The recipe thread

[Princesca]

Thought I'd share this... Cal and I made it the other week for his parents and it was delish. One piece of advice? Don't be a cheapass. Buy the lemon zester. Trust me, you will be glad you did. This makes me want to make it again this week. We served it with asparagus.

Ingredients

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 lemon, quartered
2 teaspoons garlic powder, divided
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 (8 ounce) package rotelle pasta
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place chicken in a lightly greased baking dish. Squeeze lemon over both sides of the chicken breasts and season both sides using 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Bake for 40 minutes, or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink inside.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, season the chicken broth with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.
Cut cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and stir into cooked pasta, along with the cream and lemon zest. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly before serving.

[Princesca]

Here's another one, if you ever need a to-die-for dessert recipe that couldn't be easier. Chicks dig eclairs. My advice on this is don't skimp on ingredients. Usually, I buy store brand, but for this, it's so cheap to make that I think buying actual Cool Whip, etc., does taste a little better. I also mix a little cinnamon in... or you can use cinnamon graham crackers, even, if you want. I think it gives it a nice undertone. The graham crackers get quickly cake-like, so the whole thing comes together in what reminds me of a cross between an  eclair and tiramisu.

Chocolate Eclair Cake

Ingredients

2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 cups milk
1 (16 ounce) package graham cracker squares
1 (16 ounce) package prepared chocolate frosting

Directions

In a medium bowl, thoroughly blend the pudding mix, whipped topping, and milk.
Arrange a single layer of graham cracker squares in the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan. Evenly spread half of the pudding mixture over the crackers. Top with another layer of crackers and the remaining pudding mixture. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.
Spread the frosting over the whole cake up to the edges of the pan. Cover, and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

[Syt]

Today's chili:

1 ca. 2/3 pound of ground beef
ca. 2/3 pound minced beef
1 chopped onion
5 chopped, small, pickled red peppers (leave the seed pips)
6 bird's eye chilis
200 ml beef broth
1 packet tomato pulp (ca. 1/4 liter)
1 jar of taco sauce (hot)
3 table spoons chili powder
1 tea spoon cumin
1 1/2  tea spoon cayenne
1 table spoon ground pepper
1 tea spoon ground garlic
1 dash of cinnamon
2 1 sugar cubes
2 cans of Heinz Sweet Chili Beans
salt to taste

Brown beef in saucepan. Add chopped onions and peppers, spices, brown some more. Add remaining ingredients (sans beans) and bring to a boil. Then let simmer for an hour or so. Stir occasionally. Add drained beans fifteen minutes before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

Today's variation.

[Caliga]

How is minced beef different from ground beef?

[Syt]

How is minced beef different from ground beef?

I meant finely diced meat.

[stjaba]

Made chicken mole today for the first time. I made it for a group of 8 people and it seemed well received, though perhaps a little too spicy for a few people. I can post the recipe if anyone wants it.

I took a picture, which came out okay:

[sbr]

I would love to see the recipe. 

I don't think I have ever tried mole, and I am not sure when I would make it but it is one of those things that I have always wanted to make/try.

[11B4V]

Mexican Slaw

6 cups very thinly sliced green cabbage   
1 1/2 cups peeled and grated carrots
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt

[MadImmortalMan]

I made ginger pork in the wok last night:

Cut the pork into small strips. Mix together some minced ginger and garlic, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar or white vinegar and marinade the pork in it for a little while. Does not have to be long. I think I only did two hours. Many recipes will call for flour in that mixture. That's fine but dangerous if you're not good at keeping the heat up since it gets mushy instead of searing and you make a mess. So maybe if you haven't tried this before skip the flour. The only other things I put in this dish are green onions and some beans. Sometimes not even beans. Cut the veggies about the same size as the pork pieces.

Cooking on a wok is a skill. It's easy to do it wrong. First of all it has to be hot. As hot as you can make it. I use the biggest burner on my cooktop which puts out 16000 BTUs. I do have a wok ring, but I mainly use it to hold the wok when I'm not actually using it. I put the thing directly on the flame otherwise. Chinese restaurants use a special burner that resembles a jet engine.

There are a couple different kinds of woks--the two normal ones are the kind with two handles and the kind with one long handle. They're both fine, but macho men seem to like the single handle ones because they see ninja Chinese chefs tossing food around and want to be ninjas too. In reality, either one is fine. They should have a round bottom.
There is also the evil bastard electric wok. AVOID. My mom had one of these when I was a kid and let me tell you they are crap. First of all the bottom was flat to accommodate the heating coil underneath and it had a lip inside as a result. So it was hard to move the stuff around in there. Secondly, it was not capable of getting hot enough. My wok is a 16" carbon steel one that I bought in Chinatown. I recently found the same one at my local Asian grocery too. You have to wash and season it, but once you got it rolling it's awesome. Chinese makers don't wash off the machine oil.


Now, you're mostly going to be cooking things quickly and in small batches. The more food you put in there the quicker you lose the heat. Also the heat tends to travel up the sides of the wok because the food is taking the heat off the bottom. I do it like this--first put in the oil, drizzle it into the wok in a ring around the top and let it fall to the bottom. That gets the oil hot as it runs down. I usually use peanut oil.



Next for this recipe are some pieces of shaved ginger. Don't need much. Toss them in the oil for a minute. Then put in the meat--spread it out around the sides at first if possible, not one big lump at the bottom. No more than you can grab with your fist at a time is a good rule of thumb. Once it's seared and back to heat, toss in the veggies. Again a fistful. The wok will continue to get hotter on the sides than the bottom, and that's why you see chefs constantly pushing the food around in there. They're pushing it up the sides.

Anyway it takes like two minutes total. Once everything's done you scoop it out and start over until you've cooked all your food in batches like that. I generally spend more time cleaning the wok later than I do cooking with it.

[Caliga]

I haven't used my wok since we moved down here and am not sure how I even would now that I have an electric stove.

You're right, though, it's INSANE how quickly shit cooks in a wok.

[MadImmortalMan]

Today I'm slow-grilling a tri-tip marinaded and covered in a rub. It will cool tonight. Tomorrow after work I'll get out my slicer, slice it thin, and make a broth for Italian beef sandwiches. I'm also grilling some peppers that will later be part of giardiniera. I'll mix the grilled ones with the hot pickled ones. Hopefully I can get hot and smoky that way. We'll see.

[MadImmortalMan]

For iPhone users: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ratio/id345119718?mt=8

Ratio is the best book about cooking I've ever read, btw. Too bad I don't have an iPhone.


Oh, and my tri-tip experiment was awesome.

[Caliga]

I'll be making this for dinner tomorrow:

True Texas Chili – Slow Cooker Adaptation

Ingredients
4 oz. dried, whole New Mexico (California), guajillo, or pasilla chiles, or a combination (12 to 16 chiles)
3 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground black pepper
kosher salt
10 tbsp. lard, vegetable oil, or beef suet
4 lbs. boneless beef chuck, well trimmed and cut into 3/4-1 inch pieces
2/3 cup finely chopped onion
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups beef stock, or canned low-sodium beef broth, plus more as needed
4 tbsp. masa harina flour
2 tbsp. firmly packed dark brown sugar, plus more as needed
3 tbsp. distilled white vinegar, plus more as needed
cayenne pepper (optional)
sour cream (optional)
lime wedges (optional)
cooked pinto beans and/or cooked white rice (optional)

Preparation

1. Place the chiles in a straight-sided large skillet over medium-low heat and gently toast the chiles until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes per side.  Don't let them burn or they'll turn bitter.  Place the chiles into a bowl and cover them with very hot water and soak until soft, 15 to 45 minutes, turning once or twice.
2. Drain the chiles; split them and remove stems and seeds (a brief rinse helps remove the seeds, but don't wash away the flesh).  Place the chiles in the bowl of a blender/food processor and add the cumin, black pepper, 2 tbsp. salt, and ½ cup water.  Puree the mixture, adding more water as needed, and scraping down the sides of the blender jar, until a smooth, slightly fluid paste forms.  Set the chile paste aside.
3. Return skillet to medium-high heat and melt 4 tbsp. lard.  When it begins to smoke, swirl skillet to coat and add half of the beef.  Lightly brown on at least two sides, about 3 minutes each side, reducing the heat if the meat begins to burn.  Transfer to a bowl and repeat with 4 more tbsp. of lard and the rest of the beef.  Reserve.
4. In pressure cooker, melt the remaining 2 tbsp. of lard and add onion and garlic.  Cook onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the beef stock, chile paste, beef (plus any juices in the bowl), seal, and bring to pressure.  Cook under pressure for 30 minutes.  Cool cooker at once and remove lid.
5. Stir in the masa harina, brown sugar, and vinegar.  Taste and add more salt if desired, and cayenne pepper if desired.  Simmer in the pressure cooker for 10 more minutes.  Turn off the heat and let the chili stand for up to 30 minutes.  Stir in additional stock or water if the mixture seems too dry.
6. Reheat gently and serve in individual bowls over rice (if desired) with a dollop of sour cream on top and lime wedges and pinto beans (if desired) on the side.

For the peppers, I got 8 dried chipotles and 8 dried Anaheim peppers.

[Ed Anger]

Needs beans. And ketchup. 

[Caliga]

Needs beans. And ketchup. 

I've got pinto beans soaking right now, but they'll be served on the side of course.  Also, you can go to hell for the ketchup comment.