Good, Bad, and Ugly Experiments with Food

[hanselthecaretaker]

It’s been said that over the course of the quarantine we will have largely fallen into one of two groups: Those with a newfound drinking problem, and those who’ve become really good cooks. Possibly both.

Thought it could be interesting to hear a smattering of culinary jackpots and mishaps anyone might have had, even if it predates this oddball year.

A few pretty simple ones I’ve had for a while that have panned out well -

I love putting mashed potatoes in my omelettes. The way the cheese melts over the top, and how well other filling ingredients like sausage, bell peppers, etc. sit in them to prevent spillage make it a highly accommodating and tasty addition.

I also love mixing a cup of oat yogurt (or Greek works too) in with ice cream. You have to be careful of flavors, but generally you can put anything in a vanilla ice cream and come out ahead. Gives it a nice silky texture along with the improved flavorings.

And for a third, take a tablespoon or so of your favorite jam (currently thimbleberry for me) and mix it into a bowl of oatmeal. YUM. I’m a big fan of the Smart Balance Omega spread (purple tub) too as a cholesterol-free substitute for anything from oatmeal to toast to pancakes. Can even use it in the frying pan.

 

[Xprimentyl]

It’s been said that over the course of the quarantine we will have largely fallen into one of two groups: Those with a newfound drinking problem, and those who’ve become really good cooks. Possibly both.

Pretty much. My girlfriend loves to cook, and day drinking has become our day job, so this quarantine has felt like a mini-vacation.

As for recipes, we tried our hand at ceviche yesterday. Well, yesterday was attempt #2; attempt #1 was a couple days ago, but the snapper we bought for it smelled like a rotten fish's asshole. We put it to macerate in the lime juice, but the stench wouldn't subside, so we decided it was probably bad, and salmonella wasn't worth it. Second round, we bought "fresh daily" snapper from a seafood market, and it turned out great. But it's just the two of us (her son is with his dad for the week,) and ceviche isn't really meant to keep, so we've been eating it nonstop all day trying to get the best of it before we pitch it. This post probably smells like onion and cilantro. Send help.

 

[Palindromemordnilap]

Turns out I never have to buy teriyaki sauce in a jar ever again because I can make larger quantities of it myself for much cheaper with just soy sauce, sugar and something to jazz it up with.
Also finally found a recipe for a kedgeree that actually tastes like the ones my parents used to make. The secret ingredient is katsu sauce it seems

 

[Chimpzy]

I love putting mashed potatoes in my omelettes. The way the cheese melts over the top, and how well other filling ingredients like sausage, bell peppers, etc. sit in them to prevent spillage make it a highly accommodating and tasty addition.

That's not as unusual as it might seem. Kind of a variant of a Spanish omelette aka tortilla de patatas.

 

[Gordon_4]

Some jackass on TikTok tried making fairy bread - which has three ingredients and impossible to fuck up - using peanut butter and chunky sprinkles. Predictably it was a disaster.

 

[SckizoBoy]

I love putting mashed potatoes in my omelettes. The way the cheese melts over the top, and how well other filling ingredients like sausage, bell peppers, etc. sit in them to prevent spillage make it a highly accommodating and tasty addition.

I make really fancy mash, and that's given me an idea to put half-done scrambled eggs in it next time instead of a plain raw egg, plus cheese, plus garlic, plus milk 'n mayo, plus every seasoning I can get my hands on, plus finely chopped bacon (and the resultant bacon fat from the frying). Hmmm...

 

[Palindromemordnilap]

If we're talking mash I've got to ask; who peels the potatoes first and who leaves the skins on? I'm a leave the skins on kind of guy myself

 

[Bob_McMillan]

If we're talking mash I've got to ask; who peels the potatoes first and who leaves the skins on? I'm a leave the skins on kind of guy myself

I leave the skins on, because I like to bake/microwave my potatoes. Once I peel them, boom easy crispy potato skins. Peeling them before cooking seems like a huge waste.

OT: I've been trying to make ice cream for the past two weeks.

First, I tried out our ancient ice cream maker. It has raving reviews, people calling it the best in the biz. Ours seems to be broken however, because it's failed all four times I've used it. Super disappointing, I even bought xanthan gum for this.

Then I tried out Adam Ragusea's two bowls method, which absolutely did not work for me. I think I didn't have enough ice and salt, or maybe my bowls were the wrong size.

I finally tried out Binging with Babish's method, which is to use the two bowls but instead of freezing for an hour then churning, you freeze the ice cream in 30 minute intervals until you get a soft serve consistency. It worked, but any store bought ice cream would have been better. So as of today, I've given up. So much wasted eggs, milk, and cream. Now I'm going to attempt making ice cream sandwiches with "faux" ice cream made with cream and condensed milk.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Ever since a fancy slow cooker has been obtained, anything and everything has gone in. What a wonderful, low effort, maximum taste machine these be! I feel like the laziest witch with the shiniest cauldron!

 

[Kyrian007]

Well, my omelet attempt last weekend didn't go particularly well. I've been working on my omurice recipe. The fairly standard chicken fried rice I normally make worked well. I made a fried rice with breakfast sausage and that went pretty well. Then last weekend I tried it with chorizo. That last one was maybe a step too far.

It didn't taste bad. The flavor profile was just... a little busy. And as Garfield once said, "my mouth liked it, my stomach is still making up its mind."

 

[Agema]

Ever since a fancy slow cooker has been obtained, anything and everything has gone in. What a wonderful, low effort, maximum taste machine these be! I feel like the laziest witch with the shiniest cauldron!

My wife got a soup maker early in the year (pre-covid): it's basically a blender with a heater and some auto-programming. It sounds stupid, but it's great: just shove the ingredients in, turn it on and press a couple of buttons, leave for half an hour and done. Stuff turns out really well.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

My wife got a soup maker early in the year (pre-covid): it's basically a blender with a heater and some auto-programming. It sounds stupid, but it's great: just shove the ingredients in, turn it on and press a couple of buttons, leave for half an hour and done. Stuff turns out really well.

That does sound like quite a fun toy of feastery to experiment with actually, it has now been placed on the list of desired material possessions to procure through legal and safe channels!

 

[Xprimentyl]

Oh, yeah! For her birthday, I bought my gf this. Has a lot of great recipes, but the entertainment comes in instructions with stuff like "salt the shit out of it; make it taste like the sea" and "add olive oil if necessary, but you shouldn't have to if you didn't fuck it up" have us in the kitchen dying laughing.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

If we're talking mash I've got to ask; who peels the potatoes first and who leaves the skins on? I'm a leave the skins on kind of guy myself

I suppose that would be more nutritious, but I like the smooth texture of peeled. Although maybe it’s not that bad because I barely notice them when cubed with skins are boiled and put on a grill, wrapped up in foil with all the seasoning and marinations.

 

[MrCalavera]

I managed to fuck up and then unfuck a cherry loaf recipe. I never really baked anything before, other than a pizza, but it still came out decent, considering circumstances and charred bits.

I also learnt how to make this kickass coconut milk rice pudding.

 

[Chimpzy]

Did you know strawberry and fresh basil go quite well together?

Gf insisted on making us strawberry mint mojito's. Alas, there wasn't enough fresh mint, but there was plenty of basil. So she swapped in that instead. Same thing, right?
Well, no, it isn't. Gives quite a different flavor profile, but it did turn out to be pretty damn good, unlike most things she's prepared.