What's "Cooking" in Tiki Central?

I can see the resemblance...

Bear

If I caught something like that, I'd cut the line.

It is a "bit" on the FUGLY side! It is supposed to has similar taste and texture to lobster, a "poor man's lobster". But at $15-20/pound I don't suppose it's on the lower income budget, I think lobster is cheaper!

My daughter and I are both deathly allergic to lobster, I made this dishes a few years back to cook monkfish in and pretend it's lobster :D I need to do it soon now

Blast from the past:
All Hail the PEPPER JACK!

Mike, I thought you don't eat food that stares back at you?

I've been cooking a LOT lately, it's been rainy and cold here but the kitchen is smokin' hot.

Pizza. Make that one veggie. And one classic pepperoni, kalamata olive, and fresh chopped garlic.

These are BIG pizzas, forget the itty bitty ones. Make them GIGANTIC, this is a 20" pan!!!!

One strange thing I do is to put dollops of sauce on TOP of the cheese! I've been battling with soggy pizza crusts for years, then went to a really old skool place in New York that does it this way. It works. The sauce runs down as it cooks, it tastes exactly the same but no soggy dough:

The veggie. Just saute the shrooms quickly in a bit of olive oil, then let them sit for 15 minutes before you toss them on. That way they lose all of their moisture and the finished pizza isn't watery. Basil on top, lots of red sweet peppers.

Ready -

Ready -

Done - looks good?

Done - the crust here is about the size of a bike tire.

Laytah,
Cammo

Those are looking very tasty, short of a wood oven, I don't think anyone can top those for homemade
do you make your dough from scratch?

"crust here is about the size of a bike tire"

:Drool: I love a big fat crust - none of the cheap thin-crust stuff for me!

The dough is scratch made, but I do it in a bread machine to avoid the endless kneading.

1 1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
2 tblsp. olive oil
2 1/2 tsp granular yeast
3 1/2 - 4 cups bread flour

Let rise 1 hour, form into 2 pizzas, let rise another 1 hour.

And - try cooking at a variety of heat levels, I usually do it at 425 on the bottom shelf but try taking your oven WAY up, or down to 375.

That's it! Go make some! Shoot us the pics!

Oh yeah, you can also toss some wood chips in a pie pan on the bottom rack for a smoky woodfired flavor.
Let them pre-heat up with the oven. Open the windows so your smoke alarm doesn't squeal.

Also - I've tried adding parmesan, garlic and/or Italian spices to the dough itself if you really want to have your taste buds dancing. YUM.

Been on a bit of a salad kick lately. The first is baked salmon and sauteed shrimp over a baby spring mix salad with shaved carrots etc.
Dressing consisted of balsamic added to pan drippings from the shrimp and a bit of butter.

Closer view.

Then tonight we had a warm apple smoked bacon and eggs over arugula salad with sauteed mushrooms, home made croutons, tomatoes and onions.
The dressing consisted of cooked garlic, red wine vinegar, dijon, oil and anchovies.

Here's one with the mushrooms. (on the side due to picky kids)

Something about laying salty, rich foods over crisp, light salads works for me.

Quite impressive Matt!

Rockin Matt!

Thanks guys. I love this thread.

Great lookin' stuff Matt!

Thanks Tom. Here's this mornings breakfast. Sausage, red onion, mozzarella, cilantro and cumin scramble on flour tortillas topped with avocado and a touch of sour cream.
Also complimented perfectly by my wife's awesome smoothies.

We had a big homemade pizza party last night for my mom's 75th B-day. I will have pics soon. (had leftover sausage and red onion.. hence the eggs this morning)

When do we get invited over, Matt?!?!?

Man, your stuff looks so good I'll take 3 day old leftovers.

Here's yesterday and today's breakfast.
The difference with today's was I added avocado and smoked white cheddar cheese. No pic though, I was too hungry.

NICE!!

Is that Bacon? no can't be.....Veggie alt Bacon, Tofucon?

I say caramelized red onions?

Jeff(btd)

I do believe this thread is making a comeback....

Facon?

Egg, potato, red bell pepper, and red onion on Ciabatta roll.

I want to see Matt's pizza party, where dat thing?

On 2012-02-22 16:45, Tonga Tom wrote:
Egg, potato, red bell pepper, and red onion on Ciabatta roll.

Jeff wins the Kewpie doll,
Pizza Party! Pizza Party!

Here are a couple of shots from the home made pizza party for my mom's 75th birthday.
They were very fun and very good.

Oh yeah!

Hey Matt - you can get great pizza supplies at Mona Lisa Deli in San Diego's Little Italy. Check it.

Those look YUM.

On the menu tonight, Tastes of Asia
Garlic Ginger Chicken, Japanese Fried Rice, Thai Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad with Peanut Dipping Sauce.

mmmmm...looks good. I made a pass at making Pad Tai last night. Not too bad an attempt, then my phone ate the pictures.

You guys can figure this out:

Roasted Sesame Tuna ?

BING BING BING! WINNAH!

"Roasted Sesame Tuna" Marinated for 3 hours in sake, soy sauce, lemon juice, sesame oil and chunks of garlic, broil 12 minutes on each side on the bed of lemons and thin-cut green onions, sprinkle with the roasted sesame seeds, serve with Japanese rice.

Oh yeah, you can go Hawaiian with this by switching out the lemon for fresh-cut pineapple and its juice.

I like that little seed toaster - cute! :)

The other day, my son, my brother, and I were having a major discussion. Out of the 4 major meats (beef, pork, chicken & turkey*) which would be the easiest to do without? Turkey was the hands down winner there. Then the more difficult question, which would be the hardest to give up? I'm leaning towards pork - any pork that is deep fried, barbequed, or smoked is just heaven on a plate. I don't think I could live without bacon, pork chops, loin, pulled pork, or ribs (beef ribs are nowhere near as good) My brother said he could not live without an occasional beef steak and my son said he needed a cheeseburger once in a while. Which got me to thinking - why not make pork burgers?

So my question to you is, have you tried out any ground pork? Pork just seasons so much better than beef. I picked up a couple pounds of ground pork and I'm going to try them out this week. My mind is just reeling with the possibilities - Chipotle, Caribbean Jerk, Cajun, Teriyaki, Chopped bacon & liquid smoke, Greek seasoning, mmmmmmm What do you think?

*lamb and seafood really aren't even worth considering

Mike, I make Pork Burgers all the time, Ground Pork with fresh Ginger & Garlic mixed into the meat
then brush some Char Siu sauce on & BBQ, slap on some Asian cole slaw on a nice roll
and you got my Asian Burger!

The original version of Hamburgers from Germany uses pork instead of beef - it tastes more like flat sausage on a bun.

It's a bit too fatty for my tastes, so I've made it this way before, 1/2 and 1/2 with beef, it freaking delicious:

1 pkg. extremely low-fat ground beef
1 pkg. ground pork
1/2 to 1 cup water
2 tblsp. olive oil
1 egg
lots of spices
breadcrumbs
1/4 cup super-fine chopped onion
1/4 cup super-fine chopped mushrooms

Now get your hands in there and squish it all together until it's SMOOTH. Form into patties, if you separate them with saran wrap you can freeze them too. Grill lightly. It tastes amazing.

[ Edited by: Cammo 2012-02-26 12:24 ]

I think Wednesday will be Ground Pork Experimentation Night this week. I made some Grapefruit Sorbet with Agave Nectar tonight, it was pretty good. Just grapefruit juice, water, and agave. I think I'll try Donga Punch Sorbet soon using cinnamon syrup in place of the agave - sounds delish to me! Add some lime juice and maybe a little rum but don't want to lower the freezing point too much

Just a quick dinner of "Vietnamese Pho with Chicken" tonight

Chuck, everything looks yummy on that green table :D

Donga Punch Sorbet:

1 1/2 cups ruby grapefruit juice
1 cup homemade cinnamon syrup
2 cups water
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce rum

I made half a recipe, it was enough for 2 generous servings. You can taste all the flavors, of course the grapefruit and cinnamon are predominant but the rum and lime are there too. I was going to skip the rum but Professor G suggested it might help smooth the texture. Very refreshing, I will definitely be making it again this summer.

Very Nice Mike!

Here's some Mahi-mahi with sweet potato, quinoa, and some sautéed greens & onions...

Tom, I would love to see your version of BBQ.

Is that capers Tom? I like me some capers!

Yes Mike, them be some capers!

It's International Soup Day!
So I got homemade Pea Soup & Udon Noodle in an Onion broth soups "A Simmering"
Jungle Ginger likes a nice Grilled Cheese Sammy with her soup, so gotta make that to.

I will post pics in a bit.

I enjoy a good soup, especially something good and hearty like pozole or potato soup. But my son says soup is "Hobo Food" so I don't make much :lol: