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USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

I made bagels! And they turned out!

Bagels have always eluded me. I can make some complicated stuff, but my bagels have always been subpar. Not sure if it's shaping them, boiling them, or the process of moving them after they're boiled that goes wrong, but they're usually limp, or too thin and don't look like real bagels. Even when I made them at Zingerman's, I still wasn't happy.

I used the Zingerman's recipe, baked for 3 minutes on a pan with parchment that was set on top of a stone. After 3 minutes, slid the pan out, leaving the bagels and the parchment on the stone - another 18-22 minutes. Nice texture and finish on the outside.

One thing I noticed was they were boiled in JUST water - sometimes there's baking soda, or something else added to the water.

That's interesting. Usually lye or baking soda is used to help them get brown once they are baked. I remember an Alton Brown pretzel recipe from years back, where he used baking soda instead of the traditional lye because baking soda is easier to obtain, and well...laywers. :p
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

How did they taste?

Great. Texture was maybe a little softer than I thought, but I had to sub about 1/3 of the bread flour with all purpose flour (I ran out).

That's interesting. Usually lye or baking soda is used to help them get brown once they are baked. I remember an Alton Brown pretzel recipe from years back, where he used baking soda instead of the traditional lye because baking soda is easier to obtain, and well...laywers. :p

I guess baking them on the stone helped brown them. They had very good color - nice and dark.

My mom is very excited (I made them because she mentioned she liked everything bagels, and I wanted to try making them again).

She was also lamenting how hard it is to find raisin bread that does not have cinnamon. I mentioned that it might be helpful if she knew someone who liked to bake bread, that maybe she talked to every single day. :p So I'll be making raisin bread sometime soon.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Have the carbonara one more go tonight since I still had the ingredients. This time I added some garlic to the pan while the pancetta was cooking. That was the ticket. Will definitely make this again. Might try adding some chicken next time to up the solid protein factor. Would also taste pretty good I would thinks.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Got a picnic coming in a few weeks. I'm committed to bring something sweet, but I want to bring something savory too. Just not sure what to do...
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Made this tonight:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/broccoli-bolognese-with-orecchiette

Broccoli “bolognese” with orichette

Very good. Watch the sizes on the original. My brain was melted from work today so I just started making it. Come time to combine, had to switch pans.

Next time I make it I’m keeping the amount of broccoli the same but cutting the sausage and pasta. Came together in under 25 minutes. Not half bad for a fast weeknight dinner.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Roasted a chicken tonight, for chicken salad tomorrow (and the day after that, and the day after that, most likely). Hadn't done it in awhile, and was rushing to finish between work calls. Forgot to check for the organs before I seasoned it and threw it in a 400-degree oven.

BOOM! goes the little guy's liver an hour in. :eek: :o

Fortunately, the explosion was contained within the cavity, and somehow the oven walls escaped any splattering. Just some dark grey, overcooked liver oozing out the tail end (which is how I figured out what happened).

Chicken organs are mild enough that I figure the meat probably isn't going to taste gamey.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Schweinshaxe, first attempt. Not particularly bad:

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Rbvul48.jpg" width=450 height=300></img>

A touch overdone, but it was pretty good. In the future, I need to pay a bit closer attention to the shape of the hock/bone, as mine would not stand-up on its own after braising and roasting.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

In the US it's National Taco Day today, October 4.

In Sweden it's Kanelbullens Dagen (The day of the cinnamon bun).

I'm not sure who wins the day because they're both amazing.
 
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Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Finally a recipe that even I can't screw up:

- Pork tenderloin
- 16 oz of A&W Root Beer

Put into crock pot for 10 hours. Pull with two forks; add BBQ sauce to taste.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

I bought a tomahawk steak. Anyone ever cooked anything like a 3” bone-in ribeye?

Obviously sear it and then go indirect. But any tips beyond that?
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

If I could do one thing differently, I would have spooned the sauce back over the chicken more often. It was still outrageously flavorful. It’s now on my regular list.

And it’s truly a one-skillet recipe. With a small prep bowl to mix the sauce in. A knife and a cutting board. That’s a great weeknight dinner if you ask me.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Are you our Top Chef?

Finally a recipe that even I can't screw up:

- Pork tenderloin
- 16 oz of A&W Root Beer

Put into crock pot for 10 hours. Pull with two forks; add BBQ sauce to taste.

Pulled pork with a lean cut? That will not be good.
 
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