What's "Cooking" in Tiki Central?

This one is for OGR.
Bacon wrapped rumaki made with watermelon pickles in the middle.

Cheese straws made with the cookie press gun.

Red ones are cayenne pepper, green ones jalapeno pepper, yellow ones parmesan cheese.

Mike, it always looks like you are feeding an army, hehe, your food looks great. Skip that cheese tray.... yum.

Flank steak rubbed with paprika, pepper, garlic and onion powder, broiled and served on a salad.

Talk on the previous page about “cheap” flank steak made me laugh, too; $9.99/pound at the only grocery store in my mountain town.

Perfectly cooked Hamo!

We're having a SoCal cold snap, well temps in the high 30s. So some Zuppa Tuscana tonight

Buffalo cauliflower

Looks good Jon! Try the Spicy Orange Cauliflower too

Every Summer and Winter Olympics my daughter and I have a party complete with food from the host country. We have done China (2008), Canada (2010), England (2012), Russia (2014), Brazil (2016) and now I am experimenting with some Korean food for next month

Danpatbbang is a Red Bean Pastry - yeast dough filled with sweetened red bean paste. Not bad but a little bland, could have used some cinnamon or nuts or something. The real ones will have black sesame seeds on top as a garnish. As I understand, they don't have the lavish desserts in Asia like we do in Western culture and red bean paste is a common filling.

Experimenting with some Thai grill flavors. Gai Yang (Thai Grilled Chicken), Red Curry Veggies, Jasmine Rice. Chai Banana Daiquiri (that's supposed to be a goose garnish :lol: ) For dessert, an interesting Avocado Coconut Ice Cream served on the half-shell (the photo color doesn't do it justice, it was a beautiful shade of green)

I love ethnic foods, so here's some Aussie. (OK, just because Outback Steakhouse serves Alice Springs Chicken I'm not sure that makes it Australian :lol: )

Alice Springs Chicken (chicken breast, honey mustard, bacon, and melted PEPPER JACK CHEESE!!!), Rice Pilaf, and Grilled Squash

I don't see any Vegemite or Witchetty Grubs, so no, it's not Aussie at all Mike. :lol:

Zucchini Frittata

On 2018-02-02 00:04, swizzle wrote:
I don't see any Vegemite or Witchetty Grubs, so no, it's not Aussie at all Mike. :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Hilda, lots of yummy veggies, looks wonderfully healthy!

Yuck Mike.

you say Frittata, I say quiche.

Eggselent.

I must say I favor the quiche, more carbs :lol:

Mike, Hil, Skip...great looking food. My wife's B-day dinner....Dijon Crusted Rack of Lamb/Bacon Wrapped Sea Scallops (u-10)/Broccoli/"Real" Saffron Rice. Good Stuff.

Looks good.
So on the Saffron I got that once as I want to know what most spices taste like and what I found is that Saffron gave a great color to the rice (I made rice too) but the flavor was like not bad but then not great as well.

Saffron is pretty costly and I did not think it was worth the cost for what I got.

Did I get bad Saffron or is it one of those over rated things?
I can get that color from egg shade for far less money.

My dad loved lamb chops mom would broil these small 50 cent size pieces of meat that would smoke up the whole house, I never felt the love for those.

Do you use mint jelly?

Double post, but what is (u-10)/Broccoli?

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2018-02-12 10:25 ]

Skip, Since we have Lamb (Kabobs and Racks) about 3 times a year, Saffron Rice is required and we use a lot (the premium Saffron Coupe Spanish) in each recipe. It is @ $11.00 for a 1/2 gram. I wish lamb was that reasonable, but we got 2 eight bone racks for 15.00 each...usually around 27.00 a rack. My wife is well worth it...just for dealing w/ me. Yes, we use Mint sauce, which is a little more savory than jelly. The U10 is the measurement for Scallops (like Shrimp counts) under 10 Scallops per pound=jumbo. Broccoli is Broccoli. :)

Ha!
Thanks, I am allergic to Scallops but I can eat Lobster and shrimp.
And that is good cuz I love them.

OGR, I'm not a big fan of lamb but that crust looks AMAZING!!!!

Last night my daughter and I had our 5th biannual Olympics party with food and dress from the host country so here is South Korea

My daughter and I in the traditional clothing (Hanbok)

Menu

Appetizer - Panko Fried Kimchee Balls with Dipping Sauce.

Pork Bulgogi

Dakgangjeong - Sweet Crispy Chicken

Galbi - Short Ribs

Dessert, Danpatbbang - Red Bean Filled Pastry
(not pictured) Hotteok - Brown Sugar Filled Pancakes

And washed down with Sujeonggwa - Cinnamon and Ginger Punch with Dried Persimmons and Pine Nuts

We even had a big box of Korean snacks including Pine Nut Jelly and a canned carbonated yogurt drink :o

You are so fun! And that chicken looks Spectacular!

Thanks Bam! :wink:

Tonight is Mardi Gras so it's Jambalaya, Cajun Roasted Cauliflower Steaks, and Hurricanes

(Not the Beachbum Berry recipe, I used blood orange juice that made them so red :lol: )

We live in an amazing age. Tonight was hectic with work schedules and caring for parents. Valentine's dinner was leftover Korean food but I needed a quick and decadent dessert at least. Went to Walmart and got Chocolate Marbled Pound Cake, Fresh Strawberries, Magic Shell Chocolate Sauce, and Whipped Cream. Voilà!, Chocolate Covered Strawberry Shortcake in 2 minutes

"We live in an amazing age."

While that does look good Mike I think the amazing age was back when you could go to a bakery and find many great baked goods just as fast and easy.
Try to find salt rising bread these days.

And back when mom used to make a big dinner at least once a week.

Heck burger joints used to grind the hamburger meat fresh EVERY day in house. (steak and shake)
Back about 20? years ago we used to get our hamburger meat fresh every day from Quality meats.
Well the USDA started telling these people they had to have an inspector in the meat plant whenever they ground hamburger.
So they started grinding every other day and freezing for the next day.

Then they went to once a week, and then went out of business in short time.

Windward passage used to cook the prime rib all night slowly, now it comes in cooked and is microwaved!
It's not as good.

NOW the place I owned uses frozen grey meat patties, the waitress won't even eat it anymore.

The days of the good food are coming to an end.

Who eats that can cheese that Taco Bell puts on everything? YUCK!!

So there was this binder of Trader Vic recipes and the first recipe is...
Hamburger's, as in grinding the meat.

Did not see this till after I wrote the above post.

And in this book is salad dressings, dipping sauces, soups! just all that stuff that comes into restaurants in bags, already made these days, DAMN most places get the salad already chopped ready to go in a bag, open and serve, sad.
Open, heat, serve.

But then that was way back in the 1950s and 1960s.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29209&forum=2&start=45&55

Yes Skip, there is a lot of crap out there. But there are plusses too - fresh fruits and veggies always in season from around the world (granted, not as good as garden grown), decent boxed cake mixes and side dishes, etc. As long as you don't mind a few preservatives in your fod :lol:

That is true as well Mike,
Honey Mangos or Ataulfo Mangos and even Pomegranates are a few of the things we never saw growing up.

With the growing foreign born population in America we have way more exotic and international foods and spices, plus restaurants.

Man Zantigo and Taco Bell was all the Mexican restaurants we had growing up.

But less and less do we see people gardening, pickling foods, making jelly, just doing things from scratch.

And in my restaurant the supplier's would carry the cheap stuff more and more I would fight with them all the time.
they would tell me that other places would not buy the expensive stuff so I would be one
of the few places buying it so they could not offer it any more.

Schreiber cheese was one of these items, I could tell instantly it was not Schreiber when I saw other cheeses as it would melt glassy and not look good, and did not taste as good.

So A grade was out no longer available, B grade became the new A grade, and the cheap C grade was now middle of the road.

I also made every fry to order, the new guy makes a bunch and will do that refry thing to heat them after sitting for some time over the hot oil.
Not to mention he buys a cheaper brand of fry.
Heck my Mom used to make our fry's from potato's in the restaurant,PLUS we used to fry them in Lard and not veg oil, Damn a fry in lard is really good.

So you can see how far we have slipped from the best way in say 40 years time on just one item the French fry.

But if you are not a good cook and you never had good food really you get used to that Taco Bell can cheese and think that is good food.

On 2018-02-16 08:52, tikiskip wrote:
So A grade was out no longer available, B grade became the new A grade, and the cheap C grade was now middle of the road.

I think that pretty much sums it up :(

Nice pictures everyone,
Skip that quiche looks delicious,
Or got rum, bacon wrapped sea scallops yum,
Mike, delicious selection of all kinds of food wow!

I made a Cinnamon Roll Cake, came out very good.

Looks delicious Hilda! Like a breakfast coffee cake?

Balsalmic Glazed Steak Roll-ups with Mediterranean Vegetables, Mushroom Risotto, and Italian Margaritas

so What's "Cooking" in Tiki Central?

We just stumbled onto this this weekend, it's Chinese new year (year of the Dog)
AND this is a big deal for the Chinese as we found out going to a few Chinese grocery stores.

This is a great time to go to these stores as they have tons o Lobster's and pork belly and are just stocked to the walls, and some of the stuff is on sale. Lobsters $11.99 per pound.

Don't know how long this lasts but at least try to go to these stores next year as it is kind of an event.
Man they were both packed.

Looks good mike and Hilda.

Did get to go back to the Chinese grocery store Monday and it's over.
Lobsters up to $13.99 per pound and the store looks like it had been shopped out.

Going to make items from the Havana Cuba Trader Vic's cookbook found at a estate sale.

You enjoy those giant sea roaches Skip :lol:

Emboldened by the cauliflower steaks I decided to try some grilled cabbage "steaks" along with a pork loin. They were good but they didn't hold together as well as the cauliflower

My wife feels the same way about lobster/ srimp Mike.

You know Brussel sprouts would hold up better.
And Brussel sprouts are great in an air fryer or convection oven as they get crispy.

https://www.slenderkitchen.com/recipe/crispy-balsamic-brussel-sprouts

Love me some Brussel Sprouts!

I might just make those Brussel sprouts, pictures pending hehe.

Just had the Brussel sprouts and it is best to use a lot of balsamic vinegar and cook them till blackish.

Then paint with balsamic vinegar before you eat them.

They were good!

If you fry them until crispy and blackened and douse them in balsamic vinegar, even I would eat Brussel sprouts!

My experience with brussel sprouts is i'm sure the same as most peoples, eating them as a kid the way your parents made them, boiled and mushy. I can't say i hate them but it's not like i ever crave them. :lol:

Then a couple of years ago a friend was working at a new bar/restaurant which had a brussel sprout dish on the menu i had read rave reviews about so naturally i wanted to try them, and god damn were they amazing. My friend i went there with said he hated brussel sprouts but had a little taste when i ordered some and before i knew it he had polished off half the plate.

You could even call them a Tiki dish considering they have coconut and lime in the recipe, which you can find here.

Crispy brussel sprouts, coconut, lime, caramel

[ Edited by: swizzle 2018-02-22 04:17 ]

Fish tacos Baja style washed down withhome concocted White Sangia

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2018-02-23 21:38 ]

Brussel Sprouts (turtle heads :lol: ) are passable steamed but so much better roasted.

Nice tacos David. I've always done the more traditional red sangria, how was the white? Seems like the wine wouldn't over-power the fruit so much, which is a good thing.

My youngest bonus daughter is turning 21 next month. We are getting a taco cart so I don't have to cook for 50 people :D But I wanted to try some "Mexican flavor" cupcakes

Starting left rear:
De la Rosa - peanut butter cake, vanilla frosting, garnished with half a De la Rosa candy (peanut marzipan)
Churro - spice cake with extra cinnamon, brushed with melted butter, dipped in sanding sugar and cinnamon, enough frosting to hold a Taco Bell cinnamon twist garnish
Jamaica - whice cake injected with jamaica syrup (dried hibiscus), vanilla frosting dusted with powdered jamaica and garnished with a dried hibiscus petal
Chocolate Ybarra - chocolate cake with cayenne pepper and cinnamon, chocolate frosting dusted with choped Chocolate Ybarra, a dollop of vanilla frosting "whip cream"
Flaming Hot Cheetos - red velvet cake, vanilla frosting, crushed Flaming Hot Cheetos, and Flaming Hot Cheeto garnish

They all turned out good except the Jamaica needs more flavor. Back to the test kitchen on that one.

Mike, You are a fearless cook/chef/baker and an inspiration to a lot of us.
Regarding the White Sangria-It was an impulse thing. I am also a traditionalist and We usually have a pitcherful of Red in the fridge.
I use the cheapest red that I can find at Trader Joe’s, South American or Spanish preferred. I use whatever fruit is in season. For the White I used a whole sliced pear ( my wife’s suggestion) along with the other fruit. I've had a couple of bottles of white in my wine rack for some time (never gonna drink em otherwise -white wine with fish) So I didn’t have to spend much. I used Chianti and and had to add simple syrup cuz it was much too dry. I’ve had White Sangria at commercial establishments and mine was every bit as tasty. Btw, I add about an inch of club soda to the glass of Sangria and gently stir it as I present it to my guests

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2018-02-27 23:13 ]

Lobster Newburg baked in a shell on rice with toast points.

Skip, is this from the Trader Vic cookbook? Looks very tasty.

No it's not, it's form this book....
Lundy's : Reminiscences and Recipes from Brooklyn's Legendary Restaurant.

Damn you can get that book for under two bucks!
It is a great read and has great Recipes.

Had the largest dining room seating in America.
https://www.amazon.com/Lundys-Reminiscences-Brooklyns-Legendary-Restaurant/dp/0060187417