Favorite foods/Signature recipes

I love good new york style pizza, but can't find the perfect pie yet.. Have tried all the pizza places in town to no avail. One place comes close, with a vodka sauce pie with fresh mozorella, prosciutto, and marinated mushrooms, but they often really skimp on the toppings and nobody like a slide where only half of it has toppings or cheese on it. :( I also love pasta and good steaks.

Gordon Ramsay has a good black iron frying pan steak recipe that I use. The only difference that I do is to flip the steak every minute for more even cooking.

One dish that I make that is great to bring is black beans for tacos.
3 cans black beans drained
1 can rotel (any hotness)
1 can diced green chiles
1 large sweet onion diced
3+ cloves of garlic minced or put through a garlic press
1 "box" of chicken or beef broth
1/3-1/2 block of cream cheese softened
salt and black pepper (to taste)
garlic powder ~1/3tsp
onion powder ~1 tsp
chile powder ~2 tsp
cumin ~2 tsp
paprika ~1-2 tsp
lemon juice ~1/2-1tsp
Saute oniions and garlic until very tender and translucent
Add Rotel and diced chiles
Add drained black beans, broth, and spices
Stir to combine, cover, and bring to a boil.
Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring ocassionally until beans are tender and the mixture has cooked down (should cook down to roughly half the amounto f liquid or less).
When the mixture appears thick enough, taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Remove from heat.
Use a hand-held stick blender or food processor to puree half the mixture.
Add softened cream cheese and stir until well combined.
If the mixture is not tangy enough, add lemon juice. If the mixture is too bitter, add a little white sugar.

This makes a great addition to tacos, eaten with rice, or completely pureed and served as a bean dip. It should keep for a week in the fridge and when eaten with meat / rice for tacos, makes about 10-12 servings depending on your portion size.
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Originally Posted by SilentHill

which model/size do you have? i almost bought one several times but they're expensive.

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I got the 8-qt Duo. I wasn't really interested in the Duo+ or Ultra with the additional yogurt or pasteurize/sterilize settings, and IMO paying for the egg setting is a waste since eggs are one of the easier foods to cook with the manual settings. I did want the extra capacity for larger pot roasts, and because I eat dinner leftovers for work lunches.

It was well worth the money because my cooktop died right after Thanksgiving last year, the cheapest replacement I could find was $600 so I haven't bothered with getting a new one yet, and since I can fry/saute foods in the Instant Pot I actually don't miss the cooktop.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

For eggplant parmesan I use a blend of traditional Italian bread crumb and panko. I go flour, water, flour, water, bread crumb.

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Thank you! I'll try that this weekend. Normally I coat the eggplant in egg and then cover it in panko before baking the coated slices for 15 min. It may be the flour that I'm missing.

Every time I buy eggplant parm at the local pizza place, I find that it has this taste that I just can't replicate. And they won't tell me how they do it! Something about magicians never revealing their tricks.... In total theirs isn't as good as mine, but if I could find how to create that taste, my homemade would be absolutely killer!

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Originally Posted by SilentHill

which model/size do you have? i almost bought one several times but they're expensive.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I got the 8-qt Duo. I wasn't really interested in the Duo+ or Ultra with the additional yogurt or pasteurize/sterilize settings, and IMO paying for the egg setting is a waste since eggs are one of the easier foods to cook with the manual settings. I did want the extra capacity for larger pot roasts, and because I eat dinner leftovers for work lunches.

It was well worth the money because my cooktop died right after Thanksgiving last year, the cheapest replacement I could find was $600 so I haven't bothered with getting a new one yet, and since I can fry/saute foods in the Instant Pot I actually don't miss the cooktop.

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i got the 6quart wifi model for Christmas. i can set it from my phone and monitor temps and pressure while at work or whatever or on the couch lol.

also got this Brûléed Pumpkin Beer Pie recipe from jmc.

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Bruleed Pumpkin Beer Pie

3/4 heavy cream
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
5 large egg yolks
3/4 cup brown ale (barrel aged)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cup pumpkin (can)
1 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
white sugar for brulee topping

heat cream til edges bubble. whisk yolks and sugar and pour hot cream while whisking continually. add everything else. pour into crust. bake 375degrees 50-60 min. chill 4 hours. Brulee top.


Pale Ale Pie Dough

2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
12 tbs cold unsalted butter, cubed
8 tbs shortening
1/3 cup ice cold boozy beer (Pale Ale) (or 1/4 cup cp;d vodka and ¼ cup cold water)

mix dry stuff (1.5 cup flour) in processor. add butter and shortening, process until well combined. add remaing 1 cup flour and pulse until coated. remove and mix in 1/3 cup beer until incorporated w/ spatula.

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Originally Posted by SilentHill

can you share cracker candy's recipe please?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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My apologies for the delayed response. Here’s my version with my tweaked notes.

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 (16 ounce) package saltine crackers (may need a few more depending on the size of your sheet pan)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I use a whole bag of Nestle Minis)
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks)
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts...if desired)



DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Cover sheet pan or cookie sheet (with raised edges, not totally flat) with aluminum foil and arrange crackers in a single layer.

3. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sugar, and bring to a low boil. Continue boiling, stirring constantly to prevent burning, approximately 3 minutes. You want the butter and sugar to be completely blended, no layer of melted butter on top or sides of sauce pan. Drizzle sugar mixture evenly over crackers (I also spread with a spoon back if needed).

4. Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes, or until edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. As they melt, I like to smooth the warm chocolate with a spatula for a more even layer of chocolate. Sprinkle with nuts, gently pressing into the melted chocolate. Cool in refrigerator until chocolate has hardened, and break into pieces. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.


I also substitute the saltines with graham crackers and white chocolate chips. Delicious, but the white chocolate doesn’t usually melt as evenly as regular chocolate.