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The Idle Thumbs Super Cookbook!

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In an effort to establish myself as a forum presence, I have decided to start The Idle Thumbs Super Cookbook!

So what is The Idle Thumbs Super Cookbook? Simple.

 

Post your family recipes/any other recipes you adore that aren't trademarked by Gordon Ramsey, and we shall create the best cookbook this forum has ever seen!

I'm assuming this forum has seen cookbooks before. If not, EVEN BETTER! I STARTED SOMETHING!

 

Okay. I'm done. I'll post my family recipe when I can remember the ingredients.

Oh, and be sure to give each recipe a cheesy, video game inspired name, and post photos if you'd like!

 

This thread better teach me how to cook super good.

 

Also, if this thread is really good, I might make a pdf e-book out of it. Free for all!

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This is one of my favorite recipes from a local restaurant called Sunny Point. 

 

dZ0laq1.jpg

 

Sunny Point Cafe's Huevos Rancheros is a combination of several recipes and an assembly event. Give your self plenty of time to make each element of the dish and when ready to serve all you really have to do is cook your farm fresh eggs to order.

 

Ingredients


For Huevos:
4 cups red skin potatoes, fried or roasted
2 lbs chorizo sausage, cooked and crumbled
16 eggs
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 package fried torilla strips
fresh chopped cilantro, to taste
chipotle power, for garnish


For Roasted Green Salsa:
1 3/4 lbs fresh tomatillos
1/4 cup yellow onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp dried oregano
1tsp dark chili power
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbls olive oil
1 or 2 serrano peppers, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped


For Black Bean Cakes:
2 15-ounce cans cooked black beans
2 tbls canola oil
2 tbls yellow onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup masa de harina


For Cilantro Crema:
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, fresh-squeezed lime juice


Cooking Directions


For Roasted Green Salsa:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place tomatillos in a large bowl with water and peel the husks off of them. Place them in a large roasting pan and top with onion, garlic, oregano, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the tomatillos and place roasting pan in the oven for 25 to 35 minutes. The tomatillos will break down and become juicy. Remove from oven and cool. Once tomatillos have cooled place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and puree with serrano and fresh cilantro.


For Black Bean Cakes:
Rinse and drain black beans. In a small saute pan heat 1 tablespoon of the canola oil over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, cumin and salt until onions are translucent. Place drained beans and onion mixture in a small mixing bowl with a paddle attachment and mix together on low speed until well combined. Gradually add masa, allowing mixture to absorb it before adding more. Test dough by rolling it in the palm of your hand. Keep adding masa until dough doesn't stick to your hand and holds in the shape of a ball. Divide the dough into 16 small balls and flatten into cakes. Place a large skillet or griddle over medium heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Cook cakes until lightly browned on each side, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.


For Cilantro Crema:
Place sour cream, cilantro and lime juice in the bowl of a food processor and puree until mixture is smooth and a pale green color. Set aside for garnish.


For Huevos:
Place a 1/4 cup of green salsa on the bottom half of serving plate. On the other half of the plate, place 1/2 cup of herb-seasoned potatoes. On top of potatoes place 2 freshly grilled black bean cakes. In a large saute pan over medium heat, cook your eggs to order. For a large group, scrambled eggs are easiest. Top potatoes, green salsa and bean cakes with eggs, crumbled chorizo sausag, and feta cheese. Lastly, garnish each plate with tortilla strips, cilantro crema and a dusting of chipotle powder. Congratulations, you have constructed a Sunny Point Huevos!

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Mmm that looks delicious. I'd cook it but it seems rather advanced. I guess you never know 'till the oven's on fire.

Now you must give it an Idle Thumbs exclusive video-game themed name. :)

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Looks like the Idle Cook Club is already a thing. Well. Uh. This is the sequel! The baby brother! The dreaded spin-off!

Let's make this thread feel a bit different and not make it another Star Wars Christmas Special.

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Hahaha, the other thread is weekly dishes that we'll make together, this is distinct enough to coexist as a parallel universe!

 

(Feel free to join in on the weekly dishes thing. This week was lasagna!)

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I just might! That's if my parents let me near the oven. I'll need a pyrotechnitcian on standby at all times to point out flammable things.

NOTE TO SELF: Never cook in PJs again.

 

Be sure to add your favourites from the other thread when you have the time. :)

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We just started this week with lasagna, so you haven't even missed out on much yet!

 

Also children's pajamas are required to at least flame retardant, so maybe you should try out those.

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I have now named the lasagna Super Meat Boy Sandwich. Seems fitting.

 

Haha duly noted, jennegatron. I shall modify my pajama shopping list to assist my cooking.

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Honeyed+pears+sprinklebakes.jpg

 

This is one of the most delicious and pretty looking deserts I have ever made. It's surprisingly easy and can also be done with apples.

http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2010/11/honeyed-pears-in-puff-pastry.html
 

Honeyed Pears in Puff Pastry

4 small pears

1 sheet of ready made puff pastry dough, thawed

4 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 cup honey

1/2 lemon

1 vanilla bean, seeded with hull reserved

3 sticks of cinnamon

6-8 whole cloves

 

Peel pears and core from the bottom.  Cut the bottom of the pears strait across, so they will stand upright.  Set aside.  

 

In a medium saucepan, combine the 4 cups water, 2 cups sugar and 1 cup honey.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.  When the sugar has melted, add the pears, vanilla seeds and hull, 1/2 lemon, cinnamon and cloves.  Simmer until the pears are fork tender.  This can take 20-40 minutes, depending on the ripeness of your pears.  

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

When the pears are soft, remove them from the pot and allow them to cool slightly.  Discard solid pieces from saucepan and reserve 1 1/2 cups of the poaching liquid.  While pears are cooling, cut the puff pastry into 1/2" strips.  One sheet of puff pastry will cover 4 small pears.  Large pears will need a second sheet of puff pastry to compensate.

 

Wrap cooled pears with puff pastry starting at the bottom and working upwards.  When you come to the end of a pastry strip, brush it lightly with water and press to adhere to the next pastry strip.  Continue wrapping until you reach the top of the pear.  Tuck the end of the last pastry piece behind the previous dough spiral.  Place wrapped pears on a parchment lined jelly roll pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until puff pastry is golden brown. 

 

Simmer the reserved poaching liquid over medium heat until thick and syrupy.  Plate pears and top with syrup.

 

*NOTE: Your favorite blend of spices can be used in this recipe - go crazy!

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This is a nice companion to the cook club! The cook club is probably gonna end up full of discussion more than just recipes so it'll be easier to find good recipes here. I'll consult my recipe vault and see if I have anything good to contribute here later.

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Great deep-fried chips!

 

Grab a few nice, large russet potatoes.   I find that two large russet potatoes is a good serving for one person, but your mileage may vary depending on your appetite.

 

Scrub them if required, peel them, and then slice them thickly into chips.  None of this shoestring garbage.  Make them nice and thick, and then place them in a bowl of cold salted (1/2 tsp per bowl seems fine for me) water for at least half an hour.

 

Pull them out and dry them very thoroughly.  I usually put a strip of paper towel down, put the chips down, and then put more paper towel down on top of them.  It's important that you dry them as much as possible, because wet potatoes going into a pot of oil will bubble and possibly injure you/burn down your house.

 

Heat a pot of oil (I prefer canola) to deep-frying temperature.  If you've got a thermometer, then 375F will work, but if you don't have a thermometer, then I heat it on medium-high.  It's ready when you put a wooden spoon into the pot, touch it against the bottom, and it bubbles readily.

 

CAREFULLY put your chips into the pot.  DO NOT dump them in, because you might splash the oil.  If you've got a proper chip pan, this is made very easy - load the sieve and carefully place it in the pan.  Don't overload the pan - the chips should be able to move a bit.

 

Chip pan:

258TVQRJ7C.jpg

 

If you don't have a chip pan, you can use a slotted spoon.

 

The first stage of cooking is simple - the chips are done when they start to float.  If you've overloaded your pan, this will be difficult to tell, hence why you shouldn't do that.

 

Then you take the chips out of the oil and let the oil reheat.  If you have a chip pan, they're usually designed such that you can lift the sieve out of the pan, hook it onto the handle of the pan, and let the oil drip back into the pan.  If not, I would just use a slotted spoon and put them carefully into a bowl.

 

I find that it takes the oil a few minutes to reheat - usually no more than 5, but occasionally less depending on the power of your stove.

 

Carefully put the chips back into the oil.  Then you just let them fry until they're the colour you like.  A nice yellow with a tinge of brown is best for my tastes.

 

Take them out, let them drain again, and then serve.  I find that lining a bowl with paper towel is great for getting rid of excess oil.

 

Let your oil cool down, and if you have space, just leave the chip pan out until your next serving.  If you don't, you can store the cooled oil in an appropriate container (I keep mine in a glass jar in the cupboard), clean the chip pan, and be ready for the next round!

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I made this recently.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2895664/chilli-marrakech

 

It was pretty good, and made enough for 5 meals. I only do batch cooking now, so I'll appreciate it if any one who can give me good ideas for easy batch cooks. I like to shove stuff into a big cast iron pot and let it cook while I do other shit. Portion it out then take it to work every day.

 

The only problem is, my menu is pretty limited. It's usually curry, stew or chilli. 

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Great deep-fried chips!

 

Grab a few nice, large russet potatoes.   I find that two large russet potatoes is a good serving for one person, but your mileage may vary depending on your appetite.

 

Scrub them if required, peel them, and then slice them thickly into chips.  None of this shoestring garbage.  Make them nice and thick, and then place them in a bowl of cold salted (1/2 tsp per bowl seems fine for me) water for at least half an hour.

 

Pull them out and dry them very thoroughly.  I usually put a strip of paper towel down, put the chips down, and then put more paper towel down on top of them.  It's important that you dry them as much as possible, because wet potatoes going into a pot of oil will bubble and possibly injure you/burn down your house.

 

Heat a pot of oil (I prefer canola) to deep-frying temperature.  If you've got a thermometer, then 375F will work, but if you don't have a thermometer, then I heat it on medium-high.  It's ready when you put a wooden spoon into the pot, touch it against the bottom, and it bubbles readily.

 

CAREFULLY put your chips into the pot.  DO NOT dump them in, because you might splash the oil.  If you've got a proper chip pan, this is made very easy - load the sieve and carefully place it in the pan.  Don't overload the pan - the chips should be able to move a bit.

 

Chip pan:

258TVQRJ7C.jpg

 

If you don't have a chip pan, you can use a slotted spoon.

 

The first stage of cooking is simple - the chips are done when they start to float.  If you've overloaded your pan, this will be difficult to tell, hence why you shouldn't do that.

 

Then you take the chips out of the oil and let the oil reheat.  If you have a chip pan, they're usually designed such that you can lift the sieve out of the pan, hook it onto the handle of the pan, and let the oil drip back into the pan.  If not, I would just use a slotted spoon and put them carefully into a bowl.

 

I find that it takes the oil a few minutes to reheat - usually no more than 5, but occasionally less depending on the power of your stove.

 

Carefully put the chips back into the oil.  Then you just let them fry until they're the colour you like.  A nice yellow with a tinge of brown is best for my tastes.

 

Take them out, let them drain again, and then serve.  I find that lining a bowl with paper towel is great for getting rid of excess oil.

 

Let your oil cool down, and if you have space, just leave the chip pan out until your next serving.  If you don't, you can store the cooled oil in an appropriate container (I keep mine in a glass jar in the cupboard), clean the chip pan, and be ready for the next round!

 

Are those the chip pans that cause so many fires in England they have to put out PSAs about them?

 

Edit: If you can get a good refined Safflower oil, you can get it up to 500 degrees, which actually reduces the fat content in the fries since they don't have as much time to sit there and absorb it. I'm not sure if it really makes a huge difference for fries but it's huge for deep fried Wontons and especially Crab Rangoon where you want the middle to stay somewhat cool.

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Are those the chip pans that cause so many fires in England they have to put out PSAs about them?

 

Edit: If you can get a good refined Safflower oil, you can get it up to 500 degrees, which actually reduces the fat content in the fries since they don't have as much time to sit there and absorb it. I'm not sure if it really makes a huge difference for fries but it's huge for deep fried Wontons and especially Crab Rangoon where you want the middle to stay somewhat cool.

 

Those are definitely the chip pans.  Almost always, fires are caused by wet potatoes bubbling the oil over the side of the pan, hitting the element and catching fire.  It's a rookie mistake.

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