Idle Tongues (food before your mind goes elsewhere)

[dibs]

So, I can't be the only thumb who is more than a little interested in delicious morsels. What do you guys eat? What do you cook? More importantly, what do you send out free samples of?

I myself am a pretty able cook (thank you mother). My recent triumphs include a most delectable lemon sorbet (ice cream maker as a birthday pressie), spiced roast veg and quinoa salad (recipe from a vegetarian friend) and the realisation that you can never have enough lemon and garlic with roast chicken.

[much shorter]

I try to cook seafood as often as possible, and meat. Think French without the wild/game and more disgusting American sauces. Then I drink beer/a variation of whisky/champagne and the occasional cocktail and whine.

Obviously this is far from manageable in day-to-day, but I like to aspire to be special. And in some OCD fashion I like to emulate a certain cuisine.

EEEE: What do people do for Bloody Mary? I'm thinking Cherry Belle / Champion radishes might be good in addition to the usual vodka / tomato juice / spices / celery but I'm not sure. Do you have any good recipes?

[subbes]

Because Florida and summer, I have been making a lot of ice lollies. I have a go-to for "chocolatey" ice lollies (Fudgesicle style) but I haven't yet found any that duplicate the taste of a mini milk.

Chocolatey lollies

3/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

3 tbsp cocoa powder

4 cups semi-skimmed milk (may substitute evaporated milk for some of the semi-skimmed; if you do, reduce the sugar appropriately).

Combine sugar, flour, and cocoa powder; gradually stir in the milk until you have a smooth mixture. Bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes (or until thickened) while stirring. Cool slightly, pour into ice pop moulds and freeze.

[tabacco]

Delicious ice cream! My go-to base is:

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

Whisk the eggs for a couple of minutes until they get a bit foamy. Then verrrry gradually whisk in the sugar until it's all in. Then add the cream and milk and whisk 'til it's mixed in (not long). Then add whatever flavoring and into the ice cream freezer it goes.

...and my favorite flavor:

Sliced strawberries (I have no real measure for the amount... a pint's worth of berries maybe?)

1/3 cup sugar or so (this kind of depends on how the berries taste)

1 Tbsp of good quality balsamic vinegar

Combine in a container and leave in the fridge for at least a few hours or overnight to give the sugar time to pull liquid out of the berries and form a syrup. Take a potato masher or a stick blender to it to make it a little bit smoother (you still want some hefty chunks, but not whole berry slices).

Also pretty good: Instant coffee (I use the Starbucks stuff... it seems to have better flavor in the ice cream than Folgers or other freeze-fried coffees). Additional bonus for coffee ice cream: Add toffee bits a couple of minutes before the ice cream is done freezing.

[dibs]

Oh man, I had the best peanut butter ice cream at the weekend. its next on my list. nomnomnom.

Homemade strawberry icecream is the most as well.

[Orv]

I can make five things for myself, the rest of it is basically expensive take-out.

Lobster bisque with sauteed onions.

Pancakes/waffles.

Peppercorn steak.

A variety of ribs.

Last but not least, a baked ziti that is to die for.

And that's about it. Favorite food would probably be perfectly done tilapia (not in the States though), and favorite desert is definitely a Queen of Sheba, which is a frozen chocolate mousse that a local restaurant has.

[dibs]

Thats a pretty varied list orv. We believe in you that you can spread your cooking wings.

[brkl]

I think the only food I make that has a name is pizza. I make excellent pizza, though. Otherwise I put assorted vegetables, mushrooms and possibly meat on a pan with plenty of olive oil and generally chili paste and it's good. Sometimes I put potatoes, carrots, vegetables and meat in a pot with again olive oil and chili and forget it in the oven until the potatoes melt in your mouth and it's good.

I guess I know what I like because I always love what I cook, but I dunno if it would suite other palates.

[Thrik]

I've not experimented as much as I'd like with food yet, but my hits so far include:

• Peanut butter mashed potato
  
• Marmite wedges
  
• Chicken strips with flour, breadcrumbs, and whatever spicy shit I have in the cupboard
  
• Honey roast potatoes
  

I also make a lot of Coca Cola chicken because it's easy and tastes great.

[dibs]

More details on the Coca Cola chicken please!

[brkl]

+ +

[Thrik]

Haha. No that would be pretty bad I think.

You just get a big pan (ie: wok), throw a bunch of chicken thighs or drumsticks into it, then put enough coke in to cover them — push them down if they float. You then cook the coke on the maximum temperature until it's reduced to an extremely thick and sticky syrup, turning the chicken bits so they cook nicely. By the time the coke has sufficiently reduced (30 mins or so) the chicken should be pretty much perfectly cooked, so you just roll the chicken around in the syrup so it's covered in it then stick them on a plate. At this point you can use the remaining syrup as a drizzle.

There are more elaborate versions out there but I don't see the point really, at least not until you've tried the regular version and want to customise it a bit. It's very simple but it tastes great, definitely a Chinese-esque flavour. It has to be proper Coca Cola though as most cheaper versions don't use the same herbs and spices for flavouring, if they use real ones at all. Also diet version won't work as the sweetener reacts very differently.

[brkl]

So is that a dessert or, you know, food?

[Thrik]

Main course, I usually have it with rice. It actually doesn't really taste sweet at all, once reduced to syrup it becomes a surprisingly delicious sticky oriental-esque sauce. It really has nothing in common with the flavour of actual Coca Cola at all, although I guess it is an ultra-strong version of it.

[dibs]

It sounds a bit like what i would cook with soy, honey, ginger and sesame seeds/whatever i find. Is it not hella sweet for a savory dish, or is that what wets your whistle?

Edit: you should try and get your hands on some concentrated coke syrup for a quick dinner:P

[Lu]

Why didn't we have this thread before?

I recently discovered white wine sauce, which goes wonderfully with fried chicken, but would probably be great with a variety of stuff. Plus, it's really easy to make.

- 1/4 cup of white wine (best to use a medium-sized skillet)

- 1 chicken bouillon thingy

- 1/2 cup of heavy cream

- about 1/2 tablespoon or so of cornstarch

With these measurements, you'll probably end up with enough for at least 2.

Fry the chicken for a bit on medium-to-high heat until it's nice and browned, then add the white wine and chicken bouillon, reduce heat to low and let simmer. Once the chicken is done, remove from pan and stir in the cream. I suggest taking the cream, pouring a little bit of it in another container and combine that with the cornstarch, mix it well and just use your fingers get rid of any lumps. That way, you can sort of measure how much cornstarch you need to thicken the sauce and stop adding it once it has thickened enough. Poor the sauce over the meat and be amazed by how tasty it is.

I imagined it being great over green beans or french beans as well, but I haven't tried that yet.

Delicious ice cream! My go-to base is:

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

Whisk the eggs for a couple of minutes until they get a bit foamy. Then verrrry gradually whisk in the sugar until it's all in. Then add the cream and milk and whisk 'til it's mixed in (not long). Then add whatever flavoring and into the ice cream freezer it goes.

Once I have the freezing technology, I'm definitely going to try this!

[tabacco]

Once I have the freezing technology, I'm definitely going to try this!

I strongly recommend the freezers that have a canister you keep in the freezer. No messing around with salt or any of that, you just freeze it for at least 24 hours and you're ready to go. They're pretty cheap, too. I think mine was under $40, though your results may vary because I don't have a handle on the international ice cream machine market.

[dibs]

Oh god yes, the ice cube ones are a mess - do they even make them still? I'll give a report on mine after I make some ice cream. It had no issues with my sorbet for sure.

[subbes]

I don't have a handle on the international ice cream machine market

i found an ice cream handle

[The Killstar]

This is my favorite thing to make. It tastes great, and seems to get even better when it sits in the refrigerator for a day. I've made it so many times that I probably couldn't even remember the recipe unless I was actually making it. But pictures help!

[Colourful Stuff]

I love making risotto. Working the starch out of the rice very satisfying. I like to add a little double cream with the parmesan just to make it extra unhealthy. Reducing some dry white wine with chanterelle or shimeji mushrooms and garlic in a separate pan makes for a slightly sharp contrast to the fatty risotto. I rarely cook anything into the risotto itself because a clean white white risotto looks so nice on the plate. Also the flavour of a good cheese is best presented with as few ingredients as possible.

Some advice on good pre-pro stocks available in the UK would be helpful. Making a vegetable stock from scratch often isn't economical and I rarely cook meat so I don't get a lot of chicken carcases. I haven't found a good solution yet. OXO cubes are fine for lazy cooking but make everything taste the same and similar dehydrated stocks aren't much better.

The food I eat to stave off death mostly consists of vegetable stews, bread and salads. My local Lidl and independent greengrocers provide seasonal vegetables at student friendly prices. I flavour most of it with herbs stolen/borrowed/liberated from my campus and people's front gardens. In the spring I added nettles to my diet, delicious when young (do not pick when flowering as they become a little toxic).

[dibs]

I usually top up my chicken carcasses with some good corn fed chicken wings that i can get near me (it is around €3 for 12 which is loads to top up what i have). Otherwise, if you know your butcher you can ask him for chicken carcasses. My brother gets them for free from his.

Risotto is so good. My usual is pea and prosciutto, which oodles of parmesan added at the end. Even though I don't drink it much, I've started keeping a bottle of white wine to hand for the making. It's actually a really good standby meal as i nearly always have the ingredients to hand to make it up. nomnomnom.

I also made my peanut butter ice cream. It is ridiculously rich. It was a lazy/non custard one, but the texture came out really well. Again, it is stupidly rich. i was full for the entire day after scraping out the ice cream maker bowl. That didn't stop me from making some butterscotch sauce to go with^^

[Colourful Stuff]

There is a great beer I buy whenever stay with my parent's in Liverpool. It's brewed in Suffolk with smokey peated malt and each bottle has a measure of an English single malt whisky in it. Quite a unique flavour and the smokiness really hits you, like sitting by a camp fire. http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/store/product.asp?s=oxggdw298548&strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=237

[Patters]

There is a great beer I buy whenever stay with my parent's in Liverpool. It's brewed in Suffolk with smokey peated malt and each bottle has a measure of an English single malt whisky in it. Quite a unique flavour and the smokiness really hits you, like sitting by a camp fire. http://www.stpetersb...AT_ID=&P_ID=237

That's not good beer, average at best. If you want a beer which has some characteristics or scotch go find some Paradox Jura, if you can get it on keg that's even better. Do not drink too much as you will get intoxicated very quickly.

[Colourful Stuff]

Do not drink too much as you will get intoxicated very quickly.

I made that mistake in Brussels drinking Trappist beers. It's easy to get too drunk very quickly when the beer is stronger than wine.