Chuck(G)
25k Member
Our vet is of the opinion that onions (in moderation) are fine.
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So who cooks?
- Thread starter Chuck(G)
- Start date
Our vet is of the opinion that onions (in moderation) are fine.
I've fed my dog onions lots of times. Not intentionally, but it still happens. If the internet can be believed, onions cause anemia (too few blood cells) in quantity. So I think its best avoided.
strollin
Experienced Member
I can cook well enough that I wouldn't starve if I was on my own but don't particularly enjoy it. That said, I did our turkey for dinner today. I used an oil less turkey fryer, probably the easiest way to cook a turkey ever. I put the turkey in the fryer, turned on the propane, clicked the igniter and walked away. A few hours later I pulled the turkey out done. I used to deep fry our turkey but that's much more work.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Turkey today was dry-brined under the skin (started Tuesday), with a mixture of soy, molasses, sesame oil and liquid smoke injected under the skin and finished with an apricot glaze. It's the first year that I've wrapped the wings in foil during cooking.
I can recommend dry-brining. I've water-brined turkeys for years, but the meat, while moist, comes out a little spongy. The dry rub seems to cure that and the turkey is as moist as ever.
Pumpkin pie for dessert is always pumpkin chiffon. People seem to appreciate the lighter treatment at the end of a big meal.
I can recommend dry-brining. I've water-brined turkeys for years, but the meat, while moist, comes out a little spongy. The dry rub seems to cure that and the turkey is as moist as ever.
Pumpkin pie for dessert is always pumpkin chiffon. People seem to appreciate the lighter treatment at the end of a big meal.
deathshadow
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,378
I did my usual spread, but I started way ahead of time as I dropped a frozen 17 pound brick into brine SATURDAY NIGHT and allowed it to thaw in the fridge that way. My brine mix is as follows:
half gallon water
1 gallon cheap orange juice (cheaper the better oddly enough)
1 cup kosher salt
1 8oz bottle onion powder
4 tablespoons crushed peppercorns
The way to avoid the spongyness chuck(g) mentions is to up the heat to 350F and to cook it covered the ENTIRE time. (unlike the 325 every cookbook says). At 350F a 16-18 pounder comes out just right at the five and a half hour mark.. Do not crack the lid and do NOT baste it. AVOID the temptation to pull the lid before that five and a half hours is up. The citric acid from the OJ helps break down the connective tissues during the long brine, and any orange flavor cooks clear off during the long cook... The acids and salts really do their magic given a full five days during the defrost, resulting in a crisp dark skin, moist inside, and none of the issues that simple water/salt brines seem to have.
I also line the bottom of the pan with peeled cut carrots -- which soaks up most of the schmaltz resulting in some of the tastiest (if a bit salty) carrots you'll ever had... I used about 3 pounds of carrots this time out (two large bags) since this time I had more guests than usual coming. (hence the 18 pounder). Even with 6 people and sending everyone home with doggie bags, I've still got three pounds of meat, about a half gallon of mashed potato and just under a quart of carrots in the fridge...
Homemade apple and pumpkin pie went in the oven right after the turkey came out too! :D
Fun times.
Generally it's a lot less of a headache if you spread out the work ahead of time... Like last night I cut up the potatoes to soak in a brine made with two tablespoons kosher salt and a teaspoon of sugar. An overnight soak of the cut/peeled spuds (Russets are king, everything else is bland swill) in that mixture kick-starts the process of turning those starches into sugars, resulting in a very light and fluffy mash... though I did Paula Dean it at the finish and drop a whole stick of butter into it after draining most (but not all) the water off. All I had to do today was toss it on the stove on medium an hour before the turkey was done.
Likewise I did the stuffing last night -- which leaving that in the fridge overnight stiffens it up making it easier to pack into the bird than when you make it fresh... I broke from Kosher this year on the stuffing by dumping about a half pound of cubed ham and cheddar cheese into the mix along with the usual onion/celery. I like a fairly plain stuffing, but the ham went over really big with my guests... Figured it would come out well as I'm known for making a mean Ham DiVan. (I'm a BAD Jew...) I almost threw some broccoli in it, but decided the wiser. This morning at 8:30 AM all I had to do was turn the oven on, drain the bird, dump the carrots in the pan, pull the stuffing out of the fridge, stuff, put the rack in over the carrots, drop the bird on the rack, put the lid on the pot, toss it in, then go back to bed... Leaving it be. 12:30 in the afternoon pull the potatoes out of the fridge, set the heat... and do nothing until 2 when everything is done perfect. Drain, mash, move the bird off the carrots, gravy, serve.
Though I'm big on planning and organizing before doing anything... in case you couldn't tell.
half gallon water
1 gallon cheap orange juice (cheaper the better oddly enough)
1 cup kosher salt
1 8oz bottle onion powder
4 tablespoons crushed peppercorns
The way to avoid the spongyness chuck(g) mentions is to up the heat to 350F and to cook it covered the ENTIRE time. (unlike the 325 every cookbook says). At 350F a 16-18 pounder comes out just right at the five and a half hour mark.. Do not crack the lid and do NOT baste it. AVOID the temptation to pull the lid before that five and a half hours is up. The citric acid from the OJ helps break down the connective tissues during the long brine, and any orange flavor cooks clear off during the long cook... The acids and salts really do their magic given a full five days during the defrost, resulting in a crisp dark skin, moist inside, and none of the issues that simple water/salt brines seem to have.
I also line the bottom of the pan with peeled cut carrots -- which soaks up most of the schmaltz resulting in some of the tastiest (if a bit salty) carrots you'll ever had... I used about 3 pounds of carrots this time out (two large bags) since this time I had more guests than usual coming. (hence the 18 pounder). Even with 6 people and sending everyone home with doggie bags, I've still got three pounds of meat, about a half gallon of mashed potato and just under a quart of carrots in the fridge...
Homemade apple and pumpkin pie went in the oven right after the turkey came out too! :D
Fun times.
Generally it's a lot less of a headache if you spread out the work ahead of time... Like last night I cut up the potatoes to soak in a brine made with two tablespoons kosher salt and a teaspoon of sugar. An overnight soak of the cut/peeled spuds (Russets are king, everything else is bland swill) in that mixture kick-starts the process of turning those starches into sugars, resulting in a very light and fluffy mash... though I did Paula Dean it at the finish and drop a whole stick of butter into it after draining most (but not all) the water off. All I had to do today was toss it on the stove on medium an hour before the turkey was done.
Likewise I did the stuffing last night -- which leaving that in the fridge overnight stiffens it up making it easier to pack into the bird than when you make it fresh... I broke from Kosher this year on the stuffing by dumping about a half pound of cubed ham and cheddar cheese into the mix along with the usual onion/celery. I like a fairly plain stuffing, but the ham went over really big with my guests... Figured it would come out well as I'm known for making a mean Ham DiVan. (I'm a BAD Jew...) I almost threw some broccoli in it, but decided the wiser. This morning at 8:30 AM all I had to do was turn the oven on, drain the bird, dump the carrots in the pan, pull the stuffing out of the fridge, stuff, put the rack in over the carrots, drop the bird on the rack, put the lid on the pot, toss it in, then go back to bed... Leaving it be. 12:30 in the afternoon pull the potatoes out of the fridge, set the heat... and do nothing until 2 when everything is done perfect. Drain, mash, move the bird off the carrots, gravy, serve.
Though I'm big on planning and organizing before doing anything... in case you couldn't tell.
deathshadow
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,378
Oh, and I make Pizza too... (pics from about a year ago)
I use crushed tomato for the sauce... I prefer cooking on parchment paper to using corn-meal.
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Always flour up good.
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Good dough is hard to find; mostly because you MUST use 000 grain flour... Normal all purpose flour SUCKS for pizza dough.
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Not pictured I dock the dough with a fork -- that's means making a pattern of irregular holes in the dough so you don't get one of those giant bubbles in it.
Little trick, finely dice red bell peppers and put onto the sauce BEFORE the cheese.
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EXTRA sharp Vermont Cheddar goes down as the first cheese layer. Grate it yourself, the stuff pre-shredded isn't even cheese in my book.
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Also don't mess around on the mozzerella -- WHOLE MILK mozzerella, anything else will NOT give you a real pizza. I also dust lightly with black pepper at this point.
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Halfway done at 475F...
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Final result -- who needs to order out.
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I use crushed tomato for the sauce... I prefer cooking on parchment paper to using corn-meal.
Click for Larger
Always flour up good.
Click for Larger
Good dough is hard to find; mostly because you MUST use 000 grain flour... Normal all purpose flour SUCKS for pizza dough.
Click for Larger
Not pictured I dock the dough with a fork -- that's means making a pattern of irregular holes in the dough so you don't get one of those giant bubbles in it.
Little trick, finely dice red bell peppers and put onto the sauce BEFORE the cheese.
Click for Larger
EXTRA sharp Vermont Cheddar goes down as the first cheese layer. Grate it yourself, the stuff pre-shredded isn't even cheese in my book.
Click for Larger
Also don't mess around on the mozzerella -- WHOLE MILK mozzerella, anything else will NOT give you a real pizza. I also dust lightly with black pepper at this point.
Click for Larger
Halfway done at 475F...
Click for Larger
Final result -- who needs to order out.
Click for Larger
Tor
Veteran Member
I cook too, to some extent. And music too. So maybe those things do go well with programming, as the OP said..
I don't generally follow recipes either. On the other hand - I and a bunch of colleagues were recently at a restaurant session where you make all the dishes yourself, with ingredients, recipes and support from a chef. Great success. We asked the chef afterwards how well we did.. "quite good", he said, "you were actually able to follow the recipes without missing anything". Well, of course.. we didn't call them recipes, we called them "specifications", and we're familiar with those things!
I don't generally follow recipes either. On the other hand - I and a bunch of colleagues were recently at a restaurant session where you make all the dishes yourself, with ingredients, recipes and support from a chef. Great success. We asked the chef afterwards how well we did.. "quite good", he said, "you were actually able to follow the recipes without missing anything". Well, of course.. we didn't call them recipes, we called them "specifications", and we're familiar with those things!
carlsson
Veteran Member
Tor: I'm sure you finished in time too, because you're used to deadlines?
As for chocolate covered surströmming (fermented herring) as Chuck(G) suggested, I would not touch it with a stick neither before or after any chocolate covering. I'm all for Swedish meatballs etc, but my line is crossed long before the herring comes into play. That said, in a few minutes I'll having lunch: calamari with fried, sliced zucchini & mushrooms in barbeque tomato sauce. If this will be my last post on the forum, you know why.
As for chocolate covered surströmming (fermented herring) as Chuck(G) suggested, I would not touch it with a stick neither before or after any chocolate covering. I'm all for Swedish meatballs etc, but my line is crossed long before the herring comes into play. That said, in a few minutes I'll having lunch: calamari with fried, sliced zucchini & mushrooms in barbeque tomato sauce. If this will be my last post on the forum, you know why.
Tor
Veteran Member
Absolutely right!Tor: I'm sure you finished in time too, because you're used to deadlines?
I still have vivid memories from around 1980, when I, as a young man, was in Sweden for a bicycle competition. We were all given accommodation in a military camp, for some reason.. and in the canteen they served surströmming, the most disgusting sight,smell&texture imaginable (even taking into account some Norwegian "specials" too). The local guys doing their military service looked strangely at us when we all dumped the rubbish and went to find something edible. They all seemed to like it, for some reason.
Around here there's a station at the local museum where you can get the mushrooms you picked from the woods checked out before you go home and eat them..
-Tor
Ole Juul
Veteran Member
I cook and always have. I can't stand up so much as I used to so there is some limitation, but me and my sweetie basically take turns. Mostly she does the meat and I do everything else. However I'm the one that does all the spices - including the meat. Cooking is something which evolves over the years, particularly since I don't suffer recipes easily, and at this point when we do a roast, it is done in the slow cooker and I generally pour balsamic vinegar over it and then cover it with a number of complimentary spices. Cook it nice and slow and you can eat it with a spoon. And, the vinegar and spices makes a nice broth for the world's best gravy - that would be mine, that is.
As for strong flavours, I have a craving for Japanese natto. I acquired that taste when I was married to a Japanese woman who always did the cooking and it was all traditional. Those were good years! Now I live in hilbilly land and nobody has heard of natto and I'm sure if they did they wouldn't touch it because you can't get drunk on it and you can't smoke it. hehe Yes it's very slimy but with Dijon mustard it's certainly very tasty.
As for strong flavours, I have a craving for Japanese natto. I acquired that taste when I was married to a Japanese woman who always did the cooking and it was all traditional. Those were good years! Now I live in hilbilly land and nobody has heard of natto and I'm sure if they did they wouldn't touch it because you can't get drunk on it and you can't smoke it. hehe Yes it's very slimy but with Dijon mustard it's certainly very tasty.
Tor
Veteran Member
Ah, natto.. I've never tasted it, but I saw pictures in a 'review' of some pre-packed natto. One comment was about the 'best before' date that was printed on the package. The comment said "What could _possibly_ happen to the product after that date that hasn't happened to it _already_?"
-Tor
-Tor
Chuck(G)
25k Member
We have a sizable Scandinavian population in the area. Once a year, one of the small towns goes crazy for their Scandinavian festival; arts, dancing, music--and food. I like the sweet foods, but can't stomach lutefisk. Why eat the slimy stuff when one can get fresh salmon any day of the year?
Stone
10k Member
I'm with you, Chuck. I've always cooked and I guess I always will. But I had the day off yesterday as we spent it at the cousins'.
Speaking of 19th century, I just dug up this 1861 book transcription I've had forever. It's called "YOUNG'S DEMONSTRATIVE TRANSLATION OF SCIENTIFIC SECRETS" and it's got about five hundred various, (some) interesting recipes, formulae, sayings and whatnot in it. I'll post it in a new thread for those who might be interested.
I'm with you on this except I start with a Boboli and save 90% of the prep time!
I've been using them for years and if you use the right ingredients (like you do) they come out as good as any NY pizza parlor can make. I know 'cause they have great pizza here in Joisey. I can't agree more! My neighbor had us over a coupla years ago for a slow-cooked chuck roast. It was so good that I went out and got a crockpot the very next day. In fact I have what's left over of one of those slow cooked chucks in the fridge right now that I made a few days ago. Now that summer's done it can't be beat.I cook and always have. I can't stand up so much as I used to so there is some limitation, but me and my sweetie basically take turns. Mostly she does the meat and I do everything else. However I'm the one that does all the spices - including the meat. Cooking is something which evolves over the years, particularly since I don't suffer recipes easily, and at this point when we do a roast, it is done in the slow cooker and I generally pour balsamic vinegar over it and then cover it with a number of complimentary spices. Cook it nice and slow and you can eat it with a spoon. And, the vinegar and spices makes a nice broth for the world's best gravy - that would be mine, that is.
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Lorne
Veteran Member
This is the first chance I've had to get online since yesterday (well not really, I was golfing today), but having glanced at the replies, I've got to ask; when the hell did you guys who were supposed to be doing all the cooking, have time to get online and reply?
Were you guys that were replying to the OP just presenting Spam and Ketchup for Thanksgiving dinner?
I was up early, and started with the meal right away (not bad for a Canuck/Yank who doesn't really celebrate the American Thanksgiving anyway).
I was in bed by 9 pm, and I was exhausted.
I do the cooking here - I always do, as there's no female here - I left her in Canada (she couldn't cook for crap, but thought she could).
I cook better than most women I've met, and someone told me way back when, that 95% of the Cordon Bleu chefs in the world are men, not women. I belive it too.
I'm the same as some of the posts: modify any recipe you come along to suit your tastes (ie: experiment), and if you don't know what a teaspoon or tablespoon of anything looks like, then you're better off just eating canned food.
Were you guys that were replying to the OP just presenting Spam and Ketchup for Thanksgiving dinner?
I was up early, and started with the meal right away (not bad for a Canuck/Yank who doesn't really celebrate the American Thanksgiving anyway).
I was in bed by 9 pm, and I was exhausted.
I do the cooking here - I always do, as there's no female here - I left her in Canada (she couldn't cook for crap, but thought she could).
I cook better than most women I've met, and someone told me way back when, that 95% of the Cordon Bleu chefs in the world are men, not women. I belive it too.
I'm the same as some of the posts: modify any recipe you come along to suit your tastes (ie: experiment), and if you don't know what a teaspoon or tablespoon of anything looks like, then you're better off just eating canned food.
DOS lives on!!
Veteran Member
I slipped an Ipad under the table.:D:D
We had to fix the full Thanksgiving dinner, since I don't like spam.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
The computer's not far from the kitchen and I get an early (8 AM) start. There are lots of little 5 and 10 minute intervals where nothing much is happening. Heck, before the guests start showing at 5 PM, I get a chance to grab a shower and shave. Otherwise, I'd probably spend the lapses between tasks drinking....
T-day dinner is the first meal of the day for me.
Lorne
Veteran Member
Hey, it was for me too.
Other than the wine, mind you - you can't cook without a glass of wine - even if you aren't using the wine in anything you're cooking.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
I did save some time by getting my wife to go and pick mushrooms for the gravy and dressing. Wild mushrooms are little later this year, so the quality is still pretty high and she came back with some real beauties.
deathshadow
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2011
- Messages
- 1,378
Uhm... during the 3 to 4 hours where the only thing you can do is sit around with your thumb up your backside waiting for the turkey to cook? I know for me I wasn't having guests arrive until 1pm which is when everything else was to go down and start cooking, and the turkey went in at 8:30 am...
... and since my guests much like myself weren't drunk retards, we broke up the get-together around 7pm?
... gotta watch it there, don't want to hijack the thread into being a tolerance lecture.
Maverick1978
Veteran Member
I cook often, and well... Single guy, and with a mother who had twin sons and no daughters, she ensured that we both knew how to cook an clean. Being Italian, I needed no help in learning how to eat, however! Of course, 8th grade Home Ec showed me that of the 19 girls in our 30-person class, only one could actually cook: the teacher!
I can cook anything if given a recipe... I can cook nearly anything without a recipe so long as I've had it a few times to accurately figure out what goes in it.. Like most of you, I tend to cook by "feel" and am able to replicate my recipes almost exactly without need for measuring. In fact, the only time you'll ever catch me measuring is when I'm baking cookies, cakes, or breads.
Normally on Thanksgiving/Christmas/birthdays, my brother and I (both unmarried) go to Mom's house and usually split the side dishes and desserts, as either mom or dad will usually cook the main course (Dad doesn't really cook - but he's quite adept on the grill and with his home-built smoker). Unfortunately, because of some unusual circumstances this year, we didn't cook Thanksgiving at all, but crashed dinner at my Aunt's house.
While I do alot of traditional meat-and-potatoes southern cooking, I also like to mix in some Italian, Chinese, Cajun, and Mexican. In these areas, I only have 2-3 "good" dishes with alot of "almost rights" mixed in! For Thanksgiving and Christmas, there's two "speciality dishes" that have become musts in my family: pumpkin cheesecake pie (baked in a water-bath to ensure the texture is even and smooth throughout) and something we call 24-hour salad (a layered salad with 4-5 types of greens, sliced mushrooms/red onion/egg/scallions, sweet peas, crumpled bacon, all "sealed in" on the top with a layer of ranch-style dressing made from a dry mix and 50/50 sour cream and mayo. Cover and let sit in the fridge for 12-24 hours, take out, toss, and serve. I'm not sure why, but the longer you let it sit like this, the better the taste becomes. Toss it immediately after building it, and it really loses something (I've tested this many times over the years with co-workers and family... they all concur with my own assessment: let it sit! It's better.)
Oftentimes at Christmas, I'll get my baking hat on and do 8-10 batches of cookies (usually 5-6 types), and those get given as gifts as well as a huge platter piled high for the family dinner (people tend to come over to our house). For these, a large turkey and ham are mainstays, but we've been known to do battered and sweet/hot/deep-fried turkey nuggets, kebobs on the grill, pork loins (typically injected with a lemon-pepper/vinegar marinade and rolled in a dry rub of crushed peppercorns, coarse sea salt, and a tad of brown sugar), venison stew (we've several variations on this - my favorite is crushed peppercorns, worsteshire, chopped/fresh mushrooms and onions, and cream cooked in the crock for about 6 hours)... sometimes we'll pull out the ribeyes and shrimp and grill out... sometimes I'll get a hankering for some of my jambalaya as a side dish (and breakfast/lunch/dinner until it's gone - love that stuff). Incidently, the jambalaya is fast becoming what I'm known for among my friends and at the office. It's relatively easy/quick to make, and feeds quite a few on about a $10 dish.
Thinking about it. It's really too bad that my serving dish just won't hold the ENTIRE jambalaya batch. Always that pesky quart-sized bowl of "leftovers" that ends up sitting in my fridge. Dangit. [/sarcasm]
One of these days, I really wanna try my hand at making home-made Panetone and cannoli.
Of course, 8th grade Home Ec showed me that of the 19 girls in our 30-person class, only one could actually cook: the teacher!I can cook anything if given a recipe... I can cook nearly anything without a recipe so long as I've had it a few times to accurately figure out what goes in it.. Like most of you, I tend to cook by "feel" and am able to replicate my recipes almost exactly without need for measuring. In fact, the only time you'll ever catch me measuring is when I'm baking cookies, cakes, or breads.
Normally on Thanksgiving/Christmas/birthdays, my brother and I (both unmarried) go to Mom's house and usually split the side dishes and desserts, as either mom or dad will usually cook the main course (Dad doesn't really cook - but he's quite adept on the grill and with his home-built smoker). Unfortunately, because of some unusual circumstances this year, we didn't cook Thanksgiving at all, but crashed dinner at my Aunt's house.
While I do alot of traditional meat-and-potatoes southern cooking, I also like to mix in some Italian, Chinese, Cajun, and Mexican. In these areas, I only have 2-3 "good" dishes with alot of "almost rights" mixed in! For Thanksgiving and Christmas, there's two "speciality dishes" that have become musts in my family: pumpkin cheesecake pie (baked in a water-bath to ensure the texture is even and smooth throughout) and something we call 24-hour salad (a layered salad with 4-5 types of greens, sliced mushrooms/red onion/egg/scallions, sweet peas, crumpled bacon, all "sealed in" on the top with a layer of ranch-style dressing made from a dry mix and 50/50 sour cream and mayo. Cover and let sit in the fridge for 12-24 hours, take out, toss, and serve. I'm not sure why, but the longer you let it sit like this, the better the taste becomes. Toss it immediately after building it, and it really loses something (I've tested this many times over the years with co-workers and family... they all concur with my own assessment: let it sit! It's better.)
Oftentimes at Christmas, I'll get my baking hat on and do 8-10 batches of cookies (usually 5-6 types), and those get given as gifts as well as a huge platter piled high for the family dinner (people tend to come over to our house). For these, a large turkey and ham are mainstays, but we've been known to do battered and sweet/hot/deep-fried turkey nuggets, kebobs on the grill, pork loins (typically injected with a lemon-pepper/vinegar marinade and rolled in a dry rub of crushed peppercorns, coarse sea salt, and a tad of brown sugar), venison stew (we've several variations on this - my favorite is crushed peppercorns, worsteshire, chopped/fresh mushrooms and onions, and cream cooked in the crock for about 6 hours)... sometimes we'll pull out the ribeyes and shrimp and grill out... sometimes I'll get a hankering for some of my jambalaya as a side dish (and breakfast/lunch/dinner until it's gone - love that stuff). Incidently, the jambalaya is fast becoming what I'm known for among my friends and at the office. It's relatively easy/quick to make, and feeds quite a few on about a $10 dish.
Thinking about it. It's really too bad that my serving dish just won't hold the ENTIRE jambalaya batch. Always that pesky quart-sized bowl of "leftovers" that ends up sitting in my fridge. Dangit. [/sarcasm]
One of these days, I really wanna try my hand at making home-made Panetone and cannoli.