El Guapo & Randy Reed's Cooking Thread

[rivergirl 2]

We call those "hobo-dinners" More politically correct term would be "urban outdoorsman meals" You can do those when camping too... use heavy duty foil... wrap a pork chop with some potato wedges, onion slices and baby carrots... sprinkle some seasoned salt and black pepper... throw on the hot coals of a campfire for about 45 minutes.... yum.

honestly, with the ingredients we use, they are far from hobo-ish.i generally like them cause clean up is well, easy and since we both work a ton and never have much time for dinner, they are perfect.another great week night thing that everyone will like, my twist on shepard's pie. i'm definately all about the comfort food.take about 2 lbs of ground meat, anything you like will do (i use turkey or chicken sometimes and you can't really tell the difference.)brown in a frying pan (if it is poultry, make sure it is cooked a little more thoroughly) I use alot of garlic, but you can season it however you like or not at all, purely about preference. I then add my veggies, i like corn, onion, mushrooms (i'm not big on carrots or peas but once again, whatever you like is fine). The twist comes with, instead of making whatever gravy you like to hold your meat together, use one packet of dried taco seasoning and follow package directions (as if you were making tacos). The sauce will thicken slightly enough to make a gravy-type meat combo. Place this mixture into a caserole dish cover with mashed potatoes and bake at 350 till edges of potatoes are browning. 10 minutes before you remove from oven, grate about 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese and cover potatoes completely, bake until cheese is bubbly.

[Randy Reed 0]

honestly, with the ingredients we use, they are far from hobo-ish.i generally like them cause clean up is well, easy and since we both work a ton and never have much time for dinner, they are perfect.another great week night thing that everyone will like, my twist on shepard's pie. i'm definately all about the comfort food.take about 2 lbs of ground meat, anything you like will do (i use turkey or chicken sometimes and you can't really tell the difference.)brown in a frying pan (if it is poultry, make sure it is cooked a little more thoroughly) I use alot of garlic, but you can season it however you like or not at all, purely about preference. I then add my veggies, i like corn, onion, mushrooms (i'm not big on carrots or peas but once again, whatever you like is fine). The twist comes with, instead of making whatever gravy you like to hold your meat together, use one packet of dried taco seasoning and follow package directions (as if you were making tacos). The sauce will thicken slightly enough to make a gravy-type meat combo. Place this mixture into a caserole dish cover with mashed potatoes and bake at 350 till edges of potatoes are browning. 10 minutes before you remove from oven, grate about 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese and cover potatoes completely, bake until cheese is bubbly.

Interesting twist. I'll definately have to try this.I did make the sirloin tip roast recipe I posted earlier yesterday and it turned out great though I still prefer using a chuck roast.

[El Guapo 8]

Interesting twist. I'll definately have to try this.I did make the sirloin tip roast recipe I posted earlier yesterday and it turned out great though I still prefer using a chuck roast.

Did you make my drunk shrimp and banana rice recipe?

[leftygolfer 7]

I'm having TDay at my house this year and was looking for some new stuffing ideas and that looks good. I've never made a sausage stuffing before but wanted to try one. I'm unsure of the honey garlic sausage though? Is it pork or chicken sausage?

Try stuffing the turkey with White Castle sliders. Seriously.

My mother makes a stuffing using rice krispies instead of bread. It sounds weird, but is the best thing ever.Ever.

Is that Kosher?

My dad's Potato Boat recipe:

Looks good Bill

[Randy Reed 0]

Did you make my drunk shrimp and banana rice recipe?

No, I'm going to try it next week for some company I have coming over. Can't wait to try it though.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

Missed this though EG responded. I like the zuchinni and sqaush as well. I also like using sweet or vidalia onions and mushrooms. I frequently add some different colored bell peppers.Sometimes I do a quick marinade using balsamic vinagrette dressing (Newman's own) but any type will do to add some zing. When I grill the potatos I will quarter up some red potatos salt and pepper and olive oil and fresh rosemary (dried if you have it) and a sliced up sweet onion. Cover it all in olive oil and double wrap it in aluminum foil and grill about 45 minutes. About halfway athrough cooking turn over and then poke some holes in the top. Don't do it beforehand or the olive oil will catch on fire as it drips out. This is my wife's favorite potato recipe. You can also change up and add jalapenos or bell peppers as well.

I did this very thing a couple days ago... but it was during the great board black out of '08, so I couldn't come back and versify the instructions, so I misremembered and used the balsamic vinagrette with the potatoes instead of the veggies. It was still delicious.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

I just made the ghetto egg drop ramen for the first time in...like a long time, and I put the egg in unscrambled.It curdled up like a mofo and didn't make nice little egg drops like I remember, so....is it best to take it off the heat and put the egg in?I left it on the burner.

well, when I did this I used a mirco wave, and I would drop in the egg, after the broth was hot, and mix it around fast, and let the egg cook in the hot broth. It's not going to turn out like beautiful egg drop soup, it's going to turn out like what it is, a broke ass way to make a meal.

[speedz99 145]

Try stuffing the turkey with White Castle sliders. Seriously.

Wait...seriously seriously? Because that sounds like it might be amazing.

[El Guapo 8]

Garlic mashed potatoes (you can use your typical russets, yukon golds, or red)Bake the potatoes for about 15 minutes. This should crisp the outside, cube them and saute them in a pan with chopped up garlic and scallions finely chopped. Just until they get a slight color to them.Toss them into some boiling water with garlic powder, onion powder salt, pepper and olive oil.Boil until fork tender.Strain.Pour back into the pan, add a stick of butter and slowly add cream while you mash. (Depending on your mood you can rough mash, or you can take one of those motorboat things and make really creamy blended mashed potatoes). Then sprinkle the top with some finely chopped chive and mix with spoon. Serve. (This is fantastic to use with the apple flavored gravy from my Turkey recipe)I have a plethora of thanksgiving recipes and (in the past 10 years) acquired Mexican food recipes. If you have any requests ask them here.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

I have a plethora of thanksgiving recipes and (in the past 10 years) acquired Mexican food recipes. If you have any requests ask them here.

I request... Mole! ( as in Mo-lay, not the rodent)

[LadyGrey 6]

Here is something I love to make and I wish I had a kitchen so I could cook it because it's not the sort of thing you find in restaurants often.Vegetable kebabs with cous cous and halloumiCous cous - the packet will tell you how to cook it, usually it's adding hot water to it, leaving it a few minutes, putting it all in a saucepan and stirring it over a low heat for a few minutes until the water is absorbed. I like to add some flavour to plain cous cous - some nice spices and herbs, flaked almonds, sultanas, and some good olive oil of course. Kebabs - another nice and easy thing to do. I like to precook my vegetables til they are almost done, because it's hard to get evenly cooked vegetables with kebabs. Roast or stir fry some butternut squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, onion (red or white, doesn't matter), and anything else you want - carrot works, parsnip works, etc. Make sure to add herbs and seasoning to taste. Don't let them completely cook though, you want them to finish cooking on the kebabs. Let it cool off til it's ok to touch, then put it all on the skewers. You can do this in advance, then put it under the grill to heat through while you do the cous cous etc. Halloumi - in case you don't know, halloumi is a delicious salty hard cheese. It crumbles easily, so carefully slice it into good thick slices, about 1cm thick. If you have a griddle pan, that works really nicely as you get the aesthetically pleasing lines on the cheese after cooking, otherwise a normal frying pan works. Just lightly grease the pan, and fry the cheese on both sides for a few minutes. It won't melt, but be gentle when turning and make sure it doesn't burn.Just throw it all together on a plate, it's got a nice Moroccan/Turkish style but you can customise it with your own favourites - e.g. if you prefer brown rice or quinoa to cous cous, or some chicken instead of the halloumi, etc.

[El Guapo 8]

I request... Mole! ( as in Mo-lay, not the rodent)

I would like a good (easy) Mole' sauce too. This is very time consuming (and expensive) process. A lot of different spices and peppers are needed for this sauce. I have never made it.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

I would like a good (easy) Mole' sauce too. This is very time consuming (and expensive) process. A lot of different spices and peppers are needed for this sauce. I have never made it.

I've made the Joy of Cookingin's Mole, and it was fantastic.

[speedz99 145]

For my garlic mashed potatos I go nice and simple:-cut the top 1/3 off a head of garlic, discard-wrap the rest in tin foil and put in over at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes (until cloves are very soft)-red potatos peeled and quartered, boiled until fork tender-mash to whatever consistency you like-add salt, pepper, cream to taste-squeeze in the garlic and mixNever fails. Except once.LG, what's with vegetarians and almonds?

[El Guapo 8]

Most vegetarians eat a ton of almonds. Its almost used like a replacement for meat.They are very good for you.

[rcgs59 15]

Garlic mashed potatoes (you can use your typical russets, yukon golds, or red)I do the same as speedz99take 2 heads of garlic, chopped the top off add a drop of olive oil to the top bake for 45 minutes and sqeezeinto the potatoes when mashing, add some chopped dill and sourcream for even better taste.

[jeff_536 3]

I LOVE mashed potatoes, make them all the time. If you want PERFECT mashed every time, get one of these:It's a potato ricer and makes the best mashed. It always give you perfect consistency without over mashing the spuds. If you overmash them, the tend to get sticky or gummy...

[LadyGrey 6]

LG, what's with vegetarians and almonds?

Most vegetarians eat a ton of almonds. Its almost used like a replacement for meat.They are very good for you.

Um, thanks for that, renowned expert on vegetarians. The almonds in that dish are there because that's what you usually find in Turkish/Moroccan cous cous dishes. I've had cous cous like that in restaurants and liked it a lot, so I replicated it at home. It was not from some kind of vegetarian cookbook or something.The almonds in my risotto dish came from a recipe that I found on the side of the box of risotto rice. As far as I was aware, nowhere on the box did it say the recipe was for vegetarians only, or especially aimed at them. I think everyone can enjoy almonds, regardless of whether they are vegetarian or not. That's just, like, my opinion, man.p.s. almonds RULE

[speedz99 145]

Actually, I hear that, as opposed to ruling, almonds in fact drool.

[LadyGrey 6]

Actually, I hear that, as opposed to ruling, almonds in fact drool.

You heard wrong, buddy. The dictionary confirms:Almond, noun.1 a: the drupaceous fruit of a small tree (Prunus dulcis syn. P. amygdalus) of the rose family with flowers and young fruit resembling those of the peach ; especially : its ellipsoidal edible kernel used as a nut. Notable for the fact that it rules. b: any of several similar fruits

[El Guapo 8]

Um, thanks for that, renowned expert on vegetarians. The almonds in that dish are there because that's what you usually find in Turkish/Moroccan cous cous dishes. I've had cous cous like that in restaurants and liked it a lot, so I replicated it at home. It was not from some kind of vegetarian cookbook or something.The almonds in my risotto dish came from a recipe that I found on the side of the box of risotto rice. As far as I was aware, nowhere on the box did it say the recipe was for vegetarians only, or especially aimed at them. I think everyone can enjoy almonds, regardless of whether they are vegetarian or not. That's just, like, my opinion, man.p.s. almonds RULE

Multiple members of my family are vegetarians, including my mother who is practically vegan. So yes I know a little bit about vegetarians and how to cook for them.

[LadyGrey 6]

Multiple members of my family are vegetarians, including my mother who is practically vegan. So yes I know a little bit about vegetarians and how to cook for them.

Or maybe you know a little bit about your family and how to cook for them. People in the same family often eat together, therefore they develop a similar taste for food, regardless of whether they are omnivores or herbivores. A sample size of <1000 is not generalisable, so either you have a ridiculously huge family, or you need to back down on this.

[speedz99 145]

A sample size of <1000 is not generalisable, so either you have a ridiculously huge family, or you need to back down on this.

What is this, math class?

[El Guapo 8]

What is this, math class?

Exactly. Almonds are a large component of many vegetarians diet, along with many other nuts. Why are you trying to argue this?So is tofu, and legumes, and vegetables, and fruit...

[LadyGrey 6]

What is this, math class?

I am taking a Political Science Methods of Inquiry class this semester. Want to know at what p value my Chi-Squared is significant at?