Good Eating!

[DJBeasties]

Many years ago when I was in China I got involved in a discussion on how difficult it is to do a proper stirfry in a North America home because you need a propane fired wok that can get up to 800-1000 degrees F at least (if not higher) ... not too many home kitchens can accommodate that. hmm, I think I have a good idea for lunch today ...

Yeah I was able to watch a great Thai chef prepare our meals last weekend and the wok itself was a thing of beauty, nevermind the awesome burner underneath. I am just an hooked on the great textures, mixture of proteins, veggies, rice, noodles and powerful balance of flavors. It definitely makes me a happier person.

[onejayhawk]

Many years ago when I was in China I got involved in a discussion on how difficult it is to do a proper stirfry in a North America home because you need a propane fired wok that can get up to 800-1000 degrees F at least (if not higher) ... not too many home kitchens can accommodate that. hmm, I think I have a good idea for lunch today ...

You can get there with black cast iron on a gas stove, but most people stop way short.

J

[TranaGreg]

You can get there with black cast iron on a gas stove, but most people stop way short.

J

agreed. I also used to do it with cast-iron on my kick-ass bbq with some pretty good results.

BTW, I went back to the start of this thread & opened the pdf of RJ recipes from the old site going back to 2001 ... some great stuff in there.

[Gregg]

I had this simple dish in a roadside joint named Mickey's. It was called Mickey's Nachos.

It was so good we decided to make it at home. Great for football game.

They used their own sturdy homemade potato chips. I used Krunchers and they held up really well.

All you do is lay out Krunchers on a flat cookie sheet, melt Cheddar Cheese over them in the broiler. Then put on your own favorite BBQ pulled pork over them and serve.

So simple and yet so good.

[DJBeasties]

Has anyone ever made chili powder from scratch? I have a big pile of green poblanos and I really don't want to make a meal out of them but I Think a powder would be great.

I read instructions and it said to hang the poblanos for a few weeks and let them dry out but how do they not end up rotting? Also it said let them turn dark red? Seems strange to me. I can only envision them molding.

[DJBeasties]

To answer my own question, I have let them turn somewhat red and now I have split them, de-seeded them and now drying them out in the oven on 175 deg. Then I will turn them to power with the dried seeds that are roasting in a ramekin. Then I will turn them to powder and cook with it.

[JudeBaldo]

I'm "sticking" this thread because we have a lot of useful reference threads and sometimes it's a pain in the ass to find them.

I'm really loving this show and the first episode was on ramen. Tsukumen ramen to be exact. I have been a big big fan of ramen for a long time, but I got lucky and I'm a bike ride away from what's considered to be one of the best ramen restaurants in America. Old school and only served for a few short hours a day. So I'm really happy this show devoted their first episode on ramen.

Watch The Mind of a Chef, Episode 1: Noodle on PBS. See more from The Mind of a Chef.

[onejayhawk]

Its that time of year again: sweets are 5 lb/$1.00.

I ran across a vegan bisque recipe, and threw this together from what I remembered

Vegan Sweet Potato Bisque

2 large sweet potatoes
1 medium onion
Garlic to taste
3 cups mixed vegetable juice (V8)
1 can green peppers, washed and minced
2-3 tsp grated ginger (1 tsp dry)
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 cups broth
1 cup peanut butter
Cilantro for garnish

Bake or microwave sweet potatoes til tender
Sauté onion in a little oil til it starts to caramelize and reduces by half
Add garlic if desired
Add V8, peppers and spices.
Heat to low boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes
Peel sweet potatoes
Chunk cut one and add to soup
Put other potato, peanut butter and broth in a blender
Process til smooth
Add to soup
Garnish and serve

I would go non vegetarian, and use a quart of poultry stock for the liquid, plus a spoon of tomato paste or small can of sauce. By "large" I would guess 12 oz (300 g) or larger. Rather than canned green peppers, this just cries out for a flame roasted medium heat pepper: Anaheim or Pasilla, maybe Ancho. Roast, peel, dice and add to onions about half way through the reduction. Also I could see serving this with a dollop of yogurt floating in the middle.

J

[onejayhawk]

Has anyone ever made chili powder from scratch? I have a big pile of green poblanos and I really don't want to make a meal out of them but I Think a powder would be great.

I'm sorry I missed this first time through. Your method sounds good, though you have to be carful about over doing it. By now I assume you have finished your grinding nd sifting. Properly made powder has a shelf life of many months, but it will go flat eventually. Store it in the dark, preferably in an airtight canister.

I would look for whole chipotle peppers in your specialty area. These are smoke dried jalapeno peppers. Powder a couple of these and add them to the batch you made. It makes for a nice smoky flavor in the mix.

The stuff sold as "Chili Powder" is a mixture. For 10 parts powdered chili, add one part each garlic powder, cumin powder and crushed oregano (Mexican oregano if you can get it) and black pepper. Adjust to taste, eg I like double cumin. This leaves out the salt, so adjust accordingly.

J

[DJBeasties]

I'm sorry I missed this first time through. Your method sounds good, though you have to be carful about over doing it. By now I assume you have finished your grinding nd sifting. Properly made powder has a shelf life of many months, but it will go flat eventually. Store it in the dark, preferably in an airtight canister.

I would look for whole chipotle peppers in your specialty area. These are smoke dried jalapeno peppers. Powder a couple of these and add them to the batch you made. It makes for a nice smoky flavor in the mix.

The stuff sold as "Chili Powder" is a mixture. For 10 parts powdered chili, add one part each garlic powder, cumin powder and crushed oregano (Mexican oregano if you can get it) and black pepper. Adjust to taste, eg I like double cumin. This leaves out the salt, so adjust accordingly.

J

hey thanks J. I have them in an airtight jar on a shelf in a cupboard. I sneak it into a bunch of things and it's a definitely nice to learn a new way of using them.

[onejayhawk]

For true fanatics, the very best chili powder is from chiltepin, AKA chili pequin, AKA Bird's Eye. These things are between cayenne (8) and habenero (10) on the heat scale, but they have fantastic flavor.

FWIW, chiltipin is thought to be the mother of domesticated peppers and certainly one of the oldest known varieties. Chiltepin is the ONLY wild chile native to the US and is protected in several national parks.

J

[Frank]

In my opinion, the best Chili is from Southern New Mexico - Los Cruces area.

[johnnya24]

Not a huge fan of stickied threads ... they just clog up the top of the forum. Also not sure why a 2 year old thread with 25 replies is sticky worthy.

Just stick exceelent in the title to make it easier to find

[bryanbutler]

i have to kinda agree with johnny - this seems an odd sticky. i don't have my panties in a bunch over it, but it just seems weird...

[JudeBaldo]

Not a huge fan of stickied threads ... they just clog up the top of the forum. Also not sure why a 2 year old thread with 25 replies is sticky worthy.

Just stick exceelent in the title to make it easier to find

I was actually considering changing this thread's title to "Exceelent Eatin!" and sticking all of the "exceelent" threads. My thoughts are that they're useful references and my help us with Google's learning machine and attract new members. If you got other ideas I'm open to hearing them.