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Valtox · Nov 16, 2006

Now I know all the story about the Hawaii toast!

I had the Hawaii Toast in Holland when I was a child. I was there on vacation with my family and my mother had one too.
We are not very used to honey-garlic foods and when she realized there was pineapple on it she taught I was about to scream (I was al little picky about food).
But perhaps I had to show of being a "man of the world":lol in that moment so I ate it without saying a word.
It remained one of the family memories.

bovo · Nov 16, 2006

holliberry said:
How exactly do you stir-fry tofu? I tried once, and it didn't really seem to change in color or texture in any way. And I tried to be gentle when turning them over, but it still turned out mostly tofu crumbs instead of the original cubes.

You have cook it for longer than you think (or at least longer than I think, but I don't actually know much about tofu).

Add the tofu near the beginning, and cook for quite a while, only stirring it occasionally, until it changes colour and then by the time you add the other ingredients, it should hold together better.

I still end up with some tofu crumbs though!

ChryZ · Nov 16, 2006

holliberry said:
How exactly do you stir-fry tofu? I tried once, and it didn't really seem to change in color or texture in any way. And I tried to be gentle when turning them over, but it still turned out mostly tofu crumbs instead of the original cubes.

Tofu is available in many variations. Pick a harder one. in one block. Squeeze the block between two plates and some paper towel ... apply gentle pressure, try not to damage the block. Cube, slice when done. The tofu will brown a lot easier with its liquid removed. It's also able to suck up more marinade in this state, if you want to use any marinade. In case of frying just relax and stir very little, the tofu is still pretty moist, even with the liquid pressed out of it, so it's not going to burn very easily.

heavy liquid · Nov 17, 2006

Hey everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted anything. This is my first post in Vol. 2, in fact! I've had a lot of things going on in my personal life which I may share shortly, but I've managed to take a few pictures of some of the things I've cooked. I'll try to post with a little more regularity.

So to start, I'll post one of my favorites. I cooked it a few days ago, and I think it turned out really tasty. This can all be done with one skillet and a crock pot!

Beef Burgundy

This was cooked in a crock pot (slow cooker). Only about half of the wine is added in the beginning, with the rest added at the end after it's reduced. This is because if you cooked it all at once, it would turn sour over the nine hours it takes to cook.

What you need:

8 oz. bacon chopped
4 lbs stew beef (chuck preferably)
1 large onion chopped fine
2 carrots chopped fine
8 garlic cloves minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
4 tbs. tomato paste
2 1/2 cups Pinot Noir or Burgundy wine
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 or 4 bay leaves
3 tbs. Minute Tapioca
3 tbs. minced fresh parsley
2 cups pearl onions
10 oz white mushrooms, quartered

First, get all of your prep work done. Chop the onions, garlic, parsley, and thyme

Cook the bacon in a large skillet on medium-high until crisp. Set aside on paper towel, and chop it after it's cooled. Set aside half of the bacon fat in a bowl, and keep the other half in the pan.

Dry the beef with paper towels, and season with salt and pepper. Place half of the beef in the skillet with the half of bacon fat and cook it over medium-high until all of the sides are brown. You can cook all of the meat, but only half is really needed for flavor. When done, place the beef in the slow cooker.

Add the reserved bacon fat to the now empty skillet, and heat over medium-high. Add onion, carrots and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook until they begin to brown, and then add garlic and thyme, and cook for about 30 more seconds. Then add the tomato paste, and stir together for about another minute. Then transfer this to the slow cooker.

Now add 1 1/2 cups wine, 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and 1/3 cups soy sauce to the empty skillet. Heat until it simmers. Let simmer for one minute and then transfer it to the slow cooker. Stir in bay leaves and Minute Tapioca, and set on low heat. Cook for nine hours.

-This can all be done the night before. Just make sure you keep all the liquids and items separate. This is what I did. Before I left to work, I put it all in the slow cooker, and went to work-

After nine hours (when I came home from work), it looked like this:

Now place 1/2 cup water and 3 tbs of butter into the skillet along with your pearl onions. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes until they're tender. Uncover and increase heat until liquid is almost evaporated. Add the mushrooms with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cook until browned and glazed. Stir this into the slow cooker.

Almost ready to serve! Stir in your chopped bacon. Bring remaining 1 cup of wine to a boil in the skillet over high heat and then simmer until it's reduced by half (about 5 minutes). Stir the wine and parsley into the slow cooker, and you're done!

OnkelC · Nov 17, 2006

Welcome back heavy liquid and thank you for that fine stew recipe! Autumn time is stew time over here, and there are few things that could be considered more "soul-food" than a nice stew. The use of a slow cooker is interesting, over here it is usually prepared on the stove with a low heat setting.

I am looking forward to your future contributions! This goes a s well for all of you, folks.

Keep them coming.

heavy liquid · Nov 18, 2006

So I made some pizzas a couple of times over the past few weeks. This isn't going to be about how to make the ingredients, but rather about how to BUILD pizzas. Ingredients are fairly easy (except for the dough).

I'm lucky enough to have a few Italian markets near me. I usually buy my pizza dough and pizza sauce there. I'm sure you can find recipes online if you don't have an Italian market near you.

First, coat your pizza pan with corn meal. This is much better than oil which may make your pizza stick. Most pizza places use corn meal.

When you start with the dough, you want to coat it in flour. Press it flat, and stretch it out from the outsides, constantly turning it. You can try to expand it with a roller, but it's usually much better by hand. What you want to do is hold the dough by the edge (after it's been coated with flour) and stretch it a little bit at a time while constantly turning it.

Once you get the dough big enough, place it on the pan. If it is a bit small, don't worry. When you place the sauce on the dough, the weight will weigh down the dough and you can stretch the dough to the edge of the pan. Make sure you go to the very edge, but leave about a 1/2" ring or so for the crust. I usually use a flat ladle to spread the sauce. Make sure the sauce is evenly spread with no streaks, otherwise it could burn in those areas.

If your dough doesn't reach the edge of the pan, don't worry. Once you have the sauce on the dough, it will weigh it down and you can stretch the dough a bit to get it to the edge of the pan.

For the cheese, it's usually best to use a combination of Mozzerella and Muenster or Brick Cheese. Usually either 1/2 and 1/2 or 2/3 Mozzerella and 1/3 Brick or Meunster. This gives a great taste to the pizza.

What I usually do now is place a layer of cheese, and then a layer of meats/vegetables, and then another layer of cheese.

This time, I placed pepperoni and black olives on my pizza:

The key to all of this is EVEN DISTRIBUTION. You want to have equal bites with every piece. Honestly. If you just make sure everything is even, everyone will think you're a master pizza maker! Even cheese, toppings and sauce, and you're good to go.

Place in the oven at about 425 degrees for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it though. You'll know when it's done just by looking at it. It's also nice to sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on your slice.

OnkelC · Nov 18, 2006

heavy liquid, that is an awesome looking pizza! Looks absolute pro-level quality.
Using corn meal instead of oil for the anti-stick is a nice idea.
And +1 for the action pic !:lol
Thank you for this fine contribution.

Tonights' dish will be "Königsberger Klopse" with rice. cooking starts in about an hour, pics will be up at the usual time.

Stay tuned and keep on posting.

ChryZ · Nov 18, 2006

Hey! You've removed the awesome dough-throwing-action-shot-pic! It was really cool, I wish, I could do that too ... must practice more! The throwing, not the pic removing

heavy liquid · Nov 18, 2006

ChryZ said:
Hey! You've removed the awesome dough-throwing-action-shot-pic! It was really cool, I wish, I could do that too ... must practice more! The throwing, not the pic removing

Okay, I added the pic back in. It's a great way to enlarge dough evenly. I worked in a pizza restaurant for about five years during high school and college where I refined my technique.

OnkelC · Nov 18, 2006

I am dead tired, so have a preview of tonights dish before I will post the preparation tomorrow.

Keep them coming.

jarosh · Nov 18, 2006

made this for dinner

pasta and broccoli

boil broccoli

olive oil

add broccoli (no nasty garlic or onions)

fry broccoli

broccoli water, still needed

add broccoli water and more olive oil

spices (paprika, pepper, bouillon, some herbs...)

corn pasta, better than wheat (YES IT'S BETTER)

pasta

some fresh tomatoes

add tomatoes

done

pasta

mix

eat

dessert

OnkelC · Nov 18, 2006

Hi jarosh, welcome to this humble thread and thank you very much for that nice dish. I have not yet seen corn pasta, but the concept seems tasty. Do they taste sweeter than wheat pasta?
The sauce also looks fine. Do you still have homegrown tomatoes at this time of the year?

Please post more of your stuff, that was a very promising start!

jarosh · Nov 18, 2006

OnkelC said:
Hi jarosh, welcome to this humble thread and thank you very much for that nice dish. I have not yet seen corn pasta, but the concept seems tasty. Do they taste sweeter than wheat pasta?
The sauce also looks fine. Do you still have homegrown tomatoes at this time of the year?

Please post more of your stuff, that was a very promising start!

they taste a little sweeter and they're not as 'bland' as wheat pasta, they have a little more 'punch'. if you add a (spicy) sauce you're usually not able to tell the difference though. i always serve corn pasta when i have guests and they never notice it. i have to import them from italy because the corn and rice pasta you get here in switzerland STINKS. it usually has a really weird aftertaste and no "bite" whatsoever - if you know what i mean. probably because they add all sorts of chemicals and shit. i really don't know why though. the ones i use consist of: corn, water. and they're DELICIOUS. and i really mean delicious - not 'sufficient for an alternative'-delicious.

the tomatoes are not homegrown. i've been out of homegrowns for a couple of months already. they're still fresh though, heh.

btw, this is a great dish for people with food allergies or digestion problems too. no dairy, no onions, no garlic, no gluten/wheat, no eggs, no meat. and still very delicious. in fact it's one of my favorite dishes.

heavy liquid · Nov 19, 2006

That looks good, jarosh. I don't think I've ever had corn pasta. I'm definitely going to look for it now.

Here's the next one!

Mile-High Apple Pie

This was cooked about a month ago, in the middle of October. We went to pick apples with some friends and their two kids at a local apple orchard and cider mill (and of course had fresh cider with hot cinnamon doughnuts!

) They have a tractor to carry everyone to the various orchards, and they'll stop and let people on and off at the different apple types. It was a beautiful day, but very chilly with a brisk breeze. It was probably around 40 degrees (about 4.5 celsius).

We picked mostly Mutsu apples, which are good for baking apple pies. You'll want to use a crisp, tart apple for a pie, like a Granny Smith.

Here's what you'll need for the pie.

Dough:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled & cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

In a bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar.

Add butter, and mix until it resembles course meal

Add the ice water a little at a time. You want the dough to hold together without being wet or sticky. Test by squeezing a small amount together. If it's crumbly, add more ice water a tablespoon at a time.

Divide into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disk, and wrap in plastic and put it in the refrigerator. You can also freeze the dough and store it up to about a month, if needed.

Apple pie ingredients:

5 lbs apples (about 10-12)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp lemon zest

Prepare your apples by coring and slicing them

Place your apples in a large pot and cook over medium-high heat. Stir in the sugar, salt, cinnamon and zest. Cover, and stir frequently for about 15 minutes. You want them tender, but not mushy.

let your apples cool down to room temperature

While you're letting the apples cool, roll out the dough, and chill for about 30 minutes

When the apples are cool, drain the moisture out of them

Place your dough in a pie pan, and mound the apples into the crust. Sprinke with fresh lemon juice.

Put the top layer of the dough on, and press to seal the edges.

Cut slits to vent the steam.

Brush the top with egg white and sprinke sugar on top

Bake on top of a pre-heated pan for 1 hour at 425 degrees.

Let cool before cutting into it. It's best served warm with some vanilla or cinnamon ice cream. Mmm!

Indigo · Nov 19, 2006

OnkelC said:

Königsberger Klopse? Mmmm! This thread never fails to make me hungry.

OnkelC · Nov 19, 2006

heavy liquid, that's a wonderful and voluptous apple pie. It is interesting that you use the egg white for glazing the pie, i usually use the yolk for doing so.

Making dishes from hand-picked ingredients is a true luxury. The parents-in-law happen to have several apple trees, too. Most of them are ancient cultivars, like the "Renette von Blenheim" or "Klarapfel", which are great for juicing or cooking.
Here are some pics from late August:

Since the apples are too small/sour for eating them pure, the parents-in-lwa make a trip to an apple mill every other week in late summer and have the apples milled into apple juice. The exchange ratio is 20 kilograms of apples for 10 bottles of juice. The result looks like this:

Another luxury.

ChryZ · Nov 19, 2006

Kalguksu (other romanization: kal gook soo) means in korean: knife (cut) noodles. In this case with seafood broth and veggies.

soup ingredients

250-500 G clams (0.55-1.1 LBS)
2 L water (8.5 CUPS)
10 X fresh anchovies (dried ones are okay too)
1 X scallion
1 X zucchini
1 X onion
1 X carrot
1 X red chili
2 X potatoes
2-3 X soy sauce

noodle ingredients

1 CUP water
2 CUP wheat flour
1/2 CUP starch
1 TBS salt

soak the clams in salt water for 30-60 min

chop the veggies into quick cooking stripes and chunks

combine water and flour from the noodle ingredients

knead until smooth, dust with some starch

wrap the dough in plastic wrap, let it rest in the fridge for up to 30 min

fillet the anchovies, it's not pretty so click here for visualisation,
slit the fishs' belly up to the head, snap the "neck" close behind the end of the head,
use the end (not the tip) of your knife for that, pull the head off, the innards will
follow attached to the head if done right, open the fish like a book and remove the
spine tail-wards, repeat:

scrub the clams to remove any sand or dirt, examine every single one of them,
discard open or cracked ones, they are dead already ... only 4 in my batch, yay

roll out the dough and slice into noodles

bring water from the soup ingredients to boil, add sliced onions and anchovies

add the clams after a few minutes

when the clams start to open, then add the noodles, stir them
a little to make sure that they dont stick to each other

add the rest of the veggies closely afterwards,
lower the heat and simmer until the veggies are done,
season to taste with a little salt and pepper,
add 2-3 table spoons of soy sauce for some umami

serve piping hot, a second empty bowl or plate is handy to pill up the clam shells,
(watch out for still closed clams, discard them as well, fortunately only three here)

second serving with clam shells pre-removed, bowls loaded with goodness

enjoy

OnkelC · Nov 19, 2006

Dee-li-cious, ChryZ!
Awesome recipe and phenomenal presentation. Thank you for this. This is a nice alternative to a clam chowder. Have you tried that dish with Blue Mussels? would be adding a good hint of Euro touch to the soup and they are cheaper to come by, too.

So, let's cook.
I returned yesterday afternoon from a 2-day lecture and had no idea about what to cook. Fortunately, the wife had done some shopping for "Königsberger Klopse" (with rice.

The "Königsberger Klopse" (literal translation "meatballs Koenigsberg/Kaliningrad style") are a traditional German dish wich is said to have its origins in the east prussian cuisine. The dish consists of poached meatballs made from mixed ground beef and pork, and a white sauce with capers. Only a few places make them by hand nowadays, this is a classic example of a frozen/canned dish over here. It's a shame since the preparation is simple, yet a bit time-consuming. The dish took me about 90 minutes from first to last photo.

The ingredients for a wife and a really hungry Onkel are:

For the meatballs:
- 500 grams (1 good lb) of mixed mincemeat,
- 1 onion,
- 1 dry, day-old bread roll or 1/4cup of breadcrumbs,
- 1 whole egg,
- 2 tbs chopped parsley (not pictured, I had to resort to frozen parsley),
- salt and pepper (not pictured).

For the sauce
- 1 litre (a good 1/4 gallon) of hot broth,
- 3 bay leaves,
- 2 tbs or 1 small glass of cured/pickled capers,
- 2-3 tbs butter,
- 3-4 tbs wheat flour,
- 3-4tbs double cream,
- juice of 1/2 lemon,
- salt and pepper (not pictured).

Side dish of choice (we had rice, but potatoes are common as well)

First, soak the bread in 1/4 of the broth. When it is soaked and spongy (this should take between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the bread roll), pour it into a hairnet sieve and squeeze it until it stops dripping, then add it with the mincemeat into a mixing bowl:

Now cube the onion and add the cubes along with the whole egg and the chopped parsley to the bowl.

Add a good amount of salt and pepper, then mix until you get a solid and homogenous dough. This is done the easiest when you squeeze the dough with your hands, like pressing an orange:

Let the dough rest for a few minutes, then make 12-16 meatballs from it:

In the meanwhile, pour the remaining 3/4 of the broth into a wide pot, add the bay leaves and get it cooking:

When the broth is cooking, reduce the heat to 1/3 and add the meatballs and pouch them with the lid on for about 15 minutes. It is vital that the broth is only slightly simmering over the pouching process, as heavy boiling broth (aka cooking) will cause the meatballs to fall apart. If the broth starts cooking heavily after adding the meatballs, better remove the pot from the stove until the stove has cooled down a bit:

After about 15 minutes, remove the meatballs from the broth and set them aside.
Get the side dish going:

Pour the broth through a hairnet sieve and clean the pot with a kitchen cloth. Put the pot back on the stove and turn the heat up to 2/3. Add the butter to the pot and melt it until it starts to foam a bit, then add the flour and stir it in with an egg whip (This process is called "creating a roux", thanks to bovo for the explanation). Keep stirring until the roux gets a golden brown colour:

Now add the broth to the roux under constant stirring until the roux and broth have blended completely into the white sauce base. reduce the heat again to 1/3 and let the sauce cook lightly for about 10 minutes or until the side dish is ready:

Finish Line:
Refine the sauce with the cream, the drained capers, the lemon juice and some salt and pepper:

Now add the meatballs to the finished sauce and let them heat up for 2 minutes:

DONE!
Serve them on a plate with a good helping of the sauce. As the dish itself is rather pale, a decoration with the remaining chopped parsley is recommended:

I had a bottle of "Malzbier" from a local brewery as the accompanying drink, but beer or a dry white wine would also work out fine:

Enjoy!

I planned on baking a chocolate cake today, but due to heavy liquids' coverage of that base (and a heavy case of sunday procrastination), I declare my actions as postponed!

Tonights dish will be a rump steak on red oak leaf and lollo bianco / frisee lettuce.

Stay tuned and keep them coming!

OnkelC · Nov 19, 2006

Steak and salad are cancelled, as the wife is sick. I'll improvise something, no idea what, though.

OnkelC · Nov 19, 2006

So, lets make some dinner.
The wife felt sick since midday, so the big dinner was cancelled. I wanted to have some warm food, and the choice was a hearty version of a eggs and toast.

The ingredients for one person are:

three slices of sandwich bread,
three eggs,
three slices of american cheese,
a splash of cream,
some butter for frying,
spices of choice,
some cream cheese for added heavyness.

mix the eggs with some cream, add spices (I used some Maggi spice and blyck pepper) and whip them:

Heat a pan to 2/3 max heat, melt some butter in it and fry the sammich slices from both sides.

Finish Line:
Add the american cheese on top of the bread, then pour the whipped egg over it. let it fry until the egg starts to get solid on the surface, then turn over and fry for another 1-2 minutes:

DONE!
Serve with a helping of cream cheese and "enjoy":

Sorry for the blandness, but there were no options tonight. tomorrow will be a better day for cooking (or so I hope).

Surpass me with your dishes, it is easy tonight.

OnkelC · Nov 19, 2006

Bonus:

ChryZ · Nov 19, 2006

heavy liquid said:
Mile-High Apple Pie

Nice!

OnkelC said:
Dee-li-cious, ChryZ!
Awesome recipe and phenomenal presentation. Thank you for this. This is a nice alternative to a clam chowder. Have you tried that dish with Blue Mussels? would be adding a good hint of Euro touch to the soup and they are cheaper to come by, too.

Thanks. Not much choice with the clams that day, the fresh anchovies were a pleasant (yet unplanned) surprise. Oh and this was my first take on the dish ... actually there were many firsts: I never made noodles from scratch, gutted/filleted fish nor cooked clams before. So I'm extra happy with the result.

OnkelC said:
The wife felt sick since midday, so the big dinner was cancelled.

Bummer, let's hope she will feel better soon.

BTW, the Klopse are looking great. Yet another item on my ever-so-long-to-try-list

OnkelC · Nov 20, 2006

The wife still feels a bit sick in the stomach department, so any Ideas for a light and mild dish are welcome. Chicken broth is already on the list.

OnkelC · Nov 20, 2006

Shitty Food Monday.
The wife is still sick, so I made something that is easy on the stomach and can be prepared without the kitchen smelling like food: a gratined bread roll with ham, cheese, hard boiled egg and tomato, accompanied by some oak leaf lettuce.

I hope she gets well soon

Keep yours coming.

OnkelC · Nov 21, 2006

Have some other monologue, please

William Shakespeare said:
To be, or not to be (from Hamlet 3/1)

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

Octagon · Nov 21, 2006

I tried out your Halloween Schweinefilet OnkelC but it didn't turn out quite as tasty
looking as your pictures. It was eatable and somehow tasty though.

I was a bit unlucky with the beacon of my choice, it shrank too much and i didn't have enough to make it up.

leider will mir spontan nicht einfallen, wie ich das zusammenziehen des Specks am besten auf Englisch beschreiben kann.

tnw · Nov 21, 2006

OnkelC said:
The wife still feels a bit sick in the stomach department, so any Ideas for a light and mild dish are welcome. Chicken broth is already on the list.

I think someone said this earlier, but is european food so typically heavy on the animal products? Even before I became vegatarian I enjoyed meals with lots of vegetables.

During the week I don't really have time/will to cook, but I make a mean arrabiata. I use japanese eggplant and mushrooms, whichever are cheapest (usually Japanese cuz that's where I am)

I love Japanese vegetables! I used eggplant and mushrooms, so I obviously like those. But lotus root, shishito, goya, burdock root.

I used to make a great tofu burger that I saw on the television show kyou no ryouri (cooking today) on NHK. You shred nira onions and burdock root with crubled tofu, saute the patties till they hold together, and then serve them with a great ketchup/red wine sauce. it's great!

ChryZ · Nov 21, 2006

Quick impression from last weekends' taco party over at a friends' house.

Sorry, no recipe or pictorial ... too much beer, it's all one big blur ^_^;

Sumidor · Nov 21, 2006

man.. I love this thread.. it's the thread that keeps on giving!

mint · Nov 21, 2006

Wow you guys are amazing; I wished I had the effort of buying and making those foods

Hmm I'm going on camping in two days, and was wondering what foods would be good to make while there

So far I was thinking egg/cheese/sausage/bacon burritos for breakfast, some meat for lunch (sam gyup sal to be exact), and some kind of steak for dinner (carne asado, but I'm missing the argentina salt lol)

OnkelC · Nov 21, 2006

ChryZ: nice. I hope you worked with the cutlery before the booze

Octagon said:
I tried out your Halloween Schweinefilet OnkelC but it didn't turn out quite as tasty looking as your pictures. It was eatable and somehow tasty though.

I was a bit unlucky with the beacon of my choice, it shrank too much and i didn't have enough to make it up.

Hi Octagon, sorry to hear that. The key is to have enough bacon strips to layer them like rooftop shindles(sp?), with one strip overlapping the next one at about 1/3 of the small side.

tnw said:
I think someone said this earlier, but is european food so typically heavy on the animal products? Even before I became vegatarian I enjoyed meals with lots of vegetables.

If animal products means meat/poultry/fish, then my answer would be a decisive depends, but if you add dairy products and eggs in the definition, I can clearly say yes. Even if my personal meat consumption is not that high, a decent dish without some cheese would be bland IMHO. Are you a true vegan (as in no dairy/eggs)? It would be nice to see some more recipes of that style, jarosh recently posted an interesting vegan pasta dish.

I used to make a great tofu burger that I saw on the television show kyou no ryouri (cooking today) on NHK. You shred nira onions and burdock root with crubled tofu, saute the patties till they hold together, and then serve them with a great ketchup/red wine sauce. it's great!

Sounds fine, please post some pics and a detailed preparation the next time you prepare them. I would like to try them out.

Sumidor said:
man.. I love this thread.. it's the thread that keeps on giving!

Thanks, We appreciate it!

mint said:
Wow you guys are amazing; I wished I had the effort of buying and making those foods Hmm I'm going on camping in two days, and was wondering what foods would be good to make while there So far I was thinking egg/cheese/sausage/bacon burritos for breakfast, some meat for lunch (sam gyup sal to be exact), and some kind of steak for dinner (carne asado, but I'm missing the argentina salt lol)

Thanks for the kudos. A menu like the one you posted would get my lazy ass to camping, too.
Carne asado is the king and queen of BBQ, but lobbing a quarter cow through the countryside would spoil the BBQ experience a bit IMHO :lol. If you have to carry/bring your own stuff for cooking to the campsite, I would restrict the tonnage to dried goods.

Thanks again to all of you for the replies and..

Keepem coming! Feedback keeps the all of us ticking.

Edit: The wife is still a bit sick in the stomach, but healing is in progress. Tonights dish will be some mashed potatoes with roast onions for her, I might sneak in a Bratwurst for myself´.

ChryZ · Nov 21, 2006

Loco Moco
(hawaiian cuisine: rice bowl with beef patty, fried egg and brown gravy)

quick, easy, tasty ... excellent weekday dish

main ingredients:

120 G ground beef (~1/4 pound)
1 CUP cooked short grain rice
1 X egg
1/2 TSP salt (to taste)
1/2 TSP black pepper (to taste)

brown gravy ingredients:

1 CUP water
1 TBSP flour
2 TBSP ketchup
1/4 TSP salt (to taste)
1/4 TSP black pepper (to taste)

cook the rice, start the Loco Moco cooking when the rice is ready,
season ground beef with salt and pepper

form a patty (I like flat/large patties, so a piece of tin foil is handy
since the meat is shrinking by pulling together while frying, the tin foil
helps to form a flat patty while giving support to it, the patty is easier
to handle that way)

lightly oil a pan, heat it up, add the patty when the oil is smoking

fry according to personal preference, the brown bits in the pan are
nothing to worry about, it's pure beef flavour and the base of the gravy

park the patty in a bowl of rice, lower the heat of the patty pan,
heat another pan, crack an egg into it, fry to personal preference

cover the bowl with a plate (the patty will rest for a moment while getting juicy again),
add flour to the patty pan and brown it a little, stir well, add pepper & ketchup & water,
stir vigorously with a wire whisk until smooth, season to taste with salt when the gravy thickened

place the fried egg on top of the patty and pour the hot gravy over them, enjoy

mint · Nov 21, 2006

Ok I gotta give that a shot.

OnkelC · Nov 21, 2006

ChryZ, that looks just like my kind of dish! :lol Nothing can go wrong with beef, egs and rice. The stuff I cooked up tonight was much more bland, but nonetheless
So, let's cook.
The wife is slowly getting better, so I made some mashed potatoes for dinner. I planned on making a fried sausage for me, but found some "Weißwürste", which are served cooked instead of fried (thus reducing intensive kitchen smells and further helping the wife recover).
The ingredients for two persons are:

750grams (1.8lb) potatoes, mealy ones would be best,
1/2cup of milk,
1-2tbs butter,
a hint of nutmeg,
some Weisswürste (2-3 per person),
sweet mustard.

Peel and cube the potatoes. Put them in a pot and cook them in salted water for 15 minutes:

Heat a second pot with plain water, put the sausages in and let them heat but not boil alongside the potatoes:

Finish Line:
When the potatoes are done, drain them and put them in a mixing bowl. Add the butter, nutmeg and the milk:

now mash them with a mixer until you get a creamy consistence with some bigger chunks for taste:

Put the pot with the sausages on the table and Serve with some sweet mustard.

Now do like the bavarians: The Weisswüste are meant to be eaten without the peel. native bavarians suck them out, but the more civilized parts of Germany cut the peel of the sausage, then remove it with fork and knife:

DONE!

Enjoy and post your comments.

ChryZ · Nov 21, 2006

OnkelC said:

*slapsforehead* I will never use that damn manual labour masher thingy again!

OnkelC · Nov 21, 2006

ChryZ said:
*slapsforehead* I will never use that damn manual labour masher thingy again!

:lol
Actually, I have never ever seen anybody NOT using a hand mixer for making mashed potatoes over here. It works like a charm and the whole thing is done within seconds, literally. Since hand mixers are known over here, the manual labor mashers were considered obsolete over night. The sound of the hand mixer tingling in the pot to make potato puree is one of my earliest childhood memories, kitchen-wise.

tnw · Nov 22, 2006

No, I wasn't talking about your eating habits, just europe in general. I have this impression that being vegetarian is relatively easy in Europe for some reason. I know you can't really talk about europe as one area food wise, but I just worry about going to a resturant with a group/be invited to someones house for a meal and being at a total loss. I'll eat fish sometimes if that's all that's avaliable, but Europe seems much more big animal meat based. Cheese and eggs are fine, I just don't like any of those things to be the center of my meal, but I realize that I'm a minority.

OnkelC · Nov 22, 2006

tnw said:
No, I wasn't talking about your eating habits, just europe in general. I have this impression that being vegetarian is relatively easy in Europe for some reason. I know you can't really talk about europe as one area food wise, but I just worry about going to a resturant with a group/be invited to someones house for a meal and being at a total loss. I'll eat fish sometimes if that's all that's avaliable, but Europe seems much more big animal meat based. Cheese and eggs are fine, I just don't like any of those things to be the center of my meal, but I realize that I'm a minority.

Generally spoken, the traditional European cuisine (or better the multitude of regional cuisines in Europe) is meat/poultry/fish/cured/smoked/sausage-based (check the wiki for details): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_cuisine ) and has a high content of eggs and dairy products, but it is easy to live a vegetarian lifestyle in Europe nowadays.
The contemporary cooking styles in general have shifted the emphasis away from meats and thick/heavy sauces to vegetables and slim/light preparation methods, so less braising, more steaming is the style of the moment.

This paradigm change, helped by a strong influence of Asian cooking styles in the European cuisine, has further increased the importance and role of vegetables in general cooking.

The vegetarian movement also has got quite some momentum in Europe, and a discrimination of vegetarians is not happening. The folks of earlier times who made fun of vegetarians or chronically tried to re-baptize vegetarians are now considered rude and narrow-minded. Discrimination did not happen because of being vegetarian itself, but more because the general lifestyle that was associated with it

THIS WAS the general publics depiction of people who started the veg movement over here:

But to repeat it, this has changed.

Every restaurant in Europe should be able to serve several vegetarian dishes, even if they are not on the menu. When catering for a larger Audience (banquets and such), the caterer usually has a share of vegetarian dishes at hand, too. It is common that in the course of organizing such an event, the guests are asked in advance if they would prefer a vegetarian dish or are asked to inform the host of particular personal food/nuitrition/diet habits and/or preferences.

Here are two listings of distinct vegetarian restaurants across Europe
http://www.european-vegetarian.org/lists/gastronomy/list.php
http://www.vegdining.com/GetRestList.cfm?rgk=EU&CFID=2888496&CFTOKEN=79086575

When invited for a private/home dinner, it is considered polite of the guest if he/she tells the host the particular likes/dislikes in food right after the invitation is spoken out, so the host can adjust the planning of the menu accordingly. If the invitation is more spontantaneous, it is ok to leave out the meat-containing courses/dishes. Just explain why doing so.

There is also a recent Europe-wide label for vegetarian products and restaurants, but it has not gained much momentum yet:

Info:
http://www.v-label.info/en/home/why.html

Keep on asking, GAF.

tnw · Nov 22, 2006

It's my dad:lol

Good to know. Being vegetarian in Japan is rough if you're not flexible, especially once you get outside of the student/english teacher world. It's hard to make exceptions when you go out with your department let's say, and all of the food is preordered the same for everyone.. There isn't any kind of conscience of it here.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep it in mind.

OnkelC · Nov 22, 2006

Tonights' dish will be some spaghetti with a lean tomato sauce. Maybe I'll make some fried mozzarella slices to go along with it, but this time with a homemade breading.

Stay tuned and keep on posting, only a few posts left until next page!

ChryZ · Nov 22, 2006

let's toss a sandwich in:

mix an egg with 1 TSP mustard, 1 TBSP minced onion, 1 TBSP miced cheese,
season with salt and pepper, fry the omelet until the cheese bits get golden,
try to be less clumsy than me and don't damage the omelet while flipping

build the sandwich:

slice of toasted bread
mustard as spread
honey
chili flakes
omelet
ham
mayo
cress
salad greens
garlic yogurt salad dressing as spread
slice of toasted bread

enjoy

jarosh · Nov 22, 2006

love your stuff chryz. can't eat any of it but it looks very tasty.

ChryZ · Nov 22, 2006

jarosh said:
love your stuff chryz. can't eat any of it but it looks very tasty.

Thanks. Sorry for not having the full picture, how come you're not able to eat any of it?

travisbickle · Nov 22, 2006

jarosh said:
love your stuff chryz. can't eat any of it but it looks very tasty.

Are you vegetarian?

Just met this bird who's vegetarian, wouldn't mind cooking her something nice. I do like my veg and eat a lot of it, it's just I need some meat to make it a full meal, I don't know any complete meals without a bit of steak or pork chop in there.

jarosh · Nov 22, 2006

ChryZ said:
Thanks. Sorry for not having the full picture, how come you're not able to eat any of it?

no wheat, no eggs, no milk for me.

i'm not vegetarian btw. i just don't eat a lot of meat. i don't like most meat anyway.

travisbickle said:
Are you vegetarian?

Just met this bird who's vegetarian, wouldn't mind cooking her something nice. I do like my veg and eat a lot of it, it's just I need some meat to make it a full meal, I don't know any complete meals without a bit of steak or pork chop in there.

well, you could make this dish. you can use normal pasta. and if you do it right - with some really good olive oil and enough spices - this should turn out really delicious. although i'm pretty sure there are other - more 'sophisticated' - vegetarian dishes somewhere in this thread or in volume 1...

OnkelC · Nov 22, 2006

So, let's cook.
As a last-minute change of mind, the wife wanted some convenience tomato soup with ghost-shaped pasta in it:

So I did not bother making fried mozzarella for one person but went for pasta with an equal convenience sauce base and some leftover ham.
These are the ingredients:

leftover pasta
leftover ham
cream gravy base (the small white cube on the bottom right,
some cream cheese,
a good helping of Sherry to rid the "boxed" taste of the sauce base (not pictured).

First the soup. As the package says, it is basically "Add water and cook for six minutes, duh".

So, add water and cook, duh.

Serve.

The noodles were equally stupid. Cook them until al dente. Before draining them, snag about 2 cups of the cooking water:

Drain the pasta, splash them with cold water and set them aside:

Now add the water to the noodle pot and stir in the sauce/gravy base:

Now for Ze Secret Weapon (don't be shy about the amount):

Add the cream cheese:

tear the ham to pieces and add it:

Finish Line:
Add the noodles and mix them a bit with the sauce:

DONE!

Serve with some ham on top, decorated with a few basil leaves:

Enjoy. I can take any bashing for that dish, so hit me.

valparaiso · Nov 22, 2006

the sherry pro tip is very nice, onkel. also, i'm sure you have your reasons for boiling pasta the way you do, but as far as i know (and half of my family is italian) you shouldn't rinse it with cold water after boiling it, since you're only washing the salt off it, so to speak.

(anyways, don't mind me too much. i'm just posting this to see if we can jump to the next page already. the 34 pictures in the meatballs recipe (i am so trying to cook that) are really killing my cheap dsl line. They keep on loading up and the scroll goes boing boing boing on me, it's so annoying.)

keep up the good work, everyone!

Cornballer · Nov 22, 2006

Yes, the next page would be nice.

OnkelC · Nov 22, 2006

kick, punch, and so on.

OnkelC · Nov 22, 2006

All filler, no killer.

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