Cooking

I incorporated a lime into my nacho seasoning. Cooked the ground beef in lime juice to keep it moist. I did put too much zest in the cheese blend. Now I know for next time.

Does anyone here have a good coffee ice cream recipe? I have my own ice cream maker.

Edited by ChicoTheParakeet on Sep 22nd 2023 at 3:52:33 PM

The perks of living on the countryside: This weekend has been a good one for foraging for us.

We picked several litres of both funnel chanterelles and regular chanterelles, and my fingers are all blue from rinsing several litres of blueberries.

(I’d share photos, but these forums hate hot-linked images. :( )

Good times!

Edited by MagmaTeaMerry on Sep 24th 2023 at 10:19:46 AM

Now I feel like blueberry pie.

I've been using pie beads but either the top doesn't stick or the bottom is soggy. Does anyone have a way to remedy this?

EDIT: Two questions in a row. Maybe I should wait.

Edited by ChicoTheParakeet on Sep 24th 2023 at 10:42:16 AM

I went up the mountain a month ago doing the same thing.

Verdict? Saskatoons are surprisingly good. Choke cherries have decent taste but are mostly pit. Bearberry is meh, like tastes like nothing meh and the texture is horrible. False Solomon’s seal berries have the texture of white grapes but no sweetness, so kinda meh. Wild rose hips are hard and largely flavorless.

I could see much of that used as filler or base for pies, jams and preserves among other things but standalone not so much.

I guess many kinds of wild flora either not tasting all that good, or having other inconveniences like too little fruit per fruit, is unsurprising.

It’s kind of a drag yeah. Especially since I didn’t get the full palate of wild food available in these parts. One of them thimbleberry was apparently long since eaten and dried up despite hundreds of still living plants along the trail I was on. I might have to observe them like every week or every other week starting next June (because they barely sprout in May right after the snow melts) until I find out exactly when they’re ready. The other one creeping barberry (Oregon grape) simply wasn’t ready yet, still green when it should be blue. Either the blue ones had already been eaten or I was simply too early.

Tonight’s dinner was fried pork wontons which were awesome and chicken fried rice which was really good.

Took almost two hours to prepare and cook it all though.

Sounds excellent.

Speaking of frying, which kind of oil do you all prefer to use in your cooking? Mine is either olive or coconut.

We mostly use olive oil here.

Vegetable oil, it's not strong and doesn't have as much fat compared to other oils.

Vegetable oil or canola oil previously. With a little bit of olive oil mixed into the vegetable oil for flavor enhancement. That’s what I use usually.

Yesterday we were using peanut oil in our little deep fryer.

I don't have a deep fryer, pretty sure I'd be unable to fit it in my apartment even if it were allowed, but I do make a lot of recipes that use olive oil.

The one we have is only just a bit bigger than a toaster. Single basket.

Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend so I’m making an apple pie but I have trouble with crust.

If I use pie beads, the top comes off. If I don’t, the bottom is soggy. Any suggestions on how I can find a good in between?

I recently bought a canelé pan, so I decided to give it a whirl today. (The batter was made yesterday, as the recipe described) I've actually made them before in a muffin pan, but now I have a proper pan for it, so...

Since I don't have any beeswax on hand, I decided to take some inspiration from a chapter of Hakumei & Mikochi and use bee pollen (mixed with melted butter) to give it that extra honey kick.

... And while I think I could've baked them a little while longer, I tell ya; That bee pollen pulled its weight and then some! Wow, what a honey punch it gave the pastries! Even though I've ordered some proper beeswax to use in the future, I think I'll keep using the pollen, too - They were delicious!

This fun idea crossed my mind recently.

We all know about Jell-O shots. So I was wondering: is it possible to mix alcohol into a milkshake? And if so, what’s the best kind to use for it? ;)

It’s very possible to make boozy milkshakes. I had one with amaretto once - It was wonderful. The base on it was vanilla, but chocolate or cherry would also work nicely, I believe.

Speaking of cherries: The black forest gateau I made for my brother’s birthday had kirsch mixed into the cream, so I think a splash of kirsch would go really nicely in a shake, too.

Oh, and various cream liqueurs, too. Bailey’s milkshake? Sounds like a home-run.

Edited by MagmaTeaMerry on Oct 9th 2023 at 11:14:19 AM

Thanks. :)

My ma is sick of her spaghetti recipe that she’s used as long as I can remember (>35 years), says it’s too “canned” feel anymore.

Any ideas to improve from? She uses canned stewed tomatoes, tomato paste and some sauce to start a base with ground beef, onion, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and bay leaf.

I just remembered another reason why my ideal house is going to have a gas-powered stove and a charcoal grill. Since I’m having tacos for dinner, I suddenly find myself missing the taste of flame-cooked tortillas.

^^ Switch out tomato paste with fresh tomato puree?

We did ditch the paste. It’s actually improved. That and adding butter and olive oil when cooking the beef, a little bit of red pepper flakes and a tiny bit of sugar.

Edited by MajorTom on Oct 15th 2023 at 4:56:00 AM

Ah, figured that was what was causing the "canned" feeling because canned tomato paste does have a tinny taste to it. Glad the pasta worked out.

I should make spaghetti and meatballs myself in the near future. Just gotta figure out the batch size; no more than 5 portions as it’s just me and I’d be having one portion fresh and one each over the next few days and any more than 4 days keeping leftovers is a bit of a ?

I made egg and mayo sandwiches yesterday. I was really good but admittedly very messy when I was eating them. Still I'm proud of myself for making them.