FOOD!

robobob

Member
As you have probably guessed by the title, this is my attempt to create a thread dedicated to food. Yes, I know this is about as off topic as it gets, but aside from RC planes, I absolutely love cooking and baking. So, I thought this might be a nice place for people who are craving a little off topic discussion, to come and indulge in the world of flite test forum cuisine. Come one, come all, and share anything from a fancy meal you enjoyed in a restaurant, to your favourite recipe, or even your own latest culinary experiment.

I might as well set the ball rolling by sharing some of my own culinary creations:
Over the summer it was my parents' wedding anniversary and since I had time off from school I decided to cook them a celebratory meal...

To begin, an amuse bouche, consisting of Devilled egg, melon and parma ham, and a mushroom arancini (deep fried risotto ball)

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For my mum's starter, spinach and ricotta gnochi, served with fresh fig, red pepper pesto, and goats cheese.

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For my dad's starter, home made potted shrimp, and fresh baked ciobatta,

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My mum's main course consisted of a fillet of seared salmon, served with potato dauphinoise, courgette and asparagus, and a beetroot puree.

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For my dad, I prepared a roast rack of lamb, with mashed potato, wilted spinach, tomato, and a mint and pea puree.

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And finally to finish, they shared a fruit tartlett.

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But to anyone else reading this thread, what have you cooked/eaten that you want to share?
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Very elegant presentation. I have been fortunate to have experienced a few of the better restaurants, and can only speculate favorably based on the images.

I don't have any photos, but I can put a seafood gumbo together that is very hard to beat.
 

robobob

Member
Forgive my ignorance, but I don't actually know what a seafood gumbo is, would you be able to explain?
I'd also love to try making some, so if there was any possibility of getting your recipe (perhaps sharing it on something like Google drive is an option?) it would be greatly appreciated.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Forgive my ignorance, but I don't actually know what a seafood gumbo is, would you be able to explain?
I'd also love to try making some, so if there was any possibility of getting your recipe (perhaps sharing it on something like Google drive is an option?) it would be greatly appreciated.

Gumbo is kind of a stew, I guess? It's a native dish of Louisiana, here in the U.S., and it uses what's known as the "Holy Trinity" of vegetables in Louisiana Creole cooking - bell peppers, onions, and celery. When I've made it, I use a strong chicken stock, throw in some shrimp, crawfish, and Portuguese sausage or linguica (a true Louisiana gumbo will use andouille sausage, but that is REALLY spicy for me, and so I cut back to a lower spice sausage). I will also throw in a handful of basmati or long grain rice, maybe a little more depending on how much gumbo I'm making, and I will also cut up and throw in okra, which some people don't like, but in my mind, it's not true gumbo if you leave out the okra. :)

Now, some recipes will tell you to leave out the shrimp or crawfish meat, and put in chicken instead, others will tell you to put in ham in place of the sausage. It's a dish that, in many ways, reminds me of the Spanish dish paella - you kind of throw a bunch of different vegetables, meats, and seasonings together, and cook it, but regional differences will leave out certain meats, or add others, or do similar things with vegetables. I've never had a bad bowl of gumbo, but I have had it too spicy, and that's something that's ruined it for me when I have to sit upright in bed with antacids and pray the heartburn will ease enough to let me sleep...
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
Gumbo. MMmmmmm. That'll stick to your ribs.

That lamb dinner looks superb. Glass of Sheep Dip and be good to go.

It's just getting into snow season here in Colorado Springs and last weekend was snowy and cold. My wife made a very tasty potato soup that we just left in the crock pot and grazed on for a day-and-a-half. The longer it cooked, the thicker and better it got.

When I cook I like fire. Tri-Tip and baby back ribs are my forte. I also like to baste my ciobatta slices with olive oil, salt and fresh minced garlic and burn them on the grill for a few minutes. Put a good char on them with the fire and serve smoking hot. Gotta wait for the snow to clear to pull out the smoker though.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Saute some scallops in butter n garlic (bacon wrapping optional). Lay them out on a bed of long grain wild rice with lemmon and cracked pepper. Add a side of garlic roasted asparagus doused in a little wine to finish it off. Then for desert a chocolate souffle made with dark German chocolate cake part and a light mousse made with melted Terrys chocolate orange sometimes with a splash of brandy added depending who is having it. That or top with cherry pie filling and fresh whipped cream.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
Here's the extent of my culinary expertise.

Buy a Freschetta 4 cheese rising crust pizza. Add sliced kalamata olives and crumbled feta cheese. Bake per directions.

Pretty lame compared to all y'all chef types, but still tasty :)
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
I steal from the best! The good people at The Gumbo Shack share their recipe. If you are ever in New Orleans, you can sometimes find 3 different gumbos there. Sausage and chicken is economical and still good. You can load up the seafood gumbo with more stuff also. I like to add crabmeat, salad shrimp and oysters.

The "secret" is in making a quality "roux" which is the base. Oil and flour. You can google that and look at photos. Darker than milk chocolate. Medium to medium high heat and stir constantly. If you see any smoke pull it off the fire for a sec to cool down a bit.

Now, here is my take. I hate okra so I don't use it. I make "winter gumbo" by adding gumbo file to the bowl AFTER cooking. That's a special spice made from ground sassafras leaves.

Finally, my secret, I don't use vegetable oil for my roux. I "stole" this from another restaurant in Texas. I use clarified butter. Like the French.

Serve over a nice scoop of rice. A drop or two of Tabasco to finish it off. :eek:
 
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robobob

Member
Huh, fascinating information on the gumbo, I will definitely try it later this week or next... ( my my is also a big fan of okra so that will be right up her alley)
With regards to a roux, I was always taught to use butter whenever making mine. (the clarified butter was seen as too much extra effort, but thinking about it now, ghee might be a good alternative) That could well come from the fact that nationality wise, my mum is swiss, her father is Belgian, and my dad's father Austrian, so I've got a very European background... (I was also born in Switzerland myself) but is making a roux with oil considered to be more of an American thing then?

Psyborg, that scallops dish reminds me of something I made for dinner a couple of months back....
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Scallops with black pudding, parsnip mash, and a sauce made largely from reduced Clementine juice and sherry. Also accompanied by a large bowl of green salad.

Interestingly enough we were looking at a recipe for cold chocolate souffle by Gary Rhodes recently, we never did get round to making it but he did a sort of take on black forest gateaux with his version. He makes a chocolate swiss-role sponge, spoons over some kirsch, adds a layer of cherry jam, and then some cherries soaked in alchohol, finally finishing up with the chocolate mousse on top.

Personally I've been experimentingn with vegan cooking lately, not because I, or anyone I know is vegan, but because I am fascinated by the food chemistry that can be employed. I have co me up with a recipe for chocoolate mousse among my experiments, the link to which can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fBNfnCpuDHfW7si2VcADNLQwE5TM9cYuBqXYP6L96mw/edit?usp=drivesdk

I'd appreciate it if anyone who has a bit of time could test out the recipe, and perhaps even give me some feedback, in regard to both the food produced, but also the clarity of instruction. (Also feel free to experiment, I'd love to know how it works out in your souffle recipe psyborg.)
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Vegatable oil seems to be the norm. When I was researching recipes, I came across the clarified butter in one of the recipes and it appealed to me. The purpose of clarifying the butter is to eliminate the solids which tend to burn.

Good luck and be patient with your roux. You want a very dark one.
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
I always used bacon grease instead of vegetable oil or butter for roux as a base for sausage gravy. Pour the gravy over fresh, hot, split biscuits and top with an over medium egg.

You can feel your arteries hardening as you eat it. :)
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Mmmmmmmm.......gravy.....

sausage gravy.
You can feel your arteries hardening as you eat it. :)

Maybe. Probably not though. Heart disease and obesity in the U.S. coincided with heavy use of vegetable oil and high fructose corn syrup. (I'm not a doctor. Although I have watched them on TV.)
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I can make a grilled cheese!

That reminds me, I made a KILLER grilled cheese sandwich last night. I had some leftover rotisserie chicken, so shredded some of that, and poured a little buffalo wing sauce over it (not a ton, as the stuff gives me indigestion in high doses). I put down some cheddar cheese on both slices of bread, and I also put a little bit of blue cheese crumbles that my wife had left over from a salad. Grilled it up, and OH MAN...Heaven on two pieces of toasted bread!!
 

Crazy Goats

Active member
And I hate you for bringing up food. There goes my diet.

I remember eating some German or Swiss chocolate from you at FTFF a few years ago. :D Maybe u can find some of that to supplement your diet.

With all you chef types and nice food I thought I'd input my food. :D Anybody here had squirrel stew? I guess they call it Brunswick stew. Alaska squirrels aren't like the fat things in the lower 48 so it takes like 20 squirrels to feed 6 people.
 
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robobob

Member
Add a slice of ham, and you've got grilled ham & cheese. You've just doubled your repertoire!

Just saying: from there you're pretty damn close to a croque monsiour.... all you need is some extra cheese, a little reordering, and you've added a third considerably more fancy item of food to the list of things you can cook.
Go the extra mile though, and add a fried egg; then you've got yourself four things, and a croque Madame.
(This could make a fun game, 'variations on a grilled cheese')
 

flitetest

Administrator
Admin
MAN... I have not had breakfast yet and now im just SALIVATING at all this wonderful food! ;)

Thanks for sharing and I know I am a terrible chef, but I do make a MEAN pineapple/Strawberry Face desert! haha!

Blessings my friends!

Stefan