Cooks and their ingredients. Questions.

Hey there, cooks or chefs [OUTLAW]:

I love to cook! Though alone, I decided long ago that I would not go the fast or packaged food route. Scratch. Always.

Does the best tasting dish necessarily demand the most expensive products from the toniest market? [I think I know the answer to this one]

What naturally growing flora do you gather and eat, say, like dock, miner's lettuce, etc.

Is fresh everything always the key to a tasty meal?

If fresh isn't available, what's preferable: canned or frozen?

Does it really matter that my Extra Virgin Olive Oil is from Tunisia or Spain?

How do you dress up mac and cheese? [all right, somebody gave me these here boxes of gluey elbows]

Any good recipes a la cheap?

Buon appetito!

Chow

CoCo Cooks With Gas [figuratively - ALK]

i think if youre a reasonably competant cook (dont under or overcook to death) and you get enjoyment out of cooking it can make most things taste good, whether you are limited on means or materials or not.

if someone else does the washing up it tastes even better.

my friends mum was a 'great' cook but you could always taste the difference when she was in a foul mood, she'd over season and you'd end up chewing on salt.

it could be cordon bleu but if the eating atmosphere is crap it may as well be sawdust.

I prefer fresh in season vegetables as they taste a hellofa lot better than frozen.  The only frozen veg I will use is either peas or corn (canned will do too)

It's a combination of fresh produce, spices/seasoning and certain combinations that work for me.

Dressing up mac & cheese.  Add some fried onions, garlic, tomotoe & peppers (mushrooms work) or add a bit of bacon bits to the top.  For a richer mac & cheese use cream instead of milk.

I enjoy lentils - the little black ones.  They are cheap and sooooooooooo easy.  Simply boil 'em up with a clove of garlic and some salt.  As they are getting soft throw in some bay leaves, dhana (cillantro - the leaves) a couple of fresh or dried chillies and curry powder (not a lot, just to taste)  You can serve this with rice if you want or eat it on it's own.

Salads.......these do have a tendency to be boring IF you don't dress it up.  Start with your base of leaves, crack a bit of salt & pepper over.  Then layer some onions, cherry tomatoes, julian carrots, cucumber, pop some olives around it, avo if you have, crumble some feta and a swirl of olive oil.  You could also drop some nuts over or if you want a more fulling salad, some fillit chicken or strips of beef will do the trick.  Too delish

( I love cooking just by the way )

Roasted veggies:  All your favorite veggies in a dish, chop some baby onions, garlic, olive oil, let them roast a way and serve with a meat of your choice.

Steamed veggies: can be super delish.  Add a pepper sauce (easy to make:  Flour, water, crack lotsa black pepper, a dash of salt, a knob of butter, make sure it's smooth otherwise just mush out the lumps)

I have a delicious real tomatoe soup receipe with dribbled homemade basil pesto (yum yum yum yum)  with toasted bagette rubbed with garlic.  Can't remember it all off hand, but lotsa jam tomatoes....

Butternut soup:  boil your butternut, skin.  Put that aside and lightly fry some onions & garlic.  Add that to your butternut, add a can of creamed corn, salt, pepper, half a spoon of curry powder (blend all together adding a bit of milk to thin out)

Anything else??

Thanks, Nelly and LouBelle, for your great suggestions and recipes! Thanks, too, for answering those questions.

I really do wonder about that olive oil question. Does good oil come ONLY from Italy? That's what I infer from what I've read.

LouBelle: You did, after all, ask if there was anything else!

CoCo Cooks

Hi Compound Complex,

I feel concerned by your request....I'm a chef.... (between other occupations)...I'm getting ready for the cooking lesson of this evening, I will have to teach a complete italian  meal to 16 adult pupils....see you tomorrow on this screen!

Claudia

Thank you, dear Chef Claudia. Waiting with bated [or garlic] breath. After all, I am a Mediterranean!

Grazie tante.

Ciao chow! Bienvenuto!

CoCo della cuchina vecchia

Good Morning again Coco!..

                                           A thread about food!..

                                           How can I resist?..LOL!!

Does the best tasting dish necessarily demand the most expensive products from the toniest market? [I think I know the answer to this one]..

                                 No..

Of course you want the best tasting meal possible..

More expensive products do not make a "More" tasty meal..

Flavour combinations,Fresh products and cooking methods will always win out..

Less expensive meats can be more flavorful if cooked properly..And..Properly seasoned..

Go to the markets,with the best prices..

I want fresh food,at a decent price..

I don`t care how the market floor,is tiled..LOL!!

What naturally growing flora do you gather and eat, say, like dock, miner's lettuce, etc..

I`m trained in French Cuisine..

A good Chef always use`s whats in Season and whats At Hand..

Is fresh everything always the key to a tasty meal?

Without doubt,"Fresh" is preferred..

If fresh isn't available, what's preferable: canned or frozen?..

#1:Frozen

#2:Canned

            As I live in the Wilderness and can be snowed in for peroids of time..

            I often resort to frozen and or canned..

             Find what works for you..

Does it really matter that my Extra Virgin Olive Oil is from Tunisia or Spain?..

                                No..

           If you want a good Olive Oil..

           Look for:..Extra Vigin Olive Oil..Cold Pressed..First Pressing..

               Once you heat Olive Oil..

       It`s the same as any other vegetable oil..With the exception of flavour..

           If you want to fry something,in less expensive oil..

                   Try safflower oil..

                              Stay Away from Cannola Oil!!

          At the moment it`s "All" tanted with Blackfoot Fugus..

          Regardless of which country you buy it from..

How do you dress up mac and cheese? [all right, somebody gave me these here boxes of gluey elbows]

Any good recipes a la cheap?

In Canada we love our "Kraft Dinner"!! (Mac & Cheese)..

I`ll teach you how to Dress Up,this Delectable Dish..

Prepare the Mac & cheese as directed on the box..

                              Saute (Lightly Fried)

          .. 1/4 cup of diced Red Pepper..1/4 in dice..

         ..1/4 cup of Broccli sliced floretts..(Thinley slice the broccli flower)..

           ..1/4 cup of diced onion..1/4 in dice..

                          Fry

                 ..1/2 lb of  ground beef

                                    Add..

        All of this to your Mac and Cheese  in a Mixing bowl..

             Spice with garlic and black pepper to taste..

                    Completely mix all ingredients..

                Fill serving bowls (You can Bake in) with your Mac/Cheese..ect..

                  Sprinkle shredded chedder cheese on top..

                Pe-Heat oven to 400F..

                  Bake Mac and Cheese for 25 Minutes..

             You will now have a restaurant quality meal..

                      Right in your own home..

                                    And..

You have just turned 1 box of Mac and Cheese into 2-3 meals..

                                       Bake 1..

                               Freeze the rest..

                  For a Quick meal,anytime you want..

                                                              .......................OUTLAW

Stay Away from Cannola Oil!!

          At the moment it`s "All" tanted with Blackfoot Fugus..

          Regardless of which country you buy it from..

Outlaw, are you serious?

Sylvia

When outlaw is serious about a topic it is usually a scandal.

Good morning Sylvia!..

                                                 Yes I`m serious..

                                      Canada is a big producer of Cannola..

                                        All our crops have Blackfoot Fugus..

                                   China has refused to take our cannola oil now..(China`s cannola also suffers from Blackfoot)..

                         Our Inspectors say BlackFoot does not affect the seed,therefore not the oil..

                                          I don`t accept that explanation..

                                                                                     .......................OUTLAW

CoCo asked, "How do you dress up mac and cheese? [all right, somebody gave me these here boxes of gluey elbows]"

Outlaw gave you a good starting point. I would add that if your elbows are gluey, its probably because they're overcooked. try boiling them for a minute less than the package directions suggest, keeping in mind that they will continue cooking as you add the cheese sauce and put the mixture into the oven to bake.

Better yet, try making a "grown-up" version of mac n' cheese with Gruyere and a nice stinky  Italian Fontina instead of cheez-whiz. ZoundS, that is GOOOOOD!

As for the contamination of canola oil with fungus... fungal spores are EVERYWHERE; but they're killed by application of heat: that's part of the benefit of COOKING food. I'm not one of the proponents of raw food. I believe the art of cooking contributed greatly to the rise of homo sapiens. Most other species can't even prepare a proper béchamel sauce!

If I'm going to use vegetable oil for cooking, I prefer peanut oil, and most good oriental chefs would agree with me. Obviously I'm not allegic to peanuts. Lard is KING, however. I hear your muttered sub-vocal objections - did you want to live forever?

Is life without pork fat even really life?

Think on these things, ponder on them.

Outlaw said, "...China has refused to take our cannola oil now..."

Probably because it doesn't contain any ground-up melmac dinnerware (melamine plastic, the poison that was found in petfood originating from China.)

Nathan makes a good point..

                                              You may be over cooking your noodles..I prefer 9 minutes on the mark..

                                                                                           Or..

                                                           You may be boiling the noodles in a small pot..

                                                                                           And..

                                                                      They are covered in starch..

                                                         Boil the noodles in at least 3 quarts of water..

                                                                     Lard is KING, 

                                                                                               .......................OUTLAW

its worth checking out the different oils, peanut oil or groundnut as its called here is pretty nice, grapeseed oil isnt bad both great in stir fry, dressings etc

coconut oil food grade (not to be confused with palm oil is great too cook higher temperatures with and you can slap it on your body as you get out of the bath or use it as a hair treatment, olive oil has more than just cooking uses as do many of the others.

ghee (clarified butter), brilliant stuff if you want to add a richer flavour to your home made indian meals currys etc, comes in a tin and keeps forever if you store it in cool dark cupboard comes in vegetarian version too. can make your own if you can be bothered.

Nathan..

               With all the little kids choking on loose parts from cheap toys..

                                             Made in China..

             You would`nt think China would have a problem,with a bit of Fungus..

                                                                                                  .......................OUTLAW

Olive oil is good from any where in the Med, Spanish extra virgin tastes rather different to Italian.

It is worth bearing in mind that my favourite dish (learnt at the hand of my friends italian grandmother, in Tuscany) is a putanesca (the whore's sauce :D). one of the theories of it's name is that the ingredients are so basic, that even a puta would have it in her larder (another theory is that it seems so wrong, but tastes so good :D) - all you need is black olives, whole peeled tomato, garlic (of course), anchovies (in olive oil), capers.

Fry the garlic in a gloop of oil, add the olives - once the garlic is slightly browned, add in a tin of whole tomato - add the capers and the anchovies - stir until the anchovies have disintegrated - then cover until you want it. The longer it simmers, the better.

I made it last night, total cost = €4 (around $5)

I am officially of the "throw it all in and see what comes out" school of cooking.

I always use seasonal veg (it is hard not to here) however - it tastes fresh and variates what you eat through out the year.

some fresh veg taste so good its a shame to cook them

My browser must be messed up. This seems to be in the wrong section of the forum.

Lard is KING, however. I hear your muttered sub-vocal objections - did you want to live forever?  Yes.

Is life without pork fat even really life?  No.

Think on these things, ponder on them.  So our advancement will be manifest to all!

Sylvia

Cooking is creativity and when you create something good you share it. That's called a recipe. Don't stop with a main course. Create with vegetables too. Melt 2 onces of butter and then add a 2 tablespoon combo of fresh tarragon, chive and parsley finely chopped. Let set while steaming small "New Potatoes". When the potatoes are done, roll them in the mixture and serve.

Accidentally I boiled two cups of beef broth, with some crushed red pepper, down to one cup and wallah, I created a tasty dipping sauce for beef and veal. Maybe seafood too.

If your cooking healthy, olive oil is fine. Butter adds to flavor and a mix of both for sauteing can keep the butter from burning too quickly.