The Cooking Thread

[leggo PE]

Last night, I made Zuni Cafe's roasted chicken... If you have heard of Zuni Cafe, they have a famous dish on their menu called Mary's Chicken. It's roasted chicken served over a warm bread salad. It's freaking amazing.

I think my rendition turned out pretty nice! It was worth the annoyance of having the chicken dry brining in the fridge for three days prior. I'll post a picture when I can.

 

[JayKay PE]

*revives thread*
It got cold, so I did what I do best: make soup. Copious amounts of soup for a single person. The Tupperware is after I had two huge bowls. I also calc’d out the calories (using MyFitnessPal) and it comes out to around 250 calories per huge bowl of soup. Yes. Veggie soup so good. 
 

 

[snickerd3]

Made both lasagna and chili this week.  

 

[Road Guy]

 

[Supe]

Junior wanted steak and macaroni and cheese for her bday.  So, I ended up buying a dry aged bone-in Delmonico (not very thick, maybe an inch) for me, and since they don't like the bones, a pair of wet aged ribeyes for them.  

Honestly, the slightly cheaper wet aged ribeyes were the better tasting steak.  While the dry aged Delmonico tasted good, that cheesy popcorn flavor really masked the taste of the beef.  Mrs. Supe on the other hand loved the dry aged and was middle-of-the-road on the wet.  I think the dry aged cut just wasn't thick enough to have the beef/funk balance.

 

[leggo PE]

So what's everyone making for the holidays?

I just picked up a ridiculously good looking Polish sausage from a Polish deli, that I'll be using for my family's traditional potato soup with polish kielbasa (I also pressure-bought a ridiculous garlic kielbasa, which is huge and could probably feed a family of 12, for some unknown purpose) on Christmas Eve.

For Christmas Day, I'm planning to turn a smoked ham into a faux honey-baked ham, a la Mr. Leggo's family's Christmas dinner tradition before his dad died. I've never done a ham before, but I think it'll be fine. I'll be serving in with homemade Parker house rolls, sauteed kale, and sweet potatoes w/ tahini butter.

The stoke is high!

 

[Supe]

Mrs. Supe wants ham, junior wants steak and a baked potato.  I don't feel like ponying up a fortune for the good dry aged stuff again, so I'll probably just pick up a couple filets.  Depending on what the grocery store has for seafood, I will do either baked stuffed shrimp or baked stuffed lobster tails.  Last year I had to wait in line and pay serious bucks for yuge lobster tails from the out-of-the-way seafood place, and with COVID, I'm just not doing that again, so if the grocery store ones are a decent size I'll just go that route.  

I'll also make broccoli bread (french bread with garlic butter spread, broccoli, and cheese), and some other side.  Not sure exactly what yet.  Probably something a bit different than normal, like pierogis or poutine (if the local meat market has any curds in stock).

For x-mas eve, our tradition is Chinese food take out.  

 

[Road Guy]

For x-mas eve, our tradition is Chinese food take out.  

I'm digging this idea! we normally ski Christmas Eve and leave some white bean chilli in crock pot but so far this season is a **** show so we likely will be home

We also do steaks for Christmas Day - my grill died this past weekend and Ive already replaced the guts once- does anyone get more than 8 years out of a weber anymore?  have to pick something up between now and thursday

 

[mudpuppy]

I'm smoking a turkey tomorrow.  First time I've tried smoking a turkey.  Going to use the leftovers to make enchiladas for Christmas.  Don't ask, that's just what my wife wants.

 

[Road Guy]

you cant start early enough! (on the smoking)

 

[akwooly]

Rib roast, scallops and halibut. 

 

[kevo_55]

Sticky rice with pork wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed!

Mrs. Kevo has spoken. I will obey.

 

[csb]

Made this yesterday for New Year's!

https://www.ranchogordo.com/blogs/recipes/black-eyed-pea-stew

It took a while, but was SO worth it. I used Rancho Gordo's black eyed peas (I recommend any and all of their dried beans) and followed the recipe exactly. It turned out SO SO SO good. I'd make this again in a heartbeat when I have an afternoon to devote to the soaking and cooking time. Luckily, we are left with four servings of leftovers. Yay!

Anyone else do black eyed peas as a tradition for good luck for the new year?

Do not make this same recipe for 2021, please. 

 

[leggo PE]

Do not make this same recipe for 2021, please. 

You clearly didn't read my post from above! We're having steak and tiramisu this year for NYE.

 

[csb]

Phew!

 

[leggo PE]

I mean, if I'd known...!

 

[mudpuppy]

I'm smoking a turkey tomorrow.  First time I've tried smoking a turkey.  Going to use the leftovers to make enchiladas for Christmas.  Don't ask, that's just what my wife wants.

Turned out pretty good, especially since it was my first time smoking a turkey.  I did learn not to make gravy from the drippings of a brined, smoked turkey.  Extremely smoky & salty!

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

Roast (local), carrots (local), homemade yorkshire pudding (made with local eggs and milk)

Nommmmmm

 

[BlueBlueprintPE PMP]

I traditionally host Christmas Eve dinner. My husband's family is Italian and their traditional dinner is seafood fettuccini alfredo. The seafood traditionally includes crab, shrimp, scallops, and smoked salmon. I've been hosting for about 6 years now and it gets very hectic trying to keep the sauce from getting too thin, not overcooking the noodles or the seafood (primarily the shrimp and scallops) and having everything fresh and ready to go for a large crowd (typically 30 people) and my kitchen typically looks like it exploded by the time we are serving. This year decided to change it up to a seafood lasagna alfredo so that the prep work can all be done ahead of time and I just have to put it in the oven when guests start to arrive. It turned out amazing. In addition to the crab, shrimp, scallops and smoked salmon (caught and smoked by my Dad), I added some lobster tails I found at Costco. I even made my own lasagna noodles! My mom (pictured) helped me roll them out with my new kitchen aid attachment. I'll probably never be able to make it the same way again! 

 

[envirotex]

I traditionally host Christmas Eve dinner. My husband's family is Italian and their traditional dinner is seafood fettuccini alfredo. The seafood traditionally includes crab, shrimp, scallops, and smoked salmon. I've been hosting for about 6 years now and it gets very hectic trying to keep the sauce from getting too thin, not overcooking the noodles or the seafood (primarily the shrimp and scallops) and having everything fresh and ready to go for a large crowd (typically 30 people) and my kitchen typically looks like it exploded by the time we are serving. This year decided to change it up to a seafood lasagna alfredo so that the prep work can all be done ahead of time and I just have to put it in the oven when guests start to arrive. It turned out amazing. In addition to the crab, shrimp, scallops and smoked salmon (caught and smoked by my Dad), I added some lobster tails I found at Costco. I even made my own lasagna noodles! My mom (pictured) helped me roll them out with my new kitchen aid attachment. I'll probably never be able to make it the same way again! 

That's a great idea!  We usually make cioppino as our version of Seven Fishes during the holidays, but I love the idea of a seafood lasagna!  On Christmas Eve, we usually have tamales.