Gravy's Cooking Thread

Koushirou said:

Chicken, riced cauliflower, sauce is made from cream cheese, butter, mozzarella, heavy cream, and then some seasoning with thyme, oregano, parsley, etc.

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Sounds like your typical chicken and rice casserole, but as opposed to using rice you're using cauliflower. I'm sure it tasted good. I really enjoy doing stuff like that, I couldn't eat it all the time, but the wife doesn't like chicken and rice I guess from growing up, but I've been converting her through the means of jambalaya and the types of casserole that you made. I never get any complaints.

I like throwing in regular rice and chunks of broccoli and cauliflower along with the chicken. Of course there's got to be a lot of cheese.

Little bit of pork fat in there like sausage or bacon also makes it great. Copious amounts of herbs, and onion also makes it wonderful.

There's just something nice about having that big one pot or one dish meal when it's cold that's easy to heat up. You can basically throw whatever the hell you've got floating around into one dish, make sure there's enough liquid, and go to town.

Koushirou said:

Yeah, this is my first time making any sort of casserole, actually. Lot of adjustments to make. The broccoli definitely sounds an obvious choice to throw in and I'd love some onion, too.

Of course, the husband didn't like it, though...

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Dude it's so easy. Just go get a big bag of frozen broccoli or maybe broccoli Normandy, that way you get the cauliflower and the carrots as well. Dice up some chicken thighs or white meat if you want to use it, thighs are always the best though.

Brown your chicken, tossing diced onions, maybe add some mushroom, and whatever herbs and seasonings. Deglaze with a splash of broth or wine, then set aside. Don't need to cook the chicken completely, just give it some color.

Meanwhile you've already got rice parboiled, doesn't need to be done, but close enough. And while you're doing all of this just have your big bag of frozen vegetables sitting out coming a room temp. They can be cold but you don't want him I see when you drop them in.

Combining a giant bowl with all of your cheese and what have you, and then spread into a big Pyrex dish. Maybe cover it in foil halfway through, then put the butter bread crumbs on top towards the end and throw under the broiler.

Normally when I do this I'll use cream of chicken for cream of mushroom to add a little bit more sauce, that there's the cream of cheese which I don't know what the hell that is but it works. The nice thing about those canned condensed soups is they really are nice emulsifier, and then if you just need more liquid add a little bit of chicken stock or cream.

You can basically use up whatever the hell vegetables you've got floating around. Celery, bell peppers, cabbage, whatever, that's the whole purpose of casseroles it's just using up what you have on hand. No different than making a soup or stew except it's just a big dish with a hell of a lot more starch for the body.

moonarchia said:

Made a second batch of the seafood soup I posted before. This time I added the seafood with just 1h left on cooking time. The scallops came out much softer. Will try 30m next time.

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Dude if you want to make any sort of seafood gumbo soup stew chowder whatever, just ask me and I can give you plenty of wonderful recipes from amazing cookbooks.

Never ever let seafood that's delicate like scallops specifically, or shrimp, cook for longer than maybe 5 10 minutes. You also have to account for reheating it for your leftovers so you don't want to turn them into basically the texture of a car tire. Even that process is crucial if you want to enjoy the meal over a few days. Low and slow is the ticket while also maintaining as much moisture as possible.

You're a good dude, but you're breaking my brain with the genocide on good seafood products...

moonarchia said:

I am no gourmand, so it's just about experimenting with stuff. I am also in CO, so ain't none of this shit straight from the ocean. It's just bags of stuff from the freezer section I am tossing in a crock pot. One thing I could do is get a smaller crock pot and do half the amount since I am portioning it out to half one day and half the next. The 4 hours is really just to get the vegetables properly cooked through. The last step is finding the right amount of time to make the shrimp and scallops taste their best.

That said, I did adjust the spices a bit, and it came out amazing. Less salt, a little more cayenne and curry, and I added turmeric. For me a perfect amount of flavor and heat.

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My friend, ditch the Crock-Pot for anything seafood related. That's the first step to acceptance of cooking seafood badly.

Get a nice enameled cast iron Dutch oven. I can be an off-brand that you could probably get a pretty good deal on at home goods, but it will work for all types of different food.

Seafood is delicate, and you have to sit there and monitor the times in which to make it the best.

The Dutch oven comes in a place to make your soup base and let it really develop all of its flavors, and then like Aldarion said, you simply have to just toss the raw shrimps or scallops or whatever in towards the ass end. If everything's been rolling on a slow simmer, that's enough to cook it just put a lid on and you're good to go.

Sorry I just have a button that gets pushed when anybody talks about slow cooker shit. I'm honestly just trying to help you out, not trying to come off as an asshole.

I guarantee you though taking a little bit of extra steps and worrying the methods you will have an infinitely better meal especially if you're going to put out the money to get some decent ingredients and transform them into something delicious.

moonarchia said:

I am 100% not going to do all that work most of the time. I am also not using top shelf ingredients. Just quick and easy frozen everything. Toss it in and forget about it. Zero prep. Unmonitored. Easy to serve. Almost zero clean up.

That's not to say I never make nicer meals, even in the crock pot. I make a very good corned beef and cabbage in it once in a long while. For that I do buy and clean the potatoes and cabbage. Basically cook it until the cabbage and potatoes are soft. Well worth the effort.

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You know what the amazing thing is you don't have to spend a bunch of money on simple ingredients, as long as you've got the right technique or process, you can turn it into something amazing.

It's just sacrilege to cook seafood too long. There are times in which you can let it do its thing, but it's pretty rare, normally it's a super fatty or oily fish, but if you spent the money on things like scallops, treat that stuff with respect.

And by no means I'm a master, I've learned a lot through trial and error, but seafood is definitely something you have to pay attention to, and it's never something you throw into a crock pot like a soccer mom.

It sounded like all of your ingredients were good and there's nothing wrong with using frozen vegetables. I use them a lot because typically they can be better than what you can get fresh because they were flash Frozen when harvested.

At all honestly comes down to having to put in a little bit more sweat equity to making a nice meal, I know people get busy, but you can still make amazing meals with humble ingredients as long as you treat them right, and if you splurged or something fancier, all the more reason to put in the work and not dump it into a slow cook stupid mechanism for people that don't know they're way around the kitchen.

Siliconemelons said:

Steak night - Ribeye cut from the Christmas roast.

Wondering how to do it, I always enjoy standard season n' grill on the grill - and its nice a cold outside so grilling is fun.

But I have some fresh herbs that would make a nice butter baste method.

...or made a compound butter with the herbs and put it over the steak while it rests...

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I typically just toss on the compound butter when it's resting. Basted them in the past, and it's good, but a lot of flare up, but I don't mind a bit of char sometimes, especially if it's over coals.

Mrs. Gravy said:

I made very fancy bacon and eggs this morning...as in, just plain hickory smoked thick slab bacon and scrambled eggs (I put real mayo and heavy cream in the eggs when I whisk them and cook on low heat.)
Some times the simple things are best.
Hi, everyone!

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That's how I make my eggs if I do scrambled.

Heavy cream, or sometimes I'll use sour cream, or even Greek yogurt to give it a little bit of a tang if I don't have the cream on hand. I've not ever done Mayo but I can't imagine it doesn't make them delicious. Going to have to try that.

I like my scrambled eggs a lot softer, and unfortunately my wife likes them the dryer. She also for some retarded reason doesn't like cheese, where I put copious amounts in, so I typically have to make two different batches, but I'm trying to convert her.

Nothing beats simple big breakfast of good bacon, properly cooked eggs, some buttery toast, and maybe some hash browns. I've been dicing up leftover potatoes we have on hand out of a big bag that need to be used up. Microwave them for a bit after the dice, and then fry up in a little bit of butter, maybe tossing a bit of onion and some sweet pepper if I've got any floating around in the fridge that needs to be used up to make potatoes O'Brien.
The little air fryer we have works pretty well as long as I put a little foil boat in there. I don't have to tend it as much.

ToeMissile said:

Spoiler for length

Spoiler

With your live animal purchase, we arrange the slaughter or harvest of the animal on our Trabuco Ranch, transportation to a local family butcher for processing, and communicate with the butcher on your behalf. Your meat will be hung and dry-aged for 25-28 days to allow natural enzymes to tenderize and enhance the flavor. Our local butcher will then call you and provide you with options for meat cuts (quantity of steaks, hamburger etc.). Your meat will then be custom cut and wrapped to your order. Once your meat is chilled, it is ready for you to pick up in Chino, CA. We can't ship whole/half cow orders as they are live animal purchases and not USDA processed.
The purchase dates we provide are an estimate and the actual time you will receive your meat may vary by a month or more. We process our animals when they have gained adequate weight and are fat enough. Weight gain and fat gain can be affected by climate and the amount of green grass available. During longer hot seasons, the cattle do not eat as much and gain less. This can extend the amount of time to get your whole/half cow ready. We never supplement with any grains to speed up this process and instead rely only on nature. Should you have any questions about the date you will receive your whole/half cow, we are always available to provide you with updates.

How much does it cost?

We sell our whole and half cows as a live animal purchase, which avoids the use of a USDA processing plant and is far less stressful for the animal. We harvest our animals at 30 to 36 months of age, when they weigh 1200 to 1400 pounds. The live weight is obviously the weight of the live animal. The hanging weight is the weight after the blood, hide and inedible parts are removed. The hanging weight is 59%-62% of the live weight. The cut weight is the weight of the actual meat after it is dry aged for 28 days. The cut weight is 14% less than the hanging weight due to water evaporation during aging, saw cuts, and removal of ligaments, tendons and gristle. What will it cost, and how much meat will I get? The cost ends up being approximately $14 per pound of finished beef, and each half yields approximately 300 pounds of finished beef. Every animal is different, so these prices will vary based on the weight of the individual animal. There are three different costs to calculate: The cost of the live whole or half animal is $5.00 per pound live weight, payable to the rancher. The cost to have the animal slaughtered is $100 for a half or $200 for a whole, payable to the rancher. The cost to have the meat aged, cut, wrapped and frozen so it's ready to take home is $1.50 per pound hanging weight. Hanging weight is usually 59% to 62% of the live weight. This is payable to the butcher. As an example, buying half of a 1,200-pound cow would cost: $3000 to the rancher for the live animal $100 to the rancher for the slaughter fee $540 to the butcher for the aging, cutting, wrapping and freezing $3640 total for approximately 300 pounds of finished beef, or $13 per pound. That is far cheaper than any individual cut of meat we sell; our steaks and roasts average $22 per pound online.

What exactly do I get from a half cow?

The breakdown is approximately: 50% ground beef and bones 30% roasts 20% steaks as well as your portion of bones and organ meats.

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That's hugely expensive for here at least. We sell halves and quarters for $4.50/lb based on the hanging weight. Using their numbers that comes out to about $5.40 per lb. 300# of beef from a 1200 lb animal is pretty high too because most people don't count the bones as "meat" and the organ meats are usually thrown away because people don't want them. It's probably closer to 250 lbs if you don't value the bones and organs.

Our prices are usually a little below market because we sell to friends and family and I know shit's expensive in California but that seems a bit excessive.