Author Topic: What's Cooking (Read 108146 times)

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #270 on:** October 21, 2018, 01:04 PM »

Yesterday was my wife's birthday. We made a roast beef, sauteed mushrooms, haricots verts, oven fried potatoes, popovers, and homemade gravy.

Peter Halle · « **Reply #271 on:** October 21, 2018, 01:55 PM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 21, 2018, 01:04 PM

Yesterday was my wife's birthday. We made a roast beef, sauteed mushrooms, haricots verts, oven fried potatoes, popovers, and homemade gravy.

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YUM! Except for the mushrooms. Surprised you didn't sous vide the beef. But it looks delicious!

Peter

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #272 on:** October 21, 2018, 02:08 PM »

I guess mushrooms are one of those love em or hate em kind of things. I hated them when I was a child, but I like em now.

I think I have made a sous vide roast before. It's a little less than ideal since the big piece of meat sits in its own juices for so long it really makes it had to develop that nice caramelized crust you get from the dry heat of the oven. I did miss having that perfect edge to edge pink however. It was in fact a little overcooked to our normal liking.

We were in a little bit of of a hurry yesterday so I first seared it on the stove and then put it into a 375 degree oven. It was supposed to be about 15 minutes per pound for medium rare. I used a probe thermometer set to 125 degrees. I think it was closer to 1:30 to reach 125. From the doneness of the meat, I think I should have actually set the target temp to 120 degrees. I've also used the reverse sear technique for roasts, but that takes longer since the oven is much cooler.

I've heard the "best" way to make prime rib is to crank the oven as hot as it will go, throw the roast in for a short while and then turn the oven off completely and let it very slowly cook like overnight. I've never tried this, in fact I had also read that the technique doesn't even really work on modern ovens since they don't hold the heat in like they used to.

Peter Halle · « **Reply #273 on:** October 22, 2018, 02:41 AM »

@GoingMyWay If you are into roasting rib roasts, here is an interesting read: https://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/the-food-lab-how-to-cook-roast-a-perfect-prime-rib.html

His cookbook “The Food Lab” is a great cookbook and gift for those who get into food science and enjoy reading in addition to cooking.

Peter

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #274 on:** October 22, 2018, 08:21 AM »

Thanks for that link. I think I used his Perfect Prime Rib with Red Wine Jus recipe for Christmas one year. I don't recall if I had seen the article that you sent or not. His technique is very good, albeit a longer cook time at only 200 degrees.

One of the things that I was trying to do by making the turkey and roast beef this week is get more practice / experimentation in before a major holiday meal. I was just telling my wife that the problem is we normally only cook a turkey and prime rib 1 time a year. Usually for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm always afraid to try something new or test something out for fear of ruining a meal for multiple people. This past week was a good opportunity to "live free" and not be too worried about a complete failure since it was just the 2 of us eating.

Yesterday we finished up the turkey breast by making turkey club sandwiches. We also made home fries by cooking the 2 leftover grilled potatoes in the bacon fat.

We made a little turkey stock that we froze from the turkey breast carcass.

For dinner we had a simple split pea soup that was made with just ham hocks, split peas, and water. The last couple times we have made pea soup it ended up being very thick. This time I added extra water to thin things out. Unfortunately, I ended up adding way too much water so the soup was very very thin.

Cheese · « **Reply #275 on:** October 22, 2018, 01:02 PM »

Talking about the Weber Performer grills and particularly the stainless tray/table off to the side, I always assumed the tray was manufactured from 304 stainless. First because after 15-18 years of outside exposure there isn't a trace of rust and secondly, because 304 is a lot cheaper than the equivalent amount of 316. Both of these stainless products are very non-magnetic.

Well this last weekend I was going to grill some marinated flank steaks and I wanted to use the SysLite with the magnetic adapter and try to find a place on the bevel cedar siding where I could mount the SysLite. After fumbling around for a while I decided to place the light on the grill table and then mark the area on the siding where I would mount the light...the SysLite stuck to the stainless table.

Here are some shots, so @GoingMyWay , this may be an alternative for you if you need some localized lighting when grilling at night.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #276 on:** October 22, 2018, 01:10 PM »

That's a nice setup. There have been several instances when I needed more light while grilling after sunset. I usually had to struggle to use the flashlight on my phone.

Any idea now what kind of stainless steel or other metal the table is made out of?

Are you telling me I need to buy a SysLite now??? I had seen some kind of Festool lights come up on the recon site, but never really paid attention since I didn't think I had a need for it. I may need it now...

Cheese · « **Reply #277 on:** October 22, 2018, 01:33 PM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 22, 2018, 01:10 PM

Any idea now what kind of stainless steel or other metal the table is made out of?

I still think it's 304 stainless because there's absolutely no rust after all these years. The only thing I can figure is that during the stamping/forming process, the molecular structure is changed as far as magnetism is concerned, (maybe a kind of work hardening process) , yet the corrosion resistance is not affected. If that's the case, that could be a big processing bonus for many items and manufacturers. I'm thinking specifically the boating industry.

The Festool mount holds good and tight as I rotated the SysLite 90º on the mount (parallel to the stainless surface) and it never moved or tipped. I think your situation may be the same. Take a very small refrigerator magnet to the surface and if it sticks, you'll have no problem with the Festool magnetic mount.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #278 on:** October 22, 2018, 01:43 PM »

I don't know anything about metallurgy, but a molecular structure change from hardening sounds interesting.

I just checked. The magnet stuck fine to my table also.

Cheese · « **Reply #279 on:** October 22, 2018, 01:55 PM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 22, 2018, 01:10 PM

I had seen some kind of Festool lights come up on the recon site, but never really paid attention since I didn't think I had a need for it. I may need it now...

If you decide to purchase from the recon site, just be aware that I've seen both the original KAL (600 lumen) and the newer KAL II (770 lumen) for sale and the price differential was literally $10. The older KAL has 6 LEDs with a run time of 90/240 minutes, while the newer KAL II has 12 LEDs with a run time of 130/290 minutes.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #280 on:** October 22, 2018, 01:58 PM »

Thanks for the heads up. It's just the CXS 1.5 vs 2.6 being offered up.

Tinker · « **Reply #281 on:** October 23, 2018, 04:46 AM »

@GoingMyWay >>>For dinner we had a simple split pea soup that was made with just ham hocks, split peas, and water. The last couple times we have made pea soup it ended up being very thick. This time I added extra water to thin things out. Unfortunately, I ended up adding way too much water so the soup was very very thin. <<<

My aunt, as also my mom, used to make pea soup very thick. I loved it that way. Later, it was great to sit down to a steaming hot bowl of pea soup when coming home from plowing snow. My wife does not make it quite so thick, but pea soup is great any time the weather is cold and stormy. It does not last long in our house.
Tinker

Gregor · « **Reply #282 on:** October 23, 2018, 06:46 AM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 22, 2018, 08:21 AM

One of the things that I was trying to do by making the turkey and roast beef this week is get more practice / experimentation in before a major holiday meal.

Regarding roast beef I can recommend to reverse roast it: Put with a core thermometer into 60-80°C (depending on how many hours you want to start before dinner, lower temperature and more time usually gives better results) oven and drop the temperature to 55°C the moment the beef core reaches that target level. You can keep it like this for several hours without any degredation and when your guests finally arrive (on time or late) you take it out to give it a brief high-heat treatment (on the grill or in a pan) that quickly brings the outside/crust to your level of liking - let it sit for 2-3 minutes after the charring stage and you'll end up with perfect roastbeef.

What's nice with this approach is that it works regardless the size of your cut (thinner ones will just be quicker to reach the stage where you can put them into hibernation by dropping the oven to the core temperature) and massively eases requirements on your (or your guests) timing.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #283 on:** October 23, 2018, 09:40 AM »

Quote from: Tinker on October 23, 2018, 04:46 AM

@GoingMyWay >>>For dinner we had a simple split pea soup that was made with just ham hocks, split peas, and water. The last couple times we have made pea soup it ended up being very thick. This time I added extra water to thin things out. Unfortunately, I ended up adding way too much water so the soup was very very thin. <<<

My aunt, as also my mom, used to make pea soup very thick. I loved it that way. Later, it was great to sit down to a steaming hot bowl of pea soup when coming home from plowing snow. My wife does not make it quite so thick, but pea soup is great any time the weather is cold and stormy. It does not last long in our house.
Tinker

Do you use stock or water to make the soup? We rarely make pea soup - mostly after Easter dinner when we would have a ham bone and some leftover ham to make the soup.

I went to the famous Pea Soup Andersen's in Gustine, CA 5 years ago. I bought some of their canned pea soup and also their bags of split peas to make at home. My favorite place to get pea soup is from a fast casual place called Vie de France. There used to be a lot more in the DC area, but now I think there's pretty much only one near my mom's in Maryland and another in DC itself and maybe one in California. There are little cubes of ham in the soup and little specks of what carrot that appears to been grated. I wish I knew exactly how they make it.

Quote from: Gregor on October 23, 2018, 06:46 AM

Regarding roast beef I can recommend to reverse roast it: Put with a core thermometer into 60-80°C (depending on how many hours you want to start before dinner, lower temperature and more time usually gives better results) oven and drop the temperature to 55°C the moment the beef core reaches that target level. You can keep it like this for several hours without any degredation and when your guests finally arrive (on time or late) you take it out to give it a brief high-heat treatment (on the grill or in a pan) that quickly brings the outside/crust to your level of liking - let it sit for 2-3 minutes after the charring stage and you'll end up with perfect roastbeef.

What's nice with this approach is that it works regardless the size of your cut (thinner ones will just be quicker to reach the stage where you can put them into hibernation by dropping the oven to the core temperature) and massively eases requirements on your (or your guests) timing.

It is a very good method of cooking. I've never tried it, but I hear it also works great on a steak on the grill. The only thing for me is unless it's a very thick steak, I don't like to push a probe thermometer in (one of the main reasons I like sous vide steak so much). I find it's a little tricky to hit the center of the meat, it's obviously not that hard on a big 4+ lb roast.

Do you know if there's a general rule of thumb for how long it takes for the meat to rise in temperature in say a 200F oven? It feels like it takes a very long time for the temperature to even go up 1 degree when the oven is so low. So like maybe we'll put the roast in at 12pm and the internal temperature will be like 56 degrees. Then by 2pm it'll be like 80 something, but I'm trying to hit 120 or 125. I know there are a lot of factors that come into play - how cold is the meat to start with, how long has the meat been warming up outside, how big/thick is the meat, but my biggest problem is basically knowing how early I need to put the roast in to eat at say 4pm.

Gregor · « **Reply #284 on:** October 23, 2018, 05:01 PM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 23, 2018, 09:40 AM

It is a very good method of cooking. I've never tried it, but I hear it also works great on a steak on the grill. The only thing for me is unless it's a very thick steak, I don't like to push a probe thermometer in (one of the main reasons I like sous vide steak so much). I find it's a little tricky to hit the center of the meat, it's obviously not that hard on a big 4+ lb roast.

Yes, it's the same idea as sous-vide, just in air instead of vacuuming it and putting it in warm water.
I don't do sous-vide as I prefer to not heat plastics that is in contact with my food.

Regarding your question about timing: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/oct/18/ultra-slow-roast-rump-beef-recipe is somewhat the way I do it (at least that was the first one I found when searching for an english language recipe). In case you're unsure put it in 1-2 hours earlier and when reaching desired core temperature just drop the oven temperature to that - as no additional heating of your dinner can happen the meat will stay in perfect state for some hours, without any problems (it'll only get better).

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #285 on:** October 24, 2018, 09:33 AM »

The other advantage of using air to cook the food is that the exterior stays dry. The food becomes quite water logged when cooked in its own juices in the bag which can make getting a good sear a little bit harder.

Thanks for that recipe. That says 4-5 hours for a rump roast. I guess if we want to eat around 4pm it would probably be safest to start around 10am.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #286 on:** October 25, 2018, 02:44 PM »

Last night we made Corvina en Papillote.

Cheese · « **Reply #287 on:** October 25, 2018, 03:42 PM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 25, 2018, 02:44 PM

Last night we made Corvina en Papillote.

Thanks for the great idea...🙏...I have a "Salmon Fillet en Papillote with Julienne Vegetable" recipe that's delicious and that I haven't made in years. I think that baby makes it to the table tonight.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #288 on:** October 25, 2018, 03:45 PM »

Awesome! I hope to see pics.

We normally use salmon, but we had 2 pieces of frozen corvina so we used that instead.

Cheese · « **Reply #289 on:** October 25, 2018, 04:03 PM »

Ya, it’s an Alton Brown recipe circa 2003. Haven’t made it in 5-7 years.

What’s corvina? Not familiar with that one.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #290 on:** October 25, 2018, 04:07 PM »

I guess it's also known as drum. This was the first time that we had it. We were looking for a thicker cut of white fish and saw it at Costco so we bought it.

Cheese · « **Reply #291 on:** October 25, 2018, 04:16 PM »

That's funny because I've also never heard of drum.

I thought the last time I made this recipe I used cod so that it wouldn't overpower the fennel, leeks, snow peas, carrots & bell pepper. However I couldn't find it under the cod section so I went to the salmon section and it popped up. We'll see what fish looks the best at the monger tonight.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #292 on:** October 25, 2018, 04:20 PM »

I had never heard of drum either LOL. I thought like it sounded like a more familiar name though.

Yup sometimes it is best to use whatever looks best or is available at the market.

Cheese · « **Reply #293 on:** October 27, 2018, 10:29 AM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 25, 2018, 03:45 PM

Awesome! I hope to see pics.

We normally use salmon, but we had 2 pieces of frozen corvina so we used that instead.

Well I went to the market to purchase some fish, but I fell in love with these lamb chops. Just look at the size of the tenderloin.

So, keeping it simple, just Malden sea salt, fresh ground pepper and minced fresh rosemary. Cooked till they were 135º in the center and then a 5 minute foil covered rest. Nummy...

Bob Marino · « **Reply #294 on:** October 27, 2018, 10:59 AM »

Quote from: Cheese on October 27, 2018, 10:29 AM

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 25, 2018, 03:45 PM
Awesome! I hope to see pics.

We normally use salmon, but we had 2 pieces of frozen corvina so we used that instead.

Well I went to the market to purchase some fish, but I fell in love with these lamb chops. Just look at the size of the tenderloin.

So, keeping it simple, just Malden sea salt, fresh ground pepper and minced fresh rosemary. Cooked till they were 135º in the center and then a 5 minute foil covered rest. Nummy...

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Looks delicious (as do so much food does here) cooked perfectly with a juicy top. What grill did you use?

Cheese · « **Reply #295 on:** October 27, 2018, 12:53 PM »

Quote from: Bob Marino on October 27, 2018, 10:59 AM

Looks delicious (as do so much food does here) cooked perfectly with a juicy top. What grill did you use?

Hey Bob, I use a Weber charcoal grill, however I went outside Thursday evening and I was out of charcoal.

So I just used the gas range with a LeCreuset grill pan.

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/le-creuset-signature-square-grill-pan/?pkey=ccookware-le-creuset%7Cle-creuset-cast-iron&isx=0.0.4046

Cheese · « **Reply #296 on:** October 27, 2018, 11:53 PM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 25, 2018, 03:45 PM

Awesome! I hope to see pics.

GoingMyWay, here are your photos...
This recipe is called "Salmon Fillet en Papillote with Julienne Vegetable" from Alton Brown circa 2003. I looked up En Papiliote today and found it was French for "in parchment". That makes sense.

Photo 1: Ingredients left to right:
Sea salt, fresh ground pepper, ground coriander
Blanched snow peas
Fennel bulb
Carrots
Leaks
Navel orange slices...I wanted Blood oranges but they're not yet in season
Fennel fronds
Orange bell pepper
Alaskan Sockeye Salmon

Photo 2: Ingredients arranged on the parchment paper before wrapping it up.

Photo 3: Everything cooked in parchment paper and done at the same time. Delicious and healthy

That's a complete meal...however if you're an over achiever, just grab another parchment pouch, I guarantee your tummy will be filled.

And then if you're really an ultra over achiever, try adding some white/brown rice bed to the mixture and some more liquid. I haven't tried that but it would be interesting.

GoingMyWay · « **Reply #297 on:** October 28, 2018, 07:09 PM »

Thanks for sharing your pictures Cheese!

When I first read "lamb chops," the image of the scrawny rack of lamb chops immediately came to mind. I've never had this type of lamb chop before. They look great (well except for the rosemary - I don't like rosemary or thyme) and perfectly cooked! The resting of the lamb is absolutely critical. If it's not allowed to rest the meat will look way under cooked Did you serve them with mint jelly?

Your sockeye salmon en papillote looks great also. I'd never have thought to include a sweet citrus like regular oranges or blood orange. My wife put some thin slices of lemon on her fish. We also put little thin slices of potato as the base of our corvina en papillote. I cut them with a vegetable peeler to make sure they were thin enough to cook in about 20 minutes. Speaking of corvina - it was funny how neither of us had heard of that fish before. My wife's cousin was over the other day and she said she had grilled corvina from a Korean restaurant. I asked her twice if she was sure it was corvina because it doesn't seem to be a very common fish (she had never heard of corvina before either).

Last night we made thai rice soup. It's a pork stock with cooked rice mixed in and served with pork meatballs and a soft boiled egg. The meatball flavor reminded me a lot of wonton filling.

Cheese · « **Reply #298 on:** October 29, 2018, 01:30 PM »

Quote from: GoingMyWay on October 28, 2018, 07:09 PM

Did you serve them with mint jelly?

I'd never have thought to include a sweet citrus like regular oranges or blood orange.

I asked her twice if she was sure it was corvina because it doesn't seem to be a very common fish (she had never heard of corvina before either).

Nope...no mint jelly, just the seasonings. It is delicious, especially that big tenderloin.

I failed to add, that once assembled, I added 1 Tbl of fresh squeezed OJ and 1 Tbl of some nice white wine to the oranges on top. Then I sealed the pouches up and put them in the oven. You could also add a dollop of butter to the oranges if you prefer.

I prefer blood oranges because they're a bit sweeter and I love their color.

I looked up Corvina and found this. Look at the six cooking methods, this is a pretty versatile fish.

I'm going to look around for some, I'll check at Coastal this week.

http://www.fortunefishco.net/Assets/ffg-corvina-sm.pdf

six-point socket II · « **Reply #299 on:** October 29, 2018, 02:44 PM »

Hi!

Today it was "Housewife's pie".

Kind regards,
Oliver