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Radeon_Alpha
3
Oct 18, 2017
I want to try something new with meats for dinner. I'm getting tired of so many variations of chicken, pork, and beef. I've tried lamb and it's not my thing. Anyone have any ideas for things I can make? If it has to be in those main categories, I'd prefer something new with beef or chicken.
warriorscot
317
Oct 18, 2017
Radeon_AlphaDo you mean new recipes for beef or chicken, if so would be good to know what your normal "variations" are. Or are you looking for different kinds of meat, e.g. Venison, rabbit etc.
Radeon_Alpha
3
Oct 18, 2017
warriorscotjust something different then usual even if what's different is the way it's cooked. Chicken-wise, I've got 2 fried light chicken recipes (one of which evolved from a scrapped Chicken Cordon Bleu attempt when i figured out I didn't like swiss cheese), rotisserie chicken, lemon/garlic chicken cooked with a sauce in a slow cooker, chicken stroganoff, and finally a chicken and noodles dish I make with leftover rotisserie chicken and a sauce made from the collected rotisserie drippings. Beef-wise, I generally do rotisserie roasts, pot roasts, braised roasts, home made burgers, SOS, ground beef with pasta and sauce, grilled steaks obviously. I don't do much baking or oven cooking, so that'd be different for me. Not a fan of cassaroles though.
Radeon_AlphaAre you looking for protein suggestions? Meat tends to have the most flavor, while some other chunky proteins are more like flavor carriers, so you have to factor that into account. Are you open to tofu, seitan, and vegetable-based proteins? There are many forms of tofu, from the common blocks to tofu puffs to tofu skins. With these, you're depending on the spices and other flavor agents, while the protein is there for texture. You can also get many of these pre-seasoned/flavored. How do you feel about lentils and beans? How about duck? I get bored with proteins myself so I have a different one every day. But it gets expensive once you get away from the mainstream stuff.
As for variations, have you truly exhausted all that humanity has created? Look up recipes from other cultures. You may have to expand your spice cabinet. I don't know where you're coming from or what you've done so I can't be any more specific.
Snarge
39
Oct 18, 2017
Radeon_AlphaHave you tried duck, rabbit, venison, bison, or turkey? Some are much easier to get your hands on, and all of them have different flavors. Ground turkey is probably the easiest to get, and most versatile. Plus it's a very healthy alternative to ground beef. If you can't get any of those or don't like any of them, I'd try different preparation methods. Have you tried smoking the meats? Smoked butterflied chicken is very flavorful, and you have a lot of different ways you can season it. Pulled pork is also a good one, and can be done in the oven if your situation doesn't allow you to have something combusting for a few hours. Slow cooker recipes are excellent too, and I love trying different cultural dishes. I recently tried a Moroccan chicken stew that was excellent. There's literally dozens of listicles on the cooking sites like food network and HGTV. Excellent for ideas. Finally, what about organs? Chicken liver is quite good, and beef tongue can be excellent when cooked right, and hearts are packed with flavor. I'd recommend more research than the other suggestions before you cook organ meats, though. They tend to have flavors that we don't usually know how to account for and work with offhand, and so going off your instincts that you've developed cooking non-organ meats could result in a disappointing dish.
MyFoot
21
Oct 18, 2017
Radeon_AlphaHighly recommend food wishes caramel chicken (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KMVsL0uqBE) or peanut curry chicken (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_dYsfrBKZo&t=2s) both are amazing and guest always love them.

warriorscot
317
Oct 18, 2017
Radeon_AlphaKind of traditional European then, if you are up for baking various pies: steak or chicken(w/ mushrooms is always safe) would be good with either puff or shortcrust pastry, or for really advanced a Beef Wellington. If you aren't baking or oven cooking you are also missing out, it can take longer, but you get a wider range of options. A dutch oven is a great investment, anything that calls for reduction is always 100% better slowly done in a cast iron in the oven. If you do anything with a tomato base it's a must IMO. I do a great one pot meatballs recipe, basically all the ingredients for a good tomato sauce: Onions, Garlic, Cherry Tomatoes layered almost whole in the bottom of the pot with a good chunk of olive oil and big massive meatballs on top. Crack it in the oven and stir very occasionally maybe adding some passata or chopped tomatoes half way and after an hour or two you will have quite possibly the best sauce and meatballs you've ever seen that has practically made itself.
I would go for Asian and South American for a bit of a change and relatively easy to cook for American start at Tex Mex and work south. Asian kicking off various stir fry options are good, and I like a nice Thai Curry which is a doddle to make with any meat. Learning how to do a good curry from scratch is well worth it IMO, lots of variation and once you have the basic skills down it's dead easy as long as you can get good curry paste and canned coconut milk/cream. And as long as you aren't allergic learning to love the nuts will mean you are making stupendous, quick and still authentic Asian dishes in no time.
One recipe I always pitch to everyone is home made spicy baked beans and sweat potatoes with home made bread. It's a full day of slow oven cooking, but the results are stunning, and it's great either veggy or with meat(bacon in the beans). It's also a good one if you are going on a baking kick as with the oven on you can throw in a few things while your beans are cooking and the sauce reducing down.
P.S. I hear tales of people using chicken in a Stroganov, but to me it always should be beef or maybe venison at a push. I don't know how traditional a recipe you are using as some of the 60s and 70s derived ones that many use(and where I've seen chicken come from) can be odd. But making it as close to the traditional as possible makes it a 100% better, if it's not decent beef with real sour cream in the sauce and a bit of heat/spice to it you are making it wrong. For years I made crap Stroganov that was rich, but massively bland compared to what it should be as I didn't use sour cream or spices, so it's well worth some research.
If you are after good ideas for the home cook the BBC is the best site going IMO, there are good sites all over, but it's the best collection of high quality free recipes and a source of plenty inspiration. Also for the home cook if you are after good books try Jaimie Oliver, he does a lot of variations on traditional food stuffs and meats and mixes and matches from all over the world.
Kbohartz
8
Oct 19, 2017
Radeon_AlphaTry looking up Asian recipes. I love cooking Korean, Vietnamese, and Fillippino food, most of it is very easy, delicious, and make for a nice change of pace. If you dont have am Asian Market near you for anything you can't find at your grocery store - Amazon is a great resource for seasonings and sauces. I make lemongrass chicken and a baked tonkatsu regularly. I could share a list of some of my favorite recipes links if youre interested :)
btimup
45
Oct 19, 2017
Radeon_AlphaHow about new cuts of meat? One of my favourites is west indian (caribbean) oxtail or pigtail.
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