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Home-style cooking with OnkelC and Friends, Vol.2

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ChryZ

Member
You're right, but I'm going to place my unattended slow cooker in the dry kitchen sink ... better safe than sorry. Nevertheless, that wiki link is a good read.
 
I'm intrigued by all of the slow-cooker talk here. Does anyone have recommendations in terms of size or brand? I might look into picking one up.
 

ChryZ

Member
Cornballer said:
I'm intrigued by all of the slow-cooker talk here. Does anyone have recommendations in terms of size or brand? I might look into picking one up.
Got mine off eBay, brand-new via buy-it-now. I've paid ~30 euro incl. shipping. Amazingly good build quality, but it's not the biggest one. There is room for 4 lbs meat. I can't remember the brand, but that might be caused by the fact that I never heard of it before ... no-name I guess.
 
ChryZ said:
You're right, but I'm going to place my unattended slow cooker in the dry kitchen sink ... better safe than sorry. Nevertheless, that wiki link is a good read.

You know, that's a really good idea. I'm going to leave mine in my sink from now on, as opposed to on the kitchen counter.

cornballer said:
I'm intrigued by all of the slow-cooker talk here. Does anyone have recommendations in terms of size or brand? I might look into picking one up.

Most of them range from 1.5 quarts to 8.5 quarts. Most of the slow cookers are made by Rival, and they get a lot of good reviews and have many different kinds and sizes of cookers. Mine is a Rival, but I can't remember how big it is. Medium sized, I think. There are also slow cookers from other companies like KitchenAid.

How many people do you usually cook for? If it's just yourself or two people, get a medium sized one. I would recommend a medium or larger sized one anyway, since they say that they cook better when they're not filled up to the top.

Here's a nice sized one that's oval shaped like mine (good for chickens and roasts) and has a lot of good reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AK2LKW/?tag=neogaf0e-20
 

PedYup

Member
Heavy liquid: I can´t voice for Portuguese cooking but in Spain it´s extremely rare to see that combination, although sometimes it´s fun to experiment ;)
As Christmas is nearing, I´ll have the chance to catch some nice recipes and I hope to share them in this thread.
 
Okay!

This is a Mexican-style pork stew with shredded pork and hominy. Hominy is a dried corn from wich the hull and germ have been removed. This is a large recipe that serves 6 to 8. I'll be eating leftovers for a while. :)

5 pounds bonless country-style pork ribs
2 tbs vegetable oil
2 onions
2 tbs chili powder
5 cloves garlic
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 (14 oz.) cans white or yellow hominy
2 tbs minces fresh oregano, or 2 tsp. dried
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 tbs fresh lime juice

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Chop your onions medium, mince your cilantro and garlic.

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Trim the fat off the pork and cut into 1 inch cubes or so.

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Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the pork, maybe about 10 minutes, and then set aside.

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In the same skillet, add a bit more oil to the pan and add the onions, chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes.

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Stir in the garlic and cook for about 15 seconds, and then add the tomatoes with the juice. Bring to a simmer, and scrape up any browned bits.

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At this point I put everything into the refrigerator for the night (keeping the items separate). This morning, I took it all out and placed it into the slow cooker.

Rinse the hominy, and stir that into the slow cooker along with the chicken broth.

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Cover and set the cooker to low.

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When I came home, I removed the pork from the slow cooker and let it cool. While the pork is cooling, let the cooking liquid settle and use a wide spoon to skim off any fat from the surface. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it with your fingers while discarding any gristle, and then add it back into the cooker.

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Stir in your cilantro and lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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Ready to serve! Serve with tortillas, diced red onions and wedges of lime.

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ChryZ

Member
heavy liquid said:
This is a Mexican-style pork stew with shredded pork and hominy.
That's looking great. I've made something like that completely based on chicken and dubbed it Mexican Chicken Soup. I'm wondering, that corn seems to be quite delicate, isn't the prolonged cooking killing every last trace of nutrient? Maybe it would be a good idea to add them later on or to replace them with beans. Beans should be perfect such a method of cooking.


I've tried also something new and it turned out great:

African Groundnut/Peanut Stew

ingredients

6 X chicken breast (cubed)
2 X bay leave
3 X onion (diced)
9 X dried chile (roasted, ground)
8 X green beans (topped, tailed and halved)
1 X sweet potato (chunk'd)
3 X carrot (chunk'd)
1 X turnip (chunk'd)
3 X celery stalk (chopped)
400 G skinned tomatoes in their juice (14 oz)
1 CUP peanut (fresh/raw, roasted, ground)
2 CUP chicken stock
2 TBSP tyhme
4 TBSP peanut oil
1 TBSP butter

prep work first

Peanut_Stew_01.jpg


roast the dried chile, but don't burn them, stir constantly until fragrant

Peanut_Stew_02.jpg


ground the roasted chile to a fine powder, set aside

Peanut_Stew_03.jpg


roast the peanuts, again don't burn them, stir constantly until lightly browned

Peanut_Stew_04.jpg


ground peanuts, add a table spoon of peanut oil and water

Peanut_Stew_05.jpg


blend until desired constancy (cream or crunchy) is achieved,
(with a pinch of salt instead of the water and it would be perfectly fine peanut butter)

Peanut_Stew_06.jpg


heat oil and butter in a big pot, add the chicken, don't stir

Peanut_Stew_07.jpg


brown the chicken, no need to cook it all the way through

Peanut_Stew_08.jpg


remove the chicken chunks and replace them with the diced onion, celery and carrot pieces

Peanut_Stew_09.jpg


saute until the onions start to brown, add tomatoes and simmer for a moment

Peanut_Stew_10.jpg


add turnip chunks, one cup of chicken stock, peanut cream and ground chile, simmer for 30 min

Peanut_Stew_11.jpg


add sweet potato chunks, thyme and green beans and another cup of chicken stock

Peanut_Stew_12.jpg


add another cup of chicken stock and let simmer until the sweet potato and turnip chunks
are done (think al dente here), this shouldn't take more than another 20 min

Peanut_Stew_13.jpg


serve with a rice of your choice (in this case with a mix of brown and long grain rice)




final thoughts on the dish: the ground nuts really add a nice thick, creamy, nuttiness (without an overly strong peanutty flavor!) and the thyme really cuts right through it in a very refreshing way, truely delicious ... instant classic indeed, highly recommendable
 
ChryZ said:
That's looking great. I've made something like that completely based on chicken and dubbed it Mexican Chicken Soup. I'm wondering, that corn seems to be quite delicate, isn't the prolonged cooking killing every last trace of nutrient? Maybe it would be a good idea to add them later on or to replace them with beans. Beans should be perfect such a method of cooking.


I've tried also something new and it turned out great:

African Groundnut/Peanut Stew

Your stew looks great! I love both peanuts and thyme in most dishes. Thai food with peanuts (like pad thai) and peanut curries especially. Fall is definitely the perfect time for soups and stews, which I seem to be making a lot of lately.

The hominy held up great over the long cooking time, but you're right: I have read that that the prolonged cooking time can strip out many nutrients of the ingredients. The corn is tender enough that if you added it in at the end, I don't think it would affect the recipe.
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
hey guys.
i wasn't smart enough to take any pictures last night while i was doing prep work for dinner today, but i thought if nothing else i'd post some pictures of the finished products. the next time i cook for the fam, i'll be sure to take some more pictures detailing the processes.

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my meatloaf, garnished with a little thyme (key herb in the dish).

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baked mac and cheese, pre-bake.

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cooking up some bacon bits.

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mac & cheese and bacon bits come together to total oneness amidst the cosmos.

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and my first crack at a cheesecake was a pretty decent success.

it's taken me long enough to get involved with this thread, but i'll be back with more--promise!
 
Nice, beelzebozo! That definitely looks like some hearty home-cooking! I've never added bacon to mac & cheese, but I'm sure it tastes good. I just may do that the next time I make some.
 
First off - last weekend I made ChryZ's recipe for chicken mole and it was awesome. Here are a few pics:

The sauce is cooking
img2613zt3.jpg


Chicken legs are looking good
img2614am1.jpg


The final product
img2616ya8.jpg

Note that we used black beans instead of pintos. It seemed to work pretty well.

Mole Chicken Enchiladas

1 cup mole sauce (see ChryZ's recipe)
1 cup chicken stock
1.5 lbs chicken thigh meat (sliced into short strips)
2 x cloves of garlic (pressed or minced)
8 oz queso fresco or sharp cheddar (grated)
1 large onion (diced)
1/2 cup cilantro (diced)
8-10 corn tortillas
2 TBSP sesame seeds
2 x ripe avocado (sliced)
sour cream
lettuce (chopped)

I based this recipe on a few mole enchilada recipes that I saw online as well as the America's Test Kitchen red enchilada recipe. There are a few moderately unconventional steps, but it turned out pretty well.

Assembled ingredients:
Also keep beer handy and be sure to crank up the stereo.
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Cut up all the ingredients. After that, whisk the chicken stock into about half of the mole sauce.
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Cook the onion in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil until it's softened, about 5-6 minutes.
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Quickly add the minced garlic for about 30 seconds, then put the chicken into the pot and cook for a few minutes to brown a little bit. Pour in the mole/stock mixture and cook on medium heat for about 8 minutes until the chicken is cooked.
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Now comes the slightly strange step. I don't have any pics because it took two hands to do this. Pour the cooked chicken mixture through a strainer and reserve the liquid. Put the chicken aside in a bowl, add most of the cheese and all of the cilantro, then mix it up. Place the chicken in the freezer for about 10 minutes to cool it off.
img2624fu8.jpg


Put the reserved liquid back on the stove and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup of mole sauce. Reduce it while the chicken is in the freezer to thicken it up a bit. Be sure to whisk it while you're reducing as it has a tendency to stick to the pot. Heat up a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a pan and place the tortillas in one by one, cooking them about 30 seconds per side to soften them.
img2626zj0.jpg


Place 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture on the tortilla. Roll them up, and place them seam-side down in a greased 9x13 pan.
img2627cb6.jpg


Continue rolling the enchiladas until you fill the pan. Then pour the reduced sauce over the top. Add the remaining cheese and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
img2629jl0.jpg


Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 min. For the last 5 minutes of cooking time, remove the foil and place them under your broiler. I did this to cook off a little extra sauce (mine was a little thinner than I wanted) and crisp up the enchiladas.
img2631fo8.jpg


Serve the enchiladas with sour cream, chopped lettuce, and avocado. Add more sesame seeds if you're feeling it and enjoy a beer.
img2632ho1.jpg


The enchiladas turned out well and I was very pleased with the result. I think the only thing I might have changed was to use a milder Mexican cheese like queso fresco instead of the cheddar that I grated. The cheddar was a little bit sharp when eaten w/ the mole sauce. In any case, my roommates and I loved them and we finished the pan last night. Enjoy! :)
 
Looks awesome, Cornballer! I love enchiladas... I'll definitely be trying out your recipe with ChryZ's mole sauce.

Nothing from me for tonight and maybe tomorrow. I'm still eating leftovers. :)
 

ChryZ

Member
Okay this is seriously uncanny. Tonight I've raided the freezer and made:

Enchilada De Mole




All the stuff on the plate came from the freezer: the mole, the refried beans, the herb rice,
the carnitas filling and even the tortillas were frozen leftovers. Okay the cheese, minced onion,
green chile, sour cream and cilantro were fresh. For all items there are recipes in this thread.

Cornballer your version looks mouth-watering and I just ate pretty much the same dish.

In fact ... I still got mole aftertaste in my mouth!

:lol
 
Do you guys have any good recipes for fried potatoes? I usually chop them up and fry them in a pan with I Can't Believe it's Not Butter, then add onions and fry some more. Is there a better way?
 
ChryZ said:
Okay this is seriously uncanny. Tonight I've raided the freezer and made:

Enchilada De Mole

:lol :lol :lol

This is classic!

PhoenixDark: The best way would be to buy a small deep fryer (if you're looking for french fries). I think you can pick one up pretty cheap. I've never done this myself, though.

What I usually do is coat some potato wedges with olive oil, season with some spices (whatever you want, I'll sometimes use thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper if I want a little heat, etc.) and place them on a cooking sheet in the oven. Bake until crisp, and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Oh, I also boil the potatoes for a bit before this, not until they're soft, but so they're not going in the oven completely raw. I eat them with some ketchup or ranch.
 
heavy liquid said:
What I usually do is coat some potato wedges with olive oil, season with some spices (whatever you want, I'll sometimes use thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper if I want a little heat, etc.) and place them on a cooking sheet in the oven. Bake until crisp, and then season with salt and pepper to taste. Oh, I also boil the potatoes for a bit before this, not until they're soft, but so they're not going in the oven completely raw. I eat them with some ketchup or ranch.
Yup, that's the way that I usually do them, as well. Rosemary works pretty well in place of thyme or oregano, but either way they're pretty tasty.
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
I made some club sandwiches tonight. no match for the mexican force ;)

PhoenixDark said:
Do you guys have any good recipes for fried potatoes? I usually chop them up and fry them in a pan with I Can't Believe it's Not Butter, then add onions and fry some more. Is there a better way?

To get some genuine German fried potatoes, boil the potatoes one day in advance and let them cool down in the fridge overnight. cut them to medium slices and roast them with a cubed onion, some cubed smoked ham and a bit of ground black pepper. Key is to fry them at medium temperature, but for about 15-20 minutes. Do not turn them over too often. Every intensive herb like thyme, marjorie or rosemary goes well with them, but add the herbs at halftime to prevent them from burning.
 
OnkelC said:
I made some club sandwiches tonight. no match for the mexican force ;)



To get some genuine German fried potatoes, boil the potatoes one day in advance and let them cool down in the fridge overnight. cut them to medium slices and roast them with a cubed onion, some cubed smoked ham and a bit of ground black pepper. Key is to fry them at medium temperature, but for about 15-20 minutes. Do not turn them over too often. Every intensive herb like thyme, marjorie or rosemary goes well with them, but add the herbs at halftime to prevent them from burning.

Would it be best to use olive oil while doing this?
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
PhoenixDark said:
Would it be best to use olive oil while doing this?
Olive oil will work out, but I'll go with some neutral oil, like rapps, corn or peanut oil. You can add a hint of butter for the extra taste sensation.
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
After bovos wonderful pics of the christmas markest, have some from todays visit of yours truly.

About a fifth of the market, the whole city is covered with these standardized stalls:
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Ludwig van B. is not amused:
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One of several "Glühweinstände" (stalls who sell mulled wine):
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And the main part are stalls who sell sweets, like candies almonds, "Lebkuchen" (gingerbread), cotton candy and similar goods:
smallCIMG4039.jpg


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And, of course, the hearty stalls ;)
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A "Krakauer", a very spicy pork suasage with mustard seeds in it that can be served grilled or cooked (here a grilled variant):
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Sincs I was a little child, this stall is a must-visit for me. The two blokes are scarce on words and not very attractive, but they sell the finest "Pofferjes" on the whole christmas market for over 25 years now:
smallCIMG4046.jpg

smallCIMG4047.jpg


Buttery, sugary goodness:
smallCIMG4048.jpg




I put up some more pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jaeger.christian/ChristmasMarket

Enjoy!
 

ChryZ

Member
Nice picture tour, OnkelC.

So the previous page inspired me to make some Jambalaya again!

ingredients

3 X celery stalk (chopped)
6-8 X celery green/leaves (optional, garnish)
3 X onion (diced)
1 X big bell pepper (diced)
3 X chicken breast (sliced)
4 X scallion (sliced)
4 X garlic clove (mashed/pressed)
1-2 CUP long grain rice (cooked and ready)
2 CUP tomato puree
1 CUP chicken stock
1 CUP small shrimp
1 CUP big gamba / prawn
1 CUP smoked sausage (something nice and spicy, sliced)
2-3 TBSP spice mix (see below for details)
2-3 TBSP worcester sauce
2-3 TBSP honey
1-2 TSP salt and pepper to taste

spice mix (dry and ground)

2 parts onion
2 parts garlic
2 parts oregano
2 parts basil
1 parts thyme
1 parts cayenne
1 parts celery seed
2 parts sweet paprika
2 parts hot paprika
1 parts black pepper
1 parts white pepper

the parts can be scaled from a teaspoon to a ton, always handy for dry rubs, marinates, etc

my last batch came to an end, so I'm able to share how I made a new one:

I've bought the spices in 40 gram units, dumped them in an airproof jar

Jambalaya_01.jpg


gave it a good shake and now I'm all set for the next few month

Jambalaya_02.jpg


first some prep, it's handy to have everything ready, less multi-tasking while cooking

Jambalaya_03.jpg


place the sausage in a cold pot and crank up the heat, gently render some fat while
sauteing the smoked sausage slices, no need to brown them

Jambalaya_04.jpg


remove and park the sausage, but keep its fat, add the chicken to the pot

Jambalaya_05.jpg


brown the chicken thoroughly, remove and park on a plate together with the sausage

Jambalaya_06.jpg


add the holy trinity (onion, celery, bell pepper) and saute until the onion pieces soften up

Jambalaya_07.jpg


deglaze the pot with half a cup of chicken stock, add pressed garlic, scrape the pots' bottom

Jambalaya_08.jpg


then add tomato puree, two table spoons of the spice mix, worcester sauce, honey and stir well

Jambalaya_09.jpg


add chicken, sausage, crustaceans, scallions and stir gentle, simmer on medium to low heat

Jambalaya_10.jpg


after 15 min it should look quite homogeneous, the crustaceans have changed their color and cooked through, fine-tune the seasoning carefully with salt and pepper

(here I'd like to point out how versatile this is recipe is, e.g.
-pasta with the sauce as it is and some crumbled feta on top, very very good
-add more chicken stock and it's a delicious soup
-leave out chicken, sausage, crustaceans and just add rice for a spicey sidedish)

Jambalaya_11.jpg


add rice to make Jambalaya

hint: cooked rice makes it easier to balance sauce and rice, but it's also possible to cook the rice in the sauce by just adding another cup of stock and some uncooked rice, this would take additional 15-20 min

Jambalaya_12.jpg


serve steaming hot, garnish with some of the celery green



this recipe is good for around six servings, but be prepared:
requests for seconds and thirds are inevitable ;)

rewarmed leftovers taste even better, well ... IF there are any

Jambalaya_14.jpg


enjoy
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
a platter of christmas candy i made for my annie:

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i didn't make the multi-colored candy almonds on the left, but everything else is mine.
 

Beavertown

Garbage
Here's my first contribution. It's a breakfast casserole, but it's also good for dinner.


Sorry, no pics, but it's really good.


2lbs of hash browns (I buy the frozen pre shredded kind)

3 cups of shredded cheese

16oz of sour cream

1 chopped onion

1lb diced ham

1 stick of butter

2 cans cream of potato soup



Melt the butter, mix it all up in a big bowl and cook on 350 for an hour to an hour and a half.
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
Thank you all for your contributions and replies, folks. I would like to declare this thread officially over for the rest of the year. Have some nice holidays and a happy new year!:)

Please collect recipes and take pics of your holiday dishes for the time being, as I'll start a new, year long thread on Jan 1st. A headstart with some feasts would be nice, wouldn't it?

Again, thanks to you all for making this thread a huge success.

Frohe Weihnachten! from Bonn,

OnkelC
 

Momar

aka Ryder
So where did you guys learn to cook like this?

Some of these dishes are very, very impressive. This may have already been asked though, so if someone would kindly direct me to where perhaps a "History of Home-style cooking" exists, that would be great. I'm only 18 and living the Breakfast Burrito/Ramen Noodle college dorm diet, and I hate it. I wouldn't mind starting out learning how to cook a bit better now so when I'm older and on my own I can cook up a fine meal.

You guys really make it look too easy sometime, haha. I can only imagine the enormity of the mess I'd make trying to cook up any of these dishes :lol
 

ChryZ

Member
Ryder said:
So where did you guys learn to cook like this?
No "official" training here. Pretty much learning-by-doing, mimicking tv show chefs, reading up, trial and error. Oh and I'm still learning.

Ryder said:
This may have already been asked though, so if someone would kindly direct me to where perhaps a "History of Home-style cooking" exists, that would be great.
I'm not aware of such a thing.
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
I have completed the index for this volume, located in the very first post. Enjoy!

Thanks to the all of you for putting so much time, effort and creativity to make this wonderful thread. I would be more than gald to see all of you come back to and post in the new, year-long thread for 2007 that you can find here:

IronGAF 2007 Cookoff

Keep'em coming! :lol
 
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