Cooking Experiments!

[DonRetrasado]

I learned that that I can trick people into thinking I'm cooking something delicious by melting a stick of butter in a frying pan. That's all you need, the smell of that alone is enough to convince people. Make use of that information how you will.

Throw in some garlic!

[Apocalyptus]

And some onions.

[Lethal Interjection]

And oregano. Me and my friend realized early in university that cooking with garlic and oregano will almost always result in someone saying, "Mmmm, something smells good".

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

My favorite lasagna recipe is in the oven now. I generally make it without the eggplant though. It's not very difficult, but it's definitely made easier by having a baking dish that fits the size of your lasagna pasta pieces well. I had to trim an inch or so off of mine. This is the dish where I realized what adding wine does to add/enhance flavor. A couple friends are coming over in a bit to eat. I like cooking for people, but generally just in situations where we get to eat together.

Meals where you can clean up all your cooking dishes and wipe down while they're being made are really nice.

[Astrogirl]

Don't put recipes in the oven, paper burns easily.

[Apocalyptus]

Why is there no béchamel sauce in that lasagne recipe? It's not lasagne without béchamel.

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

This is AMERICAN lasagna not some goddamn FRENCH SHIT.

[Apocalyptus]

Shouldn't you be calling it FREEDOM SHIT or something instead?

[Apocalyptus]

I made some champurrado around 0300 and filled a vacuum bottle with it, and six hours later it turned out to have been a brilliant idea. Since it all cooled roughly uniformly, there was no skin that formed on top and it is just the perfect temperature for not burning the hell out of my mouth. I think I've finalized the recipe with this, as well.

4 cups milk
1/2 - 2/3 cup skin-comfortable water
1/2 cup masa
3 oz drinking chocolate
3 oz dark brown sugar

Mix the water and masa together and set aside, and bring the milk up to uhhh... pretty hot, but not quite boiling. Add the sugar and chocolate to the milk and incorporate until you've got regular hot chocolate, then stir the masawater for a moment to ensure that it's not all dropped to the bottom and slowly pour it into the milk, stirring constantly. Bring it up to a very light boil and stir with a whisk until you feel it thickening, then stir for another five minutes. Turn off the heat while still stirring, and then just keep stirring. Never stop stirring. Your life is now stirring. I am sorry.

Serves four.

Welp, finally made this. Not sure if drinking chocolate is unsweetened, but I used some normal dark chocolate and only had to add about a tablespoon of sugar to the pot which resulted in a nice dark hot chocolate.

I liked it, but Mr Apoc wasn't too enamoured of the texture, as it did turn out quite pudding-y when it cooled down a bit.

[Lethal Interjection]

This is the dish where I realized what adding wine does to add/enhance flavor.

I never have wine in the house but in the same area; I discovered earlier this year that a few splashes of balsamic really makes a pasta sauce. I was shocked what a positive difference it made.

[Edminster]

I made some champurrado around 0300 and filled a vacuum bottle with it, and six hours later it turned out to have been a brilliant idea. Since it all cooled roughly uniformly, there was no skin that formed on top and it is just the perfect temperature for not burning the hell out of my mouth. I think I've finalized the recipe with this, as well.

4 cups milk
1/2 - 2/3 cup skin-comfortable water
1/2 cup masa
3 oz drinking chocolate
3 oz dark brown sugar

Mix the water and masa together and set aside, and bring the milk up to uhhh... pretty hot, but not quite boiling. Add the sugar and chocolate to the milk and incorporate until you've got regular hot chocolate, then stir the masawater for a moment to ensure that it's not all dropped to the bottom and slowly pour it into the milk, stirring constantly. Bring it up to a very light boil and stir with a whisk until you feel it thickening, then stir for another five minutes. Turn off the heat while still stirring, and then just keep stirring. Never stop stirring. Your life is now stirring. I am sorry.

Serves four.

Welp, finally made this. Not sure if drinking chocolate is unsweetened, but I used some normal dark chocolate and only had to add about a tablespoon of sugar to the pot which resulted in a nice dark hot chocolate.

I liked it, but Mr Apoc wasn't too enamoured of the texture, as it did turn out quite pudding-y when it cooled down a bit.

Yeah, it's milk cooked with flour so it does thicken considerably when it cools. I've found that for people who don't like the cornmeal texture, chucking it in a blender for twenty-thirty seconds makes it smooth enough while still having a rich heavy body. Drinking chocolate is usually lightly sweetened but yeah, darker chocolate gives it a fuller flavour.

[Apocalyptus]

I've found that for people who don't like the cornmeal texture, chucking it in a blender for twenty-thirty seconds makes it smooth enough while still having a rich heavy body.

Good tip, I'll have to give that a go.

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

My brother's birthday is in a couple days. I'm at my parents for Thanksgiving but I have to go back to school for exams before his birthday, so I'm baking a cake for him today. The recipe I'm using is from the same book as that other chocolate layer cake I've made a couple times. This one is called "chocolate transportation" and it's probably the most complicated thing I've baked before.

First, you make the cake batter, which has a whopping dozen egg yolks, 6 whites, a cup of sugar, 10 oz semi-sweet chocolate, and 3/4 lb of butter. No flour! Once the batter is made up, you split it among six 9.5" baking tins (I have to do that in 2 batches) to make the six cake layers. While those are baking and cooling, the ganache is made and 2 cups heavy cream, 1.5 C toasted macadamia nuts (I hate toasting nuts, I always end up almost burning them), sugar, butter, and chocolate. The "mocha mousse" is made with yet more chocolate, 1/4 cup coffee, 4 egg whites, sugar, and more heavy cream.

Then you assemble the whole thing, cake-ganache-mousse-cake-ganache-mousse-etc and cover the whole thing with the remaining ganache.

Yesterday, I baked a batch of cookies from the same book. You grind up 4 of them and press the crumbs into the outer rim of the cake to make a little crust.

[Apocalyptus]

Well that sounds like a major pain in the arse. I hope it's mindblowingly delicious, or else it just would not be worth all that effort.

[Liriodendron_fagotti]

Update: delicious, but so chocolaty. All-in-all, 1.2 kilos of chocolate, not counting the coco powder