ronnie_suburban wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:vegetable soup

lougord99 wrote:French onion soup

tjr wrote:steakhouse soup

I'm sensing a trend!

=R=

It is like this thread has been taken over by ....

Quick, somebody make a lemon meringue pie!

Soupy Sales . . . damn!

Had only ever made this eggplant dish once and not since last October but with some friends coming over, it seemed like a good dish to serve. This is a mostly-faithful take on Refika's Hünkârbeğendi . . .


Mise En Place & Toyama Blue, Stainless-Clad Gyuto, 210mm
Passata, rotel canned tomatoes, salt, AP flour, homemade sambal, dukkah (gifted to me by a friend), top sirloin, roasted eggplant (made a day ahead), unsalted butter, sliced garlic, spice plate (cayenne pepper, oregano, red chile flakes, Aleppo pepper) and yellow onion.

The meat sauce portion of the dish comes together like a quick-cook stew (similar to a Stroganoff), with the meat searing first and the sauce being built from there. The roasted eggplant does not go into the sauce but gets mixed with a bechamel sauce to form the base on which the meat sauce is eventually served.


Bechamel Sauce Mise En Place
Whole milk, AP flour, nutmeg, unsalted butter and salt. Managed to get this right without it needing any adjustments. Woo hoo!

Also made a cucumber & tomato salad with a yogurt and tahini-based dressing . . .


Cucumber-Tomato Salad
With flat leaf parsley. Dressing: yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, evoo, microplaned garlic, minced shallot, red wine vinegar, honey, salt and black pepper.

Once the sauce was ready, which didn't take very long, I ladled it out over the eggplant/bechamel mixture . . .


Hünkârbeğendi

Served it all up with some really nice brown basmati rice . . .


Plated Up
Garnished it with some eski kasar, per a knowledgeable Turkob's advice (way upthread).

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Last night was a retro mix: Ham balls in Madeira breadcrumb sauce, mashed potatoes, tossed salad with old-style French vinaigrette, tiramisu.
That's a 4 serving pastry, not a single serving. The tiramisu idea began with a conversation a few weeks ago with our dinner guest about how soggy and heavy common restaurant tiramisu often is. This was the recipe from the Balocco ladyfinger bag cut to 40%, with ladyfingers moistened with coffee rather than soaked.

I used sous vide pasteurized eggs and had difficulty whipping the whites to white stiff peaks. Seems like this is just the way it goes with pasteurized eggs?

As a test run for the Small Household Food Exchange, I made Guyanese Pepper Pot — a meat-based stew. It was vaguely based on this recipe from Serious Eats.

Full disclosures: It’s traditionally a Christmas-time dish, so I’m a little late making it. I couldn’t easily find cow feet, so I went with only oxtail and chuck. And I have no idea what the authentic version should taste like. I’ve never been to Guyana, and I don’t think I’ve ever personally known anyone of Guyanese decent. Since it’s usually a homemade dish, there seem to be many variations. All I can do is judge it whether or not it tastes good, and this version tasted pretty good.

The key ingredient in making Guyanese Pepper Pot is Cassareep — a molasses-like liquid made primarily from cassava, which serves as both a flavoring and a preservative.

I started by browning the chuck.

Afterwards, I separately browned the oxtails in the Instant Pot, on the sauté setting, then stewing in water, with the cassareep and spices.

After several hours of everything in the Instant Pot on the high pressure setting, I let the pot cool, and then it went into the refrigerator overnight, so I could skim off the solidified fat the next morning. Underneath the fat, it was clear that the oxtails contributed quite a bit of gelatin, for a thin jelly-like consistency when still chilled. It then went back to the Instant Pot on the slow cook setting for several hours — everything I read said it improves after a few days. Served up (with one of the chili peppers — I couldn’t find the requisite wiri wiri peppers, so another substitution), but I was able to serve it with slices of bread, which is traditional. (The bread reminded me of an Italian beef soaked in jus.)


Would I make it again? Maybe, maybe not. It takes a lot of time, and I made a big enough batch that we’ll be having a number of servings for the freezer at home even after taking into account the servings to be shared at the food exchange.

I went to the produce salvage operation here in Southern Arizona and purchased about 120# of produce for a $16 donation to cover their transportation costs.


We received:
- Acorn Squash
- Tomatillo
- Cilantro
- Eggplant
- Gray Squash
- Italian Squash
- Cucumber
- Green Beans
- Pickles
- Cherry Tomato
- Watermelon
- Oranges

Most of the produce went to a variety of neighbors. However, that left me with a lot of tomatillos which is not something I need as a have a couple quarts of chili verde in the freezer. My solution to the tomatillos was to slice them, bread them and fry them in my air fryer and make fried green tomatillos. They actually turned out really well and we will have to try that again soon

jlawrence,

You must be a treasure to your neighbors.

Regards,
Cathy2

I have become obsessed with char sui.

Char Sui with steamed buns, quick pickled cucumber and carrots and hoison sauce.

nr706, how sweet did the pepperpot wind up? Just a bit, like sloppy joe sweet or more like mincemeat?

And lougord99, are those unfilled buns?

Both posts look tasty

Yes unfilled.

Take a bun, open it up, spread in some sauce and all the other ingredients and pure pleasure.

Sunset mild Italian sausage ( surprisingly good store bought sausage ) browned, Rao marinara sauce, fettuccine, lots of fresh ground pepper and grated parmesean. An outstanding, easy dinner.

Nice dishes, everyone! They look/sound great. Kicking off the new year right.

One thing my cooking/baking this weekend has proved is that I can (mostly) follow a recipe. And tonight's dinner was yet another example, as I busted out some milk-braised pork shoulder (based on a Bon Appetit recipe) . . .


Mise En Place
Salt, 'spice' plate (lemon zest, dried bay leaves, dried red chiles, black peppercorns), black pepper, pork shoulder, evoo, whole milk, slitted garlic cloves & fresh sage.

This is a fairly simple process; pretty much a basic braise with a couple of wrinkles. In a dutch oven, brown the slitted garlic cloves in evoo and remove them. Next, brown the salted and peppered shoulder on all sides in the dutch oven. After that, return the garlic and dump everything else, except the milk, into the dutch oven and let it bloom for a few moments. After it becomes fragrant, put the shoulder back in and pour in the milk. From there bake at 275-300F for 2.5-3 hours, until the meat becomes tender.

Next is where I strayed the most substantively from the recipe, as it calls for cooking it uncovered at 300F for 2.5-3 hours and checking it every 30 minutes. Sometimes, I think that recipe writers/editors fear that if they're honest about how long a recipe really takes, people won't make the recipes. I'm no expert but I've braised and roasted enough pork shoulders to know that 2.5-3 hours uncovered at 300F is not going to produce a good or tender result. My experience with braising, especially a larger piece like this (~7 pounds), is that if you want it tender before the exterior dries out, best to cook it covered. You can always crisp up the exterior without overcooking the meat after it's reached the desired doneness. So, with apologies to the fine folks at BA, that's what I did.

Baked it covered at 275F and let it cook for a couple of hours before I even bothered to check it. Meat was, unsurprisingly, quite firm at that point but the curds (desired, delicious) had already begun to form. After that, another 90 minutes covered, then another hour . . . and then after 4.5 hours, it was finally tender. That's when I removed the lid of the dutch oven and let it cook to reduce and brown -- 30 more minutes at 275F but for this stage, convection.


Milk-Braised Pork Shoulder
A great dish but as detailed above, a flawed recipe, at least as it was presented. Other than getting the timing completely wrong, it's absolutely delicious. Aromatic, herbaceous, moist, fork tender and unctuous.


Plated Up
With spicy-sweet cucumber salad and reheated black eyed peas. That brothy jus (fat separated) was really delicious, too.

=R=

i like that BA recipe! but agreed about the process. i have come around to always putting a cinnamon stick in too. and we enjoy it over polenta.

tonight i made melissa clark's smokey fish chowder - leeks, bacon, paprika, fingerlings, cod, wine, stock, thyme, milk, fingerlings - quite delicious.

tjr wrote:nr706, how sweet did the pepperpot wind up? Just a bit, like sloppy joe sweet or more like mincemeat?

It's just slightly sweet — the recipe calls for some brown sugar, to offset the bitter notes from the cassareep.

ronnie_suburban wrote: I'm no expert but I've braised and roasted enough pork shoulders to know that 2.5-3 hours uncovered at 300F is not going to produce a good or tender result.
=R=

Ronnie,

I'm sure you have done way more shoulder roasts than I have.

Do you discern a difference between the quality of shoulder roasts at one place over another. There are clear differences in quality of beef roasts - have you ever seen a quality difference in pork shoulder roasts ?

I once bought a roast at Sunset ( I didn't have time to go anywhere else ) and it was crazy expensive. While they cut it to the exact specifications I asked, it still was not worth the price, in my opinion.

Whole chicken thighs. Marinate with a sauce of grated garlic, smoked paprika, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and cumin.

Place on a sheet and cover with smashed garlic, raw bacon pieces and grape tomatoes. Roast at 425 for 35 minutes and serve over rice.

As an aside, I shopped for the thighs at Fresh Farms Wheeling. The Amish air cooled thighs were $8.69 / Lb. I said no thanks and went with the no name water cooled thighs at $2.69 /Lb. Not as good of a quality, but not 1/3 the quality.

No pic but really nice porterhouse lamb chops from Gene's tonight. Marinated for a couple of hours with tarragon, lemon, garlic/onion powder, avocado oil and s/p. Made garlic bread and served beet salad from Gene's. Tasty.

lougord99 wrote:Ronnie,

I'm sure you have done way more shoulder roasts than I have.

Do you discern a difference between the quality of shoulder roasts at one place over another. There are clear differences in quality of beef roasts - have you ever seen a quality difference in pork shoulder roasts ?

I once bought a roast at Sunset ( I didn't have time to go anywhere else ) and it was crazy expensive. While they cut it to the exact specifications I asked, it still was not worth the price, in my opinion.

I think it's hit or miss on pork shoulders. This one, from Fresh Farms Wheeling, was $1.99/pound and it was excellent. But I think a long, aromatic braise, kind of levels the playing field. I've had some not-so-wonderful pork shoulders from there, as well as from other places that were much more expensive. Unless you go super high-end, like a butcher shop, etc., it's most likely all commodity-level stuff, so I don't think there's a huge, innate, difference between them. It's largely the luck of the draw. I'll buy the 2-packs at Costco if I'm making sausage or something like that but since they're boneless, I don't buy them to just cook/smoke them. When it comes to meat, as long as it's not injected with a solution, I'm fairly easy to please.

Sunset is always crazy-expensive. Other than for items that can only be found there, we rarely shop there any more but I do really like their skirt steaks when cooked on the grill.

=R=

After a couple of days of feeling under the weather, I was quite glad/relieved to be back in the kitchen today, though I certainly didn't wander too far off the beaten path . . .


Mise En Place & Konosuke HD Petty, 210mm
White wine, yellow onion, 4x gelatinous barnyard stock, mini tomatoes, cauliflower, parsley, sliced garlic, zucchini, boneless/skinless chicken thighs, bell peppers, tomato paste and evoo.

Seasoned (homemade rub, awol for the above pic) and seared the chicken in evoo, then removed it from the pan and cooked the veg in the renderings. Once they were ready, dumped in the stock, the wine and the tomato paste to make a sauce. Let it simmer for a bit then put the thighs back on top.


Plated Up
With some leftover/reheated brown basmati rice.

=R=

This is more of a philosophical post.

There are many days when I just don't want to think about dinner. I don't object to spending significant amounts of time making dinner - I just don't want to think about what I need to do. Those are days when I turn to meals that I have made many times in the past and can simply make them again on auto pilot.

There are other days when I am all excited to try something new. I want to look at new recipes and figure out how I want to interpret them.

I assume many people have similar days.

lougord99 wrote:This is more of a philosophical post.

There are many days when I just don't want to think about dinner. I don't object to spending significant amounts of time making dinner - I just don't want to think about what I need to do. Those are days when I turn to meals that I have made many times in the past and can simply make them again on auto pilot.

There are other days when I am all excited to try something new. I want to look at new recipes and figure out how I want to interpret them.

I assume many people have similar days.

Definitely. That's why I love grilling and leftovers. Both low effort/high reward configurations.

I try to make a slaw, some beans and/or another salad (usually 2 of these 3) weekly and then supplement with some sort of protein on a nightly basis, whether it be leftover or freshly cooked. That keeps the effort to a minimum when I'm not enthused about putting in the time but still want something better than going out or ordering in. What we don't finish for dinner, we eat for lunches. And on the nights when I feel like cooking, I do it full-force. I don't think I'd enjoy it if it were an unmovable obligation.

=R=

Cathy2 wrote:jlawrence,

You must be a treasure to your neighbors.

Regards,
Cathy2

It goes both ways. Neighbors have dropped off the following:

1) Box of cream of wheat
2) Box of minute rice.
3) 5# bag of Yukon gold potatoes
4) Bag of yellow squash
5) 1/2 gallon of skim milk.

As I noted above, during tamale season in Arizona, I purchased a 10# chunk of beef chuck for $2.97/lb. I cannot describe it any more than that. I cut the meat into 2"x4"x3" chuck roasts.

The latest "hot" item locally at Krogers and Safeway is sliced steak and pork... at $7/lb.

I pulled out a partially thawed chunk of that meat and decided that I could cut it very thin using my new Ninja slicing knife. I was able to cut it almost as thin as if I was using a meat slicer. I used these slices to make steak sliders with peppers, onions and mushrooms.

Spicy Tomato Soup with Fennel and grilled cheese sandwiches with 3 types of cheese

kalamazoogal wrote:Spicy Tomato Soup with Fennel and grilled cheese sandwiches with 3 types of cheese

You know, I didn't make this but you had me thinking about grilled cheese sandwiches all day. Maybe tomorrow! Tonight, it was ribless roast and brussels sprouts . . .


Brussels Sprouts Mise En Place & Takayuki VG-10 Hammered Damascus Petty, 80mm
Salt, black pepper, brussels sprouts halves, Manale, rub and evoo. Just tossed all this stuff together (not the knife, of course), then convection-roasted the sprouts (400F, cut-side-down) until they softened and caramelized (about 30 minutes).


Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Once cooked, I drizzled them with some of the special 12-year balsamic that my friend brought back from Modena.

For the main course, this is the first half (~3.5 pounds) of yet another Costco ribless roast from our freezer . . .


Ribless Roast Mise En Place & Takayuki VG-10 Hammered Damascus Petty, 80mm
Salt, black pepper, Manale, rub, butcher twine and light olive oil. Trussed it, lightly oiled it, seasoned it liberally and then, into the oven.


Ribless Roast
Cooked this one low and slow at 200F. Once it reached 123F internal, I removed it, cranked the oven to 450F convection and blasted it for 5-6 minutes to crust up the the exterior.


Plated Up
With some toasted/buttered boule that a friend baked and gave to us and some horseradish sauce.

=R=

new years eve surplus pasta tonight - some fancy pappardelle, tossed with butter, lemon zest, chives, lump crab, and topped with smoked trout caviar. took the edge off a hard week.

There's been some chatter here about grits lately but it was actually a coincidentally-timed post by a friend at another board that inspired me to make shrimp and grits today.

Have to say that for whatever reason, it really inspired me. I'd been thinking about it for a few days. Finally okay'd to roam (after being ill for a few days), I picked up some shrimp at the store, dug my last bag of grits out of the freezer and decided to give it a go . . .


Mise En Place & Makoto VG10 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm
Black pepper, shrimp stock, salt, Manale rub, u26-30 shrimp (formerly shell-on, used for stock), bacon, grits, red & green jalapeno, shallots, unsalted butter, scallions, AP flour and whole milk.

Had never made this before. I mean, I've made shrimp and I've made grits but never as Shrimp & Grits, so I basically went to school on my friend's post and winged it. The Manale spice mix has plenty of cayenne and thyme, so it paired well with the shrimp. Just slow-cooked the grits in equal amounts of milk and water and a touch of salt, adding some butter to finish.

Sauteed the seasoned shrimp in a mix of rendered bacon fat and butter, then built the sauce in the renderings. Used the flour to create a roux and the shrimp stock as the main liquid (along with a splash of heavy cream and a squeeze of lemon). From there, it was simmer to reduce, and then assemble.


Plated Up
With some leftover/reheated spinach-feta casserole and a blob of the weekly slaw.

Not sure if this yankee got it right. It's definitely shrimp and it's definitely grits. Is it Shrimp & Grits? That's not for me to say. Either way, it tasted pretty darned good.

=R=

Working through the remainder of our ribless roast from a few days back . . .


Mise En Place, & Makoto VG10 Damascus Gyuto, 210mm, Takayuki VG-10 Hammered Damascus Petty, 80mm
Yellow onion, shallots, scallions, hakurei turnips, sliced garlic, celery, ribless roast remnants, heavy cream, unsalted butter, yukon gold potatoes, Manale spice mix, black pepper and salt.

I'm usually a purist when it comes to hash (whatever that means) but these days I'm definitely more of an empty-out-the-fridge guy. That's how celery, turnip and a lone, peeled shallot (not used in yesterday's shrimp & grits) made their way into this dealio. They were all really good, so I wouldn't hesitate to include them (or other stuff) in future hashes.

For me, rib roast in any form is not a great cut for reheating but I've found that well-trimmed and thrown into a hash -- at the very end of its cooking -- can produce a good result. Used the Makoto for most of this work but the Takayuki was great for efficiently navigating around the hard sections fat in the roast.


Ribless Roast Hash


Plated Up
With spicy-sweet cucumber salad.

Happy Monday!

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Made a very decent vegan chicken tikka masala over the weekend using Daring chicken pieces (at Whole Foods or WalMart). Subbed out the dairy for coconut milk/cream and used non-dairy yogurt for the chicken marinade. I saw a recipe using cashew cream to replace the dairy cream and will try that next time. The plant-based chicken was pretty convincing. Was in too much of a hurry to document but just letting anyone who needs to cook for non-meat-eaters occasionally that this is an easy substitution.

This one, red curry chicken, was a ~weekly staple for us during the height of the pandemic. It was one of the very first "Oh, I can actually make this at home" dishes for me and it quickly became a favorite. And I made it a LOT. And while my family would never complain, there came a time after which whenever I announced I was going to make it, their faces said what they were too nice to verbalize. But it's been months since I made it last and when I suggested it for one of our dinners this week, the notion was met with genuine enthusiasm. I guess absence actually does make the heart grow fonder . . .


Mise En Place & Mise En Place & Sukenari HAP40 Gyuto, 210mm
Avocado oil, zucchini, kaffir lime leaves and Thai bird eye chiles, Thai basil, Mae Ploy red curry paste (freezer stock), chicken thigh meat, Maesri red curry paste, shallots, 4x gelatinous barnyard stock, sliced cremini mushrooms, gapi, shimeji mushrooms, coconut milk bamboo shoots, fish sauce and Bangkok Blend spice mix.

Other than being subject to current veg inventory, the only material change in this version from my usual M.O. was to use a couple of different curry pastes. I really like the Maesri and that's what I usually use. But in a recent youtube video by Pailin, she really liked the Mae Ploy. I had some in the freezer, so I decided to use some of it, along with the Maesri. I liked the result. The Maesri comes in small cans that can be stored dry (until they're opened), which is ultra-convenient. And there's very little waste, if any. The Mae Ploy comes in a larger bag in plastic tub. Once opened, there's quite a bit leftover and it needs to be chilled or frozen to prevent deterioration. But I can see keeping a bag of it the freezer without it being too burdensome . . .


Plated Up
With some leftover/reheated brown basmati rice and some cool, yogurt-based, Persian cucumber salad, which went surprisingly well with the spicy, pungent curry.

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