[grokit]

It is, I haven't made it in years so I will do that soon.
I forgot to add that it is a curry/apple stew, I will fix that now 

 

[rroseperry]

Quote:

no, before this, I did 2 things with lentils:
 
- The classic Indian dish 'dahl' (cooked lentils with lots of spices, eaten with rice) <--my girlfriend has Indian origins, we actually eat this about every 2 weeks (she's vegetarian)
- lentil soup, Turkish style, years ago, didn't like it very much
 
sounds good grokit

If you're not a vegetarian (and are not cooking for one at the time) there's a good French lentil and sausage soup recipe you might want to try.  The French (well that's what they call them in the US) lentils are smaller than the others, a sort of mottled dark green, they look like tiny stones. I can dig up the recipe if you're interested.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I am vegetarian actually. But no...never tried that. Sounds good though. I'll have to give it a try. I love lentils.
 
Quote:

Ever make a vegetarian lentil/curry stew with chopped apples? Saute' some onions 1st, then add the chopped apples and curry paste/powder and get them going, then the lentils and liquid. The apples disappear as the lentils cook, very tasty 

 

[00940]

Made a bit simpler version of this yesterday, the risotto with fried plaice on top, simple pepper, salt on the fish.
 

It sure looks very edible, to say the least

What rice are you using for risotto ? I've got a preference for the Arborio, which gives a creamier risotto. I've found that finally round rice (dessert rice) can make a decent substitute when nothing else can be found.

 

[Proglover]

Quote:

It sure looks very edible, to say the least

What rice are you using for risotto ? I've got a preference for the Arborio, which gives a creamier risotto. I've found that finally round rice (dessert rice) can make a decent substitute when nothing else can be found.

Hell yeah my risotto is edible, it's one of my specialties

 
I use only arborio from Italy, I've learned it really matters which kind of risotto rice you use.
With most of my risotto's, I use vermouth in stead of white wine, giving it a slightly other taste, making it also creamier. (with the endives I used white wine this time which a had around).
 
I've learned that I have to use more endives the next time. Definitely going to make this again, thanks for the recipe
 
 

 

[grokit]

Recipes are just starting points for me, so I ended up changing a few things with AudioDude's Grandma's recipe -- no copycats here!
 
I don't use shortening, so after consulting a few ingredient substitution tables I cam up with a concoction of applesauce, flax meal, butter, and peanut oil. Then I spiced them up a bit with chocolate chips, and about a 2/1 ratio of ground cardomon to cinnamon.
 

 
They are delicious (whew)! I've never quite had a cookie like this, they are so light and fluffy!
 
Next time a bit of fresh-ground nutmeg and some toasted coconut flakes might make their way into the mix.
 
Thank your Grandma for me AudioDude, I hope she approves!

 

[BIG POPPA]

So I nailed my final yesterday. I attend Le Cordon Bleu Seattle. Had to make a salad with a vinaigrette, protein, vegetable, starch with what we had in our cooler. So I started with a pomegranate salad, then roasted a half chicken airlined with citrus, and onion wheel, with a rice pilaf. Yeah, it does sound kind of boring. I found a bain marie full of duck fat. The class was a little curious why I got excited to find the duck fat. I grew up eating pomegranates, knew what to do with it. Found a fine strainer, pushed the juice through with a soup spoon. Added  it to the white wine vinegar loosely, added a few things, then the EVO. Man, the colors of red on the plate. The Chicken I just pan seared in duck fat, added picked thyme, satsuma orange squeezed on top,  salt, pepper, then put in the oven to roast, basted with duck fat and oranges, I cut a 1" onion wheel, brushed duck fat on both sides added salt pepper on top roasted till al dente. The pilaf, just used long grain rice with carrots, onions, red and green peppers, and duck fat with salt and pepper. I served it on a rectangular plate starting from the left to right with the rice pilaf shaped in a triangle then the Onion wheel, leaned the Chicken thigh on the onion, then had the leg leaning perfect on the thigh. Do work at the Madison Park Conservatory so I do have a clue on some great cooking techniques. Work with 2 awesome chefs.

 

[Proglover]

@Big Poppa: wow man, wished I was there to taste that chicken!
 
@grokit; they look nice! I tried a banana cookie last week (the day before we got grandma's recipe), put 2/1/1 cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves in, used dairy butter, baking soda (only 1 ts), sugar, flour. Wasn't a great succes. The tasted really nice, were soft, but didn't rise well (not enough in height, they got too wide)
But then, I've cooked a lot, but have almost no experience with baking cookies and alike. I'll try again today, using more baking soda, 2 eggs in stead of 1, we'll see (more the amounts of the grandma recipe, only I didn't get the lard yet). I have to learn to make nice cookies, I love them!
 
How about some nice oatmeal cookies, made those once (my only cookie experience), some good idea's for the perfect one guys? Please share, you Americans know how to make cookies and alike!

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

@grokit; they look nice! I tried a banana cookie last week (the day before we got grandma's recipe), put 2/1/1 cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves in, used dairy butter, baking soda (only 1 ts), sugar, flour. Wasn't a great succes. The tasted really nice, were soft, but didn't rise well (not enough in height, they got too wide)
But then, I've cooked a lot, but have almost no experience with baking cookies and alike. I'll try again today, using more baking soda, 2 eggs in stead of 1, we'll see (more the amounts of the grandma recipe, only I didn't get the lard yet). I have to learn to make nice cookies, I love them!
 
How about some nice oatmeal cookies, made those once (my only cookie experience), some good idea's for the perfect one guys? Please share, you Americans know how to make cookies and alike!

 
The Dutch make the best Space Cakes though 

 !
 
You might want to add some baking powder if the soda doesn't cause them to rise enough, but the butter will make them spread like that too. Funny I was thinking that some rolled oats might be nice in these, but they would probably make the cookies heavier.

 

[Proglover]

Quote:

 
Quote:

@grokit; they look nice! I tried a banana cookie last week (the day before we got grandma's recipe), put 2/1/1 cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves in, used dairy butter, baking soda (only 1 ts), sugar, flour. Wasn't a great succes. The tasted really nice, were soft, but didn't rise well (not enough in height, they got too wide)
But then, I've cooked a lot, but have almost no experience with baking cookies and alike. I'll try again today, using more baking soda, 2 eggs in stead of 1, we'll see (more the amounts of the grandma recipe, only I didn't get the lard yet). I have to learn to make nice cookies, I love them!
 
How about some nice oatmeal cookies, made those once (my only cookie experience), some good idea's for the perfect one guys? Please share, you Americans know how to make cookies and alike!

 
The Dutch make the best Space Cakes though 

 !
 
You might want to add some baking powder if the soda doesn't cause them to rise enough, but the butter will make them spread like that too. Funny I was thinking that some rolled oats might be nice in these, but they would probably make the cookies heavier.

Yes, the space cakes, and without doing anything illegal here (but that won't take long before it will change). I know, strange country.
 
Exactly, they spread too much, 2nd time also. 1st time there was a teaspoon of baking power plus the teaspoon soda. Again, they're nice to eat, but it's more parts of a banana cake then a cookie. I feel such a cookie making noob, bleh. I won't give up, if I can make a good Christmas dinner, risotto's, curries etc. etc., I have to learn to make a good cookie

Plus, I don't know if it's normal, but they're very sticky, especially the next day.
 

 

 

[TheAudioDude]

Yep, the second day is when the cookies taste the best (at least, I think so).  They do become softer the next day, although I wouldn't exactly call it sticky.  I guess it's just personal preference, but they're my favorite cookies.  I've never been a fan of hard cookies.
 
Also, I bet the butter is mostly to blame.  One time I made a pie crust using butter instead of crisco and it just wasn't the same.
 
Here are some italian cookies (not as good as my mom's, but still tasty):
 

 

 
Yes, I know... too many wasted sprinkles...

 

[Proglover]

ow yummie, you make them look nice! Not too many wrinkles
 
I'll go to the US expad shop to get Wrinkle. I will get this done properly. I don't know everything about how Europe makes cookies but we know only of butter in cookies here, damn. Maybe the British use something else, they're usually better with this kind of stuff.
If you feel to share recipes of Italian cookies or whatever, please do
 
man, those look nice Audiodude.......again

 

[lextek]

I enjoy cooking, not just the grill.

 

[TheAudioDude]

Here's the recipe for Italian cookies:
 
Ingredients:
Cookies:
6 eggs
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
5 cups flour
1 tablespoon anise extract (after baking these for the first time today with 1tbs, I think 1.5tbs will give a fuller flavor)
5 heaping teaspoons of baking powder
Icing:
full box of 10x confectionary sugar (I think a regular box is 1lb)
milk to soften sugar
1 teaspoon anise extract
sprinkles
 
1) With mixer, beat butter and sugar (I did this with a fork because my hand mixer likes to spit food everywhere)
2) Add eggs and beat until smooth
3) Mix together in a small bowl: flour and baking powder
4) Add flour + baking powder to creamed mixture a little at a time.  Also add anise extract.
5) Stir until dough is proper consistency for rolling balls.
6) Roll dough into balls and place on ungreased baking sheet 1" apart.
*note* These expand quite a bit in the oven, so you may have to do some experimentation to get them to your preferred size (a ball of ~0.75" or 1.9cm in diameter yields a pretty normal-sized cookie).  Also make sure to roll the balls relatively tightly so the dough doesn't crack and split in the oven.
7) Bake at 350 degrees (fahrenheit) for 10 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned.  The top of the cookie will appear uncooked.
8) Cool cookies on brown paper bags or wax/parchment paper.
 
Once they're completely cooled you can prepare the icing:
1) Dump box of confectionary sugar in a bowl and add milk a little at a time.  Start with 3-4 tablespoons and stir, adding more as needed.  The icing should be relatively thick.  I think I ended up using about 8-9 tablespoons of milk.
2) Add 1 teaspoon of anise extract.
3) Dip top of cookies in icing and place back onto the paper.  Add sprinkles.
 

 

[TheAudioDude]

Apple pie from scratch:
 
 
Pre-glaze
 

 
 
 
Post-glaze
 

 
 
 
More pictures in ~30 minutes!

 
 
Fresh from the oven