What's cooking?

Tekk

I love chocolate and coffee so my go to pre-workout:  

2 scoops chocolate whey (ON gold standard as well) 

1 cup chocolate almond milk

2 tbs. instant coffee

1 cup of ice

1 banana 

Berenene

Trey said:

Personally I'm a big fan of my go-to protein shake in the morning when I actually eat breakfast.

2 scoops of vanilla whey protein

2 cups of skim milk

1 cup of fruit of your choice  (I usually go with frozen triple-berry mix)

1/2 a banana (sometimes I eschew the cup of fruit and just do a whole banana)

Blend well, drink immediately.

I'm sure you do  /immature double entendre 

Kerria

Mine is not nearly as pretty as anyone elses.

Chili served in a biscuit cup.

I just turned over my cupcake pan and pressed the dough over the cups to form them.

topped with cheese and sourcream. (don't mind the foreman grill in the background, that was from lunch...)

Ourania

Kerria said:

Mine is not nearly as pretty as anyone elses.

Chili served in a biscuit cup.

I just turned over my cupcake pan and pressed the dough over the cups to form them.

topped with cheese and sourcream. (don't mind the foreman grill in the background, that was from lunch...)

I would jam these in my face.

Berenene

Ourania said:

Kerria said:

Mine is not nearly as pretty as anyone elses.

Chili served in a biscuit cup.

I just turned over my cupcake pan and pressed the dough over the cups to form them.

topped with cheese and sourcream. (don't mind the foreman grill in the background, that was from lunch...)

I would jam these in my face.

Oh dear god. Just that image...of Achaea's moon goddess...dropping all grace and poise and just ramming platefuls of these into her mouth as quickly as possible...that image just sent me into fits of laughter in the office.

Blujixapug

I made croissants.

I'd never made them before, but I saw them on the internet and it sparked a buttery fire inside me. They were a little ugly, the layers were on the thick side, and you can see on the parchment paper that while they were baking a lot of the butter melted out which apparently is a Poor Sign, but they tasted pretty awesome, and I was really happy that they worked at all on my first try.

Sarapis

Trey said:

Personally I'm a big fan of my go-to protein shake in the morning when I actually eat breakfast.

2 scoops of vanilla whey protein

2 cups of skim milk

1 cup of fruit of your choice  (I usually go with frozen triple-berry mix)

1/2 a banana (sometimes I eschew the cup of fruit and just do a whole banana)

Blend well, drink immediately.

That's very close to my breakfast smoothie. I use:

 * Giant scoop of plain whey protein

 * almond milk

 * half a banana

 * 1/4-1/2 cup berries

 * A few big handfuls of greens (baby kale or spinach are my favorite)

Rispok

Tuscan steak for the Dodgers game.

Kerria

Thing about being slightly tipsy and depressed, is that I think I can bake anything. And usually can...

Banana cream-cheese strawberry bread.

Also must eat it all by myself.

Nellaundra

Made some lemon pepper chicken and brown rice for dinner tonight. First step to eating healthy, and gonna pick up some exercise regimen too. I made enough for my lunch break tomorrow, too

Tharvis

Kerria said:

Thing about being slightly tipsy and depressed, is that I think I can bake anything. And usually can...

Banana cream-cheese strawberry bread.

Also must eat it all by myself.

share? it looks glorious 

Nellaundra

Today's lunch: Wild rice, with pepper, and a rare steak covered in lemon glaze for flavor. I'm okay with this, though it's kinda overkill for a lunch break. It's much better than the fast food crap I'd been eating until recently

Nellaundra

Update: Red meat is too heavy when you're on your feet and moving around for 7~ hours at a time in the blazing sun, holy shit

Berenene

I got a wonderful new mixer for my birthday from my siblings.

So for it's inaugural run, I decided to make something I've never made before.

Mini Lemon Meringue Pies...well, they're so adorably small, they're really Lemon Meringue Tarts, but moving on.

All the needed items ready to go.  The only thing I didn't make myself was the pastry, as I'd never made these before, I didn't want to go to the trouble of making pastry I might not use.

Preparing for the blind bake

Fun fact: I've never blind baked before either

Shells baked and filling ready to be spooned in.

Whizzing up the meringue. The mixer works wonderfully!

Filled and ready to be topped!

Topped and ready for the oven!

All baked!

And because presentation counts, all plated up!

Now all I need to know if I succeeded is if @Ourania‌ would jam these into her face. *crosses fingers*

Ourania

I would first scrape off the meringue before jamming fully into my face. I am a huge fan of lemon tarts, which can only be topped by being lime tarts. I don't do meringue, however! (but they do look delicious!)

Kerria

less than traditional shepherds pie.

inside:

1lb ground beef,

1 can diced tomatoes with sauce,

1 zuchini

1 red bellpepper

1/2 bag frozen onion (small white onion)

various herbs of choice 

topside:

mashed potatoes

cheddar cheese

bacon pieces

Melodie

So after finally getting ahold of the right ingredients and getting myself in the right mindset and mood, I decided to make my first homemade pie today.

Now, granted, I didn't make the crust myself - I decided to take it one step at a time here, and my experience with dough in general is little (hoping to change that and start baking bread sometime). So while I bought pre-made dough, I cooked it and made everything else myself: A true-blue southern chocolate pie.

It took me some time to get the dough into place in the (disposable - this is a terrible idea by the way, I really want a glass one now) pie pan, and then I was faced with something I barely had an idea of what to do: crimping the dough. While I did my best, I didn't take a few things into account. While it didn't come out burnt, it was definitely special, and fell apart easily. As I was trying to get it all ready, including folding strips of tin foil over the crust (this is surprisingly harder than it sounds), some of the chocolate filling spilled out, and little things just kept going wrong as I was trying to prepare it. But, with dubious certainty, I put it into the oven and cooked it for the time said, and pulled it out to cool for a few hours. When cutting it at room temp (hint hint, you should fridge this pie, it makes this easier), it fell apart a bit as I worked, frustratingly looking so terrible that I didn't want to take pictures. I put a bit of whipped cream on the piece, looking at it with a frown.

But it was a fucking delicious slice of pie.

The rest is now in the fridge, and I have enough stuff to make at least one, possible two, more pies over the next several days/weeks. Now that I have an idea of what I'm doing, I hope to keep improving and to make it look as good as it tastes. Pictures may follow in time.

But hot damn, that is a great pie! I ate my slice while, of course, watching The Help. It was a good experience.

Recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/minnys-chocolate-pie

Rispok

Belated, but I forgot how easy it was to fry your own taco shells for taco Tuesday.

Yang

So I never made cheesecake before... so I present to you a slice of blackberry cheesecake!

Blujixapug

I baked @Kinilan in effigy.

(He's the one on the lower left.)

I was originally trying to make those pinterest-fodder cookies with the bear hugging the almond. But I don't have a bear-shaped cookie cutter and didn't feel like almonds, so I tried pirates hugging plundered chocolate instead. I guess I rolled the dough too thin, my cookie cutter was too small, and I didn't pay close enough attention, because they ended up overbaked, mouth-lacerating bits of plyboard. I switched to a shortbread recipe for the second go and gave up on the hugging part, and they turned out much better.

Here's the failed first attempt:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Kerria

the gaily dressed pirate is my favourite.

Eld

I'm not sure why I'm still allowed in the kitchen. Many's the weekend morning I'll look around the kitchen, see a few random ingredients and think, "I bet I could combine those into something interesting and tasty and exciting," but then somehow I always end up making a hash of it.


[spoiler]I may or may not have just returned from forums dormancy for the sake of a terrible pun.[/spoiler]

Taraus

Melodie said:

pie crust

2 c. all purpose flour, 1 stick of butter, 1 tsp. salt, (usually) 1/4c ice water. (depending on what you're using the crust for, you can throw in a handful of sugar to sweeten a tad - white, powdered or brown, adjust based on what the filling is. Examples: Apple pie and pecan pie, I leave it alone, no sugar. Pumpkin gets 1/4 c. brown sugar. Lighter, lemon-custar type fillings get powdered, when more of a cookie-crust is desired). I occasionally throw in a teaspoon of vanilla extract for flavouring, but I'm a hardcore butter girl.

Toss dry ingredients together first, and cut butter into small cubes before adding to the flour.

Pastry cutter if by hand (forking will do in a pinch, if you DON'T have one, but be wary over overcutting), food processor is generally the no-fail method of mixing. Add the water in small portions - eyeball it as you go, do NOT overwet. Remember, you can always add more water, it's rather difficult to take it -out-.)

You want a crumbly sort of consistency ("pea-sized balls" is sort of the industry standard of referencing). If using food processor, run only until the whole mess wads up in one big, unwieldy ball.

Do not, whether by hand or by machine, overmix. Yes, the finished product will look slightly unmixed, not at all like your store-bought, pre-made pie crust. Welcome to homemade, we relish the imperfections (they taste better). 

Wrap in cellophane, toss into the fridge for half an hour or so, let the butter firm back up before you roll it out.

Again, do not over-roll!
This leads to tougher, not-so-flaky crust.

For crimping: Fork method is the quickest, easiest way. Leave a 1/4" ring around the outside of the piepan, and just press the fork flat down around the edges.

Better method, the three-finger pinch (prettier, easier, and nets more crust per piece after the fact, so it's win all around): Leave a 1/2" of crust "overhang" all the way around the perimeter of the pan. Roll it -under- all the way around, so you're left with a raised roll of dough all the way around the edge. Use forefinger and middle finger on the outside, thumb centered in the middle of your two fingers on the inside, and pinch your way around the crust.


350-375 degrees, depending on oven, filling, et cetera (Lean towards lower temperatures if you're baking it unfilled first, it will cook longer, yes, but the same risk of burning the edges of the crust doesn't exist. Also, lower down in the oven (third rack as opposed to top rack) will help with that, too.)


Also, get yourself glass pie pans. Aluminum disposable are for amateurs.

** Above recipe yields enough for two pie crusts, either two bottoms, or bottom and top layer for a fruit pie. Because who the fuck ever only makes one pie?

Melodie

Some awesome tips, thank you. I'm going to attempt some homemade crust one of these days. Also yeah, glass pie pan suddenly looking ten times more attractive. I'm going to see about finding one cheap somewhere before attempting pie #2. Also need whipped cream because... whoops we kinda ate it with other stuff.

Eld

Oh god now I want pie. Only have bread flour, but I might just have to suck it up...

Eld

Taraus said:

** Above recipe yields enough for two pie crusts, either two bottoms, or bottom and top layer for a fruit pie. Because who the fuck ever only makes one pie?

Apparently, me. One more moral failing on the list to correct, but at least it's more delicious than most of the rest.

Rispok

Taraus said:

Melodie said:

pie crust

More pie crust

I disagree on a few points. I much prefer ceramic to glass, lard to butter, and you didn't even mention using navy beans as a weight if you don't have pie weights, and getting some inexpensive crust covers!

Taraus

Rispok said:

Taraus said:

Melodie said:

pie crust

More pie crust

I prefer the visibility of glass, thanks to a string of testy ovens with fluctuating results, not even gonna touch lard vs. butter (I stand firm, I'm a butter girl ), I didn't suggest any methods of weighing down because the recipe she originally linked gave the tips for that! And pie crust covers, pffft.

I was, however, reminded of another technique for the butter - freezing it and grating it before you start to mix, in the event you wind up needing to use a fork (the  butter already broken down so radically helps in the mixing, to prevent going overboard with it).

Herenicus

The pie, because it is a pie, does not so much “slice” as volcanically erupt under the pressure of the knife, oozing its livid fluid everywhere; your own piece, when it comes, is a miniature apocalypse of broken pastry parts and heat-blitzed fruit. You demur, mumbling about having eaten too much cornbread. Someone’s aging, wild-eyed mother stares you down. “It’s pie,” she says. You are handed a fork. You start to peck at a morsel of fruit. Your plate is promptly whisked away again: Because it’s hot outside, you’re told, you’re supposed to enjoy your dessert “a la mode.” The pie is warm; the ice cream melts at once. You contemplate what now looks like a slice of jammy toast that has been soaked in milk for half a day and masticated by a dog. You work your fork into the only structure still intact, the woody, crenulated crust, beating and twisting this bumper of dough against each leverageable surface on your plate, trying to break it up. Your fork loses a prong. Abandoning all hope, you finally drive your broken-fork-with-giant-crust-piece through the mire of sloppy dough and heft the entire, dripping mass into your mouth. “Mmm,” someone says. “Isn’t it so great to have pie?”

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/assessment/2011/06/pie.html

(edit: I enjoy pie and contrarian food columnists)

Trilliana

Doing something new with chicken. Take chicken, dredge in egg, put in a mix of flour and french's fried onions- cheddar flavor

This stuff:
http://www.frenchs.com/products/french-fried-onions/cheddar-french-fried-onions

bake for 20 minutes at 400(F)


it smells so good!