Recipies thread

[joesixpack]

This is about as Off Topic as can be, but I thought it'd be a fun thread. My cooking skills are limited, but I do make a few things well, and I always like to try new things. Ill start off with this one;

I bought a twelve-pack of a very cheap beer thinking that I'd save some money. Well it was so bad that I couldn't drink it. I hate to throw out beer, so I came up with this recipie.

Two pounds of mussles or clams (i used little neck, but I think mussles would have been better)
Two chicken thighs (they're so damned cheap)
Two or three celery ribs
Large yellow onion
Garlic (a good ammount, about 10 cloves)
One 4oz can of tomato paste
One can of beer (keep in mind that hoppy beers like IPAs don't cook well, best to stick with a malty lager)
Two slices of bacon
Two tablespoons of Old Bay brand seafood seasoning

In a saucepan full of water, boil the two chicken thighs while you render the fat out of the bacon in a good sized stock pot. Chop up the onion and celery and throw them in with the rendered bacon and enough olive oil to sautee all that together. Chop up the garlic finely and throw that in the stock pot, stir that in and turn off the heat.

When the chicken is pretty well cooked, take it out of the boiling water and remove the skin and bone, put those back in the boiling water while you cut up the thigh meat into little peices and throw that into the stock pot. Take the bones and skin out of the boiling water and throw them away and pour the chicken stock into the pot (you should have about 4 cups). Add the tomato paste, the beer, and the Old Bay seasoning, and bring the mixture to a boil.

Let this simmer while you make a pot of rice. When the rice is done, take it off the heat, dump the shellfish into the pot of soup and bring it up to a boil untill the poor bastards open up.

Put some rice in a bowl and ladle the liquid and shellfish on top.

Eat.

Next time, I'm gonna' add some peeled shrimp to the mix. I think that's all it was missing.

[sensei_kyle]

Instead of throwing the bones and skin away, save them to make homemade chicken broth. Just put them in a big pot (5 qt or larger) with water, maybe throw in some celery & carrots, and simmer until the bones are falling apart -- usually the better part of an entire day. Strain and you have broth. You can freeze this for long term storage.

A handy trick I learned from a chef friend of mine: making a roux (that's pronounced roo). The base of every good gumbo is the roux. Typically, equal parts of flour and vegetable oil, cooked over medium heat, and stirred constantly until it turns the shade you want. First comes blond, then brick, then chocolate. There's a reason this stuff is called cajun napalm -- if burns the hell out of you. What you can do is mix the oil & flour together, place in say a 9x9 casserole dish, and into the oven at 350. Stir every 10-15 minutes until you achieve the desired color. Instead of stirring, you can be working on the cutting the onions, bell peppers & celery for the gumbo.

[xman]

Instead of throwing the bones and skin away, save them to make homemade chicken broth. Just put them in a big pot (5 qt or larger) with water, maybe throw in some celery & carrots, and simmer until the bones are falling apart -- usually the better part of an entire day. Strain and you have broth. You can freeze this for long term storage.

As a vegetarian, the celery, onions, carrots, broccoli stalks and such are all that are really necessary for a great soup stock, less fatty too. We've always got some in the freezer around here.

X

[joesixpack]

A handy trick I learned from a chef friend of mine: making a roux (that's pronounced roo). The base of every good gumbo is the roux. Typically, equal parts of flour and vegetable oil, cooked over medium heat, and stirred constantly until it turns the shade you want. First comes blond, then brick, then chocolate. There's a reason this stuff is called cajun napalm -- if burns the hell out of you. What you can do is mix the oil & flour together, place in say a 9x9 casserole dish, and into the oven at 350. Stir every 10-15 minutes until you achieve the desired color. Instead of stirring, you can be working on the cutting the onions, bell peppers & celery for the gumbo.

My mom never made roux with vegatable oil. She always used butter, and her gumbo is the best.

[rtaylor61]

I generally make my roux with grease drippings from bacon, sausage or roast.

RT

[sensei_kyle]

OK. Not trying to start a roux holy war. I prefer to use bacon and/or sausage grease and butter myself. Many of the recipes in cookbooks call for vegetable oil. The chef I learned the trick from was working in a commercial kitchen, which translates into huge quantities. Using bacon/sausage grease wasn't really an option due to the quantity required. I'm not sure if the butter would burn at 350 in the oven for 30-60 minutes.

[rtaylor61]

The true secret to any roux is the browning process. If you don't brown it, you're gonna taste the flour. I prefer to make mine dark, but it depends on what it will be served with.

RT

[HoekmanX]

Wtf is roux?

[Kelly]

HoekmanX, read the rest of the thread haha.... they are all correct it's basically an oil product and flower... the precursor to sauces and gravies.
technically a true "roux" is done with butter... but that doesn’t make any variation less delicious

[ForestryProf]

Roux keeps a long time, so I tend to make some only a couple of times a year and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator for whenever I need a good thickening agent. I only use butter...equal parts butter and flour. I typically use/make two types blond and chocolate; use the blonde for white sauces and the brown for everything else. I've never tried to make it in the oven, only on the stovetop. When making a dark roux, don't try to rush things by using too much heat, you'll burn it. Slow over medium heat is best.
FWIW,
Ed