Usmb top chef

[Foxfyre]

USMB TOP CHEF

Some great recipes have been posted all over the board from the Coffee Shop to political threads to international threads to one in a religion thread. With the holidays coming up, this seemed like a good time to initiate a central location to trade recipes, discuss methods and handling of various foods, use of various spices and seasonings, and our culinary expertise (or lack thereof) in general.

So I hope lots of folks will check in and help us out here. I love to cook, I think I'm pretty good at it, but I'm always looking for new ideas, techniques, and recipes.

 

[Foxfyre]

My first question to the culinary experts here. The last time she was home, my daughter was going to prepare a special dish and bought me a nice, heavy duty garlic press that she needed for it. She never did get around to preparing the dish, however, and now I have this great garlic press. All my recipes call for minced or chopped garlic.

What do you primarily use a garlic press for?

 

[strollingbones]

i am a firm believer in kiss....*keep it simple stupid*

you dont need to use 15 ingredients to have a good meal....i will however be putting herbs in under the turkey breast skin.....perhaps with thin slices of lemon....it looks impressive for the most part...i will be using a clay cooker for the turkey breast....

i add pineapple to the sweet potato casserole....cook the sweet potatoes slowly in the oven....that gives them a great flavor...

and my secret ...dried ramps....

i try to dry ramps ever year...last year i was neglectful but lucky to have enough to maybe get thru the winter...a little goes a long way

i use only raw milk and farm fresh eggs....

 

[strollingbones]

garlic presses are just nasty ...too hard to clean....i dont like to use one....i am a garlic smasher

 

[Foxfyre]

i am a firm believer in kiss....*keep it simple stupid*

you dont need to use 15 ingredients to have a good meal....i will however be putting herbs in under the turkey breast skin.....perhaps with thin slices of lemon....it looks impressive for the most part...i will be using a clay cooker for the turkey breast....

i add pineapple to the sweet potato casserole....cook the sweet potatoes slowly in the oven....that gives them a great flavor...

and my secret ...dried ramps....

i try to dry ramps ever year...last year i was neglectful but lucky to have enough to maybe get thru the winter...a little goes a long way

i use only raw milk and farm fresh eggs....

Okay what are dried ramps?

And alas, raw milk and farm fresh eggs are pretty hard to come by in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I agree using simpler ingredients but more care to the method of cooking generally produces the best results. For me anyway.

Still I do like to experiment so am game for new ideas.

 

[strollingbones]

ramps.....wild leeks?

Ramps and Wild Leeks - Recipes and Facts

we have huge festivals based on ramps....you dont wanna eat them alone.....a lot of people go ramp hunting....i refuse to do that...i go ramp digging....i know where ramps are...which surprises everyone for some reason.....

 

[Foxfyre]

Okay, I have one vote for putting my brand new garlic press in my next garage sale. Anybody else have some thoughts on that. It is such an impressive appliance, I'm just itching to use it.

 

[Truthmatters]

Allium tricoccum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Foxfyre]

Ah, okay, we do have wild onion that grow in these parts but you have to pretty well get out of the city to find them.

 

[Truthmatters]

cleaning the garlic press, just soak in hot water while you cook the rest of the meal and use the sprayer ( if you have one on your sink) on it.

They work fine.

I smash and dice garlic by hand but I worked in a resturant as a teen and learned how to chop shit with ease way back then.

 

[Foxfyre]

For sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving next week I am entertaining a relatively small group (for us) and it is sufficiently comfortable and accommodating to be able to experiment a bit. So I am contemplating trying my first ever sweet potato souffle. Any tips for that to avoid the normal catastophes one runs into with souffles?

 

[Valerie]

Use a garlic press for any and every thing with garlic.


Pampered Chef makes a good one that is easy to clean.

You can use it to press ginger too!

 

[Sunshine]

My daughter's turkey is the best! She cooks it in a cooking bag breast side down with a bottle of champagne in it. Then when it's done she takes it out of the bag and browns it under the broiler.

I don't make pumpkin pie because I got sick on it once. I much prefer sweet potato pie and have a wonderful recipe. I'll look it up in a bit.

But my rum cake recipe and my barbeque sauce recipes are secrets!

I have a wonderful silk chocolate pie recipe, but it calls for raw eggs, and I no longer trust the eggs we get to be safe, so I haven't made it for years.

If you want to purchase a wonderful cheesecake Junior's Cheesecakes in New York are the best, IMO, especially the lemon coconut! http://www.juniorscheesecake.com/

 

[Foxfyre]

Use a garlic press for any and every thing with garlic.


Pampered Chef makes a good one that is easy to clean.

You can use it to press ginger too!

But like I said, all my recipes call for chopped or minced garlic. So you would use pressed garlic instead? How do you calculate how much? Wouldn't the pressed juice be a lot more potent in smaller quantities than the clove garlic?

 

[Valerie]

Use a garlic press for any and every thing with garlic.


Pampered Chef makes a good one that is easy to clean.

You can use it to press ginger too!

But like I said, all my recipes call for chopped or minced garlic. So you would use pressed garlic instead? How do you calculate how much? Wouldn't the pressed juice be a lot more potent in smaller quantities than the clove garlic?

You just put as much garlic as you would normally use and by the clove just crush it thru the press. You could still choose to strain it if you prefer but I don't bother.

 

[Foxfyre]

My daughter's turkey is the best! She cooks it in a cooking bag breast side down with a bottle of champagne in it. Then when it's done she takes it out of the bag and browns it under the broiler.

I don't make pumpkin pie because I got sick on it once. I much prefer sweet potato pie and have a wonderful recipe. I'll look it up in a bit.

But my rum cake recipe and my barbeque sauce recipes are secrets!

I have a wonderful silk chocolate pie recipe, but it calls for raw eggs, and I no longer trust the eggs we get to be safe, so I haven't made it for years.

If you want to purchase a wonderful cheesecake Junior's Cheesecakes in New York are the best, IMO, especially the lemon coconut! Junior's Most Fabulous Cheesecake and Desserts

Okay, Sunshine, cough up the recipe for the sweet potato pie. Please?

 

[Sunshine]

My daughter's turkey is the best! She cooks it in a cooking bag breast side down with a bottle of champagne in it. Then when it's done she takes it out of the bag and browns it under the broiler.

I don't make pumpkin pie because I got sick on it once. I much prefer sweet potato pie and have a wonderful recipe. I'll look it up in a bit.

But my rum cake recipe and my barbeque sauce recipes are secrets!

I have a wonderful silk chocolate pie recipe, but it calls for raw eggs, and I no longer trust the eggs we get to be safe, so I haven't made it for years.

If you want to purchase a wonderful cheesecake Junior's Cheesecakes in New York are the best, IMO, especially the lemon coconut! Junior's Most Fabulous Cheesecake and Desserts

Okay, Sunshine, cough up the recipe for the sweet potato pie. Please?

Before the day is over. Promise. I'ts upstairs!

 

[Si modo]

i am a firm believer in kiss....*keep it simple stupid*

you dont need to use 15 ingredients to have a good meal....i will however be putting herbs in under the turkey breast skin.....perhaps with thin slices of lemon....it looks impressive for the most part...i will be using a clay cooker for the turkey breast....

i add pineapple to the sweet potato casserole....cook the sweet potatoes slowly in the oven....that gives them a great flavor...

and my secret ...dried ramps....

i try to dry ramps ever year...last year i was neglectful but lucky to have enough to maybe get thru the winter...a little goes a long way

i use only raw milk and farm fresh eggs....

Okay what are dried ramps?

And alas, raw milk and farm fresh eggs are pretty hard to come by in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I agree using simpler ingredients but more care to the method of cooking generally produces the best results. For me anyway.

Still I do like to experiment so am game for new ideas.

Something I experimented with was popping rice.

I discovered that I couldn't do it with Uncle Ben's brown or white. But, I can with wild rice. Popped it just like you would popcorn, only I used olive oil.

Then, make some sort of risotto and top it with some crunchy popped wild rice, and it's a great mixture of textures - gooey risotto and crunchy (and nutty) popped wild rice. Looks pretty good, too.

Just a cool idea, I think. I've also added some of the popped rice to vegetables for more crunch, too.

 

[Foxfyre]

i am a firm believer in kiss....*keep it simple stupid*

you dont need to use 15 ingredients to have a good meal....i will however be putting herbs in under the turkey breast skin.....perhaps with thin slices of lemon....it looks impressive for the most part...i will be using a clay cooker for the turkey breast....

i add pineapple to the sweet potato casserole....cook the sweet potatoes slowly in the oven....that gives them a great flavor...

and my secret ...dried ramps....

i try to dry ramps ever year...last year i was neglectful but lucky to have enough to maybe get thru the winter...a little goes a long way

i use only raw milk and farm fresh eggs....

Okay what are dried ramps?

And alas, raw milk and farm fresh eggs are pretty hard to come by in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I agree using simpler ingredients but more care to the method of cooking generally produces the best results. For me anyway.

Still I do like to experiment so am game for new ideas.

Something I experimented with was popping rice.

I discovered that I couldn't do it with Uncle Ben's brown or white. But, I can with wild rice. Popped it just like you would popcorn, only I used olive oil.

Then, make some sort of risotto and top it with some crunchy popped wild rice, and it's a great mixture of textures - gooey risotto and crunchy (and nutty) popped wild rice. Looks pretty good, too.

Just a cool idea, I think. I've also added some of the popped rice to vegetables for more crunch, too.

I can see why white rice wouldn't work but I wonder if brown rice would work if you don't have any wild rice?

 

[Si modo]

Okay what are dried ramps?

And alas, raw milk and farm fresh eggs are pretty hard to come by in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I agree using simpler ingredients but more care to the method of cooking generally produces the best results. For me anyway.

Still I do like to experiment so am game for new ideas.

Something I experimented with was popping rice.

I discovered that I couldn't do it with Uncle Ben's brown or white. But, I can with wild rice. Popped it just like you would popcorn, only I used olive oil.

Then, make some sort of risotto and top it with some crunchy popped wild rice, and it's a great mixture of textures - gooey risotto and crunchy (and nutty) popped wild rice. Looks pretty good, too.

Just a cool idea, I think. I've also added some of the popped rice to vegetables for more crunch, too.

I can see why white rice wouldn't work but I wonder if brown rice would work if you don't have any wild rice?

I thought it would because it still has a bit of a shell on it. But I couldn't make it happen in hot olive oil.