General Recipe Sharing and Discussion Thread

Do we eat these German desserts while we discuss standing or sitting while peeing? Talk about shit on a shelf fixtures in the toilet bowl?

I'm contemplating making this Dutch Apple Pie. There is melted vanilla ice cream in the filling which has piqued my curiosity.

[quote]General Recipe Sharing and Discussion Thread

With or without his privates?

OP, How FAT are you?

I made a delicious date and walnut loaf off the King Arthur website a few days ago. This weekend I will attempt to make scones and lemon curd.

I’m making a big pot of beef vegetable-barley soup for lunches this week and cottage pie for dinner tonight.

As someone who grew up in the heart of PA Dutch country, we'd never put melted ice cream in pie filling. We'd TELL the tourists from NY or NJ that we did just to get them to buy the pie, all the while laughing behind their backs.

I made a cheesecake once that had melted strawberry ice cream as one of its ingredients.

r5 Is this the date-walnut bread recipe? It looks good. I'm gonna try it. Nothing better than a slice of date-nut bread with some cream cheese on it.

Can you share the recipes (or at least point us in the right direction for Googling)? Thanks!

Yes, that's the one, R9. I added a bit of orange extract since I didn't have any liquor, and it was superb. You won't be disappointed.

ALL Posters – How FAT are you???

R5 (and others), I have made several of the recipes on the King Arthur Flour website and they have all been excellent. Likewise those found on the website for Odense almond paste. I wouldn't recommend corporate website recipes in general, but those two are quite good.

R13, R5, OP, (and others), HOW. FAT. ARE. YOU?????

Well, I thought this tread would get more action, but I guess there aren't that many cooks on here. Here's an update from me (OP). I made the King Arthur Flour Date-Nut Bread today (as mentioned in r5.) It came out pretty good. I think I underbaked it a bit, and I think the recipe has too many walnuts, but otherwise it's a nice loaf.

I made the Emeril Chicken Gumbo and while it was quite tasty, it's VERY oily. I guess if you use a full cup of oil to make the roux it's unavoidable.

It's finally gotten cooler here (SoCal) so I'm up for some more baking. Not sure what's next. I saw a good pecan pie recipe in this month's AllRecipes magazine--no corn syrup, just maple syrup. That issue also has a Colorado green chili recipe for the Instant Pot.

I might try a bread this weekend. And once the date-nut bread is done, I like the looks of Molly Yeh's pumpkin cranberry loaf.

Made a huge pot of this over the weekend. It’s a lot chopping but so so worth it. It was absolutely delicious, with lots of leftovers.

Going up to Provincetown next week and I’m making it again to take up with us.

r16 Looks delicious. But it also looks like it's one of those recipes where it's hard to track down all of the ingredients. Did you use a lot of different kinds of mushrooms? Isn't it sometimes a challenge to find leeks? I hope you used frozen pearl onions ... I can't imagine peeling the fresh ones.

I LOVE to cook and have been loving preparing new dishes lately.. The shallots with chicken from NYT cooking is one of the best things that I have made in my life. Their Korean fire chicken recipe is also delicious. I make the Baja fish tacos from epicurious once a week. I found the recipe for Nobu’s black cod with miso online, and have made it twice. I used the marinade on Japanese eggplant as well. Divine! As long as we are all getting fat and old anyway, Chrissy Teigan’s lemony arugula with spaghetti is to die for.

For dessert, Ina’s applesauce cake with bourbon raisins.

I just looked up that cake recipe, R19 and I'm definitely gonna try it. I love recipes where I already have almost all of the ingredients on hand. (I just need to buy applesauce.)

OP, when you make the sourdough please share the recipe and how it turns out. Have you dona your starter yet? Will you bake any special way?

Some of the best recipe discoveries of the past few years for me: (you gotta make the maple butter with this one, I also put more maple syrup in than is called for)

Mapo tofu. This recipe specifically. Get the specific ingredients it calls for (widely available at Asian markets or on Amazon). This dish blew my fucking mind, insanely delicious and so difficult to fuck up I literally never have despite having no familiarity with Chinese cuisine.

This radicchio and blue cheese salad.

This saltine-cracker-crust pie

I recently found this Italian lady's Youtube channel, the recipes are short and simple, mostly without music or voiceover. Don't be deceived by the perfectly awful fraufoto, you don't see her usually in the videos, just her hands and no voice.

I'm thinking of trying this tray bake recipe for "Berbere-spiced Chicken, Carrots and Chickpeas" I saw a couple weeks ago in The Guardian. (It's the third one down, and not the one seen in the photo link.)

OP, again, determined to keep this thread going!

I made Alton Brown's Swiss Steak recipe today, and also made my sourdough starter (never tried it before but always wanted to.) This week I'll probably try another bread (rye? challah?) since the starter won't be ready. And maybe spaghetti with pancetta and ricotta or beef stroganoff.

As an experienced baker, I'm embarrassed to admit I still occasionally forget to convert temperatures between conventional to convection. You could spend 3-plus hours preparing a pie and *poof* gone because you forgot to convert.

Instant Pot, OP. It's all about the IP.

I find it fascinating that they use convection (or as they call it, "fan") on the BGGO all the time. I guess everyone has a convection oven there. I have one, but I don't think I've ever used that feature.

I meant GBBO, not BGGO (no, I'm not dyslexic!)

I began a sourdough starter about 12 days ago and finally tonight it passed the float test! I made the (no-knead) bread dough and it's sitting overnight now. I really hope it turns out tomorrow. I'm in Colorado so the altitude might have an effect.

I'm following this recipe:

I’m making Julia Child’s tuna sandwich recipe tonight, served with a wedge salad and Sam Sifton’s apple pie. He uses honey crisp apples, and cooks them before adding to the crust. I have made the pie multiple times, and it is divine.

I made this soup last night. It's at my skill level and is really good.

r33 Thanks for sharing. I am on Day 3 of my starter -- after the first day it didn't seem to have changed very much, but today it's gotten HUGE, so I guess it's working. Can you let us know how you did your starter? I'm following a recipe from Food Network magazine, and now that I've seen some others, I wish I hadn't. The one I'm using requires you to remove all but 1/4 c. of the starter every time you feed it. It's kind of a hassle; the other recipes I've seen use weight rather than volume, which I think would be easier to deal with.

What have you been doing with the portion of the starter that you remove every day?

FYI, I started with 1/2 c. of whole wheat flour and 1/3 c. water, then the feeding is 1/2 c. unbleached AP flour and 1/4 c. of water.

OP do you ever make anything healthy, or are you just into fat and sugar-laden crap?

r37, are you ever [italic]not[/italic] a cunt? Share your experiences cooking, not vaginating.

Not really much of a recipe per se, but one of our local grocers had bone in skin on turkey breasts for super cheap, it was only about $5 for a 2 1/2 pound breast. I also picked up a packet of McCormick Bag 'n Season for chicken, but just for the oven bag - I don't like the seasoning blend. I know Reynolds sells oven bags, but they're usually too big and meant for full size turkey's.

Just simply seasoned it with sea salt, ground black pepper, garlic powder and parsley. It only took an hour and 15 min at 350 since it was already thawed. Super moist, and it got a little browning on top as well (as long as you follow the instructions to make a few slits in the bag).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get one of these fresh turkey breasts just before Thanksgiving. I really don't feel like buying a whole frozen turkey, thawing it out for several days, cleaning it, etc....

Don't be intimidated by Indian food.

I'll post this recipe but I never use a recipe anymore I just make it. If you wanted to try it for the first time, this is good but there are thousands of tikka masala recipes and they're all pretty good.

Matty matheson's butter chicken is THE SHIT, fwiw.

But I have never successfully made a biryani at home. It's my most-failed-at dish by far. Some of the failures have been quite something. Something awful, I mean.

I'm going to try this recipe for Greek Lemon Potatoes.

But since I don't like oregano, I'll be replacing that with some parsley and basil.

I have 2 boxes of Perugina cocoa powder and one large bar of Perugina 50% cacao chocolate from a trip to Italy in the 'before times'. I need to make something from them before they get too old. Anyone have any ideas?

r42 Rosemary would be nice too.

R44 Oh that's a great idea.

Here is an incredibly rich cream of mushroom soup from Ruth Reichl. I've made it several times, and it's so easy I always ask myself why I don't make it more often. Stick to only eating one cup at a time, if you're faint of heart. A little sherry is a nice addition.

R46, a good mushroom soup doesn’t need all of that flour and cream. Anthony Bourdain’s recipe is simple and tastes rich without half and half. I usually try to add a few more ‘funky’ mushrooms, or truffle salt...whatever I have on hand.

Also, I really miss Bourdain. He was truly one of a kind.

To all contributors on this thread, thank you. A kitchen full of gays, what could be better.

Love you R49! The world is so dark right now. lt is nice to find something to enjoy, and share (even virtually).

R50 Thanks, I agree. Any frustration arising in this thread will not be election related but rather because of an ill-tempered sour dough starter!

I like the King Arthur whole wheat flour. My husband and I make our own tortillas with it, and butter, salt, baking powder and water. I roll them out and he cooks them.

Tonight we had shrimp with orange-ginger sauce.

A grumble: I made the Marcella Hazan bolognese sauce I read about here at DL and followed it EXACTLY. To the letter, didn’t alter it one bit. Bought a fresh new jar of whole nutmeg for it. It was a huge disappointment. It was edible but completely joyless. Some priss is going to scold me and say I didn’t let it cook down long enough or I did something wrong, but no. I’ve rarely followed a recipe as faithfully as I did this one.

It was a real kick in the nads.

I make little silver-dollar pancakes with this: 1/2 c rolled oats (not quick; old-fashioned), 1/2 c cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1 Tbsp sugar, glug of vanilla extract or some lemon zest (or maybe both). I blend with an immersion blender and drop on a hot buttered frying pan. Lots of butter.

It’s a delicious little hot breakfast. Good way to stay full with protein.

R33 here. My sourdough bread came out perfectly! I was so thrilled, because I wasn't sure I was doing it right each step of the way. But it was great: very crusty, tangy, chewy; perfect.

R36, I used the Feasting at Home starter recipe (using whole wheat flour to start, then switching to all purpose unbleached flour the next few days, then switching to unbleached bread flour the last few days). I discarded half the starter before feeding each day, saving a few batches in the fridge to make sourdough pancakes, waffles, and pizza dough in the near future. You'll get to the point where you just throw out the discard because you'll have at least 7 days worth. You can also give it away to friends who want to make their own starter (feeding the discard batch first before giving it away).

[quote] A grumble: I made the Marcella Hazan bolognese sauce I read about here at DL and followed it EXACTLY.... It was a huge disappointment.

I've also heard about people disappointed in her tomato sauce with butter. Some people rave about it, but other people just don't like it. I hate it when things get so hyped up for nothing.

Try Bianco tomatoes, guys. Best canned tomatoes I've tried so far. Yes, I've tried canned San Marzanos, forgot which brands. IMO, Bianco is the best. Price is similar to Muir Glen brand.

As some of us move into winter, we can still make tomato dishes.

The people who aren't liking Marcella's sauces, what kind of pasta are you eating each one with? Are you cooking the pasta long enough? There is a difference between al dente and undercooked. Are you salting the water enough? Are you putting salt in your sauce? Are you serving with freshly-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano?

For R43, I make these brownies often. They’re rich and fudgy, I almost always have the ingredients, and only one bowl.

Thanks for this thread, OP!

Whoops!

R53 - had the same experience. Didn't hate it by any means but was decidedly underwhelmed that THIS was the sauce everyone has been going on about. (and yes to the other poster I know how to prepare pasta - I followed the sauce recipe but only once so I dunno, should I try again? is it something that grows on you?)

R57 - Bianco canned tomatoes are the best tasting I've ever had (canned).

I know Rao's sauce gets a lot of love. It was recently ranked as the top jarred sauce on America's Test Kitchen, with Victoria in 2nd place. I've since tried both, and honestly I think I prefer Victoria between the two. It's a really good base tomato sauce when you don't have all the fresh ingredients on hand to make a marinara from scratch (fresh onions, fresh garlic, fresh herbs, etc...).

It sells for about $6.99 per jar where I live. But with all costs considered vs. buying San Marzano tomatoes and all the other additional ingredients to make a sauce from scratch, it's not a bad deal at all imo. Especially if you're trying to avoid venturing out of the house right now.

This is the best cobbler I've ever had! Even though peach season has passed, I'd keep this one in my back pocket.

I made beef stroganoff tonight. I cheated by using a jar of stroganoff starter (basically a simmer sauce.) The recipe on the jar said to use ground beef, but I used the more traditional steak (I used eye of round.) I floured and browned the beef first, then sautéed some onions and mushrooms. There didn't seem to be enough sauce in the jar for all the meat and vegetables, so I added about a cup of water then let in simmer for about half an hour to reduce down a little and tenderize the beef. Added sour cream at the end. It was actually decent, surprisingly.

R64, your Beef Stroganoff was improved, I'm sure, by using strips of beef instead of hamburger. Hamburger just sounds wrong, although it's probably tasty.

My go to order at Chipotle is their burrito bowl with cilantro lime white rice, chicken, corn salsa, and shredded Monterey jack cheese. But it's also relatively easy to make at home too.

Chicken - just boneless skinless chicken thighs marinated in a can of Chipotle in Adobo sauce for about an hour or so. Then I grill it and dice it up.

Cliantro Lime Rice - self explanatory. Just rice with fresh cilantro, lime juice, sea salt.

Corn salsa - Fresh corn, diced poblano peppers, diced red onion, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and sea salt.

I’m making Ina Farten’s NO FART chili. Guaranteed.

I stopped baking in August. Gave up potatoes and bread and I’ve lost 15 pounds. I’m giving this thread a pass.

I've made a couple of Pioneer Woman recipes and they never turned out. I find that the recipes on The Spruce (which used to be about dot com) by Diana Rattray are far better, they're more traditional home cooking kinds of fare that taste better.

Made a couple of cookie recipes lately, which I never do, and both came out too cakey. I think the flour is the culprit, I just bought some Gold Medal brand when I usually get store brand. I'll experiment with less flour next time.

Also made cupcakes from scratch for the first time and they were amazing. I'm not a great baker but this recipe is the best:

Try King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, r70, for general baking. I can't say what might have made your cookies "cakey" without looking at the recipe(s), but it's the best generally available flour.

r71 I'm a King Arthur flour user and agree it's the best.

r70 Cakey? Overbaking, not enough fat and/or liquids or too much flour. If you're not weighing the flour, please do so. Makes measuring accurate and quicker. Invest in a digital scale, you can get one for around 20 bucks.

That's a good tip BAG, thanks -- I've been measuring and have never weighed flour, it didn't even occur to me that I should be.

I've also heard that the King Arthur recipes are good, in particular this no-knead harvest bread:

I like weird, fun, off-beat recipes using unusual ingredients. I'm going to try to make these faux Butterfingers using melted candy corn.

King Arthur flour gives me the shits.

r76 Is KA the only flour that does that? Are you gluten intolerant?

Does anyone else love BronzeAgeGay? I love BronzeAgeGay and want to be his friend.

I also have a question regarding KA flour. In short: WHY is it better? I am not disputing that it's better as I have never actually used it (I live in the KA flour-free hellscape that is Canada) but the sentiment is so unanimous I'm genuinely curious. Do they simply use superior wheat? And if so, in what way is that wheat superior? To me flour is flour, ground up wheat. How doe some flour get to be better than the other if confounding variables like freshness are left out? Or is it a confounding variable that explains KA's superiority?

Anyone? Help I'm confused and yes it happens a lot and yes I'm fat.

From America’s Test Kitchen, r78;

“This flour is milled to a specific protein percentage of 11.7 percent, which was among the highest protein levels of the brands we tried and close to the bottom of the range usually found in bread flours. As a result, the bread we made with this flour rose tall and had an “airy,” “chewy” crumb and “crispy” crust. The biscuits were also tall, albeit a bit “bready.” Tasters noticed a “nice wheat flavor” in both the bread and the biscuits. However, texture and flavor differences were less discernible in the cake; while its texture was “a tad stiffer” than those of the cakes we made with other brands, it was still “pleasantly moist” and “plenty tender.” While we recommend this flour for bread baking, it’s also a good option for multipurpose baking.”

They recommend Gold Medal or Pillsbury for non-bread use.

[quote]Does anyone else love BronzeAgeGay? I love BronzeAgeGay and want to be his friend.

I adore him. I would teach him to post pics if he would let me.

r78 You made me blush. All over.

The King Arthur Flour Co. has been in business over 225 years, so they must be doing something right. I like their flour because it unbleached, and not having to deal with chemical "whiteners"( some of which are potential carcinogens) is a good deal. KA ages their flour which naturally lightens the color, but it takes time, that's one of the reasons it's more expensive than the standard supermarket flours.

r80 I appreciate the gesture, and the compliment, but as I am the least savvy computer user, it would end in tears

Well, Bronzie, I'll settle for leaving you WWs.

R80

r80/r82 Many thanks, I can use all the Well Wishes I can get.😉

Thank you R79! And you, Bronzie. You're my fave because you manage that thing of being decent AND interesting. This website needs more like you.

Best potato salad I’ve ever made or tried. She can be annoying, but it’s worth watching the video. It’s so much better than the typical deli potato salad.

Hard boiled eggs in potato salad, r85? Why not dog vomit? Or how about a month's worth of smegma from two dozen Eurodongs?

Hard-boiled eggs are a normal ingredient in a potato salad.

Not in one I'm going to eat, r87.

I do a compromise on the hard boiled egg "controversy". .. I'm not a fan of the white part of the egg in potato salad. But I like the flavor that the hard boiled yolk has and chop it up so fine that it becomes like a dried mustard powder and "dust" the potatoes with some of that like it's another spice.

Most of the recipes from America’s Test Kitchen have turned out great.

I just did an inventory of my freezer because I was tired of buying replacement stuff for things I had buried in there. So now I am going to be trying to find recipes to use up all of the stuff I discovered. (My goal is to empty it out completely and buy a new fridge.) I was amazed at how much was in there: shrimp, scallops, brisket, pork chops, lamb, chicken, sausage, ground beef, ribeye steaks, lots of vegetables, fruits, things I'd made in the past but didn't label so now I have no idea what they are, bread, nuts, filled pastas, butter, cookie doughs that I'd made, pie crust, puff pastry, etc. So I'm not going to be buying much food (except for fresh fruits and vegetables) for the next few months!

Sally's baking addiction is GREAT R70

R91, I did a "shop your pantry" project this summer as well. Except I didn't get a new fridge at the end of it.

I wish we had gotten an upright freezer instead of a chest freezer. I hate it. So hard to find anything.

R91 I’m in the same boat! At the moment tying to decide on a shrimp and rice dish maybe something like a South Carolina Shrimp Pilau? Anyone else have a shrimp and rice recipe that isn’t jambalaya?

I anticipate a rollercoaster week, if we can keep this recipe swap thread going I would appreciate the diversion.

Turkey Brining.

R95

You can always make a Shrimp Risotto recipe. I add half the shrimp cut up in chunks when I saute the rice and onions, before adding the wine. Then finish the risotto and add the remaining half of the shrimp, whole, in the last five minutes.

I've also roasted (broiled, really) the remaining half and topped each serving with a few of the roasted shrimp.

Oh, and I love Ina Garten but to make good risotto you do have to stir and stir; the oven method is just not good enough. Easier, certainly, but why bother?

Good luck!

R95

Oh, forgot this part: if you've peeled the shrimp and have all the shells, you can make a quick shrimp stock with the shells and use it in the risotto.

Ina's not as um, dependable, when it comes to Italian food. She once actually added olive oil to the pot of water she boiled pasta in.

R99

Heresy, for an Italian. As an Italian, I generally don't use "Italian" recipes from non-Italian cooks.

And NOTHING Italian from the generally dependable (but fussy) America's Test Kitchen, who swear by using cottage cheese in lasagna or baked ziti as a replacement for ricotta. Cottage cheese, for christ's sake!

On another thread a few weeks ago, someone posted a recipe for Greek chicken thighs that looked really good. I forgot to save it. If the original poster is on this thread, or might have saved it, would you please share again. I googled it by none of the ones I saw looked the same. TIA

My sourdough starter was a bust, and I think I know what I did wrong. But I also thought it was a royal pain, especially having to discard all but 1/4 c. every time you "fed" it. I think I'm going to try again, but using a recipe that goes by weight instead of volume. And cleaning up everything is also a huge mess--the flour and water hardens and sticks to everything.

r101 Was it this recipe, Ethan? It was rather good. I cut it in half, as two pounds was just the right amount. It was delicious. It rendered a lot of liquid, so have some bread on hand.

This Korean fire chicken is one of the best chicken recipes I have made. I usually find chicken boring.

This is a strawberry & cream cheese dish with a crust made from pretzels. Every time I've made it people have raved over it.

INGREDIENTS

6 1/2 oz. pretzel sticks

2 1/4 cups sugar

12 Tbs unsalted butter, melted & cooled

8 oz. cream cheese

1 cup heavy cream

3 lbs. frozen strawberries, thawed

1/4 tsp salt

4 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Spray a 13"x9" baking pan with vegetable spray. Pulse pretzels and 1/4 cup sugar in food processor until coarsely ground, about 15 pulses. Add melted butter and pulse until combined, about 10 pulses. Transfer pretzel mixture to prepared pan. Using bottom of measuring cup, press crumbs into bottom of pan. Bake on middle rack at 400° until crust is fragrant and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Place crust in the refrigerator until completely cool.

2. In mixer with whisk attachment whip cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and, with mixer still running, slowly add cream in steady stream. Continue to whip until soft peaks form, scraping down bowl as needed, about 1 minute longer. Spread whipped cream cheese mixture evenly over cooled crust. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

3. Process 2 lbs. strawberries in a food processor until pureed, about 30 seconds. Using a large spoon push mixture through fine-mesh strainer into a medium saucepan. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and salt to strawberry puree and cook over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, until bubbles begin to appear around sides of pan and sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water in large bowl and let sit about 5 minutes until gelatin softens. Whisk strawberry puree into gelatin. Slice remaining strawberries and stir into strawberry-gelatin mixture. Refrigerate until gelatin thickens slightly and starts to cling to sides of bowl, about 30 minutes. Carefully pour gelatin mixture evenly over whipped cream cheese layer. Refrigerate at least 4 hours to allow gelatin to set, or up to 24 hours.

If you like cheesecake but would like a lighter more airy cake this Japanese Cotton Cheesecake may be right up your alley. It's as if you crossed a New York style cheesecake with a souffle. I serve this cake with a fruit compote.

Ingredients

8 oz of cream cheese (room temperature)

2 Tbs of unsalted butter (room temperature)

6 eggs, separated

1/2 cup whole milk

5 Tbs of sifted cornstarch

1-1/2 Tbs of lemon juice

2/3 cup sugar, separated

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°. Line the bottom & sides of a 9” spring form pan with parchment paper, then spray very well with non stick spray. Wrap the outside of the pan with a couple layers of aluminum foil and set aside.

In a small saucepan add the cream cheese, milk and butter and on very low heat until the mixture is smooth and creamy making sure to whisk the whole time. Pour mixture into a bowl and allow it to cool.

Using the whisk attachment to a mixer whisk the egg yolks and 1/3 cup of sugar until thick and pale. Add the cornstarch, lemon juice and salt and mix until combined.

Pour in the cooled cream cheese mixture and mix until thoroughly combined, set aside.

Clean the mixer bowl and whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy, then slowly add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.

Fold the egg whites into the batter & pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Place that pan into a larger pan. Fill the outter pan with hot water 1/2 the way up the sides of the spring form pan.

Bake the cake for 1 hour and 10 minutes making sure not to open the oven door for the first 45 minutes. If you feel like the top is browning too quickly, loosely cover with some aluminum foil while it continues to bake.

Turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for an additional hour then carefully remove from the oven, take the pan out of the water bath and allow it to cool completely before removing from the pan.

This is what the strawberry pretzel salad looks like prepared.

And this is the Japanese Cotton Cheesecake.

What a delicious menu! Not to be too pedantic, but alfajores are not Argentinian. They are Spanish by way of the Middle East. Spaniards brought that delicious cookie to the Americas. You might find different recipes for alfajores if you widen your search to include Spain and other Latin American countries.

I've made the strawberry pretzel salad lots of times -- it's always a hit, but it's really more like dessert than a salad.

I've made this one for Thanksgiving several times and it's usually well-received.

On last week's Great British Bake-Off/Baking Show, Lottie made some Japanese cake called a "cotton jiggly cake." Here's the recipe.

Thanks R106! That sounds perfect for Thanksgiving dessert! I like lighter desserts after a heavy meal, so it sounds great.

Love the strawberry pretzel dessert! Speaking of GBBO I am tempted to try the matcha crepe cake, has anyone made it?

For tonight I am thinking a beef stew or stew meat chili, I have 3 lbs of cubed beef to work with, anyone have a knock out recipe?

Every time I've made the strawberry pretzel dish I've had to make an extra one because everybody who tries it begs for some to take home. That pretzel crust is good enough to make on its own and eat as cookies. The perfect blend of salty, sweet & crunchy.

R103, yes, that’s the one. Wow, you were quick to respond. I was out last night, so I didn’t check in until know. I’ll give it a try soon. A foodie friend brought me a big bag of Greek oregano from a trip and I’ve waited to try it on a Greek or Greek style recipe.

Thanks for sharing.

I left one thing out of the strawberry pretzel recipe at R105. you also need 1 lb. of fresh sliced strawberries to put in the top layer.

R108, I’ve bought that many times in a Japanese bakery. I call it milk cake. Cotton cheesecake is a good description.

This Cream Cheese Shortcake recipe from Valerie Bertinelli sounds good (I saw her make it on her show.) I'm going to add it to my list of things to try.

What are you making this weekend? I think I will do Penne vodka tonight with a bottle of cava, hopefully celebrating a Biden win!

I'm going to try making a hot vinaigrette for a wilted spinach salad. That's usually done by frying bacon crisp to crumble on top, using the hot grease to make the dressing that wilts the spinach. But I don't eat meat, so I'm going to make the dressing by heating walnut oil and balsamic vinegar, then sprinkling toasted walnuts and bleu cheese on top. The salad will be baby spinach and red onion with sliced raw mushrooms -- if I can find good pears on sale, I'll replace the mushrooms with those.

Ethan at R101, was it the Greek Lemon Chicken and Potatoes recipe? That's one I saved from a previous thread but haven't made yet:

Does chef cum count as a recipe? That is what I want to eat.

This guy's cooking channel is the shit. He's chill, cute and makes everything super-simple but does a deep dive on technique. I've always disliked penne a la vodka - think its crappy pub food - but his video for it was so appetizing that I gave it a go - and it fucking ruled. I also cracked the cacio e pepe code using his video for it. Came out perfect.

I watched him for a couple of days, r123, and yes, he's basically very good. But I hated grating P-R his way, on the smallest holes of the box grater. You leave too much cheese behind.

I was going to make this seared ahi tuna salad tonight (it’s very good and healthy) but will probably go for a late lunch with my partner, so it may have to wait until tomorrow.

Penne alla vodka is pub food?

“Penne alla vodka is pub food?“

In many easy coast pubs, especially in NYC, penne a la vodka is the standard pasta dish they offer on the menu. Especially in the nicer Irish pubs.

I'm making this fall meat loaf tonight. Kind of a strange recipe -- you put stuffing mix and cranberries (mixed with ketchup) into the meat mixture.

OP, where are the links for goodness sakes! Your suggestions sound great but there are so many variations and I don't have the skill to differentiate.

It's difficult to post links when you can only do one at a time. Which one(s) are you interested in?

[quote]Cook's Country's Slow Cooker Sausage Ragu (delicious and easy.)

Thank you!

Unfortunately that one is behind a paywall. I got the recipe from the magazine itself.

However, I found this, which has the ingredients but not the instructions.

Instructions:

BEFORE YOU BEGIN This recipe yields about 10 cups of sauce (enough to coat 2 pounds of pasta). Serve the ragu with grated Pecorino Romano cheese and chopped fresh basil. 1 INSTRUCTIONS Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add fennel, onion, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is uniformly colored, about 1 minute. Transfer vegetable mixture to slow cooker. 2 Add sausage, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, pepper, and salt to slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook until sausage is cooked through and tender, 6 to 7 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low. 3 Skim excess fat from surface of sauce with spoon. Using potato masher, mash sausage in slow cooker until uniformly broken into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. (Cooled sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.) 4 FREEZE IT: This sauce freezes beautifully for up to two months. To freeze it, let the sauce cool completely and then spoon it into a zipper-lock bag or an airtight storage container. You can reheat the sauce right from frozen in a saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat (stirring frequently and taking care to not let it scorch) with a little extra water added.

Thank you, R134, for putting this together for me.

I am trying to find a good recipe for an almond horn/ Russian tea cake type of cookie. A melt in your mouth crumbly cookie that I can use chopped almonds in rolled in powdered sugar. Does anyone have a recipe they can recommend?

Almond horns, or crescents, are a typical Viennese pastry. Any Russian teacake/Mexican Wedding cake/Pecan Snowball recipe can be adapted for almonds. The shape of the pastry can be a problem, because they are very fragile, since they won't me mound-shaped. Add a bit more flour to make a sturdier product. Making them smaller than called for will help as well.

Happy baking!

One of my friends asks me to make him snowballs/Russian teacakes/Mexican wedding cookies every year. I don't really have a "perfect" recipe ... does anyone have one they swear by? I usually just end up Googling and finding something that looks OK.

Now I want to make Russian teacakes. They were a favorite as a child.

R139 Anastasia, is that you?

r138 I use my mom's recipe, and that was out of the Betty Crocker cookbook, the iconic red & white one from the 50's:

1cup butter, softened ) ) 1/2 cup sifted confectioner's sugar(40gms)------------------Cream thoroughly ) 1 tsp. vanilla extract )

2 1/4 cup sifted flour(240 grams) ) )----------- Sift together and stir in 1/4 tsp. salt )

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts of your choice)------- Mix in thoroughly

Chill dough. Roll into balls, the recipe says 1". I like to make them smaller( I use a small sorbet scoop to make them uniform) Place on a ungreased cookie sheet, about 2" apart, they don't grow much. Bake @ 400F for 10-12 minutes until set, but not brown. While still warm sift confectioner's sugar over cookies after placing them on racks, with waxed paper underneath. Cool. Dredge with sugar again. Store in an airtight container, with the lid cracked just a bit, so the cookies don't become too soft. I put mine in small cupcake papers before they go into the container.

I hope this helps you out.

^^^ My apologies. The formatting got a bit screwed up, but I think you can figure it out.

Thanks Bronzie! Those sound good. I've made Greek butter cookies (Kourabiedes) many, many times, and the recipe is similar (although our family never included the traditional nuts for some reason.) But these are definitely more along the lines of what my friend wants.

r143 My pleasure. I like kourabiedes, because they are usually cloves-flavored(a taste some find objectionable) The cookies hold up well in storage, so if you have to bake for Christmas you can start now. Store in a cool place.

I haven't tried the method of cooking heirloom beans at the link but I love the guy's approach:

"I actually don't focus on the time too much, but one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday is to put on the classic Bette Davis movie, 'All About Eve,' and at one point, she's gonna say, 'Fasten your seat belt. It's gonna be a bumpy night.' And that's at the point I add the salt. And then, later in the movie, she says, 'It's a funny business, a woman's career,' and that's, like, 'Oh, we should start testing them. They might be done.'"

Could someone recommend some beef stew recipes? I'd like something with peppers/paprika.

I don't know what this is called, or even if it has a name. A friend of mine served it for dinner a few years ago, and it remains one of the best steak sauces I have ever had.

Pocket a fillet steak and insert slices of Stilton cheese. Fry in butter and oil until medium rare, then leave to rest. Deglaze the frying pan with brandy, then add clotted cream and English mustard. When fully mixed and reducing, pour in the juices from the resting steak. Serve the sauce over the steak, with new potatoes and minted peas.

Very rich and filling, but absolutely gorgeous. Perfect for a special dinner.

One of my discoveries over the past couple of years was Katharine Hepburn brownies. If you like fuggy, not cake, brownies, this is the recipe for you. It will be slightly gooey inside. Walnuts are optional. Check doneness after 30 minutes (note the 325 degree oven). When the top starts to harden (tap a knife somewhere in the middle) then it is done. Don't let it overbake. Serve while slightly warm.

You can talk about Miss Hepburn while eating this dessert.

I found a package of Trader Joe's frozen puff pastry in my freezer ... I'm sure it's at least five years old. Took it out, thawed it and made it into cinnamon rolls. I'm a little hesitant to try them ...

I need to make soup with my four jars of turkey stock. Any suggestions? These week we did turkey risotto, turkey enchiladas, turkey cobb salad and turned the cornbread stuffing into waffles and the sweet potatoes into scones.

Fuck. I always come across these threads when I'm hungry.

That all sounds great, R150. The post-Thanksgiving turkey soup I make uses as many leftovers as possible (potatoes, celery, carrots) plus onions and mushrooms. If no spuds, use noodles or rice (from leftover risotto?) for starch. We don't serve peas or green beans at dinner, so those aren't among the available leftovers, but people who like them would enjoy those additions. The most important ingredient is good homemade stock and you've got 4 jars of that, so you're set.

Your cornbread stuffing waffles and sweet potato scones sound intriguing!

I'm making a peanut butter-fudge Bundt cake for a friend's birthday this weekend.

Next up: I'm going to try the Cook's Country recipe for Amish Cinnamon Bread.

I saw this recipe on "The Kitchen" and it looks delicious. I think I'm going to try it and add caramel frosting.

What is a stove top recipe that smells great as you’re cooking it?

Has anyone made Joy the Baker’s Chocolate Babka Muffins? Wondering if worth the effort.

[quote]What is a stove top recipe that smells great as you’re cooking it?

* anything with bacon

* tomato sauces, with or without meat, that you might eat with pasta

* stews and braises

I’d love to try these delights, but mama’s mussy is ready for a night on the town! 😷

R155, you can have great aromas emanating from the kitchen without cooking: put a pot of water with a few cinnamon sticks and whole cloves in it on a burner and simmer without a lid.

R155 Anything that starts with onions and garlic sauteed in butter (which is a lot of things). Bonus point for throwing some bacon/pork fat in there, too. I make a lot of white-people Indian food this way, chicken tikka masala being the main thing.

How do we feel about persimmons? I've been getting them in my Imperfect Foods box. I'm going to make the James Beard persimmon bread recipe. I made it a few years ago and remember that it came out pretty good.

r156 Those sound good, but they seem more like cinnamon rolls than muffins. And I kind of have an aversion to chocolate in the morning, so I think they'd be better off as a dessert than as a bread item.

R161, I've made James Beard's persimmon bread and it is very good, but I like the linked Epicurious recipe for persimmon cake even better. Instead of currants, I use a mixture of golden raisins and dried cranberries plumped in brandy -- and I've never bothered with the cream cheese icing because the cake looks and tastes so great without any topping. It's always been a big hit with everyone.

A few other things I made recently (to give to friends):

Ina Garten's bourbon applesauce cake

Ina's white chocolate toffee

Rachael Ray's five-minute fudge wreath

Katie Lee's cherry-pistachio biscotti

I've been having some baking failures and finally realized that my oven thermostat is WAY off. when I set it for 350, it tells me it's ready when it hasn't even reached 200. I tried recalibrating it, but that ended up making it get too hot. So now I have to check the oven thermometer to see what the temperature actually is before I put something in the oven.

I just made peanut brittle for the first time--surprised at how easy it was and how well it turned out. I'm going to try it again, but with several different kinds of nuts.

I'm 68 years old and just made my very first brisket!

Incredibly simple recipe, but I was craving some Chinese takeout but didn't want to venture out. So I settled for this since I had all the ingredients. It's been getting really chilly where I'm at right now.

This thai red curry squash soup is the best. I stick to the seasonings, but throw in carrots, red bell peppers and celery if I have it. You can roast the veggies or use the instant pot/pressure cooker. I top with sour cream rather than coconut milk. If you're using authentic Thai red curry paste, use less. It packs more of a punch than the American stuff.

Just seeing this thread now. I LOVE malt flavoring, OP. Ice cream (Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby, oh my god), malt balls (Whoppers), etc. A singular delight. Reminds me of being a kid, and is one of the few big flavors of my childhood that I still love as much now as I did then.

I saw this "recipe" somewhere else and had similar thoughts as this gentleman.

I'm stealing that recipe!

I nearly always make steel-cut oats on the stovetop, but tonight I decided to try doing them overnight in the slow-cooker.

My recipe for Swiss Steak is pretty similar to Alton Brown's at R28 - except mine does not use oregano or Worcestershire sauce. .. Mine has basil and apple cider vinegar.

Also, half way through the cooking, I throw in some slices of carrot and green pepper, both cut long and narrow, rather thin. They add flavor and look pretty with the tomato. ;-)

Anyone have a good shrimp creole recipe that has a little kick to it?

R12 - I find cooking at home is so much better for the waistline than other stuff. Before the pandemic, I was, oddly enough, more in the mood to meal prep and just because I was packing lunches based on high protein and complex carbs and veggies followed by the gym and a clear or chicken soup or creamed spinach (no heavy cream, just milk) at night, I lost loads of weight.

Does one put sautéed and chopped mushrooms in New England clam chowder? Opinions please.

Sacrilege, r176!

We've been making this stuffed cabbage recipe for years. Best we've found on the net. Everyone is always requesting it.

r176 no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

does that answer your question?

R179, that seems possible if the resulting soup is called "bisque" rather than "chowder".

I'm in going to try Guy F's chicken marsala, served with penne. I'm going to my liquor store this week and will pick up some marsala wine. just got it sent to my youtube page via food network. Does anyone know a good marsala wine (dry) for this dish (inexpensive)?

I just made English muffins from the King Arthur recipe. They were much easier than I'd anticipated, and came out good.

This Spiced Meatball Soup recipe sounds delicious. I like the using warm spices like cinnamon and allspice in savory applications.

One of my favorite things is looking at old amateur cookbooks to find recipes.

One of the recipes I have found, that people love when I cook it is "deviled pork chops." There is one recipe still available in the women's club cookbook but they used to have another edition of their cook book that had a slightly different recipe.

Basically, take 6 potatoes and dice them and mix with 6 diced onions. Place the potato and onions in the bottom of a roasting pan. Then take your pork chops and place them on top. You can place them raw or sear them first like I do. Then you make basically a tangy hot barbecue sauce. I mix ketchup, yellow mustard, vinegar, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce, and I add in some brown sugar, salt and black pepper, and water. Your pour that over top of the pork chops and potatoes. Place the roasting pan in a 375 F. oven and bake for 1h 45m. Add more sauce a few times while cooking and remove the cover of the dish for the last 30-20 mins of cooking to allow browning.

I used to have a recipe sort of like that but I lost it years ago. It used sliced potatoes instead of diced, and either beef stock or consommé with the Worcestershire sauce.