the Old Granny thread

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Qwynegold
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Qwynegold »

Radius Solis wrote:Is "Thai wok with curry paste" meant to be the name of a specific dish served by some restaurant? Or do you mean Thai food that's made in woks, just generally? I'm not certain exactly what you're asking.

If the latter, the answer is: could be practically anything. Or at least, anything but dairy. Peanut sauce? Fish sauce? Soy sauce? Oyster sauce? Shrimp paste? Sri racha? Some particular chef's marriage of lime to holy basil with a twist of cilantro and just a hint of ginger? I couldn't possibly tell you without knowing more about the context of your question.
Yeah, generally.

Oyster sauce? Sounds like an odd mix of flavors. I did it once with, I don't remember if it was Pad Thai sauce or chicken cashew sauce, but curry paste together with that was awful. I'm just wondering what I could use in a wok together with red curry paste and chicken.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Dewrad »

Qwynegold wrote:
Radius Solis wrote:Is "Thai wok with curry paste" meant to be the name of a specific dish served by some restaurant? Or do you mean Thai food that's made in woks, just generally? I'm not certain exactly what you're asking.

If the latter, the answer is: could be practically anything. Or at least, anything but dairy. Peanut sauce? Fish sauce? Soy sauce? Oyster sauce? Shrimp paste? Sri racha? Some particular chef's marriage of lime to holy basil with a twist of cilantro and just a hint of ginger? I couldn't possibly tell you without knowing more about the context of your question.
Yeah, generally.

Oyster sauce? Sounds like an odd mix of flavors. I did it once with, I don't remember if it was Pad Thai sauce or chicken cashew sauce, but curry paste together with that was awful. I'm just wondering what I could use in a wok together with red curry paste and chicken.
Typically coconut milk? Oh, wait, aside from that. Uh, cream? Frankly, I'll confess to being rather baffled by what you're talking about throughout here. "Thai wok" threw me entirely.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Radius Solis »

The thing with Thai food is that it's so varied.

Out of its classic mainstays, I do not eat seafood or derivations thereof, I cannot abide peanut sauce, and there's only so much coconut I can put up with... but there's still so many other flavors, typically wonderful, that it's one of my favorite cuisines. I do Thai stir-fries and fried rices fairly often. (So it's fortunate I live in the Seattle area, where there are so many Thai restaurants you can swing a cat and hit three.)

Seriously, Qwynegold, just browse the wikipedia article for Thai cuisine. It's reasonably thorough.

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Re: the Old Granny thread

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Salmoneus wrote:
Neon Fox!
Yes?

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Qwynegold »

Radius Solis wrote:The thing with Thai food is that it's so varied.

Out of its classic mainstays, I do not eat seafood or derivations thereof, I cannot abide peanut sauce, and there's only so much coconut I can put up with... but there's still so many other flavors, typically wonderful, that it's one of my favorite cuisines. I do Thai stir-fries and fried rices fairly often. (So it's fortunate I live in the Seattle area, where there are so many Thai restaurants you can swing a cat and hit three.)

Seriously, Qwynegold, just browse the wikipedia article for Thai cuisine. It's reasonably thorough.
I don't know what to choose. *sigh* Maybe I'll just go to the new Thai store and ask. But then I'd have to speak. With people!
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Ars Lande »

I think you're supposed to use coconut milk with Thai curry paste. I don't like coconut paste, so I use yoghurt, or cream, in both case with great results. (Probably not very Thai results, but quite good.)

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Salmoneus »

Neon Fox wrote:
Salmoneus wrote:
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It's just nice to see people who used to be around here but largely aren't anymore. Hope you're doing well.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by vampireshark »

I made and took the aforementioned orange tiramisù into work/school today. It lasted about 1¾ hours, partly because I initially set it down during a slow period and we have about 5 or 6 people in the LCI who don't consume alcohol. But it got glowing reviews, and that made me happy.

Also, truffade was a success as well; recipe will be forthcoming.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

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Ars Lande wrote:I think you're supposed to use coconut milk with Thai curry paste. I don't like coconut paste, so I use yoghurt, or cream, in both case with great results. (Probably not very Thai results, but quite good.)
But I don't like coconut fucking milk. Nor yoghurt or cream.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Gulliver »

Qwynegold wrote:
Ars Lande wrote:I think you're supposed to use coconut milk with Thai curry paste. I don't like coconut paste, so I use yoghurt, or cream, in both case with great results. (Probably not very Thai results, but quite good.)
But I don't like coconut fucking milk. Nor yoghurt or cream.
Then try silken tofu, rice yoghurt, almond cream or another recipe altogether. There's only so much "I don't like it" you can deal with before realism creeps in and you'll have to use another recipe.

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Qwynegold »

Tofu? *barfs*

But I don't even have a recipe. :mrgreen:
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by dunomapuka »

Even if you don't like coconut milk straight up it's probably good IN a curry. Try it. Or almond milk seems like a pretty serviceable substitute though it's a bit thinner.

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by clawgrip »

Qwynegold wrote:Tofu? *barfs*

But I don't even have a recipe. :mrgreen:
Do you actually dislike tofu, or is your negative reaction based on the cliche vegetarian meal with tofu as a poor substitute for meat? I think tofu has a pleasant taste on its own, and when it is used in some other type of food, it usually ends up sucking up most of the flavour of that.

I guess you could say the same thing of zucchini and eggplant though, neither of which I am particularly fond of. But again, I can't hate them either, since they there is so little about them to love or hate.

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Radius Solis »

Tofu doesn't taste like anything but the minerals they use to coagulate it, really. But I can understand disliking that; sometimes absence of flavor makes for a bad flavor. I tend to dislike plain water, for much the same reason - you can't taste it, so instead you only taste the pipes it traveled through to get to you. That or the plastic bottles it was stored in. (Whereas water fresh from a fast mountain stream is wonderfully good in comparison. It's not that there's anything to taste in that, but that's just it - there aren't the chemical residues that supplied water has.)

People may also reasonably object to the texture of tofu. It's got a strange combination of squishiness with elasticity. Personally I like this - it's like it melts in your mouth - but it does have a texture that you don't find in many other foods, so it seems understandable to be put off by that.

Myself, I quite like tofu, if prepared in such a way that there are other flavors for it to soak up. Tofu soup, where I stick cubed tofu in a rich broth to soak overnight before heating and adding some veggies the next morning, was my breakfast three days in a row last week. Add sesame oil and cayenne pepper and sichuan pepper - mmm!

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by clawgrip »

Many coagulants do not affect the taste of tofu, and even when they do, the primary flavour is still the soybean itself.

I like tofu really in any context, including the very plain hiyayakko (cold tofu garnished with green onions, soy sauce, ginger, and bonito flakes). I also like it in other standard tofu dishes, like mapo tofu or in miso soup. I think Japanese atsuage (deep-fried tofu) is great and goes well in soups and other things (though thin aburaage is less appealing, but still works well in things like inarizushi).

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Qwynegold »

dunomapuka wrote:Even if you don't like coconut milk straight up it's probably good IN a curry. Try it. Or almond milk seems like a pretty serviceable substitute though it's a bit thinner.
I have tried different colored curries with coconut milk and chicken or beef. I haven't liked any of them. :/
clawgrip wrote:
Qwynegold wrote:Tofu? *barfs*

But I don't even have a recipe. :mrgreen:
Do you actually dislike tofu, or is your negative reaction based on the cliche vegetarian meal with tofu as a poor substitute for meat? I think tofu has a pleasant taste on its own, and when it is used in some other type of food, it usually ends up sucking up most of the flavour of that.
No, it's probably the worst thing I have ever tasted. It's like dishwater, dirty but yet inorganic.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Radius Solis »

Lime & Coconut Chicken

Vaguely Caribbean; somewhat tart, offset by the sweet coconut. Good for 2-3.

chicken breast, a suitable amount for the number to be fed, which you have pre-cooked (e.g. by boiling) and shredded into bite-size-ish pieces
a red and a yellow bell pepper, and a medium-sized sweet onion, chopped into pieces of similar size to the chicken
jasmine rice, 1 cup dry
juice of two limes
juice of one orange, or else 1/3 cup of whatever tropical fruit juice or blend you happen to have in the fridge (orange/pineapple/guava worked great)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp allspice
1/4 cup minced garlic and ginger in roughly equal proportions
flaked sweetened coconut

Cook rice according to package instructions.

Separately, stir-fry the vegetables on the highest heat you can provide, until edges begin to brown just a bit. Add shredded chicken and cook a minute more until that heats up, then throw in the juice and dry seasonings and stir-fry until little liquid remains.

Immediately before serving, stir in garlic/ginger. Serve over rice, then top with coconut to taste.


Tip: the amount of juice you get out of citrus fruits is significantly improved if you microwave them a few seconds first, until warm to the touch.

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by vampireshark »

Double shot of recipes and shit. Joy.

Truffade à la vampireshark
Auvergnat dish slightly modified for ingredients which can be acquired easily in the US. Serves 2-4.

2¼ lbs/1 kg potatoes
14 oz/400 g tomme de Cantal, grated/shredded
2 oz/60 g butter
2 tlb/30 ml vegetable oil
salt, pepper, etc.

Rince, peel, and cut potatoes into cubes or slices. Heat oil and butter in pan until melted. Add potatoes and begin cooking on medium heat, stirring often, until the potatoes are golden and soft on all sides. While still over heat, add salt and pepper, then begin adding the shredded tomme de Cantal, stirring until the cheese is well-melted. Serve with prosciutto and/or a nice salad.


vampireshark's Mayonnaise/Aïoli
Sure, you can buy ordinary mayonnaise at the grocery store, but the consistency and flavor of the stuff in the US is horrible... making it by hand allows you to make it have a lot more flavor, taste, and happiness. So, for those in the US, this'll let you approximate the taste of yummy French mayo.
This recipe will make about one cup of sauce that should keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

2 large egg yolks, separated from the egg whites
2-4 tlb/30-60 ml Dijon mustard, to taste (for mayonnaise)
4-5 cloves chopped garlic (for aïoli)
2 tlb vinegar or lemon juice
dash salt, pepper, and other spices as desired (I just use salt and pepper)
around 1 cup / 230 ml oil (for mayonnaise, I prefer a neutral oil like sunflower; for aïoli, you really should use olive oil)

Warm the egg yolks to just a little bit below room temperature. Beat them lightly with a wire whisk. Add the vinegar/lemon juice and the flavoring agents (i.e. everything but the oil), then beat well until blended. While beating the sauce, add the oil in a slow, gentle stream until the emulsion begins to form; don't add it too quickly because the emulsion could separate (and that's not fun). Once the emulsion holds, then you can speed up the addition of the oil, but don't add too much! (The 1 cup/230 ml measure is about an upper limit, but you could always add less.)

Store in the refrigerator/a cool place.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Miekko »

Stir Fry from an Unknown Asian Country
This is a recipe that appeared very much as is in my mind one day, and I've laboured, for some reason, under the impression that this might be reminiscent of Japanese cooking. I have since gotten more doubtful about that, but it's not similar to anything I've gotten at a Chinese restaurant. Here goes:
  • Shitake mushrooms that have been marinated in vinegar with black pepper (I usually use http://www.sojusfood.de/product_info.php?products_id=43 ), garlic, bell pepper and some dill; I discard all the spices.
  • Noodles
  • Garlic
  • Ginger, shredded
  • Onions, cut in relatively large bits (1cm * 1cm or even larger)
  • Soy sauce
  • Chick peas
  • Big white peas
(If you start with dried beans and peas, let them soak overnight and cook them.)
Fry the mushrooms in oil with onion. Cook the noodles. Add noodles, chick peas and big white beans to the frying pan when the mushrooms are ready. Season with soy sauce, garlic and sesame seed oil. I imagine fried bits of beef would fit very well too.

If someone knows which particular asian cuisines this would fit in, I am all ears.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Salmoneus »

Not going to give a recipe, since i've never been good with them. But just what i've just had (because I was feeling extravagant, for reasons we won't go into here).

- sirloin steak
- bulgar wheat frumenty
- onions, chillis, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, okra, all sliced
- chips
- a bit of cheese-and-garlic flatbread because I had it left over

The third item cooked slowly for a while, plenty of oil, with some soy sauce and cumin and garlic. Then heated up more, and more oil, for the first item. Some chilli pesto smeared on the steak; also some apple balsamic, chilli-infused olive oil, ground pepper, and crumbled vintage cheddar and feta, and later some excess milk from the frumenty. Some new feta added when cooking was over. Served with red wine, and an interest piece from the chelsea flower show about the uses of grass in herbaceous borders, followed by some of the first X-Men film.

Conclusion: got the steak almost right. Flatbread went surprisingly well, didn't drown everything out, and portion size in the end was excessive, but not enough to spoil the meal. Needed more heat - hadn't used those chillis before, and could have used more of them (or left the seeds in?). Taste throughout, excellent.

Increasingly convinced that red wine is liquid contentment. Don't even particularly like the taste of it (generally have to have it with steak or lamb or the like, and very much more a merlot fan than shiraz or the like. Today was a cheap shiraz that I found that I should have drunk a couple of years ago), but... just... so... happiness-making! [No, it's not just alcohol that does that. Gin, for instance, I find induces cognition in small quantities, fading into melancholia in larger doses. Not something I'd drink if I were feeling down. But red wine, just contentment. And sleepiness...]
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Qwynegold »

Now I've tried red curry paste with cock sauce, but it got burned. >.< I guess you must add the sauce later. And it was hot as fuck. *spits fire*

However, woked chicken with vegetables, cashew nuts, oyster sauce, lemon grass, ginger and chili (pictured below) worked out better. Except it would've needed more lemon grass and ginger. And I was out of fish sauce. :/
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Torco »

I know cookie-fu. these cookies are fugly but they're really good.

quarter kilo of butter
quarter kilo of sugar
half a kilo of integral flour
like a cup of oat flour
like a cup of muesli
like a teaspoon of salt
three eggs

so you take the butter and melt it in the microwave, and then throw it on top of the sugar and salt. then you go ahead and blend it all with a nice machine which performs work on the whole thing, i guess a blender is good too. then you add in the eggs, taking care of integrating each egg into the thing before adding the next egg. then you add the flour and the oat flour. So far soo good. you'd think you need baking powder but you don't. So then you add the muesli and stop performing mechanical work on the mix, so far as it looks like everything's nice and incorporated into everything. Then you put it in the fridge for like an afternoon. It goes in the oven at mid heat for a 25 minutes and BAM, you has cookies! nice oatmeal-butter cookies. its deliciously postmodern, they're healthy oatmeal cookies with a shitload of butter in them, so you're never sure if they're good for you or they're not. either way, they're good.

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by vampireshark »

So, I was bored. And wanted to make a cake. (I think you all know where this is going.)

Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Warning: Do not underestimate the amount of ingredients. You will need a lot of some things, so make sure you have them all in the sufficient quantities before starting the cake.

¾ lb. (~350 g) butter (for those in the US, 3 full sticks)
8 oz. (~230 g) cream cheese
3 cups (~500 g) sugar
1 tsp (~5 ml) vanilla extract
6 eggs
3 cups (~420 g) flour

1.) Grease and flour a Bundt or 10-inch tube pan. Preheat oven to 325°F/165°C.
2.) Soften butter and cream cheese. Cream together with sugar.
3.) Add vanilla, then add eggs, one at a time, beating well after the addition of each egg.
4.) Slowly add in the flour, about ¼ cup/30 g at a time. Blend well until the batter is nice, smooth, and somewhat thick with the consistency of frosting.
5.) Turn batter into pan and bake cake for 75 to 85 minutes.
6.) Remove cake from oven. Cool, then invert from pan.
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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Torco »

cream cheese?
genius!

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Re: the Old Granny thread

Post by Radius Solis »

Summer Stewy Steaks

This has evolved over the last few summers here as campfire food, with the game stepped up a bit. You can also use a grill, as I did tonight. I have not tried it in the oven but I don't see why it wouldn't work. I also don't see why it wouldn't work great with other meats, if you change the gravy type appropriately.

Do not expect to get medium rare - steaks will be fully done. Therefore, do not select an expensive steak. Something in the medium range will do nicely, like ball tip or tri-tip, or you could use this recipe to perk up something cheaper.

per steak:

1 boneless steak
2 - 3 tbsp coarsely chopped onion
2 - 3 tbsp carrot cut into thin rounds
2 cloves garlic, cut into thin rounds
2 red fresno peppers, fresh, cut into thin rounds, OR 2 - 3 tbsp chopped red bell pepper (can substitute any other chili pepper as dictated by availability and your tolerance for spicy food)
1/4 to 1/3 of a packet mix for brown gravy; alternatively, a teaspoon of beef bouillon/stock powder plus two teaspoons of flour

Combine above ingredients in a bowl so the vegetables are mixed and evenly covered in gravy mix powder.

For each steak lay out a sheet of aluminum foil as long as your forearm, or a bit longer if steaks are large. Mentally divide it in half, and place vegetable mixture in a loose pile in the center of one half. Place steak atop pile. Fold foil in half over steak so that edges of top and bottom half are roughly lined up. Then fold all edges inward and crimp tightly, twice or more, to completely seal.

Poke one tiny pinhole in the top with a toothpick or something, so that steam can escape (I've had them pop and spill contents if you don't do this). Put directly into the fire about 20 minutes, or grill until pinhole has been emitting wisps of steam for 3-5 minutes. Don't let packets turn upside down, and take care not to let them rip.

The steak juices pool amongst the vegetables (which take more heat/time to cook, which is why they're on the bottom) and form a soupy gravy with them and the powder, resulting in strongly flavored stewy deliciousness.

To go with it: campfire-baked potatoes are a perfect accompaniment - little work needed, simply wrap in a double layer of foil and throw them into the coals at least 15 minutes before putting the steaks on. You can do the same thing with ears of corn except you don't even need the foil if the husks are whole and unopened, and they take only 10 minutes or until outsides are well blackened.

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