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[InfiniteBento]

What about Green Street Smoked Meats? I thought it was pretty good for Chicago.

That place is right inside of Sawada Coffee, one of my favorite spots. I've never had their bbq but now I'm curious. I totally forgot I could go there for food lmao

if you need any help/stuff for studying or anything else feel free to send me a message. I've a lot of japanese studies books in english as pdfs from my time at the university. Especially if you are in the jlpt 3-2 range

YES PLS! Any and all resources would be the greatest gift in the world. :')

That's a lot of moollah. Have you looked at the Basque Culinary Center?

I'm not sure if they offer something to your liking, but just in case.

Student loans for the school I went to suck but the school in Japan offers a lot of scholarship opportunities for international students so I'm pushing for them. $10,000 for 2 years is far better of an investment than the $24,000 I put into a shit 6 month program. I got a $5,000 scholarship for the pastry school here in Chicago so I'm confident I could push a little harder for something bigger in Japan too. Who knows tho !

I've never heard of basque. I want to look into though because holy shit that place looks beautiful.

 

[ColdPizza]

IB, you can also check out Smoque

 

[OnkelC]

Monday dessert: Chocolate and Vanilla pudding, topped wirh a helping of whipped cream.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

The desire for a gas powered Grill is growing in me, but I can't justify buying one right now. firing the charcoal one up with a charcoal chimney is a matter of 20-25 minutes and for the two of us, it's just the right size and durability. I envy erveryone who has one, though.

I find gas not powerful enough normally but I do have this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/262485427812?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

and it works really well for 1-2 servings.

 

[OnkelC]

That sounds like a great idea, didn't think of a yakitori grill. Thank you a lot!

 

[codhand]

gas grill

 

[zbarron]

Speaking of Yakitori I made this the other day.

It turned out really well.

 

[OnkelC]

looks good, how did you marinate the chicken (?)

 

[zbarron]

looks good, how did you marinate the chicken (?)

It wasn't Yakitori really. I just liked the idea of the green onion between chicken. I marinated it in an Italian dressing I made with EVOO, apple cider vinegar and Good Seasons italian dressing Mix. I then took it off the skewers and added it to chopped romaine lettuce, a ton of shredded Parmesan cheese and Ceaser dressing to make a chicken Ceaser salad.

 

[OnkelC]

Some impressions from the annual food fest "Esskultour" in Remscheid which is a jour fixe in our annual calendar:

-Fried chicken with cucumber and potato salad, crafted currywurst with a paprika roll, creme brulee from foie gras:





-Salmon variations, rice pudding and strawberry petit four:




-Goat cheese spring roll with a rhubarb/chorizo chutney on rocket salad, creme brulee from chocolate, ice cream praline from condensed milk with a raspberry coulis:





-bacon, cheese and radish chutney slider, cheese tarte:



assorted italian pastry which was disappointing :


Some craft beer for the match


enjoy.

 

[zbarron]

That looks great. I was curious about German craft beer. Does the Reinheitsgebot prevent weird but high quality brews? It's nice that it seems to prevent stuff like Budweiser, but as far as I can tell you couldn't make a coffee stout for example.

 

[Keen]

Made Sichuan boiled beef today. Entirely wrong thing to eat with 95%+ humidity, but damn tasty.

 

[zbarron]

That looks so tasty.

Nothing fancy tonight but I bought an entire boneless pork loin today so I cut it into 14 nice two inch thick pork chops. Then I vacuum sealed them two to a bag and froze them.

I wanted to test them out so I took a bag out of the freezer and thawed just long enough to be able to stick my probe in. I coated in BBQ rub and cooked them in the oven at 275*F until they hit 135*F and finished in a cast iron skillet with about a quarter inch of oil.

They were tender and moist and they were cheap and easy. When these run out I'll definitely pick up another loin.

 

[OnkelC]

zbarron and Keen, great looking dishes! Thank you for sharing.

That looks great. I was curious about German craft beer. Does the Reinheitsgebot prevent weird but high quality brews? It's nice that it seems to prevent stuff like Budweiser, but as far as I can tell you couldn't make a coffee stout for example.

Nah, you can brew anything to taste as long as it isn't hazardous or harmful.

 

[D-Pad]

I haven't seen pizza in here for a while so here have some... Spicy Pizza Ziti Bake! I layered cooked ziti pasta with ground sausage and mushrooms, a nice spicy jarred pasta sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, and baked until melty.

Spicy Pizziti? Spicy Zizza? It was delish. Best part is there is plenty leftover :d

 

[ColdPizza]

Made Sichuan boiled beef today. Entirely wrong thing to eat with 95%+ humidity, but damn tasty.

damn that looks good

 

[demosthenes]

Big step for me personally but I bought a house!

I was wondering if Iron GAF could help me fill my kitchen. I've been putting off buying anything of high quality b/c my roommate who I really like from college just doesn't take care of things at the level I've wanted to take care of things, especially when it comes to the kitchen. Also any tips for small things that you didn't think of at first? I'm really excited that this is going to be my kitchen:

[IMG]http://photos1.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISd0tqkdkb4jvt1000000000.jpg[/IMG]

 

[zbarron]

Big step for me personally but I bought a house!

I was wondering if Iron GAF could help me fill my kitchen. I've been putting off buying anything of high quality b/c my roommate who I really like from college just doesn't take care of things at the level I've wanted to take care of things, especially when it comes to the kitchen. Also any tips for small things that you didn't think of at first? I'm really excited that this is going to be my kitchen

Congratulations. If that's a gas oven I recommend a baking steel or Lodge cast iron griddle. I'd also get 3-5 nice knives that will last you a very long time with a magnetic knife strip and a boos block.

Really though it's hard to say what to get without knowing what you already have that is nice enough to keep. Do you own decent pots and pans, dishes, hand tools, etc.

 

[demosthenes]

Congratulations. If that's a gas oven I recommend a baking steel or Lodge cast iron griddle. I'd also get 3-5 nice knives that will last you a very long time with a magnetic knife strip and a boos block.

Really though it's hard to say what to get without knowing what you already have that is nice enough to keep. Do you own decent pots and pans, dishes, hand tools, etc.

I own a few nice pots / frying pan but nothing that I'd call amazing but they get the job done for me. Don't have cast iron though (and yes it's gas range).

I have a kyocera ceramic knife that I really like but I'm going to look to get an actual couple good knives as I miss the weight of a metal knife. My roommate would always put any decent knives I had in the dish washer and I sort of just gave up. He's really a good guy outside of taking care of my kitchen stuff, ugh lol. I imagine there are small things that I'm not thinking of that I'll want.

 

[zbarron]

I own a few nice pots / frying pan but nothing that I'd call amazing but they get the job done for me. Don't have cast iron though (and yes it's gas range).

I have a kyocera ceramic knife that I really like but I'm going to look to get an actual couple good knives as I miss the weight of a metal knife. My roommate would always put any decent knives I had in the dish washer and I sort of just gave up. He's really a good guy outside of taking care of my kitchen stuff, ugh lol. I imagine there are small things that I'm not thinking of that I'll want.

Here is a good place to start for little things. I've also found having disposable gloves and several squeeze bottles on hand at all times makes things easier. I also love my foodsaver and mason jars for storage.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Big step for me personally but I bought a house!

I was wondering if Iron GAF could help me fill my kitchen. I've been putting off buying anything of high quality b/c my roommate who I really like from college just doesn't take care of things at the level I've wanted to take care of things, especially when it comes to the kitchen. Also any tips for small things that you didn't think of at first? I'm really excited that this is going to be my kitchen:

[IMG]http://photos1.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISd0tqkdkb4jvt1000000000.jpg[/IMG]

You bought a house but you have a roommate? I hope he pays rent and even if he doesn't if you own the house then make sure he abides by kitchen rules. If he doesn't respect things like your knives then keep them away and force him to buy his own knives.

You only need 3 knives:

8-10 inch chef's knife/gyuto
3-4 inch paring knife or utility knife
serrated knife (at least 8 inches)

One thing I noticed is that you don't have ventilation, so might wanna get a window fan? I dont know how anybody cooks without vertical ventilation above their stove. In the long run if you don't mind doing renovation I would either replace that microwave with a ventless exhaust or even install a vent thru the roof if you are willing to put in the financial investment otherwise any serious cooking will make the entire place filled with greasy air.

 

[-KRS-]

Made some Tarka Dhal the other day and it turned out fantastic. Better than eating at an actual indian restaurant.

This is the recipe I followed, but I also fried some chicken with all the spices and added some broccoli and other vegetables after I threw the spices and chicken into the lentils. I also used about twice the amount of chili in the recipe since I like it hot. I used a store-bought garam masala spice mix, but it should be pretty easy to make yourself provided you have all the spices.

 

[InfiniteBento]

Big step for me personally but I bought a house!

I was wondering if Iron GAF could help me fill my kitchen. I've been putting off buying anything of high quality b/c my roommate who I really like from college just doesn't take care of things at the level I've wanted to take care of things, especially when it comes to the kitchen. Also any tips for small things that you didn't think of at first? I'm really excited that this is going to be my kitchen:

[IMG]http://photos1.zillowstatic.com/p_f/ISd0tqkdkb4jvt1000000000.jpg[/IMG]

Congrats !

Invest in great knives. (Start with an 8 inch chef knife, 6 inch paring knife, then a serrated knife for bread & such.)
Magnet strip for storing your knives on the wall is great.
Bakeware is a must.
Invest in a cast iron.
Invest in a great set of pots and pans, don't go cheap with it.
Invest in a nice butcher block, don't forget to get oil for it to oil it weekly too !

Just a few basic things :>

 

[zbarron]

This popped up on my Youtube homepage today. I thought a lot of you would enjoy.
Adam Savage Tests the Best Ways to Sear a Steak!
It's Adam Savage and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (name not in title.)

 

[ColdPizza]

This popped up on my Youtube homepage today. I thought a lot of you would enjoy.
Adam Savage Tests the Best Ways to Sear a Steak!
It's Adam Savage and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt (name not in title.)

Well, what I got out of this video is that next time I make a steak I'm going to sous-vide it and sear it on my charcoal chimney, lol

 

[demosthenes]

You bought a house but you have a roommate? I hope he pays rent and even if he doesn't if you own the house then make sure he abides by kitchen rules. If he doesn't respect things like your knives then keep them away and force him to buy his own knives.

You only need 3 knives:

8-10 inch chef's knife/gyuto
3-4 inch paring knife or utility knife
serrated knife (at least 8 inches)

One thing I noticed is that you don't have ventilation, so might wanna get a window fan? I dont know how anybody cooks without vertical ventilation above their stove. In the long run if you don't mind doing renovation I would either replace that microwave with a ventless exhaust or even install a vent thru the roof if you are willing to put in the financial investment otherwise any serious cooking will make the entire place filled with greasy air.

I currently live with a roommate. He's not coming. This house is just for me!

You know I didn't even notice the no vent thing, that's going to be annoying haha.

 

[snacknuts]

A little scrambled egg action this morning.

Instead of whisking the eggs up in a bowl before putting them in the skillet, I like to prepare them as if I'm making them over easy. As soon as they get flipped, I turn the heat off. After a few seconds, I coarsely chop everything up with the spatula to let the yolks run around. Mix for a few more seconds, then move to a plate. That way your eggs are still scrambled, but you get the creaminess of the yolks and it's distributed more evenly than it would be with the over easy preparation.

 

[Funky Papa]

I visited a cute gastrobar with the girlfriend and took some pictures for GAF:

Foie gras mille-feuille.

Borage and longaniza puntalette (an absolute revelation)

Duck magret with cherry chutney and lyophilized something.

Sous-vide lamb (SO TENDER) with potato foam.

 

[ColdPizza]

everything in that last post looked utterly amazing

 

[Kelpie]

You know I didn't even notice the no vent thing, that's going to be annoying haha.

Nice kitchen! The vent is most likely built into the microwave, I have one similar to yours.

 

[OnkelC]

A little scrambled egg action this morning.

Instead of whisking the eggs up in a bowl before putting them in the skillet, I like to prepare them as if I'm making them over easy. As soon as they get flipped, I turn the heat off. After a few seconds, I coarsely chop everything up with the spatula to let the yolks run around. Mix for a few more seconds, then move to a plate. That way your eggs are still scrambled, but you get the creaminess of the yolks and it's distributed more evenly than it would be with the over easy preparation.

Nice way of prep, thank you for sharing!

I made a vid of my favorite prep a couple of years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oidZQ1WmBJ0

 

[Funky Papa]

everything in that last post looked utterly amazing

It tasted about as great. The puntalette was shockingly good. Like, the kind of dish that brings you back to a restaurant, and then brings you again with your friends.

Re: demosthenes. Congrats on the purchase. My only recommendation is to buy a GOOD set of pans and pots. Everything else is optional.

I see you are using one of those oh-so-American stovetop+oven combinations so I imagine you won't be using an induction range. Still, I'd recommend some heavy bottomed skillets. Moving from garbage €6 ones to my current Castey collection changed the way I cook and greatly increased the quality of the food. Pots are much more forgiving in comparison. Just make sure they have a heavy bottom for better heat retention and proper braising.

 

[snacknuts]

Nice way of prep, thank you for sharing!

I made a vid of my favorite prep a couple of years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oidZQ1WmBJ0

Whoa, that looks great. What kind of cheese did you add? Thanks for the video!

 

[demosthenes]

Nice kitchen! The vent is most likely built into the microwave, I have one similar to yours.

That's what I was hoping for, ha.

 

[snacknuts]

There's a Mexican/El Salvadoran restaurant near my house that makes fantastic burritos and pupusas. Today was the first time I've tried their tacos and they were pretty great.

From left: chicken, steak, and chorizo. Chorizo was my favorite, as is pretty much always the case.

 

[OnkelC]

Whoa, that looks great. What kind of cheese did you add? Thanks for the video!

thank you. It was a Laughing Cow-style cheese.

 

[OnkelC]

OT, but maybe of interest for the ones thinking about it as well:
I placed my first Amazon Pantry order this week.

Everything was well wrapped, only one bag of Pasta was torn.

it was an interesting experience, but I can see no benefit whatsoever from buying groceries this from Amazon instead of doing shopping at the local supermarket.

 

[ColdPizza]

OT, but maybe of interest for the ones thinking about it as well:
I placed my first Amazon Pantry order this week.

Everything was well wrapped, only one bag of Pasta was torn.

it was an interesting experience, but I can see no benefit whatsoever from buying groceries this from Amazon instead of doing shopping at the local supermarket.

Saving time is the only upside I can see.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Saving time is the only upside I can see.

Yeah even if I don't save money I live on the 2nd floor of a building and I don't want to make multiple trips to my car to bring up mundane things like toilet paper and I don't want to waste time shopping for it too.

 

[OnkelC]

great dessert:
ice cream with strawberries and the russian equivalent of dulce de leche.

 

[InfiniteBento]

After the passing of my best friend I took time away from restaurants to get my head together and started working in FOH in a really well known bakery in Chicago. It's been really nice not working the BOH grind and getting to interact with guests again. I'll eventually go back to doing pastry but for now, I'm working on my latte art game and soaking in the knowledge from BOH from a distance.

I admit, I miss being on the line but having normal shifts and getting out during daylight paired with having that intimacy of customer interaction has been really great for my mental stability.

Heres a few shots I've taken from work these past few days

First time pouring free hand in 5 months. Not too bad !

Cherries are in season so this means cherry tarts !

End of the day haul I get to take home

 

[hermit7]

Let me just say some of your guys presentation is on point.

I have been cooking for a while, but it tends to be a bit more basic things like steak, burgers, chicken thighs, etc.

Yesterday made some delicious burgers. Seasoning was only salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, maybe a few more that I forget off hand.

Sous vide them at 131 F for 1.5 hours, and threw them on the grill for a sear.

Got some decent thick cut bacon that I threw on the grill as well. Topped it all off with some fingerling potatoes that I roasted in the oven. Forgot to take any pics, but am probably going to make the same thing on Monday for the 4th of July.

 

[raindoc]

A couple of friends and me meet every other Thursday to play Halo together and once every year we meet in a cabin out in the woods and spend a whole weekend playing Halo, drinking beer and eating meat. This year I used it as an excuse to buy a new dutch oven so I could prepare one of my favourites: Boef Bourguignon.

My DO setup, a friend's Bradley in the back. We also had two more DOs, a BBQ-barrel, a big green egg and a kettle grill in use.

I let it simmer overnight using only a handfull of briquets (kept it simmering until I went to bed at 6, got up at 11, added the mushrooms, beought it to boiling point again and lunch was ready at noon)

It's not a looker, but I do like to brag that it was the culinary highlight of the weekend

And because we're on gaf: our battle stations:

 

[HiResDes]

Yeah I hate gas, but I grew up in a family from the deep South that would either use charcoal or build a wood fire in a pit when a big group was coming down, gas was sacrilege.

 

[OnkelC]

Struggle dinner on mondays:
1. skip grocery shopping for decent ingredients because traffic jam and settle for garlic butter noodles:
https://theasiangrandmotherscookbook.com/2009/10/28/garlic-noodles-from-steamy-kitchen-cookbook/
2. check inventory and realize the oyster sauce is out.
3. expletive
4. boil pasta (Barilla egg Tagliatelle from the Amazon pantry haul)
5. melt butter in noodle pot, add garlic powder and Maggi
6. add Pasta
7. chow.






Bonus pic: sunday hash browns

 

[ColdPizza]

July 4th dinner. Was too lazy to form my own burgers so decided to try this butchers blend.

2 burgers with American, 2 with blue. Each patty was 5.3 oz.

Toasted brioche

Scalloped potatoes from scratch.

Finished meal. Burger was slightly overdone. If I had packed the meat myself they would have been more pink and juicier. It was still tasty but not worth the markup to me.

 

[zbarron]

How was the meat? I've seen that brand in store, but haven't tried it since it was a lot more expensive.

 

[ColdPizza]

How was the meat? I've seen that brand in store, but haven't tried it since it was a lot more expensive.

Taste was good. I just think preformed patties lend themselves to drying out quicker. An 80/20 blend you loosely form yourself will always be juicier in my opinion.

 

[Funky Papa]

I'm a terrible person with no self control, so I bought a panini press. Cuban sandwiches, there I go.

In the meantime, I made king prawn and mussels stuffed peppers with a most powerful rouille and an INCREDIBLE tomato and basil cold cream with scamorza and sun dried tomato crostinis (they are not burnt, it's just that I minced my own really dark tomato instead of using premade powdered one). I usually despise tomato soups (worst Spaniard ever) but this one blew my mind.

For those interested, here are the recipes (in Spanish, but they are quite easy to follow):

 

[OnkelC]

raindoc, great setup and a creative side dish for a LAN party! appreciated.
ColdPizza, delicious! shame that blue cheese on burgers is still uncommon in this part of the world, those slices would be perfect (I like Castello cheeses a lot).
Funky Papa, great presentation! which panini press did you get?