Food Porn

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Iamschist
Ahhhh addiction soothed lol. If the food isn't pretty a recipe is almost as good. That goes for you too AugustusMasonicus a spiced kefta tagine sounds wonderful, but you can't assume all of us know what that is.

It is a very popular Moroccan dish. Recipe is as follows:

1 lb ground lamb
2 medium onions grated
1 bunch of parsley chopped
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tbs butter
2 tbs minced fresh ginger
1-2 red chilis, seeded and minced
1/4 tsp saffron threads
1 bunch cilantro chopped
juice of 1 lemon
lamb or chicken stock
1 pint plum tomatoes, halved

Mix the lamb, parsley, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne and half the onions in a bowl and knead until fully mixed. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

Heat butter in a tagine (or heavy covered skillet) and sauté remaining onions, ginger and chilies until the onions begin to brown. Add the cilantro, tomatoes, saffron and lemon juice and cook for 2 minutes more.

Add stock and bring to a boil.

Form lamb mixture into walnut-size balls and place into pan. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes

Remove lid and cook for additional 10-15 minutes to reduce and thicken sauce. Serve with bread.

Thanks for posting that recipe. It answered my questions. I was going to ask you if you actually need a clay tagine (Williams Sonoma used to sell them, along with the tagine spices), but I see a covered pan will do.

You serve this with bread -- any special type of bread? Could you cook rice in the broth?

originally posted by: Iamschist
It all looks and sounds delish! I am hungry now lol.

Those steaks are obscene, carnivores forever! I love the Rib eye cut. Texas does have great beef.

AugustusMasonicus Thanks for that recipe, hard to get lamb here where I live, but I do like it when I have had it. Not a fan of flat leafed parsley though.

Yeeesss. Rib eye and prime rib. But when I think of Texas, I think of that Bourdain episode shot in Austin.

BBQ heaven -- the beef brisket! I'm drooling at the thought.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

One of my favorites, I love grilled steak that is minimally seasoned. I cringe when people dump steak sauce on good meat.

I love steak sauces.

originally posted by: network dude
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

While I enjoy hearing and seeing all the incredible, high end food you all are cooking, I will offer my (cooking 101) version of food.

Cube steak gently pan fried with Moss' chicken breader
Onion gravy mix with pan seared onions and mushrooms
Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes. (garlic herb)
Salad in a bag. (ultimate Cesar)

All skillfully displayed on a plate with a chip missing on the corner. Oh, and paired with a cold Bud Light.

Total cook time 25 minutes. (took meat out of freezer 3 hours prior)

Just so there are no expectations should anyone visit my home around dinner time.

Okay -- this is more my level of food. I don't know what Moss' chicken breader is though. Sounds like some type of seasoned flour or bread crumbs.

I've been thinking about chicken-fried steak with cream gravy & mashed potatoes. (Nostalgic comfort food) The mashed potatoes have to be fresh from scratch though.

Okay, I'll eat instant mashed potatoes if there isn't anything else and I'm hungry enough, but I really love fresh mashed potatoes made with half & half & lots of butter.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
No pictures...it was messy and busy work. But we made tamales over the weekend.

On Friday I took about a lb of mixed ancho and big jim dried chilis, a couple heads of garlic, and a large onion and simmered them for about 45 minutes, until the only beef broth left was a devilishly dark chili and beef broth. I wanted just barely enough liquid left to make the chile sauce. I pureed the whole thing down, strained it, and ended up with a sizable amount of chile sauce.

Saturday we spent at my sister in laws. She had made a couple of butt roasts, and was in the middle of mixing up the masa. She was just waiting on my chile sauce to get it all ready to start making tamales. Once we wrapped them all up and had them tucked away to steam, the wife and I came home.

Sunday we took our share of the tamales (5 dozen) and froze 4 of them. We ate the other one. To go with it I made an avocado fundido. Spanish speakers may hear that and die laughing, as it sounds very close to another spanish word that would be anything but appetizing. But with that said, it is the best chip dip you will ever make. Recipe is very simple:

- in a cast iron skillet brown up some chorizo. Maybe 1/3lb of it. Once it is cooked, put it on a drain and drain off the grease.
- dump in 1 1/2 cups of black beans. I typically just use canned black beans for this. Pinto's work fine, too. But not refried. Whole beans.
- cover the beans with a layer of cheese. I use oaxaca at this point, but feel free to use monterrey jack, colby, colby jack, or cheddar
- cover the cheese with chorizo
- sprinkle 3/4 c of fresh salso/pico de gallo. You can also use a canned salsa, but never a jar of it. Canned keeps tomato's tasting fresh...so it works just fine
- sprinkle 4 or 5 minced garlic cloves over this layer, making sure you spread it around a bit
- cover this layer with avocado chunks. don't be shy.
- top it off with queso asadero. Again, any of the aforementioned cheeses work
- at this point I also sprinkle queso cotija around the top to get that salty wonderful flavor melted into the asadero
- serve with tortilla chips.

damned good eats!!

Sounds really good. Love good tamales too. It's one of those things I would love to make, but have never got around to. I've never worked with masa. Making tamales sounds like a really time-consuming chore. Love eating them though.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
For Christmas we had turkey breasts glazed with that jalapeno hatch chile jam i had talked about, with some dried cherry and italian sausage stuffing. Since ham is a favorite, we served a ham, which i just threw on top of my turkey below. The gnocchi/butternut dish that Augustus made looked good enough I made one with a sage brown butter. And the wine poached pear with bleu cheese, because I love the two together. You can see the clumps of the reduced wine/orange juice syrup i drizzled over it.

It was a tasty meal that we had way too much of.

Looks like good eats to me. Is that jalapeno hatch chile jam anything like red pepper jelly? I'm thinking of it as a substitute.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

I got a new grill for Christmas so I decided to break it in last night.

We started off with a wedge salad and heirloom cherry tomatoes with homemade blue cheese dressing and crumbled bacon:

The I minced some sage, thyme and rosemary and rubbed that on a porterhouse with some sea salt, pepper and olive oil. That got grilled until medium rare:

And served with buttered green beans, a potato gratin and a French Burgundy. The steak was drizzled with my aged balsamic:

It all looks so good. But I really have a hankering for that salad right now. Just a wedge of iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, homemade bleu cheese dressing with crumbled bacon. So simple and so good.

So do you share the recipe for your homemade Bleu Cheese dressing?

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

Last night we had a tasty frisee salad with tomato, herbed croutons and Italian vinaigrette:

And since everyone was asking me to make lasagna I was happy to oblige them with a meat ragu and béchamel style from northern Italy:

Another winning meal. Is the frisee with tomato a traditional combination or just a personal choice?

I love arugula -- could arugula be used for this instead? That lasagna looks so good too -- so substantial.

originally posted by: QuailSeed

So where do you get your foie gras? (I've had fresh Long Island duckling liver and canned pate de foie gras, but never the fresh thing. I hate Bourdain for torturing me with images of fresh foie gras cooked a la Normande -- I'm sure it's orgasimistically good.

I use a company called D'Artagnan. Their main warehouse is in Newark and they allow walk in customers to buy direct. They ship nationally and have a huge selection of gourmet foodstuff.

So I go to Whole Foods and ask and I'm given a lecture (probably written by PETA) on how unethical it is to eat foie gras.

I rarely go to the Whole Foods in my town since there is nothing there that I cannot get elsewhere and for a better price.

originally posted by: QuailSeed

Thanks for posting that recipe. It answered my questions. I was going to ask you if you actually need a clay tagine (Williams Sonoma used to sell them, along with the tagine spices), but I see a covered pan will do.

I have an All Clad tagine which has a ceramic lid.

You serve this with bread -- any special type of bread? Could you cook rice in the broth?

I usually make Kesra, a traditional Moroccan bread, which is rather easy to prepare.

I'm not a huge fan of rice so I will sometimes make couscous on the side.

originally posted by: QuailSeed

So do you share the recipe for your homemade Bleu Cheese dressing?

Sure:

1/4 lb of high quality blue or gorgonzola
1 cup buttermilk
fresh cracked pepper

Let the cheese soften in a bowl. Add buttermilk and pepper and whisk to incorporate.

originally posted by: QuailSeed

Another winning meal. Is the frisee with tomato a traditional combination or just a personal choice?

Personal choice. Frisee is one of my favorites so when I see it at the market I usually grab it.

I love arugula -- could arugula be used for this instead? That lasagna looks so good too -- so substantial.

Arugula works well also, I like the peppery flavor of the greens.

Yeah, that is 'real' lasagna prepared traditionally with béchamel instead of the American version with ricotta cheese. It is actually not as heavy as other versions but it is still pretty filling.

So last night we had a friend over and started with 'Nduja, which is a very spicy, spreadable Calabrian sausage served with some homemade bread.

I then made some lamb shanks and a side dish of artichoke, potato and lardo casserole and we had a nice bottle of Zinfandel to compliment the flavors.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: QuailSeed

So where do you get your foie gras? (I've had fresh Long Island duckling liver and canned pate de foie gras, but never the fresh thing. I hate Bourdain for torturing me with images of fresh foie gras cooked a la Normande -- I'm sure it's orgasimistically good.

I use a company called D'Artagnan. Their main warehouse is in Newark and they allow walk in customers to buy direct. They ship nationally and have a huge selection of gourmet foodstuff.

So I go to Whole Foods and ask and I'm given a lecture (probably written by PETA) on how unethical it is to eat foie gras.

I rarely go to the Whole Foods in my town since there is nothing there that I cannot get elsewhere and for a better price.

Thank you for answering my questions. I have seen the D'Artagnan name before (aside from "The Three Musketeers") on a small tub of duck fat -- it was in a catalog of gourmet goodies. Thanks for the link to their website.

Of course, you're in a location that has everything. How far are you from the NYC markets? Not far at all, I would imagine.

You mentioned that you had restaurants before -- Italian -- wild guess.

Have you put out any cookbooks?

I really appreciate this -- you have a lot to teach.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

So last night we had a friend over and started with 'Nduja, which is a very spicy, spreadable Calabrian sausage served with some homemade bread.

I then made some lamb shanks and a side dish of artichoke, potato and lardo casserole and we had a nice bottle of Zinfandel to compliment the flavors.

This is another amazing looking meal. I've got to ask you about the artichoke, potato, lardo casserole -- there appears to be something almost sponge-like in the photo, as well as long stringy stems.

Are my eyes lying? Or are these things parts of the artichoke plant that we normally do not see?

I love baby artichoke hearts and the fat, rich bottoms of mature globe artichokes -- but I'm not recognizing what I'm seeing.

originally posted by: QuailSeed

Thank you for answering my questions. I have seen the D'Artagnan name before (aside from "The Three Musketeers") on a small tub of duck fat -- it was in a catalog of gourmet goodies. Thanks for the link to their website.

I use that product all the time, it help make excellent duck confit.

Of course, you're in a location that has everything. How far are you from the NYC markets? Not far at all, I would imagine.

About 15 minutes, but there are plenty of good shops right here in north Jersey.

You mentioned that you had restaurants before -- Italian -- wild guess.

Yes, one was Italian, the other was Italian/Continental.

Have you put out any cookbooks?

I have not but I have a few friends who did.

I really appreciate this -- you have a lot to teach.

No problem, as away, there a quite a few good cooks in this thread.

originally posted by: QuailSeed

This is another amazing looking meal. I've got to ask you about the artichoke, potato, lardo casserole -- there appears to be something almost sponge-like in the photo, as well as long stringy stems.

Not really sure what you are referring to. I start by peeling and trimming the stem. Cutting off the top, peeling back the outer leaves and then cutting the artichoke in half. I scrape out the choke and then slice the artichoke thinly so each piece usually has some leaves and the heart.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: QuailSeed

Thank you for answering my questions. I have seen the D'Artagnan name before (aside from "The Three Musketeers") on a small tub of duck fat -- it was in a catalog of gourmet goodies. Thanks for the link to their website.

I use that product all the time, it help make excellent duck confit.

Of course, you're in a location that has everything. How far are you from the NYC markets? Not far at all, I would imagine.

About 15 minutes, but there are plenty of good shops right here in north Jersey.

You mentioned that you had restaurants before -- Italian -- wild guess.

Yes, one was Italian, the other was Italian/Continental.

Have you put out any cookbooks?

I have not but I have a few friends who did.


Duck Confit sounds complicated. So do you use the duck fat to seal it ? Instead of clarified butter?

So some of your friends must be famous (or at least. semi-famous) in the culinary world.

Must be nice to eat the way you do.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: QuailSeed

This is another amazing looking meal. I've got to ask you about the artichoke, potato, lardo casserole -- there appears to be something almost sponge-like in the photo, as well as long stringy stems.

Not really sure what you are referring to. I start by peeling and trimming the stem. Cutting off the top, peeling back the outer leaves and then cutting the artichoke in half. I scrape out the choke and then slice the artichoke thinly so each piece usually has some leaves and the heart.

Okay, I guess I'm seeing part of the stem. But the "spongy" looking thing does not look like thinly sliced artichoke heart with leaves. It looks more like some type of wild mushroom -- thinly sliced. Weird.

I'm sure it's delicious though.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus


I use that product all the time, it helps make excellent duck confit.
[snipped]
I have not but I have a few friends who did.

Duck Confit sounds complicated. So do you use the duck fat to seal it ? Instead of clarified butter?

So some of your friends must be famous (or at least. semi-famous) in the culinary world.

Must be nice to eat the way you do.