Aramek's Cooking Academy!

[Aramek]

Coconut Tapioca!



Let's face facts. It's summer, and your life sucks. The Air Conditioner is broken, you've lost your left foot to Diabeetus, and your whore of an ex-wife is using your alimony to take your ungrateful kids to Hawaii without you. Well, no need to fear, my disgustingly fat friend! We can make our own tropical island right here in your trailer home! First soak your tapioca pearls!



I could only find small pearls here in my city, larger the better for this recipe. So, if you have big ones, it'll work better.



When done soaking, discard the soaking water.



And boil the tapioca.



Different sizes cook at different speeds. Just gently boil them until they are done. Meanwhile...



Heat up some rich, thick coconut milk. You'll need to cut it with some regular milk, and a bit of sugar to sweeten the dish.



After the sugar has incorporated, chill the coconut milk in an ice bath before putting in your chill chest. This is a dish best served straight out of the fridge, so, you can never do this ahead of time.



When the tapioca is done, it turns clear. Rinse in cold water.



Whip out your knife, and get ready to cut your mango.



Mangos are sometimes hard to cut cleanly. The pit really hangs onto the flesh.



In a small bowl, simply combine a bit of the tapioca pearls, and the coconut milk soup. Place some Mango bits on the top as an exciting garnish. The smooth sweetness of the soup really helps to contrast the sharp acidity of the mango.



Enjoy!

[shoester]

I am not a religious individual but you are the closest thing I have to a god for I asked, then I received delicious recipes. I already told my mom I would be making stuffed bell peppers for her and my family when I fly out to California in a few weeks.

[Minty]

:O

I have somehow never looked properly at this thread and I have been missing a GOLDMINE. This looks so awesome I don't know what to try making first. <33

[Aramek]

Aramek's Meatloaf!



Hold on a second! Before you leave this thread like a Bat Out of Hell, please, bare with me. Yeah, we all remember Mom's meatloaf; dry, boring, dense, and slathered in gross-ass ketchup. But, no need to fear! Aramek's Meatloaf is sooo much better!



Start with equal parts of ground beef and pork. Beef adds the flavour, pork adds the moisture.



Begin to roughly chop some carrots, celery, and onion. Remember our good friend mirepoix? Here, it works its magic once again.



We'll be mixing everything by hand in a large bowl.



To make the vegies have a wonderfully smooth texture, just use your food processor to pulse them into tiny little bits. First the celery.



Carrots.



And onion. Red onions taste better than all the other ones, so, I tend to use those. Make sure to use all three vegitables. I mean, well, I guess it'll still taste good if you're missing one of them, Two Out of Three Ain't Bad after all, but, three out of three is better.



Now, don't go crazy and liquify them, just pulse until a fine mash.



Add to the meat.



And mix it how? Yeah! With your hands! This makes meatloaf not only fun to eat, but fun to make. What? You already knew that? Well, Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth you did!



Using some beef broth, wetten the bread crumbs. You can just buy crumbs nowadays, but, I think it is so much easier to just buy a nice bit of bread, and put it in the food processor until a fine blend.



Add this to the mix.



And add an egg or two. The egg, along with the bread acting as a binder, helps hold our meatloaf together. And, again, mix well until all of it is incorporated. At this point, add whatever seasonings you wish. Salt and pepper is a must, but you can even get fancy here! Cumin/chopped garlic/basil/parsley will all drasticly change how it tastes. So fool around with it until you find something you like!



Whip out your meatoaf pan. Most people use a bread pan, which is very large, and makes a pretty big meatloaf. Here, I use my Terrine pan. A Terrine pan is coated cast iron, so it is very heavy and because it is skinny and long, it cooks so much faster than Mom's meatloaf.



Like a glove! A wet, slimy, meatly glove! Into a 350F oven (you know, the same temperature we use for 90% of all baking.) Mine cooks in about 45 minutes. How do you know it is done? Same with all meat; when the internal temperature reaches 160F.



Aramek's Meatloaf is fragrant, tender, juicy, and delicious. Turn down the lights and enjoy this beauty. Paradise by the Dashboard Lights in your own kitchen. All cooked much faster, and tastes better than the meatloaf from your childhood. Skip the ketchup, and dive right in.



Enjoy!

(And so finally ends all the pictures I had taken with my old point and shoot camera. From now all, all the pictures will be much better, like the Tete de Moine, Stuffed Peppers, and the ramekin dish are.)

[Aramek]

Jul 4, 2011 17:48:47 GMT -5 shoester said:

I am not a religious individual but you are the closest thing I have to a god for I asked, then I received delicious recipes. I already told my mom I would be making stuffed bell peppers for her and my family when I fly out to California in a few weeks.

Good luck! I know they'll love them, because they love you.

I kinda feel bad that I don't actually know my measurments for these recipes. But, aim for pancake batter consistency, maybe a little more loose.

Also, thanks for all of your requests so far! Working on those, does anyone have any more? I love to cook for you.

I wuv you all very much.

[bananabuddy]

Edit: Yeah, I actually read the whole post and found more Meatloaf references than I could shake a stick at.

[Ovarku]

Looks like a different colour than my aunt's meatloaf (which is also good by the way), or is that the flash of the camera?

[Aramek]

I don't use flash, so the colours are very genuine. Yes, it is a very light coloured meatloaf. The dark ones are a lot more dense, and, in my opinion, overcooked.

[Ovarku]

Jul 5, 2011 12:26:45 GMT -5 Aramek said:

I don't use flash, so the colours are very genuine. Yes, it is a very light coloured meatloaf. The dark ones are a lot more dense, and, in my opinion, overcooked.

I could be looking at it in a place that's well lit, because I'd eat it at night where the lights are dim instead of bright. Perhaps that's why I brought that up.

Then again, I'm not exactly what you call a fussy eater, as I'll just shovel that stuff down, regardless of colour, just so long as it looks like a meatloaf lol

I'll try and think of a challenge in the meantime.

[shoester]

Any good pork chop recipes, Mekky? I've been in this phase...

[Sakieh]

Aramek, I think we could be friends

[Aramek]

You haven't been on here in forever. If memory serves, you were the not-eighteen-yet girl that likes animu a lot, right?

[Sakieh]

I have a feeling there are a lot of those here... so maybe, at one point? Haha. I don't like anime any more, but I do love culinary.

[bananabuddy]

Cook something.

[Aramek]

Mushroom Risotto!



This obnoxiously easy recipe has such an addictive flavour and texture, I would eat this every day. I try not to make it too much else my roomies will get sick of it, and, as recipes go, this is one of the best ones any of you should try. Really, it is hard to terribly mess this up. Now, you can use any number of things as the base of the flavour, but, I really love Baby Bell mushrooms, and Beef Stock. A beefy, mushroomy rice dish, this will keep you coming back for more!

You know how, normally, you make rice on its own, either on the stove or a rice cooker? Well, with risottos, everything gets made at the same time! First, we need to chop the mushrooms.



Ahh. I've forgotten how much of a joy it is to try to chop things while taking pictures. Well, now my camera is much larger and better, so that makes it even more of a challenge. You don't need the bits all that even, as, frankly, I enjoy the more rustic look in food. Just chop a few mushrooms up.



Until you get a pile of finely chopped mushrooms. Time to fry!



In a bit of olive oil, fry the mushrooms until they have shrunk noticably and are cooked through.



Time to add the rice. Yes, the dry rice. You can use any rice for this, but short grain is better than long grain. I have never used Wild Rice, as that may affect the cooking time, but, hey, worth a shot! This is Arborio rice, and is made specifically for risottos. Add the dry rice to the mushrooms and oil.



And begin to stir it all in.



Until all the rice has been evenly coated and heated in the oil. At this point, we add the liquid. Some use water, I use broth. It really kicks up the flavour on this dish, and this way, we won't need to add any salt. Just pepper. Lots and lots of pepper.



You know how when making just plain white rice the water measurement is about 1:2, rice to water? Well, in risottos, it is about 1:3, rice to stock. What many chefs do is to add the liquid slowly, one cup at a time. Only adding more when the rice and drunk it all up, this way produces a much more creamy, sticky texture. On the other hand, many chefs don't have time for that shit, so just add it all at the start.



Stir to combine, and keep the pan boiling. Not a hard boil, but, we are cooking rice here, we should be seeing some bubbling to make sure it is getting done. Cook uncovered as I think this makes the rice a lot more sticky, and it makes the kitchen smell wonderful. Do the "one cup at a time" method until you know exactly how much liquid it takes as per your frying pan/stove. But I'd be really surprised if it was anything different from 3 cups of stock per 1 cup of rice.



Stir every now and then to even the cooking, and to prevent it from clumping up.



Taste it to make sure the rice is no longer hard. When done, all the liquid should be absorbed, and you are left with an earthy, beefy rice dish that is evocative of high class cooking, but is even easier than stir fry!



Enjoy!