Real men can cook (recipes) (Page 5)

ShawnXx
ShawnXx: Corvin do you and Deb have a garden?
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Corwin
Corwin: I bought a 25 lb bushel of Romas last week for $7. I chopped most of them up and bagged them into the deep-freeze. Way better than using canned.
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ShawnXx
ShawnXx: We're about to pick the last of our tomatoes but the herbs are still going for now.
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Corwin
Corwin: I used to grow tomatoes outside, but we live in an area surrounded by farms and greenhouses... some really good produce can be purchased at the local market... less work. But we still grow lots of herbs like chives and parsley... they grow like weeds, and it's always on hand.
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ShawnXx
ShawnXx: It really makes a difference in cooking when you use fresh picked herbs.
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Corwin
Corwin: The only exception for me is oregano... for some reason I like the dried stuff better... probably because for so many years it was all I knew... just used to the taste I guess. But fresh parsley is just awesome... that's one herb that just can't be dried... all the flavour disappears.
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Corwin
Corwin: Oh, and I think a pasta-rolling machine is such a great asset. If more people knew how awesome fresh home-made pasta was, everybody would have one. Even the fresh noodles you buy at the supermarket are no comparison. And I use free-run eggs always... such a rich flavor and bright yellow colour.
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ShawnXx
ShawnXx: There is a wonderful taste from fresh basil and oregano especially in David's sauce oh and lot's of garlic.
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Azathoth
Azathoth: True, oregano seems to release well when dried. Though, we still use the fresh...which is good tossed into fresh pastas that are still hot. Like a split cherry tomato, garlic, and olive oil vermacelli dish...simple but great. Seems to me that when a lot of herbs turn dark from heat, in dishes, they have an altered taste.
(Edited by Azathoth)
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ShawnXx
ShawnXx: Fresh pasta is wonderful but we don't have the machine.
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Corwin
Corwin: Oohh.... you MUST get one... it turns the noodles into velvet!! You just don't get the same effect with a rolling pin.

And the store bought noodles don't have enough egg in them.
(Edited by Corwin)
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Corwin
Corwin: Hey, I do that exact thing... split cherry tomato with olive oil and garlic and herbs on pasta. lol
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Azathoth
Azathoth: Great minds...cook alike.
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Azathoth
Azathoth: Basil, thyme, mint, chives, and parsley are really doing well at our place. Our fruits: Muscadines, concord grapes, pears, and blueberries have had a great year. We are making muscadine wine and grape wines this year, and have canned some pears. There's still the option to make pear wine...which is friggin nice.
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Corwin
Corwin: I've had some amazing pear wine. That's one thing I like about the Niagara region... it's one of only two areas in Canada that are suitable for fruit production. When I was a child out on the prairies, fruit was all imported and terribly expensive. When we moved to Ontario and had a small orchard of our own, it blew my mind.... fruit just growing on the trees all around you. lol
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Azathoth
Azathoth: Sounds awesome. I'd love to visit lots of Canada. Love the people I've met online from there, and I've seen plenty on the terrain and landscapes. Appealing nation, no doubt. My brother, while living in Australia, used to be around avocado trees and tomato farms where he'd stop and pick to his liking. That's gotta be nice to be at basic arm's length of such nice ingredients. Here, it's all about the apples.
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Corwin
Corwin: Oh, and I've got a great Alfredo recipe that would be right up your alley.

You mix a raw egg with some olive oil, cream, garlic, some salt and a little dash of sugar, a handful of parmesan cheese, and mix it up cold.
You mix it into the hot pasta as soon as it's drained, and the heat of the pasta cooks the raw egg just enough to thicken it, but leaves all the other ingredients like fresh herbs and garlic uncooked.

Very flavorful and fresh tasting.
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Azathoth
Azathoth: Now, that sounds nice. I have found that the fresh grated Parm is much better than the dried out stuff from a bottle. Also, I often use a combo of butter and olive oil-even in Alfredo sauce. Is that wrong, or have you also experimented in that?
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Corwin
Corwin: Oh of course... butter and olive oil combined is definitely a great way to increase the creamy flavor.
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Azathoth
Azathoth: Good. And what kind of cream? 1/2 n 1/2 or whole?
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Corwin
Corwin: We always have half-in-half on hand because we have it in our coffee.... but every now and then I'll be decadent and buy some 35% whipping cream to cook with.
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Corwin
Corwin: Oh, and I've only recently been experimenting using buttermilk in some of my recipes... it adds a cheesy flavor to things and is only 1% fat.
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Azathoth
Azathoth: Ahh, the whipping style is good. I use it a lot in my roasted garlic smashed potatoes.

To add, I like the slightly salted real butter, as opposed to the sweet version, and definitely try to stay away from margarine.
(Edited by Azathoth)
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Azathoth
Azathoth: Buttermilk is a Southern/Soul food staple. Can use it in a ton of recipes. Versatile stuff, indeed.
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Corwin
Corwin: You do smashed potatoes too?? I've just learned how to do that this past year.

There will never be margarine in my kitchen. I like the flavour, but that stuff will kill you.
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