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[Cooking] thread 2: 2019's 2020's revenge

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Posts

  • DJ EebsDJ Eebs Moderator, Administrator admin
    currently trying to set up a diet that won't have me up all night dealing with stomach acid entering my throat and it's running directly into me having the food palate of a little baby who doesn't want to eat vegetables

  • JedocJedoc In the scuppers with the staggers and jagsRegistered User regular
    Ugh. Right there with you, but for oral allergy reasons. It's a sad state of affairs when raw spinach is an illicit treat.

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  • pimentopimento she/they/pim Registered User regular
    What sort of things should one avoid if one has stomach acid issues? Asking for a me.

  • DJ EebsDJ Eebs Moderator, Administrator admin
    Grassy foods, carbonated beverages, chocolate, citrus...at least before bedtime, apparently it's mostly fine if you don't eat it right before you go to bed? Who knows, but like, I spent most of Thursday night having stomach acid fizzing in my throat, so I'm actively seeking solutions

  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    DJ Eebs wrote: »
    Grassy foods, carbonated beverages, chocolate, citrus...at least before bedtime, apparently it's mostly fine if you don't eat it right before you go to bed? Who knows, but like, I spent most of Thursday night having stomach acid fizzing in my throat, so I'm actively seeking solutions

    For me, it was anything carbonated. Just flat out, if I had more than like half a can of soda, it was acid reflux time. I assume that's still the case, but I've cut any fizzy drinks out. Now I mostly only notice it when I've had tomato sauce.

  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    i couldn't have anything with any hint of spice. and no tomato based anything.

    back when it was really bad for me, before i could afford medication, i was on basically a white diet. white rice, white bread, milk, cheese, chicken. heavy dairy and fat based diet.

    but that ran into my slight lactose intolerance and.. yeah.

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    In celebration of my wife getting her second shot, I cooked up a slightly fancier dinner than normal. Slow smoked flank steak that sat in red/balsamic vinegar based marinade all day, then topped with a marinade reduction. Oven roasted red potatoes coated in bacon fat with some salt and pepper and finally some air fryer roasted asparagus with salt, pepper and a drizzle of butter.

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  • DouglasDangerDouglasDanger PennsylvaniaRegistered User regular
    I have acid reflux issues, one of my doctors put me on the off the shelf version of pepcid and encouraged me to just take the generic

    I eat one tablet about an hour before bedtime.

    It works pretty well

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    OOooooh new cast iron showed up. Field #6 and #4. Factory seconds and were about half price. I'll be damned if I can find any real imperfections though. I could see a couple tiny blemishes on the bottom of the pan, like smaller than the diameter of a grain of rice, and not even be deep enough to be called divots or depressions. Easily less than the cooking surface irregularity on a lodge pan, and these are on the bottom! I'm impressed by their quality control if these are what they consider factory seconds. Probably also one reason they are as expensive as they are.

    I've also thrown in the #8 I've had for about 18 months, to show the difference in seasoning over time.

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  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    I really don't like my lodge

    I can not get a season to stick

    the sides are impervious to anything, but the actual cooking surface is garbage unless I'm actually frying something in oil

  • ShortyShorty touching the meat Intergalactic Cool CourtRegistered User regular
    I've got eight and twelve inch lodge skillets and they do me fine, though it did take awhile to get them to the state they're in

    for christmas last year my parents sent me some off-brand square skillet without handles and a lid that doesn't fit it

    there's a peak in the cooking surface I can fit my fingernail under

    it is going to goodwill on our very next trip

  • 3cl1ps33cl1ps3 I will build a labyrinth to house the cheese Registered User regular
    My lodge skillet has been fantastic and absolutely seasons like a champ, on the other hand, and we have a lodge enameled cast iron dutch oven that's great as well. I wonder if maybe their process is just inconsistent because I've heard plenty of people both agreeing with Xaquin and agreeing with myself.

  • BucketmanBucketman Call me SkraggRegistered User regular
    Xaquin wrote: »
    I really don't like my lodge

    I can not get a season to stick

    the sides are impervious to anything, but the actual cooking surface is garbage unless I'm actually frying something in oil

    My lodge 12 inch skillet is great. I got a lodge griddle for christmas a few years ago and I cannot get it to work well. it also got like 2 spots of rust on it and the videos on how to clean it don't work because I don't have a sink big enough to soak it.

  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    3clips3 wrote: »
    My lodge skillet has been fantastic and absolutely seasons like a champ, on the other hand, and we have a lodge enameled cast iron dutch oven that's great as well. I wonder if maybe their process is just inconsistent because I've heard plenty of people both agreeing with Xaquin and agreeing with myself.

    We have a lodge enameled dutch oven that is maybe my favorite thing to cook with.

    I guess they're just really inconsistent. The skillet (12") is really really rough on the cooking surface. It feels like running your hand over 120 grit sandpaper. Been like that since day 1

  • ShortyShorty touching the meat Intergalactic Cool CourtRegistered User regular
    edited March 2021
    my lodge felt like that too at first but it's very smooth now

    it's pretty typical for that kind of skillet to kind of suck for a few months of regular use, until you get a bunch of seasoning layers built up from frying

    if you want, we can talk about how you've been seasoning it, maybe there's something you could be doing to speed it up

    you can also sand it down a bit though I'm not super familiar with that process

    Shorty on
  • BucketmanBucketman Call me SkraggRegistered User regular
    I had some cast iron years ago that I just had a hard time keeping. Then the sink above it literally exploded and destroyed it all. Now I light hand wash with a sponge and hot water (no soap) dry it with a towel and put some oil on there (grapeseed) and toss it in the oven at 350 for like 10 minutes

  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    edited March 2021
    my lodge felt like that too at first but it's very smooth now

    it's pretty typical for that kind of skillet to kind of suck for a few months of regular use, until you get a bunch of seasoning layers built up from frying

    if you want, we can talk about how you've been seasoning it, maybe there's something you could be doing to speed it up

    you can also sand it down a bit though I'm not super familiar with that process

    I've had mine nearly two years

    to season it (I've done this process maybe 4 times at this point), I wash it with hot water and a scotch brite pad, dry it and move it to a burner on medium for a few minutes, then I skim it with vegetable oil and stick it (upside down) in an oven preheated to 400f for 1 hour. After an hour I kill the heat and let it cool. Then I repeat the whole thing 3 more times. It works great for one or two meals and then stuff starts sticking again. I only use wood or silicone utensils on it.

    Xaquin on
  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    my lodge felt like that too at first but it's very smooth now

    it's pretty typical for that kind of skillet to kind of suck for a few months of regular use, until you get a bunch of seasoning layers built up from frying

    if you want, we can talk about how you've been seasoning it, maybe there's something you could be doing to speed it up

    you can also sand it down a bit though I'm not super familiar with that process

    I'd only recommend sanding a pan if it is so rough that it tears paper towels or snags rags when your wiping oil over it. Then only hand sand enough to bring the peaks down to something more manageable. After that it is just a ton of seasoning to get them smooth. It took me a LONG time to get my lodges in a good place. I stripped them and re-seasoned them like twice before I got it down. It's much easier with a smoother pan like a Field, Griswold or Wagner-Ware.

    My Lodges are relegated to baking and camping. They hold heat like a champ due to how heavy they are.

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  • DoodmannDoodmann Registered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    my lodge felt like that too at first but it's very smooth now

    it's pretty typical for that kind of skillet to kind of suck for a few months of regular use, until you get a bunch of seasoning layers built up from frying

    if you want, we can talk about how you've been seasoning it, maybe there's something you could be doing to speed it up

    you can also sand it down a bit though I'm not super familiar with that process

    I'd only recommend sanding a pan if it is so rough that it tears paper towels or snags rags when your wiping oil over it. Then only hand sand enough to bring the peaks down to something more manageable. After that it is just a ton of seasoning to get them smooth. It took me a LONG time to get my lodges in a good place. I stripped them and re-seasoned them like twice before I got it down. It's much easier with a smoother pan like a Field, Griswold or Wagner-Ware.

    My Lodges are relegated to baking and camping. They hold heat like a champ due to how heavy they are.

    I'm thinking about sanding down my lodge, I've been getting good spots of smooth seasoning but I can't seem to get an even coat across the whole thing.

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  • ShortyShorty touching the meat Intergalactic Cool CourtRegistered User regular
    edited March 2021
    Xaquin wrote: »
    my lodge felt like that too at first but it's very smooth now

    it's pretty typical for that kind of skillet to kind of suck for a few months of regular use, until you get a bunch of seasoning layers built up from frying

    if you want, we can talk about how you've been seasoning it, maybe there's something you could be doing to speed it up

    you can also sand it down a bit though I'm not super familiar with that process

    I've had mine nearly two years

    to season it (I've done this process maybe 4 times at this point), I wash it with hot water and a scotch brite pad, dry it and move it to a burner on medium for a few minutes, then I skim it with vegetable oil and stick it (upside down) in an oven preheated to 400f for 1 hour. After an hour I kill the heat and let it cool. Then I repeat the whole thing 3 more times. It works great for one or two meals and then stuff starts sticking again. I only use wood or silicone utensils on it.

    yeah, that's frustrating! I actually had the same problems with mine.

    what helped was, every time I'm done cooking, after I clean it, I put it back on the stove over high heat to dry it, then I spread oil in it with a paper towel (you're going for a thin, even coat, just like if you're seasoning it in the oven), wait until it smokes, and just let it go for about a minute, then let it cool.

    I started doing this with mine a couple years ago and I've never had to re-season it in the oven. both my lodge skillets are smooth enough to fry eggs in now.

    Shorty on
  • BucketmanBucketman Call me SkraggRegistered User regular
    its good to keep some cast iron around, not just because its great to cook with, but you can use it to keep the fey at bay

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    edited March 2021
    Doodmann wrote: »
    webguy20 wrote: »
    my lodge felt like that too at first but it's very smooth now

    it's pretty typical for that kind of skillet to kind of suck for a few months of regular use, until you get a bunch of seasoning layers built up from frying

    if you want, we can talk about how you've been seasoning it, maybe there's something you could be doing to speed it up

    you can also sand it down a bit though I'm not super familiar with that process

    I'd only recommend sanding a pan if it is so rough that it tears paper towels or snags rags when your wiping oil over it. Then only hand sand enough to bring the peaks down to something more manageable. After that it is just a ton of seasoning to get them smooth. It took me a LONG time to get my lodges in a good place. I stripped them and re-seasoned them like twice before I got it down. It's much easier with a smoother pan like a Field, Griswold or Wagner-Ware.

    My Lodges are relegated to baking and camping. They hold heat like a champ due to how heavy they are.

    I'm thinking about sanding down my lodge, I've been getting good spots of smooth seasoning but I can't seem to get an even coat across the whole thing.

    It took me like 12 months of weekly cooking before my lodges had a good layer of smooth seasoning down. It takes a while to build up the layers in a lodge. Sanding down is pretty much starting from scratch, so take that into consideration. It might take less time to just keep cooking and building up the layers. A good way to build up seasoning quickly is to fry foods. Chicken, potatoes, lots of bacon. Situations where the pan is hot and covered in a good thick layer of oil for an extended period of time.

    webguy20 on
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  • ShortyShorty touching the meat Intergalactic Cool CourtRegistered User regular
    those Field pans look great though. and Lodge isn't as cheap as it used to be, now that cast iron is cool again. it's pretty easy to make a case for the higher-quality stuff, I think.

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    those Field pans look great though. and Lodge isn't as cheap as it used to be, now that cast iron is cool again. it's pretty easy to make a case for the higher-quality stuff, I think.

    They really are two different kinds of pans. Just the weight difference is night and day. I can flick foods in my Field pans, the lodge is a no go there. Field still runs around $100 new for a #8, and a Lodge is like $20, but for a pan that practically will last forever, I recommend Field for sure. Especially if you can find a website putting them on sale or Field themselves doing a seconds run or sale.

    There are also other pans in that range that are nice, ButterPat, Stargazer, and Smithy to name a few. They are a bit fancier than field and a bit more expensive, but very nice. I also consider Cast Iron a bit of a display piece of cookware, so if it looks a bit fancy that's fine for me.

    For folks who get into cast iron, it can be fun hunting down classic pans too. I love my Griswolds and Wagner Ware from the 40s. they are amazing pans and I got them all for less than $50 each. It took time though watching Craigslist and flea markets.

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  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    My cast-iron skillet is like 70 years old and likely most of the seasoning on it is 50 years old. Everything I cook in it ends up tasting a little bit like kielbasa, because it belonged to an old Polish immigrant couple that moved here in the 50s. It's fuckin' dope. I've had it for about 11 years now and I've never washed it, just scrape shit off with a wooden spatula and it's good to go.

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    Action shot with the #6 and #8. Used up some of the leftover smoked flank steak to make some quick and dirty fajitas. So fucking good!

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  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    well fuck now I'm remembering I'm hungry

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  • NaphtaliNaphtali Hazy + Flow SeaRegistered User regular
    god I haven't have fajitas in forever. gonna put that on the list

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  • TallahasseerielTallahasseeriel Registered User regular
    anyone know like, good easy to make rice and chicken based stir fry recipes or the like?

    I feel like those are usually pretty healthy and easy to toss together and keep well as leftovers for a meal prep type thing. Because I can just get chicken breast or thighs and some simple sauces and spices and frozen veggies and just put a meal together for a few days in a snap that way?

  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Another reason stirfries are good is you can reheat them by doing a quick re-fry and that helps maintain texture, taste etc (I know you've mentioned having issues with microwaved leftovers in the past)

  • TallahasseerielTallahasseeriel Registered User regular
    Yeah I figured they'd be a good thing to start making for that reason. Good to keep in the fridge through the week. Get like several days of meals from one cook session.

    I'm just not very good at them. Don't really know all the techniques to make them. So like a few baseline recipes to use as starting points might be good to have.

  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited March 2021
    I make stirfries a lot - but I have my own recipes and they tend to rely heavily on ingredients that I don't know are widely available, so I dunno if it would be helpful to write them out? In general I'd say you're better off putting your own sauces together than buying something in a jar, and for best results (this may not fit with your quick-and-dirty goals mind you) it's helpful to brine the pre-sliced meat for at least 3-4 hours in some combination of soy sauce, vinegar, spices, maybe a little sugar - really helps boost the flavour (I often do this overnight so I can come home the next day and throw stuff straight in the pan).

    Base sauce or marinade ingredients I almost always use when building a chicken stirfry:
    - soy sauce
    - some kind of chilli oil or chilli paste
    - oyster sauce
    - palm sugar or brown sugar
    - rice vinegar
    - lime juice
    - fish sauce
    - five spice

    and if you like it spicy, throw a few dried chillies into the wok/pan when heating the oil, let them brown and infuse the oil along with your (garlic/onion/other aromatics) before adding the meat.

    tynic on
  • TallahasseerielTallahasseeriel Registered User regular
    edited March 2021
    Thanks tynic

    It seems like the basic idea is pretty flexible actually. I'll have to play and figure out what flavors I like best. I know I dig soy sauce honey and Sriracha together already.

    What do you think of using some non fresh ingredients like ginger paste or garlic paste instead of fresh as a time saver?

    Tallahasseeriel on
  • tynictynic PICNIC BADASS Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Hey go with what works, imo - use it as a chance to mess around and mix things up. If you've got jarred ginger or garlic, or just find chopping things arduous, no reason not to use them. And honey is a really good addition actually, my mother used to do soy-honey grilled chicken skewers which were super simple and freaking delicious.

  • TallahasseerielTallahasseeriel Registered User regular
    I'm a huge honey fan myself. Thus my love of mead.

    I've made a pan sauce using mead as to deglaze instead of white wine before.

  • notyanotya Registered User regular
    I have a stainless steel sink now but when my sink was ceramic I scratched the fuck outta it when I washed my cast iron. Legit ruined it. Anyone else deal with that?

  • GrisloGrislo Registered User regular
    Thanks tynic

    It seems like the basic idea is pretty flexible actually. I'll have to play and figure out what flavors I like best. I know I dig soy sauce honey and Sriracha together already.

    What do you think of using some non fresh ingredients like ginger paste or garlic paste instead of fresh as a time saver?

    Totally agree with Tynic, try it and see what you think. If there's any chance something keeps you from cooking, do the easy thing instead for now and take it from there. Don't stop yourself because you don't have the supposedly perfect ingredient for something.

    I had the Zoom-meeting day from hell today, with a short break in the morning, and I threw some beef in a marinade of soy/oyster sauce/'local chili paste'/ginger/assorted dried spices/lime/stuff I probably forget/ and, yes, jarred minced garlic because I had some. And, hey, it turned out to be an awesome beef and broccoli dish when dinner rolled around.

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  • kilnbornkilnborn Registered User regular
    edited March 2021
    The main thing with stir-fries is to check the 5 things a stir-fry needs:

    1. Ingredients. This would be something like 'chicken and green beans', 'beef and snow peas', 'pork and asparagas'. You get the idea.

    2. Marinade. After you cut up the protein, give it a basic marinade of a splash of soy sauce, a pinch of sugar, a splash of rice wine and a little corn starch (there are other marinades, but this is your bog-standard basic marinade for chicken thighs, pork or beef).

    3. Seasoning. This is the aromatics that season the oil. My go-to is some sliced garlic, some chopped green onions (white and light green parts), perhaps some ginger cut into thin matchsticks, some dried chiles de arbol (stem cut off and seeds shaken out) if I want some heat. You can go with semi-exotics like fermented black beans, doubanjiang (a fermented chili and broad bean paste), etc, but for basic stir-fries I stick to the basics.

    4. Sauce. My go-to basic stir-fry sauce is equal parts soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and rice wine. I don't usually add broth and a slurry since I prefer a drier stir-fry. There are a million other sauces you can make. My sweet-and-sour sauce is equal parts oyster sauce, ketchup, sriracha, sugar and rice vinegar. No need to thicken it with a slurry.

    5. Garnish. An un-garnished stir-fry is an unfinished stir-fry. A few drops of toasted sesame oil, some chopped cilantro, some toasted peanuts or cashew nuts, some crispy fried shallots, fried basil leaves, etc.

    That's about it. I pre-cook any veggies that won't cook in a minute (usually I'll roast broccoli, green beans, snap peas, asparagas until not quite done). Bell peppers, celery, baby bok choy, canned bamboo shoots/water chestnuts, etc don't need pre-cooking.

    Then it's just cook the aromatics in hot oil until fragrant, add in the protein and toss, then spread in a single layer to brown, add in the veggies, toss until everything is cooked, drizzle in the sauce along the sides of the wok, toss to combine and reduce the sauce a bit, garnish and serve.

    kilnborn on
  • ButtersButters A glass of some milks Registered User regular
    Wife got some beautiful looking lamb chops from a local farmer this past weekend and I want to do something with them tomorrow. Normally I just season them with salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme and sear them after sous vide but I feel like getting more creative with these.

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  • PinfeldorfPinfeldorf Yeah ZestRegistered User regular
    Maybe do some sort of pan sauce? Nothing too fancy about it, but there's a lot of shit you can do.

This discussion has been closed.