JoelF wrote:The pork belly was pretty good, I'd buy it again (once we finish the other half): tender, well cooked, not too rendered out. I was planning on basting it with doctored-up oyster sauce until I discovered I hadn't any. A little sweet soy (kecap manis), tonkatsu sauce (for umami and sour), garlic and ginger made a decent baste.

I've purchased raw belly from Costco a few times but have never tried this. I may have to give a whirl.

Tonight we had a wacky, multi-cultural mish-mosh of freshly-made items and leftovers . . .


Zucchini Mise En Place & Yoshikazu Tanaka Blue #1 Gyuto, 210mm
Zucchini, peanut oil, mash of fermented soy beans & soy sauce, crushed garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, white pepper, black pepper, soy sauce, oyster sauce and 5-year mature vinegar. Just winging it with stuff from the pantry.


Sichuan-Style Zucchini
Garnished with garlic chives, chives and chive blossoms. One of my ongoing cooking goals these days is to wok the vegetables into acceptable tenderness (not too mushy) while creating a sauce that isn't too liquidy. I want the veggies to be toothsome and well-coated with a sticky sauce that clings to them and doesn't run off and/or pool on the plate. I'm getting better at that and tonight, I got very close.


Plated Up
As I said above, a bit all over the place on this one. Charcoal-grilled Italian sausage on a bed of leftover peppers & onions, a pile of the weekly slaw, Sichuan-style zucchini and a blob of Dusseldorf mustard. Hey, it actually worked!

=R=

lougord99 wrote:Which temperature monitor do you use? I've been thinking of getting one ( my last died quite a while ago ) and not sure whether to go wireless or wired.

I use a Thermoworks Dot (simple version). I didn't like their bluetooth version because the signal wouldn't reach from my kitchen to the parts of the house where I'm most likely to be when waiting for food to cook. It certainly wasn't the distance but more likely the wall configuration that impeded it.

I know you've had some issues with some of their products but I love them and have had great success with them over the years. That said, I've had some problems, too but I was very pleased with how responsive they were in helping resolve them. I also have a couple of Thermapens and a few other items, as well.

=R=

I use the ChefAlarm, though the Dot looks alluringly simple. I’m another satisfied Thermoworks customer.

ronnie_suburban wrote:

lougord99 wrote:Which temperature monitor do you use? I've been thinking of getting one ( my last died quite a while ago ) and not sure whether to go wireless or wired.

I use a Thermoworks Dot (simple version). I didn't like their bluetooth version because the signal wouldn't reach from my kitchen to the parts of the house where I'm most likely to be when waiting for food to cook. It certainly wasn't the distance but more likely the wall configuration that impeded it.

I've got a Bluetooth unit from iEasyBBQ that supports up to six probes (it comes with 4, one of them designed for ambient temp -- it's blunt, versus the pointy ends of the others), and it's fine, except it won't transmit through the walls much either.
I've looked into Bluetooth extenders/repeaters, but everything I've seen is designed for audio and only audio.

Ron,

Did you ever settle on a Carson Rib's coleslaw facsimile recipe?

Regards,
Cathy2

JoelF wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

lougord99 wrote:Which temperature monitor do you use? I've been thinking of getting one ( my last died quite a while ago ) and not sure whether to go wireless or wired.

I use a Thermoworks Dot (simple version). I didn't like their bluetooth version because the signal wouldn't reach from my kitchen to the parts of the house where I'm most likely to be when waiting for food to cook. It certainly wasn't the distance but more likely the wall configuration that impeded it.

I've got a Bluetooth unit from iEasyBBQ that supports up to six probes (it comes with 4, one of them designed for ambient temp -- it's blunt, versus the pointy ends of the others), and it's fine, except it won't transmit through the walls much either.
I've looked into Bluetooth extenders/repeaters, but everything I've seen is designed for audio and only audio.

Yeah, I ended up buying a wi-fi enabled unit that does a very nice job. More expensive but well worth it for the additional functionality. But I do think the bluetooth units are pretty much useless (not just ThemoWorks' but in general) because you have to be so close to be in range to use it, you can hear the alarm via proximity anyway.

Cathy2 wrote:Ron,

Did you ever settle on a Carson Rib's coleslaw facsimile recipe?

No. I never found one that really hit the target. I've become quite a slaw maven over the past year but that has eluded me. If you have a promising lead, please let me know.

Thai-style meal tonight . . .


Chicken Marinade Mise En Place & Takamura Migaki SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
Palm sugar, coriander seed (later ground), turmeric, oyster sauce, fish sauce, white peppercorns (later ground), garlic and cilantro (mostly) stems. The three ingredients on the plate get blended into an aromatic paste after which a portion of that paste is mixed with the other ingredients to make the marinade.


Marinated Chicken Thighs
After an overnight marinade (about 20 hours), zipper-bag method. I flipped the bird once during that time.

Next up, side dishery . . .


Som Tum Mise En Place & Kuwabara White #2 Tall Petty, 115mm
Garlic, long beans, dried shrimp, Thai birds eye chiles, limes (for juicing), green papaya, roasted peanuts, fish sauce, tomatoes and palm sugar.


Mortar
Garlic, Thai birds eye chiles, roasted peanuts, sugar and dried shrimp are pounded into a paste. After this, the lime juice and fish sauce are added to make the dressing.


Green Papaya & Kohetsu Blue #2 Addict, 240mm
Action shot! From here, I trimmed the skin and shredded about half the papaya in the food processor.

Meanwhile, back to the chicken . . .


Grilling
Big, cold, wet pieces, this took about 30 minutes to reach the sweet spot.


Som Tum
Aka papaya salad. One of my favorite Thai dishes and while this version was pretty good, I left myself plenty of room for improvement.


Plated Up
With Zojirushi'd Royal Umbrella jasmine rice.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:Ron,

Did you ever settle on a Carson Rib's coleslaw facsimile recipe?

No. I never found one that really hit the target. I've become quite a slaw maven over the past year but that has eluded me. If you have a promising lead, please let me know.

Thai-style meal tonight . . .
...
Garlic, long beans, dried shrimp, Thai birds eye chiles, limes (for juicing), green papaya, roasted peanuts, fish sauce, tomatoes and palm sugar.
...
Garlic, Thai birds eye chiles, roasted peanuts, sugar and dried shrimp are pounded into a paste. After this, the lime juice and fish sauce are added to make the dressing.
...
Action shot! From here, I trimmed the skin and shredded about half the papaya in the food processor.

...
Som Tum
Aka papaya salad. One of my favorite Thai dishes and while this version was pretty good, I left myself plenty of room for improvement.

=R=

On the slaw front I'm still hunting for the original Brown's Chicken slaw, which was almost as orange as Kraft French Dressing. They don't make that anymore. My memory is that it was almost all chopped cabbage, it's the dressing that's the mystery.

In terms of som tum, it's also one of my favorites, especially in hot weather. It's very flexible, I've seen versions using carrot, tart apple, cabbage... I'm wondering how parsnip would work (I've got a couple in the veggie drawer). And the core dressing of garlic, chile, lime and fish sauce is something of a universal solvent, I've used it for tuna salad for instance.

HI,

For the Brown's Red Slaw, which I never tasted. You might want to check out Lexington-style red coleslaw recipes as a starter.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

For the Brown's Red Slaw, which I never tasted. You might want to check out Lexington-style red coleslaw recipes as a starter.

Regards,
Cathy2

That may be a good idea but I think Joel has it about right. Finely chopped cabbage, with lots of pieces of core, in a dressing that largely resembled French salad dressing. I remember liking it but my strong sense is that the memory outshines the reality.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

For the Brown's Red Slaw, which I never tasted. You might want to check out Lexington-style red coleslaw recipes as a starter.

Regards,
Cathy2

That may be a good idea but I think Joel has it about right. Finely chopped cabbage, with lots of pieces of core, in a dressing that largely resembled French salad dressing. I remember liking it but my strong sense is that the memory outshines the reality.

=R=

Ronnie, you're probably right. In my book-reading circles, that's what's known as having The Suck Fairy visiting your childhood favorites.

Cathy, the Serious Eats version looks right, but ketchup-based sauce doesn't sound quite right.

HI,

I believe in Gary's first book, he also has a Lexington coleslaw.

So glad to expand my range of slaw.

Regards,
CAthy2

Leftover ribs, leftover som tum and one freshly made item . . .


Mise En Place & Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
Salt, crushed garlic, Col. Newsom "Preacher" ham, onion, granulated sugar, evoo, apple cider vinegar, black pepper and kale. The kale was so tender, it only needed to cook for about 10 minutes after the ham had browned and rendered, and the garlic and onions had softened. Used the vinegar and sugar to make a gastrique that I added to the kale at the very end.


Plated Up
The convenience of leftovers was nice (and it's always great to use things up) but after a pretty hectic day of work, I needed to cook something hence, the kale. Now, off to sharpen some knives.

=R=

Tonight's dinner was more about taking on a project than sustenance. There was a technique in a recent video at Souped Up Recipes' youtube channel that really hooked me. The dish itself looked pretty good but it was the concept of crisping up a bunch of minced garlic (cuisinart) at the beginning of the cook, saving that crispy garlic to add back at the end of the prep and using the garlicky oil to cook some of the other components of the dish that had me in the kitchen, even though I hadn't really planned on cooking tonight.


Mise En Place & Konosuke SKD Gyuto, 210mm
This pic is from part-way through the prep. In front are raw shrimp (seasoned with salt, white pepper, black pepper and Sichuan peppercorns), firm tofu already crisped in the garlicky oil, gelatinous pork stock, soy sauce, long beans, ramp bottoms sliced lengthwise, peanut oil (used considerably more than is shown here), garlic chives, shiitake mushrooms, fermented black soy beans, crispy garlic and some additional ramp bottoms that I minced before I changed my mind on how I wanted to prep them.

From here I cooked the shrimp and shiitakes separately in some of the garlicky oil (adding some pork stock to the shiitakes), and set them aside once they were cooked. I then built the dish itself starting with a bit more of the garlicky oil and long beans. Once they'd suitably softened, I started adding in the other items -- ramps, fermented beans, shiitakes, par-cooked shrimp and fried tofu. I then drizzled in some soy sauce and finished with the crispy garlic.


Ready To Serve
Garnished with a chive blossom, garlic chives and crispy garlic, some of which was also mixed in.


Plated Up
This would have gone well with some rice but by the time I thought about it, it was ready to eat. Either way, I love this technique. The dish was delicious and had a very pronounced but pleasant fried garlic note. I also have a bit of leftover garlic oil, which I'm sure will come in handy over the next few days.

Blue flower ( Chives ) scrambled eggs

Pork Tinga from Rick Bayless.

Chunks of pork shoulder simmered in water for an hour then shredded. 1/2" cubed potatoes boiled for 10 minutes, Bay leaves, oregano, water from the pork / potato cooking, canned tomatoes, chipotle chili in adobo plus some adobo, sliced onions, garlic. Onion and pork is browned and then all other ingredients are added and simmered until water boils off. At the end, a log of goat cheese was added and then topped with avacado.

lougord99 wrote:Pork Tinga from Rick Bayless.

Looks good. Short of pressure-cooking, that seems like the most time-efficient way to handle shoulder.

Other than an overnight marinade, this one is damned quick, too. And the reward to effort ratio is very high. Miso-Sake Grilled Short Ribs. But first, side-dishery . . .


Mise En Place & Takamura Migaki SG2 Gyuto, 210mm
Japanese eggplant, red miso, shoyu, garlic oil, garlic, mirin, togarashi, chives, rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil.

Crushed the garlic and made a glaze with everything but the eggplant. Split the eggplants lengthwise, brushed the flat sides generously with the glaze and broiled them, flat side up, for ~12 minutes until they were tender and dark, golden brown. This is a riff on a Thai eggplant salad recipe that I learned in Simple Thai Food. This is at least the fourth different flavor variation I've tried using this method and each one has worked great.


Marinated Short Ribs
Cross-cut ribs, after marinating overnight in a mixture of hatcho miso, red miso and sake. Here, I've already scraped quite a bit of marinade off in preparation for grilling them.


Grilling
Lump charcoal, direct cook, uncovered, the whole way. These probably spent a total of about 5-6 minutes over the coals. I flipped them a few times along the way to prevent burning.


Miso-Sake Grilled Short Ribs
On the platter and ready to serve.


Plated Up
With broiled Japanese eggplant (reglazed after broiling) and reheated Royal Umbrella jasmine rice.

=R=

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

I believe in Gary's first book, he also has a Lexington coleslaw.

So glad to expand my range of slaw.

Regards,
CAthy2

Tried Gary's recipe, didn't seem right. Too much celery seed, not creamy enough (even after I added some mayo, and some paprika to re-redden). I think it needs garlic (what doesn't?)

JoelF wrote:Tried Gary's recipe, didn't seem right. Too much celery seed, not creamy enough (even after I added some mayo, and some paprika to re-redden). I think it needs garlic (what doesn't?)

I've made my version of Lexington Slaw hundreds of times, served it at the restaurant for a couple of years, lots of events and its the slaw I make most often at home. I even made a bacon fat version for Baconfest one year.

Works for me, in particular the celery seeds, I often add more than is called for. Did you emulsify the dressing? Let it chill?

=-=-

Lexington Red Slaw

SERVES 8 TO 10

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds
1 medium green cabbage, quartered, cored, and thinly sliced (about 8 cups)
3 large carrots, peeled and grated (about 1-1/2 cups)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Whisk oil, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, and celery seeds in a large bowl.
Toss with the cabbage and carrot. Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, but no more than 6 hours, before serving.

Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons
www.lowslowbbq.com

Pan fried noodles w/ginger scallion sauce. Chinese broccoli w/oyster sauce = dinner. #lowslowbbq #countmeafan #nobabycorn #homecooking

click to enlarge




Ginger scallion sauce, count me a Fan!

G Wiv wrote:

JoelF wrote:Tried Gary's recipe, didn't seem right. Too much celery seed, not creamy enough (even after I added some mayo, and some paprika to re-redden). I think it needs garlic (what doesn't?)

I've made my version of Lexington Slaw hundreds of times, served it at the restaurant for a couple of years, lots of events and its the slaw I make most often at home. I even made a bacon fat version for Baconfest one year.

Works for me, in particular the celery seeds, I often add more than is called for. Did you emulsify the dressing? Let it chill?

It was by no means bad, it worked well as a slaw, it just wasn't what I remember from Browns. It did seem a little light on dressing (I don't think I had more cabbage than called for), especially compared to your spicy slaw (one of my favorite recipes I go back to again and again). Yes it chilled long enough; yes it emulsified (especially as I added some Kewpie because it didn't look creamy). With the oil and ketchup, a spin with the stick blender might have given it more creaminess, but whisking wasn't going to get it there.

JoelF wrote:It was by no means bad, it worked well as a slaw, it just wasn't what I remember from Browns.
=-=-=-
but whisking wasn't going to get it there.

Not supposed to be Brown's, its it own thing, at least in the Lexington area. Whisking should get it where you want consistency wise. If the dressing is too thin it does not coat the veg. Proper emulsification, ratios, chilling are key.

JoelF wrote:Too much celery seed

Don't take offense, did you use celery salt instead of celery seed?

G Wiv wrote:Not supposed to be Brown's, its it own thing, at least in the Lexington area.

Sure, but I've been hunting for the old-fashioned 'orange' Brown's slaw.

G Wiv wrote:

JoelF wrote:Too much celery seed

Don't take offense, did you use celery salt instead of celery seed?

No offense taken, it's a legitimate question. But definitely celery seed, it's just not one of my favorite flavors (celery salt even less so). It may have not been mixed well, the serving I had at lunch it wasn't so strong (and a little garlic powder definitely improved it in my perceptions, if not in Lexington authenticity).

My first job in hs was at a browns chicken in the 90s. I guess this reddish slaw was already gone by then as I only remember the mayonnaise based one.

G Wiv wrote:Ginger scallion sauce, count me a Fan!

Me too but those noodles . . . oh my!

For us, it was back to the curry well once again (actually, I wish curry flowed from a well, that'd be a pretty cool well). This time, green with shrimp. On the plus side, I managed to get some Thai eggplant, which really upped the dish. On the minus side, I struck out on fresh bamboo shoots, which seem fairly elusive in the northern suburbs (so, back to canned). Richwell on Dempster occasionally has them. I was told by store personnel at both Super H-Mart Niles and Fresh Farms on Golf that neither carries them.


Mise En Place & Takeda Stainless Clad Aogami Super Gyuto, 210mm
Extra firm tofu, u26-30 shrimp, 4x gelatinous beef stock (that's all I had but it worked out great), ramp roots, wine caps & shiitakes, bamboo shoots, Maesri green curry paste, kaffir lime leaves & Thai birds eye chilis, coconut milk, gapi, fish sauce, Thai eggplant and basil leaves.


Plated Up
Garnished with chive blossoms and I did hit this with light sprinkle of dried Thai birds eye chili powder but that was completely unnecessary. It was p-lenty hot without it.

As much as I love cooking super elaborate meals, I've never been happier to come home on Monday after a crazy-hectic day of work and cook something quick and easy. I don't think I'll ever take going to the office for granted again. If making a quick curry on Monday is a concession to that reality, it's a supremely easy one to accept.

Very happy Monday!

=R=

I'm pretty sure I've seen fresh bamboo shoots at Joong Boo at Central and Milwaukee

JoelF wrote:I'm pretty sure I've seen fresh bamboo shoots at Joong Boo at Central and Milwaukee

Thanks. I'll take a look next time I'm near there. It's not too far from my office.

=R=

Even quicker and easier than last night, though not quite as good, either. Mrs. Suburban picked up some thin-cut, bone-in pork chops at WF. But before that, side dishery . . .


8-Minute Asparagus
Trimmed, oiled, salted and peppered, then cooked indirect the entire way. This is the halfway mark. I'm still working on my seasonal asparagus fatigue but I'm not even close yet!


Grilling
Thin and lean, these chops needed only about 2 minutes per side, directly over the lump.


On The Platter
Even with the asparagus, this was one of the quickest grilling sessions in recent memory. The fire was so nice, I was sorry I hadn't planned for a better protein to grill.


Plated Up
With the end of the leftover Japanese eggplant from Sunday night.

=R=

Last night's dinner was a chance to use of some of those produce items that were fading. Using the 20 Minute Thai Green Curry recipe from the Sitka Salmon Shares website as a guide, I included the remainder of a red onion, some ramps I'd forgotten about, quartered cremini mushrooms, and purple tatsoi (stems chopped, leaves cut into strips.) I used Pacific cod last night, which I liked better than the lingcod from my last version.

Made Rick Bayless marinaded skirt steak tacos on the grill and thin sliced: https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/gril ... molcajete/
Served with Rick Salsa De Molcajete : https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/roas ... ile-salsa/
With thin sliced steak, I couldn't see any reason to spring for the expensive skirt steaks, so I got inside from Marianos for $11.99.

Salsa was very good, but definitely NSFC ( not safe for company ).

lougord99 wrote:Salsa was very good, but definitely NSFC ( not safe for company ).

LOL - gonna use that one in the future!

The GP wrote:Last night's dinner was a chance to use of some of those produce items that were fading.

Nice, prep. That really looks good. I was somewhat in the same boat tonight, with limited time and a large, fading bundle of Shanghai bok choy tips from Super H-Mart. Decided to just wing it and see what happened . . .


Mise En Place & Kohetsu Blue #2 Addict, 240mm
Shanghai bok choy tips, broad bean paste, peanut oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fermented soy bean sauce, 4x gelatinous beef stock and garlic (later crushed). Wasn't sure where this was going but hoped that by using some of the viscous stock, I'd end up somewhere between soup and stew.


Separated & Chopped
Parted out the leaves and slivered the cores, so that I could better control their respective cooking times. Started the cooking with the cores and oil in a hot wok, then added the rest of the mise, except for the garlic, which I added toward the end. Finished the cook with the leaves, which took only a few moments to soften.


Plated Up
Garnished with chili crisp and the currently-ubiquitous chive blossoms. I guess I'd describe it as braised bok choy. Quite flavorful and the texture of the cores was tender but not mushy. Sauce was fairly thick, which allowed it to cling to the leaves nicely. A little protein would have probably been a good addition. Guessing I'll be hungry later.

=R=