What's cooking?

Kresslack

What's all that green shit, where's the meat? That does sound like a good bake though, reading the ingredients.

Peak

@Kresslack

That is what I refer to as "my food's food".

Direv

I used to be a pastry chef. This is probably my favorite dessert. The pastry bag can be substituted (however awkwardly) with a plastic (or paper!) bag with a small hole made in it. You can make passably delicious albeit unpassably bizarre looking desserts by just spooning the batter onto a cookie pan/sheet pan instead, but I should think we're all grown ups here and mature enough to get our hands a little dirty while we try to extrude choux pastry from an awkwardly fashioned faux pastry bag made from a ziplock bag. In any case... 

This recipe makes about 8 or 9 profiteroles depending on how you play with it. I don't recommend going beyond halving this recipe, as I don't think the ingredient proportions are properly scaled to allow for that and unfortunately this is the only way I know how to make this. It's quite easy though and worth the effort. 

Stuffed profiteroles with chocolate ganache and praline crumble

1 cup water

1 cup milk

8 oz butter

tablespoon salt

2 tsp sugar

4 cups flour 

Cut the butter into small cubes, add it into a pan with the milk, water, salt, and sugar, heat over medium until all the butter is melted. Remove from heat, add the flour all at once. Mix until combined, then put it back on the heat and stir the dough with a wooden spoon until it pulls away from the sides of the pot and gives off a nutty fragrance. Remove from heat. 

Add (about) 8 eggs to this, one at a time, mixing each one in until it's fully incorporated. The key here is to mix very well - be sure each egg is being mixed evenly into the whole mixture. Feel free to add less (but not more) eggs. What you're going for here is a dough that is very yellow, not slimy or wet. It should be slightly sticky and chunky looking. Don't be afraid to add the eggs to the dough while it's piping hot - the eggs cooking is not a problem here. In fact, that's the secret to good choux pastry. 

Once your eggs are fully incorporated, spoon the mixture into your pastry bag (or clumsy ziplock bag or whatever it is you have going on) and pipe into 2-3 inch diameter kisses on a cookie sheet or baking pan. Using a wet fork, pat down the tips of each of the kisses. If you neglect this step, the tips will burn in the oven. Put them in the oven which has been preheated to 400 degrees. 12 minutes in, reduce heat to 325. Bake another 8-20 minutes. Don't open the oven for the first 8-10 minutes, otherwise they will deflate. That wouldn't be the end of the world, honestly, I've served deflated profiteroles and eaten them too, but hey. 

They are ready when they are a dark golden brown. Let cool.

Chocolate ganache

Heat 2 cups of cream to just before a boil (turn off heat just as the cream starts to bubble over). Pour this over 1 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips. Let sit 1 minute. Stir well. 

Optionally, you may add half a shot of espresso or instant coffee, and a few drops of vanilla extract. 

Praline crumble

This is probably the most delicious part of this recipe. It's excruciatingly simple. 

1 cup sugar. Handful of nuts. 

Caramelize the sugar in a saute pan. The key to doing this right is doing it on the lowest heat possible. If you are unfamiliar with this process, look up videos on youtube. Use a fork occasionally to break up larger chunks of sugar. Once the sugar is mostly caramellized, add a handful of roasted almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, or a mix of those. Then, very carefully, pour that mixture onto a (preferably cold) sheet tray and let it cool. Once it's cooled off, break it into small pieces. 

Assembly

Cut the profiteroles in half lengthwise with a serrated knife. Sandwich a scoop of vanilla ice cream in between. Top with ganache, and top that with praline. Garnish however the hell you like, and enjoy. 

Incidentally, this dough can also be used to make eclairs, religeuses, paris-brests, churros, and a whole mess of other stuff. But my other favorite thing to make with them are gougeres, savory cheese and herb filled profiteroles. The process is the same, except as you are incorporating the eggs, also incorporate about a cup of good quality swiss or cheddar (or whatever) cheese, and a tablespoon or so of poultry spices, oregano, thyme, basil, or whatever. 

Kyrra

Peak said:

@Kyrra

This is the ratatouille I made about a year ago. It was quite wonderful.

It goes: zucchini, (yellow) squash, red&yellow bell pepper, zucchini, squash, eggplant, (repeat 60 more times). Tomato paste + chopped onion + garlic + olive oil + lil water mixed up underneath, and thyme, salt, and pepper on top.

Thinking back, I'd probably add a little dill on top too.

That looks so delicious.

Strata

The following is very addictive and will give the person consuming it the diabetes affliction, curable by death - life can be prolonged significantly through medication and stuff.

Ingredients (extract of cactus weed optional):

2 x boxes of instant pistachio pudding mix shit.

1 x box of oreo cookies

1 x bag of Andes mints

1 x container of Cool Whip

1 x decent sized cake dish

To create dish of diabetic coma:

1. follow directions on box to make pudding - place into seperate dish into fridge.

2. once pudding is set, crush oreo cookies and mix into pudding.

3. place mixture into cake dish.

4. cover mixture with Cool Whip

5. crush Andes mints and sprinkle on top.

Serve as green sludge on plates or in bowls. Be sure to consume entire thing before oreo cookies get soggy - for maximum diabetes potential.

ETA: this can also be converted into a pie of sorts if using oreo flavored pre-fabbed pie crust. Though it is not recommended due to increased set time and loss of diabetic momentum.

Iocun

Just invented a damn awesome meal for my dinner!

Chicken drumsticks with grapes in a honey-brandy sauce with cinnamon-spiced chickpeas.

Drumsticks:

Leave the drumsticks overnight in a marinade of olive oil, salt, pepper, some lemon juice. Liquefy some honey in a hot water bath and spread it lightly over the now marinated chicken with a pastry brush. Sear it in a pan until the honey is fully caramelized and the chicken has assumed a nice colour, then deglaze it with brandy. Take it all from the pan, put it on a baking tray, and add lots of halved blue grapes. Put it in the oven at some medium-to-high temperature for the chicken to roast through and the grapes to lose a bit of their juice, mix with the sauce, and intensify.

Chickpeas:

If using dried ones, soak them in water overnight. Heat some olive oil and an onion. Once the onion is nicely glazed, add the chickpeas. After a few minutes deglaze with hot vegetable stock, spice with cinnamon, pepper, and some lemon juice, and leave it cooking until done.

Lianca

There needs to be a drool icon for that post.

Peak

I made this for breakfast. It was -awesome-. Do not use Pam non-stick spray on the muffin pan. Use butter. It is worth it.

Bacon and Egg Toast Cups

Description

Breakfast in one bite!

Details

Cooking Time:		20 Minutes
Recipes Makes:		3 Servings
Calories:		556
Carbs:		11 Grams
Fat:		39 Grams
Protein:		38 Grams

Ingredients

6 slices of bread
6 slices of bacon
6 eggs
1/2 cup of shredded cheese
salt & pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with butter non-stick spray.

2. Using a cookie cutter, cut circles out of bread slices about 3 inches in diameter. (I confess I do not have a cookie cutter so I use the lid to my tub of orzo pasta and just cut around the edges ;D)

3. Take bread circles and press them into the muffin pan, set aside.

4. Heat a large skillet on medium-high. Cook bacon on the skillet until partially cooked but still pliable, about 3 minutes.

5. Shape bacon strips into the toast cups, fill with 1 Tbs of shredded cheese. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, allowing the bacon to toast just a little more. Remove from oven.

6. Crack your egg and separate out most of the egg white. Drop eggs into the cups, sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. Place back in the oven and cook until white begins to set, about another 8 to 10 minutes. The yolk should be creamy.

7. Remove from oven when done and pop out using a spoon, serve warm.

Kresslack

Can also cut slices of pepper and cook the egg inside it in a skillet. Used to do that a lot.

Arianis

Kyrra said:

Peak said:

@Kyrra

This is the ratatouille I made about a year ago. It was quite wonderful.

It goes: zucchini, (yellow) squash, red&yellow bell pepper, zucchini, squash, eggplant, (repeat 60 more times). Tomato paste + chopped onion + garlic + olive oil + lil water mixed up underneath, and thyme, salt, and pepper on top.

Thinking back, I'd probably add a little dill on top too.

That looks so delicious.

I loved making ratatouille! My own version (based off of Pixar's, haha) used minced roasted bell pepper in the paste instead of peppers in the layers, replacing it with sliced tomato. I also used herbes de provence throughout, and made an herb infused oil to drizzle on top with the herbes de provence (instead of just thyme). 

Edited for a photo:

Melodie

How do vegetables look so delicious.

What is this sorcery?!

Eld

Melodie said:

How do vegetables look so delicious. What is this sorcery?!

It's because vegetables are delicious, dear.

Jozlyn

Came home from a pretty cruddy day at work to a house full of delicious smells. Husband man made Moroccan style venison stew. It doesn't look like much but it is divine.

Oceana

Where is the couscous?

Arianis

Bad day? Cook some comfort food! Tonight's dinner is noodle soup, roasted endives, and mini kumato tomatoes. The noodle soup was basically "throw EVERYTHING in"- mini sausages, lettuce, shiitake mushrooms, peas, corn, carrots, peas, egg, sliced leeks, with a chicken broth + bay leaf base. And sesame oil. Wow my table needs cleaning.

Exelethril

• Boil 3 kg worth of chicken fillet until cooked.
  
• Remove from pot.
• Cook vegetables in chicken stock.
• Remove from pot.
• Boil pasta in chicken/vegetable stock.
• Remove from pot.
• Acquire Iron Chef medal.

Eld

Exelethril said:

• Boil 3 kg worth of chicken fillet until cooked.
  
• Remove from pot.
• Cook vegetables in chicken stock.
• Remove from pot.
• Boil pasta in chicken/vegetable stock.
• Remove from pot.
• Acquire Iron Chef medal.

Nm, can't read.

Jozlyn

My turn to cook. 

Wasabi quick pickle

Miso

rice thingamajig with onion, radish, and carrot.

Ourania

I made pancakes for myself and the other half. His are the ones with some butterscotch bananas swamping the plate (in his defence, he didn't eat it all), mine are just the maple syrup ones (I ate them all, and I don't think I chewed either).

Pancakes:

Two cups plain flower

Two cups milk

Two eggs

One cup sugar

1/4 cup oil.

Whisk together until blended, leave for 30 mins if you can. I don't. Light layer over a non-stick pan, cook, fold, nom.

Butterscotch Bananas:

One cup sugar - melt in a shallow pan, do not stir.

1/2 cup cream - add to melted sugar (BE CAREFUL)

Two bananas chopped - add to the above

Tablespoon of butter - add to the above

Serve on pancakes and die of diabetes.

Enjoy!

Trilliana

I call those crepes. I love filling them with strawberry and nutella Now I want them! I still need to figure out what to make first with my kitchenaid - though I might end up with bread instead of something sweet.

Lianca

Mmmm, looks great!
I like mine with lemon juice and sugar, proper boring old Shrove tuesday fare

Ourania

They are a little thicker than crepes. For crapes I would lose some flour and add more milk. These be just common british pancakes Because pancakes aren't just for pancake day! *rally*

Eld

I'm not normally all that big on sweet stuff, but goddamn does that plate of diabetes look tasty.

Trilliana

Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Makes 3 dozen (wat? I made like one dozen... )

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Sandra Buckberger

ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

directions

• 1

  Preheat the oven to 325oF. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

• 2

  Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

• 3

  In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart

• 4

  Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Sybilla

Made a beef thing!

Fried onions, casserole beef and carrots, added wine and beef stock and peas, cooked it, made rice and ate it! I love having a gas cooker at last.

Kyrra

Curious about kangaroo meat and what it tastes like. I know it's high protein but I've mixed feelings about eating Skippy.

Has anyone eaten it before or uses it in cooking? Is it gamey?

Skye

I've eaten it. My brother used to be crazy about it. I found it very gamey, definitely not my favourite thing on the menu. Also he cooked it with bell peppers, which not only causes me indigestion on a normal basis, but combined with the high iron content of the kangaroo meat caused me severe gastrointestinal discomfort to the point where I thought I was having an ulcer and went for a scope.

In summary, kangaroo meat = ugh.

Kyrra

Ugh. I am really not a fan of gamey meat. That's quite a shame. I guess Skippy lives

Verily

I've not baked in ages, so I decided to give a go at making an apple streusel coffee cake. It didn't turn out looking all too pretty, but it's delicious and that's what counts!

Eld

This is the second mention of coffee cake I've seen/heard in 5 minutes. I think the world is telling me something.