Help Me Be a Better Future Wife :)

[momma]

Alright since i have stopped working a normal job and am just going to school, I have focused more on my cooking. Now i have to admit i am a pretty darn good cook for someone that completly refused to do it growing up (much to the dismay of my Home Ec teacher Granmother and all the awesome cooks in my family). Well anyways, I am giving you boys a homework assignment:

 

Go to your wives, mothers, or even pull some out of your own file if you got them some recipes that are tried and true and taste good. I have made a couple batches of muffins the last week that i have tasted alright but were missing something and angry has prodded me to ask. So there you go, help me out.

[red930]

Since you didn't state your preference as to the type of cuisine, I would like you to visit

 

www.oakalleyplantation.com

 

They have both of the "The Best Of The Best Of Louisiana Cooking" titles in stock. Well worth your money and I'm sure your stomach will thank you.

 

I've only prepared about half of the entre’es(sp?) and a couple of the deserts but they have all been easy and delicious.

 

These are "real" Louisiana recipes not that fake "Cajun" stuff that's so hot you need to cool your mouth with a blow-torch. The flavors are unbelievable in both their richness and variety.

 

I have traveled all over the world and there's nothing like Louisiana cooking. Just ask RGone, he's bound to have tasted real Louisiana cooking from the Old South.

 

I stand by these books as the best you can find for any level of cooking experience.

 

Good luck and happy cookin'!

[Guest culinist]

Hey momma this is right up my alley. Graduated from culinary school and everything. What do ya want to cook. I can either post ya recipes or point ya toward some great recipe databases. Heres a good one....http://www.epicurious.com/.

 

Just let me know what you two like to eat and I can hook ya up.

 

cul

[Angry_Games]

healthy stuff...but good stuff...

[red930]

Healthy huh?!?!

 

While most people eat-to-live, I grew up in the culture of live-to-eat.

 

All great southern cooking starts with the "holy trinity" of onion, celery and bell (green) pepper. I buy fresh and chop my own in two sizes. Chunks for stews and soups then fine for pan cooking and baking.

 

If you want to add a little flavor kick to your cooking look for Vidailia onions from Georgia and Purple onions from Louisiana. Vidailia is a little sweeter with a mellow aftertaste(think Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse). Purple onions have a sharp flavor and you can use about 80% of the portion without overwhelming the recipe.

 

Enjoy

[Angry_Games]

i'm actually the cook in the family (momma will attest to my supreme cooking skills) as my dad was a chef and taught me all the right things to do, and my mother broiled steaks in the oven until they came out like hockey pucks (tough vulcanized rubber)...and she was the MASTER of Shake N Bake ( i will NEVER EVER eat anything made with shake n bake EVER again)

 

but its good for her to learn so she can get her wife degree and then we can get married without my family looking down on her like poor white trash hahaha (i have only a brother left in my family)

 

in our house we spent the last couple of years eating out (she was a server at a casino and always brought stuff home or stopped on the way home and grabbed stuff).

 

Now lately we been eating hearty, but healthy. My first job ever was working for this big giant black lady in Orlando who owned a restaraunt...and to this day, her 'collard greens' are the ONLY collard greens I could ever fathom eating. Her fried catfish was orgasmic, as were her fried potatoes...and chikndumplins and everything else...

 

but if we ate like that we'd be giant too...so its got to be sorta healthy...but not the bad healthy like it was made out of sawgrass and pure fiber residue with some synthetic vitamins catalyzed into it...

 

 

 

 

 

anyway, what i think she was looking for more is for you guys to ask your wives/mothers for some of their (and your) favorite recipes so we can try them...not just a link on the internet to look at. We get all kinds of recipes off the internet, and none are as good as the ones family/friends give us.

 

plus someone else might see the recipe and try it and blammo have a new favorite dish

[Guest zerocash]

One of my favorites is salmon bisque. Easy to make.

 

1 stick of butter (use margerine instead butter is to expensive)

5 stalks of celery

1 green pepper

1 can whole tomatoes

1 pound of salmon (you can use the canned stuff if you must)

2 large onions

2 cups of half and half

parsley

salt and pepper to taste

 

Chop up celery green pepper and onions. Add butter and chopped veggies into pan, cook until limp. Then add the tomatoes. Add your salmon (if salmon is fresh then precook). Add yor cream and let it simmer for about 20min. At this stage DO NOT LET IT BOIL OR THE CREAM AND BUTTER WILL SEPERATE OR "BREAK". When done add fresh parsley.

 

This can be thicken up with flour and served over rice. Take out the tomatoes and add potatoes and add some clams, know you have some chowder. Not exactly healthy, but good on a cold wet day. Good luck with the cooking.

[momma]

Thank you guys so much for all your input so far, but keep it coming!! I will have to try the salmon bisque, it sounds really great.

 

As for what we like to eat, we are big meat people so anything with beef, chicken, fish whatever we definatly aren't vegetarians. I like almost all vegetables, but angry is against peas and broccoli. Also he doesn't really like beans much either so that narrows it down somewhat. I also am really interested in dessert recipes that aren't too hard cause that seems to be where i am hitting the wall in my cooking.

[king of nothing]

I know it's not really a recipe.... but try out the Betty Crocker cookie mixes. I've tried the Sugar and Oatmeal chocolate chip and they're both good and easy to make.

[momma]

Done both of those and they are really easy to make and they taste really good too.

[Guest culinist]

Well as far as meat goes there was never anything better to me that my Moms roast beef. People usually prepeare roast beef in one of two ways. Dry or Wet. I guess the wet way isn't really roasting, more of a braise technique, but Mom always called it roast beef. Who am to question Mom.

 

Here's how she did it.

 

-Nice big hunk o beef. Either chuck roast or my favorite 7 bone roast. Either one is readily available .

 

- 3 or 4 large onions. I like to cut them in a julienne, ( cut in half through the root and stem end, lay on its side and cut slices through the layers, not with them) Cut 'em about 1/4 in thick.

 

Season roast with salt an pepper generously.

 

-Heat some oil in a heavy pot. A dutch oven works great. Cast iron or cast aluminum is a plus.

 

-Brown alll sides of roast really well, a nice dark carmel color is what you're lookin for.

 

-After roast is brown, pulll it out and toss in the onions ya cut up. Saute then on low heat until they are also nice and carmelized.

 

-Throw the meat back in and just barely cover with water. Season the liquid until you can just barely taste the salt. Cover and cook in a 350 degree oven until the meat starts fallen apart. Usually 2 hrs or so.

 

-You can throw in some carrots or spuds for the last 1/2 hr or so if ya want.

 

I like to remove all the meat and blend the onions into the liquid for a nice onion gravy.

 

Sorry this isn't n standard recipe format but thats the way I learned it. It's not and exact science. The impportant part is the browning of the meat and lot of onions. You can adapt anything else into it that you want.

 

Enjoy.

[red930]

Hey Angry and Momma,

 

The Best of Louisiana cookbooks are home recipes for me. My extended family owns over thirty restraunts in three states. We have 14 just in New Orleans. Commander's Palace, Arnaud's and Brennans just to name a few.

 

I have cooked and tasted everyone of them myself so I can speak from experience.

 

I'll get back into the business when I retire from computer work.

 

I'll get my Aunt Dottie to put a few "meaty" favorites together.