Who's Cooking?

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:29 pm

i was just thinking the other day that a fellow who couldnt cook would have a hard time at this hobby. do you guys agree or disagree? what made me think about this was when i was cooking some rice and i waited for the water to become cloudy so that i knew that the starch had started to release from the grain. Or do i just have a problem?

mtnwalker2 · Post by **mtnwalker2** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:57 pm

Since I do my stilling outside with propane and with a half keg full, I have adopted, or at least am going to attempt a new hobby, to coincide the time.

I bought a full set of campfire dutch ovens, and a table with windscreen, and a charcoal chimney.

I will light my still, light the charcoal and fill the afternoon with visions of good things. I have used cast iron over open fires, but this ushers in a total new phase, and many more avenues of bakeing. Looking forward to sourdough breads and deep dish cobblers, dump cakes and on and on.

I think the 2 hobbies will compliment each other nicely during the allocated times.

Looking forward to this. Can't redistill or carbon filter my food mistakes though. My hound will have a hay day! He'll eat anything.

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:11 pm

sound like you been watching that campfire cafe show. i love that show. got a 2qt dutch oven i use at least 5 days a week. never leaves the stove. almost. used it on a campfire and it turned the prettiest black you ever seen. looked almost as good as grandmas skillet. cast iron is awsum. ive got 5 of grandmas skillets,a 5qt dutch oven and a 4qt boiler from my uncle. he was a scout master. love that stuff. seasoning a 11qt jambalaya pot too.

mtnwalker2 · Post by **mtnwalker2** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:52 pm

Ricky, I have those also, but for this hobby away from the house a bit, outside at least, they are camp dutch ovens with legs under them so you can put charcoal under them, and an inverted type of lid so you put charcoal or hot ashes on the top as well. Bakes like an oven, top and bottom, but almost seals like a pressure cooker to keep steam and juices in.

At home, and in the Scouts when I was a kid, we would dig a hole, fill it several inches deep with hot fire coals, set the covered pot in and bury with hot ashes, then a sealing layer of dirt or debris over the top to seal in the heat. That evening, the most fantastic dinner ever. Best cobbler I ever had was a blackberry- bisquick combo, set in the ground for 10 hours.

Course, that was 50 years ago, and didn't have an appropriate brandy to set it off correctly, so am hopeing to improve it some!!!

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 6:06 pm

i unerstand. the 2qt doesnt have legs but its got the proper lid. the 5qt has it all. never buried one just put the coals on top. definetly a a lost art. wish you luck.

punkin · Post by **punkin** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:30 pm

Yes cooked sauce today...

My favourite Mango Chillie Sauce Bajan style.

Mix 8-12 seeded haberneros
couplea birdseyes,
couplea jalepenos,
5 tablespoons rice wine vinegar in the whizzer and mince till liquid.

Add slowly,
1 large 800 gm can mango's drained,
1 cup american hotdog mustard
1/4 cup dark brown or maidera sugar
1 tablespoon Keens Curry powder
2 teaspoons Cumin
3/4 tablespoon chillie powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cracked 4 pepercorn mix.

Mix in the blender and bottle.

Be very carefull eating it

Makes nice xmas presents in a hamper..

Post by **bronzdragon** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:58 am

Brewing and thereby, distilation is a cooking activity. Brewing, used to take it's place right beside cooking the meal. The mom of the family would make the dinner and brew the beer.

In modern society, just a guess, but probably 1400-to present brewing became more of a man's job. But in some parts of the world, it's still the woman's job.

But yes, I agree that brewing and distilation is an offshoot cooking activity. Of course I'm a pastry chef, so I'm not exactly non-biased.

~r~

Butch50 · Post by **Butch50** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 11:04 am

Big time amateur cook here. Love to cook. Cooking a turkey right now, got a great after holdiay price on a fine 13 pounder.

I also started a sourdough starter today and will start experimenting with baking sourdough bread. I cook a lot, but have not done any baking to speak of.

Bsnapshot · Post by **Bsnapshot** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:48 am

I agree this hobby goes along with cooking. I not only make my own wine and beer but cook all kinds of stuff. I even make my own salsa, can pickles, green beans, soup, jelly, beef jerky, grow my own herbs for cooking and I even make my own candles.

wineo · Post by **wineo** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:52 am

Ive been cooking since I was tall enough to reach the stove.I used to work as a cook at a high end place.Right now I am cooking a marinated rump roast that sit in the fridge with seasonings and elderberry wine since yesterday.Im cooking it on a roticerie,nice and slow.I will slice it up,and serve it with au jus,and mashed potatos and bisquits.My grandmaw was a great country style cook,and thats where I learned to cook.

Post by **HookLine** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:45 am

Wineo, sounds nice, I love a good roast, but what is au jus?

SloppyJoe · Post by **SloppyJoe** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:26 am

translated I beleive that "au jus" means "with it's own juice"

ya know how when you cook a roast or something and the pan has all that good juice in the bottom of it.. yea... you know what I'm talkin about... That's au jus.

Basically the natural juices of the meat used as a dipping sauce. I believe some recipes will add spices and such to flavor it up a bit...

Great stuff that jus.

wineo · Post by **wineo** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:06 pm

Its a thin gravy that goes with roast beef.

Post by **HookLine** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:25 pm

Thanks guys, sounds something like what I do. Just make gravy from the juices with nothing but a little water, salt, pepper, although I also thicken it a bit with a sprinkle of flour.

mtnwalker2 · Post by **mtnwalker2** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 6:18 pm

There's been several comments about makeing sourdough breads, and that is one of my interests. But also, Kefir, which is like a yougert, but more healthy, milk based and has an alchohal content aroud 6%. Like I said healthy.

Sounds so simular to sourdough, and has some great cheese potential which I am looking forward to trying.
Found this site interesting.
http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Like Pint and some of you others, I like fermented foods. Can this possibly be better than buttermilk, home made? Time will tell. Some of the cheeses sound great and so easy. Real, dry, cottage cheese, is fantastic. Nothing like the store bought plastic curds.

Just to vent a bit. I have a galley kitchen that I cannot abide. Like cooking in a bathroom. Hopeing next spring, money allowing to build a kitchen, distillery room, and wine agenda,all into one. A wood cook stove, gas range, and electric, huge sink, wash tub, with high pressure sprayer, and a lot of counter space in island format. Nothing fancy, I will make my own cabinets, windows and doors. Have it about 30' from the house. A reasonable deck outside for my propane setup, and off to the side a noderate smoke house. Life can always be improved upon. Have 2 deer going into the freezer tommorrow. Hopeing for some more soon. Geese are flllying like ducks and doves now. Good time of year.

Bob E · Post by **Bob E** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:36 am

I'm not much of a cook. I haven't distilled anything yet, but the brewing and fermentation process is easy enough to understand and do. Of course without the internet I wouldn't have known where to start.
I made some hard cider not too long ago. Bought the apple cider from a local orchard and they gave me a couple free samples of "mulling spice" tea bags. I thought this mulling spice mix was some kinda new fangled thing, to make apple cider taste like an apple pie, which nobody knew about. So I ran out to buy all the different spices labeled on the ingredients. It didn't take me to long to figure out that mulling spice mix is pretty common stuff.

Dutchmancreek · Post by **Dutchmancreek** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:50 am

This could turn out to be a great thread....I love distilling, cast iron campfire cooking, smoking and grilling. I've got a great backyard fire pit with a cookset and swing grill (I make them...another hobby is blacksmithing) that I use frequently.

Right now I'm between whiskey runs and am going to smoke a turkey and a ham later this week. In January, I'm going to make bacon and canadian bacon. Yum

punkin · Post by **punkin** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:20 am

Got 4 cryovacced pork bellies sitting in the bottom of my fridge atm. I'm thinking, marinated ribs, ham cured smokey belly, dry bacon, salami. and pork sausages. Just gotta order the salami skins and the nitrates/trites.
Xmas is actually gunna be at home this year, so thinking of putting a small rolled turkey roast, a pork leg and a chicken in my small spit, and a couple more chooks and a ham leg in the oven inside.

Might even bone out some chickens and do em chinese style on the BBQ, that's always popular

Does anyone know wherein Aus to order the big syringe type basters you guys in the states use for your BBQ'ing ?

Dutchmancreek · Post by **Dutchmancreek** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:28 am

Punkin..try boneless chicken on skewers, marinated, grilled over charcoal, and served with peanut butter sauce. Thai sates. Yum.

A new sausage grinder is on my Christmas list, and I'm planning on building a cold smoker (as if I need another smoker or grill) for jerkey and bacon.

Steve

Dutchmancreek · Post by **Dutchmancreek** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:39 am

Here's a picture of my fire pit....lots of good food cooked, cigars smoked, and whiskey enjoyed.

Chev · Post by **Chev** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:04 pm

Personally I love to make pizza! Making pizza dough is what got me interested in how yeast works, and what fermentation is exactly. Is there any better accompaniment to a good drink besides your favorite pizza fresh from the oven?

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:44 pm

Dutch,that looks like the place to be!

Post by **HookLine** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:52 pm

Ricky wrote:Dutch,that looks like the place to be!

Sure does. [Envy icon]

Butch50 · Post by **Butch50** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:31 pm

Chev wrote:Personally I love to make pizza! Making pizza dough is what got me interested in how yeast works, and what fermentation is exactly. Is there any better accompaniment to a good drink besides your favorite pizza fresh from the oven?

I have a fondness for dark semi-sweet choclate with my whisky. Sip some whisky and take a small nibble of chocolate - they just go together so well.

With beer I really like boiled peanuts.

alice · Post by **alice** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:03 pm

punkin wrote:Xmas is actually gunna be at home this year, so thinking of putting a small rolled turkey roast, a pork leg and a chicken in my small spit, and a couple more chooks and a ham leg in the oven inside.

I'll be there about 10 am, want me to bring some ice?

punkin · Post by **punkin** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 11:01 am

alice wrote:
punkin wrote:Xmas is actually gunna be at home this year, so thinking of putting a small rolled turkey roast, a pork leg and a chicken in my small spit, and a couple more chooks and a ham leg in the oven inside.
I'll be there about 10 am, want me to bring some ice?

Nah, got a big mother ice machine at work....one more thing i don't have to pay for.

punkin · Post by **punkin** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:34 pm

I'm a lover of Beef Jerky.
Deer Jeky.

Etc etc

Just discovered a new snack though...

I'm sitting here eating some dried chickpeas, i soaked 24 hours ago with a little bicarb and some water.

I drained and washed em, than shook em dry and shallow fried em in vegetable oil.

I toasted some spices in the meantime;
A lot of seasalt
A lot of chillii powder (i spilt it

)
Some black pepercorns
A fair bit of szechuan peppercorns
some white pepper, cloves, cinnamon, bits and pieces.

When i dished the peas out and drained em momentarily over wire and towels i sprinkled the toasted spice mix i'd crushed in my mortar/pestle and added a squeeze of lime.

Don't get caught in your teeth like popcorn and tasty as hell

Dutchmancreek · Post by **Dutchmancreek** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:58 am

Looks like this thread could get started again. I just made breakfast sausage yesterday and should get started on bratwursts this week. (I got a meat grinder and sausage stuffer for Christmas).

The yard is a disaster after all the horrible winter weather (I hope it's over) and I'll be pretty busy for a while after it dries up a bit. I also gotta re-paint the pool bottom this spring and stain the house siding.

Can't wait to get the smokers out of the shop building and get started.

punkin · Post by **punkin** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:11 am

An update on the chickpeas...

I'm lucky i didn't suffocate last night, i'm sure the whole in the ozone layer got bigger too.

I've never seen anything like em for flatulence

Can'tWaitToTryEmOutOnTheBoysNextTripAwayPunkin

Post by **HookLine** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:50 am

I was gonna say something, but it was too late by then, and I figured you'd find out soon enough anyway.