer, red lentil dahl, rice and chai on Saturday. Made pumpkin bread yesterday. *shrug* Life is good.

[sardia]

Made samosa pie (because I can't be arsed to make individual ones), palak paneer, red lentil dahl, rice and chai on Saturday. Made pumpkin bread yesterday. *shrug* Life is good.

How have I not thought of this before. I love samosas but it was super annoying to make. This is pretty cool idea. Did you try it with chutney?

[Sungura]

Brownies

[Zohar]

Nice! Did you add some of the chocolate chips and walnuts after pouring the batter in the pan, so there's some visible?

Also, are they on the fudgy side of cakey side? I'm a big fan of fudgy brownies, and I've started using a lot more cocoa and less chocolate in the batter itself because of it.

[Sungura]

Yes
And
Yes

[freezeblade]

New poll for the controversial food opinion thread: Fudgy brownies > cakey brownies

My typical brownie recipe (which makes an 8"x8" tray) has a total of just under a quarter cup of flour. Fudgy brownies all the way!

[Zohar]

I don't know how controversial that is. Is liking fried yeast doughnuts and abhorring cakey doughnuts controversial? For me, if you want a cakey doughnut, just have cake.

[Sandry]

How have I not thought of this before. I love samosas but it was super annoying to make. This is pretty cool idea. Did you try it with chutney?

Yeah... didn't make my own, used store bought. Only so many things I need to be making from scratch at once, let's be real.

Also: yes, fudgy brownies all the way. If I wanted cakey brownies I'd make chocolate cake. I agree with Zohar as well on the doughnuts.

Basically: y'know what's good at being cakey? Cake. It's already versatile enough. It doesn't need to take over other baked goods and desserts as well.