Good Eating!

[Roto Rooter]

It's really hard to do a search for good eatin if you're looking for the good eatin thread. It's obviously not that popular.

[onejayhawk]

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.

A sticky index thread be a good idea.

you could post the carry overs from the old site as a thread. We could spin off BarBQ and the peppers into its own thread. There is the annual weight loss thread, which could be referenced. Various how to and advice threads would also be good, such as the current one on satellite TV.

J

[johnnya24]

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.

Never thought of that ... I wonder how Googlebots deal with stickied threads on vBulletin. A food thread, or anything in the Sports Bar is probably not going to be something we want to emphasize for Google mind you ... focus needs to be on baseball, fantasy baseball, roto etc. ... core audience ... anything else could confuse the classification of the site.

Personally I have a tendency to ignore stickied threads ... maybe the fact they are always there makes me feel there is nothing new in them so I never bother checking. Whereas if a thread pops up I haven't seen in a while, I always check it out. Maybe just me.

Though I like the stickied Index thread with links to the popular or recurring threads. That's a good idea.

[JudeBaldo]

It's really hard to do a search for good eatin if you're looking for the good eatin thread. It's obviously not that popular.

That's not necessarily the case. Sometimes these things get lost because people simply decide to create a new thread all together instead of using an older one.

So I'm thinking of ways to organize things using a standard typology that we're all familiar with in an effort to make the Sports Bar more habitable for its current denizens, while potentially catering to new customers.

Never thought of that ... I wonder how Googlebots deal with stickied threads on vBulletin. A food thread, or anything in the Sports Bar is probably not going to be something we want to emphasize for Google mind you ... focus needs to be on baseball, fantasy baseball, roto etc. ... core audience ... anything else could confuse the classification of the site.

Personally I have a tendency to ignore stickied threads ... maybe the fact they are always there makes me feel there is nothing new in them so I never bother checking. Whereas if a thread pops up I haven't seen in a while, I always check it out. Maybe just me.

Though I like the stickied Index thread with links to the popular or recurring threads. That's a good idea.

PM me and I'll shoot you my e-mail and we can throw around some ideas. What we can do with sticked threads is highlighting them differently so as to make them aesthetically more pleasing.

Certainly better to emphasize it as a fantasy site, but it's also true that the Sports Bar is commonly one of the more popular forums, so I thought I'd use this first as a model to see what works and what doesn't.

[TranaGreg]

Personally I have a tendency to ignore stickied threads ... maybe the fact they are always there makes me feel there is nothing new in them so I never bother checking. Whereas if a thread pops up I haven't seen in a while, I always check it out. Maybe just me.

Not just you ... i don't pay them much attention either.

[Bob Kohm]

Sticky threads are always ignored and the next person who changes the title of a long standing thread to anything with "exceelent" in it will be killed and their corpse fed to the otters. And get off of my lawn.

[onejayhawk]

Sticky threads are always ignored and the next person who changes the title of a long standing thread to anything with "exceelent" in it will be killed and their corpse fed to the otters. And get off of my lawn.

BK takes his food seriously. Its the one thing we agree about.

J

[onejayhawk]

For BK before His New Years party.

This is a winner of a 2005 Holiday Cookie Contest.

Finely grind the walnuts in your food processor for 15 to 20 seconds. Do not overprocess the nuts or they will become greasy.

Italian Rum Balls
Ingredients

Dough
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened but still cool
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons light rum
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
Coating
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), melted
1 1/2 cups walnuts, finely ground
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. For the dough: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. With electric mixer, beat softened butter and brown sugar at medium speed until no sugar lumps remain, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add rum and beat at medium-low until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. With mixer running at low speed, gradually add flour and mix until just combined.

3. Roll dough into thirty-six 1-inch balls. Place 18 balls on each prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart; refrigerate overnight or freeze for 1 hour.

4. For the coating: Pour melted butter into shallow pie plate. In separate shallow pie plate, mix walnuts, granulated sugar, and cinnamon until well blended.

5. Bake cookies until lightly browned, rotating sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 2 minutes; transfer with metal spatula to wire rack to cool completely, at least 30 minutes. Dip each ball in melted butter, then roll in walnut mixture to coat well.

[DJBeasties]

I made Tom Yum soup last night. I already want to make it again though so I can make it better. I even had an employee at the Saigon Asian Market showing me what galangal was and how to cut up the lemongrass. She also gave me a lecture about not making broth from scratch. The soup is good but I want to get this perfect and explode people's heads. It's spicy, sour and full of great flavor. Winter is good for soup.

[onejayhawk]

Here is a great party dish.

TexMex Lasagna

Lasagna
2 cans chili (no beans)
2 cups cottage cheese
3 cups pepper jack, jack, colby or mozzerella cheese, shredded
1 can green chilies, drained and minced
5 scallions, greens only, sliced
1 egg, beaten
S&P

Cook the lasagna noodles to just limp. Drain.
Combine the cottage cheese, 2 cups shredded cheese, onion tops (reserving 1 Tbsp), minced chilies, egg, salt and pepper; mix well.
Spray a baking dish thoroughly.
Spread 3/4 cup chili over the bottom of the baking dish.
Cover with noodles.
Place half of the cheese mixture evenly over the noodles, then top with half of the remaining chili.
Repeat
Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350°
Remove foil. Cover with remaining shredded cheese
Bake 10 more minutes
Sprinkle on remaining onion tops.

You could use ricotta cheese or queso blanco, which may be the best option. Chili with beans would work. You could also add corn. I would skip the canned chilies but thin the chili with a couple of cans of Rotel.

A couple of dried mushrooms would help a great deal. Reconstitute in a cup of hot water. Use the water to thin the chili and mince the shrooms into the cheese mixture. Alternatively, a couple of spoons of minced black olive in the chili. Dont worry about it getting soupy. The macaroni will absorb the extra. Just rest an extra 5 minutes. If it is not a little soupy, add some tomato juice.

If you are using a good quality noodle, it need not be precooked. Increase the moisture with 8 oz of yogurt and and some V8 or tomato juice. Increase the covered cooking time to 45 minutes.

J

[DJBeasties]

I just signed up for Thai cooking classes. I am beyond excited. This is going to take food to a new level.

[onejayhawk]

Judith brought this to my attention

From The Cranks Bible by Nadine Abensur

"It’s great on grilled fish and grilled or steamed vegetables—a secret weapon for making healthy stuff taste great."

1 bunch (about 3 1/2 ounces) Italian parsley, including stems
1 bunch (about 3 1/2 ounces) cilantro, including stems
6 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
4 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon Spanish smoked paprika, a.k.a. pimentón
1 teaspoon sea salt

Process in food processor for 30 seconds on high.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then process for 30 more seconds.

It's a spicy pesto. You could add frozen peas, mint, onion tops or any herb. Adding some of the lemon zest would not hurt. Replacing the lemon juice with lime juice or good quality vinegar would add a different tang without altering the impact much. Instead of smoked paprika and pepper flakes, you could use a chipotle pepper and some adobo sauce.

J

PS Has it really been a year since this thread was bumped?

[onejayhawk]

Memorial day will be small. Just a 4 pound pork shoulder. I rubbed it with

2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup iodine free salt
1 Tbsp each ground chipotle and black pepper
1 tsp each ground mustard, cumin, celery seed and garlic powder

Tomorrow it goes on the pit with water on the side for steam and temperature control

Mopping sauce

1/2 cup each ketchup and soy sauces
1 oz Thai fish sauce
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
juice of 2 key limes
2 Tbsp honey
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

What's in your smoker?

J

[Boone]

What's in your smoker?

J[/QUOTE]

Well I did a brisket and a turkey breast for the family - about 13 pounds of meat for the four of us, and we'll finish it all in another day or two.

But the best dish of the weekend was a side -- spicy cucumber salad.

1)
3 cukes
2 tsp. kosher salt

Slice the cukes, sprinkle with kosher salt, place in a colander for one hour.

2)
2/3 cup rice vinegar
2/3 cup water
4 packets Splenda (no lie!)
1 tsp. crushed red pepper

Put in a small pot and boil until liquid is reduced by about half

3)
1 cup diced red onion

Add this to the liquid

4)
Combine the liquid and the cukes, put in a bowl, and refrigerate for an hour.

[DJBeasties]

Anyone have a good receipe for chicken and apples? My son (7 years old) is really into cooking and cooking shows right now. I asked him want he wants to make and he said something with chicken and apples. I found a bunch of recipes but just curious if you guys had any suggestions?