Random thread about food that doesn't really seem to have any cohesiveness

[Triple Zero]

to freeze things?

it keeps them longer than just refridgerating them?

or do you mean for your stock recipe, that's because you said to save the bones of meat you eat. and I don't really eat a lot of meat. like, twice a week or so. also if I have an entire chicken carcass, I may not feel like cooking it into stock right away (don't always have time for it).

and then, once I made stock, I'm probably not going to use it all at once, so again, I might need to freeze it in portions, so I can keep it longer.

that makes sense?

[Jenne]

And stock is wonderful to use for any base, of just about anything.  If you're out of meat, it's a good way to flavor something veggie-based as well.  I need to find a recipe for a good veggie stock as well.  I imagine it's similar to beef/chicken stock...

[LMNO]

000, I meant that it appears you don't actually have a freezer right now...

[Triple Zero]

well, cause, y'know my house burnt down, so I'm living at the top floor of my aunt's now (pretty great place btw, spaceous, if the shower and kitchen didn't suck so bad I'd almost be sorry I'd have to leave in a couple of months). and I could get a simple refridgerator without freezer from a friend, for free.
and I'm saving my insurance moneys to buy a good freezer/fridge unit, when my old place is rebuilt, and I move back.

now does it make sense to you?

[LMNO]

Oh yeah, you Fight Club'd your flat.  I forgot for a minute.

[Cainad (dec.)]

lail

For a moment there I thought we were all about to learn that the Dutch are actually a backwards society that doesn't make use of freezers in typical households.

[Triple Zero]

well on some pictures of my old kitchen you could see I had a washing machine at some odd place, where you'd normally expect a fridge.

I wonder if they can get it right with the next rebuild. it's something to do with the drain  being at a wrong place or something.

anyway, on topicness: CARBONARA. pasta carbonara is cheap. it's not technically very nutricious, but it fills like a teet. also if you've just been exercising, it's all carbs and fat and proteins and shit, exactly what your body needs (at least, that's what my body tells me by feeling increasingly satisfied after eating it, after a good running).

HOW TO MAKE:

- put a big pan of water on the flames, with some salt, to get it boiling
- start frying small bacon cubes in another pan
- slice onion and garlic into tiny bits, add to the bacon
- stir for a while
- water should be boiling now. add the pasta (fusilli or spaghetti is best IMO)
- as the water returns to boiling, stir it once to prevent paste from sticking to the pan. turn down the heat so it's just still boiling.
- you have 8 minutes from here.
- turn down the heat below the bacon+stuff, it's probably almost done.
- mix 4 eggs and some really fat cream, and some black pepper into an orange-yellow goop
- grate or cube some cheese. i usually use aged Gouda, but parmesan or something is probably more authentic
- mix the cheese with the bacon+stuff so that it melts
- pasta is done (al dente) now. TIMING IS CRUCIAL, ACT QUICKLY!
- remove water from pasta
- add egg+cream mixture to pasta, stir quickly
- add bacon+stuff+cheese mixture to pasta, stir some more
- stir
- maybe add a littlebit of heat if you think you must
- stir some more
- add the lid
- wait
- stir
- whatever, see if you can use the heat and stirring to get the egg+cream mix into a proper creamy state that is not raw but is also not like scrambled egg.
- EAT
- EAT
- EAT

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

So last night, I stuffed a chicken with rice and roasted it. It turned out fantastic!

1 whole roaster $7.00
2 cups of brown rice $.50
1/2 an apple $.50
A bit of onion and garlic $.25
Herbs from the garden
Salt, pepper
Leftover bacon grease

Total $8.25

Prepare the rice in advance.

Pull the giblets out of the chicken and boil them in about 1/2 cup of water for a couple of hours. Remove the giblets; save for tomorrow's soup. Reduce the broth and add a bit of bacon fat or butter, then sautee the chopped onion, garlic, herbs, and apple in it. Remove from heat and mix with the rice, adding salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 450.

Grease up the chicken with a bit of bacon fat, sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Fill the cavity with the rice mixture, truss, and place in a greased baking pan, or a roasting rack if you have one. Put it in the oven and reduce heat to 350. Bake for 20 minutes/lb or until meat reaches 180 and stuffing reaches 160.

Last night, this fed four people, and half of it is left. Granted, three of them were children, so I'm going to say there are probably four large meals from this preparation. Tonight we'll have leftovers, and tomorrow I'll stew the carcass, adding:

2 carrots $.40
2 potatoes $1.00
1 stalk of celery $.20
1 onion $.50
1 cup of rice or barley $.25
Garlic... maybe $.05?

More garden herbs
Salt & pepper

Total $2.40

This soup will serve at least eight meals, so 12 meals for about 89 cents a meal.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

And stock is wonderful to use for any base, of just about anything.  If you're out of meat, it's a good way to flavor something veggie-based as well.  I need to find a recipe for a good veggie stock as well.  I imagine it's similar to beef/chicken stock...

I save all my veggie peels, stalks, stems, pretty much everything except roots.  Wash them well and freeze them.  I keep adding to the ziploc bag until it is full.  Throw all that in a pot with water, salt, pepper, sometimes a spice bag.... 

That way I can have those veggies I don't keep in the house all the time as part of my stock base.  Like eggplant, parsnips, turnips and such.

I bring it all to a boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer for a couple of hours.  It's always worked for me.  I don't freeze my vegetable stock like I do my beef or chicken.

[Jenne]

Thanks, K!

[Bruno]

Cook 15 lbs of beans with a little over 1 lb of wood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_7eRdIv_oU

[Jenne]

Cook 15 lbs of beans with a little over 1 lb of wood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_7eRdIv_oU

Godamn that's a lot of BEANS

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Tomorrow I'm making black bean soup. That means that today I am soaking the beans and simmering all my pork chop bones from last week in a pot with an onion, some garden herbs, a clove of garlic, a bit of leftover bacon, and a chopped carrot. Tonight I'll strain it and let it cool, tomorrow I'll skim the fat and put the beans in to simmer. I probably won't add any additional vegetables, but will serve it with veggies on the side.

Total cost, not counting the chops I got the bones from:

Bacon: $1.00
Onion: $.30
Garlic: $.05
Carrot: $.25
Beans: $1.79

$3.39 for at least a dozen servings, so less than $.30/serving.

Day after tomorrow I'm using the leftover mashed potatoes and gravy from the pork chops and making sheperd's pie; I still have bottom round in the freezer so I pulled 3/4 pound out to thaw. I'll cube it and simmer it with an onion for several hours until it's tender, then add peas, celery, lima beans, barley, carrots, and the leftover gravy. When the carrots are tender I'll pour it all into a baking pan, top with the leftover mashed potatoes, and pop it in the oven to brown the potatoes. Total cost not counting the leftover potatoes and gravy:

Beef: $1.35
Misc veggies: $2.00

$3.35 for six servings, about $.56/serving.

[LMNO]

Making your own pork stock from the bones is killer.

Just remember to keep the simmer water gentle.  If it gets too hot, the collagen won't extract.

[AFK]

Mmm, collagen extract.