Cooking with Maintankadin

It was a little too spicy for me, but that went well with the asparagus. I think I still prefer marinades though I like it when the flavor is juicy and deep. But it may have been Vanifae's fault, he tends to cook steaks way longer than I like (they were still great though).

I didn't know that mew and vanifae knew each other out of the forum.

mew wrote:It was a little too spicy for me, but that went well with the asparagus. I think I still prefer marinades though I like it when the flavor is juicy and deep. But it may have been Vanifae's fault, he tends to cook steaks way longer than I like (they were still great though).

She is dumb there was tasty steak juice everywhere.

I liked the way the rub came out and I will have to experiment with more flavors but I liked it. I pan seared the steaks in Olive Oil and then finished them in my small George Foreman grill, I probably could have waited to do them since they were done long before the asparagus and shrimp was done. Still super tasty and huge.

I probably made the rub too spicy, but I like spicy.

How do you do your asparagus? My mom always used to make it when I was little (boiled) and I never really liked it. Now we just toss it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic (which is NOT the same thing as garlic powder or garlic salt) and either bake it at a high heat for just 5 minutes or so or throw it on the grill. I love it this way but I am curious about other ways to make it.

Minnerva wrote:I didn't know that mew and vanifae knew each other out of the forum.

I know alot of people out of the forum.

I assume you meant outside the forum.

Also Banana Pudding time.

Katraya wrote:How do you do your asparagus? My mom always used to make it when I was little (boiled) and I never really liked it. Now we just toss it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic (which is NOT the same thing as garlic powder or garlic salt) and either bake it at a high heat for just 5 minutes or so or throw it on the grill. I love it this way but I am curious about other ways to make it.

Kind of like you said, only on the stove top. I used some of the butter from the shrimp because I didn't want to use oil, then just whatever spices I wanted (I think I used "Italian seasoning" and "rosemerry" just to try some stuff out), left it on medium to low heat, covered it, and stirred occasionally.
I thought about boiling it, but it sounded like that would make it too difficult to get flavor in there. I think it would have been fine even without the butter (maybe slightly dry, but still flavorful and a good mix of soft+crunchy).

Speaking of asparagus, best asparagus ever is:

You chop the ends off the asparagus, the ugly woody part. then try and peel a little bit of the harder skin at the bottom of the spear. Steam it until its al dente, you dont want it mushy. Let it cool a bit. Form your asparagus sticks into bunches of 3-4 and wrap them in presccuto or pancceta ( I like this better). Sprinkle pepper on then (not salt since the cured hams have plenty), and top them off with drizzles of holandaise sauce. I have to consult with Aergis about how to make the sauce since he makes it not I. You can also wrap them individually if you can't get enough of that Italian ham.

Thalia wrote:Speaking of asparagus, best asparagus ever is:

You chop the ends off the asparagus, the ugly woody part. then try and peel a little bit of the harder skin at the bottom of the spear. Steam it until its al dente, you dont want it mushy. Let it cool a bit. Form your asparagus sticks into bunches of 3-4 and wrap them in presccuto or pancceta ( I like this better). Sprinkle pepper on then (not salt since the cured hams have plenty), and top them off with drizzles of holandaise sauce. I have to consult with Aergis about how to make the sauce since he makes it not I. You can also wrap them individually if you can't get enough of that Italian ham.

Oh wow, I was going to say the exact same thing... hollandaise + fresh asparagus is incredibly good. I hadn't tried the prosciutto before, but it sounds tasty. Hollandaise is also extremely excellent for dipping artichokes in. As for making it, it's mostly butter if I recall, let me look it up...

Thalia wrote:Speaking of asparagus, best asparagus ever is:

You chop the ends off the asparagus, the ugly woody part. then try and peel a little bit of the harder skin at the bottom of the spear. Steam it until its al dente, you dont want it mushy. Let it cool a bit. Form your asparagus sticks into bunches of 3-4 and wrap them in presccuto or pancceta ( I like this better). Sprinkle pepper on then (not salt since the cured hams have plenty), and top them off with drizzles of holandaise sauce. I have to consult with Aergis about how to make the sauce since he makes it not I. You can also wrap them individually if you can't get enough of that Italian ham.

That kind of sounds like "green bean bundles" which is green beans wrapped in bacon.
I should try making holandaise sauce sometime. I've had eggs benedict once, but it was at an IHOP and towards the end it had me feeling a little ill. I would love to give your recipe a try if you could get a hold of it :O

I dig cooking a lot. Great thread!

I made Asian-style wings on the grill the other night. Simple grilling and dipping sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Asian fish sauce (nasty smelling, awesome tasting... go figure)
1/4 cup sesame or peanut oil
ground pepper
2-3 chopped green onions

Whisk all the liquids together with the ground pepper and a tablespoon of water. Add the green onions, you're done!

I added a tablespoon of molasses to the above to thicken it a bit and add some sugar so it woulc caremalize on the grill. I brushed this modified mixture on a family package of bone-in wings while grilling (wait until the last 2 minutes of cooking to brush it on, it could burn otherwise). I served the finished wings with a bowl of the unmodified sauce and sprinkled sesame seeds on the wings themselves... good stuff.

The sauce itself is relatively healthy, though you might opt for low sodium soy sauce (which tastes fine). Also, you can easily do this with boneless chicken to save yourself some fat from the wings.

I've also gotten into using a homemade smoker this year, I made it out of an old kettle grill I had lying around. Nothing beats slow cooked smoked ribs or pulled pork. A pork shoulder I smoked a couple weeks ago just fell apart, it tasted insanely good. I make my own rubs and sauces because I like to experiment and I get a kick out of cooking everything, but I'm not against store-bought sauce (Stubbs is awesome, someone mentioned them earlier). The only thing about cooking via a smoker, you need a lot of time to do it... Ribs take a couple hours minimum and a pork shoulder can take 8 or more hours to cook, so it's something you need to dedicate a little time to. It's worth it though... the results are awesome. It's not difficult, you just need to monitor the temperature closely and add coals or open/close the vents as needed. Easily done while farming in WoW

I subscribe to Food & Wine Magazine, the recipes are always easy and I've never been disappointed. You get a really decent range of styles and difficulty too... From tacos to braised rabbit, there are a ton of options.

I dabble in a lot of different styles of cooking, I really enjoy it as a hobby and the results are always fun to try. My girlfriend gets a kick out of it, too... she used to consider a Cliff Bar and a diet Coke dinner, so she's happy to get a home-cooked meal.

Katraya wrote:How do you do your asparagus? My mom always used to make it when I was little (boiled) and I never really liked it. Now we just toss it with olive oil, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic (which is NOT the same thing as garlic powder or garlic salt) and either bake it at a high heat for just 5 minutes or so or throw it on the grill. I love it this way but I am curious about other ways to make it.

Kat,

My wife was convinced she hated asparagus until I grilled some for her

Olive oil, salt and pepper before grilling, and a splash of balsamic vinegar and parmesan coming off the grill. Yummeh. Grilled asparagus actually led to a rather incredible appetizer off the grill.

Asparagus and yellow squash, hit with olive oil and S&P, then grilled and diced. Splash of balsamic and parm. Fresh bread, cut 1/4" thick and toasted on the grill. Take bread off of grill, rub with fresh clove of garlic. Top with mixture of fresh ricotta, roasted red pepper, oregano, basil and other seasonings of choice. Top again with diced, grilled veggie mix. OMG good.

Minnerva wrote:I didn't know that mew and vanifae knew each other out of the forum.

i'm like 90% sure they live together.

Vanifae wrote:

mew wrote:It was a little too spicy for me, but that went well with the asparagus. I think I still prefer marinades though I like it when the flavor is juicy and deep. But it may have been Vanifae's fault, he tends to cook steaks way longer than I like (they were still great though).

She is dumb there was tasty steak juice everywhere.

I liked the way the rub came out and I will have to experiment with more flavors but I liked it. I pan seared the steaks in Olive Oil and then finished them in my small George Foreman grill, I probably could have waited to do them since they were done long before the asparagus and shrimp was done. Still super tasty and huge.

I probably made the rub too spicy, but I like spicy.

I like spicey, but probably not on a good cut of steak. 1/4tsp of those peppers goes a long way, so I can understand why she wasn't a fan, but as you said there's plenty of alterations you can do. As for the juice though, here's the thing...Marinades at best will have no appreciable difference, and at worst will dry the hell out of a good piece of steak. Steaks are not sponges, they won't soak up much at all, particularly loin cuts that are already saturated with their own juices and oils, and the cuts for these are pretty thick so the surface area is low. To even get to the point that you'd notice a marinade, you are probably looking at an all night soak, and then the reason you'll notice is because the salts and acids in the marniade will have shrunk your steak, squeezing out the natural juices, leaving you with a tougher and dryer piece of meat, that will have a slight hint of marinade.

Rubs work because they don't try to do to much. There's no "injecting" flavor into a quality steak, and rubs don't try to. They will slightly tenderize the surface to be seared, and add a nice flavorful edge that ought to compliment whats inside. Rubs have a lot of salt, which can tend to draw out the juice as well, but that's why you don't rub more than an hour before cooking.

Save the marinades for the tough cuts of meat (round and flank steaks) that are cut thin (beacuse they are too tough to be left thick) which maximizes surface area, and are not as fatty so the extra tenderization can help. Then, cut them into thin stips, cover with gorgonzola, roll them up, and toothpick them shut with a nice slice of bacon wrapped around them. Slam them under the broiler for a few minutes and enjoy.

Kathane wrote:

mew wrote:Vanifae told me that for a smoker you'd have to have a yard or something due to the amount of smoke We just have a balcony so I think a smoker at this point in time is out of the question.
I will probably get one someday though, it would be great to smoke all sorts of meats. Are the cheap ones as horrible as the price difference would indicate?

You can limit the amount of smoke output by limiting the wood input. If you're doing it right, a smoker should be putting out a fairly light, blue/gray smoke, nothing particularly heavy, moreso with cold smoking. If you've got upstairs neighbors, they might not appreciate the wafting smell of wood smoke or the tempting aroma of cooking meats, though.

The cheap electrics are not horrible, they're just very limited. Limited capacity, limited temperature range. Neither are a huge problem when starting out. If you have a low/no wind flow area for them, they're fairly temperature stable, but they tend to be loosely constructed and will bleed off heat relatively easily, particularly if trying to maintain hotter cooking temperatures.

Sorry been away. Exactly, when using a smoker you should have a "Thin blue smoke" coming out of the top, not billowing clouds. If there is too much smoke, you can get a bitter flavor in the meet.

I personally use a Bradley electric smoker. It's been a trooper. although I am slightly more limited on the amount of food I can smoke at once.

As far as the heart attack explosion. That "Type" of "Meat roll" is more commonly referred to as a "Fatty" in smoking circles. Folks also use sausage and other "Additions" to make them. For example, you might take a chub of Jimmy deal, flatten it out, put a layer of cheese and peppers on top. Roll the meat, make sure the ends are sealed and through it in the smoker for a couple hours. Good stuff man.

This is an example:

I bought some big bell peppers the other day with the intention of stuffing them with a cheese/sausage/rice mixture that I was just going to wing, but I figured I'd ask here first just in case. Any suggestions for stuffings or methods of cooking (I can bake or grill)?