Cooking
I have always enjoyed cooking, but the interest never truly took hold until I became a single father and was tasked with feeding two kids on a daily basis. Both kids had a severe milk allergy, (the go to the emergency room or inject epinephrine type--not an intolerance), so control over ingredients was important. I also wanted to minimize if not eliminate the amount of pre-packaged food we were consuming to better control the intake of things like sugar and sodium. Then it just became fun and a hobby. When something moves into the "hobby" category I get really into it researching and trying different things, and techniques and equipment. The only posts you will see here are things that passed my "it's good for me at the time" test, (which is subjective I know and may change over time).
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- Written by Karyl F. Stein
- Category: Chicken
This is nice, earthy, cold-weather comfort food. I like to eat it over Basmati rice cooked with chicken stock instead of water, and with some added turmeric. The spices in the recipe can be adjusted such as reducing some of the more "earthly" flavors like cumin, coriander, and cloves, and adding things like thyme, sage, and fennel seeds. I prefer to use ground lamb as the protein, but it is also more difficult to not dry out too much for my tastes. If using lamb I add it back to the sauce later targeting an internal temperature of around 128°F. Note that the USDA recommends that lamb be cooked to an internal temperature of 145°F.
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- Written by Karyl F. Stein
- Category: Drinks
Contrary to the name of this drink, it contains absolutely no tea. It is instead a mixture of a number of different types of alcohol. The "tea" name comes from the lemon juice giving a strong citrus flavor and the dark cola giving it a color similar to tea. This is a crisp drink I like on a hot day, but usually would turn to a margarita in those cases due to the potency of this drink.
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- Written by Karyl F. Stein
- Category: Fruits and Vegetables
While researching guacamole recipes I found that most were very similar, so I picked one that seemed to have the flavor combinations I liked most and tried that. It was a hit for Thanksgiving, so I saw no need to tweak it with ideas from other recipes. I also use variations on this for things like avocado toast where, for example, I dice things smaller, use white onions instead of red, add sour cream, and replace the cayenne with a liquid hot sauce, (and make a much smaller portion--one avocado is plenty for two servings of avocado toast). This recipe is for the "chunky-style dip for 12 as long as there are other snacks available" that I may make when entertaining. However, the size of your dices and other things can be modified depending on personal preference and use.
- Details
- Written by Karyl F. Stein
- Category: Fruits and Vegetables
I have seen and tried a few different techniques on how to remove the skin and seed from a Haas avocado. The one that works for me is below. Another method may work better for you.
