Culinary Discussion, We could call it our House of Earthly Delights... Options

[Thomas Kaira]

...but that would be naughty, now, wouldn't it?

This is a thread for any food-related discussion. Found a nice recipe? Please share it! Is there any particular cultural cuisine you wish to discuss? Perhaps you need some help with us pesky Yanks still not adopting the metric system?

I thought our forums were missing something in the way of real down-to-earth discussion and sharing of our culinary experiences. Sure, we see them a lot in Fan-fics, but we never really get to dig into them (bad pun intended) in the same way as actually discussing this world-within-our-world can. I am seeing more and more food segments in the fan-fics that I read, so I think the time has come for us to have an honest-to-goodness culinary discussion thread.

To kick things off, I would like to share a recipe of my own concoction... Veal Osso Bucco, a Northern Italian classic.

Veal Osso Bucco & Sauce Accompaniment

Yield: 4 Portions

Ingredients
Veal Shank w/ marrow bone: 1lb
AP Flour: As Needed
Olive Oil: 2Tbsp
Butter, Clarified: 2Tbsp
Mirepoix, Standard Ratio: 1Lb
Garlic Clove: 2Ea
Red Wine: 1/2Cup
Tomatoes: 12oz
Veal Stock: 1qt
Lemon Zest: 1Tbsp
S&P: TT
Marjoram: 1tsp
*Gremolata: 1oz
-Gremolata
-Parsley: 3tsp
-Lemon Zest: 1tsp
-Garlic Clove: 1Ea

Mise en Place
-Clean, Sanitize workspace
-Gather utensils, pots, pans
-Gather ingredients
-Small Dice Mirepoix, Tomatoes
-Zest Lemons
-Mince Garlic
-Fine-Chop Parsley

Method
1. Preheat Oven 350*, add Oil, Butter to heated pot.
2. Season, brown Veal.
3. Remove Veal, add Mirepoix, Garlic, sweat.
4. Deglaze pot, Red Wine.
5. Add Tomatoes, Veal Stock, bring to simmer.
6. Return Beef to pot, add Lemon Zest, place in oven.
7. Braise, 3 to 4 hours, or until tender.
8. Remove Veal, degrease sauce
9. Reduce Sauce; thicken as needed, strain.
10. Rub Veal w/ Gremolata, return to sauce to reheat.
11. Finish w/ fresh Marjoram.
12. Garnish with Gremolata on the marrow bone.

Believe me, don't skip the marrow bone, it's really that important to this dish.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Feb 13 2011, 07:43 PM

[Ahrenil]

Sprinkling the tiniest bit of sugar on your bacon when you fry it will make it fry up crispy and perfect.

As a student working off budgeted time before I have to leave for lectures I simply must try this, it takes forever to crisp up bacon normally.

Also to attempt to feel like a contributor I shall add one of my favourite student budget recipes. (Though I am obviously outclassed by the profesional chefs)

Studenty Spaghetti Bolagnaise (I believe that is the spelling anyway)
-Makes around 3-4 portions depending on how you ration, and how much you eat-

500g Mince-I usually go for the best mince simply because it's key to so much of the flavour.
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2-3 rashers of bacon.
Lee and Perrins or another Worcetershire sauce
Half an onion
Half a large pepper
Salt and Pepper.
1 clove of garlic
Enough spaghetti for how many portions you serve at once.

-The walkthrough-

The peppers and onions can be chopped up to taste, I tend to finely slice them both but not dice, as well as some fine slicing of the garlic.
I shall work off the assumptions that people here know how to cook spaghetti, so stick that on.
Heat up your hob and put some oil into a frying pan, i'd suggest using a large lidded one (Though I do not have one with me at Uni)
Lightly fry the mince until it's browned, I don't tend to work off times but i'd say this should only take maybe 7-10 minutes.
Once it's browned nicely add in the onions, pepper and garlic. Meanwhile I tear up the bacon, I find the overall texture is better that way rather than slicing or cutting it with scissors. Fry all of this until the bacons cooked, but not crisp, and the onions have browned.
By this time the spaghetti should be done so set that to drain, and add the chopped tomatoes to your bolagnaise, season it with some salt and pepper and add a healthy dose of the Worcestershire sauce.
Now depending on how thick you want the sauce you can turn down the heat and stick on a lid to let it simmer, or boil it down for a thinner sauce though this may take longer.

I tend to eat all of this at once, because I don't eat much during the day, however it should be fine to portion up and chill, as long as you finish it in a few days and reheat thoroughly.


This post has been edited by Ahrenil: Feb 28 2011, 05:56 PM