The Food Thread

[KChan she/her]

I am hungry. And so while I wait for my meat to thaw out a little so I can start cooking, I thought, why not start a thread about food?

Do you cook? Why, or why not? What do you like to eat? What do you not like to eat? Have an epic food-related story? Share it!

I love to cook, but since I'm only cooking for one person right now, it makes it sort of difficult. I tend to cook large batches of things over the weekend and then eat all the leftovers during the week, because - let's face it - there's really not much else to do when you're only cooking for yourself. Small portions are hard, unless you're making a sandwich or something. On that note, I love making things that keep and warm up well, like lasagnas, casseroles, taco meat (with fresh-fried taco shells each time, mmmm), and hamburger helper. Gotta love that hamburger helper, especially when you add Mrs. Dash to it.

Your turn! Let's make everyone who reads this thread hungry!

[Eerongal he/him]

I all sorts of cook. It's one of my favorite hobbies. Just a couple weeks ago i made cornish hen basted in a jellied red wine sauce with potato and leek soup.

Note that many of my recipes aren't exactly healthy, because i generally cook for flavor.

case and point, the homemade bacon burgers that i make (which my friends love).

I start with the fattiest beef i can find (usually 20-30%) and grind up a pound of bacon and mix that in with the beef. I then season it with Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, lemon pepper, and any other things i feel like putting in at the time, break in an egg and some bread crumbs to make them hold together a bit better, stuff them with cheese (again, whichever i feel like at the time), and then freeze them. Once they're frozen, i take 'em out and grill em up. They're delicious.

[Joe ST he/him]

I cannot cook, nor do I need to, for my mother is the greatest culinator in the universe what right do I have to waste ingredients making something average that she could use to make something amazing *shrugs*

(I'm also rather lazy )

[KChan she/her]

Holy crap, Eeron, that sounds ridiculously delicious. I think I'm going to have to try that sometime!

Has anyone here ever tried cooking with dark soy sauce? It's hecka stronger than normal soy, and it really gives a great zing to anything you would want to eat with soy sauce. It can be hard to find - typically it's only sold in Asian markets - but it's worth the quest.

[Eerongal he/him]

Holy crap, Eeron, that sounds ridiculously delicious. I think I'm going to have to try that sometime!

Has anyone here ever tried cooking with dark soy sauce? It's hecka stronger than normal soy, and it really gives a great zing to anything you would want to eat with soy sauce. It can be hard to find - typically it's only sold in Asian markets - but it's worth the quest.

never heard of it, however, i loves me some soy sauce. I'll have to look into that.

Also, I figure i'll put my signature recipe for chili out here. I have a buddy of mine who thinks this stuff is the best chili he's ever eaten. So much so that he made me show him how to make it, and he cooks himself up a pot every few weeks.

This recipe usually changes a bit every time i make it, since i usually just make it on the fly, but overall it's pretty much the same.

first i take a pound of bacon and cook it up nice and crisp. Then, i take some cut up onions and caramelize them in the bacon grease. Once they're good and done, i throw a half pound of beef on top of it and cook it up in the onions and bacon grease. while the beef is cooking, i always season it, it's my opinion that it makes the chili taste better to season the beef heavily and let the beef flavor the sauce rather than putting seasoning in the sauce. For spices, i usually go with garlic salt, onion powder, chili powder (lots of times i'll buy a prepackaged "chili" seasoning mix and throw that in instead of chili powder), pepper, cilantro, and cinnamon. once the beef is nice and cooked up well, i usually throw the vegetables on top of it, this can consist of whatever veggies you want, but what i usually do is bell peppers, carrots, celery, and corn. after that cooks for a little bit, i then throw tomato sauce (or tomato paste+water depending on what's available at the time) and beans (usually black/kidney and chili hot/mild, pending upon my mood at the time) on top of it. Crunch up the bacon in it, throw in a diced jalapeno if you want, and let that boil up nicely for about an hour or so. Throw in some cheese and crackers and serve.

Also: I personally am of the belief that it's not chili unless it has beans. I know this is contrary to the opinion of many people who say chili DOESN'T have beans, but it is what it is, and chili aint chili to me without beans.

[KChan she/her]

I said in the OP to make everyone else hungry, but instead, you're making me hungry!

I've also been meaning to fry up some chicken again. I use my great-grandmother's recipe, which is simple as heck, but it tastes so good. I also learned how to brew sweet tea from two random old ladies I met in a restaurant in Georgia. XD

It's pretty neat. You boil two pots of water, one smaller than the other. The big one is for brewing your tea, but you also add a pinch of baking soda to make it stronger. The smaller one is for your sugar. When it's boiling, supersaturate it with sugar. Add sugar, sugar, and more sugar, until it stops dissolving. Then combine it with your tea (once it's done brewing, of course), adding as much or as little of the sugar-water as you like. Chill, and enjoy! It's strong, but delicious.

Also, has anyone else ever made a coca-cola cake?

[Eerongal he/him]

Also, has anyone else ever made a coca-cola cake?

I've never MADE it, but i've EATEN it, and it is delicious. (but then again, it's cake, so duh?)

[KChan she/her]

It is, indeed, quite delicious. And surprisingly easy to make!

[EHyde she/her]

Here's a simple method for delicious fried potatoes, originally from my mom.

Wash a few potatoes and cut them into bite-size cubes (if you use red or yellow potatoes with thinner skins, you don't have to peel them). Put a few tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan (I like to use a strong-flavored olive oil) and heat on medium. Once the oil is hot add the potatoes and spread them evenly in the pan. Don't stir, except to make sure that they've all got some oil on them (stirring too much will make the final product too mushy). Let cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes turn golden brown on the bottom. Flip them over as best you can (it is near impossible to flip all of them over...). At this point add some salt and onion powder and continue to cook, flipping them again after another 5-10 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Cook for about half an hour all together but it may depend on exactly how hot your stove is and how big your potato cubes are, so test them. Add more salt and onion powder if desired.

I had not tried sweet tea until about a month ago when we moved to Tennessee. I was surprised how much I liked it, seeing as I don't like sugar in my hot tea at all. I will have to try making it.

[Eerongal he/him]

Here's a simple method for delicious fried potatoes, originally from my mom.

Wash a few potatoes and cut them into bite-size cubes (if you use red or yellow potatoes with thinner skins, you don't have to peel them). Put a few tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan (I like to use a strong-flavored olive oil) and heat on medium. Once the oil is hot add the potatoes and spread them evenly in the pan. Don't stir, except to make sure that they've all got some oil on them (stirring too much will make the final product too mushy). Let cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes turn golden brown on the bottom. Flip them over as best you can (it is near impossible to flip all of them over...). At this point add some salt and onion powder and continue to cook, flipping them again after another 5-10 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Cook for about half an hour all together but it may depend on exactly how hot your stove is and how big your potato cubes are, so test them. Add more salt and onion powder if desired.

I had not tried sweet tea until about a month ago when we moved to Tennessee. I was surprised how much I liked it, seeing as I don't like sugar in my hot tea at all. I will have to try making it.

Using a similar sort of recipe, but cutting the potatoes in a long-wise fashion (so they're flat, instead of cubes) makes some pretty good home-made style chips.

Also, in regards to sweet tea, i personally don't much care for it. I usually mix a little sugar into unsweetened tea (but also i'll drink it without sugar at times), but sweet tea is TOO sweet for my tastes. Then again, i usually drink coffee black, rather than sweetened, so drinking unsweetened tea probably follows along those lines.

[CrazyRioter she/her]

I mostly cook stuff that I can put in the microwave. And I love cheese. Almost anything is better with cheese. Or chocolate. But cheese and chocolate is usually kind of gross. I also like pasta and fish.

[KChan she/her]

Here's a simple method for delicious fried potatoes, originally from my mom.

Wash a few potatoes and cut them into bite-size cubes (if you use red or yellow potatoes with thinner skins, you don't have to peel them). Put a few tablespoons of oil into a large frying pan (I like to use a strong-flavored olive oil) and heat on medium. Once the oil is hot add the potatoes and spread them evenly in the pan. Don't stir, except to make sure that they've all got some oil on them (stirring too much will make the final product too mushy). Let cook for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes turn golden brown on the bottom. Flip them over as best you can (it is near impossible to flip all of them over...). At this point add some salt and onion powder and continue to cook, flipping them again after another 5-10 minutes. Add more oil if necessary. Cook for about half an hour all together but it may depend on exactly how hot your stove is and how big your potato cubes are, so test them. Add more salt and onion powder if desired.

I had not tried sweet tea until about a month ago when we moved to Tennessee. I was surprised how much I liked it, seeing as I don't like sugar in my hot tea at all. I will have to try making it.

There's something about the super-saturation that really makes it taste great - if you like sweet tea, that is. Also, you've just won yourself a chef award for that recipe. Holy yum! <3

I mostly cook stuff that I can put in the microwave. And I love cheese. Almost anything is better with cheese. Or chocolate. But cheese and chocolate is usually kind of gross. I also like pasta and fish.

Cheese, chocolate, and don't forget garlic! What types of fish do you like? Tuna sashimi is delicious, but I think my favorite fish is Mahi Mahi. It's light, flavorful, doesn't taste fishy, and I can get it ridiculously fresh where I live.

[CrazyRioter she/her]

I like lots of fish, trout, cod, tilapia. Mahi mahi is good though I've only had it once.

[KChan she/her]

Grouper and red snapper are also really popular where I'm from, but I haven't been able to try them yet. I have to be careful where I eat seafood because of food allergies.

[Eerongal he/him]

im currently making some potato and leek soup!

[KChan she/her]

Oooh, jealous! I miss potato soup. Perhaps that's another recipe I'll try soon! X3 I picked up some good cooking magazines today, so I'm looking forward to reading about delicious food.

[EHyde she/her]

Here's another fried thing--a dessert this time.

Banana egg rolls, aka Thai-ish fried bananas

Slice a banana down the middle like for a banana split, then cut each piece in half the other direction (you can just cut them into shorter chunks without splitting the banana, but I find that the thinner pieces cook better). Wrap each piece in an egg roll wrapper. In a big frying pan filled with a couple of inches of oil, fry the wrapped bananas until golden. Serve with honey and/or powdered sugar.

These are quite filling even if you don't care how unhealthy they are, and they don't keep all that well, so don't make a lot unless you've got a big crowd.

[KChan she/her]

Wow, that sounds interesting.

Last night, my mom made the most delicious fried chicken. It was filleted chicken breast breaded with flour, smoked paprika, garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, and panko. And I think a couple other things as well. It was crispy, flavorful, and SO delicious! <3

[FrostedDonut he/him]

I love to cook! I've cooked in a restaurant before, and occasionally would cook things for my family or if I felt like making something nice for myself.

But I started cooking a lot in the past three months because I'm dating a guy who can barely microwave something without burning it...haha. And he really, really appreciates my cooking and I like trying out new recipes for him.

He and his brother are my future roommates and his brother is even more dismal at cooking (i'm convinced the only thing he can make is macaroni and cheese...) so maybe you all could share some recipes so I (and all of the other amateur chefs here!) have something new to try.

You know, when I get tired of eating corndogs and microwave burritos.

[SOM1else he/him]

As this is a thread about food I think it is an appropriate place to inform you that, if you are not from utah, odds are you eat french fries and onion rings WRONG!!! What I am referring to is your disturbing lack of an amazing delicacy known as "Fry Sauce".

The thing about Fry Sauce is that no one really quite agrees on how to make it. Most people go with 2:1 ratio of mayonnaise to ketchup but in my opinion that is slightly to low and I will add a tad more ketchup till I get it to a nice pink color. feel free to adjust ratios of mayo to ketchup until you find one that you like, fry sauce is an art not a science. I also recently discovered that if a small amount of pickle juice or buttermilk is added to the mixture it will come out tasting much better.

[Eerongal he/him]

As this is a thread about food I think it is an appropriate place to inform you that, if you are not from utah, odds are you eat french fries and onion rings WRONG!!! What I am referring to is your disturbing lack of an amazing delicacy known as "Fry Sauce".

The thing about Fry Sauce is that no one really quite agrees on how to make it. Most people go with 2:1 ratio of mayonnaise to ketchup but in my opinion that is slightly to low and I will add a tad more ketchup till I get it to a nice pink color. feel free to adjust ratios of mayo to ketchup until you find one that you like, fry sauce is an art not a science. I also recently discovered that if a small amount of pickle juice or buttermilk is added to the mixture it will come out tasting much better.

I know a lot of people who eat ketchup+mayo on fries. It's really common in missouri too, though i personally prefer ketchup and mustard mixed up on fries

[FrostedDonut he/him]

As this is a thread about food I think it is an appropriate place to inform you that, if you are not from utah, odds are you eat french fries and onion rings WRONG!!! What I am referring to is your disturbing lack of an amazing delicacy known as "Fry Sauce".

The thing about Fry Sauce is that no one really quite agrees on how to make it. Most people go with 2:1 ratio of mayonnaise to ketchup but in my opinion that is slightly to low and I will add a tad more ketchup till I get it to a nice pink color. feel free to adjust ratios of mayo to ketchup until you find one that you like, fry sauce is an art not a science. I also recently discovered that if a small amount of pickle juice or buttermilk is added to the mixture it will come out tasting much better.

You want to talk about fry sauce, son?

Ditch that ketchup/mayo crap and go with sriracha/mayo. I do a squeeze of sriracha for every dollop of mayo but you can add more or less depending on how hot you like it.

That is the way to eat fries. Try it and tell me I'm wrong.

[SOM1else he/him]

YOU'RE WORNG!!! Actually that sounds like it would taste amazing and I plan on trying it out as soon as I can get a hold of that Sriracha sauce. do you know if it's something that most grocery stores would stock or if I'm going to have to go find an store that's exclusively orient in order to get a hold of it?

[Eerongal he/him]

YOU'RE WORNG!!! Actually that sounds like it would taste amazing and I plan on trying it out as soon as I can get a hold of that Sriracha sauce. do you know if it's something that most grocery stores would stock or if I'm going to have to go find an store that's exclusively orient in order to get a hold of it?

Groceries stores i go to usually stock it. It's pretty common. Also: The oatmeal concisely represents my opinion on Sriracha

edit: and while we're on hot sauces - Cholula is basically the best hot sauce ever IMO.

[CrazyRioter she/her]

as long as we are talking about things to put on fries, and on behalf of all Canadians I feel obliged to post this recipe for poutine..