Recipe Thread

Recently I've started cooking on weekends. Given my lack of experience, I've tried the easiest things to do and I've stumbled onto a dish I liked a lot. Unfortunately I haven't kept track of proportions or the amounts of ingredients, so I'm guessing a little here:

Nareed's Red Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:

1 red cabbage (mine are purple, though I understand they're called red) chopped
1 clove of garlic (actually I use two, or a very large one, but most people don't like it so much) finely chopped
5 small mushrooms chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1 carrot (I cut it into sticks, but go any way you like)
About 1/4 of a medium sized jicama (in sticks, too, or see about the carrot)
Chicken stock or broth (enough to cover the vegetables)
1 teaspoon olive oil (or more or less to taste; and you can use any kind of oil)
Ground black pepper
Oregano
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce

Preparation

Saute the garlic and onions with the olive oil in a sauce pan or a soup pot until the onion turns translucent. Then add the mushrooms, carrot, jicama and cabbage. Saute until the mushrooms are a light brown. While this is going on, add pepper and oregano to taste. I like my veggies to retain a bit of crunch. If you like them soft, saute a bit longer.

If you used a soup pot, add the chicken stock. If you used a saucepan, put the sauteed vegetables in a soup pot and add the stock. Add Worcestershire and Tabasco to taste.

Bring to a boil in medium heat, then go to low heat and let it simmer for a few minutes. Serve and enjoy (if you're of a mind to)

You may not want to use the whole cabbage. The ones I get here weight about a kilo and i don't use the whole head, say perhaps 4/5 of it. I save the rest for later.

Also I use ready-made chicken stock with tomato (it's what I had at home).

The result is more like a vegetable stew than soup. You may want to use less vegetables or more stock. I suppose you can also use some kind of vegetarian stock.

Thanks for sharing your recipe. I don't have the patience for cooking, but I welcome the contribution. However, I've never even heard of a jicama. They may be difficult to find in the US. Maybe Marianna's market will have them.

Quote: Wizard

However, I've never even heard of a jicama. They may be difficult to find in the US.

Nah, Jicama (hickama) is available everywhere, I use
it all the time.

Thank you. I will have to try this. I often have my own chicken stock frozen, but don't have any right now, so will have to use canned. It is getting to soup season.

I saw jicama today while doing the Saturday grocery shopping at Walmart.

It's becoming more of a mainstream vegetable.

Maybe Nareed could describe it for us. My wife doesn't care for it. I enjoy it raw, in sticks. Usually in a salad or wrap.

Quote: Wizard

Thanks for sharing your recipe. I don't have the patience for cooking, but I welcome the contribution.

From some disastrous attempts at making scrambled eggs I thought I lacked any talent. I guess eggs are harder than they seem :) Oatmeal gave a hard time, too, believe it or not (hint: cook to the consistency you want rather than to what the package's directions say)

Quote:

However, I've never even heard of a jicama. They may be difficult to find in the US. Maybe Marianna's market will have them.

1) That's why I added a link

2) For the soup it doesn't matter much. The thing is pretty much flavorless. You see, I have it for dinner almost every night, thinly sliced with carrots, radish and onion, drowned (lets' be frank here) in lime and a mild kind of salsa. Well, I wanted to add crunchiness to the soup without depleting my carrot supply. ergo jícama.

3) It's rather popular in parts of Asia, too. So you might want to try chinese or other Asian places.

Quote: teddys

Thank you. I will have to try this. I often have my own chicken stock frozen, but don't have any right now, so will have to use canned. It is getting to soup season.

I use a Campbell's brand that, as I said, I happened to have at home. It's fat-free, too, or so the package claims. I may get a chicken breast and leg and do my own, though. Maybe next week.

Other than the soup, all I've done is grilled chicken strips with onions and Worcestershire sauce, spaghetti with chunky pasta sauce (bottled sauce mixed with chopped onions, garlic, mushrooms and green bell peppers) and sandwiches (turkey-breast, low-fat mayo, mustard, green salsa, onions and fried beans). As you can see, I'd be lost without onions ;)

Quote: ten2win

Maybe Nareed could describe it for us.

There are pictures in the link provided. There's not much more to say about it. It's mostly water, more so than other vegetables, and it's nearly flavorless. It is high in fiber, though. And crunchy.

They have sliced jicama in the Rio Diamond Lounge often, along with the other raw veggies. I love it. It's the texture of apple or a firm watermelon, but not as sweet. Not exactly flavorless, but tasty.

I was a bachelor until my mid 30s, and to this day I'm the cook in our family. I think I know my sh*t.


Easy grilled chicken:

50-50 bottled bbq sauce and bottled Italian dressing
boneless skinless chicken thighs

You don't have to hit the mix 50-50. Originally it was 2:1, but I forgot which part was the 2; I've tried it both ways and it's not really sensitive to the proportion, so for the last 5 years or so I've mixed about 50-50. You can use any chicken meat, but darker meats work best. Dark meat today is what white meat was like 30 years ago. And you don't have to do the skinless boneless part. (I said it was easy.)

Marinate the thighs in the sauce/dressing mix for at least an hour. Then grill at medium temp until done. Brush some sauce mix on them as they grill. Serve with just the bbq sauce.



I have lots of recipes, but that's the simplest one that gets the most compliments.

A potato salad:

3lbs redskin potatoes, quartered and boiled until soft
4 stalks celery, thinly chopped
2 bunches of scallions, cleaned and chopped except for the dark green ends (about halfway up)
a handful of parsley, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped. I made 3, but one fell off the table and the dog got it. 2 is fine.
salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1 T of each, sea salt and cracked black peppercorns)
about 2/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
about 2/3 cup olive oil

If you've made potato salad before, you know what to do.

After cooking the potatoes, I turned them out onto a cutting board and just hacked away at them with a vegetable cutting knife. I mashed a couple for texture. I used to know the exact measurements for the oil and vinegar, now I eyeball it; a red 20 oz party cup was a little more than half full, and I did 1:1. I'm pretty sure the original recipe my sister told me called for 2:1 vinegar to oil, and the original original was probably 2:1 oil to vinegar, but 1:1 is better I think. also, I put it in the fridge for about an hour, for the flavors to meld. It was pretty warm when it went in, and hadn't cooled by the time I served it. But it is really outstanding if you make it before noon, let it cool down, then bring it up to room temp to serve around 6PM.

Quote: Nareed

From some disastrous attempts at making scrambled eggs I thought I lacked any talent. I guess eggs are harder than they seem :) Oatmeal gave a hard time, too, believe it or not (hint: cook to the consistency you want rather than to what the package's directions say)

Scrambled Eggs can be hard to do well until you get the knack of it. The trick is to keep on them all the time, and take them off the heat before they look ready... The residual heat finishes them off before they go rubbery or crumbly (both bad things for scrambled eggs to be if you ask me).

Oatmeal requires a good anti clockwise stir, salt and a little milk. Oatmeal cooked without salt is a heresy :)

Best and easiest baked chicken. Get a big package of
chicken thighs. Remove the skin. Into a baggie put
a cup of cracker meal and quarter cup of parmesan
cheese, the kind Kraft makes, in the green container.
Mix it up and shake each piece of chicken in the bag.
arrange on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about
50 minutes. Real simple and real delicious. Don't
share it, you'll want it all, believe me. Be sure to scrape
the drippings off the cookie sheet and eat it while its warn,
the flavor is super intense.

Quote: thecesspit

Oatmeal cooked without salt is a heresy :)

Heresy comes easy to atheists :)

Seriously, I never add salt to anything.

Quote: EvenBob

Best and easiest baked chicken.

Man, that sounds good.

Quote: Mosca

Man, that sounds good.

Its wonderful. Even tho you take off the skin,
thighs still have enough fat on them to give
the chicken a lot of flavor. 5-7min of work,
stick it the oven, and forget about it for an
hour. The house smells great too, my wife
hates it.

Quote: EvenBob

The house smells great too, my wife hates it.

So you make it once a week now I bet. "But the house smells great, sweetie!" Passive aggression.

Quote: zippyboy

Quote: EvenBob

The house smells great too, my wife hates it.

So you make it once a week now I bet. "But the house smells great, sweetie!" Passive aggression.

Many women these days don't like food odors. When
I was a kid, everybody's house smelled great. Now
they smell like nothing. My grandma's house always
smelled like bacon and fried scrapple. Or baked bread.

Rather than one recipe - how about a whole website of great ones. SmokingPit.com - Take your choice. Some of them are a heart attack waiting to happen, but they sure taste good.

anybody understand what the heck this is about?

Quote: Nero Wolfe, conversing with Lucy Valdon, in The Mother Hunt, chapter 17

"Do you like eggs?"
She laughed. She looked at me, so I laughed too.
Wolfe scowled. "Confound it, are eggs comical? Do you know how to scramble eggs, Mrs. Valdon?"
"Yes, of course."
"To use Mr. Goodwin's favorite locution, one will get you ten that you don't. I'll scramble eggs for your breakfast and we'll see. Tell me forty minutes before you're ready."
Her eyes widened. "Forty minutes?"
"Yes. I knew you didn't know."
( found it at wikipedia)

40 minutes? Really? [Is this where Nareed went wrong?]

Quote: odiousgambit

40 minutes? Really?

Nero Wolfe was a very fussy cook and epicurean. Similar trait in his gardening and various other things. I suspect that later in the story he gave a very detailed explanation about what required the time, but I don't remember that story -- may never have read it. I suspect he had some requirement for "aging" or "airing" the eggs after they were broken.

While some may start with whole eggs in the pan, I always beat them in a mixing pot first before applying heat. I also add water at that time. So much water is driven off in the cooking process that scrambled eggs can become tough when they dry out too much. The added water helps avoid this. I have known folks who add milk for some reason, but I think that exacerbates the problem. Unlike Nareed, I do add both salt and pepper to the eggs after they are heating in the pan. I find that if I add the salt to the beaten eggs before they are heating, it tends to decrease the fluffiness of the final product. Don't really know why.

I am not really a specialist at straight scrambled eggs, but I do make a pretty mean omelet. Basic ingredients for my standard omelet are eggs, ground sea salt, ground black pepper, diced ham, chopped mushroom pieces, diced bell pepper in a mix of red/yellow/green, mozzarella cheese (finely grated), and diced tomatoes added just before folding the omelet. I know a lot of people like onion in their omelets, but that is not something that my wife and I care for. Cheese type is dependent upon personal preferences, too, with mozzarella being our favorite but with Swiss, cheddar, or provolone offered to guests as options.

Now if Nero Wolfe were preparing omelets instead of scrambled eggs, the extra time could be taken in properly preparing the other ingredients. I suspect he would spend time slowly cooking some things before adding them to the eggs. It takes me a while just to dice the ham, peppers, and mushrooms, though I usually buy canned diced tomatoes.

Quote: Doc

Unlike Nareed, I do add both salt and pepper to the eggs after they are heating in the pan.

Salt kills.

Ok, it's not really as bad as that, and salt does have uses, but for most cooking it's unnecessary. You get enough sodium in your diet without added salt. Enough iodine, too, which table salt is usually fortified with, from processed foods that use salt.

BTW I use only freshly ground pepper, never powdered or cracked. I've a really nifty pepper mill you can work with one hand. Also sometimes I'll use green and red pepper in addition to black.

Quote: Nareed

Salt kills.

Ok, it's not really as bad as that, and salt does have uses, but for most cooking it's unnecessary. You get enough sodium in your diet without added salt. Enough iodine, too, which table salt is usually fortified with, from processed foods that use salt.

As you suggest, I highly suspect that the salt I add when cooking eggs is completely unnecessary for my survival, though I am not convinced it is killing me either. I add the salt for a completely different reason: It makes the eggs taste a heck of a lot better. If I didn't care about the taste, I wouldn't bother adding most of the other ingredients either. I am confident I could easily survive physically without mushrooms and bell peppers in the morning, too.

Quote: Doc

If I didn't care about the taste, I wouldn't bother adding most of the other ingredients either. I am confident I could easily survive physically without mushrooms and bell peppers in the morning, too.

Yeah, well, mushrooms and peppers won't raise your blood pressure.

Look, I smoke and drink coffee and coke, but don't add any salt to my food. My blood pressure is normal. This proves to me sodium does more damage, in this respect, than smoking or caffeine.

Universal recipe:
Throw item into microwave, spin the dial randomly, when about half the time is elapsed, turn off, remove from oven and eat in the kitchen while standing up. If you are curious, read the label to know what the luke-warm glop you are eating is.

Quote: Nareed

Heresy comes easy to atheists :)

Seriously, I never add salt to anything.

Well that explains why your oatmeal is not working out.

There's plenty of cooking where a small punch of salt helps, as it draws out the juices and therefore flavors. Stews and soups are enhanced by a quick grind of salt in the mix. The amount needed is well under the amount doctors warn you about. I never add salt after cooking except for occasionally on tomatoes salads.

Same with butter. You can quote all the healthy advice you like, but a small nob of butter adds to the flavour and texture of a lot of foods too, the amount needed is minimal.

Quote: thecesspit

Well that explains why your oatmeal is not working out.

It is working out. I just had some for breakfast. All I had to do was add whatever milk I wanted, plus let it "cook" only until it reaches the consistency I want rather that how long the directions say.

Quote:

There's plenty of cooking where a small punch of salt helps, as it draws out the juices and therefore flavors. Stews and soups are enhanced by a quick grind of salt in the mix. The amount needed is well under the amount doctors warn you about.

I find salt superfluous most times. Other spices add and bring out flavor just as well, without adding to the sodium content.

You're right that a little bit won't hurt, likewise with butter, but none at all won't hurt either.

Quote:

I never add salt after cooking except for occasionally on tomatoes salads.

Well, at least you know that much :)

What I can't figure out are people who reach for the salt shaker before even tasting their food. About 4 times out of ten they'll complain it's too salty.

Cooks agree that eggs are one of the hardest things to cook, so don't beat yourself up about not being able to do scrambled eggs well. You're basically dealing with liquid fish. In fact, many chefs will test their new hires by making them cook an omelet -- if they can do that, they can cook anything.

Salt will retard the cooking process, so you are right to add it near the end. You can do a lot of things without salt -- actually, lime is one of the best substitutes for salt, so Nareed you have the right idea there.

I still can't cook eggs perfectly, but I can do a pretty good job. Still can't do an omelet right. Very difficult technique.

Quote: teddys

Cooks agree that eggs are one of the hardest things to cook, so don't beat yourself up about not being able to do scrambled eggs well.

It just seems so easy. Oh, well. I'm off eggs for the next few years anyway.

Quote:

You can do a lot of things without salt

More like everything. At least I can.

Quote:

-- actually, lime is one of the best substitutes for salt, so Nareed you have the right idea there.

Well, lime with jícama and carrots is about the only way it's eaten in Mexico. I'll add lime to chicken soup, too, but not while cooking it. At home that's pretty much all I do with lime. I've never used it for cooking, either. In restaurants I'll often add lime to chicken breast, because the salsa comes with avocado in it (I don't get that; they might as well add rat droppings), and they never have mustard.

If I must have salt, and I never do, I'll use a sodium-free product like Morton salt substitute.

Eggs should be at room temperature for most recipes. I ignore this, but it really does help when I follow it.

I've read that salting eggs before cooking toughens them, and I've read that it's OK to salt your eggs. I don't salt them before cooking. Sometimes I salt them to eat them, and sometimes I don't.

if your oatmeal is working out without salt, don't add it. But the pinch isn't for flavor, it's for raising the boiling point of the liquid and changing the rate of absorption of that liquid.

Omelets... Jacques Pepin is the living master of all things egg. Watch this video to understand omelettes, both classic and country. Step by step, super easy instructions. And I love watching this guy, it's like watching Picasso paint.

Close cousin, the frittata. I made one this morning, with sweet red pepper, onion, and mixed cheddar/parmesan. Here's the video on frittatas that gives the lowdown. Rather then flip, use a pan with an oven-safe handle and put it under the broiler until the top sets, that's a lot easier.

Quote: Nareed

Salt kills.

Pull yourself into the 21st century. Salt has been proven
to be not nearly as harmful as was once thought. You
have to eat a lot of salt for it to hurt you. Its been shown
in study after study that cutting back on a normal intake
of salt has no health benefits whatever. Google it.

A recipe thread on the Wizard of Vegas. Why not??? ROTFL.

Yeah, I smoke, drink Dew by the litre and use copius amounts of salt on about everything except jerky. My bp is still positively mellow.

Anyways, my contribution -
Bring a lemon and tinfoil to a fishing trip.
Catch fish.
Cut gills to bleed it while you fish for more, repeat gill cutting on future catches.
Build fire using thumb to forearm sized branches. No pine, green or punky wood.
While fire burns, cut fins/tail/fleshy bits off fish.
Slice underside of fish from gills to anus and open it up.
Pull out all the hangy bits.
Rinse in river.
Slice lemon and line inside.
Wrap in tinfoil to keep it all together.
Once fire has burned out, set foil package in coals and pile some on sides.
Wait 10-25 minutes, depending on coal pile size. Make sure tinfoil doesn't burn, may have to rotate.
Open up and enjoy. Meat is picked from the inside since outside is still skin and scales, bones should just fall out.

There's just something about a shore lunch. It's certainly not as posh as the hotel sushi bar, but after hours outside in the cold, the hiking, the fire building, the preparation, and of course, the act of fending for yourself, you'll be hard pressed to find a meal more enjoyable. And like the Wiz's preference of the "live" taste of large shrimp, well, it just doesn't get any fresher than this.

Here's the famous eating scene from Hemingway's 'Big Two Hearted River',
written in 1923. Nick is on a fishing trip and has just set up camp. He's been
walking all day and is famished.

"Nick was hungry. He did not believe he had ever been hungrier. He opened and emptied a can of pork and beans and a can of spaghetti into the frying pan. "I've got a right to eat this kind of stuff, if I'm willing to carry it," Nick said. His voice sounded strange in the darkening woods. He did not speak again.

He started a fire with some chunks of pine he got with the ax from a stump. Over the fire he stuck a wire grill, pushing the four legs down into the ground with his boot. Nick put the frying pan and a can of spaghetti on the grill over the flames. He was hungrier. The beans and spaghetti warmed. Nick stirred them and mixed them together. They began to bubble, making little bubbles that rose with difficulty to the surface. There was a good smell. Nick got out a bottle of tomato ketchup and cut four slices of bread. The little bubbles were coming faster now. Nick sat down beside the fire and lifted the frying pan off. He poured about half the contents out into the tin plate. It spread slowly on the plate. Nick knew it was too hot. He poured on some tomato ketchup. He knew the beans and spaghetti were still too hot. He looked at the fire, then at the tent; he was not going to spoil it all by burning his tongue. For years he had never enjoyed fried bananas because he had never been able to wait for them to cool. His tongue was very sensitive. He was very hungry. Across the river in the swamp, in the almost dark, he saw a mist rising. He looked at the tent once more. All right. He took a full spoonful from the plate. "Chrise," Nick said, "Geezus Chrise," he said happily. He ate the whole plateful before he remembered the bread. Nick finished the second plateful with the bread, mopping the plate shiny."

You can almost smell the food cooking. There is nothing better than
eating outdoors if you're really hungry.

Quote: EvenBob

Pull yourself into the 21st century. Salt has been proven
to be not nearly as harmful as was once thought. You
have to eat a lot of salt for it to hurt you. Its been shown
in study after study that cutting back on a normal intake
of salt has no health benefits whatever. Google it.

If normal intake is around 2.5g of sodium (about 6g of salt) mark, for sure. My google-fu shows that higher than that does have a negative effect on health (in general, as with most health studies, there's only trends rather than absolutes).

Quote: EvenBob

You can almost smell the food cooking. There is nothing better than
eating outdoors if you're really hungry.

Amen to that, couldn't agree more. Here's another camping goody, although it may push Nareed fully over the edge... ;)

Make a large fire and place a large pot of water over it to boil. Make it a big pot, like 5-10gal.
Head to the local creek with a bucket. Creek must be flowing and rocky bottomed.
Gently lift rocks so as not to muddy the water. Crayfish (crawfish, crawdads) live here.
In a good creek in prime season (May-Oct in NY) you'll find 1-2 in every square foot.
Within a half hour, you'll have 20-50 of the buggers. Bring the children, it's fun for them and you'll get more.
On the way home, there's a veritable smorgasbord all around you. Depending on time of year, wild apples and berry bushes might be in, providing an awesome side dish/dessert. Something I refer to as "wild onion" (may be scallions, may be leeks, I dunno. They're thin, pale green, and smell like onion) abound, and are a good addition for flavor. Cattails can be eaten at any point of the year. Early on the shoots and heart can be frenched and fried like any vegetable. Once the head forms and before it turns all cotton-y, it can be prepared just like corn on the cob.
In any case, when you get back to camp, your pot should be boiling. Flavoring crayfish is experimental. Some fill with fruit slices, mostly tart things like lemon, limes and oranges. Some make it more soupy with the "wild onion" and vegatables brought from home. You can even toss in marshmallows, whatever floats your boat. Whatever you want a "hint" of - tang, hot, sweet, toss that in.
Dump the crayfish in. Cook em just like any other crustacean, once the shell turns red, they're done. Takes like 10 minutes. If you have a big size variation, wait until the big ones turn red. Overdone is better than underdone 10 times out of 10.
Strain the water and dump em out on a table. Bon apetite.

Some break em at the back and suck. I can't do that. =p I'm not a big fan of insides. You can pluck off the tails though and they're a lot like mini-lobster. The texture is familiar, and the taste also, to a point. They're a little sweeter and...it's hard to explain. You know the fresh wet smell of a stream? That's kind of the underlying flavor, a hint of gaia.

Hunting is fun, being in nature is relaxing, fending for yourself is rewarding, and if that wasn't enough, it's entirely free. =D

A note on the red cabbage soup.

It seems the red (purple) cabbage leaches it's color, ti stains everything purple. I noticed this when I chopped it and the cutting board had purple stains on it, but paid it no mind. Last week I made two servings, had one for lunch and one for dinner. This week I made more. I had it for lunch on Saturday, then put the leftovers in the fridge to have it Sunday and Monday for lunch.

It kept well, but the broth turned from reddish to purplish, the jícama is purple now, and the mushrooms, which were lightly brown to begin with, are a king of brownish-purple now. It all tastes exactly the same, but the color can out some people off. So if that's a concern, then make only what you'll eat immediately and don't keep any in the fridge.

I think I'll try it with white cabbage next time, provided I find a small enough head of it, and I'll add some cubed turkey breast ham or turkey sausage. I also plan to amke some soy and chicken chilli, extra hot. Normally I have vegetarian meals on the weekends, but next oe I feel like experimenting a bit. Will post the recipes if they come out ok.

Weekend after that I intend to make crunchy stir-fry veggies and rice. Stay tuned.

Quote: EvenBob

Best and easiest baked chicken. Get a big package of
chicken thighs. Remove the skin. Into a baggie put
a cup of cracker meal and quarter cup of parmesan
cheese, the kind Kraft makes, in the green container.
Mix it up and shake each piece of chicken in the bag.
arrange on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about
50 minutes. Real simple and real delicious. Don't
share it, you'll want it all, believe me. Be sure to scrape
the drippings off the cookie sheet and eat it while its warn,
the flavor is super intense.

Hey Bob, I made this tonight. Killer.

I made a couple adjustments. First, I mixed a little salt and pepper in with the cracker meal and parmesan. Second, I coated the (boneless, skinless) thighs with olive oil before covering them with the powder, it makes more meal stick to the chicken and it sticks better. Third, I baked it in the Big Green Egg instead of the oven.

Absolutely awesome.

I've used Pam spray to make the mix stick better. You'll
find its good cold too, with a beer.
Is that a charcoal grill?

Geez, there's not going to be any cold; it's all gone. Me & the Mrs & my dad finished it all.

Yep, lump charcoal. I got nothing against gas, I've used gas grills for years. I went a different direction this time.

I told you NOT to share it. Lesson learned... Its the
parmasan cheese that makes it so good, and the
thighs have a lot of fat for flavor. Its not nearly as
good using skinless breasts.

Quote: Doc

Unlike Nareed, I do add both salt and pepper to the eggs after they are heating in the pan. I find that if I add the salt to the beaten eggs before they are heating, it tends to decrease the fluffiness of the final product. Don't really know why.

Gordon Ramsay says to only add salt to scrambled eggs after they are in the final stages of cooking. This (I think) is because the salt breaks down the eggs which leads to a less fluffy omelette (as Doc stated) if added too early.

Quote: Switch

Gordon Ramsay says to only add salt to scrambled eggs after they are in the final stages of cooking. This (I think) is because the salt breaks down the eggs which leads to a less fluffy omelette (as Doc stated) if added too early.

I admit this is where I heard it, too. For being such an asshole on TV, his cooking videos are great.

Quote: Mosca

Geez, there's not going to be any cold; it's all gone. Me & the Mrs & my dad finished it all.

Yep, lump charcoal. I got nothing against gas, I've used gas grills for years. I went a different direction this time.

Those big green eggs grill meat beyond good. I've not tasted anything better for meat. I think it's how they get the smoke in there.

Learning through experimentation can be fun and enlightening.

As I have not had any red meat in two weeks, I decided to make beef and soy chili rather than chicken. I also wanted to make it extra hot. In this I succeeded too well :)

So, my interim chili recipe:

About 750 grams (henceforth grs.) of ground beef
About 750 grs. of prepared textured soy protein
50 grams elbow macaroni
One large onion chopped
One green bell pepper chopped
2 containers of pureed tomatoes 210 grs. each (This is a common product in Mexico, I think, and I stress the speculative nature of that thought, that it may be nearly equivalent with tomato paste.)
1 container of fried tomato 350 grs. (This may be nearly like canned tomato sauce, I'm not sure. It's thinner and runnier than the tomato puree)
2 Habanero peppers (next time I'll use one) chopped
3 Tablespoons chopped, pickled jalapeño peppers (I plan on using 1.5 or 1 next time)
Worcestershire sauce to taste
1 can baked whole beans 425 grs. (I should have used two)
3 teaspoons garlic powder (I ran out of fresh garlic cloves)
1 teaspoon powdered cumin
1 teaspoon dry parsley leaves
Half a teaspoon fine herbs (that's what the label on the jar says; I've no idea what they are)
1 teaspoon powdered turmeric
1 tablespoon olive oil
Ground black pepper to taste

For some reason I forgot to add oregano. That's odd, as I add it to almost anything I cook. Oh, well. Let's proceed.

Prepare the soy protein. it's simple. Just let it soak in plain water for 5-10 minutes, then drain. After you drain it, you need to squeeze the excess water out. That's it. While you're doing that, cook the pasta. Of course, the soy protein will gain mass from the water. So when I mean 750 grs prepared soy, I mean after it's been soaked and squeezed.

Next mix the soy and beef thoroughly. Textured soy protein is just about flavorless, but it will absorb the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Add a dash of Worcestershire and ground black pepper and mix it some more. Drain the cooked pasta and set aside.

Put the olive oil in a pot and let it heat, then cook the meat and soy until the meat is brown, or to whatever degree you prefer. Add the onions, green pepper, jalapeños and habaneros, and mix thoroughly. Next add the pureed tomato and the fried tomato. Again mix.

At this point add the spices (garlic, turmeric, cumin, parsley and fine herbs), and mix again. Add the beans and pasta and mix some more.

Reduce the heat and let it simmer a few minutes. You don't want it to dry, but let it thicken a bit (I'm musing on corn starch for thickening next time).

Well, 2 habaneros and 3 tablespoons of jalapeños are too much. It was hot, I mean H-O-T. How hot was it? It was so hot I actually considered for a few seconds whether or not I should have a second, smaller helping. That's hot.

I'm going to mix it with steamed rice tomorrow, just to take the edge off.

Anyway, I thought chili would be harder to make. It takes up a lot of ingredients, but it's rather easy.

Two things though:

One is you do not, and I mean, do NOT, remove the core or the seeds from the habaneros or jalapeños. That's for wimps <w>. And that's where most of the flavor is. Most of the capsacin, too, which is what makes the peppers hot, of course. If you can't take the heat, give it up and get some paprika instead :)

Two, when you've been chopping hot peppers, KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM YOUR EYES! Seriously. Wash your hands immediately after handling hot peppers. Capsacin is an irritant to every tissue. Even the eyelid is too delicate to take it well.

"fines herbes": parsley, chives, tarragon, and chervil.
"bouquet garni": parsley, thyme, and bay leaf.

Quote: Mosca

"fines herbes": parsley, chives, tarragon, and chervil.
"bouquet garni": parsley, thyme, and bay leaf.

Thanks.

Assuming, that is, that what's sold in America s fine herbs is the same as what's sold here as "hierbas finas" (drat! I just wasted a Spanish Word of the Day!)

I'm thinking about bean soup. Question: should lentils qualify as beans?

Well, they are legumes. I'd say during cooking they behave like beans as well.

As far as I'm concerned they taste like beans, too.

I consume enormous quantities of Lentil soup.

The popular thing for chili in the US is to use stew meat [any kind of chunks] instead of ground beef. If you watch a program on a chili contest this is very evident. At home we are sold on this to the point that ground beef in chili is a disappointment.