The General Questions thread - for quick questions, recipe requests, help.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The General Questions thread - for quick questions, recipe requests, help.

Defenestration: Aug 10, 2006; "It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"; Grimey Drawer

Am I missing something? I tried to melt semisweet chocolate chips in a double boiler (to make chocolate covered bananas) but the chocolate only got mushy, it never melted, even with the water almost boiling. I had about 36 oz of plain jane toll house chocolate and 5 tbsp butter in there, per the recipe. (A lot of the comments say that the chocolate didn't melt for them either, but surely people melt chocolate on the regular?

# ¿ Jul 4, 2015 04:12

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# ¿ May 20, 2024 15:29

Defenestration: Aug 10, 2006; "It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"; Grimey Drawer

I'm looking for a cream sauce recipe that takes only a modicum of skill and time and turns out thick decadent goodness. Any suggestions?

# ¿ Aug 5, 2015 00:03

Defenestration: Aug 10, 2006; "It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"; Grimey Drawer

Micomicona posted:

A basic bechamel (white sauce)? those are dead easy, plus adaptable as all heck. Great kitchen skill to have.

Take a certain amount of butter (sayyyyy, two tablespoons?), melt it in a pan. Add the same amount of flour. Whisk it all about, and let it cook for a few minutes--just enough so that it gets all bubbly and the flour is cooked through. This is called a roux (pronounced "roo") by the way. From there, whisk in as many cups of milk as you added tablespoons of butter (so in my example, 2 cups). You could do less liquid/more roux for a thicker sauce if you'd like. Salt, pepper, stirring, and PATIENCE come next. after a few minutes (5-10, depending) it will magically thicken up and voila! Basic, basic cream sauce.

Here's the cool thing; you can add/change all sorts of things. Render some sausage instead of melting butter, and proceed? Country gravy. Add a bunch of shredded cheeses after it has thickened up? Cheese sauce. Try using a different liquid like stock instead of some of the milk--or try subbing in cream for extra richness. Sautee some onions, garlic, spices in the butter if you want more flavor like that. You could use a different oil instead of butter too, if you are feeding hippies or whatever. I have made roux-based "cream" sauces with olive oil, whole wheat flour, almond milk, and vegetable stock and they still turned out thick, glossy, and tasty. This is a super adaptable sauce.

ETA: some people use 'cream sauce' and alfredo (as in the fettuccini) interchangeably. No worries! You can make the one out of the other. Make the roux, add some cream, then add a BUNCH of Parmesan. Purists may say no garlic, but garlic is tasty and often shows up in these things; just mince it up and chuck it in with the butter if you want it. I think alfredo ultra-purists may even say just do butter+cream+cheese, but this will not be as thick nor decadent as it sounds like you'd want as the roux is what makes it thick.

I like the sound of all this. What other kinds spices would go with? I was using just garlic and black pepper.
Correlated question: what can I sautee with garlic if my boyfriend doesn't like onions?

# ¿ Aug 5, 2015 03:35

Defenestration: Aug 10, 2006; "It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"; Grimey Drawer

I made Mujaddara (http://www.budgetbytes.com/2015/03/mujaddara/) and it's fine I guess but it's a little dry and boring flavor. What can I add to zhuzh it up (I have a bunch left over). Maybe raita?

# ¿ Sep 12, 2015 14:26

Defenestration: Aug 10, 2006; "It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"; Grimey Drawer

I got my mother's old Kitchen Aid!

Now what do I make with it?

Note: I am bad at cooking and live with one roommate

# ¿ Jul 31, 2016 20:10

Defenestration: Aug 10, 2006; "It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"; Grimey Drawer

Squashy Nipples posted:

Yeah, or oatmeal cookies. Use the recipe on the box of oats: use all butter, and cream the gently caress out of it.

this sounds good

MrSlam posted:

The world is your oyster. But don't make oysters. Try chocolate chip cookies first.

I lack imagination. My friends make chocolate chip cookies with sea salt in them, that could be good times

# ¿ Aug 2, 2016 00:15

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# ¿ May 20, 2024 15:29

Defenestration: Aug 10, 2006; "It wasn't my fault that my first unconscious thought turned out to be-"
"Jesus, kid, what?"
"That something smelled delicious!"; Grimey Drawer

Seeking a good scotch egg recipe. Something a bit spicy. We've had trouble getting a runny middle.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2018 01:14

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > The General Questions thread - for quick questions, recipe requests, help.