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USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

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Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Absolutely nothing. I've made chili when it's 100 degrees out.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Just made my first ever sponge cake. The recipe calls for store bought but there isn't any to be had around here.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Attempted eclairs over the weekend. The pate a choux wasn't too bad, but I thought my filling turned out wrong (the picture in the book had it much fluffier - like whipped cream, and I made a few substitutions that didn't turn out in my favor) and my pastry didn't puff out a ton. But after looking at <a href="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2013/07/eclairs-in-paris/">David Lebovitz' eclairs</a>, I think I wasn't too far off. I didn't read the directions closely enough, and made my eclair halves separately, rather than making one and slicing it. Will definitely try again.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Yesterday I used the smoker so I decided to fill all four racks. Smoked chicken breasts and thighs, a rack of ribs and tried some new (to me) things. Smoked some corn on the cob and some onions. I was using hickory and I think it was too strong for the corn - might have been OK if I had used alder or apple but I didn't care for the corn with all the hickory flavor. The onions were awesome, and they weren't even sweet onions as the recipe called for.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

leswp1 said:
Company coming. Serving the following menu at Mt les Summit Lodge

Hors Oeuvre's- Crackers served with choice of Tapenade, artichoke 'dip', almonds, cheeses)
Salad greens, frizzled Prosciutto and red pepper with Maple Balsamic Vinagrette
Lemon Herb Chicken
Roasted vegetables (summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, carrots, onions, tomatoes roasted separately and served lined up next to each other on the serving dish) with shaved parmesan
Angel Hair Pasta with olive oil, fresh basil and garlic
[Subject to availability and ingenuity of the groundhog- Garden Fresh tomatoes, mozorella, basil and garlic-- the ground hog may win this one]
Cornbread
Desserts- Olive’s Icebox Cake (sponge cake with lemon/orange cream filling), Cookies and brownies
Beverages

Family Style Brunch
Muffins- Blueberry and Apple
Swedish coffee bread
Maple scones, orange scones
Egg dish- Spinach quiche?
Bacon (of course)
Fresh Fruit with yogurt
Orange Juice
Coffee, tea
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Made brownies and froze them Made a chocolate zucchini cake instead.
I need a bigger kitchen a bigger fridge and a bigger freezer. That is all.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Pepper relish and zucchini relish both score second place at the Minnesota State Fair. I'll take it.
 
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Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

goldy_331 said:
W00t! Congrats. Now when is the USCHO tasting session?
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Ha, any time. I've always been into the whole relish thing as when I was young my mom made a killer zucchini relish. Always thought it was awesome on burgers, hot dogs and brats. Can't even really tell it's zucchini.

Since an e-tasting is somewhat impossible, I don't measure anything but best I recall here's what's in each:

Pepper relish: Red bell pepper, cascabella pepper, gypsy pepper, onion, mustard seed, sugar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar (quite simple really, but adjusting a variety of ratios can have a pretty significant impact on end result)

Zucchini relish: Zucchini (peeled for final aesthetics), onion, red bell pepper, fresno pepper, gypsy pepper, turmeric, mustard seed, celery seed, cilantro, wasabi powder (really), sugar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar.

-Zucchini relish recipes vary very little, and I tried to think about how to make one stand out just a bit in a positive way. Ended up trying to give it just a little bit of zest with the fresno and wasabi powder, and then balancing that with the cilantro. To not kill the freshness factor of the cilantro I actually initially canned it without it, opened them two days later, added the cilantro and tweaked sweetness a bit, processed for about two minutes and immediately canned again.

In both cases I chop the veggies and let soak overnight in saltwater. Common technique in zucchini relish recipes but not so much pepper. I like to use for both as it helps pull all the water out which ultimately leads to more concentrated flavors, imo.
 
XYZ said:
Ha, any time. I've always been into the whole relish thing as when I was young my mom made a killer zucchini relish. Always thought it was awesome on burgers, hot dogs and brats. Can't even really tell it's zucchini.

Since an e-tasting is somewhat impossible, I don't measure anything but best I recall here's what's in each:
Click to expand...

My wife makes a very good zucchini relish but I think it's way simpler than yours.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

goldy_331 said:
My wife makes a very good zucchini relish but I think it's way simpler than yours.
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It's probably the standard one like my mom used to make: Zucchini, onion, red pepper, celery seed, mustard seed, turmeric, vinegar, sugar

That's what shows up in about 98% of recipes for the stuff, and it's absolutely excellent in my opinion. Evidently the (questionable) judges at the fair seemed to think otherwise, however....as I learned the hard way. Were it not for that I'd never have found a need to start making it more complex.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Successful dinner, brunch. Phew. Left overs for a week!
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

This weekend's French pastry project will be croissants, possibly chocolate ones.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Made "Brookies" yesterday. Good-Good-Good (blood sugar test may be appropriate:D)
Did it the easy way Brownie mix and chocolate chip cookie mix--getting real lazy this summer.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Attempted to do pulled pork in the crockpot, using a shoulder with a dry rub and some liquid smoke.

Tasted alright and was plenty moist, but even letting it marinate overnight didn't impart much smoke flavor.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

FadeToBlack&Gold said:
Attempted to do pulled pork in the crockpot, using a shoulder with a dry rub and some liquid smoke.

Tasted alright and was plenty moist, but even letting it marinate overnight didn't impart much smoke flavor.
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Planning on doing some pulled pork tomorrow myself. I use a shoulder and cut it up into about fist size hunks. Rub them and grill them for a little while (get them just cooked). Then put them into aluminum pans on the grill with a good amount of a vinegar based solution (mostly apple cider vinegar, spices and a little water) and cover tightly with foil. Let them simmer for about 2 hours (or a bit more) and when done the liquid is soaked up and the meat falls apart. This was the method I used when we used to butcher a whole hog in my department at school every year. A good portion of the meat went to pulled pork or homemade sausage. The loins were marinated and grilled. The ribs were smoked. I always did it on a charcoal grill but have recently done it on a gas grill as well. Sometimes have to go with just one burner and adjust it every now and then to keep a good temp (usually about 300 or so when we had it simmering, maybe a little lower). Could also do that in an oven. A friend took that method and used an oven when he ran out of gas just as he finished with the initial grilling. Often when I do the grilling I add wood chips either to the charcoal fire or in a smoker box to the gas grill to add some smokiness to the meat. Could probably add a few dashes of liquid smoke to the vinegar solution as well.

I did some ribs on Saturday for football. Made a rub of brown sugar, paprika, salt, garlic, pepper, onion powder, chilli powder and basil. Got a nice crust on it and started to get the bone showing after a few hours. Then did the wrap in foil method and added some beer. Simmered in there for an hour or so before unwrapping. By this time the meat was crazy tender and pulling away from the bone. Light coat of sauce to some of them and got them off just as the rain started here and the Notre Dame game was coming on tv.

Once I get some permanent employment and settled somewhere I plan on getting a new grill/smoker and really experimenting more with other cuts like whole shoulders, brisket, beef ribs, sausages, fish, chickens etc. Need to look into brining too. Something I don't have much experience with.
 
Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

the croissants were a success. I made some plain, some chocolate (for my uncle), and some strawberry-cream cheese (for my aunt). They weren't that hard, but they had a lot of steps and required staying around the house for 6-7 hours (mostly waiting).
 
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Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

FadeToBlack&Gold said:
Attempted to do pulled pork in the crockpot, using a shoulder with a dry rub and some liquid smoke.

Tasted alright and was plenty moist, but even letting it marinate overnight didn't impart much smoke flavor.
Click to expand...

I smoked a 6lb brisket and 8lb bone in pork shoulder for pulled pork on Sunday. I will say the smoker is currently the best gift I got.
 
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