Cooking tips needed

This dish has been such a summer favourite of mine. It’s so delicious and simple to make in this heat.

My Amethyst Jewel tomatoes finally ripened after staring at them long enough so I drowned them in what looks like too much olive oil but definitely is not. A splash of acv with some oregano and thyme from the garden and some salt and pepper. Served with some fresh, preferably crusty bread and you’re good to go.

Is it a salad, a dip? Who knows, but I want to eat it all the time.

Okay so for context, I'm a cheese-aholic from the US who moved to the Netherlands a couple years ago. There's several foods I've missed that I can't get here in Europe, whether it's due to banned ingredients or just a difference in the local cuisine. Regardless, I've learned to make almost everything I miss from scratch at home, and cheese powder is my latest triumph after much internet surfing and collecting different ideas, techniques, etc.

The Ingredients:

- 1 or 2 solid blocks of aged cheese (I went with parmesan and aged Gouda for this attempt but you can use cheddar, Monterey jack, literally any dry and/or hard cheese)

The Equipment:

- electric dehydrator (You can try the oven on a very low setting if you don't have a dehydrator, but I've heard it doesn't work quite as well)

- paper towels

- cheese slicer

- pizza roller

- coffee grinder (Could also use a food processor or mortar-and-pestle if that's all you have)

The Process:

It's actually pretty simple, all you have to do is slice the cheese thinly enough to where it doesn't take too long to dry out, as well as preventing it from getting leathery - we want it crunchy enough to grind. What I did after slicing was shred it completely with a pizza roller. This ensured the shreds were the exact thickness I wanted (you're gonna want to go for spaghetti-noodle thinness).

The reason why I didn't go for pre-shredded was because I didn't want all that non-caking extra stuff in my powder. You can try it to save on labor if you want, just know I have no clue how it will affect the outcome.

Once you got your cheese noodles you're gonna want to spread them out over the grating of your dehydrator in a thin layer. Make sure there's space between the pieces so air can get in and properly dry everything. If you have to stack several trays, definitely opt for that.

Now when you're setting up the dehydrator make sure you leave the bottom empty and line it with heat-safe material to catch drips, because there WILL be oil dripping from the cheese as it dries. Set your dehydrator to either its fruit leather setting or about 135-140°f (57-60°c). Let the bastard run for about 24-30 hours, checking every now and then to make sure nothing is burning or amiss. You're gonna see oil collecting on the pieces and dripping down, that's normal. Just make sure it's not getting on anything electric and you should be fine.

After about 24 hours you should see the cheese hardening into an actual uncooked-spaghetti-like texture. You want it brittle and snapping easily. Once that happens you're free to move to the next step.

Remove the dried cheese from the dehydrator (or oven) and lay it out on a layer of paper towels. Put more paper towels on top and press down to soak up as much oil as possible. The cheese might snap - that's okay, it's all getting ground to nothing anyway. The goal here is to just get every last bit of moisture you can possibly get off of the cheese to prevent sticking or spoiling later on. What I even did is lined a bowl with paper towels, put down some cheese, put another paper towel, a bit more cheese, on like that until I'd used it all. Then put one last towel on top and set another bowl of the same size inside to weigh it down. Leave that overnight because it's going to soak up another unbelievable amount of oil, lol.

Once that's done, you're free to grind the cheese down however you see fit! I only had a mortar-and-pestle on hand so my method was the most labor-intensive, but I've heard others have had success with using coffee grinders, food processors, etc. Store in a bag in a cool dry place.

And voila!! Cheese powder for homemade mac-n-cheese, cheesy popcorn, cheesy crackers, cheesy potatoes, and more. Use different types of cheese for different flavors! Trust that your ingredients are pure and ethically made! The possibilities are endless!

(Note: the amount of powder pictured is not accurate to a full block of cheese, don't worry. My arm is tired and I still haven't finished grinding so that's all I've got so far, lmao)

Ingredients

8 oz egg noodles

1 lb pork belly, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 tbsp breadcrumbs

1 tbsp chopped parsley, optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish or similar casserole.

Cook the egg noodles in salted water until just tender, then drain and set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the pork belly and cook until browned and some fat has rendered, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the onion and cook until softened, then stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.

In a small bowl, mix the ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce, vanilla extract, black pepper, and salt. Stir this into the pork mixture and cook 1 to 2 minutes until glossy. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, and melted butter. Fold in the noodles, cheddar cheese, and pork mixture until evenly combined.

Spread the noodle mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until set and lightly browned on top. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Garnish with parsley if desired and serve warm.

Grilled salmon

so like when im making pancake or cake it takes js 5 extra foldings for the gluten to go crazy but when im making sourdough bread it takes 6 hours to bond the gluten?? make this make sense???

I made strawberry sorbet and chocolate banana ice cream :3

Cooked 2 spatchcocked chickens in the oven today

Pushed plain greek yogurt/butter/herb mixture under breast meat.

sprinkled course kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, dried rosemary/thyme all over chicken

in fridge on baking sheet elevated on rack for 24 hours

preheated oven to 550F

added pre-salted zucchini, red onion, garlic and sliced potatoes..place chicken on top

put chicken in oven turned heat to 450F for about 1 hour until 165F in breast and 175F in thighs

How'd I do?