FOOD!

[ProfMonnitoff]

Relax a bit on the depth of field. The food is barely visible in those pictures.

Today I made some Ikea-style meatballs (ground lean beef, pork, and chicken, baked in the oven) with boiled potatoes, red cabbage, and cranberry sauce. No pic though.

[ProfMonnitoff]

comfort food



don't even talk to me if you put cream in your carbonara

[munch]

omg yes, I LOVE non-cream carbonara!

[MoFiya]

Well, tbh carbonare is enough of sauce already with 1 egg per person, some parmigiano and wet (!) pasta... Used to add some cream some time because it just didnt look like enough sauce but I ended up everytime like "damn, would've been lotta better without the cream"...

Inspired by Eternal I thought to post on here again and see wether we can get some discussion going...
Has anybody been to Noma in DK? Heard much of it and the style sounds very much like my personal food philosophy... Regional and seasonal food from producers you know and trust.
Anybody familiar with Slow Food by the way?

[viv1984viv]

Ive tried to do more real cooking recently.

Ive made creamy ( shock, horror ) carbonara, and fluffy omelettes with cured ham and truffle oil...... Recently a good friend of mind made brandy flamed rabbit in a bacon and cream and tomato sauce - was good but it was wild rabbit and a touch stringy but lovely taste and worth a bit of gnawing!

Ive also started growing my own herbs..... parsley, thyme, sage, coriander, tarragon, chives and basil.

Any suggestions on what I can use em with would be good... im a total beginner at cooking.

[MoFiya]

^
Parsley --> depends on which one you have. For flat-leaf I would say best for salads or mediterranean food. Curly leaf I dont like too much. Always let it stew in a soup... and put it out afterwards.
Thyme and basil go both great with all Italian / mediterranean food. You can also try to do your own pesto with basil... easy to do and so good...
Sage... well, taste it first, not everybody likes it. I like it in a omelette with serrano ham.
Coriander --> super special, best used for Indian food. But try it first!! Some ppl hate it.
Chives --> nice for salad or with some melted butter over asparagus.
Tarragon --> well, something I personally really hate you can put it into a mild vinegar though in order to create tarragon-vinegar (wohoo!) which can be used for salad dressings...

But best to start reading about cooking first ;-) All of those herbs are really usable in different contexts and it's best to discover and try them on your own. Try them and think of food to match. Pair it and see if it works

[Fade to Black]

Who says food can't be art? This burger gets about as close to the human condition as anything else I've seen. I need this in my collection.

[munch]

http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/154/spaghetti-carbonara

this video here is the real deal guyz

[ProfMonnitoff]

I'm not sure about throwing the parsley in with the eggs (wouldn't it get soggy sitting in that bowl so long?) but other than that the video is on point. The best part is that they don't weigh/measure any of the ingredients, that's how cooking should be done.

[MoFiya]

^ second that... Except for f*cking baking which never works for me anyway
But other than that, carbonara isn't the hardest thing to cook, is it?
There are a lot of other dishes of "daily food" which are something to cook really well is an art in itself.
E.g. schnitzel (has to really thin, and to do the breading is super difficult... plus it has to fried lying in oil, not just roasted), or pizza (at least 300°C oven and the dough is something ... well you can really count on).
But I really love to do such "classic" dishes and try to do em in perfection...
For example last year, I made pasta with tomato sauce.
Self-made pasta, slow-cooked tomatoes in the oven with some honey and herbs. Then I just added some parmigiano and really old balsamico traditionale... Perfect.
Or caprese is something fun to experiment with, too. Although, unfortunately, the tomatoes are always the weakest part of the dish in this region of living. But there is so much to try out when it comes to high-quality mozzarella... those can taste so different, from mild-sourishly to creamy and rich. Some taste super grassy, some just fat. Same for the olive oil but that goes w/o saying...
Well... talking about that, looking forward to summer

[ProfMonnitoff]

Coming from Austria, I can cook a mean Schnitzel. However, it's much easier when your butcher knows what he's doing. Also if your butcher isn't your supermarket The only thing to pair with a Schnitzel is half potato salad, half Vogerlsalat.

I remember a website about this guy who had spent years trying to perfect his home pizza recipe. He had modified his domestic oven to go up to 800 degrees fahrenheit, among other things. A great read, even if he was a bit insane. Can't find it now though.

My home pizza is fairly basic. Very little tomato sauce, dried tomatoes, a few super thin slices of mozarella, and heaps of arugula.

My personal perfectionist pet peeve (ugh alliteration) is salad. I think I'm coming close to a perfect ratio of stuff, but there's always room to improve. My secret weapon is pumpkin seed oil.

I agree that summer should just begin already. I love cooking for friends. It's the best way to begin a night.

[MoFiya]

There was that TV show Heston Blumenthal was doing "In Search of Perfection"... same thing, this guy is insane nevertheless.
His new show "Hestons Feast" or whatever it is called is worth a watch as well although I dont like the prominents always saying "This is unbelievable!". But the dishes and the idea behind hit is really amusing itself, although it's less cooking more entertaining there.
Oh and if you get a chance to watch the second episode, the guy from Germany/Schwarzwald with whom he does that truffle-filled-pork-head (sic!) is a friend of us, the hotel is lovely (and the food quite good).

Other than that, pumpkin seed oil is really great... I am very into Austrian cuisine anyway. Last week I had some salad composed of wild herbs, a dressing with p-s oil and horseradish. Plus some fruit loaf and cheese.... hmmm

edit.
Another reason why I love Austria: Kärntner Kasnudeln.
Of course you know em, dont you? For the others... Sort of ravioli, filled with potatoes, leek and mint (< a special cultivar).
Tastes delicious and more elegant than it sounds... Served with melted butter and kraut salad.
Old picture of some I made

[munch]

I'll second on Heston Blumenthal. my favourite chef and TV-host ever!
he's also got a very good show called Kitchen Chemistry, in which he explains a lot of basic stuff that is really great to know I guess. I wouldn't have liked cooking if it wasn't for him lol

[MoFiya]

Any suggestions of what to drink in the hot weather (besides Hoegaarden)?

Well as it's getting hotter here, too (finally!) I started making my summer drink again...
Simple to prepare and super refreshing:


Keiko - Kabuse Icetea Hot & Cold
Dunno if this is available elsewhere. It's green tea, Keiko is the manufacturer. Good thing about that: you can infuse it with cold water and directly put it into the fridge...

And in the evening when you're looking for a refreshing drink, simply add some Choya Umeshu Dento... hmm gonna drink that tonight :)

[Nostromo]

MoFiya, I really love your contributions to this thread (which is one of my favourite SZ threads^^). This tea sounds really refreshing, which leads me to my question: do you have any good source where I can find out more about japanese tea. I'm looking for new beverages besides water,coffee etc. but I'm a bit clueless right now.

PS: Wo genau lebst du denn? Bei mir scheint der Sommer nämlich nie anzukommen.