Cooking tips

Shortcut:  "assemblage" of existing pre-made items.  Last night I fried up some tofu, put it in this:

https://jet.com/product/detail/733c4df7470549ceb18c642220c42f00?jcmp=pla...

Threw in a handful of cashews, and a big tablespoon of:

https://www.vitacost.com/lee-kum-kee-hoisin-sauce-8-5-oz?csrc=GPF-PA-Foo...|pcrid|97670541013|product|078895700015&gclid=CjwKCAiAr_TQBRB5EiwAC_QCq-mpvkzV_1RQMV5Fp-BKAnCqV5n5s3MrJSddQ98pxol2VR8WWXyyOhoCoQEQAvD_BwE

 

I love Pickapeppa sauce -  but someone here - I can't remember who - once told me it's just a shitty version of A1 sauce. I immediately wrote that person off and they are dead to me (which is how forgotten they are).

I like cooking. You holdin??

Pickapeppa sucks. Watered down flavor; reminds me of tabasco sauce. One constant in my cupboard, not added to every dish, is soy sauce.

I use a lot of fresh lime juice - in marinades, to counteract sweet with sour, for flavor, or to keep fruit from oxidizing.

Pickapeppa is nothing like tabasco sauce.

Tabasco = watered down Pickapeppa = watered down I realize they're both intended for different flavoring but I personally consider both equally worthless.

Onion  garlic 

http://www.romertopfonline.com

The Römertopf Clay Baking pots are just great.  Look online for recipes,  lots of people use them.  I'm always amazed how Tasty the food comes out;  a Pork Loin or Turkey Breast with some vegetables :: Carrot,  Omion,  Celery stalk.

Don't use commercial salt.  It is loaded with cheap Iodides (supposedly for health)  and silicates that abrade blood vessels.  Dirty sea salt or other non-commercial stuff is better and has all sorts of trace minerals.

For smoking,  Trees that bear fruits or Nuts are generally preferred.  I like Cherry & Hickory,  but some obscure choices like Lilac or Walnut can add a nice flavor to the Smoke.  Low heat,  slow cook,  maintain temperatures.

A twist of lime and Genuine Louisiana Hot Sauce is my go to. Pickapeppa rocks. A few drops on a baked potato is great. 

Trader Joe's has a Corn Salsa that really adds a zing to a meal. 

corn, red bell peppers, onion & jalapeno peppers. Slightly sweet with a touch of heat. 

https://freshbitesbasket.com/products/trader-joes-corn-and-chile-tomato-...

Could it be possible that Pickapeppa sauce is from the pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?

 

Agree on the Soy sauce, one of my go to's.

I have been using some of Chef Paul's seasonings on meats and was satisfied. Then one of the Bob's, suggested to try the Blackened Redfish magic, and I've been using it on Salmon successfully.

Blackened Broiled Organic Salmon Fillet

I season the Salmon on both side lightly with the Blackened Redfish Magic. I melt 3 tablespoons of butter and add a teaspoon of Redfish Magic,  3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice & mix

Preheat oven to 400-degrees Fahrenheit.

Place salmon pieces on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Roast for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes of cooking, brush salmon with mixture and return to the oven for 5 minutes or until salmon is just cooked through.

 

I've tried to find a value to pickapeppa in sauces, soups, meat and stocks. Initially I thought that I was missing something but realized that it's bunk.

In my opinion, and many others, the key to cooking is knowing when to apply, how much and what grind of salt 

Katsuobushi - a kind of japanese dried skipjack tuna that is smoked, dried, and fermented and sold as bags of very thin shavings. it does not taste fishy, like fresh fish. japanese dried fish is a flavor that is not like anything else. super savory, bursting with umami and smokiness. you can sprinkle the flakes on top of something or steep them in simmering water or broth to add the flavor to a dish that way. TONS of stuff i make gets katsuobushi...my mushroom gravy for the thanksgiving turkey? katsuobushi. roasted brussels sprouts? katsuobushi. any and all meat based soups, stocks or stews? katsuobushi. it is a magical foodstuff.

Kombu - a kind of seaweed that is used in japan, often in conjunction with katsuobushi to make dashi, the light, umami rich broth that is the basis of pretty much all of japanese cuisine. unless you use tons of it, it has almost no flavor, just heaps and heaps of glutamic acid, the naturally occurring form of MSG. if you are going to make any kind of homemade meat stock, start by soaking a bunch of kombu in cold water overnight, the next day bring the kombu/water up to 70C, remove the kombu, and use that broth in place of water to make your stock. it will be SOOOO much more flavorful due to the glutamic acid boost from the kombu. 

Dried Shiitake - Use similarly to kombu or katsuobushi. Contains guanylate, which boosts the umami response from glutamic acid/free glutamate/MSG.

The glutamic acid from kombu is the MSG component, boosting umami flavor and deliciousness on its own, but when you combine it with katsuobushi, which contains inosinate, and dried shiitake, which contains guanylate, the umami response on your taste buds is amplified many times over.  

Kewpie mayo - japanese mayo made with only egg yolk, rice vinegar instead of white vinegar. contains MSG as well as a tiny bit of dashi flavoring. crazy, crazy delicious. i am not a big mayo guy but i could eat kewpie on anything.

I keep all the shells from crab or lobsters in eat in the freezer and always have the option to make crab infused oil or crab stock to add to dishes.

Fish sauce - great to add umami and funk to almost anything. crazy good with garlic, chilis, and sherry vinegar on roasted veg. i like red boat brand.

Hi-Me - made by Ajinomoto, inventors of MSG. this is crystalline MSG with a 12% disodium inosinate coating. Maximum umami synergy in an easily dissolvable synthetic form, who could ask for more???

Xanthan gum - corn based thickener, dissolves easy with no lumps, thickens effectively in small quantities with no extra flavors like you would get with roux or beurre mainé.

Home made stock - sooooo much better than store bought, store bought is generally just useless for many things, like making a good pan sauce. stock with enough gelatin and collagen that it solidifies in the fridge is what is needed for pan sauce, or for the addition of stock to any dish to have any kind of effect on richness or mouthfeel. plus there is no salt so you can salt your dish to taste without having to deal with salt levels of your stock. plus if you make your own brown stock with roasted veal bones, you can make demi glace. having a mason jar full of demi glace in the fridge is INCREDIBLE. it takes a few days; making the stock, making sauce espagnole, then using that mixed with more brown stock to reduce to demi glace. why you cant just use a larger portion of brown stock in the sauce espagnole and reduce to demi glace from there is beyond me. you probably can to be honest. the fucking french, man. 

I agree with you, Tony. My regular go to salt  is French gray salt, but I like a little Maldon thrown on as a finish on somethings. I do stick with the sea salts. 

 I was excited to  find that the difference between salt grinders and pepper grinders is that salt grinders don't use metal grinders that might rust. I was also excited to find that I could buy a salt grinder at Trader Joe's with some uninteresting salt in it for $1.95,  dump that out and put my own salt in it. 

 

Daylight, I use Kombu when I soak and cook beans  because it prevents gas. I also use it in soups and stews. Greg couldn't eat mushrooms ( his liver couldn't process them ) so we used kombu for umami and also because it's mucigenous like mushrooms are.

I have a BBQ of Baby-Back pork ribs going right now with a Kansas City rub & later painted with Stubb's "Spicey" BBQ sauce.

My Stromboli was out voted for ribs.

Sauce on side. A good rib doesn't need sauce. And next time make one yourself. :-)

It's only on long enough so that the sauce is hot in temp. and not a cold condiment on the side.

fresh stock, fresh herbs, and seasoning correctly...

 

huge...

Fart Killer

I use almost exclusively organics.  All my produce is organic. I buy almost no premade foods at all. I read labels.  Supermarkets are full of poisonous garbage.

I grow what I can, but the climate here is not great for most veggies. Will get that dialed in more each yr I am here. This yr had great sun gold cherry tomatoes. Used in many ways.  Had great cucumbers. Had good green beans, but they did not really produce until October.   Many nice Serrano peppers. A zucchini each time I watered worked well. Was not overloaded with them. Grew some nice carrots, will add a different variety next yr. Basil grows great here. Greens such as collards don't do well. I need to find some that do. Thyme did ok not great but use it in some seasonings.

Organic pasture raised eggs, and grass fed organic meat.  Grass fed organic RAW cheese.

Anyway I usually cook from scratch when at home.

Often I start with onions sauteed in butter.  You can go many ways from here.  

I usually have a pot of greens, a large  salad, homemade applesauce, lots of fermented veggies, some roasted veggies  and other leftovers in my fridge at any given time.

I make my own salad dressing. Right now I am on Honey mustard.  Just honey, stone ground mustard, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil. Nothing else and it rocks.  Read the ingredients list on your storebought dressings.

I cut up beets, several kinds of potatoes, butternut squash, onions, garlic, yams, carrots, sometimes broccoli or something green( I used green cabbage last night), and whatever else sounds good at the time, add melted butter and coconut oil and roast till caramelizing. Yummy and I can heat a bowl up anytime(NOT IN THE MICROWAVE). 

I take 6 fugi apples. quarter them and remove seeds. Slice up and throw into a suitable pan/pot that I use. Add a few dried cranberries(organic of course), organic powdered cinnamon, and distilled water. Gotta cook it for at least 2 hours.  You never tasted such good apple sauce and it is a great prebiotic(prebiotics are what your good gut bacteria eat). Couple spoonfulls twice a day. 

I ferment my own veggies also.  Kimchee turned out ok this time, but my sauerkraut was too salty. My first batch of sauerkraut was great.  Fermented pickles and used wrong cucumbers but still turned out tastey. Pickled garlic is yummy. Need to get another batch of sauerkraut going soon. Just bought some raw sauerkraut from Sonoma Brinery. Really good. It is important to eat as many natural probiotics and prebiotics as you can everyday.

 

I make up most of my seasonings but also use pink salt, Tamari, hoisun sauce, lemons, limes, garlic powder,onion powder,  Green tobasco sauce(less and less these days but still like the flavor it brings.). Organic blue agave, raw honey, or maple syrup for sweeteners. I cook with a lot of cheese.

Safeway has organic tortillas that you cook yourself. Make for great burritos. Refried beans, cheese, hotsauce, maybe some organic grass fed hamburger (but not necessary). And fresh hot tortillas. Yummy.

Start each day with lemon water. Then lyposomal vit C.  I make tinctures, which I take daily, from over 20 ingredients.

I have specific recipes for some things and for others I just shoot as I go.  Ask me for a recipe or process for anything I make.

You did ask......

I am of the belief that you are stunting your own evolution by eating all of that healthy stuff. My warning to you is that if you avoid all of this processed stuff, your body will be so pure that you may eventually, inadvertantly, eat a bean that has touched something that was processed, and your body will go into non-toxic shock

Highlight of my day is cooking. I hate cleanup.

I am with you Peak!  I spend wayyyy too much time cleaning my kitchen and it never gets 100% done.

 

Alias, pasture raised organic is very important. Are you getting that at a farmers mkt?  If so, awesome!  Here, you can't even find organics at farmers mkts.

 

clean as you go, then ain't nothing much to hate at the end.^^^^

Safeway in Lakeport has either organic or pasture raised, not both.  Clover has now got into the market. Got a doz of theirs at the co-op. Petaluma Pastures and Stueve  have them too.

Mark D,

I eat pretty much the same as you. I find it extremely difficult to grocery shop at "regular" stores anymore. I make a concerted effort to avoid every chemical I possibly can- not just in foods, either. Shampoo, soap, laundry detergent, etc. It's the only way for me, and I don't see myself going back.

In regards to salads, though, I only put olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil on it- no vinegars at all in my diet as well. I am all about keeping the acids out of my body and getting closer to pH.

So, anyhow....main staples I always have is olive oil, finely ground sea salt, whole five peppercorn grinder, and basil.

Also, I live on Qia Superfoods Hot Oatmeal Superseeds & Grains and organic blueberries for breakfast each day- have a constant supply of both.

The one acid I struggle to give up is coffee. We buy locally roasted and hand grind it and press it each day. Found a pea milk creamer called Ripple (unsweetened) that is delicious.

I like mixing Black pepper with white pepper and red pepper, as they each have a slightly different type of heat, that come on at different times, and form a great blend when they work together, forming a long and pleasant burn with random sweating when used liberally.  

(All peppers matter!)  

I never use black pepper, only white and occasional crushed red pepper flakes. I don't like the sharpness of black pepper at all.

Yes, Noodler!

Judit, I know what you're saying. I use a mix of peppercorns- such a great flavor.

Turkey Enchiladas, great way to reuse thanksgiving leftovers in a heaping pile of bubbly goodness!!!  (Been making for 35 years now) 

Omg! That looks awesome.

 I would love to join you for that right now, Noodler, it looks so gooey and warm.

Ended up with the leftover enchiladas, and gravy, so just combined into a sort of soggy tortilla soup that was really good!  

Fresh chives fucking rule. Put them on everything except dessert. 

freshly ground black pepper, please.

 

lotta salt addicts on this site, and half of them don't even know it

Just the tips?

i made a killer chicken soup last night

chicken breast diced

broth

4 eggs

onion

garilc

basil 

lemon zest 

parmesan cheese 

Salt addict. I bet you don't even know it??

>>>lotta salt addicts on this site, and half of them don't even know it

by salt addicts do you mean people who actually know how to cook delicious food? im not addicted to salt, im addicted to food that has flavor. despite what the hippies really, really wish, thats where the flavor is. salt and animal fat. sorry.

yeah the salt thing is strange 

who cares if someone likes or doesn't like salt 

weirdos 

My easy, go-to steak marinade: Equal Parts Sriracha and Soyvey.....

Minced parsley is an amazing addition to tons of stuff: mashed, fried or boiled potatoes, rice, omelettes and so much more.

Adding just a little bit of tap water to eggs and then beating them with that little bit of water makes for fluffier scrambled eggs.

 

 

by salt addicts do you mean people who actually know how to cook delicious food?

No. I mean people who have no idea what good food even is because they eat so much processed shit that has so much salt in it that they can't taste it anymore. Eat all the salt you want, when you have a heart attack I'm sure someone will start a vibes thread for you bruh.

I don't think that's the case here. Bring out flavor with salt, season with pepper. I start a lot of my dishes with a mirepoix, or some sort of bastardized version.

lol don't you just love the assuming hippie 

 

aww chaco loves me. wanna make me dinner sometime?

I think that some of us, I'm one, never eat any processed foods and haven't in a very long time. Well, unless you mean like dairy products, but not much else that's been made from another product. Shop the outer edges of the store, and all that.

The occasional grind of salt is no big deal and won't cause any of us to have a heart attack. We might have a heart attack, but that won't be the cause. And yes, I hope someone will please start a vibes thread for me if that's what happens.

Do they still make Mrs Dash?

hounder's a hippie? Heybrochacho, check your source.

how does a shit sandwich sound 

 

Sounds too 'lunchy'

Open faced would have been a better choice. Maybe add some pickled beets and turmeric.

I'm sure someone will start a vibes thread for you bruh.

the intent is to provide zoners with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different thread types.

Hippies are usually pre-seasoned,  but often become too salty with age...  marinating is the key to removing some of this excess salt, and of course rinsing any and all birds 

Lol

I combine ground ginger, ground turmeric and ceylon cinnamon in a shaker and plaster that on veg dishes daily.. .

honestly haven't put salt or pepper on anything I've eaten since 7th grade...

and all mustards, garlic and evoo make life better