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IronGAF Cookoff (hosted by OnkelC) Vol. 2

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
Our kitchen timer died in a horrible accident, his replacement arrived today:

image.jpeg
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
inner dialogue while doing grocery shopping a few moments ago:
"It's monday, weekend has been unhealthy, so I'd better go for somethingOHSHITOHSHITLOOKATTHEM VLEESKROKETS! NEW STORE ITEM! "
check.

image_3.jpeg


OH LOOK, CALAMARES ALLA ROMANA AS WELL!

check.
image_4.jpeg


container of deep frying oil later:

checkmate.
image_7.jpeg


opted for Joppiesaus, but went with mustard instead:
image_5.jpeg


Brown on e outside, grey on the inside as they should be:
image_6.jpeg


And just as i finished that, the wife showed up with pulled pork.

I am so going to have a restless night.
 

Milchjon

Member
How do you determine if an avocado is still edible?

Because I think I just dumped one that was probably still good. I guess you can't only rely on color?
 

Milchjon

Member
Double Post question:

It seems to me from following cooking videos that using buttermilk in all kinds of recipes (baking and marinating etc) is very prevalent in the US compared to other Western countries. I don't know a lot of German recipes using buttermilk, despite the cuisines being remotely similar and dairy being very important...
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
inner dialogue while doing grocery shopping a few moments ago:
"It's monday, weekend has been unhealthy, so I'd better go for somethingOHSHITOHSHITLOOKATTHEM VLEESKROKETS! NEW STORE ITEM! "
check.

image_3.jpeg


OH LOOK, CALAMARES ALLA ROMANA AS WELL!

check.
image_4.jpeg


container of deep frying oil later:

checkmate.
image_7.jpeg


opted for Joppiesaus, but went with mustard instead:
image_5.jpeg


Brown on e outside, grey on the inside as they should be:
image_6.jpeg


And just as i finished that, the wife showed up with pulled pork.

I am so going to have a restless night.
Those croquetas look vile, although not as much as substituting mayonnaise with mustard for those calamari.

The packaging reminds me a little bit of LIDL's "thematic" products, which may feature a diamond or two buried below a sea of crap. Their Italian offerings are surprisingly legit, though.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
How do you determine if an avocado is still edible?

Because I think I just dumped one that was probably still good. I guess you can't only rely on color?

Well the standard test is to take out the bit of stem at the top, which shows the surface of the avocado. If it's a vivid green, it's still fresh. If it's more murky, it's probably not as fresh.

But, a lot of people test their avocados like this while picking them out so you might have fresh avocados that lost their caps and the flesh will be murky green from air exposure. Plus it's the area that goes brown the fastest. The second test that I use is the squeeze test. The ideal time to eat an avocado is when there's just a bit of give to the surface but the whole thing is still not squishy (which shows that the flesh is almost liquified). If you press it and it leaves an indent, it's probably not good to eat. But if there's no give at all, if it's like squeezing an apple, then it's not ripe enough.

The third test is just to cut it open and scoop it out. If there are some brown-green splotches on the surface of the flesh, that's okay. Those areas can be cut out. They usually occur when that area of the skin is too thin, or damaged. You might also see veins of brown emnating from the inner surface (where the flesh butts against the seed). That's okay too. If the seed practicaly slides out, the flesh is probably already overripe but still edible. It just won't be as pleasant. If the surface flesh is not just completely brown and soft, but starts taking on black and blue colors in places, it's definitely bad and should be tossed.

Source: Me eating an avocado almost every other day for a year.

I will never forget the worst avocado I ever encountered. I touched the thing and it literally collapsed in my hands, like there was nothing inside. I was completely and utterly grossed out I almost didn't buy avocados that day.
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
I think instead of the wood Ikea island I was looking into for $100, I'm going to go with this stainless steel table which is only $8 more.

Reason being I want to temper chocolate at home and this surface would be far more ideal for cooling chocolate to the right temp than a wooden surface.
Does the table have a good height for you to work on? looks a bit low from that pic.

Those croquetas look vile, although not as much as substituting mayonnaise with mustard for those calamari.

The packaging reminds me a little bit of LIDL's "thematic" products, which may feature a diamond or two buried below a sea of crap. Their Italian offerings are surprisingly legit, though.

The Croquettes are god tier fast food, think of them as deep fried Ragout fin.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
I think instead of the wood Ikea island I was looking into for $100, I'm going to go with this stainless steel table which is only $8 more.



Reason being I want to temper chocolate at home and this surface would be far more ideal for cooling chocolate to the right temp than a wooden surface.
My only concern would be it being a bit wobbly. While durable, steel islands and small tables tend to be less than stout. Try to see if you can find a built one to test/touch.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
I think instead of the wood Ikea island I was looking into for $100, I'm going to go with this stainless steel table which is only $8 more.



Reason being I want to temper chocolate at home and this surface would be far more ideal for cooling chocolate to the right temp than a wooden surface.

Go to a use restaurant supply store or scour craigslist. Restaurant grade stuff is mean to stand the test of time and abuse of idiot cooks.
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
atonement for yesterdays cooking:

spread some herb butter of slices of baguette:
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fry a few turkey chops with sliced apples and onions:
image_6.jpeg


meanwhile, remove the rind from a small blue cheese and chop parsley:
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add parsley, majoram, salt and peppe to skillet:
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top bread with skillet content, top with blue cheese:
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roast in oven under grill for a couple minutes:
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serve and enjoy!
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image_2.jpeg
 
Does the table have a good height for you to work on? looks a bit low from that pic.

Im only 5ft1 so i think it will be okay....maybe

My only concern would be it being a bit wobbly. While durable, steel islands and small tables tend to be less than stout. Try to see if you can find a built one to test/touch.
reviews for it seem positive but i may change brands. Im still doing research tho.

Go to a use restaurant supply store or scour craigslist. Restaurant grade stuff is mean to stand the test of time and abuse of idiot cooks.

I was actually going to go to chefs warehouse and see what I could find. There are a goodbit of restaurant supply stores here so hopefully I dig up something good if this brand doesnt seem reliable
 

Nudull

Banned
I've been so behind on my own cooking. Last new thing I've tried doing was pancakes, which were pretty hit-and-miss going by my family's own recipe. They tend to use salt (are salted pancakes a thing?), while I use sugar + vanilla extract.

I really want to try doing seafood sometime, particularly calamari. :)
 

Denali

Member
Today marks the first time I've cooked scrambled eggs in stainless steel without making a complete mess in the pan. I thought I was letting it get hot enough all this time, but maybe I wasn't. Add butter, reduce the heat a bit. Much easier cleanup this morning!


That's my cooking win for the day, lol.
 

D-Pad

Member
I've been so behind on my own cooking. Last new thing I've tried doing was pancakes, which were pretty hit-and-miss going by my family's own recipe. They tend to use salt (are salted pancakes a thing?), while I use sugar + vanilla extract.

I really want to try doing seafood sometime, particularly calamari. :)

A pinch of salt in pancakes (or any sort of bread/dough/whatever recipe) is normal. It brings out the sweetness of the sugar (among other things).
 

zbarron

Member
Today marks the first time I've cooked scrambled eggs in stainless steel without making a complete mess in the pan. I thought I was letting it get hot enough all this time, but maybe I wasn't. Add butter, reduce the heat a bit. Much easier cleanup this morning!


That's my cooking win for the day, lol.

Congrats. I haven't achieved that yet. Granted I don't cook eggs often.

These stainless steel pans made me realize how much I took my cast iron's non stick properties for granted.
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
Congrats. I haven't achieved that yet. Granted I don't cook eggs often.

These stainless steel pans made me realize how much I took my cast iron's non stick properties for granted.
scrambled eggs are the main reason for a teflon coated skillet.
 

Denali

Member
Congrats. I haven't achieved that yet. Granted I don't cook eggs often.

These stainless steel pans made me realize how much I took my cast iron's non stick properties for granted.

I haven't cooked much in the pans yet aside from eggs. Stainless steel definitely feels like a different beast, so I'm kind of timid to even try cooking other things. I've tried watching some clips to see how some chefs use them, but the majority seem to be using something other than stainless steel.

What are some tips for cooking meat/fish in stainless? Get it nice and hot, add your oil/fat, set your meat down until it "releases", flip, reduce the heat a bit maybe seems to be the general idea; I guess I just need to give it a go. I don't want to be smoking out my kitchen (which I've done before with cast iron and steak). What type of oil should I be using, generally?
 

zbarron

Member
I haven't cooked much in the pans yet aside from eggs. Stainless steel definitely feels like a different beast, so I'm kind of timid to even try cooking other things. I've tried watching some clips to see how some chefs use them, but the majority seem to be using something other than stainless steel.

What are some tips for cooking meat/fish in stainless? Get it nice and hot, add your oil/fat, set your meat down until it "releases", flip, reduce the heat a bit maybe seems to be the general idea; I guess I just need to give it a go. I don't want to be smoking out my kitchen (which I've done before with cast iron and steak). What type of oil should I be using, generally?
Pretty much. The instructions recommend not using high heat unless boiling water so I haven't. Make sure you give it plenty of time to preheat.

Take the chicken I made as an example.

That Chicken Piccata I posted further up the page was all made in the staight walled saute pan. I heated the pan over medium high heat and added the oil until it was shimmery. Then I reduced it to medium cooked the chicken for about 4 minutes on each side, which was plenty of time for it to release. After removing the chicken there was some fond on the pan but that was perfect. After cooking the capers for about 30 seconds I deglazed the pan with the white wine. I reduced it by half and added lemon juice and chicken stock. It seemed like a lot of liquid so I let it reduce a bit further before adding the butter and stirred constantly so it would emulsify. Then the chicken went back in to warm up.

The recipe called for olive oil but if you're afraid of smoking out your kitchen I'd use something with a high smoke point when making meat/fish. Peanut oil and clarified butter/ghee are great choices since they have a smoke point of 450*F. If you want to use ghee you should make it instead of buy it. It's better, fresher and a lot cheaper.
 
I make scrambled eggs every morning in a stainless steel 9" skillet. I use a bit of butter and have very specific heat levels I'm used to tied to my range, but the "technique" is actually unrelated to those:

1) I always use heavy cream with the eggs; the fat provides another layer of non-stick insulation; if I use half & half or, god forbid, whole milk, I can tell in the texture of the egg and how easy it is to manipulate
2) I keep an edge open on the pan with a fork or whatever (flipping the edge of the egg away) so that...
3) A nice wide spatula can come along the surface and flip the eggs--even if the eggs start to stick, a spatula pressed firmly against the stainless steel surface will avoid issues

I think about this... probably too much. The real miracle in my opinion would be figuring out a way to do Ramsay-style eggs with creme faiche in a small sauce pot without making a mess. C'est la vie.
 

zbarron

Member
I think about this... probably too much. The real miracle in my opinion would be figuring out a way to do Ramsay-style eggs with creme faiche in a small sauce pot without making a mess. C'est la vie.
Haha. Every single time I do this I get a layer of cooked on egg covering the whole bottom. Oh well. Nothing a soak won't take care of.
 
Haha. Every single time I do this I get a layer of cooked on egg covering the whole bottom. Oh well. Nothing a soak won't take care of.

Because I was thinking of this thread this morning... eggs Little Tokyo style, scrambled eggs on reheated rice with nanami togarashi:

scrambled-eggs-togarashi.jpg


Ramsay-style eggs on home made oatmeal bread toast, side of pluots, for the kids:

ramsays-eggs.jpg


The cursed pot:

the-cursed-pot.jpg


Bonus picture of our baby goat on the wood pile:

bonus-kid.jpg


Almost done milking colostrum from her mother, reading up on making chevre...
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
Cute! :) Best of success with the Chevre project.

The temperatures today were lower than on christmas day, so a pan of Bolognese was soul food thursday dish of choice.
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side was a salad with a homegrown tomato.
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and my first can of Dr. Pepper ever:
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Went to Ikea, looking for something to get a bit more counter/cabinet space in our kitchen..

Ended up falling in love with the Ivar system.

It's actually pine, and was very reasonably priced. Also picked up the giant 16 gallon recycling containers. I like how they have all these attachments for this thing, like the hooks, and the baskets that slide on the shelves.

I have an Ivar set up in my kitchen, and the pieces for a second one. I just need to stain it first. I have a light blue kitchen, so I stained mine an aqua color. It looks really pretty. Just took a weekend to do it.
15B7E224-2B98-4520-B4FA-E295F06C6DAE_zpss2ot0ipf.jpg


I picked up the base for this work cart in the as-is section. It was clearance out summer stuff and they had no more tops to this. I got it for $10, and all I need is a 20x28 top. I was going to check out some granite installers to see if they'd have a scrap piece from a sink or stove cutout that could work.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29033415/

I've also got plenty of other ikea stuff in my kitchen. I think my most favorite is their roasting pan. $10 and it does the job for everything. I have an expensive one with a bigger rack, but it's only good for my Thanksgiving turkey. This one is the perfect size for so much more and I use it on my grill. It still takes some elbow grease to shine it up, but it's metal and can take the beating.


Okay, so I've got a million questions I'm hoping some of you might know the answer to or could help me with.

1. I have all clad pots and pans, and like in post 1480, mine has the straight edges. How do you pour a pot of water out of it without it dribbling down the side of the pot and out of where you want it to go? I have a 2qt pot that's pretty much my dedicated tea pot for a pitcher of tea. I always have to pour the tea into the pitcher in the sink because of the spills it creates. It's not a huge deal to do it that way, but it'd be nice to know if there's a trick to it. I've seen Alton Brown do it a time or two on his shows, but I don't notice anything different in how he does it.

2. How do you make spaghetti sauce thicken enough to stick to the pasta without it being a bowl of chunky tomatoes and noodles. I've been making sauce from fresh tomatoes. Every weekend there's an Asian couple at the flea market that sell their vegetables, and they give me boxes or bags of softer tomatoes that won't sell. I always share my results with them, so it works out. So I do the whole boil for a minute to skin the tomatoes. Let them cool enough to throw them in my food processor. It's tiny, so I do tiny batches with it. Then I put it in my stock pot to simmer away. First time I simmered overnight with the lid on. It was rather watery. The second time I simmered overnight with the lid on, and then most the day with the lid off to take out the liquid. The sauce was thicker and looked like a good consistency, but not enough to make it stick to the noodles.

3. Is there any way to keep pans from gunking up while making scrambled eggs? I've done Ramsey style eggs, and they're soo good. But I hate the clean up. My boyfriend is horrible, he heats the pan too hot and cooks them too long. I can make amazing fried eggs and sunny side up in my skillet or cast iron pan, but scrambled is frustrating. I can do an omelet, but sometimes I just want that silky crumble of a fluffy scrambled egg. I only have one 14" non-stick skillet and the rest are stainless. But it seems like an overkill for a couple of eggs.

There's a few other things that have been bugging me recently, but I can't think of them at 3am. So I'll ask later.
 
side was a salad with a homegrown tomato.

Tomatos look great, Onkel. Ours are still growing (colder clime here).

1. I have all clad pots and pans, and like in post 1480, mine has the straight edges. How do you pour a pot of water out of it without it dribbling down the side of the pot and out of where you want it to go?

Just pour a little faster. It's the slow tilt that lets the liquid dribble over the side.

2. How do you make spaghetti sauce thicken enough to stick to the pasta without it being a bowl of chunky tomatoes and noodles.

As you note, you need to cook it down, do a reduction, letting the moisture escape. I've never cooked a pasta sauce an entire day though, at most 30-45 minutes. I'm curious what your sauce looks like vs what you want. You're not adding liquid to the tomatoes, are you?

3. Is there any way to keep pans from gunking up while making scrambled eggs? I've done Ramsey style eggs, and they're soo good. But I hate the clean up.

There's a whole conversation above about this! Ramsay style is hard to avoid a layer (you're constantly mixing the eggs into the wall of the sauce pot with the rubber spatula), but regular scrambled eggs are pretty easy to do in stainless steel with no sticking, per above.
 
Just pour a little faster. It's the slow tilt that lets the liquid dribble over the side.
If it's a half pot of water, then I have no problems, but with a full pot, it never seems to no matter how fast I pour it. With a full pot, it starts pouring when the pot is tilted less than 90degrees.


As you note, you need to cook it down, do a reduction, letting the moisture escape. I've never cooked a pasta sauce an entire day though, at most 30-45 minutes. I'm curious what your sauce looks like vs what you want. You're not adding liquid to the tomatoes, are you?

I use a variety of tomatoes from romas, heirlooms, and beef steak (I'm assuming). The first time I cooked it, it was a very light marinara texture and rather chunky. The taste was nice, but it felt like I was eating tomatoes with pasta and not a sauce. I want a texture like jarred stuff. Even when I make it from canned tomatoes, it still has that stickiness. I don't add any water, and I squeeze the tomatoes as best I can to get the extra juice/seeds out after skinning them. Am I taking too much water out of it?
 
I didn't make these but where else would I post pictures from TacoLandia.

14022255_10206452833665701_5886960616683935281_n.jpg



Pork Belly, onions, posole and pinapple. This was the top taco most of the day
13932826_10206452833625700_8763960313726556515_n.jpg



13939467_10206452833985709_1027226098627257653_n.jpg



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That is couscous, not corn. Lamb and tzatzikii sauve
13912683_10206452834385719_3309702368110884568_n.jpg



13924889_10206452834585724_6274452143463324594_n.jpg




Brisket - Top 3 taco
14034711_10206452834985734_7988512226441880902_n.jpg



The Winner: Cheuy Fu's food truck - CharGrilled Shu Pork with cucumber-wasabi sauce, which was perfect.
13925027_10206452835145738_8420395312713930426_n.jpg
 
Sigh..so my wife burnt a pot of rice in our brand new stainless steel Calphalon pot. It's completely burnt in black at the bottom. Is there anything that can be done to salvage it or is it toast?
 
Sigh..so my wife burnt a pot of rice in our brand new stainless steel Calphalon pot. It's completely burnt in black at the bottom. Is there anything that can be done to salvage it or is it toast?

Look up various tricks with vineger and baking soda, and then there's always Bar Keeper's Friend/Bon Ami. Should be fine once you get it off.
 
Sigh..so my wife burnt a pot of rice in our brand new stainless steel Calphalon pot. It's completely burnt in black at the bottom. Is there anything that can be done to salvage it or is it toast?

Slowly warm a pot of water in the pot. You need it just a little less than a simmer. Then take a small enough spatula and scrap the bottom of the pan to release the burned stuff. Bar Keepers will shine it up again.
 
Yup, read that thread and am intrigued. It's not available here, feel free to send me a can or a sixpack if you wish.

IronGAF posters are free to stay at my place in Maine if they have intense Moxie curiosity, heh.

It's a little scary to me how many threads I'm subbed to that have Bagels as the OP.
 

zbarron

Member
IronGAF posters are free to stay at my place in Maine if they have intense Moxie curiosity, heh.

It's a little scary to me how many threads I'm subbed to that have Bagels as the OP.

Bagels has a talent for making you want the strangest things. I've bought 6 fountain pens (and lost 'em all) after reading his thread on them.

I'm probably going to try my first chicken and sausage jambalaya tonight. Anyone have any tips or a good recipe? I should have everything I need (onion, celery, green pepper, creole seasoning, rice, stock, chicken, hot Italian sausage)
 
Bagels has a talent for making you want the strangest things. I've bought 6 fountain pens (and lost 'em all) after reading his thread on them.

I'm probably going to try my first chicken and sausage jambalaya tonight. Anyone have any tips or a good recipe? I should have everything I need (onion, celery, green pepper, creole seasoning, rice, stock, chicken, hot Italian sausage)

Emeril has a decent one http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cajun-jambalaya-recipe2.html . I have a old family recipe somewhere in my recipe box I'll see if I can find it when I get home.
 
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