Cooking For Noobs

[The Anti-Targ]

I tried to Asian-ify Spaghetti All'assassina. Oddly it didn't taste as different as I thought, I used fresh ginger, lemon grass and peanut oil for the frying oil, and msg, with sesame seed oil for the drizzle after plating and chopped green onion for the garnish instead of italian parsley. It was very good, but no where near as different as I hoped. I guess I need more ginger and lemon grass. I thought I used a decent amount for 120g of pasta.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

I love ingredient breakdowns like this.

I mostly use red onions in my daily cooking as the other varieties are more expensive where i live. 

What onions do you mostly use?  And how do you use them? 

 

Edited April 19 by AncalagonTheBlack

[BigFatCoward]

1 hour ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

I love ingredient breakdowns like this.

I mostly use red onions in my daily cooking as the other varieties are more expensive where i live. 

What onions do you mostly use?  And how do you use them? 

 

Yellow onions are much cheaper here. But both are cheap as fuck really. 

[HexMachina]

2 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Yellow onions are much cheaper here. But both are cheap as fuck really. 

yeah I think the price difference is about 5/10p a bag?

I prefer red onions when I'm using them raw, caramelised, or for a specific flavour. If its for a base, garnish or to bulk out a dish when budgets are tight, I use brown

[The Anti-Targ]

12 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

I love ingredient breakdowns like this.

I mostly use red onions in my daily cooking as the other varieties are more expensive where i live. 

What onions do you mostly use?  And how do you use them? 

 

Yellow is the cheapest here, followed by red followed by shallots. I don't know whether I see white onions ever at the store. I vary between shallots and yellow onions in cooking, depending on how fancy I want / need to be. Plus I always hear Uncle Roger over my shoulder saying "onions are shallots for poor people".

Speaking of shallots, making lamb rendang tonight for the daughter-in-law's parents. They are Hindu so can't go with the usual beef. I've made the lamb version a couple of times before. On balance I would say I prefer beef, but the lamb is very good too. Have to scoop off a bit of fat during the cooking process though.

Edited April 20 by The Anti-Targ

[HexMachina]

8 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Yellow is the cheapest here, followed by red followed by shallots. I don't know whether I see white onions ever at the store. I vary between shallots and yellow onions in cooking, depending on how fancy I want / need to be. Plus I always hear Uncle Roger over my shoulder saying "onions are shallots for poor people".

Speaking of shallots, making lamb rendang tonight for the daughter-in-law's parents. They are Hindu so can't go with the usual beef. I've made the lamb version a couple of times before. On balance I would say I prefer beef, but the lamb is very good too. Have to scoop off a bit of fat during the cooking process though.

I'm not great at cooking curries, but my friend's mam (who is first gen Indian and does a lot of traditional cooking) always says that the sign of a good curry is when you see that fat/oil separate from the curry and form a pool on top. Not sure if that's a generally accepted rule but her food is exceptional, so I trust her

[Fragile Bird]

Anyone ever make a dish with rice, pork and apricots? I was reading a murder mystery and one of the characters talked about his dinner. He just said a “chop” slow cooked with rice and apricots. Sounded good.

[Zorral]

52 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

Anyone ever make a dish with rice, pork and apricots?

I have, often, though not generally a chop, but a roast.

Also with lamb, but then I usually do couscous, not rice, and also include raisins, shaved almonds, cinnamon, olives etc. -- Moroccan essentially.

 

Edited April 20 by Zorral

[The Anti-Targ]

19 hours ago, HexMachina said:

I'm not great at cooking curries, but my friend's mam (who is first gen Indian and does a lot of traditional cooking) always says that the sign of a good curry is when you see that fat/oil separate from the curry and form a pool on top. Not sure if that's a generally accepted rule but her food is exceptional, so I trust her

That would be right, fat and water don't mix, and in a slow cooked meat curry, or stew, you want the fat to render from the meat, and when that happens the only place it can go is to float on the top. If your meat is too lean to get an observable amount of rendered fat floating on the top then the meat will be dry after a long slow cook. If the meat is too fatty (which was the case with me buying diced lamb instead of buying a whole cut and dicing and controlling the fat content myself) then scooping off a bit of fat will often be necessary, unfortunately you can lose a bit of flavour that way if to remove too much fat.

[Ser Lany]

My 21 year old wanted to learn more about cooking things other than the "basics" so I have once again signed up for Hello Fresh, and I am walking him through the instructions.

I like it because the recipes are for 2 people, the kits have all the ingredients, so you can try new things without spending a fortune on ingredients you may never use again, and the instructions are fairly easy to follow (plus pretty pictures to help with a lovely presentation)

[BigFatCoward]

7 minutes ago, Ser Lany said:

My 21 year old wanted to learn more about cooking things other than the "basics" so I have once again signed up for Hello Fresh, and I am walking him through the instructions.

I like it because the recipes are for 2 people, the kits have all the ingredients, so you can try new things without spending a fortune on ingredients you may never use again, and the instructions are fairly easy to follow (plus pretty pictures to help with a lovely presentation)

And you keep the recipe cards for the ones that are delish for next time. It's a great way to learn to cook and build up personalised recipe book. 

[The Anti-Targ]

On 4/27/2024 at 4:02 AM, Ser Lany said:

My 21 year old wanted to learn more about cooking things other than the "basics" so I have once again signed up for Hello Fresh, and I am walking him through the instructions.

I like it because the recipes are for 2 people, the kits have all the ingredients, so you can try new things without spending a fortune on ingredients you may never use again, and the instructions are fairly easy to follow (plus pretty pictures to help with a lovely presentation)

I've never used Hello Fresh, but this is one aspect of it that I like. My pantry and fridge are packed with 3/4 full ingredient packages and jars because I want to make something one time and have not got back to making that thing again. To be fair to myself a lot of the things I have a go at are unlikely to ever feature in a Hello Fresh box for you to make, like turnip cakes. So I have little choice but to buy more ingredients than I need. At least the turnip cake recipe called for the use of a whole daikon, so there was no waste there.

[HexMachina]

22 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

I've never used Hello Fresh, but this is one aspect of it that I like. My pantry and fridge are packed with 3/4 full ingredient packages and jars because I want to make something one time and have not got back to making that thing again. To be fair to myself a lot of the things I have a go at are unlikely to ever feature in a Hello Fresh box for you to make, like turnip cakes. So I have little choice but to buy more ingredients than I need. At least the turnip cake recipe called for the use of a whole daikon, so there was no waste there.

I've never seen turnip cakes but they do get some interesting recipes. I also find them convenient but a little price-y, so I only order them when I get a discount code. I found Gousto better quality than Hello Fresh but not by much

[BigFatCoward]

On 4/28/2024 at 12:45 AM, HexMachina said:

I found Gousto better quality than Hello Fresh but not by much

They do an amazing Sri Lankan curry, and it only requires ingredients that you can pretty much use all of so there is no waste (i make multiple portions of everything and freeze it).

in fact just as i type this i've got a craving for it so i'm going to text Mrs BFC and ask her to take a portion out of the freezer before she goes to work. 

Edited Monday at 06:12 AM by BigFatCoward

[The Anti-Targ]

Hmmm, interested to know the unique features of a Sri Lankan curry. In the backwater of the south pacific we barely know the difference between north and south Indian cuisine.

[BigFatCoward]

5 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Hmmm, interested to know the unique features of a Sri Lankan curry. In the backwater of the south pacific we barely know the difference between north and south Indian cuisine.

If ihatecilantro is something you follow, its not for you. 

[HexMachina]

6 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Hmmm, interested to know the unique features of a Sri Lankan curry. In the backwater of the south pacific we barely know the difference between north and south Indian cuisine.

by no means an expert so it may just be the recipes I've used, but in my experience more tomato based, a bit hotter, "redder" (less turmeric)

[AncalagonTheBlack]

30 minutes ago, HexMachina said:

by no means an expert so it may just be the recipes I've used, but in my experience more tomato based, a bit hotter, "redder" (less turmeric)

Traditional Sri Lankan Chicken Curry recipe as taught by Chef Palitha Dewage.

 

No tomatoes I'm afraid 

https://www.kannammacooks.com/srilankan-chicken-curry/

[BigFatCoward]

I find it uses a lot more coconut, the recipe i make uses creamed coconut, which is like a solid block, and probably insanely calorific.  

[The Anti-Targ]

Insanely calorific usually = insanely delicious.