Home Cooking and General Gastronomy

[TheOrcKing]

I....love....COOKING!  ....But I hate the cleanup. 

I used to cook so much with my mother growing up until around middle school I think where the desire just waned. I have concocted the odd dish over the years but nothing that intensive really outside a random burrito or pizza (or random leftovers). Anyway, since last year about when I got back into some actual fitness and eating better overall, I started cooking again and rekindled a sort of passion forgotten to time.

Granted the meals thus far have been straightforward with nigh a handful of ingredients. Still, I am becoming more comfortable in mixing, experimenting, substituting, and ultimately eating significantly healthier to the point where for my age & height I may be considered underweight. (Also, this darn heat.)

And cleaning the mess isn't too bad. Well outside of the food processor anyway (most especially after shredding cheese). That is so tedious ....and sometimes sharp.

Additionally, I love natural honey.
....Just felt like saying that.
Also, eggs.

And I think I am done.

Yuperrino. That's it.

[keymomachine]

2 hours ago, TheOrcKing said:

Well outside of the food processor anyway (most especially after shredding cheese). That is so tedious ....and sometimes sharp.

Right? Why does it have to be like that?

Speaking of sharp and tedious things to clean, I've been using my mandoline slicer to make thin/long sandwich quick pickles just re-using the fresh pickle brine (I buy the Meijer brand deli pickles).

[BricksBrotha]

15 hours ago, TheOrcKing said:

Also, eggs.

Being a lover of over easy, I have mastered them over the years. Its always fun for me to order them at restaurants (love them as toppers on salads, sandwiches and rice bowls) and critique what I am served.  Also, my 2 year old loves over medium, which I have also perfected.  

[TheOrcKing]

On 7/25/2022 at 10:20 PM, keymomachine said:

Right? Why does it have to be like that?

Speaking of sharp and tedious things to clean, I've been using my mandoline slicer to make thin/long sandwich quick pickles just re-using the fresh pickle brine (I buy the Meijer brand deli pickles).

I have seen those slicers in the store before but I could never recall the name. Thank you.

Perhaps if it weren't for how useful in almost everything a food processor is, the cleanup wouldn't irk me as much. Still not as frustrating in my opinion using then subsequently cleaning a blender. Maybe I just need one of them 'fancy schmancy' models because my experience those took more effort with ingredients or the blades getting stuck. Compared to a food processor which quickly blends everything straight up. There's a simple joy in turning peanuts into butter in what amounts to blending them into oblivion. Haha.

 

On 7/26/2022 at 11:20 AM, BricksBrotha said:

Being a lover of over easy, I have mastered them over the years. Its always fun for me to order them at restaurants (love them as toppers on salads, sandwiches and rice bowls) and critique what I am served.  Also, my 2 year old loves over medium, which I have also perfected.  

Over easy is the one method for eggs I have not really done. I read it is the best way in preserving the natural proteins that can be lost from the heat when frying. While the egg whites on their own are fine, I find the taste of the yolks by themselves to be quite ....'chalky' I guess.  For myself I whip up the whole egg and fry them up that way.

My breakfast pretty much every morning has been two slices of toast, a five whole egg omelette, and around twelve shrimp. Some days I will mix it up with French toast or egg-in-a-basket. And instead of another man's coffee, a cup of water with a tablespoon each of blended lemon, apple cider vinegar, and honey.

The bit you mentioned about ordering up an over easy egg and critiquing reminded me I used to do the same for the longest time especially growing up except with a cheeseburger. That was my "litmus test", like every restaurant to me as a kid was worth their weight only if they could make a darn good cheeseburger. Haha. I cannot remember who did make the best. I do recall some oddities but rather tasty overall.

[BricksBrotha]

On 7/27/2022 at 10:03 PM, TheOrcKing said:

My breakfast pretty much every morning has been two slices of toast, a five whole egg omelette, and around twelve shrimp. Some days I will mix it up with French toast or egg-in-a-basket. And instead of another man's coffee, a cup of water with a tablespoon each of blended lemon, apple cider vinegar, and honey.

Your breakfast made my eyes pop out of my head!😂 You must be very active. That would be enough calories for my entire day or two lol.   Also, I can’t wait to try your morning beverage, thanks for sharing.

Edited August 10, 2022 by BricksBrotha

[BricksBrotha]

Blueberry season! 5.5 lbs

[Bricklectic]

27 minutes ago, BricksBrotha said:

Your breakfast made my eyes pop out of my head!😂 You must be very active. That would be enough calories for my entire day or two lol.   Also, I can’t wait to try your morning beverage, thanks for sharing.

Username checks out

[BricksBrotha]

Another 7.2 lbs today!🫐❤️💙

[coelian]

3 hours ago, BricksBrotha said:

Another 7.2 lbs today!🫐❤️💙

I thought u bgt 7.2lbs of minifigure afro hairpieces. 

[lazuli16]

On 8/11/2022 at 10:16 PM, coelian said:

I thought u bgt 7.2lbs of minifigure afro hairpieces. 

You're thinking about raspberries. 

[TheOrcKing]

On 8/10/2022 at 5:30 PM, BricksBrotha said:

Blueberry season! 5.5 lbs

Those look so good.

Speaking of which & on par with the thread title, I freakin' love frozen or heavily chilled blueberries. It's weird. I have never really been a blueberry guy growing up, and I had tried them in many different ways. But since my personal diet change, I rather enjoy the very cold variety on their own or in a sorbet or gelato.

 

On 8/10/2022 at 5:25 PM, BricksBrotha said:

Your breakfast made my eyes pop out of my head!😂 You must be very active. That would be enough calories for my entire day or two lol.   Also, I can’t wait to try your morning beverage, thanks for sharing.

I suppose it is a big breakfast. Haha.

I have almost always been a "one big meal for the day" kind of guy with some snacking throughout. (I pack a medium sized container with some frozen fruit to work for lunch nowadays.) I am most physically active in the morning right after breakfast with some exercise and weightlifting before taking a 'slightly warmer than lukewarm' shower. (My heart can't take the shock of a cold shower.)

I hope you enjoy the early riser elixir. My research from a bit back lead me to find the benefits for each component. The apple cider vinegar, honey, and lemon are an anti-inflammatory. The acetic acid of vinegar helps digestion and reduce the storage of fat while the citric acid of lemon helps with handling fat especially in the liver. Both lemon and honey have antioxidants while vinegar increases the activity of certain antioxidant enzymes.

In short, they do the body good (unless you take prescription medication for diabetes or on insulin). I have seen more added to this concoction such as olive oil and raw garlic but at some point I'm like "I just wanted a cup of water". Ha.

Anyway, my suggestions would be room temperature natural honey (heating up around 100 degrees Fahrenheit destroys some of the enzymes while pasteurization by about 200 degrees Fahrenheit loses a fair chunk of the other healthy parts), fresh lemon because the bottled sort are pasteurized losing quite a bit of their properties, and.... one moment.... ahem.... "all natural raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the Mother". Well, that was a mouthful.

Additionally on the lemon, I peel it as you would an orange and blend the whole thing minus the pith. There is supposed to be a fair amount of nutrients absorbed in there but, wow, is it a zesty tart. I'm not even sure the sweetness of Stevia could cover that.

 

Moving along, I finally found a good use for my blender: mixing homemade chocolate into a silky-smooth consistency. Yup. I am side dabbling in confectionaries like meringue cookies to go with my samgak-gimbap ....and mac & cheese. I have been doing a ton of catching up in culinary and learning about substitutions all in an effort to make every meal & snack generally healthier. There have been frustrations and failures along with little victories but altogether a learning experience, nonetheless. All of which I would not mind sharing.

In fact, if this food talk keeps on keeping on, I was thinking about splitting it into its own "Cooking and General Health" thread (or "Classy Culinary Cuisine Cooking" just to feed my alliteration addiction, ha). I am sure everyone here has a recipe and story to tell. I have a few myself.

And here I just realized the absolute wall of text I typed.
To anyone who took their time to read all of that, I thank you.

[TheOrcKing]

Cooking can be considered one of the most fundamental and often creative activities of personal expression & ingenuity with using what you have. It has helped shape civilizations and built communities through commensality. Centered round our most basic of instincts where one needs to eat therefore the one who cooks is kind of a big deal. And if he or she cooks well, everyone is pleasantly sated. (And not die from poisoning. Ha.)

In a number of ways for many what allows us able to hold onto the tattered threads making up our inherited lineage is through food. A generational blend of eggnog shared through an incredibly sprawling branch of the family tree to that odd dish a husband managed to slap together in an attempt to impress the woman who become his wife as he finally mustered the courage to pop the question from that very meal later on being passed down to their children and by the subsequent offspring and so on. A recipe can sometimes be the last tangible evidence we have of our forebears that can live on well past the generation who created it. A recipe can change, be altered to fit the surrounding circumstances, mutate into something perhaps even better than the original conception, but it will go on. And that is nothing to say about the connections cooking can give us to cultures around the globe.

Preparing food at home can be a painstaking process taking up precious time many cannot afford. Having frozen meals ready to eat and fast takeout made on the go, there is almost little reason to make anything from scratch in the comforts of home. With that said, it can be an enjoyable experience resulting in the payout of a healthily proportioned meal made to fit within a managed lifestyle and diet. I have learned quite a bit from my own mother growing up to very recently absorbing various modern techniques of the arts in an attempt at trying to catch up on years of cuisine and I still have plenty more to take in which suits me fine.

 

Anyway, here will be a place encouraging anyone to share their own experiences in culinary whether you like to cook, are participating in a well-balanced diet, or simply enjoy eating. Also, I plan to feature various channels and videos I have come across such as this one which quite heavily inspired my particular post.