cooking

[Lilitu]

Oh my god. Brioche. Brioche is the single most appallingly delicious food there could possible be. It's so tasty o_O. I can't believe what I'm eating. It's like eating clouds made of butter. OH MY GOD. O_O Please make Brioche everyone.

It's really easy if you have an electric mixer with a dough hook. I just used my hand mixer with the dough hooks.

Although... I feel like I'm cheating a little bit because I'm using new zealand butter you can't beat NZ dairy. As we all know, French food depends on the quality of its butter XD.

google brioche and it's the recipe called "Authentic Brioche"

[Lilitu]

Sorry for double post but I have to share this rather odd thing I did with vegemite today...

So I bought some vegemite since marmite is out of production at the moment and I was trying to use up some leftover cream from Saturday's cheesecake (which was delicious and lime-y just so you know)

Nigella Lawson has shared a recipe called marmite spaghetti and I got inspired by that to make a sort of marmite roux-based sauce...

I made a small amount of roux, maybe 30g of butter and 1.5 tbls of flour and cooked with stirring for about a minute

I added the 150ml of cream a little at a time, and then added 1.5 teaspoons of vegemite.

Then I seasoned it with pepper only (because vegemite is salty) and added about a half teaspoon or so of paprika.

The result was... the sauce tasted exactly like mushrooms... O_O Which makes sense somewhat because yeast is a fungus, I guess... I mixed it with some cooked peas and penne pasta and it was like eating a mushroom cream sauce but without mushroom bits. Very strange but interesting.

[dfiant]

I lived in Japan for a while and I saw several uses for Vegemite that I had never thoughts of...a japanese friend used and loved it for everything from Miso Soup to Unagi (Eel), but she couldn't stand the taste of it on toast.

[Lilitu]

I would guess that that's because the japanese really acknowledge and like the savoury taste, or what they call 'umami'. Marmite is full of that taste but it has to be diluted to get the umami taste without the saltiness and bitterness that plain marmite on toast has.

I also had this thought once to put korean gochujang chilli paste in miso soup. it turned out great, it wasn't spicy but 'hot' as it it made you sweat and feel that warming and cooling effect of chilli. They are similar products in a sense, having both been made of fermented soy.

[Jay]

On last Thursday, my colleague Vincent and I had a non serious cooking competition in the office. He challenged me.

Vincent lightly teased, "Jay, have you tasted a loser before? "Jay, are you nervous?"

I thought the whole thing was hillarious. Our colleagues (including our boss) were the judges.

Vincent and I went to a supermarket to buy our ingredients together but separately.

Vincent cooked his whole stuff on spot in the office. I had to do most of my cook at home. I started my cooking on 9.30pm. By 1 am, I still wasn't able to finish it. I went to sleep and woke up at 5 am to continue my cooking. I resumed my cooking in the office in the early morning of Thursday.

I was honestly, nervous a bit as I never cooked in a huge amount. I wasn't just planning to cook for my colleagues. I also cooked for my other friends who work in different companies on the same floor.

I did my herbal potatoes with brown mushrooms plus roasted honey salmon.





Vincent did a Chinese herbal chicken.





There was no winner as it wasn't a serious competition. Our colleagues said both of us cooked delicious stuff.

My friends from other companies also loved my cook. I was relieved.

We all celebrated our cooking competition by going to a karaoke club after working hour. Most of them stayed until 12 am. I had to leave after an hour stay.

[Lilitu]

Anko (Azuki bean paste) is actually really easy to make.

[azulai]

Had fun visiting with my grandmother the other day. Discovered we both find that cooking relaxes us. She taught me how to make homemade mac/cheese. Now I just need to get brave enough to try it by myself. mile:

I've been playing around with grilling this summer. One of the things I had the most fun with was turkey Italian sausage. Read a bunch and then started experimenting with parboiling it in beer. :biggrin:

My first attempt I tried some Summer Shandy (wheat/lemon favor). Turned out with a light favor but good. The second time I used Honey Weiss and the favor was a bit stronger but I liked the Shandy better. The last few times I used Berry Weiss and thought this was the best. Stronger favor and moist.

So after parboiling the sausage I then grill (indirectly) them until I'm happy with the grill marks. Just having fun.

[Lilitu]

Oh I've never thought of precooking sausages in water! That's a good way of getting them not so dry!

[Blue]

Doing a sausage confit the night before is another good way to add flavor and keep them moist.

Duck fat is the classic for confit, but any fat that will solidify in the refrigerator will work. Just melt enough fat to cover the sausages in a baking pan and, add whatever herbs or spices you like to the melted fat. I like garlic and bay with Italian sausages, and malt powder and cheddar cheese with brats.

Poke a few holes in the sausage casing with a fork or toothpick, pour the hot fat over them and, refrigerate overnight. Grill them over a good bed of coals, not too close as the fat melting off them does tend to cause flare ups.

Another good way to get moist, sausages is to deep fry them - again poke holes in them first.

[pellaz]

trying to encourage the partner to be the thrifty gay; avoid the $15 pub burgers:

-oven baked french fries:
//found a mechanical french fry maker at the thrift store.
//taste is not as good as deep fat fried but easier to make.
for each large un peeled baking potato
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili power (this is almost too much if its the hot stuff)
1/2 teaspoon dried onion power
salt to taste
directions; prepare the un peeled potatoes as french fries. in a large bowel mix potatoes and olive oil. Mix in the dry ingredients, salt to taste. put on a sheet and bake in a pre heated oven 450deg F for 40-45 min.
---------------

-plane potato salad:
(8) medium peeled potatoes, cooked and diced
1.5 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic power
1/2 teaspoon pepper
(2) celery ribs, sliced
1 cup onion minced
(5) hard boiled eggs
some paprika
directions: boil peeled potatoes till medium soft, cool to room temperature. Mix in large bowel; potatoes, mayonnaise, cider vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt , garlic powder, pepper. Stir in cooled eggs. Sprinkle a little paprika on top for the looks. done.