What did you cook recently that you were delighted with?

Knex*

Just finished eating a stir fry that has me worn out both from the effort of trying to consume it whilst grinning, and also repeatedly slapping myself in the back in congratulations.

Making my own sauce from scratch is a relatively recent thing, but I absolutely nailed it out of the park today folks - not hint too much or too little of sesame oil, and that little ****er is a trickster that can ruin any meal based gathering.

What did ye cook recently that brought a smile to your chops?

Thelonious Monk

crystal meth

Yer Da sells Avon

Four fish fingers, gently glazed with ketchup, served between two slices of heavily buttered white bread.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The books.

bee06

I made a savage cheese and onion tayto sandwich on Saturday evening. Now I want another one....

DoozerT6

Ok, I didn't cook this myself, but I had the biggest goo on me today for a bowl of ramen for some reason. So I went and had one. And it was feckin' delicious! And I was delighted!

Did a chicken paella thing yesterday. Was devine.

Graces7

A microwaved chocolate sponge cake... Utterly divine and quick and easy.. instant gratification

ILoveYourVibes

Vegetable soup.

Feisar

The sauce is epic! I used my own meatball recipe which I got from my Irish/Italian/American cousin.

Also reverse seared a t bone recently, twas excellent.

BuboBubo

Poached eggs, fresh from my own hens. Devine!

RhubarbCrumble

Pulled pork with a bbq sauce in a brioche bun. Mmm, tasty

fryup

macaroni cheese poured over a plate of chips

*if you're ever stuck for a quick & easy meal - try it

this yoke. the seasonings make it smell amazing

https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/one-pan-healthy-italian-sausage-veggies/

suicide_circus

beef bourguignon

Hector Savage

Cacio i Pepe!

Very rewarding when you get the cheese right ...

pawdee

Squirrel en croute. Turned out well.

circadian

I made an instant pot beef stew yesterday, with a decent cut of steak as the meat. It just fell apart and the consistency of the stew/broth was bang on. Best one yet.

Ush1

The finest of Koka noodles.

Aongus Von Bismarck

I'm an exceptional cook at the best of times, and so am happy with almost everything I prepare in the kitchen. Obviously I'm cooking for smaller numbers, but I do think I cook to at least one Michelin star standard.

I may have mentioned before, but I'm not a big fan of traditional German food. It's all rather stodgy, and the portions of food served border on the ignorant. However I was looking to impress the parents of my latest girlfriend and, based on her advice, I prepared a rustic German meal with some 'cheffy' riffs.

The whole thing was a simply outstanding success. Mains was fried medallions of pork neck in a black cheery and sweet pepper sauce, with spätzle, brasised fennel, and buttered cabbage. Starter was bonbons of salt marsh duck with pickled radishes and micro herbs. Dessert was a very traditional Zwetschgenkuchen. All this was accompanied by a number of bottle of an extremely fine Malterdinger Bienenberg Spätburgunder GG Wildenstein 2015 and a Riesling Uhlen Roth 2011 Weingut Heymann. And a pot of peppermint tea freshly made with mint from my urban garden.

Aongus Von Bismarck

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I'm an exceptional cook at the best of times, and so am happy with almost everything I prepare in the kitchen. Obviously I'm cooking for smaller numbers, but I do think I cook to at least one Michelin star standard.

I may have mentioned before, but I'm not a big fan of traditional German food. It's all rather stodgy, and the portions of food served border on the ignorant. However I was looking to impress the parents of my latest girlfriend and, based on her advice, I prepared a rustic German meal with some 'cheffy' riffs.

The whole thing was a simply outstanding success. Mains was fried medallions of pork neck in a black cheery and sweet pepper sauce, with spätzle, brasised fennel, and buttered cabbage. Starter was bonbons of salt marsh duck with pickled radishes and micro herbs. Dessert was a very traditional Zwetschgenkuchen. All this was accompanied by a number of bottle of an extremely fine Malterdinger Bienenberg Spätburgunder GG Wildenstein 2015 and a Riesling Uhlen Roth 2011 Weingut Heymann. And a pot of peppermint tea freshly made with mint from my urban garden.

A delightful concoction pulled out of your derriere. Chapeau.

FluffyTowel

"Aongus wrote:

...in a black cheery and sweet pepper sauce...

Sounds fun.

RhubarbCrumble

FluffyTowel wrote: »

Sounds fun.

Who doesn't like a nice happy sauce?

IamMetaldave

Carbonara from scratch.. the first couple of times was more like scrambled eggs with pasta and bacon

the beer revolu

Probably not the place for a serious answer but...

A week or so ago, I did a really, really simple dinner that just hit every right note. You know the "that was exactly what I wanted to eat", feeling? Even the wine was perfect.

Lamb leg steaks, cooked medium rare. Steamed new potatoes - variety called Orla - not too floury, not too waxy. Kale fried with garlic.
What made it special was a simple dressing of parsley, mint and chives, olive oil and aged sherry vinegar. Yumm:D

Meat, spuds, one veg and a bit of sauce;)

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

I made meatballs in tomato sauce for meatballs subs a few weeks ago. That’s not the meal I was delighted with though. There was a lot of tomato sauce so I froze some of it sans meatballs.

A week or so later, I needed a quick meal. Fried some nice sausages that we had, boiled some pasta, defrosted the meatball sub sauce in the microwave, chopped up the fried sausages and put them back to the pan with the meatball sauce. Brought the sauce to the boil and then simmered it for a few minutes. Put it on top of the pasta. Ate.

Good lord, it was good. I’d made that meal before but with tomato sauce I made specially on the day and it was only grand. The difference was using the tomato sauce that I’d cooked meatballs in. The sauce was so much more favoursome.

Boom_Bap

I made pizzas a few days ago. Made up some dough, I cheated on using passatta as it was the closest thing I had to hand.
I made cheese, spinach and feta, and ham and bacon pizzas.


They were amazing. There are a couple of tweaks i'll make next time around as well.

the beer revolu

Boom_Bap wrote: »

I made pizzas a few days ago. Made up some dough, I cheated on using passatta as it was the closest thing I had to hand.
I made cheese, spinach and feta, and ham and bacon pizzas.


They were amazing. There are a couple of tweaks i'll make next time around as well.

Best and easiest homemade pizza sauce.

Tin of good quality plum tomatoes (Chopped, or chop them in the tin).
One clove of garlic, crushed.
One teaspoon of dried oregano.

Heat a heavy pot or frying pan until very hot.
Add in a good glug of olive oil.
Chuck in the other ingredients (it will splatter and splutter)
Keep on high heat, stirring until it is reduced to a thickish paste (probably around 10 mins)
Season with salt and pepper.

Will do around 4 pizzas

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I'm an exceptional cook at the best of times, and so am happy with almost everything I prepare in the kitchen. Obviously I'm cooking for smaller numbers, but I do think I cook to at least one Michelin star standard.

I may have mentioned before, but I'm not a big fan of traditional German food. It's all rather stodgy, and the portions of food served border on the ignorant. However I was looking to impress the parents of my latest girlfriend and, based on her advice, I prepared a rustic German meal with some 'cheffy' riffs.

The whole thing was a simply outstanding success. Mains was fried medallions of pork neck in a black cheery and sweet pepper sauce, with spätzle, brasised fennel, and buttered cabbage. Starter was bonbons of salt marsh duck with pickled radishes and micro herbs. Dessert was a very traditional Zwetschgenkuchen. All this was accompanied by a number of bottle of an extremely fine Malterdinger Bienenberg Spätburgunder GG Wildenstein 2015 and a Riesling Uhlen Roth 2011 Weingut Heymann. And a pot of peppermint tea freshly made with mint from my urban garden.

That’s vaguely ominous. What’s your level at the worst of times?

Feisar

While I'm all for doing things from scratch Aldi's Basil and Oregano Pasatta works fairly well as a pizza sauce.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

A big fillet of beef for myself. As I had it with lovely potatoes and veg that day. Was in a sandwich the next with salad and mustard, that evening with rice and sweet and sour sauce, and the final day with noodles, stir fried veg and a spicy sauce.

Felt like all of the meals were very tasty and very varied, but all came from the beef base. The beef was really yummy to begin with.

corner of hells

FluffyTowel wrote: »

"Aongus wrote:

...in a black cheery and sweet pepper sauce...

Sounds fun.

Drops monocle.

Elemonator

Cheesecake!

Harleen Quinzel

I made taco fries last week and my OH said they tasted exactly like abrakebara taco fries.

Now that may not seem like a compliment to most, but the man likes his Abra taco fries so I was delighted with myself

gerrybbadd

Pizzas and fried chicken.

I found that, if you add a little baking powder into the 11 "Secret herbs & Spices" blend for the chicken, you will get an amazingly crunchy end result

RhubarbCrumble

I'm doing fish curry tonight. Will post a picture later if I remember. It always comes out well.

I've probably jinxed myself now

FatherTed

Marinating chicken breasts in apple cider vinegar, some spices and a bit of EVOO to cook on the grill tonight. Always comes out nice and juicy.

Grandeeod

Harleen Quinzel wrote: »

I made taco fries last week and my OH said they tasted exactly like abrakebara taco fries.

Now that may not seem like a compliment to most, but the man likes his Abra taco fries so I was delighted with myself

The El Paso Taco mix is a great help to me when I make Taco fries/wedges. Squeeze it all into a foil container and bang it the oven on a low heat and finish a beer or two, for the ultimate takeaway experience. Seriously.:D Eat it out of the foil tray as well!

Beanntraigheach

Two burglars I caught in my home the other night (they chose the wrong house).
I overdid the first one so the meat was a little dry.
The second one turned out perfectly though so I was very pleased with that. Went lovely with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Harleen Quinzel wrote: »

I made taco fries last week and my OH said they tasted exactly like abrakebara taco fries.

Now that may not seem like a compliment to most, but the man likes his Abra taco fries so I was delighted with myself

This sounds like a great, dirty meal. They’re lovely occasionally. My sossies-in-meatbally-tomato-sauce-with-pasta described upthread was along those lines too.

Filmer Paradise

I'd be fairly basic in the kitchen department, but lately I've developed an interest in the humble spud.

Home grown in my little garden. Boil them up & have them mashed with butter.
Golden Wonder or Queens are nice & flowery.

They seem to grow randomly in the compost heap.

Excess spuds are sliced & fried the next day.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Filmer Paradise wrote: »

I'd be fairly basic in the kitchen department, but lately I've developed an interest in the humble spud.

Home grown in my little garden. Boil them up & have them mashed with butter.
Golden Wonder or Queens are nice & flowery.

They seem to grow randomly in the compost heap.

Excess spuds are sliced & fried the next day.

That’s the only time and way I ever do fried spuds. My husband loves them but they are faffy and time-consuming to make from scratch. Leftover boiled spuds are the way to go. You could probably fry leftover roast potatoes too but... wait... when are there ever leftover roast potatoes? What was I thinking?