15
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What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
Tried a new empanada filling this weekend. Took about 1.2 lbs of chopped chicken breast, pan fried in about 2 tablespoons of oil, seasoned with a packet of taco seasoning, and when it was cooked through, I simmered it with a cup of hot pico de gallo drained of juices. I left it to chill in the fridge overnight and filled my empanadas the next morning with a tablespoon of that and a little slice of sharp cheddar. Baked them 10 at a time at 425°F for 25 minutes.
The dough recipe in case anyone is feeling fully adventurous.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/empanada-dough-230786
Thanks for sharing the recipe for the empanada dough. Christmas every year my family likes to make empanadas, because they are really easy to hear up in the microwave and eat them through out the day, and every year we run into issues of finding the premade ones at our local store and at Wal-Mart.
My favourite drink is the Negroni cocktail — it’s incredibly bitter and definitely not for everyone, but I love it to bits. (For those unfamiliar, it’s equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, Campari^(TM) bitters, topped off with an orange rind with the oils expressed onto the rim. I like it with a single large icecube to keep it cool and slowly melt)
I’ve recently been trying different variations, just to keep things interesting but keeping close enough to the original to be familiar.
Some time last year, I got gifted a premix negroni bottle from my favourite Australian whiskey brand, but it didn’t register to me that it was probably whiskey-based (where my default recipe is gin-based) until I was more than half way through the bottle! (This was over the course of months, not in one sitting, don’t worry! I’m a very slow drinker and rarely have the opportunity to enjoy the drinks I love)
On the back of this experience, I decided I wanted to try a few other variations, so the last few times I’ve been to my local bar, I’ve had the bartender replace the gin with a super smokey/peaty whiskey, or keep the gin and instead replace the vermouth with chartreuse (it’s like a negroni taking a walk through a herb garden!) or adding different interesting kinds of bitters to the top (just a splash of watermelon bitters here, or pomegranate bitters there)
If you enjoy a good Negroni, I encourage you to give it a try! I recommend you only change one thing at a time so you keep the overall Negroni vibes, but it brings an interesting twist and I’m having heaps of fun with it!
I like the idea of a herb-y negroni. It might be time to get out the bottle of Campari that's been gathering dust at the back of the shelf. How was the smokey version? I'd worry that smokey + bitter would come off tasking acrid.
Oh gosh, sorry I haven’t kept up with replies in months! I don’t think the app I’m testing has support for comments/replies/notifications yet…
The smokey negroni was unusual, because the smokiness really dominated the flavour/scent profile, and then the slightly sweet bitterness of the Campari popped up later. The vermouth was never really present, definitely overwhelmed by the smokiness.
Definitely wasn’t acrid, but to be honest it kinda lost the bitterness and sweetness that I like about a negroni in general
I’m testing the cookies I’m planning to make for a Christmas cookie exchange today— an Italian ricotta cookie and a chai cookie (just take your favorite sugar cookie and add chai powder, spices, or cut a chai tea bag to the mix. I’m using a pre-made powder but there are great recipes to mix your own if you’d like). The chai cookie I’m having the most trouble with—I can’t decide if I want it on its own rolled in cinnamon sugar or add an eggnog glaze or buttercream. Decisions decisions!
An eggnog glaze sounds so good!!
Just made bao buns with Korean Fried Chicken for the family using the following, was excellent and not to difficult!
https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/korean-chicken-bao/
I made a traditional alfredo this week that was absolutely mind blowing! A traditional one uses butter and a shitton of parmesan combined with some pasta water to make the sauce, rather than using a cream based sauce. I thought it tasted a lot better and, while still a heavy dish, didn't seem as heavy as a cream based altredo.
I used this recipe for the idea, but I kind of winged it on the butter and cheese. It went perfect with some soft baked Italian bread (store bought for that, though, I'm not at bread making yet).
https://www.curiouscuisiniere.com/authentic-fettuccine-alfredo/
I'm also going to try making neapolitan style pizza this week. I've made pizza loads of times, but usually just some generic thin crust style.
Then to top it off, I'll be making an asston of chocolate chip cookies to share with friends at tabletop RPG night this week. Simple, but always delicious!
I am eating these queal mixed with fresh fruits and nuts.
I mix the powder with water and put it in the microwave until it has a pudding like consistency. I like it better than drinking it and it feels more like a meal.
How does it taste? I see lots of flavors, but so far all the meal shakes I've tried have been rotten
Also, how's the toilet situation after? My normal breakfast is overnight oats with some fruit or a dollop of preserves, it doesn't send me running for the porcelain throne :D
It tastes great. You always have the underlying oat taste but that's less noticeable in the non fruit variants (Even tho I like those as well). Especially how I prepare it it's absolutely amazing. It's my lunch for the last couple weeks.
Toilet situation is something I can't really comment on because I have a health condition that effect it but I haven't noticed a difference compared to normal food.
Well, I'm bookmarking this and I'm going to try some next payday! Got any preparation tips? I was thinking of doing 4 portions from the bags (instead of 3) and adding some fruit to reach my normal breakfast calories
They officially suggest for Queal Standard: 5 scoops/167 g with 350 ml water. Personally I can't eat that much for health reasons, so I only use 3 scoops. Personally I don't like replacing my lunch with just a drink, so I prefer more solid food. For this reason I prepare it in a small bowl.
Usually I do it like this.
When I am lazy I prepare it like a drink as well sometimes. It's just quicker and takes just like 2mins. I would suggest to prepare it an hour before consumption tho and let it sit in the refrigerator until you eat it.
Awesome, thanks!
Anytime, let me know how you liked it.
There are a lot of different companies who offer these food replacement products. Some even have non sweet variants, which I always wanted to try. I have no experience with those tho but I will probably test it some day. jimmyjoy.com or huel.com are two of them in case you want to check them out.
I don't remember the names, it was ones I noticed while shopping, and it looked interesting so I got them and then it was just sad dusty water
I never actually tried the ones that are already mixed. I like the powder more so you can prepare it exactly as you wish.
https://www.skinnytaste.com/crock-pot-chicken-enchilada-soup/
Enchilada soup is good for the fall weather - I broadly stuck to this, but added extra chicken, chipotles and garlic. Topped with sliced corn tortillas, shredded cheese, green onions, cilantro, thin-sliced jalapeno and sour cream.
One new thing we tried recently was homemade fish sticks -- basically just cod with some seasoned breading in the air fryer. Quite tasty, and nice since no one otherwise would really be into cod on its own, and this was a hit with the whole family.
Then with the leftovers, I made "fish taco" nachos. So reheat the fish sticks a bit in the air fryer. I got some of those scoop-shaped tortilla chips and laid them out on a baking tray, added small chunks of fish stick to each with some shredded cheddar and baked for a bit to heat up. To finish they each get some shredded carrots I quick pickled and a dollop of avocado sour cream (mashed avocado, sour cream, a bit of lemon lime, some salt and maybe a dash of cumin to taste). Super tasty. 10/10.
This one's always a lot of work, but absolutely worth it-- I made the Guinness stew from here: http://cookingtheamazing.blogspot.com/2011/10/irish-guinness-stew.html
It says lamb or beef, but I had pork shoulder, so pork shoulder is what I used, and it worked out brilliantly. For some reason it wound up with almost no fond, but I'm not sure if that was because it stayed stuck to the pork chunks (I let them dry out a bit in the fridge overnight), or if pork in general is less prone to fond-ing. Have to experiment. The flavor did not suffer.
Something they don't say but I recommend is checking it halfway through cooking and adding some extra stock if it's gotten low-- and it almost certainly will, and you definitely want it to stay stew. I didn't do that, and it was more like meat-and-veg-in-thick-gravy. Delicious anyway, but a bit too rich and dense.
Also, the veg come out amazing, but four pounds of meat left almost no room in the Dutch oven for them, so I wound up using far fewer than I'd have preferred - if you've got two suitable pots I'd split it up and add a lot more vegetables.
Bonus soda bread recipe: http://europeancuisines.com/Peters-Mums-Soda-Bread-Recipe