What Have You Cooked Recently?

[Pickman's Modeling Agency]

I'm probably slightly obsessed and hoarding umami shit

It’s a thing that so many people are missing out on yet is so common on the other side of the world.

Fish sauce is something everyone should have in their cupboard; I feel the same way about msg. In fact, I have been trying to cut back on sodium by using a mixture of msg and potassium chloride in my dishes. Made some pico de gallo last night with that mix and let it sit overnight in the fridge. I tried it this morning and I can't taste much difference. I've heard KCl can have a metallic taste, but haven't experienced that yet.

 

[AnOminous]

Fish sauce is something everyone should have in their cupboard; I feel the same way about msg.

I currently don't have any straight MSG. I have so many other things that have it naturally, though. I mainly use it (Accent) for things specifically intended to imitate strip mall Chinese.

 

[Pickman's Modeling Agency]

I currently don't have any straight MSG. I have so many other things that have it naturally, though. I mainly use it (Accent) for things specifically intended to imitate strip mall Chinese.

I would genuinely recommend anyone getting some. MSG is right up there with aspartame in the list of foods that are insanely well-studied due to the panic around them.

 

[Jaded Optimist]

I finally found monkfish! I've wanted to try it for over a decade and never saw it. Randomly my supermarket had it fresh.
Herb and butter poached monkfish on herb potatoes, grilled carrots, and the poaching butter with a drizzle of gochugaru sauce.

Doesn't look great but very tasty

 

[souschef]

So much shit is just kicked up into the stratosphere with just a few drops of this.

I like the Thai, but the Vietnamese rocks too, and the Italians have something that is almost ancient garum with colatura di alici.

Thailand is amazing, southern asia as a whole has great food. I dream of taking my career to Thailand one day

I do enjoy indian food too, but not made by indians cos they pozload my negholepoo

 

[Mandy Stroyer]

Jamaican chicken curry, coconut lime rice, and diced sweet potato sauteed in bacon grease with a little sage. Solid stuff. I love jerk chicken but good fucking god, the amount of spices I have to dig around my cabinet for.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Soup beans. Despite being piss easy it's something I've always struggled with. I used to, firstly, do it with sliced ham (I didn't realize I was buying it sliced) and pinto beans, which made it kind of hard and crisped the meat real badly. Well, since I started making organization a central part of my life I've made an effort to solve basic household problems, one of which was what I do about dishes that are awkward for spoiling. Meat that only comes in bulk, for example, like pork shoulder for pulled pork. Things like stock and cream that need to be saved (I learned to freeze the leftovers as ice cubes, eight ice cubes equals a cup). I figured out where the ham was, a small, reasonably sized to my task and freezer space ham, and did it with Great Northern beans.

It still came out kind of shit as the beans were ancient and I had forgotten to pre-soak the beans, so I had to run it overnight on low, then nuke it on high and the reward was beans that ate like they came out of a can instead of soft broth. But it was edible and the next batch will be better.

 

[AnOminous]

Well, since I started making organization a central part of my life I've made an effort to solve basic household problems, one of which was what I do about dishes that are awkward for spoiling. Meat that only comes in bulk, for example, like pork shoulder for pulled pork.

If I buy something like this and am not going to do some meal prep thing of making it all at once and freezing the final product, I divvy it up into either freezer bags or (better option) vacuum seal it in sous vide bags since a 24 hour sous vide either before or after a sear makes great pulled pork. (Actually maybe a little less time for just a portion of the pork butt.)

 

[mindlessobserver]

I would genuinely recommend anyone getting some. MSG is right up there with aspartame in the list of foods that are insanely well-studied due to the panic around them.

The reason people love tomato sauce so much and put it on everything is because properly prepared tomato sauce is loaded with naturally occurring MSG. The hate for MSG is like hating on caffeine. Yeah, is it necessary for our bodies? Not really. Does it occur naturally? Yes. Is it awesome? Yes. Yes it is.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

If I buy something like this and am not going to do some meal prep thing of making it all at once and freezing the final product, I divvy it up into either freezer bags or (better option) vacuum seal it in sous vide bags since a 24 hour sous vide either before or after a sear makes great pulled pork. (Actually maybe a little less time for just a portion of the pork butt.)

If I run my crock pot for anything it’s two meals. I did get new plastic boxes for saving food. There’s tons of basic functioning kitchen stuff I just didn’t own because I didn’t realize the need. That happened with a drying rack recently. I only very late appreciated that my parents dish cleaning system had an actual function.

 

[WhatInTheActualFuck]

Made clam chowder since it's a mildly cold day. I cannot recommend it enough

 

[CIS White Droid]

Made a bacon, onion and pepper quiche with a potato crust. I was in a bit of a rush so the crust wasn't as crisp as it should've been, you really need to squeeze all the liquid out of the potatoes, but this first attempt was definitely a success. Highly recommend giving the potato crust a try.

 

[souschef]

Soup beans. Despite being piss easy it's something I've always struggled with. I used to, firstly, do it with sliced ham (I didn't realize I was buying it sliced) and pinto beans, which made it kind of hard and crisped the meat real badly. Well, since I started making organization a central part of my life I've made an effort to solve basic household problems, one of which was what I do about dishes that are awkward for spoiling. Meat that only comes in bulk, for example, like pork shoulder for pulled pork. Things like stock and cream that need to be saved (I learned to freeze the leftovers as ice cubes, eight ice cubes equals a cup). I figured out where the ham was, a small, reasonably sized to my task and freezer space ham, and did it with Great Northern beans.

It still came out kind of shit as the beans were ancient and I had forgotten to pre-soak the beans, so I had to run it overnight on low, then nuke it on high and the reward was beans that ate like they came out of a can instead of soft broth. But it was edible and the next batch will be better.

You can kill the fitates boiling on high for 1 hour. Not the ideal, but it works on a pinch

The reason people love tomato sauce so much and put it on everything is because properly prepared tomato sauce is loaded with naturally occurring MSG.

Fish sauce and mushrooms are great sources of umami flavor too. Store bought MSG is loaded with sodium, but so is soy sauce and people don't complain about it

 

[Big Miss Steak]

I made chicken soup. I got two roast chickens from the grocery store, tore all the meat off and put it in the fridge, and made broth from the bones in my crock pot (with vegetables and herbs added). The crock pot can't hold enough to make all the broth needed for the soup, so I do use some store bought broth for the soup as well. Takes about a day in the crock pot. The meat is dumped into the soup when it's done. Chicken noodle soup is fairly standard but what I've found is that egg noodles made a big difference. I season with the typical rosemary, parsley, thyme, sage but I also add some red pepper flakes and dill. @Pickman's Modeling Agency I use MSG in my broth and the soup itself.

I have made gochujang cookies many times and people love them. Super easy. I dump all the dough onto my pan and mash it flat, then when the cookies are done cooling I cut the dough into squares with a spatula. The recipe encourages you to swirl the gochujang into the cookies for a marbled look, but I don't bother with that. I mix it in evenly.

 

[Zeftax]

Finally getting back into meal prep after maybe a month of not having the time and energy. Prepared a pot of bolognese sauce to eat with pasta in the forseeable future. I usually make sauce and meatballs separate for pasta, and only use bolognese in lasagna, but today I felt too lazy for meatballs and I think I actually prefer this. Also rubbed some chicken thighs with spices and pesto to grill them tomorrow, will eat that with a side of cauliflower and carrot in cream sauce.

Fish sauce is something everyone should have in their cupboard

How do you store it? I do always have some teriyaki and worchester sauce in my fridge, but I only use them maybe bi-monthly. Tbh. I have this problem with all the sauces, I usually also have ketchup, mustard and horseradish paste, but despite only buying the smallest packages it probably takes me around a year to get through any of them, if not more. I usually get paranoid about it getting spoiled after maybe 3 months and throw it out. I hate wasting food, but don't really see any other way here other than maybe buying the ketchup and mustard in those hotel packets. More widely I just have this problem with all the non-fresh but not dry stuff, jams, pickles, anchovies in oil... I just don't eat them often enough to eat the whole thing at once, and freezing jam seems retarded.

mushrooms are great sources of umami flavor too.

Oh hell yeah, I used to hate mushrooms because I was introduced to them via a soup as a kid and I absolutely hated them, specifically the texture of a wet mushroom just feels like a slug, ew. In the last few years I've been slowly trying them in some limited scenarios and they can be really good. Nowadays, if I'm making a sauce or soup with browned onions as the basis, I usually add some finely chopped mushrooms in there as well, it is really nice.

 

[JED]

Been making easy fibre stew recently to help with cold weather and be lazy after work.

-Two cups bone broth
-One cup water
-However much paprika/chili/cinnamon/parsley/pepper/salt/sugar/hot sauce to taste. Add some cocoa if you want it less acidic tasting.
-One can of corn
-One half cup tomato paste or thick sauce
-One can crushed tomatoes or mashed whole tomatoes
-One can pinto beans
-One can black beans
-A few russet potatoes
-A few carrots
-A few spoonfuls of chopped garlic
-A white onion or two

Just put on high for a few hours and there you go. Literally just add however much veg for how thick you want it at the time. Or just add more later, this lasts like 2 days plugged in on warm.

 

[Cloaca Rimjob]

Was feeling adventurous and buggered up a mexican lasagne, swapped ragu for chilli con carne and bechamel for a nacho cheese sauce. The chillis too bland with the lasagne pasta, The sauce split because i used too much jalapeno brine and the crushed dorito topping went all soggy/chewy almost instantly. Its still edible but wont be trying it again

 

[ChampFantana]

I made some amazing microwave nachos recently.

I layered seasoned ground beef and shredded cheese on yellow corn tortilla chips and nuked the plate until the cheese melted. A generous drizzle of taco sauce on top finished it off perfectly.

 

[WhatInTheActualFuck]

Was feeling adventurous and buggered up a mexican lasagne, swapped ragu for chilli con carne and bechamel for a nacho cheese sauce. The chillis too bland with the lasagne pasta, The sauce split because i used too much jalapeno brine and the crushed dorito topping went all soggy/chewy almost instantly. Its still edible but wont be trying it again

I make a "nacho" mac and cheese every now and then. Nacho cheese sauce (make your own unbreakable sodium citrate sauce or just break out the canned stuff), some extra grated cheddar or pepper jack, a batch of taco meat (optionally add some diced chilis and cook em with the meat here), a drained can of Rotel and you're off to the races.

For something that takes about 20 minutes of active cooking, it's great either baked (just use a traditional panko and grated cheese crust if you want one - I've also tried tortilla chips and was unimpressed) or just mixed all together in a pot and heated through for a stovetop version.

 

[Cloaca Rimjob]

I make a "nacho" mac and cheese every now and then. Nacho cheese sauce (make your own unbreakable sodium citrate sauce or just break out the canned stuff), some extra grated cheddar or pepper jack, a batch of taco meat (optionally add some diced chilis and cook em with the meat here), a drained can of Rotel and you're off to the races.

For something that takes about 20 minutes of active cooking, it's great either baked (just use a traditional panko and grated cheese crust if you want one - I've also tried tortilla chips and was unimpressed) or just mixed all together in a pot and heated through for a stovetop version.

I used to make a filling for burritos like that

The secret to mine is i add some of the brine from the jalapenos jar. I use the plastic cheese slices when i make it but used a block of cheddar for the lasagne. Thought id be safe if i kept it at a low heat but it couldnt handle too much brine lol

I hate the jars of doritos nacho cheese, they taste like cheese flavoured mayonaise.