the Old Granny thread

[Grey]

I recently attempted to make knäckebröd, and only with some recipes from online, it turned out rather well I suppose (I've never had it before so I can't compare it to any other knäckebröd), rather like a cracker I suppose. I've eaten it all so I have no pictures for the thread, however the recipe I used is:

1 1/3 cups rye flour, (I used white flour which is where I suspect I messed up)
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup milk.

Directions

Combine flour, sugar and salt in mixing bowl with the butter as well.
Gradually add the milk with a spoon or pulse until you have a stiff dough. (I personally recommend mixing together with your hands though)
On a lightly floured board roll out as thin as you can. (I used wax paper which worked well too, but I still had a sticking problem, even with flour)
Cut dough into strips about 2"x3" and punch lots of small holes in each.
Bake at 300 on lightly greased pan until lightly browned- about 10 minutes.
Cool on wire rack then store at room temperature.

I honestly don't know why I was told to cool on a wire rack, but I did thread some wire through my bread and let it cool that way.
10 minutes didn't seem to cook it completely, but maybe that's only because it was my first time and I probably didn't get the dough thin enough.

[Radius Solis]

Not my own recipe, but tonight I made these sweet corn pancakes, and dear mother of god are they awesome. I should have doubled the recipe, or at least one and a halfed it; as given, it makes enough for two.

[Daistallia]

Crock Pot beans and rice

1/2 pound small red bean (Frijoles Rojos Pequenos)
4 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 handful chili's (use what you like - jalapeños for milder on up to habaneros), chopped
3 stalks celery, cut
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 15oz. can whole tomatoes (or crushed)
salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, cumin, basil, oregano, hot sauce, and cinnamon to taste
1/4 pound sausage (preferably) andouille, cut in 1/2-1/4 inch chunks (optional)
cooked rice

Soak beans overnight.
Wash beans and cover with water in a crockpot.
Brown the bacon in a skillet.
Add the onions, chilis, and celery and cook about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook a few more minutes.
Put all that in the crock pot.
Add the tomotoes, crushing as you go, and spices.
Cook on high for 4 hours.
Check and add water if needed.
Take 3-4 spoonfulls of beans from the pot, mash them up, and return to pot to thicken things up.
Turn crock pot to low.
Cook for 3 more hours.
Add sausage.
Cook 1 more hour.
Serve over rice.

[Guitarplayer II]

I made carrot stew again because the weather outside feels like you need something savoury that keeps you warm. If you click the picture you get to the recipe I posted earlier in this thread.

[Pthagnar]

delicious lumps of beige

[Guitarplayer II]

Thanks for the compliment, Pthag.

[Gulliver]

We don't try to disguise meat as vegetables, so why on earth do vegetarians think it's a good idea to disguise tofu as meat?

You mean you've never had a turnip of venison? Lawks, kids today, eh?

Also, disguising is the wrong word. And tofu is not a good example. Tempeh makes good fake "tuna". Seitan makes good "chicken". And so on. Vegetarians need protein too, so they might as well eat them in tasty form. Tofu is the most easily available and the one most people have heard of. If I started talking about seitan, hefu, tempeh or nooch or other vegan staples, no one would know what I'm talking about.

Also again, taste and ethics have little to do with each other. You can think something is delicious, but be put off because of where it came from. It's like sleeping with someone who looks like your hot sister, rather than sleeping with your sister yourself.

[linguoboy]

Tofu is the most easily available and the one most people have heard of. If I started talking about seitan, hefu, tempeh or nooch or other vegan staples, no one would know what I'm talking about.

I think you underestimate your audience.

Tempeh has always left me cold. Seitan is more interesting, though I wish people would stop trying to make "burgers" of it. It's most successful mocking duck, though I prefer it as is in a simple stir-fry. Tofu is best when fried; among soy products, I favour yuba (a.k.a. beancurd skin).

When it gets closer to Chinese New Year, I'll post my recipe for Arhat's Delight. It uses yuba and fried tofu along with about a dozen different kinds of vegetables, fresh and dried. (The dried oysters are optional, though I do like the richness they bring.)

[Gulliver]

Tempeh is tricky. It's either lovely or horrible, there is no middle ground. You need to make sure it stays moist, or you end up with sawdust.

For those who don't know, it's an Indonesian fermented soy mass. Basically, it's mouldy soybean. But then, yoghurt, cheese and booze are all fermented things and all awesome in their own way.

[Io]

Could you guys share some good sauce recipes? Mushroom sauce or something else that goes well with fried/roasted meats.

[Gulliver]

Roast a handful of mushrooms in a bread tin or something, as this makes the flavours kind of come out more. This makes them awesome.

Basic mushroom gravy: diced roast mushrooms, the mushroom stock (liquid that collects in the tin - concentrated mushroom juice), diced onion, a teaspoon of stock powder and some wine (red or white depending on what you want). Cornflour or arrowroot are good thickeners. Remember to add liquid to starch, not starch to liquid unless you like lumps.

White mushroomy sauce: fry diced (red) onion, garlic, plenty of black (or white) pepper and diced mushrooms until cooked, then add a tablespoon of flour and stir in to form a roux. Add milk/cream a little at a time stirring constantly. Pour over chicken/Quorn/seitan and serve with asparagus or something.

[Christopher Schröder]

A really easy way to make gravy —

Melt a stick of butter and mix it into half a cup of flour (this is a 1:1 ratio of flour/butter).
Heat 3 cans (43.5 oz/1233g) of appropriate broth (mixed with pan drippings as desired).
When broth is hot, add the butter/flour mixture (make sure it isn't lumpy before you add it) and cook thoroughly.
Season to taste.

Makes quite a lot.

[Gulliver]

It is doesn't contain more alcohol than I do, it ain't gravy.

Oh, and a dash of soy sauce is good in all things gravy. I forgot to add that.

[Nortaneous]

Soy sauce? Really? I could see Worcestershire sauce working well in gravy, but I never would've expected that. Shows how much I know, I guess.

ffffffff now I want to make something with worcestershire sauce but I have nothing here that I can put it on. not even bread for a sandwich. adsfdas;kfkldalskdfjfsdak

[Gulliver]

Yeah, it's just a nice savoury umami saltiness. It add "depth", is all.

[Radius Solis]

Could you guys share some good sauce recipes? Mushroom sauce or something else that goes well with fried/roasted meats.

Gulliver's and Christoph's recipes are both based on the same principle, one that underlies a thousand kinds of sauce: heated liquid will thicken if it has some starch in it and a little fat. The most common approach is to start with a roux: melt a little butter or other fat in a pan (I use olive oil, works just as well) and mix in an equal amount of starch - wheat flour, cornstarch, masa, whatever - until the roux is smooth and bubbling, then stir in liquid. This can be water or meat stock or juice or milk or diluted wine or anything else, depending what kind of sauce you want to make. Or any combination of these. Seasonings are then mixed in, as desired, or dry seasonings can be added with the original flour. Keep cooking and stirring until it comes just to a boil, and if you need to adjust the thickness you can add more water or else more starch (always mix starch with a little cold water before adding it, or you get lumps, as Gulliver warned).

This basic technique is so easy, useful, and versatile that some version of it happens in my kitchen several times a week, and results in all kinds of sauces that may or may not have established names or recipes. Some basic ones:

Gravy - use meat stock as the liquid, or a comparable situation such as Gulliver's mushroom gravy.
Chili sauce - at the core, it's chili powder and either water or chicken stock, but commonly cumin and garlic powder are also added, among other possibilities.
Cream sauce - use milk as the main liquid, and you can add real cream to improve it. Season as desired.
Cheese sauce - cream sauce, but at the end when it's thick, stir in a meltable cheese like grated cheddar or parmesan. This is the basis of Mac & Cheese.
Cashew sauce - grind up some cashews into fine powder with a mortar and pestle, and mix them into the roux before adding stock and a dash of soy sauce.
Etc. etc. etc.

[Christopher Schröder]

A cheese sauce like that which would go in a macaroni cheese is also very good on chicken with a light breading, now that I think on it.

I never had much success making gravy the way the recipes say to do it, and so instead substituted beef broth for milk in the recipe I use to make cheese sauce.

Also, spaghetti sauce (this makes a ton) —

1.75 lbs. ground beef of whatever leanness you like (the supermarket where I shop doesn't label it)
1 lb. mild country pork sausage
4 small/8 large cans tomato sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato paste
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced.
Basil
Oregano
Italian seasoning
Bay leaves
Marjoram
Sugar
Olive oil

Soften the yellow onion and minced garlic in olive oil and brown the ground beef with it, seasoning it with the Italian seasoning.

In a separate pan, begin cooking the sausage, seasoning it with basil.

When both meats are brown, add them together in the pan in which the beef was browned and cook together, seasoning more as desired.

Add together the various canned tomato products alongside the chopped sweet onion in a large pot, and then spoon the browned meats and onion into it, leaving as much of the grease behind as possible.

Season with basil, oregano, bay leaves, and marjoram (I generally put enough of each in to cover the top, and then add more to taste) and add a dollop or two of olive oil, or else it will taste a bit off. If the sauce is too tart, add a spoonful of sugar to take the edge off it.

Cook for as long as your patience allows or until you need to serve it, whichever comes first.

Serve over whatever pasta strikes your fancy — I prefer penne, but just about anything will work.

[Dewrad]

You can also make sauces without a roux quite simply: if you've fried or roasted meat, there should be some caramelised deposits left on the base of the pan when you remove the meat. Pour in a small amount of liquid, such as wine, brandy or stock and stir over a moderate heat to recuperate these deposits, and then simmer the liquid down until it reduces to a thicker consistency. This basic technique is how a jus is made in restaurants: it can be tarted up in various ways: you could add fines herbes before reducing, a squirt of tomato paste, or try swirling in some chilled butter at the end for a glossier end product. Alternately, before deglazing, you could fry a mirepoix in a combination of butter and groundnut oil to add a greater body (you'd need to strain the sauce afterwards).

[Gulliver]

In reference to thickeners, be aware that not all thickeners are equal. Arrowroot is more gelatinous than cornflour, and goes clear.

If you want some serious business thickeners, xantham gum is "instant sludge - just add water", but is very useful in gluten-free baking as it compensates for the stickiness that gluten has. I find it dampens flavours in some dishes. It's also a potent laxative if taken in more than small amounts.

Irish moss is a strong and mighty thickener for when you want gravy you can cut with a knife or vegetarian jell[y/o] type things.

[vampireshark]

My family's own spaghetti sauce (with meatballs!) recipe:

about 5-6 cups tomato sauce (approx. 1.2 litres)
2-3 lbs (1-1.5 kg) good quality hamburger/mince
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 onion, preferably a sweet onion
about 1/2 cup (125 g) bread crumbs
1 egg
lots of garlic
fresh herbs (recommended: rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano)
red wine to taste (I recommend a good quality merlot or Malbec wine)
about 1 lb. good quality, Italian-style sausage (500 g), already cooked
8 oz./250 g mushrooms

Meatballs
Preheat oven to about 350°F (180°C).
Finely chop up half of each of the red and green peppers, about half of the mushrooms, half the onion, and a desired quantity of garlic. Chop up a good amount of the herbs (save the rosemary) and throw all of the vegetables into a bowl. Add the hamburger, the egg, and the breadcrumbs and mix well.
Form balls using the mixture, place them on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for about 30 minutes until reasonably cooked through.

The Sauce
Add tomato sauce to a large pot. Chop up the rest of the vegetables (though not as much onion, and not a lot of garlic) less finely and throw them into the pot. Butcher the sausage appropriately and throw it in. Add more chopped herbs (especially rosemary) to the sauce, pour in a desired amount of red wine, stir, and begin heating over low heat (if, that is, the meatballs are not yet finished). If the meatballs are ready, add them to the sauce, increase the temperature, and cook the sauce until it boils. Reduce heat and then simmer for about two hours, stirring every fifteen minutes or so.

Serve over desired pasta and enjoy.

Makes a large amount.

[finlay]

No idea if I've posted this before but might as well do it again since jmcd asked for it.

Easy peasy vegetarian/vegan curry recipe, serves 2:
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and diced very small
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2-3 chillies, chopped and seeded (more if you're feeling up to it!)
1 can (400g) chopped tomatoes in juice
1 can (240g) chickpeas, drained
Optional further ingredients:
cream (about 2/3 tbsp) or coconut cream (you can buy this dried and whack it in; use this to make it vegan. don't use a whole packet)
1 heaped tbsp sugar or honey (takes the edge off stronger chillies)
lemon juice of about half a lemon
tamarind paste (you tend to buy the tamarind as a block; dissolve some it in a small bowl of water and chuck away the seeds and extra bits. you can do it with your fingers and it's quite fun)
one or two handfuls of spinach
fresh coriander (cilantro to americans?) to garnish
Spices (rough amounts here, I usually just estimate when I'm cooking it):
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp ground coriander
½-1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp chilli powder/paprika/cayenne pepper
½ tbsp salt

Fry the onion and pepper in a pan (in either oil or ghee – remember of course that it tastes nicer if you use more fat here, but it'll be less healthy) for about 4-5 min then add the ginger, chillies and garlic. When the onion starts to go golden, add the tomatoes and the chickpeas. Now add the spice mixture until the sauce thickens up (I dunno how this fits with the way Dewrad was telling us about sauces just now, but it works). Add the optional ingredients and let it simmer for a while so that the flavours mix (I'm never quite sure how long it should take, but I let it go for about 10 minutes usually). Add spinach a few minutes before it's finished because it doesn't take long to go soggy (the chickpeas might not need that long to cook either, but I haven't tested this). Add the coriander as a garnish.

Serve with rice, which should take roughly the same amount of time to cook (or slightly less), and/or naan bread or other typical indian food extra bits.

One key principle is to only add things that'll explicitly augment the flavour, anyway. You can also use a variety of other stuff instead of chickpeas – chicken works well, for instance, as do potatoes. I've never done it with potatoes, however, and if you want to do it with chicken you're meant to marinade it for a couple of hours beforehand or something so it soaks up the flavour better. However, I've just chopped it up beforehand and fried it with the onion and pepper and it's worked fine.

[jmcd]

Thanks! Now I know what do with the tamarind I have.

[Risla]

I made the Ali Nazik recipe on page 6 last night, minus the bell pepper, and it was quite excellent.

[Radius Solis]

I seem to be on a Greek food kick right now. Last night was chicken souvlaki with tzatziki and a salata on the side, tonight it's gonna be beef stifado which I've never tried making at home before. Wish me luck!


--

Edit: I got the stifado pretty much right. It was very good! If I make it again I will add a little more salt and probably more tomato paste, and use either shallots or yellow pearl onions instead of the white ones I used this time. Tomorrow: gyros.

[Count Iblis]

Could you guys share some good sauce recipes? Mushroom sauce or something else that goes well with fried/roasted meats.

I recently discovered a butter rum sauce (you can use bourbon instead of rum and it's good too).

1/2 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons rum

Mix dry ingrediants in a saucepan and then add water. Cook on a medium heat and add butter and rum while stirring. Remove from heat when it thickens.

It was originally designed as a dessert sauce (with twice as much brown sugar as above), but it works really well as a dipping sauce for pork.