Cooking

Is it culture?
Sort of.

I’m, seemingly, a great chef.
I bet some of you are as well.

So, uh, anyone want to talk cooking, recipes, techniques?

I’m busy making a digital cookbook (not to fry digital things… don’t get all cocky with me) for when my daughter grows up and leaves the house (never… by the looks of house prices… but I remain hopeful).

Care to share recipes, etc.?

@shavixmir said
Is it culture?
Sort of.

I’m, seemingly, a great chef.
I bet some of you are as well.

So, uh, anyone want to talk cooking, recipes, techniques?

I’m busy making a digital cookbook (not to fry digital things… don’t get all cocky with me) for when my daughter grows up and leaves the house (never… by the looks of house prices… but I remain hopeful).

Care to share recipes, etc.?

Q: Is it culture? A: YES!

For me French Cooking brings me a little closer to the country I identify with. Though most of my ancestors are Scottish, there is something about French culture I admire. Quiche Lorraine fresh out of the oven on a cold day is heavenly, and I rarely start my mornings without a croissant. 😀

@mchill said
Q: Is it culture? A: YES!

For me French Cooking brings me a little closer to the country I identify with. Though most of my ancestors are Scottish, there is something about French culture I admire. Quiche Lorraine fresh out of the oven on a cold day is heavenly, and I rarely start my mornings without a croissant. 😀

Funnily enough, French breakfasts are not my thing. Unless it’s a French breakfast with bacon, eggs, sausages…

Although a real croque monsieur is a delight. Not the Lidl one’s though… that’s about as close to a croque monsieur as a bag of crisps.

I learned to cook late in life and not only do I love it, I am also very good at it.
I will try anything and experiment for variety but my main focus has been Asian dishes.
Relatively easy and it tastes great. I'm all for vegetables and sauces so Asian food came naturally to me.

@lipareeno said
I learned to cook late in life and not only do I love it, I am also very good at it.
I will try anything and experiment for variety but my main focus has been Asian dishes.
Relatively easy and it tastes great. I'm all for vegetables and sauces so Asian food came naturally to me.

Do you use stock in your Asian sauces?

Sometimes but only when everything is kept seperate.
I might use stock to pre cook some veggies so when I take the veggies out they have a little extra flavor. Never soft so I have to watch them carefully. Then the veggies get served next to the meal and not mixed with it. Or in layers so whoever is eating it can mix it or pick and choose what to eat.
E.g. A bed of rice and meat with sauce on top covering 3/4 of the rice and the veggies on top of the meat in the center.

My meals look like the pics on an Asian menu. Appearance is just as important as how good it tastes, in my opinion.

I'll also use stock for meat I want submerged in sauce until it is so tender it falls off the bone so I can cut it up and mix it with a meal of rice and veggies or noodles and veggies.
Tonight is Veggie stir fry so the veggies are pre cooked in my Wok with butter/garlic sauce.
The meat is cooked seperate with its own sauce, possibly honey garlic, and when both are done I will mix them and lay that on a bed of rice. Adding a sprinkling of Asian sweet chili sauce and it will be perfect 😊

I am using vegetable stock to boil with the rice for extra flavor tonight.
I prefer my rice to be plain and white but the misses likes some seasoning with the rice.

There’s a French cook I watch and he always boils rice in stock (generally chicken stock).

I usually blanche vegetables too.
And, quite often leave them to cool. Then just before serving, quickly fry them up in garlic oil.

I’m into French reduction sauces. So I make my own stocks as well (except beef stock, but I have a supplier which delivers a litre of excellent demi-glace for 9 euros… couldn’t make that better or cheaper if I tried).

I had to look up reduction sauces to find out what it meant and it turns out I already use that technique when I roast meat in the oven.
The difference being I leave the meat in while the heat evaporates the water until the sauce is just right.
Doing this means I have to turn the meat a lot and baste it constantly but it's worth it.

I don't use wine though.
Wine is disgusting.