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USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Either way, I see things I can do that don't involve cutting out my sweet treats, or cutting out fruit, or going to any sort of extremes.

I can fix this. Good news is that winter squashes are out, and things like asparagus are in.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Also, get it out of your mind that I eat nothing but my own baked goods. Can't live on Crunchy Peanut Butter Banana Bread alone.

My average day:

Breakfast: steel cut oats, 3 sunny side up eggs

Snack: fruit and unsalted nuts

Lunch: leftovers from the night before. If I weren't going out for lunch tomorrow, it would be sweet potato and Brussels sprouts hash with ground turkey and dried cranberries, with balsamic glaze squeezed over the top.

Dinner is usually something like chicken thighs or pork tenderloin, sauteed spinach, and a starch, either white/sweet mashed potatoes, quinoa pilaf, or what I have available.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

MissThundercat said:
Looked at a recipe for basic peanut butter bread, realized it could use some love, so I made it Double Chocolate Crunchy Peanut Butter Bread.

And yet, I run marathons.
Click to expand...

My apologies for poor timing on this, but would you mind sharing that recipe? Feel free to not, but thought I would ask.

My wife and I were thinking about making banana bread for a party this weekend, and I thought about this recipe you've been tweaking over the past number of months.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

St. Clown said:
My apologies for poor timing on this, but would you mind sharing that recipe? Feel free to not, but thought I would ask.

My wife and I were thinking about making banana bread for a party this weekend, and I thought about this recipe you've been tweaking over the past number of months.
Click to expand...

3 ripe bananas, mashed to a pulp
2 eggs, beaten senselessly
2 cups unbleached AP flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup crunchy peanut butter (I use Jif, natural separates, leaving a mess)
start with 2 cups whole milk, though I went to 2.5.
Semi-sweet chocolate chips (you measure that sh-t with your heart)

Procedure:

Before you start mixing, turn your oven to 350F/375F (if doing muffins)
Mash the bananas in a large bowl.
Beat the eggs separately, then add them and stir.
Mix the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, baking soda, peanut butter, and milk together. If the batter is still too tough to stir with two cups of milk, add another half cup. DO NOT OVER MIX!
Add in the chocolate chips and stir those in.
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan/muffin tin.
May need to go a little longer than 1 hour if doing bread/25 minutes for muffins/15 minutes for mini muffins. Just check with fork or toothpick.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

For the record, St. Clown...

I didn't spend months tweaking it. That night, I just looked... and I was able to improvise successfully.

And no, don't feel bad for asking me to share the recipe. It lets me share my creativity with you people.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Culinary things that pi55 me off:

Buying a pot roast that looks promising, and then even after 8 hours in the slow cooker, it turns out to be mediocre, sinewy garbage. Why must chuck roast be so hit-or-miss, no matter how much you dig through the pile in the grocery store meat bathtub, looking for the one that appears to have the best marbling?
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Have you gone to a higher quality shop? Like a family butcher shop?

Also, Hy-Vee has some pretty amazing meats in the store next to my house. I’ve also heard amazing things about Costco meats.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Yes, I have three options that have better meat counters, but I'd never use them for something like chuck roast. *sigh*

Get what you pay for, I suppose.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Honestly, why not? Pay a buck a pound more. If the product is better I’d go for it.

But I get where you’re coming from. The meat counter is why I’ve switched from Cub Foods to Hy-Vee. I dislike everything else about Hy-Vee but their meat counter is second to none in my extended area.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

I've never had to buy a roast. There are too many of them in a steer, so we always have plenty. Have to buy better cuts, because we go through steaks much faster than ground beef or roasts.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Bought a new grill yesterday. Weber Genesis 2 E330. I was so sick of my old grill, in many ways. Old grill was an off-brand, and I couldn't get replacement parts for it, so had to try to make generic replacement burners and grates work, and they didn't work very well. The temperature control on the old grill was non-existent. It was either off or surface of the sun hot, and that got even worst with the replacement burner that didn't fit right. Figured that I would want to grill over the next 3 months, and wouldn't have time to go buy one and assemble it. (it took 2+ hours to put together the Weber...)

But, now I finally have a decent grill. Grilled up some chicken last night, and it was obvious right away that I need to get used to this one. I was not used to having temp knobs that did something, and I had the temp too low (something that wasn't previously possible). But, I figure, after a few times using it, I'll figure out the nuances of the new one. I already really like the quality of the Weber over the cheap crap I used to have. Its a really nice, high quality piece of equipment.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

I was at my counselor's office today, and I saw deer in her back yard.

All I could think of were venison chops with an apricot ginger glaze.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

dxmnkd316 said:
Have you gone to a higher quality shop? Like a family butcher shop?

Also, Hy-Vee has some pretty amazing meats in the store next to my house. I’ve also heard amazing things about Costco meats.
Click to expand...

Costco beef is really good if you buy the "prime." Anything else and it can be a bit of hit and miss. You might go two or three times and some great cuts, then you'll get something that will be almost inedible.

I usually buy their briskets for smoking and I've had great luck with them.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

I need pet-themed baking ideas. I have to do these for about 24 servings each, so it has to be relatively simple.

So far:
Pawprint cupcakes (with Oreos and Junior Mints as the pawprints)
Turtle something.. brownies, cookies
Cat Tongue cookies
Roll out cookies in pet shapes - hedgehog, cats, dogs, dog bones, bunnies
Cinnamon puff pastry "dog bones" - tie knots at the ends
Devil dogs or devil dog cake
Bear Claws or bear claw cake (but I need a different "pet" name for them.. since people do not generally keep bears as pets :p)
I found a <a href="https://inkblotsandpolkadots.blogspot.com/2011/06/fun-snack-treat-for-kids.html?m=1">cute idea.. graham crackers with three chocolate chips and a big marshmallow make a bear face</a>... but it could be a puppy face with ears. I was going to put it on a brownie, but how do I make it a puppy instead of a bear? Is there a triangle-shaped candy? could be pointy ears.. or maybe bunny ears

also could be clever names for other baked goods.. pet puns. I need to have some breakfast-type stuff too, like muffins or scones.
 
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Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

jen said:
I need pet-themed baking ideas. I have to do these for about 24 servings each, so it has to be relatively simple.

So far:
Pawprint cupcakes (with Oreos and Junior Mints as the pawprints)
Turtle something.. brownies, cookies
Cat Tongue cookies
Roll out cookies in pet shapes - hedgehog, cats, dogs, dog bones, bunnies
Cinnamon puff pastry "dog bones" - tie knots at the ends
Devil dogs or devil dog cake
Bear Claws or bear claw cake (but I need a different "pet" name for them.. since people do not generally keep bears as pets :p)
I found a <a href="https://inkblotsandpolkadots.blogspot.com/2011/06/fun-snack-treat-for-kids.html?m=1">cute idea.. graham crackers with three chocolate chips and a big marshmallow make a bear face</a>... but it could be a puppy face with ears. I was going to put it on a brownie, but how do I make it a puppy instead of a bear? Is there a triangle-shaped candy? could be pointy ears.. or maybe bunny ears

also could be clever names for other baked goods.. pet puns. I need to have some breakfast-type stuff too, like muffins or scones.
Click to expand...
Teddy bear claws?
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Tonight, I'm making linguine with butternut squash, and I cooked some garlic in butter first. Ate the garlic. That was tasty.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

jen said:
Why is it so hard to find white pastry flour?
Click to expand...

You don't have a Whole Foods near you? Or you can always try to make friends with a local baker. Usually they can help you find sources. Obviously they're going to be going large scale, but they might know anyways.
 
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