Rooster_Ties Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 (edited) I do more/most of the cooking in our house, with my wife often helping. It routinely drives her crazy that I can't follow a recipe the way it was "supposed to be" to save my life. I'm forever changing things, on hunches or whims, sometimes to the point where half or more of the ingredients are different, as well as the cooking method. Case in point -- the other day we both need to make cookies for each of our work-related holiday parties. We weren't sure the mixer would make a double-batch of Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies in the same bowl. So after we got done making her batch, we started all over. We used semi-sweet (i.e. dark) chocolate chips, so I had the crazy idea of making mine "Mexican" chocolate chip cookies. I added a full tablespoon of ground cinnamon, and a good 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (you read right). Damn, did they ever turn out great! - with a few of the people I work with loving them to the point of wanting to add cinnamon and cayenne to things like chocolate cake or brownies the next time they made them. I've done wholesale substitutions of nearly every ingredient in a recipe before too, turning a standard Lasagna recipe into "Spicy Asian Salmon Lasagna" - complete with a spicy peanut sauce (no tomatoes or tomato sauce), and nothing from the original recipe was the same (expect for the noodles). I just scanned every Asian recipe I could find, cherry-picking ingredients here and there, and freely swapping those in the standard recipe with new ones. It was sure as hell different, but pretty darn good!! The list of weird ingredients I've added to chili is a mile long. These didn't all go in the same batch, but over the years I've added coffee, chai-tea base (without the milk), unsweetened cocoa powder (think of a Mole sauce), and hard cider - plus every vegi you can think of (sometimes ground up in a chopper if it really is too weird to imagine in chili). I've had some disasters a time or two, too (who hasn't). What cooking tips can we share among us?? -- for those of us who like to cook, and mix it up at the same time. Edited December 21, 2007 by Rooster_Ties Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster_Ties Posted December 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 And by cooking tips, I'm especially interested in what some of us have maybe had to learn the hard way. Like, I've got a rice steamer, and you absolutely CANNOT add any oil-based spices to the rice/water mix in the steamer. The steam can't penetrate the layer of oil on top of the water, and the rice will not cook even the tiniest little bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Johnson Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 "Spicy Asian Salmon Lasagne" Definitely not in any cookbook I've ever read! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachel Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 (edited) Cinnamon in choc. chip cookies is the best. Joe's mom makes hands down the best choc. chip cookies I have tasted *ever* in my lifetime, and she does the cinnamon thing. (She adds another ingredient that I won't divulge in case it's a secret). They're like crack. I can't get enough... It must run in the family; Joe's terrific and very creative in the kitchen. Edited December 21, 2007 by rachel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 You should try my Spicy Asian Salmon Chocolate Chip Cookies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoGrubb Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 You know how some foods taste better after they've set overnight? I've learned a shortcut for "aging" chili con carne. Mash up about half or so of the beans with a hand potato masher before adding the other ingredients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 Tell me you don't put beans in your chile, unless it's "chile" as in some hamburger meat and some tomatoes and a little "seasoning". That's ok to put beans in because it ain't real chile. But other wise... :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 You know how some foods taste better after they've set overnight? I've learned a shortcut for "aging" chili con carne. Mash up about half or so of the beans with a hand potato masher before adding the other ingredients. My homemade spaghetti sauce is like that...tastes better the next day. It is also a recipe I don't measure...I tend to cook by taste and by touch. A little of this, a little of that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elissa Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 You should try my Spicy Asian Salmon Chocolate Chip Cookies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoGrubb Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 Tell me you don't put beans in your chile, unless it's "chile" as in some hamburger meat and some tomatoes and a little "seasoning". That's ok to put beans in because it ain't real chile. But other wise... :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: You can't have chili con carne without beans. Same as you can't have chili con carne without chili. Reminds me how weird people up North are. When you ask for a burger or hotdog with chili(& mustard and slaw). They give you chili with beans in it. wtf, If I'd asked for chili con carne on my burger, I'd of said chili con carne. But you know, "He's from the South, he don't know beans." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 (edited) Tell me you don't put beans in your chile, unless it's "chile" as in some hamburger meat and some tomatoes and a little "seasoning". That's ok to put beans in because it ain't real chile. You can't have chili con carne without beans. Same as you can't have chili con carne without chili. Reminds me how weird people up North are. When you ask for a burger or hotdog with chili(& mustard and slaw). They give you chili with beans in it. wtf, If I'd asked for chili con carne on my burger, I'd of said chili con carne. But you know, "He's from the South, he don't know beans." Chili burgers are awesome, MoGrubb. To wit: It just doesn't get any better than this! Edited December 21, 2007 by GoodSpeak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 21, 2007 Report Share Posted December 21, 2007 Tell me you don't put beans in your chile, unless it's "chile" as in some hamburger meat and some tomatoes and a little "seasoning". That's ok to put beans in because it ain't real chile. But other wise... :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: :rmad: You can't have chili con carne without beans. Same as you can't have chili con carne without chili. Uh, "carne" means meat, not beans. Reminds me how weird people up North are. When you ask for a burger or hotdog with chili(& mustard and slaw). They give you chili with beans in it. wtf, If I'd asked for chili con carne on my burger, I'd of said chili con carne. But you know, "He's from the South, he don't know beans." Yeah, ok, but if you come to Texas and ask for beans in your chili, they're gonna know you're a foreigner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeCity Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 Chili burgers are awesome, MoGrubb. To wit: It just doesn't get any better than this! It's been quite a few years since I had a Tommy's burger, but I was just singing their praises to Mrs. DukeCity the other day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 When I saw the title, I thought this thread would be about the best jazz to play while cooking particular dishes. This combination, along with drinking wine, cannot be beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 When I saw the title, I thought this thread would be about the best jazz to play while cooking particular dishes. This combination, along with drinking wine, cannot be beat. I concur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoGrubb Posted December 22, 2007 Report Share Posted December 22, 2007 ...... Uh, "carne" means meat, not beans. Reminds me how weird people up North are. When you ask for a burger or hotdog with chili(& mustard and slaw). They give you chili with beans in it. wtf, If I'd asked for chili con carne on my burger, I'd of said chili con carne. But you know, "He's from the South, he don't know beans." Yeah, ok, but if you come to Texas and ask for beans in your chili, they're gonna know you're a foreigner. In my neck of the woods "chili" has always been understood to be meat w/chili(spice/pepper), and "carne" means beans, and "con" means "with." Hence you've got your chili with beans. Live and learn. I best brush up on my Mexican lingo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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