this is a really great idea, i'm glad i'm in on (roughly) ground level.

so this week is anything indian if i'm not mistaken right? can i suggest that next week perhaps the suggestion be ramen, it seems like a good tangent given our current palette. (or the week after next)

a further suggestion: going forward it might be interesting if you (whomever is up to pick a dish) suggested both a dish and a protein. for instance, indian is a pretty wide mandate. so maybe lamb + indian, or something of the like. maybe that's too narrow minded though, but i figured it might be good to give some more direction for amateur chefs such as myself and CDL.

last suggestion/request for a moderator or anybody reading, can we perhaps setup a google doc and have it edited into the OP in the opening sentence to keep track of the current/next/on deck dishes. we could also track the best submissions. etc. keep up the good work chefs at arms!

with such low contribution numbers the theme should be as broad as possible to encourage participation imo

This week's extremely broad theme of just "Indian" has given us the best participation in a while. Broad seems good.

You can do all that stuff, its really just a matter of how anal you want to be about it.

Ziploc bags might leech chemicals into the food or otherwise be unsafe if you use the wrong ones
An underwater seal of the bag wont give as tight/complete a seal as a vacuum sealer
You won't get as fine a temperature control using a cooler sous vide etc etc

All of these things are kinda trivial concerns, you can produce amazing food/results by using all the hacks you mention.

BJJ,

Easy solution IMO - broad theme w/ suggested dish.

So someone could say "Indian, Lamb Curry." and you can do a version of lamb curry, or widen to a different curry, or widen to some other Indian thing.

"Baked Pasta, Pork & Veal Lasagna" "Roasted chicken, Zuni roast chicken" "Meat pie, Chicken Pot Pie" etc.

Cool. Just want to make sure I don't kill my family, of course.

Just went to the Anova website, and the video has a gal with what looks like a regular stockpot with an Anova attached. She puts some chicken in a ziploc bag and clamps it to the side of the pot. It's really just that easy? $179 isn't a bad price at all to be able to do some of the things you all do on the regular. I just never really thought it was that easy.

You want there to be as little air in the bag as possible (so that the heat has less barrier to transfer through), so you should still seal the bags using this method



(i dont know why you need a 4 minute video to explain a 10s method, but this was the only video i could find)

Tandoori Naan Pizza

Haven't made too much Indian food, because in Toronto there's a fair amount of great take-out places that sell delicious food that's pretty cheap. And they all have real tandoor ovens and stuff, to make super fresh naan and super juicy chicken, so that's great.

EG.




Had seen a bunch of recipes on the internet for tandoori pizza though, that looked/sounded yummy, and figured maybe that might be something fun to try out for Indian food week.


Ingredients

Just used store-bought naan, and store-bought paste.




Ready for the Oven

There weren't any instructions on how to use the marinade on the label, but found stuff on the internet that said to add plain yogurt to the paste and then marinate the chicken for 24hrs, then pre-cook it a little bit before making the pizza.

Didn't use any extra sauce on the naan, but added shredded mozzarella and fresh, as well as some baby spinach.




Ready for Eating




The chicken turned out quite salty - it was my first time trying bottled tandoori paste ... not sure if I used too much, or if it was the brand of paste?


May try making another batch to see if it turns out better ... otherwise may just continue to get takeout Will see ..

and go

ragout I still had in the freezer as I made a bunch a while ago
cut it down into little pieces as a ragout is too big for a lasagna(you would only have like 10 meat pieces in there or sth)


bechamel is the same as above(had to make it 3x though as I made way too little, at the end used up 1L of milk :O)

made the sauce more liquid by adding a bit of chicken stock


not happy with that as layer so I added curry bechamel + parmesan to the ragout layers as well


bottom and top is bechamel + parmesan, 4 lasagna layers, 2 lamb ragout + bechamel layers and 1 bechamel + parmesan layer in the center too

in the oven first 160 degrees for around 50 mins then 10 mins only top heat 200 degrees to develop a nice crust.


2 days later
indulge
indian style lamb ragout lasagna


can recommend the lasagna
canNOT recommend making a lasagna days in advance as the willpower required to not eat it up earlier is inhuman

Just wanted to share my ****ty chicken and potato curry food porn.







Garnished with lime relish

Bump. Just finished my slow cooker meal. Pics later. Anyone got plans?

Alright, here we go. Not going too complicated to start.



Pork shoulder, spice rub, beer, crock pot:



11 hrs on low:



Pulled:



A few more fixins:



Pulled pork two ways, carnitas tacos, and faux bbq sandwiches, with a side of extra pork and a salad of romaine, shredded dinosaur kale, mushrooms, raddish, and peppers:



EXTREME PORK CLOSEUP!!!!!!!!

Bump?

Chili

Hopefully everybody's outdoors, enjoying the lovely sunshine

Have been thinking of getting a slow cooker for ages, and there's one going for a really good price at 'Kitchen Stuff Plus' in Canada right now - haven't gotten it yet though, so just wound my making my chili on the stove. Might be time to get a real slow cooker though, while the price is right!




Ingredients

Chili's something I make all the time, but haven't quite found the right recipe of spices that makes it taste quite as good as the mixes from the store? So here's a collection of spice mixes I had in store. Also, usually I'll make homemade cornbread, but sometimes use this store-bought mix to save time as well - each packet makes 2 pans, so it's pretty good value as a time saver, when the cravings hit.




Finished Cooking

My 'slow cooker' lol






Ready to Eat

Okay, this is actually an older pic of a different batch of chili, but was hungry, and just wanted to eat It basically looks the same as before though




Will be interesting to see if chili tastes much different when it's made in a slow cooker!

Classic, and always good leftovers.

Trusty,

Lot of chili tips here: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/79/edf/chili-925104/

@Mr Wookie - 'slow cooker' meals is such an awesome theme, it seems like people must just be super busy, maybe with the weather being a bit nicer these days? Maybe there'll be more posts tomorrow, which would be fun to see - would be interesting to see what everybody's making with their slow cookers!


@El Diablo - 3 kinds of fresh peppers, plus 2 more dried ones ... plus other spices, as well as beer! omg, drool!! No wonder my homemade from scratch chili with seems to wind up tasting like it's missing something

Chili's so yummy, it'd be great to make a better version than the ones I've been making so far - thanks so much for the link to your thread ... will have to make another batch soon(-ish)! Will post pics in your thread when it's done

would really really dissuade you from using those "spice" mixes which basically just are pure glutamate a lot of the times

Damn, I thought chili was going to be the next topic. I'll check out the EDF thread though. Anyway, I also made pulled pork, North Carolina style, which could not possibly be easier. The recipe is literally boil the meat in acid for 12 hours, drain, pull, mix in some hot pepper and sugar with some of the juices, mix the pulled pork with the seasoned juice. Here's the link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-carolina-bbq/

Pork shoulders were on sale this week for $0.99/lb., so I bought two 7-pounders. Here's one of them in the crock pot:



Pulled (about half of it):



Plated:



The cole slaw contained shredded cabbage, shredded carrot, a small minced onion, greek yogurt, vinegar, olive oil, dill, salt and pepper. This was pretty meh, with the Greek yogurt giving it a clay-like texture, as opposed to the desirable fatty texture that mayonnaise creates.

Agreed. At least look at the ingredients, and if you can easily replicate it, do so. Black and red and Italian dressing base are two very easy ones. I'll bet the chili spices are pretty easy too.

So, so delicious and so easy to do. Good stuff!

@Cashy, @Loden - guess glutamates must taste better than they sound lol Maybe not so healthy tho


Didn't realize next week was chili, d'oh!! Guess that'll be a chance to try making a better batch - am going to try making El Diablo's recipe next, which sounds delicious!!

The spice blend I used is from a small mom & pop spice operation in Rochester, NY. Great quality and no MSG.

Coconut Fish Stew



Juiced the limes and mixed in cumin and paprika, salt and pepper and marinated the fish for an hour.

Added all ingredients except cilantro to the slow cooker and set on low





Added another tablespoon of dende oil served over white rice and garnished with cilantro.





Delicious. Use any firm white fish. I used cod but sea bass, halibut, etc would all work well.

FYI