The food and drink forum blog thread.

[RAGER]

Perfect steak. Do you snap, cut, or shave the ends of your asparagus?

[renfield]

Monyafeek!

[Muffin Man]

I cut the ends and hit 'em in my new pan 11" across the top. Heavy pan! Not sure what braising is but that's the idea. Put some next to sandwich from yesterdays steak. Eh, ended up inside which worked nice. No a good cut, better cut next time.

[Jor el]

   That last photo looks like a homicide

[Muffin Man]

  LoL 

[socket]

It's all aboot the plating, dude.

[Jor el]

   Thanks

[Muffin Man]

Perfect steak. Do you snap, cut, or shave the ends of your asparagus?

I'd like to try that snap but the stalks were supermarket ones standing in water. Kinda bad sourcing, I'll look at my higher end store and see if I can snap those - is that good? never heard of snapping the ends. Never heard of shaving the ends either.

[RAGER]

Cut off the last 1/2" and then shave off the tough bits with a peeler. It's nice and tender at the end with less waste.

[RAGER]

Ya know when you open a can of chipotle peppers in adobo and ya use a couple then it gets shoved to the back of the fridge and turns to mold?  Don't ya hate that?  Well separate them out with a little dollop odd sauce on each one then freeze them individually and store them in the freezer for later use one at a time. Besides it looks really appetizing too.

[Lumpy]

Good idea! I can only cook with one pepper at a time. But the cans of whole chipotle peppers are a big cost savings when compared to the same size can of chipotle sauce. (6 recipes vs. 1 recipe).

[renfield]

Electric ranges are such fucking bullshit.

[Lumpy]

Popeyes is my kryptonite

[mortlock]

Popeyes is my kryptonite

theres a little corner store in a neighborhood near me that has the best fried chicken with these gigantic potato wedges that are amazing. next time i go ill get pics.
hell i might turn it into a cookin show episode. first in a series of on location episodes.

[RAGER]

I've never had Popeyes. Fried chicken is kinda of a thing here. There are multiple awesome fried chicken places. Its awesome.

[Lumpy]

For a national franchise, Popeyes is pretty solid.

If you go at busy times (lunch, dinner) when the chicken is sure to be fresh, it can be solid as an MF'er.

[mortlock]

fresh or not. fried chick rules. i love cold chick the next day. 

[Muffin Man]

Oyster "Poboy" Habanero Sauce Jalapeno paired with Cranberry Juice

[Muffin Man]

Setting up a garden box for Chives. What other herbs are no-braner to grow outside in moderate temp? Basic herbs list? Do I need to dehydrate for nifty spice rack project?

[RAGER]

Rosemary grows itself. Oregano if ya like. I use thyme quite a bit. Tarragon is great in salads and different sauces. Fennel for the fronds and the crunchy root and if it goes to seed you can harvest those too. Cilantro and Italian parsley but it can bolt quick if the temp gets too hot so harvest soon as you can.

[Lumpy]

Basil is easy to grow, but also easy to use up quickly. You can replenish it by putting a sprig in water, then transfer into the dirt when roots grow in.

[RAGER]

Yeah basil is easy. I don't use much basil for some reason.

I can't stress enough. Get a culinary bay tree. The fresh leaves are so flavorful. You'll never go back to that dried shit. A leaf between each chunk of pork on skewers is life changing.

Keep it in a pot and move it inside first sign of frost. I keep mine in the mud room in the winter.

[Muffin Man]

Thanks all. Nice list, I'll start with those. I may try Mint. And if I an grow Nettle it could make a nice tea. Been on a tea kick lately.

[mortlock]

Grow some cilantro and mail some to me.

[RAGER]

If you're doing mint, keep it in a pot. Super invasive.