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Worth the effort


Incredulity

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Started a thread on old site about homemade stuff that isn’t really all that hard, but kicks the shit out of store bought/convenient version.  My discovery of stovetop popcorn changes my life.

Recently ended up with a 15lb sack of potatoes from Costco.  Been knocking out potato salads to use the sack up.  Most of the time/effort is waiting for potatoes to boil.  So much better than store bought.

suggestions welcome.

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I like homemade Caesar dressing, but I've only made that a few times. My go-to is a basic vinaigrette (I like to start w/ the Joy of Cooking French Dressing recipe). I'll make just one salad's worth if necessary and mix it up with my milk frother.

Also any mexican-food sauce, colorado, verde, salsas, pico. Pintos/refritos. Any of these are much better from scratch and not at all difficult or involved.

 

 

Also think that grinding your own hamburgers is worth it for large enough groups.

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Homemade stock.  Make your own stock -- chicken, shrimp stock, whatever.  Just make your own stock.  It is absolutely worth it.

This, but I will say that for beef stock you need to be careful if using stuff off your smoker in your stock. You need to balance that out with some un-smoked beef parts IMO or the result is overly smoke-tasting. In my experience.

 

55 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Chunky.  Getting the chop and boil right are key.  just enough to know there is potato there, but still soft.

What kind of potatoes? I try and get away w/ using Idahos to limit the peeling time.

 

 

2 hours ago, luke duke said:

Ice cream

Word. With real eggs!

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Stove-top popcorn was the first thing that came to mind.

Other than that, I'm a big fan of homemade butter.  Shake some cream, scrape out the butter, and add some salt.  Super easy.

I also enjoy homemade flour tortillas over just about anything you can find at the grocery store.

And for that matter homemade bread is the fucking bomb, especially focaccia.

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Agree with others on chicken stock, pico/salsa. 

Grind your own cumin seeds in a mortar rather than use the pre-ground, it makes a huge difference. Grind everything yourself for that matter: chilis, coffee, everything.

Infuse your own simple syrup with mint leaves for juleps. Do it with slices of raw ginger for other cocktails.

 

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2 hours ago, Incredulity said:

Chunky.  Getting the chop and boil right are key.  just enough to know there is potato there, but still soft.

This might be helpful (or maybe not). Leave the potatoes whole when you boil them. They're done when they start to split open. Drain the water, let them cool, then break them apart with your hands. Much quicker than chopping them before boiling, and you have better control over the consistency of your salad.

I prefer reds or whites. Idaho and other types potatoes don't hold up as well to boiling, IMO

Edited by ChampKind
cuz
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1 hour ago, GringoSalado said:

This, but I will say that for beef stock you need to be careful if using stuff off your smoker in your stock. You need to balance that out with some un-smoked beef parts IMO or the result is overly smoke-tasting. In my experience.

 

What kind of potatoes? I try and get away w/ using Idahos to limit the peeling time.

 

 

Word. With real eggs!

idaho.  

I peel, chop to a little more than 2x2.  add to rapidly boiling water for 15min.  leaves some nice potato texture chunks, but soft.

 

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2 hours ago, ChampKind said:

This might be helpful (or maybe not). Leave the potatoes whole when you boil them. They're done when they start to split open. Drain the water, let them cool, then break them apart with your hands. Much quicker than chopping them before boiling, and you have better control over the consistency of your salad.

I prefer reds or whites. Idaho and other types potatoes don't hold up as well to boiling, IMO

 If you pull the Idaho's as soon as they're cooked through and ice bath them they tend to stay together, then you can peel them (with a fork). If you overcook them you're fucked as far as chunky ps goes. 

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Agree with others on chicken stock, pico/salsa. 
Grind your own cumin seeds in a mortar rather than use the pre-ground, it makes a huge difference. Grind everything yourself for that matter: chilis, coffee, everything.
Infuse your own simple syrup with mint leaves for juleps. Do it with slices of raw ginger for other cocktails.
 


However: do not grind coffee and spices in the same grinder.
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6 hours ago, Incredulity said:

I am in on the salsa or Pico.  

Go to for pulled pork leftovers is corn tortilla tacos with homemade pico.

The premade pico at HEB is awesome. It's one of a few items that they make better than me.

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I couldn't decide which thread to put this in, but this seems like the right spot.

My wife has been asking for help learning to use the smoker. So, Memorial Day I walked her though firing up the WSM and she did 3 whole chickens plus another 8 or so leg quarters. They turned out great. For my part, I harvested the skin from the smoked birds, sliced it up and fried it into homemade chicken-bacon. It'll probably end up in some breakfast tacos or on a pizza. I've never seen store-bought...but I assume mine is better.

I also turned the drippings into gravy for some shrimp and biscuits the next day and, of course, roasted all the bones so we can make stock.e2645f147600c69523fa80a11561e618.jpgdbedad301ba60f81413e3d0e26c53d45.jpg

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I'd say homemade pasta but after discovering the Bucatini fresh pasta at HEB for ~$5, I haven't made a single batch of fresh pasta myself. Totally worth it to just buy it ready made with the same ingredients I use anyways (flour, eggs, water).

Homemade curry paste, green curry in particular, kicks ass.

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19 hours ago, luke duke said:

Ice cream

Yessir.  I have a hand-crank maker and we wear that sombitch out with birthdays, graduations, etc.  I have two recipes that I use- a vanilla one and one that calls for whichever fruit sounds good and is in season.  I think one time we added up the cost of the ingredients after a batch of strawberry ice cream and it was close to $30/gallon.  Damn.

I also like homemade cornbread with homemade syrup (brown sugar, butter, and vanilla).

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Quote

My wife has been asking for help learning to use the smoker. So, Memorial Day I walked her though firing up the WSM and she did 3 whole chickens plus another 8 or so leg quarters. 

Have you gone mad?  You are taking away one of the last bastions of husbandly alone time.

 

out_of_control.jpg

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15 hours ago, Lazarus Bocanegra said:

close, but the master would say you are lacking garlic and one egg yolk (1/2 credit for the mayo) 

 

I forgot to put garlic on the list, but I do use it in the recipe.  Mayo is cheating, but it has a longer shelf life.

Speaking of garlic - I'll only use freshly minced garlic.  I can believe people use that stuff that comes from a jar.

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3 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

Yessir.  I have a hand-crank maker and we wear that sombitch out with birthdays, graduations, etc.  I have two recipes that I use- a vanilla one and one that calls for whichever fruit sounds good and is in season.  I think one time we added up the cost of the ingredients after a batch of strawberry ice cream and it was close to $30/gallon.  Damn.

I also like homemade cornbread with homemade syrup (brown sugar, butter, and vanilla).

I admire your commitment to the hand crank ice cream maker.  But we picked up one of these a couple of years ago, and even our old motorized White Mountain can't touch it for ease of use and quality of ice cream.

Also, if anyone is looking for ice cream recipes, there's not a bad one in this book

Edited by dcbc
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Stove top popcorn is much better than microwave popcorn, but I'm not sure it really fits "worth the effort". It takes a grand total of 5 minutes to make it, mostly just standing there. There's hardly any effort involved to make popcorn by either method, so the bigger question is why anyone would choose microwave popcorn in the first place.

 

For the thread topic, I would submit homemade noodles and pasta sauce.

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On 5/30/2018 at 8:57 AM, Jerry Callo said:

Caesar salad dressing.  Only a few ingredients:  mayo, olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper, anchovy paste, Worcestershire, Dijon, and freshly grated Parmesan.  


Definitely. I take the coddled eggs and oil route. Pretty much all salad dressings actually: green goddess, bleu cheese, ranch, real Italian vinaigrette. Put it in a gravy boat or bring out the oil and vinegar cruets and a lemon.  

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I currently have the peels of 14 lemons macerating in 1.75 liters of Pinnacle vodka in a tupperware container. After a couple weeks I will add fake sugar (carb nazi here), fill an old whiskey bottle, and walla, Limoncello all summer long. 


Good one. Our limoncello recently finished and it’s great.
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7 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Making mojitos from scratch with fresh mint leaves off your plant is definitely worth it

We grow mint in our herb garden solely for this purpose.

6 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

 


How else do you make mojitos?

 

I guess some people buy store-bought mint?  It's a travesmahockery.

Edited by utee94
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