u/Educational-Slip-578

Let's say you have a $100-150 budget and want to buy 1–2 knives (a chef's knife and maybe a paring knife), and something to keep them sharp. Assume you don't have any whetstone skills yet, but you can learn it if it's something you can pick up in a reasonable amount of time.

What would you recommend? Will it be something like:

1. Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef's Knife, 8"
2. 1000 grit whetstone
3. Ceramic honing rod
4. Bamboo cutting board

Or would you go with a different setup?

If we're talking about a typical home setup (e.g., a Dutch oven, beef chuck or brisket, chicken thighs, or pork shoulder), what's your favorite way to braise meat? Which dish do you prefer?

Maybe something like:

1. Carnitas
2. Chile Colorado
3. Chicken, or Pork Chile Verde
4. Beef barbacoa
5. Beef birria
6. Pork adobada

I have about a 1.5kg pork loin joint. I understand that I can brush it with oil or mustard, season it with salt and pepper, and roast it in a 180C oven until it reaches 62C internally. But that feels a bit bland. Yes, it's protein and perfectly edible that way, but can I do something better with it?

How do you cook a pork loin joint? What's the best method in terms of time vs results? I don't want to spend 5 hours cooking, just something reasonably quick that still tastes great.

It seems that some people say "Tea" meaning Dinner (e.g., a meal at 7pm). Is there any reason, when you decide to use Tea over Dinner, or do you use Tea all the time in your family?

A pepper mill is one of those everyday kitchen tools I still don't have a firm opinion on.

Disposable pepper mill:

• I don't care if I break it. I can use it right over pans and pots with steam, because I'll just get a new one in a few weeks (once I finish the peppercorns inside).
• But I don't have much control over which peppercorns I get. Does that matter?
• It's cheap, like a McCormick disposable pepper mill costs about $2 and lasts a few weeks.

Refillable pepper mill:

• I have to buy one upfront. Peugeot and Unicorn Magnum mills can cost around $50, which is roughly a year's worth of disposable mills, and they can break just as easily.
• I can to choose exactly which peppercorns I use.

What do you use? If it's a refillable mill, do you go for specific peppercorns? What's your pick? And can you actually taste a difference compared to the generic stuff (like McCormick)?

It seems that breakfast sausage is an important part of a classic American diner style breakfast. If you wanted to make this kind of breakfast at home, but you can't buy breakfast sausage in your country (outside the US), how could you recreate it yourself?

Would a mix of minced pork, salt, black pepper, dried sage, and freshly ground nutmeg be a good approximation of the classic flavor? Or should I also add other herbs, spices, or a vinegar?

I don't know anyone who doesn't love Mexican cuisine. However, some dishes can take a lot of time and effort to make, or require ingredients that aren't always easy to find.

What are your favorite Mexican (or Tex-Mex) dishes that you actually cook at home? Please share recipes too, so the rest of us can learn and try them ourselves.

P.S. It can be anything from mexican rice with refried beans, salsa verde, carnitas, barbacoa, or something else. I'm curious to see what people actually make regularly at home.

Many US recipes refer to a product called Italian sausage. From what I understand, it's basically minced pork mixed with a recognizable spice blend, and it's widely available in grocery stores, so people can easily buy it and use it as a substitute for regular ground pork.

I'm wondering what exactly I should add to my minced pork to get that flavor if I can't buy Italian sausage but a recipe calls for it. Is it things like fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder?

I almost never make tortillas, but it seems like a quick and easy way to get a much better product than storebought.

Do you make tortillas? If so, what recipe do you use, and how many days do they stay fresh (and how do you store them)?

Also, what do you usually make with homemade tortillas, just burritos, or something else?

A pork loin joint is still a relatively affordable cut, but the problem is that it's quite lean and doesn't have much flavour.

I'm wondering how you cook it to get a decent flavour. I'm mainly interested in indoor methods, as I don't have a smoker or a BBQ.