The food thread

[Argonanza]

I had pigeon stew yesterday. Pretty tasty, but the smell of pigeon meat still lingers on my hands no matter how much I wash them.

This is my life now. I've become Nanza Smellyhands.

[Aarah]

I had pigeon stew yesterday. Pretty tasty, but the smell of pigeon meat still lingers on my hands no matter how much I wash them.

This is my life now. I've become Nanza Smellyhands.

What do pigeon hands smell like? Meaty?

[Dark Spark]

By strange coincidence they smell exactly like KFC.

[Snake]

I just tried squid for the first time. It was a bit rubbery. It was very small, almost like a baby squid.

Its called Calamari for some reason.

[Aarah]

I've never liked the look of that. Did you like it?

(The name 'Calamari' comes from the plural form of the Italian word for squid, as it is often used in mediterranean dishes).

[Snake]

Eh..it was ok. I didn't really care for the texture of it, it had a good taste though. And those tentacles need some getting used to...

[Dark Spark]

Having firecracker chicken tonight. The explosive yield is— disappointing.

[leroybrown]

FINALLY got around to planting. This seasons experiment will be no-TLC sweet potatoes (put eyes straight in the ground w/ no water or fertilizer) and swiss chard. The chard is interesting because I've got an off-grid automatic watering system I'm tinkering with. Pics on the way when my god forsaken cordless drill charges and I can finish up the last few steps.

[BetaB17]

Dov, since I know how you enjoy your pasta bakes, I couldn't help but share this.

:

YouTube Link

Also is it sad I have never taken a try at pasta bakes.. despite how adept I am with italian style pastas in general

[Sublymonal]

Question for the folks living in Germany: what are some cheap staples over there?

[Argonanza]

Surprisingly successful experiment: tuna, curry and peas. They work together, somehow.

[The SheoDovah]

Turns out meatballs in pastabake are a bit crap.

Nah, just kidding but it is something i intend on doing in the future. Although the prospect of me cooking meatballs and having to either put them in the pastabake before being cooked or afterwards is a bit confusing. Oh and i am considering Crab Claw Meat Pastabake. Basically, pastabake with meat from a crab claw. Salmon Pastabake tastes like [&@%!] but that may have been the result of the cheese not protecting it. Oh and the small bones that were in it. I would recommend using olives as they are quite nice in this. For cheese, use any that is good for grating. e.g. solid cheeses otherwise, you'll just have cheese that falls apart and a bit of a rubbish pastabake.

[BetaB17]

Dova, king of pasta bakes. A bit cheesy but has a nice ring to it

But honestly, I have a nifty recipe for meatballs if you want. Up to you if you want them to be cheese filled or not, but if all the prep work is done you should be able to cook it in the pasta bake, granted if the moisture isn't too much<_< From experience, I find that semi cooking them in a pan to help seal in the flavor does wonders, letting the oven doing the rest more evenly. Only issue is trying to keep them from falling apart either due to how you made them(too much moisture or not enough binding) or while "browning" them(Metal tongs, say no more)

If somehow you manage, and can mold small to large sizes, may I recommend meatball subs caramelized onions and toasted bread make it grand

[The SheoDovah]

I wouldn't be too fussed if meatballs fell apart in pastabake as i always use a bowl for serving it up. When i have a better wage, i shall ask ye for ye reciepe.

I am a bit tempted to have sausage pastabake at some point but i'll most likely get precooked sausage and throw in some ketchup. Or small pieces of bacon with shrimp. Or Prawn Pastabake with fresh prawns or shrimp. Anything goes for Pastabake. All one needs is pasta of their choice, cheese and bread.

[The-Shadow-One]

I kind of want to know how to make meatball pasta bake... that sounds nice. Recipiiiieee please? (In pm or in here?)

[BetaB17]

When I can, I'll post a simplified recipe for the meatballs, with spices being optiona<_< but i for one know nothing into pasta bakes. Dov may be too modest to admit it, but any fellow who specializes in one dish for some time and takes great pride it, is certainly damn good at it Plus I too have been pending for dov to share his secrets for quite some time

[The SheoDovah]

Before one cooks a pastabake, one must undergo several trials. Each harder then the last one. They will push most people to the brink of insanity and will kill them if they fail. Once they have passed them, then they are ready to make Pastabake.

When you have completed these sacred tri.... wait, my lawyer has just informed me that under no circumstances, that one should undertake the trials due to murder, death, death and murder, insanity, something called a Wazzule and Zool being involved. My lawyer may be a sock puppet and this may just be wasting your time and the real reason is that the master and god of Pastabakes on UESP is just trying to make himself seem like a god when in fact, he is a god. A bored one with a goatee.

To make pastabake, one will need the following ingredients:

Your chosen pasta
100G of your chosen cheese but make sure it is strong enough to withstand grating. I have found that cheese that falls apart ruins the dish as it's just a big bowl of bread,cheese and pasta. I always use spicy cheese but the choice is yours. Unless it's Stilton, then i am required by the Laws of the Bake to hunt you down and slap you silly.
1 or 2 slices of bread depending on how bready you want it. I would recommend the using the end slices as they are thicker.
Pasta sauce

Optional:
Tuna, olives, Beta, Chorizo. I have used one of each at some point or a mixture of two. Do not use salmon as i have found the canned stuff to be utter crap. But if you do use fresh salmon, let me know how it goes.

Step one
Cook the pasta for 15 minutes. I do this by boiling it for a few minutes then turning it off and putting the saucepan lid on. It matters little if the pasta isn't completely cooked.

Step two

Pour pasta into a caserole dish and add the entire jar of pasta sauce ontop. You can stir it if you want but i usually pour the entire lot over it and let it decide where to cover.

Step three

Grate both the bread and the cheese. I do the bread first then add that to the dish before focusing on the cheese. I will warn you, bread cooks faster and can become a bit burnt if it's the top layer.

Step four

Grate cheese and add to the dish. You can add the optional stuff last.

Step five

Sacrifice a goat to Cuthlu.. i mean.... ahem.... Check that you have done steps 1-4 and put into the oven for half an hour. 200C is what i use. However, i would advise checking it after 20 minutes to determine if it's ready. You will know when it's ready.

Step 6

Serve in a bowl. This isn't really neccessary but plates can not handle the might that is Pastabake. Unless you want to risk losing some of it to the floor. If so, may god have mercy on your soul.

Step 7

Enjoy!

Step 8

Make too much, regret making too much, eat too much, spend a few hours wishing you hadn't used half a packet of pasta, develop time travel and go back to prevent yourself from making too much.



And that's how one makes pastabake. Anything goes with it in theory but it is up to you to decied what you want.

The Godking of Pastabakes have spoken and now, you shall kneel before him.

[Dark Spark]

...Cook the pasta for 15 minutes. ... It matters little if the pasta isn't completely cooked.

What would you consider 'completely' then? When the pasta dissolves into a glutinous slurry?

[The SheoDovah]

If one does not know how to cook pasta, one is not ready for the power of the Bake. As one will just ruin it and force me to rip out their spine and serve it to them as a soup.

[Dark Spark]

Fifteen minutes in the pot is a wee bit long for something that is going to cook in the oven for thirty.

[Will Zurmacht]

In the spirit of "what are you eating, reading, excreting right now?"

A Mexican-style "candy," Pulparindo. Imagine a fruit roll-up dunked in hot sauce.

[Argonanza]

Ate rook yesterday. I'd say it's below pheasant and above pigeon on the avian tastiness scale.

[Aarah]

Glad you posted the pick, so we know you didn't eat your fellow uesp member.
I have regular visits from crows, that would shudder at your consumption from their family line.
Your taste scale works with their sizes too.
Where did you acquire the rook, may i ask out of sheer curiousity?

[Argonanza]

There's a huge population of rooks in southern Sweden, and it's regulated with protective hunting. Dad went out and shot a few.
He came home and was like "Son, tonight we dine on rook!" and I was like "k."

[Argonanza]

Dad: "Let's marinate this roe deer filet in coca cola."
Me: "Say whaaaaaat?"

Result coming soon.

E: Was tasty. Added a faint sweetness to the meat and stuff.