Slot Car Cooking

[HomeRacingWorld]

I already pinned it...pretty smart eh?

[Ember]

:) You're not just a pretty face H. :D

[DAVE]

Harry;

Does the grease from the bacon keep the slot car from sticking to meat when it melts? Just
asking since Nascars are not my favorite flavor. ( chuckle )

Glad I'm not a cook because I would never get any slotcars built while I am trying all these
super recipes.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

My father in law insisted on watching me make the fake apple pie, to try to catch me sneaking apples in. He was sure I was slipping apple sauce in. When it came out of the oven after he watched it being made, he ate two big pieces of it before he admitted it really was the same as what he was served the previous night at my house.

[Ember]

I think the fake apple pie scares me just a little.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

When I first tried it, it was like a science experiment in school. I didn't believe it would really taste that way, exactly. Maybe close, ya know? But I assure you, it is indistinguishable from real apple pie. Weird, huh?

[Ember]

Quick Cream of Tomato Soup

1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbl tomato paste
1 can tomatoes (crushed, chopped or whole)
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbl plain flour
Salt & pepper
Basil & oregano (optional)
Cream

In a small saucepan saute onion in a little olive oil until soft. Add garlic and saute a little longer. Add tomato paste and cook out for a minute or two. Add tomatoes, salt & pepper to taste. Mix plain flour into a slurry with a little chicken stock and add to tomatoes with the remaining chicken stock. Cook, stirring occasionally until thickened slightly. Blend until smooth (stick blender is perfect). Add herbs if desired. Taste and adjust seasoning as required. Add cream and warm through, do not boil.

Serve piping hot with a grind of black pepper and a drizzle of good olive oil.

[Ember]

Quick Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower
Chicken stock
Medium potato
Splash of milk
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste

Roughly chop vegetables. Place all ingredients in small saucepan and cook until potato is soft. Blitz with stick blender until smooth. Serve with freshly ground black pepper and a little sour cream.

[Ember]

Gnocchi with speck and peas

Another quicky for when you don't feel much like cooking. Gnocchi can be home made or from a packet (I'll let ShotGunDave, the pasta expert, take care of the gnocchi lessons)

Cut speck (or streaky bacon) cut into lardons and add to frying pan. Cook over medium heat to render fat. Meanwhile boil salted water for the gnocchi. When speck is well browned deglaze pan with a good splash of chicken stock or white wine or verjuice and allow to reduce. When water for gnocchi is boiling add frozen peas (I prefer baby peas) to the speck in frying pan. Add a good splash of cream and stir well. Turn up heat to bring sauce to a simmer to reduce cream. Add gnocchi to the boiling water. As it comes to the surface remove with a slotted spoon and add to sauce. Toss well through sauce and serve with freshly grated parmesan.

[Ember]

Oh, I do love a good pea and ham soup. Only difference is I use a stock made from bacon bones rather than the chicken stock. The thicker the soup the better.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Fried Oysters

Fresh oysters
Hushpuppy mix
All-purpose flour
eggs
salt

Sauce
Ketchup
Horseradish
Lemon juice
Tabasco

Frying them this way, you can even get a fine meal from those jarred oysters in the grocery store, the ones they always pack in crushed ice. The trick here is the order. First dip the oyster in the salted beaten egg, then dredge in the hushpuppy mix, then in flour, and direct to the hot oil in the pan. As soon as you have filled the pan, it will be time to flip the oysters, and soon after that, you can start pulling them out to drain on paper towels. Just keep the rotation going, and you will finish in no time. Work the same order over and over and they all will be done just right and there will be hardly any oil still in the oysters when served. Keep the oil hot, and very little will come out with the oyster, then that small amount will drain off leaving a slightly crusty, unbelievably delicious morsel.

Make the sauce by adding about 2 tablespoons of horseradish to 1/3 cup ketchup, add a teaspoon of lemon juice and a few drops (I like a lot more), of Tabasco.

Dip them in the sauce and gobble. A good lager is best with them, but a J. Riesling is good, too, for those who are not like me, a beery swine of the first order... and second. Eat a bunch of these and you get the irresistible urge to dance zydeco with barefoot girls in the moonlight. Well, I do anyway.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

[Ember]

Ummm.... Not sure about the burger. Two bites would be enough, I think.

But you can't get away with a passing mention like that on home made cantaloupe/rockmelon ice cream. Do tell.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Its a very simplified version of the home made ice cream I had as a boy. I tweaked it a little and added 1-1/2 cups pureed cantaloupe. But it has to be Ambrosia Cantaloupe or the taste just isn't what it could be. I grow them from seed. If you can't find Ambrosia Hybrid, look for a very sweet, large, lightly colored cantaloupe with no green at all left in the net (the patterned outside rind), and it should smell very sweet. You may get pretty close that way.

1-1/2 cups whole milk
1-1/8 cups granulated sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1-1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 to 2 cups pureed fresh cantaloupe

Its pretty easy to make, just make sure you mix the sugar and milk together thoroughly, maybe use a mixer at very low speed for a couple of minutes. When you are sure its all dissolved, stir in the cream and vanilla, then the cantaloupe. It will take 20 minutes or more to freeze in the ice cream freezer, so make sure you have someone to give you a break cranking the thing. Toward the end, it gets nice and stiff, and will stand up in the dish longer than normal home made ice cream. Shortbread cookies are great with this.

[Ember]

No eggs? I suppose officially it's gelato then, isn't it? Will try it when the cantaloupes are in full swing. Don't know about Ambrosia variety. They don't bother naming varieties on sale. Probably wrong climate to grow them here. Currently learning to deal with the shock of things growing rather than dying as they usually do. :)