Cooking!

acefisher1

acefisher1

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So i've been cooking almost non-stop for about a week now and thought it would be fun to come on here and discuss it with you guys, and share some of my successes, which hopefully you can use as well.

A little back story on why i'm now cooking constantly. I'm currently living with my wife's family, which is 3 generations, my wife and I, her grandparents, and her parents. Thus i'm cooking for 6 every day.

I have up until tomorrow only been cooking lunch and dinner, with breaks from lunch here and there for leftovers.

What makes things really interesting? They're all vegetarian except me. The reason doesn't matter, but the point is, no meat at all, as in no fish, chicken, etc... They aren't vegan (although they've tried it).

Some of the things I've cooked so far:

Chicken Noodle Soup over Garlic Mashed Potatoes (vegie chicken called Fri-Chik)
Vegetable Soup
Chili with vegetarian beans
Broccoli with Garlic and Pierogi Casserole (awesome!)
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Fudge with Walnuts (first attempt came out amazing)
Coconut Macaroons (meh)
Taco Casserole (layered soft shell taco's and refried beans with cheese in a dish then baked)
Homemade Calzones with vegies and cheese
Jambalaya without sausage
Black Beans and Rice (not a lot of cooking there)
Chicken (fake) wraps
Taco Dip and Chips
Homemade Guacamole
Homemade Herb-Cheese Bubble Bread (amazing!!!!)

The things above have all been pretty decent, and at least edible, and i'm happy to share recipe's where I can (didn't use one for many of these) but i'll keep the post short to start as I'm going to update with pictures and more meals. Feel free to request that I elaborate on any of the things listed and I will. I'm also going to get pictures of the fudge which is pretty nice looking as a cross-section.

Post some of your successes and stories here. Feel free to start a reply post and update it with images and updates. I'm also anxious to hear some other people's ideas and maybe steal a recipe or two!

My greatest success thus far: The Bubble Bread. It pulls apart in individual pieces and is really fun. We ate it with the Jambalaya and it went over amazing. It did take quite a while to make though. It rises 3 times, and was very difficult to mix with the cheese added. I really recommend hand-kneading more than using a mixer (we do have 2 kitchen aides even).

Here's how it came out in the end

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6838192673/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6838192673/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr
 
Here is the recipe for the bread:


Herb and Cheese Bubble Loaf

Prep Time – 40-45 Minutes Rise – 1 ? hours Bake – 30-35 Minutes

2 ? - 3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Package Dry Active Yeast (1 Tablespoon)
1 Cup Milk (we used soy)
1 Tbsp Butter or Margerine
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar or your favorite cheese
? Cup Melted Butter (maybe a little more)
2 Tablespoons Parsley
? Teaspoon Dried Oregano (we used more because we like it)
? Teaspoon Dried Marjoram (used a thumb/finger pinch full)

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup of the flour and the yeast. Set aside. In a small saucepan heat and stir milk, 1 tbsp butter and ? tsp of salt until warm (butter should start melting, but not completely). Add milk mixture to dry ingredients Beat together with mixer (we had to add more milk here) until combined. Add cheese and a bit more flour then mix together. (I did this part by hand but you could use a kitchen aid with a hook here.)

2. Put dough on floured surface (I used one and half handfuls and all of the flour was incorporated into the dough at the end). Knead 8 minutes with lots of stretching and pulling to ensure cheese is mixed in well until stretchy and pliable. Most flour should be incorporated into dough at this point. Shape it into a ball and put in a greased bowl (turn over to ensure both sides of dough are greased) cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for roughly 1 hour. It will take less time to rise if placed in a warm spot such as sunlight or in my case, over a heat register. It is ready to punch down when the dough has roughly doubled in size.

3. Punch down dough, turn in edges, place on floured surface and let rise additional 10-15 minutes. It should start to rise again slightly. Grease a baking pan or rounded baking dish lightly. Stir together oregano, parsley, and marjoram into melted butter mixture. Use a dish large enough to get your hand into.

4. Take dough and flatten into a semi flat rectangle. Score dough into roughly 48 pieces (ours was far less). Roll each piece into equal sized (nearly) balls and place apart from each other. Once all balls are shaped and ready, dip each piece into the butter mix and then place into the baking dish making roughly 1-2 Layers. Cover with a towel, place back into warm spot and let rise another 30-40 minutes (we waited 20 and it was rising over the top). Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees at this point.

5. Place Bread in pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes (ours took barely 30 and it was perfect). For serving, we simply set this down hot out of the oven next to our jambalaya and the balls separated into perfect serving portions when pulled out of the bread pan. Store in foil if there is any left.
 
I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge with hickory nuts (taste like walnuts) a few days ago, here's the cross section.

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6842329583/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6842329583/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr
 
Chocolate Chip Cookies. Always a classic. Made 60 out of one batch. Took about 40 minutes with cooking.

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6851792625/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6851792625/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr
 
Lunch today. Made Vegetarian Enchiladas with Spanish Rice and homemade Guacamole. Decided on a heavy lunch because the family here eats a horrible excuse for dinner every Friday evening as a tradition (don't know who's idea it was), of only great northern beans and cottage cheese with no seasonings or anything... needless to say, today's lunch was enough for 2 meals easily.

Pictures! And more on my Flickr that you can reach by clicking any picture.

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6852500495/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6852500495/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6852500221/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6852500221/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr
 
so this is what keeping you busy these days.
you're not even available to reply my tweets.
:drool:
 
PBJ.jpg


come at me
 
It's amazing that people can eat that way and be happy, but one of my T-shirts says it all for me "If an animal didn't die, it's just a snack." :) Some of these do look really good though and would make some good side dishes.

The cheese bread looks exceptionally good, but may be beyond my capabilities. lol
 
Last edited:
Good Practice! If you want to find something new, Food Network has some good recipes, posted by others. Just read their reviews.
 
Hey Ziant, sorry if I haven't been responding, I haven't seen anything from you until yesterday I think. I'll make a point to tweet you more often though.

And Viper, I'm a very, very not-vegetarian person, but i'm living with all religiously vegetarian people. I also attended a veggie boarding high-school for 4 years, and am used to this lifestyle. I eat meat when I can, and at my parent's home, but just cook without it. The real trick is using a lot of beans and creating the protein that is missed without meat. I really can't wait to be on our own again and start cooking with meat again. I can't wait to make some oysters on the half-shell as well as some sushi. Also, keep in mind that these people were raised this way, and don't miss meat. If you had never had meat, you wouldn't know what you were missing, thus it doesn't bother them. It's a bit of a struggle for me however.

BoomBoomBenji, I'm somewhat obsessed with Anthony Bourdain's shows and books, in addition to the travel channel in general. I also use the recipe.com app on my iphone and regularly find recipe's on there. Pot-stickers, veggie tempura sushi (quite good), and stuffed peppers/mushrooms are upcoming choices. Thanks for the tips though! I should read more of their website.

Tonight's most recent cooking conquest was a Cracker Barrel desert called Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake... quite the interesting recipe, which is 80% liquid chocolate that turns into molten fudge-sauce and cools to a pudding consistency. Should be quite good, but i'm not a big fan of chocolate. It was my wife's grandmother's birthday cake request. Had to make two of them as they are made in small portions... but still have like 600 calories per serving.

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6853960457/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6853960457/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6853959711/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6853959711/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
Woah that looks like the most delicious name ever.. I love fudge, I love pudding and I especially love cake D: a trifecta of chocolate love.
 
FX|Pollito said:
Woah that looks like the most delicious name ever.. I love fudge, I love pudding and I especially love cake D: a trifecta of chocolate love.
Click to expand...

Well we just tried it about 20 minutes ago. It was a molten fudge extreme. One of the richest chocolate desserts i've tried for sure. If you've ever said "that's too rich" about something sweet, this is too much for you. I didn't like it that well because of that, but the birthday girl (83) loved it.
 
Yeah, bad wording on my part. Didn't really mean happy. Meant more satisfied/fullfilled. I always feel hungry even right after an all vegetarian meal. The only one that's made me feel full so far is the gourmet vegetarian pizza from Papa Murphy's.
 
This was amazing. Seriously. I liked it way better than Panera Bread's. The smaller bowl was the perfect size for each person to eat all of it and not waste any. And there was extra if anyone was still hungry.

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6865853923/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6865853923/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr
 
Made Eggplant Parm and Green Beans with Lemon and Garlic. The beans were awesome, the eggplant was kinda meh though. Probably won't make that again. Tried crescent rolls, but something went wrong and they didn't rise or cook properly. I'll try those again soon. They looked pretty!

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6872822391/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6872822391/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr

[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6872821499/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6872821499/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr
 
The cheesy bubble bread from the first post looks so good :) I might have to try that recipe out!
 
I just wanted to add a few highlights to this since I haven't updated in a while. I've been cooking just about as much as ever, but there wasn't a ton of interest, so i've been letting this post slack a bit. Let me know if you'd like more and i'll be a bit more active. Hope you all enjoy this thread half as much as i've enjoyed cooking and eating the food!

Peanut Butter Fudge
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6923975991/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6923975991/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr

Stuffed Mushrooms
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6933315089/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6933315089/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr

Sweet Potato Fries
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6789592638/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6789592638/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr

Baked Rosemary Root Vegetables
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6923998699/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6923998699/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr

Pasta Duo
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6933315075/[/ame]
[ame]http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbarnes/6933315075/[/ame] by Little_BIG_FISH, on Flickr
 
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