Food and Recipes

[don_fabio]

The idea of the thread is simple. Discuss food, recipes and whatever comes with it.

I hope this might be the appropriate place for the thread, because food making is like an art in a way.

All are invited, but I will tag a few people who I know that already showed some interest in food discussions like @Moxie (who gave idea for this thread), @MargaretMcAleer (italian, obviously), @El Dude (was thrilled about his pizza a few months back).

We (me and my wife) recently discovered making a granola at home. The idea came when we had a brunch one time, we ordered mortadela sandwich in foccacia bread and a pot of granola. That is when we realised granola can be made at home. Many foods they sell you somewhere, in lots of cases you can replicate it at home to suit your own taste and make it even better. I also get tired sometimes of hot bowl of oatmeal and granola is a nice substitute.

Here is the Granola recipe that works for me, with some tweaks that I will explain further.

Maple Almond Cranberry Granola

1. I substitute maple syrup with honey from the local farmers.
2. I add dry coconut flakes together with cranberries. I don't bake these 2 ingredients, I add them at the end. Generous amount of flakes all over the granola.
3. I add chia and flax seeds as per liking to the dry ingredients mixture.
4. I use ground vanilla/pure vanilla, not dilluted. This adds a nice touch to the whole mixture.
5. I multiply the above recipe x3. It is two baking sheets full of granola, enough for me and my wife for 2-3 weeks. Recipe x1.5 makes 1 baking sheet of granola. Well that is how it turns out in a standard european 60 cm wide home oven.

Trick:
When you mix wet and dry ingredients together, let the mixture sit for about 20 mins. Baked granola will come out more crunchy that way.

Serving:
We pour yogurt over granola. Yogurt in my country is more liquidy than the "plain" yogurt in US. As a side to this you can cut slices of banana, kiwi or any fruit you find suitable.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The idea of the thread is simple. Discuss food, recipes and whatever comes with it.

I hope this might be the appropriate place for the thread, because food making is like an art in a way.

All are invited, but I will tag a few people who I know that already showed some interest in food discussions like @Moxie (who gave idea for this thread), @MargaretMcAleer (italian, obviously), @El Dude (was thrilled about his pizza a few months back).

We (me and my wife) recently discovered making a granola at home. The idea came when we had a brunch one time, we ordered mortadela sandwich in foccacia bread and a pot of granola. That is when we realised granola can be made at home. Many foods they sell you somewhere, in lots of cases you can replicate it at home to suit your own taste and make it even better. I also get tired sometimes of hot bowl of oatmeal and granola is a nice substitute.

Here is the Granola recipe that works for me, with some tweaks that I will explain further.

Maple Almond Cranberry Granola


View attachment 9652

1. I substitute maple syrup with honey from the local farmers.
2. I add dry coconut flakes together with cranberries. I don't bake these 2 ingredients, I add them at the end. Generous amount of flakes all over the granola.
3. I add chia and flax seeds as per liking to the dry ingredients mixture.
4. I use ground vanilla/pure vanilla, not dilluted. This adds a nice touch to the whole mixture.
5. I multiply the above recipe x3. It is two baking sheets full of granola, enough for me and my wife for 2-3 weeks. Recipe x1.5 makes 1 baking sheet of granola. Well that is how it turns out in a standard european 60 cm wide home oven.

Trick:
When you mix wet and dry ingredients together, let the mixture sit for about 20 mins. Baked granola will come out more crunchy that way.

Serving:
We pour yogurt over granola. Yogurt in my country is more liquidy than the "plain" yogurt in US. As a side to this you can cut slices of banana, kiwi or any fruit you find suitable.

Thank goodness there is no Beef Tripe just checking all the ingredients Don lol!

 

[don_fabio]

Thank goodness there is no Beef Tripe just checking all the ingredients Don lol!

Tripe is a type of food that people either kill for or find disgusting (like you and many).

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Tripe is a type of food that people either kill for or find disgusting (like you and many).

Well I am glad you didnt sneak it in to your granola mix which sounds yummy btw, I also prefer thick yoghurt, I always buy the Greek yoghurt which is thick and creamy

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

When I get a bit more time I will post one of my most favorite recipes, born in Sicily we have always eaten a lot of seafood as it is on a island
Even now living in Sydney there have a great selection of seafood, oysters, fish, scallops etc,
Swordfish with Ink Pasta is one of my favorite dishes there is a bit of preparation though cooking time is quick, if you cant get Sword fish, another thick white fish will do

 

[El Dude]

I've made granola a bunch of times - similar process, though I go for chewy over crunchy (but not "wet"). It isn't as healthy, but one thing that helps bring a nice chewy effect is to melt some brown sugar and maple syrup in oil, then pour it over the toasted dry mix, then bake a bit longer before adding the dried fruit.

Granola is a lot like cookies in that you get a very different result, depending upon when you take them out of the oven (in terms of crunchy vs. chewy). The one thing I never quite mastered is I like big chunks of chewy bits, which is hard to get just right.

My favorite add-ins are similar to yours, but instead of cranberries I go for dried cherries and date pieces. I also add coconut, different variations of almonds, pumpkin, chia, flax, and sesame seeds.

 

[El Dude]

Oh, I just ate a piece of homemade lasagna for dinner. I used a tomato bechamel sauce, plus lots of cheese, spinach, mushrooms, ground beef, and lamb sausage. As the yuppies say, "delish."

 

[don_fabio]

When I get a bit more time I will post one of my most favorite recipes, born in Sicily we have always eaten a lot of seafood as it is on a island
Even now living in Sydney there have a great selection of seafood, oysters, fish, scallops etc,
Swordfish with Ink Pasta is one of my favorite dishes there is a bit of preparation though cooking time is quick, if you cant get Sword fish, another thick white fish will do

We eat a lot of seafood too, well at least if you live south on a sea side. We try to eat fish a few times per week, but it has become quite expensive honestly and some we like such as seabass are mostly from the farms now..which is not the same as wild, but at least more affordable.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

We eat a lot of seafood too, well at least if you live south on a sea side. We try to eat fish a few times per week, but it has become quite expensive honestly and some we like such as seabass are mostly from the farms now..which is not the same as wild, but at least more affordable.

Seafood has become expensive here in Sydney , I love seafood and usually eat it at least 3 times a week, also I love Oysters my hubby hates them he dosent know what he is missing lol! oysters are soo good for you high in zinc

 

[El Dude]

Fun (and silly) question: Favorite three cuisines, by ethnicity?

For me I'll have to go Indian, then probably Italian and Ethiopian. I hate leaving Thai (among others) off, but...

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Italian French and Japanese, I also hate Thai and Chinese food too many preservatives in their food and Mexican food gives me headaches for some reason I have been called into work an emergency no rest for the wicked

 

[don_fabio]

Italian and japanese and of course all food from the balkans (serbia/bosnia (lots of turkish influence/croatia). I like indian food too.

 

[Moxie]

I'm so happy you remembered to do this! A place to swap recipes and talk food. So we can bring the beef tripe discussion here. LOL. (Like Margaret, I'm not a fan, and I have tried. I've had it in Spain, and even in Rome, where they pride themselves on it. And I eat almost anything. Also, brains...not for me. Exotic foods for another post.)

Anyway, while I don't eat much granola, I do agree that it's generally better, and certainly cheaper when you make things yourself. As you said, this all got started with the discussion of making our own pizza.

One thing that is super-easy to make yourself is hummus. Why buy it? You don't even need a recipe. Drain a can of chickpeas, but retain the liquid. Put it in a blender. Add garlic, lemon (or not,) salt, olive oil, some of the retained liquid to desired texture, and that's your basic. I even had one at the house of a friend who is limiting oil for health reasons, and it was delicious, so you can do without the oil. The liquid from the chickpeas does the smoothing.

From there, you can riff. People like tahini, which I think is classic, but I don't love it and skip it. Just more fat and cost. Roasted red peppers is one. Black olives is another. Don't add a million things...just the basic recipe and one more flavor. Make a lemon-garlic one with more lemon. Also, you can roast the garlic and make a roasted garlic one.

It's summer, and hummus is a nice, cool option. Serve with pita bread, or pita chips.

 

[Moxie]

Oh, I just ate a piece of homemade lasagna for dinner. I used a tomato bechamel sauce, plus lots of cheese, spinach, mushrooms, ground beef, and lamb sausage. As the yuppies say, "delish."

That sounds excellent! Lasagna is kind of old-fashioned and gets a bit over-looked, IMO. You basically never see it on a menu anymore. But it's very flexible, as per your above, and it's a HUGE crowd pleaser. I come from an Italian-American family, and we make all the variations of the comfort-food at family meals when everyone gets together. (Stuffed shells, manicotti, etc.) All the recipes date back to my grandmother and great-grandmother. I'll share some family ones.

On the high-end, I once had a lasagna in Florence at a very fancy dinner connected to my father's work. The lasagna noodles were fresh and multi-layered. There was a bechamel sauce and spinach. Also leeks and artichokes, I think. Not a tomato in sight. It was white and green and very posh. I had no idea you could do that with lasagna, up to that point.

 

[don_fabio]

One thing that is super-easy to make yourself is hummus. Why buy it? You don't even need a recipe. Drain a can of chickpeas, but retain the liquid. Put it in a blender. Add garlic, lemon (or not,) salt, olive oil, some of the retained liquid to desired texture, and that's your basic. I even had one at the house of a friend who is limiting oil for health reasons, and it was delicious, so you can do without the oil. The liquid from the chickpeas does the smoothing.

From there, you can riff. People like tahini, which I think is classic, but I don't love it and skip it. Just more fat and cost. Roasted red peppers is one. Black olives is another. Don't add a million things...just the basic recipe and one more flavor. Make a lemon-garlic one with more lemon. Also, you can roast the garlic and make a roasted garlic one.

It's summer, and hummus is a nice, cool option. Serve with pita bread, or pita chips.

That' a good one. I think it's much higher quality home made than store bought. I remember checking the ingredients for the store bought hummus once and chickpeas percentage was low and you think it's hummus, it must be healthy food.

Same is with tuna spread in my place, tuna quantity is low in store bought. This we make so much better at home and suit to taste, not really following the recipe, just go by taste. You feel you need more pickles or capers, just add to blender. Serve it with crunchy slices of bread, baguette or similar. Delicious.

 

[Moxie]

Fun (and silly) question: Favorite three cuisines, by ethnicity?

For me I'll have to go Indian, then probably Italian and Ethiopian. I hate leaving Thai (among others) off, but...

Three is too little. LOL. I could always default to Italian, at home and in a restaurant. And, unlike Margaret, I LOVE Mexican food. I eat it out a lot, and I make a lot at home. I might put Thai third, which I love, and don't make at home. But that leaves out a lot.

 

[Moxie]

That' a good one. I think it's much higher quality home made than store bought. I remember checking the ingredients for the store bought hummus once and chickpeas percentage was low and you think it's hummus, it must be healthy food.

Same is with tuna spread in my place, tuna quantity is low in store bought. This we make so much better at home and suit to taste, not really following the recipe, just go by taste. You feel you need more pickles or capers, just add to blender. Serve it with crunchy slices of bread, baguette or similar. Delicious.

And you can do this with smoked whitefish and sardines. I LOVE pickles and capers, btw.

 

[don_fabio]

Three is too little. LOL. I could always default to Italian, at home and in a restaurant. And, unlike Margaret, I LOVE Mexican food. I eat it out a lot, and I make a lot at home. I might put Thai third, which I love, and don't make at home. But that leaves out a lot.

The advantage od living in US and particularly NY is that most of the ethnical cuisine type of places/restaurants will be very good. I mean in my place it all mostly sucks. They can't even get an italian restaurant with authentic and good food. Highest standard of ethnical restaurants in my place is japanese for which I can say it's up to standard.

 

[don_fabio]

And you can do this with smoked whitefish and sardines. I LOVE pickles and capers, btw.

And I LOVE sardines. Fresh ones are the best. Just grill and serve with swiss chard&potatoes. Olive oil and bread no need to mention, that's a mandatory.

 

[don_fabio]

On the high-end, I once had a lasagna in Florence at a very fancy dinner connected to my father's work. The lasagna noodles were fresh and multi-layered. There was a bechamel sauce and spinach. Also leeks and artichokes, I think. Not a tomato in sight. It was white and green and very posh. I had no idea you could do that with lasagna, up to that point.

This sounds delicious, white and green lasagna, never seen it, there is always some tomato sauce in it. Interesting.

I had best sandwiches in my life in Florence (on a honeymoon, more than a decade ago). In a center of Florence. People waiting in lines. Those sandwiches are god like. The spreads, the ingredients, the fresh bread coming in bunches from across the street..