Okay, so hear me out, because this one gets tricky quick. I am looking for ideas that do not fit my normal cooking style in order to meal prep for my wife. I'm a pro-level chef; I can cook anything, so all thoughts are welcome. But there are rules, and it's just beyond my brain to parse them out. Hoping someone here with similar tastes can assist. This is to take to school, and I am just at a loss:

1: processed foods are widely preferred, unless it's chicken, and then that should be fresh. Beans from a tin beat beans from a bag. Store sauce is better than homemade. That sort of thing. "Tastes too fresh."

2: vegetables are pretty yucky in general, but definitely yucky if cooked and cold.

3: it has to be cold, there is no microwave or other oven available. See above for why this is starting to drive me insane.

4: it's five days a week, I don't want to prep five entirely different things, so I want to be able to kind of play the street hustler "cup game" with ingredients.

5: rice is yucky, but yellow rice is okay. She has also eaten basmati and jasmine, but only while hot.

6: cured and smoked meats are yucky except for pepperoni (because I haven't had the heart to tell her).

7: there must be meat. Dishes without meat are edible, but they are "not food".

8: after all this nonsense, it's actually fine if different things touch.

9: unless touching makes something wet that shouldn't be. Our containers have three parts, though.

10: meat preference is chicken. All other meats are yucky cold and "become too fatty" (I don't know exactly what this means). Meats that will never be okay include pork, turkey, salume, pastrami; pretty much just chicken. Tofu is not a meat but also not okay, and fish and shrimp are a no go as well, except tinned tuna.

11: there are more rules, but I won't put you guys any further through the wringer. If you can give me any ideas, even if it's a little off, I can adjust it I'm sure. I'm losing my mind trying to adjust to such a specific palate with the added detail of wanting something different each day. I'm really good at what I do, but I think because this is so personal I'm getting writer's block (err, chef's block).

This is the fourth time I've made this. Excellent each time! I prefer wild blueberries so I use more of those than fresh ones. I also use Kenji's food processor all butter crust. https://www.seriouseats.com/best-blueberry-pie-dessert-recipe

There used to be a recipe on seriouseats for a chef created 7 layer dip that was made all from scratch. Anyone still have that one? Looks like it's been removed from the website. It was included in a comparison article along side a 'simple' version using more store bought ingredients rather than homemade. Thanks IA!!

There's a restaurant called, "Makarios Kabobs & Grill;" they have a dish that is a plate of hummus with a mound of this freaking delicious chicken and sauce, served with pita pockets. They will not tell me what sauce and spices are on the chicken and they don't know what country's cuisine it is but I MUST learn something similar so I can make it myself. Thanks to anyone who might point me in the right direction.

Trying out Daniel Grotzer's recipe along with roasted broccolini and lemon/goat cheese orzo

I am going to venture out and make Kenjis Vegan Ramen this weekend. One thing my wife and I love in our bowls of ramen is a bunch of heat in the broth, however this recipe looks pretty mild.

How would folks suggest adding heat to this dish? A standard store bought chili oil or chili crisp at the end? Infusing the mushroom-scallion oil with some peppers? Cayenne? Other hot peppers?

I am pretty lost when it comes to adding heat in Asian cooking, so any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

https://www.seriouseats.com/vegan-ramen-miso-creamy-vegan-vegetarian-food-lab-recipe

Found this email right after blocking an email from PEOPLE saying I had subscribed. Apparently it's part of my Serious Eats newsletters. I've been using and following Serious Eats for over a decade and this is the first time I've been disappointed by them.

Holy Sichuan I am sweating.

Next comes the stock, which is the second most important component of the soup. Traditionally, the stock of choice for French onion soup is beef stock, but beef stock is very time-consuming to make at home. Store-bought versions, meanwhile, are so terrible, they're not worth considering unless you happen to buy your beef stock from a butcher or other store that sells the good stuff.

With this in mind, would it make a huge impact to use vegetable stock? I'd use beef broth, but my dang roommate is vegetarian.

French Onion Soup (Soupe à l'Oignon Gratinée)

Edit: roommate is actually pescatarian so i'm gonna try a fortified mushroom stock with fish sauce or possibly dried anchovies.

https://preview.redd.it/z97r20mtc3zd1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccef2fca7fdc80d8d561786dd7663f427c25b6c5

https://preview.redd.it/ocqanzltc3zd1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=349ea07b934291818f99eed922c10cf471a4f9f1

https://preview.redd.it/d2frj0mtc3zd1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=288c8aeca29db864d719f4c180e43c5560f846d7

https://preview.redd.it/pjvdxzltc3zd1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=265a5f46f7b8ab9d098b3f886ba66565a103b3b5

https://preview.redd.it/u8rzb0mtc3zd1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15b32d744621adbf51e8feeecb40537966b99256

Sorry, I don't have a plated photo. Made Kenji's meatballs and red sauce from the food lab tonight. I can see the potential, but tonight wasn't quite there. I did not have enough basil that wasn't going bad - that's on me for sure. I did follow the book instructions with soaking slices of bread instead of the YouTube panade with breadcrumbs. Next time I would do the breadcrumbs instead- I didn't feel like I really got the bread to break down and mix in all the way, individual bites of gelatin soaked bread were a bit off. Also needed to simmer the sauce longer to thicken it a bit more, but the peanut gallery was nearing mutiny so I needed to keep moving on.

The good - meatballs were super tender, I like the idea of the separate browning and simmering steps, sauce has a good flavor even with my mishaps. Will definitely try again! Also makes a ton, have a few lunches for the week and I think these will make a killer meatball sandwich!

Inspired by the recent post, Kenji also made it for a dinner party on IG recently, and saw the organic papardelle at Traders. I halved the recipe and didn't have everything on hand for the recipe but came out delicious. Was able to find some ground grass fed "ancestral blend" beef which included ground beef, beef liver and beef heart from Forces of Nature frozen 1lb for $10 from Whole Foods. Also helpful employee at Whole Foods suggested a $11 Bordeaux to use in it. Came out great!

I got crazy ammount of food yesterday for free and now trying to figure what to do with it all before it goes bad.

First order of bussines is making mushroom soup. Saw Kenjis mushrooms soup video and wondering if I can mix some of these mushrooms, maybe all of them or just some of them.

Can I cut all of them up and freeze them for later use?

I know the Spatchcocked Chicken recipe doesn’t call for a brine, but I have some time (heh time to brine) and I figured I’d ask.

I love doing a dry brine on almost all my meats before roasting.

Thanks!

https://www.seriouseats.com/butterflied-roasted-chicken-with-quick-jus-recipe

Help ! I spent a day making sauce, then another day assembling the lasagnas. I scraped off all the congealed grease after it was in the fridge for the night. When I assembled, I made several smaller sizes, and froze all but one of them. When I cooked the first one, it was terribly greasy. I mean ICK. Now that I have 6 of these in the freezer, can someone recommend a way to soak up some of the grease before they are baked?

Hey Folks,

I am planning to make the Traditional Lasagna Bolognese from The Food Lab for Thanksgiving, which calls for a pound each, ground lamb, veal and pork. I need to sub the lamb (MIL doesn't like it) and the veal (I don't eat veal). The recipe says I can sub ground beef for lamb, but what about the veal? Should I add more pork? 50/50 pork and beef? Something else?

And before anyone asks, we have no problem with chicken livers :)

Thanks!

Each time I follow the directions and mix the dough, It doesn’t seem to have enough gluten formed, and it’s too wet compared to Kenji‘s picture. I tried kneading a little longer but im not sure if the gluten is forming: I’m used to doing stretch and pulls for this type of dough. Does anyone else have this problem??

With the green sauce: https://www.seriouseats.com/peruvian-style-grilled-chicken-with-green-sauce-recipe

Bonus yellow sauce too, because it’s a must: https://beyondmeresustenance.com/peruvian-yellow-sauce/

So I've gotten myself roped into travelling into London this Saturday, and I'll be jointly doing a steak and bourbon tasting menu for some friends, and their house.

The cohost and I deciding on a menu + pairing now (3-4 courses with pairings), and then we'll compare notes and see how we want to do logistics. My guess is that we'll probably pick 2 from each, and alternate courses on the night.

I'm in the brainstorming phase now, so my question: any thoughts on steak and bourbon pairings? I'm not SUPER experienced with steak, so I want to have some recipes in mind before I go out shopping.

One thing I'm thinking is: skirt steak with red wine sauce (Eric Ripert's recipe looks pretty nice), with a New York Sour, using a lighter, more neutral bourbon.

Any thoughts/opinions/experiences are appreciated 🙏🏽