Cooking, are you good or do you suck at it?

[watersprite]

A great idea.

The system would’ve been handy during some of my kid’s teen years. I wanted them to enjoy making food and so the kitchen and all the ingredients were open to their use. It was splendid to see them learn, & the results of their efforts were mostly tasty. A few appliances had to be sacrificed though. There’s still a sign taped to the range controls that says, turn oven & broiler off.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Having to travel a lot for work, I found the way to make friends is to enjoy the local cooking. So whatever city I end up in, I sought out the local markets and took cooking lessons when I could. So, yes, I can cook well, and my memory quirks allow me to remember flavors and meals. My favorite cooking is Mexican where I'll prepare everything from Ceviche to Moles. One needs to pay attention to ingredient flavors. I once prepared Snapper Veracruzana for friends and one tried to replicate it using an earthy fish, tilapia, and the bland, canned, black olives, with poor results. And even fish like Tilapia is not the same around the world. I once had fruit-fed tilapia in Sulawesi with papaya, and it was sweet and delicious.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I aim to & usually manage to make tasty use of local food. I suppose it’s a creactive outlet, plus the veggies & other foods grown around here are inspiring because they’re beautiful & fesh.
Cooking & baking can also be comforting & therapeutic. After a workout there’s nothing like having homemade food already waiting.

So true! For me, living in the country and near a Great Lakes port city provides access to good foods. Besides the veggies, we get delights like smoked butter (nothing like it on roasted corn!) and cheeses like raclette and chevre. I always like cherry season, and Michigan tart cherries, the Montmorency and Balotons, are unsurpassed for taste. I freeze at least 10 lbs. For the past month we have been noshing on fresh asparagus from the garden with a wild ramp vinagret that my spouse loves to make. Then there is the fresh caught, freshwater fish. I have some smoked Lake Trout that I plan to use, flaked, with Penne in a light tomato/cream sauce.

 

[watersprite]

A foodies thread might be emerging.
I’d love to have the sour cherries in abundance like that, @Gerald Wilgus - but at least there are the Flathead Lake cherries.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I used to make up a dry rub for chicken wings a chef taught me that I always felt was over the top. It was equal parts of white pepper, garlic powder and MSG.
The wings were placed in a paper bag right out of the fryer with it and shaken to thoroughly coat them.

No sauce mess from your elbows to your ears that way

Love dry rubs! I dislike oversauced ribs greatly, so I will marinate the ribs first, partially cook them, then let them rest. The final smoking is done for 2 to 4 hours after the ribs are coated with a good rub.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

A foodies thread might be emerging.
I’d love to have the sour cherries in abundance like that, @Gerald Wilgus - but at least there are the Flathead Lake cherries.

The tart cherries from up here do not travel well, alas. They are quite different from the sweet cherries you get. Near us is The Cherry Hut which must make and sell over a hundred tart cherry pies a day. They are packed with cherries without much of the gelatenous glop that many people use.

 

[watersprite]

The tart cherries from up here do not travel well, alas. They are quite different from the sweet cherries you get. Near us is The Cherry Hut which must make and sell over a hundred tart cherry pies a day. They are packed with cherries without much of the gelatenous glop that many people use.

Yes, that is unfortunate. So, I buy the dried Montmercys from a company that does a good job keeping them tasty.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Yes, that is unfortunate. So, I buy the dried Montmercys from a company that does a good job keeping them tasty.

That is great! In making many Moles, one uses a type of raisin that I cannot get here, but I found that substituting the dried cherrys works well.

 

[watersprite]

Dinner from with the local veggies & meat I was able to order.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Dinner from with the local veggies & meat I was able to order.
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Looks great! Simple preparation, but i can imagine the tastes. Were the mushrooms finished in Balsamic or Worchestershire . . . and I love those scapes. And that crust on the pork loin! I have 40 heads of garlic (Red German) growing and can't wait to get the scapes. They will either go into a bulgogi, or scape pesto.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Dinner from with the local veggies & meat I was able to order.
View attachment 68430

Where I live, the 4H fairs means some great meat coming into the market. My local supermarket has a locker from the prize winners whose ribbons are proudly displayed. Those groceries in the region keep the bidding competitive, meaning a good amount of money to those young farmers.

 

[watersprite]

There are some wonderful small organic farms around here. I can’t subscribe to the weekly deal because I live by myself. However they sell the overflow online. This works out perfect, as they bring it to a centeal location once a week. I always add in eggs & cheese & meat. These come from a certified organic dairy nearby called Lifeline.
I finished the mushrooms with dashes of the caramelized bits from the roast, & a nice red blend. Though there was w. sauce in the rub on the pork. It roasted at 275° for + or - 4 hours.

What’s bulgogi?

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Bulgogi are paper thin slices of steak that one marinates in soy, garlic, sugar and sesame oil. You can grill or sautee it. I will sautee it with the scapes and serve it it rolled in butter lettuce leaves. Peanut sesame noodles go well with it.

Yes, a reduced red is a nice flavor. In the fall when I can get King Boletes, I will mince them, and shallots and make a zinfandel reduction to go on venison tenderloin medallions.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I could be good at it, chemistry background, just no interest.

 

[Heyphelpsy]

I can't follow recipes. Too many steps and I get anxious. So I don't cook.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I can't follow recipes. Too many steps and I get anxious. So I don't cook.

Have you considered buying a childrens' cookbook to start? Usually the recipes have only a few ingredients, and big photos of what it's supposed to look like. Plus, all the food has to taste good.

 

[watersprite]

This morning’s experiment turned okay, it is pumpkin blueberry breakfast bread.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

This morning’s experiment turned okay, it is pumpkin blueberry breakfast bread.

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Oh My! That looks delish!

 

[Judge]

Actually made fudge using only a microwave with chocolate chips, condensed sweetened milk and a little butter. It worked, but I wasn't thrilled with the chocolate. Thing is, this method was so damned simple and the fudge properly set. I didn't even use a candy thermometer!

Too bad, as I approached this method with great cynicism. The fudge maintained its consistency upon hardening without a lot of refrigeration. Trouble was that I scrimped on the chocolate, choosing the cheapest generic morsels I could find.

I also probably used too many morsels, and didn't pay close attention to the one and a half bags I was supposed to use. More is not better!

Next time I'll pick first-rate chocolate, and be prepared to heat it up for a much longer period of time. Hopefully such that it's more liquefied when I pour it onto a tray. Seems the amount of time the recipe called for was utterly insufficient for my 1200 watt microwave.

My one question though is in getting the mix liquefied, do I risk actually burning it to the point where it affects the taste of the chocolate?

https://www.eatingonadime.com/3-minute-microwave-fudge/

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

This morning’s experiment turned okay, it is pumpkin blueberry breakfast bread.

View attachment 68482

My last baking came out disastrously. I was making a peach pie from frozen peaches I put up last year in a base of homemade peach jam. Put it in the oven, then had a stroke, and by the time I could attend to it the house was full of smoke and the pie looked like carbonized, congealed, lava.