What are you eating? (food porn)

[tutsiwarrior]

if you're like me you've tried to make an omelette and have failed so often that then just settled for scrambled eggs, eaten with plenty of tabasco or any other sauce and lotsa toast to disguise the flavor...just to hook something down to get rid of the hunger...

 

and then once about 25 years ago I had an omelette at a roadside bistro in southern France and it was remarkable and I thought: 'well, this is France after all and they gots a special way with food...can't ever expect to make this at home...'

 

and then recently I stumbled upon:

 

 

and I watched and tried it once and failed again, ended up with scrambled eggs, etc...but this time I became determined...

 

watched the video a few times in succession to see what I was doing wrong and it became obvious that I didn't control the heat adequately...then tried it again this time more carefully (check out the shake and stir motion when the eggs are in the pan) and et viola! perfect, succulent, melt in yer mouth, etc, etc...just like I remembered from France...and I emerged from the kitchen bellowing: 'I AM JESUS' SON!!! I CAN DO ANYTHING!!!...' does wonders fer yer self esteem...and now that I've started driving again without fear it increases by the hour...(traumatised by 20 years of driving in the middle east but that's another story)

 

so, a new culinary horizon has appeared and a new addition to the repertoire...don't even need tabasco and toast...try it!...

 

tonight, split green pea and cauliflower dahl...soak the pulses overnight to give a 40min cooking time...otherwise 2hrs...gotta make some more chapattis...

 

bon apetit...

 

 

Edited March 31, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[tutsiwarrior]

and btw, I used a high sided coated aluminum saute pan that I usually use for any kind of saute for the omelette, no need to buy a new pan but whatever ye use it needs to be flat bottomed, a wok wouldn't do...and check it out, no need even for a spatula...just a fork...note that ye gotta stay in motion with the eggs until the end for a good result...only takes a couple of minutes...make sure that ye gots all yer additional bits (herbs, cheese, etc) chopped and ready to go before ye put the eggs on the heat...

 

whale on that mother...

 

 

Edited March 31, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[mogandave]

Been making a proper omelette since I was a kid, but I’m going to try the poached/fried egg trick at the end...


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[tutsiwarrior]

never liked eggs when I was a kid...the idea of chicken ovums wasn't very appealing...I then found myself in a sawmill camp 70miles north of Mackenzie in BC in 1972 and there was nothing else to eat fer breakfast (plenty of tabasco and toast)...later I discovered the mexican way with eggs; eggs with chorizo, eggs with sauted nopalitos, etc...with plenty of salsa and fresh corn tortillas...

 

yeah, the poached egg business at the end of the video is interesting...but cooked egg whites still make me a bit queasy...maybe mashed up with a lot of tabasco and toast...

 

 

Edited March 31, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[mogandave]

I like Mexican but I can do without the chorizo...


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[tutsiwarrior]

yeah, there's huevos rancheros but that ever appealed to me because of the egg whites...

 

one morning a pal who was an excellent cook decided to make huevos rancheros and I asked very timidly if he could scramble my eggs fully realising the blasphemy inherent in my request...he then considered me with horror and then pity...a dear friend and an alcoholic who later drank himself to death in a hotel somewhere in the yucatan about 20 years ago...

 

 

[Ulysses G.]

9 hours ago, mogandave said:

I like Mexican but I can do without the chorizo...
 

Chorizo doesn't do much for me either. I first tried it in Thailand, so suspected it was of low quality. However, I don't seem to care for it in America either.

[mogandave]

Chorizo doesn't do much for me either. I first tried it in Thailand, so suspected it was of low quality. However, I don't seem to care for it in America either.

It’s a little odd. I love sausage, and I generally enjoy Mexican food, but I’ve had chorizo any number of times in the US and all over Baja and and I just don’t see the attraction. Plenty of people love it. I’ll eat it if I’m hungry.

I don’t get the whole menudo thing either...

[Ulysses G.]

16 minutes ago, mogandave said:

 

It’s a little odd. I love sausage, and I generally enjoy Mexican food, but I’ve had chorizo any number of times in the US and all over Baja and and I just don’t see the attraction. Plenty of people love it. I’ll eat it if I’m hungry.

I don’t get the whole menudo thing either...

 

Still haven't tried menudo, but am with you on the rest - exactly my experience.

Edited April 1, 2018 by Ulysses G.

[tutsiwarrior]

7 hours ago, mogandave said:

 

It’s a little odd. I love sausage, and I generally enjoy Mexican food, but I’ve had chorizo any number of times in the US and all over Baja and and I just don’t see the attraction. Plenty of people love it. I’ll eat it if I’m hungry.

I don’t get the whole menudo thing either...

 

chorizo and eggs and nopalitos and eggs usually appear on most menus at mom n pop mexican restaurants in LA, the kind that open at 6am, I usually get a half dozen corn tortillas and extra salsa...hits the spot early in the am with a few Superior beers......

 

I  never did go in for menudo either...it's supposed to be a great hangover cure...a pal once described it as 'a plate of grease'...

 

 

Edited April 1, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[youreavinalaff]

On 2/22/2018 at 12:06 PM, billd766 said:

It is sort of on topic but I am trying to buy a sausage stuffer here in Thailand.

 

Unfortunately I live in rural Khampaeng Phet and there is nothing around here, not even at the new Robinsons that opened a couple of months ago.

 

I am looking for a hand cranked horizontal or vertical model, perhaps 1.5 or 2kg capacity with a nozzle of 28 mm diameter and perhaps 180mm long.

 

I can use my grinder but the nozzle is cone shaped and if I push the skin on too hard it splits. I can only get a couple of sausages filled before it runs out and I have to reload the skins. The grinder/stuffer I use is a George Foreman model and it is difficult to load the mince and ram it down as the top tray keeps rising to let air into the stuffer.

 

I am looking for something like these below.

 

If anybody has any idea can they please post it or pm me?

 

Thanks in hope.

I got some collagen skins from here : 

 http://www.botthailand.com/casing/collagen-casing.html

 

They only sell in large quantities ( 400 metres). I said I didn't want to buy that much first time as I didn't know the quality. They sent me a free sample.

 

I bought this stuffer https://www.lazada.co.th/-i141740464-s163024297.html?spm=a2o4m.order_list.detail_image.1.3b5c6108pJNGeW&urlFlag=true&mp=1

 

It is very good.

 

I need some advice if anyone is in the know.'

 

I have never used collagen skins. They are dried. Do I need to soak first? Could someone give me the the low down on a good technique? 

 

Thanks

 

[billd766]

3 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

I got some collagen skins from here : 

 http://www.botthailand.com/casing/collagen-casing.html

 

They only sell in large quantities ( 400 metres). I said I didn't want to buy that much first time as I didn't know the quality. They sent me a free sample.

 

I bought this stuffer https://www.lazada.co.th/-i141740464-s163024297.html?spm=a2o4m.order_list.detail_image.1.3b5c6108pJNGeW&urlFlag=true&mp=1

 

It is very good.

 

I need some advice if anyone is in the know.'

 

I have never used collagen skins. They are dried. Do I need to soak first? Could someone give me the the low down on a good technique? 

 

Thanks

 

 

That vertical stuffer is the same model that I bought from Lazada last month. The 3 problems that I found are that sometimes it is hard to stuff the meat and I have taken the handle off and turned it through 180 degrees as I can exert more pressure pushing down than I can lifting up. It is not a real problem but I will get better with practice.

 

Another problem is that when the stuffer reaches the bottom and no more sausage meat comes out there is enough meat left to make several meat patties. I also bough a patty mould from Lazada for 330 baht that works very well.

 

The third problem is that the stuffer comes with a very small brush to clean the pipes but it isn't man enough for the job. I bought another in BigC and straightened the wire out and that works well now.

 

I got a mate to bring me back 50 metres of collagen (28mm) from the UK last year and I figure that 1kg of sausages takes around 1.5 metres of collagen. I keep mine in a kilner jar and there is supposedly a 6 months best before date but I think it will probably be OK for longer that that.

 

When I load the collagen onto the stuffer I wipe the pipe with some olive oil to slide it on and off easily.

 

I am not on my pc at the moment so I don't have access to my files or photos.

 

I hope that this ramble is of some use to you.

 

PS homemade sausages beat any factory ones hand down.

 

PPS Don't forget to prick holes in the skin begore cooking or the bangers will live up to their name.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

That vertical stuffer is the same model that I bought from Lazada last month. The 3 problems that I found are that sometimes it is hard to stuff the meat and I have taken the handle off and turned it through 180 degrees as I can exert more pressure pushing down than I can lifting up. It is not a real problem but I will get better with practice.

 

Another problem is that when the stuffer reaches the bottom and no more sausage meat comes out there is enough meat left to make several meat patties. I also bough a patty mould from Lazada for 330 baht that works very well.

 

The third problem is that the stuffer comes with a very small brush to clean the pipes but it isn't man enough for the job. I bought another in BigC and straightened the wire out and that works well now.

 

I got a mate to bring me back 50 metres of collagen (28mm) from the UK last year and I figure that 1kg of sausages takes around 1.5 metres of collagen. I keep mine in a kilner jar and there is supposedly a 6 months best before date but I think it will probably be OK for longer that that.

 

When I load the collagen onto the stuffer I wipe the pipe with some olive oil to slide it on and off easily.

 

I am not on my pc at the moment so I don't have access to my files or photos.

 

I hope that this ramble is of some use to you.

 

PS homemade sausages beat any factory ones hand down.

 

PPS Don't forget to prick holes in the skin begore cooking or the bangers will live up to their name.

 

Before and not begore cooking, you stupid boy Pike.

[Skeptic7]

"Chicken" sammies for lunch. GF set me up with a vegan Chick-fil-A experience!  Takes pride in making "mock" meats look like the real thing. The mock "chicken" comes packaged in thin slices.

 

 

 

 

[CLW]

"Chicken" sammies for lunch. GF set me up with a vegan Chick-fil-A experience!  Takes pride in making "mock" meats look like the real thing. The mock "chicken" comes packaged in thin slices.
 

 

 
 

What is the "chicken" made of?

[billd766]

I made 3 homemade beef, mushroom and onion pies today.

 

I know next time to put more in the slow cooker or less in the pies but it certainly tasted great.

 

 

[tutsiwarrior]

had plenty of bok choy around and chicken breast and a carrot so I made some chow mein last night:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/15/chow-mein-recipe-felicity-cloake

 

this is easy to make but takes a bit of preparation; stir fry the veges and meat separately (onion, garlic, ginger) then cook the noodles for 5mins and then mix and toss with the noodles and the noodle sauce and simmer and usually turns out OK...I found that the big secret is the noodle sauce, play around with it until you get it right: the local 'big mama' oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin (mirin at makro, good to have on hand for other asian dishes and dressings)...I've found that a splash of vinegar at the end is nice as well...nice reheated or even eaten room temp...

 

ever notice that the thais always have a shelf fulla bottled cooking sauces close at hand?...I'm gettin' like that too...

 

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[Morch]

41 minutes ago, tutsiwarrior said:

had plenty of bok choy around and chicken breast and a carrot so I made some chow mein last night:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/15/chow-mein-recipe-felicity-cloake

 

this is easy to make but takes a bit of preparation; stir fry the veges and meat separately (onion, garlic, ginger) then cook the noodles for 5mins and then mix and toss with the noodles and the noodle sauce and simmer and usually turns out OK...I found that the big secret is the noodle sauce, play around with it until you get it right: the local 'big mama' oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin (mirin at makro, good to have on hand for other asian dishes and dressings)...I've found that a splash of vinegar at the end is nice as well...nice reheated or even eaten room temp...

 

ever notice that the thais always have a shelf fulla bottled cooking sauces close at hand?...I'm gettin' like that too...

 

 

 

ever notice that the thais always have a shelf fulla bottled cooking sauces close at hand?...I'm gettin' like that too...

 

I just wish they'd match the picture on the label to the contents of the bottle. Why is there a squid on the fish sauce bottle?!

[vogie]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

I made 3 homemade beef, mushroom and onion pies today.

 

I know next time to put more in the slow cooker or less in the pies but it certainly tasted great.

 

 

Bloody hell Bill, they look good enough to eat.

[billd766]

28 minutes ago, vogie said:

Bloody hell Bill, they look good enough to eat.

 

The best I can figure was just under 1kg of steak from Makro, 2 onions, about 250g of mushrooms from Makro, 2 beef stock cubes, salt, pepper, L&P Worcester sauce, oil, water, cornflour and a pack of frozen puff pastry, also from Makro. The cost to fill three 6 inch pie dishes was about 450 baht or less or perhaps 150 baht a pie.

 

I know what went into the pies unlike commercial pies.

 

I wasn't happy with the pastry so next time I will try to make my own.

 

Preparation time was about 20 minutes, slow cooking just over 2 hours. Pastry fiddling about 30 minutes, filling time 5 minutes and cooking the pie 30 minutes.

 

Worth the time and effort.

Edited April 4, 2018 by billd766
bad spelling noticed after posting, again

[Skeptic7]

20 hours ago, CLW said:

21 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

"Chicken" sammies for lunch. GF set me up with a vegan Chick-fil-A experience!  Takes pride in making "mock" meats look like the real thing. The mock "chicken" comes packaged in thin slices.
 
What is the "chicken" made of?

It's vegetable protein and soy flour, methinks. Here's a pic with ingredients in Thai.

 

[tutsiwarrior]

and here I am staring into the medium distance: 'wanna make some curried cauli and potato soup and ain't got no spices...' most of the stuff that I brought back from saudi is finished or gone off...but I got whole spices; cumin, coriander, fennel, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, etc...and I got a grinding attachment fer the blender (cheap locally purchased $10 blender 'Airy' brand) and then I thought: 'dare to struggle, dare to win!...'

 

used this recipe for homade garam masala:

 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/126089/garam-masala-spice-blend/

 

note that all ingredients are available at makro...I threw in some extra dried red chile flakes, didn't bother to roast the other ingredients, just pulse a bit with the blender...ground cumin and ground coriander no problem...did the garam masala with some extra cumin seeds and used the mixture as normal with the cauli and potato soup...and it was a triumph! I've noticed that in the past if ye grind the spices (mortar and pestle) as you need them then the flavor is more intense...very fragrant you'll notice before adding to the pot...

 

so, who needs goddam packaged spices, go down to makro and get easily available whole spices and grind yer own...ain't gonna be nobody's fool no more!

 

 

yassuh!

 

 

Edited April 10, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[MuntyC0re]

I just made backed potato with garlic and pork 

[Skeptic7]

Dedicated to Naam. GF decided to make a proper Aloo Gobi...dry preparation. 

 

[tutsiwarrior]

4 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Dedicated to Naam. GF decided to make a proper Aloo Gobi...dry preparation. 

 

 

just right...looked in the fridge today and have a cauli and a kilo of tatties...with a can of garbanzos and left over half small can of tomato paste (both from makro) now I'm ready to move on down the road...

 

fresh ground spices in the blender attachment as per my previous post...

 

can't get enough of them curried cauli and potatoes...

 

 

 

 

[tutsiwarrior]

On 4/13/2018 at 4:36 PM, tutsiwarrior said:

 

just right...looked in the fridge today and have a cauli and a kilo of tatties...with a can of garbanzos and left over half small can of tomato paste (both from makro) now I'm ready to move on down the road...

 

fresh ground spices in the blender attachment as per my previous post...

 

can't get enough of them curried cauli and potatoes...

 

 

 

 

 

got a bit side tracked as I had a look at this:

 

https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/50-how-to-make-mac-and-cheese?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below

 

and was fascinated...if yer an american you can remember a time during yer yoof when a meal could be had for $0.50 with a packet (box) of Krafts Macaroni and cheese...boil the pasta, drain and then add the 'cheese' packet, swish about and bob's yer uncle...

 

so I had half of a 500g package of elbow macaroni from tesco and a 250g package of Mainland 'Vintage' cheddar and set to work...man was that good...expensive, however as the cheese cost nearly 300 baht and used half...

 

back to the aloo gobi...ran outta dried flaked red chile as I've been using a lot in various dishes and then today down at the talat had look at the offering...the vendor lady eyed up the falang and then held up a bag of some vaguely red colored flaked chile and said: 'mai pet...'...

 

as I hate to be categorised I stuck out me chest and said: 'pet chop mak mak...' and then she held up another bag of a deeper red colored flaked chile and widened her eyes and said: 'pet mak...'

 

got it home and added a tsp (to be on the safe side) to the aloo gobi pot and it was significantly hotter than the previous flaked red chile that I had before...and I had thought that there was only one dried flaked red chile...not so...

 

watch out fer the flaked red chile at the talat...it's still better than any chile powder...

 

 

Edited April 15, 2018 by tutsiwarrior

[mogandave]

I remember Kraft mac & cheese at $0.15 a box...


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[james.d]

On 4/16/2018 at 1:07 AM, tutsiwarrior said:

and was fascinated...if yer an american you can remember a time during yer yoof when a meal could be had for $0.50 with a packet (box) of Krafts Macaroni and cheese...boil the pasta, drain and then add the 'cheese' packet, swish about and bob's yer uncle...

 

so I had half of a 500g package of elbow macaroni from tesco and a 250g package of Mainland 'Vintage' cheddar and set to work...man was that good...expensive, however as the cheese cost nearly 300 baht and used half...

I get the Mainland cheese out of convenience, but found it very oily indeed when grated for cheese on toast or cauliflower cheese.

I should try to find a better one without driving miles and miles.

[tutsiwarrior]

On 4/17/2018 at 2:35 PM, james.d said:

I get the Mainland cheese out of convenience, but found it very oily indeed when grated for cheese on toast or cauliflower cheese.

I should try to find a better one without driving miles and miles.

depends on how far ye live from a supply...every time I go up to the immigration 30km away for my 90 day report I go the the local big tescos and makro and load up on falang stuff...not much available locally...I always thought that Mainland was a respectable cheddar, especially the 'Epicure' but it's  pricey...

 

that's why the mac and cheese recipe was fascinating, never thought of making it in Thailand before...gonna havta load up on less aged, cheaper cheddar next time for that purpose...'cooking cheddar'...keep the tasty more aged stuff fer the sarnies...

 

 

[MuntyC0re]

omelette with bacon, tomatoes and cheese