Where my fellow cooks at???

[mac5155]

i tried the mushroom pepper steak... delish. even though i left out some of the spices and the meat was kinda tough.

[Chefpatrick871]

You should try giving General Tso's Chicken a try, there's many good recipes to be found through google searches(or PM me for the one I use). I've been an amateur chinese cook for years, along with having a PCI culinary degree(got to see Martin Yan in person while I was there, awesome!). For the life of me, as good as I can make it, I can never get the exact taste they can at decent chinese places, even by getting my stuff down in the strip, where I dont even know what the entire label says. Its frustrating, but fun.
Good staples to have to mess around with, a good dark soy, or tamari sauce, I stay away from the La Choy or Kikoman, tastes too processed and artificially seasoned, I have some stuff from the strip in a bottle that looks more suited for bottled water, and a bottle of Tamari from G.E., a decent Hoisin Sauce (best described as an asian BBQ sauce), Oyster Sauce (hard to describe flavor, dont be scared by the word oyster, it is not fishy), and everyones new favorite a good bottle of Siracha, I prefer the one with the seeds, as opposed to the puree, but either are good. Also not a bad idea to have a bottle of sesame oil, adds great flavor to things.

Try this for a simple Lo Mein dish.(serving for 2)

8-10 oz Protein (Chicken, Pork Beef, Shrimp whatever) Cut into thin strips (not the shrimp, just take the shell and tail off and devein)
Mixed Vegetable (Users choice, I go with White Onion, Green and Red Peppers, Celery, Water Chesnuts, carrots, and broccoli)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger powder)
1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
1/3 Cup Oyster Sauce
1/3 Cup Hoisin

1 Portion of cooked Lo Mein Noodles (found in asian aisle of giant eagle or in strip district market, if cannot find, sub. spaghetti noodles)

Stir-fry meat/fish in small amount of oil until cooked (beef users can cook to desired temp) remove and set aside, wipe any meat drippings from pan, use same pan to stir fry veggies in small amount of oil, I prefer to leave them somewhat crisp, remove to bowl with chicken, again wipe your pan, same one, again add small amount of oil, add garlic and ginger, cook for no longer than 10 seconds, add all 3 sauces, mix well until bubbling, add meat, veggies and noodles, mix to reheat, enjoy! If you like spicy asian, add some siracha or some dried red pepper flakes, this is really simply, and really delicious!

[Chefpatrick871]

Another suggestion, and this is great because it has so many uses, check out some of those Paul Purdhome spice mixes, they are usually down by the spices in Giant Eagle, they have a ton, but 2 that have the widest variety of uses are the Red Fish Magic (I use this as a blackening spice for all meats and seafoods) and the Poultry Magic, Ive seen thus used to pass for cajun and mexican at the same place, it helps with those days when you have ingredients but have no clue what to do with them. Seasoned meat + Veggies + Rice = Hella Good Wrap or Fajita. Add it to alfredo for a cajun pasta, almost anything you can think of.

[mac5155]

x2 on the General Tso's.. i usually use sauce in a bottle by Iron Chef. Its a rare find at walmart and some non-chain grocery stores. almost a glaze, but it's the best sauce I can find. i've never tried to make my own sauce but i dont think it would work too well.

[mac5155]

ChefPatrick.. PM me your general tsos sauce recipe. I want to try it out.

[mac5155]

and while i'm on a roll.. lol.. doc has been getting on me for the salt intake and rightfully so, so I like to avoid soy sauce as it's about 120% sodium

[Chefpatrick871]

and while i'm on a roll.. lol.. doc has been getting on me for the salt intake and rightfully so, so I like to avoid soy sauce as it's about 120% sodium

If any recipe calls for more than 3 tablespoons its overkill a little goes a long way, if you need more sauce, add water or chicken stock, stretches it out and dulls the saltiness of the soy. But also, avoiding the american made soy sauces helps, went to the fridge to verify, I have 3 kinds, one is a kind I got in an asian market so I dont know the brand, but one tablespoon of that is 700mg sodium, LaChoy was 1160mg Sodium per 1 Tablespoon and Kikoman was 900mg per tablespoon.

[jwienand]

yeah, I like to cook. But for an easy quick dinner I go to Hormel Beef Tips add sour cream over egg noodles... Beef Strog in minutes yummm.

[Spikey]

I'm not much of a cook but I do make things in the crock pot sometimes. This is one of my favorite crock pot recipes:

8oz. elbow macaroni, cooked & drained
4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
12oz evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Place the cooked macaroni in a 3.5qt slock cooker that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray. Reserve 1 cup of cheese, add the remaining cheese and other ingredients to the macaroni and mix well. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese, then cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the mixture is firm and golden around the edges. Do not remove cover or stir until the mixture has finished cooking.

****the longer you cook it, the more burnt cheese you get all around the side of the crockpot."

[Shyster]

I want to share a recent book purchase: The Flavor Bible. Rather than being a cookbook with recipes, the authors of this book polled professional chefs and asked them what flavors and ingredients go well together. For example, the entry for tomatoes will provide a list of what ingredients go well with tomatoes. Cookbooks only offer single discrete recipes. The Flavor Bible gives the reader knowledge to combine ingredients to create his or her own dishes. Great book for chefs who are advanced enough to work without the safety net of a defined recipe.

[count2infinity]

i'd post some of my recipes if i actually had them or wrote them down. usually i know what flavor profile i'm looking for, throw things together, and they work. if they don't work i adjust or start over (believe me there were lots of times i had to start over, but once i get it down, i know what to do/what not to do next time).

[Gabe]

Brown rice casserole (salty but cheap!)

1 cup of uncooked white rice
1 can of campbells beef consomme soup
1 can of campbells french onion soup
1 lb of Jimmy dean sausage (browned and crumbled).

Mix all ingredients together in a casserole pan with 1 1/2 soup cans of water. bake uncovered at 375 for 1 hour.
stir and serve!

[Chefpatrick871]

Making a hybrid Creole Gumbo/Jambalaya mix tonight, started the fresh chicken stock at 9 (being an insomniac helps your late night cooking) and am now in the waiting stage, if this comes out good Ill post some instructions. I know Im an actual trained cook, but I try to always do things that the every day person could handle.

On a side note, I had the opportunity for a great picture last week, I burnt toast, and looked all over for my actual diploma to take a picture next to said burnt toast, I couldnt find it until 3 days later looking for my champs SI issue for TK to sign, but kind of a great ironic moment, because most people when they find out Im a "chef" say "man I burn toast" , well so do the pros!!! =D

[mac5155]

chef, you DEF need to post some of your recipes. i'm salivating

thanks for the general tso.

[Chefpatrick871]

chef, you DEF need to post some of your recipes. i'm salivating

thanks for the general tso.

Not a problem, although I refer to it as General Platt now

lookin like a fool with your...... uhm chicken on the ground?!?

[Chefpatrick871]

Simple Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (making tonight, its so easy, Ovechkin could do it!)

The Stock
1 4-6 Lb Whole Chicken.
2 Yellow Onions cut in half, leave paper on,
3-4 Celery Stalks
3-4 Carrots
3-4 garlic cloves, whole
1/2 c Sal (Kosher if you have it, less of Iodized)
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
Bay Leaf (dry or fresh)
1/2 bunch fresh parsley
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)

Rough chop the veggies and combine everything in a LARGE pot, add 1-2 gallons of water, bring to a boil, cut back and simmer for 2-3 hours.
After 2-3 hours remove chicken, and allow to cool. Strain stock of all veggies and seasonings(use the finest strainer you have). Once strained remove an excess oil/fat on top of the stock with a ladle.
This is your base to the soup, and you can save any extra for other soups and sauces, freezes for about 1-2 months, cool before freezing.

Once chicken is cooled off, remove skin, and pick as much meat off as you can, set aside

The actual Soup

Your reserved chicken.
1 Yellow onion, chopped small.
2-3 Stalks Celery chopped small.
2 Carrots chopped small.
1 Clove garlic minced.
3 Tablespoons of butter (can sub Canola or Veg oil if worried about butter)
3 Tablespoons of flour
1 Pint Heavy Cream
1-2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
Your homemade chicken stock

Start by sauteeing the veggies in a small amt of oil until they begin to soften, 3-4 minutes. Now add your 3 tablespoons of butter and melt, next add the flour and stir in with the butter until the lumps are gone, allow to cook for 1-3 minutes on low heat, you want a beige or kahki color to this, it will begin to smell like burning popcorn, when you smell this its ready for the liquid.
Add about 4 cups of stock, and whisk with flour mixture, being careful to get out all lumps, now add the rest of the stock (I didnt put a measurement because it depends on how much you want to make I go with 1 gallon) your cream and chicken. Bring to a slow boil, reduce to a simmer for about an hour. If it is too thin, use a mixture of equal parts corn starch and water to help thicken, just make sure to cook for an extra 10-15 minutes if you do this to get rid of any starchy taste.
Once its done, boil up some egg noodles and mix em in! Or you can do dumplings or spatzle. Quality soup, easy to make! Any questions pm me!

[Chefpatrick871]

Also, with the above recipe you can use that as a base to other meals, just thicken it a little more and add peas and green beans and use it for chicken pot pie, add some Sherry or a decent White Wine, some mushrooms and other veggies of choice and you've got chicken a la king. Or toss some potatoes in and it becomes almost a chicken stew. Im big about making things that can easily be turned into other things, means one tough night in the kitchen can turn into 3 or 4 meals.

[viva la ben]

Once while my wife was making chicken soup I snuck a couple chammomile teabags into the broth. It turned out delicious and made it even more of a remedy type soup.

[the wicked child]

Going to try out some margarita grilled shrimp tomorrow.

[the wicked child]

Going to try out some margarita grilled shrimp tomorrow.

Turned out decent, but I need bigger shrimp that will soak up more of the marinade next time. Also made cheese quesdaillas to go along with it. Solid meal.

[count2infinity]

i had some great haddock tonight. put it in a pan with tomato juice coming about halfway up the fish, lots of herbs throughout and then topped the fish with some bread crumbs. Tossed it in the oven. i love lent...

[MelicharSux]

Crock Pot:

2 lbs kielbasa (cut in 1/2" slices)
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
20 oz can pineapple chunks

set it on low for 4 hrs

sooooo damn good

[the wicked child]

I've had a variation of that recipe MS that involved chili sauce. I imagine the taste is in the same ballpark though... and it is indeed good - though not something I could eat on a regular basis.

[count2infinity]

made some Italian wedding soup tonight... good stuff. made some dinner rolls and zucchini bread for dessert.

[the wicked child]

Awesome. My dad makes great wedding soup. I need to learn the recipe sometime myself...