Cooking

judandhispipe

Any of this crowd enjoy cooking, other than grilling or the fish and game thing - both of which have their own threads?

The thought comes to mind since I'm reading the forum while waiting for my crustless quiche to finish baking. A buddy shared the recipe on Facebook; I made it as listed once, decided it needed to be more interesting - the basic ingredients are just eggs, chopped spinach, cooked meat, and cheese - and have been messing with it ever since. The current version - using ham and a Mexican-style cheese blend - adds onion, some fresh tomato, and is seasoned with Emeril's Southwest and Tapatio sauce.
(The first thing I ever cooked was from scratch pancakes when I was about 8 years old for a Cub Scout badge of some sort. Been at it ever since.)

Mangoandy

Here! Raised in an Italian family, I learned to cook with whatever was in the fridge. Also, living in the heart of California's central valley we have fresh food at our fingertips. My kids biggest complaint is that we never have food in our home...only ingredients. That's true. We try to live as a non-processed food home and cook fresh at almost every meal. Real food.

idbowman

I do all of the cooking in my house.  I'm FAR more comfortable in front of a stove and oven than I am a grill, to be honest, and I really do enjoy it.  

JosiahWN

I love cooking. I rarely use recipes, I just kind of make it up as I go depending on what's in my fridge or what was on sale at the store. 

PappyJoe

I cook 90 percent of our home-cooked meals. I have a large collection of cook books but learned a long time ago that cookbook recipes are good guidelines but don't have to be followed exactly.

Woodsman

When I retired in 2006 I did most of the cooking and shopping for us until my Wife retired a year ago. Now it's about 50/50.

judandhispipe

@pappyjoe, definitely with you on recipes. I tend to follow the recipe the first time I make something new, then tweak it as need be.              

idbowman

@pappyjoe and @judandhispipe , I'm in the same boat.  I read the recipe over but always adjust as necessary.  It infuriates my wife when she needs to make something or go to the grocery store.

Her: "How much of this do I use?" 
Me:  "Uh...however much feels right?  I guess?"

Also, garlic.  No recipe has ever, ever, ever called for enough garlic.  It's one thing I refuse to use "sparingly."

PappyJoe

I find myself cooking by the smell a lot of times. One of my daughters will occasionally ask how much oregano I put in a dish and I tell her until it smells right.

judandhispipe

Yeah, there can be a lot of subjective stuff to some of the things I do, as well. When I make sloppy joes, I use a combination of chili sauce, bbq sauce, and a little catsup for the sauce.  I just pour it in until it looks and feels right as I stir. Exact amounts of anything - no,it's pretty subjective.

Woodsman

With the cold weather coming back it will be time for Chicken and biscuit style Dumplings. Yankee style.

Mjhalbach

@idbowman, I have an old Marlboro chili recipe that calls for 40 cloves of garlic. I'm guessing that anyone who made it according to the recipe only did it once. The name Lonesome Man Chili is fitting.   

judandhispipe

40 cloves??? That would make you lonesome for sure, @Mjhalbach!

PappyJoe

I get a laugh every time someone says they have a good gumbo recipe. Having grown up along the gulf coast of Louisiana and Texas, I learned a long time ago that there is no "One" recipe for Gumbo. Gumbo is basically what every you can throw into a pot with onions, bell pepper and celery. Sometimes it has a roux (flour browned in either oil or lard), sometimes it's thickened with fresh okra. Sometimes it has seafood. Sometimes it has squirrel and rabbit. Sometimes it has chicken or duck. I have even had Gumbo with turtle in it. Sometimes it doesn't have meat at all. 

PappyJoe

I have a good chili recipe. My friends say they know when my chili is ready because they break out into a sweat when the walk into the house.

judandhispipe

My GI tract is not very happy with dried beans, these days; I've been using a chili recipe I found that has black-eyed peas and hominy instead. It's actually pretty tasty.

PappyJoe

Just make Chili con Carne instead. That's chili without the beans. A "true" Texas chili is made with beef and either black or red beans. 

However, the only thing certain about Chili is that it wasn't created in Mexico. 

judandhispipe

Yeah,I know, Pappy - done that at times, too.

judandhispipe

A new venture today - got pumpkin bread in the oven.

thewanderingdude

Anybody else do any Dutch Oven cooking? Here is a pic of my Mountain Man Breakfast done in a 12" Dutch. Ingredients include, a dozen eggs, a pound of sausage, hashbrown potatoes, bacon, onions, peppers, then topped with biscuits and cheese. Serve with some pepper gravy and you'll be set free.

PappyJoe

I cook in my Dutch Oven and iron skillets almost daily. I even bake in cast iron. 

More even heat distribution and if done properly, cast iron is non-stick.

Woodsman

I use Cast Iron Pans consistently. frying, braising, and baking, they work great.

ghostsofpompeii

I'm Sicilian and learned to cook from both my Grandmother and Grandfather. Surprisingly he did much of the seafood cooking for the Christmas season. He taught me how to clean octopus and squid and from my Grandmother I learned how to make the sauce. We'd eat squid, octopus, clams, oysters, muscles, shrimp, scallops, and occasionally eel (wasn't too keen on eel). Even cooked up snails and served them the same way ... as well as the alternative French way with loads of garlic butter and nutmeg. Several recipes call for all the seafood mentioned to be tossed into one pot. Now that's what I call a pot full of Heaven. I've learned to cook a majority of those old Italian seafood dishes as well as tripe, and various mushroom preparations. Over the years the cost of seafood has skyrocketed and I've had to scale back such dishes for the holiday. As far back as five or six years ago a pot of the seafood medley I'd prepare for Christmas Eve could run as high as $100.00 for a large pot of the stuff. So I imagine the cost is even higher today. My two sons gobble the stuff up, but neither of my three grandkids want to go anywhere near it. So little by little we've scaled back the seafood and gone the more traditional turkey, ham, and Italian beef or sausage route to satisfy the kids. I'm afraid when I pass away that Christmas Eve tradition we Italian refer to as The Feast Of The Fishes will not be carried out in my family. And Christmas Eve dinner for the next generation will probably consist of delivered pizza.       

daveinlax

 I'm afraid when I pass away that Christmas Eve tradition we Italian refer to as The Feast Of The Fishes will not be carried out in my family.histraditional

My dad passed away this fall and I know that his favorite traditional Norwegian xmas eve lutefisk dinner is a thing of the past.  

ghostsofpompeii

@daveinlax The ball is in your court now. It's up to you to decide if the tradition dies.

Woodsman

OMIGOD, Lutefisk. the only thing that I never pursued from the Norse side of my family tree. The other side is Italian so I felt safe doing the dishes from that side.

motie2

johnspecht

My hobby (other hobby) is baking. I started with homemade bread (just the sound of that makes my mouth water) and have expanded from there to other goodies. I will occasionally cook a meal, though
my wife usually does that, but over the last year I have come to enjoy making a hot breakfast as often as family allows. My current favorite: bacon-buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup/peach whiskey drizzle.

PappyJoe

I've been the primary "chef" in the house for over 25 years and we've been married for 46 years. I actually started cooking when I was about 10 years old. 
The flip side of the coin is I have no talent for plating. When I cook, it's a serve your own damn self type of meal.

RockyMountainBriar

I have been cooking, by myself, starting with grilled egg or grilled cheese sandwiches since I was 6-8.  I have done, and do, all of my own cooking for 30+ years.  I let the cat and dog try it once, but neither were very careful about keeping the fur out😬.  I do a lot of cooking and baking from scratch, and as others have said, bending recipes to my will.  I cook, and hopefully do not have to clean...fair trade for me.  The dog and cat are/were great at cleaning dishes, alas, I only have a cat now, he takes longer, but it still gets done😂

motie2

My favorite: Meal in a Pail.