Oh man. I made braised pork short ribs with rice in tomato sauce the other night and man were they good. I have some tomato sauce left and have been using it on my rice......mmmmmm, soo good.

I soaked the ribs in a salt and sugar brine for an hour and a half or so. Cooked the ribs in the oven at 350 til nicely browned.
I used ketchup, tomatoe paste, garlic, red wine, light brown sugar, onion, with salt and pepper for the sauce.
I then covered the ribs with the sauce, put them back in the oven for 30 minutes to reduce the sauce by half.
orgismic.

Unbelievebly simple, yet so good.

I can't believe how much I love cooking, and eating, real, good food.

I'm reviving this thread.

Partially cause it's my thread.

But mainly cause I cooked an awesome beef wellington this evening.

That's filet steak wrapped in puff pastry, first sautéed in mushroom and onion. Lovely and pink in the middle, with perfectly cooked pastry on the outside. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. Was awesome.

Ah, glad to see this make a revival. I am in in a bit of culinary storm at the moment. I made some amazing home made burgers and home made BUNS on Friday night. Seriously, learn to make your own burger buns people, you will never be able to eat a Mcdonalds or shop bought bun again.

I also made chicken kiev tonight. Really nice home made.

Nice!

Burger buns and kievs are all too readily bought at shops, so being able to make your own is pretty sweet. Gotta learn - stuff you cook youself is pretty much always better than ready made.

Yeah, I got the Fabulous baker boys book and they do some awesome every day recipes. I'm working my way up to the beef wellington ha ha. I'm not quite on that level yet.

It's not too difficult - just make sure you don't overdo the beef; it MUST be pink in the middle.

It just looks tough getting the beef cooked right, when you can't cut in to make sure it's cooked. I'm going to try and bake my own bread and chocolate cake this week. Ladies love cake, or so I'm told.

Buy a meat thermometer. Perfection every time.

I've been refining my home made tomato pasta sauce. NEVER using canned tomatoes but fresh, vine ripe tomatoes. I had it last night and damn it was good.

I also did pork back ribs again the other day, though different from my last attempt, it was still freaking delicious. I had invited my landlord for dinner but he didn't show. (He's said he may not make it. He's a bit of a character, which I quite like.) Sharing a good meal, that I cooked, with others is quite exciting for me.

I want another stab at cottage pie to. My last one was good, but every time I make something I find things I could change. Could be ingredients, may be technique.

As silly as is sounds, I've leveled my stove and it makes a huge difference. For the last few months I'd pour oil into a fry pan, and it all runs towards me pooling up on one side of the pan. Now my food cooks evenly with the oil being distributed properly.

I've never bought so many kitchen gadgets in my life. I'm eye-balling a decent knife set (On sale for 1/2 off right now but I am broke. ) and a food processor. Both would speed up the prep time. I spent 2 hours making my pasta sauce. Most of that is removing the skins, then the seeds from the tomatoes. I don't mind a few seeds but not 8 tomatoes worth. I puall all the seeds/jell/cuttings into a strainer in a bowl. I then use my hand to mash whatever will go through through. I end up with a nice tomato water. I reduce the bigger chunks in olive oil, then use the water to add a bit of volume, then reduce some more.

I've discover the best way to tell when it's done. Drag your spatula across the bottom creating a thick line on the bottom of the pan. Depending on the volume, consistency and speed in which the liquid refills in that space you made, you can determine the perfect time to remove it from the heat. I've over done it in the past, and it continues to evaporate/absorb a bit after cooking so my sauces were a bit thicker than intended. (or the reverse, and too watery.) Last nights was perfect. When I put the left overs away, it looked like quality professional sauce. (You know how it has that "perfect" amount of oil floating on the surface, while not being watery, but that perfect consistency? Like that.)

I get paid this week, so I think I'll try something different/new. I'd take suggestions if anyone has any. Things I've done:

Linguine with mussels in wine sauce.
Tomato pasta sauce. (With and without meat.)
Braised pork back ribs with smoked paprika rice.
Prime rib roast with roasted potatoes and carrots.
Skinless/boneless chicken briast with Brie cheese cream sauce on Basmati rice.

So, looking for something different, but not too difficult.

I cook better than my wife. She's home all day and her idea of cooking is microwaving or frying something. I was home sick last Thursday and I cooked up two game hens and made soup out of them which I ate for the past three days. It was delicious.

It is a common misconception that Men don't belong in the kitchen. Look at the majority famous chefs, notice anything? All Male! Most men happen to cook better than most women, it is true.

I learnt a few cooking tips when I worked as a prep chef some years ago. I loved to cook but working as a prep chef put me off the idea of cooking professionally since the hours are totally unsociable. If I could work in a day time bistro or something, I'd do so happily. So I cancelled my college application to study catering and moved to graphic design. I still cook all the time, I rarely let my girlfriend cook any of the home made things we buy to make ourselves, simply because I find enjoyment doing it and she doesn't. This has led to many a debate which ended in her saying "get me a sammich". I still think cooking is quite manly though.

Wow, I'm stunned.

I was talking to my neighbour earlier. I had mentioned my new love of cooking in a previous conversation, and how I was buying/looking to buy all theses things I'd never considered before. I was saying how it svcked this knife set I was looking at was on sale for 1/2 off but I was broke.


I finished doing the yard work I was doing, reiterated an invitation to dinner sometime and went inside. About an hour later the phone rings and he says I have an offer. Come fix my stove, and I'll buy you the knife set. Really? Wow.

I went up and actually made things worse, and he still bought it for me. Now both elements don't work.

I'm sorta the "manager" of my landlords 2 heritage buildings. (Side by side.) It was kinda of a joke really, in the beginning, because I rake the leaves, trim the hedges, and just do things he doesn't have time to, or can't do. (He has medical issues.) It's started to become more than a joke recently when he told one guy he had to get my permission to use his studio space. (His late mother was a fairly well known local artist.) So I'm actually looking to get them a new stove and fridge set. (Nobody likes to deal with the landlord except me. He's an odd sort.) The ones they have are simply not worth fixing they are so old.

So, yeah, I can't believe he bought me a $200 ($100 on sale) knife set. (He apparently came into some money and can afford to throw a little around ATM.)

I think I'll have them over for dinner this weekend for a top sirloin roast with roasted red potatoes and baby carrots. I think I'll give Yorkshire pudding a try to. I recently made bread pudding for dessert and will try that again, not forgetting the raisins this time, and with a dollop of ice cream. (It was still really good without either.) It'll be a filling dinner that's for sure.

I now have all the knives a budding chef/cook could want, well, minus a fillet knife. (It even came with a steel and scissors.) Now, I just need a food processor.

I can cook. Pretty darn well actually. I hate to cook though and rarely do. Too time consuming and I hate cleaning up.

Newest thing I cooked: wheat spaghetti with lots of peanut butter, curry powder, and some extra virgin olive oil. Also salt that comes from the Himalayan mountains. I was giving it a Thai style with the peanut butter and curry powder, and the salt helped it taste nicer. I successfully learned a new dish to make for myself.

I am fairly certain salt everywhere has the same chemical composition.

I made a fusion-inspired Thai and Indian curry last night, from scratch. Don't use pastes for the sauces, guys. With just a little more effort you get, like, 1000% of the taste.

I can cook. But currently my latest masterpiece was........... .......... ....ramen noodles...man I am broke as hell in college. And got no vehicle to go get affordable groceries.

Oooh that's interesting. I keep meaning to buy that book (I bake a lot...). And not just for the hot guys on the cover either. Good to know the recipes are worthwhile.


Funnily enough my boyfriend (who's an AWESOME cook) make ramen last night but he made it from scratch with homemade chicken stock, duck, chicken and fresh ramen noodles. Was loooooovely.

I made vietnamese cold springrolls and thai fish burgers yesterday. It was amazing.

http://www.girlinthemini.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Vietnamese-Spring-Rolls-02.jpg
http://www.ica.se/ImageVault/Images/width_385/id_17620/ImageVaultHandler.aspx

Don't eat meat today!

.....and why not!

.....I'm going to starve because thats like 80% of my daily diet

Today is Ash Wednesday.

Yeah unless you are that way 'inclined' I don't see a problem eating meat. I'll be meating it up.

Actually ... I was just joking.

Pretty sure religion is a forbidden topic.

I'm not religious, so I'll be eating steak.

look at my last post