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| 30 MAR 2011 at 7:04pm |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline |
If it ain't burnt and it ain't raw... it's ready.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
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| 30 MAR 2011 at 7:19pm |
Lady KestrelGuild Master
Posts : 4036
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, NJ
Status : Offline | I have several cookbooks that have chapters and appendices for things like minutes cooked per pound, measurements, and glossaries of cooking terms. For cooking meats the way you like them, you can't beat a good meat thermometer.
"Where is the fountain that throws up these flowers in a ceaseless outbreak of ecstasy?"
-Rabindranath Tagore
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| 30 MAR 2011 at 7:20pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2751
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | The problem is that peoples definition of "ready" for meat varies too much from person to person. You will have to learn what is right for you through experimentation.
What bugs me more is such vague things like "one onion" (I have two onions, one is more than 2* the size of the other, which one should I pick?). A rough estimate of the amount of "onion" needed would be better (~2dl of chopped onion) or simply "one large onion" would be better. Even worse is when they say "add one chili". What type? Adding an entire habanero will create a radically different result than one bell pepper, yet they both are, per definition, chili.
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| 30 MAR 2011 at 7:30pm |
InlandAZGuild Master
Posts : 5586
Joined: 4 MAY 2007
Status : Offline | When the juices run clear it's overcooked - when it's still bleeding it's done.
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| 30 MAR 2011 at 8:20pm |
TravellerGuild Master
Posts : 4039
Joined: 3 JUL 2010
Location: US
Status : Offline | Surely they should tell you at which temperature to cook for how long.
I suspect, though, that if they tell you to cook meat until it's ready, they are leaving the onus on you depending on how well done you like your meat.
* * * Just call me Trav. * * *
“Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” - Robert Bloch
"They are not reciprocally sublated--the one does not sublate the other externally--but each sublates itself in itself and is in its own self the opposite of itself" (Hegel, from The Doctrine of Being)..."
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| 30 MAR 2011 at 9:07pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
It sounds as if some of you have been sold some very poorly written cookbooks.
My ex-wife had a nice library of the classics from Julia Childs and the full, original Time-Life series on world cuisines that came with supplementary recipe guides, which were extemely complete and specific.
The hardbound Time-Life books showed a huge array of large, beautiful photos of finished meals, along with general text about a given cuisine. But the softback recipe booklets that accompanied them had full recipes with very well written, step-by-step instructions, diagrams, cooking-time tables, etc..
Childs and her editor relied mostly on text. But they put a lot of time and thought into every single word. They made sure that virtually anyone could create world-class dishes of all kinds from scratch using only the information provided in the books.
Cheers, Terry
P.S.
The Joy of Cooking was another very basic book with precise instructions for a full spectrum of recipes.
.
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| 31 MAR 2011 at 2:16am |
JKingSchattenjger
Posts : 2349
Joined: 4 MAY 2008
Location: 0
Status : Offline | By the way, Terry, her married name was Child, no S.
We have the same hardbound Time Life set. Excellent books. Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a wonderful book, too, no doubt about it.
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution is a good starter book of recipes, with simple but tasty recipes and easy instructions. His others are quite more advanced, however.
You can't kill someone in a studio.
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| 31 MAR 2011 at 4:23am |
StilerJourneyman
Posts : 1458
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, TN
Status : Offline | One reason is because for meat it can vary depending on how you yourself like it.
I'm a medium guy myself, that's where the meat should be pink'ish in the middle. Well done is when the meat is brown all the way through.
If the dish is just for cooking a slab of beef it shouldn't hurt you to just cut into it and look at the color, that can tell you easily how "done" it is.
Rare = red'ish
medium = pink
well = brown.
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| 31 MAR 2011 at 9:04am |
TravellerGuild Master
Posts : 4039
Joined: 3 JUL 2010
Location: US
Status : Offline | I'm a "rare to medium" person. I like the middle to be still quite raw, but not so raw that it is still cold, and I like it if the outside is quite singed. Flame-grilling tends to give such a result. Blood should ooze out of the dark pink inside if I cut my meat, even though the outside should be brown.
* * * Just call me Trav. * * *
“Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” - Robert Bloch
"They are not reciprocally sublated--the one does not sublate the other externally--but each sublates itself in itself and is in its own self the opposite of itself" (Hegel, from The Doctrine of Being)..."
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| 31 MAR 2011 at 3:19pm |
SirDaveGuild Master
Posts : 4940
Joined: 17 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | It's all very simple- just make sure the oven is hot enough...
The future ain't what it used to be!
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| 1 APR 2011 at 4:07am |
CarolineJA+ Overseer
Posts : 16540
Joined: 28 JAN 2007
Location: AU
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Terry_Penrod (30 MAR 2011 9:07pm)
It sounds as if some of you have been sold some very poorly written cookbooks.
My thoughts exactly. I only buy books with pictures of what it should look like..... although......
The Joy of Cooking was another very basic book with precise instructions for a full spectrum of recipes.
.... I did buy The Joy of Sex and that was extremely vague despite the pictures..... [smiley=angel_smiley.gif]
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| 1 APR 2011 at 4:13am |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
There's probably no longer a need for how-to books about sex because there's so much high-def, highly graphic porn all over the Internet 24/7.
Nowadays, a total novice can watch pretty much any XXX web video for a few minutes and viola, they're good to go and go and go and...
Cheers, Terry
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| 2 APR 2011 at 9:04pm |
New WolfboySpace Cadet
Posts : 133
Joined: 27 JUL 2010
Status : Online | C'mon chaps, where are those recipes? I've been hoping to grab some fun ideas to practice up on over the long weekend, and I'm sure we all have some.
Shall I post one to start?
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| 2 APR 2011 at 10:58pm |
karlaAdministrator
Posts : 2588
Joined: 27 JUL 2003
Location: US, Close to the Edge
Status : Offline | You haven't said what kind of recipes you want, Wolfboy, but here's a really cool one for 5-minute chocolate mug cake.
Ingredients:
4 T flour
4 T sugar
2 T unsweetened cocoa
1 egg
3 T milk
3 T oil
3 T chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract (okay, this one is vague, but even a novice should be able to tell that it's a few drops rather than, say, half a bottle)
A large, microwave-safe coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well.
Add egg and mix thoroughly.
Add milk and oil and mix well.
If using chocolate chips, add them next.
Add vanilla, mix again.
Put the mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high. As it's cooking, the cake will rise up out of the mug (this is really cool to watch) and look as though it's going to spill over the top, but it doesn't.
Allow the finished product to cool a little (yeah, "a little" is vague; I usually wait about 15 seconds). Then turn the mug upside-down over a plate. It should slide right out.
The cake is little spongy but it sure does taste good. Also, mixing the egg with the dry ingredients can be difficult because the batter becomes quite stiff. You'll succeed if you persevere.
Want some coffee to go with that cake? Here's how to tell when it's ready, courtesy of the movie Hidalgo (about a 3,000 mile horse race across the Arabian desert). This exchange takes place after an Arabian Sheikh offers main character Hopkins some coffee:
Sheik: Most foreigners find our coffee to be too potent.
Hopkins drinks it down all at once, then says: Back home we toss a horseshoe in the pot. When it stands up straight, coffee’s ready.
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| 2 APR 2011 at 11:26pm |
FnordSchattenjger
Posts : 2751
Joined: 15 SEP 2008
Location: SE, Stockholm
Status : Offline | I posted a recipe for pie in this thread:
http://justadventure.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1300122890
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| 4 APR 2011 at 8:22pm |
Starchild with a bobgunIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 93
Joined: 22 AUG 2009
Location: NL
Status : Offline | Yep, it's ready but......
[img]http://majorityrights.com/images/uploads/Teeth_IsItSafe_MarathonMan.jpg[/img]
Still Intergalactic Janitor after all these years.
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| 16 APR 2011 at 1:44pm |
markornikovJourneyman
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Posts : 1301
Joined: 28 OCT 2011
Location: BE, Antwerp
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By placeholder (31 MAR 2011 9:04am)
I like the middle to be still quite raw, but not so raw that it is still cold.
Ah but the middle should never be cold, even when the meat is rare or extra-rare.
The trick is to wrap the meat in aluminium foil after cooking and let it rest for a few minutes.
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| 17 APR 2011 at 1:41am |
CarolineJA+ Overseer
Posts : 16540
Joined: 28 JAN 2007
Location: AU
Status : Offline | Good lord Karla.... does T stand for teaspoon or tablespoon? Vague dear, too vague.... and how big's a big mug?
Wolfie - here's a no-fail recipe for chicken soup.
1 litre pkt of low-salt chicken stock (or water)
120g (roughly about 4 oz) raw or cooked chicken meat diced or shredded really small.
120-140g mixed veggies. These can include leek, onion, potato, carrot, brussel sprouts, brocolli, cawliflower, celery or peas and corn. Basically whatever's in the fridge/freezer.
2 garlic cloves crushed or chopped
1 half teaspoon of any favourite flavourings you like such as mexican or moroccan or just spicey steak sprinkle.
pinch of mixed dried herbs - optional, only if you have them.
Basically you are going to chop everything really small, boil it in the stock with the flavourings (garlic/spices) and then add the chicken at the end.
It takes about 30 minutes start to finish and you can make it as eclectic as you like or as hearty as you like. You can thicken it with cornflour or just extra potatoes pureed. You can cut the veggies in different shapes to give it eye appeal.
I promise you it will be extremely filling and suitable for an evening meal. Here's my version. And if you're into crusty buttered bread for dipping - go for it.
[IMG]http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/4594/chickenveggiesoupinbowl.jpg[/IMG]
It can also be blended thoroughly to a thick consistency which is perfect for when you have a sore throat and can't swallow or kids who protest at the idea of eating from the same plate as a brussel sprout but who ask for seconds when they can't see the damn things.
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| 17 APR 2011 at 1:44am |
karlaAdministrator
Posts : 2588
Joined: 27 JUL 2003
Location: US, Close to the Edge
Status : Offline | @Caroline...
T is Tablespoon and t is teaspoon, at least in the US. I've done the recipe in mugs of various sizes, and it's always turned out fine. Sorry if I was too imprecise for you.
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| 18 APR 2011 at 1:20am |
CarolineJA+ Overseer
Posts : 16540
Joined: 28 JAN 2007
Location: AU
Status : Offline | It is Wolfie who is lamenting the vagueness of cooking recipes - not me dear.... I was just teasing you. I'd actually thought that such was the only logical explanation. :-*
However, you Americans do use some irregular measurements such as 'a stick of butter'.
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| 18 APR 2011 at 1:39am |
karlaAdministrator
Posts : 2588
Joined: 27 JUL 2003
Location: US, Close to the Edge
Status : Offline | Well, at least it's not "stick butter." [smiley=devil_smiley_grintail.gif]
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| 18 APR 2011 at 3:28am |
BrianSpace Cadet
Posts : 117
Joined: 28 SEP 2010
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Caroline (18 APR 2011 1:20am)
However, you Americans do use some irregular measurements such as 'a stick of butter'.
Fortunately google's built-in calculator will help here. Not only does it do things like miles to km -- typing in "2 sticks of butter in cups" shows us that "2 US sticks of butter = 1 US cup".
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| 18 APR 2011 at 6:18am |
CarolineJA+ Overseer
Posts : 16540
Joined: 28 JAN 2007
Location: AU
Status : Offline | Oh very handy. So a USA stick of butter has an USA measurement in cups. Brilliant. : We're metric down here.
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| 18 APR 2011 at 12:13pm |
TravellerGuild Master
Posts : 4039
Joined: 3 JUL 2010
Location: US
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Caroline (18 APR 2011 6:18am)
Oh very handy. So a USA stick of butter has an USA measurement in cups. Brilliant. : We're metric down here.
Interestingly, there are only three countries in the world that use non-metric measurement systems: Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States.
* * * Just call me Trav. * * *
“Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.” - Robert Bloch
"They are not reciprocally sublated--the one does not sublate the other externally--but each sublates itself in itself and is in its own self the opposite of itself" (Hegel, from The Doctrine of Being)..."
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