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USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

FadeToBlack&Gold said:
The main benefit of the enameled ones is that they're lower maintenance because you don't have to worry about keeping them seasoned. The wives' tale about not cooking wine or tomato-based stuff in regular cast iron because the acid can cause metal particles to leach into the food is largely a myth, as long as your cast iron vessel is well-seasoned and cared for.

That said, enameled cast iron is not as good for searing meats because it shouldn't be used over high heat - it can stain the enamel coating and cause cracking/chipping. Regular cast iron like a Lodge skillet can go over a fully cranked burner, under the broiler, or even on your grill with no issues as long as you've got good oven mitts to protect yourself and can deal with a little smoke.

I will also add, regular cast iron should not be used on those fancypants ceramic flat-topped electric ranges - I've found out the hard way that it can cause cosmetic damage to the ceramic surface. Never buy one of those ranges if you can avoid it. The house I'm renting has one, and after several months of use I'm convinced there is not a range you can buy that is more annoying to use and keep clean than one of those things. The burners are also terrible conductors, as you might imagine.
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I literally only use my cast iron to sear meat, agreed.

enameled for everything else
 
BassAle said:
The cast iron I have at home has this textured surface because of the newer manufacturing process, but I have some antique cast iron at camp, and holy **** those are awesome. I'm tempted to hit some antique shops for replacement cast iron pans for home.

Unless it's something with a sauce that I'll use to deglaze the pan, I go to my cast iron. It's hard to beat. 10" and 12" cast iron are my most commonly used pans, and I also use a shallow 10" cast iron crepe pan. If it's acidic, or involves deglazing, I use try-ply stainless.

The only Le Creuset enamel I have is a dutch oven, which is pretty awesome for pot roasts and the like.
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Yeah, I’d love an old voyager or lodge pan. Those MIGHT be worth the $100. They’re magical pans.

We use the 10” and 12” lodges 70%+ of the time we’re cooking. We’re waiting for the MCP-12N to go on sale and we’ll upgrade our old anodized aluminum sets to stainless.

Ive found I can do acidic in the cast iron if it’s really well seasoned. But never any lime or lemon. Way too acidic. Mild tomato sauces with shorter cooking times don’t seem to get the iron flavor.

We use our Dutch ovens at least once or twice a month. Knowing what I know now, this is what I’d get

1. MCP 10” sauté pan
2. 4 qt MCP
3. 2 qt MCP
4. 12” lodge
5. 10” lodge
6. Big *** stock pot
7. 8 qt lodge Dutch oven

There are a couple others we use but these are like 95% plus of all of our meals.
 
MissThundercat said:
I'm an Aldi convert.
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I dislike having to bring my own bag or otherwise pay for bags, and the quarter to borrow a cart is also annoying, but they're absolutely great for dry goods, dairy/cheese, and snacks. Less good for produce (gf and I are using Imperfect Foods delivery for most of ours). As for the meat, the packaged deli meats are fine, particularly the "fancy" salamis. We gambled and found some amazing and affordable lamb chops there as well.
 
Cast Iron pans are great if you are iron deficient . Some people cook in regular pans with an iron fish thrown in. Supposedly some of the iron leeches out into the food
 
I have been encouraging my wife to try full gluten bread for a couple of months now. Because it’s important to confirm what changes to a diet work and don’t work. She definitely wanted to but there was some fear about it.

Well, she bought me (us) a Gravity Well barrel series from Insight for Christmas. Her first regular beer in almost three or four years. It also happened to be her favorite beer before she gave up gluten. Her Christmas present was to give gluten a shot again.

No reaction. (Hooray! I screamed inside.). We kept pushing the envelope until we tried regular bread this weekend. She made a couple of baguettes while I was working on Friday. They... didn’t rise on second proof, but were so flavorful. And no reaction!!!

So now we’ve dived in head first and we’ve got a sourdough starter going, a focaccia rising in the fridge, and a couple of ciabatta rolls cooled overnight which will make for some amazing sandwich buns.

I’m quietly crying inside I’m so happy. Both selfishly and because she tried it. We’re now thinking that when she cut gluten and dairy, it was the milk fat and possibly the lactose that were causing issues. I also have a theory that when you cut gluten, you cut a lot of other gnarly things with it. Pastas tend to be full of inflammatory things like garlic, onions, and tomatoes. Cookies are full of fat and dairy. Breads are usually delivery vehicles for other not-so-zesty things.

Anyways, this is great. And hopefully it sticks. (Always test and re-test your theories.) But now we get the best of both worlds. We know what things are good with gluten free cooking (cakes, biscuits, certain muffins, some pastas [red lentil is delicious], etc.) Other things suck. Yeasty breads, for one, have been almost universally disappointing. And we have learned to really read the labels and understand what’s in a food.

So, to summarize, YAY and one more vote for true elimination diets instead of cutting everything.
 
I got into cast iron a few years ago. I joined the Cast Iron Community group on Facebook. Those folks are serious about their iron. Great resource to find out who made what unmarked pieces and what not. Tips for restoration and upkeep etc. Check it out
 
dxmnkd316 said:
Yes and no. For some people, iirc especially for those with RA, tomatoes can set it off. Ditto with a lot of the nightshade family.
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Nightshade family is considered OK for anti-inflammatory foods but for the leaky gut is can be detrimental. There is a lot of overlap of things to avoid or increase but some things are not the same.

For some people who are gluten [or other substance] intolerant they have the ability to process some of it but not the ability to process a lot of it. Example- someone who is lactose intolerant may be able to have a small glass of milk then an hour or 2 later have a piece of pizza but if you ask them to eat it all at once they don't have enough Lactase to process it all, their lactase supply is depleted and they feel awful.

That is frequently the case so they will tell you it can't be the [x] because they eat it and sometimes they don't have symptoms. They don't connect that it is the amount not the substance. It can take up to 2 weeks before you see a difference when you do an elimination diet. Once the gut is reactive it can can over-react to the smallest amount. It takes time for the reactivity to wane

THis stuff fascinates me. I have seen some truly amazing changes in people when it is figured out but it takes expertise to do that and correct it. It also is not particularly lucrative to treat- no fancy pharma med and very labor intensive so many GI will tell you it is the real deal but won't even start to address it. They will treat symptoms instead. My friend who does this will frequently spend >1 hr a visit getting thru all the info she needs and teaching people what they need to do. No insurance reimburses for that.
 
Made a few recipes from Wesley Avila's book Guerrilla Tacos recently, including his carnitas tonight. Amazing. If you like tacos, seriously consider getting his book. Great great stuff
 
We got an instantpot. It is a whole new world. We got an 8Q - I bought a 6Q and they sent the wrong size. SO far only a couple of fails. The mr is very excited about this for some reason.
 
Kepler said:
EveryPlate is excellent. You seem to be an excellent cook, so why have one?
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I might be getting wooshed here, but didn’t quite pick up on what you were getting at as it relates to Good Eats.

Anyways, we haven’t done the meal delivery services because they tend to be a little pricey. It’s tempting given the PITA grocery shopping online is.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
I might be getting wooshed here, but didn’t quite pick up on what you were getting at as it relates to Good Eats.
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I somehow read your post as about food delivery.

I wish I had an excuse like I was high but, nope, just getting senile.
 
Stoofvlees and from scratch Black Forest cake for dinner tonight.

Stoofvlees is a fairly hearty Flemish beef stew. I know, not the most light and skillful Valentine’s Day dinner, but whatever. When I had this in Antwerp I thought, “holy god, this is the most comforting food I’ve ever eaten.”
 
MissThundercat said:
Right now, I would take a nice stuffed French toast for breakfast.

Lucy's Cafe in Grand Rapids has a blueberry and cream cheese filled croissant.

Could go back to Marquette and get the waffle fries from Vango's and a more decadent dish from Casa Calabria.

New Holland Dragon's Milk.

Mac fudge ice cream.

If nothing else, explore the dessert section of Fannie Farmer and see what I can do.
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It must be incredibly delicious! This is also my favorite breakfast set, only I try not to allow myself a lot of carbohydrates often.
 
I wanted to make brownies for Valentine's day, but with a toddler, I didn't have time for from scratch. Then the box I bought had a recipe to do a base layer of short bread, then the brownie mix, and top it with a ganache. I didn't see this until I was ready to make the brownies, and thus didn't have heavy cream for the ganache. So, I search and search for a chocolate ganache recipe that only has ingredients I have on hand. Found one, but the ganache never set. Even in the refrigerator it's still only partially solidified. :( The dessert is still delicious, but needs to be eaten with a fork.
 
Yesterday I attempted to make galatobouriko. It's a Greek dessert, made with phyllo and a custard filling, custard made with Farina, eggs, butter and milk. Eight layers of phyllo, buttered each sheet, add the filling, eight more layers on top, each buttered, roll in the edges and bake. When it comes out of the oven, pierce with a skewer and pour a simple syrup (made the day before with water, sugar, squeeze of lemon, honey and a cinnamon stick). My mom gave me her recipe - she's really good at making this. It was the first time I've done this by myself and, while it wasn't awesome and amazing, I think it came out pretty good for my first time! Kinda proud of myself.
 
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