Anyone likes to cook and could give me a recomendation for something easy to make - traditional from your region? I just love to cook and I want to make something special for my girlfriend on friday.

Here’s a simple recipe from Canada we call it a poutine. Get or make some french fries put shredded mozzarella cheese(or cheese curds) on top then pour hot gravy over it and there you have a poutine.

In NJ we refer to those as “Disco Fries”.

Ken

OK something real simple, alfredo.  This is not far from what you can read in the joy of cooking, but my own take on it.

Alfredo sauce:

1 cup heavy cream
1 stick of butter
1 cup parmesan cheese

In a medium to small sauce pan melt the butter in the cream on low-medium heat.  Once melted slowly add parmesan cheese and stir till even and smooth consistency.  Season with garlic salt, oregano, and fresh ground black pepper (IMO black pepper is the key seasoning).

Server over pasta and veggies/meat.

Usual way I server it, over penne rigate with broccoli and shrimp.  I saute the broccoli and shrimp in minced garlic, butter and olive oil, kind of similar to a scampe.  Ask my wife of almost 9 years.  It works like a charm.  Plus all my other impress the ladies dishes are more complicated, that one is brutally simple.

Ken

Nothing like making dolmas to show that you care ! It calls for short grain rice , finely minced tomato and onion , sumac , salt and pepper , maybe some fresh finely chopped mint , parmegranite extract ( from mid east stores ) , and enough olive oil. Mix all these in a bowl , get a jar of grape leaves , chop off stems and roll a tablespoon of the mix in each leaf, leaving room fo the rice to expand. Stack them up in a pot , fill with water until it covers the dolmas , add some parmegranite extract into the water , a tad bit of olive oil too. Put a plate on top of the dolmas , and place a heavy weight on it , cook on medium until the water gets less and less. You can try a dolma after abit to see if the rice is cooked .

Thanks guys! Even if I won’t make those on friday, I’m sure to make them someday. It’s good to try other nations cuisine. For now the most exotic dish I’ve prepared was a Peruvian tomato soup with eggs and cheese.

@Filek, do you have access to black eyed peas or lima beans there? I can give you a few traditional recipes.

I don’t know, but the only thing I do with beans is adding crumbs to them. It’s called “szabel” in my region.

I’ve decided to make broth tommorow. But not a simple broth - the best one is by adding some lovage leafs - the love herb

And for dessert - roasted bananas with honey and roasted apples with castor sugar and vanilla sugar

If anyone has the passion to cook, bake, etc. don’t mind to post a good idea for something delicious to eat

I’d go for fish and seafood, when it comes to women. Of course you establish or enforce the fact that you’re a fish eater and fish&seafood is delicious, good value, sensual and easy to cook. Go for mussels and monkfish, I’d say. Fishmonger tells you how to cook them.

@AllanH if i’am reading you correctly, thats the most tastefully preverted thing i have ever read.

This is a traditional desert named after the city where I live in the northwest of the UK. 110 Gram Plain flour (4 oz) 110 Gram Shredded suet (4 oz). 50 Gram Caster sugar (2 oz) Pinch Salt. 110 ram Fresh breadcrumbs (4 oz) l 110 Gram Blackcurrant jam (4 oz) 6 Tablespoons Milk 1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda ---- blackcurrant sauce ---- 300 ml Cold water (10 fl oz) 4 rouned tbsp Blackcurrant jam. 110 Grams(4oz) sugar Method. mix the flour, suet, sugar, salt and breadcrumbs thoroughly in a basin. Make a well in the centre and put in the jam. Warm the milk and dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in it. Pour this on the top of the jam and mix everything together. Put in a well-greased mould or basin, cover with buttered paper and steam for three hours. Serve with the jam sauce. To make the sauce, put all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and boil rapidly for ten minutes.Pour it round the pudding, through a conical strainer; it should form a clear syrup. As blackcurrants are just conning into season I thought this would be useful. Chester pudding.

I’m curious, does anyone was trying to make their own beverage? I’m trying to do the traditional drink of the Slavic nations and Balts, called kvass http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvass. Not much popular in Poland nowadays like it is in the Eastern European countries. I’ve already tried two times, but the fermentaion process wasn’t we’ll, so all of it landed it the toilet… I do hope that this time I’ll get the good proportions.

Sounds good, Filek. I would like to try that drink. I’ve home brewed beer several times, and it usually works out well. I’ve tried to brew root beer twice, but both times were disasterous (exploding from too much fermentation).

I am in to teas now, To get the woman going try Damiana tea with some fruit juice for sweetness. Also make a good smoke with the same properties. I had made wines,brandy,and beers. I have no use for intoxicating drink in my life this millennium. But I will make tinctures for use with an eye dropper. Kvass is popular in prison, But they just call it hooch ,Made with bread and raisins in a plastic baggie.

@Xander, you’ve heard basment_shaman. Do something nasty and go to jail and you’'ll have an occasion to try some kvass I do hope my kvass will be good to drink, so I could move forward and make a home beer or podpiwek (made from ersatz coffee, dried hops, yeast, water and sugar).

kvass is not quite pruno. I guess not having to hide it in the toilet really helps. Plus having the choice of add ins from multiple sources probably helps too.

I looked online there is a nanobrewery out by Pittsburg that makes kvass.

The best kvass, from all that I’ve tried, is made in Latvia - http://www.kvas.lv/en/products/ilguciema-kvass/ They even have a kvass that tastes like porter lol. Going back to cooking, tommorow my grandma will teach me how to do mizeria - a cooler soup made from cucumber and cream.

Ok… mizeria was very very easy to make. Cut the cucumbers into slices and add a bit of salt. Then add cream and buttermilk. A bit of suger, pepper and dill to the taste. Voila!

One day of fermentation left. I do hope it will be good… Four bottles of kwas chlebowy (kvass), around 4 liters.

I used to cook with alcohol. And I Created Drunken Brussels Sprouts. What I would do is cut the bottom of the sprout and stand them up in a 8x8 tray. Drown the sprouts 1/2 inch deep in Yukon Jack liquor, let rest for 4 hours. Steam for 20 minutes and serve warm. Goes good with roasted poultry, baked ham, or broiled fish.

My wife is due back from a trip to Sweden this evening. She wouldn’t get me snus, but agreed to some of that ultra-stinky canned fish they have there (Surströmming). I’ll keep you posted about whether it sets the right mood, so long as it doesn’t explode on the way over.

What is broiling? We must have a different word for it in England. Stefan

@Walrus broiling is like grilling but the heat comes from above at a high temperature in your oven. You put the entree on the highest rack with the oven door open. Cooking time is very short for a 1 inch thick steak 3 minutes each side this give you meat that is well done on the outside and moist and medium rare in the middle. fish is cooked very fast also less than 2 minutes each side best covered with herbs and lemon or orange slices to preserve moisture and add flavor. Foods with high fat content will ignite. so excess fat should be trimmed before broiling. Not necessary when grilling. When Grilling fish should be rap in aluminum foil to seal in moisture.

The fermentation of my kvass went really good. But it’s rather a sparkling water with a taste of rasins than a kvass. I’m wondering where did I make the mistake.

I realize how old this thread is, but you can’t go wrong with chicken fried steak & it’s really easy to make the homemade gravy with the grease afterwards.

Best date night recipe - String of Black Pearls. Linguine, toss with the best olive oil you can find, topped with caviar. The caviar clings to the pasta like pearls on a string.

Back when I was dating, I used to enjoy making either pizza or Jambalaya. In my region (Northwest US) nobody makes either, and those that do make it from a box. Back when I would make them often, I lived out in the country and had a massive garden. So I would take my date and walk through the garden, picking out the ingredients I would need. Then I would sit them down and prepare the food as we talked, and we would talk over wine while it cooked. It made for some great evenings, and I even married a woman who loved me for my cooking, and not just my mind.

Pan fried eggplant in Garlic infused oil. seasoned with 5 chinese herb, Topped with shreaded cheese and tomato sause /served with chilled tomato slices salt, pepper, oregano.

Salmon, Fresh lemon juice, pickle juice, parsley.capers.red onion.salt ,black pepper,mayo,mustard,olive oil. on top of butter lettuce with grape tomatoes and green stuffed olives.

Just cooked up a nice dinner of white bean/lentil/ham shank soup with green chilicheese corn bread and banana cake for desrt… Not bad with a nice pint of brew… Now for a pinch ofTaxi Blue…

Fudge brownies with fresh gound peanuts and coffee beans. Extra thick with butter burn edges and moist center.

@chef_dean I made some deep fried pickles tonight for a group of friends. I plan on making more tomorrow and needed to know if I can save my egg wash for tomorrow. It’s got egg, milk, pickle juice and various spices. Will this still be good tomorrow or will the pickle juice spoil the milk or eggs overnight? Is it even worth it to save? Thanks in advance

Home made creamy cauliflower soup. Made with chicken stock, fresh cream, Butter sauté sweet onion, celery and carrots and seasoned with rosemary ,salt to taste

@chef_dean I made some deep fried pickles tonight for a group of friends. I plan on making more tomorrow and needed to know if I can save my egg wash for tomorrow. It’s got egg, milk, pickle juice and various spices. Will this still be good tomorrow or will the pickle juice spoil the milk or eggs overnight? Is it even worth it to save? Thanks in advance

@Claydonius Hey I didn’t know this thread existed I am going to have to start chiming in. Nice work snuffers! You probably could keep the egg wash depending upon how long you had it unrefrigerated, but I would make fresh tomorrow. Let me know gang if I can be of future assistance. Back to cooking for me. Peace

Fresh lemon curd in a shortbread tart. One of tonight’s offering on the dessert cart.

Hi Chef. Any recommendations for carrots? A little while ago they were on special here at something like 3 bucks for 10 lbs and my wife took full advantage of the deal. Now I have very little room in the fridge for my beer and I’m starting to get cranky. We’ve had them boiled and sauteed with garlic quite often. I’ve suggested carrot cake but that has not yet come to fruition. Some other ideas would be appreciated.

Mmmm, carrot cake. Anyway, I like carrots roasted. You can peel them whole, butter them, season with S&P, and roast at 400℉ until tender, maybe10-15minutes. Remove from the oven & toss in some honey, minced fresh ginger, and a squeeze of lemon. Voila! Honey Ginger Carrots. You can share the oven with a roast. Drink the beer to save room in the fridge. Hope that helps…

Fleur de Lis Ice Carving I was too busy to get a photo before the function began. This is four hours into the reception.

@crullers -Carrot salad with raisins and crushed pineapple,celery- 3cups carrots shreaded 1 cup raisins steamed slightly hydraded, small can pineapples crushed drained, 1/2 cup celery chopped mix together with yogurt,cover and chill .sprinkel with cinnamon sugar. Snow peas & carrots & pearl onions. Pickled carrots your choice sweet,spicy,dill,or just preserved in brine or vinegar

You could combine them with other root veggies for a soup or stew, I guess it’s somewhat of a traditional deal as the weather gets colder. Any combo prob of carrots, burdock, turnips etc…

Juicing will go through them in no time.

Thanks all for the suggestions! It’s nice to have some different options to try. Tonight is a lazy cooking night but I’ll give those Honey Ginger carrots a try tomorrow.

@crullers - If you have any left over then try the juicing suggestion from @Juxtaposer Carrots make a great base for juices. Until I started juicing years ago I always thought the idea of carrot juice sounded pretty disgusting but it is actually very good.

@crullers as you have a surplus of carrots on your hands how about making some carrot and raisin wine, its all about the favours with any home brew be it wine or beer a lot like snuff mix’s . and on a plus side it’s still cheaper to make your own as well.

@chris I don’t have a juicer so I imagine it would be hard to get juice out of them by hand. But that would be a nice change and sounds very healthy. @dazz34 Now that is something I didn’t think of. I have all the equipment I need except for a primary but I do have some smaller food grade plastic pails I may be able to use instead. I used to make beer but my equipment has been gathering dust for years. I have a wine making book here somewhere. I don’t recall reading about a carrot wine but I think there was a parsnip wine recipe. I think I should be able to substitute carrots for parsnips. Thanks!

There’s a lot of talented cooks on here, it’s making me hungry reading this thread lol. Stefan

There’s a lot of talented cooks on here, it’s making me hungry reading this thread lol. Stefan

Very true - I am going to flash fry a nice juicy steak. :))

My next project will be a batch of hot chili oil. Got some hot long chilies and 6 small Bhut Johklas, may throw some ginger in there too. Love the spicy!

Made some awesome Pumpkin soup. Wife bought an extra Halloween pumpkin, cheap. They are much watier and more bland than the pie type. But cut the pumpkin and roasted in the oven till tender. While roasting I sauteed carrot, parsnip, fresh ginger and onion till tender, added a cup or so of broth. When pumpkin done, added to the sauteed veggies and simmered. Added some celery seed and a bit of fresh cracked pepper. Blended till smooth, added a can of canned milk heated then dished into bowls and topped with fresh ground nutmeg. Served with crusty apple, raisin, walnut cinnamon bread with butter and a pint of Old Bongwater beer from local brewery… Very satisfying. Sorry, can’t figure out how to add pictures… Maybe someday…

idk about traditional but red velvet cheese cake is great and not at all hard to make

Whipped up a batch of Hoppin’ John for New Year’s Day (a traditional dish with cornbread) and finished it tonight. Its good any day though so I’ll share my recipe: Soak 1 cup dried black-eyed peas for 4 hours in 4 cups of water Drain, transfer to a soup pot and add 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth, or water. add 2/3 cups dried brown rice, 1/2 cup dried tomatoes - chopped, 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes Boil, then simmer covered on medium heat for 45 minutes Sauté in about a teaspoon of olive oil 1 chopped onion and 5 cloves of garlic Stir this into the soup pot and add 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and salt to taste (about 1-1/2 teaspoons for me), Stir Simmer uncoverd for 5+ more minutes to evaporate some of the water Tweak the recipe to suit yourself. Delicious! Sorry no photo, its all eaten!

I make a restaurant-quality pasta sauce…unfortunately I make shit quality everything else.

Chicken Parmesan made easy: Bake Breaded Chicken patties until almost done Pour on a good thick pasta sauce that you like Sprinkle some shredded Italian cheese and seasoning Put back into oven until cheese melts

we harvested over 200 lbs of butternut squash from our garden this year, so lots of squash dishes here. Last night was cream of butternut soup.

A recipe from my neck of the woods - Cornish Pasty Nice clear instructions, and pictures of what it looks like cornishpastyassociation.co.uk/images/recipe.pdf

@LadySnuff I love Cornish Pasties, however after reading the recipe I had to look up ‘Swede’ to see that its a turnip. I was worried for a minute that the Cornish were chopping up vikings into the mix. :))

@LadySnuff Thanks for that! I love Cornish Pastys as well but have never attempted to make them myself. Also, my thinking was same as @Xander when I saw Swede as an ingredient lol.

@Xander & @crullers. Sorry I forgot there may be language differences, do you call them Rutabaga over there? :">

@LadySnuff Yes, they are called rutabagas here but I much prefer Swede!

Last night I made stuffed oven roasted chicken; slow baked till golden brown .So when I arrived home I picked the bones clean boiled and drained large egg noodles , shredded two carrots, separated the chicken broth ,Mixed all together add boiling water to cover, returned to stove top bring to boil ,Serve Chicken noodle soup; Just what the doctor ordered ! Mm Mm Good

@LadySnuff we’ve always just said “turnip,” but yellow ones are not too common. I’ve heard the word “rutabaga” but have never really used it. Is it a different vegetable altogether, or simply a variety of turnip? I don’t call parsnips “white carrots” because I know better.

OK here’s dinner tonight… Cook up some chicken breast and gravy Bake some fries, then throw them in a big bowl & toss the chicken and gravy on top Mix up some chicken stuffing & toss that on top and back in the oven to toast the top Enjoy

For my daughters Birthday ,I made oven baked russet potatoes.Tenderized & marinated Porterhouse steak- Broiled and sweet niblet corn. Home made Vanilla cake. Sat around and watched movies.

@LadySnuff we’ve always just said “turnip,” but yellow ones are not too common. I’ve heard the word “rutabaga” but have never really used it. Is it a different vegetable altogether, or simply a variety of turnip? I don’t call parsnips “white carrots” because I know better.

I have no idea about rutabaga? I just thought that is what Americans call swede. Large turnips that are yellow fleshed with purply tough skin are called swede over here. Turnip is the smaller more whitish variety. Both from the same family though.

Had friends over for dinner last eve. Made Pappadums, dal, potato bajji, cilantro chutney, raita and a nice fresh fruit salad. Nice evening topped off with great company… Makes life so much more enjoyable…

For tonites “Patriots Game” Cream of crab soup (Maryland style & yes we are the boss) French bread & fried cheese sticks

I want to go to @stogie 's house!

Yes, @Mouse, it was quite a feed… maybe next time!

@stogie – Add some palak paneer next time and you will have all of us knocking your door down to eat!

@howdydave… had no paneer so I did cheat and used mozzarella pearls that I coated with Biryani paste and let sit over night. was very good but since was not very authentic did not list. Next time though…

Nothing special Angel hair pasta ,homemade tomato sauce from the summer ,and freshly hand rolled meatballs

The left over cream of crab soup on pasta with some garlic bread. Never waste anything

Cooking up Italian Meatballs and sauce. An all day event that ends in perfect meatball subs (excuse me for drolling) I know I’m dumb but laugh anyway

Broiled Steak and Crab balls for the game

BBQ baby back ribs

Cheese imported from Ireland kind of like the snuff. Casomorphins yeya rite aid…Everything good comes from over there. Used in many different ways lots of good bread n some really good Indian food I don’t know how to make it but its great with cheese added. Much different than the paneer

Chocolate milk anandamide mmh

Lasagna & Garlic Bread. I can’t wait until dinner gets here

Boiled rice with brown chana and Hyderabadi mixed pickle and wholegrain mustard. Sounds weird but I’m emptying the cupboards&fridge and result was quite comfortable winter meal.

Last night I roasted a 4 lb bird ,with the left overs I am making chicken corn chowder with dumplings