Anyone here cook?

[AscarothD]

I like to cook a few things here and there. When not being lazy and doing ramen with veggies and meat, I tend to make different kinds of stir fry.

Beef, broccoli, onions and carrots with ginger, black pepper, salt, curry powder and in the end, mix a little beef bullion with corn starch in water to add as a thickener.

Replace beef with chicken or pork.

Another item I make because my daughter loves it, is called Pozole.

I usually take a pork butt, boil it in salted water until it's tender enough to tear apart.
I cheat and buy premade Menudo Mix, then add additional spices, paprika, red pepper, chili powder, garlic and hominy corn.
After that, I dice up fresh sweet onion and cilantro on the side, and sliced lemons and limes to add.

[Velaryon]

I've got a question for the chefs in the Playground.

I was recently given some basil that was grown by a co-worker. The thing is, I'm not sure what to do with it. My coworker suggested making pesto since that's what she mostly does with it, but before doing that I'd like to know what else it's good for. Any ideas?

[Cygnia]

Pair it with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes for a Caprese salad.

It's good fried too

[NichG]

Also good on pizza. And for Thai style stir fries.

Or if you're more adventurous, supposedly strawberry and basil pair well in ice cream.

[Cygnia]

The local ice cream shop near me does peach basil ice cream that's divine :)

[Dice Goblin]

I've heard a lot about air fryers but never really got one. Are they that good or just hype?

When I make steaks, I cook them on my stovetop and throw on some seasonings like black pepper, basil, oregano, onion power and a little garlic.

Just come here to say.... Air Fryers are AMAZING, I had left over pizza last night, 2 minutes in the Air Fryer - BANGING!

[Zombimode]

I was recently given some basil that was grown by a co-worker. The thing is, I'm not sure what to do with it. My coworker suggested making pesto since that's what she mostly does with it, but before doing that I'd like to know what else it's good for. Any ideas?

It's a common herb in the italian cuisine so mabye you could look into that.

Outside of that my favorite use for basil is in sauces. In general basil pairs very well with orange in that context.
For (white) asparagus I make my own style of hollondaise which is a base recipe plus a set of aromatic variations (meaning you never make the "base" version).
The most common one I make and probably my favorite overall is with basil, orange peel and orange mustard.

A short rundown:

Spoiler

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Take 125g of butter, 125-150 g of yogurt* (normal, not greek one), 1 egg <- that is the base
plus a good ammount of basil, the peel of one orange, 1 teaspoon of orange mustard <- that is the aromatic variation

Melt the butter. Do not clean the pot you melted the butter in. We will use it later.
Add the butter, the yogurt, the orange peel (use a Microplane or a similar tool), the basil, salt and the mustard to a large mixing cup. Wait for a bit before you add the egg so the butter does not curdle the egg. Mix well with a blender. The mixture can now sit for as long as you need.
Once your meal is almost done it's time to reheat the sauce and get the consistency right.

Heat the pot you melted the butter with and add the sauce mixture. Be careful with the heat, we are still working with an egg-based sauce here. Once it reaches around 65C° start whisking. Keep the temperature at that level. You should get a nice medium-thic foam-like consistency.

* sorry for the imprecision - I always use the same brand and put in one "150g" cup but the actual amount is less then 150g.

Another option is a red wine based sauce with basil and orange. That is also pretty great and perfect with duck. No recipe since I haven't done it for ages (at least in part because I'm vegetarian for 13 years now...).

[ZhonLord]

New recipe perfected: Porter Cake. It's a spice cake flavored with porter beer, then mixed in with dried/candied fruits and topped with brown sugar and almond slices. It's like what fruit cake wishes it were; light, fluffy, with tons of flavors and a texture variety as you take each bite. it's wonderful!

[Liquor Box]

A nice piece of cow - a minute or so each side. Then eat.

[Cygnia]

I made homemade bagels yesterday!

[ZhonLord]

New recipe learned: light and fluffy buttermilk biscuits, with a butter wash on top. Perfect for honey and jams alike, the only downside is that they're best served warm and don't have anything to extend their lifespan. They start to go stale overnight.

But that initial period after cooling? Absolutely divine

[Anonymouswizard]

I've got fresh prawns in for the first time, going to peel them and use them to top a stir fry or the like. (I'll fry the prawns separately if course, I'm no fool.) Will probably use the heads to make stock, no sense letting that flavour go to waste when they're £10 a kilo.

Also my fishmonger gets catfish in, any recommendations for what to do with it? I've heard both stew and goujons work, so if anyone has recommendations for flavour combinations I might pick some up next week.

[Cygnia]

If you don't want to fry, there's poaching

https://altonbrown.com/recipes/catfish-au-lait/

[Wintermoot]

tomatillo shrimp

first saute in oil and butter one small onion (or half a large onion) and a jalapeno pepper.
after its soft add some minced garlic
after its fragrant, add some quartered tomatillos (remove the paper husks and wash them first) I use about a pound or about 15 tomatillos.
cook for 10 minutes or so until the tomatillos are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste as its cooking.
transfer to blender and blend until its mostly smooth (I like to keep mine somewhat chunky)

Add more butter to the pan, throw in some mushrooms. salt and pepper. cook until softening then put in a bowl
add MORE butter to the pan and put in a pound of cleaned and deveined shrimp and some more minced garlic, Salt and Pepper. cook for a few minutes until pink.

Put the mushrooms in with the shrimp. Put in the tomatillo sauces. Cook it together a couple minutes.

Serve over rice.

Sometimes the tomatillos can be really really tart and sour. the butter usually knocks that back, but you won't know until after everything is mixed. But if its too tart and sour, add some coconut milk (not a lot). That really mellows it out without altering the flavor a lot.

[ZhonLord]

Developed a gourmet lasagna recipe. Hamburg and sausage sauteed with garlic, onions and vinegar. Marinara simmered with a hefty spice mix. Cheese layers of cottage, Parmesan and mozzarella mixed with sugar eggs and parsley. End result: absolutely divine, and makes enough to feed a person of my appetite for four dinners in a row!

[taleteller50]

I cook for my family a lot and there's a honey garlic pork chop recipe I sometime use that's pretty easy and delicious. Relatively cheap too.

1- Heat up an oiled pan to medium high.
2- Season 4 chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
3- Sear each side 4-5 min until golden brown.
4- Remove chops, add a spoon of butter, 6 gloves garlic chopped, and cook on medium 30 secs.
5- Once garlic's fragrant add 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup honey, two tablespoons apple cider vinegar, and turn it back up to medium high for 3 min. Rice wine or white vinegar works too.
6- Add the chops back in for 1 or 2 minutes more and it's good to serve over some rice with steamed veggies on the side.

I'd suggest some jalapeño pineapple honey for a nice sweet kick but that might be a local specialty. Still good though. My fam loves it.

[Ginasius]

I'd suggest some jalapeño pineapple honey

The word jalapeño has reminded me of a question I long to ask Americans. My apologies if this isn't exactly the thread, but I don't know of any other threads or forums with American users and culinary subject matter.

My question is:

What is the meaning of the word "queso" in the USA?

Of course, "queso" in Spanish simply means "cheese". I'm Spanish and for me Cheddar, Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Camembert are "quesos".

But recently I have been reading American articles on gastronomy and nutrition and I have found many references to "queso" in a context where it is implied that for Americans "queso" is a specific kind of cheese, probably Mexican or Tex-Mex. For example, "vegan queso made from tofu."

But, of course, a Google search for "queso" does not give me an adequate answer.

Thanks in advance.

[Domino Quartz]

The word jalapeño has reminded me of a question I long to ask Americans. My apologies if this isn't exactly the thread, but I don't know of any other threads or forums with American users and culinary subject matter.

My question is:

What is the meaning of the word "queso" in the USA?

Of course, "queso" in Spanish simply means "cheese". I'm Spanish and for me Cheddar, Mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Camembert are "quesos".

But recently I have been reading American articles on gastronomy and nutrition and I have found many references to "queso" in a context where it is implied that for Americans "queso" is a specific kind of cheese, probably Mexican or Tex-Mex. For example, "vegan queso made from tofu."

But, of course, a Google search for "queso" does not give me an adequate answer.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not American, but I'm pretty sure the American English usage of the word "queso" refers to a type of smooth cheese sauce, often used as a dip or a topping for nachos.

[BloodSquirrel]

I'm not American, but I'm pretty sure the American English usage of the word "queso" refers to a type of smooth cheese sauce, often used as a dip or a topping for nachos.

You can use different kinds of cheeses for queso, but it's generally going to be used for a Mexican-style sauce. You wouldn't call the kind of cheese you put in mac & cheese "queso".

[Cygnia]

A Complete Guide to Mexican Cheese

[Ginasius]

Thank you all very much for your answers. At least I have contributed to broaden the scope of this thread to Mexican food

Complete Guide to Mexican Cheese

.

Thanks for the info. I'm afraid there are some errors in its references to Spanish cheeses. Spanish Manchego is made from sheep's milk, not goat's milk, and has no special relationship to Mexican Manchego. It may have been 200 years ago, but now they have evolved very differently. Some cheeses in Central America called Manchego do have similarities, but not in Mexico.

For example, the article says that Mexican Manchego is good for melting but Spanish Manchego may be the hardest cheese in the world to melt. It would be useful for making the walls of nuclear reactors.

[Dawsnow]

I made some awesome meatballs from scratch today!

[Bohandas]

On a related note to the queso discussion

It should also be noted that in american english the word "Salsa" refers specifically to certain thick/chunky tomato and/or chili based sauces rather than to sauce in general