Gravy's Cooking Thread

You could blend them up and mix it with ground beef for some tasty burgers.

BTW, Dirk, I had to go look up Dukkah spice. Sounds interesting... damn furriners.

Gravy_sl said:

You could blend them up and mix it with ground beef for some tasty burgers.

BTW, Dirk, I had to go look up Dukkah spice. Sounds interesting... damn furriners.

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That soup with the Dukkah spice was so good, my wife has insisted I make it again since already. The kids liked it, too.

About to attempt carnitas for the first time. I'm really excited. Using the recipehere.

Eyashusa_sl said:

I made the chipotle chicken chili last night. Really good. What should I use my extra chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for? Besides more chili... which might happen this weekend.

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I'd recommend making some Sausage and Peppers. An old Italian staple with some SPICE:

1-2 packages of sausages of your choice, cut into ~1-inch pieces
3-4 green bell peppers, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 can peeled whole tomatoes
Your leftover chipotle peppers in adobo

Brown the sausages quickly on each side, then throw everything in a baking dish and bake @ 400 for about 35-40 minutes. I'd recommend removing the chipotle peppers near the end of the baking depending on how much you like heat. I always take them out with 10 minutes to go and it's plenty hot for me (and I like a lot of heat), but if you want it go ahead and chop those fuckers up and leave them in there.

Tea_sl said:

About to attempt carnitas for the first time. I'm really excited. Using the recipehere.

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Love carnitas! I read the article, and the only change I would make is NOT to shred before you crisp them in the broiler. Leave the pieces in about 1 1/2 in cubes and then broil to crisp. Then shred for your dish.

Good luck with 'em.

No reason why you couldn't, but the article does mention something about cooking in water based liquids as opposed to fats being less desirable. It might just be less carnita-y that way?

Carnitas are traditionally cooked in lard, low and slow, then crisped.

Tea_sl said:

About to attempt carnitas for the first time. I'm really excited. Using the recipehere.

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Let us know how they work out.

I'm thinking of doing an extensive taco bar for New Years Eve. We're going to have about 50 people in the house, from kids to oldies. Who doesn't love a good build-your-own taco bar that can be grazed at whenever the mood strikes during a party evening?

Anyone have any amazing taco tricks for such an occasion?

Deathwing_sl said:

Shredding will increase the surface area which will lead to more crispy bits. Definitely shred before broiling.

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I'll have to agree to disagree. What you wrote is entirely correct, though. I just think it leads to drier meat if it's been shredded.

Making Guatemalan-style Tamales from my wifes grandmothers recipe on New Years day. Hope I don't fuck this up. Will post pics!

Carnitas verdict: fucking amazing. Only change I made was to throw in a little fresh lime juice, since I had it on hand. I tried both shredding before and after, and I think there are merits to both methods. When it's that delicious who fucking cares!

Big Phoenix_sl said:

Why not brine then braise?

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It's a confit dish. The goal is minimize the loss of water from cooking, When you brine, it's not about minimizing water loss, but adding a bunch of moisture so that when you do cook it there's still plenty to go around at the end. Different approaches to similar goals, but I fucking love confit. Duck confit is my annual xmas meal, but I didn't get to make it this year. Carnitas it is.

lurkingdirk_sl said:

Let us know how they work out.

I'm thinking of doing an extensive taco bar for New Years Eve. We're going to have about 50 people in the house, from kids to oldies. Who doesn't love a good build-your-own taco bar that can be grazed at whenever the mood strikes during a party evening?

Anyone have any amazing taco tricks for such an occasion?

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I make chicken tacos all the time. Very finely dice a white onion and cilantro (and some jalepeno), and a couple dashes of salt and pepper, and add a good amount of lime juice for your topping. Make some tortillas! Dice some chicken and cook in a little oil with salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne, cumin, and a touch cinnamon. Sprinkle a little fresh Queso maybe a dab of a simple salsa and welcome to fucking flavor heaven.

The problem is with 50 people that's a lot of fucking tortilla making. So, you'll probably have to use store bought. I'm sorry for your inferior but still delicious tacos.

Hey Tea! Ever been to Henderson, KY for the smoked mutton? I think there are a few towns in western KY near the Indiana border that have it.

I think that smoked mutton might make a pretty kickass taco, but I'm a little buzzed at the moment.

That's Kentucky bbq. I've never had it in a taco, but I'll make tacos and arepas with anything. Don't see why it wouldn't be good.

Yeah, it is BBQ, but man is it different. The bbq sauce wasn't called sauce, it was called 'dip'. I got corrected in a hurry when I ordered.

The place we ate had great meat, but that 'dip'... that must be an acquired from birth thing.

What do you call the dispenser thing for olive oil? I bought a cheap one at Target and it already broke and I'm looking for another, but it's hard to find something when you don't know the proper name of it. Thanks in advance.


EDIT: Nvm apparently olive oil dispenser was all I needed.

Gravy_sl said:

Yeah, it is BBQ, but man is it different. The bbq sauce wasn't called sauce, it was called 'dip'. I got corrected in a hurry when I ordered.

The place we ate had great meat, but that 'dip'... that must be an acquired from birth thing.

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Yeah, it's definitely a thing. It's basically just Worcestershire sauce, even more vinegar, brown sugar, black pepper, and allspice. It's a potent concoction for sure.