What do you eat? and how to make it.

[Bobby]

I love to cook. I even have pictures of some of the food I make.

But when it comes to my appetite, I'm more of a carnivore. And I LOVE Italian food!!!

Edited December 17, 2010 by Bobby

[durendal]

I'm glad that you liked it. That's one of our family's traditional recipe handed down from generation to generation. Of course the method you described wouldn't be the exact same way that we would have made it, but the basic concept is the same. Also, the oil should be boiling hot when you pour it into the fillings, that's what would cook it a bit.

As for the excess meat, perhaps you put too little fillings. For a 2 diameter wrapper, we usually put 1 heaping teaspoon of fillings. Like I mentioned to you before, you could use them as ingredients for an omelette. It's rarely that we have too much of anything, but most of the time, it's the dough that we have excess.

[*Jess♥]

i just think that i must have rolled the dough too thickly. I rolled it about....3mm thick. if these dumplings are anything like wontons then it would need to be thinner.

the problem i see is with the oil in the mixture, that would melt through the dough. of course this could be anything to do with the type of flour, the coarseness of the meat, how finely i chopped the leek, the type of oil etc. all your ingredients would be different from mine due to what is sourced locally.

I'll make them again anyway and i'll get better at it.

[durendal]

No, wanton wrappers are too thin. But I guess 3mm is kinda thick. And the dough should actually be sticky a little, which is why you need to sprinkle some flour while you're making the wrapper to prevent the dough from sticking to the table. I also get the impression that you used too much oil. But since you've already tried it once, you can experiment on the amount of each ingredients to make this recipe your own.

[Bobby]

Here are a couple things I've made.

[*Jess♥]

Dr Frankenstein GREAT THREAD REVIVAL!!! [emote=monkey]shine[/emote]

I got a recipe i just sort of made up on the spot. it was really interesting, rather tasty.

so I got about a tablespoon of each, butter, peanut oil, mature cheddar cheese and heated in a pan till the cheese was melted. cut the cheese up to help it along. don't use favourite pan because it's very likely to stick and burn a little. put 2 tablespoon of sugar in, and then when its all bubbling, crack an egg and add the whole egg in there. stir briskly as the heat will cook the egg so you want to mix it all properly before the egg solidifies.

add some pepper for spice and about 20-30 seconds later it's finished.

if you do this, you might think the egg is not cooked while the mixture is still glistening and appears wet and sloppy. but the oil will make sure it is this way. you need to judge it by eye.

the result is very interesting. it is like a sweet but has hints of savoury in it, the cheese adds it's flavour and makes slightly salty and umami flavour, the sugar is subtle and sweet. it's hard to describe so give it a go. it is very quick to make it.

if you're wondering why i would decide to do this, we ran out of mayonnaise and i wanted something to go with my sandwich.

What i ended up with did go rather well on a ham and tomato sandwich.

[durendal]

Looks like you made yourself a cheese omelet. I've been craving steak all week long and all I had for lunch were sandwiches and salad.

[*Jess♥]

it didn't taste like omelette though.

I think in an omelette, the ratio of egg would be higher?

this was similar to egg custard. but the cheese made it ever so interesting. chewy, almost like caramel.

[durendal]

Is this more on the sweeter side or on the salty side? Omelettes and Custards are prepared differently, and the way you described on how you prepared it make me think that they are omelettes. Besides, custards are traditionally prepared via steaming or baking. Perhaps you can call your recipe Omelette du Fromage.

[*Jess♥]

yes, definitely on the sweeter side.

[*Jess♥]

I want to revive this thread somewhat and continue getting and sharing tips for cooking.

I'd like to address some earlier posts as well since a lot of time has passed. yeah ok, this is a necro post but... well we had another thread about food which descended into one person posting and everyone got sick and tired of it so let's have some freshness in here. I want to forbid any posts about a odd meal that you had because let's face it, nobody wants to know what you bought from the deli today or whatever. we want to learn about what we eat around the world and more importantly how we can make it.

I started off by focusing on breakfasts so now I want to share with you what I currently prepare.
At the moment I am generally making a kind of pancake/cookie/oatbread. basically what I do is I grind up some kind of grain into flour, I have buckwheat, barley, maize, millet. (I can't eat too much wheat now as I have sensitivity)
IT's about half a cup, i mix it with half to three quarter cup of oats and then add salt and sugar to taste. I mix it all up with water so it is a fairly thick paste... think cake-mix.  I then fry it over a low heat until dark brown/black patches start to appear.  it is reet good and dead easy to do.

I mentioned early on in hte thread that I wanted to quit milk. well I have actually move off cows milk almost completely and now use soy milk only. I have to have cows milk when I got to my friends house but it's not bad to have it once a week. I'd like to get some miso and make miso soup for breakfast, but I can't locate dashi. I might have some arriving from Japan soon though. does anyone know/want to know how to make miso soup?

Somebody mentioned grits in this topic. I did finally get cornmeal to be able to make grits. I hated it! it was pretty bland so I suppose i'd better follow a recipe. it needs a lot of seasoning and needs to be paired with something.

I used to say I couldn't cook when I started this thread, but now I think I am quite a good cook.

I make curry often. I love to experiment with spices. I make flat bread sometimes.  last week I made sweet and sour chicken.
I'll share some of these cooking methods if anyone is interested

[durendal]

I have this thing with over easy eggs.  Never liked my eggs scrambled or poached.  One time in breakfast, I was served with a french toast with a whole in the middle that has an over easy egg.  It turns out the toast was used as a mold to fry the egg.  Very ingenious.

[Aether]

I used to eat porridge and honey for breakfast everyday but ive had to change my diet... for some reason im now eating, cornflakes with sugar on!! I wash that down with some kefir milk... not made from cows milk though, I have goats milk.. I used to drink Soya milk for a while but I dunno i just feel better drinking the goats milk

 

i do like poached scrambled and any other kind of egg - except for hard bolied - uurrrrrrrrgh, nasty.

 

i wouldn't mind some miso tips, i bought some paste a bit ago and used it in some kind of fish broth thing i made up but i haven't done anything like that for a while.

 

Has anyone had Congee Rice ( or 'jo' as my Chinese friend calls it?)...you can have it sweet or  salted ,  i have had it for breakfast a few times when i needed to, but i usually have it as a late evening snack / meal...

 

i usually have it plain but have had vegetables and chicken with it aswell in the past...

 

only thing is you need to let it cook for at least  1hr 30 mins  - 2hrs,  on a low heat.

[*Jess♥]

I do like fried eggs. I don't really know what 'over easy' means, but what you said about the bread with the egg in the middle, that is really cool!

I do really enjoy an egg when I fry it until it is firm enough to flip and then fry just for a few seconds so when i take it out, the yolk is still dark orange inside. have to have a sprinkling of salt over it as well, because without salt it just tastes bland.

 

hey that sounds really odd having kefir with cornflakes! it's pretty sour so it would seem odd. haven't had kefir for a while, I ended up killing my last lot.
not sure abut goats milk, I tried it once and it tasted sort of like nasty cheese.

 

ok, you want miso tips?

well you need to have dashi. dashi is made with either kelp or bonito flakes. it's a nice mild tasting broth.

to make miso soup, you make the dashi stock out of boiling water and slowly add it to the miso paste, about a tablespoon. slowly mix in the dshi stock. you want to add it bit by bit because if you put the miso into the dashi, it is too hot and it kills the miso. not sure if you know, but miso is supposed to be a live culture. like yoghurt or something.
anyway after you added the stock, you need to add your other stuff. traditionally they use welsh onions sliced into tiny ringlets. spring onion might be just fine. welsh onions are smaller and thinner than spring onions.

you can also make miso soup as a base for ramen. all you need to do is cook your noodles separately, put them in the soup, add a halved boiled egg and the welsh onions.

you said you don't like boiled eggs, but if you add it into the miso base, it will start to take on the flavours.

 

I've never had congee rice. I might look it up, I'm getting a little tired of brown rice sometimes. I usually add buckwheat to my rice to make it a bit more intresting.

[*Jess♥]

oh I forgot to add the wakame!!!
wakame seaweed needs to be added to the miso soup.

 

what is wakame..... 和布。。。 hmm apparently it's not common over in the west. it has no english equivalent name.. except maybe sea mustard.

[*guyverfan]

generally, if i have oats for breakfast, it'll be acouple of weatbix or cornflakes with milo sprinkled on top with cold milk 'cause i still like the crunch. tastes so much better with milo and it's better for you instead of sugar or anyother type of sweetner.

 

what i just cooked up that i havn't had for a while is fried cauliflower.

medium heated pan with olive oil, chopped up cauliflower, lightly floured, frequently turn until golden brown and has soften.

 

also a quick peasant salad(i like to call it), chop up some cabbage, add to bowl with some sweet paprika, a big swirl of olive oil and some vinegar, vigorously tossed untill its all blended, delicious.

[*Jess♥]

wow, fried cauliflower sounds great!!! I will have to try that next time I get to buy some vegetables!

 

I'm surprised at your salad dish, I have found that cabbage can be difficult to eat raw. what variety of cabbage do you use and how do you prepare it so it is easier to chew?

[Aether]

Thanks for the Miso tips Yuki… I am hopefully going to see my grandad on Sunday and on the way we might be able to detour to the asian/oriental supermarket so I can look for some of the ingredients, but if we don’t get there then I’ll keep it in mind for the future… I haven't had a hard boiled egg in years I might be brave and try it sometime as my taste may have changed a bit!

 

speaking of noodles in the recipe, after years of eating noodles I only tried udon noodles the other week and while they were OK I much prefer regular noodles or vermicelli rice noodles, I thinki ts cause im used to thinner noodles and they are quite fat...

 

on the congee, even if you don't have veg and meat with it you can sstill flavour the rice with things and it can be used medicinally, dependant on what effect you want from it... I tend to use carrot and or ginger as they balance eachother and are good for digestion... using just ginger gives it a bit of a kick if you put enough in... you just put a bit in when you start cooking...

 

one important point - don't lift off the lid of the rice until you've finished cooking!!! or you will let the chi / ki disperse!!! and we don't want that to escape!!!!

Edited August 12, 2014 by Aether

[*Jess♥]

heh heh, I had not heard that! well I cook in a pressure cooker so i can't take the lid off until it's finished.

medicinal.. well I shall have to try it. I love the sound of carrot and ginger! I need to try that.

 

concerning noodles, you can't use rice noodles for ramen. also, yes udon noodles are kinda thick.

if you can get proper ramen noodles, that is best. not those cheap packet noodles we can get in the supermarket over here.

But then I guess you already know that.

when the things arrive from Japan maybe towards the end of this week, I will be making miso soba.

I have to use soba because I can't eat too much wheat.

[*guyverfan]

just an ordinary large round cabbage you find at a shopping store.

if i buy a whole one, i'll chop it in half. then from the corner of the flat side i'll just slice long and short strands off it with a long,sharp knife.(i've got this 20year old serated bread knive that does it perfectly)

i find that less of a quarter of sliced cabbage is enough for a sitting for me, i might even have left over if i eat it with something else.

best not to have left over sitting for more than a day, cause the cabbage goes soggy from the oil and vinegar.

 

unused,unsliced portion of the cabbage, just wrap in gladwrap and store in frig for next time.

 

oh, and first peel off and bin the first couple of leafs of cabbage and then rinse it before chopping and slicing.

you can add some salt for seasoning if you like but i don't tend to need it.

[*Chernaudi]

I've been going nuts about making sandwiches and pasta salad recently.  Everything is readily found at about any grocery store, and, aside from the chicken for my sandwiches, pretty inexpensive.

 

Of course, for the sandwiches, since I like spicy cheese, that's up for one's own discretion.  But usually, it's simple bread (though I've also used bakery French or Italian bred, or garlic bread), chicken, bacon, pepperoni, Provolone and pepper jack cheese--the latter is up to you to use or substitute, this isn't a strict recipe, it's a sandwich, after all.  I also tend to add various salad dressings lightly as a condiment--they're what I also use in the pasta salads I make.

 

As for the pasta salad, I just use store bought pasta salad--usually Italian and bacon ranch--and make it according to package directions.  But then I cook chicken breasts, cut them up into small pieces and fry them until they develop a crispy outer skin, and add them to the salad.  I also use various dressings to add more flavor, usually Italian, Greek, sweet poppyseed, ranch, and peppercorn ranch.  These can also add flavor to sandwiches when used as a light condiment.

 

The great thing is that you can personalize these things to your exact tastes and have fun with them.  I also play with various flavored drink mixes in a similar fashion.

[Aether]

reading your sandwich concoctions makes mine seem tame! I just usually have chicken or tuna with some lettuce or rocket and maybe carrot and beetroot aswell... I use olive oil instead of butter! oh and of course I love a bacon sarni !!!!

 

again on congee the veg or thing you use for flavouring you don't necessarily eat after the rice is cooked you can do if you like I suppose... I tend to just whack a chunk of unpeeled ginger in - so theres no way im eating that!!

 

also Just for no reason I want to point out how serious the Chinese are about this rice stuff as the pictogram / characters they use for ‘chi’ is rice , steam and pot- so a pot of rice, and steam / vapours on top (the waves at the top of the character ) thus all together illustrating cooking rice ...

 

Edited August 13, 2014 by Aether

[durendal]

Over Easy eggs - Similar to sunny side up, where you can see the yolk on top, but the yolk is still watery.

 

Also, congee?  It's the Chinese version of porridge.  Except that it adds a variety of tastes.  It's traditionally mixed with century eggs.  

 

Ooh!  Centrury eggs.  Try eating a century egg and then immediately drink soda.  Any kind of soda.  Tell us how you like the experience.  Hehehehe!

[*Jess♥]

what is a century egg?

interestingly, I did have ginger in my rice last week. I put a load of other spices in it as well though. I think I spoiled it. shouldn't have put chilli powder in.

I don't mind chilli, I love hot curries and mexican food. just spoiled the flavour of the rice a bit.

 

nice breakdown of the 'ki' symbol. never saw that before. I mean, I might of, but never noticed the rice symbol there.

 

I'm gonna buy some cabbage soon.

that recipe is very much like coleslaw. it's just missing the egg from the mayonnaise. I mean, mayonnaise is oil, vinegar and egg.

i've ever had sweet paprika but I have regular paprika in the cupboard.

I wish I could have sandwiches. have to buy wheat free bread and that stuff is expensive!

[*Chernaudi]

Strangely, at Walmart their bakery bread is often cheaper than the stuff on the shelves, though it doesn't have the preservatives in it that normal shelf bread does, so it goes stale/gets moldy a lot faster.  Also, it's sorta amazing at times what you can find at places like that as far as international food.

 

Since breakfast seems to be a big topic, I wonder if anyone would appreciate the versatility of not only eggs, but sausage?  Bulk sausage (which comes wrapped in plastic tubes usually here in the US) comes in a staggering amount of flavors, and you can also control the portion size.  It can be a stand-alone alongside anything else on a breakfast plate, you can make sandwiches out of them, crumble it up and use it in omelets, and it can be a good alternative to hamburgers if you're a bit burned out on them.