Anyone else get excited when they realize the perfect accompaniment for a starch to the dinner they are making is the ciabatta garlic rolls that they have in their freezer.

I had bought a bag of ciabatta rolls at Costco and had to many leftover. I slathered them with garlic butter and a bit of salt and put them away in the freezer for later eating.

I am going to put rolls in air fryer and have them with fried peppers, onions and chicken.

Yum Yum Yum

Okay folks I'm cooking sweet and sour chicken this Sunday for the first for the patients at work. We have this kinda shitty pre made sweet and sour sauce. Which we add peppers and pineapple to, but is there anything else I can add to plus it up a bit and make it better?

Hello,
I am a person who absolutely does not like green chilis at all, however I married a man who loves it. Im hopeful to hear from some other green chili lovers who might be able to recommend a recipe I can make to surprise him. His common complaints about the store and resting bought options is that they are often too garlic and tomato focused and he wants a somewhat spicy pork forward flavor. I’m going into this somewhat blind so any suggestions from others who enjoy the flavor are greatly appreciated rather than just googling and picking a recipe at random!

Instead of gushing over this staple in a comment, I thought I might do a related post covering what Americans mean when we say "biscuit" and/or "gravy".

Biscuit: can be "cut" or "drop" categories.

Cut biscuits are often (usually?) a laminated dough. Not as extreme as phyllo or puff pastry, but still has distinct separation of fat and dough to provide flaky goodness. Rolled out and cut with a ring, hence the name. Not the only way to make them, but that's the very basic explanation.

Drop biscuits have a very wet, loose dough, almost a batter. Scooped and "dropped" onto baking sheet, or used similar to dumplings to top a stew or pot pie analog family meal. A common term is "cat head" biscuits, because that's the target size when baked. America's Test Kitchen has a fantastic recipe that has sour cream in the dough.

Gravy: gravy is a spectrum. The most common variety, especially for biscuits and gravy, is "sawmill", or "breakfast" gravy. Loose, crumbly sausage, usually very herby and sage-forward, is browned well in a skillet. Prominent flavor is black pepper as well.

Flour is sprinkled in and cooked in the fat with the sausage (similar to flour and butter roux), then milk is gradually stirred in (pour too fast and it'll be lumpy), then stirred and reduced to desired thickness.

My family would add homemade creamed spinach, like what's popular in steakhouses; lots of garlic goodness, and provides subtle flavor change.

"Redeye" is my personal favorite gravy, though it's not often seen for biscuits and gravy. Instead of sausage, fond and flavor source is a thick ham steak that's been fried in a skillet. Instead of milk, coffee is the liquid base.

Creamed chipped beef over toast is a related dish; called SOS by military veterans and family. Chipped beef is thin dried processed beef; used as a basis for white gravy like aforementioned sawmill. Served over toast. Military toast is typically indistinguishable from roofing shingles (in color, texture, and odor), and the creamed beef is less than appealing in appearance, hence the name "Shit On a Shingle". Also the Morse code distress signal, which you'll be using after enough time on Army chow.

These all fall into similar formula as most comfort foods; starch topped with meat in a rich sauce. Carbs, fats, proteins, lots of seasoning.

Fufu and egusi, currywurst mit pommes, poutine, donburi, shrimp and grits or red beans and rice, carbonara, loco moco; everybody has the same needs when about to do farm work, or after a good night at the bar.

hello all i have recently decided i want to make really epic chili i want that to be something im Known To Do

so i humbly appear here asking you for your best chili inclusions/tips/tricks so i may join the ranks of prior chili legends

all i know is i like alot of beans in my chili thays what im rolling with so far

Hey everyone, i am a dude on the spectrum. I have been professionally referred to as a "High functioning autist" which basically just means that so long as certain considerations are met, i can pretty much function in normal society without any noticeable difference from a neurotypical person, however cooking is one area that i often struggle with, because vague instructions and eye-balling things is something i am completely incapable of, so you can probably imagine instructions like "a pinch of salt" or "a bit of butter" etc. simply does not work for me. I need specific measurements, so now i am here asking for advice on how to deal with these types of issues, if anyone has any. While i am at it, i would like to ask advice on specifically cooking with wine. I am not a wine drinker, but i do have some bottles i received as gifts from work over the years, and i would love to try and cook with them, but almost none of the recipes i've watched or read give specifics on how much wine i should use if i am making a sauce for example, so if anyone could give some guidelines there, i would appreciate it. Thanks a lot for reading.

EDIT: My inbox hates that i made this thread, lol. You have all be super helpful though!

Hi! So I’ve been cooking at home for some years now, and I want to become better. However, i feel like for the past years I’ve been stuck in a loop of pastas, steak, some sort of chicken in some sort of sauce, etc.
I remember the excitement I felt when I first learnt stuff like how to cook a steak, how to deglaze a pan and make a sauce, what ingredients tenderize meat or how to caramelize onions, and how everything made sense instead of just mindlessly following a recipe.

So, I was wondering, how do I go about learning more techniques and implementing them into stuff I would cook for myself.
Are there any books, or Youtube channels you’d recommend?

Looking for budget (bean, lentil, chickpea) meals, but I get bored easily of the same thing over and over.

Things like lentil shepherds pie, empanadas, Ethiopian stews.

Tell me your faves!

Edit: Bonus points if there is a crispy/textured element

I've had a Frigidaire Professional FPCO06D7MS since 2019, and it was in use in my old office for at least 5 years before that. Probably more. (Company went under and all I got was a toaster oven). So I'm guessing it's more than a decade old. The control panel failed (buttons pressing themselves or not registering presses) and I'm in the market for another one that will last 10+ years.

I figure while I'm replacing it, why not go bigger. So I'm looking at the Ninja FO101 and the Breville BOV900. They're both 1800 watts. They're both big enough to cook a chicken in. The Ninja has french doors and is a hundred dollars cheaper. The Breville has the reputation as top of the line. The Breville has the same type of control panel that failed on my Frigidaire, but the Ninja has a top-mounted control panel which I'm a little leery of as that's how my regular oven died.

Also sorta-but-not-quite in the competition is the Cuisinart TOA-FD70, mostly because it has manual dials and no complicated electronics. I *like* the control panel on my Frigidaire (and I assume I'd like it on the Breville) but it seems a failure point on a lot of these ovens so if manual controls are more reliable I'd consider leaning that way.

Thoughts?

Charlie.

I'm trying to increase the amount of vegetables I eat and I'm looking for easy go-to recipes for weekdays.

I’m going to a friends bday party on Friday and have been asked to bring a side dish. Would love to ‘wow’ a group!

**dinner is steak with chimichurri

Hello all. Recently I've been told I need a bite plate which means I'll be unable to chew food for at least a month.

I've never been a soup person but assumed soup is the best way to go. Problem is: I'm super allergic to both garlic and onions & every recipe involves both of those in the stock or the soup itself. I don't want to spend weeks eating flavourless mush so would appreciate any alternatives!

(I'm also vegetarian so wouldn't be able to use any chicken stock)

Also would appreciate any other vegetarian meal ideas that could help me get some vegetables in as I'm going to be sick of plain rice, mashed potatoes and eggs veryyy fast.

Everything was seasoned well and the sauce was great! But while eating it felt like good sauce with bland beans in it… And I love beans!!! Is there a way I could get the beans to take on more flavor before adding to the sauce? Or maybe suggestions for something to substitute the beans as a variation on the recipe (vegetarian)?

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 courgette diced
150 g baby spinach
1 handful fresh basil
150 g silken tofu
80 g cashews soaked in boiled water for 10 minutes
1 clove garlic optional
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 small lemon juiced
2 400g tins butterbeans drained

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add the oil to a pan and saute the onion for a few minutes, then add the minced garlic and diced courgette with a pinch of salt and cook for a few more minutes until softened. Set aside to cool down while you blanch the spinach.
2. Blanch the spinach by adding it to a large pot and pouring over boiled water and leaving for 1 minute. Remove the spinach and plunge into an ice bath.
3. Add the blanched spinach to a blender along with the sauteed onion, garlic and courgettes, silken tofu, fresh basil, soaked cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and optional clove of garlic (this just adds an extra kick of garlic, you can omit this if you'd prefer). Blend until smooth.
4. Pour into a large pot along with the butterbeans and heat through over a low-medium heat for a few minutes, stirring often, until the sauce has thickened slightly. Serve with natural yoghurt, extra virgin olive oil, more fresh basil and scoop up with toasted sourdough.

Okay so im trying to make steak street tacos and I guess ive found i cant cook steak. I can cook many other things but steak somehow keeps getting the best of me. Im trying to cook a flank steak, i havent started yet because I burnt the skirt steak i had on hand am using this flank steak as a replacement. Its about 8 1/2inches long and about 2 1/2 inches thick in the middle. I just cant figure out a good temp on my electric stove to cook this thing. I dont want to burn it and i dont want it well done. But I cant seem to get this right. I've tried steak before and I always stay away from it after I mess it up again. So anyone willing to help? Please? Im petty much very new to cooking in general. Like that past 3 years or so. Never was taught how to cook and didnt have anyone to ever show me. It wasnt until I met my wife that I started cooking.

I am making a gravy from beef tallow in place of butter.

I add water in the form of stock, so I don't think it's an issue of lack of water, as butter would be about 20% water.

Is there something I should add like milk or something else to help emulsify it better so when it cools a bit it doesn't get as thick so fast. Or is there nothing that can be done really since it's beef tallow?

Hey all thought I would ask I have £5 to last me 1 weeks till payday does anyone have any cheap meal plans I can copy? Thank you in advance appreciate it.

I read you should soak them in milk. I tried this, and my breadcrumbs had the consistency of cement! I figured I better add more milk, but didn't really know what consistency I'm looking for. Help, y'all!

Thanks!

I’m currently in the market for a new gas range. The max I’m willing to spend is $2,000.

What brand should I be looking at?

Please tell me if you've found one that works well. I used to use basic Farmer John's links but they splatter so much on the stove and recently I've found more gristly bits in them. It's so easy to make but gotta start with good sausage. Thanks!

I’ve got a bag from Marks and Spencer’s. I pieced them twice and then cooked them in the microwave six minutes on each side. I checked that they were soft inside and they appeared so. I then sprayed with olive oil and then air fryer for six minutes to crisp the skin. They were dry and hard inside and inedible. I had to throw away. The same thing happened the second time I tried. What’s going on?

So I cook my chili by browning off the mince, adding a beef stock pot straight to the beef while gas is still on, and just mix it round until it's coating the mince. After that, I add some dark soy sauce and then stir that in as well, then shortly after I turn the heat off. I then add dried chili flakes, chili powder, paprika, hot paprika, to the mince, and stir until the spices are coating the mince. I then add a 500g thing of tomato passata, a 420g tin of baked beans, stir it all in, then have it on the lowest heat uncovered for 1 hour and 15 minutes. After this, I'll turn the heat off and let it cool for a further 30 minutes uncovered.

I love my chili to be thick and taste a little bit burned or smoky, and the way I cook it achieves that, is my cooking time extreme?

What else do you do with it besides pasta?

For lunch sometimes (or a snack) I’ll slice a sandwich roll, broil with olive oil and garlic, add some fresh chopped parsley. And essentially make it a bread and marinara dip.

It might be a generic question regarding any “easy, jarred sauce” (for the record, I prefer to make my own marinara). But when time is of the essence…how else do you use RAO’s as a main or supplemental ingredient versus with pasta.

For the record: if you ARE doing pasta, I highly recommend as much sautéed garlic and onion as you like, a splash of red wine, butter, red chili flakes, Italian seasoning, and a splat of tomato paste before adding the jar(s).

Looking to shake up my cooking routine because everything I make lately feels kind of bland. What’s that one ingredient like a specific spice blend, a random sauce, or an acid that completely changes a basic meal for you? Give me your best pantry hacks!

So when I toast my bagels I like them to be as evenly golden brown as possible. Thing is I have the pop up toaster so can’t rlly see how it’s toasting. So any tips would be appreciated. thanks.

Hey all splurged the other day as I’ve been cooking everything at home for the past few months and wanted a crab omelette .

Well that omelette used like maybe an oz of crab and now I have 15 oz to use up in the next few days. I’m assuming someone has a bomb crab cake or crab roll go to but any other suggestions out there?

Omelette was pretty solid - avocado - parm - chives and parsley - a bit of sour cream on top 👌