xkcd

by **fizzgig** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:11 am UTC

Today I made rainbow cupcakes. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever actually made a cake that didn't come from a packet, so I'm pretty happy that they turned out at all edible. Also it didn't have a bite out of it when I first made it. That happened later.

by **meridian** » Fri Apr 06, 2012 12:44 pm UTC

Pretty cupcake!

I made risotto, which is less awesome to look at and entirely in the savory category of food.

by **coyotebush** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 3:31 am UTC

My first attempt at risotto worked out well. Inspired by recent posts here and carrots in the fridge, I found a carrot+feta recipe, and I needed to go shopping anyway so was able to get needed ingredients (which was basically everything but the carrots...)

Yum. Good stuff.

update: per Moosewood's suggestion, breakfast the next morning was fried risotto+egg. Also tasty.

by **PAstrychef** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 4:33 am UTC

As it was Seder, there was much cooking. Apricot stuffed lamb roast, kugel with orzo and pineapple in a coconut custard, chocolate souffles, and the other bits and pieces of the meal. Everyone ate too much, and I suspect there won't be much breakfast being consumed in the morning.....

by **Thesh** » Sun Apr 08, 2012 5:35 am UTC

There's always room for biscuits and gravy, eggs benedict, hash browns, and bacon.

by **Bakemaster** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:25 am UTC

Last night I made a pomelo salad and an assortment of greens and herbs with sliced pork, shrimp, and a fishy peanut dipping sauce, from my Cambodian cookbook. Dang, it was so tasty, but we smelled like shallots through the morning.

by **Nath** » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:56 am UTC

I made five-spice braised pork with broccoli. Simple and quite good.

by **poxic** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:13 am UTC

I have discovered that a sprinkle of powdered cardamom goes quite nicely with vanilla ice cream. Quite nicely, indeed.

by **Nath** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:26 am UTC

poxic wrote:I have discovered that a sprinkle of powdered cardamom goes quite nicely with vanilla ice cream. Quite nicely, indeed.

Cardamom goes quite well with most dairy-based desserts. It'd probably be pretty great with pistachio ice cream.

by **poxic** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:50 am UTC

Quiet, you. I had decided not to get more ice cream after this carton is finished. This decision is now in jeopardy.

by **PAstrychef** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 4:28 pm UTC

Persian spinach rice pie. Cooked rice mixed with yougurt, eggs, lemon zest; spiced sautéed spinach and onion layered in a covered dish and baked until the bottom has a lovely golden crust.

by **Nath** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 4:21 am UTC

Improvised currywurst. Store bought bratwurst, sliced and browned with frozen potatoes O'Brien. Sauce was onions with coriander, cumin, turmeric, red chile powder, garam masala, a squirt of ketchup, a smaller squirt of mustard, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and a bit of water. Pretty good for 3am food. The sauce would go well with eggs.

by **natraj** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 4:41 pm UTC

Nath wrote:Cardamom goes quite well with most dairy-based desserts.

this reminds me: need to make more kheer this weekend. omnom.

today i made raspberry tiramisu cupcakes and hazelnut cupcakes filled with mocha mousse and topped with chocolate ganache. it is office cookoff day today so lunch consists of everyone's competition entries.

i might end up just eating dessert for lunch.

by **Gear** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:00 pm UTC

natraj wrote:raspberry tiramisu cupcakes and hazelnut cupcakes filled with mocha mousse and topped with chocolate ganache.

Would you be willing to share those recipes with the internet? Because those sound delicious.

by **ahammel** » Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:59 pm UTC

YIM twice-baked, salt-crusted potatoes with gruyère, and a fresh broad bean salad.

The potatoes kicked ass, but screw you broad beans. I spend like forty-five minutes shelling you, cooking you, and skinning you and I get like a quarter cup of beans out of it. You're certainly delicious, but I can' t see myself bothering with that again.

by **dubsola** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:56 am UTC

I never skin broad beans. They are generally fine unskinned.

by **PAstrychef** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:46 am UTC

Baked grits with shrimp. Loaded with cheese and chipotles, went great with a green salad. And there are leftovers for breakfast!

by **PictureSarah** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:03 am UTC

WANT.

Website · by **thefiddler** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:20 am UTC

It's not actually TODAY that I made them, and they're not really as cute as they should be, thanks to the splitting migraine I had (and I was too lazy to go find my icing bags or tips and instead used a ziploc baggie), but I made these for Easter.

by **Bakemaster** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:17 pm UTC

FADDLES!

Creepy!

Make me some?

by **roband** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:19 pm UTC

Making chicken curry pie tonight. My gf's family have a weekly pie day and I'm stepping up with an unorthodox one. Pressure is on. I'll try to get photos and such!

by **Giant Speck** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:07 am UTC

I made three different kinds of fudge! I made a simple chocolate walnut fudge, and then I decided to be creative and made two kinds I haven't made before: "Almond Joy" (almonds, chocolate, and coconut) and white chocolate peanut butter. I was worried about the white chocolate peanut butter because the white chocolate chips are the same color as the melted marshmallow, sugar, butter, and evaporated milk mixture I add them to, so I stirred it for twice as long to make sure it was evenly mixed before I added the peanut butter.

Pictures to come once they cool!

by **Giant Speck** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:57 pm UTC

Well, the fudge turned out alright, for the most part. I probably should have used smaller pans (9x9 vs. 9x13), because I ended up with really thin pieces of fudge. I also probably should have lined the pans with wax paper or something, because the fudge was really stuck to the pan. The fudge had a much... goopier... consistency than I'm used to, so once I cut it all up and put it in containers, I stuck them in the freezer to firm up faster. To my surprise, they're still soft even after being in the freezer for several hours.

by **PAstrychef** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 12:08 pm UTC

The sugar balance in your recipies is off. The fudge probably needed to be cooked to a higher temperature. Enjoy it with a spoon!

by **Giant Speck** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 7:43 pm UTC

Yeah, I was only heating the marshmallow/sugar/milk mixture over medium heat, and then turned it down when it started boiling. Then I removed it from the heat when I added the chocolate.

by **Bakemaster** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 4:48 am UTC

Do not underestimate the importance of a candy thermometer when cooking up any syrup-based confection.

Fucking drop test never works.

by **poxic** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:09 am UTC

TIM: loose tea in a cup, using a "tea bag" filter thingy instead of a tea ball. Verdict: much less messy, but very disappointing result.

It's like all the flavour that was supposed to go into the water ended up in the bag, instead. At least that's what I assume. I didn't try chewing the bag to find out. Oh well. I'll take the remaining filters to work, since I'm less fussy about taste there (and more fussy about cleaning out the damn tea ball).

Website · by **thefiddler** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:20 am UTC

poxic wrote:It's like all the flavour that was supposed to go into the water ended up in the bag, instead. At least that's what I assume. I didn't try chewing the bag to find out.

I... this mental image. This is a glorious mental image.

Perhaps you should try steeping the tea just a little bit longer? Usually not a good idea, unless you want to be overwhelmed, but as it is, it sounds like the flavour is lacking all ready.

Or you could invest in a teapot like this, although if you prefer to only prepare one cup at a time, something like this might be preferable.

by **Bakemaster** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:24 am UTC

I've used bags similar to what you linked and never had any problem with flavor. They're much better than tea balls, spoons, or even the tea robot in terms of keeping your cup clean of solid bits.

by **poxic** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:30 am UTC

It might be the particular tea -- apples, cinnamon, almonds and bits of beetroot (no actual leaves). That's a fair bit of oils that could have been sopped up by the paper. I left the bag in the water for much longer than I usually leave the tea ball in. And yes, the point of the bags was to avoid all the teeny solid bits that accumulate around the rim. That was accomplished, at least.

Website · by **thefiddler** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:45 am UTC

Except for the almond, that sounds like it would be really delicious. Have you thought about a silk tea bag? I'm not sure if it would absorb the oils as much or not, but it would be reusable.

by **Giant Speck** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 5:47 am UTC

Bakemaster wrote:Do not underestimate the importance of a candy thermometer when cooking up any syrup-based confection.

Fucking drop test never works.

I'll make a note to go buy a candy thermometer soon.

I made the fudge for a squadron cookout. It turns out the white chocolate peanut butter was a huge hit; I wasn't expecting it to be.

by **Nath** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:05 am UTC

poxic wrote:TIM: loose tea in a cup, using a "tea bag" filter thingy instead of a tea ball. Verdict: much less messy, but very disappointing result.

It's like all the flavour that was supposed to go into the water ended up in the bag, instead. At least that's what I assume. I didn't try chewing the bag to find out. Oh well. I'll take the remaining filters to work, since I'm less fussy about taste there (and more fussy about cleaning out the damn tea ball).

I use these. Much more room to expand than a tea ball, and no paper to soak up the oils.

by **poxic** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:07 am UTC

thefiddler wrote:Except for the almond, that sounds like it would be really delicious. Have you thought about a silk tea bag? I'm not sure if it would absorb the oils as much or not, but it would be reusable.

It is tasty, including the almond (if one likes almonds). I'll try the bags a few more times before I throw them out in disgust. :wink:

by **JudeMorrigan** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 1:45 pm UTC

This weekend I made: wienerbrød. I made two braids, one of which I filled with a cinnamon pastry cream, the other of which I filled with a homemade lavender-infused mixed-berry and orange jam.

by **topquark** » Tue May 01, 2012 12:47 pm UTC

Today I made goulash!

by **Tigerrrrr** » Wed May 02, 2012 1:59 am UTC

Giant Speck wrote:I probably should have used smaller pans (9x9 vs. 9x13), because I ended up with really thin pieces of fudge. I also probably should have lined the pans with wax paper or something, because the fudge was really stuck to the pan. The fudge had a much... goopier... consistency than I'm used to, so once I cut it all up and put it in containers, I stuck them in the freezer to firm up faster. To my surprise, they're still soft even after being in the freezer for several hours.

Yes to the smaller square pans, and a definite yes to lining them! I'm a fan of parchment paper. Also echoing the temperature comments - be generous with the boiling, and make sure it's a full boil, not just a few bubbles rising here and there. Learned my lessons well last Christmas. I must have made twenty pounds' worth... I found that the higher the milk content of the candy base (semi-sweet chocolate > milk chocolate > butterscotch), the softer the fudge will be in the end.

by **Giant Speck** » Wed May 02, 2012 4:23 am UTC

I always use semi-sweet, except when I tried to make the white chocolate peanut butter ones. I left all the fudge in the freezer at work. My coworkers are still slowly finishing it all off.

by **poxic** » Wed May 02, 2012 4:27 am UTC

That's a good thing about fudge: (almost) no matter how badly you bung it up, it will still taste good. You're drinking it with a straw, but damn is it tasty.

by **Giant Speck** » Wed May 02, 2012 4:29 am UTC

The idea of drinking fudge through a straw sent shivers down my spine.

And made my teeth hurt.

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