Any food preparers here?

I didn't want to use the word "chef". I'm no chef, but I love to cook food.

My wife got these Lobster tails at Schnuck's for $5 a piece and I think I've perfected my lobster tail preparing skills. (grilling!!)
- Thaw the frozen tails in COLD water.
- Change the water after 10 minutes. (2 changes)
- I've got these heavy duty kitchen sheers (that can cut a penny in half) and I cut all the tails (shell and meat) down the middle - from the tip to the end of the tail where the fin starts. (still in one piece at the fin)
- Boiling pot of water has a cap of Zaterain's Crab and Shrimp Boil, a shake of salt and a couple squirts of lemon juice
- Put the tails in the boiling water and take them out in 3 MINUTES
- Cut the tail fins the rest of way so they're completely split
- pull the meat back from the top thickest part of the shell (should be a thin red flesh layer on top of the white) to the fin, but don't sever the meat from the shell
- brush melted butter into the shell and put the meat back in it
- put the tail halves on the grill (shell side down with the meat up) at a medium heat (I've got a grill attachment on my stovetop so I put the burner dial right in the middle)
- brush melted butter on the lobster meat
- drip lemon juice over it
- a small amount of garlic salt
- take the tails off the grill when the thickest part of the meat is white all the way through and the melted butter in the shell starts to boil

Frickin' amazing!
Anyone else awesome at making great tasting food?

I don't know if I'm awesome, but my wife likes what I cook. We are on low carb/low sugar diets so we substitute stuff and try to make food that's edible. I'm pretty good at making pizza, mashed cauliflower, zucchini tots, and sugar free cheesecake that's actually pretty good. I've actually thought about doing a You Tube channel with some of these recipes but I haven't yet.

Aw yeah bro.  I grew up on a low carb diet as a kid.  ...not because I needed it, but because my father did and mom cooked for him and that's what we ate as a family.  

My wife makes this awesome zucchini dish.  She puts them through this cutter that cuts them like spaghetti.  Olive oil and a little seasoning and its better than pasta in my opinion, but I LOVE vegetables.

I'll tell you an awesome low carb dessert I loved as a kid.  Put a stick of cream cheese in when you make a batch of sugar free jello.  (it will be a hot liquid before you set it, so cut the cream cheese thin and stir it so it melts)

Its a rich cheese cakey fruity dessert with like 8 carbs in the whole giant bowl.  Peach and strawberry were my favorites.  HAHA!!

EDIT: Your YouTube video game channel is AWESOME.  I love old NES games.  I've been playing quite a bit of Minute Frontier on my smart phone for my latest 8-bit fix.

Glad you like my You Tube channel! Always happy to have more viewers. 

We have made the zucchini pasta before and it does rock. When I tell my wife about the dessert she will want to try it!

I hate, no LOATHE, to cook.  I enjoy eating, but I hate cooking.  I can, but I choose not to at every possible chance.  Cooking is only slightly more fun than fishing which is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

alldatndensum wrote:I hate, no LOATHE, to cook.  I enjoy eating, but I hate cooking.  I can, but I choose not to at every possible chance.  Cooking is only slightly more fun than fishing which is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Fishing is only meant to be exciting if you get a fish on the line. Its supposed to be relaxing. LOL

I'm not always in the mood to cook, like after a full shift at work...
but pleasing guests and making some excellent food feels rewarding. Still wouldn't call it exciting myself.

Though I will say, there is something about putting flesh to flame that releases an aggression that a punching bag / heavy lifting can't...

I do like to fish even though I never really get to do it. However, I'm perfectly content to just sit in the boat and cast my line over and over without catching anything. That way I don't have to actually touch a real fish which are slimy and gross. :-)

I'm not really a big cook, and I'm not a huge lobster guy.  But as a non-native New Englander, it's fun when friends from around the country come to visit to buy some live lobsters and boil them at home.  We did NOT do that growing up in the midwest!

ThomasEversole wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:I hate, no LOATHE, to cook.  I enjoy eating, but I hate cooking.  I can, but I choose not to at every possible chance.  Cooking is only slightly more fun than fishing which is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Fishing is only meant to be exciting if you get a fish on the line.  Its supposed to be relaxing.  LOL

I'm not always in the mood to cook, like after a full shift at work...
but pleasing guests and making some excellent food feels rewarding.  Still wouldn't call it exciting myself.

Though I will say, there is something about putting flesh to flame that releases an aggression that a punching bag / heavy lifting can't...

It was an expression.  I find fishing to be extremely boring.  It isn't relaxing when your mind wanders and wishes you were anywhere but there.  That stresses me out.

Cooking is a necessary evil.  If I want to relax by burning something, I will start a bonfire.  I may or may not (probably not) cook something on said fire.  This is the rural south and bonfires are just a way of life.

Isn't it funny how sitting in a chair outside under the shade can be both insanely boring or the most desired and peaceful thing? Nothing to do with the locale or chair, but everything to do with the state of mind.

Man, your bonfire mention makes me want to get my wife's fire pit out of storage and put it alight in my back yard some night this week.

Man, your bonfire mention makes me want to get my wife's fire pit out of storage and put it alight in my back yard some night this week.

You think too small!  We have a fire pit, but my current pile of sticks is around 4 feet tall.  Now THAT's more like a bonfire!

You call that a bonfire?  How about a pile of WOOD (not "sticks") 8 foot tall.  I know that's a little small, but a few hundred bucks worth of Black Ash added on top and block charcoal added underneath would be a decent start.

Anyway...

I got my wife's firepit setup on my screened in back porch.  The wood I have has been outside and is a bit damp so I'll dry it out and try to start a fire tonight.
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A nice simple meal that my wife and I enjoy.
A packet of ramen, boiled in water.  Drop and egg in there and obliterate it.
Add the packet, some garlic salt...  tastes better than it sounds!

My opinion, the best chili and how I make it.
Brown and chop up into small pieces a sleeve of deer meat.
Dice a big sweet vidalia onion and put it in the meet.
Some fresh off the cob whole corn.  (a couple ears worth)
A chunk of dark chocolate
Can of black beans, chili beans and kidney beans.
Cook on a LOW heat until until the contents start to boil
Add diced tomatoes, bring to a boil again.
Add a big jar of fresh out-of-the-garden tomato juice and its done!
(my experience, don't boil the juice - it kills the flavor, and besides, the juice added makes the chili the perfect temperature to eat!)

From my wedding last August, I had enough Fried Chicken and Ham to eat on for the rest of that month. I made this into something I shared with others, so I might as well tell what I did!

Luckily, I'm awesome in the kitchen and my "Chicken Ham Salad" is better than anything you can get in a deli.

Step 1: Use a food processor and grind up about 10 or so already Fried Chicken Breasts (including the breading and skin YUM!) and about a pound or two of ham. I've got a Ninja and it makes SHORT WORK of anything put in it. (its powerful enough to turn ice cubes to snow)



Step 2: Add some spread butter and milk to the meat. Scramble about 14 eggs. (that's the key to an outstanding salad - don't hard boil the eggs, scramble them!) I cooked the eggs in olive oil, seasoned them with black and white pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Add milk to make them fluffier.



Step 3: Add two whole jars of mom's homemade bread and butter relish. Better (and sweeter) than anything that can be bought in the store. No reason to Ninja the eggs, they break up easy enough. Oh, my wooden spoon (forget plastic!) is in the shape of an electric guitar. I especially love it because its more square on the ends and easier to get the corners when it comes time to mix.



Step 4: Added about a jar and a half of Miracle Whip. (or Salad Dressing) I like a subtle mustard and my wife likes sweet so, half a bottle of honey mustard. Add probably a half pound / pound of shredded mild cheddar.



Step 5: MIX THOROUGHLY!!! Mmmmmm... I finally tasted it and I think I even outdid myself this time.



Step 6: Probably a step that most people wouldn't consider a step, but put them in containers (to share) but let the flavors macerate together in the fridge overnight. That only improves the flavors!

I wish you guys were in driving distance - I would have given you a container of it!



Oh, and yes, I do have a small "desktop drumset" in my kitchen. Its fun to play while I wait.

Hooray!!! Good food!

Jack Links, eat your heart out.

Working on my 3rd batch of jerky tonight.  I tell ya, its awesome stuff and goes quick.  (I can't help but share with people and had nothing but positive feedback on the quality of this.)

- Buy a pack or two of some eye of the round.  (my local markets sell it a few pounds per package.  3-4lbs is ideal.)
- The fun part.  Take a serrated knife and cut vertically along the horizontal length of the meat.  The strips should be about a half inch thick (whatever thickness each piece of meat is) and a half inch - 3/4ths inch width (your cuts) and the length depends on the meat you bought.
- Cut any (white) pieces of fat off.  (eye of the round, the fat will be thin, almost like sheets of paper in the meat).  This won't ruin your jerky, but fat doesn't keep anywhere near as long as the red meat does.
- Put the meat strips in a big bowl
- In a big measuring cup / separate bowl, 3/4ths a cup of soy sauce, 3/4ths a cup of Worcestershire, a couple gluggy shakes of some teriyaki marinade.
- dump a bunch of barbeque dry mix, onion powder, garlic powder.  Be generous so don't use the shaker holes.  Should have a thin layer of seasoning on top of the liquid.
- Dark Brown sugar.  Use the pure cane kind.  Put a bit of that in it.
- Microwave your marinade for a few minutes.  This helps melt the sugar and evaporate the alcohol from the wine in the teriyaki.
- TASTE your freakin' marinade.  It should taste salty, but not TOO salty.  If its too salty, add more brown sugar.  If its not salty enough, take your pick with any salt you prefer and add that.  The marinade should be salty-sweet and taste ALMOST good enough to just drink out of the bowl, but a tad too salty for you to WANT to do that.
- Pour the marinade in the bowl with your meat.  Mix it in well.  If the meat submerges in the marinade, even better.
- Cover the bowl (with marinaded meat in it ) with tin foil, set it in the fridge.  Leave it alone for 24 HOURS.
- Take your oven rack out and lay the strips of meat (taken out of the fridge of course) across the bars.  (like the picture above)  You'll give yourself a headache if you try to put the meat on the rack while its still in the oven.
- Set the rack of meat on the top slot in your oven.  Set the oven to 175°.  
- 6 ½ hours is how long it takes to cook the way I do this, but you want to check thick pieces starting at 5 hours.  It should be firm, but slightly chewy in the thickest parts of meat.  My experience, 5 hours, its a little rare which is awesome, but that won't keep.  Generally, I go for a little bit more on the hard side at the thickest segments because the meat put in a container/thick storage plastic bag will create some minor condensation and soften the meat back up a little.

So awesome - like the perfect snack.  Even better, you've got POUNDS of the stuff that would cost you $50 if you tried to buy it off the shelves.  Apart from the waiting in the fridge and the drying/cooking in the oven, its maybe a half hour of prep work.  (if your meat cutting knife doesn't suck)

Just wanted to share this with you guys!

I like to cook and am getting better all the time. My son and I like to cook for the family on Saturday nights.

Here's one of my creations from last year.
https://thecmr.forumotion.com/t8453-beer-can-burgers

Alright guys, let's do this. Share your best cooking tips and recipes.

ThomasEversole made some chili:
https://thecmr.forumotion.com/t8415p450-random-thoughts#177182
Thomas, if you have some measurements for the recipe, please share them.

And here are my Beer Can Burgers:
https://thecmr.forumotion.com/t8453-beer-can-burgers

And here is how I grill a turkey everything Thanksgiving:

I posted a chili recipe, grilled lobster tails, chicken ham salad and my irresistible jerky on this thread.

https://thecmr.forumotion.com/t9249-any-food-preparers-here

As far as precise measurements, I've never cooked that way.

Oh no! How did I forget about your thread? Sorry!

We can use either thread. Perhaps the mods can merge them that would be awesoem

Merged. 

Haha! Sweet!

Tepachi - Mexican pineapple beer

Next time you cut a pineapple, save the skin.

Dissolve a couple of cups worth of piloncillo or brown sugar into 2 quarts of water. Add 3 or 4 cloves and a couple of cinnamon sticks.

Pour water into large ceramic jug, add pineapple skin and cover with cheesecloth.

Let sit for 48 hours and check. Check every couple of hours after. Add more sugar when it tastes vinegary. Then next day, remove all the skin and pour through a strainer. Keep it in a pitcher and sweeten to taste.

Alternative which I haven't yet tried is to use a stainless steel pressure cooker for the fermentation process.

I've seen a similar recipe involving apples. Like an apple vodka type thing.

Too bad I'm allergic to alcohol. (I break out in handcuffs if I drink)

Made some Mac Wraps today for my wife and I. Same ingredients as the McDonalds ones.

- Ground beef / venison
- grilled diced onions
- lettuce
- Thousand Island dressing
- shredded mozzarella
- wrapped tightly in a soft shell
- serve and enjoy!

That jerky post makes me want to make some.  I haven't made it in quite awhile, but I love it.  Thomas have you ever tried it with adding honey?  I find it tends to coat the outside of the jerky, and makes it even better tasting than with brown sugar alone.

Never tried honey with the jerky yet. Honey has such a strong flavor, I'd be worried it would taste like a meat flavored honey stick rather than a honey flavored meat stick. LOL