The Cooking Thread

[Bigblue1]

Apples from backyard and yeah I made the crust.

F#cking Beautiful!

[Mdisch]

Apples from backyard and yeah I made the crust.

Send a piece of that over here to Denmark! It looks lovely, no doubt.
Did you do anything special to make it? or any hints on how to make it seem this delicious?

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

Send a piece of that over here to Denmark! It looks lovely, no doubt.
Did you do anything special to make it? or any hints on how to make it seem this delicious?

I used Bill Yosses' recipe. He's the resident pastry chef at the White House.

Bill Yosses's Apple Pie Recipe

For Pie Crust:

• 3 cups (about 13 oz ) all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 oz. (2 ½ sticks) cool room temperature, unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
• 6-7 tablespoons ice water
• 1 egg and 1 teaspoon salt for egg wash

For Filling:

• 3 lbs apples, such as Gala, Granny Smith or McIntosh, peeled cored and cut into half-inch wedges.

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup honey, preferably local
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Zest and juice of one lemon

DIRECTIONS

Make Crust:

Place flour and salt in a food processor and pulse five times. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms chickpea-sized pieces, about 20 seconds. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and pulse until mixture just holds together. Divide dough and form into two equal-sized balls, then press each ball down to form a 5-inch disc. Wrap each disc in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to two days. On a lightly floured surface roll out each disc into a 14-inch circle. Place one circle between sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and refrigerate.

Grease a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan and gently place the other circle in the pan, leaving a one-inch overhang. Chill the dough in the pie pan for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Remove the pie pan with the bottom crust from the refrigerator and let soften for five to ten minutes. Fold the edge of the overhang under itself and pinch the dough to form a fluted edge. Line with foil and fill with pie weights, rice, or navy beans. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and lift out foil and pie weights; allow pie shell to cool for 10 minutes.


Make Filling:

In a large saucepan, sift together the sugar and cornstarch, then toss with apples, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice and zest. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Bring fruit mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture has thickened slightly, making sure fruit does not stick to the bottom of saucepan. Remove from heat and cool.

Whisk the egg and salt and brush the rim of the prebaked pie shell. Fill with the fruit filling and then lay the second dough circle over the filling, press very gently around the edges to make sure the egg wash seals the top pie dough to the bottom pre-baked crust. With a paring knife, puncture the top pie dough in a wide circle about 10 times with the tip of the knife to form steam vents. Brush top with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake another 30-40 minutes or until the pie filling is starting to bubble out the vents and the top pie crust is golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 1-2 hours before serving.

(The egg wash is an egg that is stirred and thinned out by adding salt, it is then used as a paint to give color to the finished baked product or to stick the two doughs together, in this case the top and bottom of the pie.)

[Mdisch]

I used Bill Yosses' recipe. He's the resident pastry chef at the White House.

Bill Yosses's Apple Pie Recipe

For Pie Crust:

• 3 cups (about 13 oz ) all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 oz. (2 ½ sticks) cool room temperature, unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces
• 6-7 tablespoons ice water
• 1 egg and 1 teaspoon salt for egg wash

For Filling:

• 3 lbs apples, such as Gala, Granny Smith or McIntosh, peeled cored and cut into half-inch wedges.

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup honey, preferably local
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Zest and juice of one lemon

DIRECTIONS

Make Crust:

Place flour and salt in a food processor and pulse five times. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms chickpea-sized pieces, about 20 seconds. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and pulse until mixture just holds together. Divide dough and form into two equal-sized balls, then press each ball down to form a 5-inch disc. Wrap each disc in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to two days. On a lightly floured surface roll out each disc into a 14-inch circle. Place one circle between sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and refrigerate.

Grease a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan and gently place the other circle in the pan, leaving a one-inch overhang. Chill the dough in the pie pan for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Remove the pie pan with the bottom crust from the refrigerator and let soften for five to ten minutes. Fold the edge of the overhang under itself and pinch the dough to form a fluted edge. Line with foil and fill with pie weights, rice, or navy beans. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and lift out foil and pie weights; allow pie shell to cool for 10 minutes.


Make Filling:

In a large saucepan, sift together the sugar and cornstarch, then toss with apples, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice and zest. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Bring fruit mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture has thickened slightly, making sure fruit does not stick to the bottom of saucepan. Remove from heat and cool.

Whisk the egg and salt and brush the rim of the prebaked pie shell. Fill with the fruit filling and then lay the second dough circle over the filling, press very gently around the edges to make sure the egg wash seals the top pie dough to the bottom pre-baked crust. With a paring knife, puncture the top pie dough in a wide circle about 10 times with the tip of the knife to form steam vents. Brush top with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake another 30-40 minutes or until the pie filling is starting to bubble out the vents and the top pie crust is golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 1-2 hours before serving.

(The egg wash is an egg that is stirred and thinned out by adding salt, it is then used as a paint to give color to the finished baked product or to stick the two doughs together, in this case the top and bottom of the pie.)

I'll keep this bad boy in mind! It sounds GOOOD!

[jmdkodiak]

Woah.. Blue you have some awesome cooking skills!

I love to cook.. But I got burnt out cooking a lot of the same stuff. I printed out a bunch of recipes and got creative with stuff, but I am now in a position where I only cook for myself. It isn't very cost effective or time effective to cook a big meal for one person.

Anyone have any suggestions?

What do some of you single guys make to eat? I try to eat healthy too... I made a few salads with some grilled chicken, but that gets old.. So does pasta..

I have a recipe for Chicken Adobo (the Philipino kind) and Sinigang because I LOVE Philipino food. But they just serve so many people and it's hard to cook something so intricate that takes so long just to feed myself a meal... To eat alone...

I am sure you all will have some suggestions!

BTW, Ramen and ketchup? Yuck..

[Mdisch]

I love to cook.. But I got burnt out cooking a lot of the same stuff. I printed out a bunch of recipes and got creative with stuff, but I am now in a position where I only cook for myself. It isn't very cost effective or time effective to cook a big meal for one person.

Anyone have any suggestions?

What do some of you single guys make to eat? I try to eat healthy too... I made a few salads with some grilled chicken, but that gets old.. So does pasta..

Well I do make a lot of chicken - but since I'm quite a fan of fish I try to buy some small fresh fish and fry those with fresh garnish and some seasoning. It usually turns out pretty well ... And it's really healthy!
But I do suggest buying single steaks(the cheap kind) and some potatoes and use some interesting spices for it, I really like to cook with rosemary since it always gives a nice aroma... And of course a side of salad. Just some lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and add some croutons, raisins or whatever.

[Thraxy]

The burgers look good, the noodles scare me though. Is that ketchup and mayonaise on them? LoL

It's ketchup and... ehh... It was some sort of dressing from the back of the fridge... lol. The noodles were kinda crappy. Burgers were kickass

[Thraxy]

Apples from backyard and yeah I made the crust.

That's one good looking pie there! I had to reply so we could get one more picture of it.. hehe

[Bigblue1]

Woah.. Blue you have some awesome cooking skills!

I love to cook.. But I got burnt out cooking a lot of the same stuff. I printed out a bunch of recipes and got creative with stuff, but I am now in a position where I only cook for myself. It isn't very cost effective or time effective to cook a big meal for one person.

What do some of you single guys make to eat? I try to eat healthy too... I made a few salads with some grilled chicken, but that gets old.. So does pasta..

I'm a single guy that used to think like you but not anymore. For one thing I'm pretty sure the ladies like a guy who cooks and like him even better if he cooks well. And in my experience You can't get good at anything without repetition. So let's take yesterday for example. I had a couple of buddies over for the bears game. I made almost 5 lbs of meat. Have a bit leftover. So now I will re-imagine it. I can make a pulled pork sandwich for dinner, I can make pork fried rice, I can shred it and cook with some potatoes and onions to make some hash to serve with eggs, I can shred it fry it with some onions and jalapenos with a little lime and throw it on a tortilla to have a taco. Those are just a few off the top of my head. So Basically if i don't want to I really don't need to spend a lot of time in the kitchen for a few days but still have something different everyday also that meat cost me .99 a lb. What can be more economical than entertaining people than eating for a couple of days for less than $10. Sure beats frozen dinners and ramen for the week. So In other words cook for people then utilize the left overs appropriately and you can turn yourself into a good cook. Oh and I can't go to cheap restaurants anymore. I can't stand paying $10 for a meal that I know I can make better, costs less, and is not over processed and comes out of a bag..........

[Mdisch]

Like BB(hope it's alright I call you that, pal?) said, reuse the leftovers!
I can't believe I forgot to mention that as well.. Sometimes I cook large amounts for myself - and you can always reuse the meat somehow.
If it's gone a bit bland I'd recommend re-spicing it and heating it on the grill or a grillpan(if you've got one of those) and slowly reheat it to maintain the flavor.
I also sometimes make a whole chicken just for myself and the chicken I couldn't eat I usually cut up and put in a salad, and keep the rest for a busy day where you need something easy!
If you made lamb you might also want to cut the leftovers up into pieces and make a pizza or something really good.

Also most leftover meat and seafood goes great if you mix it up in some sort of rice dish!
I hope this is useful info!
(Man! This thread is making me hungry but it's 11:00 PM here and I shouldn't eat before I go to bed)

[Mdisch]

. I can't stand paying $10 for a meal that I know I can make better, costs less, and is not over processed and comes out of a bag..........

In Denmark we have no cheap resturants(The cheapest would be McDonalds, and if you want to eat there(YUCK!) you'd still have to pay 12$ for a meal that comes frozen in a bag) so that isn't even a choice.. it makes dating quite hard sometimes, so instead I like inviting the girls over and cooking them up something.
And If you want to ask a girl out in Denmark you shouldn't expect to pay less than 150$ for something decent.

So Y'all keep cooking instead!
If we were all closer we should've had a "cook off" haha, since you all seem like masterchefs!

[RobsanX]

Got off my butt and back into the kitchen. Italian sausages simmered in marinara sauce with onions and bell peppers. We ate them on hotdog buns.

[RobsanX]

I made a pot roast tonight. Here is a pic before I smothered it in brown gravy.

[RobsanX]

Tonight was Senate Bean Soup, and a baguette on the side.

[RobsanX]

I made pork roast, baked potatoes, and green beans tonight...