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Cooking stuff you suck at


Mo Horn

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Just now, Rip76 said:

Right on.  Smallest I have is an 10" cast iron.

I will check out the 8".

I bet you could do them in a 10 inch pan, but it's hard to find a tight-fitting lid for a cast iron skillet, even harder to find a glass one.  You can get a cheap 8 inch pan with glass lid at Walmart or something -- probably $10-15.

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With eggs, put them in a glass of warm water for a few minutes.  It helps with just about all aspects of egg cooking not to have ice-cold eggs from the fridge hitting a hot pan.

 

Medium to medium low heat with plenty of butter is just about the rest of the equation for most styles of egg cooking.  Eggs go in the pan as soon as the butter stops bubbling (but before it browns).

Edited by dcbc
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1 minute ago, dcbc said:

With eggs, put them in a glass of warm water for a few minutes.  It helps with just about all aspects of egg cooking not to have ice-cold eggs from the fridge hitting a hot pan.

 

Medium to medium low heat with plenty of butter is just about the rest of the equation for most styles of egg cooking.

Yep.  When I finally got over my "young and impatient cook who wants my scrambled eggs NOW" approach, and did the "whisk the eggs, cook in a pan over low to med-low heat with LOTS of butter, occasionally folding them around the pan with a rubber spatula" technique....it got me a lot more gratitude with the wife, and I really started loving scrambled eggs.  Do that technique....when about 30 seconds from done, drop in some fresh diced hatch chile.  Salt.  Fantastic.

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Yep.  When I finally got over my "young and impatient cook who wants my scrambled eggs NOW" approach, and did the "whisk the eggs, cook in a pan over low to med-low heat with LOTS of butter, occasionally folding them around the pan with a rubber spatula" technique....it got me a lot more gratitude with the wife, and I really started loving scrambled eggs.  Do that technique....when about 30 seconds from done, drop in some fresh diced hatch chile.  Salt.  Fantastic.
I've been doing a lot of French omelettes in carbon steel pans for the last year or so, and the newer pans will absolutely punish me for getting too hot since they hold onto heat like cast iron. But I've been getting better results once I learned to keep the heat a little lower.



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2 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I've been doing a lot of French omelettes in carbon steel pans for the last year or so, and the newer pans will absolutely punish me for getting too hot since they hold onto heat like cast iron.  

Yep.  You can't get away with a "heat it up quick, then turn it down" maneuver.  Just put it on your preferred low heat, and give it a coupla minutes to come up to the proper heat and stay there.  Patience and being willing to cook on lower heat goes a LONG way for so many things.

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1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Yep.  You can't get away with a "heat it up quick, then turn it down" maneuver.  Just put it on your preferred low heat, and give it a coupla minutes to come up to the proper heat and stay there.  Patience and being willing to cook on lower heat goes a LONG way for so many things.

Add to the equation that I have an induction cooktop and if I bring it up too quickly, I can warp the carbon pans.  That's been enough of a reminder.  

 

I'll typically start on 2/10, bring it to 3/10.  Then, turn it off for a minute or so and let the heat even out.  This whole time, I'm getting everything ready.  So I'm not just standing there waving my hand over the pan.  When I have everything ready to go, I bring it up a bit at a time again a little more quickly.  Butter goes in when I hit 4/10.   After I stir and shake furiously and get my curds set, I'll drop it back to 3 and keep going a bit more before turning off the heat.

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Whenever I cook eggs on a skillet, the burner is off by the time I’m done and I’m finishing them with the heat retained by the pan.

I’m late to comment on some earlier topics. This could go in the breakfast foods thread because I love eggs and beans for breakfast.

I like my boiled eggs warm so I’m not going to leave them in an ice bath for long. I add vinegar to the boiling water and it’s been my observation that they’re easier to peel since I’ve been doing that. My process is to (gently) drop cold eggs into boiling water and let them boil for 7 minutes. Then I pour out the water and fill the pan with cold water from the sink, covering the eggs, about as much as I used to boil them. I don’t usually run into problems peeling them. When I do, it’s usually the first of the eggs which leads me to believe that letting them sit in the cooling bath a bit longer would help. But it’s never bad and doesn’t often happen so I’m not worried about it. Like I said, I don’t want them to cool down too much. This way I get eggs where the yolks are just starting to set and they’re sort of gelatinous.

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I soak my pinto beans but not for as long I used to. I’ve found that 2-4 hrs is sufficient. It takes 2 hrs of simmering to finish them. I can use pork products in them but often don’t. I don’t know if my take on these beans would be Texas-approved but I like them. I use the same spices I’d use for chili. It gives me a cheap, convenient way to experiment with different blends of peppers and spices. And I include the soaking liquid. After the beans have been thoroughly cleaned and rinsed, why not?

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Sometimes my beans have more broth, sometimes less. I generally try to make sure they’re just covered in the pot. I start off sautéing minced onions and garlic in oil or bacon grease, then add my spices, maybe a bouillon cube, then add the beans and liquid. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer til the beans are tender. Right around 2 hrs. It’s pretty quick and easy. 

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I make beans every week (in a regular pot) and the Mexican side of my family asks for them at Christmas so it must be ok.

 

 beans (no soak), water, bacon (lots), jalapenos, tomato (roma), salt, pepper, garlic, bouillon cube, Fiesta Fajita seasoning

 

easiest thing in the world

Edited by SimonBolivar
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Based on the replies on this page, I'm guessing french omelette has been posted. I can cook a perfect poached egg. The fluffiest, softest and still a bit wet, scrambled eggs. Over easy with a soft white? No problem. I can't do an omelette... Especially a nice soft wet omelette for fuck all. 🤷🏿‍♂️

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14 minutes ago, pops said:

Based on the replies on this page, I'm guessing french omelette has been posted. I can cook a perfect poached egg. The fluffiest, softest and still a bit wet, scrambled eggs. Over easy with a soft white? No problem. I can't do an omelette... Especially a nice soft wet omelette for fuck all. 🤷🏿‍♂️

 

 

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On 9/9/2024 at 3:47 PM, Brisketexan said:

Secret: small, shallow pan, with a lid, med-low heat.  That's how my wife likes her eggs, and I make breakfast for her on the weekend.  Heat the pan, think a 3-4 out of 10 on heat, leaning toward the 4.  Melt sufficient butter to cover bottom of pan.  Crack two eggs in the pan (the pan should be the size that the two eggs cover the bottom of the pan - mine is a Calphalon 8 inch pan), cover (glass lid is really best, because you can watch them as they cook - the Calphalon space-saving pans have a great glass lid).  As SOON as the tops of the yolks take on a light white color (almost looks like a film covering the yolk), they're done.  Remove the lid, and immediately slide the eggs onto the plate.  Perfect over-medium every time.

the sound of pulling apart the cracked egg and it hitting a hot but not searing pan is one of life's finest little joys.

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8 hours ago, pops said:

Based on the replies on this page, I'm guessing french omelette has been posted. I can cook a perfect poached egg. The fluffiest, softest and still a bit wet, scrambled eggs. Over easy with a soft white? No problem. I can't do an omelette... Especially a nice soft wet omelette for fuck all. 🤷🏿‍♂️

Seven posts up.

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18 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:
12 hours ago, pops said:

Based on the replies on this page, I'm guessing french omelette has been posted. I can cook a perfect poached egg. The fluffiest, softest and still a bit wet, scrambled eggs. Over easy with a soft white? No problem. I can't do an omelette... Especially a nice soft wet omelette for fuck all. 🤷🏿‍♂️

Yeah, that was what I was searching for, but I found the other video first and got lazy.

There was an episode of "Good Eats" several years ago that learned me on making French omelets. Can't find the video anywhere but Alton does have a step-by-step page available.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/perfect-omelet-recipe/how-to-make-an-omelet-like-alton-brown

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1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

Key is use bacon that's pretty thinly sliced.  Thick cut no bueno.

You can also precook the bacon on a pan in the oven.  Not enough to make it crispy, but enough that it get closer to matching the shrimp when completed.  

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Just now, Jerry Callo said:

You can also precook the bacon on a pan in the oven.  Not enough to make it crispy, but enough that it get closer to matching the shrimp when completed.  

Yep, also a strong move.  Get the bacon cooked halfway before you wrap, and that's helpful.

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I started out making Emeril’s red beans & rice recipe using stock and three kinds of pork. I was comfortable thinking ham hocks were the key ingredient to a great pot of beans. And I still believe that pork and stock are great ways to crank up the flavor. But then I got a lesson on minimalism and learned that keeping things simple can work out just fine.

I found some of these little red “silk beans” at the Mexican market that I’d never noticed before. They were exactly like this bag:

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I bought the bag then went home and googled “frijol rojo de seda” and came up with some recipes and the following video which is as basic as it gets.

They don’t soak the beans. They just put them in a pot of boiling water with an onion and a head of garlic and add salt at the end. That’s what I did. At a simmer it took 4 hours until they were tender. She looks like she keeps the water more at a boil. In the time it took my beans to cook, the onion halves and whole garlic cloves basically dissolved into the broth. Pretty close. Now I just give them a rough chop first. I found that I got a darker broth that was a deeper red color than hers. It’s very tasty.

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I’ve experimented with embellishing it by adding dried peppers. Pasillas work pretty well. But the simplicity of the recipe got me to rethink my approach to beans and it’s given me a lot more options.

In my searching I came across a number of recipes for gallopinto (or gallo pinto, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus and I’m not sure which I prefer but I lean toward the latter). It fries the beans above with pilaf style rice with onions and peppers. That stuff is awesome and now when I make the beans I’ll make a pot of rice pilaf just to save for the next day to make gallopinto. I see these beans all over now and from various brands but since the first bag I bought was from Nicaragua, I went with the Nicaraguan recipe.

https://eatsbythebeach.com/nicaraguan-gallo-pinto/

https://www.seriouseats.com/gallopinto-nicaraguan-rice-and-beans-recipe

There’s a lot of versatility in how to make it. Adding Canadian bacon was a winner.

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On 9/11/2024 at 11:21 AM, DallasSooner said:

I'd love to be able to make some shrimp brochette.  I don't know how you get the bacon and the shrimp done at the perfect time. 

 

On 9/11/2024 at 11:31 AM, Jerry Callo said:

You can also precook the bacon on a pan in the oven.  Not enough to make it crispy, but enough that it get closer to matching the shrimp when completed.  

 

On 9/11/2024 at 11:33 AM, Brisketexan said:

Yep, also a strong move.  Get the bacon cooked halfway before you wrap, and that's helpful.

What if, and bear with me, you fed bacon to shrimp?  

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19 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I started out making Emeril’s red beans & rice recipe using stock and three kinds of pork. I was comfortable thinking ham hocks were the key ingredient to a great pot of beans. And I still believe that pork and stock are great ways to crank up the flavor. But then I got a lesson on minimalism and learned that keeping things simple can work out just fine.

I found some of these little red “silk beans” at the Mexican market that I’d never noticed before. They were exactly like this bag:

IMG_0952.jpeg.25c9ad7aa40369c4b037b6de987c263c.jpeg

I bought the bag then went home and googled “frijol rojo de seda” and came up with some recipes and the following video which is as basic as it gets.

They don’t soak the beans. They just put them in a pot of boiling water with an onion and a head of garlic and add salt at the end. That’s what I did. At a simmer it took 4 hours until they were tender. She looks like she keeps the water more at a boil. In the time it took my beans to cook, the onion halves and whole garlic cloves basically dissolved into the broth. Pretty close. Now I just give them a rough chop first. I found that I got a darker broth that was a deeper red color than hers. It’s very tasty.

IMG_1228.thumb.jpeg.9085467ba73981cc6b768f36613395df.jpeg

I’ve experimented with embellishing it by adding dried peppers. Pasillas work pretty well. But the simplicity of the recipe got me to rethink my approach to beans and it’s given me a lot more options.

In my searching I came across a number of recipes for gallopinto (or gallo pinto, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus and I’m not sure which I prefer but I lean toward the latter). It fries the beans above with pilaf style rice with onions and peppers. That stuff is awesome and now when I make the beans I’ll make a pot of rice pilaf just to save for the next day to make gallopinto. I see these beans all over now and from various brands but since the first bag I bought was from Nicaragua, I went with the Nicaraguan recipe.

https://eatsbythebeach.com/nicaraguan-gallo-pinto/

https://www.seriouseats.com/gallopinto-nicaraguan-rice-and-beans-recipe

There’s a lot of versatility in how to make it. Adding Canadian bacon was a winner.

IMG_1790.thumb.jpeg.7c22ed8771141ceae6a71272a2707223.jpeg

IMG_1802.thumb.jpeg.9cafd793530a7cef4fc0ada618fe3801.jpeg

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IMG_4925.thumb.jpeg.c7233bdf30b7427502bf80e3ca9d9063.jpeg

That looks phenomenal. 

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Back to the “perfect over medium egg,” I took pics as I made breakfast this morning. Whole process took 5 mins.

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Temp on about a 3 out of 10 on my gas stove. Melt just enough butter to cover the bottom of the pan. Crack eggs into 8 inch pan, cover. When the yolk tops just go filmy-white-ish, they’re done. Remove lid, slide em onto the plate immediately. Walla.

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On 9/9/2024 at 3:47 PM, Brisketexan said:

Secret: small, shallow pan, with a lid, med-low heat.  That's how my wife likes her eggs, and I make breakfast for her on the weekend.  Heat the pan, think a 3-4 out of 10 on heat, leaning toward the 4.  Melt sufficient butter to cover bottom of pan.  Crack two eggs in the pan (the pan should be the size that the two eggs cover the bottom of the pan - mine is a Calphalon 8 inch pan), cover (glass lid is really best, because you can watch them as they cook - the Calphalon space-saving pans have a great glass lid).  As SOON as the tops of the yolks take on a light white color (almost looks like a film covering the yolk), they're done.  Remove the lid, and immediately slide the eggs onto the plate.  Perfect over-medium every time.

Just putting this on this page so others don't have to go back and reread.  Those eggs look great!

 

/I can't see the handle on the lid.  So that picture messed with me and looked like you had some sort of ice-water bath technique going on.

Edited by dcbc
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26 minutes ago, Jerry Callo said:

I'm usually a one-flipper on fried eggs, but I tried the Brisketexan method yesterday at lunch and it worked like a charm.  Made for an odd lunch though - left over pork tenderloin, brazed cabbage, and a perfect over-medium egg.

call it a deconstructed colcannon and you can charge $40

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On 9/3/2024 at 7:36 AM, dcbc said:

Or an Instant Pot.  1 lb pintos, 6 cups of water, 1 T salt, 3 tsp coarse pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, cumin, (I like a little curry powder), and a bullion cube.  About 1 hour 10 minutes under pressure and as much time after that as you can spare (hour or so). 

James Franco GIF

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On 9/14/2024 at 11:09 AM, Brisketexan said:

Back to the “perfect over medium egg,” I took pics as I made breakfast this morning. Whole process took 5 mins.

28d8f5d6e9599ccd472eabd374b50ec2.jpg
3e919677f6c5808509bf15a5c17f0576.jpg
1f20250db86a2dd8c5a257aaa090573c.jpg
e376b8ba20659e513d34295597e55ae5.jpg

Temp on about a 3 out of 10 on my gas stove. Melt just enough butter to cover the bottom of the pan. Crack eggs into 8 inch pan, cover. When the yolk tops just go filmy-white-ish, they’re done. Remove lid, slide em onto the plate immediately. Walla.

I've done that before, and it absolutely simplified the process, but I like the crispiness you get when you flip once.  Once I flip, I give a 10 count, turn off the heat, then plate the eggs.  Comes out medium every time.

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