The Cooking Thread

[Rolls]

holy crap, i love this thread
I'm gona show u how to make 2 minute noodles

[Scotty]

I'm thinking I'll give Dulcinea's Wanky Pizza a go next!
It looks pretty good!


I'll post up my Barramundi recipe pretty soon to contribute something to the thread instead of just stealling everyone else's recipes....

[SnowWhiteLude]

As I LOVE fishing that would be great Scotty! Esp if it involves a BBQ - i love any excuse to use the BBQ!

[Showie]

i usually just make pasta for dinner, simple, easy, fast and tastes great..
i like to be adventurous within reason though, its never the same but always as good.

usually the base of my pasta sauce is simple, good oil, onion, garlic, passata, tomato paste, salt (tomatos need salt, simple), then take it from there, some things i put through it would be: capers, olives, roasted peppers, pancetta, salami, proscuitto, (not always does meat have to be in the dish, its just as nice without it, always use high quality meat, dice it and fry it before adding other ingredients) chili (not a lot, just to taste not to compete with Nando's hot peri peri sauce!), basil, oregano, thyme, Italian parsley ect.

little tricks i have picked up, put a good pinch of salt in the pasta water, don't stir the pasta (use a big pot and lots of water and you shouldn't need to), don't add oil to the pasta until cooked. with the tomato sauce, add a bit of the pasta water, don't overcook the passata (it only needs to be heated through and have a lot of salt added to it, regardless of olives, capers ect), dress the pasta with oil (and pepper if desired).

once the dish is cooked i dress the whole dish with, yep, more olive oil (be sure to use a good one) and some times its nice to finely great some Parmesan over it (get a block of it, the pre-grated stuff is terrible) or break up some bocconcini over it, then add small basil leaves (if applicable to what you put in the sauce, obviously not if rosemary or something was the herb you put through the dish)

things like a good pasta, good extra virgin olive oil and so on really improve the dish.

I'm gona show u how to make 2 minute noodles

looking forward to it

[Veilside]

Awesome looking pizza! I love making my own pizza's they are so much better and more satisfying than anything I've found bought... with the exception of pizza capers.. they are gods (for take out pizza)

[Dulcinea]

things like a good pasta, good extra virgin olive oil and so on really improve the dish.

So true! Quality ingredients make the world of difference.
Adding olive oil to your pasta once it is cooked is really important. It may sound strange but it is actually used to help to reduce the amount of glucose (or broken down carbs) that your body will absorb immediately. So its useful for people who still want to eat pasta, but are trying not to gain weight. Having said that, unless you're using wholemeal pasta, you may as well be eating a block of chocolate and enjoying the taste, because white pasta gets broken down into sugar and is pretty terrible for you.
But go on, try the wholemeal pasta, you'd be surprised how nice some of them are and they have a rough texture on the outside so your sauce sticks to it better too!

[AdReNaLiN]

I dont have a problem eating white pasta... if you exercise and keep active/healthy lifestyle - you burn that off really quickly. I'd hardly say its "really terrible for you" when people have been eating pasta for millions of years before even understanding anything about what it does once digested in your body...

[Dulcinea]

I dont have a problem eating white pasta... if you exercise and keep active/healthy lifestyle - you burn that off really quickly. I'd hardly say its "really terrible for you" when people have been eating pasta for millions of years before even understanding anything about what it does once digested in your body...

Its not that is it SO terrible, but people just eat things and do not have any concept of what they're actually putting into their bodies and its such an easy change to make the switch to wholemeal pasta (and if you like it) then it makes a huge difference.
Would you be able to justify eating a whole block of chocolate every day simply because you're going to go for a run at the end of the day?
Anyway, the point of the thread is not to give nutritional advice, I just thought I'd make a note of it without trying to go over the top. I didn't mean to come across as lecturing or anything. Sorry.
Hopefully the point of this thread is to get people more enthusiastic about cooking for themselves and enjoying eating the food they have lovingly prepared.

[AdReNaLiN]

I spose I did kind-of start the thought pattern on "healthy" food - simply because I mentioned I would prefer not to eat maccas or k-fry every night of the week!

More recepies. I'm actually in this thread looking for something to cook tonight...

[PJF_Lude]

I forgot to take a picture but if necessary, will snap a pic tomorrow for re-heat

PJF's Chilli chicken and pasta

about half a kg of chicken- cubed, i prefer tnderloin, but it relly doesn't matter, thigh or breast work just as well
1 red capsicum
handfull of fresh chilli's - thinly sliced, i usually use habenero's but i couldn't get them today so i went with the red baby hot
handfull of mushrooms - thinly sliced
silverbeet - chopped
can peeled tomatoes
can diced tomatoes
pasta - white or wholemeal (just to not take sides in the above debate )
1 lime

throw everything except the pasta and lime into a pot and throw it on the stove on a low heat - you want this to cook slowly so the flavours go through all the ingredients, by slow i mean, i put this on the stove at 1 this afternoon and let it simmer/stew until 7. If you cook it quickly it can taste a bit bland as the chilli and silverbeet flavours spread slowly.

after a 2 or 3 hours give it a bit of a taste, then add your favourite herbs and spices to taste

10 minutes before your ready to serve, cook the pasta (don't overcook as so many people do), put a bed of pasta on the plate, couple of spoonfuls of th mix on top, squeeze a bit of lime over it and if you like, sprinkle some fresh parmasean over the top.

Enjoy

[SnowWhiteLude]

I spose I did kind-of start the thought pattern on "healthy" food - simply because I mentioned I would prefer not to eat maccas or k-fry every night of the week!...

I also thought this thread had to be something that was "quick to prepare and cook" according to the first post? I mean fast food is usually 10 mins drive, 5-10 mins cooking, and ten minutes drive home. As that not the case and the criteria is just "healthy" i have a few that will certainly make an appearance in the coming weeks! Off to do some coaching for the next fortnight but will have alot of brownie points to make up once i get home. Strap yourselves in people! Snowwhite's kitchen is going to be in overdrive, and he will have to buy some new batteries for his camera!

[AdReNaLiN]

^ picture is mandatory!
I'm about to post up tonight's dinner...

Snowwhite, it was supposed to be a quick and easy to prepare meal, but that doesnt mean it cant be healthy too! Anything is healthy compared to what I've been eating lately. Pizza, KFC, Maccas... It was time for a bit of a change.

[AdReNaLiN]

AdReNaLiN's Beef Teriyaki

500g Stir Fry Beef
Rice (for however many people you are serving)
1 Teriyaki sauce mix (coles)
1 Onion
1 Capsicum
Small serve of frozen Beans
Lettuce
Tomato
White Vinegar
Oil

Throw the rice into a ricecooker (for a quick and easy rice making experience).

Put a small amount of oil into a fry pan and get it extremely hot - turn your hot plate up to full. Make sure you've got your oil with a light smoke coming off it before adding your meat. Chuck on your Beef and cook until its browned. Make sure you turn it regularly.

Once the meat is brown, add the Teriyaki sauce, chopped onion, chopped capsicum, beans. It will get really gluggy fast. Start turning it as soon as possible so you dont burn the sauce.

It will cook really quickly so be ready to turn down the hotplate once you've seen the onion brown up and cooked. Make sure everything is really well mixed together and its all nice and saucy. Add a dash of vinegar to the fry pan.

Shred the lettuce and cut up some tomato. Serve as garnish on the side of the plate. Add a small drizzle of vinegar to the tomato / lettuce.

Serve up your bed of rice and lay the Teriyaki onto the top. Make the rice as saucy as possible for maximum flavour.




Enjoy.
It was really tasty. This is the first time I've ever cooked this meal and it turned out great.

[SnowWhiteLude]

Snowwhite, it was supposed to be a quick and easy to prepare meal, but that doesnt mean it cant be healthy too!.

Ok so quick and easy are my parameter's to work in....NP dude

[AdReNaLiN]

Ok so quick and easy are my parameter's to work in....NP dude

haha there's no "rules" - post up whatever you like mate - others can decide what they want to cook. The more recepies the better i say.