Cooking and Dining

Postby **Shyster** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 1:56 pm

Making crockpot lasagna for this week. The last time I made it, it ended up a little dry because the noodles soaked up most of the moisture. What I did this time was add chopped mushrooms to the sauce, which were barely cooked. I figure they will add moisture as they cook down.

Postby **tifosi77** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 2:12 pm

Ordinarily, mushrooms absorb moisture more than release it.

Postby **Shyster** » Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:16 pm

Ordinarily, mushrooms absorb moisture more than release it.

I'm certainly strongly inclined to accept your statements on culinary matters. But your assertion seems to contradict my observations that mushrooms release a lot of moisture when cooked. Could you please elaborate?

Postby **tifosi77** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 1:35 am

I shall have to consult the Book Of Armaments, but my recollection is that mushrooms will initially give off a fair bit of moisture when you hit them with heat, and then fairly quickly reabsorb that liquid (plus whatever other liquid was in the pan) after a short period. That's particularly true of high heat cooking like sauteing.

Postby **Reveutopique** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:02 am

I'd shave a llama to have some Maryland crabs with old bay and beer on a golden sandy beach/ bay.

Postby **Algernon** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 6:16 am

My family is a bunch of pretty good cooks...

What always holds me back from enjoying cooking though, is my creativity goes right out the frigging window whenever I'm the slightest bit hungry and I'm one of those weird aliens that tracks his macros and has a bunch of legit food intolerances/ibs

So I cook plain stuff.... Pretty much all my meals you can put in a Dutch oven or on a grill....

Cooking for one person kinda sucks tho srs

Postby **blackjack68** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 8:17 am

I hadn't read the Decoder thread, but as soon as I saw this post and your mention of macros, I knew who you were.

Postby **Shyster** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:05 pm

I shall have to consult the Book Of Armaments, but my recollection is that mushrooms will initially give off a fair bit of moisture when you hit them with heat, and then fairly quickly reabsorb that liquid (plus whatever other liquid was in the pan) after a short period. That's particularly true of high heat cooking like sauteing.

Huh.

Postby **tifosi77** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:15 pm

Cooking for one person kinda sucks tho srs

That was actually how I came to the world of cookery. I had a stretch many years ago where I went about 13 months between full-time jobs. It coincided with the rise of Food Network, and so I spent my days when I was home watching hours of stand-and-stir shows. Mario Batali, for all his current cheeseballness, remains the biggest influence on my kitchen, and 'Molto Mario' is possibly the greatest instructional cooking show ever. Seek out reruns on Cooking Channel; you'll learn a lot, and you'll get surprised by the guests he has.

But I found that in cooking for myself, I was free to experiment. I could go to the market and get beef cheeks for $3 a pound and have food for five days without having to worry about someone else being all "Ew, cow face!" I'm lucky now, because Mrs Tif is an adventurous eater; I can say, "I'd like to cook monkfish liver this weekend," and she'll go, "Sweet! I love ankimo." My last girlfriend before Mrs Tif didn't eat chicken. Chicken.

Postby **blackjack68** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 3:31 pm

That's why she's your EX-girlfriend.

We export a lot of whole monk from NJ overseas because they want the liver.

Postby **shmenguin** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:11 pm

if i was cooking for myself, i'd probably be eating steak every day - until i perfected my technique with 100% accuracy.

and after steak, i'd move to a different protein...scallops maybe

Postby **tifosi77** » Tue Apr 21, 2015 8:15 pm

Lucky Peach (David Chang and Anthony Bourdain thing) Instant Ramen Power Rankings

Postby **blackjack68** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 5:44 am

Lived on Maruchen or Top Ramen through college.

Love the Roast Chicken although that seems like a newer flavor as I only recall Beef and Chicken from "back in the day."

Postby **Silentom** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 8:07 am

Lived on Maruchen or Top Ramen through college.

Love the Roast Chicken although that seems like a newer flavor as I only recall Beef and Chicken from "back in the day."

Roast chicken has been around for a while, I think. I remember there being a Roast Beef flavor, as well. Oriental has always been my favorite, though.

Postby **blackjack68** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 9:59 am

I didn't know there were so many flavors. I store carries like 5-6.

Flavors include:
Pork
Beef
Chicken
Lime Chicken
California Vegetable
Cheddar Cheese
Oriental
Roast Beef
Roast Chicken
Hot & Spicy Beef
Hot & Spicy Chicken
Cajun Shrimp
Creamy Chicken
Jalapeño Cheddar
Teriyaki Beef
Savory Soy Sauce
Mushroom
Picantè Beef
Picantè Chicken
Hot & Spicy Shrimp
Chili
Shrimp
Chicken Mushroom

Postby **shmenguin** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:05 am

Lived on Maruchen or Top Ramen through college.

Love the Roast Chicken although that seems like a newer flavor as I only recall Beef and Chicken from "back in the day."
Roast chicken has been around for a while, I think. I remember there being a Roast Beef flavor, as well. Oriental has always been my favorite, though.

oriental and pork were the best. add a couple eggs and some fresh ginger...

Postby **count2infinity** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:12 am

man... I need to step up my ramen game.

Postby **columbia** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:03 am

man... I need to step up my ramen game.

You should try to make your own noodles.

Postby **tifosi77** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:06 am

Alkaline salts are the key; in Japanese it's called 'kansui'. Changing the pH of the noodles keeps them from disintegrating in the broth.

Postby **columbia** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:09 am

I'm definitely always down for cooking up a pack of ramen noodles and adding miso, sesame oil, soy sauce, hot pepper paste, scallions, leftover whatever protein and some kind of greesn to it. Simple and a good way to clean out the fridge.

Postby **count2infinity** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:10 am

man... I need to step up my ramen game.
You should try to make your own noodles.

I think that's definitely a "pay the man" kind of job.

I'm sure I'll try to do it some day, but not any times soon.

Postby **tifosi77** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:15 am

I'm writing a cookbook that's pretty much going to be just for friends. I'm calling it 'Not Your Room Mate's Ramen', because gussying up instant ramen was one of the first ways I experimented with flavor combinations.

Postby **count2infinity** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:16 am

you should blog tif. i'll make some guest appearances if you'd like. lol

we can call it Fancypants (that's you) and the down home cook (that's me).

Postby **shmenguin** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:20 am

I'm writing a cookbook that's pretty much going to be just for friends. I'm calling it 'Not Your Room Mate's Ramen', because gussying up instant ramen was one of the first ways I experimented with flavor combinations.

and thus began your love affair with MSG

Postby **tifosi77** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 12:44 pm

Ironically, I used to abhor the flavor packet in instant ramen, and would instead make my own broth, usually chicken stock fortified with butter and fresh herbs. The MSG thing came later.

(FYI, I made burgers over the weekend [95% 85/15 chuck, 5% Benton's bacon] and accompanied them with a garlic aïoli made with a kiss of Most Super Good.)