What's cooking?

Sarapis

Chicken involtini w/ spinach & parmesan, wrapped in bacon. 

Paleo granola

Berenene

I saw something new that I thought I would give a try.

Ice-cream Bread.

Makes One 8 x 4 loaf

2 Cups Ice Cream, any flavor, softened. I used plain vanilla just for testing purposes.

1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour

Preheat your oven to 175.

Spray and flour a 8 x 4 loaf pan, or line it with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl mix the ice cream and flour together until just combined.  As always, sift your flour.

Scoop into the loaf and and smooth out. 

Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the loaf comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it. 

Remove from the pan and allow to cool (if you can wait that long)!

For best results..use full fat ice-cream!

As you can see, I didn't smooth out the mix...mainly because I didn't realise how freaking cold it would be...

But it still came out good, and tasted really nice.

Eld

You didn't realize how cold the ice cream would be?

Berenene

Well, I knew how cold it would be, just not how numb it would make my hands while trying to mix it, or how quick it would do it. I thought I would have more time before the pain from cold set in. I've never really left my hands in ice-cream for extended periods.  Apparently I'm not as manly as I thought.

Krypton

Heard about ice cream bread, but opted not to try making it myself when this baker called it "a waste of two cups of ice cream," hahaha:

Ourania

Hm, a few things.

Lemon birthday cake with lemon frosting for a friend.

Austrian rum truffles

Thai fish thingie

Kyrra

Love Austrian desserts! The perks of being half European is growing up on the most delicious of treats. (And getting to open Christmas pressies on the 24th).

Berenene

Kyrra said:

Love Austrian desserts! The perks of being half European is growing up on the most delicious of treats. (And getting to open Christmas pressies on the 24th).

This

Trilliana

She's creepy in her video, but my husband and I have been making this (albeit with a lot of meat left over, in which we either do a double batch or I use it for spetti and meatballs)

Wysteria

Twa pau!! Gah I missed this so much back in Malaysia!

Kyriella

Sometimes it's the little things... I made pancakes this morning for me and the boy, and they were tasty! Not fancy, not difficult, but it was nice to start the day feeling kind of badass.

Trilliana

Truffles. That is all.

Berenene

Every year for christmas, before she passed away last year, my nonna would make these:

They're called pignolata or struffoli depending on what region you come from.  I've decided I'm going to try my hand at making them so I can get the hang of them and then make one at christmas this year in honor/memory of her.

Sybilla

I haven't had struffoli in years, damn you nostalgia!

Did you have chiacchiere at Carnevale? 

Berenene

Sybilla said:

I haven't had struffoli in years, damn you nostalgia!

Did you have chiacchiere at Carnevale? 

We called them crostoli, and nonna used to make them all the time. Like all the time.

And then there's the crispelle!

Trilliana

http://islandvittles.com/2011/03/14/irish-guinness-soda-bread/

Tania

Veggie sushi!

Sushi rice is easy! Mix together rice vinegar, salt, and white sugar until the two are melted (heat helps this), mix into your hot cooked rice, let it cool, and then assemble using whatever ingredients you like. I used carrot, cucumber, and avocado. Mmm, delicious!

Amunet

It's that time of the week again. Two days before payday. There isn't anything in the house to eat, and no money to rectify that problem until Friday. I was in the mood for something potato-y, so I decided to make what my sister's friend once termed "lazy-ass latkes" - potato pancakes made out of instant mashed potatoes. Not the healthiest thing in the world, but beggars can't be choosers. 

Now, I would have been perfectly happy with a few potato cakes topped with sour cream, but the significant other hates sour cream, and we are out of ketchup. The significant other is a picky eater at the best of times, so I had to get a little fancy. I decided to forsake my desire for pseudo-Eastern European, and go Southern, instead.

I mixed up the instant mashed potatoes, and seasoned them with sea salt, ground black pepper, the last of my fresh scallions, and a dash of cayenne. I formed them into a roughly pancake-esque shape, and fried them in a pan full of butter. Aesthetically, they were turning out all right. I turned my attention to the sauce while they continued to cook. Since I was channeling my inner-Paula Deen, I decided to attempt a country gravy.

No one ever told me that gravy thickens as it simmers.

My experience with gravy is limited. I will eat it at restaurants, and I may venture to make it on high holidays, but by "make it", I mean I stick the pre-mixed gravy that came with my mock-turkey into the microwave for about a minute and a half. I have never made gravy from scratch before tonight. The recipe seemed easy enough - flour, salt, pepper, milk. How could I possibly screw that up? 

I put the ingredients together in a saucepan. It looked woefully runny, so I added more flour. And more flour. And more flour. About a full cup of flour, in all, to two cups of milk. Finally, I thought to stir the concoction. It was then that I realized my mistake.

There is no real way to fix such a fuck-up. The sauce pan was not big enough to hold more milk, and even if it could , we did not have enough potato pancakes over which to pour such a ridiculous quantity of gravy. Starving, and more than a little frustrated, I gave up. We ate it as it was. 

The first few bites weren't too bad. It was a little awkward, texturally, like eating pancake batter on top of hash browns, but the flavour wasn't terrible. It seemed bland, if anything, and I wondered idly where all of my seasonings had gone. Figuring that the gravy, having the consistency of cement, was likely masking all else, I shrugged my shoulders and tenaciously took a third bite.

Oh. That was where the cayenne was.

It felt as though I had raked my tongue over a very hot burner. A hot burner that had been lightly sprinkled with scallions and butter. The flaming, mealy concoction struggled down my throat, scorching everything in its path before it hit my stomach with the force of a meteor. There it sat, bulky and uncomfortable, still smouldering vindictively as I gulped glass after glass of water in a futile attempt to rinse the taste of hellfire from my mouth. Somewhere out there, Paula Deen was cackling with malice. 

Needless to say, we threw the rest of the food out. It has been an hour since that last bite, and I am still lying on the bed praying for death. I remember, now, why I rarely eat food like this - and why, when I do, I leave its preparation up to the professionals. 

Images of the disaster. "Lazy-ass latkes":

"Gravy":

"Gravy", again. This shit will haunt my nightmares:

Anaidiana

gravy cheat: Get a small glass jar with lid (think old jelly or jam jar). Fill jar about halfway with warm water. Add 2tbs flour. SHAKE until homogenized. Warm water aside, this -will- take longer than you think. If you get tired, hand jar off to significant other. 

Achievement unlocked! You've just made a roux!

If making chicken or turkey gravy, put roux and desired amount meat juice into saucepan. Simmer on low heat (you really don't want to burn the flour) and stir stir stir. The starch will cook and thicken. 

PROTIP: there's a thing called 'gravy master'. Find it in the spice aisle of the grocery store and add a tiny dollop to your almost-thickened gravy. It will make your toppinga nice dark brown colour AND SEASON IT FOR YOU  - (and too much salt is bad juju anyway). 

voila!

Berenene

Another tip, dairy is better to remove the "hot" feeling from your mouth, as the chemical that causes the sensation does not bond all that well with water.  Try milk or yogurt.  Bread works well too.

Aleda

Edit: Photo fail, because I can't seem to put images in here correctly. Darn. 

Blujixapug

Stuffed dates.

Slice 10-12 dates halfway open lengthways and remove the seeds, so they are like little pockets.
Chop 1/3 cup pistachios (or pulse in a food processor).
Mix 1 tbsp marmalade into the pistachios.
Scoop ~1/2 tsp of the pistachio mixture into each date. Bam, done.

Triple chocolate Oreo fudge fudge brownies.

Make fudge brownies.
Process a packet of Oreos in a food processor until they are crumbs. Add a tub of cream cheese. Process it until combined. Smear the resulting Oreo fudge all over your brownies. Use your hands because it is too thick to spread with a knife or spatula.
Melt 1/3-1/2 cup of chocolate in the microwave. Drizzle or spread over the top of the Oreo fudge. Chill for 5 minutes until the chocolate is mostly but not completely set hard.
Cut.
Eat.

Amunet

We were nearly out of milk at that point, @Berenene, and I do try to avoid it when I can. I'm lactose intolerant, and the only reason I was using it to cook is because I ran out of almond milk three days ago.

In better news, I finally got around to clearing out my spice cabinet and setting up my spice rack (a gift from my wonderful mother - she upgraded and gave me her old one). I need a few more of these things, as I still have a ton of spices left, but the spices I use most often are now close at hand, and there is now a nice little hole in that disaster of a cupboard so my agave nectar no longer has to sit forlornly on my counter. 

I plan on doing better labels at some point in the future, but right now, I just wanted to have them identified before I mix cayenne where paprika ought to be. 

Berenene

That rack is awesome.  I don't have anything like that

Re the lactose thing: That does make it harder.

Amunet

One avocado, pseudo-diced

A little more than one handful of chickpeas (probably the contents of one fifteen-ounce can; I use dried, so I can't be sure.)

A handful and a half, give or take, of chopped scallions

A few pinches of fresh parsley

A handful of grated parmesan 

Salt and pepper to taste

A few squirts of lime juice

A drizzle of olive oil

Toss it. Eat. Add more vegetables, if you have them - there is a serious dearth of produce in my refrigerator at the moment. The last time I made this, I had fresh baby spinach, grated carrots, and kalamata olives, too. 

I probably didn't need to put in an entire avocado, but I wanted to use it before it went bad. This could probably be mashed up and eaten as damn good sandwich spread...but I'm out of bread.

Eld

More avocado is always justified.

Amunet

My favourite culinary vegetables, in alphabetical order: artichokes, asparagus, avocado, Brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, kale, mung bean sprouts, olives (all of them. Not just one kind. All of them.), radishes, red onions, scallions, snap peas, spinach, sweet bell peppers, and zucchini. If I was to list them in order of how much I love them, avocado is right there at the top. Every time I want something cheesy, or filled with mayonnaise, I reach for the avocado instead. Unless I have Vegenaise lying around; then all bets are off. 

This is a seriously awesome avocado recipe. It's really, really terrible for you, though, and so addictive. I made these for a Superbowl party a few years back, and took home an empty plate. There was a fight over the last one. 

Ourania

I have a BBQ with all my LARP friends tomorrow, so I decided to bring along something sweet (because they are sweet.. aww...) These are double chocolate brownies with dried berries (cranberries, blueberries, black cherries), I also did double chocolate and peacan brownies. And the other are some very badly made jam tarts (blackcurrent jam), but they taste good. It is too hot to work with pastry. Yes, everything is covered in edible glitter, yes your body doesn't process it so you have glittery poop. A gift that keeps on giving.

You can see one of the jam tarts looks like it is splattered. That is when some MOLTEN HOT jam touched my finger. That stuff is motherf'king LAVA.

Trilliana

So... hubby told me about something mentioned on the midkemia forums- Vanilla cupcakes with banana pudding filling, peanut butter frosting, and candied bacon topping. I'm doing the bacon right now so I'm really excited. I'll post pictures if successful

Melodie

That sounds both terrifying and exquisite.