Completely agree with the texture note. Beyond that, I think it's really the spice blend that does the trick. My wife and I eat tofu tacos all the time, and if you use a nice blend of chili powders (my favorites are ancho or chipotle), cumin and Mexican oregano it comes out pretty fantastic.
Really amazing stuff! The biggest mental thing for me is stay proud of yourself, so many people never put in the effort so even if you make something that doesn't come out quite right you're still kicking ass. One of my super easy go-to meals is cherry tomato pasta. Cook some cherry tomatoes and minced garlic in a good glug of olive oil until some of the tomatoes begin to burst. Meanwhile, boil some pasta. Throw the pasta in the cherry tomato pan, finish with salt and pepper, basil and Parm if you feel fancy, and viola! In terms of learning about cooking, I cannot recommend J. Kenji Lopez-Alt on YouTube enough. I love his personality, and he really explains why he does what he does when he makes food. It fits my style of learning, and allows me to learn the fundamentals that I can translate to whatever I want to cook. He has a great blend of easy recipes and large projects too if you ever start feeling ambitious in the kitchen.
Thanks for the concern friend ❤️. Great idea! If you make the post I'll voice strong support haha.
That looks fantastic - if I ever stop being so cheap I might have to pick one up lol.
Actually speaking of - great time to plug the safest way to clean grill grates. I use a wad of aluminum foil between tongs to scrape, that way there's never any danger of metal bristles from those cheap grill brushes being left behind.
Been all about coffee rubs on beef recently!
Lookin at the rib!
Lol no that's a hair from my beard 🙈 thankfully wifey didn't get that piece
My partners favorite protein is ribeye. Made her one for our anniversary, saved the spinalis in our freezer for a while for this one. Reverse sear on the smoker. Made a rub that's a blend of chile powders, rosemary, coffee, and some other good stuff. Finished temp of 133°F which is perfect for a ribeye imo.
Personally I think cheese and starch emulsifies better over high heat, the bubble action in the pasta water actually helps create more agitation and a creamier emulsion. So personally I like to do it in the pan over heat. Also adding more butter won't necessarily help, I think additional fat can be counterproductive sometimes. Just my take though!
Elite topping choices.
❤️
Plums at the farmers market looked great so we made a tart! Some almond extract and orange zest in the batter complements the plums beautifully.
Smoked for 1.5 hours then deep fried until crispy. Tossed them in a classic buffalo sauce and served with smoked green beans, tater tots and carrot sticks. Pic is pre-sauce, I think they look gorgeous fresh out the fryer.
My buddy wanted to cook the end of their venison from last year, mostly consisted of ribs and shank. Popped them in the instant pot for an hour with mirepoix, aromatics, red wine and chicken stock. Strained the braising liquid to make gravy. Basic mashed potatoes and roasted honey thyme carrots. Came out delicious and quite economic with the gifted protein!
Have really been enjoying the blooms on the bellflower! The bee seems to enjoy it as well :)
Pretending like they weren't stuffing their face with fallen bird seed. Shameless.
A congregation of bees in one of our squash flowers 🥰
Made the King Arthur "Big and Bubbly Focaccia" recipe - new favorite way to make focaccia! It develops a fantastic crust while remaining springy and moist inside. Topped with rosemary and confit garlic, forgot to take a pic before we started digging in 😅
St. Louis cut ribs done in the pellet smoker - 250 F until they get nice and tender and then paint with sauce and grill marks at high heat. Could have let the sauce char more but we were hungry lol.
Made this as a celebratory dinner one night for my wife. The ricotta gnocchi comes together so quickly but feels so impressive, and any time I include a ribeye she's happy haha.
Not a recent bake, but I'm quite proud of this loaf! Challah is one of the most fun breads to make imo, I love the shaping process and the results when I have French toast for breakfast 😋
My partner bought me The Food Lab for my birthday, and I have never enjoyed a cookbook more. It feels like a textbook, which would turn some people off but I love haha. The other cookbook recommendations (and I'm sure someone else has said this) are the Joy of Cooking, and Salt Fat Acid Heat. Joy is a time-tested resource that can really help any new cook dive into the basics, and SFAH is a great dive into the building blocks of flavor.