The Cellar » Cooking from cookbooks

bbro · 1/29/2022 8:45 am

I baked a cake!

Cookbook, first
I am not sure if this had a cover at one point, but by the time I got it, the cover was gone. Although, I am the one who accidentally put it on a warm burner (oops)

Recipe(s)

Finished!

Cut!

So, the eggs skeeved me out in the icing recipe because I get the cheapest eggs possible. Next time, I'll get some pasteurized eggs and try it as written. Instead, I just used some cream. That was used in the vanilla buttercream recipe so I figured it would work. It did! Although, I think the chocolate buttercream was a bit much for the cake

Happy Monkey · 1/29/2022 12:19 pm

"You are getting sleepy.... you will make me a dessert..."

bbro · 1/29/2022 4:59 pm

Happy Monkey wrote:
"You are getting sleepy.... you will make me a dessert..."

I will make you a dessert without you having to hypnotize me - lol.

Happy Monkey · 1/29/2022 10:57 pm

I was being the front cover of your cookbook. Alas, as myself, I can no longer indulge in such desserts.

Last edited by Happy Monkey (1/29/2022 10:57 pm)

xoxoxoBruce · 1/29/2022 11:24 pm

TheNeverWas wrote:
Umm, I have two questions:

How the fuq you eating bread with diabetes?

~and~

How the fuq you eating noodles with diabetes?

Deez are m'querstions. TIA

Why not, the problem is blood sugar so carbs shouldn't be more than half your calories. If you aren't a piggie like me and eating a normal under 2,000 calories, that makes 1,000 carb calories or about 250 grams..
Beer's about 14 grams but light beer is only half that if you can stand pinging on the hills.
What are you living on nuts and berries?

PS - whiskey, gin, tequila, rum and vodka = Zero carbs

Last edited by xoxoxoBruce (1/29/2022 11:33 pm)

bbro · 2/08/2022 7:04 pm

I really wanted to plan my meals around a bunch of appetizers, but MAN, they are a lot of work. I did two. From this classic:

First, I made Spinach Phyllo triangles.
I fucked up the phyllo dough and almost trashed the whole thing. The sheets were all dried out by the time I went to make the triangles. Luckily, I didn't give up and had a thought to cover the sheets with a damp towel. The later ones looked MUCH better. But the first ones looked really cool once I baked them. Over half of the recipe is in the freezer. It said I should bake them straight from frozen, so it'll be interesting to eat them warm - lol

I also made Salmon and Dill "Canapes"
I couldn't find the stupid rye cocktail bread, so I just mixed up the salmon and cream cheese and put it on wasa bread. It's not bad, but not worth the extra work. I like just spreading cream cheese and topping it with smoked salmon.

On another note, I was looking through some of the cookbooks to see if I could find a couple appetizers to make and I was flipping through the Nationality Rooms cookbook. Man, does it look interesting! I stopped looking because I didn't want to "waste" the book on an appetizer recipe - lol. I can't wait to look through it in earnest.

bbro · 4/09/2022 6:31 pm

I knocked out a couple more cookbooks and have another one on plan for this week

First up - I actually really like this cookbook. There's not much I haven't like in it....until now. For all the work this one took, it was really boring flavor. Definitely needed more salt. It was just a huge meatloaf - not a good one, either

Finished

Plated

Next up:

This was fucking amazing. Tasted just like the bulgur I used to get at a Turkish restaurant. The store didn't have vermicelli, so I just used thin spaghetti. And no beans

Plated

I also have decided to throw in the towel on one of the cookbooks. I don't know how many times I've looked through it only to find nothing worthwhile. To goodwill it goes

bbro · 4/09/2022 9:10 pm

Undertoad wrote:
i'll be right over

I've still got turkey loaf in the freezer and the bulgur was made this week. If you were closer, I would've already fed ya

bbro · 4/10/2022 10:03 pm

Three more recipes completed today. The first is a continuation of the Turkish cookbook above

The only problem with this one is the "salt and pepper to taste" direction. I HATE THAT! How am I supposed to taste uncooked egg? FFS. Still tasty, but needed salt (of course)

New cookbook this time - 2 of 3 planned for the week

I made the executive decision to just use panko breadcrumbs because it was late and I was tired. This had entirely too much hot sauce in it. I'd use a fraction if I made it again

I made these to go along with it. It was surprisingly bland!! I think it needed more parm mixed in with the potatoes and less on top. I do think it's worth another try, though

76 to go

Last edited by bbro (4/10/2022 10:06 pm)

Limey · 4/11/2022 4:38 am

I wish I lived nearer. These look so good!

bbro · 4/11/2022 1:34 pm

Limey wrote:
I wish I lived nearer. These look so good!

Thanks! And I wish you did, too

bbro · 4/11/2022 7:10 pm

Ok - last one for the week. This was a pretty good one, but I got bit in the ass by all the waiting and long cooking time. Teach me to not read through a recipe
It's from the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook above

I use toothpicks to hold them together. Don't let the color fool you, it was that color before I baked the chicken. It was crispy, though. Also, I may have eaten the tip of a toothpick.

bbro · 4/19/2022 6:45 pm

So many fuck ups this week, but I think it all turned out ok considering

First up

The first try, my avocados were not ripe. Like, really not ripe. Like, I was considering a food processor not ripe. So I asked my friend who eats all the avocados and she said I had to wait a few days. I tried again today and boom - ripe avocado. I also grilled the jalapeno because it just seemed right. I actually don't really eat avocados. I'm not sure if this will change it. I didn't see much benefit/change from grilling it, but I'm having some trouble with my grill, so maybe after I figure that out

This is one of my FAVORITE cookbooks. There's so many recipes I've tried and loved out of it

I didn't read it right and didn't have enough cornstarch. I also didn't want to deep fry it, so I settled for pan frying. I still think it's tasty. After this try, I may try boneless skinless chicken breasts. I'm really good at pan frying them. It's still good and the sauce is delicious

74 to go

Last edited by bbro (4/19/2022 6:48 pm)

bbro · 6/14/2022 11:41 am

Wow - it's been a while since I cooked from a cookbook. I was going to cook a whole bunch of food out of two different southern cookbooks, but never managed it. I did make one so far (and possibly one tonight). It was ok, but I'd definitely make some changes if I make it again. There's no picture of my finished dish because it does NOT look like the picture. It's more of an unappetizing brown color. Despite all the sauce ingredients, it is not very flavorful. It's not bland, but just expected more. It's a very interesting cookbook IMHO, so I'll keep it around a while
Cookbook

Recipe

Inaccurate recipe picture

73 to go

fargon · 6/14/2022 1:45 pm

OMW!!!

monster · 6/14/2022 10:11 pm

I am sorry but that list of ingredients sounds GROSS. Basically candied chicken?

griff · 6/15/2022 5:50 am

Pete used to do a similar one. The heat of the hot pepper and ginger has a nice mouth war with the sugar, but we're cutting our sugar intake a bit so this one is out.

bbro · 6/20/2022 3:58 pm

@griff - I think it needed more pepper and ginger. I didn't taste much flavor at all. I was surprised

This time, I tried to bake bread again. It failed. Again. Every time, I get flat bread. Grrr.

Big complicated recipe

Finished flat bread

72 to go

Last edited by bbro (6/20/2022 4:00 pm)

griff · 6/21/2022 6:12 am

Yeah, that should be punched up a bit. I'd like to see red pepper flakes and maybe a shot of sriracha.

bbro · 6/21/2022 9:09 am

Yea - if I made it again, I would definitely bump up the spice and take down the liquid

bbro · 7/11/2022 7:45 pm

And for something COMPLETELY different!
First up:

Recipe:
I used some higher protein pasta....cause I had it and I needed to use it up. I also split it into 8 side servings to make the calories more manageable.

Dinner! It was ok. I think the parmesan saved it. The sauce didn't thicken very well, but it still worked. I might make it again, but with a proper roux

The next two come from the same cookbook. I got this when I was trying to eat vegetarian once a week, but it was too tough to keep up. I still use it to make sides and stuff. I don't recall disliking anything.....

First up:
I made this into a straight salad. The only thing I'd do different is properly emulsify the dressing.

And the second one is delicious, too! I ended up using a whole cucumber, cause that's stupid - lol

fargon · 7/11/2022 8:01 pm

Looks Yummy.

bbro · 7/11/2022 8:04 pm

Thanks! It was! Even though the creamy pasta wasn't amazing, it's still tasty. It's rare I get all tasty recipes - lol

bbro · 8/30/2022 7:00 pm

Some more recipes!
Bread - still not great, but I'm gonna keep trying

Chocolate cake - really good, but I think I need to use different chocolate. I only had Dutch Process, so that's what I used.

Chicken Piccata - I wasn't sure about this. I don't usually like food cooked with wine, but it was fucking amazing. And fairly easy. I'd definitely make it again

70 cookbooks left (I think I added some to the list. I know there was at least one new one)

fargon · 8/30/2022 7:22 pm

OMW!!!