Recipes!

[WildBaboons]

I have a nice cast iron grill pan I've used maybe twice. It works awesome but, cleaning it is such a chore it just... sits buried among the other pans.

but to recipes!

Mac and Cheese. How do you make yours?

I throw mine together following the basic idea of:

1 lb of pasta, cook!

In large glass bowl:
12 oz can of evaporated milk
6 oz of butter
4-6 oz of velvetta
12-14 oz of other stuff. America, shredded cheddar, Colby. Those bags of mac and cheese shred mix.
Onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper
little bit of ground mustard

Melt that mix in the bowl either double boiler style or in the microwave (zap for 60 seconds, stir, repeat) until its a smooth cheese sauce. Smooth is key, need everything good and melty.

Mix the cheese sauce into the pasta. Stir it up good. Clog your arteries.

[Killer Klown]

Yeah, cleaning cast iron takes a different mindset. For me, it was basically unlearning all the stuff that I was told to never do to a pan; so all those scouring powders, steel wool and whatnot that you can't use on stainless, aluminum or non-stick? Go to town. The key is you can't actually hurt the pan short of taking a grinder to it; so do whatever it takes to get stuff off of it.
The 'accepted' method I found was to heat it up, dump salt on it, then scrub it with a towel held in a pair of tongs; but I found this to be somewhat messy, what with all the scummy salt flying all over the place. Best option I found was something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/AMAGABELI-GARDEN-HOME-UTENSIL-CLEANER/dp/B01A51S9Y2/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1532009552&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=chainmail+scrubber+for+cast+iron+pans&psc=1

The thing works awesome. Put a little water and dish soap in the pan, scrub it down with the chainmail then rinse it out. I'm sure there are other manufacturers of this sort of thing, but make sure to get one that's stainless <not aluminum> and that the rings are welded closed - it's going to take a beating, what with being used to scrub cast iron, so if they're not sealed you risk them warping; which might cause the links to break, or at the very least drive sharp metal bits into the palm of your hand.

When you're done; dry the pan thoroughly, then bunch up a paper towel, smear some vegetable oil on it and use that to rub down the inside of the pan.

[Auspice]

I only have one cast iron right now. A Dutch oven. I bought the chain mail scrubber when I got it after reading through cleaning suggestions and I agree: it's amazing. I made this roast curry chicken in that thing and the chain mail took it right off with barely any effort.

I use it on cooking sheets and racks when I make wings now, too, and those take even less. No more wanting to cry over the sink!

[Killer Klown]

Oh yeah. I have this one-pot roast potato dish I make in my dutch oven; potatos, bacon, cheese, garlic, first cooked on the stovetop then baked... you can imagine the kind of mess that leaves. Even with that, though, I think the cleanup is easier than with some of my nonsticks.

[Auspice]

Instant Pot on sale for $50 at Walmart.

[SG]

Going from a bunch of dried goods and a can of tomatos to delicious chana masala in under an hour is the magic of instant pot. I don't really use a recipe, but if you know pretty much any beany curry recipe, an hour will do it from dry, which means you're saving a few dollars per dish right off the bat.

Also, bean chili is stupid easy to wing. Dried beans and lentils are crazy cheap.

[Auspice]

I've been feeling really bleh and sick this week and barely able to keep anything down. I know once I come out of whatever this is, I'm gonna want to eat everything and top of that list right now is pasta.

So leave your favorite pasta recipes below \/ \/ \/

[mietze]

Looking for vegan recipes that arent attempting to be "replacements", unfortunately without tofu. (I love tofu and soybeans, but I need to minimize it). I have a pretty broad palate and I'm an experienced cook willing to try new things. I'm just kind of overwhelmed with a lot of medical stuff right now as I transition to trying to do as much as I can to not cause further damage to myself, so if you have a recipe that you love please post here and shoot it my way? I do a ton of Indian, Japanese, and Korean cooking, so something fun outside of that would be especially welcome!

[Auspice]

@mietze

Would a shepherd's pie-type dish that uses lentils work? I can try to dig up my recipe for it. When I was eating vegetarian, it became a go-to (it can be made vegan) because it was honestly super tasty. The lentils aren't like, doctored-to-be-replacements. They are still def. lentils, but it's that warm filling tons of veggies and potatoes that is shepherd's pie (.......now I want shepherd's pie).

[JinShei]

@Auspice Pls share...

[RightMeow]

Are you looking for one pot dishes? desserts? dinners? I use to be vegan (I missed bacon and am not now), so I have more than a few in my wheelhouse.

[saosmash]

https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-slow-cooker-easy-lentil-soup-253472

Honestly I have never made anything from thekitchn that isn't delicious.

[Auspice]

@saosmash said in Recipes!:

https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-slow-cooker-easy-lentil-soup-253472

Honestly I have never made anything from thekitchn that isn't delicious.

whenever I'm searching for a recipe, I do rank them p high when looking at oodles of google results. They're one of the 'can't go wrong'

[RightMeow]

Quiche - that isn't really - but totally is

Pastry crust (I can give you a vegan recipe or you can buy one)
4 tablespoons olive oil (I like cold pressed)
1 pound of asparagus (get rid of the rough ends, cut 1/2 inch length)
(I use the tips of four of them for garnish)
2 shallots (peeled and coarse chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (I sometimes add more, but I have a garlic addiction)
1 cup of walnuts
1.5 cups cooked navy beans (you can sub a 15 oz can)
.5 cup loosely packed tarragon
2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
.75 (3/4 but I started the . stuff) teaspoon salt (I like pink Himalayan)
.25 (1/4) teaspoon ground nutmeg (buy it, it's annoying to ground yourself)
black pepper to your desired taste (I usually end up with a teaspoon)
.33 (1/3) cup of wheat bread crumbs (if you are avoiding this there are vegan alternatives to this too, like Ezekiel bread)
4 slices of beefsteak tomatoes (you can use Holland too - Use BIG ones)

Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Sauté asparagus in tablespoon of oil, stirring every now and then for 7 minutes (approximately)
Meanwhile grab a food processor and prepare to process!
Toss walnuts (I like to try to toss them in from across the room - not really), 1/4 c tarragon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in that machinery. Turn it on and run it like a boss. Or until the walnuts are into crumbles (walnut meat)
Put the asparagus into a shallow bowl for a time out while you saute the shallots in a tablespoon of oil around 3 minutes.
Add in garlic for another 3 minutes (don't burn it - it makes it bitter and smells bad)
Put all these things (shallots and garlic) in with the asparagus. When they have chilled out (aka stopped steaming) add them to the food processor, pulse a few times.
Add beans and make a puree
Sift the cornstarch if it's lumpy to make it fine (soooo fine) and pulse (I find techno music helps with this)
Toss all this back into the time out bowl, cover and put in the fridge for 45 minutes.
Oh yeah, probably turn off the stove if you haven't.

Preheat oven to 350

Prepare the pastry dough. I use a 15 inch pie pan thing. I cover it with foil and bake it 15 minutes

Take the vegetable/walnut mixture from the fridge. Put it in the shell. Sprinkle the top with half the bread crumbs. and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil. Arrange the tomato slices on top (channel your inner Bob Ross - Happy tomatoes)
Put the rest of the bread crumbs on those happy tomatoes, a touch of salt, some fresh pepper, the chopped tarragon, drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
Bake 45 minutes
You should let it cool 20 minutes, but I never do. I get hungry.