Cooking thread

My latest:

Pepper burger steak patties (or words to that effect).

First form your burger patties to taste.

Next make a sauce with the following:

1 1/2 - 2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 tsp. ground or cracked pepper
about 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 - 2 tsp. cornstarch

Whisk everything well in a bowl.

Cook the burgers in a deep saucepan. In that same pan, add the sauce, deglaze the pan, with the heat on low and let it heat up slowly. When it barely begins to bubble, add the burgers back. If you want, you can add potatoes and onions(*) (as I did). Toss things around to coat, careful not to turn the burgers into smithereens, and let the sauce come to a boil. Remove from heat and serve.


Paprika dip:

About 125-150 gr. soft ricotta cheese
150 gr. Greek yogurt, unsweetened
1/5 onion finely chopped
Paprika to taste.

Mix the cheese and yogurt in a bowl using a fork. Add the paprika and onions and keep mixing until you get a lumpy, pink(ish) concoction.

It works very well as a spread. I think a little powdered garlic would help it, too.

(*)cooked previously.

Pathogen safety. Who better to ask than someone passionate about both cooking and science? =)

As you may have picked up on by now, I'm sort of a dirt bag. Moldy bread? Eat it. Worm in apple? Dig it out and eat it (eat the apple, not the worm =p) But while I feel I have built a tolerance to most food borne diseases and parasites, I do cook for my kid. I need to educate myself for his sake.

So... cross contamination. How sort of strict do I need to be with this? Like, after preparing chicken, I do wash my hands and even kitchen surfaces. With soap, even. But, I also have to touch stuff while prepping. Bottle of BBQ sauce, shaker of spices, the box of aluminum foil. How dangerous (?) is it to do these sorts of things? I realize proper cooking is going to kill whatever might be scary. But if I touch the foil, and it gets on the box, I assume it's on the box, right? And I don't wash my hands when just prepping potatoes, so I might touch that same box, wipe my hands on my pants, and then go play Legos with him or something. What do you do about this?

And in that same vein, I'm also pretty cheap. Again, between being cheap, poor, and a bit of an ecomentalist, I have a habit of reusing plastic items, and that includes zip lock bags. When I get meat from the butcher, I usually chop it into dinner sized portions, bag them individually, and toss them in the freezer. That way, when I want to eat, I don't have to thaw the whole purchase just to get a piece of it. But when I do use a portion of meat, I'd like to reuse that bag. It just seems so wasteful not to. Almost the entire time it's in use, it is frozen solid. But there is the final hours when it's just sitting on the counter as it thaws. Is it unwise to reuse these things? Don't tell me they're only $0.07 each, I know. But it's a pretty ingrained habit that's gonna be tough to break, so thought I'd ask instead of doing until I find him in the hospital.

Quote: Face

So... cross contamination. How sort of strict do I need to be with this? Like, after preparing chicken, I do wash my hands and even kitchen surfaces. With soap, even.

Sanitary protocols say you should have different utensils and cutting boards for vegetable, beef and chicken.

I don't go that far. I wash the cutting board and knife after using them to prepare raw chicken or beef. I wash my hands after handling raw meats, before handling anything else.

But say I've prepared burgers, chicken cutlets or whatever. I'll grab them and put them in the pan or baking dish and not wash my hands after each one.

I give the prep area a scrub after washing the pots, pans and utensils.

Quote:

But there is the final hours when it's just sitting on the counter as it thaws. Is it unwise to reuse these things?

part of it depends on how well you cook things once you take them out of the bag. If you're going to reuse hem, you should at least wash them with soap.

Quote: Nareed

Sanitary protocols say you should have different utensils and cutting boards for vegetable, beef and chicken.

I don't go that far. I wash the cutting board and knife after using them to prepare raw chicken or beef. I wash my hands after handling raw meats, before handling anything else.

But say I've prepared burgers, chicken cutlets or whatever. I'll grab them and put them in the pan or baking dish and not wash my hands after each one.

I give the prep area a scrub after washing the pots, pans and utensils.

Ok, I think I'm set on that, then. I do meat prep last because of the mess (something about the feel of chicken grease drives me nuts), so it automatically sort of follows the sanitary protocol. And while the knife may sit in the sink instead of being imemdiately cleaned, I do clean the cutting surface, and don't use the knife again until after doing the dishes.

But what about the bottles and such that I may be touching in the process? That's my biggest concern, as I obviously don't wash or cook the cardboard box containing the tinfoil, and it's just sitting in the room temp cupboard.

Quote: Face

But what about the bottles and such that I may be touching in the process? That's my biggest concern, as I obviously don't wash or cook the cardboard box containing the tinfoil, and it's just sitting in the room temp cupboard.

Wash your hands before handling them. or prepare them beforehand. For example, pour the sauce into a bowl, then wash it afterwards. Cut the aluminum foil before handling the meats.

A worm in the apple isn't all that bad and is often better than finding half a worm in an apple.

Moldy is bad.

Keep surfaces clean... vinegar is usually handy. Use it. Most cooks have a towel at each side. Cooking utensils should go into separate containers.

If you use alot of plastic baggies the most important thing to have is a Sharpie Pen so you write on the label: WHAT, BOT Date.

I'd rinse a baggie before reusing and relabeling it.

Vinyl cutting boards are three for two dollars. More sturdy cutting boards are only a few bucks. The thing to do is have lots of cooking utensiles so that if you are in doubt you can always reach for a clean one. Keep hot things hot, cold things cold and watch out for liquids, don't be incubating bacterial soup or let a kid get so hungry he wants to snatch a nibble of hamburger that is not yet cooked enough.

Coconut rice:

One cup rice
1 Tsp cooking oil
1 400 ml. can "light" coconut milk.

On a small pot or sauce pan sauté the rice (previously washed) for a minute or so in medium heat. Add the coconut milk and mix well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to minimum. Let it cook until the liquid is gone. Fluff with a fork and serve.

You can add some lime juice and lime zest to it as well.

It's good, but not that different from regular rice. I'll try some experiments to get a fuller coconut flavor as time permits.

There is a reason the Bahamas protects everything in its jurisdiction EXCEPT coconuts.

I got a little cake decoration starter kit. I'll be trying it sometime between next month and next year, time permitting.

Quote: Fleastiff

There is a reason the Bahamas protects everything in its jurisdiction EXCEPT coconuts.

I finally ate a "real" one. Wasn't anything at all like I expected. We found it in the weeds and brought it back to the boat. Husked it and was left with a little fist sized nut. Not knowing what to do next, we just put it in the cup holder. The heat ended up cracking it and popping the top off perfectly.

The "milk" was totally water. There was no sweetness or thickness or anything. Maybe just the faintest chalky flavor, but otherwise, it was just warm water. The meat was like nothing. I guess I'm used to the coconut found in candy and pastries. But I bit off a chunk, chewed it (tried to), and it like the water just had the faintest of flavor.

The ladies ended up using it to garnish their drinks, but I had little use for it. Maybe if I were stranded, but that's about it. Now I can understand why Tom Hanks was so pissed.