The Recipe Thread
POSTED BY: JEWELSTAITEFAN
UPDATED: Wednesday, July 15, 2026 13:56
VIEWED: 27093
PAGE 4 of 36
Anyway - I just completed crafting a recipe for hot and sour soup, since I have a lot of clear, strained and de-fatted, pork broth in the freezer that I saved up from roasting some pork shoulders.
As I've mentioned before I hate hate hate vegetables, so I try and find ways to stuff about a half a pound (raw weight) into each serving (those will be my vegetables for the day). But in this recipe I had to count the firm tofu as vegetable as well. Despite the tofu, there are TONS of other veges in the soup, which makes it not at all traditional. They include mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, snow peas, bean sprouts, dried lily bud (if I can find them) and scallion, and also to boost the protein, a small pork meatball in each bowl.
So now I'm on the hunt to find the ingredients!
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"Contains MSG, which is one of the compounds produced when yeast digests itself."
MSG is mono-sodium glutamate. Glutamate is a naturally occurring amino acid. In its *free* form not bound inside a protein, it creates an umami, savory. meaty flavor.
A LOT of foods in the yeast / mushroom family have naturally occurring free glutamate. (A fungus is a type of mold grows long threads called hyphae, a yeast is a type of mold that stays a round cell.) Soy sauce (fermented with yeast), fish sauce (fermented with yeast) and miso (fermented with yeast) have glutamate, as does aged Parmesan and for example Roquefort (fermented with fungus). The umami Parmesan flavor is why Italian cooks will put Parmesan rind in their soups. Mushrooms also have glutamate!
Another source of free glutamate is hydrolyzed anything, where it's been freed from the protein so you can taste it.
A surprise! source of glutamate is anything 'tomato'.
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bump
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Quote:Is MSG bad always, or only in large quantities? I normally avoid it.
Originally posted by rue:
"Contains MSG, which is one of the compounds produced when yeast digests itself."
MSG is mono-sodium glutamate. Glutamate is a naturally occurring amino acid. In its *free* form not bound inside a protein, it creates an umami, savory. meaty flavor.
A LOT of foods in the yeast / mushroom family have naturally occurring free glutamate. (A fungus is a type of mold grows long threads called hyphae, a yeast is a type of mold that stays a round cell.) Soy sauce (fermented with yeast), fish sauce (fermented with yeast) and miso (fermented with yeast) have glutamate, as does aged Parmesan and for example Roquefort (fermented with fungus). The umami Parmesan flavor is why Italian cooks will put Parmesan rind in their soups. Mushrooms also have glutamate!
Another source of free glutamate is hydrolyzed anything, where it's been freed from the protein so you can taste it.
A surprise! source of glutamate is anything 'tomato'.
What is mutton?
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Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
What is mutton?
Does it know how to google, precious?
It's on the internets, Smeagol, it should...
Then why it ask dumb questions, precious?
Because "mutton" has 6 letters Smeagol and it only has 4 fingers...total.
But it has the five teeth, precious.
Smeagol can counts to nine. (edits comment about JSF's mother and farm animals and a ring)
Come along, Smeagol, there are other dumb yet easily queried questions on the internets that need mocking...
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Not an actual recipe, but on the subject of flavors...
Root Beer. The best way that I have found to set the standard.
Can of A&W Root Beer (Happy 100th, btw). Not bottle or other container. Put in fridge for a couple days.
Frosty mug. Buy one from A&W, or similar other style. For frosting, after cleaning, wet it just before placing in freezer. If it still has a few drops about to drop off, that is fine. Leave in freezer for 2 days.
Remove both, pour Root Beer into Frosty mug. Like pouring beer, tilt the glass and straighten up as it fills up. Half inch of foam head works well.
For me, this is the standard from which to compare all other root beer tastings.
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Dude... you live in Wisconsin.
Sprecher's all the way. 
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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We had beef and bean burritos ... another labor of love because
1) hubby hates sour cream but loves spicy food, should avoid too many carbs
2) daughter is sensitive to beans and should also avoid onions and garlic and wheat (FODMAPS foods), loves black olives but hates spicy-hot stuff
3) I'm supposed to avoid beef and tomatoes and wheat, but OK with beans and chiles
So we each get something different-
Hubby gets locarb tortillas with spicy meat mixture, cheddar cheese and beans with red salsa and black olives on top
Dear daughter gets corn tortillas with non-spicy beef, very little beans, black olives and mozzarella inside and sour cream on top
I get corn tortillas, beans, no olives and no red salsa with cheddar on top
Sometimes I feel like a short-order cook. But at least everyone walks away from the table happy!
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
"The messy American environment, where most people don't agree, is perfect for people like me. I CAN DO AS I PLEASE." - SECOND
America is an oligarchy http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=57876 .
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So, this isn't a recipe per, just what I call bachelor cooking.
Take equal weight brown onions and waxy potatoes (boilers, not bakers) peel and chop the onions in roughly 1/2" and wash and cut the potatoes in 1" pieces, put in a pan with some oil and if you want, add some butter too, cover and cook VERY low till the potatoes are done. The moisture from the onions and potatoes will leak out and they'll steam tender without burning if the heat is low enough. When the potatoes are done, scoop everything into a storage bowl, cover and put in the frig for later.
For a VERY quick meal you can take some of this mix and put it in a pan, crack an egg or two on top, cover with some cheese, cover the pot and cook low till the eggs are done and the cheese is melted - a meal in roughly 5 minutes. And or you can put tomato sauce and or salsa on top and or cut up 'fully cooked' sausage / chorizo.
You can also quickly turn them into a faux potato salad heated with a bit of vinegar, or mixed cold with mayo ... and or with bacon bits added and or hardboiled egg.
If you want more variety, you can also add some washed and cut up greens of your choice ... dandelion, chard, kale, even cabbage, and so on ... to the mix and cook covered and low till the greens are done - another meal in roughly 5 minutes.
Or with more prep you can go a standard European route and cook come carrot and or celery and or chicken / beef / pork with thyme and or rosemary and or parsley and or sage and mix with the potato onion mix. But if you have some pre-cooked chicken / beef / pork you can just cut them up, add them in, and heat, perhaps with tomato sauce and or salsa on top and or cheese.
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Best beef burgers
(Yep, not supposed to eat beef, but I still do from time to time)
2.5 lbs of ground sirloin (10% fat; I buy mine on sale @ $3.99/lb, which is my price point for meat)
1.5 cups panko bread crumbs
1 10-oz can Las Palmas Green Chile Enchilada Sauce
1.5 tsp Amazing Taste Garlic and Onion Medley (dried seasoning mix)
Small can sliced black olives (not Kalamata, but you can use them if you enjoy the taste)
IF YOU LIKE IT HOT
1 t or more chipotle chili powder
IF YOU LIKE IT HOTTER
Sprinkle more chipotle chili powder on the patties
MIX WELL. MAKES EIGHT PATTIES.
As you mix the meat, crumbs and sauce you will get a more uniform feel to the meat, and it will stick together better into patties. Don't worry about over-working the meat and making it tough, the crumbs will keep the meat tender and the sauce will keep it moist. I always cook these in a pan, not sure whether they would stick together enough to put on a grill.
I like to serve this with cole slaw, and corn on the cob. It's a quick recipe for summer that doesn't involve a lot of cooking!
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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
"The messy American environment, where most people don't agree, is perfect for people like me. I CAN DO AS I PLEASE." - SECOND
America is an oligarchy http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=57876 .
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