Can Drummers Cook?

con struct

Platinum Member
I can. I love to cook, and what I love most is making up new recipes. My specialty is Cajun/Creole food, and last night I invented a recipe that was so good I just had to share it with you.

You start by boilng potatoes. Easy, right?

Now I always buy these inexpensive thin-cut New York strip steaks at the store, you can get three of them for eight or nine dollars. And I had an inspiration: Cajun Steak And Mash.

Cook the steak in a frying pan until it's seared on both sides, just for a couple of minutes at the most. It should be really rare, but it's going to be cooked some more. Put that steak somewhere so the cats can't get to it.

Then you make a roux using the same pan you cooked the steak in. Now making a roux is everything, it's the key. I use close to a half cup of vegetable oil and the same amount of flour. Put in the oil first and heat it until it's bloody hot, close to smoking. Then start adding the flour a little at a time, stirring it madly with a wisk and scraping the bottom of the pan to get all those little steak bits. Be careful not to burn the hell out of youself. You don't want the roux to splash on your hand. It burns like a bastard, seriously.

After all the flour is in and you've stirred and stirred you should have a dark-brown pasty sort of mixture. Take it right off the heat or you'll burn it.

If this was a real gumbo I would have added the holy trinity, which is about a half cup to a cup each of chopped onion, chopped green pepper and chopped celery. Traditionally those are added to stop the roux from cooking more. And, of course, they make the sauce taste much better. But all I had was onions so I just took my roux off the heat once it was the color I wanted. If you have those then definitely use them. I will next time.

You need some beef stock that you've already made. I just used a beef stock cube. Slowly, slowly pour in that stock a little at a time, stirring and stirring, mixing it together. It'll sizzle and act like it's going crazy but you have to hang in there, stirring all the time until you have what's essentially a thick gravy.

Some people like to add the roux to the stock, but I like my way because I only need one pan.

Now add your seasonings. I used a teaspoon each of cayenne pepper, white pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, basil, dry mustard and salt and black pepper. Put your pan back on a medium heat and put all that in all at once and keep stirring like crazy. If it starts getting too thick you can add a little water, but you have to keep stirring. And there's your delicious sauce. Turn the heat down to low.

Mash your potatoes, I always use a hand mixer to get them just right. You want them to be thick yet fluffy. I put in some butter and a little milk while I'm mixing.

Then you slice that steak into strips. Take those strips and put them into the sauce and stir. Get it all together in there.

Put your mashed potatoes on a plate, put the steak strips over and around the potatoes and pour some of that bad-ass gravy all over the thing.

Get yourself a bottle of Tabasco sauce and dig in. Oh baby!
 
We have got a Chief Cook in the house.......Construct!!!
Bill Ward is another Drummer Cook and a vegetarian, by the way.
 
I'm jealous of Caddy & Jay. My specialities include great tea, omlettes-that-become-scrambled-eggs, and a mean Ham & Cheese sandwich.

...
 
Don't forget recipes that include the phrase, "Peel back the corner foil to expose tater tots..."

:D

I like the 'no assembly required' variety when I'm by my lonesome in the kitchen ( buts that going over to the dark side, Caddy, I'd never go that far :)

I like my steaks in good restaurants the best.

Jay, my favorite steak joke:

Waiter: How did you find the steak, sir?

Patron: I moved the potato with my fork and there it was!
 
I have to cook, my wife never really learned (although I am teaching her...)

I specialize in soups, casseroles, and chili, plus I am learning some central Mexican dishes from my mother-in-law.... mmm...
 
Have you not seen my picture? I cook too much, there fore I eat too much.
 
Recipes, gentlemen. Let's see your recipes. Maybe we can end up with a Drummerworld Cook Book.
 
yep, sure do. Grew up with family owning two Mexican restaurants. Was in the ketchen at 8yrs old with dad on the weekends. Wanted to be a Chef but as I got older I realized it was way too much work. The hours suck. I guess it's ok for those who make it their passion every day. I would rather be making music.

Signature dishes:

Christmas morning Omlettes 3 egg. largest I ever made was a 6 egg

I am very popular for my spare ribs and tri-tip. If the meat doesn't hit the grill, just give up and use your oven.

Ponudo - Posole and Menudo mixed together. It's the best of both worlds!

Cajun catfish

Garlic saute mushrooms.


My favorite thing to do is make something good out of whatever I find in the fridge. My son hates when I do that. haha
 
Manasta - Italian Soul Food​
Get yourself a big stock pot. How big? How many people are you feeding, and do you want leftovers?​
White Navy Beans - let them soak in water - overnight - in the stock pot.​
Next day - meat - sometimes I use Ham Hocks - but last year I used a 5 lb. Pork Shoulder. No one complained that they got "extra meat" in their soup. Add the meat to the pot, cover with water and start cooking, about 3-5 hours before you're gonna serve (zero hour). You can always turn the heat down, if you need to. Serving "undercooked" pork to people, however, is a bad idea.​
Now the fun part - PLAYING WITH KNIVES​
Also, stir once in a while​
Chop up some onions. 2 or 3. More, if you like onion, less if you don't.​
Garlic - chop - 2 bulbs. I like garlic.​
Carrots - chop - 2 lbs.​
Greens- I used to use Endive - now I use Swiss Chard. Whatever works for you. It cooks down, so 2 or 3 heads/bunches of....​
STUFF YOU CAN ADD - BUT I DON'T​
Celery​
Potato - Navy Beans are enough starch for me....​
OK....SO FAR you have the beans and meat cooking in the pot. The meat should be falling off the bone, buy the time this is done.​
About 1 - 1 1/2 hours before people arrive....throw in everything, BUT the GREENS.​
30-45 minutes 'til zero hour, add the greens.​
 
I love to cook and bake! Got recipes out the wazoo so wouldn't know where to start but I can make some killer Cuban food. Already got the herb garden and tomatoes planted for the summer, the only time I can make some really good Pesto in large quantities.

When's dinner Construct? I'll bring a dessert - just baked an awesome Blueberry Muffin Crunch Cake with a Lemon Glaze. Would go great with the Creole food and a nice Merlot.
 
My specialties are Thai and Indian foods. I make a pretty mean Massaman Curry and Chicken Tikka Masala!

Saag dishes, keema, and chicken korma here! (My wife handles the breads, dal, and tandoori chicken.)

Bermuda
 
My specialitys are burnt mashed potatoes, frozen pizza with pepperoni, tasteless soup and overly barbecued t-bone steaks.
 
Sadly, when the earth mother gene was being handed out I was hiding in the orchard.

Since I've been living alone I've totally gotten out of touch with cooking. Just salads in the summertime and steamed vegetables when it's cooler. I'd describe my cooking style these days as punk veggies.
 
I'm still a student, so I mostly do casserole and pasta type dishes. I do fire up some roast meat from time to time, so here's a roast chicken recipe I snatched from Jamie Oliver (I have no exact measurements of ingredients since I always go "by eye"):

Ingredients:
- one chicken; you can also use half a chicken, or just chicken legs if you want to, as long as it still has the skin; I've also roasted a turkey thigh this way;
- a large quantity of sea salt; go for at least three pounds for a whole chicken;
- a couple of eggs;
- thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil and similar spices;
- a lemon;
- olive oil.
Optional (if you like mashed potatoes, these taste unexpectedly good):
- a few potatoes;
- butter, milk.

Wash, dry chicken. Peel some skin off the lemon, beat it up and mix it with half of the spices, lemon juice and olive oil to make sort of a marinade and spread all over and inside the chicken. Cut lemon into halves or quarters and put in the cavity with what's left of the lemon skin.
Mix eggs and the rest of the spices with the salt to a pasty consistency (you might need to add some water). Cover the bottom of your roasting pan with this paste (spread thinly and evenly, a quarter of an inch is thick enough, half an inch is a bit too much). Put the the prepared chicken on its back on the salt paste and then cover it completely in the rest of the salt paste. Again, a quarter of an inch layer is thick enough, but you might have to build a thicker layer up the sides so it doesn't slide off. Place the potatoes in the pan around the chicken (wihtout peeling).
Heat oven to 400° F (200° C), install pan with chicken and potatoes. Should take around 90 minutes for a 4.5 lb (2 kg) chicken. Since it's pretty much air-tight in salt, it won't be ruined if it cooks slightly longer than necessary. Pull out and let rest. While it rests, peel the potatoes and mash them with some milk and butter, salt & pepper, like you would do if they were boiled. You can also prepare some kind of sauce for the meat, but I usually go for it as-is with some kind of salad.

Serving is the fun part: the salt paste will have turned into a pretty hard brownish shell, and it won't look too palatable. Crack it with a large spoon or something similar and uncover the chicken: the skin will be golden brown and crispy (though maybe a bit wrinkled) and the meat will be fall-off-the-bone unbelievably juicy (and don't worry, none of it will be too salty). Mashed potatoes will also be something special - those made by boiling will never taste the same.

The recipe may sounds a bit complicated, but it's really not that hard, and is pretty much fool-proof. I'll post some very poor quality pictures of the turkey thigh I roasted this way - the first picture is the salt and eggs paste, the second is what it looks like straight out of the oven, and the last two are of the finished meat.

Oh, yeah, the aluminium foil is a good idea just to make cleanup easier.
 

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My favorite meal with photos showing all ingredients.
 

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Heres one of mine.
1) Start with a cup of rice. Place the rice in a wok with enough oil to coat the grains.
2) Add some Venison (about half a pound cut into small strips)
3) Brown the meat and the rice just a bit at high heat.
4) Add two cups of beef stock along with some peas and thinly cut carrots. (about a cup)
5) Add some hot salsa to taste. (I add about 4 tablespoons)
6) Bring to a boil, Lower the heat, Cover and simmer at low heat until rice is cooked. About 20 mins

It also works with Beef, Rabbit or Chicken
Use chicken stock for rabbit or chicken.
I also add some Mrs. Dash. I have to eat low salt. There is more than enough salt in the stock.
 
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