Does anyone know if it's possible to buy pico de gallo in stores? I really want some for the nachos I'm making, and making a liter just to use one scoop is not preferable.
Does anyone know if it's possible to buy pico de gallo in stores? I really want some for the nachos I'm making, and making a liter just to use one scoop is not preferable.
I'm sure someone has it. Specialty markets (upscale grocers) are probably your best bet.
One of the gifts we got for our wedding was a recipe for mac and cheese. It sounds kind of weird, but it is actually pretty good. I don't have it right in front of me, so this is just from memory. I'll edit it when I get home if I miss anything:
Mix together equal parts sour cream and cottage cheese
Stir in shredded sharp cheddar
Add to cooked macaroni or shell pasta (cook a minute or two less than what the box says)
Top with breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter, about 1/4-1/2cup bc to 1tbsp butter (optional)
Bake in casserole or soufle dish for about 25 minutes at 350°F
The recipe didn't provide exact quantities, so you have to kind of play with the amount of cheese sauce and noodles, but it is really easy to make different amounts with this recipe. It is also easy to adapt by adding extra seasonings (I like cayenne pepper and mustard powder) or more/less cheese to make it how you like it.
Made this without any real variation last night. Good eats, man. Although the macaroni didn't have that cheese matrix holding everything together, instead it was a little loose (more of a personal preference). Makes me wonder if there has to be a much higher ratio of shredded cheese to sour cream/cottage cheese.
We're an Alton Brown household too. Hooray for science + cooking. We did marshmallows a few weeks ago, and while I won't say I could tell the difference between homemade and store bought, it was darn fun.
The avatar above made me remember a dream I had last night...Shatner was singing in concert. I'm not gonna say I didn't enjoy it.
I love cooking. As a small child my favorite television program was The Frugal Gourmet on PBS. So I started young, thanks to my Mom letting me help in the kitchen. As time has gone on I've discovered that the ability to cook is not universal. I just sort of assumed that anyone can get in the kitchen and prepare basic, edible food-stuffs...but no...that is most definitely not the case.
It's truly scary to know people in their mid-twenties whose idea of cooking is a packet of mac + cheese.
At the moment I'm unemployed and playing at being a house-wife, so I get to spend a lot more time cooking than I normally would. In the past few weeks I've made--
Ethiopian- Chicken Wot, Zigni, and Injera (the spongy bread, though it didn't come out quite right) Japanese- just basic sushi rolls. I'd try to make Nigiri, but sushi grade fish is sort of expensive. Just getting the rice to come out consistently well was quite a battle. Italian- Pizza, though only the dough was from scratch. Next time I'll probably make the sauce from fresh tomatoes...hell, I might even try making mozerella. If I had a meat grinder I'd make my own sausage too. African- Apricot and chickpea Tagine. I didn't like this one very much, but it was worth trying. American- Pulled pork with homemade mustard/vinegar BBQ sauce. Homemade coleslaw too.
I use www.recipezaar.com for ideas, but am more than happy to improvise.
Learn to cook. Learn to bake. Learn your way around the kitchen. Women will find you very, very sexy for it.
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
I think getting comfortable with cooking from a very young age is extremely valuable. Not only do you get a sense of where the food is coming from and how it works, it shows you that it's something that you can do. Otherwise kids grow up with a sense that food just sort of magically appears and getting it to do that requires impenetrable expertise, so they don't think they can do anything more involved than microwave their food. Worse, they convince themselves that there isn't much difference between a heated up frozen dinner and a real cooked one.
The smell was the worst part though, I take it? My buddy came back from Japan some years ago and brought a dried squid. We had a similar experience it looks like.
I think getting comfortable with cooking from a very young age is extremely valuable. Not only do you get a sense of where the food is coming from and how it works, it shows you that it's something that you can do. Otherwise kids grow up with a sense that food just sort of magically appears and getting it to do that requires impenetrable expertise, so they don't think they can do anything more involved than microwave their food. Worse, they convince themselves that there isn't much difference between a heated up frozen dinner and a real cooked one.
So, if you have kids, cook with them!
For me it was sharing a house/apartment with a bunch of friends/strangers - catering to other people's tastes, trying to save money, cooking regularly for people all made me develop skills and start to enjoy the whole process.
Back to macaroni - thanks for the ideas, I'll definately give them a go next time I make it.
How I make it -
Boil water
Make white sauce
Add macaroni (or w/e pasta you use) to boiling water
Season white sauce with stuff like black pepper/cayenne/mustard/salt
Add chedder cheese (the UK and Ireland seem to have an amazing amount of good chedder)
Add diced red or yellow onions (some times I mix half in with the cheese, then half just before serving)
Drain macaroni when cooked
Mix sauce/macaroni/bacon, let sit for a couple of minutes.
Serve
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Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
The smell was the worst part though, I take it? My buddy came back from Japan some years ago and brought a dried squid. We had a similar experience it looks like.
Jack Osbourne doesn't need reasons!
I love eating weird foreign food, although if I filmed it I'd have edited that down rather more. It kinda dragged with too much banter and not enough crab ingestion.
Mojo_Jojo on
Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
Yeah he kept putting it off, we did edit it down a little bit. The smell was far and away the worst part, it just tasted like a really stale cracker with sharp parts until the smell wafted up into your nose.
The gun was a movie prop for our full length movie. It's fun to hold.
The gun was a movie prop for our full length movie. It's fun to hold.
I hope your kept your finger off the trigger in the movie.
I made pot stickers tonight. They were good, but it took twice as long to make them than to eat them. Not worth it unless you were to make a huge batch and then freeze them.
So, I need to learn how to actually cook something that doesn't come frozen in a box. What would be good to start with?
At the moment, I'm considering one of the Good Eats Macaroni & Cheese recipes. Either Baked or Stove-Top. Probably Stove-Top. It seems pretty easy and it wouldn't require a lot of shopping. I wanted to try the Chili, but it seems a little complicated for a beginner.
The only hard part about macaroni is the making of the white sauce, and even that so long as you have a whisk + follow the directions in your linked recipe you shall be fine. However remember this - lumpy sauce can ruin macaroni
So, I need to learn how to actually cook something that doesn't come frozen in a box. What would be good to start with?
At the moment, I'm considering one of the Good Eats Macaroni & Cheese recipes. Either Baked or Stove-Top. Probably Stove-Top. It seems pretty easy and it wouldn't require a lot of shopping. I wanted to try the Chili, but it seems a little complicated for a beginner.
I definitely recommend the chili recipe. Only real tricky part is if you've never used a pressure cooker before. All the rest is cake.
So, I need to learn how to actually cook something that doesn't come frozen in a box. What would be good to start with?
At the moment, I'm considering one of the Good Eats Macaroni & Cheese recipes. Either Baked or Stove-Top. Probably Stove-Top. It seems pretty easy and it wouldn't require a lot of shopping. I wanted to try the Chili, but it seems a little complicated for a beginner.
I definitely recommend the chili recipe. Only real tricky part is if you've never used a pressure cooker before. All the rest is cake.
You don't even need the pressure cooker. It just takes a bit longer to cook, that's all. I made chili using AB's recipe as a base, substituting some ingredients I preferred, and only using a large pot to stew it in. Turned out quite delicious, and makes great leftovers.
Only downside was that it turned out a bit runny, and I didn't have anything available to thicken it, really.
In my favorite cast iron dutch oven I cook diced onion, green pepper and bacon.
Brown 1-2 lbs hamburger, season while you are browning so the meat has some flavor. Using a turkey baster drain off fat and then make sure it is brown.
Combine all in the dutch oven, add one can diced tomato ( I like the Aylmer Accents Chili) one can crushed tomoto, One large can red kidney beans with thier sticky liquid and one of the larger cans of tomto paste. Season to taste. I use cumin, Victorian Epicure Pueblo Bean dip, and VE polpette. I actually season the hamburger with these and then add more as needed. Some salt and about a tablespoon of sugar (to get rid of the tomato acid)
Sacrilege! Everybody knows, no beans in the chili. Damn heathens.
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
I've made AB's chili in a crock-pot - just brown the meat for a bit longer (or use ground meat), toss everything in, let it go for as long as you like. Oh, and I can't recommend his homemade chili powder enough. Easy to make, and DAMN, does it kick.
I didn't know there was a Good Eats page in here. Now I have a place to properly hail Alton without everyone thinking I'm some weird-ass bastard.
...right?
Anyways, Alton has pretty much gotten me to actually go out of the way to make good food instead of throwing spice packets and shit together. Last week I made stew from scratch, and it tasted great. It felt pretty good not to have put any sort of spice packet in it to make it stew. Now I'm in the process of getting my mom to stop cooking with them one recipe at a time, and she never makes meatloaf with them anymore.
Speaking of which, are there any taco spice mixtures out there? I've seen recipes in places, but they always seem like they might have a bit of a kick to them, and while I love the spice, my parents don't. It'd be nice if I could put together a kind of mild mix so I don't have to use taco seasoning packets all the time.
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
Off the top of my head, the main spice in American tacos seems to be cumin. After that, I'd guess some cayenne pepper (cut down on that one if you want it to be less hot), black pepper, maybe some garlic powder, onion powder... chili powder maybe.
Off the top of my head, the main spice in American tacos seems to be cumin. After that, I'd guess some cayenne pepper (cut down on that one if you want it to be less hot), black pepper, maybe some garlic powder, onion powder... chili powder maybe.
I think it was Than earlier in the thread that gave this procedure for seasoning tacos/southwestern food if you're in the New England area:
Thanks to everyone who recommended/gave advice on the chili. I'm going to try it this either weekend or next if nothing comes up.
I was planning on borrowing my grandma's pressure cooker to make it, but then I found out that it's 30+ years old. I'm slightly afraid to use it now, so it looks like I'll be using a dutch oven or a crock pot.
I love to cook, unfortunatly however, my girlfriend has a virgin palate, to the degree where I might think something has a nice flavour, is a incenidary bomb to her. Even slightly more than little pepper will have her yelling and cursing. I think perhaps growing up in Indonesia has destroyed most of the chilli sensors of my tongue....
I love to cook, unfortunatly however, my girlfriend has a virgin palate, to the degree where I might think something has a nice flavour, is a incenidary bomb to her. Even slightly more than little pepper will have her yelling and cursing. I think perhaps growing up in Indonesia has destroyed most of the chilli sensors of my tongue....
I grew up there as well, and yes, it probably did. There isn't really too much spice that gets to me here in Amerikka.
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
I love to cook, unfortunatly however, my girlfriend has a virgin palate, to the degree where I might think something has a nice flavour, is a incenidary bomb to her. Even slightly more than little pepper will have her yelling and cursing. I think perhaps growing up in Indonesia has destroyed most of the chilli sensors of my tongue....
That's unfortunate. I guess just start her off slow? I used to hate spicy things, but after a gradual progression now I love them.
I'm not sure if it's new, but I think I just saw the new Good Eats on chicken wings. This (paraphrased) line got a lol from me.
While talking about hot sauces and baby boomers: "Our taste buds have dulled and we need increased stimulation *chuckles as he realizes what he's in the middle of spouting out* and we are willing to pay for it!"
I love to cook, unfortunatly however, my girlfriend has a virgin palate, to the degree where I might think something has a nice flavour, is a incenidary bomb to her. Even slightly more than little pepper will have her yelling and cursing. I think perhaps growing up in Indonesia has destroyed most of the chilli sensors of my tongue....
That's unfortunate. I guess just start her off slow? I used to hate spicy things, but after a gradual progression now I love them.
My mom is pretty much the same (and my dad, a little). I think something is completely mild and harmless, but it'll blow her taste buds out if I start putting too much spice in food.
Although in past years I've started gradually adding stuff like chili and chipotle powers into stuff like my meat &vegetable soup (which, from my observations, is my signature recipe), usually adding it in when I'm sweating the onions. The way I figure it, the sweetness of the onions kind of counter-balances some of the heat from the spice.
Omeks on
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I'm sure someone has it. Specialty markets (upscale grocers) are probably your best bet.
Oh. Perhaps I will.
Made this without any real variation last night. Good eats, man. Although the macaroni didn't have that cheese matrix holding everything together, instead it was a little loose (more of a personal preference). Makes me wonder if there has to be a much higher ratio of shredded cheese to sour cream/cottage cheese.
I dub it crazy mac!
Bacon is also a good thing to add to mac n cheese.
The avatar above made me remember a dream I had last night...Shatner was singing in concert. I'm not gonna say I didn't enjoy it.
http://joyfulinternets.blogspot.com/
It's truly scary to know people in their mid-twenties whose idea of cooking is a packet of mac + cheese.
At the moment I'm unemployed and playing at being a house-wife, so I get to spend a lot more time cooking than I normally would. In the past few weeks I've made--
Ethiopian- Chicken Wot, Zigni, and Injera (the spongy bread, though it didn't come out quite right)
Japanese- just basic sushi rolls. I'd try to make Nigiri, but sushi grade fish is sort of expensive. Just getting the rice to come out consistently well was quite a battle.
Italian- Pizza, though only the dough was from scratch. Next time I'll probably make the sauce from fresh tomatoes...hell, I might even try making mozerella. If I had a meat grinder I'd make my own sausage too.
African- Apricot and chickpea Tagine. I didn't like this one very much, but it was worth trying.
American- Pulled pork with homemade mustard/vinegar BBQ sauce. Homemade coleslaw too.
I use www.recipezaar.com for ideas, but am more than happy to improvise.
Learn to cook. Learn to bake. Learn your way around the kitchen. Women will find you very, very sexy for it.
So, if you have kids, cook with them!
The smell was the worst part though, I take it? My buddy came back from Japan some years ago and brought a dried squid. We had a similar experience it looks like.
For me it was sharing a house/apartment with a bunch of friends/strangers - catering to other people's tastes, trying to save money, cooking regularly for people all made me develop skills and start to enjoy the whole process.
Back to macaroni - thanks for the ideas, I'll definately give them a go next time I make it.
How I make it -
Boil water
Make white sauce
Add macaroni (or w/e pasta you use) to boiling water
Season white sauce with stuff like black pepper/cayenne/mustard/salt
Add chedder cheese (the UK and Ireland seem to have an amazing amount of good chedder)
Add diced red or yellow onions (some times I mix half in with the cheese, then half just before serving)
Drain macaroni when cooked
Mix sauce/macaroni/bacon, let sit for a couple of minutes.
Serve
I love eating weird foreign food, although if I filmed it I'd have edited that down rather more. It kinda dragged with too much banter and not enough crab ingestion.
The gun was a movie prop for our full length movie. It's fun to hold.
Seriously its all fatty and oh my god i just ate some that was roasted by asian guy named lei.
I hope your kept your finger off the trigger in the movie.
I made pot stickers tonight. They were good, but it took twice as long to make them than to eat them. Not worth it unless you were to make a huge batch and then freeze them.
At the moment, I'm considering one of the Good Eats Macaroni & Cheese recipes. Either Baked or Stove-Top. Probably Stove-Top. It seems pretty easy and it wouldn't require a lot of shopping. I wanted to try the Chili, but it seems a little complicated for a beginner.
I definitely recommend the chili recipe. Only real tricky part is if you've never used a pressure cooker before. All the rest is cake.
http://fox.com/hellskitchen/
Go to videos, season two dishes, lobster spaghetti.
You don't even need the pressure cooker. It just takes a bit longer to cook, that's all. I made chili using AB's recipe as a base, substituting some ingredients I preferred, and only using a large pot to stew it in. Turned out quite delicious, and makes great leftovers.
Only downside was that it turned out a bit runny, and I didn't have anything available to thicken it, really.
Lobster while awesome, is not what I am looking for. The lady loves crab, no so much on the lobster.
In my favorite cast iron dutch oven I cook diced onion, green pepper and bacon.
Brown 1-2 lbs hamburger, season while you are browning so the meat has some flavor. Using a turkey baster drain off fat and then make sure it is brown.
Combine all in the dutch oven, add one can diced tomato ( I like the Aylmer Accents Chili) one can crushed tomoto, One large can red kidney beans with thier sticky liquid and one of the larger cans of tomto paste. Season to taste. I use cumin, Victorian Epicure Pueblo Bean dip, and VE polpette. I actually season the hamburger with these and then add more as needed. Some salt and about a tablespoon of sugar (to get rid of the tomato acid)
Simmer uncovered until right consistency.
...right?
Anyways, Alton has pretty much gotten me to actually go out of the way to make good food instead of throwing spice packets and shit together. Last week I made stew from scratch, and it tasted great. It felt pretty good not to have put any sort of spice packet in it to make it stew. Now I'm in the process of getting my mom to stop cooking with them one recipe at a time, and she never makes meatloaf with them anymore.
Speaking of which, are there any taco spice mixtures out there? I've seen recipes in places, but they always seem like they might have a bit of a kick to them, and while I love the spice, my parents don't. It'd be nice if I could put together a kind of mild mix so I don't have to use taco seasoning packets all the time.
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2 tablespoons instant minced onion
1/4 teaspoon instant minced garlic
2 1/2 to 3 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin seed
2 teaspoons sweet pepper flakes
Adjust to taste, spiciness, etc. I usually prefer to add a little more cumin and garlic.
Takin my mom out to this place she likes for her birthday. They have duck smoked with tea leaves.
I anticipate it.
Ducks only flaw is that there are far too many bones.
So you get to eat it with your hands like as if you had just killed the small quacking animal yourself.
Unless you get boneless, but that shits expensive.
I was planning on borrowing my grandma's pressure cooker to make it, but then I found out that it's 30+ years old. I'm slightly afraid to use it now, so it looks like I'll be using a dutch oven or a crock pot.
I grew up there as well, and yes, it probably did. There isn't really too much spice that gets to me here in Amerikka.
That's unfortunate. I guess just start her off slow? I used to hate spicy things, but after a gradual progression now I love them.
While talking about hot sauces and baby boomers: "Our taste buds have dulled and we need increased stimulation *chuckles as he realizes what he's in the middle of spouting out* and we are willing to pay for it!"
Tee hee...
My mom is pretty much the same (and my dad, a little). I think something is completely mild and harmless, but it'll blow her taste buds out if I start putting too much spice in food.
Although in past years I've started gradually adding stuff like chili and chipotle powers into stuff like my meat &vegetable soup (which, from my observations, is my signature recipe), usually adding it in when I'm sweating the onions. The way I figure it, the sweetness of the onions kind of counter-balances some of the heat from the spice.
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|PSN Tag: Omeks_R7
|Rock Band: Profile|DLC Collection