Whats cookin

No sir, Waffle House is never a bad idea!   

hogfanfs

Brownies and Cheese Cake from my wife and Mother-n-law!

Now you're talkin'!

(Oh, I forgot, today I was going to start eating sensibly)

Waffle House for brunch was probably a bad start, no?

I almost forgot about the best part:

Dessert!!

Brownies and Cheese Cake from my wife and Mother-n-law!

Real G, that teriyaki steak does look really good, even if it's the third day!

DasBeav - But remember not all instant ramen is created equal!  Top Ramen, despite its name, is not at the top.  I like Myojo Chuka-Zanmai.  It's not in a cup ramen format though, and requires a pot for boiling.  And no fixins' - it's all DIY.  But it is one of the better ramens.

Greg - Go with the Stormtrooper toaster, as it burns the Imperial Cog, much cooler than "Star Wars" lettering.

Hogfanfs - That lasagne looks great!  I can see someone has already gotten in before you could take a photo, so it MUST be good!

I stretched some teriyaki steak into three dinners last week by eating less steak and more salad.  Surpisingly it was OK.  I gently reheated the steak and recarmelized the sauce on the second and third days and was able to get nice, hot, gooey teri steak which was still pink in the middle.  This is teri steak dinner #3:

https://flic.kr/p/Sa5jbA][/url]Teriyaki Steak - Part Deux by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I make my own teriyaki sauce because it is so easy (the recipie I use was taken from a cookbook meant for children, college kids, and senior citizens with limited cullinary skills).

Mopar Madness

Chicken flavored Ramen Noodles.  The two main ingredients are loneliness and despair!  I know I should have outgrown these in college but I really do love them! 

 

About once a month, I either have to have my fix of Ramen or Kraft macaroni and cheese.

A toaster is one thing we still need to get.

Anyone want to place bets as to whether the wife will let me buy one like RealG's or Bruce's?

And speaking of eating like grownups (which my wife has mastered but I suck at), take a look at our first oven-baked steak. We are operating without a proper kitchen exhaust fan or an outside grill. I've heard of oven-broiling, but the boss-lady didn't want to smoke up the kitchen.

It came out great, really surprised me.

Maybe tomorrow I will start to eat sensibly?

GreySnake

Made Pork Carnitas last night with gaucamole and chile pequin hot sauce. Everything was great expect for the gaucamole the avacodos weren't that great. Tonight is going to be left overs since the fridge is filled up. 

GreySanke, that looks really good!

 

Here's the finished Lasagna:

It's funny, I started working on the sauce at 8AM and finished around 5PM on Saturday. Then about 1:30PM today, I started to layer the pan, and it cooked for about 2 hours. 

It took all of 20 minutes to eat! But, it was well worth it. I made my family, and the Mother-n-law, fat and very happy! lol!

Chicken flavored Ramen Noodles.  The two main ingredients are loneliness and despair!  I know I should have outgrown these in college but I really do love them! 

I made chicken noodle soup the other night. It's been crazy weather with a lot of outages.

Took one of those grocery store roasted chickens. Removed all of the white meat and the thigh meat. Simmered the carcass in a covering of water for four hours, with garlic, bay leay and a bunch of parsley stems left over.

Strained it, used as the stock for the soup which included the reserved meats cubed up.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Since we’re “snowed in” from the storm, I’m making a nice big batch of chicken soup before I head out to clear the driveway.

 

Snow what's that? LOL. Looking at it be almost eighty degrees in southern Arizona today

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Since we’re “snowed in” from the storm, I’m making a nice big batch of chicken soup before I head out to clear the driveway.

 

Yep, same here. Chicago received about one foot of snow. We are making chicken tortilla soup today.

Since we’re “snowed in” from the storm, I’m making a nice big batch of chicken soup before I head out to clear the driveway.

Made Pork Carnitas last night with gaucamole and chile pequin hot sauce. Everything was great expect for the gaucamole the avacodos weren't that great. Tonight is going to be left overs since the fridge is filled up. 

I started my sauce this morning:

And here it is in the pot

It will simmer for 4-5 hours, then get put in the refridgerator over night. I'll make my Lasagna tomorrow for when my Mother-n-law comes in town. 

Real G,

I got this from my son for my birthday a couple years ago. I'm a big Stormtrooper fan.

I've only used him once and it burns the Empire symbol on the toast. Unfortunately, I can find the picture that took of the toast.

Lasagna pics to come tomorrow.

keavdog

 

 

Real G

 

They should have made a Kylo Ren toaster that burns slash marks everywhere, then ejects the smoking shreds onto the counter.  That would be lovely.

 

 

 

 

Or a Revenge Of The Sith that spits out sliced burnt toast

 

...and then it gasps “I hate you!”

But you see, even that is way better than what actually hit the market. 

Real G

 

They should have made a Kylo Ren toaster that burns slash marks everywhere, then ejects the smoking shreds onto the counter.  That would be lovely.

 

Or a Revenge Of The Sith that spits out sliced burnt toast

  Greysnake, I'm tired of the cold, ya got any of that Chicken gumbo left?

    Real G, I'll take your Darth Vader toaster if ya wanna get rid of it. I'm a "sell out" and dig all things Star Wars, to plagerize a line from the comedian Fluffy, "I'm waiting for a call from Yoda telling me screwed up you did".

     Back on point, I really like making chili, not Texas style...yet...but beans, peppers, onions, seasoned stew meat,and ALOT of spice. Makes my dog sleep on the floor and the other half wonder why she married me.

    I tried Saurbrauton once....man whatta mess but it was edible. I would like to try thst again.

keavdog

Oh man.... that's too funny 

So you see, there is a problem with product development over at the Mouse House.  If the pattern was the Imperial Cog, I might still own the toaster.  But no, it’s lame “Star Wars“ lettering. How generic.

They should have made a Kylo Ren toaster that burns slash marks everywhere, then ejects the smoking shreds onto the counter.  That would be lovely.

Oh man.... that's too funny

Just for giggles:

https://flic.kr/p/QZshHc][/url]Darth Vader Toaster-02 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

The toast was made with this:

https://flic.kr/p/QWQj93][/url]Darth Vader Toaster-01 by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

A disclaimer:  A friend gave the toaster to me as a gift.  No, really.  You should see the Wampa Snow Creature snack bowl I got this year!  Put chowder in it and he looks like he's about to vomit!

Just in time for the Saints Game!

Chicken gumbo with Andouille sausage. My best gumbo yet got the seasoning just right. Served it with rice and French bread.

Now I need to figure out what to cook tonight.

I still enjoy mom’s cooking though she is no longer here - what I make is based on what she used to make for me.  My most cherished are her beef stew and twice baked potatoes.  I only make the potatoes on Thanksgiving, so they are extra special.  Shucks, I should have photographed them - they came out nice last year.

GMorrison

...I did once go to a cooking demo where the chef instructed his assistant to go into the larger store and grab "the cheapest wine on the shelf".

During Q and A I asked about that, always having believed that as Brad says, cook with what you drink.

"I only drink $ 100 wine" says he.

Well ok, not me. WSo I go with anything around $ 10 and I keep it in the fridge. Now, sometimes when we run out of the better stuff we'll drink it, but that keeps the supply fresh...

Yeah, that's a good point, thanks for clarifying!  I don't use the top-shelf bottles of wine.  I buy the gallon jugs of California table wines, like Gallo, and that's my cooking wine.  But I can drink it.

Also, "cooking wine" will end up in the condiments cabinet next to the oil and vinegar, rather than in the fridge. And if used only for an ingredient, may be around a lot longer than it should.

I did once go to a cooking demo where the chef instructed his assistant to go into the larger store and grab "the cheapest wine on the shelf".

During Q and A I asked about that, always having believed that as Brad says, cook with what you drink.

"I only drink $ 100 wine" says he.

Well ok, not me. WSo I go with anything around $ 10 and I keep it in the fridge. Now, sometimes when we run out of the better stuff we'll drink it, but that keeps the supply fresh.

You guys are great, a lot of enthusiasm. It's fun how cooking is a window to much larger things in life. Just a few things:

Folks who still eat food that their moms cook. I haven't had that experience in 30 years, and many of us don't have moms any more.

Retired folks who finally got smart about their diets. We are really trying to be more veg/ fish oriented here at home.

Clever uses of common ingredients. Who hasn't "iron cheffed" the pantry?

Keep it up! 

Well this is what I've been having.

Mom made this for New Years treat.

My one pot noodles with pasta sauce and cheese. Made this the other day.

Brown sugar & balsamic vinegar pork loin with salad and dr.pepper. yesterday for supper.

Johnny K and The Baron,

Thanks guys for the pointers!  Now I am seriously thinking about making my own pasta sauce.  I asked around and one of my co-workers told me she never uses canned or jar sauce.  Plus my doctor said I have high blood pressure, after over 50 years of pegging 120/80.

On a more fun note, this is my Chex mix that I make for family, friends and co-workers at Chistmas time.

https://flic.kr/p/2d9KqGW][/url]Chex Mix by N.T. Izumi, on Flickr

I jokingly call it "Klingon Chex Mix" because I use Japanese rice seasoning (furikake) that imparts a dirty, greenish color.  A modeling buddy who is a much more accomplished cook gives us his "Federation Chex Mix" every year, so called because his version is very light colored and lightly sweetened.  Mine just piles on the flavor without a care about sugar or sodium content, hence "Klingon".    Might have to join the Federation after the visit to the doc tho....

   I have had similar, pie crust with butter, cinnoman, and sugar, gramma call ed it "coffee cake" and was usually served with afternoon coffee or during social visits.

German Armour

Well I just made a cinnamon-sugar roll-up cracker. Can't post pics though. Its been eaten. All I do to make it is to spread margerin on the "cracker", then add cinnamon. Then broil at 450 until lightly browned.

 

[quote user="the Baron"]

If you're watching your sodium intake, you can replace salt by cooking with wine.  Many wines contain potassium chloride, and it's the chloride that provides the salt taste, not the sodium.  And wines provide a richness to sauces, or marinades.

Just don't use cooking wines.  Wines sold specifically for cooking often have sodium chloride added, which defeats the purpose.  An old rule I learned, when cooking with wine, was that it should a wine you would drink.  If it doesn't taste good when you drink it, then why would you want to add it to your food?

You can also add some stronger flavors, like garlic, to help balance the flavors if you have to cut back on salt.

After you cut back on salt, you can find that packaged foods, or fast foods, taste really, really salty.

[/quote

Regarding wine that is labeled "cooking wine". I was  at my sister's house and she said that she uses cooking wine. I told what you mentioned about so called cooking wine. She did not believe me so I poured her a glass of "cooking wine" and asked her to taste it. She took a drink and ran to the sink to spit it out. She immediatly dumped the "cooking wine" down the drain and said that she would never use it again. Cooking wine is low quality wine loaded with salt. It is undrinkable which is why it can be sold in the grocery aisle and not the liquor department.