Food bloggers

Solved.
 

Coffee Housed.

sharke
Think am gonna puke....

Will there be becan in it?

Mesh

sharke
Pet peeve #90 billion:
 
I often look for recipes online, and invariably they're on food blogs. However instead of just getting a brief description, a photo of the finished product, a list of ingredients and the cooking instructions, you have to scroll past what appears to be the blogger's life story as it relates to this dish, a couple of anecdotes about how they didn't used to like it as a kid, then the ingredients (finally) followed by very drawn out cooking instructions which are interspersed with approximately twelve trillion photographs of every stage of the cooking process (hey I have an iPhone too...). The amount of scrolling back and forth just makes me long for a good old fashioned cookery book. 

.....but, but, but if they didn't mention all of this 'personalization', it wouldn't be a blog roooight? (it'd be just a recipe as found in .......i.e. Food Network).  

lol... that is true.
But with anything that requires a build, repair, or CW help,.... instructions and parts lists .... should be listed fully at the top.
Easier for the user to rule out the crud because he can't get flipped-weasel space mushrooms, or a metal-plex flex oven and i/o combo.
 
They can yack about it right above the comments that other people yack in.

Mike, I'd love to have any recipe's you can share on BBQ'ing ribs/meats, steaks, chili, or anything else you're happy to share with us.

craigb
I've got a recipe for dehydrated water...

Blog it!!

I must warn you - I am an eggan, which is my made up term for "would be a vegan if it wasn't for eggs." So I don't eat meat, fish or dairy.

That's why they're called "temps."  LOL!

sharke
I must warn you - I am an eggan, which is my made up term for "would be a vegan if it wasn't for eggs." So I don't eat meat, fish or dairy.

A sharke that only eats kelp! That's new to me. lol
It IS safe to go back in the water!
 
And that flips the script for this old Texan, almost everything I make that's edible is squirted, hunted, or dead. lol
I said almost, but that's still a challenge for an entree ... so I'm in.
 
Cooking is another art to me, and most of the time I want quick and easy, but occasionally I take that extra time and steps.
Not knowing you and your style, maybe we can make something impressive either way.
Maybe a full meal, and possibly two different entrees, one super-simple, and one a little more involved, and I'm reasonable fluent in regional-styles, and Italian, Chinese, Mexican etc .. but I dunno if I can guarantee it'll hit the spot as they say. lol
 
So no butter, what about margarine and types of oils?
Do you like tofoooey and edamame?
Mushrooms, onions, etc.
Fresh corn, mild sweet peppers.
Pasta, rice, those "pandemic" breadcrumbs?
Spinach, kelp, favorite salads?
 
Anti-heat
Mild wannabe
Thump on the butt
Swift boot
or Kick another hole in your a$$? lol
 
Being a city sharke from NYC, I assume a couple things .. first I didn't really need that last heat option, lol, and that you have killer access to almost anything with the markets there.
Not knowing if your atop a steel perch with a 6 inch patio or whatever, do you have some sort of grill, at least a flattop, or all pots and pans?
 
The bad and alleged jokes aside, it's always "to taste", and I ask for the details so I can invent something custom for you and maybe add some southwest flair or whatever it accidentally is in the end.
I like being tossed out of my comfort zone, but this might throw me by the ears. lol

sylent

sharke
I must warn you - I am an eggan, which is my made up term for "would be a vegan if it wasn't for eggs." So I don't eat meat, fish or dairy.

A sharke that only eats kelp! That's new to me. lol
It IS safe to go back in the water!
 
And that flips the script for this old Texan, almost everything I make that's edible is squirted, hunted, or dead. lol
I said almost, but that's still a challenge for an entree ... so I'm in.
 
Cooking is another art to me, and most of the time I want quick and easy, but occasionally I take that extra time and steps.
Not knowing you and your style, maybe we can make something impressive either way.
Maybe a full meal, and possibly two different entrees, one super-simple, and one a little more involved, and I'm reasonable fluent in regional-styles, and Italian, Chinese, Mexican etc .. but I dunno if I can guarantee it'll hit the spot as they say. lol
 
So no butter, what about margarine and types of oils?
Do you like tofoooey and edamame?
Mushrooms, onions, etc.
Fresh corn, mild sweet peppers.
Pasta, rice, those "pandemic" breadcrumbs?
Spinach, kelp, favorite salads?
 
Anti-heat
Mild wannabe
Thump on the butt
Swift boot
or Kick another hole in your a$$? lol
 
Being a city sharke from NYC, I assume a couple things .. first I didn't really need that last heat option, lol, and that you have killer access to almost anything with the markets there.
Not knowing if your atop a steel perch with a 6 inch patio or whatever, do you have some sort of grill, at least a flattop, or all pots and pans?
 
The bad and alleged jokes aside, it's always "to taste", and I ask for the details so I can invent something custom for you and maybe add some southwest flair or whatever it accidentally is in the end.
I like being tossed out of my comfort zone, but this might throw me by the ears. lol

Anywhere it says butter, I substitute coconut oil. In fact I use coconut oil a LOT. Love it on a toasted muffin with peanut butter. One of my favorite meals at the minute is a pizza I make with lavish bread brushed with coconut oil. I just spread tomato paste on it, sprinkle with Italian herbs then put onions, peppers, garlic, olives, capers, sweetcorn, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes on it. 15 mins in a hot oven and oo la la. 
 
I think I have quite a high fat diet despite being almost vegan. But it's all good fats. I eat an avocado every morning and sometimes one with dinner as well. 
 
Don't eat tofu, soy, or any of those fake "vegan meats" at all. Can't stand them. Soy makes you grow moobs. 
 
So I get most of my good protein from eggs, but I also like the Vega protein shakes, which I mix with Max Vibrance (a powder full of greens and vegan protein). I also eat a lot of nuts and beans, if you mix them with grains you get some complete protein there also. 
 
Me and the girlfriend don't eat out much (in fact hardly at all) because we find that we enjoy our own meals more than anything we can get in a restaurant. We make a killer salad and once a week we'll cook up a big batch of something - lentil soup, black bean soup, quinoa salad, chili, curry, risotto, chana masala, shakshuka etc - then pour it into glass freezer boxes and freeze it. So the freezer is always full of meals to defrost and have with a salad (or some steamed veggies). Everything done in my little kitchen on my smallish stove. Yep space isn't exactly this apartment's strong point but I've lived in some tight situations in the past and you just adapt. 
 
One great thing about being off dairy is that I'm no longer tempted by any of those little cakes and cookies they have on display in coffee shops like Starbucks. I used to eat that crap all the time, no more. Nowadays I always carry a big bag of home made trail mix with me - pecans, cashews, almonds, walnuts, raisins, goji berries, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. 

sharke
 
Anywhere it says butter, I substitute coconut oil. In fact I use coconut oil a LOT. Love it on a toasted muffin with peanut butter.

 
Shouldn't that be peanut coconut oil ?

Hi,
From my 20+ years in restaurants, including management.
 
Cooking is not hard. Learning a few easy details helps define the way you do things and allows for you to make your own combinations.
 
In general, I never use cookbooks, and I cheat, since I used them for many fancy items for many years ... see if you can do a Chateaubriand correctly, or if you can flambee those peaches in one piece!
 
It's all about procedure.
 
Of all the books I ever looked at, there is one that is HUGE, but it has in it, something that most cookbooks do not. A "basic" section for most items. For example ... one for Lamb, one for Beef, one for Chicken, one for Pork, and so on. Learning these is fairly simple, but you will eventually figure out how to cook other things, and create masterpieces, based on the very BASIC process for each piece.
 
Ex: You want that chicken to NOT taste bland and watery, with a nice sauce around it. You don't just place the sauce over the chicken, which, for the most part, is just making it look pretty and not necessarily tasty. In this case, the piece of chicken will still taste bland and watery, and the contrasting sauce too spicy (or salty/peppery) than it should.
 
Thus, the basic for chicken, includes basting, brazing and the like, leaving enough room, so that you can finish the chicken with the specified sauce and allow the chicken to "absorb" some of the sauce. At which point, there is a nice balance between the chicken and the sauce.
 
NOTE: Tendency is to make the sauces strong and the meats over done. If you do this, the meats will not absorb anything, or share its "juices" with the sauce. If you undercook the meat, the sauce will over power it, and then you might have a piece that is undercooked, although tasty, not advised for proper consumption ... ie. undercooked pork, or chicken, specially with any kind of fresh vegetables in it.
 
NOTE2: Home cooking is not designed for fancy stuff like restaurants can do. For example, no one has a "warming oven" at home, A great example of these would be those 30# turkeys, or those 20# Prime Ribs, that you should cook for 10 hours at 180 degrees (time is based on the weight), and the slow cooking, allows all the juices to stay inside and all you have to do later is braise it at 375 degrees for 15 to 25 minutes, to give it color. The flavor is all inside.
 
NOTE3: Home is not the place for the large grills, that have one advantage of the home cooking apparatus! The grills "set" temperature, makes it easy to do a variety of things ... a fried rice ends up consistent ... and braising vegetables for a soup is much different in the result instead of just throwing all the vegetables into the soup.
 
The book is called "LAROUSSE GASTRONOMIQUE" and is of French origin. It is a huge book, but its "basic" information is incredible, and off one "basic" setup, it tells you how you can make 10 to 15 things off it.
 
All of a sudden cooking is easy!

Mesh
Even easier here....
 

Even simpler ... flour, water and some salt for the crust ... the rest is just your ingenuity and creativity!

sylent
 
That's actually pretty great, well rounded, and easy to toss most everything together in many configurations.
 
An interesting concept to not plan a meal around a chunk of meat, but you can actually plan it around itself. lol
And you're right about munching on those nuts and berries. So much good clean energy in them, and there's so many varieties to fit almost any taste.
 
My problem is I'm not a salad fan at all ... never found a dressing I liked to cover it up either. lol
I grew up thinking veggies were just colorful decorations for beef, and I'm selective, but now I'm trying to eat better, less fat, and less meat is starting to sink in a little.
 

 
The trick to a good salad in my opinion is to include as many ingredients as possible and chop/dice them finely. There is nothing worse than a salad with large leaves of green and huge tomato slices and onion rings etc. When everything's diced you get this wonderful combo of flavors on your fork and it's so much more satisfying to eat. 
 
My signature salad includes the following:
 

• Greens (kale/arugula/spinach etc)
• Microgreens (mustard, kale, sunflower, broccoli  - they come in tiny little shoots)
• Baby broccoli
• Baby peppers
• Button mushrooms
• Californian endives
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Red onion
• Cherry tomatoes
• Garlic
• Sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes)
• Radishes
• Beets
• Sauerkraut 

 
All of that gets chopped, diced or shredded. For a dressing I just use a copious amount of olive oil (with a little walnut oil if I have it), a nice splash of balsamic vinegar, some wholegrain Dijon mustard, oregano, parsley and celery seed. If you make the above and it doesn't taste amazing to you, then I guess you really aren't a salad person, lol. 
 
My latest discovery is avocado on toast. It's best with sourdough bread but tonight I warmed up a wholegrain baguette and spread Dijon mustard on it then smooshed avocado on the top, with a little salt and pepper. Oh la la.