The Cooking Thread

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

Well, everything pretty much fit.  Two whole chickens and four lbf of ribs.  This was a winner in our book. 

View attachment 13967

Upvote for good usage of lbf.

 

[JayKay PE]

*chastised by @Supe to come into this thread to talk about soup*

I've only made my usual potato soup at my new apartment (which I don't think is an actual recipe?  It's just a ton of sautéed onions/celery/garlic boiled/simmered with as much water I think is appropriate + bullion cubes +  potatoes then emersion mixer'd).  I love making soups, but it's such a pain for me since I'm single so when I make a soup...I have to either freeze it, eat it for a full week, or freeze it and then end up eating it 3 or 4 days out of the week.  I'm on the search for a soup that can stay in the fridge for many days, won't go bad, but when it freezes won't be a pain when I'm reheating (like potato soup w/ the cream usually requires low&slow reheating so the cream doesn't curdle).

 

[Supe]

Soups with dairy hold up the least in the fridge, though I've had it last over a week with no issue.  I trust beef and cooked pork more than I do poultry.  Anything with a tomato-based or light broth tends to hold up pretty good.  If you plan on freezing a bunch of it, undercook any vegetables just slightly so they're not mush later.  Anything with a bunch of fresh herbs also seem to go flat after being frozen, so either add it later or stick to soups that are spice-based rather than herb-based.  Vacuum seal tupperware or mason jars can make the fridge stuff last longer and show you outgassing to know if somethings really gone bad.

 

[JayKay PE]

Not going to lie, totally forgot about using mason jars for storage in the fridge (though I use it for almost all my cooking/baking spices in the pantry for longevity).  I don't really care about the particular feel of a soup after it's been frozen, so the veggie thing doesn't make a big difference to me, but I do tend to stick to chicken based soups (just because I'm allergic to pork and beef stew...Idk, I like making crock-pot stew, so I might start going down that path again?).  When I make most of my soups, my herbs are usually jarred because my soup making is never planned out?  So I just use what I have?  I know dried herbs are usually stronger, and I tend to over-spice anyway since I don't know what the hell I'm doing with my life, but I'll keep these in mind. 

Do you have any specific recipes you think I should try?  I really really like crockpot soup recipes/recipes in general, so I can leave something simmering all day while I'm out since I have no SO/am not living with someone I can ask to help meal prep, but the chicken ones are never that great.

 

[Supe]

Not going to lie, totally forgot about using mason jars for storage in the fridge (though I use it for almost all my cooking/baking spices in the pantry for longevity).  I don't really care about the particular feel of a soup after it's been frozen, so the veggie thing doesn't make a big difference to me, but I do tend to stick to chicken based soups (just because I'm allergic to pork and beef stew...Idk, I like making crock-pot stew, so I might start going down that path again?).  When I make most of my soups, my herbs are usually jarred because my soup making is never planned out?  So I just use what I have?  I know dried herbs are usually stronger, and I tend to over-spice anyway since I don't know what the hell I'm doing with my life, but I'll keep these in mind. 

Do you have any specific recipes you think I should try?  I really really like crockpot soup recipes/recipes in general, so I can leave something simmering all day while I'm out since I have no SO/am not living with someone I can ask to help meal prep, but the chicken ones are never that great.

Look up a good beef bone soup recipe.  Those can be done in the crock pot.  Works well with cheap bone-in cuts of beef, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, etc.  I wish I had gotten my grandmother's recipe before she passed, my eldest sister and I would literally fight over it, it was that good.  She made hers in an old school pressure cooker pot.  She did not use potatoes, but would serve over egg noodles, which is my preferred way of having it.

 

[JayKay PE]

Look up a good beef bone soup recipe.  Those can be done in the crock pot.  Works well with cheap bone-in cuts of beef, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, etc.  I wish I had gotten my grandmother's recipe before she passed, my eldest sister and I would literally fight over it, it was that good.  She made hers in an old school pressure cooker pot.  She did not use potatoes, but would serve over egg noodles, which is my preferred way of having it.

This...sounds a lot like my mom's recipe.  She'd grab a huge piece of cheap chuck, as well as her 12-quart, and she'd make something amazing from random stuff in the fridge that was getting a little 'old'.  Mostly she'd look in the fridge, sigh, and go "You're dad bought 5-lbs of carrots and we're not a 5-lb of carrot family", while grabbing some string beans and potatoes (usually the little red ones quartered), and now I'm wondering why I haven't asked her for the recipe.  I know she sometimes added some of this dark brown mustard that was gritty to it?  But she always served it over egg noodles!!!  I guess this was her cheap way of feeding a family of 5 Polacks on a budget.

 

[Supe]

Polish grandma here, too.  No surprise.  My Slovak grandmother made the best chicken soup ever.  Her broth was always crystal clear but tasted SO rich, I never could figure out how she did it.  

 

[JayKay PE]

Dude.  It must be something Polish for making amazing soups.  My grandma is full Polish and did all the cooking in the house and my grandpa is full Irish, so he did all the drinking in the house (not an alcoholic, but shit, he makes drinks strong).  This means my mom is an amazing cook of random 'fill you up' recipes while also being able to out drink most college frat boys while surfing eBay.

My dad is Ukranian and Czechoslovakia (before the split), so he knows about hot dogs and random desserts that nobody in American likes but he adores (mostly poppy seed rolls and the random "Christmas cookies" my grandma used to make in ridiculous quantities before she passed that I have the recipe for that uses anise and Hartshorn).

 

[Supe]

My grandma was also pre-split and came over during WWII.  One tough lady, but man, her chicken soup and stuffed cabbage were to die for.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

Its been requested that I stop making soup...

I made potato leek soup! (&homemade biscuits)

 

[JayKay PE]

@LyceeFruit ^^ The perfect response to someone requesting you to stop making soup.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

@JayKay0914 he requested it after I made this soup. 

Which is a bummer since I was going to make tomato soup in the crockpot this weekend... but I'm also running out of jars and freezer space so I should probably chill...

 

[JayKay PE]

Perfect!!!  All soups, all the time!!!  I actually took a container out of my freezer to thaw out, I think it might be good for dinner tonight.  I don't think I'll be bringing soup into the office...Last time I did, the Tupperware container held more than my soup bowl...and it ended poorly when a co-worker surprised me (hot soup all over my hand/the counter).

I might attempt to make biscuits tonight.  I'm just really bad at them since I feel I can never get my butter cold enough.  Might be a good excuse to try tonight.  OR I could just make fried rice tonight for dinner since I have so much left over from rice cooker.  OR I could heat up a cup of rice, with some potato soup, and combine them into something delicious and ultra-filling.

Also, random side note in the thread, I'm kinda miffed that my parents said they were going to come out with all my stuff I left behind at the house when I moved cross country (mostly dresses + a lot of kitchen stuff that wouldn't fit in my car), but now they're pushing it off.  I don't want to re-buy a lot of stuff, like my crockpot or pyrex or pastry cutter, only to have them suddenly bring it sometime in December. I'm going to have to talk to them to see if they can ship it, and I'll just reimburse them.  I just hate that they're like, "That's a lot of money" and I have to be like, "Well, if you're not driving out here, I'll just pay it to get the rest of my stuff, since I'm not coming home until after Christmas via plane (so I obvs can't smuggle a crockpot in my luggage [well, I could, but it would be very cumbersome]).

 

[leggo PE]

Bummer about your parents putting off their visit, especially if you have been counting on their visit to bring you your stuff! The shipping might be a good option.

Here's my roasted chicken from yesterday:



It was super yummy! I served it with Mustardy anchovy green beans, which were so very delectable. That meal was a bit outside of our normal dinner routine, but I just bought Alison Roman's cookbook Nothing Fancy, and was inspired to make a few recipes from it last night. When picking recipes, I asked my husband what he thought looked good, and he replied with the repeated chicken that was on the cover, do that's what I did!

It was pretty darned easy to make, and tasted great!

 

[leggo PE]

My apologies for the unflattering lighting. Here's a more flattering picture of it before it went into the oven:

 

[Supe]

Supe's pro-tip - putting it on a rack keeps the bottom from getting soggy, and open air drying in the fridge the night before with a light coat of baking powder dries the skin out and makes it super crispy.

 

[leggo PE]

The chicken skin was decently crispy, and tasted good!

But I only bought the chicken in the morning yesterday and starting roasting it in the later afternoon. I did a quick salt and pepper brine in the fridge, but it wasn't open air... Open air in the fridge creeps me out a little bit, due to it being raw chicken, I think.

What do you mean putting it on a rack? Like, you put the chicken directly on a rack, and a pan below to catch any juices it emits? I'm not an experienced chicken roaster, or roaster of any kind, really. My oven is usually for baked goods or pizza, if I'm being honest!

 

[JayKay PE]

Yeah, when you cook it kinda have it on a little rack?  It's like an cross rack that you can adjust to hold to chicken or roast so it's not sitting in the juices/allows the juices to settle on all the veggies underneath.

 

[Supe]

Yeah, when you cook it kinda have it on a little rack?  It's like an cross rack that you can adjust to hold to chicken or roast so it's not sitting in the juices/allows the juices to settle on all the veggies underneath.

This.  Doesn't have to be much of one, I've even used a cookie cooling rack in a baking dish.  You just want to keep it from swimming in the juices that run out so that the bottom skin and meat doesn't end up as mush.

If you don't like true open air, you can cover in cheesecloth and lightly drape in plastic wrap.  

And if you haven't given spatchcocking a try, you should.  

 

[JayKay PE]

Bummer about your parents putting off their visit, especially if you have been counting on their visit to bring you your stuff! The shipping might be a good option.

Hahahahahahaha, update on that: I complained to my mom about this, since if my dad keeps putting it off it'll be closer to February when he finally comes out (due to gigs and stuff).  Now my dad is potentially driving out Saturday morning, coming Sunday to help unload/stay the night, and then leave Monday morning when I go to work.  Which seems like a really short stay for a very long trip (he's driving), but maybe he just wants to see how long the trip is?  I'm going to be facetiming my mom sometime this week to help her pack/identify what she should make my dad bring.

Main thing I'm concerned about is that my lease specifically states something about overnight guests/leaving guests unattended (since this is in someone's home, not a normal apartment complex), so I'll need to figure that out with them once I figure out if my dad is serious about coming out or not.