Cooking

[jimmyjoe]

4 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

I think cast iron is still the best for most cooking.

 

   Yup. The kids have been gone for 20 years, but when they were home my wife baked bread in cast-iron bread pans. That crust was the absolute best. Naturally, I stole the heel ......   ?   

 

  

43 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

almost every part of the pig but the squeal.

 

   Like rendering fat for lard, and then lard and oak ashes for lye soap. Two more uses for cast iron.    jj

[Catt]

26 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

I was able to make a homemade pecan pie at Thanksgiving. It was the first one I ever made, and turned out good. It's always been my favourite pie

 

Only way to make Pecan Pie  ?

[DitchPanda]

I'm the one in charge of the grilled and smoked meats getting made at my house. Inside the house I make a solid smashburger and my chili ain't to bad either. Also I can make a few staples like spaghetti or even something simple but easy to ruin like a pan seared chicken breast with lemon butter sauce and roasted asparagus. Plus I'm in charge of the fish frying which is done in a cast iron pan my mom gave me which looks to be a million years old. Too be honest I've always liked cooking so because of that I got kinda good at it. Well decent anyways. My specialty is my take on carnitas. It's a long drawn out process that requires breaking down a Boston butt,frying then braising then broiling the pieces and reducing the braising liquid. Takes me 4 or 5 hours to get to the end result. But I have been told by multiple friends or family members that it's the best taco they have ever had.

 

 

[lo n slo]

8 hours ago, slonezp said:

I grill all the time. The key to grilling is low and slow...ain't that right @lo n slo ?

indeed 

[Catt]

[Oregon Native]

14 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

I do all the cooking at my house. My specialties are sauces,  fried, grilled and BBQ. 

Tonight we are having seafood linguine in white sauce. The wine is a light Chardonnay,

"Butter".  Highlights include real butter, cream and medium shrimp. The parmensan is

freshly grated, bulk block. Italian garlic bread and a small avocado/ tomato/ olive salad. 

 

And for desert!!

[Mobasser]

57 minutes ago, Catt said:

Catt, my wife's family owned a small cafe for 30yrs. About 2 or 3 yrs before they closed, they hired a woman from.Louisiana to cook. She made gumbo, and it became popular with folks around here. Lots of people came in just for the gumbo. That, and fried chicken dinners on Sun afternoon. Folks came for fried chicken after church. She talked my mother in law into serving hot boiled shrimp on Friday nights, and the place was packed. Most places around here only serve deep fried shrimp, but I still think hot boiled shrimp is the best. Hot boiled , spiced shrimp and dirty rice is a treat around these parts.

[Armtx77]

10 hours ago, Catt said:

 

In Louisiana you ain't considered a cook if you don't own cast iron!

 

 

Couple crawfish tails? 

 

Who you feeding with just a couple crawfish tails? 

 

That's simply cruel! ?

That sauce is made with 2 cups of finely chopped tails...jeesh;)

 

 

10 hours ago, Mobasser said:

Catt, I think cast iron is still the best for most cooking. I have a small collection of skillets, pot, and a Dutch oven. It retains the heat, when it reaches the right temperature.  When I cook at home, that's mostly what I use.

Cast iron is a great way to go. Just keep in mind that men don't need as much Iron in our diets as we get over the age of 50...just something to think about.

[Catt]

23 minutes ago, Armtx77 said:

That sauce is made with 2 cups of finely chopped tails...jeesh;)

 

 

More better  ?

[NYWayfarer]

My Mom is a fantastic cook and so is my wife. I can cook but there are people around me that do it better.
 

My Mom taught me how to cook things she said every bachelor should know before l left home. Sauce, meatloaf, a whole chicken. The rest I picked up on my own. She is a pinch and dash cook. Her meals, while awesome, never taste the same twice. I measure everything because of this. Keeps the taste consistent. 

 

I cook a few times a week as my wife and son are very picky eaters. I can count the things they like to eat on one hand minus some fingers. When I want something they don’t eat I make it myself.

[slonezp]

36 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

My Mom is a fantastic cook and so is my wife. I can cook but there are people around me that do it better.
 

My Mom taught me how to cook things she said every bachelor should know before l left home. Sauce, meatloaf, a whole chicken. The rest I picked up on my own. She is a pinch and dash cook. Her meals, while awesome, never taste the same twice. I measure everything because of this. Keeps the taste consistent. 

 

I cook a few times a week as my wife and son are very picky eaters. I can count the things they like to eat on one hand minus some fingers. When I want something they don’t eat I make it myself.

Sauce?

[N Florida Mike]

I enjoy frying fish, probably because I enjoy EATING fried fish . My whole family are filet eaters only. I’ll eat em fileted or with the bones. 

My wife cooks everything well.

Actually , nearly everyone in my family cooks. Nobody going hungry ‘round here!!!

 

[Bird]

On 5/20/2020 at 9:12 PM, Armtx77 said:

Cheese gritts with two poached eggs and a crawfish sauce...a couple of crawfiah tails too.

That looks fantastic, chef worthy. 

[roadwarrior]

8 hours ago, Bird said:

That looks fantastic, chef worthy. 

[NYWayfarer]

9 hours ago, slonezp said:

Sauce?

My Mom’s Irish so it’s tomato “sauce” my Dad’s Italian. His side of the family calls it “gravy”  
 

Gravy to me is brown and goes on meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

 

 

[Armtx77]

2 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

My Mom’s Irish so it’s tomato “sauce” my Dad’s Italian. His side of the family calls it “gravy”  
 

Gravy to me is brown and goes on meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

 

 

Yeah, I didn't understand "sauce" until I moved to NOLA in 2005. It can be any color really and there are different ways to get to a "sauce".

 

Here in NOLA, it goes by sauce,gravy,marinara and it is almost always rue based...equal part flour and oil with onion/bell pepper/celery(trinity)sweated into the rue once a color is achieved through heat and mixing the oil and flour.

 

My crawfish sauce is an orange/red color. I add one 8oz can of tomato sauce to my rue, before I had the crawfish stock and finish with the finely chopped crawfish tails.

 

You learn to make a rue and than add Trinity. After that, sauce making gets real easy. 

 

Food is a common thread for us all. It slows us down, brings us together and fills not only our belly, but our souls.

 

Eat well my friends.

 

[slonezp]

3 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

My Mom’s Irish so it’s tomato “sauce” my Dad’s Italian. His side of the family calls it “gravy”  
 

Gravy to me is brown and goes on meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

 

 

I'm Italian and we call it gravy.

[NYWayfarer]

13 minutes ago, slonezp said:

I'm Italian and we call it gravy.

I figured when you asked the question.

 

Sauce, gravy, call it whatever you want as long as it's delicious. My Irish Mom makes better sauce, gravy than my Italian grandmother did but then my grandmother made better potatoes than my Mom, go figure.

[TnRiver46]

On 5/22/2020 at 11:34 AM, slonezp said:

I'm Italian and we call it gravy.

My Italian neighbor had a wildlife issue that I solved and she kept wanting to pay me. After I refused a couple times, she said “I’ll let you know next time I get a gravy going.” Oh my word I believe it was ziti that she brought over but I foundered on it for 3 days 

[slonezp]

4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

My Italian neighbor had a wildlife issue that I solved and she kept wanting to pay me. After I refused a couple times, she said “I’ll let you know next time I get a gravy going.” Oh my word I believe it was ziti that she brought over but I foundered on it for 3 days 

It's difficult for me to eat Italian out. I compare everything to a family gravy recipe that has been handed down for generations from the old country.

[N Florida Mike]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

My Italian neighbor had a wildlife issue that I solved and she kept wanting to pay me. After I refused a couple times, she said “I’ll let you know next time I get a gravy going.” Oh my word I believe it was ziti that she brought over but I foundered on it for 3 days 

I had an italian nieghbor when I was growing up. Now I loved 95% of what my mom ( from NC) put on the table, including her spaghetti and meatballs. But Mrs Barbera’s were the best Ive ever had in my life.

 

[CrankFate]

My wife does not cook. I do all the cooking. My Grandmother (RIP) always said I had “French tastes” when it comes to food. According to my family history and the ancestry DNA results for me and several relatives, my grandfather was really French, not Italian like my grandfather. Obviously, my grandmother must’ve known that all along.

[JoePhish]

My dad was from Italy and he always called it sauce. Pretty sure all my cousins in Italy call it sauce too. Look on any Italian restaurant menu and it's called sauce. 

 

Anyhow, back to the original topic....  I'm a former restaurateur and personal chef. My biggest influence was my mother (Italian, says sauce) whose family owned restaurant as well.  My specialty is Italian but I dabble in almost anything.  Besides being known for a kick butt SAUCE people love my meatballs, lasagna, pasta dishes and countless others dishes. 

 

Something I've been toying with for the last couple of years is growing exotic hot peppers from seed and making hot sauce with them.  Last year I made 2 different types, Sugar Rush Peach and Brazilian Starfish. I like how both turned out. The Brazilian Starfish is a well balanced traditional red hot sauce while the Sugar Rush Peach is hotter but also has a sweetness to it.  I added Lemon Drop Peppers this year. Can't wait to start harvesting those.

 

There was a time when I did almost all of the cooking in my household but recently my and my wife's career paths have changed. So now she does almost all of the cooking and does a good job at it.   Her specialties are southern comfort foods and Tex-Mex style dishes. She comes from a restaurant family too as her mother owned and operated a cafe for over 30 years.

 

 

 

[halochef]

On 5/20/2020 at 7:00 AM, Mobasser said:

I read a couple of good books over the winter. Historical books about the trail drives and cow camps of the old west. It's pretty amazing to think about a crew of 10 or 12 men, driving a herd of 2 to 3000 rowdy longhorn cattle from Texas north to Kansas and beyond, with a lot of hardships along the way. One of the consistent topics in these books was the cook. The cook was the main man at all times, and the most respected man on the long trail drives. He had a tough job. After each meal, he had to ride ahead, find a place with water, and fuel for the cooking fire, set up, and have a hot meal ready for the hands. Many of the cooks gained a reputation as grouchy, cantankerous guys. A good cook was always in big demand, and his pay was only second to the trail boss. It's been that way forever. A skilled cook is respected, regardless of what type of food he makes. From the recent thread on ribs and bar b que, I know we have many members who are good at this style of cooking. I consider myself a decent cook, and most of the best stuff I can cook is basic American food. The number one thing in cooking anything is heat control, and it takes some time and practice to get good. There's no doubt that cooking is a skill. Can you cook? Do you cook for your family? What are some of the special dishes that you make, that everyone likes?

you asked.  i am a executive chef.  worked in country clubs for 30 years.  i can cook on the grill-the saute station-the broiler-pastry-pantry.  working in country clubs a chef sees the same people all the time so one has to be very creative and deverse.  can not feature the same foods as a special the same.  a regular menu is ok,  but it has to b versatile.  and we're not even talking about parties from 10 people to 400 people.  steaks-chicken-fish-Prime Ribs- etc.  use to have golf outings on mondays and the buffers in the summer were rib eye steaks cooked on the gas grill along w/ fish-chicken-ribs-pasta-and veggies.  lets not forget  mothers day and easter and thanksgivings.  and the seafood buffet once a month.  and i cook the meals at home also.  today french toast and sausage patties.  some one mentioned sauces... i make them also  and a  real good "Glace de viande".  3 days to make!

[Rpratt]

I over the last couple of years have been cooking outside with cast iron quite a bit. There is just me nothing going outside, starting a fire and cooking either over it or with coals with the cast iron. You get that feeling that the original poster was trying to convey of a small sampling of what the wagon train cooks did day in and day out. 

 

The guy I have been learning from is Kent Rollins. He still works for cowboys on the ranches and still uses the chuck wagons. You can follow him on YouTube. He has beat Bobby Flay twice, and is a hoot to watch.