Dojo Cooking Thread

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

I am not a mole fan. By itself I am not thrilled with it, but to find out it is made from chocolate I became even less of a fan. For some reason that just does not appeal to me.

I try to make flour tortillas and even have a press. I had a wooden one, but that did not seem to work very well, I am assuming who ever put it together did it wrong, as it hardly flattened anything. Possibly the hinges were installed incorrectly. Then I bought another press made from metal and it kind of does it, but not as thinly as I would like. I think I will just start using a rolling pin on them however. Or maybe the ingredients I use or the way I put it together is not allowing it to keep it's thin shape and it slowly thickens up. It looks more like pita bread than an actual thin tortilla by the time it is cooked and all. Still tasty though. ^^!

I used to cook a little bit of everything back in the day, food from all around the world. Now I mostly stick to Asian and or whole food plant based. Still working on fixing my oven completely to be able to roast something and make some fake bacon.


I have made my own egg noodles before, but it is a little time consuming, but the cooking process is much faster. Not really worth it in my opinion though and you need to like thick noodles, at least at my dinner table. ^^! Maybe a pasta machine would make it better.

I have never had natto and I don't think I ever will... at least... maybe I will try it once just to say I did, but I will be ordering other food for breakfast because I know the sticky beans will just go to waste. ^^! I have heard Peter speak of and seen Matt try it on Japanology and it just does not sound or look satisfying to me.

Fresh and freshly dried herbs are the best!

 

[Amir]

BTW, this weekend I harvested all of my parsley...

View attachment 9649

(this was just under 1/2 of it)

... and made a good portion of it into Tabouleh (don't have a picture), as well as keeping one bag on-hand fresh and freezing the other 3 bags we got out of it (I don't use dried parsley, so no need to dry any).

Nice, tabouleh is great. Save some of the frozen parsley for ghormeh sabzi

I am not a mole fan. By itself I am not thrilled with it, but to find out it is made from chocolate I became even less of a fan. For some reason that just does not appeal to me.

:O I love mole, especially because it's with chocolate

Speaking of rice and Mexican mood, I've started making rice-based Tahchin Tacos:

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[Truck_1_0_1_]

Nice, tabouleh is great. Save some of the frozen parsley for ghormeh sabzi


:O I love mole, especially because it's with chocolate

Speaking of rice and Mexican mood, I've started making rice-based Tahchin Tacos:

View attachment 9728

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OMG Amir lol, that looks AMAZING!!! <3<3 I need to try that!

And I've never heard of Gormeh Sabzi before; just looked it up... AHHHHH!!!!! I NEED TO MAKE THAT YESTERDAY!!!

Seriously, that is a dish right up my alley; it looks incredible.

Do beans need to be part of the dish, btw? I love beans, but my wife is allergic to them, so she can't have 'em

And lamb is the meat of choice, correct?

Jerrid, you're awesome; thick egg noodles work just fine in my household too!

 

[Amir]

OMG Amir lol, that looks AMAZING!!! <3<3 I need to try that!

And I've never heard of Gormeh Sabzi before; just looked it up... AHHHHH!!!!! I NEED TO MAKE THAT YESTERDAY!!!

Seriously, that is a dish right up my alley; it looks incredible.

Do beans need to be part of the dish, btw? I love beans, but my wife is allergic to them, so she can't have 'em

And lamb is the meat of choice, correct?

Yeah, lamb or beef, I usually go with beef as lamb isn't always available. I also usually make it either from dried herb mix or frozen herb mix, i.e. when all the herbs are already collected and diced, but if you want to make it fresh you can follow this recipe:


The hard part will be trying to find fenugreek.

Regarding beans, they add body to the stew but they're not really essential for flavour, you could just increase the amount of meat The bonus of removing beans will also mean having less gas afterwards

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

lol VERY true

And yes, in the 3 recipes I perused, all used Fenugreek; I will definitely find it (you can get ANY food-related item in Toronto, just have to find the place{s} :))

Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it

 

[Nathanial Essex]

This thread is making me drool

 

[BloodyHeartland]

Nothing fancy, just had my favorite food tonight

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

Nothing fancy, just had my favorite food tonight

View attachment 9818

This post has been reported for making me absurdly hungry...

On a side note I came across this little gem.



I will be trying out the Philly Cheese Steak vegan recipe when I get the proper tools and ingredients. I am hesitant, but it looks good. They have another video on how to make steak... it looks legit. Only "taste" will tell however.



And this vegan steak looks good too.

 

[blixt]

The dangers with Aluminum. That must also include small aluminum pots and bottles as well? I often use them. I didn't know aluminum was that bad. I want to stop using them. I wonder if there is a way to detox the body from it? I guess I have to search for it. What are you using as a substitute? I use a Le Creuset casserole for lots of cooking and love it. At least that one isn't made of Alu. But when I boil water I use those in Aluminum.

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

The dangers with Aluminum. That must also include small aluminum pots and bottles as well? I often use them. I didn't know aluminum was that bad. I want to stop using them. I wonder if there is a way to detox the body from it? I guess I have to search for it. What are you using as a substitute? I use a Le Creuset casserole for lots of cooking and love it. At least that one isn't made of Alu. But when I boil water I use those in Aluminum.

I'm sorry, was that post directed towards me? My browser is so slow it is hard for me to scroll to different people's posts. If it was directed to me I can not really speak on the pots and pans. I would assume it would be bad for you, yet people still use them all the time. (Of course people still smoke so...) Perhaps as long as you do not actually scrap the pot it is ok. Sort of like when using Teflon coated pots. As a child I would be using a Teflon coated frying pan to cook with well after much of the Teflon was scratched off and the pan was shiny metal. I did not know any better back in those days. Perhaps that is one reason why I have so many problems now... ._.

Regardless, I know there is some times a mixture of aluminum and another metal because one metal is better at keeping the heat, while another is better at keeping it's shape. Those should be safe to use. But if you have any doubts always go cast iron or at least stainless steel. There might be other combos like clay pots and what not, but stainless steel is probably the easiest to maintain and handle.

Aluminum foil is without a doubt bad for you. If you were to just use it to lay as a covering in the fridge I would not think much of it, but do not cook with it. Do not even cover it like a tent in the oven, as all you are doing is releasing those chemicals into the food. If you did this once in a great while I would not be too concerned, unless someone is pregnant or nursing who is also eating that food. If you are doing this once a week or several times a week, as aluminum foil is the magic go to thing for the oven and on the grill, I would think twice about continuing to do that. You also have to remember we have so much crap around us now that is harmful, it is all adding up. If aluminum foil was all you had to worry about, life would be good...

 

[blixt]

I'm sorry, was that post directed towards me? My browser is so slow it is hard for me to scroll to different people's posts. If it was directed to me I can not really speak on the pots and pans. I would assume it would be bad for you, yet people still use them all the time. (Of course people still smoke so...) Perhaps as long as you do not actually scrap the pot it is ok. Sort of like when using Teflon coated pots. As a child I would be using a Teflon coated frying pan to cook with well after much of the Teflon was scratched off and the pan was shiny metal. I did not know any better back in those days. Perhaps that is one reason why I have so many problems now... ._.

Regardless, I know there is some times a mixture of aluminum and another metal because one metal is better at keeping the heat, while another is better at keeping it's shape. Those should be safe to use. But if you have any doubts always go cast iron or at least stainless steel. There might be other combos like clay pots and what not, but stainless steel is probably the easiest to maintain and handle.

Aluminum foil is without a doubt bad for you. If you were to just use it to lay as a covering in the fridge I would not think much of it, but do not cook with it. Do not even cover it like a tent in the oven, as all you are doing is releasing those chemicals into the food. If you did this once in a great while I would not be too concerned, unless someone is pregnant or nursing who is also eating that food. If you are doing this once a week or several times a week, as aluminum foil is the magic go to thing for the oven and on the grill, I would think twice about continuing to do that. You also have to remember we have so much crap around us now that is harmful, it is all adding up. If aluminum foil was all you had to worry about, life would be good...

Yes, no problem! I just didn't press the ´reply´ buttom when I should've done it.
Thanks for the info. I'm probably doing okay then because I never cook with Alu Foil and only (rarely) use the foil to cover the food that I put it in the fridge. I checked my pots and stuff and thank god most of them were actually Stainless Steel when I thought most were made of aluminum. I will defenetly be more aware of what you've said about all this and avoid aluminum and such. I also used Teflon especially when I was younger because me and my dad had no clue about any potential dangers. I use a traditional frying pan made out of Iron. When cooking I mostly use organic cocont oil and if I don't have that at home I use olive oil.

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

So my last tomato (it somehow didn't get caught in the frost like everything else!) was finally ripe-enough to eat on Monday evening (It ripened for about 2 1/2 weeks, legit) and I made Caprese Salad with it. It was an orange Heirloom tomato and had a wonderful flavor. (the red one is a store-bought cluster tomato, as I needed a bit more to make it a complete meal)

I should've taken a pic of the actual tomato, as it looked like a Frankentomato lol



Also a little bit of the tabouleh I made :)

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

Yeah, lamb or beef, I usually go with beef as lamb isn't always available. I also usually make it either from dried herb mix or frozen herb mix, i.e. when all the herbs are already collected and diced, but if you want to make it fresh you can follow this recipe:


The hard part will be trying to find fenugreek.

Regarding beans, they add body to the stew but they're not really essential for flavour, you could just increase the amount of meat The bonus of removing beans will also mean having less gas afterwards

Good lord! I bet she has the best ghormeh sabzis!

Yes, no problem! I just didn't press the ´reply´ buttom when I should've done it.
Thanks for the info. I'm probably doing okay then because I never cook with Alu Foil and only (rarely) use the foil to cover the food that I put it in the fridge. I checked my pots and stuff and thank god most of them were actually Stainless Steel when I thought most were made of aluminum. I will defenetly be more aware of what you've said about all this and avoid aluminum and such. I also used Teflon especially when I was younger because me and my dad had no clue about any potential dangers. I use a traditional frying pan made out of Iron. When cooking I mostly use organic cocont oil and if I don't have that at home I use olive oil.

Well I should make a confession... I actually have a small Teflon square pan. I bought it so I do not have to use oil when cooking food. I initially bought it to cook the Japanese egg dish that you fold over, sort of like an omelet. But I found the pan too small to do it confidently and comfortably. Plus soon after that I decided to stop eating animal products, at least at home, so it was regulated to cooking mostly tofu which does not need oil, because it slides in that pan and fits two "steaks". Otherwise, with any other pan even with oil, the tofu always stuck to the bottom of the pan and tears apart and I get basically "ground meat", rather than a "steak".

BUT you HAVE to use a non-scratch utensil. You can NOT use metal on the pan or the Teflon will scrape off and get into your food. So far I do not see any scratches and I use a wooden utensil myself, as I do not trust the silicon or rubber or what ever that stuff is that they make things with these days.

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

So my last tomato (it somehow didn't get caught in the frost like everything else!) was finally ripe-enough to eat on Monday evening (It ripened for about 2 1/2 weeks, legit) and I made Caprese Salad with it. It was an orange Heirloom tomato and had a wonderful flavor. (the red one is a store-bought cluster tomato, as I needed a bit more to make it a complete meal)

I should've taken a pic of the actual tomato, as it looked like a Frankentomato lol

View attachment 9879

Also a little bit of the tabouleh I made :)

I was going to say all that from just one tomato!? Frankentomato indeed! Still quite a large sucker though.

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

It looked like 3 average-sized tomatoes, all stuck together at the stem! XD

I planted all my tomatoes about 2 weeks too late (and lost a fair amount at the... 5th frost lol, about 3 weeks/month ago; I was covering them up every night it went below 0), but I was actually really impressed and satisfied with the yield and quality of the fruit that I got this year, especially since it was my first year tending to a garden (they were on par or better than my parents' tomatoes {we use the same seeds for cluster} have been since I was a kid and my father agreed).

They've never planted the Heirlooms that I did as well though and after trying both Heirloom varieties I planted, they may take the plunge next year.

So long as we have good weather, I can't wait for the gardening season next year

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

It looked like 3 average-sized tomatoes, all stuck together at the stem! XD

I planted all my tomatoes about 2 weeks too late (and lost a fair amount at the... 5th frost lol, about 3 weeks/month ago; I was covering them up every night it went below 0), but I was actually really impressed and satisfied with the yield and quality of the fruit that I got this year, especially since it was my first year tending to a garden (they were on par or better than my parents' tomatoes {we use the same seeds for cluster} have been since I was a kid and my father agreed).

They've never planted the Heirlooms that I did as well though and after trying both Heirloom varieties I planted, they may take the plunge next year.

So long as we have good weather, I can't wait for the gardening season next year

I've heard that certain plants that can survive the harsher conditions, of winter for instance, are much better eating. I have heard that of garlic and of wasabi. I can not confirm either of those claims however, but it does make sense that they are more hardier, if they can survive something they are not usually accustomed to. Now as far as better tasting, who is to say? But being able to survive when others can not, at least means something in my book.

Plus it should be noted that plants and I think I mentioned it here somewhere before, have an effect when you chop them ahead of time, it starts a process that allows for more or even new nutrients to come out. How or why I do not understand as it makes no sense to me. I do know however, if you bite certain root vegetables though, like wasabi maybe even horseradish, there may be a bitter taste, but not the heat. The heat comes from the grating of it.

Anyway, so now they say to chop your vegetables and even your garlic at least 15 minutes prior to eating it. And of course eating your greens raw (but not all vegetables) is healthier for you, but not everyone can do it or like to do it. So they say to lightly steam them, otherwise you destroy most of the nutrients or micros, etc. But if you cook a bit of it and then put a few raw at the end, the raw some how starts the process either in the dish (doubtful) or in the gut (hard to believe, but ok) of making it seem like you ate it all raw and thus you are not losing much if at all of the nutrients.

Short snippets

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

Yup, we've known in our family since I was a kid, that raw is the best way to eat plants, nutrition-wise... but my family cooks everything lol (save for fruit, of course and lettuces).

I do know that basil, once chopped, needs to breathe just a bit (like a minute or two) and cannot be heated, otherwise the flavour doesn't come out fully/goes away, respectively.

I can also confirm that Garlic lasts throughout the winter, as I planted mine in October (as I did last year) and they already got to over an inch tall (6 of the 7 cloves I planted; I don't think the 7th made it), before our first major snowfall, this weekend.

I planted 2 cloves a week earlier last year and got two wonderful bulbs and took advantage of the great scapes as well (those things are so good and can be cooked so many ways!), this summer.

BTW, I lied; I DID take a pic of the tomato, probably the day before I cut it up:



And last Wednesday's dinner; Rigatoni Alfredo with sliced chicken (that was pan fried in olive oil and herbs, before mixing it into the sauce) and a side of sautéed red bell peppers, onions (shallots, technically) and garlic. I made that for my wife as I detest onions and peppers lol.

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

Yup, we've known in our family since I was a kid, that raw is the best way to eat plants, nutrition-wise... but my family cooks everything lol (save for fruit, of course and lettuces).

I do know that basil, once chopped, needs to breathe just a bit (like a minute or two) and cannot be heated, otherwise the flavour doesn't come out fully/goes away, respectively.

I can also confirm that Garlic lasts throughout the winter, as I planted mine in October (as I did last year) and they already got to over an inch tall (6 of the 7 cloves I planted; I don't think the 7th made it), before our first major snowfall, this weekend.

I planted 2 cloves a week earlier last year and got two wonderful bulbs and took advantage of the great scapes as well (those things are so good and can be cooked so many ways!), this summer.

BTW, I lied; I DID take a pic of the tomato, probably the day before I cut it up:

View attachment 9907

And last Wednesday's dinner; Rigatoni Alfredo with sliced chicken (that was pan fried in olive oil and herbs, before mixing it into the sauce) and a side of sautéed red bell peppers, onions (shallots, technically) and garlic. I made that for my wife as I detest onions and peppers lol.

View attachment 9909

The holy hand grenade of tomatoes!!! It would be like you know you are a poor street performer, but what is the worst that could happen? They throw soft little tomatoes at you... You should not of ate it, but made a shrine and worshipped it for the coming harvests for prosperity and happiness in all things farming.

And you are a good mate to make something separate and I assume you substitute certain things of the main dish at times instead of just making a whole new meal for your significant other. Like if she was a vegetarian, you would simply add the cooked meat to your own dish and what not, but not the main pot that serves the both of you. And why do you detest the two, peppers and onions?

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

Bingo! Indeed I do substitute:

There is a vegan, Vietnamese noodle salad that I make from time to time, from one of my vegan cookbooks, the first Thug Kitchen book (long story short, my former employer had a cookbook on sale that had gratuitous swearing and bad language in it... but the recipes looked great! I purchased it, then went through ALL the recipes to see it was a vegan cookbook... but I've made about 25-30 recipes from it and its 2 successive books and they have all been beyond-delicious) and since my wife is not a big nut fan (it calls for peanuts), I substitute her peanuts with Satay-style shrimp that I make from scratch and I eat the peanuts lol.

Onions, despite being in everything, have a flavor that just doesn't suit my palate; I find their smell, taste and even their texture (I LOVE crunch, but can't get behind an onion) to be off-putting and I avoid them like the plague... unless they're everywhere and I just take it

It's why I use shallots, as they are significantly-milder and smaller, so less mess/chopping/burning eyes. I love green/spring/bunching/chive/whatever onions though, as they have a different flavor altogether.

Peppers are the same thing; that flavor is just so off-putting, can't stand them. Unlike onions, I CANNOT deal with it; I WILL pick them out or will avoid a dish altogether, if there are too many peppers lol.

Like Green Onions, I go nuts for Hot Peppers and will gladly eat any that come my way (my plate of pasta, btw, had some red pepperoncini in them, to add some kick). I put them on pasta and pizza, almost without a second thought.

 

[Jerrid'sRamenShop]

Bingo! Indeed I do substitute:

There is a vegan, Vietnamese noodle salad that I make from time to time, from one of my vegan cookbooks, the first Thug Kitchen book (long story short, my former employer had a cookbook on sale that had gratuitous swearing and bad language in it... but the recipes looked great! I purchased it, then went through ALL the recipes to see it was a vegan cookbook... but I've made about 25-30 recipes from it and its 2 successive books and they have all been beyond-delicious) and since my wife is not a big nut fan (it calls for peanuts), I substitute her peanuts with Satay-style shrimp that I make from scratch and I eat the peanuts lol.

Onions, despite being in everything, have a flavor that just doesn't suit my palate; I find their smell, taste and even their texture (I LOVE crunch, but can't get behind an onion) to be off-putting and I avoid them like the plague... unless they're everywhere and I just take it

It's why I use shallots, as they are significantly-milder and smaller, so less mess/chopping/burning eyes. I love green/spring/bunching/chive/whatever onions though, as they have a different flavor altogether.

Peppers are the same thing; that flavor is just so off-putting, can't stand them. Unlike onions, I CANNOT deal with it; I WILL pick them out or will avoid a dish altogether, if there are too many peppers lol.

Like Green Onions, I go nuts for Hot Peppers and will gladly eat any that come my way (my plate of pasta, btw, had some red pepperoncini in them, to add some kick). I put them on pasta and pizza, almost without a second thought.

Have you tried the different kinds of peppers though? I was ignorant and had no idea that the different colored peppers were all the same plant, just picked at different times. And I had also assumed that one colored pepper would taste just the same as another, but they do not. The red is actually sweeter and the various colors, minus the green have variations of sweetness. If you find the green not palatable, you may like the others or vice versa. To this day I am not the biggest green pepper fan, but I make due.

I had watched a YouTube video about the Great Depression era and how when the children were tasked to get the fresh corn cobbs from the fields, they would race back home so the corn was as sweet as possible. I had never had a corn on the cob that was sweet. I thought it was a myth. It may of been called "Sweet Corn", but they were full of poop with undigested corn kernels for all I was concerned.

However recently I had bought a couple from Whole Foods and I could actually taste the sweetness. I tend not to use butter and seasoning anyway, BUT this really was delicious on it's own and I have no idea how long it had been sitting there or had to travel, but assuming it is locally grown within reason, it could not of been that long and it showed in it's sweetness.