Ephinea Cooking Thread

So many tasty-looking pictures! *drools* I wish I had a decent camera, all I've got is the garbage one on my phone. Oh, well... Such is life.

I've been doing a lot of cooking the last two days, though nothing fancy. My wife works in a clinic, and they just found out a patient they saw last week has been confirmed to have The Big Sniffles. The entire staff were warned to prepare for the possibility of catching it themselves and being essentially bed-ridden for an extended period, and for our households to do the same. Since I do 100% of the cooking in our house- aside from bread, she makes AMAZING bread- I've been doing pre-made meals for the freezer... If I come down with The Big Sniffles I want her to have to do nothing more than thaw and heat meals. To that end I've made up and frozen a variety of things in serving-sized bags: chili, sloppy joes (just the meat, not the bun, of course! ), and eight different types of soup. I've also measured out and pre-packaged the ingredients for a number of dishes- spice mixes for stir fry, dry ingredients for biscuits, that sort of thing. Hopefully I'm never so sick I can't manage, but it's best to be prepared.

Now I'm on to my next project, making some masks that are able to be sanitized and reused- and yet not garbage, like the dust masks people around here are using. Seriously... If it's got gaps all around your mouth and nose, how is it really helping you any more than simply putting a handkerchief across your face like a bandit in a Wild West movie? *sigh*
 
The Gargoyle said:
So, it has come to my attention that this thread is a thing that exists, so this is what I've been subsisting on for the last few days.

View attachment 13508
Canton-Style Stir-Fried Beef

* Flank Steak: 1-2 lbs.
* Corn Starch: 1 Tbsp./lb. of meat
* Soy Sauce: 1 Tbsp./lb. of meat (I prefer Low Sodium)
* Dry Sherry/ Dry Rice Wine: 1 Tbsp./lb. of meat
* Cooking Oil (I prefer Peanut, since you can get it hotter before it starts to smoke, but Canola works just as well)
* Oyster Sauce (I recommend Lee Kum Kee, if you can get it, but the important thing is that Oyster Extract be high on the ingredient list, specifically higher than sugar)
* Vegetables to Preference (The Batch Pictured used an Onion, two Carrots, and a bag of Broccoli Florets)
* Salt, Black Pepper, and Garlic/Garlic Powder to taste.
* White Rice

  1. Start a pot of white rice. Be ready to quickly fluff it once it's done cooking.
  2. Cut the flank steak in half lengthwise, then slice it across the grain into strips. No need to get it paper-thin, but it'll help it cook quickly if you can get it relatively thin. Put the strips into a bowl.
  3. Sprinkle the meat with one tablespoon each per pound of beef: Corn Starch, Soy Sauce, and Dry Sherry/Dry Rice Wine (feel free to go a little heavier on the wine). Toss the meat so that the marinade mixes, and coats the strips evenly (be particularly careful about strips getting stuck together with the starch). Let this sit for between 30 minutes and an hour while you prep the veggies.
  4. Slice up the vegetables as you prefer. I recommend at least an Onion (white or yellow is fine), as it'll add to the flavor, but I also recommend Broccoli, and a carrot or two, depending on the size.
  5. Pour 1-2 tablespoons of oil (you don't need to be precise) in either a wok or broad nonstick saucepan. Turn the heat to medium-high, and watch the oil for ripples and traces of smoke/vapor.
  6. Throw in the vegetables and a spoonful of chopped garlic (the latter is optional, if you prefer to use garlic powder). Sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (in lieu of chopped garlic) to taste, and stir until they begin to soften (the onion in particular will turn translucent.
  7. Remove the vegetables into a bowl or second pot that can be covered. Optionally, wipe down the wok/frying pan with a paper towel (using the spoon/spatula, not your hand), to remove excess oil/residue.
  8. Turn the heat up to high, and add about a tablespoon of oil. Once again, wait for the smokepoint, then add a small handful of the marinated beef. You don't want to crowd the wok too much, as vigorously stirring is important here. Stir until the you've just cooked the pink out.
  9. Remove the meat and add to the vegetable pot. Continue cooking the meat in batches, adding another tablespoon-ish of oil for each, and optionally cleaning the wok in between, depending on the buildup of charred marinade.
  10. Once the last batch of meat has been cooked, drop the heat to medium and empty everything back into the wok.
  11. Take the bowl the meat marinaded in, and add a little water to dissolve the remaining starch (if there are any bits of meat still left, pick them out and toss them). Swirl the water to collect as much of the starch as possible, then add it to the wok.
  12. Stir until the water comes to a boil, then stir in Oyster Sauce, to taste (4 tablespoons is recommended per pound of food, meat and veggies included, though I tend to go a bit heavier).
  13. Serve over the rice.
BONUS: This recipe works with different kinds of meat, such as Chicken Breast and Center-cut pork chop.

EXTRA BONUS: This marinade works great for Steak and Cheese subs.
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You had mew at "Flank Steak"!!! <3
 
Wish now I had a camera more than ever... Been some great deals on meat here locally lately, as people try to stock up on basics. A couple choice cuts of meat can go a long way in raising the morale of the diners!

Dinner tonight was a beef tri-tip marinated in orange juice concentrate for about 14-16 hours. It was then coated it in a combination of kosher salt, lime zest, brown sugar, and crushed red pepper; and then slow-cooked it over charcoal atop a layer of sweet potatoes and red onions. I served it with grilled asparagus and inch-thick slices off a a loaf of fresh-baked Italian bread from a superb local bakery.

The Wife friggin' LOVED it, lol.

That's my gold standard, btw... The Wife love is EXTREMELY picky, so if she is happy, that's good enough for me.
 
Talisien said:
Wish now I had a camera more than ever... Been some great deals on meat here locally lately, as people try to stock up on basics. A couple choice cuts of meat can go a long way in raising the morale of the diners!

Dinner tonight was a beef tri-tip marinated in orange juice concentrate for about 14-16 hours. It was then coated it in a combination of kosher salt, lime zest, brown sugar, and crushed red pepper; and then slow-cooked it over charcoal atop a layer of sweet potatoes and red onions. I served it with grilled asparagus and inch-thick slices off a a loaf of fresh-baked Italian bread from a superb local bakery.

The Wife friggin' LOVED it, lol.

That's my gold standard, btw... The Wife love is EXTREMELY picky, so if she is happy, that's good enough for me.
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That's an intriguing combo for steak....If Chicken can be orange marinated...Why not Steak???? X3! And YES! A Happy Wifey SHOULD be Any REAL Man's gold standard~! Then again, mew is just being biased! <3!
 
Marinating in orange juice works with any meat, the way I do it. Just buy any container of frozen orange juice and put it in a freezer bag with the piece of meat of your choice, then leave it in the fridge over night. Add some lime zest, a handful of brown sugar, and 2-3 pinches of salt. Toss it in a crock pot or on a grill until tender and tasty. That's all it takes- it's not a special recipe, it's not fancy or difficult. Cook it until you feel it's done enough to be edible, then stick it in your mouth, lol.
 
Talisien said:
Marinating in orange juice works with any meat, the way I do it. Just buy any container of frozen orange juice and put it in a freezer bag with the piece of meat of your choice, then leave it in the fridge over night. Add some lime zest, a handful of brown sugar, and 2-3 pinches of salt. Toss it in a crock pot or on a grill until tender and tasty. That's all it takes- it's not a special recipe, it's not fancy or difficult. Cook it until you feel it's done enough to be edible, then stick it in your mouth, lol.
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-GIGGITY!- XD!
 
UUUUGH!!! All this Cooped up IN Home COVID cooking means letting the ideas run Wild...Aaaand leftovers....LOTS of leftovers... A....Aaaaand an extra few miles on the treadmill~! XD!20200407_181822.jpg
 
Sometime today or tomorrow, I'll try to post a recipe for making bread in a slow cooker or Crockpot. The Wife came up with it after several weeks of experimentation. It's really pretty good, as long as you like your bread to be moderately dense (think sourdough or rye, but a white bread.) But it does have a downside: you have to be able to live with your whole house smelling like fresh-baked bread. Not the easiest thing to do, lol!
 
Mew is starting to has a nagging suspicion that living off of Loaded Baked potato Soup 20200409_183422.jpg ISN'T exactly the healthiest of happy feelies of stuck at home choices..... X'D!
 
Mommy Rem said:
I've been spending stay-at-home perfecting my New York pie.
View attachment 13886
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Down here in South Florida, we have so many Pizza places that 'Claim' to be authentic "New York" pizza...They're 'close'...but meh. Yours looks pretty damned Legit~! <3 We recently got some brave folks that turned a drive thru Farm Store into a NY PIZZA Drive thru! It's pretty good! Mew was Surprised! <3 20200516_130918.jpg
 
Skillet meal - Hamburger Helper

Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef, decreasing by one half increments as boxes are added (3 boxes max recommended, no more than 2 lbs.(the only unironic thing)), and variant amounts of Milk and Water, based off of flavour of choice.

Step 1: Follow instructions on box.

Step 2: There is no step 2, you're done.
 
TheByeByeMan said:
Skillet meal - Hamburger Helper

Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef, decreasing by one half increments as boxes are added (3 boxes max recommended, no more than 2 lbs.(the only unironic thing)), and variant amounts of Milk and Water, based off of flavour of choice.

Step 1: Follow instructions on box.

Step 2: There is no step 2, you're done.
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Or in mew's case....

Step 1: Read directions on box.

.............. ....! ......?

Step 2: Go into trash and re-read instructions on box!..... XD!
 
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