Best thing you make?

My wife and I are both pretty fair hands in the kitchen. I'd hate to try to pick any one thing as a favorite - there are probably 15 items that would qualify just depending uopn the mood.

She makes some killer egg rolls, using the shredded cabbage & carrot mixture you can get in bags (for slaw), adds cooked ground pork, peanut butter(!), soy sauce & some other stuff. Wraps in egg roll wrappers & fries. Awesome! Occasionally, she uses the little canned salad shrimp. Either way is fine with me. I like a mixture of duck sauce and Chinese mustard on 'em.

Her seafood fettucine alfredo is Last Meal worthy.

As a team, our spaghetti and meatballs are the best I've ever had. She makes the meatballs with ground pork, beef, veal, onions, worcestershire sauce (I think) & grated parmesan & other stuff. It's hard to not eat 'em all before they even go into the sauce. We also add some sausage links cut into small pieces to the red sauce, which cooks for hours.

Mexican Food.

Specifically, New Mexico Style (Pork, Chicken or Beef) Enchiladas. It's simply killer.

yeahright, will you and your wife invite me to dinner? I'm soooooo hungry.

Anybody not afraid to cook veal is all right by me. Do you do veal parmigiana, per chance?

Sure, we've always got room for another hungry mouth.

Veal is a little pricey for chops/cutlets for us. A little ground veal in the meatballs isn't a budget-buster, tho.

Originally posted by yeahright
Sure, we've always got room for another hungry mouth.

Veal is a little pricey for chops/cutlets for us. A little ground veal in the meatballs isn't a budget-buster, tho.

Sounds like you found the "low" and "medium" settings. Could you talk to my wife please? She cooks everything on "high" and she won't listen to me.

im the cook of the house, the cheese n kisses would burn water if i let her cook. (she dont read roadmaps well either, but i think thats a woman thing)

my favourite things to cook:

- chili con carne
- lasagne
- Fried Rice - its sooooo easy to make a huge batch
- oh man, if only you could try my beef jerky. or better yet roo jerky (kangaroo is just soooo yummy)
- chicken nuggets (made from real chook breast meat)
- custard tarts
- stinky bread (toasted parmesan cheese on bread (only one side is toasted) like sizzler restraunts do)


i enjoy a good cheesymite scroll now n then too ( www.vegemite.com.au + cheese in a roll)

did i mention that i like kangaroo steaks on the bbq?

[edit on 18/7/07 by Obliv_au]

Originally posted by intrepid
Sounds like you found the "low" and "medium" settings. Could you talk to my wife please? She cooks everything on "high" and she won't listen to me.

We're definitely in the "low and slow" school. Except for steaks, which should be high and fast.

Sure, I'd be glad to talk to her but my track record on getting women to listen to me is ... not good.

Get her a crock pot. Lots of yummy stuff can be cooked in a crock pot and it's designed to cook slowly.

She probably just wants you to take over or take her out to dinner. Sneaky women.

Crock pots rock...especially for working couples....can't beat coming home to a home-cooked meal...and the house smells like food when you open the door...oh yeah!

Jeez Gaz, is there anything you can't do?

Make money. Honestly, it seems everything I try, I can do with a certain competence, swing dancing, singing even...you name it...(and I have to completely throw board games if I ever want my friends to play them with me)... Hell, I can even play a piano (ok) and find a tune by ear...but I never learned a recipe for making dough (the green kind). Hopefully I'll find it with my newly earned BS (I love that, hehe) degree, and possibly with the side mural business, who knows....

Once, when I was affiliated with a play (the Rocky Horror picture show), I told the director I could likely make props. He didn't believe me, so I showed up the next week with an interchangable wooden prop that he wanted! He said, "What's your dad do? Is he a rocket scientist?" I said, "Close, he works on the Raptor!" I have to credit the wife for a lot of it too...she always gave me the confidence I needed to break out of my shyness shell.

Now, if I could just figure out how to become financially secure...I'll be a happy camper...

I make an awesome granola.

Other things that are very good:
Eggplant parmesan. Chicken soup. Chocolate chili. Short ribs. Roasted chicken.

Yeah, I'm off-topic. Sue me.

Originally posted by Gazrok
but I never learned a recipe for making dough (the green kind). Hopefully I'll find it with my newly earned BS (I love that, hehe) degree, and possibly with the side mural business, who knows....

Listen to your ol' Uncle yeahright- Do what you love. If you aren't enjoying what you do, no money is enough to compensate. The money will follow if you follow your interests.

I have to credit the wife for a lot of it too...she always gave me the confidence I needed to break out of my shyness shell.

See, you're already rich. There are guys with millions who would trade it all for what you have, right there. You can't buy that. (No jokes about "renting it". You can't do that either )

Now, if I could just figure out how to become financially secure...I'll be a happy camper...

Don't bet on it. But I know what you mean. Financial security eliminates one specific problem, but the ability to do what you love with a partner you love ... it gets no better than that. Believe it or not. If you have that, the money becomes almost irrelevant (within reason).

You're on the right track. Just stay the course. And appreciate the journey.

Now back to your regular programming.

I have been thinking about this for awhile and I can't come up with one "Best" thing. There are several I think I do pretty good, and several things friends think I do pretty good.


But If you limit it to one thing I would have to say it's red beans and rice.. no it's french onion soup... nope it's bread... no it's cookies, no it's pizza, not it's roast chicken, no it's........................ err.. well maybe I need to think about this more

Don't bet on it. But I know what you mean. Financial security eliminates one specific problem,

Don't get me wrong, being rich isn't my goal...I just want to be in a position where I'm not worrying about bills...getting better, but still got a ways to go...

Paul's Lamb Shank Heaven: this is my best kitchen creation!
Lamb shanks slow braised in red wine and smoked bacon (with a sweet chutney twist), served on a potato & celeriac rosti. Make it and make a kitchen god(ess) of yourself!!

serves 4.

4 Lamb shanks (get the best quality organically fed meat possible - you get out what you put in!)
4 Oz smoked streaky bacon cut into small pieces, or use cubetti di pancetta
1 onion, fineley chopped
2 cloves garlic, fineley chopped
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bottle of red wine
olive oil
red onion chutney (make sure its high quality with well caramelised onions)
salt, pepper to season


Preheat the oven to about 150C (300F). Take a large hob-proof casserole dish, heat on the hob at medium heat, add a glug of olive oil and the onion, garlic and bacon. Fy them up for about 5 mins til the onions are soft and the bacon is slightly browned. Take out of the dish and reserve. Season the lamb shanks well with salt and pepper, add a little more olive oil to the dish and turn up the heat. Brown off the lamb shanks in the dish, then remove and reserve. Deglaze the dish with about half the red wine, then add your lamb, onions/bacon garlic, give it a stir and add the rest of the wine and the thyme sprigs.
Put a lid on the casserole dish and put into the oven. This needs to cook for at least 2 and a half hours.

In the meantime, to prepare the rosties:
Take a few potatoes and about half a celeriac. Judge the quantity by your appetite! Peel and slice thinly (1-2mm), then cut your slices into tiny thin matchsticks. Doing it this way as opposed to grating prevents the rosti from going soggy and gluey in the middle. Put your potato and celeriac matchsticks into a mixing bowl, season well and toss in a glug of olive oil.
Slowly cook over a low-medium heat in a large frying pan for 10-15 mins or so to make a cooked rosti mix. On a baking tray, shape the mix into 4 roughly circular patties, about 2/3 of an inch thick - use kitchen utensils to press and shape. Turn the oven up by 50 degrees and bake your rosties until crispy and brown on the outside.

While the rosties are baking, take out the casserole dish and put back on the hob on a low heat. Remove the lamb shanks and cover in foil and return to the bottom shelf of the oven.
Get a good spoonful of chutney and stir it into the remaining sauce. Now have taste, you want it to be quite sweet, sweeter than you think will suit a meat dish. Stir in more chutney of needed, and check the seasoning, add more salt and pepper to taste. (don't worry, lamb the lamb will stand up to the sweetness just fine!) Oh, and remove the stalks of the thyme if you havent already.
The pectin in the chutney should start to thicken up the sauce, add a little more thickness if needed with a bit of cornflour/water mix (add only a few drops at a time, stiring well until you're happy).

To serve, place the rosti in the middle of the plate, put the lamb shank on top of it, and pour a little of the sauce over the lamb, ensuring you get a few bacon bits on there. Drizzle more sauce around the edge of the plate, and voila, serve to your soon to be highly impressed guests!