What do you like to cook in real life?

[Brygun]

A common point in humanity is that we all like to eat. Since I like to eat I like to cook.  This a simple logic.

Wondering what other folks like to cook?

One of mine is honey fried steak.
Yep, you heard that right. Steak fried in honey.
I learned if you learn to 'listen to the oil' you can gently fry with honey. Use a low to low-medium heat and don't let the bubbling 'sound angry'. There is a trick also that the juices from the meat stop the honey from burning. So when the honey starts to turn darken then the meat has given all the juices it can making it time to stop. The steak will be pink on the inside (medium) glazed in sweet honey goodness. Super bonus that any spices you toss in will stick to the honey which sticks to the meat!

Currently I serve it out on a pita bread with optional lettuce/vegetables arranged in an outer ring. The roughage helps the body digest the meat. Well, it is like one steak per person. I tend to use cheaper more-fatty cuts since they will come out okay in the longer cooking time.

I like to pour the pan's honey-greasy goodness onto the bread too. Don't let any nutrition go to waste!

[toxoide]

i like to eat.... Mostly, and i am not fan of cooking, but when the family is in the mood, i like to make the bread for pizza or the dough for the nut-bits cookies, i like the feel of the "dough" transforming and then becoming almost shiny.

[Kitsune]

Normaly i eat nearly anything at least if it tasts good. ^-^Lately i have a weakness about fried tofu or better say the so called "inari sushi"

The only few things i dont really like is intestines, speciality liver my grandma overfed me and my cousins with it.

@Brygun: Reads nice your "honey fried steak". *droll*

[Draco18s]

So I do crock pot recipes these days. Got a handful of books I pull from, but mostly it's Make it Fast, Cook it Slow and Cook's Slow Cooker Revolution (volume 2).

I made enchilada casserole...three weeks back and cowboy stew two weeks ago. Last week I did garlic and turmeric scallops.  Think I'm going to do Azorean beef stew this week

[Brygun]

@Kitsune oh yes, honey fried steak is marvelous creation. Some say it is proof the spirits want us to be happy.

Honey fried steak can also be done "supreme" by frying alongside it an onion and chopped carrots. You may need a bit more honey. Which isn't a bad thing.

The onion adds more vitamins and a softer texture than the meat. The carrots, once fried, also had a different firm-like texture and of course different nutrients. The bread all this is served on adds grains. So with the meat of the steak and other goodness of the honey you have a very complete meal.

>>>>

Another recipe I have taken is making a style of roast. Though it may be known in other cultures by a different name. It fills the whole roasting pan plus the mound out the top. Maybe I should call it a "mound roast".

To make a mound roast: (in real life not game code)

= Take out your roasting pan which should have a grill in the bottom to let the few excess juices have a place to sit.
= Lightly wash then cut up 3-5 lbs of potatoes (1/3 to 1/2 of a typical 10 lb bag). I leave the skin on as it has nutrients not found on the inside. You should cut them as long shapes, perhaps like fries or as thin flats.
= Place the potatoe as the bottom layer on top of the roasting pan's grill. Place the first layer crossways to catch drippings (we'll get to the source soon). Spice the layer with parsley. Contine with the next layer of potatoe with a different laying pattern. The goal is that the potatoes are not only roasted but also soak in drippings.
= Start up your oven for 350-375 as the potatoes need longer to cook. You should already have the potatoes started while doing the rest of this prep.
= Make up the goop. While probably could call it a glaze. It is typically 6 cups of flour plus 1/8 cup of sugar per cup of flour. Add in spices like parsley, oregano and tyme. I typically use a 4:2:1 ratio. I guess its about 1/4 (ish?) cup of parsley per cup of flour. Add water slowly to mix up to a dough consistency. You can optionally add eggs but I found water alone was also okay. As you can imagine you need a bix bowl or second pot for mixing.
= Prepare the meat 3-6 lbs worth in cutlet or palm sized pieces. I buy low cost "pork shoulders" that still have the bone in. I actually enjoy cutting the meat off. Option: save the bone and small meat bits as soup stock.
= Take the roasting pan with its potato out of the oven, leaving the potato in it.
= Each cutlet is rolled in the flour mix from above. Lay the cutlets on top of the potato. They should be laid out to make a layer fully covering the potato.
= Cut up carrots and/or add frozen mixed veggies into the remaining flour mix. Stir it all up. Then spread on top of the mat layer. Be sure that flour mix is over all the potato.
= Option add other vegetables on top.
= Now make the second meat layer. Cut up 1 or 2 packages of bacon into large bit size pieces. You can use another meat if you want. Preference for fatty meats which will produce drippings. Cover the roast mound in this meat/bacon.
= Put the resulting mound back in the over.
= Continue cooking so the potato have been in for about 2 hours. You can monitor the bacon and the flour mound consistency as well.

For a 2" deep roasting pan the resulting mound is about 2" taller than the pan for 4" overall height.
Serve like a cake or pie cutting out a vertical section. Each cut will have bacon, flour, veggies, meat and potato. Speaking of those potato they will be both cooked and basted in the juices form above. The flour mix ends up being like a stuffing.

One time I did this a turkey drumstick for each person on top, with the bacon on top of those.

My somewhat small roasting pan making the mound roast gets about 8 large serving out of it. I have a few friends over when I make it and still store half of it. Some in the fridge and some in the freezer.

I suppose the game code would be something like

= 30 min working time
= 90 min waiting time
= cooking pot for roasting
= if possible: 2nd container for mixing
= 4 lb of for the potato (lake reed?)
= 4 lb of meat
= 4 lb of flour
= 2 lb of water for mixing and cleaning
= optional: 1 lb spice A
= optional: 1/2 lb spice B
= optional: 1/4 lb spice C
= oven nearby

[Brygun]

Oh I have started a new creation these days too. Working title: Bacon Cookies
or maybe Grease Cookies?

I cook up a package of bacon for various eats. (yes one whole package at a time as part of healthy lunch).
These leaves a fair bit of bacon grease. Often these days spiced bacon grease. Mixed in was parsley, oregano and lemon juice.

To make the biscuits you keep the grease. While it is still warm, so while the freshly served bacon is getting cool enough to eat...

Bacon biscuits
= take out a mixing bowl
= put in one cup of flour to start
= pour the still hot and liquid bacon grease from the frying pan
= if not already spiced do so now (parsley, oregano and lemon juice my mix for today)
= stir
= looking at the consistency add in small amounts of water and stir
= if you put in too much water add in more flour
= start up your oven for 350 F or use a toaster oven
= get a cookie sheet (metal or the new plastic type) and give it a quick wash
= with a spoon or hand take about a tablespoon of the flour-grease mix and put onto the sheet
= shape the blob of flour-grease into a cookie like shape. You want it flat and wide for even drying as a tall thick blob doesn't dry out as well
= make more cookie/biscuit shapes with remaining flour-grease mix
= put the sheet into the over
= cooking, really drying time, seems to be about an hour to 1 1/2 hour.
= at about 45 minutes start checking on them. You are looking for dryness. The edges browning and the center still a little soft.
= When they appear to only have the last bits of softness left take them out of the oven.
= Set them up to try. I put them in a circle with each using the next one over as a lift.
= Let them cool which also lets them finish drying

When eating them your saliva awakens the grease giving you a yummy slick feel to them. As a dried item they will not spoil. It is certainly better than pouring the grease out.

[Blxz]

I rarely cook anymore since I got married. My wife is just far superior in every way so me doing the cooking is almost a disappointment. But every now and then I like to smash out something special like back in the good old days (when she worked and I did the cooking).

Some of my specialties include a chicken pot pie, the 'gravy' filling is all natural juices from the vegies and chicken so is simply delectable. Puff pastry is the way to go. Another favourite is pannacotta for desert. I set some jelly (Jello to you americans) in the glasses overnight with them on a diagonal and then put the pannacotta in the next day to set. Leaves a beautiful looking but very simple dessert. But my best dishes of late have been using the French Black Perigord Truffle. Something as simple as a pasta carbonara with a little bit of fresh truffle grated in adds the most wonderful deep earthy flavour.

No pictures of my dishes but I do have some of the truffle I grow.

[Sami]

I'm delighted to see a living thread, and apologize for an off-topic intervention. However, we're moving this thread to off-topic (and hope it will flourish there) as the "General Discussion" is best to reserve mostly for game related talks -- and the board description got updated accordingly today.

[DfDevadander]

My diet is quite simple:
-I make my own breads, both leavened and unleavened, with wheat or rye depending on how I feel. Sometimes I will add ground venison and cheese, along with herbs and spices, into the dough before I bake it

-Porridge is a staple food in my house; mostly vegetable porridge throughout the fall and winter after having harvested everything in my garden, and over the summer I tend to make more meat-based porridge

-Simple homemade cheeses are something I make year-round so there is always a good supply of them here

-Hearty stews and soups are another pair of staple foods, mostly vegetable-based but I do a meat stew once every couple of weeks since I make enough to last a week so I'm not cooking every day

-Berries, apples, oranges, and lemons are my main fruits; however, they aren't cooked (aside from baked apples) so I don't know if that actually counts in this thread

My UrW character and I seem to eat basically the same foods, which is something that actually drew me in when I started playing a few years ago. With the Njerpez Cookery Mod installed, he now eats a much greater variety of foods than I do in real life!

I grew up in the country, raised by my grandparents, and this is the way I have always eaten; I love it

[IceHeart]

Soups and stews! All kinds. Potato and ham with green onions and garlic. Beef and barley with onions and tomatoes. Mexican called Posole. Chicken and rice with celery and Parmesan cheese. Those are some of my favorites. I like soups in particular because each one is an adventure. Start out with an idea and catch a glance of a vegetable, say a Jalapeno, and figure out how to incorporate it. (I especially like infusing cheeses into the base.)   

[Dungeon Smash]

So I do crock pot recipes these days. Got a handful of books I pull from, but mostly it's Make it Fast, Cook it Slow and Cook's Slow Cooker Revolution (volume 2).

I made enchilada casserole...three weeks back and cowboy stew two weeks ago. Last week I did garlic and turmeric scallops.  Think I'm going to do Azorean beef stew this week

i just got a crock pot myself!! i will have to look those books up, ive been racking my brains trying to think up recipes   

[FJBaguazhang]

i will eat anything that is easy and convenient; cutting down time spent in cooking, cleaning and monitoring all feature prominently in what i eat. however i have moved into a place by myself now apart from my parents so im having to plan out my meals and recipes a bit more... generally i keep the fridge stocked with plenty of fruit, vegetables and healthy ingredients. then i keep a pantry full of carbs (like pasta, rice, noodles) and i also buy convenience foods which dont take preparation (muesli bars, cookies, chocolate, fruit).

ill probably make 1 or 2 sauces a week, like bolognese or a curried mince, or maybe (havent done it for a while) soup. ill eat mainly 2 minute noodles with added meat and frozen vegetables, and eat fruit. as for snack foods; ill rely on the packaged stuff, but mainly eat toasted cheese and ham/tomato, and ill eat plenty of fruit as snack.

i keep as little excess packaged food as possible, and try to rely on wholesome food. and i drink loads of coffee =)

basically i take noodles and frozen vegetables, cook them both in the microwave (seperately, in glass dish), take a tin of sardines. when noodles ready add flavouring, then sardines and drained vegetables, and thats a meal in 5 minutes.. 

[Filip]

It seems that all of you like to cook. I could go on about it, but I'll just say that I love making my own bread when I have time, and when I have the chance to buy fresh fish at the market, I make huge conger fish-head soups which last for days.

About the bacon-cookies, they remind me of my childhood, but my grandmother makes them only with the fat (lard), flour, sugar and a bit of cocoe powder sometimes. Delicious fattening food.

I also love making stir-fry recipes and sushi.

[Thorin]

Found the new forum (looks good), since I'm not that active anymore.
Read the latest updates. Seems I've to make some time available again.

Back to topic.
My favorite food would be lasagna.
It's basically the default but the extra layer I've added in between, is with hot peppers and a young cheese (boursin).

Recently with my new kitchen, I can do now a bit more.
Got me a wok-burner and I can now really make my meats crispier than ever. Then toss in the veggies (and shrooms).
And with a better oven (a lot wider but less tall) and I can now make decent apple pies, mmm..